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

Another question regarding the dual display setup. I need both connection to be HDMI, therefore I need to purchase a converter. Is the Thunderbolt port working in Catalina, thus I can buy USB-C TB to HDMI converter? Or do I need to buy the DP over USB-C to HDMI converter (as I see Intel specifying the other port as DP)?
I see the SSDT-USBC in the config.plist as UsB-C fix, is this for the TB?
Thanks in advance.
Thunderbolt works great and is supported out of the box and you need it to power the second display, I have the HDMI/ Thunderbolt adapter you describe and it works great in tandem with the native HDMI. In the bios you can pick which port is primary. I guess I should mention that not all monitors play well and some users have complained about not getting 4K resolution although most sorted that out. Cable quality can also make a difference and in some cases the HDMI firmware needed updating to resolve issues.
The USB-C fix is to enable the USB-C port to function as designed.
 
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I have been trying to install OC hac on my thumb drive. I used create media to make the bootable TD and then replaced the EFI folder on the TD with NUC8i5OC5.9EFI (WO Internal Headers). That did not work so I tried the next folder NUC8EFIOC5.8_(With Internal Headers), etc. I tried all of the different folders, that was after fighting with the BIOS which I changed to Default and then changed settings to match the suggested setting. The NUC does not see a bootable partition on my thumb drive so it keeps booting into the Windows Partition/SSD. The TD no longer boots at all after trying all of the different EFI folders which I used to replace the default OC EFI. I am not going to do a new create media to build a new Clover drive and see if I can do that. I succeeded very easily in my first efforts on the NUC (relatively speaking). The only original issue was the USB fix to limit the USB ports to <15. Is it not OK to change the EFIs or maybe I am doing a different mistakes perhaps? I was looking at page 90 for direction. I also tried to do a NUC7i3BNK install on my NUC7i3BNK and that failed many times to boot, but I finally got it to recoginize the boot partition and do into OC, but at first it didn't have the USB working after it was in OC. I finally got it to see my USB KB and mouse and I was able to start the install, but it stalled V being halfway down the screen where it stated date and time of install. I must be missing some steps between create media and change EFI folder.
 
I have been trying to install OC hac on my thumb drive. I used create media to make the bootable TD and then replaced the EFI folder on the TD with NUC8i5OC5.9EFI (WO Internal Headers). That did not work so I tried the next folder NUC8EFIOC5.8_(With Internal Headers), etc. I tried all of the different folders, that was after fighting with the BIOS which I changed to Default and then changed settings to match the suggested setting. The NUC does not see a bootable partition on my thumb drive so it keeps booting into the Windows Partition/SSD. The TD no longer boots at all after trying all of the different EFI folders which I used to replace the default OC EFI. I am not going to do a new create media to build a new Clover drive and see if I can do that. I succeeded very easily in my first efforts on the NUC (relatively speaking). The only original issue was the USB fix to limit the USB ports to <15. Is it not OK to change the EFIs or maybe I am doing a different mistakes perhaps? I was looking at page 90 for direction. I also tried to do a NUC7i3BNK install on my NUC7i3BNK and that failed many times to boot, but I finally got it to recoginize the boot partition and do into OC, but at first it didn't have the USB working after it was in OC. I finally got it to see my USB KB and mouse and I was able to start the install, but it stalled V being halfway down the screen where it stated date and time of install. I must be missing some steps between create media and change EFI folder.
[/QUOTE]
I agree. Long post with not a lot of information how you are attempting this. Make sure you are mounting the hidden EFI partition of your USB drive using the EFI Agent utility or opencore configurator or whatever solution you prefer to do that. Then copy and paste in the appropriate EFI folder for your model. Reboot and see if the drive shows as a boot option in your bios or by using the f10 key to choose a bootable option. If it doesn't show you didn't do it properly.
Follow this guide but replace the EFI folder Unibeast creates.
 
