[SUCCESS] Screen Freezes using Sapphire Radeon Vega 64 Nitro+ in MacOS Mojave 10.14

[jaymonkey]

SUCCESS AGAIN!! I figured out the Boot hang issue I was having with the GPUs and the Thunderbolt! I needed to enable "Above 4G Processing" in the Boot Menu of my BIOS. Now it boots like charm! I am still testing to see if it will remain stable. Thanks again so much to the two of you for helping me along through this.

Always a happy day when you get something finally working on a Hackingtosh

I remember watching A LTT video a while back where enabling "Above 4G" sorted out an issue with multiple display adaptors ... something to do with the way PCI bus addresses are handled I believe.

Jay

 

[patrickfogle]

Always a happy day when you get something finally working on a Hackingtosh

I remember watching A LTT video a while back where enabling "Above 4G" sorted out an issue with multiple display adaptors ... something to do with the way PCI bus addresses are handled I believe.

Jay

Yes, it is a great day!

 

[patrickfogle]

Always a happy day when you get something finally working on a Hackingtosh

I remember watching A LTT video a while back where enabling "Above 4G" sorted out an issue with multiple display adaptors ... something to do with the way PCI bus addresses are handled I believe.

Jay

@jaymonkey & @pastrychef

Well, maybe I spoke too soon...I was still using a pretty barebones system (not really installed any hardware or software yet, and I started having the random screen freezes and reboots again!! Ugh.

So, I did this:
1. Removed the Thunderbolt (TB3) card and disabled it in the BIOS. RESULT: still had screen freezes and reboots
2. On a different SSD (System Disk), I started using a backup of the first successful version of my Mojave instal. l RESULT: still had screen freezes and reboots
3. I restored my BIOS to what worked before I tried implementing TB3. RESULT: still had screen freezes and reboots
4. I removed the Vega 64, edited my EFI PlatformID from 03001259 to 00001259 (for Primary iGPU), made the iGPU primary in the BIOS: RESULT: still had screen freezes and reboots (Actually MAINLY REBOOTS)

Needless to say, I am very disappointed, but I will keep trying to see what is going on. I can only imagine that I made an EFI or a BIOS change that fouled things up, or, I do indeed have some defective hardware. Maybe something other than the Vega since the behavior persists without the Vega installed. Could RAM cause something like this? I have 64GB of RAM (Ballistix Sport LT)- Ballistix Sport LT 32GB Kit (16GBx2) DDR4 2400 MT/s (PC4-19200) DIMM 288-Pin BLS2K16G4D240FSC (White)

I am going to try another install of Mojave and start from scratch one more time with a fresh EFI from @pastrychef to see if it runs smoothly from there. Then I will take it very slowly, step by step, one thing at a time from there to see what addition, if any, causes the behavior to return.

If you want to check out the EFI I was using to see if there's an obvious problem that sticks out to you, have at it:

EFI.zip

Thanks again!

 

[jaymonkey]

Well, maybe I spoke too soon...I was still using a pretty barebones system (not really installed any hardware or software yet, and I started having the random screen freezes and reboots again!! Ugh.....

@patrickfogle,

Sorry to read that your screen freezing and random reboot issues have come back.

The fact that you have the same behaviour when using the Vega 64 as the Primary display adaptor in dual GPU mode or when using the IGPU as the sole display adaptor would in my opinion suggest that the problem is not display driver related, as both modes use different drivers and VRAM.

Reasons for freezing and/or reboots can be down to many other possible issues.

Some Hardware Suggestions ..

• Is there enough PSU power for the system ?
• Check CPU Temps, is the CPU being cooled enough ?
• Are you using aggressive RAM timing ?, if so go to back to stock
• Remove installed 64GB RAM and try with a lower amount of alternate RAM if possible ..
• If your using a NVMe SSD try cloning the system to another drive and test for stability on that (remove NVMe for test)

It could be also a rouge Kext ... going back to a clean/fresh install as you suggest may help to pin point the culprit.

Good Luck
Cheers
Jay

 

[patrickfogle]

@patrickfogle,

Sorry to read that your screen freezing and random reboot issues have come back.

The fact that you have the same behaviour when using the Vega 64 as the Primary display adaptor in dual GPU mode or when using the IGPU as the sole display adaptor would in my opinion suggest that the problem is not display driver related, as both modes use different drivers and VRAM.

Reasons for freezing and/or reboots can be down to many other possible issues.

Some Hardware Suggestions ..

