Help for a beginner

[matthiggins87]

Likely the "beeps" indicate a hardware problem.

This part of the boot process is called POST and from your description is failing before getting to the EFI stage.

Power off, disconnect the mains cable, and then check all your hardware is properly connected and that your GPU has it's power-supply lead properly seated etc.

Lets look at your BIOS. Are you on F14 or something older ? If older I would flash F14 then load defaults and set it again.

GA-Z77X-UD5H (rev. 1.1) Support | Motherboard - GIGABYTE U.S.A.

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...

www.gigabyte.com

Are you sure you've set it up correctly ? Did you follow any guide to do that ?
Is Init Display First set to PEG ?

View attachment 525276


Here's a few more important BIOS settings:

View attachment 525274

I reset the mobo so that it went to a backup. I then went through and changed the BIOS settings one by one in accordance to trs96's screenshot. When I change CSM Support to Never I get the beeps and cannot get anything to the display.

 

[trs96]

When I change CSM Support to Never I get the beeps and cannot get anything to the display.

I think that the 670 is too old to allow you to disable CSM support so leave it enabled.

 

[matthiggins87]

I think that the 670 is too old to allow you to disable CSM support so leave it enabled.

OK Ive matched all the other settings to your post, including the ones without red highlights/arrows but I have left CSM Support enabled.

I checked and the BIOS is running F14.

I can now get back to where I was previously; able to boot from Clover screen and the last line on verbose mode before the display dies says:
IOConsoleUsers: gIOScreenLockState 3, hs 0, bss 0, now 0, sm 0x0

 

[trs96]

I can now get back to where I was previously; able to boot from Clover screen and the last line on verbose mode before the display dies says:
IOConsoleUsers: gIOScreenLockState 3, hs 0, bss 0, now 0, sm 0x0

What kind of monitor ? How is it connected ?

 

[matthiggins87]

What kind of monitor ? How is it connected ?

Monitor 1 is a fairly old LG connected via DVI
Monitor 2 is a new BenQ connected via display port

If it helps, I can get into the SSD via my laptop with a sata-usb cable in order to make changes to EFI folder etc so to at least get past the apple logo?

Or is it best I do a clean install? I'm just never sure which kexts I need so I just keep adding stuff until things work - which is definitely why I end up in this mess!

 

[trs96]

Monitor 1 is a fairly old LG connected via DVI
Monitor 2 is a new BenQ connected via display port

Try booting with just the BenQ monitor connected, see what happens then.

 

[matthiggins87]

Same as before.

 

[trs96]

Here's what to try next. Take out the 670 completely, connect to the onboard DP output on the motherboard. Before booting though change to Init Display First - iGPU - instead of PEG. iGPU should be enabled in BIOS as well.

 

[matthiggins87]

Here's what to try next. Take out the 670 completely, connect to the onboard DP output on the motherboard. Before booting though change to Init Display First - iGPU - instead of PEG. iGPU should be enabled in BIOS as well.

I think my menu is worded slightly differently. The options for Init Display First are: Auto, IGFX, PEG, PCI.

I also can't see an iGPU option in Bios but I have Internal Graphics which I assume is the same. I set it to enable.

Ive tried both Auto and IGFX and they result in a strange split screen. Apple logo bar has hanged for ages at about 80% but display has not died. I'd put it into verbose but these little split screens are so tiny you'd never be able to read the text.

 

[trs96]

I also can't see an iGPU option

IGFX is the same thing as iGPU. I don't own one of these boards so I wasn't sure what they called it.

It would probably be best to ask for some help from someone that owns the same motherboard as you.
I've owned other GA boards but never any GA-Z77X Ivy Bridge boards like this one.

Cfreak

www.tonymacx86.com

Is probably the most qualified to help you out with this. I don't find a definitive Catalina guide anywhere on this site but I'm pretty sure @Cfreak has gotten it to work on his.