Gigabyte z390 Designare Hackintosh

Status: Success | Stable

DISCLAIMER:

As you embark on your Hackintosh journey you are encouraged to READ the entire README and Dortania guides before you start, or check out some Youtube videos to get an understanding of the install process. It will save many a message instructing you to read the manual. I am not an expert, I haven't forced you to do anything, so put on your big boy pants and take responsibility for any mess you get yourself into.

With that said I'm happy to help when/where I can. When you encounter bug or want to improve this repo, consider opening an issue or pull request. You can also find a wealth of knowledge on Reddit, TonyMacX86 or Google.

Introduction

This is not a guide!

This is not a complete guide. It should only be used as a reference. I provide tips and tricks that I learned on my journey in building a hackintosh. The best way of using this is as a supplement to the OpenCore guide; if you have questions about how to setup your specific hardware, are unclear about what to do, or would like to see the settings I've used.

I understand that some may simply copy the EFI folder to their EFI partition. For clarity the EFI folder needs to go onto the EFI partition.

EFI (partition)
	EFI
	├── BOOT
	├── OC

It should work and your Gigabyte z390 Designare based hackintosh should boot and work fine. You will at minimum need to generate SMBIOS values if you want Apple services to work. Note that all error reporting/logging has been turned off in the config.plist. You will have a difficult time trouble shooting with the setup provided. You can easily turn on the error reporting and logging if you follow the Dortania guide. Best of luck.

NOTE if you simply wish to copy my EFI please do the following:

1. Properly set your BIOS settings (Del to get into bios)
2. Generate SMBIOS values and add them in the config.plist (MacPro7,1)
3. Rename one of the config... files in the OC folder to config.plist (see release or notes below for details).
4. Prepare your install USB
5. Move the entire EFI folder (with your modifications) to the proper partition on your USB (or hard drive once the install is complete).
6. Install - You need to select F12 to get the boot menu options and boot from the USB each time the computer restarts until you've copied the EFI folder onto the hard drive. You may also need to select the correct boot option during install, although this is typically done automatically.

This is a guide!

To install macOS follow the guides provided by Dortania 🤔

⚠️ HIGHLIGHTED CHANGES FROM PREVIOUS EFI ⚠️

The following changes should be noted:

• Choose your preferred config.plist file and rename it to config.plist:

  • config-no-wifi-bt.plist - disables the internal WiFi and bluetooth
    • most similar to older Releases. Use this if you have installed a 3rd party PCIE WiFi/bt card (Fenvi or other).
    • all WiFi and Bluetooth related kexts are disabled. If you need BluetoolFixup for your card you'll need to enable it. Also the child items listed below are commented out, simply remove the '#' at the front of the key value to enable them.
  • config-wifi-bt.plist - enables builtin WiFi and bluetooth
    • use this if you don't have PCIE card but want to enable builtin Intel WiFi/bt
    • Kexts provided for Monterey, Ventura, and Sonoma. Restricted by Min/Max Version values.

• Thunderbolt working

  • Added ACPI files and updated config to enable Thunderbolt

DiableIoMapper is set to false to enable AppleVTD as outlined below. Set to true if you are having issues with your Fenvi WiFi BT card.

• Enabled AppleVTD

  • Since Monterey 12.3.0, AppleEthernetE1000 driver kit natively attaches to i211 ethernet. However, if the ethernet port is occupied without having AppleVTD enabled, the system will experience freeze, crash, and etc. To avoid having these issues, we need to enable AppleVTD.

  - Enable VT-d in BIOS, 
  - Set DisableIoMapper to false
  - Drop OEM DMAR Table in config.plist
  - Inject modified DMAR Table(Reserved Memory Regions removed) in config.plist
  

  • Removed AppleIGB kext as it's not needed with AppleVTD enabled.

• Bluetooth broke with the MacOS 13.4 update. Added the below child items to NVRAM>7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82 section in the config.plist file to fix it:

Key	Type	Value
bluetoothInternalControllerInfo	Data	00000000 00000000 00000000 0000
bluetoothExternalDongleFailed	Data	00

Shout out and credits

Shout out to baughmann the OG of this repo. He entrusted it to my care while he's moving on to bigger and better things. All the best to him and many thanks for his contribution.

