ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A-DB51 Ultrabook - fixes, mods, tweaks, etc

[cyf]

Re adapter: I have a feeling that even if you could, it would be very expensive. Yeah, the pictures are misleading, getting new antennas is the way to go, I bet.

 

Clover update: Have it booting in UEFI mode to start-up ML and I haven't done much to it other than get the basic install working using kexts from nhart in the first post (but I did not use the DSDT nor SSDT's). Those kexts are already in my /S/L/E., so in actuality, Clover is just booting without much else. As I have my Chameleon and Clover on USB sticks, I just swap them from one to the other.

 

Thus:

 

1. Video only seems to work on HDMI, I haven't taken the HDMI out and tried to boot with internal LCD only--may do that later. It does recognize that the LCD is there (my dual screen set-up that I normally use in Chameleon is there when I go into System Preferences. I have Clover doing the video injection, and it also has the ability to use EDID. I'm going to ask for help in one of the clover forums.

2. Sound doesn't work, probably because I don't have it loading the SSDTs?

3. All the other stuff you'd expect from a non-modified boot (e.g., Fn keys, etc.) doesn't work.

 

HOWEVER, the processor seems to be properly recognized! I don't have HWMonitor installed, and there's a complaint about the processor not being recognized in one of the boot messages, but at least the OS seems to see it correctly--I'll have to check whether it works with the various states properly. I've verified that it's Clover doing this, not because I changed the SMBios to MacBook Air5,2--i.e., I've chaanged the SMBios.plist file on my Chameleon boot USB to MacBook Air5,2 and it didn't help with processor recognition.

 

I've uploaded a dmg of the USB stick, and it's slighly under 17MB's. People who want to look at it can just DL it here:

 

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B40OTE6aJH7DODlSV0lCUjdmVHc

 

You should be able to just recover the image to a USB drive (I used only a 500mb drive), and it should boot.

 

Note; During boot, verbose mode doesn't do much and it sits at the rEFIt Boot screen (blue bar, with no text) for a while--I actually discovered that it had to take a while (maybe 5 minutes?) because I dozed off after pulling an all-nighter and woke up to find ML booted, so be patient!

 

Note 2: Boot the UEFI version.

 

I've also enclosed the config.plist file if you're building your own, but as I said, it's the basic options.

 

Lastly, I ran DarwinDumper on both Clover and Chameleon boots, figuring that it may help at least start with a baseline, and get stuff working that's already working under my Chameleon boot.

Clover config.plist.zip

2012-11-07_DarwinDumper_2.4.9_AMI_X64_828_ML_gctseng.zip

2012-11-07_Chameleon_DarwinDumper_2.4.9_Chimera_1.5_ML_gctseng.zip

[Thomas2111]

thank you =) now i understand how clover works

i got every thing working like with chameleon by simply copy DSDT.aml from /extra to /

The windows partition is not displayed by clover, i'll made some searches

 

Note:

My Chameleon is in 1080p mode, thats better, i'll found how to do this on clover

Clover is longer to load than chameleon ! i'll put it on the SSD, where i deleted the 100 mb mgr part to see (usb stick is maybe too slow) >FAILED (i'll use the usb stick)

I have to see if mountain lion boot faster with chameleon or ML and if there is good themes on Clover

 

Still wating for my wifi card ! i want to

 

Important note

When i was booting with chameleon, my system crashed when i plugged for the first time the HDMI, i rebooted, whith the hdmi cable still plugged and my HDMI plug and play works since this. (yea. i speak english like a spanish cow )

 

it happened me the same thing when i booted with Clover!

 

So guys, don't worry if your HDMI crashes on the first time you plug it

[cyf]

Is your Windows 7 installed in UEFI mode? I've realized anything with hybrid MBR is going to mess things up sooner or later.

 

BTW, there are some mistakes in the config.plist file I uploaded. New one is here.

 

http://www.insanelym...00#entry1865936

 

Clover has issues with the patched DSDT and sound, as I mentioned in that thread.

 

Oh yeah, Clover is def. longer to load because it's starting up run-time services.

