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

[MuffinCrumbs]

@CaseySJ


I was wondering about the new guide from 11th August

** Mini-Guide for Flashing SPI ROM Chips using 3.3V CH341A Programmer **

Would you still say the RaspberryPi method is safer?

I’ve ordered the items for both methods. Including a new SOIC8 clip, as the last SOIC8 clip broke when I tried plugging the jumper cables in. The pins on the SOIC8 clip got loose. So I ordered the high quality one by Pomona.

 

[pastrychef]

An area for moderators is now available on HackinDROM
You can very easy add new config.plist and Thunderbolt SSDT to the database and make them available for everyone.

Notes:
for CopyConfig actually only OpenCore config.plist is supported.
for HackiASL you can upload .DSL or .AML files
Your username will be added to the file name.
Only you can manipulate your own files.
After uploading you must enable the file from dropdown list to make it visible in main page.

@CaseySJ I ill send you your account data by private message.

@Stork @pastrychef and others if you want to upload your files to HackinDROM please let me know by message ill create accounts for you.
View attachment 489061

The GC-Titan Ridge files should work with Gigabyte Z390 M Gaming fine. Just change RP21 to RP05.

Nice job on the page.

 

[CaseySJ]

@CaseySJ


I was wondering about the new guide from 11th August

** Mini-Guide for Flashing SPI ROM Chips using 3.3V CH341A Programmer **

Would you still say the RaspberryPi method is safer?

I’ve ordered the items for both methods. Including a new SOIC8 clip, as the last SOIC8 clip broke when I tried plugging the jumper cables in. The pins on the SOIC8 clip got loose. So I ordered the high quality one by Pomona.

Hello @MuffinCrumbs,

I’m finding that both of those options are equally good. The Arcelli 3.3V CH341a is overall simpler to set up and use, but it requires a companion computer. The Raspberry Pi of course is an all-in-one solution.

 

[MuffinCrumbs]

Hello @MuffinCrumbs,

I’m finding that both of those options are equally good. The Arcelli 3.3V CH341a is overall simpler to set up and use, but it requires a companion computer. The Raspberry Pi of course is an all-in-one solution.

Hi there.

Thank you for your reply.

To be honest, I am very happy for the new guide. Because I am fully blind, and I often have to ask people to look at a guide for me, with the diagrams included. On RaspberryPi I would have to use Orca screen reader, which is a massive plague. The only reason I took so long not doing this. But by using a Mac on the side with the 3.3v CH341a, I can use VoiceOver whilst using the FlashROM CLI.

So thank you so much for that guide, I just wanted to know if it was as good as the Raspberry Pi guide, and now you've confirmed it.


Edit:

@CaseySJ

I'm not really sure, but I was curious and was wondering perhaps something like EFI-Patcher would work instead of the CLI usage via Terminal. I might just be super dumb thinking that. heh.

 

[gabevf]

This has just been added to the Repository. Testing needed...

View attachment 469666​

Hi @CaseySJ took me a while, but i finally got around to doing this.

Testing on Designare EX X299's on-board Alpine Ridge controller

Here are my findings:

– Intel JHL6540 Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt 3 NHI is detected under PCI in System report only if I connect TB devices while the machine is OFF.
– “Thunderbolt” section empty under system report
– OWC TB3 Dock only partly operational (USB works, but SD card reader & other components not working).
– Noticing some Finder issues that require a forced relaunch.
– Multiple TB3 devices (OWC TB3 Dock + TB3 G-DRIVE) only appear simultaneously in OSX if I launch them in Windows first, but read/write performance on G-DRIVE is not the greatest (compared to R/W through MacBook Pro). R/Ws on other drives through OCW Dock seem fine.
– Restarting from OSX makes devices disappear. Requires a full shut-down for devices to re-appear

 

[oreoapple]

'Thunderbolt' section needs the flashed firmware I believe, @CaseySJ can confirm.
But due to the location of the ROM chip, it's very hard(close to impossible) to flash it with the 'standard prodedure',
The chip is very close to the edge of the board and some metal frame are blocking the way...

Hi @CaseySJ took me a while, but i finally got around to doing this.

