SOLVED GA-Z87-DS3H Big Sur and HD4600 Graphics

[dsomer]

I'm looking for some ideas on what I might try next to solve a couple of issues on my Big Sur installation on a Gigabyte GA-Z87-DS3H motherboard with built-in HD4600 graphics.

I previous ran MacOS High Sierra on this rig with things working pretty well. This setup is rather old and I used the Clover Boot loader. The two items I have not been able to solve with Big Sur are Audio and Dual Monitor display.

With the Big Sur installation, I am running the latest OpenCore Boot Loader ... 0.8.8.
The same layout-id for my Realtec ALC887 audio device does not work on Big Sur. I went through all of the possible layout-ids in an attempt to see if they would work, but no luck. I am using Lilo along with AppleALC and the appropriate kexts are loaded. The IORegistry output attached does not match what I have on High Sierra, but I don't know where to look next.

I had two monitors working under High Sierra ... one is plugged into the DVI port and one is plugged into the HDMI port on the motherboard. I looked at the output of IORegistry and on the High Sierra install, I see the 3 ports for the graphics device and I get two framebuffer display devices showing. On Big Sur, I set up the framebuffer patches in my config.plist to set all of the ports and flags according to the specifications for the HD4600. However, I never get a display device for the second framebuffer to appear. BIOS settings are identical to what I had on High Sierra, and cabling is the same. The DVI port displays properly to my monitor. The HDMI port displays boot messages under OpenCore, but once the MacOS kernel boots and the Apple logo appears, only the DVI-attached monitor has an image. The HDMI port display just shows garbage/random pixels.

Thanks for any assistance/guidance you can provide.

 

[EliteMacx86]

I'm looking for some ideas on what I might try next to solve a couple of issues on my Big Sur installation on a Gigabyte GA-Z87-DS3H motherboard with built-in HD4600 graphics.

I previous ran MacOS High Sierra on this rig with things working pretty well. This setup is rather old and I used the Clover Boot loader. The two items I have not been able to solve with Big Sur are Audio and Dual Monitor display.

With the Big Sur installation, I am running the latest OpenCore Boot Loader ... 0.8.8.
The same layout-id for my Realtec ALC887 audio device does not work on Big Sur. I went through all of the possible layout-ids in an attempt to see if they would work, but no luck. I am using Lilo along with AppleALC and the appropriate kexts are loaded. The IORegistry output attached does not match what I have on High Sierra, but I don't know where to look next.

I had two monitors working under High Sierra ... one is plugged into the DVI port and one is plugged into the HDMI port on the motherboard. I looked at the output of IORegistry and on the High Sierra install, I see the 3 ports for the graphics device and I get two framebuffer display devices showing. On Big Sur, I set up the framebuffer patches in my config.plist to set all of the ports and flags according to the specifications for the HD4600. However, I never get a display device for the second framebuffer to appear. BIOS settings are identical to what I had on High Sierra, and cabling is the same. The DVI port displays properly to my monitor. The HDMI port displays boot messages under OpenCore, but once the MacOS kernel boots and the Apple logo appears, only the DVI-attached monitor has an image. The HDMI port display just shows garbage/random pixels.

Thanks for any assistance/guidance you can provide.

Incomplete PR files attached.

Provide the PR files as described in the FAQ:

READ FIRST! macOS/OS X Frequent Questions

macOS/OS X Frequent Questions - FAQ Before posting your queries, several common questions have been already answered and some exist in the sticky threads in the dedicated support forum. Read this post before you start your journey with macOS/OS X and before posting your doubts and queries...

elitemacx86.com

 

[dsomer]

I apologize for not adhering to the FAQ on PR submissions. Attached is my zip file of the required files.

 

[EliteMacx86]

I apologize for not adhering to the FAQ on PR submissions. Attached is my zip file of the required files.

Your configuration is not as per the guide and you should consider cleaning up your configuration.

Start here:

GUIDE - How to Boot macOS Installer on Desktops and Laptops using OpenCore [UEFI/Legacy] - OpenCore Install Guide

How to Boot macOS Installer on Desktops and Laptops using OpenCore [UEFI/Legacy] - OpenCore Install Guide Booting the OS X/macOS installers on a non-Apple computer can be challenging for new users. This guide is intended for those who wish to use OpenCore as a Bootloader and it covers a...

elitemacx86.com

Regarding the Audio, it's not working because you're using AppleALCU instead of AppleALC. Inject 1, 3, 7 or 99 layout ID. In addition, you should use the boot-arg method first and whatever layout ID works for you, you can add it as a Device properties.

Regarding the HDMI Display, it's not working as connector isn't patched correctly. To patch connectors, read below

GUIDE - How to Enable Intel HD and UHD Graphics on macOS - Intel Framebuffer Patching Guide

How to Enable Intel HD and UHD Graphics on macOS - Intel Framebuffer Patching Guide An EliteMacx86 Exclusive Guide - This guide covers fixing Intel HD and UHD Graphics on macOS. By following this guide, you'll be able to enable Intel Graphics with acceleration on macOS with full QE/CI on your...

elitemacx86.com

 

[dsomer]

Your configuration is not as per the guide and you should consider cleaning up your configuration.

