Has ANYBODY Successfully installed on Asrock Z97 Extreme6?

[SERGE2013]

To all above - well, unless you are really deep into using M.2 x4 interface for loading OSX it seems better way will be to skip to another mobo Z97 Extreme6 has weird glitches with creating multiple EFI boot records as well as access to USB (2.0/3.0) keyboard and mouse during boot time even while using BIOS v 1.70 through 2.30 (the latest as of today).

I finally got my system running quite stable, but the way how it actually boots now looks far from being correct or ideal.

Mobo inconsistent operations is the most painful part. Motherboard is the core part therefore has to work predictably i.e. as described in the manual with expected results when you change its options, whereas Asrock Z97 Extreme6 acts a lot while switching CSM on/off.

I have also seen multiple reports of failed INTEL NIC (mine died few days after the first run).

Based on what I have read the new Z99 chipset should be very much free from all these BIOS glitches and be able to support EFI booting of newer M.2 x4 drives as specified.

 

[SERGE2013]

UPDATE:

I have tried EFI shell and here is what I got ( -b flag at the very end of any command will force output by a single screen ):

1. bcfg boot dump -b shows all EFI boot records in the NVRAM. That exactly 'F11' output you see while booting.

2. bcfg boot rm # removes boot entry ( # = 0, 1, 2 etc. In my case there were 27 of them).

3. bcfg boot add file # "DESC" adds boot entry (file = fsX:\EFI\CLOVER\CLOVERX64.efi)

4. map shows a mapping between a user-defined name and a device handle (can add -v or -f for more details)

Using map command I have identified the bootable drives i.e. fs0: was for M.2, fs9: was for INTEL SSD, fs22: was for regular HDD.

Then I deleted all boot entries except the regular HDD, which was option 0.

Re-booted, got the only 1 boot option using F11 key. So far so good.

Added 2 more entries for M.2 and INTEL SSD:

bcfg boot add 1 fs0:\EFI\CLOVER\CLOVERX64.efi "BOOT_M2"
bcfg boot add 2 fs9:\EFI\CLOVER\CLOVERX64.efi "BOOT_INTEL"

Rebooted.

Got 3 boot records in BIOS via F11:

BOOT_HDD (this is the # 0 boot option for HDD)
blank line (this was supposed to be my M2 option!!!)
BOOT_INTEL (this is the # 2 boot option for INTEL SSD)

So now I can boot from both HDD and INTEL. No M.2 boot is available!

If I go to EFI shell again and use bcfg boot dump command, there will still be three options: 0 (HDD), 1 (M.2) and 3 (INTEL SSD), but for M.2 (option 1) the actual device name will change!!

The same exactly name change will happen if I remove INTEL SSD and check NVRAM boot in the shell again.

It looks like the Extreme6 motherboard just can not recognize XP491 M2 drive therefore update the boot entry with 'non-existing' drive. That what all posts from RAMCITY and other folks about - XP941 OEM release does not have proper ROM to be recognized by BIOS.

Such a boot option can be added to each HDD and regular SSD to become bootable while pressing F11 (or to set it up directly in boot section of BIOS).

BTW using CLOVER function to add boot entries to each drives seems to serve a different purpose, at least it does not add the same boot record to NVRAM as the shell command does.

FYI: UEFI shell specs and command syntax can be found here:
http://www.uefi.org/sites/default/files/resources/UEFI_Shell_Spec_2_0_Errata_A.pdf

Cheers,
Serge

 

[wojtekson16]

Hey guys,

I think that I've got same problem as you (I cannot boot Clover from my SSD), the only one way to boot it is from USB, is there any fix for it? Mobo z97ex9 so I think the ex6 config will work on my mobo but anyone has an idea how to fix booting?

 

[SERGE2013]

What SSD do you have? I managed to boot from INTEL520 series 180Gb and CORSAIR GS 240Gb but not from that M.2x4 XP941 256Gb. So as of now I am actually booting from regular 2.5"HDD and then load OSX from M.2. That regular HHD is being used as daily CCC clone anyways.

For some reason EFI boot does not recognize that XP941 SSD as bootable.

 

[Nebula111]

Anyone who has managed to get the lan working, how did you do it? Neither my ethernet nor my wifi/bluetooth chip is being detected.

 

[SERGE2013]

Hi,

I am using REALTEC NIC only (since INTEL NIC died 2 days after the computer been turned on) and had to fix it (can be found in the threads here). INTEL NIC was working right away till it died.

For the BT I am using exactly this one USB adapter (can be found in the byer's guide/accessories, working OOO): IOGear Bluetooth 4.0 Adapter

Not using wireless - no need for it..

 

[quixilver]

Hey guys! Just joined this community.

I have a desktop with the foll. specs:

i7 4790 (non-k)
asrock extreme 6 z97
16 gb ram
MSI gtx 970
a few hdd's and booting off an hdd running win 8.

I wish to attach a 320 gb hdd to install El capitan on to and another 1tb drive for Final Cut x for some very basic editing that needs final cut x. Is it possible to get this out of this setup or will i run into too many issues?

Thanks in advance.