Applebreak1 - z390-Designare-Customac - I used notes from him and CaseySJ to get Thunderbolt working

Credit to all these great people whom I don't know but have made my hackintosh dreams come true:

• EETagent for his repository (I like the layout of his guide and used it to create this one)
• The guys from Acidanthera that make this possible
• Apple for macOS and HfsPlus.efi
• corpnewt for USBMap and CPUFriendDataProvider
• headkaze for Hackintool
• Mieze for IntelMausiEthernet
• People at r/hackintosh for their advice and help
• Useful tools by CorpNewt and headkaze
• CaseySJ Gigabyte Designare Z390 build
• And every other contributor

Benchmarks (Geekbench 5) 🏎

CPU:

• Single-core: 1174
• Multi-core: 7891

Compute (GPU):

• Metals: 79919
• OpenCL: 69506

Hardware

My system

Category	Component	Note
CPU	Intel Core i7-9700k	Other motherboard compatible CPUs shouldn't be an issue
MB	Gigabyte Designaire Z390 (rev 1.0)
GPU	Saphire Pulse RX 5700 XT	agdpmod=pikera needed for 5000 & 6000 series AMD cards (key is set in config.plist)
NVME	WD Black 250 GB	Boot drive
NVME	Crucial P3 4TB	Home folder
NVME	WD Black 1TB	Raid 0 - extra drive (using PCIE adapter)
NVME	HP EX950 1TB	Raid 0 - extra drive (using PCIE adapter)
SSD	WD Blue 2TB	Video and photo storage
SSD	WB Blue 250GB	Backup boot drive for testing OS update/upgrades
HD	Seagate Iron Wolf 6TB	Used as internal time machine backup
Ethernet	Intel I211 and Intel I219	Dual Gigabit LAN (both working)
Memory	64GB / 3200MHz DDR4
WiFi & BT	Intel® CNVi interface 802.11a/b/g/n/ac	Works with regular Intel WiFi/bluetooth limitations
Case	O11 Dynamic	I have the white version.
Monitor	LG UltraWide 49	49" UltraWide 32:9 Dual QHD (5120 x 1440) IPS Display

baughmann's system

Component	Product
CPU	Intel Core i9 9900K
MB	Gigabyte Designaire Z390 (rev 10)
GPU	AMD Radeon VII 16 GB
SSD	Samsung EVO 970 (NVMe - 1TB)

baughmann's other system

Component	Product
CPU	Intel Core i7 8700K
MB	Gigabyte Designaire Z390 (rev 10)
GPU	AMD Radeon VII 16 GB
SSD	Samsung 860 EVO SSD (1TB)

Other Configurations

• Without a dedicated GPU
• Other AMD GPU's are probably mostly plug-n-play. Be sure to read the fantastic Buyer's Guide by Dortania before you buy!
• Applebreak1 - z390-Designare-Customac

Main software

Component	Version
macOS Monterey	13.6.1
OpenCore	v0.9.6

ACPI Files

Component
SSDT-AWAC.aml
SSDT-DMAR.aml
SSDT-DTPG.aml
SSDT-EC-USBX-DESKTOP.aml
SSDT-PMC.aml
SSDT-SBUS-MCHC.aml
SSDT-TB3.aml

Kernel extensions

Kext	Version
AppleALC	1.8.7
IntelMausi	1.0.7
Lilu	1.6.7
RestrictEvents	1.1.3 - only needed with SMBIOS MacPro7,1
SMCProcessor	1.3.2
SMCSuperIO	1.3.2
USBPorts	1.0.0
VirtualSMC	1.3.2
WhateverGreen	1.6.6
Additional Kexts*	Used to enable builtin WiFi and bluetooth
AirportItlwm	2.2.0 - enable WiFi on Ventura
AirportItlwmM	2.2.0 - enable WiFi on Monterey
AirportItlwmS	2.3.0 alpha - enable WiFi on Sonoma
BlueToolFixup	2.6.8 - needed for Monterey and newer
IntelBluetoothFirmware	2.3.0
IntelBTPatcher	2.3.0
USBPortsWFBT	1.0.1 - disables ports 11 & 12, and enable port 8 & 14

Additional Kexts included in the EFI enable the internal WiFi and Bluetooth. The USB map used (USBPortsWFBT.kext) is changed to disable port 11& 12 and enable port 8 & 14. See the USB section below for more details.

