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[Success] Asus Z170-A | MSI GeForce GTX 960 4GB | Intel i5-6500 | 32GB RAM | Triple Boot

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unsalted

unsalted

Joined
Mar 16, 2017
Messages
2
Motherboard
Asus Z170-A
CPU
Intel i5 6500
Graphics
MSI GeForce GTX 960 4GB
Mac
  1. MacBook Pro
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
This build has been running Linux and Windows for a little over a year, my Macbook Pro just bit the dust so I decided now was a good time to wade in to the realm of Hackintosh. Most of the steps below come from Stork's ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII HERO build, his audio instructions didn't work for me so it differs substantially there. This build also doesn't have NVRAM so the that required a change in order and a couple extra steps. Nearest I can tell everything is running as expected, including all USB and audio ports.

In the images it shows only a GTX1070, they are old, there is now a GTX960 in slot 1 and a GTX1070 in slot two.

zfBpQeC.jpg

BwA0ZqD.jpg


I documented the entire install process in a gist, you can find it here:
https://gist.github.com/unsalted/efa85c99d7bf7e00bebe639825362c77

So far everything seems to be running smoothly, the most problematic part was getting the audio working but eventually I managed to beat it in to submission.

The Build:
  • Asus Z170-A
  • Intel Core i5-6500
  • Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory
  • MSI GeForce GTX 960 4GB Installed in slot 1!
  • (DORMANT) EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC Gaming
  • 2x Kingston HyperX Fury 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
  • Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
  • NZXT S340 (White)
  • Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum
  • 4x Phanteks PH-F140SP_BK 82.1 CFM 140mm Fan

Install Guide
I. Setup USB Thumb drive
  1. Creating the boot drive
  2. Download and drag to thumb drive
II. BIOS settings (make sure BIOS is up to date)
  1. Ai Overclock
    • AI Overclocker Tuner > X.M.P.
  2. Advanced Items
    • System Agent (SA) Configuration > VT-d > Disable
    • PCH Configuration > IOAPIC 24-119 > Disabled
    • XHCI Handoff > Enabled
    • USB Configuration > Legacy USB Support > Auto
    • USB Configuration > XHCI Hand Off > Enabled
    • APM Configuration > Power on by PCI - E/PCI > Disabled
  3. Boot Menu
    • Fast Boot > Disabled
    • Boot Logo Display > Disabled
    • Secure Boot OS > Other OS
    • Boot Option 1 > USB Thumb Drive, UEFI Volume
  4. Exit > Save Changes
III. Install OSX
  1. At Clover boot screen, choose Boot Mac OS X from USB
  2. Disk Utilty
    • Select Target Disk
    • Erase > Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
  3. Don't bother to enable Network, Location, or Reporting nothing to be done now.
  4. On reboot select MacOS on *Target Drive* on the Clover boot screen
IV. Setting up the Machine Part 1
  1. MultiBeast
    1. Drag and drop MultiBeast to Application folder
    2. Run MultiBeast and select the following settings:
      • Quick Start > UEFI Boot Mode
      • Drivers > Audio > Realtek ALCxxx > 100 Series Audio Drivers > Disk > 3rd Party SATA
      • Drivers > Misc > FakeSMC
      • Drivers > Misc > FakeSMC HWMonitor
      • Drivers > Network > Intel > IntelMausiEthernet v2.2.0
      • Drivers > USB > Increase Max Port Limit
      • Bootloaders > Clover v2.3k r3766 UEFI Boot Mode
      • Customize > System Definitions > iMac > iMac 14,2
    3. Save your config
    4. Run and Close
  2. Fixing Ethernet Device Name (needed for app store etc.)
    • In Terminal run sudo rm /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist
  3. Clover Configurator
    1. Mount EFI partition
    2. Load config file
    3. Change settings in config:
      • Boot > darkwake=0 prevent sleep problems
      • Devices > Audio > ResetHDA > ✓
      • Devices > Audio > Inject > ✓
      • Rt Variables > CsrActiveConfig > 0x67 disable SIP temporarily
      • System Parameters > Inject Kexts > Yes
      • System Parameters > Inject System ID > ✓
      • System Parameters > Nvidia Web > ✓
    4. Save
  4. EFI Partition (Already mounted earlier in Clover)
    1. Navigate to `EFI(patition)/EFI/CLOVER/ACPI/patched in the Finder
    2. Copy in the SSDT file you downlaoded for your processor
    3. Rename to SSDT.aml
  5. Reboot
V. Setting up the Machine Part 2
  1. BIOS
    • Set startup partition to newly created OSX EFI partition
  2. Audio setup (because it doesn't work yet)
    • Run the audio_cloverALC120.command file
    • enter password
    • Say yes (y) to all questions (for Asus Z170-A)
  3. Finishing Network setup
    • Navigate to System Preferences > Network, if Ethernet isn't there add it.
    • in Terminal run ifconfig
    • Check that it returns en0 instead of en1, the line should look like:
      en0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
  4. Clover Configurator
    1. Load the Clover config file follow steps 1 and 2 from earlier
    2. Select/install EmuVariableUefi in Install Drivers. This creates an emulated NVRAM
    3. Reset Rt Variables > CsrActiveConfig > 0x3 to renable SIP
  5. Run the NVIDIA driver
  6. Reboot
Done!

