MSI Z77A-G45 16GB 250GB 840 Evo SSD GTX650 Ti 1GB.

[DarfWeder]

After years of service on Mountain Lion 10.9, decided at some point to start upgrading the OS. I had previously dabbled with a HP ProBook 4530S and gotten that to work but with the early days of Clover it was not getting easier to comprehend or do.
thanks to TonyMac and crew, they've created a bundle of scripts (I assume) to do bundled updates that belong together. As I have not been attending here regularly due to family expansion I don't know when things got easier but let me tell you, it is a world of difference compared to what it was under ML or Clover in the early days. And let's be fair, there is so much hardware out there, so many options, that without these guys support we'd be nowhere.

On this same site I have a write up for the same machine running Mountain Lion. Search "Darfweder z77a" and you will see it. With the new/correct Unibeast/Multibeast, you do not need a DSDT. At all. Compared to before, this install is a walk in the park.

Now to my build.

MSI Z77A-G45 rev 1.4 motherboard.
Not available anymore on Amazon but I have always liked MSI. Solid capacitors, military grade, my kinda board. Back in the day I flashed it to version 280 to get out of a boot loop.

Intel Core i5-3570K
For me the best balance between power and money. Do I want an i7? Yes, but do I need it much? No...

16GB DDR3 1333MHz Transcend Jetram (2 x 8GB).
No complaints, work like a champ, cheap too. For me this is a good amount due to photo and video work.

MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB graphics card.
I still have a 660 but there were too many artefacts when changing window size, in the layers of the menu, scrambled sidebar in Finder... you name it. It wasn't always there but at times it was just horrible. There is enough written about it, and it partially impacts the OS installation as well with some garbled displays.
So eventually, after having setup things with the 660, I reverted back to my old 650 Ti. Seems I am selling the 660. I'm not sure I'll ever upgrade or buy AMD for that matter.

Samsung 840 Evo 250GB SSD
This I use solely for the OS and files I am working on, like import pictures, process etc. Eventually they get exported to...

Seagate ST2000 2TB HDD 64MB cache
This is my DATA disk. The nice thing is it can spin down when it wants if I am working solely off the SSD processing photos and video or just browsing the web. But processed material goes to the DATA disk. If the OS dies, fine... I still have my stuff.

Sony Optiarc DVD writer (labelfash).
It's one of the last ones I got my hands on. They've stopped producing them AFAIK. But it works when it needs to which is rarely the case, except for an occasional backup of pictures or VDO production.

Bitfenix FNC Neo case
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00KDR6WH0
Not a bad case, but too small for me, only two 5.25" external and a short case as well.

Thermaltake Berlin 630W bronze power supply.
A very stable power supply. Under the HW monitoring in ML I could always see the numbers being rocksteady. Not bad for the money.
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004YISIB2

PCIe Network card RTL8111
The onboard was giving me some issues, so bought another card. I also use an Apple USB->ethernet converter, which is a bit slower, but I typically use the network via cable rather than over the air due to the signal strength.

JouJye ST-125 SATA HDD Swop enclosure
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B003HLJWP8
Yes I have a few HDDs and I tend to once in a while put in another HDD (Seagate ST3750 750GB) for backup or testing (I have a couple of them). It is very handy and I don't need to open the case to get another disc in or something.

HP ZR2440W 24" monitor at 1920x1200
A very nice monitor, mainly chosen for the somewhat larger desktop space but mainly for its colour accuracy. It still beats the new Dell P2418 QHD monitors we use at work as those have grey areas on the left and right side of the screen. you get what you pay for!

The build
Well it is very straight forward. The case is a bit different than old school stuff, HDD/SSD sit perpendicular to the length of the case, so from left to right. The 2.5" drives connect on the left, and the 3.5" on the right. OK, it might have a reason. But it's beyond me. Maybe just for not having the wires all on one side. The HDD/SSD have like slides on the side, fragile plastic frames to easily lock it in place. Give me a metal screw any day.

Installation
I followed the installation guide from TonyMac for High Sierra. I must have missed the "no APFS" script, in the sense that I have APFS now but still did the "don't convert" thing as described. It might have been at the wrong moment.

- booting from USB for installation
Getting the BIOS to boot the USB stick with Clover/UEFI was a bit odd. USB key in the menu doesn't work. In the BIOS there is a PLUS sign on the far right next to the boot devices. Click that and another small menu opens. To boot the stick you need to select something like UEFI OS (PO: 14500MB) or something. This is my 16GB stick....

- post installation.
Later on you need to change the BOOT menu when the OS is installed. First set the UEFI boot drive priority (in my case to first boot the Samsung SSD, you select UEFI OS !). It's a bit odd...
Then in you boot list you can leave the USB key on 1, but set UEFI OS as 2nd item. That's it. Fiddly diddly do. Once it is set and works, it remembers it.
If you do it wrong, you get stuff like "BOOT 0 error" and that's the end of the road. It is in this case purely not choosing the right way to boot your stick.
I normally format the disc for the OS installation before installation (booting from the stick), but for good measure I also erase it during the installation.