• Is there enough PSU power for the system ?
• Check CPU Temps, is the CPU being cooled enough ?
• Are you using aggressive RAM timing ?, if so go to back to stock
• Remove installed 64GB RAM and try with a lower amount of alternate RAM if possible ..
• If your using a NVMe SSD try cloning the system to another drive and test for stability on that (remove NVMe for test)

It could be also a rouge Kext ... going back to a clean/fresh install as you suggest may help to pin point the culprit.

Good Luck
Cheers
Jay

@jaymonkey

Thanks for your thoughts on this, Jay. Those sound like great things to try. I’ll let you know how it goes.

 

[patrickfogle]

@patrickfogle,

Sorry to read that your screen freezing and random reboot issues have come back.

The fact that you have the same behaviour when using the Vega 64 as the Primary display adaptor in dual GPU mode or when using the IGPU as the sole display adaptor would in my opinion suggest that the problem is not display driver related, as both modes use different drivers and VRAM.

Reasons for freezing and/or reboots can be down to many other possible issues.

Some Hardware Suggestions ..

• Is there enough PSU power for the system ?
• Check CPU Temps, is the CPU being cooled enough ?
• Are you using aggressive RAM timing ?, if so go to back to stock
• Remove installed 64GB RAM and try with a lower amount of alternate RAM if possible ..
• If your using a NVMe SSD try cloning the system to another drive and test for stability on that (remove NVMe for test)

It could be also a rouge Kext ... going back to a clean/fresh install as you suggest may help to pin point the culprit.

Good Luck
Cheers
Jay

@jaymonkey

By the way, I have a 1000 watt PSU and my CPU has a Corsair liquid cooler. Not sure about the temps, but I think they’ve been ok. I think those two things should be adequate, right?

I’ll let you know how the other things go.

 

[jaymonkey]

By the way, I have a 1000 watt PSU and my CPU has a Corsair liquid cooler. Not sure about the temps, but I think they’ve been ok. I think those two things should be adequate, right?
I’ll let you know how the other things go.

@patrickfogle,

I also have Corsair 1000W PS and Liquid AIO CPU Cooler and both work very well, on my overclocked 4.5Ghz i7 4790K i never see CPU temps above 70 Degs C with all 4 cores at full load and turbo.. The only thing to remember is that if the pump fails there is no circulation of the cooling liquid, also remember that all Liquid cooling solutions with flexible pipe work will slowly loose liquid over time as the liquid permeates into the tubing and evaporates .... it's a slow process but it does happen, if the unit is less than three years old then this is unlikely to be a problem but check that the pump is running by monitoring CPU temps.

I would install the FakeSMC sensor plugins and use HW Monitor that way you'll know for sure whats going on temperature wise.

Cheers
Jay

 

[patrickfogle]

@patrickfogle,

Sorry to read that your screen freezing and random reboot issues have come back.

The fact that you have the same behaviour when using the Vega 64 as the Primary display adaptor in dual GPU mode or when using the IGPU as the sole display adaptor would in my opinion suggest that the problem is not display driver related, as both modes use different drivers and VRAM.

Reasons for freezing and/or reboots can be down to many other possible issues.

Some Hardware Suggestions ..

• Is there enough PSU power for the system ?
• Check CPU Temps, is the CPU being cooled enough ?
• Are you using aggressive RAM timing ?, if so go to back to stock
• Remove installed 64GB RAM and try with a lower amount of alternate RAM if possible ..
• If your using a NVMe SSD try cloning the system to another drive and test for stability on that (remove NVMe for test)

It could be also a rouge Kext ... going back to a clean/fresh install as you suggest may help to pin point the culprit.

Good Luck
Cheers
Jay

@jaymonkey & @pastrychef

OK, Here is what I have done:

1. I switched to a different (new 1000W) power supply that I had on hand. It is a Rosewill if that makes any difference.
Behavior: No screen freezes but STILL HAVING RANDOM REBOOTS within the first 2-3 minutes of being boot into Mojave.
2. I removed and reseated my CPU and cooler. It is running no overclocked at 4200MHz. Here are my current CPU temps (after 50 reboots or so) the temps look fine to me:

3. I do not have any alternate RAM to try, but I reduced down to 2 DIMMS and down to 1 DIMM (I switched out which RAM of the 4 I would use a few times as well). Always at stock 2400MHz.
Behavior: No screen freezes but STILL HAVING RANDOM REBOOTS within the first 2-3 minutes of being boot into Mojave.
4. I am not using an NVME Drive, just 2-3 different SATA SSDs (two different SAMSUNG 850 EVO 1TB Drives and a 240 GB Sandisk Extreme SDSSDX).
Behavior: No screen freezes but STILL HAVING RANDOM REBOOTS within the first 2-3 minutes of being boot into Mojave.
5. I ran a clean install of 10.14 and used a fresh copy of @pastrychef 's EFI Unified 4.3.2 (High Sierra) switched to single iGPU platformID of 00001259:
Behavior: No screen freezes but STILL HAVING RANDOM REBOOTS within the first 2-3 minutes of being boot into Mojave.
6. I removed every piece of non essential hardware......everything except keyboard, mouse, DisplayPort monitor, RAM, power supply, SSD, CPU, Corsair H105 Liquid CPU Cooler:
Behavior: No screen freezes but STILL HAVING RANDOM REBOOTS within the first 2-3 minutes of being boot into Mojave.
7. I even reset the BIOS back to what worked on the last Reinstall and I reset back to Optimal defaults and made the recommended changed according to the TonyMacX86 guide.
Behavior: No screen freezes but STILL HAVING RANDOM REBOOTS within the first 2-3 minutes of being boot into Mojave.

I have even had my machine reboot spontaneously when I was making changes to the BIOS settings. Weird. Ugh!!! Any ideas?

Thanks for your help!

 

[jaymonkey]

@jaymonkey & @pastrychef

I have even had my machine reboot spontaneously when I was making changes to the BIOS settings. Weird. Ugh!!! Any ideas?

Thanks for your help!

@patrickfogle,

Well done performing all those hardware swap out's ..... I know it can be very disheartening when you spend so much time swapping out hardware and yet the problem remains ...

Your CPU temps look fine so CPU heat dissipation is not the issue.

The fact the the system reboots even when you are in the BIOS would IMHO show that your dealing with either a hardware issue (CPU/RAM/Motherboard) or a bad BIOS setting.

Some suggestions

• Check for BIOS updates for your Motherboard
• If you have recently the updated BIOS try an earlier version
• Re-seat CPU (remove cooler, remove and clean CPU & pump base, re seat CPU with fresh thermal compound)
• Reset BIOS to default settings and try booting, if you cant boot then make minimal changes until it boots.
• Swap-out RAM (see if you can borrow some from a friend or work)
• Increase CPU voltage slightly
• Try under clocking the CPU

Thats all I can think of right now ...

Good Luck
Cheers
Jay

 

[pastrychef]

@jaymonkey & @pastrychef

OK, Here is what I have done:

1. I switched to a different (new 1000W) power supply that I had on hand. It is a Rosewill if that makes any difference.
Behavior: No screen freezes but STILL HAVING RANDOM REBOOTS within the first 2-3 minutes of being boot into Mojave.
2. I removed and reseated my CPU and cooler. It is running no overclocked at 4200MHz. Here are my current CPU temps (after 50 reboots or so) the temps look fine to me:
View attachment 363110

3. I do not have any alternate RAM to try, but I reduced down to 2 DIMMS and down to 1 DIMM (I switched out which RAM of the 4 I would use a few times as well). Always at stock 2400MHz.
Behavior: No screen freezes but STILL HAVING RANDOM REBOOTS within the first 2-3 minutes of being boot into Mojave.
4. I am not using an NVME Drive, just 2-3 different SATA SSDs (two different SAMSUNG 850 EVO 1TB Drives and a 240 GB Sandisk Extreme SDSSDX).
Behavior: No screen freezes but STILL HAVING RANDOM REBOOTS within the first 2-3 minutes of being boot into Mojave.
5. I ran a clean install of 10.14 and used a fresh copy of @pastrychef 's EFI Unified 4.3.2 (High Sierra) switched to single iGPU platformID of 00001259:
Behavior: No screen freezes but STILL HAVING RANDOM REBOOTS within the first 2-3 minutes of being boot into Mojave.
6. I removed every piece of non essential hardware......everything except keyboard, mouse, DisplayPort monitor, RAM, power supply, SSD, CPU, Corsair H105 Liquid CPU Cooler:
Behavior: No screen freezes but STILL HAVING RANDOM REBOOTS within the first 2-3 minutes of being boot into Mojave.
7. I even reset the BIOS back to what worked on the last Reinstall and I reset back to Optimal defaults and made the recommended changed according to the TonyMacX86 guide.
Behavior: No screen freezes but STILL HAVING RANDOM REBOOTS within the first 2-3 minutes of being boot into Mojave.

I have even had my machine reboot spontaneously when I was making changes to the BIOS settings. Weird. Ugh!!! Any ideas?

Thanks for your help!

Are you getting any crash logs?

Have you set up your Serial, Board Serial, UUID?

Please try updating to the latest versions of the following kexts:
FakeSMC.kext
AppleALC.kext
Lilu.kext
WhateverGreen.kext

Also, update to the latest Clover.