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

[CaseySJ]

Interesting, does Apple Afterburner card work on Hacks?

Apple Afterburner Card

Created to transform the workflow for film and video professionals, Afterburner accelerates ProRes and ProRes RAW video codecs in Final Cut Pro X, QuickTime Player X, and supported third-party applications. A PCI Express card exclusively for Mac Pro, Afterburner can be installed in any...

www.apple.com

@CaseySJ, what do you think if we try to make some kind of setup of files, which might make easier life of Designare users, so that they can easily setup Catalina and also easily handle post-installatio?

I could create a GitHub repository for the Clover and OpenCore setup files for this motherboard. This would also allow version control. Let me think about it...

 

[CaseySJ]

Hi Casey & Hackintoshers

Seasons Greetings to ALL !

Great resource here thanks for your hard work. Just a few things to note, there is a file mentioned in the installation guide called Post Install Files. zip, I couldn't see a link to that .zip file.

Also it has been noted that the Samsung EVO M.2 PLUS & PRO require firmware updates in order to boot to System OS. Does this apply to all Samsung drives ? I understand this is done using Magician from Samsung. How are you attaching these drives to Windows in order to do the updates, are you using adapters to USB ?

I purchased a Samsung M.2 EVO 970 which this is not one of the above mentioned drives. Will this need a firmware update?

Many Thanks.

Hello @DazzboDuck

Post-Install Files.zip is available at the bottom of Post #1, along with a set of other attachments.

Only the 970 EVO Plus requires the latest firmware. All other models have been fully compatible with whatever firmware they ship with. So the standard EVO 970 and the EVO 970 PRO do not require firmware updates.

If you plan to use Samsung's Magician software in Windows, you may install the 970 EVO Plus into a PCIe M.2 to USB adapter such as this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MNFH1PX/?tag=tonymacx86com-20
Only "PCIe M.2" to USB adapters will work with the 970 EVO Plus, and these adapters are typically US$20 or higher.

 

[iLikeHackintosh]

The regular EVO works out of the box = don't worry about the firmware unless it's an EVO PLUS

The latest version of 970 EVO firmware is 2B2QEXE7. On most cases users are recommended to use thé latest firmware. MacOS should report which firmware is installed.

The latest firmware for 970 EVO PLUS is 2B2QEXM7.

 

[phillip002300]

Hello @phillip002300

Some questions and suggestions:

• When you formatted your Catalina SSD, did you select the “Scheme” to be “GUID Partition Map”? Doing so creates an EFI partition.
• If the Catalina SSD has an EFI partition, we need to copy the entire EFI folder from EFI partition of USB to EFI partition of Catalina SSD. This makes the Catalina SSD bootable
• Regarding Thunderbolt, keep in mind that “System Information —> Thunderbolt” should be avoided because it will always say “No drivers are loaded”. Instead, look to the “PCI” page instead
• Regarding UAD audio interfaces, please see “Thunderbolt 3 Experiences” in the main build guide (post #1).

Thanks for your reply. I configured my SSD drive to boot by using Clover to open the EFI file. I then copied and pasted the contents of my thumb drive EFI file there. For some reason the thumb drive boots fast, but the SSD drive takes a long time then ends up with a dark screen...

I don't see the Thunderbolt in the PCI page either. I will read the posts you recommend. Maybe I didn't install the correct Kext files.

 

[ChadeepThundersheet]

Is the 2666MHz RAM limitation with the Designare z390 motherboard still an issue or has it been resolved?

 

[CaseySJ]

Is the 2666MHz RAM limitation with the Designare z390 motherboard still an issue or has it been resolved?

2666MHz is not a limitation. In fact my 3200MHz TridentZ is running at 3200MHz. The limitation actually concerns sleep. External disks may not be ejected properly when memory is running higher than 2666MHz or 2933MHz. In some cases, long-term sleep may also not work reliably unless memory speed is reduced to either of those values.

 

[CaseySJ]

Thanks for your reply. I configured my SSD drive to boot by using Clover to open the EFI file. I then copied and pasted the contents of my thumb drive EFI file there. For some reason the thumb drive boots fast, but the SSD drive takes a long time then ends up with a dark screen...

If the EFI folders on USB and Catalina SSD are indeed identical, they should behave identically. Are you sure the two folders are identical?

I don't see the Thunderbolt in the PCI page either. I will read the posts you recommend. Maybe I didn't install the correct Kext files.

Thunderbolt requires two SSDTs. Are you following the Catalina Mini-Guide?

 

[DazzboDuck]

Hello @DazzboDuck

Post-Install Files.zip is available at the bottom of Post #1, along with a set of other attachments.

Only the 970 EVO Plus requires the latest firmware. All other models have been fully compatible with whatever firmware they ship with. So the standard EVO 970 and the EVO 970 PRO do not require firmware updates.

Thanks Casey I was looking for an all in one file called Post-Install Files.zip, I see they are all separate files under attachments.

I saw that Note 5a had been crossed out so perhaps thought there was some doubt about all the Samsung Drives

Peace !

 

[CaseySJ]

Thanks Casey I was looking for an all in one file called Post-Install Files.zip, I see they are all separate files under attachments.

I saw that Note 5a had been crossed out so perhaps thought there was some doubt about all the Samsung Drives

Peace !

That is a single ZIP file containing kexts, drivers, and SSDTs. Only 1 download.

 

[ChadeepThundersheet]

2666MHz is not a limitation. In fact my 3200MHz TridentZ is running at 3200MHz. The limitation actually concerns sleep. External disks may not be ejected properly when memory is running higher than 2666MHz or 2933MHz. In some cases, long-term sleep may also not work reliably unless memory speed is reduced to either of those values.

Ah, OK. I understand. Is this limitation/issue unique to the Designare motherboard? I’m trying to choose a motherboard for a very similar build. Thanks!