[Solved] Installation of High Sierra in MSI X99A SLI PLUS – i7-6800k

[Chachu]

Hello,
I currently have a working build with Sierra 10.12.6, attached the EFI folder I am using ("EFI 10.12"). I want to update to High Sierra, and I've been struggling to get it working in my current build for the past week. I´ve followed several guides from this forum as well as from other Hackintosh forums and ended up with the other attached EFI folder ("EFI 10.13").

My conclusion after doing some research is that my current hardware build can be quite tricky (MSI X99A SLI PLUS, Intel 6800K or the combination of both) and may be incompatible with High Sierra with the existing patches in Clover.
So far, my approach to getting macOS installed has been to install it in an SSD and get it working from a MacBook, to later connect that SSD to the Hackintosh (with proper Clover installation, and EFI folder edits).

Anyways, having High Sierra (10.13.5) installed in the SSD (and working on the MacBook), and Clover and EFI folder put in place, the boot process gets stuck as shown in the screenshot attached. Maybe unrelated to whatever is causing the boot process to end unexpectedly, the main problems I had with the Sierra build (and that most MSI mobos seem to have) are related to memory allocation. I've tried the various workarounds proposed such as disconnecting every SATA drive other than the boot drive, or removing PCI cards, with no result.

I have no idea what might be causing this, or even if it might have a solution or some patching that can be done. Since I have not found anyone on the internet with the same build, I'm gonna need some specific help to get it working (if it is even possible).

 

[P1LGRIM]

You have both AptioMemoryFix.efi and Test2.efi.
The two are mutually exclusive, use one or the other but not both - With X99 probably Test2.efi (or OsxAptioFix2Drv-free2000.efi).
If the upgrade converts the SSD file system to APFS then you will need apfs.efi too.

Using the MacPro6,1 system definition you should boot with -nehalem_error_disable to avoid KP with AppleTyMCEDriver.kext.

 

[Chachu]

Okay,
so far I was booting to Sierra with both AptioMemoryFix.efi and Test2.efi because it would only work when both of them were present; it did not work with just one or the other. I now tried with OsxAptioFix2Drv-free2000.efi instead of the other two and it booted fine so I am changing that and trying High Sierra again.

For the APFS to work I had ApfsDriverLoader.efi. Is it necessary to have apfs.efi too or are these two also mutually exclusive?

And last, I had been booting in Sierra with MacPro6,1 system definition. I had not heard before of the problem that you mention. Is it specific to High Sierra? Also, if it affected me, would it be solved changing system definition to, say, iMac or iMac Pro?

 

[P1LGRIM]

For the APFS to work I had ApfsDriverLoader.efi. Is it necessary to have apfs.efi too or are these two also mutually exclusive?

No problem, both are ok.

And last, I had been booting in Sierra with MacPro6,1 system definition. I had not heard before of the problem that you mention. Is it specific to High Sierra?

If you use the system definition of a Mac that uses ECC RAM then the AppleTyMCEDriver.kext will cause a KP on boot unless you take steps to deal with it.
One way was to delete the AppleTyMCEDriver.kext and another was to use the Clover patch for ECC RAM although some have said that this no longer works but I have yet to see confirmation.
In my opinion booting with -nehalem_error_disable is by far the easiest solution.

Also, if it affected me, would it be solved changing system definition to, say, iMac or iMac Pro?

It is best to choose the system definition of a Mac that matches your hardware as closely as possible.

 

[Chachu]

Alright, thank you for the help.

Still, about the apfs.efi and ApfsDriverLoader.efi, when should I use one or the other or both? what are the differences between them?

I will try with new configurations to boot High Sierra and post results later on.

 

[P1LGRIM]

Still, about the apfs.efi and ApfsDriverLoader.efi, when should I use one or the other or both? what are the differences between them?

If you don't know what something does then don't use it.
Do your research with the forum Search tool and Google.
The Clover Wiki is a good resource but has a tendency to lag behind the curve a bit.

 

[Chachu]

Well, I tried again to boot into High Sierra with the changes I mentioned, and I am still having the same problem which I think might be unrelated to memory allocation; it just gets stuck at the plus line after end RandomSeed.
Attached again the Clover verbose output and EFI folder.

 

[mm2margaret]

Well, I tried again to boot into High Sierra with the changes I mentioned, and I am still having the same problem which I think might be unrelated to memory allocation; it just gets stuck at the plus line after end RandomSeed.
Attached again the Clover verbose output and EFI folder.

I have an Asus X99 motherboard and I had the same problem. A simple test and easy fix might be to enable 4G decoding if you have it in your bios. If it works, great, and if it doesn't, its easy to revert.

 

[P1LGRIM]

Well, I tried again to boot into High Sierra with the changes I mentioned, and I am still having the same problem which I think might be unrelated to memory allocation; it just gets stuck at the plus line after end RandomSeed.

Try nickwoodhams.com OsxAptioFix2Drv-free2000.

 

[mm2margaret]

Try nickwoodhams.com OsxAptioFix2Drv-free2000.

And that is another good thing to try.....also easily revertible....
Hopefully you are trying to boot from a Sata or NVMe connected drive and not using a USB connection to try and boot....