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Mojave on Biostar TH55HD Socket 1156 / NVidia 9800GT

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Joined
Sep 22, 2011
Messages
1,520
Motherboard
HP EliteDesk 800 G5 Mini
CPU
i9-9900
Graphics
UHD 630
Mac
  1. Mac mini
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
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*** I have installed Catalina 10.15.x on this Biostar TH55HD. If you want to install Catalina, click here. ***
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EDIT: I updated Mojave to 10.14.6 (and applied Supplemental Updates 1 & 2). All appears to be working perfectly.

EDIT: Uploaded new BIOS configuration for TH55HD motherboard (attached to this post) This updated BIOS configuration does not reflect changes after Post #44 of this thread.

EDIT: Uploaded new debug files (attached to this post). This updated debug info does not reflect changes after Post #41 of this thread.

EDIT: Now running MacOS Mojave 10.14.5 with Nvidia GeForce 9800GT. Dual screen/DVI and graphics acceleration works perfectly. Upgraded from High Sierra 10.13.6 to 10.14.4 to 10.14.5 using DosDude's Mojave Patcher. See install notes below.

EDIT: I will update this first post to reflect the most current state of the system. I started with an I5-660 CPU, then Xeon X3450 / NVidia 8600GT, then a Xeon X3480 / NVidia 9800GT, then an overclocked X3450 / NVidia 9800 GT and now an overclocked X3460 / NVidia 9800 GT.

