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[Success] b1's "Mac Mini Killer" with macOS Mojave: i7-8700 | Gigabyte Z370N | RX560 | 16GB RAM

b1's "Mac Mini Killer" macOS Mojave Coffee Lake Build:
i7-8700 | Gigabyte Z370N | RX560 | 16GB RAM

View attachment 368012
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Components
  • Intel Core i7-8700 non K;
  • GIGABYTE Z370N WIFI;
  • G.SKILL 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 3200MHz;
  • 250GB Samsung 970 EVO M.2;
  • Noctua NH-L9I Cooler;
  • WiFi adapter from MacBook Air (BCM94360CS2);
  • Flex 4.5L case and SeaSonic 300W 80+ Gold PSU.

Performance

This is my current Geekbench score with overclocked memory to 3600 MHz.

View attachment 368016

What Works
Everything: WiFi, BT, LAN, Audio, iMessage, Wake & Sleep, Universal Clipboard, USB 3, USB-C, DP-audio, Hands-off, AirDrop, Hardware Acceleration, Shutdown, Unlock with Apple Watch, you name it.

What Doesn't Work
  • PowerNap is turned off, so no apps update during sleep. Maybe it works, I just not tested it.
  • If I enable XMP profile in BIOS for automatic RAM overclock or overclock RAM manually, I have a warning «Disk not ejected properly». after waking from sleep. You need to reconnect external drives to make it work again. It can be critical for people who use external drives on a daily basis. There is three solution for that:
    • Prevent sleep with free Amphetamine app. I like it because it let monitor fall asleep and/or enable screensaver. It’s crucial if you want your Hackintosh to lock automatically.
    • Disable XMP. Fixes the problem entirely, but harms general performance.
    • Use Jettison app that unmount drives before sleep. I don’t test it personally.
Short links

How to ask for help
If you have troubles during migrating to my EFI and settings, please attach «problem reporting» files to your post. The easiest way is to install and run this script.

Download EFI, kexts and detailed instructions on Github



hey @b166ar,
I remember you saying that you would eventually want to upgrade to a different graphics card, that had lower power consumption for your build, which one were you considering ?
 
@inarush Hi, you were so kind to me answering my previous questions. Hope won't mind answering a couple more of them.

Finally I did it, the machine is assembled and working, changed the PSU to the one you've recommended sf450.
Had some problems with the video card, but already got it replaced and tested using Windows 10.

First thing I went to youtube for the "Instal Mojave Hackintosh" tutorial. One Spanish guy recommended using Mojave MBR HFS Firmware Check Patch in an order to install bootable media, which I did.
Then with the Clover Configurator mounted EFI folder of the installer USB stick, and dragged the EFI folder of @b166ar from github.
Changed the bios settings to the ones he listed in the post on github.
2/3 progress bar of installer and "no symbol" as a result.

Tried to use createinstallmedia script as I would do for clean install with MacBook, also mounted EFI, copied his UFI folder - "no symbol"

Boot it with -V, but once this "no symbol" appears everything unreadable, I'd say looks glitchy.

He mentioned that kexts should not be copied using finder, but I thought it's the post installation process, and this guy from tutorial mentioned "if your config same to his" just drag it and you are good to go!

Can you tell me what I've done wrong and might recommend some tutorial cuz there are tons of them, and it's really hard to choose. Huge thanks again in advance!

@markoskz hi, buddy! I didn't use two m.2 ssds simultaneously yet, installed windows 10 on the one without heatsink, and removed it till completely install MacOs on the one with heatsink (people say for dualboot it's better not to have them together during the installation). But I think other folks here already confirmed that they are work fine.
 
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macOS updated to 10.14.3 :beachball:

Screen Shot 2019-01-23 at 21.31.00.png
 
@inarush Hi, you were so kind to me answering my previous questions. Hope won't mind answering a couple more of them.

Finally I did it, the machine is assembled and working, changed the PSU to the one you've recommended sf450.
Had some problems with the video card, but already got it replaced and tested using Windows 10.

First thing I went to youtube for the "Instal Mojave Hackintosh" tutorial. One Spanish guy recommended using Mojave MBR HFS Firmware Check Patch in an order to install bootable media, which I did.
Then with the Clover Configurator mounted EFI folder of the installer USB stick, and dragged the EFI folder of @b166ar from github.
Changed the bios settings to the ones he listed in the post on github.
2/3 progress bar of installer and "no symbol" as a result.

Tried to use createinstallmedia script as I would do for clean install with MacBook, also mounted EFI, copied his UFI folder - "no symbol"

Boot it with -V, but once this "no symbol" appears everything unreadable, I'd say looks glitchy.

