- Joined
- Dec 29, 2010
- Messages
- 120
- Motherboard
- Z77X-UP5-TH
- CPU
- i7 3770K
- Graphics
- HD4000
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
I have finally ironed out most the issues I have been having with the GA-Z77X-UP4 TH and i5 2500K, apart from the Via VL800 USB ports not working. So I thought I'd share how I got there.
Components Used:
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP4 TH rev 1 UEFI F3
Processor - Intel i5 2500K
GPU: Integrated Intel HD3000
RAM - 2 x Crucial 4GB DDR3 1333MHz
SSD - Kingston 128 GB SSDNow V2
Preparation:
Firstly I updated the BIOS of the motherboard to the most current at time of writing which was version F3.
The next step was to made some small adjustments to the UEFI, I followed tonymac's recommendations here:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/99-quick-guide-configuring-uefi-gigabyte-s-7-series-lga-1155-boards.html
There is one key difference that I did that differs from tonymac's instructions, I set XHCI to DISABLED. What this change does is forces the native USB3.0 ports to operate at USB2.0 speed. The native USB3.0 ports are the 2 on the back panel below the LAN connector and the internal USB3.0 ports on headers. The reason for this has been well documented elsewhere in this forum, but the basic problem is that I can't get ports won't work with USB2.0 devices when XHCI is set to Auto, though others have reported that they do work with USB3.0 devices. As I don't currently own any USB3.0 devices I rather 4 more working USB2.0 ports (2 x External and 2 x Internal).
See below for my settings:
Peripherals Options:
Power Management Options:
Next I prepared a Mountain Lion Installation Drive with Unibest 1.5.3 and installed Mountain Lion as per tonymac's instructions here:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/61-unibeast-install-os-x-mountain-lion-any-supported-intel-based-pc.html
The main point I would make here is that I connected the drive to one of the internal USB2.0 Headers (with front panel USB ports on the case). I believe you should be able to use one of the USB ports below the LAN connector as long as XHCI mode is set to DISABLED in UEFI. This has been confirmed to work by another forum user, but I haven't tried it myself.
The installation went smoothly without any issues.
Once the installation has completed I rebooted the machine and used the following settings in Multibeast 5.0.2
Once Multibeast had finished I restarted the computer, and this is where the next issue happens. As I'm using a Sandy Bridge CPU in a Ivy Bridge motherboard OSX gets confused as to with Intergrated GPU is present and as a consequence of this the correct graphics Kext isn't loaded. This causes the graphics resolution to run at 1024x768 and hardware acceleration is disabled.
This was a problem I struggled with until yesterday when tonymac posted an article as to how to address my exact problem here:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/150-enabl...therboards-hd-4000-6-series-motherboards.html
I followed this guide and my graphics problem was solved (almost, I'll come to this further on).
Th only step I had to take that was't detailed in the guide was I had to enable "show all files" as the info.plist file that tonymac mentioned wasn't visible. In order to "show all files" I used terminal command:
Then restarted the computer (relaunching finder is suppose to make the change come into effect, I didn't try it)
After the changes have been made to the two kext's the "show all files" command can be reversed with:
Then restart.
My graphics issues were fixed by making the changes suggested by tonymac, the resolution would now run at 1920X1080 with the integrated GPU being correctly reported as a Intel HD3000 with 512MB of VRAM and full hardware acceleration, Airplay mirroring also worked correctly.
I tested the onboard DVI, HDMI and Thunderbolt>DVI converter and all connections worked as expected.
After about the third restart a new graphics problem surfaced, when the computer reached the OSX desktop only 1/4 of the screen was displayed. By disconnecting and reconnecting the monitor, or changing the resolution in system preferences the problem would go a way until the next restart.
To fix this problem I made a change to the org.chameleon.Boot.plist file located in the "Extra" folder located on the boot partition. What I did was add a line of code the forced the monitor resolution to 1920x1080 at boot.
The line I added is highlighted in bold text below. I just used Text Edit to make the changes.
This fixed my resolution problems and also has changed the resolution of the grey apple screen during the time when OSX loads, so now it looks "correct" during boot.
Now my system is at a point where I would consider it to be working apart from a few minor issues including the USB issues, the 4 USB3.0 ports that use the Via VL800 chip may never work in OSX and I can live with that. The native Intel USB3.0 ports are a problem, but as I don't have any USB3.0 devices I'm happy to disable XHCI in the UEFI and have them operate as USB2.0 ports and get on with life.
I have tested the following:
Sleep/Wake - Works
Airplay - Works
Ethernet - Works
SATA - Works
Native Internal USB2.0 Ports - Works
Native External USB3.0 Ports - Doesn't work with USB2.0 Devices, can't test with USB3.0 device
Via USB3.0 - Doen't work (no surprise here)
Audio - Works (Green motherboard connector is labelled "Internal Speakers" in system preferences)
DVI - Works
HDMI Video - Works
HDMI Audio - Doesn't Work
Thunderbolt Video (Port 1) - Works (Using MDP to DVI adapter)
Thunderbolt Video (Port 2) - Doesn't Work (Using MDP to DVI adapter)
Thunderbolt Device (Port 1) - Works
Thunderbolt Device (Port 2) - Works
Trim - Doesn't Work (I've tried using Multibeast several times with no luck)
Internal SATA Drives - Appear correctly i.e. as internal
Notes On Thunderbolt:
In order to get a good idea as to wether or not the Thunderbolt ports are working as they should on this board I've tried to test as many devices as possible. What I have found is that somethings work, and other things don't.