System:
  • MacOS: Mojave 10.14.6 with Supplemental Updates 1 & 2 (APFS)
  • Motherboard: Biostar TH55HD Socket 1156
  • CPU: Xeon X3460 (overclocked with Speedstep enabled, CPU frequency setting increased from 133 to 160, peak CPU frequency is 4.16 GHz - exceeds performance of normally-clocked X3480)
  • CLOVER: R5033 (Legacy)
  • Model: MacPro 5,1 (LPC.IOName = "3b09")
  • Video: NVidia 9800GT 1GB / Native NVidia Drivers (DosDude's legacy graphics patch)
  • Memory: 16GB DDR3 1600 8-8-8-24 (XMP)
  • SSD: 256GB HP S700 Pro (TRIM Enabled)
What is working:
  • Speedstep (CPU frequency switching) is working perfectly and CPU temps are low after selecting SMBIOS Model MacPro5,1 (speedstep did not work with iMac14,2). MacPro5,1 is Intel Westmere family which includes and/or is closely related to Clarkedale (the i5-660) and Lynnfield (Xeon X3450). Using IOName "3b09" in LPCB._DSM. NO CLOVER CPU options needed (including no need for Generate C & P States).
  • Sound is working after applying an ALC888 DSDT patch (layout-id = 1) and installing Lilu/AppleALC). Started with VoodooHDA, but audio quality seems much better with AppleALC. Crystal clear audio with no pops/ticks.
  • Ethernet is working with RealtekRTL8111.kext
  • NVidia 9800GT Video works fine in High Sierra. In Mojave, 9800GT video is working perfectly after applying DosDude's legacy video patch. Without DosDude's patch, video "worked" (without graphics acceleration) at 1280x1024 and 1600x1200 with the built-in I5-660 HD Graphics (no kexts, no Clover options) and NVidia 9800GT.
  • Shutdown works without issues
  • USB ports work without USBInjectAll.kext and without CLOVER USB config options. See Installation Notes below. NOTE: I added USBInjectAll.kext and a customized SSDT-UIAC.aml to see if this would fix sleep issues. USB port / sleep behavior is no different with USBInjectAll.kext and SSDT-UIAC.aml. I am currently running with USBInjectAll.kext, but this is not reflected in the attached debug files.
  • EDIT: I am currently running with Suspend State S1 enabled in BIOS. This comment is for Suspend State 3: System appears to sleep properly when S3 Suspend State is enabled in BIOS (no Instant Wake problem and power LED is flashing slowly when asleep) after setting Motherboard USB jumpers (2 jumpers: 1 for front panel and 1 for rear panel) to enable +5VDC on standby. Without standby voltage enabled via jumpers, system would wake immediately after sleeping when "USB Wake from S3/S4" was enabled in BIOS and a USB device was plugged into a USB port.
  • Mojave performance on my old TH55HD / i5-660 (with AES-NI) is fantastic (even with encrypted APFS). I'm not a gamer - just lots of software builds. Mojave performance is better with a Xeon X3480, even better with an overclocked Xeon X3450 and even better with an overclocked Xeon X3460 (X34x0 doesn't have AES-NI instructions). Overclocked X3450 and overclocked X3460 performance exceeds normally-clocked X3480.
What is not working:
  • Wake from Sleep (S3 Suspend State) in Mojave and High Sierra (same behavior in both): System cold boots (including full BIOS Power-on Self Test) instead of resuming when I wake from sleep by clicking the USB mouse button. Still looking for a solution in this thread: Macpro5,1 cold-boots on wake from sleep
Installation Notes:
  • If you're performing a clean installation of Mojave on your old socket 1156 motherboard with Gen 1 HD Graphics or old NVidia graphics, set your model to iMac 14,2 for the installation. Mojave installer will continue without metal support. If you try to install on MacPro 5,1 Mojave will say you don't have metal. After installation, change your model to MacPro 5,1. I performed a clean install of Mojave 10.14.4 on my Thinkpad T61 (Penryn T9300 CPU, NVidia NVS 140m) with DosDude's Mojave patcher, so you should also be able to use DosDude's Mojave patcher to perform a clean installation of Mojave on MacPro 5,1/Legacy NVidia.
  • I'm old-school and prefer to manually perform as many DSDT edits as possible (instead of automatic CLOVER patches). To edit my socket 1156 DSDT, I started with this guide: http://macmanx86.blogspot.com/2010/06/new-minimal-dsdt-edits-for-gigabyte.html and then applied old DSDT patches from libraries that are still available. The TH55HD bios uses naming convention that differs from Gigabyte, so I have attempted to rename devices to the best of my ability.
  • EDIT: This USB issue is resolved by disabling Legacy USB support in BIOS. Leaving this issue described here for background. I no longer have this USB issue with Legacy USB disabled. On my Biostar TH55HD, I needed to boot once with a USB device inserted in one of the front-panel (EHC1) USB ports. Without this, my front-panel (EHC1) USB ports were not active after booting. After booting once with an inserted USB device, EHC1 USB ports are active when I boot (with or without an inserted USB device). Again, I only needed the DSDT edits mentioned in the second Installation Notes bullet above and do not need any USB kexts or config options in CLOVER config.plist for working USB. Note that My EHC2 (rear-panel) USB ports don't have this problem. If I lose my front-panel USB ports after a BIOS config change, I can always recover by selecting NVRAM reset in BIOS and booting with a USB device inserted into one of the front-panel USB ports.
  • To improve performance on my old systems running MacOS, I disable all Spotlight Search Results (System Preferences > Spotlight > Uncheck all options) and add all volumes in the Privacy tab.
  • Set Motherboard USB jumpers to enable +5VDC on standby. Without this, system wakes immediately from sleep if a USB device is plugged into a USB port and "USB Wake from S3/S4" is enabled in BIOS.
  • After getting everything working (except wake as noted) with High Sierra 10.13.6, I used DosDude's Mojave patcher to create a Mojave install USB. After upgrading to Mojave, I applied DosDude's legacy graphics patch (before booting Mojave for the first time). Mojave works perfectly with Nvidia GeForce 9800GT, dual-DVI displays, graphics acceleration.
  • Upgrade to subsquent Mojave versions is a simple process. When upgrading 10.14.4 to 10.14.5, I applied the Mojave update from the AppStore. Before booting into Mojave 10.14.5 for the first time, I installed DosDude's Legacy Graphic Driver.
  • Upgrade to Mojave 10.14.6 from 10.14.5 follows the same process as upgrade from 10.14.4 to 10.14.5.
  • Application of 10.14.6 Supplemental updates follows normal System Preferences > Software Update process. After applying supplemental updates, re-apply DosDude Legacy Graphics Patch and run 'sudo kextcache -i /'
 

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Interesting observation: speedstep works and CPU temps are low without enabling "Generate PStates" & "Generate CStates" in CLOVER config.plist.
 
