[Help] Z170x-UD3 - Clover - Can't boot Catalina after BIOS update

-Gugus- · December 28, 2021

Hello everyone!

(putting this in the installation section since this pushed me back to being unable to boot from an install key)

I recently came across problems on one machine set up for a relative with MacOS only, set up some time ago and running its firmware version F4.

Using a NMVe drive to install Catalina the boot entries began to multiply at each boot (I don't have access to a Windows machine to clear that up the easy way) and shutdown was not happening anymore.

I decided to update the BIOS, checking that I had the proper kexts first (VirtualSMC, AppleALC, Lilu, WhateverGreen) to run properly.

Still, after a BIOS update, setting up again BIOS options, and a DSDT patching with SSDT file put in ACPI/patched, the Catalina partition boot is now just crashing at the Apple logo and the machine starts again.

Since it's doing the same on the Catalina USB installer partition (using roughly the same clover config), but I can boot just fine when using the High Sierra partition from the same Clover, I assume something is off with the EC spoofing for Catalina.

Using a burst shooting and the verbose mode, I could glimpse at the lines in the picture attached happening before the instant crash restart)

I assume the EC__ error line ( AE_ALREAD_EXIST) might be the culprit.

I am joining my EFI files with a Gdrive link, and I used Rehabman's latest SSDTTime script to generate the SSDT file from the DSDT generated by this clover install for the new BIOS. (F4 in Clover, then using the newly generated SSDT-EC.aml in ACPI/origin)

If someone has an idea about what I forgot, if there is a fix I don't know about in the Clover options to use since the BIOS update maybe added something about CSM or CFG options (I don't have access to a CSM option in this motherboard's BIOS), it would be of great help.

It sounds very strange that even with the DSDT file generation this boot just crashes when High Sierra has no problem whatsoever, so I am at a bit of a loss there.

Configuration:

clover 5103 running well with a custom USB map kext

GA z170x-UD3 (F22 now)

i5 6600k

NVMe SSD and USB install key with Catalina

SATA SSD with High Sierra

Clover flags: ACPI patch entry for potential ACPI crashes, H_EC to EC renaming patch (turning it off doesn't fix the issue), Fix Shutdown, HPET, IPIC, RTC and TMR, KernelPM, working iMac17,1 SMBIOS, no quirks checked.

Notable BIOS options setup: VT-d: disabled, Windows 8/10: other OS, IO serial port: disabled, Eprp: disabled, XHCI handoff: enabled

EFI: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pBxMG4ygCllGYFoOqa_ZQ-Bepnmo4whY/view?usp=sharing

Edited December 28, 2021 by -Gugus-