[Solved] Sonnet Tech Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe not booting in High Sierra

[deskmount]

Hello all

I have an HP Z800 prebuilt system, running High Sierra with Clover 4411, GTX 1060.

See the attached Clover config.plist

I installed a Sonnet Tech "Sonnet Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe" but after selecting the boot drive and watching it in verbose mode, it errors out and stops the boot process.

Here is the screen when it locks up

https://i.imgur.com/sMfjFrj.png

If I take out the Allegro Pro USB card, the machine boots fine.

According to Sonnet's site the Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe is using a Fresco Logic chipset (I assume a FL1100 but have not confirmed that fact.)
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/allegroprousb3pcie.html

Other modders on here have reported used the Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe and other cards with a Fresco Logic FL1100 chipset. I'm not sure what I'm doing incorrectly.

Would one of you genius fellows be willing to help trouble shoot this a bit?

I would rather use the card I already have. But if the consensus is to scrap the "Sonnet Tech Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe" and just go with a different USB card (with 4 ports and separate controllers for each port) could you please make recommendations of USB cards that work OOB without "issue" ?

I have my eye on the HighPoint RocketU 1144D
http://www.highpoint-tech.com/USA_new/series-ru1144d-overview.htm

Any thoughts or guidance would be very appreciated.


Richard

 

[P1LGRIM]

See the attached Clover config.plist

Are you sure that the config.plist that you attached is the one that you are using ?
There is no way that your GTX 1060 would be working with it.

 

[deskmount]

Hi @P1LGRIM

Thank you for the response.

Yes indeed that is the config.plist that I copied out of the EFI/CLOVER partition.

While this is tiny bit off topic, I'm very happy to have your insight on any edits that should be made with Clover Configurator.

I was going to start a new thread about my booting issues with Nvidia Web drivers.

No matter what configuration I enter in the config.plist, I always have to press the space bar in Clover for the Mac Boot partition and manually UN-Check the web drivers then click "return" THEN AGAIN press the space bar and RE-Check the web drivers then "return" at which point the machine WILL boot normally using the Web Drivers.

This routine is inconvenient, but workable. Do you have any insight on how I may update my config.plist to improve the "boot-ability"?

Likewise, do you have any thoughts on the issue I'm experiencing with the "Sonnet Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe" ?

Many Thanks

Richard

 

[P1LGRIM]

Remove the USB card while you sort out your graphics.

Procedure :
BIOS - Disable Integrated graphics - Set PEG as Primary
Use a digital connection - DVI or HDMI - VGA is not supported.
Boot with nv_disable=1
May need to update Clover
Install web drivers
Update web drivers to ensure that you have the correct version.
Config.plist - Do not inject Intel or Nvidia graphics and no ig-platform-id
Config.plist - Disable SIP completely - CsrActiveConfig 0x67
Edit config.plist - NvidiaWeb = true as per Link
May need to emulate native NVRAM - Problem 6 - Install EmuVariableUefi-64 and RC scripts or install AptioMemoryFix or OsxAptioFixv3
Remove nv_disable=1 from config.plist
May need to install Lilu.kext , LiluFriend and NvidiaGraphicsFixup.kext

Potential Problems :
HDMI 2.0 is not supported - Use HDMI 1.4 (or lower)
If your graphics card has more than one output of the type that you are using then try another one.
Black Screen with MacPro 6,1 or iMac 15 or iMac 17 System Definition

 

[deskmount]

@P1LGRIM

Thank you for the help.

I have a successfully booting machine with the GTX 1060 and I do not have to select the web drivers manually in Clover at startup.

Here is what I did.

1. Booted with nv_disable=1
2. Updated Clover (Already had the latest version v4411)
3. Verified the Nvidia web drivers were matching my OS and also most current. (They were)
4. Verified that my config.plist - was not injecting Intel or Nvidia graphics and no ig-platform-id
5. Edited my config.plist - to Disable SIP completely - with this value CsrActiveConfig 0x67
6. Edited my config.plist - enabling NvidiaWeb = true (This was not enabled before)
7. Installed OsxAptioFixv3 to emulate native NVRAM -
8. Edited my config.plist - removing nv_disable=1
9. I did Not install Lilu.kext , LiluFriend and NvidiaGraphicsFixup.kext

It now boots like a dream and is rock solid stable with VERY Responsive graphics.

Richard

EDIT:
Uploaded the latest working config.plist

 

[deskmount]

Hi @P1LGRIM

Wondering if you might have some insight for the original question that started this thread?

Do you believe that I should continue to try and tune the "Sonnet Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe" to work with my HP Z800 Hackintosh?

Richard

 

[P1LGRIM]

Hi @P1LGRIM

Wondering if you might have some insight for the original question that started this thread?

I have no experience with the Sonnet Allegro Pro USB 3.0 card so cannot help you there.

Do you believe that I should continue to try and tune the "Sonnet Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe" to work with my HP Z800 Hackintosh?

Your choice.

 

[deskmount]

I have no experience with the Sonnet Allegro Pro USB 3.0 card so cannot help you there.


Your choice.

OK, Thanks for the help on the Graphics Setup.

Richard

 

[deskmount]

UPDATE: 03-22-18

I have successfully installed the "Sonnet Tech Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe card" heres how I did it.

I honestly thought it would NEVER work in a hackintosh because every time I would attempt to boot the machine with the card installed, it would Error out on the boot process.

This is the message I was getting.
View media item 190243
I purchased an New HightPoint RocketU 1144D USB PCIe Card and installed it in my pre build HP Z800 (High Sierra 10.13.3) and still I couldn't boot the machine with either card installed.

If I remove the cards, the machine boots normally.

I decided to roll up my sleeves and figure this thing out. Clearly people have these cards working in other machines so I thought I MUST be able to find a solution.