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I have been trying to install OC hac on my thumb drive. I used create media to make the bootable TD and then replaced the EFI folder on the TD with NUC8i5OC5.9EFI (WO Internal Headers). That did not work so I tried the next folder NUC8EFIOC5.8_(With Internal Headers), etc. I tried all of the different folders, that was after fighting with the BIOS which I changed to Default and then changed settings to match the suggested setting. The NUC does not see a bootable partition on my thumb drive so it keeps booting into the Windows Partition/SSD. The TD no longer boots at all after trying all of the different EFI folders which I used to replace the default OC EFI. I am not going to do a new create media to build a new Clover drive and see if I can do that. I succeeded very easily in my first efforts on the NUC (relatively speaking). The only original issue was the USB fix to limit the USB ports to <15. Is it not OK to change the EFIs or maybe I am doing a different mistakes perhaps? I was looking at page 90 for direction. I also tried to do a NUC7i3BNK install on my NUC7i3BNK and that failed many times to boot, but I finally got it to recoginize the boot partition and do into OC, but at first it didn't have the USB working after it was in OC. I finally got it to see my USB KB and mouse and I was able to start the install, but it stalled V being halfway down the screen where it stated date and time of install. I must be missing some steps between create media and change EFI folder.
I agree. Long post with not a lot of information how you are attempting this. Make sure you are mounting the hidden EFI partition of your USB drive using the EFI Agent utility or opencore configurator or whatever solution you prefer to do that. Then copy and paste in the appropriate EFI folder for your model. Reboot and see if the drive shows as a boot option in your bios or by using the f10 key to choose a bootable option. If it doesn't show you didn't do it properly.
Follow this guide but replace the EFI folder Unibeast creates.
[/QUOTE]
I did a TD using Unibeast for Catalina and replaced the Unibeast EFI a couple times using your posted NUC8ClovEFI.zip. This did not work, so I used Clover Bootloader to install the Clover_v5119 bootloader on the drive. That did not work so I replaced the EFI folder with NUC8ClovEFI.zip again. After putting NUC8ClovEFI.zip EFI folder in again I rebooted and it said Reboot and Select Proper Boot Drive... This is all I am able to get off my NUC8i7BEH. I initially installed the OC5.9 EFI and when it did not work, I realized that I wanted to use your EFI folder for Clover installs like the one I had initially, not the OC folders. The subsequent Replacements of the EFI folders did not get the unit to boot. I am beginning to think I need to replace the BIOS with one that is know to be compatible with Clover. What do you think and which BIOS do I use. I see 71 mentioned. I mentioned the long number sequence of what I believe my BIOS number is above. I am beginning to believe the BIOS upgrade is the problem unless you see something wrong in this post of the steps I took.
 
I agree. Long post with not a lot of information how you are attempting this. Make sure you are mounting the hidden EFI partition of your USB drive using the EFI Agent utility or opencore configurator or whatever solution you prefer to do that. Then copy and paste in the appropriate EFI folder for your model. Reboot and see if the drive shows as a boot option in your bios or by using the f10 key to choose a bootable option. If it doesn't show you didn't do it properly.
Follow this guide but replace the EFI folder Unibeast creates.
I did a TD using Unibeast for Catalina and replaced the Unibeast EFI a couple times using your posted NUC8ClovEFI.zip. This did not work, so I used Clover Bootloader to install the Clover_v5119 bootloader on the drive. That did not work so I replaced the EFI folder with NUC8ClovEFI.zip again. After putting NUC8ClovEFI.zip EFI folder in again I rebooted and it said Reboot and Select Proper Boot Drive... This is all I am able to get off my NUC8i7BEH. I initially installed the OC5.9 EFI and when it did not work, I realized that I wanted to use your EFI folder for Clover installs like the one I had initially, not the OC folders. The subsequent Replacements of the EFI folders did not get the unit to boot. I am beginning to think I need to replace the BIOS with one that is know to be compatible with Clover. What do you think and which BIOS do I use. I see 71 mentioned. I mentioned the long number sequence of what I believe my BIOS number is above. I am beginning to believe the BIOS upgrade is the problem unless you see something wrong in this post of the steps I took.
[/QUOTE]
I have not updated the Clover version for months so thats probably the issue. And I'm sorry to say its not something I plan on doing anytime soon either
 
I did a TD using Unibeast for Catalina and replaced the Unibeast EFI a couple times using your posted NUC8ClovEFI.zip. This did not work, so I used Clover Bootloader to install the Clover_v5119 bootloader on the drive. That did not work so I replaced the EFI folder with NUC8ClovEFI.zip again. After putting NUC8ClovEFI.zip EFI folder in again I rebooted and it said Reboot and Select Proper Boot Drive... This is all I am able to get off my NUC8i7BEH. I initially installed the OC5.9 EFI and when it did not work, I realized that I wanted to use your EFI folder for Clover installs like the one I had initially, not the OC folders. The subsequent Replacements of the EFI folders did not get the unit to boot. I am beginning to think I need to replace the BIOS with one that is know to be compatible with Clover. What do you think and which BIOS do I use. I see 71 mentioned. I mentioned the long number sequence of what I believe my BIOS number is above. I am beginning to believe the BIOS upgrade is the problem unless you see something wrong in this post of the steps I took.
I have not updated the Clover version for months so thats probably the issue. And I'm sorry to say its not something I plan on doing anytime soon either
[/QUOTE]
Have you determined or noticed which version of the BIOS is reliable?
 
