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iMac Pro X299 - Live the Future now with macOS 10.14 Mojave [Successful Build/Extended Guide]

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I am wondering if you came across a way the related eprom in could be dumped....
I have a MBP 2018 here on my desk and could give any non destructive solution a try.

Clarification: on some motherboards is located a USB 3.1/Thunderbolt connection chip & header, with it's own "header firmware".
A Thunderbolt port, whether located on a separate PCIe card or soldered onto the motherboard, would also have it's own controller chip and separate firmware. For example: the Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5 motherboard comes from the factory with only a USB 3.1/Thunderbolt header, in case the end user might want to buy and install a separate Thunderbolt PCIe card, and cable connect that card to the TB header. Gigabyte's support page offers a firmware update utility named "USB3.1 FW Update Tool" here:
The instructions state: "Please install Thunderbolt Driver first before install this utility."
Of course, the Apple machine may have done it differently, with both features combined into a single controller chip.
Not sure about that.
 
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See post #2,246 . There have been also issues with some of the new processors. So far the i9-9940X seems to work fine though.

Thanks! I did read your post, I wanted to check if others have been having issues. I'd like to drive a thunderbolt monitor from the motherboard and making sure that was possible is on my list. I'm looking to use the i9-9960X.
 
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Thanks! I did read your post, I wanted to check if others have been having issues. I'd like to drive a thunderbolt monitor from the motherboard and making sure that was possible is on my list. I'm looking to use the i9-9960X.

Post #2,246 summaries all issues and findings obtained with @AsEvil , @Maywitt and @applemacosxGOD. I do not use a Deluxe II myself for good reason. izo1 did not use onboard TB of the Deluxe II so far and he also employed the LG38UC99, which does not have any TB port. Despite the issues summarised in post 2,246, the Deluxe II systems are stable. Up to now nobody confirmed confirmed along my X299 threads compatibility of the Deluxe II with the i9-9960X though based on the current Deluxe II BIOS firmware implementation. There have been issues with the i9-9920X and i9-9820X in any case.

A TB monitor like the LG5K2K should work in principle with the onboard TTR controller of the Deluxe II. However as for now there is no TB HotPlug, it might be also impossible to HotPlug the TB display and one would also need to confirm the sleep/wake functionality of the latter.

I hope this answers your questions.
 
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Post #2,246 summaries all issues and findings obtained with @AsEvil , @Maywitt and @applemacosxGOD. I do not use a Deluxe II myself for good reason. izo1 did not use onboard TB of the Deluxe II so far and he also employed the LG38UC99, which does not have any TB port. Despite the issues summarised in post 2,246, the Deluxe II systems are stable. Up to now nobody confirmed confirmed along my X299 threads compatibility of the Deluxe II with the i9-9960X though based on the current Deluxe II BIOS firmware implementation. There have been issues with the i9-9920X and i9-9820X in any case.

A TB monitor like the LG5K2K should work in principle with the onboard TTR controller of the Deluxe II. However as for now there is no TB HotPlug, it might be also impossible to HotPlug the TB display and one would also need to confirm the sleep/wake functionality of the latter.

I hope this answers your questions.

Thank you! I'll spend some time planning this build and making sure I have everything I need to move it forward. I'll post updates here as we go.
 
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@kgp I'm also looking at the Rampage VI Extreme Omega instead of the Prime X299. Apart from the lack of Thunderbolt 3, which I could do without using a different monitor, I like the VRM setup on that board. Do you think the guide can still work for that board?
 
@kgp I'm also looking at the Rampage VI Extreme Omega instead of the Prime X299. Apart from the lack of Thunderbolt 3, which I could do without using a different monitor, I like the VRM setup on that board. Do you think the guide can still work for that board?

Well it seems that the onboard Aquantia 10Gbps LAN also does not work OoB with macOS. However, as it is also an Aquantia AQC-107 chipset like the one used by the ASUS XG-C100C Aquantia AQTION AQC107 10-GBit PCIe x4 NIC , the 10.13.3 firmware update workaround and subsequent kernel patch for the latter might also work for the primer. However up to now this has not been confirmed by anybody. Also nobody so far confirmed full compatibility with the GC-TTR for this board including TB and USB-C HotPlug or sleep/wake with TB devices connected during sleep and wake. In this case you also have to adopt all available System SSDTs for the Prime X299 Deluxe and respective XHC USB kext implementations from scratch and last but not least you will be one of the first using this board at all under macOS. Thus such board decision really requires risk, experimenting and necessary skills.

Why I recommend the ASUS WS X299 Sage 10G is simply the fact that it's full GC-Titan Ridge compatibility including TB and USB-C HotPlug and sleep wake as well as success with the Ubuntu EEPROM modding of the onboard Intel X550-AT2 10G chipset described in Section E.8.2.2) for the Intel X450-T1 have been repeatedly confirmed by various users and @djlild7hina also provides his appreciated help and support for this board. Choosing this board you would also have a complete set of SSDTs (likely still to be adapted though depending on your PCIe extensions and slot population) and respective XHC USB kext implementations.