Thoughts & Reflections

The Z170-A probably wouldn't have been my first choice motherboard for a Hackintosh, but so far it has worked. This desktop was built with the intention of running ML models, so it has a GTX1070 that is disabled when running MacOS, I added a GTX960 this week explicitly to make hacking possible. For a machine that wasn't designed explicitly for Hackintosh, I'm pleasantly surprised with its stability.


Edits:

- Added "Devices > Audio > ResetHDA" to Clover config to resolve audio from sleep problems and audio switching issues.
- Added Thoughts & Reflections
 
Last edited:
Skynet
Z170-A |  i5 6500 |  GeForce GTX 970
unsalted said:
This build has been running Linux and Windows for a little over a year, my Macbook Pro just bit the dust so I decided now was a good time to wade in to the realm of Hackintosh. Most of the steps below come from Stork's ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII HERO build, his audio instructions didn't work for me so it differs substantially there. This build also doesn't have NVRAM so the that required a change in order and a couple extra steps. Nearest I can tell everything is running as expected, including all USB and audio ports.

In the images it shows only a GTX1070, they are old, there is now a GTX960 in slot 1 and a GTX1070 in slot two.

zfBpQeC.jpg

BwA0ZqD.jpg


I documented the entire install process in a gist, you can find it here:
https://gist.github.com/unsalted/efa85c99d7bf7e00bebe639825362c77

So far everything seems to be running smoothly, the most problematic part was getting the audio working but eventually I managed to beat it in to submission.

The Build:
  • Asus Z170-A
  • Intel Core i5-6500
  • Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory
  • MSI GeForce GTX 960 4GB Installed in slot 1!
  • (DORMANT) EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC Gaming
  • 2x Kingston HyperX Fury 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
  • Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
  • NZXT S340 (White)
  • Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum
  • 4x Phanteks PH-F140SP_BK 82.1 CFM 140mm Fan

Install Guide
I. Setup USB Thumb drive
  1. Creating the boot drive
  2. Download and drag to thumb drive
II. BIOS settings (make sure BIOS is up to date)
  1. Ai Overclock
    • AI Overclocker Tuner > X.M.P.
  2. Advanced Items
    • System Agent (SA) Configuration > VT-d > Disable
    • PCH Configuration > IOAPIC 24-119 > Disabled
    • XHCI Handoff > Enabled
    • USB Configuration > Legacy USB Support > Auto
    • USB Configuration > XHCI Hand Off > Enabled
    • APM Configuration > Power on by PCI - E/PCI > Disabled
  3. Boot Menu
    • Fast Boot > Disabled
    • Boot Logo Display > Disabled
    • Secure Boot OS > Other OS
    • Boot Option 1 > USB Thumb Drive, UEFI Volume
  4. Exit > Save Changes
III. Install OSX
  1. At Clover boot screen, choose Boot Mac OS X from USB
  2. Disk Utilty
    • Select Target Disk
    • Erase > Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
  3. Don't bother to enable Network, Location, or Reporting nothing to be done now.
  4. On reboot select MacOS on *Target Drive* on the Clover boot screen
IV. Setting up the Machine Part 1
  1. MultiBeast
    1. Drag and drop MultiBeast to Application folder
    2. Run MultiBeast and select the following settings:
      • Quick Start > UEFI Boot Mode
      • Drivers > Audio > Realtek ALCxxx > 100 Series Audio Drivers > Disk > 3rd Party SATA
      • Drivers > Misc > FakeSMC
      • Drivers > Misc > FakeSMC HWMonitor
      • Drivers > Network > Intel > IntelMausiEthernet v2.2.0
      • Drivers > USB > Increase Max Port Limit
      • Bootloaders > Clover v2.3k r3766 UEFI Boot Mode
      • Customize > System Definitions > iMac > iMac 14,2
    3. Save your config
    4. Run and Close
  2. Fixing Ethernet Device Name (needed for app store etc.)
    • In Terminal run sudo rm /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist
  3. Clover Configurator
    1. Mount EFI partition
    2. Load config file
    3. Change settings in config:
      • Boot > darkwake=0 prevent sleep problems
      • Devices > Audio > ResetHDA > ✓
      • Devices > Audio > Inject > ✓
      • Rt Variables > CsrActiveConfig > 0x67 disable SIP temporarily
      • System Parameters > Inject Kexts > Yes
      • System Parameters > Inject System ID > ✓
      • System Parameters > Nvidia Web > ✓
    4. Save
  4. EFI Partition (Already mounted earlier in Clover)
    1. Navigate to `EFI(patition)/EFI/CLOVER/ACPI/patched in the Finder
    2. Copy in the SSDT file you downlaoded for your processor
    3. Rename to SSDT.aml
  5. Reboot
V. Setting up the Machine Part 2
  1. BIOS
    • Set startup partition to newly created OSX EFI partition
  2. Audio setup (because it doesn't work yet)
    • Run the audio_cloverALC120.command file
    • enter password
    • Say yes (y) to all questions (for Asus Z170-A)
  3. Finishing Network setup
    • Navigate to System Preferences > Network, if Ethernet isn't there add it.
    • in Terminal run ifconfig
    • Check that it returns en0 instead of en1, the line should look like:
      en0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
  4. Clover Configurator
    1. Load the Clover config file follow steps 1 and 2 from earlier
    2. Select/install EmuVariableUefi in Install Drivers. This creates an emulated NVRAM
    3. Reset Rt Variables > CsrActiveConfig > 0x3 to renable SIP
  5. Run the NVIDIA driver
  6. Reboot
Done!

