​

https://preview.redd.it/z5pqkj2vvt441.jpg?width=6240&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7cbd273c2f1ab24f4399d294f74abf8289adbbbf

I’m over the moon! I built my first Hackintosh, and everything works perfectly!

It took me a full day in total - including building the PC, setting up Clover, and post install tweaking. Here is my process - might be useful for anyone else who’s a total beginner like me.

My build

Do your research and choose the right components. I spent quite some time deciding upon these components, and double-checked here whether this would be a good choice for a Hackintosh. I chose to use a Z370 board, because of it’s native NVRAM support. [Z370 vs Z390]

• Board: Asus Prime Z370-A II (which already supported 9th gen chips out of the box, so no BIOS upgrade was needed)
• CPU: Intel Core i7-9700K
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15s
• GPU: Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 580 8GD5
• Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR 4 3200Mhz (2x16GB)
• SSD for macOS installation: 500GB Samsung 970 Evo M.2 NVME
• SSD for data: 1TB Samsung 970 Evo M.2 NVME
• Wifi: Fenvi FV-T919 Dual Band Wireless PCI-E adapter
• PSU: Corsair RM650 80+ Gold
• Case: Fractal Design Meshify C dark tempered glass

Building the machine

• The last time I built a pc was 12 years ago. So I scanned through a few Youtube videos of people doing an entire build in a Meshify case to get a general idea of the process and prepare myself a bit :-)
• Used the Meshify case manual side by side with the motherboard manual to build the machine.
• I bumped into a few issues during building, but nothing serious (like first mounting the CPU cooler and GPU and afterwards figuring out it was really hard to get to the 2nd casein pin and 8pin CPU atx, but managed to squeeze it all in).
• Wow-moment: components, cables and case design have certainly gotten a whole lot sexier in the last decade.

https://preview.redd.it/l7bf5lwjrt441.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e1e8e1e5981546afba5271822853bfb212b9d5cc

​

https://preview.redd.it/ocycfcvnst441.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ac30993e0f2e9274658d135a202a8c1afa61dd1

Guides

I followed these guides side by side:

• The superb Vanilla guide of course
• This guide by macfanatic77, which is an extensive step-by-step explanation of all the steps involved. I couldn’t have done this without this guide as all the little steps were included here.
  • I did made some changes to the config.plist based on the Vanilla guide:
  • Changed id to iMac 18,3, changed serial number / board serial / smuuid

Kexts and drivers

• The standard kexts:
  • AppleALC.kext
  • IntelMausiEthernet.kext
  • Lilu.kext
  • SMCProcessor.kext
  • SMCSuperIO.kext
  • USBInjectAll.kext
  • VirtualSMC.kext
  • WhateverGreen.kext
• Drivers:
  • ApfsDriverLoader.efi
  • AptioMemoryFix.efi
  • HFSPlus.efi
  • VirtualSmc.efi (Most guides didn't inc;ude this one, but I saw it in another guide, and based on this comment I decided to include it anyway, even though I’m not using FileVault)

BIOS settings

This part was less clear to me, as I couldn’t find a good definitive source with which settings to do on an Asus UEFI Bios. In the end I mixed and matched from a few different sources, and had to tweak some settings afterwards to figure out what worked best. I guess it's also really dependent on your setup, specific mobo Bios version etc.

Asus UEFI Bios Utility (version 2.17.1246)

