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[GUIDE] Remove extra Clover BIOS boot entries & prevent further problems

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Why is it that a step by step guide for the F20 F21 bios update(s) to cure this problem is not written or even any mention of this problem, in the 10.12 install guide? No one is mentioning or listing the possible problems and drawbacks of using the bios fix. Multibeast cannot cure or address this problem. More that a general knowledge of Clover's setting is needed to fix or attempt to fix the Ghost entry problem. These boards are not shipping with these bios updates. As usual the 7 generation boards are now the focus of the motherboard company's newest bios tweaks and 6th generation is already obsolete, even though Apple has not moved forward.
 
@dasboot5:
  • No idea why there's no mention in the Sierra guide, maybe as it doesn't affect all boards possibly? If you google "how to flash BIOS" there's a zillion how to's as it is more of a PC process than Mac.
  • Drawbacks of using the BIOS fix is the obvious, if you mess up the BIOS flash you can brick your board.
  • Boards don't generally ship with Beta BIOS as far as I can tell. Hence no f20 or f21.
  • GB are a tech company, that's what happens... unless you're Apple and then you can sell old components at a premium because it forces faster upgrades :silent:
Did the update fix your ghost entries?
 
@dasboot5:
  • No idea why there's no mention in the Sierra guide, maybe as it doesn't affect all boards possibly? If you google "how to flash BIOS" there's a zillion how to's as it is more of a PC process than Mac.
  • Drawbacks of using the BIOS fix is the obvious, if you mess up the BIOS flash you can brick your board.
  • Boards don't generally ship with Beta BIOS as far as I can tell. Hence no f20 or f21.
  • GB are a tech company, that's what happens... unless you're Apple and then you can sell old components at a premium because it forces faster upgrades :silent:
Did the update fix your ghost entries?


So, dumb dumb question. Is there a guide on how to flash your bios? I really dont want to brick the system, and have never attempted to flash bios before.
 
So, dumb dumb question. Is there a guide on how to flash your bios? I really don’t want to brick the system, and have never attempted to flash bios before.

1. It affects all boards and definitely Gigabyte which is Tony's recommended board manufacturer, and has been for years.

2. Drawbacks are that the Current Mac OS kernel does not support KABY Lake and modifications must be made to Clover manually to get the F2x bioses to work with Mac OS.

3. These versions of F2X bios updates are not beta they do not state beta!!

4. I do not have the testicular fortitude to flash and I have done so many flashes in my life, they must number in the hundreds as I have built more than a hundred machines for myself and others I am an expert in flashing but you cannot go back once you install either if the FX series of bioses.

I am writing this on a Gigabyte Z170MX Gaming 5 using two SSDs one Intel M.2 for Mac side which is 10.12.4 with latest Clover and Window 10 Enterprise 64 Creators edition version 1703 15063.168. of which the majority of my work (my job as an engineer) must be done on the PC side.

My point is this problem will affect everyone until the, or a, newer bios is installed properly that addresses this problem.

ONLY F5e is listed as Beta...

F20%20AND%20F21%20NOT%20BETA_zpslxmztkrx.jpg


The best method is use a clean flash drive (small) and only use USB 2.0 ports not 3.0. Download bios and use a PC to do this and then 7 zip to un-compress. Copy bios to flash drive.

Leave drive in USB 2 port and enter bios using F2 on a gigabyte board Disconnect all drives before you do this. You my leave optical connected. Enter flash utility from bios and choose drive then uncompressed file. Update restart, enter bios again load optimized default the restart again and reset to Mac OS boot-able settings. Then you will need to edit Plist and go into Clover to set two settings. Edit and Setting must be done before flashing or you will not be able to boot or so it has been described.
 
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1. It effects all board and definitely Gigabyte which is Tony's recommended board manufacturer and has been for years.
2. Drawbacks are that the Current Mac OS kernel does not support Kaby Lake and modifications must be made to Clover manually to get the F2x bioses to work.
3. These version F2X bios updates are not beta they do not state beta!!
4. I do not have the testicular fortitude to flash and I have done so many flashes in my life they must number in the hundreds as I have built more than hundred machines for myself an others I am an expert in flashing but you cannot go back once either if the FX seris of bioses are installed.
I am writing this on a Gigabyte Z170MX Gaming 5 using two SSDs one Intel M.2 for Mac side which is 10.12.4 with latest Clover and Window 10 Enterprise 64 Creators edition version 1703 15063.168. of which the majority of my work (my job as an engineer) must be done on the PC side.
My point is this problem will affect everyone until the or a newer bios is installed properly that addresses this problem.
ONLY F5e is listed as Beta.....
F20%20AND%20F21%20NOT%20BETA_zpslxmztkrx.jpg

F20%20AND%20F21%20NOT%20BETA_zpslxmztkrx.jpg
Beta BIOS 5x solved the BIOS ghost entries for my board. You can downgrade from F20 + BIOS using FPT tool... http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php?topic=17957.0

Make sure you note you Ethernet MAC address as you'll need to recode onto the hexcode!

The F20 BIOS are not so hackingtosh friendly as you'll need KernalPm to boot and you loose nvram support... if you had it. No massive deal as clover can handle both those issues.
 
