[Guide] Intel NUC7/NUC8 using Clover UEFI (NUC7i7Bxx,NUC8i7Bxx,etc)

[nik729]

Be careful upgrading to the new BIOS 64!!

I upgraded my NUC8i7BEH to the new BIOS 64 that was released yesterday this morning after having a rock solid Hackintosh. It completely broke my macOS install and would not boot getting stuck on the macOS loading screen. I don't know why since I don't really understand all the technical going ons but my guess is it had to do with either:

• Updated Intel ME firmware
• Update Graphics Option ROM to version 1017.
• Updated Graphics UEFI driver

Luckily I was able to use the Recovery BIOS Update to downgrade back to BIOS 56 and everything booted up as normal. Just throwing this out there to either warn people or if someone smarter than me can figure of the problem help move this project along.

 

[GoingDark]

Try AliExpress, it will only cost $2 for 10 pcs 4-pin Molex PicoBlade cable. AliExpress Link Mine cables are on the way, lets see how far we can go.

The problem isn't finding 4-pin PicoBlade cables like the one in your link - I found lots of those on AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, etc. - but the particular adapter I bought/linked to has a 2-pin JST SH connector. So I needed a cable with that 2-pin SH connector on one end for the adapter, with the wires going to only the D+ and D- pins on a 4-pin PicoBlade on the other end for the motherboard USB header.

I look forward to your modified DSDT : D

The following features have issues, or have not been tested:
- internal USB headers

In theory, this unit has two internal USB headers. I did not test them, and as a result, the custom USB configuration in SSDT-USB.dsl does not have them enabled. If you enable them and discover the port numbers, please contribute and I will add the ports to the SSDT.

Hi @RehabMan, the two internal USB headers are on HS05 and HS06 according to ioreg. Can you add these to the SSDT? See below image for motherboard position:

 

[dmt0]

Hey all!
Got my first hackintosh build on my NUC8i5BEH. Everything seems to work great. The only issue is after some time using it (half an hour to an hour), graphics become unstable - for a few seconds there are some horizontal purple lines across parts of the screen, and then the screen turns off. Unplugging and plugging back the screen works, but then the problem repeats very soon. After a reboot it stays stable again for some time. Is that a common issue that has been observed before? All my build was done following this guide, used config_nuc8_bc.plist.

 

[nickk024]

Hi all. Have a NUC8i7BEH running rock solid, but noticed that it only ever gets up to 4-4.1ghz, where the chip is rated for 4.5 with TurboBoost. Might have something to do with my powerstates, but I did follow the guide very closely. Anyone having similar problems?

 

[Jono]

No, sadly Airdrop and Continuity only work on Hackintosh computers that have both Bluetooth and Wifi enabled-- and the cards have to be compatible. The chipset for wifi + bluetooth on the NUC (Intel) is not compatible with what Apple uses (Broadcom). This has been an outstanding issue for a few years now, and the reason why an alternative would be to use your m.2 slot to add one (Broadcom chip + m.2 adaptor)-- but then you'd have to boot from a SATA drive on the NUC, and have a few other issues that @GoingDark mentioned ... I don't want to deal with that on the NUC; I have it working perfectly fine on my other Hackintosh, but this is really just for fun. iMessage works though, no modifying required!

If you enable the internal Bluetooth (someone mentioned having to activate it in another OS before booting macOS) along with your USB WiFi adapter, will Airdrop work? If this can work I'll go the nvme route for my drive.

 

[Jono]

Thanks, I was just about to edit my post after reading that elsewhere.

 

[carguy0625]

AirDrop and Continuity do NOT work with USB BT/Wi-Fi dongles.

Is continuity and airdrop working on your NUC with the adapter you link to earlier?

 

[carguy0625]

Unfortunately, I haven't received the JST (PicoBlade) 1.25mm 4pin cable yet (may still have one to two weeks to go), so I can't tell. Theoretically, I am quite confident that it will work. As @GoingDark mentioned #post 578, as long as both cable (one header has a JST 1.25mm 4 pin connector and the other has a 2-pin JST SH connector) and SSDT are ready, it will work!

Let me know, I have ordered that adapter, and I would be willing to buy a couple of the cables off of you and pay for shipping if you are interested in selling a few.

 

[RehabMan]

Hi @RehabMan, the two internal USB headers are on HS05 and HS06 according to ioreg. Can you add these to the SSDT? See below image for motherboard position:
View attachment 389222

You must modify the SSDT yourself. Only you can know how you plan to use these connectors, therefore only you can determine the correct UsbConnector value.

 

[phialek]

You must modify the SSDT yourself. Only you can know how you plan to use these connectors, therefore only you can determine the correct UsbConnector value.

First of all thank you so much! My nuc8i7beh runs Mojave really well thanks to your instructions.

I want to add a bluetooth and wifi usb dongle inside the case and connect them to the internal headers. But because of the SSDT i cant do it. I have tried to read your instructions how to create a custom ssdt, but its just to hard for me.

You can boot with -uia_ignore_rmcf to cause USBInjectAll.kext to disregard the custom configuration data in the SSDT (which enables all ports).

If I do this, would then everything work as before, except that i could use the internal usb headers? My SD-card, internal bluetooth and wifi are disabled in the bios by the way.

Or is there an easy way for me to open the ports, since we know the port numbers now?

Before hitting they buy button though I would love to know if anybody is using the NUC Thunderbolt connection successfully with an external audio interface.

I'm interested in the exact same thing, however with a TB2 interface. Will the TB3 to TB2 adapter work and does anyone have experience with hackintosh & Universal Audio interfaces?

I have an UA Apollo Twin with TB1. I have connected it via TB2-TB3 adapter. It works perfectly fine, except that you need to shutdown the computer to swap the cable out of the nuc, otherwise the nuc will crash.