Has ANYBODY Successfully installed on Asrock Z97 Extreme6?

[rsleonard]

Thanks for the suggestion...it basically brought me to this post. I'm not sure why they posted this motherboard as a compatible motherboard without any credible proof that it actually works fully. As far as I can tell, nobody has gotten it to work well. I guess the "rule" is to wait until a board appears on the "Golden Build" section of tonymacx86! At this point, I'll look for a Z97 in Golden Build and change out the MB.

 

[fernandR]

Completely agree with you @rsleonard.

It seems to be a trend here to recommend every board that uses a chipset that "works". The motherboard is THE most critical element. It would be SO simple to clearly identify a handful of motherboards (and other components) that are "known to work OOB" vs. a wider selection "likely to work" vs. "unknown".

People with more time and balls could then explore, while pedestrians, who have no desire to be guinea pigs, could assemble safe systems. They could build up know-how, being confident at the outset that they would not have to rip things out and start all over, and knowing that if it doesn't work, they are almost certainly just making a (minor) mistake.

As it stands people with no experience and zero skills are thrown in the deep end, frustrated, worried they might have to get all new parts, asking beginner questions right next to completely different people who are exploring very advanced builds. There's a positive side to it, but IMHO it's a bit of a mess.

 

[stehor]

Quick install guide for z97 Extreme6

Use your uni stick and install clover to it. legacy use boot0af/choose theme done. for uefi select uefi/choose theme/drivers64uefi add osxoptio.Get show all files from downloads and copy the fakesmc and lan kexts from the hidden Extensions folder paste them in efi/clover/kexts/10.10 now go to efi/clover and move the sample config to trash and paste the config i uploaded.Note the config is for intel hd4600 install

 

[Sm1th]

Hi rsleonard,

Have you straightened out the issues with your Extreme6 MB? I've been considering buying a Z97 Extreme6 MB with i7 4790k CPU to build a hack but then I saw your thread. I will probably go with another MB if you still haven't figured things out yet... I'm a first time builder so I'd like a configuration with a high probability of working without any fiddling around with too much.

Thanks,
Smith

 

[SERGE2013]

I just upgraded to YOSEMITE from MAVERICKS, fixed sound/LAN and all is working just great. EXCEPT the booting:

I have XP941 M.2x4 256GB for about a year far but still can not manage to boot from it. ASRock Z97 Extreme6 acts very strange - with CSM disabled there is no way to see any EFI boot drive except and until the USB 2.0 EFI boot flash drive is plugged in. After that there are multiple entries show up for all my drives (including SATA, SATA SSD, M.2x4 and USB) if using F11 boot screen, but if I physically remove any SATA drive - the boot entry either stays or stays but becomes BLANK(!). Also in the boot section of the BIOS itself I can see LOTS of repeating entries in groups of either blank or showing non-existing drives, sometimes this BIOS boot section can somehow grow up to 40-60(!) entries all together. Only clearing CMOS or even Re-flashing the BIOS will clean that list. I am using BIOS V1.70 but have also tried all newer versions up to 2.30 with even worse results (e.g. when booting into UEFI BIOS it becomes extremely slow with 3-5 seconds response delay to the input no matter if I am using PS/2 or USB mouse and keyboard with all USB compatibility options turned ON).

I ended up with using regular SATA HD as actual boot drive (since I am using it anyway as destination for Carbon Copy Cloner for OSX YOSEMITE) and M.2x4 drive as media to load YOSEMITE.

Is there any way to make the XP941 M.2 x4 drive bootable itself? I have exactly the same partition/content for this M.2 drive and SATA SSD and regular SATA HD. The only regular HD can be seen in the BIOS (apart from the USB 2.0 stick).

Once booted to CLOVER, ALL my drives with whatever OS installed become perfectly visible (M.2x4, SATA/SSD, SATA/HD, USB 3.0) and I can load whatever is installed on them...

 

[schrammo]

Hello Serge, yes it's possible to make your M.2 SSD bootable with Clover. I have had the same problems with my new Samsung SM951 AHCI non NVMe Version. The issue with the CSM Option and multiple Partitions Entries seems to be a Bios Problem from Asrock. Maybe you can write Asrock Tech Support and the will send you an new BIOS Revision, please let me know if get a nwe Revision. Bootdrive: All I have to do is to install Clover Bootmanager into the Install Partion of Yosemite on my SSD and configure it like I had done it on my USB stick for UEFI booting. But there is still one issue left, I have to use a Keyboard that is connected by wire with my Computer to switch between the different Installations.
Greetings Oliver

 

[SERGE2013]

Hi Oliver -

OH!! So even the new SM951 AHCI is causing issues? I was thinking to buy SM591 but it is all expensive toys so I would really want to make working what I already have instead... Have you tried installing CLOVER in AHCI legacy BIOS mode? CLOVER has an option for that, I have tried it once for CORSAIR SSD but the OSX won't boot.

I will definitely write to ASROSK support re: this multiple boot records issue.

For making M.2 SSD bootable I have done exactly the same you wrote - installed CLOVER on that EFI partition and copied confirmed bootable EFI files/plist from USB (or the regular HDD I am using now to boot as well as an destination for Carbon Copy Cloner). The main issue still is - under any option the motherboard does NOT show M.2 XP941 SSD as EFI bootable drive. Unless I plug in either USB or HDD with EFI/CLOVER then it shows up but even if I pick up M.2 drive from the CLOVER boot menu the only regular HHD will actually boot. Looks really weird.

Also the USB ports are acting on that motherboard indeed, once I had very hard time to get to BIOS and ended up with using PS/2 wired keyboard, which always works to get into BIOS. The regular USB keyboard is not recognized until the OS X is actually booted.

Regards,
Serge

 

[schrammo]

Hello Serge

as Asrock wrote me, I've to install the latest Bios 2.30 at mein Mainboard Z97 Extreme 6. Then the Samsung SSD SM951 will show up in the adv. Configuration Menu. It took me a lot of time to prepare a bootable USB Stick, because I've use my Gainward Nvidia GTX 970 GPU, and an Intel Xeon E3-1220 V3 CPU. Postinstallation I had to correct a few issues (LAN, SOUND Boot without USB Stick). But now the System is stable. There is only one stupid issue left. With Clover Boot Manager it's impossible to use my Logitech K750 USB Keyboard/Mouse. I had to switch to an wired Apple orig. Keyboard to be able to select between the different OS in Clover Bootmanager ....

Greetings Oliver

 

[SERGE2013]

Hi Oliver,

Yes I have also upgraded to BIOS 2.30 and my wireless keyboard stopped working, so I had to use PS/2 keyboard to get to BIOS because neither native Apple nor any other USB keyboard would work before OSX loads.

To boot into the volume I need (called M.2) I used this CLOVER option (Defailt Boot Volume: M.2):



I have also had to fix LAN and Sound - did you manage to get the Motherboard's microphone working? I can only use AppleCinema's mic or wireless Logitech Headset's mic. Settings show the Line-In and Internal Mic but they both are not actually working:



Cheers,
Serge

 

[stehor]

I am not having any issues with my mobo but using usb dac and ozmosis bootloader. logitech k750 kb/ msi r5 230 gfx card/bcm94331cd apple airport card. soon to be amd r9 nano cant wait for that one.