- Joined
- Aug 9, 2011
- Messages
- 14
- Motherboard
- Gigabyte Z390 M
- CPU
- i9 9900K
- Graphics
- Radeon Rx580
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
Although I’ve built CustoMac’s before, this latest build was extremely difficult to get working. It must have taken me nearly eighty attempts over a couple of weeks before a stable Mojave installation occurred. I actually had a system running a couple of times, only to watch it seeming self-descruct during the final configuration. There were numerous times when I sat, staring at a thousand dollar pile of non-functional hardware, and wondered if it would ever work. If not for incredible patience, it would have been very easy to give up. Don’t – there is light at the end of a possibly very long tunnel.
I’m writing this thread in hopes of informing others about my most glaring errors, and how they were corrected or bypassed. Hopefully, your builds will proceed much more smoothly as a result. Knowing what I know now, I could likely get it all built in less than a few hours. As they say, “hindsight is always 20/20.”
First, let me thank all of you who have written about your successes, issues and solutions. Invariably, most of my problems were well documented in other thread posts and could have been avoided if I had only known about the problem issues in advance. In this post I’ll attempt so summarize the most glaring problems in one list.
[Background]
This installation of Mojave is being performed on an existing CustoMac that resides in an Apple MacPro alloy case. My version is a ~2006 case [BTW: a 2009 case is MUCH better], complete with original fans, covers and cables. The system has a Apple Cinema display, and Apple keyboard, Apple mouse, and Apple Bluetooth. The only significant deviation from a stock Mac is the aftermarket motherboard. A separate write-up on the case mod has been written; time permitting; I’ll upload the results.
The reason for mentioning the case is that it affects the hardware choice. Although the case is large, you can’t simply drop in a full sized ATX motherboard without doing some serious case trimming. To avoid that effort, a micro-ATX form-factor motherboard was used. You lose a couple of PCI connectors and some other interface items, but the motherboard will fit fairly easily in the available space.
To improve the prospects for compatibility, hardware options were selected from the Buyer’s Guide. My hope was that this would reduce the amount configuration work needed to get OSX running. My prior system was ASUS based, but during an upgrade to High Sierra I found that my NVidia 970 wasn’t compatible. During the switch to a RX580 I managed to break my MB. One night it was working, the next morning it was broken. OK, time to upgrade.
[Equipment]
Here’s what I’m running:
MB: Gigabyte Z390 M Gaming – BIOS reflashed to Rev. F (latest)
CPU: Intel i9 9900K – eight core CPU with Hyperthreading
Memory: 32 GB Ballistik Sport – DDR4 – 3200
GPU: Radeon RX580 Sapphire Pulse
SSD: 1TB Samsung 860 EVO V-NAND (SATA SGb/s)
SSD: 500 GB Samsung 970 EVOplus (NVMe M.2) reflashed to Ver 3.0 <- Don’t buy the ‘Plus’ version – see below
Temporary air-cooled CPU heatsink that likely needs an upgrade
PSU: Generic Mid-tier 500W 80plus bronze <– May upgrade to a better power supply unit
Old Radeon video card: On occasion there were initialization issues with the RX 580. Usually this results in the display going black during startup, even though the OS is actually running. I happen to have an older Radeon HD 6870 Sapphire lying around, and remarkably it will run Mojave. There were many times when swapping in the older Sapphire card allowed the display to be visible, which permitted configuration changes to be seen. Once software changes were made, the RX 580 could be reinstalled.
There were ten major issues that resulted in a difficult build. They are listed in the order that you’d likely run into them. Hopefully, this list can help others to save some time and frustration with this hardware setup.
[ #1*** Important ***Configuring the Gigabyte Z390M Gaming MB BIOS]
Prior to installing Mojave the BIOS needs to be configured correctly. My system uses the settings that were posted by [jbarnette]. Although other options were testing with, they almost always had negative consequences. As an example, one minor change resulted in a system that ran so slow that it took a full 10 minutes just to get Clover to boot. In the end, the original BIOS settings from [jbarnett] were the ones that worked for me. Thank you!
www.tonymacx86.com
My motherboard came with BIOS revision D. In an attempt to resolve hardware errors, the BIOS level was reflashed to version F. This involved downloading new software from Gigabyte, creating a bootable USB, and following the instructions for reflashing the MB. I don’t know if this step was mandatory, but I wanted to eliminate all known issues that might cause hardware problems.
Initially I tried to install just using the built-in Intel graphics. Others claim this works but for me it always let to failure. After installing the RX580 and turning off Intel graphics, the system installed correctly.
