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

[jaminmc]

Already tried both what is odd is absolutely nothing happens when turning on the motherboard, no failed post, no codes on the Q-Code Leds, nothing.

Sounds to me like you have a bad power supply.

 

[nnorris7]

Hey, I've built a few hacks for friends and colleagues using ASUS X299-A M/B and did everything according to this perfect guide (thx @kgp).
I've used AppleALC.kext method for audio and it's working even when I'm booting via USB stick.
Here is my list of kexts and HDEF.aml.
The only difference from the current guide is that I must still use patches for bios. macOS is not working w/o these patches (for some strange reason).

Hey @Il.F,

I took a quick look at your HDEF.aml and it looks like you updated the "device-id" correctly but forgot to update the "compatible". It should be "pci8086,a2f0". I'm made the update and reattached your file below. I have the same motherboard and audio works fine on mine with this setup (AppleALC.kext and SSDT).

Hope this helps.

 

[kgp]

Intel likely lifting another important part of the Mac Pro 2019 puzzle?

Two days ago, Intel announced yet another possibly important component of the Mac Pro 2019 puzzle.

The new 28-core Skylake-X apparently will be shipped in December 2018 as the unlocked 28-core Intel Xeon W-3175X.

On a wall of motherboards outside of the presentation, the new boards from Asus, the ROG Dominus Extreme, and Gigabyte, the SKL-SP 15. These will likely launch with the W-3175. The motherboards feature the C621 chipset, but apparently no word on whether these will be branded as X599 or not.

For further details see: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-xeon-w-3175x-cpu-specs,37899.html

 

[Il.F]

Hey @Il.F,

I took a quick look at your HDEF.aml and it looks like you updated the "device-id" correctly but forgot to update the "compatible". It should be "pci8086,a2f0". I'm made the update and reattached your file below. I have the same motherboard and audio works fine on mine with this setup (AppleALC.kext and SSDT).

Hope this helps.

Hey @nnorris7,
Thx. I'll check it tomorrow.
But I don't have any issues with audio.

Btw, is sleep working correctly at your build? Could you please post your config.plist, kexts folder, and ACPI/patched folder?

 

[kgp]

I got mine delidded and used the "best" liquid metal according to various reviews.

I was very far from seeing 20C improvement in temperature. In fact it was so average that I got it redone by a professional shop and it didn't help either.
5-10C is more likely IMHO

I do not agree with this conclusion. A delidded CPU with LM between CPU and IHS usually shows an improved temperature performance in the order of 10 to 20 deg C. This also states for my i9-7980XE.

 

[kgp]

Hey @nnorris7,
Thx. I'll check it tomorrow.
But I don't have any issues with audio.

Btw, is sleep working correctly at your build? Could you please post your config.plist, kexts folder, and ACPI/patched folder?

@Il.F , seems that you also patched BIOS 1503 with the patches of @interferenc. Any noticable changes/improvements concerning sleep/wake performance of your system?

 

[Il.F]

@kgp , w/o patching the BIOS I can't even run the installer or use already installed OS - everything is lagging like hell. I can't print a simple command in Terminal - letters are doubles or triples.
Sleep is halfway working - hack is going in sleep w/o any issues but after wake up everything is lagging a bit, so only a reboot helps.

 

[kgp]

@kgp , w/o patching the BIOS I can't even run the installer or use already installed OS - everything is lagging like hell. I can't print a simple command in Terminal - letters are doubles or triples.
Sleep is halfway working - hack is going in sleep w/o any issues but after wake up everything is lagging a bit, so only a reboot helps.

Something must be wrong in your system configuration... yet it is not possible to see your Skylake-X/X299 system specs from your profile or signature as required by the forum rules. We don’t even know about which system we are actually talking in your particular case. Uploading Snapshots of your BIOS settings, uploading "PCI" snapshots of Apple's system report, uploading your EFI-Folder and finally also uploading an IROEG.save of your ACPI configuration might shed further light on your apparent issues.

 

[benjackson]

I followed this guide which had me up and running with an amazing system. Thanks for all the work.

I upgraded to Mojave couple of days ago, all went smooth but it killed all but one DP connectors on my Vega 56 (from Amazon: XFX Radeon Rx Vega 56 8GB 3xDP HDMI Graphic Cards). Everything was working great under High Sierra. Nothing would make the 2nd monitor work. HDMI was and still was dead (both in High Sierra and Mojave). I changed sys def to Mac Pro 6,1 and it brought back the DP conenctor and 2nd monitor, so I was like 'just be done with it' and leave it at that. However, and this might help someone else, H.264 export from FCPX (final cut pro x) would fail every time under this system def. Same with iMac18,1 and others (I've never had luck with iMac non pro sys def). So I went back to iMacPro1,1 and H.264 export worked again, but no 2nd monitor. So I set out to find out how to enable the 2nd and 3rd DP connector on my Vega 56 under iMacPro1,1, given it used to work in High Sierra just fine. In the end, I couldn't fix it, following this guide, WEG and Lilu latest versions installed, nothing worked.

As a last resort I tried MacPro5,1 and to my amazement, it fixed both problems, H.264 export worked flawlessly (and very fast with the Vega 56, I get around 10 seconds with the BruceX 5K export test which is just about the fastest I've seen anyone get, including the Vega 64, I have a 7920X CPU with the X299 ASUS motherboard below the suggestion here, the one without Thunderbolt, it's the A not the deluxe) and all DP connectors were working again.

Anyway, both monitors working, HDMI still not but that's no big deal.

I also lost a few USB3 ports under iMacPro1,1 under Mojave, which have come back alive since MacPro5,1. I have no idea what disadvantage MacPro5,1 has but it worked for me.

Thanks!

 

[Il.F]

I'll upload all requested info tomorrow.
I'm still on High Sierra 10.13.6 since there are no Nvidia drivers for Mojave.