"Mini" form factor Dell/HP/Lenovo systems on Ebay

[scottkendall]

Before I managed to get macOS working with the RX 560 installed, I tried just about everything including flashing an alternate vBIOS. I tried the vBIOS from a Lenovo because the clocks and thermal settings were the same. I reverted back to the original vBIOS because it made no difference.

It was really, really strange... Using anything other than Macmini8,1 system definition resulted in black screen from the RX 560 in macOS whether I had WhateverGreen enabled or not. I suspect that it might be because with Macmini8,1, it's treated as a Thunderbolt attached GPU.

Anyway, I'm just glad that I got it working. It spends most of the time in Batocera and I only really boot in to macOS when I need to do any file management for the Batocera folders.

I briefly had Windows installed... On a 100% fresh install with only 7zip, Rufus, and RPCS3 on the system, I tried launching RPCS3 and it already complained about missing DLLs. I was like, "WTF???" I'm not going to deal with this and deleted Windows immediately.

Maybe you remember but when I first started with my hack I was plagued by crashes but during that time I found the headless system allowed all the ports on the gpu to work. This was due to the configuration in AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy.kext basically the headless systems did not need any kind of modification to the device policy kext that WEG does for the iMacs. It also makes DRM work without much issues.

 

[pastrychef]

Maybe you remember but when I first started with my hack I was plagued by crashes but during that time I found the headless system allowed all the ports on the gpu to work. This was due to the configuration in AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy.kext basically the headless systems did not need any kind of modification to the device policy kext that WEG does for the iMacs. It also makes DRM work without much issues.

Yes. I remember.

Whether I have the IGPU enabled or disabled, I need WhateverGreen disabled to get any video from the RX 560. Once WhateverGreen is disabled, the RX 560 works perfectly with or without IGPU enabled.

I have not tested DRM because I have not logged in to anything (i.e. Apple, Amazon, Netflix, etc.) on the EliteDesk and don't intend to. I already have a lot of devices attached to my accounts and don't want to add more.

Without the RX 560, WhateverGreen is necessary because the EliteDesk needs connector patching and I don't know how to do that without WhateverGreen.

 

[pastrychef]

Here are my observations after playing around with the EliteDesk 800 G4 DM (i7-8700 and RX 560) a lot.

The system:

• Runs pretty darn quiet even when pushed.
• Will pull over 100W from the wall when CPU and GPU are both being pushed. Idles at ~33-34W. Without RX 560, I think it topped out at ~70W and idled at ~15W.
• System will throttle a bit if/when CPU gets too hot for too long. To avoid throttling, run with the top case off. Delidded CPU helps.
• SATA and NVMe2 connectors are blocked when RX 560 is installed.
• To reliably boot from USB, disable "Fast Boot" in BIOS.
• Use dual channel RAM! It makes a difference!

Hackintosh:

• macOS Ventura runs perfectly. Remember to only use Macmini8,1 system definition and disable WhateverGreen in OpenCore.
• macOS works fine with IGPU enabled or disabled. I have it disabled.
• A well performing NVMe SSD makes a noticeable difference when using macOS compared to SATA SSD.
• macOS Mojave can be run in a virtual machine from within macOS for the obscure 32-bit apps that you may still have. There will be no GPU acceleration in the VM.
• When using DW1560, clearing NVRAM can break Bluetooth. The only way I was able to get it working again was to boot with a natively supported Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card and then swap the DW1560 back in. Avoid clearing NVRAM if you can...
• Early reports are that BCM943xx Wi-Fi support has been dropped in Sonoma. This is a deal breaker for me and I will probably not upgrade to Sonoma.

Batocera:

• Every Sega system can be upscaled to the max on Batocera.
• Every Sony system can be emulated and upscaled up to PS2 (limit PS2 upscaling to 3x). Not all PS3 games will run well, many will. Yes, God of War 3 is very playable and looks great. Without RX 560, most PS2 games will be playable but only at native resolution and fewer PS3 games will be playable.
• Some Xbox games can be upscaled a little. Not all Xbox 360 games will run well, many will. (For best Xbox 360 emulation, run Xenia in Windows. Even Red Dead Redemption is very playable in Windows, but ,if you really want to play Red Dead Redemption, I recommend the Switch version which runs flawlessly.). Without RX 560, forget about Xbox 360 emulation.
• Every Nintendo system can upscaled up to Wii (limit Dolphin upscaling to 3x). I have only tested 3DS, Wii U, and Switch games at native resolution and they run great. Without RX 560, 3DS, Wii U, and Switch games will run very slow.

Windows:

• If you purchased your system used, odds are that it originally shipped with Windows 10 Pro. Doing a fresh install of Windows 10 Pro will result in it being automagically activated.
• Windows can be run from an external USB drive (SD cards and Flash drives also work). Install "Windows To Go" on the USB drive and you are good to go. It will also be activated upon boot.

My Personal System:

• I have Batocera installed on a 2TB NVMe. I have a separate 512GB partition where macOS is installed.
• OpenCore is installed on a super tiny USB flash drive and it is the primary boot device from BIOS. This is because trying to install the EFI on the NVMe screwed up Batocera.
• I use the OpenCore Boot Picker to decide which system I want to go in to after powering up.
• All my Batocera ROMs reside on my NAS.
• I did not bother installing Windows on the NVMe because I almost never use it. If/when needed, I can boot Windows from USB.

 

[Bogito]

@pastrychef
Is there any noticable difference in everyday's tasks like browsing, OS animations, etc. since you install the RX 560 or it's only noticable when gaming ? I am still thinking to get one RX 560 for my HP Mini G4 with 8500T. It works pretty well with Ventura but sometimes I feel it's a bit laggy when connected to a 4K@60Hz display. Could be the monitor, it's pretty old (I have it for 10 years already, one of the first 4K monitors). 1080p and 2K works flawlessly.

Since I got my high refresh rate screen every time I am in front of 60Hz screen I feel it's slow and laggy. May be it's just me and everything's fine.

 

[pastrychef]

@pastrychef
Is there any noticable difference in everyday's tasks like browsing, OS animations, etc. since you install the RX 560 or it's only noticable when gaming ? I am still thinking to get one RX 560 for my HP Mini G4 with 8500T. It works pretty well with Ventura but sometimes I feel it's a bit laggy when connected to a 4K@60Hz display. Could be the monitor, it's pretty old (I have it for 10 years already, one of the first 4K monitors). 1080p and 2K works flawlessly.

Since I got my high refresh rate screen every time I am in front of 60Hz screen I feel it's slow and laggy. May be it's just me and everything's fine.

Personally, I only notice a difference in games but, to be honest, I don't spend too much time in macOS on this system. It's almost always booted in to Batocera.

 

[pastrychef]

@gemino

Use your own Serial, Board Serial, UUID, and MAC address. If you need to run Sonoma, you will need to use the OCLP Wi-Fil hack. Google around for instructions. Also, it ONLY works with the Mac mini system definition. Do not change that.