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

[filmafx]

Yes, I completely disabled the on-board bluetooth of the ASUS X299 Deluxe in the BIOS. Not required in addition, when using the OSXWIFI or any comparable solution..

I have the same problem as @dankium when I disable BT in BIOS, I have no BT in OS X...but the wifi still works fine...

but of course when I have my BT "working"... its really only half working.... can't connect to BT headphones and can't "turn off"

 

[kgp]

I have the same problem as @dankium when I disable BT in BIOS, I have no BT in OS X...but the wifi still works fine...

but of course when I have my BT "working"... its really only half working.... can't connect to BT headphones and can't "turn off"

@filmafx , @dankium ,

Do you really have the OSXWIFI BT USB cable properly connected to the OSXWIFI BT 2-pin header and the onboard USB2.0 mainboard connector? I mean, the connectors at both ends of the cable are oriented and plugged as indicated in the OSXWIFI manual? Note, that each end can be easily plugged upside down, which would cause a malfunction of the BT OSXWIFI module.

The OSXWIFI is natively implemented by OSX. No need for any drivers.. BT and WIFI must work natively!

If the cause of your BT OSXWIFI issue is not the improper connection of your OSXWIFI BT USB 2.0 cable, please consider the following general advise:

If you face issues with with BT, WIFI or LAN, reset your network settings as detailed below.

1.) Remove the respective services and network interfaces in "System preferences" -> "Network"

2.) Remove the NetworkInterfaces.plist file with the following terminal command:

sudo rm /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist

and reboot your system.

On reboot, OSX will recreate this file with default interfaces and addresses

If you miss any service or interface, add the latter again under "System preferences" -> "Network"

Good luck,

KGP

 

[kgp]

@kgp Thanks again for taking the time.

I overlooked the install manual for the wifi card and accidentally discarded it. Could not find the manual online but sent in a request for a digital version.

The header cable was my issue and BT now works OOB on OSX. Onboard BT is now disabled.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but in attaching the header cable: it is a 2pin to 8pin adapter to be used with port USB78 on ASUS x299 Deluxe as mentioned above. Only 2 pins are actually used, black & white wires. Starting with the PCI WiFi card, attach black to (-) and white to (+). On the MOBO orient the connector to match black/white wires to the pinout in the Manual, or in my circumstance orient the connector to where the actual wires are utilizing the inside row of pins.

My only issue is that this WiFi card is not working on my Windows 10 partition. Is anyone using this WiFi/BT card successfully on the Windows 10 side? Still trying to find drivers, will post here if found.

@kgp If there is a way to make a donation for your time, please let me know.

Thanks

Never mind, happy to help..

Please find attached below the respective Windows 10 drivers for the OSXWIFI

Good luck,

KGP

 

[filmafx]

@filmafx , @dankium ,

Do you really have the OSXWIFI BT USB cable properly connected to the OSXWIFI BT 2-pin header and the onboard USB2.0 mainboard connector? I mean, the connectors at both ends of the cable are oriented and plugged as indicated in the OSXWIFI manual? Note, that each end can be easily plugged upside down, which would cause a malfunction of the BT OSXWIFI module.

The OSXWIFI is natively implemented by OSX. No need for any drivers.. BT and WIFI must work natively!

If the cause of your BT OSXWIFI issue is not the improper connection of your OSXWIFI BT USB 2.0 cable, please consider the following general advise:

If you face issues with with BT, WIFI or LAN, reset your network settings as detailed below.

1.) Remove the respective services and network interfaces in "System preferences" -> "Network"

2.) Remove the NetworkInterfaces.plist file with the following terminal command:

sudo rm /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist

and reboot your system.

On reboot, OSX will recreate this file with default interfaces and addresses

If you miss any service or interface, add the latter again under "System preferences" -> "Network"

Good luck,

KGP

Thank You @kgp its working now!!! Thanks so much!!

What happened:
I had lost my OSX WIFI manual, as I brought this card a few months ago to use in a older hackintosh. I did email them for the manual but no reply. I did try to plugging the 2-pin both ways, but its seems like the BT issues were similar(WIFI always worked ok). It was only because @dankium mentioned disabling the Asus BT in the BIOS that I realized that possibly my OS was using the Asus BT this entire time, since the install instructions didn't mention disabling the BT in the BIOS. I always thought it might have been a software or configuration error for the BT, (bluetooth not wanting to turn off, can see my BT headphones but can not connect, airdrop works to receive files but sending only works 10% of the time) After I disabled the BT in the BIOS, the BT disappears in OS... until, i reverse the 2-pin cable on the MB.


