- Joined
- Feb 18, 2016
- Messages
- 9
- Motherboard
- ASUS Z170-PRO
- CPU
- Intel i7 6700K
- Graphics
- ASUS GTX 980 Strix OC 4GB
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
[Success] Skylake: ASUS Z170-PRO - Core i7-6700K - 16GB RAM - GTX 980 - Dual Boot : El Capitan / Windows 10
ASUS Z170-PRO LGA 1151 ATX USB 3.1 Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016A44XHK/
Intel Core i7-6700K Skylake 4.0GHz Processor
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B012M8LXQW/
Thermalright True Spirit 120M BW Rev.A (Air) CPU Cooler
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GIO7BSG/
G.Skill RipJaws 4 Series Black 16GB (2x 8 GB) DDR4 3000 (PC4-24000) CL15 Desktop Memory (F4-3000C15D-16GRK)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231873
ASUS STRIX nVidia GeForce GTX 980 OC 4GB DirectCU II Graphics Card (STRIX-GTX980-DC2OC-4GD5)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121905
Samsung 850 EVO 256GB SSD - OS X Installation/Boot Drive
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OAJ412U/
Samsung 850 EVO 256GB SSD - Windows 10 Installation/Boot Drive
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 SATA 6Gb/s 2TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (ST2000DM001) OS X User Data Storage (HFS+ Format)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148834
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 SATA 6Gb/s 2TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (ST2000DM001) Windows 10 User Data Storage (NTFS Format)
Corsair HX850i 80PLUS Platinum 850W Modular Power Supply (CP-9020073-EU)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M2UIXX2/
NZXT Source 340 - S340 (Black) Mid Tower Computer Case (CA-S340W-B1)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NGMIBUU/
be quiet! SILENT WINGS 2 140mm 4-pin PWM Fans (x3) 2 Push - 1 Pull Configuration (Computer Case)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AKO0GRI/
be quiet! SILENT WINGS 2 120mm 4-pin PWM Fans (x2) 1 Pull (Computer Case) - 1 Push (CPU Cooler)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA68V21E0546
Samsung SE208 Ultra Thin Portable DVD Writer (SE-208GB/RSBDE)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MLXA1HG/
Apple Wired Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (MB110 Series)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DPF08E/
Logitech - Marathon Mouse M705 - Wireless USB Mouse (910-001949)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA73M3WZ7466
Dell UltraSharp U2515H 25" Screen LED-Lit Monitor (210-ADZG) QHD - 2560 x 1440 px Resolution
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6BM3WM6329
Logitech C930e Webcam
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA36Z23S2350
SanDisk Cruzer Blade 32GB USB 2.0 Thumb Drive (SDCZ50-032G-B35) UniBeast Installation Thumb Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA12K16E3768
Comments
This is my first Hackintosh build! At home we are long time Apple computer users (we started with a Macintosh LC630 in the mid-nineties!) and my wife has never ever used a Windows PC. At work it's another story for me since my employer uses exclusively Windows systems. Anyway, that's to say that I have used both systems for a long time and have come to appreciate both for different reasons.
Discovering the Hackintosh projects on internet sparked my interest in getting my own dream machine and then landing on the tonymacx86.com pages finally convinced me that I too could play Dr. Frankenstein without taking too many risks.
My initial requirements were the following:
A big thank you to the tonymacx86.com community and in particular to tonymacx86, Stork, toleda, ammulder and pbryanw for their enlightening writings.
The Motherboard
I chose a Z-family chipset motherboard because I want to be able to overclock the processor if needed. After reading dozens of evaluations about the experiences of other users with the main brands: Gigabyte, ASUS, ASRock, MSI, and meticulously comparing the data-sheets on the manufacturers websites, I decided to go with ASUS and its Z170-PRO model. It ticks all the boxes for my requirements and in particular relies on the Intel controllers for Ethernet, SATA and Graphics (other motherboards with similar specifications rely on ASMedia controllers) For graphics in particular, this means that the Z170-PRO onboard graphics is ready for HDMI 2.0 output (4K resolution at 60Hz).