• First load Optimized defaults
• Advanced \ Cpu Config -> Intel Virtualization Technology: Enabled
• Advanced \ SA Configuration → Vt-d : Disabled
• Advanced \ SA Configuration \ Graphics Configuration → Primary Display: PCIE (as I have a dedicated RX580)
• Advanced \ SA Configuration \ Graphics Configuration → iGPU Multi-Monitor: Enabled (otherwise Preview/quick look spacebar doesn’t work!)
• Advanced \ PCH Configuration → IOAPIC 24-119 Entries: Enabled
• Advanced \ PCH Storage Configuration → Sata Controllers: Enabled
• Advanced \ PCH Storage Configuration → Sata Mode Selection: AHCI
• Advanced \ APM Config \ Enable Power On by PCIE: Disabled
• Advanced \ Onboard devices configuration -> LED lighting, When system is in sleep, hibernate or soft off states: Off
• Advanced \ Onboard devices configuration -> Asmedia USB 3.1 Controller: Enabled
• Advanced \ Onboard devices configuration \ Serial Port Config \ Serial Port 1: Off
• Advanced \ Network Stack Configuration > Network Stack: Disabled
• Advanced \ USB Configuration → Legacy USB Support : Enabled
• Advanced \ USB Configuration → USB Keyboard and Mouse Simulator : Disabled (can't find have XHCI Hand-off in my bios)
• Ai Tweaker \ Ai Overclock Tuner -> Auto (I’m leaving XMP off for now)
• Advanced \ Onboard devices configuration -> M.2_1 Config: Auto
• Advanced \ Onboard devices configuration -> M.2_2 PCIe Bandwidth Configuration: X4 mode (this is specific to using my 2x M.2 sticks)
• Boot \ CSM -> Launch CSM: Disabled (when it’s enabled, Clovers resolution looks stretched. During the whole setup I think this was set to enabled, I just changed this to disabled post-install)
• Boot → Fast Boot: Disabled
• Boot → Boot From Onboard LAN: Disabled
• Boot → Secure Boot: Other OS

BIOS - Still working this out

• Security \ Secure Boot → Secure Boot: is currently set to Enabled. I thought that before install I had this set to disabled, but it's enabled now. I can’t change it back to Disabled, unless I delete the keys. Since everything works already, I think I'll leave it enabled.

Installing MacOS Mojave

• I decided to go for Mojave as that’s what I’m running on my current Macbook and that works with all my peripherals + Adobe suite. Didn’t want to risk breaking my Wacom/scanner/printer with Catalina, and don’t need any Catalina features yet anyway. Might update later :-)
• The whole installation procedure went supersmooth with a few reboots inbetween. It sure feels like magic to see the macOS installation screens appearing on a machine I just put together! :-)

Post install tweaks

• Did the Mojave security update from Apple update panel - all good.
• Changed Settings panel > Energy Saver > Uncheck Wake for Ethernet Network access and uncheck Enable Power Nap (don't know how important this is, but read it here)
• Used this script to solve USB drives were not ejected properly after waking from sleep
• I noticed I didn’t add darkwake=1 (“Select darkwake = 1 if using an ASUS motherboard”), but have no issues so far so I’m leaving it. Not really sure what this does.
• Clover Config > GUI > cleaned up Clover boot menu by adding “Preboot” and “Recovery” in the Hide section. This hides “Boot FileVault PreBooter from Preboot” and some other boot options in the Clover menu.
• Clover Config > GUI > filled in 2560x1440 resolution (Bios setting Launch CSM should be disabled, in order for this to work out)

Everything works!

Everything seems to work just fine! I did some CPU/GPU/SSD benchmarks and all components seem to be doing what they should :-)

• Wifi - plugged the Fenvi T919 in during building the machine, and Wifi works like a charm, straight out of the box.
• Airdrop
• Bluetooth
• Sleep
• NVRAM (used the sudo foo = bar check to check it)
• USB - I haven’t done any extra steps for USB mapping, but so far using 6 ports at the same works just fine (keyboard, mouse, Wacom, external SSD drive, scanner, printer at the same time).
• Audio - Using the green port at the back - haven’t checked the other audio ports yet.
• Haven’t checked and won’t use anyway: Ethernet, FileVault, TimeMachine, HDMI audio

Final questions

• Should I do USB mapping? It seems to be a big thing, but my devices are working just fine.
• Should I change my BIOS secure boot to disabled or leave it at enabled?
• Should I add darkwake=1 to the config?

Conclusion

I feel like quite a bad-ass that I managed to get this working. After a decade of working on Macbooks, it's great to have a serious & blazing fast workstation again for my design work <3 Thanks so much to this community and answering all my questions!