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

[skroutz999]

Guys quick question...
I installed on my old NVMe 970 EVO, Windows 10 which I had purchased a long time ago. On my new SN850X I have macOs Ventura. So, when I have to do updates on both systems, is there something to be aware off in case EFIs from both systems get messed up?

 

[CaseySJ]

Guys quick question...
I installed on my old NVMe 970 EVO, Windows 10 which I had purchased a long time ago. On my new SN850X I have macOs Ventura. So, when I have to do updates on both systems, is there something to be aware off in case EFIs from both systems get messed up?

I always keep an emergency OpenCore USB boot disk, which is typically:

• 32GB USB 3.0 flash drive
• Formatted in Disk Utility:
  • Format: MacOS Extended Journaled
  • Scheme: GUID Partition Map
• Copy of entire OpenCore EFI folder in the EFI partition

This has saved me time and again on multi-boot systems, particularly with Linux. Windows is behaving much better these days -- it does not seem to interfere with OpenCore EFI even during major updates. But it's still a good idea to keep an emergency boot disk with OpenCore.

 

[CaseySJ]

Dear @CaseySJ,
I've been using this Hackintosh for more than 3 years without a single problem (it never crashed!), and I'm every day grateful for your help and your guide. Everything works perfectly except sometime the Front USB can't mount a volume but there's always 1 of the 4 which works so I don't care.

I'm on Mojave 10.14.6 at the moment but I would like to update. I haven't checked any Hackintosh news for years, I have no idea of the latest trends and difficulties.

Here's my question:
On which macOS (Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura) can I update without too much hassle? I don't want to dive into complicated installation or wipe my disk or something like this... I'm looking for the easiest update possible. My Hackintosh is so stable right now, I don't want to ruin it. I can easily switch from macOS to Windows, which is also important for me.

A couple of info about my system:
- Z390 Designare, Intel i7-9700k, Sapphire Vega 64.
- still using Clover, which is also important for the dual boot (see below) but never updated
- "dual boot", using a NVMe with Windows installed on it and plugged into a Thunderbolt port.
- I've been doing regular backups using CCC.

If you could recommend me to which macOS I should update for the easiest/less work needed and share with me the steps, I would really appreciate it!

Thank you, and have a nice weekend.

Hello @Mochimino,

Glad to hear the system has been stable! Mojave is very old now, but the upgrade to Monterey or Ventura shouldn't be too bad. If you go back 3 or 4 pages in this thread, you'll see that @madmax559 just went through the same process:

• He made a clone of Mojave on a spare SSD, then attempted to upgrade the clone (the original SSD was always kept safe)
• He first replaced Clover with OpenCore on the clone SSD
• Then he booted into the Clone SSD (still with Mojave) to make sure OpenCore was working properly
• After that, he did an in-place upgrade to Monterey (if I recall correctly)

If you're willing to give this a try, I can help you...

 

[CaseySJ]

Nobody tried to install Ventura yet?

We've been running Ventura since July.

 

[bidouilleur]

I migrated to Ventura a little over a week ago I think and didn't have any major problems. Just one related to keyboard layout (for some weird reason it reverted toi US when I'm in FR) but that's about it for problems if you can call it a problem
Latest OC via Hackindrom on a WD 1TB NVme

 

[6rollo6]

CaseySJ I found something very strange and interesting. I noticed today after a few hours when I was working on my system that internet traffic stopped. I checked the Ethernet adapter, and it was enabled.

@CaseySJ Since I updated to Monterey 12.6.1 and OC 0.8.5 I've got the same Ethernet adapter problems (on the lower port). When I start up MacOS in network settings the connection switches several times between "connected" and "disconnected", then eventually it stays "connected" for some time and later starts to switch again. Using Wi-Fi now until there's a solution.

 

[Mochimino]

Hello @Mochimino,

Glad to hear the system has been stable! Mojave is very old now, but the upgrade to Monterey or Ventura shouldn't be too bad. If you go back 3 or 4 pages in this thread, you'll see that @madmax559 just went through the same process:

• He made a clone of Mojave on a spare SSD, then attempted to upgrade the clone (the original SSD was always kept safe)
• He first replaced Clover with OpenCore on the clone SSD
• Then he booted into the Clone SSD (still with Mojave) to make sure OpenCore was working properly
• After that, he did an in-place upgrade to Monterey (if I recall correctly)

If you're willing to give this a try, I can help you...

Hi, thanks for your answer!
Doing a clone on another SSD sound great. It could allow me to try to update without messing up the original SSD, I like the idea. But I never did a clone or anything like booting into cloned SSD, so I will definitely need some help!
Will any SATA SSD work? My system is on a 1TB NVMe SSD at the moment.

 

[madmax559]

Hi, thanks for your answer!
Doing a clone on another SSD sound great. It could allow me to try to update without messing up the original SSD, I like the idea. But I never did a clone or anything like booting into cloned SSD, so I will definitely need some help!
Will any SATA SSD work? My system is on a 1TB NVMe SSD at the moment.

Yes, any SATA SSD will work
Here is how my system is laid out

Layout

1. 1 x 1TB Samsung M.2 EVO 970 Plus //primary drive,
2. 2 x 1TB Samsung EVO 860 SSD //SATA drives

Clones

1. Use Super Duper to clone primary drive to one of the SSD & name that "clone"
2. Use EFI mounter & copy over whole EFI folder from primary to clone EFI partition
3. Reboot & make sure you can boot from clone

Clover -> OpenCore (Optional, if you are on Clover)

1. Remove L/E or just rename that directory & touch L/E
2. Remove or move rc scripts for Clover or add exit after 1st line for bash so the script will have no effect
3. Boot from USB stick with OpenCore
4. Pick EVO 970 & let it start up Mojave & make sure everything works under OC
5. Mount primary EFI & move EFI folder to EFI.clover.
6. Drag over EFI folder from USB to EFI partition on primary 970
7. Remove stick & reboot back into your OS via Clover
8. At this point the "clone" is intact & has Clover in it's EFI (in my case)

Upgrade from Mojave -> Monterey
I'm waiting on the Thanksgiving sales to get a WD Black M.2 1TB so I can replace my primary SSD

1. Aftre testing a few days. Update the EFI on "clone" with the EFI on primary so now both are on OpenCore
2. Add a scheduled nightly task to SuperDuper to auto update clone every single day
3. Download OSX Monterey & copy or move that into Applications on "clone"
4. Do a last smart update from SuperDuper
5. Reboot & pick "clone" from OC picker. It will be named "clone" or whatever label your SSD has
6. Or your can set your BIOS to boot from the "clone"
7. Start "Install OSX Monterey" & go make coffee
8. Reboot after install into updated OS
9. Come back here & let us know

 

[tyns]

The SN850 seems to be EOL. Is the SN850x a viable replacement? Has anyone had any controller compatibility problems reported yet?

 

[NZRichard]

Is the SN850x a viable replacement?

Working fine here on a Z690 system - see profile