[Success] High Sierra-Asus Z270G Strix-i7 7700-Asus GTX 1060

[jamiewoods]

jamiewoods's Build: mATX Asus Z270g - i7-7700 - Gefroce GTX 1060​

Contents
Components
Comments
The Build
The Installation
Post Installation
Summary
What works
What doesn't work
Future
Continue to Explore



COMPONENTS

ASUS Strix Z270G Gaming Motherboard
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MTXYAB8/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Intel Core i7 7700 Desktop Processor
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N0L41N7/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Asus GeForce GTX 1060 DC2 Strix Gaming OC 6GB
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JHQT1SE/?tag=tonymacx86com-20
(please note, I couldn't find the exact GPU, this is the closest)

Aerocool Dead Silence Cube mATX Orange Edition
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H4PSFME/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16) DDR4 2400
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0134EU9YA/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Corsair TX550M 550W 80 Plus Gold Power
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MSEYY23/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Samsung 960 Evo NVMe M.2 500GB SSD
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M20VBU7/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Seagate Barracuda 2TB
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IEKG402/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Silverstone USE 3.0 Card Reader
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006Z394L2/?tag=tonymacx86com-20


COMMENTS

The Desktop Build: The purpose was to handle running the Adobe Video Editing Suite smoothly. Premier Pro, After Effects ect...
I wanted a compact size (mATX), good graphics handling, duel HDMI support & ability to upgrade later. I have a Macbook Pro, with additional wireless keyboard, mouse & trackpad, which i wanted to use on this build.
This is my first desktop build and I'm a complete novice when it comes to this sort of stuff, but I decided to have a go anyway.
This was a little over my budget, and I chose the i7 7700 over the i7 7700k due to cost, and honestly the little extra speed wasn't worth the extra cost plus extra cpu cooler. I would rather save my money and invest in an 8 core later.

The Installation:
I'm installing HIGH SIERRA, and I used the latest Unibeast 8.0 & Multibeast High Sierra

I followed the instructions and it worked without any major issues:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...ierra-on-any-supported-intel-based-pc.235474/
With the BIOS, I updated settings as recommended, however on my mobo there was no option to complete task 7:
1. To access BIOS/UEFI Setup, press and hold F2 on a USB Keyboard while the system is booting up
2. Load Optimized Defaults
3. If your CPU supports VT-d, disable it
4. If your system has CFG-Lock, disable it
5. If your system has Secure Boot Mode, disable it
6. Set OS Type to Other OS
7. If your system has IO Serial Port, disable it . (was not an option)
8. Set XHCI Handoff to Enabled
10. Save and exit.

I had some small issues creating a boot disk, each time it failed. I ended up using Terminal to format the USB, and the process I found mentioned on the installation page section.
After that, I got to my first boot stage and Utility couldn't find my SSD, and after much hunting I found format process worked in Terminal:
diskutil list
diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ Test /dev/{disk identifier}

POST INSTALLATION

After installing High Sierra, I followed the instruction on updating the Audio which worked fine. Thanks to RehabMan. Absolute legend.
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...lake-audio-onboard-and-or-hd-6x0-hdmi.221618/

Also followed the guide for the graphic card fix. I downloaded latest NVideo Drivers then using Clover EFiv2, in Customise, select EmuVariableUefi-64.
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/solving-nvidia-driver-install-loading-problems.161256/

The LAN and Bluetooth work (must have aerial plugged in to run smoothly) but I have Intel i219 wireless which is not supported yet, so instead of installing a wifi card, I opted to buy a TP-Link Cable Powerline Adapter, which runs internet through the power. It's faster and more reliable, and so far it's working a treat.

SUMMARY

I followed the Installation Guide step by step, updating the bios as recommended, and jotting down each step taken.
My main focus was to get graphics, sound and internet working, and so far it's all working great. I haven't fully tested each software, as this is an editing unit, and I'm thinking to only keep it that way and keep the laptop for all other purposes.

WHAT WORKS
Sound, Graphics Card and unit is all running smoothly. USB 3.0 ports work and the card reader is good. Adobe runs smoothly with 2 crashes in 2wks. Not sure why yet.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK
Bluetooth is slugush
UPDATED: Bluetooth is working great now. The Mobo has bluetooth built in and I didn't connect the aerial as I thought this was only for wifi, but once I did, it's working great.
Intel i219 wifi (not currently supported)
Sleep mode: If I try to put in sleep, it restarts
Shutdown: It just started happening that when I shutdown, it closes down but then restarts. I will fix soon.
iMessage: Followed instructions, but it completely crashed my computer, so after starting in safe mode, I deleted what I did and it returned to normal. I will aim to try again later.

