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[SUCCESS] Gigabyte Designare Z390 (Thunderbolt 3) + i7-9700K + AMD RX 580

While most folks have flashed the controller successfully, there have been a few accidents that have left the board permanently damaged. These accidents all had one thing in common:
  • When attaching or detaching the 8-pin SOIC clip to the Winbond chip, a nearby surface mount device was accidentally dislodged.
  • To avoid this problem, the following guidelines are absolutely and unequivocally critical:
    • You must have excellent near-sightedness.
      • If you wear corrective lenses to see distant objects, remove those lenses and use your natural near-sightedness.
      • If you are far sighted and need corrective lenses to view nearby objects, determine whether you can see objects clearly when they are only 2 inches away from your eyes. If you cannot do this, please enlist the help of someone who can.
    • When attaching and detaching the spring-loaded 8-pin SOIC clip to the Winbond chip, use very steady hands and gentle motions. Position the clip directly over the chip and move it up-and-down over the chip. Never move it side-to-side otherwise nearby components can be hit and dislodged.


Yes it can certainly be undone. We first extract three copies of the original firmware, compare their checksums and then flash the modified version. We can flash any of the three copies of the original firmware back to the chip at any time.
Hi Casey,

I know this is an rather old reply ;) I decided to skip Big Sur and try my luck with Monterey.
I did a clean install of Monterey 12.1 with OC 0.7.6, installed the latest MOTU drivers for my MOTU 16A (drivers are supported for Monterey) but I still have the same issue as I had in the beginning of 2021, the device is not recognised.

I still have a good stable system on Catalina and don't want to mess that up and feel slightly anxious about bricking it by flashing the TB firmware... Have there been any new developments? Any suggestions on what I could try to make it work? Haven't really followed along last year.


EDIT:

After watching this video on how the procedure works, I think I might take the plunge and try it.

https://youtu.be/4C9K52dG5Bw

I’ve ordered an SOIC8 clip and just wanted to verify what needs to be done before I start.
I don’t have an add-in thunderbolt card, so I want to flash the Winbond chip on the back of the z390 designare motherboard. Do I take this firmware?

https://www.tonymacx86.com/attachments/designare-z390-nvm33-elias64fr-bin-zip.455744/

And then use Option 1 from this post to generate the ssdt?

https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...olt-3-i7-9700k-amd-rx-580.316533/post-2086547
  • Give the file an appropriate name such as: SSDT-TB3-DROM-HOTPLUG.aml.
    • Any name is okay as long as it begins with SSDT-
  • However, download SSDT-DTPG.aml from the bottom of this guide.
  • Both SSDT files must be copied to the CLOVER/ACPI/patched folder (for CLOVER users) or OC/ACPI folder (for OpenCore users).
I don’t fully understand the “however” part… Do I?:

  • flash the firmware
  • go here: https://hackindrom.zapto.org
  • Create the SSDT-TB3-DROM-HOTPLUG.aml
  • Download the SSDT-DTPG.aml
  • Put both files in OC/ACPI
Is that it? Then it should/could work?
 

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Hi Casey,

I know this is an rather old reply ;) I decided to skip Big Sur and try my luck with Monterey.
I did a clean install of Monterey 12.1 with OC 0.7.6, installed the latest MOTU drivers for my MOTU 16A (drivers are supported for Monterey) but I still have the same issue as I had in the beginning of 2021, the device is not recognised.

I still have a good stable system on Catalina and don't want to mess that up and feel slightly anxious about bricking it by flashing the TB firmware... Have there been any new developments? Any suggestions on what I could try to make it work? Haven't really followed along last year.

...
Hello @synnys,

MOTU devices haven't given us much of a problem. Some questions before you consider flashing the firmware:
  • Is the MOTU failing to connect in Catalina, in Monterey, or both?
  • Have you tried enabling AppleVTD?
  • Have you tried setting BIOS --> Thunderbolt --> Thunderbolt Boot Support to Boot Once? Then reboot with MOTU already connected prior to macOS startup.
  • Which version of BIOS is installed on your Z390 Designare?
 
Hello @synnys,

MOTU devices haven't given us much of a problem. Some questions before you consider flashing the firmware:
  • Is the MOTU failing to connect in Catalina, in Monterey, or both?
  • Have you tried enabling AppleVTD?
  • Have you tried setting BIOS --> Thunderbolt --> Thunderbolt Boot Support to Boot Once? Then reboot with MOTU already connected prior to macOS startup.
  • Which version of BIOS is installed on your Z390 Designare?
Hi Casey,

It works fine in Catalina (even hot swappable through the Apple TB2->TB3 dongle), and has worked fine in all OS'es leading up to Catalina. Big Sur messed things up and didn't work for me, and neither does Monterey.

I just tried enabling AppleVTD according to these instructions:


Steps:

  • BIOS --> Enable VT-d
  • OpenCore --> Uncheck DisableIoMapper from Kernel Quirks
  • OpenCore --> Remove dart=0 from boot-args if it exists
  • OpenCore --> Add SSDT-DMAR.aml (attached) to ACPI --> Add section as shown
  • OpenCore --> Delete DMAR from ACPI --> Delete section as shown
  • Reboot

I also set Thunderbolt Boot Support to Boot Once and I'm running F9i as a BIOS version.
Also tried Thunderbolt VTd base security (both enabled and disabled)
Makes no difference unfortunately.