My memory is faster than the stock speed setting for this motherboard. To get the best performance, I used the M.I.T. / Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) -> Profile 1. This resulted in the memory being recognized at its full speed.
[ #2 *** Important ***Formatting the USB 2.0 install drive]
Start with a clean new 16 GB USB 2.0 drive.
Although a simple step, correctly setting up a bootable USB installer proved to be one of the problematic. Failure to get this step right can result in problems that can show up much later in the install process.
It seems that not all USB drives behave the same. During installation, I found that different drives produced different results. It seemed that my version 3.0 USB drives always seemed to have installation problems. Eventually I purchased a clean 16 GB USB 2.0 drive. Don’t get a USB drive that is larger than 32 GB. If you do, you’ll need to partition it to a smaller size.
From a working Mac, plug in your new 16 GB USB drive. Navigate into Applications/Utilities and start the Disk Utility application.
After Disk Utility starts, go to the View menu and ensure that ‘Show All Devices’ is enabled (command 2). This will display both the physical devices and logical drives. The physical USB device will often contain a vendor name that can’t be changed. The logical drives can be created/erased and may be renamed. Both can be erased, but you need to erase from the physical drive level to ensure that the correct partition map scheme is selected. If a logical drive is mounted and in use, it may not be possible to select the physical drive until the child logical drives are un-mounted or are otherwise not in use.
Follow these steps within Disk Utility:
A USB that is incorrectly erased or has hidden partitions may fail during initialization in UniBeast. The other issue is that an incorrectly formatted drive may actually pass the UniBeast disk generation process, but then fail to become a bootable drive.
[ #3*** Important ***Use a v2.0 USB port – don’t use a 3.x port]
This may be the most important piece of advice for installing Mojave onto the Z390M.
Plugging your Mojave install USB into a USB 2.0 port solves all sorts of issues. Unfortunately, all of the rear backplane motherboard ports on the Gigabyte Z390 M are either 3.0 or 3.1 ports. Installation seems to work with these ports, but strange and unpredictable issues show up during the installer process. The quick solution is to use a 2.0 port via a third party cable. These USB ports are available on the motherboard edge as a 2x6 DIN connector.
[ #4 Configure your BIOS default to boot the USB Mojave install disk]
Any errors can lead to system restarts. Prior to going through this process, it’s handy to configure your BIOS to always use the USB as the default drive unless you specify otherwise.
[ #5 970 EVOPlus NVMe is incompatible – Needs to be reflashed/formatted before use]
When you first boot the Mojave install USB, Clover will begin and scan your machine for UEFI start disks. This startup scan can fail if there are unformatted NVMe drives, or if you have prior Mojave installations that are incomplete.
In my case, the 970 NVMe drive was not formatted, and its presence attached to the motherboard causes a startup failure. Removal of the NVMe drive allowed the problem to go away. If you want to install onto the 970 EVOplus, it may be necessary for first format the drive. In my case, the problem was sidestepped by removing the drive and using a SATA connected 860 SSD that was already formatted.
If you get a 970 NVMe drive, get either the 970 EVO or the 970 EVO Pro. Avoid the 970 EVO Plus. I was able to eventually get this drive to work by reflashing it with software downloaded from Samsung’s website. The document Samsung NVM Express Driver v3.0provides details on the version reflash. Updating requires you to download special software, copy it as a disk image to an available USB drive, then reboot your machine using the USB drive and follow onscreen instructions for reflashing your 970 EVOPlus NVMe. All things considered it’s a relatively straightforward process, but you need to be comfortable using command line instructions for building a disk image.
NVMe note: The 970 EVOPlus chips run hot to the touch with even moderate use. Purchase and install a M.2 heatsink for this device and ensure that you have good airflow over it.
[ #6 Prior OS installs or partial OS installs can conflict]
In addition to the NVMe drive causing install issues, prior installations can also cause problems. This is especially true if an install began, but terminated during the early stages of preparing the target disk. It’s best if your target drive is clean and has been formatted as an HFS+ Journaled drive. The installation procedure will make required changes if you are running on a SSD. Let it do the work against a clean disk that doesn’t have existing hidden EFI partitions. You can format your target disk using the same approach that was used for erasing and formatting your USB install disk. If you have done this step in advance, you won’t need to repeat it when you get to the initial Mojave install screen.