UEFI drivers

Driver	Version
HfsPlus.efi	1.0.0
OpenRuntime.efi	OpenCorePkg 0.9.6
ResetNvramEntry.efi	0.9.6

Screenshots

Installation Notes

UEFI/BIOS settings

Note DEL key gets you into BIOS Setting during boot.

Update (or downgrade) your motherboard's BIOS firmware

Use BIOS version F9i or F9 (don't use F9j). You can download F9i from this repo's releases page or F9 (the latest version) from Gigabyte's website.

BIOS configuration

Visit the BIOS configuration page to ensure that your BIOS is configured properly.

Note: If you've recently updated your BIOS firmware, you will need to double-check these as some of them get reset after updating!

Customizing the config.plist

Read the official OpenCore Desktop Guide for Coffee Lake when making changes to the config.plist and the guide's Gather Files section when picking drivers and kexts.

The following fields have been replaced by [REPLACEME] (for ease of ⌘+F):

• config.plist > PlatformInfo
  • SystemSerialNumber
  • SystemUUID
  • MLB
  • Follow the OpenCore instructions to generate your own unique identifiers.
• Also replace the ROM value of 11223344 5566 as outlined in the OpenCore Instructions
• Choose a SystemProductName, either iMac19,1 or MacPro7,1 see Generate your own SMBIOS for details.
• All packages are RELEASE and debugging is disabled. If you're having issues, be sure to enable debugging as described in the OpenCore docs, and also grab the DEBUG version of OpenCorePkg.

If you're not using internal WiFi/bt you can remove the Additional Kexts in the Kext listing and take a snapshot with Propertree to update your config file. If you don't know what this means, just ignore it, everything will work fine 😀.

Own prev-lang-kbd

In the config.plist file you set the default language as outlined in the guide. You can either add it as a string or as a hex data using ProperTree

The setting is found in the config.plist under:

• NVRAM
  • 7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82

Format is lang-COUNTRY:keyboard as shown below:

• 🇺🇸 | [0] en_US - U.S --> en-US:0 OR 656e2d55 533a30 in HEX

Key	Type	Value
prev-lang:kbd	String	en-US:0

Language is set to English but you can find alternatives here:

AppleKeyboardLayouts

Monterey, Ventura, or Sonoma?

The EFI folder should work for either Monterey (12.3+), Ventura, or Sonoma.

I have installed and booted Sonoma but not fully tested it. Everything seemed to be working fine but I still haven't updated to it on my main drive.

I would avoid installing Monterey 12.3 as it had issues with AMD GPUs that needed DeviceProperties values set for the PCIE device (not included in this EFI). Google is your friend here but it's easiest not to install 12.3 😬, just install 12.4 or higher.

I'm primarily using this EFI with Ventura 13.6.1 at the moment. Prior to this I was running Monterey 12.6.2 without issue.

Generate your own SMBIOS

Use GenSMBIOS to create your own serial #... based off of your preferred model.

• MacPro7,1 -What I used
  • See below if you want to keep iMac19,1

Note: If you use a different SMBIOS model other than MacPro7,1 or iMac19,1. The provided USB mapping will not work. You will need to edit the USBPorts.kext file. You can right click on the file and select Show Package Contents. From there you can open the Info.plist file in ProperTree and change MacPro7,1 to whatever Model ID you've chosen. This should provide a working USBPorts.kext.

Keeping SMBIOS iMac19,1

If you've used a previous version from this repo and everything is working for you, I would recommend you keep the iMac19,1 SMBIOS so that you don't have to generate new serial numbers etc. In this case you can simply use Propertree to delete the entire PlatformInfo portion of the config.plist file and replace it (copy and paste) with the PlatformInfo from your existing config.plist file.

Alternatively you can manually update the PlatformInfo by adjusting the following:

Key	Type	Value
CustomMemory	Boolean	False
MLB	String	[REPLACEME] ^*^
ROM	Data	11223344 5566 ^*^
SystemProductName	String	iMac19,1
SystemSerialNumber	String	[REPLACEME] ^*^
SystemUUID	String	[REPLACEME] ^*^

*Replace these with your values

NOTE: If you have everything working with your own USB mapping file. KEEP IT. Replace the provided USBPorts.kext file with the one in your existing EFI folder and perform a snapshot in Propertree for good measure.

