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

[rj510]

CaseySJ,

I want to thank you so much for all your work. I based my new Mojave Hackintosh (first in maybe 10 years) on this thread. My build is similar to yours, but uses a Gigabyte Aorus Xtreme Waterforce z390 mobo run as an iMac18,3 (see attached config file). My CPU is the i9 9900K, with water-cooling (after all, it's a WaterForce mobo!) supplied by EKWB (here).

I had some glitches along the way, mostly in post-install matters so I thought I'd try to give back to the forum, sharing what happened (and also raising some questions, esp regarding PCI slots, which seem not to follow my simplistic logic). I'll also try to provide the usual/expected uploads.

The build uses a 1TB Samsung 970 PRO NVMe SSD (here's where things get strange: while this is in the M2M slot and supposedly this takes away from the SATA, not the PCI devices, yet I find it is listed at PCI 4.00.0, see below). I've had no issues using it; the test below shows it's quite fast. I also added a Samsung 960 1TB SSD for internal backup. Other drives will follow. I use the computer mostly for PhotoShop (lots of 40 to 100MB raw files), Logic Pro (with Apollo), Roon HiRez music streaming, along with Video streaming.

I've followed RehabMan's USB instructions, and most of your post-install USB and TB3 instructions, deviating for what I assume is due to mobo differences. (My case, a BeQuiet Dark Base Pro 900 rev 2, has an iPhone charging plate from the 3.1 USB header that works just fine!)

I did use USBMap (here) to add-in a couple of ACPI files (SSDT-EC and SSDT-USBX). I modified your SSDT-UIAC file to suit my needs (uploaded below as SSDT-UIAC-Xtreme). However, despite these files, I had more consistent success when I also placed Boot arguments into Clover, such as, "-uia_exclude_hs" followed by "uia_exclude=HS09;HS10;HS14;SS09;SS10" and then by "uia_include=HS01;HS02;HS03;HS04;HS05;HS06;HS11;HS12;HS13;SS01;SS02:SS03;SS04;SS05;SS06".

Warning: despite having a SSDT-UIAC file, never only have the Clover Boot Argument "uia_exclude_hs" by itself without having at least "uia_include=HS11;HS12;HS13", otherwise you won't have any USB keyboard access as these Boot Arguments seem to over-ride any SSDT files (and how would I know this? ...sigh). [At this point, I did not know about using Clover options during booting to use different config files; instead, I ended up re-installing Mojave to get around the lack of keyboard input, wasting hours of time.]

I initially used the iGPU (I had no problems booting or viewing with HDMI) and once Mojave 10.14.3 was running, added a Radeon Vega 64 (air cooled). I then studied the various fan issues. I ended up using a modified KEXT that seems to work best in terms of quieting the fan (which I'd downloaded, post #105--thanks Lapseart!, from the Vega thread here), altering it so that HWMonitorSMC2 can work (modiflying Lapseart's upload by changing the PP_DisablePowerContainment from 1 to 0; uploaded below).

I next worked on the TB3 ports to get them working with my UAD Apollo X6 unit. The resulting TB3 connection is flawless, using your v3 SSDT-Z390-AORUS-EXTREME-TB3HP-V3 (as well as your SSDT-DTPG file). Thanks again, CaseySJ! I use a Plugable (here) TB3 docking station between the iMac18,3 and the Apollo X6.

After this, I added the OSXWiFi/Hackintosh Broadcom board (here). This caused lots of headaches. The system would repeatedly crash. I finally realized it was only crashing when placing the board in either of the recommended PCIe-x1 slots (2 or 4 on my mobo). Once I moved it to PCIe-x8 (slot 3) or PCIe-x4 (slot 5; farthest from the CPU, where I now have it), it worked just fine. After the WiFi and BT were working, I then tried to get into iMessage and FaceTime. Neither of these worked until, as you've suggested, I added EmuVariableUefi-64.efi. Then iMessage and FaceTime ran perfectly. BTW, I also added a FireWire board (Vantec FW 800/400; model UGT-FW210) and it integrates just fine in either of the PCIe-x1 slots, requiring no special drivers.

In trying to dress up the system, I've tried to enter various features in the Devices/Arbitrary section of Clover (see config.plist upload - all SN were removed). Prior to doing this, I tried various ways suggested in this thread to locate the PCI locations (like using DarwinDumper, which only gave me blank pages). I ended up finding lspci v1.1 (here) and after a re-boot, running the command: lspci -b -nn in Terminal, it gives a nice listing of the PCI slots (shown below). I found that the Broadcom unit is indeed at Slot-5, as expected, and the iGPU is at 0.02, as expected. Also, as expected, is one Ethernet port at 00:1f.4 along with the Realtek ALC1220-VB correctly located at 00.1f.3.

However, the Vega 64 is listed being at slot 3.00.0 (and the Multimedia portion at 3.00.1), while it's physically located in the 1st slot on the mobo. Also odd is the Samsung storage controller at slot 4.00, which as I mentioned above is supposedly tied into the SATA headers. One of the ethernet ports (I think the Aquantia) is showing up at PCI 71.00. This confuses my simple mind.

