[GUIDE] Install macOS 10.15 on P55-USB3 board

[johnnytucats]

For the record, I should report that the ethernet card worked on first startup.

There's another weird thing happening…another Samsung SSD was purchased to use as a system clone and there's an issue with it being "unrecognizable" by macOS when the machine is restarted. Clover always sees it. Also, when the system is shut down and started up macOS mounts the SSD just fine. Not a major issue but I'm wondering what is going on.

 

[miliuco]

For the record, I should report that the ethernet card worked on first startup.

There's another weird thing happening…another Samsung SSD was purchased to use as a system clone and there's an issue with it being "unrecognizable" by macOS when the machine is restarted...

I'm glad, I see that you have chosen the right Ethernet model.
Regarding the Samsung disk, I do not know what the problem may be, it is rare, in my case 2 Samsung SSD EVO 860 work correctly as system disks.
Just a comment. If you use FakeSMC switch to VirtualSMC. IF you use VirtualSMC, switch to FakeSMC. Just to test if this bug is fixed. Remember that VitualSMC has to go with Lilu. I think that when changing from one kext to the other the nvram is regenerated, this way you try with the regenerated nvram.

 

[johnnytucats]

I'm glad, I see that you have chosen the right Ethernet model.
Regarding the Samsung disk, I do not know what the problem may be, it is rare, in my case 2 Samsung SSD EVO 860 work correctly as system disks.
Just a comment. If you use FakeSMC switch to VirtualSMC. IF you use VirtualSMC, switch to FakeSMC. Just to test if this bug is fixed. Remember that VitualSMC has to go with Lilu. I think that when changing from one kext to the other the nvram is regenerated, this way you try with the regenerated nvram.

Thanks.

If we try the switchover from FakeSMC to VirtualSMC what, if anything, should be done with the FakeSMC_LPCSensors.kext, FakeSMC_CPUSensors.kext, and FakeSMC_ACPISensors.kext that are in Library/Extensions?

 

[Feartech]

Thanks.

If we try the switchover from FakeSMC to VirtualSMC what, if anything, should be done with the FakeSMC_LPCSensors.kext, FakeSMC_CPUSensors.kext, and FakeSMC_ACPISensors.kext that are in Library/Extensions?

delete them

 

[miliuco]

If we try the switchover from FakeSMC to VirtualSMC what, if anything, should be done with the FakeSMC_LPCSensors.kext, FakeSMC_CPUSensors.kext, and FakeSMC_ACPISensors.kext that are in Library/Extensions?

As Fearteche says, delete them. Of course you also have to delete FakeSMC. VirtualSMC can go into Other in the EFI folder next to Lilu and the other extensions.

 

[johnnytucats]

No change using the VirtualSMC.kext.

 

[miliuco]

No change using the VirtualSMC.kext.

 

[ibruno]

Install macOS 10.15 Catalina on Gigabyte P55-USB3 with Radeon RX 580 graphics card using a USB device created with the createinstallmedia command and Clover as bootloader. Instructions to install macOS 10.14 Mojave on this computer are almost identical, replacing Catalina app with Mojave, so this article is suitable for both versions of macOS. The Gigabyte P55-USB3 motherboard (and some others from the same brand with the P55 / H55 chipset) have made it easy to build a hackintosh and install macOS since 10 years ago. Although it is an old motherboard, the behavior with Mojave or Catalina is very good after changing the classic hard drive (HDD) for a solid state drive (SSD).

Components of the hackintosh

• Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 motherboard: P55 chipset, 1156 socket, ALC892 audio, Gigabit RTL8111D network, DDR3 RAM
• Intel Core i5-750 processor for socket 1156: 4 cores, 8MB cache, clock rate 2.66 GHz
• Fenvi FV-T919 wireless + Bluetooth card: PCI-Express, wifi is ac type, detected by macOS as Airport and Apple Bluetooth
• Radeon RX 580 8 GB graphics card: works OOB but with a few details to be considered, it has its own article.

Previous requirements

• Install macOS Catalina app in /Applications folder
• USB flash drive with at least 16GB prepared from Disk Utility with MBR partition scheme and formatted as Mac Os Plus (on older Gigabyte boards like mine, USB sticks partitioned with GUID scheme instead of MBR usually hang the system when booting)
• Recent version of Clover (I have used r5117)
• Recent versions of Lilu (at least 1.4.4) and WhateverGreen (at least 1.3.9) to fine-tune the behavior of the graphics card
• Recent version of RealtekRTL8111 (I have used 2.2.2)
• FaceSMC version 6.26-322 (newer versions disable automatic mounting of USB devices on my system).

Create install USB

Run this command from Terminal (assuming the target device is called USB):

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/USB /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app

Clover must be installed on the USB memory, I choose the following options:

• Install Clover on ESP partition
• Bootloader > Install boot0af on the MBR
• CloverEFi > CloverEFI 64-bit SATA
• BIOS Drivers, 64 bit > Recommended drivers > FSInject + SMCHelper + XhciDxe
• BIOS Drivers, 64 bit > File System drivers > ApfsDriverLoader
• Install RC scripts on selected volume
• Optional RC scripts > Disable sleep proxy client.