Testing on Designare EX X299's on-board Alpine Ridge controller

Here are my findings:

– Intel JHL6540 Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt 3 NHI is detected under PCI in System report only if I connect TB devices while the machine is OFF.
– “Thunderbolt” section empty under system report
– OWC TB3 Dock only partly operational (USB works, but SD card reader & other components not working).
– Noticing some Finder issues that require a forced relaunch.
– Multiple TB3 devices (OWC TB3 Dock + TB3 G-DRIVE) only appear simultaneously in OSX if I launch them in Windows first, but read/write performance on G-DRIVE is not the greatest (compared to R/W through MacBook Pro). R/Ws on other drives through OCW Dock seem fine.
– Restarting from OSX makes devices disappear. Requires a full shut-down for devices to re-appear

 

[CaseySJ]

Hi there.

Thank you for your reply.

To be honest, I am very happy for the new guide. Because I am fully blind, and I often have to ask people to look at a guide for me, with the diagrams included. On RaspberryPi I would have to use Orca screen reader, which is a massive plague. The only reason I took so long not doing this. But by using a Mac on the side with the 3.3v CH341a, I can use VoiceOver whilst using the FlashROM CLI.

So thank you so much for that guide, I just wanted to know if it was as good as the Raspberry Pi guide, and now you've confirmed it.


Edit:

@CaseySJ

I'm not really sure, but I was curious and was wondering perhaps something like EFI-Patcher would work instead of the CLI usage via Terminal. I might just be super dumb thinking that. heh.

You're right that using Arcelli tied to a Mac allows you to use VoiceOver. That alone should tilt the decision in favor of the Arcelli.

Regarding EFI Patcher, once we download the binary file we must open Terminal and remove the quarantine flag as follows:

cd ~/Downloads
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine EFI\ Patcher.app

Running the app, we get the following screenshot, which I realize you cannot see so I'll describe it as follows:

• The app could be used to read the Thunderbolt firmware.
• But to write a modified firmware to the Thunderbolt chip, I'm not sure we can use this app because it appears to be designed for modifying Apple's own EFI firmware (i.e. Apple BIOS, not Thunderbolt firmware).
• In fact I would caution against using the app because reading and writing the firmware chip is risky business and we should use 100% transparent methods.
• When we use flashrom directly, we are in full control of what is read and written, hence 100% transparent.

 

[gabevf]

'Thunderbolt' section needs the flashed firmware I believe, @CaseySJ can confirm.
But due to the location of the ROM chip, it's very hard(close to impossible) to flash it with the 'standard prodedure',
The chip is very close to the edge of the board and some metal frame are blocking the way...

Aw shoot, so is SSDT the only way to go for the Designare EX X299? Why have people been saying that it's flash-able?
Where did you read about this access issue? Would like to confirm this before I make an attempt...

 

[MuffinCrumbs]

You're right that using Arcelli tied to a Mac allows you to use VoiceOver. That alone should tilt the decision in favor of the Arcelli.

Regarding EFI Patcher, once we download the binary file we must open Terminal and remove the quarantine flag as follows:

cd ~/Downloads
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine EFI\ Patcher.app

Running the app, we get the following screenshot, which I realize you cannot see so I'll describe it as follows:

• The app could be used to read the Thunderbolt firmware.
• But to write a modified firmware to the Thunderbolt chip, I'm not sure we can use this app because it appears to be designed for modifying Apple's own EFI firmware (i.e. Apple BIOS, not Thunderbolt firmware).
• In fact I would caution against using the app because reading and writing the firmware chip is risky business and we should use 100% transparent methods.
• When we use flashrom directly, we are in full control of what is read and written, hence 100% transparent.

View attachment 489813

Thank you, this makes sense. Wish there was such an app for our use. Not that it is difficult to use Terminal.

 

[oreoapple]

x299x Designare10G is flashable for sure. But I've tried X299 Designare, the situation is as described. Maybe I'm not smart enough...

Aw shoot, so is SSDT the only way to go for the Designare EX X299? Why have people been saying that it's flash-able?
Where did you read about this access issue? Would like to confirm this before I make an attempt...