Special Notes

Hi

Glad that you are interested in this Wiki!

But if you're looking for a detailed tutorial, you've come to the wrong place. I built this bootloader configuration according to Dortania OpenCore Desktop Guide and didn't change much. This is a real pearl. Please read it over first if you have any trouble understanding what each entry means in config.plist.

Here I will only elaborate on what personalized changes I made that you may need to pay attention to before direct use, and problems I encountered and some of their solutions.

Before installing

Installation prepares are basically settings in BIOS. I stick to Dortania Guide except changing Fast Boot to Enabled. I will explain the reason later.

SETTINGS

• Advanced

  • PCI Subsystem Settings
    • Above 4G memory / Crypto Currency mining [Enabled]
  • Integrated Graphics Configuration
    • Initiate Graphic Adapter [PEG]
    • Integrated Graphics Share Memory [64M]
    • IGD Multi-Monitor [Eanbled]
  • USB Configuration
    • XHCI Hand-off [Enabled]
    • Legacy USB Support [Enabled]
  • Power Management Setup
    • Erp Ready [Enabled]
  • Windows OS Configuration
    • Windows 10 WHQL Support [Enabled]
    • MSI Fast Boot [Enabled] (will talk about it later)
  • Wake Up Event Setup
    • Wake Up Event By [BIOS]
    • Resume by USB Device [Enabled]
• Boot

  • GO2BIOS [Enabled] (in case you can't call out BIOS UEFI menu by keyboard)
  • Boot Mode Select [UEFI]

OC (Overclocking)

• CPU Features
  • Intel Virtualization Tech [Enabled]
  • Intel VT-D Tech [Disabled]
  • CFG Lock [Disabled]

When installing

There's nothing much to say, actually. The Dortania Guide already explained everything.

One more thing you should note is that an EFI partition should be over 200MiB. If you use a system such as Windows PE to make partitions, then 200MB is equivalent to 190MiB. The problem is that when the EFI partition on a hard drive is less than 200MiB, the format (erase) will report an error on macOS.

After installing

To achieve a better experience, I've changed a few things that are highly customized, basically not universal. You will need to customize it yourself by following guides or seek for help on forum. Direct use will often causes problems that are unexpected.

• EFI/OC/ACPI SSDT-PLUG.aml is a XCPM power management compatibility patch, and should be replaced with a file that matches your device. Find your own at OC-little.

• EFI/OC/Kexts CPUFriend.kext and CPUFriendDataProvider.kext are CPU power management data injections specific for my Intel i5-9400 chip. It allows my CPU to reach the normal frequency it should. Please delete or replace it if your CPU is not the same as mine.

• EFI/OC/Kexts USBPorts.kext and USBPower.kext are USB patches. One allows normal function and Apple quick charge of all USB port on my case for iMac19,1. You should consider deleting or replacing it since the USB ports on your case are barely the same as mine.

And when you finished, don't forget to make the corresponding changes in the config.plist.

Other issues you may get

• Holding option / alt / esc won't call out OpenCore Picker
  I'm not sure if this is some kind of conflict between OpenCore and MSI BIOS or keyboard, but every time the PC go through BIOS or UEFI Boot Options, the OpenCore hotkeys won't work unless you press hotkeys very fast repeatedly. That is why I enabled MSI Fast Boot in BIOS. After you enable that, manage to get into OpenCore Picker, and use control + enter to set a default boot option (AllowSetDefault should be set to true at first). Restart and you will probably find hotkeys are working normally.
  With MSI Fast Boot enabled, in case you won't be able to get into BIOS easily if you need to, please enable GO2BIOS in BIOS. This will give you access to BIOS by holding power button when turning on the PC.
  Update: This workaround will not be needed in OpenCore 0.6.1 as it has fixed this issue, allowing catching pressed keys ahead of the OC initialization.

• After booting Windows with OpenCore, I can't get into BIOS or get blackscreen when pressing F11
  As I said above, I'm not sure if this is a conflict between OpenCore and MSI BIOS. The best solution is to use GO2BIOS at startup, or shift + restart button in Windows to get into BIOS.
  Update: ResetSystem.efi tool now allows you to reboot into BIOS with argument Firmware.

• Model still not be recognized as a Mac even though using OpenCore to boot Windows
  Check if you have MSI software installed (e.g., Mystic Light or Dragon Center). Uninstall it or your motherboard may not be recognized as a Mac motherboard.
  Then check if PlatformInfo section is correctly set in config.plist. Or you may redo your configurations using OpenCorePkg releases. And make sure UpdateSMBIOSMode is NOT Custom, otherwise it won't take the SMBIOS infos into Windows.
  Reset NVRAM and reboot into macOS. If you can find BOOTCAMP in System Preference -> Startup Disk, then use it to reboot into Windows. If not, reboot directly from OpenCore into Windows. This may fix the issue.

• D:\ partition missing after I installed Boot Camp on Windows
  Boot Camp is meant for Apple Users to install Windows at first place. It is meant to use D:\ to store Windows Installer. So it's very easy to understand that it would "delete" the D:\ partition after Windows is installed. Simply use AOMEI Partition Manager Software to unhide the partition will work.