The Gigabyte Z490 Gaming X can easily be hackintoshed using OpenCore. This was a very simple build, minimal in hardware and easy to set up. As I am on a LAN line, I do not use (nor will I cover) Wifi and Bluetooth neither of which come with the motherboard but you can easily purchase an add-on card solution if needed.
Hardware:
Gigabyte Z490 Gaming X (ATX)
Intel i7 10700
Stock Cooler
16GB G.Skill Ripjaws V DDR4-3600 PC4-28800 CL16
Samsung EVO+ 500GB NVMe
Sapphire RX580 (1xDVI, 2xDP, 2xHDMI)
Corsair TX650W PSU (I am re-using this PSU from a previous build)
NZXT H510 Case
DISCLAIMER: The files I provide are specific to the hardware list (in particular the Graphics Card and Motherboard). The Sapphire RX580 is a graphics card (GPU) recommended by Apple and supported in macOS Catalina and newer. If you choose a different GPU and/or motherboard variant, you will have to do your own research as to how to make them work properly.
Working:
Ethernet
Audio (AppleALC)
Sleep / Wake
Not Working:
iGPU (I have not tried to make this work)
What you will need:
**April 5, 2021 EFI is updated to OpenCore v0.6.8 (see attached file). Catalina users MUST replace the config.plist with the included Catalina config file.
- At least a 16GB Thumb Drive
- A copy of Mac OS X Big Sur or Mac OS X Catalina Installer
- EFI folder – Use my attached EFI or create your own using the Dortania’s OpenCore Install Guide –https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Install-Guide/
- A utility app to mount disk partitions. I use EFI Agent – https://github.com/headkaze/EFI-Agent/releases
- Will also need something to generate MLB, SystemSerialNumber and SystemUUID to fix iServices. I use GenSMBIOS – https://github.com/corpnewt/GenSMBIOS
- Hackintool – https://github.com/headkaze/Hackintool/releases
- kext – https://github.com/Sniki/OS-X-USB-Inject-All/releases
- ProperTree – https://github.com/corpnewt/ProperTree for editing OpenCore config file.
- OpenCore config.plist Sanity Checker: https://opencore.slowgeek.com a great tool to use for checking and catching issues.
Create the Installer:
My Gigabyte Z490 Gaming X EFI was made from scratch using the sample config and Dortania’s OpenCore Install Guide. I do recommend going through the guide and creating your own. It is very well documented and you will gain the knowledge. However, if you just want to get going, I have attached my files below. Note that my EFI includes port mapping and that I have taken out my serial numbers as you will want to generate your own (both subjects covered later in this post).
- Make sure the Big Sur or Catalina installer is in your applications folder.
- Make a bootable Thumb drive using DiskUtility and format the thumb drive to Mac OS Extended Journaled, GUID partition.
- For Big Sur run the following Apple command in the terminal app to create the install media (replace MyVolume with your thumb drive name).
Code:
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia –volume /Volumes/MyVolume - For Catalina run the following Apple command in the terminal app to create the install media (replace MyVolume with your thumb drive name).
Code:
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume
- After that is done, will need to mount the EFI partition of the installer thumb drive. Launch EFIAgent and use it to mount the partition.
- Now copy the OpenCore EFI folder that you created or downloaded to the thumb drives EFI partition.
** IMPORTANT NOTE FOR CATALINA: You may encounter an error within the installation process saying “this installation is damaged”, so it is best to fix this beforehand. You will need to delete Installinfo.plist file from the installer disk:
- Open the “Install macOS Catalina” Disk (your thumb drive)
- Right Click on the package “Install macOS Catalina”
- Click on “Show Package Contents”
- Go to Contents/SharedSupport folder
- Delete the Installlnfo.plist file
For the Gigabyte motherboards, on boot screen press the DELETE key to enter the bios. You can toggle simple and advanced by pressing the F2 key. We need advanced.
Go to Save & Exit and select Load Optimized Defaults
Go to Favorites:
- Set Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P) - Profile 1
- CSM Support - Disabled
- VT-d - Disabled
- Initial Display Output - PCIe 1 (I am using a graphics card/not iGPU)
- Initial Graphics - Enabled (not Auto)
- Above 4G Decoding - Enabled
- XHCI Hand-Off - Enabled
Go to Boot - CSM Support - Disabled
Save & Exit
* If you have a newer bios version and the above did not work for you, check this post by lifteri for alternative settings.
Installing Mac OS X:
You should now be able to boot from the installer thumb drive. Start your computer and press F12 when the Gigabyte logo appears for the boot menu. Choose your thumbdrive to boot from and then you will see the OpenCore boot list in the upper left corner of the screen. Use the up/down arrow to select “Install Mac OS X Big Sur” (or Catalina). Once the installer comes up, you will need to format your internal HD… I used APFS/GUID on my internal NVMe. The installer will run and there will be restarts during the installation process, make sure it restarts from the thumb drive except on the final restart which should be your internal HD (NVMe).