 

EDIT: Put Clover on another USB stick and it boots up 10x as fast.

[cyf]

thank you =) now i understand how clover works

i got every thing working like with chameleon by simply copy DSDT.aml from /extra to /

The windows partition is not displayed by clover, i'll made some searches

 

Note:

My Chameleon is in 1080p mode, thats better, i'll found how to do this on clover

Clover is longer to load than chameleon ! i'll put it on the SSD, where i deleted the 100 mb mgr part to see (usb stick is maybe too slow) >FAILED (i'll use the usb stick)

I have to see if mountain lion boot faster with chameleon or ML and if there is good themes on Clover

 

Still wating for my wifi card ! i want to

 

Important note

When i was booting with chameleon, my system crashed when i plugged for the first time the HDMI, i rebooted, whith the hdmi cable still plugged and my HDMI plug and play works since this. (yea. i speak english like a spanish cow )

 

it happened me the same thing when i booted with Clover!

 

So guys, don't worry if your HDMI crashes on the first time you plug it

 

Supposedly Clover doesn't need any graphics enabler, I'm still playing with it--discovered, as I mentioned in my edit--that the boot time from the USB tool so long because of the particularly old USB key I was using--it must have been USB v1, haha. The system is definitely finicky, so I have to play with it more. By being UEFI, by definition i can rely a lot less on DSDT modifications by to address many OS X issues, so I have to actually try starting the DSDT from the original state and only adding in what's not "handle-able" by Clover.

 

You guys are lucky in that eventually you can upgrade your internal hard drive to be > 2TB, so Clover will def. be better--UEFI/GPT and all that.

 

http://h30565.www3.h...k-Your/ba-p/198

 

How's everyone doing with their WiFi card/antenna issues?

 

Enclosed is an updated IONetworkingFamily.kext with the AX88772B.kext "properly" installed--i.e., at least according to ASIX, their kext replaces the AppleUSBEthernet.kext in the IONetworkingFamily.kext, so there should not be both in there (the ASIX installer actually removes/backs-up the AppleUSBEthernet.kext onto a hidden folder on the OS X drive). The only difference seems to be the name of the kext and the fact that there is one additional personality for the AX88772B adapter (with properly changed product ID of 32299--I haven't bothered to try changing the kext's name to AppleUSBEthernet because it seems to be working and I don't think it matters. Anyhoo, it seems like you guys are going the WiFi route, but just in case...

IONetworkingFamily.kext.zip

[Thomas2111]

Thank you for all you done with Clover, i'll definitely use Chameleon, 'cause it work realy great for all i need

1080p, triple boot, more option that i need (Default partition selection, C & P states, Time out..)theme as i want and boot on my MBR windows 7

 

(thank you for all the learn you give me about UEFI, but i did'nt understood some things:

 

what partition table is needed to use ?

Do all disk drive are compatible with UEFI?

Created a 100 Mb Fat32 part at the begin of my 256 gb, installed Clover on > got Boot0: done(fewsecondsleft)7 and stuck

Note in the echap boot device selection menu there is my SSD, but no UEFI partition diplayed both

Installed Clover on a Usb stick boot, by selecting UEFI part both my usb stick in ebds > launches clover and can launch the clover menu i installed on the SSD

)

 

 

I'm still wating (soo long ) for my wifi card and thinks there will be soon a kext for us elantech 4.0 touchpad 'cause we are not alone for that =)

[r0ot]

Friends, can't start AUDIO on UX31a - please help !

[cyf]

Thank you for all you done with Clover, i'll definitely use Chameleon, 'cause it work realy great for all i need

1080p, triple boot, more option that i need (Default partition selection, C & P states, Time out..)theme as i want and boot on my MBR windows 7

 

(thank you for all the learn you give me about UEFI, but i did'nt understood some things:

 

what partition table is needed to use ?

Do all disk drive are compatible with UEFI?

