jwmann Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Hi There, If this is in the incorrect forum, please let me know. I have a Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 and I'm currently using its stock BIOS I'm fortunate to have the option to upgrade to a UEFI firmware - http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3973&dl=1#bios The reason this possibility came to my attention was when I ran into a bootloader issue with my Radeon 7950 card not playing nicely with Chameleon. I read that Clover is considered a better option; It took me a great deal of time to figure out that the 'EFI' bootloader doesn't work on my regular BIOS mobo. (facepalm) However I discovered that they have a legacy boot version of Clover. So I'm currently running on that. From what I'm able to discover, UEFI to a certain extent doesn't require a DSDT.aml Would it be a good decision to move to UEFI? What challenges would I face? What advantages would I gain? Would this affect my Windows partition? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k3nny Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Hi, the main question is if you are satisfied with the setup you got right now or if you want to change something. Possible advantages that I see, are: - ultra fast boot function of Windows 8 - fixed startup issues of your video card The UEFI firmware should have an option to chose the startup mode. Optimally it is full UEFI mode meaning you will not have any legacy BIOS support which in turn means a much faster boot time. However, you will only be able to boot efi applications. The Windows partition in its current state won't be bootable for example as it lacks an efi boot loader. Same goes for all attached devices like thumb drives. Your video card will need an EFI compatible vbios which might be available as an official update from the manufacturer or you can alternatively create your own. As an alternative you can chose a compatibility mode which will enable legacy BIOS support and all of the options not available in pure UEFI mode listed above. This will affect boot time, though. With all that in mind, you will be able to setup Windows 8 in EFI mode and take advantage of its ultra fast boot function. The UEFI firmware won't have any impact on the DSDT. You will still need the same patches, except if it is shipped with an updated, more Mac compatible DSDT. Last but not least you might be able to fix the startup issues you might have noticed with the HD 7950 using Clover in UEFI mode together with an EFI compatible vbios. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwmann Posted March 25, 2013 Author Share Posted March 25, 2013 Hi, the main question is if you are satisfied with the setup you got right now or if you want to change something. Possible advantages that I see, are: - ultra fast boot function of Windows 8 - fixed startup issues of your video card The UEFI firmware should have an option to chose the startup mode. Optimally it is full UEFI mode meaning you will not have any legacy BIOS support which in turn means a much faster boot time. However, you will only be able to boot efi applications. The Windows partition in its current state won't be bootable for example as it lacks an efi boot loader. Same goes for all attached devices like thumb drives. Your video card will need an EFI compatible vbios which might be available as an official update from the manufacturer or you can alternatively create your own. As an alternative you can chose a compatibility mode which will enable legacy BIOS support and all of the options not available in pure UEFI mode listed above. This will affect boot time, though. With all that in mind, you will be able to setup Windows 8 in EFI mode and take advantage of its ultra fast boot function. The UEFI firmware won't have any impact on the DSDT. You will still need the same patches, except if it is shipped with an updated, more Mac compatible DSDT. Last but not least you might be able to fix the startup issues you might have noticed with the HD 7950 using Clover in UEFI mode together with an EFI compatible vbios. Wow, It didn't even occur to me that all the components that seem to work during boot- only work because of their built-in support. I didn't even know that Windows 8 had a super fast EFI mode. Fast boot times aren't really a high priority for me however it is nice to have. I've been following the '7xxx remove sleep trick' thread and it was actually your post that lead me to investigate this UEFI option: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/285756-hd-7xxx-can-we-eliminate-the-sleep-trick/page__st__60#entry1887341 I was largely considering replicating that. This is my exact GPU - http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4366#dl It doesn't seem to have a VBIOS EFI update as you mention so perhaps I could do as you mentioned and have a UEFI firmware motherboard except have Legacy support for devices that doesn't yet support EFI? (sacrificing boot-time) Are there things I'd need to change on my OSX setup prior to upgrading my motherboard to UEFI? I'd imagine I'd have to switch my Clover Bootloader to the UEFI option first. Is there anything I should look out for? I really appreciate your response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k3nny Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Keeping legacy support enabled will allow you to run your current setup without any changes, including Clover. Afterwards you can install Clover in UEFI mode on a thumb drive and test it without modifying anything on the hard drive. Feel free to write me if you need help with the vbios modifications by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3.14r2 Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 UEFI can potentially be useful if you intend to have GPT disk for Windows 7 x64. This may also effect how much partitions can be created on a disk (MBR is far less flexible in this regard). My few coins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slice Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 UEFI is a future given us today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwmann Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 Keeping legacy support enabled will allow you to run your current setup without any changes, including Clover. Afterwards you can install Clover in UEFI mode on a thumb drive and test it without modifying anything on the hard drive. Feel free to write me if you need help with the vbios modifications by the way. Awesome, Thanks! So I've just fully migrated to UEFI with CSM(Legacy Mode) It took me a little while to get UEFI clover setup to boot OSX because I forgot to delete my previous DSDT.aml (also not realizing I was trying to boot into my Hackintosh drive and not my Flash drive) As for the GPU (I apologize for the topic deviation) I wouldn't have the slightest clue on where to begin to create this VBIOS for my GPU; Perhaps you could head me the right direction? I'll PM you so that the topic stays true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dradis Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 I would also like to know about creating the EFI VBIOS. There doesnt seem to be one available for my ATI HD5750. Any help would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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