(#7 - #10: To be continued)
I’m writing this thread in hopes of informing others about my most glaring errors, and how they were corrected or bypassed. Hopefully, your builds will proceed much more smoothly as a result. Knowing what I know now, I could likely get it all built in less than a few hours. As they say, “hindsight is always 20/20.”
First, let me thank all of you who have written about your successes, issues and solutions. Invariably, most of my problems were well documented in other thread posts and could have been avoided if I had only known about the problem issues in advance. In this post I’ll attempt so summarize the most glaring problems in one list.
[Background]
This installation of Mojave is being performed on an existing CustoMac that resides in an Apple MacPro alloy case. My version is a ~2006 case [BTW: a 2009 case is MUCH better], complete with original fans, covers and cables. The system has a Apple Cinema display, and Apple keyboard, Apple mouse, and Apple Bluetooth. The only significant deviation from a stock Mac is the aftermarket motherboard. A separate write-up on the case mod has been written; time permitting; I’ll upload the results.
The reason for mentioning the case is that it affects the hardware choice. Although the case is large, you can’t simply drop in a full sized ATX motherboard without doing some serious case trimming. To avoid that effort, a micro-ATX form-factor motherboard was used. You lose a couple of PCI connectors and some other interface items, but the motherboard will fit fairly easily in the available space.
To improve the prospects for compatibility, hardware options were selected from the Buyer’s Guide. My hope was that this would reduce the amount configuration work needed to get OSX running. My prior system was ASUS based, but during an upgrade to High Sierra I found that my NVidia 970 wasn’t compatible. During the switch to a RX580 I managed to break my MB. One night it was working, the next morning it was broken. OK, time to upgrade.
[Equipment]
Here’s what I’m running:
MB: Gigabyte Z390 M Gaming – BIOS reflashed to Rev. F (latest)
CPU: Intel i9 9900K – eight core CPU with Hyperthreading
Memory: 32 GB Ballistik Sport – DDR4 – 3200
GPU: Radeon RX580 Sapphire Pulse
SSD: 1TB Samsung 860 EVO V-NAND (SATA SGb/s)
SSD: 500 GB Samsung 970 EVOplus (NVMe M.2) reflashed to Ver 3.0 <- Don’t buy the ‘Plus’ version – see below
Temporary air-cooled CPU heatsink that likely needs an upgrade
PSU: Generic Mid-tier 500W 80plus bronze <– May upgrade to a better power supply unit
Old Radeon video card: On occasion there were initialization issues with the RX 580. Usually this results in the display going black during startup, even though the OS is actually running. I happen to have an older Radeon HD 6870 Sapphire lying around, and remarkably it will run Mojave. There were many times when swapping in the older Sapphire card allowed the display to be visible, which permitted configuration changes to be seen. Once software changes were made, the RX 580 could be reinstalled.
There were ten major issues that resulted in a difficult build. They are listed in the order that you’d likely run into them. Hopefully, this list can help others to save some time and frustration with this hardware setup.
[ #1*** Important ***Configuring the Gigabyte Z390M Gaming MB BIOS]
Prior to installing Mojave the BIOS needs to be configured correctly. My system uses the settings that were posted by [jbarnette]. Although other options were testing with, they almost always had negative consequences. As an example, one minor change resulted in a system that ran so slow that it took a full 10 minutes just to get Clover to boot. In the end, the original BIOS settings from [jbarnett] were the ones that worked for me. Thank you!
[SUCCESS] jbarnette's Build - ASUS TUF Z390 M Gaming + i9-9900K + Sapphire RX Vega 64 8GB + 32GB RAM + MacOS 10.14.3 w/ USB3 working!
jbarnette's Build: Core i9-9900K - GA-Z390M Gaming - Sapphire RX Vega64 8GB Components Intel i9-9900K 3.6GHz 8 Core, 16 Threads Processor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005404P9I/?tag=tonymacx86com-20 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819117957 Gigabyte Z390 M Gaming...
www.tonymacx86.com
My motherboard came with BIOS revision D. In an attempt to resolve hardware errors, the BIOS level was reflashed to version F. This involved downloading new software from Gigabyte, creating a bootable USB, and following the instructions for reflashing the MB. I don’t know if this step was mandatory, but I wanted to eliminate all known issues that might cause hardware problems.
Initially I tried to install just using the built-in Intel graphics. Others claim this works but for me it always let to failure. After installing the RX580 and turning off Intel graphics, the system installed correctly.
My memory is faster than the stock speed setting for this motherboard. To get the best performance, I used the M.I.T. / Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) -> Profile 1. This resulted in the memory being recognized at its full speed.