Created a 100 Mb Fat32 part at the begin of my 256 gb, installed Clover on > got Boot0: done(fewsecondsleft)7 and stuck

Note in the echap boot device selection menu there is my SSD, but no UEFI partition diplayed both

Installed Clover on a Usb stick boot, by selecting UEFI part both my usb stick in ebds > launches clover and can launch the clover menu i installed on the SSD

)

 

UEFI is compatible with GPT, but I think it's not compatible with MBR. I think it uses Chameleon for non UEFI boot, so you're okay without it right now. GPT is necessary if you need hard disk support for anything larger than 2TB. GPT should be compatible with ANY hard disk that you may encounter. If you see a boot"X", I think you don't have the UEFI mode. It's either UEFI (using the drivers in drivers64UEFI) or BIOS boot (using the drivers in drivers32 or drivers64). I don't know much about non-UEFI boot in Clover, but for UEFI in Clover you definitely need HFSplus.efi along with a few other drivers. See:

 

http://www.osx86.net/guides-tutorials/19291-guide-clover-efi-bootloader-11.html#post126986

 

Right now I removed drivers32 and drivers64 and only have drivers64UEFI folder with those drivers.

 

What did you do to get C and P states to work?

[Thomas2111]

Friends, can't start AUDIO on UX31a - please help !

Yes =) tell us what you tried yet and what is actually working

 

What did you do to get C and P states to work?

Used the C and P states enabled YES with chameleon, that not work?

i realy like the pic i've uploaded above =), "Zenbook de Thomas" Logo, 1080p

 

about clover

Thank you for the info =) a day, if i need to reinstall seven or install windows 8, i'll try the gpt partion table, and UEFI boot =)

[cyf]

Used the C and P states enabled YES with chameleon, that not work?

 

No. Just enabling that in Chameleon doesn't work. Well, look at this post and see if you have different states.

 

Someone on the other forum helped me to get SpeedStep to work:

 

http://www.osx86.net/guides-tutorials/19291-guide-clover-efi-bootloader-11.html#post126892

 

This is not limited to Clover, although I've only used it with Clover.

 

Also, a WARNING unrelated to SpeedStep:

 

http://www.osx86.net/guides-tutorials/19291-guide-clover-efi-bootloader-14.html#post127142

 

I'm going to end up restoring a cloned copy.

[duklaa]

The App store doesn't work. I get "unknown error" Are others having the same issue? If not, what did you do to fix it?

 

It seems to be related to en0 needing to be set properly (to ethernet) but UX31A does not have ethernet!

[nhart12]

The App store doesn't work. I get "unknown error" Are others having the same issue? If not, what did you do to fix it?

 

It seems to be related to en0 needing to be set properly (to ethernet) but UX31A does not have ethernet!

I had that error up until I swapped out the Wifi card with a OSX compatible one. You will just have to live with poor reception, or maybe try replacing the antennas. Im still researching a better solution for a wifi card

[cyf]

I had that error up until I swapped out the Wifi card with a OSX compatible one. You will just have to live with poor reception, or maybe try replacing the antennas. Im still researching a better solution for a wifi card

 

Did no one try out replacing the antenna? Again, from my earlier post, looking at the teardown it seems like the original antenna is just a wire routed to the "spine" of the notebook.

 

EDIT: +1 on the App store not working--I haven't even bothered even trying iCloud.

 

So who wants to do this first:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/271206-how-to-enable-find-my-mac-with-a-fake-recovery-hd-updated/page__st__20

[nhart12]

Looking at the iFixit tear-down again, replacing the antenna cables may be a good solution. When I looked at this previously, I thought the antenna cables went up into the LCD panel which is glued together and not something I'd want to take apart, however looking at the pictures again, it looks like they just run through the hinge area. I may rip it apart again this weekend ;-)

BTW, I was looking for a U.FL to W.FL adapter yesterday but I could not find such a product.

 

Are you sure that it is a W.FL connector that is in this laptop?

 

I was thinking about maybe contacting a company like this:

http://www.rfcoaxcable.com/rf_cables/w.fl_rf_cable/w.fl_rf_coaxial_cable_assembly.html

to maybe custom build a cable that converts the W.FL pigtail into a U.FL pigtail. That way it saves us from taking apart the laptop further..