You have to copy 4 kexts to the EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other folder of the USB device: FaceSMC 6.26-322, Lilu 1.4.4, WhateverGreen 1.3.9 and RealtekRTL8111 2.2.2. Regarding the config.plist file, the most significant is:

• Boot > kext-dev-mode = 1 in Boot arguments
• GUI > Theme embedded, EmbeddedThemeType Dark, Screen Resolution 1920x1080, Preboot in Hide Volume
• Graphics > blank, nothing is checked except if foxbox solution is used to have more than 2 connectors enabled
• RT Variables > 0x28 in BooterConfig and 0x67 in CsrActiveConfig
• SMBios > iMac14,2
• Sytem Parameters> Yes in Inject Kexts and check Inject System ID.

Install macOS Catalina

Boot from the USB device and choose Install macOS from Install macOS Catalina. The installation program runs until the PC restarts. Here choose Install macOS from HDD (the name of the volume you are installing macOS on). With RX 580 graphics card, the screen goes black in this second phase of the installation, it is a phase in which the user has nothing to do until the PC is restarted so you can let it work until the Clover menu again. You have to choose Boot macOS from HDD to boot the installed system from the hard disk, the screen is recovered and you can configure the account and the initial options. From this moment the screen works fine.

In summary:

• Boot from USB > Clover menu > Install macOS from Install macOS Catalina > screen works fine
• Boot from USB > Clover menu > Install macOS from HDD > black screen
• Boot from USB > Clover menu > Boot macOS from HDD > screen works fine.

Install Clover and kexts on the hard drive

Clover needs to be installed on the disk where we just installed macOS. Options are the same as when installing it on the USB memory. You also have to copy the 4 kexts (FaceSMC 6.26-322, Lilu 1.4.4, WhateverGreen 1.3.9 and RealtekRTL8111 2.2.2) into the EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other folder on the EFI partition of the disk. And review the config.plist file remembering the comments for the USB.

If everything goes well, the computer starts from the hard disk with a running copy of macOS Catalina.
View attachment 471753
Note: I do not comment about the sound because I use an external USB sound device that works OOB. This motherboard has the Realtek ALC892 sound chip that I have deactivated, if you want to use it there are options to activate it, if you look for ALC892 Catalina or ALC892 Mojave you will find valid solutions.

I have a similar MB (GA-P55-UD2) and I am having difficulty upgrading to Catalina 10.15.7 from Mojave 10.14.6. I've made it through most of the upgrade but my system keeps rebooting at the "Boot macOS from HDD" step. Did you ever run into this reboot problem?

Thanks,

Bruno

 

[miliuco]

I have a similar MB (GA-P55-UD2) and I am having difficulty upgrading to Catalina 10.15.7 from Mojave 10.14.6. I've made it through most of the upgrade but my system keeps rebooting at the "Boot macOS from HDD" step. Did you ever run into this reboot problem?

Thanks,

Bruno

What boot loader do you use? Clover? What version? I assume you have already installed the boot loader on your hard drive. Even if it was already installed before upgrading Mojave to Catalina, it is a good idea to reinstall it.
Do you have the ApfsDriverLoader.efi driver in the drivers folder?
When you get to the Clover menu (or OpenCore) delete NVRAM, in Clover press F11 and in OpenCore choose the ResetNvram option.
You can upload your EFI folder to look at your configuration and see what might go wrong.

Read this post of @tonymacx86 (your card is supported).

 

[ibruno]

What boot loader do you use? Clover? What version? I assume you have already installed the boot loader on your hard drive. Even if it was already installed before upgrading Mojave to Catalina, it is a good idea to reinstall it.
Do you have the ApfsDriverLoader.efi driver in the drivers folder?
When you get to the Clover menu (or OpenCore) delete NVRAM, in Clover press F11 and in OpenCore choose the ResetNvram option.
You can upload your EFI folder to look at your configuration and see what might go wrong.

Read this post of @tonymacx86 (your card is supported).

Thanks for the reply! The target drive has Clover 4934 and the USB install drive has Clover 5119. I have been unable to boot into Catalina to finish the upgrade, so the target drive is still on r4934.

Yes, I do have the ApfsDriverLoader.efi in the drivers/ folder on the USB drive and I have ApfsDriverLoader-64.efi in the drivers64/ folder on the target drive. Do you think that having an old version of Clover on the target drive is causing the problem? I thought that when booting Clover, it looked at the EFI folder from the boot device and not the EFI folder on the target device?

I will try and delete NVRAM and let you know what happens. In have created a thread with my uploaded EFI folder and config.plist as well as more information regarding my problem here:

Catalina upgrade on GA-P55M-UD2 stuck; always reboots on "Boot macOS from HDD"

My Hackintosh is currently on 10.14.6 running Clover r4934 with the following hardware: Gigabyte GA-P55M - UD2 Intel Core i7 860 2.8Ghz Saphire Pulse Radeon RX 570 I was attempting to upgrade to Catalina using the guide Update Directly to macOS Catalina. However, using that method led to to a...

www.tonymacx86.com

Thanks again,

Bruno