Gigabyte Z390 M Gaming build with working NVRAM

[hubertc]

Hi guys!

I see a lot interesting posts here lately!
@joobuzz
You're talking about similar problem I faced lately!
At first I started with igpu and followed pastrychefs instructions, had some issues but finally he sorted my configs out (thanks again @pastrychef !). Then I purchased AMD RX580 (Sapphire 8GB), installed it, probably changed SMBIOS and was running just fine - but no sidecar . Just few days ago, without any reason I enabled IGPU in BIOS and boom! Sidecar is working!

I rebooted machine several times - no issues. But then I powered it down for some hardware replacement (ssd/hdd), after that: can't boot ;( I'm getting error after Apple logo shows up. When I disable IGPU - it is booting fine, well almost fine: I think after some MacOS updates (my first install is from Feb 2020, I did every MacOs updates since) I see lot of text during boot, but at the end system is booting OK.

I started reading here on forum about headless IGPU setup - do I need to set something to achieve that?

Unfortunately most of the config (my EFI) is still totally unknown for me (just using help from good people here ), can you guys point me in good direction?
Maybe I should update my EFI because of MacOS updates?

My hardware:
Gigabyte Z390 M Gaming
Intel i5 9600k
Sapphire RX580 8GB Pulse

My EFI attached.

EDIT
Oh! And I did not reset CMOS yet, will try that soon.
Although I did reset my BIOS to defaults and set it up again - no difference.

 

[joobuzz]

Then I purchased AMD RX580 (Sapphire 8GB), installed it, probably changed SMBIOS and was running just fine - but no sidecar . Just few days ago, without any reason I enabled IGPU in BIOS and boom! Sidecar is working!

I think Sidecar needs IGPU enabled, but so does FCPX. To be honest, Sidecar is cool and all, bit I haven't really found a use for it.

Curious what SMBIOS you used when you added the RX580? I might change to Macpro1,1 with IGPU enabled, to at l see if it solves my sleep issues, even if Sidecar didn't work.

Still haven't reset CMOS yet, doing that later.

 

[Khid717Maverick]

@pastrychef -- Found this thread while discovering my 4930K was dead and was practically forced to do a full rebuild, feeling grateful for your hard work! Ended up picking up parts that matched your build and everything went scarily smooth. Two questions:

1. Have you gotten HWMonitor working for your GPU Die? It seems to report fine for CPU, but GPU is null.
2. Will unlocking MSR post installation break anything? I got confused on that step and skipped it, everything seems to have installed just fine.

Thanks again!

 

[hubertc]

I think Sidecar needs IGPU enabled, but so does FCPX. To be honest, Sidecar is cool and all, bit I haven't really found a use for it.

Curious what SMBIOS you used when you added the RX580? I might change to Macpro1,1 with IGPU enabled, to at l see if it solves my sleep issues, even if Sidecar didn't work.

Still haven't reset CMOS yet, doing that later.

I'm on iMac19,1 SMBIOS.
I'm sure that I tried iMacPro1,1 but don't remember why changed to iMac19,1

Regarding your sleep issue, I'd like to have that . Meaning I'm trying to successfully boot with IGPU enabled.
I will look into your config, maybe find something..

regards

 

[joobuzz]

No problem! No noobs around here -- by virtue of hackintoshing you are miles ahead of the unwashed masses who buy Apple products.

By saving the BIOS, you are 1 step ahead!

1. Clear the NVRAM by booting into Clover, then pressing F11 at the bootloader screen. You should see your mouse cursor disappear for a second. Then RESTART the computer instead of booting into OS X.

2. At the POST screen, shut down the computer by the power switch. Unplug the power cable and discharge the computer by pressing the power switch 2 or 3 times.

3a. You can reset the CMOS by one of two ways. First is touching the CMOS_CLR jumper pins with a screwdriver for about 10 seconds (you could also put a jumper on it, but this is only easy if you have a jumper lying around and the pins are easily accessible. The screwdriver is much easier!)

3b. The other method is to pop out the button battery on the motherboard. There is a little hinge holding the battery in place. Gently push on this hinge and the battery pops out. Wait for about 2 min (this is a good time to run and grab a beer or go to the bathroom --- or both). Replace the battery.

You'll know that you've successfully reset the CMOS once you power back on the system. It should POST then put you in the BIOS, with a warning that the BIOS has been reset.

4. Load your saved profile. Save and exit and boot as normal!

5. Report back if your sleep problem is fixed.

Hey @tedyun,

I followed your instructions down to a T....I had a little panic after CMOS reset when the computer didn't boot to POST until 3rd attempt, and when it did boot, it didn't put me to BIOS from POST, but loaded clover. However I restarted, went into BIOS and it stated it CMOS was reset. I loaded my BIOS profile, with MSR unlocked, and enabled IGPU, saved and booted MacOS.

Unfortunately, no change. Sleep still crashing on wake.

I did my FCPX export test again with WEG installed and IGPU on Auto, Disabled and Enabled, and also without WEG installed and IGPU Enabled.

