<< Solved >> High Sierra not booting from primary or backup disk. Was working perfectly before.

[cloin]

Hi fellow Hackintoshers.

I had a perfectly stable working desktop (Gigabyte H77 DS3H-F10, i7 3770, 32GB RAM, multiple SSDs) running High Sierra with latest updates until last week. Now Clover (5119) lists the disks correctly and starts to boot SSD1 but within a few seconds (screen still black with whit apple logo) it just reboots. I cannot get it to boot the HS install USB that it was created with nor the backup SSD3 which is just a CC clone of SSD1. I have not changed anything in the system, neither OS nor Clover before this happened, but I did boot the Desktop using an ECOS secure bootstick a few times. I could still boot the machine normally after the first few times but now it won't. I have two separate time machine backups so I'm not too bothered about wiping the disk if need be, but I cannot get into recovery mode.

I am at a loss as to how to progress from here, so any pointers are welcome.

Thanks to all who contribute to this site!

 

[nicksoph]

BIOS settings? AHCI for drives, CSM, Legacy rom settings

 

[Edhawk]

I would second the Bios being a likely cause of this issue, as mentioned by @nicksoph

Your system may have reset your bios when using the ECOS boot stick.

These are the Bios settings you should be using when running macOS:

1. Virtualization : Enabled
2. VT-d : Disabled
3. XHCI Hand-Off : Enabled
4. Legacy USB Support: Auto/Enabled
5. IO SerialPort : Disabled
6. Network Stack : Disabled
7. XMP Profile : Auto / Profile 1/Enabled
8. UEFI Booting set to Enabled and set Priority over Legacy
9. Secure Boot : Disabled
10. Fast Boot : Disabled
11. OS Type: Other OS
12. Wake on LAN : Disabled

Dedicated Graphics + Integrated graphics card:

1. Integrated Graphics : Enabled
2. Graphics: PEG/PCIe Slot 1
3. Initial Display Output : PCIe 1 Slot
4. DVMT Pre-Allocated : 128M or higher

Your system may not contain all of these settings, that is normal. Some may be hidden within sub-menus so make sure you check each and every sub-menu.

I would also suggest you boot with the following boot arguments selected from the Clover boot screen.

• With your SSD1 highlighted on the Clover boot screen press the spacebar.
• This will bring up a sub-menu, with a number of common boot arguments, including ones you already used showing as enabled.
• Use your mouse or the keyboard arrow keys to move down to -v (verbose), debug=0x100 and keepsyms=1.
• Press the spacebar or return key to select each of these options.
• Then tab back to the top option and press the return key. This will boot your system using the selected boot arguments. But only this current boot process, any subsequent boots would revert to the normal selection.

You could also select -x (safe mode) boot argument from the list. But hopefully selecting the first three will get your system to show what is causing the kernel panic, without automatically rebooting.

Below is a screenshot showing the Clover sub-menu when using the Catalina boot theme, the entries should be similar when you enter the menu.

Clover sub-menu for additional boot arguments.

 

[cloin]

Thanks for the answers, I will check the BIOS (again) and use the boot args in clover as soon as I am back from a trip. Much obliged for your time - I'll let you know the outcome.

 

[cloin]

Hi, I have tried all of the above (and other) BIOS settings, and also the clover boot options but no matter what I set the computer reboots as soon as the white apple on black background appears. If I set the -v and / or -x clover options it reboots immediately, if I don't it takes about 5 seconds before rebooting.

I am going to remove the ssds and see if they can be read from my macbook pro.

 

[cloin]

The ssds all show a fine state of health when read from the macbook disk utility - first aid shows all is well there. I have re-flashed BIOS and cleaned up the clover boot entries. No change in boot behaviour - within a second of the apple logo appeariing on the black screen there's a click and back to boot.

 

[Asural]

The ssds all show a fine state of health when read from the macbook disk utility - first aid shows all is well there. I have re-flashed BIOS and cleaned up the clover boot entries. No change in boot behaviour - within a second of the apple logo appeariing on the black screen there's a click and back to boot.

In my case I couldn't install r5119 on the SSD.
Create a High Sierra USB installation stick with CLover r5137 and try booting the SSD from USB.

 

[Edhawk]

Post a copy of your CLOVER folder, so we can see what you are using to boot your system.

I know it worked previously but things change over time and it may need to be tweaked, especially if you are using the newer 'Clover/OC' hybrid bootloader Clover_r5137.

Including a copy of the system's ACPI tables would also be helpful. To obtain a copy of the ACPI Tables from your system when using Clover, do the following:

1. The ACPI Tables can be obtained by pressing the 'F4' key while on the Clover Boot Screen.
2. The tables are saved in the background, with no evidence that anything is happening.
3. So just leave the system for around 30 seconds before doing anything such as booting or closing down the system.
4. The ACPI tables will be written to the /CLOVER/ACPI/origin folder on the USB or your macOS drive, whichever you are using to boot the system.
5. Attach a compressed copy of your /CLOVER/ACPI/origin folder.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

Hi all.

What @Edhawk suggested and ...

I know it's difficult diagnosing these mysterious changes that happen out of the blue. You've done the right thing testing the SSDs on your macbookpro.

How about creating a MemTest USB stick and just giving your RAM the once over? Just google it and create one. It's all free.

 

[cloin]

Post a copy of your CLOVER folder, so we can see what you are using to boot your system.

I know it worked previously but things change over time and it may need to be tweaked, especially if you are using the newer 'Clover/OC' hybrid bootloader Clover_r5137.

Including a copy of the system's ACPI tables would also be helpful. To obtain a copy of the ACPI Tables from your system when using Clover, do the following:

1. The ACPI Tables can be obtained by pressing the 'F4' key while on the Clover Boot Screen.
2. The tables are saved in the background, with no evidence that anything is happening.
3. So just leave the system for around 30 seconds before doing anything such as booting or closing down the system.
4. The ACPI tables will be written to the /CLOVER/ACPI/origin folder on the USB or your macOS drive, whichever you are using to boot the system.
5. Attach a compressed copy of your /CLOVER/ACPI/origin folder.

Hi Edhawk,

I'm been using Clover 5119 since about Feb. 2020 with an unaltered system configuration. I'm currently 3/4 way through testing RAM with memtest - so far everything looks good. Does that mean by extension that the CPU must be working properly - I would imagine so. At the moment the PC will not boot into the High Sierra USB Stick I originally installed from, so I don't see how I could get the ACPI tables.