With the X299 Prime-A you might encounter the same wake problem like on the Prime X299 Deluxe with TB devices connected to the GC-Titan Ridge during sleep although TB and USB-C HotPlug else might work also flawless. In this case you could use one out of two AQTION AQC107 10-GBit PCIe x4 NICs, which are OoB natively implemented under macOS. Also for this board you would have a complete set of SSDTs (which I distributed in some of my posts but which also likely need some additional adaptation depending on your PCIe extensions and slot population) and respective XHC USB kext implementations.

Anyway, your decision, my friend.

late here.. off to bed soon.
 
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Well it seems that the onboard Aquantia 10Gbps LAN also does not work OoB with macOS. However, as it is also an Aquantia AQC-107 chipset like the one used by the ASUS XG-C100C Aquantia AQTION AQC107 10-GBit PCIe x4 NIC , the 10.13.3 firmware update workaround and subsequent kernel patch for the latter might also work for the primer. However up to now this has not been confirmed by anybody. Also nobody so far confirmed full compatibility with the GC-TTR for this board including TB and USB-C HotPlug or sleep/wake with TB devices connected during sleep and wake.

Why I recommend the ASUS WS X299 Sage 10G is simply the fact that it's full GC-Titan Ridge compatibility including TB and USB-C HotPlug and sleep wake as well as success with the Ubuntu EEPROM modding of the onboard Intel X550-AT2 10G chipset described in Section E.8.2.2) for the Intel X450-T1 have been repeatedly confirmed by various users and @djlild7hina also provides his appreciated help and support for this board.

With the X299 Prime-A you might encounter the same wake problem like on the Prime X299 Deluxe with TB devices connected to the GC-Titan Ridge during sleep although TB and USB-C HotPlug else might work also flawless. In this case you could use one to of two AQTION AQC107 10-GBit PCIe x4 NICs, which are OoB natively implemented under macOS.

Anyway, your decision, my friend.

late here.. off to bed soon.

Very interesting. The problem with the WS line is mostly related to poor-VRM performance and heatsink, which becomes a problem especially with the latest generation i9s. Between the Prime Deluxe II and the Extreme Omega there is the lack of TB3 on the Omega, which might not be a bad thing given that I can just plug my current 4K monitor directly into the card instead of going the TB3 route.

The other thing to think about TB3 is that it's now an open standard, USB4, which is going (in a few years) to be commoditized and we might see PCI-E add-in cards supporting TB3/USB4 without the need of the header. It's going to be an interesting year I think.
 
Very interesting. The problem with the WS line is mostly related to poor-VRM performance and heatsink, which becomes a problem especially with the latest generation i9s. Between the Prime Deluxe II and the Extreme Omega there is the lack of TB3 on the Omega, which might not be a bad thing given that I can just plug my current 4K monitor directly into the card instead of going the TB3 route.

The other thing to think about TB3 is that it's now an open standard, USB4, which is going (in a few years) to be commoditized and we might see PCI-E add-in cards supporting TB3/USB4 without the need of the header. It's going to be an interesting year I think.

Well neither @DSM2 nor @djlild7hina mentioned problems with the VRM cooling on the WS X299 Sage 10G, and that there might be any issue is also new to me. Maybe @djlild7hina can comment on this. There are by the way two main MOSFET heatsinks tied together with a heatpipe on the WS X299 Sage 10G and there is not just one VRM heatsink like one the Prime X299 Deluxe or the X299 Prime-A, which anyway should be removed and replaced by the EK-FB ASUS PRIME X299 RGB Monoblock which, enables perfect CPU and VRM water blocking also on the latter two motherboards.

What will come up in the future concerning TB we will see. But you might want to use TB including TB and USB-C HotPlug as well as sleep/wake now and not only in the future, or do I understand something wrong at this place?

EDIT: BTW, I also connect my LG5K2K via DP1.4 to my Nitro+ Vega64, but there is only one DP1.4 connector on this monitor and if you want to connect two different systems to the LG5K2K with native 5K screen resolution like I do, the use of the additional TB port of this Monitor is unavoidable in this case as up to my knowledge there are no DP1.4 switches available on the market for now (at least or a reasonable price). The LG38UC99 also only has 1x DP1.2, but as it is DP1.2 and the monitor also does not feature 5K, you can use available low cost DP1.2 switches for connecting two systems to the LG38UC99, as I also did when I was formerly using the LG38UC99 or you simply use one out of 2x HDMI ports additionally available in this monitor, while it is impossible to achieve native 5K screen resolution via HDMI on the LG5K2K.

Anyway, all said from my side, the rest is really your decision.

Good luck,

KGP
 
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