I installed macOS on my factory PM981

[zacharysalvatore]

After tried several days and countless failures, I managed to install macOS 10.15.4 on my factory PM981.
Here's how i achieve this.

1. Do a fresh macOS installation on a supported ssd. (note: do not enter system for now)
2. Back up the volume partition using paragon hard disk manager.
3. Restore that backup image to PM981
4. Put "ssdt-nvme.aml" and "HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_6_sec2018-001.kext" to its corresponding folder and add those aml and kext to your config.plist.(Note: replace your nvme controller's ID to your own which can be found on Windows device manager).
5. Instert your bootable USB which containing opencore EFI to boot your system.
   
   
   

[tylernguyen]

@zacharysalvatore Thanks again for your contribution! It's a lot to ask after you have a stable system going. But it seems that the new NVMeFix should support installing macOS on the PM981. Could you please try going through the install again with NVMeFix and seeing if that also fixes the problem?

[tylernguyen]

See NVMeFix README.md line #6 for more details.

[zacharysalvatore]

@zacharysalvatore Thanks again for your contribution! It's a lot to ask after you have a stable system going. But it seems that the new NVMeFix should support installing macOS on the PM981. Could you please try going through the install again with NVMeFix and seeing if that also fixes the problem?

One thing I could confirm is that using NVMEFix1.0.2 without ssdt-nvme.aml and HackrNVMeFamily.kext result in failure installation.

I think I could try reinstall the whole OS after a full disk backup.

[tylernguyen]

@zacharysalvatore Thanks again for your contribution! It's a lot to ask after you have a stable system going. But it seems that the new NVMeFix should support installing macOS on the PM981. Could you please try going through the install again with NVMeFix and seeing if that also fixes the problem?

One thing I could confirm is that using NVMEFix1.0.2 without ssdt-nvme.aml and HackrNVMeFamily.kext result in failure installation.

I think I could try reinstall the whole OS after a full disk backup.

NVMeFix stable release is currently on 1.0.1

Did you compile your own NVMeFix?

Also, keep in mind that NVMeFix requires at least Lilu 1.4.1

[zacharysalvatore]

@zacharysalvatore Thanks again for your contribution! It's a lot to ask after you have a stable system going. But it seems that the new NVMeFix should support installing macOS on the PM981. Could you please try going through the install again with NVMeFix and seeing if that also fixes the problem?

One thing I could confirm is that using NVMEFix1.0.2 without ssdt-nvme.aml and HackrNVMeFamily.kext result in failure installation.
I think I could try reinstall the whole OS after a full disk backup.

NVMeFix stable release is currently on 1.0.1

Did you compile your own NVMeFix?

Also, keep in mind that NVMeFix requires at least Lilu 1.4.1

I use your Lilu which is 1.4.2.
In Anti-Hackintosh Buyers Guide says PM981 has been fixed with NVMeFix ver. 1.0.2.
I download NVMeFix ver 1.0.2 in OpenCore Vanilla Guide recommended Kext repo

[zacharysalvatore]

I think we could make it clear only by replica the whole installation process. As you say I'm now having a stable system going, it's a tough decision to do it again. But I think I could try backup my whole disk and try reinstall macOS when it's possible. I'll let you know after I get a final conclusion. Before that i think i'll close this issue.

[tylernguyen]

@zacharysalvatore Thank you again for your input! I would test it myself but I no longer have a PM981. Once you get the chance to reinstall with NVMeFix 1.0.2, please update the issue.

[Porco-Rosso]

I still have my PM981, although I am reluctant to switch back. What would I have to do besides clone my drive over to get this working? Used "ssdt-nvme.aml" and "HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_6_sec2018-001.kext" ?
One the flip side, I now feel stupid for not having waited a little longer. I could have saved a few hundred dollars :(

[zacharysalvatore]

I still have my PM981, although I am reluctant to switch back. What would I have to do besides clone my drive over to get this working? Used "ssdt-nvme.aml" and "HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_6_sec2018-001.kext" ?
One the flip side, I now feel stupid for not having waited a little longer. I could have saved a few hundred dollars :(

If you only have one ssd installed in your device then switch back your pm981 add ssdt-nvme.aml and HackrNvme***.kext and edit config.plist to your Opencore EFI bootable USB drive and try it out, it won't break your current ssd and system. I don't konw if your Nvme controller's ID is the same with mine. If so just use the file driectly, change to your Nvme controller's ID otherwise. I installed my macOS by restoring a successfuly installed pure system backup image to PM981. I don't know if it is working for fresh install on PM981 directly.

pm981fix.zip

[tylernguyen]

@Porco-Rosso If you would, try a fresh install using NVMeFix 1.0.2 without "ssdt-nvme.aml" and "HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_6_sec2018-001.kext" and see if that is sufficient.