 

Did no one try out replacing the antenna? Again, from my earlier post, looking at the teardown it seems like the original antenna is just a wire routed to the "spine" of the notebook.

 

EDIT: +1 on the App store not working--I haven't even bothered even trying iCloud.

 

So who wants to do this first:

 

http://www.insanelym...ed/page__st__20

 

I am always nervous of taking apart the spine lol so looking at all possible options before resorting to this

[cyf]

I was thinking about maybe contacting a company like this:

http://www.rfcoaxcab...e_assembly.html

to maybe custom build a cable that converts the W.FL pigtail into a U.FL pigtail. That way it saves us from taking apart the laptop further..

I am always nervous of taking apart the spine lol so looking at all possible options before resorting to this

 

LOL, notice I'm not the first one to jump in. Although I have a trip overseas in a month, and I REALLY need to get the stuff working.

 

BTW, I still have to test this, but it may be the SpeedStep was fixed by changing the SMBios to MacBookPro8,1 (I tried MacBookPro8,2) and it seemed to work as well. I took out the SSDT-5.aml when I did the test.

 

Clover is now on the SSD, which means I don't have to lug around a USB key. I am going to carry a copy of the key AND keep a copy of the EFI partition materials on my Android phone, haha--haven't tried booting from that yet--don't know if it is even possible, but that would be cool.

 

@nhart12: I was wondering if you wouldn't mind taking a look at my DSDT and seeing how I can add the patches I need to get HDMI, sound, etc. working. I can apply the patches myself and try to learn something more from this, if you could just "mark-up" the places where they need to go so I can get a better understanding. I enclose:

 

1. My corrected DSDT (originally extracted from outside of Mac OS X and then I believe I correctly addressed all errors and warnings) (labeled with red).

2. My current DSDT that is actually based on Thomas2111's, I think (labeled with green).

3. The DSDT you posted on the first page (labeled with purple).

 

I notice my DSDT has some additional components, and I'm not sure what I can take out or even why there should be additional stuff in it--I would have thought yours would have more entries.

 

Anyway, I found this software for comparing code:

 

http://sourcegear.com/diffmerge/

 

Pretty cool...and free. Made comparing the different versions really easy.

CYF DSDTs.zip

[gsly]

Are you sure that it is a W.FL connector that is in this laptop?

 

I was thinking about maybe contacting a company like this:

http://www.rfcoaxcab...e_assembly.html

to maybe custom build a cable that converts the W.FL pigtail into a U.FL pigtail. That way it saves us from taking apart the laptop further..

 

I am always nervous of taking apart the spine lol so looking at all possible options before resorting to this

I'm not sure of the exact connector as I don't have anything to measure it with to compare to the datasheets However, on the weekend I cannibalized on old Dell laptop for its wifi antenna's, removed the stock UX32VD antenna assembly and hacked the Dell wires into place. Interesting find is that in the stock UX32VD connectors, both the pin and shield are connected to the body whereas the Dell cables isolated the two paths. I carefully stripped the Dell cables and connected just the inner conductor to the body. I have my cheap Dell DW1510 working in Windows 8/Unbuntu but I haven't got OSX re-installed yet as current Clover configuration isn't booting the installer now. Working on this next...

[cyf]

I'm not sure of the exact connector as I don't have anything to measure it with to compare to the datasheets However, on the weekend I cannibalized on old Dell laptop for its wifi antenna's, removed the stock UX32VD antenna assembly and hacked the Dell wires into place. Interesting find is that in the stock UX32VD connectors, both the pin and shield are connected to the body whereas the Dell cables isolated the two paths. I carefully stripped the Dell cables and connected just the inner conductor to the body. I have my cheap Dell DW1510 working in Windows 8/Unbuntu but I haven't got OSX re-installed yet as current Clover configuration isn't booting the installer now. Working on this next...

 

Are you trying to follow the instructions given in the Clover documentation? Are are you way beyond that? People are just getting to the Windows 8 issues (after page 15?) of this thread:

 

http://www.osx86.net...bootloader.html

 

I'm going to keep Windows off of my computer as long as I can. Trying out Parallels and so far it works okay. Probably won't be enough for you as you program.