In the "future-proof" department, the Z170-PRO also features a Thunderbolt header that can be used with the ASUS extension card and an M.2 port for hooking to the latest SSD technology (when prices drop a little ;-). Add to all this the presence of USB 3.1 ports and you have got a pretty capable motherboard, well manufactured, at a very reasonable price tag.
On the Hackintosh front, I had read a few threads on this forum, reporting successful builds based on the ASUS Z170-Deluxe and ASUS Maximus series motherboards which share enough of the specifications with the Z170-PRO to be reasonably confident that things could work out fine following the existing guides.
The Power Supply Unit
I did not hesitate to put more money on that item in order to ensure:
The Graphics Card
As I wrote in the introduction, this build is also meant for running the latest games under Windows (mainly) but also under OS X. So I was happy to read that the latest NVIDIA Web driver was playing nicely with El Capitan allowing the use of the Maxwell chipset NVIDIA GPUs.
I chose the ASUS Strix OC Edition of the Geforce GTX 980 because it struck a good balance between performance, price and silence.
Like the Corsair HX850i PSU, the ASUS graphics card operates its cooling fans at 0 RPM while temperature stays below 60°C. So the graphics card is extremely silent. In fact my HDDs are more noisy.
Other Components
Memory: I chose the memory from the ASUS list of qualified vendors for my motherboard, looking for readily available modules matching the motherboard's overclocking abilities at a reasonable price. Choosing a 2 x 8 GB layout ensured I have a good amount of RAM to start with while there are two more slots available for future expansion.
Data Storage: I always switch my computers off once I am finished working with them so I always wished to have fast start times like on my wife's MacBook Air. The blazing fast NVMe SSDs are still too expensive for me and also OS X support for them is not straightforward, so I decided to settle for SATA SSDs that are becoming affordable while giving still a phenomenal performance boost over HDDs. Because I need a lot of capacity (thousands of photographs in Raw format and a somewhat large music library too) I chose to keep the OS and applications on the SSDs (one for OS X and a separate one for Windows 10) whereas my data are stored on two 2TB HDDs. Again, one for working with OS X applications - formatted in HFS+ - and one for Windows 10 applications - formatted in NTFS.
I intend to invest later in one of the reliable utilities allowing to read/write data across different formats (NTFS partitions under OS X, or HFS+ partitions under Windows 10), so that I can truly share files between the two systems.
Reading about SSDs in this forum and elsewhere I found out that the Samsung 850 EVO series gave the best performance at their price tag. So I went for those with 256 GB capacity.
Similarly, the Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 HDD was chosen after reading the many positive user feedbacks about its reliability.
The Case: Being an Apple customer I have been spoiled for sleek, elegant and compact designs. I spent a considerable amount of time searching for a ready to use, elegant and compact case at a reasonable price. I finally settled for the NZXT S340 windowed medium tower case which while perfectible, had several nice features:
Of course there are some shortcomings but I think I have found a good compromise until I feel the urge to tinker again
Keyboard and Mouse: At first I thought I should get a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse (remember ? no dangling cables...) with the rather expensive Apple models right at the top of my list (gorgeous design...). Then I read and realized that Bluetooth would not be effective at boot time and hence in BIOS/UEFI. Since I am making a dual boot machine this is a no go, so I looked around a little longer. I finally got the wired full size Apple keyboard which gives me the benefit of a full numeric keypad while retaining the gorgeous looks and likeable type feel. Also my wife who will only use the Mac side will feel right at home with it. For the Windows side, after loosing some time trying different key remapping solutions with unsatisfying results, I finally found and installed a free keyboard layout file that maps the Apple keyboard !
Concerning the mouse, I definitely got wireless (but not Bluetooth). I followed the advice of several reviews and bought the Logitech Marathon Mouse M705. It uses a radio USB dongle (plugged into one of my Apple keyboard's USB ports, so it works fine during boot and in the BIOS/UEFI as required. The mouse feels nice in the hand, has several buttons (I find using Apple's magic mouse less natural) and glides smoothly on all surfaces (except glass).
The Installation
In a nutshell:
My build is now fully working and is very stable. In one week of normal usage I did not discover any other issue with it and have been enjoying my best Mac ever. So again a huge thank you to the whole tonymacx86.com community.
