Hi, I'm trying to update my Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI / i9 9900K / RX 580 Pulse 8GB system from Clover/Catalina (10.15.4) to OC/Monterey (12.6). My system has two boot drives in it, a 240GB SSD, and a 500GB NVMe (WSD500). Both started with Clover/10.15.4, but now I've got Clover/12.6 (sort of) on the WSD500. That's not what I want, and it doesn't boot that way, I'm just a bit stuck in the end phase of this process.
Successes so far:
1. Re-flashed the Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI to the latest (2021) FW (F.12)
a. Configured BIOS to default optimizations and confirmed this boots my SSD/WSD500 copies of 10.15.4
2. Created OC Monterey install media (USB) following Dortania's guide. I've got about the least stuff in there I think I can, using all DEBUG versions for OC and kexts
ACPI: SSDT-AWAC, SSDT-EC-USBX-DESKTOP, SSDT-PLUG-DRTNIA, SSDT-PMC (all for Coffee Lake, all prebuilt)
Drivers: HfsPlus, OpenRuntime, ResetNvramEntry
Kexts: AppleALC, Lilu, USBToolBox, VirtualSMC, WhateverGreen
3. Built config.plist with propertree per Dortania's guide
4. Boot OC Install USB and cleared NVRAM
I was stuck for a bit at
https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore...rnel-issues.html#stuck-on-eb-log-exitbs-start, then made the following changes to my BIOS settings to free up ram, which got me a bit further
CSM Support: [Enabled] -> [Disabled]
Above 4G Decoding: [Disabled] -> [Enabled]
Software Guard Extensions (SGX): [Software Controlled] -> [Disabled]
LEDs in System Power On State: [On] -> [Off]
Legacy USB Support: [Enabled] -> [Disabled]
Internal Graphics: [Auto] -> [Disabled]
That got me through a 5 boot cycle of installing Monterey on a freshly erased WSD500 stuck at
https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore...rozen-in-the-macos-installer-after-30-seconds. On the plus side it was seeing my wifi card and network! On the minus side, no matter what I did I couldn't get far before it would freeze.
Turning back to the troubleshooting guide again I found that, although I didn't have a NullCPUPowerManagement kext to remove, I did see Kernel -> Force -> Emulate was set to False, so I switched that to True and gave it another go.
Now it seems I get even less far, and I get stuck with the Apple logo and the progress bar a bit more than 1/2 way across. Is this possibly the
https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore...e-issues.html#macos-frozen-right-before-login issue? I'm running a Coffee Lake CPU on a fairly modern MB with 2021 FW, so it seems unlikely, but maybe?
Another theory is perhaps I need to erase my NVRAM again from the OC Picker. What I've been doing is booting from my SSD (which has Clover and the working copy of 10.15.4 I'm using now to write this), researching the issues and making changes to the /EFI on the USB, then booting from the OC Install USB and picking WSD500 to try to get Monterey to run. Am I hosing my NMRAM each time I boot with Clover to a working system?
Also, Clover is still in the /EFI for both the SSD and the WSD500 drives. Should I copy the /EFI folder from the OC Install USB to the WSD500's /EFI? I think if I do that I'd still be able to use BIOS to pick the SSD and get the system up to a working state while I pound on the config.plist, etc. to get things working on WSD500.