When you boot Mac OS X, you will get the usual black screen with the Apple logo and loading bar… then you may get a black screen no logo (don’t panic) give it a moment and you will see the logo again or it will just get right into the desktop. This is normal.
Post Install:
At this point you may need to set one thing to get audio. Go system preferences > Sound and set output to internal speakers which would be the GREEN output from the rear IO of the computer.
Also go to System Preferences and set the Startup Disk to your internal HD. This will also set the default selection in the list when OpenCore boots so you don’t have to choose it every time.
Now we need the EFI folder on the internal HD to boot from it… Mount your internal HD’s EFI partition and then mount your installer thumb drive EFI partition. Copy the EFI folder from the thumb drive EFI partition to the internal hard drive EFI partition. Restart and it should boot from the internal HD.
Get iServices working:
You will need to generate your own serials for MLB, SystemSerialNumber and SystemUUID. You can generate them using GenSMBIOS and then copy/paste the info into the config.plist under PlatformInfo (see images below).
- Mount your HD’s EFI partition to access and edit your config file (EFI/OC/config.plist).
- Go to GenSMBIOS folder that you downloaded from the "What you will need" section.
- Run “GenSMBIOS.command” from it’s folder and it will launch in the terminal. Follow the instructions below…
- Type 3 (Generate SMBIOS) and hit enter.
- For Big Sur Type iMac20,1 3 (we want to use iMac 20,1 and the 3 is for the number of results. You can generate more than 3 if you want. This is in case one does not work out, you can try another. Hit enter. ** IMPORTANT NOTE for Catalina you must use iMac19,1 or it will not boot. iMac19,1 can also boot Big Sur if you want that SMBIOS.
- Copy and paste the results to a text file or keep the window open for now.
When you generate your SN, you should check it first to make sure it is not in use.
Go to: https://checkcoverage.apple.com
Input your SN and if you get “We’re sorry, but this serial number isn’t valid. Please check your information and try again.” then that means you can use it.
Open the config.plist file using TextEdit. Next type command F (for find) and type platforminfo in the search field, hit enter. See the screen shot below and copy the generated info into place. Enter your MLB which is the Board Serial, System Serial (serial) and UUID.
**Remember to use iMac19,1 for Catalina for the SystemProductName.
Then make sure to save the file. Restart your hackintosh and iServices should be working.
USB Port Mapping:
The Gigabyte Z490 Gaming X has the following:
On the Motherboard: One 3.1 Gen Type A header and One 2.0/1.1 header
On the back panel (IO): Two USB 2.0 and Six USB 3.2 ports
The port limitation in Mac OS X is 15. USB 2.0 ports count as 1 and USB 3.x count as 2 each. I used Hackintool to identify and create my USBPorts.kext
In the images below all the ports are tagged appropriately but depending on your needs you may have to change which ports you disable. I chose to disable the two top USB 2.0 ports on the back IO. I plan on installing an NZXT Kraken cooler in the future and will need the internal USB 2.0 header on the motherboard for that. And since my build is in a NZXT H510 case, I will need the motherboard's 3.1 header for the front panel USB 3.1 port. Note there is no USB Type C header on this motherboard, so for the H510 case, I had to just leave that unplugged and tucked away. I don't have type C devices but if you do there are variations of this motherboard that have it (as well as some other solutions like PCIe cards and header converters).
If you want to map your own ports, Hackintool is the easiest way to do so. Place USBInjectAll.kext in your EFI Kext folder (remove my USBPorts.kext) and update the config file under “Kernel” accordingly.
Restart your computer and then run Hackintool. Now check the images shown above for port id's and individually delete the ports you will not use under USB in the Hackintool list (see image below). Remember 15 is the limit! when you have 15 showing in Hackintool list, click the export icon at the bottom and some files will be saved to the destination you choose (desktop). You will only need the kext file. Install the kext file into your EFI>Kext Folder and remove USBInjectAll.kext, update your config file to reflect the change… restart your computer.
Final Notes Aug 2020:
I am coming off a 14-year-old Hackintosh that has served me well (I was capped out at El Capitan). The Intel 10th gen stock cooler is a little bigger than previous models and is OK for now… it has been usually very quiet for me. Will replace it in the future if need be. The Sapphire RX580 is great, it’s fans hardly ever come on. They do run at start up. I have read that most modern GPU’s will control the fans as needed, but I wanted to see for myself and so I ran a little program called GPUTest to push it and the fans did work perfectly under load (also very quiet).
I am very happy with this build as it meets my needs… graphic design, illustration, digital painting, some website building and lately a lot of writing. My budget was $1,000 USD but I came in at $780 USD.
Update Dec 2020: I have since adding another NVMe drive, a new keyboard… Royal Kludge RK68 and AJazz AJ390 Mouse.
Performance:
I am a complete novice on testing but here are some initial results (From August 2020 under macOS Catalina).
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