Updates
Since the writing of the initial post, the following updates have been done to my configuration:
nzino's Skylake Build: ASUS Z170-PRO - Core i7-6700K - 16GB RAM - GTX 980 - Dual Boot : MacOS 10.11.3 El Capitan / Windows 10 Pro 64
Components
ASUS Z170-PRO LGA 1151 ATX USB 3.1 Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016A44XHK/
Intel Core i7-6700K Skylake 4.0GHz Processor
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B012M8LXQW/
Thermalright True Spirit 120M BW Rev.A (Air) CPU Cooler
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GIO7BSG/
G.Skill RipJaws 4 Series Black 16GB (2x 8 GB) DDR4 3000 (PC4-24000) CL15 Desktop Memory (F4-3000C15D-16GRK)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231873
ASUS STRIX nVidia GeForce GTX 980 OC 4GB DirectCU II Graphics Card (STRIX-GTX980-DC2OC-4GD5)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121905
Samsung 850 EVO 256GB SSD - OS X Installation/Boot Drive
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OAJ412U/
Samsung 850 EVO 256GB SSD - Windows 10 Installation/Boot Drive
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 SATA 6Gb/s 2TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (ST2000DM001) OS X User Data Storage (HFS+ Format)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148834
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 SATA 6Gb/s 2TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (ST2000DM001) Windows 10 User Data Storage (NTFS Format)
Corsair HX850i 80PLUS Platinum 850W Modular Power Supply (CP-9020073-EU)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M2UIXX2/
NZXT Source 340 - S340 (Black) Mid Tower Computer Case (CA-S340W-B1)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NGMIBUU/
be quiet! SILENT WINGS 2 140mm 4-pin PWM Fans (x3) 2 Push - 1 Pull Configuration (Computer Case)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AKO0GRI/
be quiet! SILENT WINGS 2 120mm 4-pin PWM Fans (x2) 1 Pull (Computer Case) - 1 Push (CPU Cooler)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA68V21E0546
Samsung SE208 Ultra Thin Portable DVD Writer (SE-208GB/RSBDE)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MLXA1HG/
Apple Wired Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (MB110 Series)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DPF08E/
Logitech - Marathon Mouse M705 - Wireless USB Mouse (910-001949)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA73M3WZ7466
Dell UltraSharp U2515H 25" Screen LED-Lit Monitor (210-ADZG) QHD - 2560 x 1440 px Resolution
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6BM3WM6329
Logitech C930e Webcam
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA36Z23S2350
SanDisk Cruzer Blade 32GB USB 2.0 Thumb Drive (SDCZ50-032G-B35) UniBeast Installation Thumb Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA12K16E3768
Comments
This is my first Hackintosh build! At home we are long time Apple computer users (we started with a Macintosh LC630 in the mid-nineties!) and my wife has never ever used a Windows PC. At work it's another story for me since my employer uses exclusively Windows systems. Anyway, that's to say that I have used both systems for a long time and have come to appreciate both for different reasons.
Discovering the Hackintosh projects on internet sparked my interest in getting my own dream machine and then landing on the tonymacx86.com pages finally convinced me that I too could play Dr. Frankenstein without taking too many risks.
My initial requirements were the following:
- A truly all-purpose computer: I mainly do photography, my son (hum...and myself) loves the idea of getting access to the far richer game catalog of Windows PCs, while my less-geeky wife really clings to her now familiar Mac environment for getting her academic work done without having to worry too much about what is under the hood. Add to that the use as entertainment center (music with iTunes and TV for when our tastes differ too much...).
- Have a system that can be gradually upgraded or reasonably "pushed" to keep us satisfied for a long time.
- Keep the system as quiet as possible and reasonably compact without sacrificing performance and expandability.
A big thank you to the tonymacx86.com community and in particular to tonymacx86, Stork, toleda, ammulder and pbryanw for their enlightening writings.