[ #2 *** Important ***Formatting the USB 2.0 install drive]
Start with a clean new 16 GB USB 2.0 drive.
Although a simple step, correctly setting up a bootable USB installer proved to be one of the problematic. Failure to get this step right can result in problems that can show up much later in the install process.
It seems that not all USB drives behave the same. During installation, I found that different drives produced different results. It seemed that my version 3.0 USB drives always seemed to have installation problems. Eventually I purchased a clean 16 GB USB 2.0 drive. Don’t get a USB drive that is larger than 32 GB. If you do, you’ll need to partition it to a smaller size.
From a working Mac, plug in your new 16 GB USB drive. Navigate into Applications/Utilities and start the Disk Utility application.
After Disk Utility starts, go to the View menu and ensure that ‘Show All Devices’ is enabled (command 2). This will display both the physical devices and logical drives. The physical USB device will often contain a vendor name that can’t be changed. The logical drives can be created/erased and may be renamed. Both can be erased, but you need to erase from the physical drive level to ensure that the correct partition map scheme is selected. If a logical drive is mounted and in use, it may not be possible to select the physical drive until the child logical drives are un-mounted or are otherwise not in use.
Follow these steps within Disk Utility:
- Enable ‘Show All Devices’
- Erase or un-mount logical drives on your 16 GB USB 2.0 drive.
- Now select the physical USB drive and erase it (use GUID Partition Map scheme)
A USB that is incorrectly erased or has hidden partitions may fail during initialization in UniBeast. The other issue is that an incorrectly formatted drive may actually pass the UniBeast disk generation process, but then fail to become a bootable drive.
[ #3*** Important ***Use a v2.0 USB port – don’t use a 3.x port]
This may be the most important piece of advice for installing Mojave onto the Z390M.
Plugging your Mojave install USB into a USB 2.0 port solves all sorts of issues. Unfortunately, all of the rear backplane motherboard ports on the Gigabyte Z390 M are either 3.0 or 3.1 ports. Installation seems to work with these ports, but strange and unpredictable issues show up during the installer process. The quick solution is to use a 2.0 port via a third party cable. These USB ports are available on the motherboard edge as a 2x6 DIN connector.
- Buy a USB 2.0 motherboard-to-case cable/plug combo
- Plug your USB Mojave Installer drive into the version 2.0 USB port
[ #4 Configure your BIOS default to boot the USB Mojave install disk]
Any errors can lead to system restarts. Prior to going through this process, it’s handy to configure your BIOS to always use the USB as the default drive unless you specify otherwise.
[ #5 970 EVOPlus NVMe is incompatible – Needs to be reflashed/formatted before use]
When you first boot the Mojave install USB, Clover will begin and scan your machine for UEFI start disks. This startup scan can fail if there are unformatted NVMe drives, or if you have prior Mojave installations that are incomplete.
In my case, the 970 NVMe drive was not formatted, and its presence attached to the motherboard causes a startup failure. Removal of the NVMe drive allowed the problem to go away. If you want to install onto the 970 EVOplus, it may be necessary for first format the drive. In my case, the problem was sidestepped by removing the drive and using a SATA connected 860 SSD that was already formatted.
If you get a 970 NVMe drive, get either the 970 EVO or the 970 EVO Pro. Avoid the 970 EVO Plus. I was able to eventually get this drive to work by reflashing it with software downloaded from Samsung’s website. The document Samsung NVM Express Driver v3.0provides details on the version reflash. Updating requires you to download special software, copy it as a disk image to an available USB drive, then reboot your machine using the USB drive and follow onscreen instructions for reflashing your 970 EVOPlus NVMe. All things considered it’s a relatively straightforward process, but you need to be comfortable using command line instructions for building a disk image.
NVMe note: The 970 EVOPlus chips run hot to the touch with even moderate use. Purchase and install a M.2 heatsink for this device and ensure that you have good airflow over it.
[ #6 Prior OS installs or partial OS installs can conflict]
In addition to the NVMe drive causing install issues, prior installations can also cause problems. This is especially true if an install began, but terminated during the early stages of preparing the target disk. It’s best if your target drive is clean and has been formatted as an HFS+ Journaled drive. The installation procedure will make required changes if you are running on a SSD. Let it do the work against a clean disk that doesn’t have existing hidden EFI partitions. You can format your target disk using the same approach that was used for erasing and formatting your USB install disk. If you have done this step in advance, you won’t need to repeat it when you get to the initial Mojave install screen.
(#7 - #10: To be continued)
Last edited:
