How to extend the iMac Pro to X99 [Successful Build/Extended Guide]

[jacksparrow.greg]

This is great. Thanks so much for taking the time to clarify. I dont mind whether its vanilla or not. just wanted to fully understand what i was doing. I booted up my X99 deluxe machine after a while. (2 years). And i had tons of fun setting up el Capitan 2 years ago, but always struggled with aptiomemfix errors, etc. I'm thrilled to have found your page.

So far done :

Bios patched and updated for register unlock as well as CPU microcodes.

My Specs that ive updated on my profile :

CPU - 5820K
MOBO - Asus X99 Deluxe.
GFX - 1070 TI
Ram Corsair Vengence 16GB (2400)
2 SSD's.
Currently running windows 10 on one. and trying to setup High sierra on the other.

Im using this guide but im confused with the D1/D2 steps. Ive managed D1, to create an installer. At the moment it wont boot because im a little confused about the EFI folder preparation.

I see this guide of yours - https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...ill-tridentz-aorus-gtx-1080-ti-xtreme.211621/
and reading this i have a little bit more understanding as the step after bios settings details installing clover onto the USB making it bootable etc.

Given my hardware, (the original X99 Deluxe MOBO, not II or V3.1), and i75820K, should i continue with this guide?, im guessing D.1 in this guide and steps thereafter achieve the same as the below section in the customac pro x99 guide :
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...ill-tridentz-aorus-gtx-1080-ti-xtreme.211621/

4.) Download and install the latest Clover distribution on your USB-DISK by verifying the proper Install-location (USB-DISK)
and customizing (don't press "Install" but "Customize" instead) the following options:

a) Install for UEFI booting only
b) Install Clover in the ESP
c) Select the Bootloader Themes you want to install
e) Only select EmuVariableUefi-64.efi in the Drivers64UEFI menu!

I know my confusion may be worsening things, so if not possible to clarify, you could just tell me which guide i should follow thats closer to my hardware and would result in a more stable smoother experience. Also this is a SMBIOS1.1, which i see is Xeon based, and the SMBIOS in the customac pro guide is a SMBIOS 6.1. doing some reading i can see they represent different hardware profiles, what bearing would this have in regards to my current hardware.

I apologize in advance for stupid questions.

 

[kgp]

This is great. Thanks so much for taking the time to clarify. I dont mind whether its vanilla or not. just wanted to fully understand what i was doing. I booted up my X99 deluxe machine after a while. (2 years). And i had tons of fun setting up el Capitan 2 years ago, but always struggled with aptiomemfix errors, etc. I'm thrilled to have found your page.

So far done :

Bios patched and updated for register unlock as well as CPU microcodes.

My Specs that ive updated on my profile :

CPU - 5820K
MOBO - Asus X99 Deluxe.
GFX - 1070 TI
Ram Corsair Vengence 16GB (2400)
2 SSD's.
Currently running windows 10 on one. and trying to setup High sierra on the other.

Im using this guide but im confused with the D1/D2 steps. Ive managed D1, to create an installer. At the moment it wont boot because im a little confused about the EFI folder preparation.

I see this guide of yours - https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...ill-tridentz-aorus-gtx-1080-ti-xtreme.211621/
and reading this i have a little bit more understanding as the step after bios settings details installing clover onto the USB making it bootable etc.

Given my hardware, (the original X99 Deluxe MOBO, not II or V3.1), and i75820K, should i continue with this guide?, im guessing D.1 in this guide and steps thereafter achieve the same as the below section in the customac pro x99 guide :
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...ill-tridentz-aorus-gtx-1080-ti-xtreme.211621/

4.) Download and install the latest Clover distribution on your USB-DISK by verifying the proper Install-location (USB-DISK)
and customizing (don't press "Install" but "Customize" instead) the following options:

a) Install for UEFI booting only
b) Install Clover in the ESP
c) Select the Bootloader Themes you want to install
e) Only select EmuVariableUefi-64.efi in the Drivers64UEFI menu!

