How to build your own iMac Pro [Successful Build/Extended Guide]

[XRaegun]

Hey, thanks for this awesome Guide!
I have a Gigabyte x299 Gaming 7 and created the USB Stick. I need just a
Hint for possible Reasons, why im not have a Boot Install Entry (Icon) if i boot
from this USB Stick. The boot.efi is in .IABootFiles.

I had the same issue - So I applied lateral thinking - built a bootable USB that delivers an install icon using Uni/Multibeast tools and then replaced the efi contents. I also tried the same trick with Clover application and also got a sucessful boot USB.
I now have High Sierra 13.10.5 running with just one issue to resolve - no sound.

Good luck - hope this helps

 

[RuleBreaker01]

Might want to try moving the card to another PCIe slot for testing purposes (and maybe swap the 8pin power cables as well). Usually glitches like that mean GPU is dying (from my previous experiences).

When I first got my Vega FE I had glitches like that when the BIOS screen popped on, I had to do an RMA with AMD and they sent me a new one (kind of a pain in the butt since their support isn't great) and now all is fine.

did you deal directly with AMD or the seller (I bought mine from newegg)

 

[RuleBreaker01]

@kgp since you use OSXWIFI as well, do you use Bluetooth headphones by any chance?

I've been getting constant stutters, I may be missing something. I sit next to the computer and tried 4 types of antennas.

Cheers!

Since using the antenna plate that came with the OSXWIFI card, rather than the antenna connectors attached to the motherboard, it has certainly improved thing.

What I'll do today is use my Sennheiser headset over bluetooth and tell you if I notice anything of the sort (my BT trackpad works great without issue)

Edit: it plays great for like 5 minutes, and then suddenly hell breaks loose, and it's all crackly..
I'm playing with the antenna position now...
Problem with this PC is that as it's huge, it's under my desk.. much further away that my macpro or imac pro would be (sitting on my desk).

 

[izo1]

did you deal directly with AMD or the seller (I bought mine from newegg)

I dealt with AMD directly.

If you're in the return day window, I would get it exchanged at NewEgg...if not, you have to deal with AMD professional RMA process which is a headache and only can be done online. You have to ship your card to Canada (all insured) and then wait for it to come back. You pay the shipping.

They also have an Advanced RMA (You have to ask for it directly) where you provide your CC info and they send you a replacement, once received, you keep the replaced one and put the old one back and ship it to Canada.

Since using the antenna plate that came with the OSXWIFI card, rather than the antenna connectors attached to the motherboard, it has certainly improved thing.

What I'll do today is use my Sennheiser headset over bluetooth and tell you if I notice anything of the sort (my BT trackpad works great without issue)

My OSXWifi is a few years old, not sure it ever came with any metal plates...however, I tried using external antennas and 3 different types of antennas as well. The reason I switched back from the onboard Wifi to OSXWIFI was I thought I could get a better range and I would get less "stutters" as I completely moved to wireless headphones for a daily driver (unless I want to plug in my Audeze LCD3 but that's another story).

Not sure if you caught my edit from that post, but it seems to be related to USB 3.0. I'll just quote it here again if it helps you in the future or anyone else.

I bought thicker USB3.0 cables and moved the hard drive away from the computer (I was always used to stacking drives on my old Mac Pro...old habit I guess...) and it did indeed help. However, my range is still not great.

If you check the Intel white paper (below), they did tests with external hard drives and 2.4Ghz wireless devices (most Wifi/BT are on this frequency) and the most shielded drive helped eradicate the cross-interference with Bluetooth. Since Bluetooth is fairly low powered compared to Wifi at 2.4Ghz, it gets degraded the most.

I would never think a Hard drive/USB3.0 would hurt the BT frequency

EDIT: Did some research and it seems (maybe)...USB 3.0 interference (ie a cable near the rear ports)....interesting. It must be related to the WD External HD's I'm using (along with G-Drive). The WD's most likely have zero shielding.

Interestingly enough there is an Intel white paper on USB 3.0 and 2.4Ghz wireless interference.