[zacharysalvatore]

@Porco-Rosso If you would, try a fresh install using NVMeFix 1.0.2 without "ssdt-nvme.aml" and "HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_6_sec2018-001.kext" and see if that is sufficient.

I tried before. It results a failure.

[tylernguyen]

@zacharysalvatore Do you have the specific log output?

[zacharysalvatore]

@zacharysalvatore Do you have the specific log output?

Unfortunately I forgot to save log files.

[tylernguyen]

@zacharysalvatore If you can, please try to capture the kernel panic logs when trying to install with NVMeFix 1.0.2

If we have the kernel panic logs, we can open an issue with dev team to have it fixed.

[zacharysalvatore]

With the release of NVMeFix ver 1.0.2 (not dev version), I tried it out and the result is that with this i could boot successfully to OS without the help of ssdt-nvme.aml and HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_6_sec2018-001.kext.
In README of NVMeFix states that

If active power management initialisation is successful, an NVMePMProxy entry will be created in the IOPower IORegistry plane with IOPowerManagement dictionary.

However I can't find NVMePMProxy entry in my IOPower IORegisty plane. And my APST state is true as I don't know where to and how to specify ps-max-latency-us = 0 correctly. I think with the lack of NVMePMProxy is the reason why high PKG > 2 when idle.

I tried to specify this property here but in vain.

sorry about this screenshot. it should be under IONVMeController and there's a apst = true in that plane:

This is NVMe state with the help of ssdt-nvme.aml and HackrNVMeFamily-10_12_6_sec2018-001.kext. Even without apst Property.

[tylernguyen]

@zacharysalvatore I'm glad that PM981 finally boot without anything else. I will modify the guide to note that a drive replacement is no longer necessary.

Regarding NVMePMProxy, per NVMeFix 1.0.2 changelog:
"Only enable active NVMe power management for controllers that do not support APST"
Since apst is true for the PM981, NVMePMProxy will not appear.

If apst is working properly, I suggest that you do not swtich to active NVMe power management. However, should you wish to, you need to find the device path of the PM981, then creating a dictionary for it under Device Properties, similar to the video and audio device. This is where you can set ps-max-latency-us = 0.

[zacharysalvatore]

@zacharysalvatore I'm glad that PM981 finally boot without anything else. I will modify the guide to note that a drive replacement is no longer necessary.

Regarding NVMePMProxy, per NVMeFix 1.0.2 changelog:
"Only enable active NVMe power management for controllers that do not support APST"
Since apst is true for the PM981, NVMePMProxy will not appear.

If apst is working properly, I suggest that you do not swtich to active NVMe power management. However, should you wish to, you need to find the device path of the PM981, then creating a dictionary for it under Device Properties, similar to the video and audio device. This is where you can set ps-max-latency-us = 0.

I've found where to add ps-max-latency-us = 0 property. However, APST is still on.

[tylernguyen]

@zacharysalvatore Maybe I am reading NVMeFix's documentation wrong. But that seems like a bug with NVMeFix. Please open an issue with acidanthera's bugtracker https://github.com/acidanthera/bugtracker/issues

[zacharysalvatore]

@zacharysalvatore Maybe I am reading NVMeFix's documentation wrong. But that seems like a bug with NVMeFix. Please open an issue with acidanthera's bugtracker https://github.com/acidanthera/bugtracker/issues

issues #830 is created.

[07151129]

@tylernguyen

@zacharysalvatore I'm glad that PM981 finally boot without anything else. I will modify the guide to note that a drive replacement is no longer necessary.

Note that prior testing is still recommended: some users report that the patch does not help them. However, it always worked on our test machines.

[zacharysalvatore]

@tylernguyen

@zacharysalvatore I'm glad that PM981 finally boot without anything else. I will modify the guide to note that a drive replacement is no longer necessary.

Note that prior testing is still recommended: some users report that the patch does not help them. However, it always worked on our test machines.

With NVMeFix alone will boot macOS on PM981 doesn’t mean it could help during fresh installation. I’ll test a fresh installation next week when I got time.