USB Mapping (active ports)

The latest version of USBPorts.kext included will work with either SMBIOS iMac19,1 or MacPro7,1.

MacOS has a fifteen port limit. You can read more about the details in the guide. Depending on your specific needs you may want to customize/recreate the port mapping.

USB Mapping - config-no-wifi-bt.plist (USBPorts.kext)

This USBPorts.kext file provided enables the following ports:

For reference the associated ports are outlined in the following diagrams (modified from CaseySJ):

USB Mapping - config-wifi-bt.plist (USBPortsWFBT.kext)

Note the difference from the USBPorts.kext is the enabling of ports 8 & 14 and disabling of ports 11 & 12. This was done to enable the internal WiFi and bluetooth.

This USBPortsWFBT.kext file provided enables the following ports:

For reference the associated ports are outlined in the following diagrams (modified from CaseySJ):

Custom RAM Config

If you're using SMBIOS iMac19,1 you can safely ignore this and just ensure Kernel>Add> RestrictEvents.kext> Enabled is False in the config.plist file.

Using the SMBIOS MacPro7,1 will require either CustomMemory to be configured or RestrictEvents.kext to be installed. I've enabled the RestrictEvents.kext as default. If you want to create the custom memory values the details can be found in the guide.

Audio Setup

There are three options available that I'm aware of. You can use alcid 7, 11, or 16. All three are used by different Designare EFIs available online. I'm using alcid 11 because it works for what I need. If you have specific audio requirements and alcid 11 isn't working try the other values. Previous EFIs in this repo used alcid=7.

NOTE: Alcid values can be added to the 'NVRAM > boot-args' key or DeviceProperties. The boot-args value will override the DeviceProperties value if both are used. You only need one. This EFI uses the DeviceProperties method.

Audio output quirks

3.5mm jack will show as Internal Speakers depending on the alcid you've chosen:

alcid=	Front jack	Rear jack
7	Headphones	Internal Speakers
11	Headphones	Internal Speakers
16	Internal Speakers	Headphones

alcid decimal to hex value table

Decimal	Hex value
7	07000000
11	0B000000
16	10000000

Audio setting method used in EFI

DeviceProperties>Add

Key	Type	Value
PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1F,0x3)	Dictionary
layout-id	Data	0B000000

Status

What's working ✅

• GPU hardware acceleration / performance
• iMessage, FaceTime, App Store, iTunes Store. Generate your own SMBIOS
• Intel I219-V Ethernet port
• Intel I211 Ethernet port
• Internal WiFi and bluetooth - WiFi not fully tested on Ventura
• Audio jacks - front and rear 3.5mm audio jacks work with quirks (see Audio Setup for details)
• Shutdown / Restart / Sleep
• USB 3.0/3/1 - USB map created.
• Graphical Boot menu OpenCanopy (I included it in the EFI but I don't use it as I generally skip the boot menu.)
• Thunderbolt
• Sidecar - reported working, I haven't tested
• Conitunity Camera - working when iPhone is connected by USB
• WiFi on Ventura - works but I primarily use Ethernet

What's not working ⚠️

• All empty . Your hack should work wonderfully.

Untested 🧪

• Boot chime - should work I just haven't bothered
• FileVault - should work I just haven't tried it
• Windows/Linux from OC boot menu - I'm not dual booting my system but there's no reason it shouldn't work. May require some EFI changes.

Change log 🪵

• 15 Nov 2023

  • Update to OpenCore 0.9.6
  • All kexts at latest available versions
  • Sonoma support added and working
  • Sonoma - WiFi support broken with Fenvi cards (can be fixed with OCLP)

• 9 Aug 2023

  • Updated to OpenCore 0.9.4

  • Added NVRAM key values for Bluetooth fix for Ventura 13.4+

  • Updated all kexts to latest available versions

• 16 May 2023

  • Update to OpenCore 0.9.2
  • Disable CaseySJ patch and enable new DisableIoMapperMapping quirk (addresses the same issue)
  • Updated all kexts to latest available versions

• 8 Mar 2023

  • Update to OpenCore 0.9.0

  • Dropped support for BigSur (can use previous EFI versions if needed)

    • removed BigSur kexts

  • Enabled Thunderbold support (tested with OWC Thunderbolt Dock)