Thanks a lot appreciate if you have time to check. It may be Sony's fault, but I have somewhat similar issues with Apple AirPods (and they use AAC, less data than aptX on Sony). I may move to the QC35II soon but if I have to deal with these stuttering issues it's going to be a wild ride

 

[RuleBreaker01]

I dealt with AMD directly.

If you're in the return day window, I would get it exchanged at NewEgg...if not, you have to deal with AMD professional RMA process which is a headache and only can be done online. You have to ship your card to Canada (all insured) and then wait for it to come back. You pay the shipping.

They also have an Advanced RMA (You have to ask for it directly) where you provide your CC info and they send you a replacement, once received, you keep the replaced one and put the old one back and ship it to Canada.

I've contacted AMD now.
I work often with their engineers, so can ping someone internally if need be.

Thanks a lot appreciate if you have time to check. It may be Sony's fault, but I have somewhat similar issues with Apple AirPods (and they use AAC, less data than aptX on Sony). I may move to the QC35II soon but if I have to deal with these stuttering issues it's going to be a wild ride [/user]

I edited my post earlier... but yeah, it's not great either

 

[izo1]

Edit: it plays great for like 5 minutes, and then suddenly hell breaks loose, and it's all crackly..
I'm playing with the antenna position now...
Problem with this PC is that as it's huge, it's under my desk.. much further away that my macpro or imac pro would be (sitting on my desk).

Interesting.

Do you have any external USB3.0 hard drives nearby? If yes could you disconnect the power and USB cables?

I've never had any of these problems with a real Mac (MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Pro) it seems they are shielded well. Maybe there's a way to shield the PCIe card?

There's a way with Bluetooth Explorer to switch/force codec to AAC. If you hold Option > Bluetooth Icon > Your headphone you will see what codec it's using. aptX is fairly high bitrate compared to AAC.

 

[izo1]

I wonder if a shielded PCIe holder like this will work?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Y2DU8T4/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

(I know it doesn't support macOS but something like this may help?)

EDIT:

Another one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FV-T919-De...948048?hash=item2cd4743ad0:g:Bf8AAOSwCFta~XgT

I'm getting kinda angry with all these BT issues and might get these 2:

https://www.imaginer.store/products...ktop-pc-wifi-wlan-adapter-for-apple-wifi-card

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BCM943602C...576672?hash=item41e3507b20:g:rZAAAOSwX7BaWDUz

(Real iMac module)

 

[RuleBreaker01]

Interesting.

Do you have any external USB3.0 hard drives nearby? If yes could you disconnect the power and USB cables?

I've never had any of these problems with a real Mac (MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Pro) it seems they are shielded well. Maybe there's a way to shield the PCIe card?

There's a way with Bluetooth Explorer to switch/force codec to AAC. If you hold Option > Bluetooth Icon > Your headphone you will see what codec it's using. aptX is fairly high bitrate compared to AAC.

The wifi card is in the place of the original wifi card. It's even less shielded than the original card as I had to remove the metal cover.

The antenna cable that goes from the wifi card to the external antenna are shielded. Those antennas that came with the card holder are crap though. Having said that, I can't compare with previous set-up. I've never used my headset through BT, USB only so that when I unplug them they are always fully charged.

I do have a usb 3.0 drive, used for time machine.

 

[RuleBreaker01]

There's a way with Bluetooth Explorer to switch/force codec to AAC. If you hold Option > Bluetooth Icon > Your headphone you will see what codec it's using. aptX is fairly high bitrate compared to AAC.

it's using SBC right now, so super low bitrate !

Just switched to aptX, doesn't seem to make much difference. With the antenna pointing horizontally it is better.

I read that it's the 3rd antenna that is used with BT. It's the one closer to the USB slots, later today I'll swap them around.

 

[izo1]

The wifi card is in the place of the original wifi card. It's even less shielded than the original card as I had to remove the metal cover.

The antenna cable that goes from the wifi card to the external antenna are shielded. Those antennas that came with the card holder are crap though. Having said that, I can't compare with previous set-up. I've never used my headset through BT, USB only so that when I unplug them they are always fully charged.

I do have a USB 3.0 drive, used for time machine.

Try temporarily turning off the HD next to it and unplug the power.

I just did some more tests and definitely external drives cause issues with BT (headphones in my case)