CONTINUE TO EXPLORE
I'll continue fine tuning the system, like removing boot text which appears before apple logo appears, and fix the stuff that isn't working, but my focus is to make sure the software is running smoothly and keep my business moving forward.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Thanks to all the amazing people in here that have made this possible.
Cheers Jamie

 

[fanclub]

nice work jamie

RE: bluetooth, do you have the wifi aerial plugged in? it is needed to boost the bluetooth signal too

i'm using an apple magic keyboard fine in my setup (same mobo) but my bluetooth didn't work at all until i plugged in the aerial... i've seen other users like yourself report that it works for them without it plugged in but can be sluggish (due to weak signal)

 

[jamiewoods]

nice work jamie

RE: bluetooth, do you have the wifi aerial plugged in? it is needed to boost the bluetooth signal too

i'm using an apple magic keyboard fine in my setup (same mobo) but my bluetooth didn't work at all until i plugged in the aerial... i've seen other users like yourself report that it works for them without it plugged in but can be sluggish (due to weak signal)

Hey fanclub, I plugged the aerial in and it worked perfect, thanks for the advice. However, the computer went to sleep, and since then bluetooth is on but not connecting. I'm not sure if this is normal, but the option to turn off bluetooth is not available, so it's always on. If you have any further advice on the bluetooth saga, please let me know. I did change a power setting so that after 30min it went to sleep, before that it was on 'never sleep'.

 

[fanclub]

yes i know this error, it is very rare but it has happened to me once

nothing specific to hackintosh either, you'll find the same happens in windows and linux if you have a dual/tri boot set up

what you need to do is shut down the computer and unplug the PSU. now wait until all lights on the motherboard have gone off - this takes a good 30 seconds or so. if you plug back in before the lights go out, it wont work. better yet, unplug it and then go make a coffee

after leaving it off for a bit and you fire it back up again, it should just start working again

this is definitely one of those 'wtf' problems that cant really be reproduced on demand (at least i havent found a way). i scoured the net for an answer to that problem... there is very little out there on it, i imagine because it is so rare. i couldnt believe the fix was so simple!

 

[jamiewoods]

Thank you, you just saved me hours of trawling. Unplugging the PSU worked and I know have all bluetooth devices running smoothly again.
My system is a fresh build with only OSX, but I wonder if the issue is with my bluetooth settings as
I cannot tick the option to 'Allow Bluetooth to wake computer'
An issue to solve when I have some time, until then all is well.

 

[Freeheel08]

Hi,

I have a very similar setup just a Zotac 1060 instead of a Gigabyte. I managed to get everything running but my graphic performance is very week.

I've installed the latest Nvidia Web Driver.
When I go to About my Mac the GPU is shown correctly including the 6GB RAM.
Chrome is slow, youtube is sluggish.

Any idea what could be the issue?

 

[jamiewoods]

Hi,

I have a very similar setup just a Zotac 1060 instead of a Gigabyte. I managed to get everything running but my graphic performance is very week.

I've installed the latest Nvidia Web Driver.
When I go to About my Mac the GPU is shown correctly including the 6GB RAM.
Chrome is slow, youtube is sluggish.

Any idea what could be the issue?

I don't have any suggestions sorry. After installing the driver (378.10.10.10.20.107) and then running clover v_2, and customising the configuration, it's worked fine.

 

[terrytwomail]

hello I got the same spec. as you but I stuck at Kextd stall Appleacpicpu part.

Can I have your config,plist for checking what’s wrong with my clover

May be the whole clover folder pls

 

[jamiewoods]

hello I got the same spec. as you but I stuck at Kextd stall Appleacpicpu part.

Can I have your config,plist for checking what’s wrong with my clover

May be the whole clover folder pls

Sure thing, a ZIP file's attached. On my first install, the system loaded fine, but I updated the graphics card and did something else which caused it to freeze during booting. I tried many things, but in the end I wiped the SSD and started again. I never figured out what the problem was, but from that point on, I recorded each step so if an issue came up, I would reverse the last step if possible, and also created a recovery partition.

Good luck

 

[terrytwomail]

Thank you very much
What kexts do you have in the clover folder?
Since I don’t have graphic card right now so I got problem when I using igfx

This is what I got when I use your configuration with my kext