[Guide] HP Elite 8300 & 6300 Pro (all form factors) using Clover UEFI hotpatch

[trs96]

@Sniki you may need to emphasize this sentence in some way to get readers to see it.

Creating USB Installer
Before proceeding with this guide, i would highly suggest that you begin with a clean install rather than upgrading from your previous setup as the method and kexts are different than what you might be currently using on your HP Desktop PC.

 

[Sniki]

@Sniki you may need to emphasize this sentence in some way to get readers to see it.

Creating USB Installer
Before proceeding with this guide, i would highly suggest that you begin with a clean install rather than upgrading from your previous setup as the method and kexts are different than what you might be currently using on your HP Desktop PC.

Will edit it right now, any suggestions ? make it red and bold ?

Edit: Fixed, thanks for the tip.

 

[Toyo72]

Good, can you post Problem Reporting files in two variants for this ?

Post v1 with card attached into one of the working slots

Post v2 with the card attached into the port that isn't working.
i will take a look and see where the problem is.

Thanks for posting this issue.

OK @Sniki
Here are the reports from gen_debug (macOS was High Sierra), with the ESI Juli@ card in PCI slot 2 (the middle slot) which is working fine. It also works in the lower slot 3.

 

[Toyo72]

And here are the reports with the ESI Juli@ card in PCI slot 1 (the upper slot of the 3) which is not working.

 

[Sniki]

OK @Sniki
Here are the reports from gen_debug (macOS was High Sierra), with the ESI Juli@ card in PCI slot 2 (the middle slot) which is working fine. It also works in the lower slot 3.

And here are the reports with the ESI Juli@ card in PCI slot 1 (the upper slot of the 3) which is not working.

Thanks, i will check files tonight.

 

[trs96]

And here are the reports with the ESI Juli@ card in PCI slot 1 (the upper slot of the 3) which is not working.

In the two working slots (PCI) how is the latency of your sound card ? Is it good enough for serious pro audio usage ? I hadn't imagined anyone would still be using PCI slots in 2019 for anything save for an old FW 400 card or adding in some extra serial/parallel ports for a business pc. What kind of improvements in audio are you hearing by adding the ESI Juli ? How much do they cost currently ?

 

[Toyo72]

In the two working slots (PCI) how is the latency of your sound card ? Is it good enough for serious pro audio usage ? I hadn't imagined anyone would still be using PCI slots in 2019 for anything save for an old FW 400 card or adding in some extra serial/parallel ports for a business pc. What kind of improvements in audio are you hearing by adding the ESI Juli ? How much do they cost currently ?

Well I'm not using it for pro audio/studio work. I have a decent audio setup in my office with a DAC and a tube amplifier - the DAC only has S/PDIF digital input, so I need 75 ohm S/PDIF out from the computer, and have been using this sound card for a while. It is is well made and eliminates the noise that you get by running directly from a motherboard S/PDIF or other output. Motherboards, drives, etc tend to be very electrically noisy and that makes its way into the signal path. So by offloading the digital output to a card, you get a cleaner signal to the DAC, more musical sound, clearer highs and such. It is more noticeable through headphones, which I use a fair bit.

I'm using this particular card because I had it around, it works well, and I didn't want to buy another one if I didn't have to. Bought it originally due to good reviews and Mac compatibilty - I was using a BadAxe2 board at the time. In the 8300 I'm using both of the PCIE slots -one for the GT 710 and the other for a USB3 card (that came with my 8300). So it was convenient as well.

The card goes for about $100 on ebay, I think the PCIe version goes for about $125 or so. That was my backup plan - to sell the one I have and buy the later version. It is silly that a sound card sells for as much as the 8300... what a bargain these old HPs are.

 

[nicksoph]

@mls64 " eliminates the noise that you get by running directly from a motherboard S/PDIF or other output." No noise on an s/pdif output at all - you can have an iffy connection in which case it may lose packets but generally it either works or it doesn't.The worst that can happen is that the 2 clocks lose sync but I think that it is a function of the receiving sound device to deal with not the transmitter. If these machine have an spdif header? and that can be made to work then a simple header cable will give you the same output as the soundcard. https://www.hardwaresecrets.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-spdif-connection/
Otherwise a hdmi to hdmi video/audio splitter will do it - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071HN68RF/?tag=tonymacx86-21

 

[trs96]

The card goes for about $100 on ebay, I think the PCIe version goes for about $125 or so. That was my backup plan - to sell the one I have and buy the later version. It is silly that a sound card sells for as much as the 8300... what a bargain these old HPs are.

I've noticed with a small amount of searching, that there aren't many macOS compatible audio cards available. The ones that are compatible can cost up to 700 dollars or more. I guess anything that is intended for Pro use gets a much higher price attached to it. Hate to think what the new 2019 Mac Pro from Apple will retail for. They may be "donate a kidney" expensive when they finally are released.

Makes these older HP machines look like the deal of the 21st century.

 

[Toyo72]

@nicksoph yeah, the clock signal is the main problem, and of course jitter. By offloading the clock to a board that is made for the purpose you remove the reliance on the motherboard clock signal, and get a much better more reliable and lower jitter connection to the outboard DAC. But that's off-topic, I don't want to clog up the thread here. The cool thing is that the PCI slots work so I can use my card!