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Gigabyte Z390 M Gaming build with working NVRAM

I did notice that product offering, but was hesitant because it appeared to me that I was also getting the card and wasn't sure if it'd work exactly like I was hoping...

I don't care about Apple Watch (as I don't own one and assuredly never will), but Airdrop is somewhat important as my wife would very much like to transfer files from her iPad.

Either way, I was going to pair this and this together. The primary impetus for getting WiFi/BT working in the first place is so that people who are life-long Mac users (not me) can pair their own BT accessories and feel at home when using my rig for FCPX, Logic, etc.

The Fenvi cards are quite popular among hackintoshers. I don't personally own one but many, many people have reported good experiences with them.

Air Drop works fine on my setup.
 
But for the same price (and less setup time), the Fenvi appears to be the easier choice haha

What USB mapping would you have to adjust? I'm still somewhat vapid when it comes to all the USB port limits and mapping/routing that I've read about but done zero with.
I don't know what specifically fixed the issue with Airdrop (or whether it was @pastrychef's EFI folder — with some modifications of my own — that did it). I just know those changes were close in time and that's when Airdrop stopped exhibiting some of the inconsistency I'd seen from it previously. I'm sorry I can't be more precise!

In general, you won't be mapping USB to fix a specific glitch/problem, but more generally to tighten up your overall setup specific to your exact hardware so that the functionality is cleaner and more reliable overall.
 
In general, you won't be mapping USB to fix a specific glitch/problem, but more generally to tighten up your overall setup specific to your exact hardware so that the functionality is cleaner and more reliable overall.

Interesting...I may have to prod you a bit more about that in due time.
 
I have a Fenvi T919 running on the related Z390 Gaming X mobo. I don't have an Apple Watch, but everything else, BT, WiFi, Handoff, Airdrop, works well.

The T919 is raved about around here, so I bought one. I can attest that it works OOB. But then I read some others saying that you should get a real Broadcom card from a Mac (you can find harvested parts on eBay) and pair it with a PCI-E adapter.

The USB mapping is important because the T919 plugs in separately to the internal USB header on the mobo. So it basically plugs into the PCI and to the USB. Which I found unusual, but whatever.

So if you have something plugged into that internal header (usually they are your USB ports on your case), you have to disconnect them. On top of that, you have a 15-port limit for the maximum number of USB ports. And USB 3.0 count as 2 ports, if you want to preserve their compatibility for USB 2/3. So there is a bit of planning and strategy when you start counting up the number of USB ports you have, then you have to map them.


But for the same price (and less setup time), the Fenvi appears to be the easier choice haha

What USB mapping would you have to adjust? I'm still somewhat vapid when it comes to all the USB port limits and mapping/routing that I've read about but done zero with.
 
The USB mapping is important because the T919 plugs in separately to the internal USB header on the mobo. So it basically plugs into the PCI and to the USB. Which I found unusual, but whatever.

So if you have something plugged into that internal header (usually they are your USB ports on your case), you have to disconnect them. On top of that, you have a 15-port limit for the maximum number of USB ports. And USB 3.0 count as 2 ports, if you want to preserve their compatibility for USB 2/3. So there is a bit of planning and strategy when you start counting up the number of USB ports you have, then you have to map them.

Ahh, that makes more sense. I have been utilizing the two USB 3.0 pots on my front case header. So between those two, plus the 4 USB 3.0 ports (and one 2.0 port) on the back plate, that's a total of 13 USB ports. Does the USB-C port count toward that maximum?

Edit: a quick test has proven the 2.0 port does not work (is not mapped correctly...?) This is fascinating!
 
The best way is to follow UtterDisbelief's guide. It's super easy to do, just follow it carefully. Depending on how your mobo and case plugs are configured your map may be different than someone with the same mobo. I believe USB-C counts toward the limit. In his example, it takes up two ports, just like a USB 3.0. So you are probably at that limit. ( (2+4+1)*2 + 1 = 15). If you get the Fenvi, you'll have to disconnect the internal header, so you might lose ports on the case.