Thoughts & Reflections

The Z170-A probably wouldn't have been my first choice motherboard for a Hackintosh, but so far it has worked. This desktop was built with the intention of running ML models, so it has a GTX1070 that is disabled when running MacOS, I added a GTX960 this week explicitly to make hacking possible. For a machine that wasn't designed explicitly for Hackintosh, I'm pleasantly surprised with its stability.


Edits:

- Added "Devices > Audio > ResetHDA" to Clover config to resolve audio from sleep problems and audio switching issues.
- Added Thoughts & Reflections
Click to expand...


I am using the ASUS Z170 motherboard as well and can't get the audio to work. In your description you said to run the "audio_cloverALC120.command file". Can you tell me where I might find this file to run>
I have tried everything I can think of with no success.
Thanks,
John
 
John1938 said:
I am using the ASUS Z170 motherboard as well and can't get the audio to work. In your description you said to run the "audio_cloverALC120.command file". Can you tell me where I might find this file to run>
I have tried everything I can think of with no success.
Thanks,
John
Click to expand...

Hey John,

Check out the gist, it has all the links, and is written a little more clearly.
https://gist.github.com/unsalted/efa85c99d7bf7e00bebe639825362c77

The link for it is also here:
Just download by clicking "Raw".

Also make sure in CC you select Devices > Audio > ResetHDA. It seems to resolve some of the wake from sleep issues, and other stability trouble.
 
Skynet
Z170-A |  i5 6500 |  GeForce GTX 970
Hi Unsalted,
Thanks for your response. I tried to follow all the steps but I must have messed up somewhere. Still no audio from Motherboard output jack. I guess I should give up on the Hackintosh game since I am too unfamiliar with it to succeed.
Thanks anyway,
John
 
unsalted said:
Hey John,

Check out the gist, it has all the links, and is written a little more clearly.
https://gist.github.com/unsalted/efa85c99d7bf7e00bebe639825362c77
https://gist.github.com/unsalted/efa85c99d7bf7e00bebe639825362c77
The link for it is also here:
Just download by clicking "Raw".

Also make sure in CC you select Devices > Audio > ResetHDA. It seems to resolve some of the wake from sleep issues, and other stability trouble.
Click to expand...



Hi Unsalted,
Well I did get my audio working with your instructions but I have now screwed it up again by updating my OSx to version 10.12.4. I thought everything was OK but now realized that my audio is not working now and no audio device is found.
I tried going through your instructions again but no success.
Do you have any other suggestions?
Thanks,
John
 
torin.13 said:
Do iMessage and other apple services work?
Click to expand...
I don't use iMessage so I don't know if it works. iTunes will not play trailers or movies and I am not sure about any other Apple services.
John
 
I love that I found this guide, much appreciated! One thing that I find weird is that when I install os X, my machine restarts during the installation process multiple times, is this normal?
 
Hi, great guide. Everything worked. I just need some advice. I need the audio from the DisplayPort of my GTX950 and not the Realtek Audio. I tried many tutorials, but still no luck. Thank you in advance
 
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