Cheers
 
When you say « USB-C devices do not hot-plug on Thunderbolt ports », you mean they are working when you plug them once booted or missing completely like on f9j? If they work not hot-plugged, I think the behavior was the same with old working USB-C on TB3 Bios versions if I recall correctly…
...
Correct. USB-C devices simply do not work on the two Thunderbolt ports, but they will work if connected via a Thunderbolt dock.
 
Hi Casey,

It works fine in Catalina (even hot swappable through the Apple TB2->TB3 dongle), and has worked fine in all OS'es leading up to Catalina. Big Sur messed things up and didn't work for me, and neither does Monterey.

I just tried enabling AppleVTD according to these instructions:


Steps:
  • BIOS --> Enable VT-d
  • OpenCore --> Uncheck DisableIoMapper from Kernel Quirks
  • OpenCore --> Remove dart=0 from boot-args if it exists
  • OpenCore --> Add SSDT-DMAR.aml (attached) to ACPI --> Add section as shown
  • OpenCore --> Delete DMAR from ACPI --> Delete section as shown
  • Reboot

I also set Thunderbolt Boot Support to Boot Once and I'm running F9i as a BIOS version.
Also tried Thunderbolt VTd base security (both enabled and disabled)
Makes no difference unfortunately.

Cheers
Because it worked in Catalina, it means Thunderbolt Bus (i.e. flashing the firmware) will most likely not make a difference.

Suggestion:
  • With the MOTU connected (in Monterey), run IORegistryExplorer and scroll (not 'search') down to RP05 and post a screenshot of that section such that the DSB1 and DSB4 devices trees are fully visible.
 
Happy New Year everyone!

As promised, I've installed BIOS F9 (capsule BIOS) on my Z390 Designare and found no issues so far. Some notes:
  • Once this BIOS is installed, we cannot install any previous BIOS.
  • Sleep, wake, restart, shutdown all work under macOS Monterey.
  • USB-C devices do not hot-plug on Thunderbolt ports.
View attachment 538232
Good to hear that the F9 BIOS allows for running MacOS Monterey at least.

But my objective is to keep running older versions of MacOS : Sierra / High Sierra / Mojave / Catalina (still using Clover). So I don't think I will update any time soon (currently on F7).
 
Hi all! I had a CPU error and to replace that I sent my z390 Designare Mobo along with CPU to service center. It seems they have updated the BIOS to F9. So when I installed Big Sur I am facing Random freezes and disconnection of my ASUS XG-C100 network Card. Should I go to Mojave or Catalina or is there any work around on this?

Thank you
 
Hi all! I had a CPU error and to replace that I sent my z390 Designare Mobo along with CPU to service center. It seems they have updated the BIOS to F9. So when I installed Big Sur I am facing Random freezes and disconnection of my ASUS XG-C100 network Card. Should I go to Mojave or Catalina or is there any work around on this?

Thank you
Several comments:
  • BIOS version can be checked by going into BIOS Setup. The exact version will be shown.
  • Did you install Big Sur recently? Before or after the motherboard came back from service?
    • Was Big Sur stable at any time? Did the freezes occur recently?
    • Have all software been updated for Big Sur?
    • Some drivers (kexts) are not compatible and need to be updated or removed. A list of drivers can be found by listing the /Library/Extensions folder.
  • Do you have Mojave or Catalina still installed on a bootable backup disk? If so, try booting it to see if the system is stable.
 
Several comments:
  • BIOS version can be checked by going into BIOS Setup. The exact version will be shown.
  • Did you install Big Sur recently? Before or after the motherboard came back from service?
    • Was Big Sur stable at any time? Did the freezes occur recently?
    • Have all software been updated for Big Sur?
    • Some drivers (kexts) are not compatible and need to be updated or removed. A list of drivers can be found by listing the /Library/Extensions folder.
  • Do you have Mojave or Catalina still installed on a bootable backup disk? If so, try booting it to see if the system is stable.
I was using Mojave with F8. Yesterday I got the Mobo back and did a fresh install. Anyway I had to update as most of my apps (updates) will not work with mojave. Later only I saw your post about F9 and monterey, so now I am installing Monterey.
 
I was using Mojave with F8. Yesterday I got the Mobo back and did a fresh install. Anyway I had to update as most of my apps (updates) will not work with mojave. Later only I saw your post about F9 and monterey, so now I am installing Monterey.
Completed Monterey installation, so far so good. The problems I am facing are,

1. Intel network ports are not recognising one of my network switch. It works perfectly with windows 10.
2.Wifi(builtin Intel) is getting connected but after a minute I am losing internet connection.

I have a z590 vision D, it also has these two probelms.
By the way I am using oc 0.7.6 for z390 and oc 0.7.4 for z590.( Both frm hackingdrom).
 
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