He mentioned that kexts should not be copied using finder, but I thought it's the post installation process, and this guy from tutorial mentioned "if your config same to his" just drag it and you are good to go!

Can you tell me what I've done wrong and might recommend some tutorial cuz there are tons of them, and it's really hard to choose. Huge thanks again in advance!

@markoskz hi, buddy! I didn't use two m.2 ssds simultaneously yet, installed windows 10 on the one without heatsink, and removed it till completely install MacOs on the one with heatsink (people say for dualboot it's better not to have them together during the installation). But I think other folks here already confirmed that they are work fine.

Have you tried a different USB port, preferentially a USB 2 one?

Also, since it seems like this is your first build, have you considered following tonymacx86's guide?
 
Have you tried a different USB port, preferentially a USB 2 one

I have tried other ports, but I don't think that my motherboard has USB 2.0 , I checked the user manual and all the ports listed on it have 3.1 with compatibility down to 2.0. Since we have the same one can you tell me which one you have used?

Also, since it seems like this is your first build, have you considered following tonymacx86's guide?

Yes! The first thing I did was reading this guide, but as far as I understand it meant to be for people who aren't familiar with hackintosh and, which is more important, for those who have different to golden build (but still with compatible hardware).

The beauty of golden builds I believe is in perfectly tuned EFI folder. A great amount of effort was put in by @b166ar to prepare and share his result.

So my initial thought was to build exactly the same system ( guess that amount and manufacturer of RAM and SSD, RX 560 vs 580 won't make any difference) , copy his EFI, well and enjoy. Although I knew in real life there would be some complications.

I will try UniBeast shortly, to see if it works or not. Thanks for your time again!
 
I have tried other ports, but I don't think that my motherboard has USB 2.0 , I checked the user manual and all the ports listed on it have 3.1 with compatibility down to 2.0. Since we have the same one can you tell me which one you have used?



Yes! The first thing I did was reading this guide, but as far as I understand it meant to be for people who aren't familiar with hackintosh and, which is more important, for those who have different to golden build (but still with compatible hardware).

The beauty of golden builds I believe is in perfectly tuned EFI folder. A great amount of effort was put in by @b166ar to prepare and share his result.

So my initial thought was to build exactly the same system ( guess that amount and manufacturer of RAM and SSD, RX 560 vs 580 won't make any difference) , copy his EFI, well and enjoy. Although I knew in real life there would be some complications.

I will try UniBeast shortly, to see if it works or not. Thanks for your time again!

Assuming that you have the right BIOS settings, a hackintosh EFI folder has essentially two components: 1. a "config.plist" file and 2. the required kexts for you hardware. #2 has little flexibility: you're gonna need FakeSMC, Lilu, WhateverGreen, AppleALC, ethernet driver, wifi/bluetooth etc and etc. #1 however has some flexibility. You can use @b166ar's config.plist or you can take a look at some similar builds using the same motherboard here in the forum (e.g. https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...5-8600-gigabyte-z370n-wifi-intel-hd630.263345, https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/success-coffee-lake-i7-8700k-ga-z370n-wifi.240887, https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/success-ga-z370n-wifi-i5-8400-rx560.260357).

You can think of it like this: the EFI folder is the result you are pursuing; you can achieve the results by using "manual", or "tuned" collection of files, or you can use the UniBeast/Multibeast solution that takes care of a couple of things for you. People here on the forum seem to prefer the manual approach (like myself, b166ar and many others), but the installation guide might be of some help for new hackintosh users.
 

I have been using the SAPPHIRE PULSE ITX Radeon RX 570 and perfectly capable GPU for general use. (1080p gaming, occasional rendering, movie production) It can be nicely overclocked, but you need to modify and flash the firmware.
The only drawback is the modified firmware breaks windows10 driver compatibility.
However if your bread and butter is rendering go with the PowerColor Radeon RX Vega 56 NANO, which is much more expen$$$ive and hard to come by.
 
hi, buddy! I didn't use two m.2 ssds simultaneously yet, installed windows 10 on the one without heatsink, and removed it till completely install MacOs on the one with heatsink (people say for dualboot it's better not to have them together during the installation). But I think other folks here already confirmed that they are work fine.

That's great!, I will do what you mention, since after installing Windows where it has no heatsink, I did not appear the Windows disk in the clover when I finished installing Mojave in which if you have heatsink, to enter Windows should press F12 on the boot options and To lesson the M2 without heatsink.

But first install Windows and remove the disk when you install Mojave. Best regards!

Muchas Gracias!
 
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