In my Naivety, after reading your solution the 1st time - I literally copy pasted the EFI directory folder from my USB to my SSD where the folder was located and hit "Replace" I though that would do the job
Sorry about that. I can definitely sympathize. I made the same mistake when I first started out
Hopefully you still have a backup copy of your original El Capitan EFI folder (or at least your original config.plist, inside it). That will make things easier.
Please read this through at least once before starting, to make sure you understand the steps, and have everything ready when you need it.
Disclaimer:
This is a description of how I fixed my build. It worked for me, but I don't know if it will work for you. Whether it works or not, I hope it will help familiarize you with a few basic things, like how to identify and mount the EFI drive, where the most important files are, and one approach to troubleshooting settings in Clover Configurator.
Important
** ALWAYS MAKE BACKUP COPIES of your original files and folders, and put them in well labeled folders (say, on your desktop). And always
MAKE BACKUP COPIES after each successful change you make, especially changes to your
config.plist file. Sometimes the smallest change can break your build, so having a backup will help you quickly return to the last working configuration.
Before mounting your EFI
To keep things simple, you should only have your SSD boot drive plugged into your computer, plus your UBS drive.
To see the partitions for your drives, open
Terminal and type:
diskutil list
You'll see something like this::
COMPUTER:~ AstroBruin$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *250.1 GB disk0
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_APFS Container disk6 249.8 GB disk0s2
/dev/disk1 (external, physical):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *31.9 GB disk1
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk1s1
2: Apple_HFS USB Unibeast 31.6 GB disk1s2
Explanation:
the GUID_partition is your entire hard drive, the Apple_APFS container is your main partition (where you put your files, etc.).
You're only concerned with your EFI partitions (named "
EFI EFI" above) which contains the Clover Bootloaders and other important files, e.g. the
config.plist and a folder called "
kexts" that contains important plugins.
Note the disk "IDENTIFIER" for each drive above. The EFI partition for my SSD is
disk0s1, for my USB it's
disk1s1. This is how you identify which directory to mount.
The EFI partition is normally hidden. To make it visible, you have to "mount it." (below)
Please note: the EFI directory (disk icon) contains a folder called EFI (folder icon). Thus the path to your all-important config.plist file is: /Volumes/EFI/EFI/CLOVER/config.plist. That's why it's listed as "EFI EFI" above. Don't forget!
To help avoid confusion, your view in Finder should be "as columns" (Finder>View>As columns ⌘3) with the path shown below (Finder>View>Show Path Bar).
Also *very* helpful, make your Hard disks appear on your desktop: Finder>Preferences>General>✓Hard Disks
If you do this, your EFI drives will appear on your desktop after they are mounted. Helpful!
To "Mount EFI"
Open Clover Configurator. On the left column under tools, click "Mount EFI". On the bottom right is a window called "EFI Partitions" that lists the EFI partitions. Find your disk using the IDENTIFIER number (e.g.
disk0s1) or name, then click "Mount Partition" next to it, then "Open Partition" to open up the EFI Partition.
Overall concept
Your original EFI folder worked (booted) for El Capitan, but it doesn't work for High Sierra. The EFI folder on your USB boots into High Sierra, but it's very minimal. One approach is to copy the EFI folder from your USB to the EFI folder of your SSD, then go from there.
Steps to copy EFI directory
Mount your original
SSD's EFI partition, make a backup, i.e. copy its EFI folder to your desktop as a backup. Label it "EFI SSD El Cap original"
To avoid confusing your different partitions and folders, give each of the following contents a
gray tag/label:
- /Volumes/EFI/
- /Volumes/EFI/EFI/
- /Volumes/EFI/EFI/CLOVER/config.plist
Make a note of all of your original El Capitan kexts. (Some will be updated via Multibeast, some you will need to update manually. Some won't be needed)
Mount your
USB's EFI partition, make a backup, i.e. copy its EFI folder to your desktop as a backup. Label it "EFI Unibeast." Give each of the following contents a
red tag/label:
- /Volumes/EFI/
- /Volumes/EFI/EFI/
- /Volumes/EFI/EFI/CLOVER/config.plist
Copy the USB's EFI folder to your SSD's EFI partition (so you're replacing one folder with another). Give each of the following contents a
green tag/label:
- /Volumes/EFI/
- /Volumes/EFI/EFI/
- /Volumes/EFI/EFI/CLOVER/config.plist
Run Multibeast
Per the TonyMac instructions to install drivers/kexts/etc. to your SSD. You'll want UEFI Boot Mode. Install. When done, compare your backup El Capitan Folder (gray) to see if you are missing any important kexts, and write down the missing kexts. /Volumes/EFI/EFI/CLOVER/kexts/
Before adding any missing kexts to your SSD's EFI partition, try rebooting your computer to see if your SSD will now boot on its own without the USB.
DO NOT LOG INTO iCLOUD, APPLE ID, etc. until you have copied over your SMBIOS information below. (otherwise Apple will think you're using a new computer, and risk being locked out of your accounts)
Update config.plist
Compare your original El Capitan config.plist (gray) to the new one of your SSD (green). You can douple click each one separately and Clover Configurator should open two separate windows to compare and contrast side by side. Just don't confuse them!
Manually update the config.plist on your SSD section by section. After you make changes to one section, save another backup copy of your config.plist to a folder on your desktop. Then reboot to see if everything still works. If it breaks anything, you can revert back to your previous working config.plist by copying over the last backup that worked.
Clover Configurator Sections:
ACPI: I only have one checkmark, on "Automerge" (bottom left corner)
Boot: see image. Darkwake=no, ✓dart=1
For Legacy, try PBR or if you're dual booting with Windows LegacyBiosDefault.
XMPDectection=Yes: select "NO"
Boot Graphics: (blank)
CPU: (blank)
Devices: 0x0 for all "Fake ID" entries. Audio: Inject 1.
Disable drivers: (blank)
GUI: (ignore for now - it's for customizing the appearance of the bootloader)
Graphics: ✓Inject Intel (that's it)
Kernal and kext patches: (can ignore for now)
SMBIOS: copy over your original information from your El Capitan build here. This is important so your iCloud, AppleID, etc. still work. DO NOT LOG INTO iCLOUD, APPLE ID, etc. until this is complete.
System Parameters: Inject Kexts (yes); ✓Inject System ID, ✓NvidiaWeb*
* You may not need NvidiaWeb with your graphics card?? I don't know.
Hope that makes sense and helps! Good luck!