I have tested the following Thunderbolt/Mini Displayport VIDEO devices:
2011 27" iMac in Thunderbolt Target Display Mode - Doesn't work.
I was unable to switch the iMac into target display mode by using Fn 2 on the iMacs keyboard. I also tried on the off chance hot plugging the iMac in to the Z77X-UP4-TH motherboard just to see if it would kick the iMac into target display mode, this didn't help. When I hot plug my MBA into the iMac, the iMac switches automatically to target display mode.
Generic Mini Displayport to DVI adapter - Works (with issues)
The Thunderbolt connecter closest to the audio jacks (MDP1) works fine passing video to a monitor connected via the MDP to DVI adapter. I have however found that the other Thunderbolt Connecter (MDP2) doesn't pass video. This may have something to do with a hardware limitation that is mentioned in the user manual. The following is taken directly from the manual
"When a monitor connected to the DVI-D port, the MDP2 Thunderbolt port can support
When I performed this test I didn't have anything connected to the DVI port. Note this is speculation on my part and could very well be incorrect.
I have tested the following Thunderbolt devices:
Apple Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 adapter - Works (with issues)
I found that this adapter works and a firewire 800 bus is displayed in system profiler as long as a firewire device is actually connected to the adapter. This isn't a big deal but it's work mentioning as it tripped me up initially because when this adapter is connected to a real mac with Thunderbolt without any firewire device connected it shows up in system profiler.
Sonnet Echo Expresscard/34 Adapter - Works
I tested this with a Universal Audio UAD-2 Laptop DSP card. This works as expected.
Apple Macbook Air (2011) in Thunderbolt Target Disk Mode - Doesn't Work
Two points to note are that;
A/Thunderbolt devices must be connected before boot in order to work.
B/ System Profiler will not show anything in the Thunderbolt section regardless of what is connected to the Thunderbolt ports.
Both of these are well documented and isn't aren't anything new. Hopefully this can be address with time by some who is more knowledgeable than myself.
As I progress I'll add more to this post.
Components Used:
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP4 TH rev 1 UEFI F3
Processor - Intel i5 2500K
GPU: Integrated Intel HD3000
RAM - 2 x Crucial 4GB DDR3 1333MHz
SSD - Kingston 128 GB SSDNow V2
Preparation:
Firstly I updated the BIOS of the motherboard to the most current at time of writing which was version F3.
The next step was to made some small adjustments to the UEFI, I followed tonymac's recommendations here:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/99-quick-guide-configuring-uefi-gigabyte-s-7-series-lga-1155-boards.html
There is one key difference that I did that differs from tonymac's instructions, I set XHCI to DISABLED. What this change does is forces the native USB3.0 ports to operate at USB2.0 speed. The native USB3.0 ports are the 2 on the back panel below the LAN connector and the internal USB3.0 ports on headers. The reason for this has been well documented elsewhere in this forum, but the basic problem is that I can't get ports won't work with USB2.0 devices when XHCI is set to Auto, though others have reported that they do work with USB3.0 devices. As I don't currently own any USB3.0 devices I rather 4 more working USB2.0 ports (2 x External and 2 x Internal).
See below for my settings:
Peripherals Options:
Power Management Options:
Next I prepared a Mountain Lion Installation Drive with Unibest 1.5.3 and installed Mountain Lion as per tonymac's instructions here:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/61-unibeast-install-os-x-mountain-lion-any-supported-intel-based-pc.html
The main point I would make here is that I connected the drive to one of the internal USB2.0 Headers (with front panel USB ports on the case). I believe you should be able to use one of the USB ports below the LAN connector as long as XHCI mode is set to DISABLED in UEFI. This has been confirmed to work by another forum user, but I haven't tried it myself.
The installation went smoothly without any issues.
Once the installation has completed I rebooted the machine and used the following settings in Multibeast 5.0.2
Once Multibeast had finished I restarted the computer, and this is where the next issue happens. As I'm using a Sandy Bridge CPU in a Ivy Bridge motherboard OSX gets confused as to with Intergrated GPU is present and as a consequence of this the correct graphics Kext isn't loaded. This causes the graphics resolution to run at 1024x768 and hardware acceleration is disabled.
This was a problem I struggled with until yesterday when tonymac posted an article as to how to address my exact problem here:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/150-enabl...therboards-hd-4000-6-series-motherboards.html
I followed this guide and my graphics problem was solved (almost, I'll come to this further on).
Th only step I had to take that was't detailed in the guide was I had to enable "show all files" as the info.plist file that tonymac mentioned wasn't visible. In order to "show all files" I used terminal command:
Code:
defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YESThen restarted the computer (relaunching finder is suppose to make the change come into effect, I didn't try it)
After the changes have been made to the two kext's the "show all files" command can be reversed with:
Code:
defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles NOThen restart.
