pastrychef's testing machine - HP Elite 8300 SFF - i7-3770 - GT 630

[pastrychef]

​

Components

HP Elite 8300 SFF
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7RB4CU1488


Already Owned

Crucial Ballistic Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148544

Zotac GeForce GT 630 2GB DDR 3 Zone Edition
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500346

Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 Plus
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAAHH4839661

Broadcom BCM94360CS with PCI-e Adaptor
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0144KU1EG/?tag=tonymacx86com-20


Comments

I made the mistake of roaming this forum and stumbling upon this thread: HP 8300 Elite w/ Intel i5-3570 Quad Core $222.75 at Newegg | tonymacx86.com

I did all that I could to resist purchasing yet another computer especially since I really had no need for it. However, due to the absolutely horrible summer we are having here in NYC, I found myself staying in the comfortable confines of home a lot recently, to avoid the oppressive heat and humidity, and enjoying my air conditioning... So, I started browsing Ebay and managed to find an HP Elite 8300 SFF with i7 3770 for $200 and couldn't resist...


Installation

1. Bios Settings
Storage

SATA Emulation > AHCI​

Security

System Security

Virtualization Technology Directed I/O (VTd) > Disabled​

Advanced

Onboard Devices

Serial Port A > Disabled
Parallel Port > Disabled​

Device Options

Turbo > Enabled
Integrated Video > Disabled
Multi-Processor > Enabled
Hyperthreading > Enabled​

2. Make your UniBeast USB Flash Drive. UniBeast: Install OS X El Capitan on Any Supported Intel-based PC | tonymacx86.com
3. Install OS X.
4. Run MultiBeast with following parameters:

5. Enable native power management.

1. Download ssdtPRGen.sh from https://github.com/Piker-Alpha/ssdtPRGen.sh
2. Open Terminal.
3. Drag the ssdtPRGen.sh file to your Terminal window and press enter.
4. When ssdtPRGen.sh is done generating your ssdt.aml file, it will ask if you want to open it. Answer with n.
5. Navigate to ~/Library/ssdtPRGen/
6. Copy the ssdt.aml file and paste it to /EFI/CLOVER/ACPI/patched/.

6. Rename EHC1 to EH01, rename EHC2 to EH02, rename GFX0 to IGPU, and rename SAT0 to SATA.

Next, add rename PEGP to GFX0
​

7. There are multiple options to enable audio.

• Download and install the HDMIAudio-1.1.dmg found at the end of this post. (Note: Apologies to the original author. Idk who wrote this and can not give credit.) *This broke form me in High Sierra. YMMV.
  
• VoodooHDA. I used version 2.8.8 but other users have reported better success with alternate versions. (Poor quality audio. Easy to install.)
  
• Enable audio using DSDT. Detailed instructions are here. (Best method. Highest quality audio. Recommended.)

8. Launch Terminal and enter the following:

sudo pmset -a autopoweroff 0

9. (Optional) Install Nvidia web drivers and use Clover Configurator to set "nvda_drv=1"
10. Done.

Note: I highly recommend that you DO NOT attempt to use the iMac14,2 system definition. While most things will continue to work as it does when using the iMac13,2 system definition, CPU power management will be broken and the CPU will not enter Turbo mode.

Additional Tweaks

Enable AirPlay and Quick Sync

1. Open your config.plist with Clover Configurator
2. Go to the Graphics section
3. Check Inject Intel and enter 0x01620007 in the "ig-platform-id" section
   
4. After making these changes to your config.plist, you can enable the Intel HD 4000 graphics in BIOS. Also, keep the boot video on your discrete graphics card.

iMessage fix
Generate Serial Number and UUID to get iMessage working. Follow An Idiot's Guide To iMessage to get it all working.

*Note: Regardless of whether you use iMessage or not, the guide should be followed to implement clean Board Serial Number, Serial Number, and UUID. Not having this setup can be cause for things like Bluetooth issues.​

What works

• Sleep/Wake
• App Store
• Gigabit Ethernet
• USB 3
• HDMI Audio
• Quartz Extreme/Core Image
• Messages
• Continuity/Handoff
• Wifi/Bluetooth
• AirPlay mirroring
• Quick Sync

What doesn't work

• Playback of purchased videos from iTunes. (There's a fix, but I have not attempted to implement it.)