Start here:

GUIDE - How to Boot macOS Installer on Desktops and Laptops using OpenCore [UEFI/Legacy] - OpenCore Install Guide

How to Boot macOS Installer on Desktops and Laptops using OpenCore [UEFI/Legacy] - OpenCore Install Guide Booting the OS X/macOS installers on a non-Apple computer can be challenging for new users. This guide is intended for those who wish to use OpenCore as a Bootloader and it covers a...

elitemacx86.com

Regarding the Audio, it's not working because you're using AppleALCU instead of AppleALC. Inject 1, 3, 7 or 99 layout ID. In addition, you should use the boot-arg method first and whatever layout ID works for you, you can add it as a Device properties.

Regarding the HDMI Display, it's not working as connector isn't patched correctly. To patch connectors, read below

GUIDE - How to Enable Intel HD and UHD Graphics on macOS - Intel Framebuffer Patching Guide

How to Enable Intel HD and UHD Graphics on macOS - Intel Framebuffer Patching Guide An EliteMacx86 Exclusive Guide - This guide covers fixing Intel HD and UHD Graphics on macOS. By following this guide, you'll be able to enable Intel Graphics with acceleration on macOS with full QE/CI on your...

elitemacx86.com

Thanks so much ... I don't recall why I used AppleALCU, but using AppleALC and using layout-id =20 appears to give me the audio connections that work well (front panel headphones, rear speaker out, etc.).

I do realize that I sent a config.plist with frame buffer connector edits that I had changed from the original values. I set all three ports/connectors to type=4, to match the values for the display id I am using, but I still only get one display to work. I'll go back to the documentation another time and see if I have made any mistakes. Just for grins, I set the connector type to HDMI for each port/connector and that doesn't change the behavior. I wonder if there is something else I need to enable or change. It doesn't appear that my patching is making any difference.

Thanks again,

 

[EliteMacx86]

Thanks so much ... I don't recall why I used AppleALCU, but using AppleALC and using layout-id =20 appears to give me the audio connections that work well (front panel headphones, rear speaker out, etc.).

Glad you got the sound working.

I do realize that I sent a config.plist with frame buffer connector edits that I had changed from the original values. I set all three ports/connectors to type=4, to match the values for the display id I am using, but I still only get one display to work. I'll go back to the documentation another time and see if I have made any mistakes. Just for grins, I set the connector type to HDMI for each port/connector and that doesn't change the behavior. I wonder if there is something else I need to enable or change. It doesn't appear that my patching is making any difference.

No idea without the PR Files.

 

[dsomer]

Well ... I was not successful with my attempts to patch my frame buffer connectors. I tried quite a few combinations and got close ... both displays showed up in IORegister output but they were reversed in alignment order and the one with the HDMI connector was blank instead of garbled. I finally changed my SMBios setting from iMac15,1 to iMac16,1 and removed all of the frame buffer patches, and I am successfully displaying on both monitors. I'll run this for some time and see if I hit any problems. I wish I understood why the original SMBios setting and patches did not work, as I had similar settings to what is now shown in IORegister output. Index=1, BusId=5, Pipe=9,Con=HDMI and Index=2, Busid=6, Pipe=10, Con=HDMI.

 

[EliteMacx86]

Well ... I was not successful with my attempts to patch my frame buffer connectors. I tried quite a few combinations and got close ... both displays showed up in IORegister output but they were reversed in alignment order and the one with the HDMI connector was blank instead of garbled. I finally changed my SMBios setting from iMac15,1 to iMac16,1 and removed all of the frame buffer patches, and I am successfully displaying on both monitors. I'll run this for some time and see if I hit any problems. I wish I understood why the original SMBios setting and patches did not work, as I had similar settings to what is now shown in IORegister output. Index=1, BusId=5, Pipe=9,Con=HDMI and Index=2, Busid=6, Pipe=10, Con=HDMI.

The MacPro6,1 and iMac15/17 perform special functions on their specific OEM GPUs and Displays. For non-Apple hardware using the MacPro6,1 or iMac15/17 system definitions, this can cause your GPU to stop sending a signal to your monitor when OS X finishes loading.

An idea is to patch the /System/Library/Extensions/AppleGraphicsControl.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy.kext/Contents/Info.plist and change "Config1" to "none" for the MacPro6,1 board ID and "Config2" to "none" for the iMac15/17 board IDs. This ensures that your GPU will not be affected by functions meant for OEM Mac GPUs or Displays.

Having said that, despite the correct Framebuffer patching, you may not have a display and this is why changing to iMac16,1 works flawlessly. Upon your report, will be added to the framebuffer patching guide.

 

[dsomer]

Thanks for the detailed response. It is amazing that you and others in the development community can sleuth your way through all of these various issues and configurations. Thanks.

 

[EliteMacx86]

Thanks for the detailed response. It is amazing that you and others in the development community can sleuth your way through all of these various issues and configurations. Thanks.

Anytime! Are there any more issues with your build?

If not, this thread will be marked Solved and closed.