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

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I can already confirm this for you.
When I first bought my mainboard in August I bought the 7820X because I didn't see 2 more cores being worth another $500. On the train home I was reading the CPU specs and only then realised that the X299 chipset was basically handicapped by anything less than a 7900X due to insufficient PCIe lanes to enable many of the mainboard's features. This is a mjor issue with X299 and SkylakeX IMHO - I expect to see many unhappy customers who don't understand the relationship between CPU PCIe lanes and mainboard features. This issue is amplified by the Deluxe boards having so many on-board devices. I strongly advise using only i9 processors on the X299 boards to maximise available CPU-PCI bandwidth.
Technically it could be argued that even 44 PCI lanes aren't enough for all the stuff crammed into the Prime X299 Deluxe. This may be why Apple are sticking with Xeon-W on the iMac Pro - an extra 4 PCI lanes in addition to ECC memory support.

Needless to say I returned the i7 the next morning for an i9 7900X. Luckily it was still in its unopened box.
So I upgraded to a i9 7900X and ran into the memory issue again. I’ll go through the motions of swapping out the aptio file again to fix it, but I just wanted to mention the issue might not be completely related to running out of pci lanes.
 
Dear @kgp:

Some minor typo corrections: sometimes you use "not" when you mean "note":

* First line of section C): "Please not the following"...

* "c.) Not that the only XCPM"

* "Not that for performing"

* "take not of values"

And another typo:

* "Note the in the" (?)

Thanks for the very complete guide!

Corrected! Thanks!
 
so, i managed to boot a few times to a working system (without nvidia web drivers yet)
but when i put my windows nvme back in, i get an instant reboot of the system.
does anybody know how to handle this ?

Did you you perform an UEFI Windows Installation? Do you have CSM disabled?
 
So I upgraded to a i9 7900X and ran into the memory issue again. I’ll go through the motions of swapping out the aptio file again to fix it, but I just wanted to mention the issue might not be completely related to running out of pci lanes.

I also figured out recently that the memory allocation error when using OsxAptioFixDrv-64.efi is not only related to running out of pci lanes. On the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe, PCIEX16_1, PCIEX16_2, PCIEX16_3 can be populated without further issues. If however you use any of the other PCIe slots, either Wifi or SATA ports will be disabled! The latter seems to result in a error-prone configuration, which finally might lead to the memory relocation error when using OsxAptioFixDrv-64.efi...
 
New problem, when I reinstall my system today I cleaned almost all the kext that I don't need. When I turn SIP on like 0x0 or 0x3 it shows this.

IMG_2862.JPG

Anyone knows what is that problem? Think I'm pretty close to web driver installation. When I turn back to 0x67 it can successfully boot.
 
I also figured out recently that the memory allocation error when using OsxAptioFixDrv-64.efi is not only related to running out of pci lanes. On the ASUS Prime X299 Deluxe, PCIEX16_1, PCIEX16_2, PCIEX16_3 can be populated without further issues. If however you use any of the other PCIe slots, either Wifi or SATA ports will be disabled! The latter seems to result in a error-prone configuration, which finally might lead to the memory relocation error when using OsxAptioFixDrv-64.efi...
Yeah I’m finding it’s a choice between my osxwifi card or thunderbolt. I don’t have any thunderbolt devices right now, but it would be nice to have the option.
 
New problem, when I reinstall my system today I cleaned almost all the kext that I don't need. When I turn SIP on like 0x0 or 0x3 it shows this.

View attachment 283780

Anyone knows what is that problem? Think I'm pretty close to web driver installation. When I turn back to 0x67 it can successfully boot.
This is the same issue I was having. Seems the only real options is run less pci devices, and enjoy a stable boots using OSXaptiofixdrv-64.efi or enjoy unpredictable boots but more pci devices with OSXAptiofixdrv-2000.efi.
 
Hi everyone,

After 3 days I finally made it. Everything works now. Thanks @KGP,@dwhitla and @rudey.

Main question from me is that I've always forgot to clean the kext in the usb installer as well as the Clover settings.

Here is my basic result, no overclocking yet.

Screen Shot 2017-10-07 at 11.18.56 AM.pngScreen Shot 2017-10-07 at 11.25.37 AM.pngScreen Shot 2017-10-07 at 11.31.37 AM.pngScreen Shot 2017-10-07 at 11.33.01 AM.png

Thanks everyone. I'm really excited!
 
Hi guys my build is Asus X299 Prime Deluxe, i9 7900x
I have everything working great following the excellent guide apart from audio.
Has anyone got CloverALC or AppleALC? I would prefer not to use voodoohda
 
Hi everyone,

After 3 days I finally made it. Everything works now. Thanks @KGP,@dwhitla and @rudey.

Main question from me is that I've always forgot to clean the kext in the usb installer as well as the Clover settings.

Here is my basic result, no overclocking yet.

View attachment 283788View attachment 283789View attachment 283790View attachment 283791

Thanks everyone. I'm really excited!

Good to hear that! :thumbup:

But what do you exactly mean by "clean the kext and clover settings"? :oops:

Can you describe here for all other users what you did step by step?

Which black screen prevention worked at the end?

Can you please upload your EFI folder?

I see that you do not use SMBIOS iMac17,1 anymore but iMac18,3 instead! :oops:

Thus, you don't use ssdPRGen.sh and ssdt.aml to run XCPM? :rolleyes:

Your Geekbench Scores are significantly lower than mine! 41244 vs.57862! I also do not use any OC!! o_O

Your results:

GB.png


My results:

Geekbench-4.1.3-1.png


I am therefore not that excited like you are! :confused:

Thanks for your feedback in advance!

KGP
 
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