I know my confusion may be worsening things, so if not possible to clarify, you could just tell me which guide i should follow thats closer to my hardware and would result in a more stable smoother experience. Also this is a SMBIOS1.1, which i see is Xeon based, and the SMBIOS in the customac pro guide is a SMBIOS 6.1. doing some reading i can see they represent different hardware profiles, what bearing would this have in regards to my current hardware.

I apologize in advance for stupid questions.

Don't worry about your questions.

But please don't mix and confuse between my outdated X99 Sierra and my up-to-date X99 HighSierra and Mojave guides. Given your GFX - 1070 TI, Mojave will be useless in your case anyway. Thus you should stay with the X99 HighSierra guide, which is perfectly suited for the hardware you mentioned above and forget about the X99 Sierra guide anyway. After all in-depth testing, SMBIOS ImacPro1,1 seems well suited also for X99 anyway, that's why I changed also my respective guidelines for providing possibilities of a low cost iMacPro system, when compared with X299 and Skylake-X or even XEON and motherboards with respective chipsets.

The use of EMUVarible dates back to Sierra times and has been substituted by AptioMemoryFix.efi long time ago and is also actually implemented such in my X99 EFI-Folder distributions on Github.

Note that for the 5820K you need particular changes in the config.plist of my original EFI-Folder distribution only outlined in README.md of my X99 EFI-Folder Github respository.

Hope this helps.

If you continue facing problems with your current EFI-Folder configuration, upload your EFI-Folder that others can help you with your current configuration.

Good luck,

KGP

 

[jacksparrow.greg]

Hi KGP, thanks, you have been instrumental. This is what a community should be like! very awesome.

- I managed to complete all your steps. (I skipped the section on APFS, and NVME)
- I got to the install after all EFI folder prep. First boot screen was 18 minutes. (Did not get the 34 first.)
- Booted into macOS. Completed the setup. Once I let it update, and reboot, I then got the 34 minutes.


My EFI Folder - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Y6oJyAnlgvzt0TcKAGPtOUlYbFsXVUAd

I also went to the README.md of your EFI Folder on github. I only enabled bootstrap kext as right at the end you said
"
_xcpm_cpuid_set_info kernel patch is obsolete for Broadwell-E and Haswell-E and can remain disabled

_xcpm_bootstrap kernel patch seems still required for some Haswell-E CPUs, e.g. i7-5820k."

I used the FIRST folder in the list -

Type	Name	Latest commit message	Commit time
	EFI-X99-10.13.6-Release-iMacPro1,1-141018.zip	Clover_v2.4k_r4706, AppleLC v1.3.2, Lili v1.2.7	6 months ago

Issues -
1. Display flickering artifacts. (I run a gtx 1070 TI.)
So far. I've logged in, tried to install the Nvidia web drivers, they installed, (although it seems broken, as it cant start the Nvidia control panel) but somethings awry with display artifacts and flickering that happens right from the get go, as soon as the login screen.

(I haven't setup the whatevergreen or Lilu kext. (I've done some reading that says Lilu helps. not sure what whatevergreen does, and whether they both need to be applied.) - let me know your thoughts or advice.


2. Mouse lag...Seems to skip some serious steps in motion.
again did some reading so i can play my part in the DIY anti laziness hackintosh movement lol.

These were some of the things i found on reddit-

"I had significant artifacts and issues on High Sierra 10.13.5 Nvidia web drivers until I switched my system definition to iMac 18,3. All of my Nvidia web driver issues were immediately resolved. I'm unsure why but it made a huge difference on my configuration. "

Mouse lag - (the below would represent my issue closely"
"Mouse randomly jumps across screen

I've been having this issue for a long time now and I think it may be effecting my gaming as well. My mouse will sporadically jump about 150 pixels across the screen. Sometimes it's perfectly smooth but other times it just does it about 10 times within a few minutes and it's really annoying."

Thanks Again to you KGP and anyone who can assist.

some results - / solutions to investigate :-

Wifi / bluetooth interference.... Not sire about this one, i have quite a new capable mouse - Logitec Anywhere 2s ->
https://www.reddit.com/r/hackintosh/comments/72qwl2
Monitor refresh rate? (I have a DELL S2719DGF, its a freesync 144hz monitor.
https://www.reddit.com/r/hackintosh/comments/5xc1tr

 

[kgp]

Hi KGP, thanks, you have been instrumental. This is what a community should be like! very awesome.