I think my system is booting once more than the guide shows/describes. Maybe this is why I did the No APFS conversion at the wrong time. That said, I have not had ANY issues of any kind with the SSD and am not worried about TRIM or not (built in with APFS) and it is still lightning fast.

During installation with the 660, there were some weird situations, like a dark screen, stop sign (just try again), mouse pointer with dark grey screen... but nobody home. After a long wait even disk activity went to none, and reboot (you just hate to do that) then came up in High Sierra continued installation.... chè?
Also present were some "white noise" screens, a dark/blank screen once or twice, so yes all nerve wrecking moments. But... patience! and when it has not come back, try with -v as boot option (verbose). The weird thing was that on both the hdd and ssd install, hfs vs apfs, both times it ran into a wall trying to boot into HS. Rebooting with -v in both cases just got to the desktop... ??!!

Then running Multibeast and setting UEFI boot, audio to ALC 892, Network to Realtek 8111 v2.0, 3rd party USB 3 support, iMac14,2.
Boom, all done after installing that (bar from fiddling with the BIOS to get it to boot the UEFI OS.

The weird thing is at first that you have two more boot options in Clover and a recovery as well. There are two 'preboot' options you can do. This seems normal as the OS itself is not bootable in APFS (if I understand that correctly) and so it needs something else to boot? Mind you in Clover you still select the item next to Recovery, the normal start up.

250GB is enough (famous last words)
I only use this 250GB SSD for the OS and work in progress. "Documents" folder(s) are empty for instance. I created a folder on DATA drive called "Documents_on_DATA" and drop and dragged it into the favourites section of Finder. In Finder Preferences I deselected the Documents, Music, Photos, Movies, but left Downloads there. Instead there are Documents_on_DATA etc. and so I never store data on the drive where my OS lives.

The biggest grin I get is when I put it to sleep (Set BIOS to wake from S3). it powers down, let's the fans run a bit, and poof, just a blinking LED light. Pressing the power on button wakes it up... here we go ! It already did this in ML but I still find it magical to see. Most Windows machines have more issues getting that sorted!

The USB 3.0 ports on the backplate work, there is big difference loading things through those compared to USB 2. For OS installation stick to a normal USB 2 port.

I guess I got lucky to get iMessage iCloud et al working first time without anything...? Obviously had to sign in but apart from that... walk in the park.

So all in all another satisfactory build, shame I have to drop the 660 with its better graphics performance but seems for that to work we need to go back to Sierra. Nope. Thanks to those behind the scenes getting things sorted for installation. Great job!

 

[Gigamaxx]

After years of service on Mountain Lion 10.9, decided at some point to start upgrading the OS. I had previously dabbled with a HP ProBook 4530S and gotten that to work but with the early days of Clover it was not getting easier to comprehend or do.
thanks to TonyMac and crew, they've created a bundle of scripts (I assume) to do bundled updates that belong together. As I have not been attending here regularly due to family expansion I don't know when things got easier but let me tell you, it is a world of difference compared to what it was under ML or Clover in the early days. And let's be fair, there is so much hardware out there, so many options, that without these guys support we'd be nowhere.

On this same site I have a write up for the same machine running Mountain Lion. Search "Darfweder z77a" and you will see it. With the new/correct Unibeast/Multibeast, you do not need a DSDT. At all. Compared to before, this install is a walk in the park.

Now to my build.

MSI Z77A-G45 rev 1.4 motherboard.
Not available anymore on Amazon but I have always liked MSI. Solid capacitors, military grade, my kinda board. Back in the day I flashed it to version 280 to get out of a boot loop.

Intel Core i5-3570K
For me the best balance between power and money. Do I want an i7? Yes, but do I need it much? No...

16GB DDR3 1333MHz Transcend Jetram (2 x 8GB).
No complaints, work like a champ, cheap too. For me this is a good amount due to photo and video work.

MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB graphics card.
I still have a 660 but there were too many artefacts when changing window size, in the layers of the menu, scrambled sidebar in Finder... you name it. It wasn't always there but at times it was just horrible. There is enough written about it, and it partially impacts the OS installation as well with some garbled displays.
So eventually, after having setup things with the 660, I reverted back to my old 650 Ti. Seems I am selling the 660. I'm not sure I'll ever upgrade or buy AMD for that matter.

Samsung 840 Evo 250GB SSD
This I use solely for the OS and files I am working on, like import pictures, process etc. Eventually they get exported to...

Seagate ST2000 2TB HDD 64MB cache
This is my DATA disk. The nice thing is it can spin down when it wants if I am working solely off the SSD processing photos and video or just browsing the web. But processed material goes to the DATA disk. If the OS dies, fine... I still have my stuff.

Sony Optiarc DVD writer (labelfash).
It's one of the last ones I got my hands on. They've stopped producing them AFAIK. But it works when it needs to which is rarely the case, except for an occasional backup of pictures or VDO production.

Bitfenix FNC Neo case
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00KDR6WH0
Not a bad case, but too small for me, only two 5.25" external and a short case as well.

