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

[CaseySJ]

Thank you Casey. It looks more reasonable to bye another one!

You will be happier (much happier) in the long run. While there is a wow moment when a Thunderbolt display first works, that moment vanishes faster than the collapse of a quantum probability wave when we begin to use the system for a few minutes or a few days and the list of problems piles up beyond imagining.

With CES 2021 just starting, we're expecting to see next-generation IPS panels at 4K and possibly higher resolutions that will absolutely decimate these Thunderbolt monitors of yore. One of these monitors in combination with a Thunderbolt 3 dock can provide a much more rewarding Hackintosh experience.

 

[nottooshabby]

Hello @chris77555,

Welcome to the forum. However, I have to caution you very strongly against flashing the Thunderbolt firmware. At the top of the Z490 Vision D build guide, we have this note/warning:

View attachment 504466

I know you have an Apple Thunderbolt Display, but it is very old now and there are lots of wonderful 27-inch monitors on the market today at very competitive prices. They offer HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2/1.4, and even USB-C. Some have speakers and USB hubs built in.

Thunderbolt monitors are very unreliable on a Hackintosh. There are too many user complaints, which is why I added that note (NOTE 8c).

Additionally, flashing the Thunderbolt firmware is a risky operation and should only be done by experienced users.

I know it's tempting and even exciting to try and flash the Thunderbolt firmware, but I believe this is not a justified reason for doing so.

I saw there was some more discussion on the Apple TBD, so I wanted to update my previous post with some new information.

I had used the TR add-on card(AIC) with my Apple TBD for 4-5 months using the GC-TITAN-RIDGE-NVM23-Elias64Fr.bin firmware flash and various SSDTs. I tried various clover options, open core setups, but consistently had issues with the monitor not turning on reliably at cold boot, after sleep, or during a restart. I could always unplug the thunderbolt cable and plug it back in again to wake the display back up, but doing that sometimes multiple times a day was getting irritating.

Then I tried Alpine Ridge AIC, unflashed. My understanding from posts from @scottkendall and others was the flashed firmware did not support video pass through. Although Alpine Ridge had a nice benefit that the screen turned on at post, I had issues with sleep. After the machine went to sleep, the thunderbolt bus disconnected, so the Apple TBD speakers, camera, etc wouldn't work until the machine was restarted again. I tried many SSDTs, but could not resolve this issue and the behavior was always the same. I also had issues where the machine would not stay asleep(I could get one successful sleep, but subsequent sleeps would be interrupted by "DarkWake from Normal Sleep [CDN] due to /:") . The sleep issue was too annoying to keep using Alpine Ridge.

Back to the Titan Ridge AIC, but I decided to try the DESIGNARE-Z390-NVM33-Elias64Fr.bin firmware on my Titan Ridge 1.0 AIC. I did this based on some posts here by @scottkendall and others on Macrumors that the DESIGNARE-Z390-NVM33-Elias64Fr.bin seemed to function the best of all the firmwares. Wow! The issue with the display not turning on reliably has gone away. I can also restart the machine and have the display stay on 100% of the time. This makes it much easier to get into the bios, or boot into windows. With the
GC-TITAN-RIDGE-NVM23-Elias64Fr.bin I had maybe a 50% success rate of the monitor staying on at restart, which usually meant multiple restart attempts before I could see the picker view or see the bios screen. The thunderbolt bus appears to be active with the DESIGNARE-Z390-NVM33-Elias64Fr.bin firmware. I have gone as far as plugging in my MacBook Pro with a TB cable (in target disk mode) into my Apple TBD and successfully had it appear on the desktop.

Obviously I am using the Z390 Gaming M mother board with the Titan Ridge 1.0 AIC, which doesn't apply to many people on this thread, but I will say the Apple TBD works very well now using the DESIGNARE-Z390-NVM33-Elias64Fr.bin firmware. I also learned that you do not need to plug in the power supply cable into the Titan Ridge card. I think that is only needed if you plug in devices that need more than 40W of power(Alpine Ridge doesn't have those connectors and can deliver 40W). This simplifies the cable management. I do need to have the USB 2.0 pass through cable plugged into the motherboard or the machine will restart when trying to shut down.