- I managed to complete all your steps. (I skipped the section on APFS, and NVME)
- I got to the install after all EFI folder prep. First boot screen was 18 minutes. (Did not get the 34 first.)
- Booted into macOS. Completed the setup. Once I let it update, and reboot, I then got the 34 minutes.


My EFI Folder - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Y6oJyAnlgvzt0TcKAGPtOUlYbFsXVUAd

I also went to the README.md of your EFI Folder on github. I only enabled bootstrap kext as right at the end you said
"
_xcpm_cpuid_set_info kernel patch is obsolete for Broadwell-E and Haswell-E and can remain disabled

_xcpm_bootstrap kernel patch seems still required for some Haswell-E CPUs, e.g. i7-5820k."

I used the FIRST folder in the list -

Type	Name	Latest commit message	Commit time
	EFI-X99-10.13.6-Release-iMacPro1,1-141018.zip	Clover_v2.4k_r4706, AppleLC v1.3.2, Lili v1.2.7	6 months ago

Issues -
1. Display flickering artifacts. (I run a gtx 1070 TI.)
So far. I've logged in, tried to install the Nvidia web drivers, they installed, (although it seems broken, as it cant start the Nvidia control panel) but somethings awry with display artifacts and flickering that happens right from the get go, as soon as the login screen.

(I haven't setup the whatevergreen or Lilu kext. (I've done some reading that says Lilu helps. not sure what whatevergreen does, and whether they both need to be applied.) - let me know your thoughts or advice.


2. Mouse lag...Seems to skip some serious steps in motion.
again did some reading so i can play my part in the DIY anti laziness hackintosh movement lol.

These were some of the things i found on reddit-

"I had significant artifacts and issues on High Sierra 10.13.5 Nvidia web drivers until I switched my system definition to iMac 18,3. All of my Nvidia web driver issues were immediately resolved. I'm unsure why but it made a huge difference on my configuration. "

Mouse lag - (the below would represent my issue closely"
"Mouse randomly jumps across screen

I've been having this issue for a long time now and I think it may be effecting my gaming as well. My mouse will sporadically jump about 150 pixels across the screen. Sometimes it's perfectly smooth but other times it just does it about 10 times within a few minutes and it's really annoying."

Thanks Again to you KGP and anyone who can assist.

some results - / solutions to investigate :-

Wifi / bluetooth interference.... Not sire about this one, i have quite a new capable mouse - Logitec Anywhere 2s ->
https://www.reddit.com/r/hackintosh/comments/72qwl2
Monitor refresh rate? (I have a DELL S2719DGF, its a freesync 144hz monitor.
https://www.reddit.com/r/hackintosh/comments/5xc1tr

ad 1.) How do you expect 2.) to work without any working web driver?
ad 2.) is indirectly answered by ad 1.)

I dropped my Nvidia GPUs already right at the beginning of the 10.14 public beta development. I still support X99 by my respective guidelines but I stopped providing support for Nvidia due to many reasons, clearly and repeatedly outlined along my threads. And the latter also applies in your case. Sorry, my friend.

 

[jacksparrow.greg]

Much appreciated for the response. Finally sorted. Once i uninstalled and re-installed a more recent version of the driver along with Lilu + whatevergreen it seemed to have sorted out everything and its working smoothly. Very impressed and happy with how great it feels!
Im continuing with the guide to finish your post processing.
One question is if you have Kexts to install, should you install them in the OTHER category. (As if you try install the KEXT from WITHIN clover, it requests a system version (10.13) and puts them in the respective folder. Whats the difference between this and placing them in OTHER?

secondly, Clover. I know your EFI folder has clover installed. How would we go about updating to the newest clover and what settings and files would we use. (other than / or replacing kexts with your current folder. If you would let me repost your guide here with full credits, i would love to do an EXTREME NOOBS guide using yours to help anyone else. Although im sure there arent many others still trying to setup a mac with X99.