The Motherboard
I chose a Z-family chipset motherboard because I want to be able to overclock the processor if needed. After reading dozens of evaluations about the experiences of other users with the main brands: Gigabyte, ASUS, ASRock, MSI, and meticulously comparing the data-sheets on the manufacturers websites, I decided to go with ASUS and its Z170-PRO model. It ticks all the boxes for my requirements and in particular relies on the Intel controllers for Ethernet, SATA and Graphics (other motherboards with similar specifications rely on ASMedia controllers) For graphics in particular, this means that the Z170-PRO onboard graphics is ready for HDMI 2.0 output (4K resolution at 60Hz).
In the "future-proof" department, the Z170-PRO also features a Thunderbolt header that can be used with the ASUS extension card and an M.2 port for hooking to the latest SSD technology (when prices drop a little ;-). Add to all this the presence of USB 3.1 ports and you have got a pretty capable motherboard, well manufactured, at a very reasonable price tag.
On the Hackintosh front, I had read a few threads on this forum, reporting successful builds based on the ASUS Z170-Deluxe and ASUS Maximus series motherboards which share enough of the specifications with the Z170-PRO to be reasonably confident that things could work out fine following the existing guides.
The Power Supply Unit
I did not hesitate to put more money on that item in order to ensure:
- Superior protection of the other components.
- Better stability when overclocking (precise current regulation).
- Silent operation through better efficiency. Apart from the 80 PLUS Platinum certification, the PSU rating is chosen so that it mostly runs in the 50% - 70% load range where the efficiency is at its best. In addition the Corsair HXi series PSUs have a semi-passive mode (fan is stopped) at low to medium power demand making them even quieter.
- Modular cable management. I really hate having cables dangling everywhere, so with this feature only the required cables are plugged in, leaving more room for sliding hands and fingers in tight spaces in the case during the assembly and yielding a cleaner and air-cooling friendly layout.
The Graphics Card
As I wrote in the introduction, this build is also meant for running the latest games under Windows (mainly) but also under OS X. So I was happy to read that the latest NVIDIA Web driver was playing nicely with El Capitan allowing the use of the Maxwell chipset NVIDIA GPUs.
I chose the ASUS Strix OC Edition of the Geforce GTX 980 because it struck a good balance between performance, price and silence.
Like the Corsair HX850i PSU, the ASUS graphics card operates its cooling fans at 0 RPM while temperature stays below 60°C. So the graphics card is extremely silent. In fact my HDDs are more noisy.
Other Components
Memory: I chose the memory from the ASUS list of qualified vendors for my motherboard, looking for readily available modules matching the motherboard's overclocking abilities at a reasonable price. Choosing a 2 x 8 GB layout ensured I have a good amount of RAM to start with while there are two more slots available for future expansion.
Data Storage: I always switch my computers off once I am finished working with them so I always wished to have fast start times like on my wife's MacBook Air. The blazing fast NVMe SSDs are still too expensive for me and also OS X support for them is not straightforward, so I decided to settle for SATA SSDs that are becoming affordable while giving still a phenomenal performance boost over HDDs. Because I need a lot of capacity (thousands of photographs in Raw format and a somewhat large music library too) I chose to keep the OS and applications on the SSDs (one for OS X and a separate one for Windows 10) whereas my data are stored on two 2TB HDDs. Again, one for working with OS X applications - formatted in HFS+ - and one for Windows 10 applications - formatted in NTFS.
I intend to invest later in one of the reliable utilities allowing to read/write data across different formats (NTFS partitions under OS X, or HFS+ partitions under Windows 10), so that I can truly share files between the two systems.
Reading about SSDs in this forum and elsewhere I found out that the Samsung 850 EVO series gave the best performance at their price tag. So I went for those with 256 GB capacity.
Similarly, the Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 HDD was chosen after reading the many positive user feedbacks about its reliability.
The Case: Being an Apple customer I have been spoiled for sleek, elegant and compact designs. I spent a considerable amount of time searching for a ready to use, elegant and compact case at a reasonable price. I finally settled for the NZXT S340 windowed medium tower case which while perfectible, had several nice features:
- Relatively compact dimensions for housing an ATX format motherboard. Less than 450mm in the longest dimension, when the usual offerings in that segment get over 500mm !
- Still able to house a decent CPU cooler and a full length graphics card (up to 360mm long).
- Heavy and sturdy steel construction that lessens risk of vibrations and offers good noise damping properties.