I think I figured out DSDT edits for USB. Now, all USB ports are fully functional WITHOUT USBInjectAll.kext.
 
After applying what I thought were the correct DSDT edits for USB, I realized that CPU speedstep stopped working. I reverted to a previous DSDT (no USB edits) to find that speedstep is working again (without generate CStates and PStates in config.plist) and USB ports work perfectly without USBInjectAll.kext. I may still need to experiment with USB patches for sleep/wake, but it's interesting that this Biostar motherboard/bios is natively compatible with Mojave without USBInjectAll.kext and without CLOVER generating CStates and PStates.
 
EDIT: DSDT.aml is now part of the debug files attached to post #1.
 
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Thanks for your post. Your experience may help me too.

Since 2 days I try to get my MSI H55m-E33 Board with an i3-530 and Intel Graphics to either boot
  • the Mojave installer what got stuck with "This version if Mac OSX is not supported on this platform! Reason: Mac-F2238AC8"
  • or to boot High Sierra Installer what got stuck with "Please switch to XPC..."
Can you do me a favor and upload your EFI folder as zip with everything included? This may help me for a new boot test.
 
@Snowpro - I'm not ready to post my EFI yet (not until I confirm everything works). It's most likely that you have configured a Mac Model (in your CLOVER config.plist) that does not have Mojave support. Your CLOVER config.plist needs a model that supports Mojave. Note that I selected MacPro 5,1 which should work for you. There are several places to find models that support Mojave. Just Google 'Latest MacOS supported by model' and you'll find listings that show the latest MacOS version supported by each model. If the listing indicates "Current" or "Mojave" then it supports Mojave. Find the model that most closely approximates your system. The files that I uploaded in Post #5 of this thread are enough to get you started.

Also, I'm still old-school when it comes to DSDT edits and prefer to manually edit my DSDT as much as possible (instead of choosing automatic CLOVER patches). Others may disagree with me, so your approach is up to you. For my Biostar TH55HD, I followed this guide to apply my DSDT patches: http://macmanx86.blogspot.com/2010/06/new-minimal-dsdt-edits-for-gigabyte.html
 
If you're performing a clean installation of Mojave on your old Socket 1156 motherboard and CPU with Gen 1 HD Graphics, be sure to set your Mac Model to iMac 14,2 for the install. I don't understand why, but this tricks the Mojave installer into thinking you have a Metal-supported graphics card (if you try to install with MacPro 5,1 the installer will block the installation). After you install Mojave on your iMac 14,2, change your CLOVER config.plist to MacPro 5,1.

Initially setting the Mac Model to iMac 14,2 also allowed me to perform a clean installation of Mojave with my NVidia 8600GT (non-metal) graphics. Using a Mojave installer USB with CLOVER (Legacy) R4813 and Mac Model iMac 14,2, I installed Mojave on my socket 1156 system. After the first Mojave installation reboot, I changed the Mac Model (on the installer USB) to MacPro 5,1.
 
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To further this experiment with old equipment, I installed a GeForce 8600 GT graphics card and injected an Nvidia DSDT patch. My Mojave system recognizes the card, but the display resolution is 1600x1200 (odd resolution - my display is 1920x1080, so display detection is not working) and no acceleration (I would have been surprised if there was). I tried forcing installation of the High Sierra Nvidia Web Drivers, but even with the web drivers, the resolution and acceleration didn't work.
 

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This has been a great experiment with Mojave. This old Socket 1156 system has potential to be a very good Mojave system, but I'll wait for others to experiment with metal graphics upgrades (or maybe for NVidia's Mojave web drivers hoping that they support old graphics cards). In the mean time, this system also makes a great High Sierra system, so I'm reverting to High Sierra for now. Since it's a MacPro 5,1, it's ready for Mojave when I decide on a graphics solution.
 
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