[SOLVED] CMOS Checksum Error on Mojave Boot

[greenfrog5]

I have my hackintosh running pretty well, and am trying to resolve a few more issues. Ever since the very first installation of Mojave on my system, I get a CMOS Checksum Error after every boot, erasing the BIOS. While I am still able to restore recent backup BIOS and boot without an issue, I'd obviously like to resolve this problem. I have explored a few related threads online, and tried what I can, but have not been able to fix this.

Please let me know what other information I should provide, and anything I should try to troubleshoot or fix this issue.

Thanks

 

[Bustycat]

It’s related to RTC. You should describe what bootloader you use.

 

[greenfrog5]

I recently switched to the latest Clover r5127 (from an old Yosemite/Chimera) when updating to Mojave. I believe that the Multibeast-Mojave-USB I made was able to boot the system without any initial kexts or settings. I added only the bare minimum kexts, and Clover settings (gradually, as needed), based on guides (and my gradually expanding understanding), and to fix specific issues. Currently my base bootloader is setup like this:

Clover Settings: defaults, plus:
Devices:Audio: Inject 1
Graphics: FB: Acre, Inject ATI, RadeonDeInit
SMBIOS: iMac 13,2
System: Inject Kexts, No Caches, Inject System ID

Kexts:
DSDT-GA-P67A-UD4-B3-F8.aml
AppleALC.kext
FakeSMC.kext
Lilu.kext
RealtekRTL8111.kext
WhateverGreen.kext

I think that describes the whole setup. Let me know if there are any other specific (default) settings I should check/provide.

 

[Bustycat]

Try to find DisableRtcChecksum within the Quirks section and set it True.

 

[greenfrog5]

Unfortunately, that did not resolve the issue. I set that flag and rebooted several times. Every time I got the CMOS Checksum error, set SATA to ACHI and booted into Mojave.

Anything else I can try?

 

[greenfrog5]

Is the CMOS Checksum error related to my Clover settings or my BIOS itself? I don't believe it has to do with my actual installation of Mojave, right? I've tried resetting my BIOS from some guides for Legacy systems.
Currently, these are the settings I believe are correct for my system:
Virtualization -> Disabled
PCH SATA Mode -> AHCI
eSATA Ctrl Mode -> AHCI
HPET Mode -> 64-bit Mode

I have tried some other BIOS settings (in the guides), but I don't think they are necessary. Are there other BIOS settings I should be changing/trying from the Optimized Default beyond those above?

As far as I recall, this issue started immediately after installing Mojave (with 2 separate Mojave installations), and did not occur when booting my Yosemite drive (with Clover, while testing). I'm not certain of that though. If my battery was low, would I be getting "Checksum" error, or a low-battery error? Even after the CMOS Checksum error the system clock is correctly set to Universal Time, so it doesn't seem like the battery is the problem. Is there a way to check the battery in the BIOS?

 

[greenfrog5]

Some progress! I discovered that my Mojave USB installer (Clover r4920) boots the system without causing the CMOS Checksum error. I have extracted the config.plist from that drive for examination/comparison. Unfortunately, it is more difficult than I anticipated, as my newer clover config.plist has a bunch of patches and other settings, etc... and the two files are not as similar as I expected. But, there is plenty to try out...

I'm going to start playing around with my Clover test USB by trying to match some of the settings from the Mojave installer config.

I am also attaching both config.plist files; hopefully someone more knowledgeable than myself can make more sense of this and point me to the correct setting(s) that I am currently missing.

Thanks so much for the help; I was lost with so little about this type of error online.

 

[greenfrog5]

Setting Apple RTC in Clover config resolved my CMOS error! I had come across another thread on TM about this issue/fix, but it suggested the latest Clover versions had fixed this issue. I didn't realize it was an option in Clover Config, a simple checkbox, yay!

Regardless, this appears to have fixed this issue for me. On to the next problem...!

 

[Bustycat]

Setting Apple RTC in Clover config resolved my CMOS error! I had come across another thread on TM about this issue/fix, but it suggested the latest Clover versions had fixed this issue. I didn't realize it was an option in Clover Config, a simple checkbox, yay!

Regardless, this appears to have fixed this issue for me. On to the next problem...!

So I don’t understand why Clover includes the quirk if it doesn’t work.