Here is my update Pros/Cons with the Designare firmware and Titan Ridge.

Flashed Titan Ridge 1.0 AIC with DESIGNARE-Z390-NVM33-Elias64Fr.bin

Pros:
- Display turns on reliably
- Apple USB bus within the monitor stays active after sleep, maintaining speakers, camera, USB ports on back of display
- Active TB bus that supports hot swapping
- Sleep works normally

Cons:

- Display doesn't turn on till part way through the boot up cycle on cold boot.
- Requires a second monitor or ghost plug to boot into Mac OS. One detail with the ghost plug is that it is not HDCP compliant, so once the machine boots up, if you want to watch content that has DRM(Disney+, Amazon, etc), you need to unplug it. Once the Apple Display turns on, it isn't needed until the next time you boot up from a shutdown. I have the monitors set to mirror, so there isn't an issue with the cursor going off the screen or anything like that.
- Monitor does not always turn on after sleep. Requires unplugging the TB cable and plugging back in to wake display up. Speakers and USB 2.0 devices in display still work after doing the hot plug.
- More cable management required and larger footprint. Needs power supply cable and USB 2.0 header cable.


Unflashed Apple Ridge Card 2.0 AIC:

Pros:

- Apple TBD turns on at post. Allowing for bios modifications or choosing a different operating system.
- Fewer cables to connect(no USB 2.0 header cable and no requirement for an additional power supply cable).
- No flashing required to use an apple TBD.
- Monitor turns on reliably after sleep and restart
- Sleep works normally

Cons:
- USB 2.0 bus disappears after sleep along with other thunderbolt devices in the display. Speakers, Ethernet, USB hub on display, FaceTime camera stop working after sleep. Needs a restart to reeenable.
- Machine Darkwakes after USB 2.0 bus disappears with message " DarkWake from Normal Sleep [CDN] due to /: "

 

[CaseySJ]

@CaseySJ

Maybe this is normal, I created a bootable backup of Mojave, tested it and it worked. I made the switch from Clover to Opencore and the system boots fine, but when I try the bootable backup I made it doesn't boot. Any ideas?

Some questions:

• A bootable backup of Mojave was made before transitioning from Clover to OpenCore, and this Clover-based backup was tested and verified?
• Then you switched from Clover to OpenCore on the main SSD, and it too was tested and verified. So OpenCore can successfully boot Mojave on the internal SSD?
• And then you made a backup of this updated SSD (with OpenCore and Mojave). But this particular backup disk does not boot?

If the above statements are all true, then:

• What do you mean by "bootable backup doesn't boot"? What exactly happens? Does the OpenCore Picker appear?
• Have you confirmed whether the EFI partition on the backup disk contains the same EFI folder that's in the EFI partition of the internal SSD?
• Have you tried Reset NVRAM at the OpenCore Picker (press spacebar at the Picker GUI and "Reset NVRAM" will be the very right-most item)?
• To boot from the backup disk the right way, we should press F12 at the Gigabyte Splash Screen to open the BIOS Boot Menu (not OpenCore Picker) and select the bootable backup disk from there. Then the OpenCore Picker should appear.

 

[CaseySJ]

@nottooshabby

Thank you for this brilliant post. I'll add it to Post 1 (Quick Reference spoiler) shortly.

• What is the make/model of your Thunderbolt monitor?
  • Is the standard Apple Thunderbolt Display 27-inch?
  • Are you using a TB3-to-TB2 adapter?
  • If so, which make/model?
• On the back, do you see a Date of Manufacture?

 

[nottooshabby]

@nottooshabby

Thank you for this brilliant post. I'll add it to Post 1 (Quick Reference spoiler) shortly.

• What is the make/model of your Thunderbolt monitor?
  • Is the standard Apple Thunderbolt Display 27-inch?
  • Are you using a TB3-to-TB2 adapter?
  • If so, which make/model?
• On the back, do you see a Date of Manufacture?

Yes, the Apple 27" Thunderbolt Display. Model A1407, Part #: MC914LL/B.

I can't get to the back of the display without really tearing my desk apart. I bought it used a few years ago, so I don't know when it was originally purchased.

I am using the Apple TB3-TB2 adapter which was purchased recently from Best Buy(within the last 6 months).




