- Joined
- Sep 22, 2014
- Messages
- 64
- Motherboard
- GA-Z87N-Wifi
- CPU
- i7-4790K
- Graphics
- Intel HD 4600
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
I thought I would make a nice PSA for people looking to make a build using the Gigabyte Z87N-wifi motherboard.
I am an artist, and use a Wacom Cintiq tablet display on a daily basis. The cintiq's standard output is DVI-I. The Z87N-Wifi's only non-HDMI display port is DVI-I. A match made in heaven, I thought.
I have spent an entire week trying to figure out why I couldn't get my intel HD 4600 graphics injection working. Turns out, the DVI-I input is putting an analog signal into the mix, which doesn't jive with OS X, interfere's with graphics and won't allow a proper boot. The noob that I am, I used flags willy nilly to solve my problem and landed on PCIRootUID=1 to get me into the installer and eventually OS X. This is the ONLY way to boot into OS X using a DVI-I monitor. Turns out PCIRootUID=1, from what I can tell, nulls graphics injection, instead forcing VESA graphics mode. Barebones, nothing to it graphics with somewhere between 3-7 MB VRAM.
Not knowing all the above kept me tinkering, researching, and asking fruitless questions for a week straight and upwards of 50 hrs wasted time. I used an HDTV early in the process to see if it would work, but I kept using the same flags. Obviously this comes from inexperience, and someone who knows how every flag works would know what to use and when. I eventually, by dumb luck booted without flags using HDMI and wouldn't you know it, I entered the installer with proper graphics, resolution detection and it was mostly smooth sailing from there. I am going to Fry's tomorrow to get an active DVI-I to HDMI converter so I may continue using my Cintiq on my new rig.
tl;dr - DVI-I input interferes with graphics detection on this board. DVI-D is unsupported. The only working display ports available on this board for use in OS X are 2x HDMI. Use converters for any DVI-I displays you need to use.
Please correct me if I'm wrong and you have a working DVI-I setup with this board (discrete graphics cards not included).
I am an artist, and use a Wacom Cintiq tablet display on a daily basis. The cintiq's standard output is DVI-I. The Z87N-Wifi's only non-HDMI display port is DVI-I. A match made in heaven, I thought.
I have spent an entire week trying to figure out why I couldn't get my intel HD 4600 graphics injection working. Turns out, the DVI-I input is putting an analog signal into the mix, which doesn't jive with OS X, interfere's with graphics and won't allow a proper boot. The noob that I am, I used flags willy nilly to solve my problem and landed on PCIRootUID=1 to get me into the installer and eventually OS X. This is the ONLY way to boot into OS X using a DVI-I monitor. Turns out PCIRootUID=1, from what I can tell, nulls graphics injection, instead forcing VESA graphics mode. Barebones, nothing to it graphics with somewhere between 3-7 MB VRAM.
Not knowing all the above kept me tinkering, researching, and asking fruitless questions for a week straight and upwards of 50 hrs wasted time. I used an HDTV early in the process to see if it would work, but I kept using the same flags. Obviously this comes from inexperience, and someone who knows how every flag works would know what to use and when. I eventually, by dumb luck booted without flags using HDMI and wouldn't you know it, I entered the installer with proper graphics, resolution detection and it was mostly smooth sailing from there. I am going to Fry's tomorrow to get an active DVI-I to HDMI converter so I may continue using my Cintiq on my new rig.
tl;dr - DVI-I input interferes with graphics detection on this board. DVI-D is unsupported. The only working display ports available on this board for use in OS X are 2x HDMI. Use converters for any DVI-I displays you need to use.
Please correct me if I'm wrong and you have a working DVI-I setup with this board (discrete graphics cards not included).