I am NOT very skilled with trouble shooting hackintosh booting issue. BUT I had the error messages that indicated the problem was with the ACPI settings.

After fumbling and bubbling forward, here is the solution that eventually worked perfectly with the "Sonnet Tech Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe card"

Before you start this process Remove all USB PCIe cards from the machine.

1) Open Clover Configurator,

2) Mount the EFI Partition on your install drive

3) Open your config.plist file in Clover Configurator from the EFI Partition

4) Navigate to the ACPI Section of Clover Configurator. Look under the "Fixes" section and UNcheck "FixUSB"

5) Save your config.plist and Quit Clover Configurator

6) Download the latest version of GenericUSBXHCI.kext (which will assist you in enabling USB 3.0)
https://bitbucket.org/RehabMan/os-x-generic-usb3/downloads/

7) Copy the GenericUSBXHCI.kext to these three locations.
/System/Library/Extensions/

/~/Library/Extensions/

/EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other/

8) Restart the machine and boot the computer normally (in verbose mode). This way you can double check your hackintosh is Happy to run without the USB PCIe card installed.

If it starts and runs normally, without issues, move on.

9) Shut Down the machine


10) Install the "Sonnet Tech Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe card"

11) Start the machine (in verbose mode)

For me, This is when everything started working perfectly. "Sonnet Tech Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe card" shows in my System Information as 4 separate USB 3.0 Bus'es.

It even reports each USB 3.0 Bus as;
"Host Controller Driver: AppleUSBXHCIFL1100"


Everything is working EXACTLY as I expect it to work. The USB 3.0 ports are FAST, Stable and always available during boot, in Clover and immediately whenever I plug anything into a port.

NOTE: I had purchased the "HightPoint RocketU 1144D USB 3.0 PCIe" card for experimenting purposes. The above adjustments sort of made this card work but it was VERY unstable. Something had to be plugged into one of its ports for that port to become active in the OS. But if another port did not have anything plugged into, then that empty port was disabled completely until you restarted with something plugged into the previously "dead" port. Likewise, if you unplugged the device from a "working" port, it might not work the next time you plugged another device in to it. YUCK!!!

So I returned the "HightPoint RocketU 1144D USB 3.0 PCIe".

The "Sonnet Tech Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe card" is now working perfectly and I am very happy with this 4 bus USB 3.0 card.

Hope this helps you find the answers you need to use this card.

 

[juliodm]

UPDATE: 03-22-18

I have successfully installed the "Sonnet Tech Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe card" heres how I did it.

I honestly thought it would NEVER work in a hackintosh because every time I would attempt to boot the machine with the card installed, it would Error out on the boot process.

This is the message I was getting.
View media item 190243
I purchased an New HightPoint RocketU 1144D USB PCIe Card and installed it in my pre build HP Z800 (High Sierra 10.13.3) and still I couldn't boot the machine with either card installed.

If I remove the cards, the machine boots normally.

I decided to roll up my sleeves and figure this thing out. Clearly people have these cards working in other machines so I thought I MUST be able to find a solution.

I am NOT very skilled with trouble shooting hackintosh booting issue. BUT I had the error messages that indicated the problem was with the ACPI settings.

After fumbling and bubbling forward, here is the solution that eventually worked perfectly with the "Sonnet Tech Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe card"

Before you start this process Remove all USB PCIe cards from the machine.

1) Open Clover Configurator,

2) Mount the EFI Partition on your install drive

3) Open your config.plist file in Clover Configurator from the EFI Partition

4) Navigate to the ACPI Section of Clover Configurator. Look under the "Fixes" section and UNcheck "FixUSB"

5) Save your config.plist and Quit Clover Configurator

6) Download the latest version of GenericUSBXHCI.kext (which will assist you in enabling USB 3.0)
https://bitbucket.org/RehabMan/os-x-generic-usb3/downloads/

7) Copy the GenericUSBXHCI.kext to these three locations.
/System/Library/Extensions/

/~/Library/Extensions/

/EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other/

8) Restart the machine and boot the computer normally (in verbose mode). This way you can double check your hackintosh is Happy to run without the USB PCIe card installed.

If it starts and runs normally, without issues, move on.

9) Shut Down the machine


10) Install the "Sonnet Tech Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe card"

11) Start the machine (in verbose mode)

For me, This is when everything started working perfectly. "Sonnet Tech Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe card" shows in my System Information as 4 separate USB 3.0 Bus'es.

It even reports each USB 3.0 Bus as;
"Host Controller Driver: AppleUSBXHCIFL1100"


Everything is working EXACTLY as I expect it to work. The USB 3.0 ports are FAST, Stable and always available during boot, in Clover and immediately whenever I plug anything into a port.

NOTE: I had purchased the "HightPoint RocketU 1144D USB 3.0 PCIe" card for experimenting purposes. The above adjustments sort of made this card work but it was VERY unstable. Something had to be plugged into one of its ports for that port to become active in the OS. But if another port did not have anything plugged into, then that empty port was disabled completely until you restarted with something plugged into the previously "dead" port. Likewise, if you unplugged the device from a "working" port, it might not work the next time you plugged another device in to it. YUCK!!!

So I returned the "HightPoint RocketU 1144D USB 3.0 PCIe".

The "Sonnet Tech Allegro Pro USB 3.0 PCIe card" is now working perfectly and I am very happy with this 4 bus USB 3.0 card.

Hope this helps you find the answers you need to use this card.

Wow. Just finished my Mojave build, i9-9900K, MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon AC. My anatek 4 port USB pci express card was one of the things I could not get running. Your solution totally worked. Also my computer boots faster than ever now.!!!!!!!!!
So sweet. Thanks a million!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!