If I go to system report, it does show a firmware version for the display, 26.2, and the cable, 0.1.18. I assume the cable is the Apple TB adapter, but not sure.

 

[CaseySJ]

I don't know how to modify the firmware. Please help me.

Hello @fangmngqiang,

Attached is the modified version, but please note that this is NVM56. We've encountered a number of problems with firmware versions 40 and higher. The best version we've seen so far is NVM33 from the Designare Z390. This firmware can actually be used on other boards, but we should be prepared to put the original one back if there are any persistent problems.

Instructions:

• Attached ZIP contains 2 files:
  • ASUS-JHL7540-MOD1-CASEYSJ.bin
  • ASUS-JHL7540-MOD2-CASEYSJ.bin
• Please try MOD1 first.
• After flashing the firmware and starting the system, please check:
  • System Information --> Thunderbolt. Do you see the Thunderbolt Bus?
  • IORegistryExplorer. Do you see the full Thunderbolt device tree?
    • Select File --> Save As... and post the IOReg file. This will help me create the hot-plug SSDT.
• Then check if your Thunderbolt devices can:
  • Connect and work before boot (hot plug will not work without new SSDT).
• If there are problems, try MOD2.

 

[CaseySJ]

Yes, the Apple 27" Thunderbolt Display. Model A1407, Part #: MC914LL/B.

I can't get to the back of the display without really tearing my desk apart. I bought it used a few years ago, so I don't know when it was originally purchased.

I am using the Apple TB3-TB2 adapter which was purchased recently from Best Buy(within the last 6 months).

If I go to system report, it does show a firmware version for the display, 26.2, and the cable, 0.1.18. I assume the cable is the Apple TB adapter, but not sure.

References have been added to Post 1 as follows:

And in Section 8 in the Quick Reference spoiler:

 

[gandem]

You will be happier (much happier) in the long run. While there is a wow moment when a Thunderbolt display first works, that moment vanishes faster than the collapse of a quantum probability wave when we begin to use the system for a few minutes or a few days and the list of problems piles up beyond imagining.

With CES 2021 just starting, we're expecting to see next-generation IPS panels at 4K and possibly higher resolutions that will absolutely decimate these Thunderbolt monitors of yore. One of these monitors in combination with a Thunderbolt 3 dock can provide a much more rewarding Hackintosh experience.

Out of curiosity, what are people having problems with using thunderbolt monitors? I purchased a 24MD4KLB-B last spring, and it is working perfectly (to my knowledge) with flashed TR AIC REV2. The only issues I was not able to get around was not having a DP monitor hooked directly up to my GPU and the monitor not activating until late in the boot process. Having the DP monitor hooked up made the TB monitor not activating until late in the sequence tolerable to me. Otherwise, LG Screen Manager sees the 24MD4KLB-B monitor, keyboard functions work, and usb is recognized by Mac-OS. I loop my CalDigit TS3+ through my monitor and have a 3rd monitor (1080p) hooked up to the dock. This setup has been very stable for me, with one exception... reboot. when I reboot I lose my 3rd monitor (1080p)-everytime. If I shutdown, wait 10 secs, then boot... I get it back. Very consistent.

 

[shdwkeeper]

@CaseySJ

A bootable backup of Mojave was made before transitioning from Clover to OpenCore, and this Clover-based backup was tested and verified?

Yes

Then you switched from Clover to OpenCore on the main SSD, and it too was tested and verified. So OpenCore can successfully boot Mojave on the internal SSD?

Yes

And then you made a backup of this updated SSD (with OpenCore and Mojave). But this particular backup disk does not boot?

No, I was just trying to boot off the 1st bootable backup I made to look at old settings, and this doesn't boot. It probably doesn't boot because of the changes I made when switching to Opencore, and the bootloader is different now, is that why?

 

[CaseySJ]

...
No, I was just trying to boot off the 1st bootable backup I made to look at old settings, and this doesn't boot. It probably doesn't boot because of the changes I made when switching to Opencore, and the bootloader is different now, is that why?

When you deleted the Hackintosh kexts from /Library/Extensions, you deleted local copies of FakeSMC and/or VirtualSMC. So if one of these kexts is not present in the Clover EFI folder, then the system will not boot.