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

[jeanvs]

Ahh, I see. So get the cheaper one as Casey Recommended

yeah the worst time to buy hardware

 

[zipb]

Please un-quote micro-guide from the earlier post.
Also post front page of Hackintool, but blank out any private info. It shows iGPU configuration.

 

[hamzab]

@jeanvs,

If you require Hyper-threading, the i7 8700k have come down recently BUT are harder to find.
Since BIOS overclocking doesnt add much in the way of performance in MacOsx ~ Hackintosh, I would chose either Hyper-threading or more physical cores ie) the i9-9900k if it's within your budget?

Interesting. I'm using a 9700K but have a 8700K sitting spare (was going to list on eBay soon). Would you say it's better to run the 8700K from a Hackintosh perspective due to the Hyper-threading? Or is the 9700K better?

 

[CaseySJ]

I was able to re-flash the original firmware back to the chip succesfully. A read/backup after flashing confirmed success with the same checksum. Interestingly, flashing would only work when "hot-plugging" VCC Pin8, so starting the write command with VCC disconnected, and immediately after connecting VCC. I had no PSU connected at all.

Nevertheless, my TB XHC Controller and SSP1 and SSP2 ports are still missing in macOS.
I also tried the tbpatch list command, and got the same "device not found" errors.

Before reassembling my system, I took a close-up photo of the chip and it's surrounding surface-mounted components (see below). No damage or missing resistors or capacitors that I can tell.

My best guess is that the board was damaged electrically somehow, by ignorance on my part. Could having a powered on PSU and a connected VCC Pin8 (with Raspberry Pi powered on) at the same time have caused such damage?

Because both the PSU and Raspberry Pi supply 3.3V, it should not cause a short circuit or other failure. The photograph shows no damage to nearby SMDs. Others reported similar issue where Thunderbolt UID would appear as all zero even when ThunderboltDROM was setup properly. For them the problem was an electrical break or disconnect between the chip's Pin 7 and the upper end of the adjacent SMD. Please have a look at this photo:

If you have a multimeter, try the following:

• Turn on the PSU, but do not turn on the computer itself.
• Put the Multimeter into DC Voltage mode and Auto Ranging if it has the feature.
• Place the red probe on Pin 7 as indicated above.
• Place the black probe on the item pointed to by the "this" arrow above.
• What voltage do you measure?
• Then keep red probe on Pin 7 and touch black probe to Pin 4 (GND).
• What voltage do you measure?
• Now, while keeping black probe on GND (Pin 4), check voltages on the other pins.

Before (ad)venturing into ordering a new Designare and flashing it, I would like to better understand the Z390 Designare's Winbond flashing procedure:

• Are flashrom reads and writes only possible with PSU powered on? Or is it also possible to flash the chip with only VCC8 powering the chip?

Reads and writes are possible even without the PSU powered on. Most of my early work was done without PSU powered on. But I found it much easier with PSU powered on, but Vcc disconnected.

• Assuming PSU power is required (where VCC must be disconnected before powering on the PSU):
  Am I correct that VCC is only needed for visual confirmation of a correctly attached SOIC8-clip, by powering up the LEDs and allowing inspection of the color and brightness of those LEDs?

Correct. We should not apply two sources of power to the same pin at the same time.

• With PSU powered off and VCC connected, the Designare's LEDs should be red and slightly dim (without blinking) if the clip is properly attached.
• If the LEDs' are bright yellow, or if they do not light up, the clip is not properly attached. The clip's attachment can then be adjusted by wiggling the clip (with VCC connected) until the LEDs have the proper color and brightness without blinking (red and slightly dim)?

This is correct if we want to supply power ourselves to Pin 8 (Vcc). But if PSU is used to supply power, then LEDs should be bright yellow to indicate maximum contact with SOIC clip (and then Pin 8 should be disconnected before PSU is turned on).

• After visual confirmation of proper clip attachment: With disconnected VCC and without PSU power, flashrom should partially recognize the chip (as in Supplemental Procedure) ... this and previous LED confirmation indicate proper SOIC8-clip attachment?
• Then after testing proper clip attachment, VCC must be disconnected before powering on PSU. When switching PSU power ON, the motherboard leds will light up bright white, correct?

This is mostly a fortunate happenstance that partial recognition is possible without anything connected to Vcc. But the rule of thumb is:

• If using our own power on Pin 8 to read and write the chip, LEDs should be dim red color.
• If using PSU to power the chip (and we disconnect Pin 8), LEDs should be bright yellow for full contact with clip.

 

[CaseySJ]

View attachment 465414

Have you already tried changing the name to Intel UHD 630 as shown here:

 

[karambit]

yeah the worst time to buy hardware

May I ask what both of those processors are going for? I see you have Amazon access in Brazil.

 

[karambit]

Interesting. I'm using a 9700K but have a 8700K sitting spare (was going to list on eBay soon). Would you say it's better to run the 8700K from a Hackintosh perspective due to the Hyper-threading? Or is the 9700K better?

Without a doubt the 8700K ! Plays real nice with the Z390 designare as well. I just built this. Only I have a binned 8700K ~ silicon lottery numbers called the i7 8086K from 2 years ago

 

[jeanvs]

May I ask what both of those processors are going for? I see you have Amazon access in Brazil.

Mainly for professional audio, gaming and light video editing... Yeah I could import from amazon or any other like newegg but like a i said the Real (Brazilian currency) is devalued in relation to the dollar so it would be much more expensive... and there is the amazon brasil, but their prices aren't the best

 

[karambit]

@CaseySJ

What I'm getting constantly is upon starting up my system, it takes 3 clicks - off/ then on for the system finally to start booting. Nothing is effected just the extended 10s wait and I feel it could be potentially hard on my gpu/cpu
Does this sound familiar to you? It sounds like potentially the Psu BUT It's New however and is a corsair RM 850w gold so no problem re: a struggle here.I've used it before without incident.
Funny thing is I was building a Window machine last week and the same thing occurred. I tried a different cable to psu and the only other thing may be that the surge bar is connected by a 16 awg extension cord to the wall socket?

 

[karambit]

Mainly for professional audio, gaming and light video editing... Yeah I could import from amazon or any other like newegg but like a i said the Real (Brazilian currency) is devalued in relation to the dollar so it would be much more expensive... and there is the amazon brasil, but their prices aren't the best

Sorry, going( price). I meant what are the costs of each ?