Untested

• Messages
• Continuity/Handoff
• Wifi/Bluetooth

Epilogue
This was truly an extremely easy system to hackintosh. I was able to boot in to El Capitan within half an hour of plugging the computer's power cord. As a challenge, I didn't even bother to look for any guides or read about anyone else's successful installs. I just jumped in head first and got everything working. I chose to use the iMac13,1 or iMac13,2 system definitions because I felt the hardware most closely resembled those systems.

When time permits, I will try to do a reinstall with the built-in Intel HD 4000 graphics and document it here.

I will use my Kill-A-Watt clone to measure power consumption in the coming days and report back with my findings. Depending on the results, I may use this as a replacement for my very old 2009 Mac mini.

For someone looking for a good performing OS X system on a tight budget, this HP Elite 8300 is extremely tough to beat.

Ambient temp: ~25C
Idle temp: ~38C
Full load temp: ~67C

Power consumption:
Sleep: 2.4W
Idle: ~31W
Browsing: ~35-52W
Full load: ~72W


Update #1 (December 19, 2016):
Here is what I did to upgrade from El Capitan to Sierra: #55

Update #2 (March 6, 2017):
To enable AirPlay Mirroring, follow directions on post #279.

Update #3 (September 29, 2017):
I've updated to High Sierra (APFS). Details are in post #561.

To recap:

1. Update to the latest version of the Clover bootloader.
2. Install apfs.efi to /EFI/CLOVER/drivers64UEFI/.
3. Download and install High Sierra update from App Store.
4. After the update, the Nvidia web driver control panel will inform you that an update is needed. Just follow the on screen menus.

iBooks is working now:


If you enabled the HD 4000 as per Update #2, Quick Sync is also working:

Update #4 (October 8, 2017):
To install the High Sierra Supplemental Update:

1. Uninstall the Nvidia web drivers.
2. Download and install the High Sierra Supplemental Update.
3. Install latest Nvidia web drivers.

Update #5 (February 3, 2018):
I patched my DTST file as per directions here. I also added the SMBUS patch. Now, I can use the AppleALC.kext for much better audio quality. To restore HDMI audio, use the HDMIaudio.kext found here.

Also, my PCI slot (not PCI-e) is now functioning since adding the patched DTST!!

Update #6 (February 20, 2018):
FileVault works fine. Just add AsAmiShim.efi to /EFI/CLOVER/drivers64UEFI/.

*Note: I use a wired USB keyboard. I don't know if there would be any issues if you use a Bluetooth keyboard.

Update #7 (March 11, 2018):
I have posted step-by-step instructions on how to patch your DSDT to properly enable ALC221 audio and the PCI slot here.

Also, in light of the increasing number of issues with Nvidia web drivers, I can not recommend their use in macOS any longer. I suggest looking in to AMD FirePro W4100, W4300, or WX 4100. If you do not mind a double wide card, consider the AMD Radeon RX 560.

Update #8 (March 28, 2018):
For those of you with multiple hackintoshes, I posted instructions on how to have just one USB macOS installer that can be used on all your hacks here.

 

[trs96]

Thanks for putting this Elite 8300 User Build description together. It is really difficult to build anything else this powerful with either new or used components at such a low price. Pretty hard to even find just a used 3770 for 200 dollars these days. This model has only DP for digital video onboard so when you test the HD4000 you'd need either a direct DP connection to your monitor or a DP to HDMI converter or cable. These can be easily found on Ebay or Amazon.

It's really many times easier to install El Capitan on this than the Elite 8000. It will cost over a hundred dollars more but is much more future proof than that system.

The I3-3245 with HD4000 graphics is available on Amazon.com from various other sellers
You can buy any Elite 8300 (USFF, SFF, CMT) with any Intel CPU, even Pentiums, swap out the cpu with incompatible
graphics for this I3. Follow this guide posted above for a really nice low budget CustoMac. You will need a DisplayPort
to HDMI cable to use the HD4000 graphics.

The I3-3225 will work as well and the prices of used/refurbished ones are very reasonable. Around 40 USD.
Go with the I3-3225 or 3245 version if you will be using this like a Mac Mini, surfing the internet and watching video.
A quad core I7-3770 is preferred for gaming, editing music (Protools/Logic Pro) or video (FCPX/iMovie).