 

[SERGE2013]

This is what I have and it works VERY WELL, though I spent quite a bit time fighting the USB, looks like it is still a common issue. Best option would be to get old PS/2 keyboard (spare one, I got one from work's junk/recycling bin) just to get to BIOS, once everything is set up, you will get full speed MAC machine

I use mine for FCP10 video editing, booting from old M.2x4 256Gb (well, to be precise that one did not support booting so I actually get Clover installed on 1TB 3.5" HDD used for backup of my user profile, which I moved to RAID0 of 2x1TB 3.5"HDD) and load OSX from M.2, also I built RAID1 4x256GB 10KRPM VelociRaptors for main video editing storage (almost as fast as SSD) and have 2 x 3TB regular drives for other media storage and 1x6TB drive as archive. All is working perfectly. I also added NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX770 connected to 2 AppleCinema 27" displays.

 

[quixilver]

This is what I have and it works VERY WELL, though I spent quite a bit time fighting the USB, looks like it is still a common issue. Best option would be to get old PS/2 keyboard (spare one, I got one from work's junk/recycling bin) just to get to BIOS, once everything is set up, you will get full speed MAC machine

I use mine for FCP10 video editing, booting from old M.2x4 256Gb (well, to be precise that one did not support booting so I actually get Clover installed on 1TB 3.5" HDD used for backup of my user profile, which I moved to RAID0 of 2x1TB 3.5"HDD) and load OSX from M.2, also I built RAID1 4x256GB 10KRPM VelociRaptors for main video editing storage (almost as fast as SSD) and have 2 x 3TB regular drives for other media storage and 1x6TB drive as archive. All is working perfectly. I also added NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX770 connected to 2 AppleCinema 27" displays.

I can't thank you enough for that very quick and finely detailed reply as this really puts my mind at ease.
Since I would like to get this system up and running on Mac OS asap, I just plan on adding 2 additional drives, one as the boot drive and the other as the media drive.

Is the installation guide on this forum adequate? I intend to install alongside on a desktop already running w8. Hope I wont have much of a problem?

Going to consult :

http://www.tonymacx86.com/multi-booting/96000-guide-dual-booting-mountain-lion-windows-8-a.html

but will I run into any issues if I already have w8 preinstalled?

 

[SERGE2013]

You are welcome.You can use CLOVER installation manual found on this forum for EFI booting of YOSEMITE, then remember to apply the latest official YOSEMITE update (the link can be found here as well).

I would not recommend you at all installing both Windows and OSX on the same HDD, better to use at least separate HDD's and plug out OSX HDD and all other drives while installing WIN7.

I would really recommend you to keep OSX only as a main OS well, unless you get enough experience with installing it.

For example, I managed to get a very stable OSX machine on ASROCK Z97 Extreme 6 but for whatever reason could not not install WIN with the same BIOS settings it simply did not recognize USB at all.

If I change USB settings in BIOS to make it work with WIN then my OSX stops recognizing it. It might be a general motherboard bug, it could be the particular motherboard glitch, but everything else working just great for over a year or so. I also updated the BIOS to the whatever latest version they have - same story.

I finally made a decision of making OSX a priority and forgot about WIN (since I do not have any windows machine at home anyways). To run WIN applications the virtual machine can be easily created using Parallels or Fusion.

I would also highly recommend you once you get all your BIOS settings working for OSX and the system runs stable - make a BIOS BACKUP (using this motherboard's embedded tool for dual-BIOS A/B, this is an awesome tool indeed, it helped me many times when I was upgrading BIOS and everything stopped booting - you can easily roll back to the working BIOS. Once rolled back - do not forget to make the backup of this working BIOS again right away).

Also it might be a good idea to create bootable (tested!) cheap USB stick and save your BIOS settings file there as well as CLOVER installation, CLOVER configurator and the whole EFI partition of your perfectly working boot drive (it is ~46Mb only) with all your settings and themes etc and keep this stick in a waterproof safe .

After few years working on self-built MAC I realized the sweet and happy life ends the same moment something goes wrong with your BIOS or boot drive. And repeating all those installation steps might be a real pain especially if you did it awhile ago..

I also highly recommend you buying the cheapest HDD of the same size as your bootable one and use CCC to clone it and make sure it is bootable as well (I do monthly system clone or whenever the new APP is installed). It can be external drive or USB or whatever e.g. I am using the SATA internal hot-swap bay for the speed. This 50$ solution will save you LOTS of time in case something goes wrong with the system drive.

I also moved the whole user profile off the system drive to another physical drive. That allowed me to use small but extremely fast M.2x4 SSD for OSX files (and also cheap small HDD for its backup) and whatever size HDD you might need for your data.

This is my main machine for all docs and pics, emails and even some work. Also I simply can not afford loosing any of my documents. And this is NOT an Apple-cared machine, obviously. So these little practical precautions (actually the cost of 1 system backup HDD and 1 Documents backup HDD, ~$100 for both) now make my machine and data quite reliable and accessible. I also found using CCC is way better than Apple's Time Machine.

Hope it helps! Feel free to ask more questions, please

I spent quite some time building my BigMak and really LOVE it now!

Serge