After reversing the 2-pin cable on the Asus MB, Now BT and Airdrop works 100%!
(Airdrop requires both Wifi and BT function)

 

[rudey]

Thanks for this nice piece of work, @rudey .. It might indeed help people to shed some light into SSDT.aml darkness.

The biggest problem I see for your envisaged automatisation of a SSTD.aml script generation is the fact, that the device implementations can be device and hardware specific. Just compare the implemented details and differences between e.g. the HDEF, GPU, HDAU or OSXWIFI implementations. You know what I mean?

In any case, I believe that your script already now simplifies many things and additionally helps people in understanding and identifying the necessary requisites and ingredients for a successful SSDT.aml implementation.

I hope the user response on your script will be largely positive and manifold!

We can also think about some future guide implementation..

Once more many thanks for your appreciated efforts and all the best,

KGP

Agreed about the catalog of device available on the market is so large it would be hard to account for everything in an automated way.

I just updated the script to produce an AML for someone to be able to copy and paste the contents into their customized AML, the script does produce a syntacticly correct AML but before using it directly you would need to modify it heavily as it does not account for all the other devices beyond PCI ones.

RoadBlocks to automation

AML Compatible field
The logic for obtaining the correct "Compatible" field is loss on me. Perhaps if someone could explain in detail what this field is for and why it is important to the AML I could figure out some logic to correctly parse it from Ioreg, as of right now though I am not clear on why the second "compatible" item is the valid entry and why we need to use it?



Apple Naming conventions
I hope someone could help me with, but right now I don't know what the Apple typically names all the devices and what convention they use across all Apple Machines? As an example with my script you can easily see that a device type is an ethernet controller, one could infer from that the proper device name for apple would be "ETH1" if it happens to be the first Nic in the configuration. If someone could provide maybe a database of Apple naming conventions I could enhance the script to at least prompt the user to select an apple device name from a list of qualified names sorted by device types.

Other Devices
KGP mentions in his guide that any device sitting at the PXSX position needs to be defined in the AML only and not patched in the clover config, I think this is doable to write into the script, but I am having difficulty understanding why these devices are different. Perhaps if I had more background on what makes these devices unique then I could wrap a parser around identifying them from the onset and provide more detailed information on them. I think if I added these devices to the script the script could generate a 80-90% complete AML.

Physical slots devices are install in
Although the script is able to tell you what "AAPL,slot-name" is currently set in ioreg, most motherboards do not report this information as it is seems to be apple specific, that is to say the slot-name field does not get filled in ioreg until it is added to the AML files in the patched directory. All that being said, I think the tool could help users by walking them through a series of prompts that ask the user to enter in the name of the slot that the device is physically plugged into. I could be wrong but the "AAPL,slot-name" seems largely cosmetic and could potentially not be required, however I have not tested that theory.

 

[gxsolace]

@kgp did you get the latest Nvidia web drivers working without the UI lags? I get lagging, and I'm wondering if rolling back to an older driver would work on SMBIOS MacPro1,1?

 

[macs_forever]

This thread is now unlocked, however:

People, remember this community is comprised of enthusiasts like yourselves. Your fellow community members are doing this for their love of macOS and want to share their knowledge and help others.

This is a global community so our members are from all over the world. As such, their native language and customs may not be the same as yours. So remember that when reading posts.

Going forward this thread will be closely monitored by the admins and moderators. Anyone who violates the forum rule that caused this thread to be temporarily closed will receive an initial suspension of 7 days. A second violation will result in a 30 day suspension and a third violation will result in a permanent ban.

We encourage our members to help us keep this a friendly and helpful site.

I didn't want to stir the pot per se, just wanted to know if the

GIGABYTE X299 DESIGNARE EX

Would work for this build. I like the facts that it has 3 m.2 slots and 2 thunderbolt/usb-c ports. If the audio sucks, I don't mind. I don't understand why people get so heated anyway.

 

[Obvious Answer Man]

I didn't want to stir the pot per se, just wanted to know if the

GIGABYTE X299 DESIGNARE EX

Would work for this build. I like the facts that it has 3 m.2 slots and 2 thunderbolt/usb-c ports. If the audio sucks, I don't mind. I don't understand why people get so heated anyway.

Why don't you ask in the correct forum, Desktop Compatibility?

 

[gxsolace]

@kgp - found a weird thing. If i install FakeSMC into /L/E, I can't boot. I can only have it installed in the EFI volume. Is this normal? Lol

Thanks!

 

[macs_forever]

Why don't you ask in the correct forum, Desktop Compatibility?

It's a guide... I'm interested in knowing if it remains valid with a different mobo. it ain't rocket science and it ain't a general Desktop compatibility question.