  • Updated BIOS to F9

  • Enabled AppleVTD

• 21 Dec 2022

  • Update to OpenCore 0.8.7
  • Enable/disable internal WiFi and bluetooth - rename your chosen config.plist
  • Moved to primarily booting Ventura 13.1 (using ethernet, not WiFi)

• 14 Oct 2022

  • Update to OpenCore 0.8.5
  • Enable internal WiFi and bluetooth in EFI 2 - see Releases
  • Change of USB port mapping in EFI 2 for internal bluetooth

• 8 Sept 2022

  • Update to OpenCore 0.8.4
  • Include SmallTree kext for BigSur (disabled for Monterey with MaxVersion value)
  • Enable DisableIoMapper by default to resolve networking issues #67
  • Ventura beta remains bootable and working

• 7 Aug 2022

  • Minor update to README added USB mapping changes

  • USBPorts.kext modified to be used with either SMBIOS iMac19,1 or MacPro7,1

  • NOTE: Old USBPorts.kext for SMBIOS iMac19,1 referenced iMacPro19,1 incorrectly #61 and may not have been working properly.

• 6 Aug 2022

  • Transfer of repo from baughmann to seven-of-eleven
  • Update to OpenCore 0.8.3
  • Updated readme format/details
  • Change of SMBIOS from iMac19,1 to MacPro7,1 only b/c that's what I'm using
  • Change alcid from 7 to 11
  • Ventura beta 4 is bootable and working

• 11 October 2021

  • Updated to OpenCore 0.7.4
  • No longer need slide=0
  • Removed a bunch of hacky stuff (including USB ports unlimiter)
  • Rebuilt config.plist from the ground-up to remove legacy crap that has built up over time
  • Boot times seemed to have improved
  • Tried and failed to use BIOS version F9j

• 30 May 2021:

  • Confirmed compatability with Big Sur 11.4

• 10 April 2021:

  • Updated OpenCore to 0.6.9
  • Fixed USB port issue occurring after upgrade to 11.3 by re-disabling USBInjectAll.kext, re-enabling USBPorts.kext (this mobo's USB map) and setting Kernel > Quirks > XhciPortLimit to 0
  • Updated all kexts and drivers that needed updating

• 10 April 2020:

  • Updated OpenCore to 0.6.8
  • Updated all Kexts and Drivers for which there was an update
  • Fixed all non-fatal warnings at startup
  • Ensured compatability with macOS Big Sur 11.2.3 (20D91)

• 15 December 2020:

  • Updated to OpenCore 0.6.4
  • Updated All Kexts and Drivers for which there was an update
  • Ensured compatability with macOS Big Sur 11.1 (20C69)

• 1 December 2020:

  • Modified BIOS suggestions to get Sidecar working (thanks @QueercoreTrash for #19)
  • Added a BIOS configuration page with screenshots for user assistance.

• 16 Nov 2020:

  • Updated to macOS Big Sur from Catalina
  • For some reason, with Big Sur and OC 0.6.3, we no longer need AirportBrcmFix for the Fenvi BT/WiFi Card
  • Changed slide=1 to slide=0
  • Kept USBPorts.kext inside the config.plist, but disabled it because it seems as though USBInjectAll.kext does the trick

• 13 August 2020:

  • Verified that supplemental update 10.15.6 19G73 => 19G2021 works without issues.

• 10 August 2020:

  • Added SmallTreeIntel82576.kext for enabling the secondary Ethernet port

• 4 August 2020:

  • Updated OC to version 0.6.0
  • Updated all of the acidanthera's drivers and kexts

• 1 August 2020:

  • Updated OC to version 0.5.9
  • Updated all kexts and drivers to the latest
  • Removed ApfsDriverLoader.efi because it was rolled into OC starting with 0.5.9

• 13 June 2020:

  • Updated OC, Kernel Extensions, and Drivers to be compatible with latest macOS update 10.15.5 (and supplemental update).
  • Somehow the boot picker remembers my choice now, meaning that emulated NVRAM is somehow working?
  • IMPORTANT: Upgraded from DEBUG to RELEASE:
    • Changed all drivers and OC files from the DEBUG versions to RELEASE versions because I seem to have a stable system.
    • Modified config.plist to no longer generate logs (log level now 0).
    • If you're having problems, switch back to DEBUG mode yourself by following this guide.