Thermaltake Berlin 630W bronze power supply.
A very stable power supply. Under the HW monitoring in ML I could always see the numbers being rocksteady. Not bad for the money.
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004YISIB2

PCIe Network card RTL8111
The onboard was giving me some issues, so bought another card. I also use an Apple USB->ethernet converter, which is a bit slower, but I typically use the network via cable rather than over the air due to the signal strength.

JouJye ST-125 SATA HDD Swop enclosure
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B003HLJWP8
Yes I have a few HDDs and I tend to once in a while put in another HDD (Seagate ST3750 750GB) for backup or testing (I have a couple of them). It is very handy and I don't need to open the case to get another disc in or something.

HP ZR2440W 24" monitor at 1920x1200
A very nice monitor, mainly chosen for the somewhat larger desktop space but mainly for its colour accuracy. It still beats the new Dell P2418 QHD monitors we use at work as those have grey areas on the left and right side of the screen. you get what you pay for!

The build
Well it is very straight forward. The case is a bit different than old school stuff, HDD/SSD sit perpendicular to the length of the case, so from left to right. The 2.5" drives connect on the left, and the 3.5" on the right. OK, it might have a reason. But it's beyond me. Maybe just for not having the wires all on one side. The HDD/SSD have like slides on the side, fragile plastic frames to easily lock it in place. Give me a metal screw any day.

Installation
I followed the installation guide from TonyMac for High Sierra. I must have missed the "no APFS" script, in the sense that I have APFS now but still did the "don't convert" thing as described. It might have been at the wrong moment.

- booting from USB for installation
Getting the BIOS to boot the USB stick with Clover/UEFI was a bit odd. USB key in the menu doesn't work. In the BIOS there is a PLUS sign on the far right next to the boot devices. Click that and another small menu opens. To boot the stick you need to select something like UEFI OS (PO: 14500MB) or something. This is my 16GB stick....

- post installation.
Later on you need to change the BOOT menu when the OS is installed. First set the UEFI boot drive priority (in my case to first boot the Samsung SSD, you select UEFI OS !). It's a bit odd...
Then in you boot list you can leave the USB key on 1, but set UEFI OS as 2nd item. That's it. Fiddly diddly do. Once it is set and works, it remembers it.
If you do it wrong, you get stuff like "BOOT 0 error" and that's the end of the road. It is in this case purely not choosing the right way to boot your stick.
I normally format the disc for the OS installation before installation (booting from the stick), but for good measure I also erase it during the installation.

I think my system is booting once more than the guide shows/describes. Maybe this is why I did the No APFS conversion at the wrong time. That said, I have not had ANY issues of any kind with the SSD and am not worried about TRIM or not (built in with APFS) and it is still lightning fast.

During installation with the 660, there were some weird situations, like a dark screen, stop sign (just try again), mouse pointer with dark grey screen... but nobody home. After a long wait even disk activity went to none, and reboot (you just hate to do that) then came up in High Sierra continued installation.... chè?
Also present were some "white noise" screens, a dark/blank screen once or twice, so yes all nerve wrecking moments. But... patience! and when it has not come back, try with -v as boot option (verbose). The weird thing was that on both the hdd and ssd install, hfs vs apfs, both times it ran into a wall trying to boot into HS. Rebooting with -v in both cases just got to the desktop... ??!!

Then running Multibeast and setting UEFI boot, audio to ALC 892, Network to Realtek 8111 v2.0, 3rd party USB 3 support, iMac14,2.
Boom, all done after installing that (bar from fiddling with the BIOS to get it to boot the UEFI OS.

The weird thing is at first that you have two more boot options in Clover and a recovery as well. There are two 'preboot' options you can do. This seems normal as the OS itself is not bootable in APFS (if I understand that correctly) and so it needs something else to boot? Mind you in Clover you still select the item next to Recovery, the normal start up.

250GB is enough (famous last words)
I only use this 250GB SSD for the OS and work in progress. "Documents" folder(s) are empty for instance. I created a folder on DATA drive called "Documents_on_DATA" and drop and dragged it into the favourites section of Finder. In Finder Preferences I deselected the Documents, Music, Photos, Movies, but left Downloads there. Instead there are Documents_on_DATA etc. and so I never store data on the drive where my OS lives.

The biggest grin I get is when I put it to sleep (Set BIOS to wake from S3). it powers down, let's the fans run a bit, and poof, just a blinking LED light. Pressing the power on button wakes it up... here we go ! It already did this in ML but I still find it magical to see. Most Windows machines have more issues getting that sorted!

The USB 3.0 ports on the backplate work, there is big difference loading things through those compared to USB 2. For OS installation stick to a normal USB 2 port.

I guess I got lucky to get iMessage iCloud et al working first time without anything...? Obviously had to sign in but apart from that... walk in the park.

So all in all another satisfactory build, shame I have to drop the 660 with its better graphics performance but seems for that to work we need to go back to Sierra. Nope. Thanks to those behind the scenes getting things sorted for installation. Great job!

You can hide the clover preboot options by mounting your EFI and open clover/config.plist open with Clover Configurator app. GUI section top right corner hide options hit the + tab and type in Preboot. Reboot and check.