@dasboot5 See below :thumbup:
  • Maybe you should paste your flash tutorial above into a new post and message a mod to have it added to the main Sierra post or stickied to the top of one of the forums? It would probably save a bunch of people time. The part you have at the end about doing the plist edit and changing the clover setting at the start of the process, maybe clarify that a bit more and move it to the beginning of the post as people probably work through the post from start to finish and won't have done that if its at the end.
  • Yeah that sounds like a pain to me, that's why I stick with current supported CPU's.
  • You're right, they aren't beta now. When my Rev 1.0 board (Z170MX G5) shipped from the factory there was only f3 (from memory), then we ordered another few boards well after the f5 beta came out (but prior to f20beta) but the boards were all f4, then we got some more after f20b was released and they were f4 still which seems to point to them all either leaving the factory before the two most recent bios releases or the betas not being deemed appropriate. Then again, this is just speculation...
  • It sounds like you've flashed more boards than anyone, I'm confused? Maybe use the app @ovb1 suggested to roll back if you need to. But make a backup if your existing bios first?
  • Your build is very similar to mine, but you have a Kaby Lake CPU right? I thought you had a Z97MX like in your sig?

@ovb1 are you running Sky or Kaby Lake CPU – I cant find the i7 6600k, just the i7 6700k or i5 6600K?
 
@dasboot5 See below :thumbup:
  • Maybe you should paste your flash tutorial above into a new post and message a mod to have it added to the main Sierra post or stickied to the top of one of the forums? It would probably save a bunch of people time. The part you have at the end about doing the plist edit and changing the clover setting at the start of the process, maybe clarify that a bit more and move it to the beginning of the post as people probably work through the post from start to finish and won't have done that if its at the end.
  • Yeah that sounds like a pain to me, that's why I stick with current supported CPU's.
  • You're right, they aren't beta now. When my Rev 1.0 board (Z170MX G5) shipped from the factory there was only f3 (from memory), then we ordered another few boards well after the f5 beta came out (but prior to f20beta) but the boards were all f4, then we got some more after f20b was released and they were f4 still which seems to point to them all either leaving the factory before the two most recent bios releases or the betas not being deemed appropriate. Then again, this is just speculation...
  • It sounds like you've flashed more boards than anyone, I'm confused? Maybe use the app @ovb1 suggested to roll back if you need to. But make a backup if your existing bios first?
  • Your build is very similar to mine, but you have a Kaby Lake CPU right? I thought you had a Z97MX like in your sig?

@ovb1 are you running Sky or Kaby Lake CPU – I cant find the i7 6600k, just the i7 6700k or i5 6600K?
I'm running skylake so I can get away without using the F20+ BIOS if you running Kirby Lake then you've no option on the X170 boards except to update?
 
@dasboot5 See below :thumbup:
  • Maybe you should paste your flash tutorial above into a new post and message a mod to have it added to the main Sierra post or stickied to the top of one of the forums? It would probably save a bunch of people time. The part you have at the end about doing the plist edit and changing the clover setting at the start of the process, maybe clarify that a bit more and move it to the beginning of the post as people probably work through the post from start to finish and won't have done that if its at the end.
  • Yeah that sounds like a pain to me, that's why I stick with current supported CPU's.
  • You're right, they aren't beta now. When my Rev 1.0 board (Z170MX G5) shipped from the factory there was only f3 (from memory), then we ordered another few boards well after the f5 beta came out (but prior to f20beta) but the boards were all f4, then we got some more after f20b was released and they were f4 still which seems to point to them all either leaving the factory before the two most recent bios releases or the betas not being deemed appropriate. Then again, this is just speculation...
  • It sounds like you've flashed more boards than anyone, I'm confused? Maybe use the app @ovb1 suggested to roll back if you need to. But make a backup if your existing bios first?
  • Your build is very similar to mine, but you have a Kaby Lake CPU right? I thought you had a Z97MX like in your sig?

@ovb1 are you running Sky or Kaby Lake CPU – I cant find the i7 6600k, just the i7 6700k or i5 6600K?

The Mods will never post my tutorial even if I added in the procedure for the Plist edit and the items that must be checked in Clover for the the F2X bios versions to work. Also that the Latest version of Clover is needed for 10.12.4. I do not fall into the clique that has the power here; (Tony, Rehab, Macman, Stork, Going Bald etc.) The question is, why is it being ignored and not in the instructions?????

I am not using Kaby in the build I listed, This is my temporary work machine. I have 1 Skylake machine at home. (Lian Li PC-V358B MICRO-ATX CASE modified so Noctua will allow removable motherboard to clear top of 140 mm cpu fan, GZ170mx GAMING 5 with a 6700 I7 not a K using a Noctua L-Type Premium Quiet CPU Cooler_ Retail Cooling NH-L9x65, a OSX wifi Full size miniPCIe Card - Apple Broadcom Bcm94360cd - 802.11 A/B/G/N/AC + Bluetooth 4.0,16 gig of Geil DD4 ram EVO POTENZA 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2400 (PC4 19200), Intel SSD 600p Series (512GB, M.2 2280 80mm NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 with Windows 10 Enterprise 64 installed 1703.) A Toshiba Terra-byte SSD Toshiba OCZ TRION 150 2.5" 960GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD), with OSX Sierra 10.12.4 with the latest Clover, a MSI GTX 950 GPU and a Cable Mod loomed power supply cable kit for an EVGA 550GS SUPER NOVA power supply.

My work machine that is down now is a Z97x Gaming 7 which has a M.2 not booting issue with windows 10 a Kingston drive. The machine in my signature was to be my work drive but I decided to let it sit as a backup machine. I also have a Z97 mini-itx I7 machine I built for mys son and a Q87T/CSM with dual drives in a Luna designs case for use as a HTPC in the TV room. This will be replaced with a Q170T machine in a case by HDPlex at some point these are both I5's.

If F5E cures the problem, and you can confirm, and this does not support Kaby, this may be the way to go. I am on F4. I have no Kaby builds to date, but I just built a Ryzen 5 for a friend which is not an APU as is the same for Ryzen 7's at this point.
 
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