[Guide] Install High Sierra or Mojave on the Dell Optiplex 7010 / 9010 Desktop PC - Revision II

[trs96]

Need help. I installed iOS to a 7010 a year ago. After recently updating it would no longer boot. Using this guide to reinstall Mojave on my 7010 i7 is not working so well for me.

I would go back through step #2 of the guide and make sure you applied all of the changes to your USB installer. Take your time and read it carefully. Also make sure you are connected to the DP output when installing.

 

[Alanjb132]

I doubt it. iOS is for mobile devices like iPhones and iPads.

Serial ports should be disabled in the BIOS settings.

Sorry meant high Sierra.

 

[trs96]

Sorry meant high Sierra.

Another thing to check is the Boot Sequence of the General Settings section of the BIOS. Delete any entries there that say MacOSX or other ones that you don't need there. These can interfere with booting from the USB installer.

 

[trs96]

Quadro K600 added to the Graphics Buyer's Guide
​

These are available new from Amazon.com for 49 USD. They should have a LP bracket included but check with the seller to make sure. The seller doesn't specify if they are new in the original box or if they are new "pulls" from unused systems. The photo on the Amazon listing shows a LP bracket installed a full height bracket and a DP to VGA adapter.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BNQFNC0/?tag=tonymacx86com-20
The GT 710 goes for about 9 dollars less and you'll get 2GB of Vram. I think that the macOS drivers for the K600 are better than those for the 710. Basing that on my experience of using each card on my 9010 SFF system. It may also be because DP 1.2 is better supported than HDMI 2.0 in macOS.

These K600s are also HP branded. As far as I know that should not be a problem. I'm using a PNY branded version and like the improvement I'm getting with my 27" 1080p monitor. It looks much better/sharper/clearer to me than what the GT 710 produces. Anyone who buys one please report back how it goes for you. For me personally, this is a better choice than the GT 710 and doesn't cost much more, even when purchased new. If you have a 4K monitor with DP in (a PC monitor) the K600 is certainly a better choice. For a 4K TV monitor with HDMI 2.0 the GT 710 is a better choice at this price point. If you want to use a K600 and get 60Hz on your 4K television then you need to spend 19 dollars more on an adapter like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S0C7QO8/?tag=tonymacx86com-20
The key part is that is must be an "active" adapter or the refresh rate will be only 30Hz.

Note that you can adapt the DVI output to VGA if you need that for some reason. To me using an analog VGA connection in 2019 is like still using floppy disk drives. Completely outdated tech. It only survives because Microsoft keeps supporting it in Windows 10 and won't let it die.

The full hardware choices guide can be found in post #2.

​

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

Dell CustoMac mini vs. Apple Mac mini Server Late 2012
​

Finally got a chance to run the Geekbench score on my Dell 9010 with i7-3770. It does beat the highest spec quad core i7 Mac mini from Late 2012. Spoiler Alert: My Dell beats the Apple mini in multicore by over 1,500 points. Excellent !

View attachment 384088

View attachment 384089

What about the build can adversely influence the Geekbench score: I just finished installing Dell Optiplex 9010 AIO with an i7 3770S and 8GB RAM, 240GB Intel 530 SSD, and I got 993, 3576 !

 

[trs96]

What about the build can adversely influence the Geekbench score: I just finished installing Dell Optiplex 9010 AIO with an i7 3770S and 8GB RAM, 240GB Intel 530 SSD, and I got 993, 3576 !

Not sure why those numbers are so low. The S version is lower clocked but shouldn't have that much effect. Did you get the built in display to work on the AIO 9010 yet ? You'll also need to run Intel Power Gadget to see how the CPU is actually performing. Post a pic of that here.

How to Install Intel Power Gadget on MacOS Mojave

Intel Power Gadget for Mac is a processor monitoring tool that allows computer users to monitor the performance of an Intel processor in real-time. Intel Power Gadget will show you power and energy…

osxdaily.com

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

Not sure why those numbers are so low. The S version is lower clocked but shouldn't have that much effect. Did you get the built in display to work on the AIO 9010 yet ? You'll also need to run Intel Power Gadget to see how the CPU is actually performing. Post a pic of that here.

How to Install Intel Power Gadget on MacOS Mojave

Intel Power Gadget for Mac is a processor monitoring tool that allows computer users to monitor the performance of an Intel processor in real-time. Intel Power Gadget will show you power and energy…

osxdaily.com

Power Gadget from macOS + (Geekbench from Windows 10 looks near to what I expected) (I have dual boot).

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

Did you get the built in display to work on the AIO 9010 yet ?

Yes, latest Lilu + Whatevergreen, working nicely with this install. I today changed to iMac13,1 to reflect closer to this Optiplex AIO. Assume that is okay?

Here's my snippet of config.plist
<key>Comment</key>
<string>This file is for Dell Optiplex 9010 AIO</string>
<key>Devices</key>
<dict>
<key>Audio</key>
<dict>
<key>Inject</key>
<integer>0</integer>
<key>hda-gfx</key>
<string>onboard-1</string>
</dict>
<key>Properties</key>
<dict>
<key>PciRoot(0)/Pci(0x1b,0)</key>
<dict>
<key>#Comment</key>
<string>Realtek ALC269 Audio Configuration</string>
<key>hda-gfx</key>
<string>onboard-1</string>
<key>layout-id</key>
<integer>11</integer>
</dict>
<key>PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x2,0x0)</key>
<dict>
<key>AAPL,ig-platform-id</key>
<data>CgBmAQ==</data>
<key>device-id</key>
<data>YgEAAA==</data>
<key>framebuffer-patch-enable</key>
<data>
AQAAAA==
</data>
</dict>
</dict>

 

[trs96]

Power Gadget from macOS + (Geekbench from Windows 10 looks near to what I expected) (I have dual boot).

The numbers in Win 10 are fine the ones in macOS are not. Run the Intel Power gadget app while you are doing the GB test while running macOS and not Windows. See if the CPU is getting up to any turbo speeds or not.

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

The numbers in Win 10 are fine the ones in macOS are not. Run the Intel Power gadget app while you are doing the GB test while running macOS and not Windows. See if the CPU is getting up to any turbo speeds or not.

Ha. So something must be amiss!