 

[pastrychef]

My pleasure.

I agree. At $200, this will be nearly impossible to beat in terms of bang-for-the-buck. Additionally, the fact that it has a few PCI-e slots helps future-proof it even more. For those who have the space, I'd recommend looking for the tower version so that it can accommodate full sized PCI-e cards. I have a GT 640 GDDR5 that I would have liked to use but I would not have been able to close the case.

I am very interested to see power consumption. If it proves feasible, I will definitely replace my old Mac mini with this.

Thanks for making me aware of this system. I think it will prove to be a fun little box to play with.

 

[trs96]

Increasing the Max Port Limit Patch

In this thread from July:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/solved-10-11-5-usb3-port-limit-guide.198101/#post-1290837

Rehabman states that:

"The patch is known to cause corruption of USB driver state due to writes outside a fixed array boundary.
If you know C/C++, you understand what that means... but if not, just be aware that the patch is not a good idea,
except to use temporarily while determining the actual ports you need."

Wasn't sure if you were aware of this as many are not.

 

[pastrychef]

Wow. Okay. I'll do some reading and try to work out the SSDT. Thanks.

 

[ajay1685]

View attachment 206756​

Components
...

What BIOS Version Are you on ? I have 2.99 on HP 8300 CMT , reluctant to update BIOS as others has reported problems with BIOS newer than Year 2013

 

[ajay1685]

I am running bios version 3.0.2
works fine so far.

version 2.99 works okay too.

Thanks for the info, I would still hold on to 2.90 unless I have to upgrade. Hope to collect more positive reports for newer BIOS before I upgrade.

About Audio, has anyone got on-board audio (Realtek ALC221) to fully work ?

update: Fixed the BIOS verison from 2.99 to 2.90 (which is correct for my system)

 

[pastrychef]

What BIOS Version Are you on ? I have 2.99 on HP 8300 CMT , reluctant to update BIOS as others has reported problems with BIOS newer than Year 2013

Hi. My system shipped with 2.83 and I never bothered to update it since it seems to be working fine.

 

[ajay1685]

Hi. My system shipped with 2.83 and I never bothered to update it since it seems to be working fine.

Ok, Thanks for the BIOS version. Please update this post if you do update the BIOS in future, or if you do here success reports regarding the new BIOS.

Setting up audio could not be easier. Follow my post
http://tonymacx86.com/threads/hp-83...e-222-75-at-newegg.191143/page-4#post-1302182

At the bottom of the post I have attached the VoodooHDA.kext install file.
Just install with patch and rebuild cache with DPCImanager and reboot.

Just make sure you set in Clover/EFI/config.plist
Set csr-active-config 0x67

That post has lot of good information , thank you .
I guess now I know what I will be doing this weekend . . . .

I am also getting some help to patch AppleHDA , will try both over the weekend and update here.

Any tips on getting my HDMI Audio to work on 750Ti ?: I am planning to follow this guide here to see if I can http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/310530-el-capitan-applehda-hdmi-audio/
If that doesn't go well , I will try this HDMIAudio kext attached here, I don't know which method will be better compatible with future OSX updates.

I also see that you EFI.zip folder you attached in that thread , I have the same Processor i5-3470 , haven't you found the need to create DSDT.aml for CPU Steps / Powermanagement ?
I also found three kext files for Ethernet: IntelMausiEhternet, AtherosE2200Ethernet and AppleIntelE1000e.kext , could you please elaborate on that.

 

[Squonk-GA]

Thank you Pastrychef for this thread. Much like you, now that I've found a thread like this I'm in deep research mode and considering jumping on one of these HP refurbs. I do have a couple of questions for you about your experience with this machine though. I currently have a Mac Pro 3,1 (2008) with a quad core processor and 14GB of RAM. For my home office, I cannot run this machine very much during the summer months due to the heat it puts out.

Can you (or anyone for that matter) comment on how much heat the HP is kicking out compared with a Mac Pro - if you have a frame of reference?

This machine seems like a great candidate for my needs as it gives me what Apple won't - a decent CPU with SATAIII internal, USB3 and the ability for decent graphics card. My Mac Pro does what I need it to do, but it's power hungry and hot.

Thanks much, Tim