My graphics issues were fixed by making the changes suggested by tonymac, the resolution would now run at 1920X1080 with the integrated GPU being correctly reported as a Intel HD3000 with 512MB of VRAM and full hardware acceleration, Airplay mirroring also worked correctly.
I tested the onboard DVI, HDMI and Thunderbolt>DVI converter and all connections worked as expected.
After about the third restart a new graphics problem surfaced, when the computer reached the OSX desktop only 1/4 of the screen was displayed. By disconnecting and reconnecting the monitor, or changing the resolution in system preferences the problem would go a way until the next restart.
To fix this problem I made a change to the org.chameleon.Boot.plist file located in the "Extra" folder located on the boot partition. What I did was add a line of code the forced the monitor resolution to 1920x1080 at boot.
The line I added is highlighted in bold text below. I just used Text Edit to make the changes.
Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>EthernetBuiltIn</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>GenerateCStates</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>GeneratePStates</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>GraphicsEnabler</key>
<string>Yes</string>
[B]<key>Graphics Mode</key>
<string>1920x1080x32</string>[/B]
<key>Kernel</key>
<string>mach_kernel</string>
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>darkwake=0</string>
<key>Legacy Logo</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>Timeout</key>
<string>2</string>
<key>UseKernelCache</key>
<string>Yes</string>
</dict>
</plist>This fixed my resolution problems and also has changed the resolution of the grey apple screen during the time when OSX loads, so now it looks "correct" during boot.
Now my system is at a point where I would consider it to be working apart from a few minor issues including the USB issues, the 4 USB3.0 ports that use the Via VL800 chip may never work in OSX and I can live with that. The native Intel USB3.0 ports are a problem, but as I don't have any USB3.0 devices I'm happy to disable XHCI in the UEFI and have them operate as USB2.0 ports and get on with life.
I have tested the following:
Sleep/Wake - Works
Airplay - Works
Ethernet - Works
SATA - Works
Native Internal USB2.0 Ports - Works
Native External USB3.0 Ports - Doesn't work with USB2.0 Devices, can't test with USB3.0 device
Via USB3.0 - Doen't work (no surprise here)
Audio - Works (Green motherboard connector is labelled "Internal Speakers" in system preferences)
DVI - Works
HDMI Video - Works
HDMI Audio - Doesn't Work
Thunderbolt Video (Port 1) - Works (Using MDP to DVI adapter)
Thunderbolt Video (Port 2) - Doesn't Work (Using MDP to DVI adapter)
Thunderbolt Device (Port 1) - Works
Thunderbolt Device (Port 2) - Works
Trim - Doesn't Work (I've tried using Multibeast several times with no luck)
Internal SATA Drives - Appear correctly i.e. as internal
Notes On Thunderbolt:
In order to get a good idea as to wether or not the Thunderbolt ports are working as they should on this board I've tried to test as many devices as possible. What I have found is that somethings work, and other things don't.
I have tested the following Thunderbolt/Mini Displayport VIDEO devices:
2011 27" iMac in Thunderbolt Target Display Mode - Doesn't work.
I was unable to switch the iMac into target display mode by using Fn 2 on the iMacs keyboard. I also tried on the off chance hot plugging the iMac in to the Z77X-UP4-TH motherboard just to see if it would kick the iMac into target display mode, this didn't help. When I hot plug my MBA into the iMac, the iMac switches automatically to target display mode.
Generic Mini Displayport to DVI adapter - Works (with issues)
The Thunderbolt connecter closest to the audio jacks (MDP1) works fine passing video to a monitor connected via the MDP to DVI adapter. I have however found that the other Thunderbolt Connecter (MDP2) doesn't pass video. This may have something to do with a hardware limitation that is mentioned in the user manual. The following is taken directly from the manual
"When a monitor connected to the DVI-D port, the MDP2 Thunderbolt port can support
Thunderbolt storage device(s) only."
When I performed this test I didn't have anything connected to the DVI port. Note this is speculation on my part and could very well be incorrect.
I have tested the following Thunderbolt devices:
Apple Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 adapter - Works (with issues)
I found that this adapter works and a firewire 800 bus is displayed in system profiler as long as a firewire device is actually connected to the adapter. This isn't a big deal but it's work mentioning as it tripped me up initially because when this adapter is connected to a real mac with Thunderbolt without any firewire device connected it shows up in system profiler.
Sonnet Echo Expresscard/34 Adapter - Works
I tested this with a Universal Audio UAD-2 Laptop DSP card. This works as expected.
Apple Macbook Air (2011) in Thunderbolt Target Disk Mode - Doesn't Work
Two points to note are that;
A/Thunderbolt devices must be connected before boot in order to work.
B/ System Profiler will not show anything in the Thunderbolt section regardless of what is connected to the Thunderbolt ports.
Both of these are well documented and isn't aren't anything new. Hopefully this can be address with time by some who is more knowledgeable than myself.
As I progress I'll add more to this post.
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It´s not working fine.
people!