[gsly]

Are you trying to follow the instructions given in the Clover documentation? Are are you way beyond that? People are just getting to the Windows 8 issues (after page 15?) of this thread:

 

http://www.osx86.net...bootloader.html

 

I'm going to keep Windows off of my computer as long as I can. Trying out Parallels and so far it works okay. Probably won't be enough for you as you program.

I'm building Clover from source so ya, I'm beyond that I think my Clover customization is no longer allowing the OSX installer to complete (get the grey screen with beach ball) so I just have to fix that. Windows 8 will be no problem, its just a matter of properly configuring the ESP and UEFI boot variables to get all of the OS's working properly. Although the UEFI standard fully supports multiple operating systems in the ESP, Unbuntu is about the only one that properly implements the standard and unfortunately Microsoft and Apple pretty much stomp on everything much like the old issue with a single MBR

One issue I did find is that Windows 8 does not support the old UTC clock hack so booting between Windows and Linux causes time issues. I set Linux to use local time and that fixed it, but I have yet to see if OSX will support this mode.

[cyf]

I'm building Clover from source so ya, I'm beyond that I think my Clover customization is no longer allowing the OSX installer to complete (get the grey screen with beach ball) so I just have to fix that. Windows 8 will be no problem, its just a matter of properly configuring the ESP and UEFI boot variables to get all of the OS's working properly. Although the UEFI standard fully supports multiple operating systems in the ESP, Unbuntu is about the only one that properly implements the standard and unfortunately Microsoft and Apple pretty much stomp on everything much like the old issue with a single MBR

One issue I did find is that Windows 8 does not support the old UTC clock hack so booting between Windows and Linux causes time issues. I set Linux to use local time and that fixed it, but I have yet to see if OSX will support this mode.

 

I had same issues with the spinning ball for my recent (re)build and initially I had to just get OS X up, so I reverted to Chameleon for the install. However, I think how I got it to work on a subsequent reinstall was just to leave Clover to not do very much and it then came up -- I DID have to plug in a USB mouse though.

 

You will def. have OS X setting the clock to GMT. I tried using Clover's patch for RTC, but no joy so far. It's not on the list of priorities as I'm not multi-boot yet. This article touched on it, it seems:

 

http://www.insanelym...40#entry1863272

Edited November 20, 2012 by cyf

[r0ot]

friends, after update to 10.8.2 - no more audio, please help to restore the audio to ux31a (i've patched DSDT), but still no audio with AppleHDA.kext

[cyf]

friends, after update to 10.8.2 - no more audio, please help to restore the audio to ux31a (i've patched DSDT), but still no audio with AppleHDA.kext

 

Did you use the kexts in the first post? How did you patch your DSDT? Also, what devices show up under your Audio System Preferences?

[r0ot]

I've installed KEXT in first post for now in /Extra (no hda and ioaudio in /s/l/e) and found this https://docs.google....pXcTFZRHc#gid=3, so audio worked very well in 10.8.0, but i've done the update to 10.8.2 (stupid) and got broken with audio kexts.

 

So audio prefs in system profiler:

 

 

Devices:

 

AirPlay:

 

Default Output Device: Yes

Manufacturer: Apple Inc.

Output Channels: 2

Current SampleRate: 44100

Transport: AirPlay

 

 

AirPlay:

 

Default Output Device: Yes

Manufacturer: Apple Inc.

Output Channels: 2

Current SampleRate: 44100

Transport: AirPlay

 

 

 

Intel High Definition Audio:

 

Audio ID: 28

 

 

 

I don't know from what i've got the AirPlay, but i've done the replacement of wifi adapter to Atheros AR5B93

 

 

And if i install VoodooHDA, it find all - mic, audio + hdmi, but no sound from notebook speakers

[gsly]

You will def. have OS X setting the clock to GMT. I tried using Clover's patch for RTC, but no joy so far. It's not on the list of priorities as I'm not multi-boot yet. This article touched on it, it seems:

 

http://www.insanelym...40#entry1863272

That is for the issue where shutting down/sleeping OSX resets the CMOS memory to defaults and I don't think this is applicable to the Zenbook, although this did affect my Gigabyte board with psuedo-UEFI BIOS, however I have yet to test it with the latest beta full UEFI BIOS which has its bugs

 

Anyway, I haven't had time yet to get OSX installed but if I can't get OSX to understand local time vs. UTC, I may have a go at writing a UEFI module and an Clover interface/hook to allow the boot loader to deal with the time/clock before the OS gets to see it. That should solve that

[cyf]

Oops hit "post" too soon...