Ahh, that makes more sense. I have been utilizing the two USB 3.0 pots on my front case header. So between those two, plus the 4 USB 3.0 ports (and one 2.0 port) on the back plate, that's a total of 13 USB ports. Does the USB-C port count toward that maximum?

Edit: a quick test has proven the 2.0 port does not work (is not mapped correctly...?) This is fascinating!
 
If the USB 3.1 gen 2 ports are from the Intel controller, they will count towards the 15 port limit.
If the USB 3.2 gen 2 ports are from a separate controller, they will not count towards the 15 port limit.
 
Ok, some weird stuff going on when trying to install Windows on a second NVMe M.2 stick...

When I purchased the components for this build, I bought a second NVMe M.2 (1TB Silicon Power) and I installed Windows 10 on it a couple months ago. In the process of getting macOS running on my Samsung EVO 970, the partitions on my SP stick got messed up such that Windows wouldn't boot anymore, and booting off my Windows USB stick confirmed that when trying to reinstall.

I proceeded to delete every partition on that SP stick and then reinstall Windows 10. All was going fine until the point when it was detecting network connections and then my monitor went to power save mode (as if no signal was being sent).

So I powered down the computer and during BIOS post I hit F12 to view my boot options. Now there are two entries for my EVO 970:

UEFI OS (Samsung SSD 970 EVO 500GB)
Windows Boot Manger (Samsung SSD 970 EVO 500GB)

If I boot from the first option I get the Clover menu and can boot into Catalina just fine. If I try to boot from Windows (or the Windows USB installer) from the Clover menu the monitor goes to power save mode (as if no signal is being sent).

If I try to boot from the second option in the BIOS F12 boot menu, the monitor turns off as well.

Is it problematic to have the two OS installations on separate drives that are both M.2? Am I missing some important step when trying to install Windows on a separate drive?
 
Ok, some weird stuff going on when trying to install Windows on a second NVMe M.2 stick...

When I purchased the components for this build, I bought a second NVMe M.2 (1TB Silicon Power) and I installed Windows 10 on it a couple months ago. In the process of getting macOS running on my Samsung EVO 970, the partitions on my SP stick got messed up such that Windows wouldn't boot anymore, and booting off my Windows USB stick confirmed that when trying to reinstall.

I proceeded to delete every partition on that SP stick and then reinstall Windows 10. All was going fine until the point when it was detecting network connections and then my monitor went to power save mode (as if no signal was being sent).

So I powered down the computer and during BIOS post I hit F12 to view my boot options. Now there are two entries for my EVO 970:

UEFI OS (Samsung SSD 970 EVO 500GB)
Windows Boot Manger (Samsung SSD 970 EVO 500GB)

If I boot from the first option I get the Clover menu and can boot into Catalina just fine. If I try to boot from Windows (or the Windows USB installer) from the Clover menu the monitor goes to power save mode (as if no signal is being sent).

If I try to boot from the second option in the BIOS F12 boot menu, the monitor turns off as well.

Is it problematic to have the two OS installations on separate drives that are both M.2? Am I missing some important step when trying to install Windows on a separate drive?

It sounds like the Windows installer messed with your macOS EFI partition. I don't know why it did that... The times I've installed Windows, it didn't mess with my macOS EFI but it has been quite a long time since I've installed Windows and I've only done this a few times.

First, let's fix the macOS EFI partition.
Boot in to macOS.
Make a copy of your config.plist to your desktop.
Replace the EFI folder on your EFI partition with a clean copy from post #1.
Replace the config.plist that's in the EFI folder on your EFI partition with the one you copied to your desktop.
Done.

Next, to be safe, I suggest pulling the drive where you have macOS installed before installing Windows. What you want to end up with is to have the Windows Boot Manager on your Silicon Power SSD, not on the Samsung 970 EVO. Once the Windows installation is done, you can re-install the Samsung 970 EVO.

I don't remember if the option exists in BIOS, but, if it does, you can just disable the slot where your Samsung 970 EVO resides and you won't have to physically pull the SSD during the Windows installation.

As for the black screen, I don't know. I don't have enough experience with Windows or its installer to know what can cause that.
 
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