Things then seemed to be going well, when suddenly, I couldn't boot the system: the Apple logo appeared but no progress bar. After some frustration, CaseySJ, I found your suggestion regarding re-loading the BIOS (I'm using Z390AXWF.F3c, the latest for my mobo) and this cured the problem and also allowed OC without seeing a black screen (not even the Apple logo would appear when I tried to modestly OC).

I'm presently running the i9 9900K at 4.7GHz. I've run some speed tests and uploaded those results too. These look pretty good to me.

If you want any other items, like BIOS settings, etc, let me know. CaseySJ, thanks again for your help and generosity!

 

[CaseySJ]

Hello again
Presently I have a new Monitor. Now my vega 64 Crashes couple times!
And Memory gets Full according Istate and the Screen which hast 4k has the following!

What is the make and model of your Vega 64?

Have you tried the two different Vega fan and power solutions in the build guide?

• Vega Fan and Crash Solution
• Sapphire PULSE Fan Vega56 Control

Also please take a careful look at @rj510's post directly above, in particular this paragraph:

I initially used the iGPU (I had no problems booting or viewing with HDMI) and once Mojave 10.14.3 was running, added a Radeon Vega 64 (air cooled). I then studied the various fan issues. I ended up using a modified KEXT that seems to work best in terms of quieting the fan (which I'd downloaded, post #105--thanks Lapseart!, from the Vega thread here), altering it so that HWMonitorSMC2 can work (modiflying Lapseart's upload by changing the PP_DisablePowerContainment from 1 to 0; uploaded below).

 

[CaseySJ]

Hello, everyone I’ve got my system up and running, sometimes I have issues waking from sleep but at the moment I don’t seem to be able to see my 6tb and 10tb drives that I’ve installed on the system or in disk utility. However I can see the 3 and 4 tb drives

If you have 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, and 10TB hard drives in the system, are they all connected to the internal SATA ports?

• If you have an NVMe PCIe SSD in the upper M2M slot, then you cannot use SATA ports 4 and 5.
• If you have an NVMe PCIe SSD in the lower M2P slot, then you cannot use SATA port 0.
• If you have an NVMe SATA SSD in the lower M2P slot, then you cannot use SATA port 1.

 

[CaseySJ]

@CaseySJ , that contraption is so cool! Luckily I have the reset button, but this a great option!

I have just received my splitter - exactly the one you have mentioned. I was just a little worrying there were a few mix reviews, but great to hear it is working well. Why don't you put those little contraptions on your hardware list? you can't technically run your box fully without them

Thanks again for all your help!

Good idea! I'll add those little contraptions to the Components section.

 

[CaseySJ]

@rj510,

Welcome to the forum! Very glad to hear of the successful build and thank you in particular for detailing your experience on what is currently the most impressive Z390 motherboard on the market! It takes a special kind of personality to thrive in this environment, and this being your first post shows your independent resourceful nature.

Samsung 970 EVO Pro
We know that different motherboards and even different BIOS revisions can behave differently. I am surprised to see that the new Samsung 970 EVO Pro works on your Gigabyte motherboard, but has been highly problematic on the Designare.

USB Port Map
On the Designare we're okay with just the UIAC SSDT and USBInjectAll.kext. The uia_include and uia_exclude boot arguments are not needed, but I know others also recommend using them. It could be idiosyncratic to certain boards. However, I'm intrigued by the SSDT-EC in which you've defined the Hardware ID to EC000000, and SSDT-USBX in which you're specifying USB Wake and Sleep Power Supply and Port Current Limit arguments. On the Designare, I've noticed what seems like an under-current or under-voltage problem on the front USB 3 ports (located on the PC case). Are these SSDTs being used to resolve under voltage and/or under current issues?

I would like to add your SSDT-UIAC-Xtreme to the Contributed Files and Tips section for the BeQuiet Dark Base Pro 900 rev 2 case.

Radeon Vega
What is the make and model of your Vega 64? I would like to add your Vega64.kext to the Contributed Files and Tips section. How widely applicable is this kext? Is it expected to work fairly well for most Vega64s? And Vega56s? Or should this kext be used when other solutions fail? In other words, is there any particular symptom that would necessitate the use of this kext?

Thunderbolt 3
Glad to hear this part went well! I'll add the Plugable Thunderbolt 3 Dock to the Thunderbolt 3 Experiences section!

WiFi/Bluetooth Card
This is interesting, but consistent with the Designare Z390, which also seems to dislike having these cards in x1 slots. Because your Vantec FireWire x1 card works in a x1 slot, it's rather puzzling why the Fenvi and OSXWiFi Broadcom cards are failing in those slots. The Broadcom card and PCIe adapter listed in the Components section of this guide work flawlessly in a x1 slot on the Designare.