That is for the issue where shutting down/sleeping OSX resets the CMOS memory to defaults and I don't think this is applicable to the Zenbook, although this did affect my Gigabyte board with psuedo-UEFI BIOS, however I have yet to test it with the latest beta full UEFI BIOS which has its bugs

 

Anyway, I haven't had time yet to get OSX installed but if I can't get OSX to understand local time vs. UTC, I may have a go at writing a UEFI module and an Clover interface/hook to allow the boot loader to deal with the time/clock before the OS gets to see it. That should solve that

 

Ahh, thanks, that makes sense now. BTW, I can confirm that the lock of the PowerManagement is in the bios:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/278208-unlocking-the-new-asus-3xxx-sandyivy-bridge-bios/page__st__40

 

However, I can't seem to flash the modded bios--EZ Flash says it's an old bios (it says the same thing even if I try to flash the same version), and trying to flash using AFUDOS or the UEFI version will give errors. Not sure what to do next--maybe figure out a way to change the version so that EZ Flash thinks it's the latest?

 

This would be nice if I can flash it.

 

I've installed KEXT in first post for now in /Extra (no hda and ioaudio in /s/l/e) and found this https://docs.google....pXcTFZRHc#gid=3, so audio worked very well in 10.8.0, but i've done the update to 10.8.2 (stupid) and got broken with audio kexts.

 

I don't know from what i've got the AirPlay, but i've done the replacement of wifi adapter to Atheros AR5B93

 

And if i install VoodooHDA, it find all - mic, audio + hdmi, but no sound from notebook speakers

 

Yep, that's the sheet I created to store the DSDT patches I saw from this list. I have 10.8.2, but I put the enclosed kexts in /S/L/E and don't forget to repair permissions/rebuild cache. I enclose the DSDT I currently use--I have not created a custom one for my UX21A and thus this is one I got from this thread, so I think this should work for you.

DSDT.aml.zip

Archive.zip

[cyf]

Does the Atheros show up as an Airport card? I'm not sure what the difference is as to being a third-party or "native" card, but the Broadcom cards (

) are avail as half-mini-pci-e, and can be "rebranded" to be recognized as Airport cards.

[r0ot]

Oops hit "post" too soon...

 

 

Ahh, thanks, that makes sense now. BTW, I can confirm that the lock of the PowerManagement is in the bios:

 

http://www.insanelym...os/page__st__40

 

However, I can't seem to flash the modded bios--EZ Flash says it's an old bios (it says the same thing even if I try to flash the same version), and trying to flash using AFUDOS or the UEFI version will give errors. Not sure what to do next--maybe figure out a way to change the version so that EZ Flash thinks it's the latest?

 

This would be nice if I can flash it.

 

 

 

Yep, that's the sheet I created to store the DSDT patches I saw from this list. I have 10.8.2, but I put the enclosed kexts in /S/L/E and don't forget to repair permissions/rebuild cache. I enclose the DSDT I currently use--I have not created a custom one for my UX21A and thus this is one I got from this thread, so I think this should work for you.

 

Thanks man, audio worked in /s/l/e, but it's not working in /extra . I wonder if it possible to add mic to have the possibility talk by skype (it exist in system preferences, but not working correctly)

 

 

Does the Atheros show up as an Airport card? I'm not sure what the difference is as to being a third-party or "native" card, but the Broadcom cards (http://www.ifixit.co...Teardown/9457/2) are avail as half-mini-pci-e, and can be "rebranded" to be recognized as Airport cards.

 

This is native {s-h-i-t} - no KEXT added, no modification - AirDrop and WiFi ok