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

[justdatruth]

Can you tell me then where I should look for it?

I cant help you with that question, but I can try to in relation to your intial question:

"Can someone explain me how to implement steps E.9.2.1 to E.9.2.12? I didn't get it. Where should I input DefintionBlock entry and PCI Device Implementation? Is it done with IORegistryExplorer?"

You will need to put the relevant information into an SSDT file, the filetype extension is .aml, you would then store your ssdt in the following location: /EFI/CLOVER/ACPI/PACTHED/

I use MacIASL to create/edit my ssdt/aml files. Have a look at the SSDT-X299-iMacPro.aml file at the start of this guide to get an idea of the structure of an SSDT file, that might shed some light on what it is you need to do.

More broadly Rulebreaker01 is right, a dig around the DSDT/SSDT sub forum will get you to where you want to be

 

[rauan1]

More broadly Rulebreaker01 is right, a dig around the DSDT/SSDT sub forum will get you to where you want to be

This is really helpful and what I needed. I will try to do some home work on this topic too. Thank you!

 

[prunzi]

Can you suspend/resume with your board.
Glad I could be of some help. I've improved the set-up a fair bit with the last ssdt injection. I'll update the EFI folder accordingly

Well' what do you mean about "suspend resume"?
I' leave the pc on during lunch time, when I come back, the screen is in stand-by and pressing on any key on the keyboard or moving the mouse, instantaneously brings me back on the login screen.
If You intend this function then the answer is yes... but again this worked also with the Aorus Game 9 MB.

 

[RuleBreaker01]

Well' what do you mean about "suspend resume"?
I' leave the pc on during lunch time, when I come back, the screen is in stand-by and pressing on any key on the keyboard or moving the mouse, istantaneously brings me back on the login screen.
If You intend this function then the answer is yes... but again this worked also with the Aorus Game 9 MB.

No, I mean putting the machine to sleep: Apple Menu -> Sleep (Shift + Control + Eject if you use an apple keyboard)
Sleep has little to do with just having your screen on stand-by

 

[ThomasKrajacic]

This is seriously impressive! Thank you for taking the time to write your process so thoroughly!

As a developer I have a question: Did you benchmark compiling anything with this machine?

I'd be very interested in seeing how this machine performs using Xcode.

Would be great if you find the time to do this somewhat standardized test:
https://github.com/ashfurrow/xcode-hardware-performance

 

[naive666]

You don't seem to have follow the guide such as setting your SMBIOS nor the serial board number.
Follow the steps of the guide *precisely* another it's not going to boot...
You can't just start thing and expect to work with no work from your part.
Especially when you're not using the recommended motherboard

Actually, I do have a complete SMBIOS. Here I attach my config.plist

Currently, I successfully installed mac OS, but I still sometimes get stuck on the booting stage (verbose).

After the installation, the lag is very serious and the graphics memory is only 22MB. I think it is the problem of the graphics driver, and I will install the NVIDIA web driver later.

I am wondering if it is normal to take a lot of time boot into the mac OS and why I often get stuck at the booting stage?

Thank you.

 

[egroys]

Can you suspend/resume with your board.
Glad I could be of some help. I've improved the set-up a fair bit with the last ssdt injection. I'll update the EFI folder accordingly

I've been following your designare progress for a while and I wanted to see if you had any luck or new developments, or general outlook with hot plugging TB3? I wanted to stick with the Designare but hotwap makes it tempting to go with the Asus Prime Deluxe.

Thanks in advance!

 

[RuleBreaker01]

I've been following your designare progress for a while and I wanted to see if you had any luck or new developments, or general outlook with hot plugging TB3? I wanted to stick with the Designare but hotwap makes it tempting to go with the Asus Prime Deluxe.

No hotplug unfortunately.
I made progress yesterday in that I can put the machine to sleep (that never worked before), and now the list of attached PCI devices are properly showing in the PCI section of System Information.

Still working on it.
I've ordered an ASRock MB with the ASRock Thunderbolt card though... Will try there, if it easily work there, I'll ditch the designare.
If that still doesn't work, I'll try once again with the Asus MB with the ASRock TB3 card...

Edit: I think the Designare TB doesn't support hotplug in macOS due to the way it's wired on the motherboard. It's not directly connected to a PCIe lane (like a PCIe TB3 card would do, or like the iMac Pro has them configured)....

 

[x-9er]

So I've prepared two different install disks and neither one will boot on the X299 DELUXE. Bringing up the boot menu with F8 presents them as options, but hitting enter on them just brings up the BIOS setup. Attempting to run them from the Boot Override does nothing.

I've installed successfully on a half-dozen other systems, but have never seen Clover simply refuse to load, so it seems it must be something in the BIOS (though I have triple-checked that I have it set up identical to the guide).

 

[mysticmerlin]

What watercooling system do you have? Your temps are very low, I wish I could achieve it with my 360 mm cooler.

I used the EKWB x360 kit and added a monobloc when I realised the VRM was likely to suffer more than the cpu. Nothing on the gpu. It seemed a bit overkill at the time but I am glad I did since all this power is actually really useful in my specific workflow . I keep my computers in a separate machine room so noise is not an issue another advantage over the IMac pro