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i7 8700k / z370 (Unstable)

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Joined
Aug 12, 2011
Messages
92
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming
CPU
i7-8700K
Graphics
RX 580
Mac
  1. iMac
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
Hey guys, I'm almost to my wits end. The short story is that I've upgraded to an i7 9700k (9th gen) CPU after my 8800k started failing and crashing my computer. Luckily I had a warranty on it and was able to snag the 9900k with the refund. My problem is I'm unable to boot into Mojave now unless I'm using the cpus=1 boot flag. I had to upgrade my BIOS to F11 to even be able to boot the computer and anything above that I'm unable to boot into my HD at all, even with that boot flag.

My question is can anyone help me get this stable? I've searched everywhere and haven't found a solid solution. When I boot into my install the 9700k isn't showing up at all, it just says unknown. Here are my specs...

i7-9700K
Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming
Sapphire Pulse RX 580
Samsung 960 EVO 500GB NVMeM.2 SSD
Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4 Memory
Corsair CX Series 750 Watt Power Supply


I've attached my EFI folder and a screenshot. Hopefully one of you guys has a similar setup and can help. This build has been a complete and utter nightmare to get working and stable. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT: I've decided to ditch the 9700K, as it was way too hard to get my build up and running properly. I'm now using the 8700K and getting random shutdowns - previous shutdown cause: 5 - any and all help would be appreciated.
 
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Just found this fix by @threequartersearth (see last post with screenshots)


After applying these changes it booted up with no problems. Is this safe long term though? Just want to make sure. Still showing an unknown CPU but I've seen where that can be edited in the AppleSystemInfo. Still testing to see if it's stable.
 
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Initial testing is not stable. I'm getting crashes even when watching a video on YouTube. Any and all help would be appreciated guys. I'm seriously at a loss for words.
 
When I boot into my install the 9700k isn't showing up at all, it just says unknown.

That is normal as Mojave 10.14.2 has no support for 9th generation CPUs (but should still work). You have to upgrade to 10.14.6 for Mojave to recognize a 9th generation CPU like your 9700K (and my 9700KF).
 
That is normal as Mojave 10.14.2 has no support for 9th generation CPUs (but should still work). You have to upgrade to 10.14.6 for Mojave to recognize a 9th generation CPU like your 9700K (and my 9700KF).
Ah I see. I'll try updating then... fingers crossed that fixes my problems!
 
Ah I see. I'll try updating then... fingers crossed that fixes my problems!

And by the way, are you sure your RAM is working fine? It seems to me that your problems may be related to RAM instabilities or incompatibilities.
 
And by the way, are you sure your RAM is working fine? It seems to me that your problems may be related to RAM instabilities or incompatibilities.
Yes, I've tested the ram way before this issue. Unless I'm totally missing something and the Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 sticks are known to mess with macOS? They've worked fine for me so far.

Anyway, I updated to 10.14.6 and it still won't boot without cpus=1 or with the workaround I posted in my second post. Unless I need to update my BIOS again... I have no clue.
 
Any part can theoretically fail, but CPUs in experience are exceedingly rare to fail, I would set everything stock, XMP, etc. Which on a Gigabyte board means going in and adjust CPU voltage to Standard, the memory to 2400 with no XMP and the auto tuning to stability. Set everything bone stock like a Dell would ship it and see how it works. Make no assumptions.

Personally I've seen motherboards, ram, and then power supplies cause problems.

Beyond that you have added new devices to the machine, all devices require memory addresses to be assigned to them. I'm currently using OsxAptioFix2Drv-free2000.efi because I had enough devices using the standard drive did not work. This driver allocates memory addresses, you also need the bios setting above 4G enabled. The symptom this fixes was the stop sign when booting. I did not see where you species. If you use the same file as I did you will need to also install the nvram emulation driver, it is bundled in the standard OptioFix but not in the above.

Another item I've read about is a patch for new bioses on Z370 boards, something changed and people have found a clover config to make the new bios work. You have installed a new bios.


Also, how old is Clover? Has it been updated, as well as Lilu and WEG? Those three control how hardware is presented to macOS and need to be new enough for your processor.
 
Any part can theoretically fail, but CPUs in experience are exceedingly rare to fail, I would set everything stock, XMP, etc. Which on a Gigabyte board means going in and adjust CPU voltage to Standard, the memory to 2400 with no XMP and the auto tuning to stability. Set everything bone stock like a Dell would ship it and see how it works. Make no assumptions.

Personally I've seen motherboards, ram, and then power supplies cause problems.

Beyond that you have added new devices to the machine, all devices require memory addresses to be assigned to them. I'm currently using OsxAptioFix2Drv-free2000.efi because I had enough devices using the standard drive did not work. This driver allocates memory addresses, you also need the bios setting above 4G enabled. The symptom this fixes was the stop sign when booting. I did not see where you species. If you use the same file as I did you will need to also install the nvram emulation driver, it is bundled in the standard OptioFix but not in the above.

Another item I've read about is a patch for new bioses on Z370 boards, something changed and people have found a clover config to make the new bios work. You have installed a new bios.


Also, how old is Clover? Has it been updated, as well as Lilu and WEG? Those three control how hardware is presented to macOS and need to be new enough for your processor.
I just updated Clover to the latest and all kexts are updated as well. Tried both ACPI patches... first 1, then 2, and both together. Unfortunately none of this got me anywhere. I'm still getting a hang up about 70% through or it will go to about 15% and just reboot the system. Tried this on both 10.14.2 and 10.14.6 - I have everything unplugged from my system other than a keyboard and mouse.

I wish I could find someone with the same specs to share their EFI folder. It would make things a ton easier. By the way, I'm running F13 for my BIOS and all stock except for VT-d is disabled. F13 is the first update that implemented support for 9th gen CPUs.

I've attached my EFI folder again if you want to take a look. I def appreciate your help!

EDIT: I did see that @Ploddles has the same specs as I do in the thread you shared (except for the 9700k) - if you see this and could help that would be amazing.

EDIT 2: Went ahead and tried F14 and F15 BIOS and same issues.
 

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  • EFI.zip
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I just updated Clover to the latest and all kexts are updated as well. Tried both ACPI patches... first 1, then 2, and both together. Unfortunately none of this got me anywhere. I'm still getting a hang up about 70% through or it will go to about 15% and just reboot the system. Tried this on both 10.14.2 and 10.14.6 - I have everything unplugged from my system other than a keyboard and mouse.

I wish I could find someone with the same specs to share their EFI folder. It would make things a ton easier. By the way, I'm running F13 for my BIOS and all stock except for VT-d is disabled. F13 is the first update that implemented support for 9th gen CPUs.

I've attached my EFI folder again if you want to take a look. I def appreciate your help!

EDIT: I did see that @Ploddles has the same specs as I do in the thread you shared (except for the 9700k) - if you see this and could help that would be amazing.

EDIT 2: Went ahead and tried F14 and F15 BIOS and same issues.

  • I hope I don't come across as impolite, when I remind you that the best way to communicate a boot failure in a Forum is to(1) boot using Verbose Boot flag (-v), (2) take clear Legible picture(s) of text-based Boot screen(s) to upload, along with the(3)BIOS screen shots showing what options have been Enabled or Disabled to allow your Disk to boot using CLOVER boot loader and also(4) upload CLOVER Folder from the hidden EFI partition of the booting disk mounting it using Clover Configurator Global or EFI Mounter V3 or terminal commands.

  • If I am a betting man, I would bet most on wrongly chosen BIOS options and a smaller amount on faulty CLOVER.

  • But without seeing your Verbose boot screen image, I have no real basis for the above statements!
 
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