[Success] GIGABYTE Z370 Gaming 7 + Intel Core i7-8700K + RX 580 + (2x) Dell P2715Q 4k @ 60Hz

[cbandes]

Guys could you tell me your boot time from the moment select from clover machintosh HD to boot? Mine is.27 seconds and believe that i have a problem.
Thanks.

Mine is just a few seconds off a SATA SSD. I haven't timed it precisely but it feels very quick.

 

[YBuyAMac]

HackaShaq's "2018 Mac Pro Replacement" Build:
Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Gaming 7 - i7-8700K - RX 580​

...

This is an amazing guide! I have it bookmarked as my parts are on the way. It will be very similar to what you did. Thank you!

 

[HackaShaq]

Holy cow! I booted from that windows installer link you mentioned, didn't install Windows, restarted in High Sierra and lo and behold, thunderbolt appears to be working. At least with my USB-C disk docking station, I don't have any 'real' thunderbolt devices to test with, but the port is definitely live. So, in my experience at least, the Alpine Ridge device is not quite plug-and-play, but pretty close, as long as you make a bootable windows drive.

Just curious, how would that work?

Wouldn't enabling Windows, simply install the drivers on the Windows OS side?
So does the Windows installer make some alteration to the BIOS?

Logically, I'm just not understanding how that would work, but that's definitely great to hear!

 

[jiffyslot]

Sorry about that..

 

[HackaShaq]

See post #285.

jiffyslot, please don't post info like this as it doesn't assist me or others (I'm guessing). I went there, which then told me to go to another post, which then led to another thread that didn't answer the question.

If you know the answer, please provide it to make questions as easy as possible for everyone. Thanks.

 

[jiffyslot]

Sorry. I've removed the post.

 

[cbandes]

Just curious, how would that work?

Wouldn't enabling Windows, simply install the drivers on the Windows OS side?
So does the Windows installer make some alteration to the BIOS?

Logically, I'm just not understanding how that would work, but that's definitely great to hear!

It makes very little sense to me as well, but...

What I gathered from other posts is that the card isn't activated until it is accessed by Windows - it seems as if it isn't really a driver issue per se as far as I can tell, but more that the card is in an inactive state out of the box. Setting up a bootable windows usb just to get the card working was a little bit of a pain, but it was worth it

 

[trs96]

It makes very little sense to me as well, but...

What I gathered from other posts is that the card isn't activated until it is accessed by Windows - it seems as if it isn't really a driver issue per se as far as I can tell, but more that the card is in an inactive state out of the box. Setting up a bootable windows usb just to get the card working was a little bit of a pain, but it was worth it

Would you post a screenshot of what it shows in System Information on your Customac ? There is a Thunderbolt section under the Hardware list. Click on Thunderbolt then take a screenshot of the info there. Attach it to your next post.

 

[cbandes]

The weird thing is it says no Thunderbolt devices/drivers are loaded. (But the drive is plugged into one of the TB ports and is absolutely working)

 

[trs96]

The weird thing is it says no Thunderbolt devices/drivers are loaded. (But the drive is plugged into one of the TB ports and is absolutely working) View attachment 342018

The following excerpt, from an article by Digital Trends, may help you understand why your USB 3.1 external drive works via your TH.Bolt add in card:

Here’s where things get confusing. Intel’s proprietary Thunderbolt standard, which competes with USB 3.1, is sometimes compatible with it using the same cables. First, let’s compare speed. Thunderbolt version 3 can handle data transfer at up to 40Gbps, potentially four times as fast as USB 3.1 Gen 2. Thunderbolt versions 1 and 2 used a proprietary cable that is not compatible with USB, so some computers like the Macbook Pro included both USB and Thunderbolt 3 ports.

Starting with Thunderbolt 3, Intel switched to USB Type-C ports and cables and made the standard cross-compatible with USB 3.1. That means that if the manufacturer supports it, the same device can use both Thunderbolt and USB 3.1 operating modes to transfer data, video, and power. The USB Type-C port on the 2015 Macbook is compatible with both USB 3.1 Gen 1 and Thunderbolt 3 standards, and adapters for standard USB Type-A and older Thunderbolt ports and cables are available.

TH.Bolt 3 has been created to replace every other kind of connection to your computer. This graphic helps to understand everything it is capable of replacing. It's the Swiss army knife of hardware interface standards.

​

This is why you can have a TH.Bolt 3 capable MacBook Pro connected to a monitor and eGPU at the same time and even provide power to charge your MBP battery. It's great technology but not everyone has integrated it to the extent Apple has.

It doesn't look like the Gigabyte website offers any TH.Bolt drivers to install so I'm not sure what steps to take for this specific motherboard. I don't own one or any TH.Bolt capable motherboard for that matter. One of the Z370 Aorus 7 motherboard owners in this community will need to test and figure this out. TH.Bolt on hackintosh has always been a gray area and looks like it will continue to be.