- Neat interior design allowing good cable management and unobstructed air flow over "hot" components.
- Sufficient cooling for high performance systems; In my configuration two 140mm PWM fans at intake and two (140mm and 120mm) PWM fans at exhaust (PSU is segregated with its own air intake and exhaust).
- Conveniently placed (on top) front panel USB/audio ports and buttons.
- Relatively low-priced !
Of course there are some shortcomings but I think I have found a good compromise until I feel the urge to tinker again
- No front drive bays; This is the reason I got an external optical drive (Samsung SE208 Ultra Thin Portable DVD Writer).
- Very "cheap" HDD cage (it is a structural part of the case), does not allow mounting damping spacers on the HDD securing screws so the HDD spin vibrations/noise are transmitted to the structure making HDD noises rather audible.
- "Cheap" side panel closing thumb screws (they can get stuck if you do not hold them right when screwing/unscrewing).
- "Cheap" bottom inlet dust filter. There are better and more efficient designs out there: drawer or magnetic frame (like the one supplied for the front air intake).
- Missing closing plate over the back extension bay, leaves a gaping hole to the inside of the case where dust and hair (we have two cats at home) can enter.
- For the same reason, I would have liked a removable filter over the top panel exhaust (even though it is an exhaust) as when the fan is stopped dust and hair can fall inside through the large and coarse metal grid of the vent.
Keyboard and Mouse: At first I thought I should get a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse (remember ? no dangling cables...) with the rather expensive Apple models right at the top of my list (gorgeous design...). Then I read and realized that Bluetooth would not be effective at boot time and hence in BIOS/UEFI. Since I am making a dual boot machine this is a no go, so I looked around a little longer. I finally got the wired full size Apple keyboard which gives me the benefit of a full numeric keypad while retaining the gorgeous looks and likeable type feel. Also my wife who will only use the Mac side will feel right at home with it. For the Windows side, after loosing some time trying different key remapping solutions with unsatisfying results, I finally found and installed a free keyboard layout file that maps the Apple keyboard !
Concerning the mouse, I definitely got wireless (but not Bluetooth). I followed the advice of several reviews and bought the Logitech Marathon Mouse M705. It uses a radio USB dongle (plugged into one of my Apple keyboard's USB ports, so it works fine during boot and in the BIOS/UEFI as required. The mouse feels nice in the hand, has several buttons (I find using Apple's magic mouse less natural) and glides smoothly on all surfaces (except glass).
The Installation
In a nutshell:
- My first step was to update the motherboard UEFI/BIOS from version 1302 to the latest available version 1602.
This was very easy to do with a USB thumb drive and the ASUS EZ Flash 3 UEFI/BIOS feature of the motherboard. - I followed scrupulously Stork's instructions for his GENE build: Stork's Gene Build > ASUS MAXIMUS VIII GENE - i5-6600K - Gigabyte GTX 950.
This got me 90% of the way to El Capitan nirvana. My build booted OK using only default Clover boot argument dart=0. A series of quick tests revealed the following issues:- No sound at all (no devices detected !).
When booting Windows, sound worked flawlessly so I was reassured that the problem did not lie in my hardware. - Sleep not working.
The screen would go to sleep normally and shortly after the computer would get to sleep only to wake up after 1 second or so. It would then retry to sleep repeatedly without success. Not nice. Also when the computer would wake up, the screen needed me still to press a key to wake up as well. - Finally my Apple keyboard, although recognized by the system would not get the correct key mapping. I quickly found out that this was due to the fact that I did the installation using a PC keyboard (I received the Apple keyboard a few days later). A quick excursion to System Preferences > Keyboard > Input Sources, where I deleted the faulty key mapping, solved this issue (for the OS X side; I needed to find a fix for that also on the Windows side).
- No sound at all (no devices detected !).
- I then searched tonymacx86.com Forum for sleep problems and was lucky to stumble on a post by mihaiparaipan: [Solved] El Capitan sleep/wake problems!
