[solved] Asus UX310UA - installer disk util can't find the HDD

[Dimitree]

I tried:
- MacBookPro13,2 and got random KP
- MacBook9,1 and got random KP
- other non-Skylake laptops -> no KP but can't get PM
- iMac17,1 -> no KP and managed to get PM

if a laptop SMBIOS would be better, could I simply copy the SSDT.aml that I generated for iMac17,1 and switch to a non-skylake laptop SMBIOS using that SSDT.aml?

 

[RehabMan]

I tried:
- MacBookPro13,2 and got random KP
- MacBook9,1 and got random KP
- other non-Skylake laptops -> no KP but can't get PM
- iMac17,1 -> no KP and managed to get PM

Try MacBookPro11,1.
For CPU PM, read here: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-native-power-management-for-laptops.175801/

if a laptop SMBIOS would be better, could I simply copy the SSDT.aml that I generated for iMac17,1 and switch to a non-skylake laptop SMBIOS using that SSDT.aml?

That is what I would do. You also might compare the SSDT that is generated using different SMBIOS.

I have used iMac14,2 (or iMac14,1) on my Skylake NUC6i7KYK without issue. I don't think SMBIOS is as critical since Apple started using XCPM.

 

[Dimitree]

ok, so now I got 2 unsolved issues:

1) HDMI Audio: in the Laptop FAQ page, it is mentioned only about Haswell or Ivy/Sandy systems. What should I do on my Skylake? Regular audio is working great through patched AppleHDA, HDMI video is working great too

2) keyboard backlight: I used the kext AppleNBFnKeys and patched the DSDT, but it's not working. I guess it's because the patches are not meant for Skylake

 

[RehabMan]

ok, so now I got 2 unsolved issues:

1) HDMI Audio: in the Laptop FAQ page, it is mentioned only about Haswell or Ivy/Sandy systems. What should I do on my Skylake? Regular audio is working great through patched AppleHDA, HDMI video is working great too

The guide linked by the FAQ covers Skylake too.

2) keyboard backlight: I used the kext AppleNBFnKeys and patched the DSDT, but it's not working. I guess it's because the patches are not meant for Skylake

No idea. I would never use that kext...

 

[Dimitree]

No idea. I would never use that kext...

do you know any alternative to that kext that I could use to enable my FN keys + keyboard backlight?

 

[RehabMan]

do you know any alternative to that kext that I could use to enable my FN keys + keyboard backlight?

I would use ACPIDebug to figure out what EC queries correspond to the keyboard light controls.
Then reverse engineer from there.

 

[Dimitree]

did that..
found that:

Q0A = sleep button (not working)
Q0B = airplane mode (not working)
Q0C = keyboard backlight down (not working)
Q0D = keyboard backlight up (not working)
Q0E = brightness down (working with AsusNBFnKeys.kext)
Q0F = brightness up (working with AsusNBFnKeys.kext)
Q10 = screen off (working with AsusNBFnKeys.kext)
Q11 = screen/projector (working with AsusNBFnKeys.kext)
Q12 = trackpad on/off (not working)

mute, volume up/down don't send any EC query (I probably should check PS2 with 'ioio')

now how could I procede for the not-working keys?

this is the code inside my DSDT, for Q0C, for example:

Method (_Q0C, 0, NotSerialized) // _Qxx: EC Query
{
If (ATKP)
{
^^^^ATKD.IANE (0x50)
}
}

and IANE is:

Method (IANE, 1, Serialized)
{
IANQ (Arg0)
Notify (ATKD, 0xFF)
}

and IANQ:

Method (IANQ, 1, Serialized)
{
If (LGreaterEqual (AQNO, 0x10))
{
Store (0x64, Local0)
While (LAnd (Local0, LGreaterEqual (AQNO, 0x10)))
{
Decrement (Local0)
Sleep (0x0A)
}

If (LAnd (LNot (Local0), LGreaterEqual (AQNO, 0x10)))
{
Return (Zero)
}
}

Increment (AQTI)
And (AQTI, 0x0F, AQTI)
Store (Arg0, Index (ATKQ, AQTI))
Increment (AQNO)
Return (One)
}

 

[RehabMan]

did that..
found that:

Q0A = sleep button (not working)
Q0B = airplane mode (not working)
Q0C = keyboard backlight down (not working)
Q0D = keyboard backlight up (not working)
Q0E = brightness down (working with AsusNBFnKeys.kext)
Q0F = brightness up (working with AsusNBFnKeys.kext)
Q10 = screen off (working with AsusNBFnKeys.kext)
Q11 = screen/projector (working with AsusNBFnKeys.kext)
Q12 = trackpad on/off (not working)

mute, volume up/down don't send any EC query (I probably should check PS2 with 'ioio')

now how could I procede for the not-working keys?

this is the code inside my DSDT, for Q0C, for example:


and IANE is:


and IANQ:

Now comes the effort to determine how to make the various EC query code actually work.
Requires further digging into the code.

 

[Dimitree]

I assume there are no PS2 commands that I can remap, like for brightness, to make the kbd backlight work, right?
What about the trackpad on/off?

 

[RehabMan]

I assume there are no PS2 commands that I can remap, like for brightness, to make the kbd backlight work, right?

Reverse engineering required to determine what actions would normally be involved by the Windows specific drivers provided by ASUS to manipulate key backlight.

What about the trackpad on/off?

Same.