Best, most stable setup is WEG in Clover/Kexts/Other and IGPU Enabled. Sidecar works, RX580 utilitized best with WEG in place, FCPX doesn't crash and exports fastest. It just crashes on wake from sleep...
Thanks for your suggestion.

 

[joobuzz]

I'm on iMac19,1 SMBIOS.
I'm sure that I tried iMacPro1,1 but don't remember why changed to iMac19,1

Regarding your sleep issue, I'd like to have that . Meaning I'm trying to successfully boot with IGPU enabled.
I will look into your config, maybe find something..

regards

Hi @hubertc,

Given our builds are so alike, you are welcome to have a look at my EFI. I've removed the serial number. I think they are very similar - I've just hidden the preboot volumes I don't need to see, and added a clover theme. @pastrychef also helped me out with the USB kexts, if you want to try it out, you may wish to add your own USB kexts with power file.

As you've been seeing, mine boots fine with IGPU enabled, just doesn't wake from sleep.

 

[tedyun]

Hmmm....I'm sorry it didn't work. I know how frustrating it can be. My last build had sleep/wake problems and I ended up never putting it to sleep.

Another thing that is different on my build is that I have the primary display output set to the iGPU in the BIOS (even though nothing is connected to it), and I have the iMac19,1 profile.

The only other thing I can suggest is to try it without RadeonBoost.

Otherwise, someone on Github reported this error, and apparently, if you switch to OpenCore, they were able to solve it by enabling the PowerTimeoutKernelPanic Quirk in that bootloader.

pastrychef's OpenCore EFI works very well. I switched over from Clover to OC with his EFI and it was really easy.

Hey @tedyun,

I followed your instructions down to a T....I had a little panic after CMOS reset when the computer didn't boot to POST until 3rd attempt, and when it did boot, it didn't put me to BIOS from POST, but loaded clover. However I restarted, went into BIOS and it stated it CMOS was reset. I loaded my BIOS profile, with MSR unlocked, and enabled IGPU, saved and booted MacOS.

Unfortunately, no change. Sleep still crashing on wake.

I did my FCPX export test again with WEG installed and IGPU on Auto, Disabled and Enabled, and also without WEG installed and IGPU Enabled.

Best, most stable setup is WEG in Clover/Kexts/Other and IGPU Enabled. Sidecar works, RX580 utilitized best with WEG in place, FCPX doesn't crash and exports fastest. It just crashes on wake from sleep...
Thanks for your suggestion.

 

[tedyun]

I'm not @pastrychef -- but I'm one of his biggest fans! I followed his MSR unlocking instructions and it went perfectly fine. As long as you carefully enter the

setup_var_3 0x5C1 0x0

(triple-check your typing), you will be good.

The MSR gets written to by some of the kexts and by Mac OS, so I think unlocking it will prevent random crashes. Like you, I had been operating for a while with it locked, and I had intermittent random problems either during boot or sleep/wake issues. I never traced it to the MSR (intermittent problems are the hardest to diagnose) but as a precaution I unlocked it. After moving over to pastrychef's EFI, my system has been rock solid (knock on wood).

@pastrychef -- Found this thread while discovering my 4930K was dead and was practically forced to do a full rebuild, feeling grateful for your hard work! Ended up picking up parts that matched your build and everything went scarily smooth. Two questions:

1. Have you gotten HWMonitor working for your GPU Die? It seems to report fine for CPU, but GPU is null.
2. Will unlocking MSR post installation break anything? I got confused on that step and skipped it, everything seems to have installed just fine.

Thanks again!

 

[joobuzz]

Hmmm....I'm sorry it didn't work. I know how frustrating it can be. My last build had sleep/wake problems and I ended up never putting it to sleep.

Another thing that is different on my build is that I have the primary display output set to the iGPU in the BIOS (even though nothing is connected to it), and I have the iMac19,1 profile.

The only other thing I can suggest is to try it without RadeonBoost.

Otherwise, someone on Github reported this error, and apparently, if you switch to OpenCore, they were able to solve it by enabling the PowerTimeoutKernelPanic Quirk in that bootloader.

pastrychef's OpenCore EFI works very well. I switched over from Clover to OC with his EFI and it was really easy.

I deleted RadeonBoost, but MacOS crashed at login screen.

I'd be a bit nervous about going to OC from Clover (as with everything new!) but it is probably worth a shot.

Can I keep the same MacOS install, and just swap the Clover EFI for an OC one?

I need to look more carefully at post #1.

Thanks.

 

[tedyun]

There is probably something deeper going on with the system if removing RadeonBoost crashes it. It should operate fine without it and you should be able to simply add or remove the kext.

Hopefully @pastrychef can chime in.

I was able to swap OC for Clover. The main differences are that my USB port map is customized, and I use mattystonnie's SSDT instead of RadeonBoost, so I had to adjust the OC config.plist. But after that is done, I can easily interchange between the two bootloaders. The MacOS system install remains unchanged.

I deleted RadeonBoost, but MacOS crashed at login screen.

I'd be a bit nervous about going to OC from Clover (as with everything new!) but it is probably worth a shot.

Can I keep the same MacOS install, and just swap the Clover EFI for an OC one?

I need to look more carefully at post #1.

Thanks.