It so happens that we are both using Corsair HXi series PSUs, so I applied his solution: disconnect the Corsair-Link USB cable used for monitoring the PSU from the motherboard. Problem solved. Yipee ! The computer now went to sleep and woke normally with a nudge on a key, although I still needed a second key press to also wake the screen; Strange but not really an issue. - On to the last remaining and most annoying problem: no sound (What ? No iTunes goodness... unthinkable !).
Well this one got me up late at night for several nights on a row. After thoroughly checking and re-checking my Clover config.plist I went back to the Forum search tool. This time I found the Audio related sticky posts by toleda but must admit I did not understand much of them (remember ? I'm a complete newbie...). So instead of trying blindly what I thought I understood, I continued searching the Forum.- A first positive sign came when I followed the relevant sound-related instructions found in pbryanw's guide: [Success] Skylake Asus Maximus VIII Ranger, i5-6600, GTX 970 (Clover/El Capitan).
I finally got my audio devices to show in the System Preferences > Sound panes, but alas no sound coming from any of them... - Further search in the forum brought me to this thread: No Audio with Maximus VIII Hero. More specifically ammulder's post #8 in which he suggests: "... changing the Devices / Audio / Inject setting in config.plist from 3 to 1 and then reboot."
This finally got my audio ports working ! Well almost... Each time the computer went to sleep (on its own or forced) sound would not get back at wake up. - Tigersoul925 gave me the last step to fully working audio in his thread: Fix no sound after sleep on 1150 (and possibly other realtek's).
I just downloaded CodecCommander.kext from his post, installed it in System/Library/Extensions using KextBeast and finally added the darkwake=8 boot argument in my Clover config.plist as he suggested. After reboot, sound is working flawlessly ! Incidentally setting the darkwake=8 boot argument also corrected the little glitch of my screen needing an extra key-press to wake from sleep.
- A first positive sign came when I followed the relevant sound-related instructions found in pbryanw's guide: [Success] Skylake Asus Maximus VIII Ranger, i5-6600, GTX 970 (Clover/El Capitan).
My build is now fully working and is very stable. In one week of normal usage I did not discover any other issue with it and have been enjoying my best Mac ever. So again a huge thank you to the whole tonymacx86.com community.
Updates
Since the writing of the initial post, the following updates have been done to my configuration:
- BIOS: I have regularly followed the support page of my ASUS motherboard looking for important BIOS updates. While prior updates did not cause any trouble, Z170-PRO BIOS v3201 brought a change in the management of NVRAM, causing the NVIDIA Web drivers setting to be "forgotten" at each reboot. Hopefully the issue was solved by installing the EmuVariableUefi-64.efi file in Clover as detailed under Problem 6 in this post: Solving NVIDIA Driver Install & Loading Problems. This fix solved my problem permanently and subsequent BIOS updates did not break anything. My motherboard is now flashed with the latest available version: v3504.
- SMBIOS Definition: The initial definition chosen was MacPro 3.1 because it was the most forgiving. Unfortunately, I discovered that the upgrade to macOS Sierra was not possible for the corresponding hardware, so I started looking around for a definition that matched closely my configuration and found it was the iMac 17.1.
I postponed the switch for quite some time because I was worried by the "Black Screen" problem with NVIDIA graphics. I first tested Shiloh's AGDPfix solution (see Problem 4 again in the same post: Solving NVIDIA Driver Install & Loading Problems) on my son's hackintosh (he uses it only for gaming ;-). The test was successful and following a serious crash of my hackintosh (detailed further down) it gave me the opportunity and motivation to make the SMBIOS switch while making a clean installation of El Capitan. It has proven stable and fully usable with El Capitan. - Cross-platform file sharing: Since I made a dual boot machine I have looked for ways to easily exchange files between my Windows 10 NTFS and macOS HFS+ partitions. The solution came first with the Seagate internal HDDs I bought for storing my data (as explained in the beginning of my post, I installed the OS's on separate SSDs and the user data/profiles on separate HDDs). I discovered on Seagate's website a downloadable Seagate-specific version of Paragon's NTFS for Mac. This is a set of NTFS drivers for macOS that allow writing on NTFS partitions of Seagate hardware. It works and it is free!
