The 4K Dell OptiMac - 9020 MT - Core i7-4790 - Radeon RX 570 - LG 4K IPS Monitor

[trs96]

Any ideas?

Use the OC 0.7.1 EFI that I provided. Place it in the EFI partition and boot from that.

 

[yskz]

Use the OC 0.7.1 EFI that I provided. Place it in the EFI partition and boot from that.

Thank you. I've put in my EFI after updating with my serials and rebooted, installed Big Sur onto the target SSD (listed as "Big Sur" in the screenshot below). The installer rebooted my OptiMac, but it can't be booted from the target SSD.

I checked boot sequence on BIOS. There is only Catalina SSD listed (listed as "UEFI:ADATA SU800" in a screenshot below). USB has been removed from OptiMac.

I tried to boot from Catalina SSD (listed as "Macintosh HD" in the screenshot) and made it boot up normally. The target SSD can access as a normal volume on Catalina and the contents look like below. It looks the installation has not been completed.

What part did I mess up, do you think?

 

[trs96]

I checked boot sequence on BIOS. There is only Catalina SSD listed (listed as "UEFI:ADATA SU800" in a screenshot below). USB has been removed from OptiMac.

Disconnect the SATA data cable from your UEFI ADATA SU800 after you shut down. When you dual boot from two SSDs you only want one of them to have an EFI folder on it's EFI partition.

Then boot verbose with just the Big Sur SSD connected. Did you do the install with my EFI or one you made ?

 

[yskz]

I made it! Now I'm migrating apps and settings from Catalina.

Did you do the install with my EFI or one you made ?

Yes.

Disconnect the SATA data cable from your UEFI ADATA SU800 after you shut down.

After doing this, I reboot OptiMac only with the installer USB and Big Sur SSD. However, it ended up loop of command line (refer to the picture below) and reboot. Couldn't reach OC's GUI/CUI menu.

I took a chance that connecting Catalina SSD and reboot the machine and somehow I got OC's GUI then was able to go into Big Sur installer on USB. After formatting Big Sur SSD and clearing NVRAM, I disconnected Catalina SSD, rebooted machine, and ran Big Sur installer and... boom, it worked out! Now I'm posting this entry on Big Sur. All my hardware, such as Catalina SSD, Fenvi T919 BCM94360 with handoff and airdrop, RX 470 with dual monitors, are properly working like a charm without tweaking.

Big kudos to trs96! Thank you so much!!

 

[trs96]

Who is currently the best Amazon Seller for a Dell Optiplex ?
​

When buying a 7020 or 9020 USFF/SFF/MT from Amazon, which I recommend you do, you'll need to pick a seller. Only 3rd party sellers approved by Amazon sell these machines. None are sold directly by and from Amazon even though they may ship them for 3rd parties.

I looked for the best deal (in terms of specs) from the seller with the highest rating per number of sales of these.
SKYTECH USA LLC came out on top. I have no affiliation with this company, it's just my objective analysis. All they sell is PCs. They haven't gotten a single negative review in the past year on over 1,800 sales. To sell that many PCs to Amazon customers and have no complaints is telling you they are doing their refurbs right.

Amazon.com

This link is for the USFF.

Link to the i5-4570 SFF model
SJ computers is also a good reseller, refurbisher. You can use them as well.

Here is the i7-4790 version of the Dell 9020 SFF:

Amazon.com

Their 9020 SFF selling for $149.99 has most everything you'll need. It's already upgraded for you. As per the guide, use Windows first to flash the BIOS and test your hardware out. Then clean install macOS over Windows on the SSD. It's really not worth buying one with an old, worn out mechanical drive which many sellers include to cut costs. 16GB of ram is perfect for most use cases. You can add 16GB more.

Here's a direct link to Skytech on Amazon. you'll have to choose them yourself when clicking the links in post #1.

Amazon.com

The one with the lowest price will come up first when I post a link to an Optipex. It's definitely worth ten dollars more to buy from Skytech. You'll get one fully refurbished and in great condition.

Skytech also sells an i7-4770/90 version in the SFF or MT form factor. Most people that want a general use hackintosh don't need the four extra threads of the i7. If you can afford the extra cost, it's certainly worth it to pay more for that.

• Business Name: SKYTECH USA LLC
• Business Address:
  
  • 6040 North Bailey
  • SUITE 200
  • Amherst
  • NY
  • 14226
  • US

 

[bjay77]

Hi Everyone, hopefully an easy question. My optiplex 9020 MT running Mojave via Clover is in need of a Bluetooth solution. What Bluetooth dongle do you recommend? I don't have WiFi on my hackintosh either so a WiFi/Bluetooth solution would be OK but not necessary. Just after Bluetooth so I can connect my AirPods. I have a RX 580 and NVMe card in already, so don't think I have any PCI options left.

 

[Stork]

@bjay77, there are several Bluetooth USB adapters listed in the Buyer's Guide:

Building a CustoMac Hackintosh: The Ultimate Buyer's Guide

www.tonymacx86.com

I've previously used the GMYLE Bluetooth 4.0 Adapter to success.

 

[bjay77]

@bjay77, there are several Bluetooth USB adapters listed in the Buyer's Guide:

Building a CustoMac Hackintosh: The Ultimate Buyer's Guide

www.tonymacx86.com

I've previously used the GMYLE Bluetooth 4.0 Adapter to success.

Thanks Stork, I have already checked that and searched for the GMYLE one but it looks to be out of stock everywhere. I'm in Australia so that doesn't help. Do you know if they still make them?
I was hoping someone had found a bluetooth 5.0 dongle that worked as well out of the box, cheers

 

[trs96]

I was hoping someone had found a bluetooth 5.0 dongle that worked as well out of the box

These are said to work even with Monterey. I've not tried one yet. Give it a go and report back.

Hideez Smart USB Bluetooth Adapter for macOS & Windows 10/11 – Low Energy, Lo... | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Hideez Smart USB Bluetooth Adapter for macOS & Windows 10/11 – Low Energy, Lo... at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Don't trust all listings on Ebay that say PC & "Mac" in the heading. Usually not true.

 

[bjay77]

These are said to work even with Monterey. I've not tried one yet. Give it a go and report back.

Hideez Bluetooth 4.0 USB Smart Dongle For PC And MAC New Sealed In Package | eBay

Hideez Bluetooth 4.0 USB Smart Dongle For PC And MAC New Sealed In Package. Condition is "New". Shipped with USPS First Class.

www.ebay.com

Don't trust all listings on Ebay that say PC & "Mac" in the heading. Usually not true.

View attachment 535769

Later on in the same listing you'll see this:

View attachment 535770

Thanks Trs, I ordered one direct from Hideez, they had a 25% off deal going. Its coming by canoe from the US though so won't get it for 2 to 4 weeks apparently. Amazon and ebay were much the same though. I'll post results when i get it.