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

[trs96]

Compiling my DSDT (the one that Clover created) I get errors and warnings about stuff I don't know how to repair. Any idea?
View attachment 342488

If the warnings are not causing any issues they can be generally ignored. The two error lines can be safely deleted and then you will be able to save your edited DSDT.

 

[trs96]

Here's a really good deal on the Dell Optiplex 7010 DT Intel Quad Core i7-3770 for $160

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optip...872614?hash=item1cb374fbe6:g:qbEAAOSwvRlbV3qN

If you will add a dedicated gfx card to this remember that it must be a low profile version.

 

[sMaex]

Hi,

first of all thank you very much trs96 for this guide! Followed your instructions and got my machine running without major problems.
Just recently had the opportunity to buy an MT 7010 for cheap. CPU is an i5 3550 which comes packed with an HD2500. Despite all forums telling that this chip isn't supported by macOS it works fine for me (10.13.6). It gets recognised correctly by the OS, transparency is no issue and in System Report even tells me that this chip is supported by Metal API. Sweet

The only thing that I noticed the past couple days is that when the system goes to sleep for a longer period (lets say more than two hours) it occasionally reboots. I followed the optional SSDT for CPU Power Management part to enable native power management. Do you guys have some advice what could cause this behaviour? Read that the power nap feature could cause this behavior but this isn't even enabled on my system

 

[trs96]

Just recently had the opportunity to buy an MT 7010 for cheap. CPU is an i5 3550

Would be great if you'd put your new 7010 MT into your profile. For mobo just put in Dell 7010 MT for CPU i5-3550 and whatever graphics card you are using. https://www.tonymacx86.com/account/personal-details

 

[trs96]

Despite all forums telling that this chip isn't supported by macOS it works fine for me (10.13.6). It gets recognised correctly by the OS, transparency is no issue and in System Report even tells me that this chip is supported by Metal API. Sweet

The i5-3550 is supported it's the HD2500 graphics that are not.
How are you connecting to your monitor ? DP or VGA ? Post a screenshot of the graphics section of System Information. You can also post a screenshot of About this Mac as well. Also , open up the chess app. Try to move one of the pieces and see if it works.
Are you certain there is no dedicated graphics card installed in your Dell ?

I have an i5-3470 and the HD2500 does "work" if you boot from a Unibeast installer. You only get 7mb of Vram and no QE/CI. You can see from the following screen shots. If you have HD2500 graphics and more than 1024mb of Vram, it's possible to get that with a fake ig-platform-id that mimics HD4000. It usually doesn't give you fully working integrated graphics. Provide details of how you've made it work if it is actually fully working.

 

[sMaex]

The i5-3550 is supported it's the HD2500 graphics that are not.
How are you connecting to your monitor ? DP or VGA ? Post a screenshot of the graphics section of System Information. You can also post a screenshot of About this Mac as well. Also , open up the chess app. Try to move one of the pieces and see if it works.
I know that HD2500 graphics do not have Metal support, Even HD3000 do not have metal support. Are you certain there is no dedicated graphics card installed in your Dell ?

I have an i5-3470 and the HD2500 does "work" if you boot from a Unibeast installer. You only get 7mb of Vram and no QE/CI. You can see from the following screen shots. If you have HD2500 graphics and more than 1024mb of Vram, it's possible to get that with a fake ig-platform-id that mimics HD400. It usually doesn't give you fully working integrated graphics. Provide details of how you've made it work if it is actually fully working.

View attachment 343670 View attachment 343671

Hi there,

there is definitely no dedicated graphic card in this machine. Monitor is connected by DP. 2500 working just fine as you can see. To be honest I did nothing to enable this chip. It worked from the start w/o any tinkering on my side. Therefore I have no idea how and why it is working

Also I managed to address my sleep problems - I did not know that after creating the ssdt.aml I had to make additional changes in the Clover Configurator. You mentioned it in your other Dell guide and now it works - kinda.
The computer wakes from sleep every 10 minutes or so. I think it's getting waked by network activity because if I unplug ethernet it slumbers like a champion. Also, when I log out of my mac user account, sleep doensn't get interrupted by network activity.
- WOL in bios disabled
- No WakeOnLan in Mac settings
- PowerNap disabled
- tried different values for deepSleep, also no changes

 

[trs96]

The computer wakes from sleep every 10 minutes or so. I think it's getting waked by network activity because if I unplug ethernet it slumbers like a champion. Also, when I log out of my mac user account, sleep doensn't get interrupted by network activity.

I have similar sleep problems with my 7010. I don't actually put it to sleep so it's not very high on my current priority list. If I can find time to troubleshoot that I'll let you know if I find a solution to this. My best guess is that you may need to make some BIOS changes for it to sleep without interruption.

 

[trs96]

Therefore I have no idea how and why it is working

HD2500 only briefly had support way back in Mt. Lion days, probably the .1 and .2 versions then it was dropped.
Would you be willing to upload your current system drive's EFI folder ? Then I can possibly discern why it works for you. Remove your serial number and smuuid from the config.plist as this is publicly viewable by anyone when you attach it to a post.

 

[sMaex]

There you go
Removed serial number and smuuid from the config.plist

 

[trs96]

There you go
Removed serial number and smuuid from the config.plist

I don't see anything significantly different from my Config.plist that should make it work for you. I use a DP to HDMI passive adapter cable and you are using a DP cable to DP in connection on your monitor. It could be that is the reason it works for you. Since I don't use HD2500 I have no reason to spend 30 dollars or more for a DP to HDMI adapter. If others try this and have success with a DP cable to a DP monitor I'll make a mention of it in the main guide. It could save some with a 7010 or 9010 with HD2500 the cost of a dedicated graphics card.

This is the brand that most people use if connecting to an HDMI 2.0 enabled television from DP 1.2 or 1.4 ports.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017BQ8I54/?tag=tonymacx86com-20