To be honest, I was more interested in the other half of the equation, i.e. reading and writing on HFS+ partitions from my Windows 10 boot, as this would allow me to read directly my extensive iTunes Library instead of having to keep a copy of it in sync on the NTFS partition. So I decided to invest some money and installed on my Windows 10 boot, Paragon's HFS+ for Windows. At first everything was cool and smooth; having installed iTunes for Windows, I was enjoying my music library with no fuss about transferring files.
Then some black clouds came to obscure this ideal image of harmonious symbiosis of Windows and Mac souls in the same body... From time to time I was experiencing crashes when gaming on Windows (some "fanboys" would say this is normal ), only to find out later when I tried to boot into macOS that something had corrupted my macOS install and clover would not boot it. At first I did not link the two events and just restored my El Capitan boot each time from the backup. But then thunder struck.
The morning that followed a late night crash of Tomb Raider, my wife called in panic that she could not work on the hackintosh and was afraid she might have lost her precious academic work! It turned out that this time it was the Mac Data HDD that refused to mount. The hardware itself was OK but something had made a mess of the partition tables. To cut a long story short, I had to pay for a disk repair software license that allowed me to salvage most (but not all) of the precious data before reformatting the HDD. My marriage survived this crisis but my wife's faith in non-genuine Apple computers did not. I am now convinced that each time there was a crash, Windows tried to do its "lifesaving" routine including the HFS+ partitions since it was "seeing" them and messed up the format on them!
So lessons learned:
- Windows and macOS "do not speak the same language" and should not be allowed to interfere with each others tasks. I uninstalled HFS+ for Windows and have not experienced any similar problems since.
- If you are doing serious stuff on your computer you have to get equally serious about not trusting your computer! The idea here is backup, backup, backup,...backup and backup again. I have now invested in a two-disk USB 3.0 Raid enclosure (ICY-BOX IB-RD3621U3) housing twin 4TB Seagate Barracuda HDDs (ST4000DM005) in Raid 1 configuration. This is used as a Time Machine storage for my macOS and Data, except multimedia files: music, photos and movies for which I set-up weekly backup tasks in CCC on the same Raid system. In addition, I keep a full bootable clone of my macOS partition (including EFI partition) on a USB thumb drive!
- RAM increase (now 32GB): I installed a second pair of the same RAM modules (see Components at the top of this post).This was not really needed; 16 GB was plenty enough for the current tasks but there was an offer and the specific model is not widely available and there were two empty slots on the motherboard...
- Upgrade to macOS Sierra (10.12.6): I finally did it ! What persuaded me to go ahead was the last security update for El Capitan 10.11.6 (2017-03) and the Clover issues it triggered (see [Solved] Security Update 2017-003 El Capitan).
At the same time I was comforted by the Direct Update to macOS Sierra using Clover post that seemed easy enough to follow.
I applied strictly the instructions of the post (only difference is that I could not find the same Clover boot arguments as described, so I ignored them) and everything ran surprisingly smooth in the sense that I got to the Sierra desktop without any hiccups. Once there, the NVIDIA preferences manager downloaded immediately the updated drivers and after one more reboot I was greeted by... the "Black Screen" (I have a 17.1 SMBIOS definition, remember?). This time, I felt lucky that the new installation did not reset the screen sharing preferences I had set in El Capitan.
Once again my son's hackintosh came to the rescue, allowing me to apply the required fixes by connecting remotely to my screen. Installed the Lilu.kext and NvidiaGraphicsFixup.kext as instructed under Problem 4, Method 1, in Solving NVIDIA Driver Install & Loading Problems (once again; thanks slim.jim ). First problem fixed!
Next I noticed that I had lost all the sound output devices in the preferences panel. This time my thanks go to toleda for his very concise post: Before You Install Audio - Desktop/Realtek/AppleHDA [Guide]. Following the instructions using the latest MultiBeast 9.2.1 post-installation put everything back in order. Second problem fixed!
Finally, I discovered that my USB 3.0 Raid storage was not recognised any more. Thanks to RehabMan's excellent post [Guide] Creating a Custom SSDT for USBInjectAll.kext, I fine tuned my USB ports configuration and do not rely on the port-limit patch anymore. Third (and last, so far) problem fixed!
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