Devices/Arbitrary
Again, interesting why DarwinDumper failed to generate a listing on your motherboard. It works well on the Designare. We also get strange results for discrete graphics cards on the Designare, but most other devices are reported correctly. For the RX 580 and RX Vega, we use slot-specific SSDTs to name the cards in our PCI registry.

 

[rj510]

Radeon Vega
What is the make and model of your Vega 64? I would like to add your Vega64.kext to the Contributed Files and Tips section. How widely applicable is this kext? Is it expected to work fairly well for most Vega64s? And Vega56s? Or should this kext be used when other solutions fail? In other words, is there any particular symptom that would necessitate the use of this kext?

Hi CaseySJ,

My Vega 64 is a "SAPPHIRE Radeon RX VEGA 64 8GB" that I bought off eBay. It supposedly was NIB but without regular packaging. Whatever that means. It seems to look to be in good condition and only has the mildest of noise (typical I understand) when being stressed with OpenCL tests. My case is completely open until I finish the build, so the minimal noise I do hear will be gone once the case is closed up.

As for the Vega KEXT, the person who created it combined a couple of KEXTs to better regulate fan speed and temperature issues. Their post (#105) is on this page. I saw almost no follow-up comments (and I read the entire thread; as I've read your entire thread). This KEXT works well with Whatevergreen.

I found basically the same things that Lapseart found, that the usual PP_PhmSoftPowerPlayTable adjustments would have the fan speed idle too fast and up but not come back down and the speed up was to maybe 4000+ rpm (way too fast and way too noisy). Now, with this KEXT, at 100% usage, the fan speeds up to around 2200 and after the load is removed, it gradually reduces speed after a minute or so to it lowest level, which is around 750 rpm. The Memory clock speed might be a bit low for some users, but I think it's fine (mine is around 950 MHz), as the graphics speed tests I posted are at the top of the values I've seen for Vega 64s, so why push it? (Lapseart had 600 rpm as idle speed; mine again is around 750 rpm.) BTW, my LuxMark v3.1 speeds were around 30,000 with Vega 64 alone and 36,000 when the CPU was added to the Vega 64.

The SSDT files were created automatically by USBMap. I'd noticed some things seemingly off (I want to use the word 'alignment' but it's difficult to describe now after so many iterations the set up has been through), but all seemed better in IORegistry Explorer after installing those SSDTs.

Do you have any ideas why the PCI registry sites don't match up with the physical sites (like the Vega 64 being in slot 1, but showing up as in slot 3)?

 

[GideonBlack]

Anyone having issues with Auto Unlock with Apple Watch? I'm using a BCM94360CS2 card and everything is working, including handoff and continuity, but unlock with Apple Watch still prompts for password after wake from sleep. If I click "cancel" at the login screen and try again, it works, meaning that hardware wise things are fine and there is a software glitch occurring right after sleep.

Any suggestions will be appreciated. I've tried the basics - deleted bluetooth and wifi preferences, restarted everything (iPhone, watch and hack), and logged out and back into iCloud.

 

[rasta4i]

If you have 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, and 10TB hard drives in the system, are they all connected to the internal SATA ports?

• If you have an NVMe PCIe SSD in the upper M2M slot, then you cannot use SATA ports 4 and 5.
• If you have an NVMe PCIe SSD in the lower M2P slot, then you cannot use SATA port 0.
• If you have an NVMe SATA SSD in the lower M2P slot, then you cannot use SATA port 1.

View attachment 393086

Thanks for that info, it’ll come in handy later however I don’t yet have any m2 drives connected, they’re all SATA so I’m unsure as to why they aren’t showing up. I remember when 6tb drives first showed up some settings on windows computers needed to be updated to make the bigger drives visible. I think I had some bad sata cables, all the drives are showing up now.

I think I still have a few issues to deal with, the computer doesn’t always wake up from sleep might just have a black screen and also at times the computer freezes more often when its put under a bit of pressure so I then have to hold the off button to restart it. I’m wondering if that could have anything todo with my 550w psu. I have plans to change it soon but wanted to hold off until next month. However it could be something else as still have the issues after sleep... its not every time but maybe half the time

 

[avtor]

Good idea! I'll add those little contraptions to the Components section.

@CaseySJ , I have installed the BCM94360CS2

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C78VBCD/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

using this card

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076KBBFV4/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

into the uppper PCIe X1 slot (closest to CPU)

The BT works out of the box (even in BIOS!!). However I'm unable to turn on WiFi. The WiFi widget showed up , but it does not react when I choose "Turn Wi-Fi On" . Tried in settings too.

I have not tried moving this card around yet, but thought of asking first if I'm missing anything or need to apply any patches/kexts. I noticed commonly hackintoshers experience BT issues for the most part rather than WiFI.

 

[CaseySJ]

Do you have any ideas why the PCI registry sites don't match up with the physical sites (like the Vega 64 being in slot 1, but showing up as in slot 3)?

This is still a puzzle. I haven't looked into the reasons why this seeming discrepancy occurs for only certain devices. What if it's not a discrepancy? Have you tried using the outwardly wrong addresses anyway?