I have not updated the Clover version for months so thats probably the issue. And I'm sorry to say its not something I plan on doing anytime soon either
Have you determined or noticed which version of the BIOS is reliable?
[/QUOTE]
This is not a bios related issue, at this point in time any version should work. Just make sure you have the settings correct.

Boot->Boot Configuration, disable "Network Boot"
- Power->Secondary Power Settings, "Wake on LAN from S4/S5", set to "Stay Off"

These settings are important but are already set as needed by "Load Defaults"
- Devices->Video, "IGD Minimum Memory" set to 64mb or 128mb
- Devices->Video, "IGD Aperture Size" set to 256mb
- Boot->Secure Boot, "Secure Boot" is disabled
 
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If you are looking for a dual HDMI and fully supported NUC you might wanna look into the NUC7I7DNKE and other variants of this series. This NUC allows to replace the wireless card with a supported model which means that you can have continuity, airdrop, handoff, Apple Watch unlock approve etc working. Mine is rock solid on OpenCore 5.9 and functionality identical to a real Mac mini. The only downside it that there no analog audio or microphone. You need to use bluetooth (AirPods work great for me) or a monitor with an analog output which is quite common now.

You can find all details in my signature
Thanks for the recommendation.
Been considering this NUC7DNKE actually at first, since as you said it is very flexible specifically on the WF/BT card with dual HDMI which is perfect for my use case. Unfortunately, this unit is no longer available in my country, so it left me out with NUC8BEH only. Also considering NUC8BEK though, with its sleek shorter case, but it is still newly launched and not yet available as well in my country so I stick with NUC8BEH.

Thunderbolt works great and is supported out of the box and you need it to power the second display, I have the HDMI/ Thunderbolt adapter you describe and it works great in tandem with the native HDMI. In the bios you can pick which port is primary. I guess I should mention that not all monitors play well and some users have complained about not getting 4K resolution although most sorted that out. Cable quality can also make a difference and in some cases the HDMI firmware needed updating to resolve issues.
The USB-C fix is to enable the USB-C port to function as designed.
Thanks for the full usage details. For now, I will use both port for 1080p display, one driving an AVR as HTPC with separated OS in a flashdisk, and the other directly to secondary monitor when I use it in macOS.
 
I have not updated the Clover version for months so thats probably the issue. And I'm sorry to say its not something I plan on doing anytime soon either
Have you determined or noticed which version of the BIOS is reliable?
[/QUOTE]
You said that you have not updated the Clover Version for months and that is probably the problem. I used your EFI and it installed and worked good until I tried to do the USB port limit kext. That and the update seem to rain on my parade and caused the NUC to become seemingly impossible to get working reliably. I had upgraded it multiple times but after shutting down and then rebooting later, it would not reboot. I rebuilt it multiple times and then finally no success in reinstalling OS. Maybe I am getting too frustrated and not taking enough time to get each step? I forgot to mention that this last couple installs, the F10 boot config saw my thumb drive, but when it was saved and continued to boot, it said Boot drive not found or something like that which made me think the BIOS was acting up by not recognizing the bootloader. I was thinking that if the Clover works for current and past BIOS and they make some changes to it then that could cause a problem. I guess I'll bench the project and look at it later and maybe I can see the problem then. Thanks for your help. I really appreciate your efforts.
 
Have you determined or noticed which version of the BIOS is reliable?
You said that you have not updated the Clover Version for months and that is probably the problem. I used your EFI and it installed and worked good until I tried to do the USB port limit kext. That and the update seem to rain on my parade and caused the NUC to become seemingly impossible to get working reliably. I had upgraded it multiple times but after shutting down and then rebooting later, it would not reboot. I rebuilt it multiple times and then finally no success in reinstalling OS. Maybe I am getting too frustrated and not taking enough time to get each step? I forgot to mention that this last couple installs, the F10 boot config saw my thumb drive, but when it was saved and continued to boot, it said Boot drive not found or something like that which made me think the BIOS was acting up by not recognizing the bootloader. I was thinking that if the Clover works for current and past BIOS and they make some changes to it then that could cause a problem. I guess I'll bench the project and look at it later and maybe I can see the problem then. Thanks for your help. I really appreciate your efforts.
[/QUOTE]
Its usually OSx updates that bork a working configuration. At some point I might go back and work on the clover versions but no promises. I suggest trying opencore, its widely described as the go to boot loader for now and future developements
 
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