[antoniomcr96]

I have a laptop (Lenovo L390) with PM981 drive. I tried to do a fresh install of Catalina with NVMeFix. I attached the result.
I can't even get it to boot with SSDT-Nvme and HackrNvme Kext. So I'm not sure this is the main problem but it's the only option.

[07151129]

@antoniomcr96 are you sure this is caused by the disk?

[antoniomcr96]

@antoniomcr96 are you sure this is caused by the disk?

Tried different versions of CLOVER and OC, with the help of someone certainly more experienced than me but we haven't found any possible reason. I manage to solve "AppleNVMe Assert failed" with SSDT-NVMe but it doesn't boot. It's the only explanation at the moment, but if someone succed to install Catalina with just NVMeFix.kext I'll be sure my problem is another one. Unfortunally nobody have ever done a project on this laptop. This is my contribute for now about fresh installing Catalina on PM981 drive

[07151129]

My question was if this issue is specific to PM981, so does swapping to another NVMe model work? "Fixing" the failing assert does not make sense, it's not an error and is expected for non-apple computers.

[antoniomcr96]

My question was if this issue is specific to PM981, so does swapping to another NVMe model work? "Fixing" the failing assert does not make sense, it's not an error and is expected for non-apple computers.

Thanks for the excellent clarification. It’s my second hackintosh project so I don’t have a lot of experience, and I have been trying to “fix” things for days . Unfortunately at the moment I don’t have another NVMe but I’m planning to buy. Discovering if this is the real problem could help me to make a choice, so I’m waiting for news by someone else who tries a fresh install :)

[zacharysalvatore]

@Ranguvar THX. Already removed my own SMBIOS info from config.plist and uploaded.

[tylernguyen]

@zacharysalvatore Thank you again for helping out.
@Ranguvar Please stress test it as much as possible. Also, please check the difference between his EFI and yours. I want to know what's going on particularly.

[thalatamsainath]

@zacharysalvatore Interesting, thank you.
You're also on an X1C6 type KH?
Would you mind sharing your EFI for me to play with?
I was about to give up and copy all data to another SSD.

Also I'm on a Zenbook and not a X1. But the drive is PM981.

@zacharysalvatore Thank you again for helping out.
@Ranguvar Please stress test it as much as possible. Also, please check the difference between his EFI and yours. I want to know what's going on particularly.

Hi. I have been using PM981 as dd and haven't faced a single issue and have performed stress test and also written and read over 300 GB over the past few days. Everything seems to work just fine.

[sirepson]

It's support to system update?

[tylernguyen]

It's support to system update?

Good question. @Ranguvar @FlasHRender @zacharysalvatore Can you guys confirm if this installation method can survive a macOS update?

[Ranguvar]

I'm perhaps not the best to test as I've been having occasional failures to boot - likely kernel panic, haven't had time to investigate.

Still, I tried updating from 10.15.4 to 10.15.5, PM981 and all. I left it to reboot itself and eventually came upon this error.

I'm now trying to reboot again and it seems to be kicking back to the update installer. It now says 40+ minutes remaining, just as it did at one point before.

I don't expect this to work, but not I'm sure if it will be different for you folks unfortunately. Thanks to the beautiful and comprehensive work by @tylernguyen and @zacharysalvatore all the same, because having this nearly perfect did convince me for now to pick up a MacBook Pro, largely for the trackpad. I'll probably try this again on the 2230 NVMe drive I just got soon.

[tylernguyen]

@Ranguvar Good to have you here.

And yeah, seems like the PM981 will always be somewhat problematic, so users might be just better off with an aftermarket NVMe drive.

Regarding the touchpad, VoodooSMBUS should be getting an update soon that improves the touchpad performance on the x1c6. You should watch for it and try it once it's released.

[zacharysalvatore]

Mine is stuck with the same error as @Ranguvar right now.

[tylernguyen]

@zacharysalvatore Thank you for your input. I will update the repo with comments on this issue regarding the PM981 and make a recommendation for an after market NVMe instead.

[zacharysalvatore]

I did nothing except reset NVRAM and select update installer at bootloader screen then SUCCESS!
@tylernguyen @Ranguvar

[GUNNERSx]

hi there... My first hackingtosh projet...
@zacharysalvatore i have the PM981 tried do fresh install no luck :(
I follow your tuto and have all ready the backup with paragon and nvme controller's ID from windows.
But i don't understand how to 👉"add those aml and kext to your config.plist" or i've just to move them in CLOVER/ACPI/PATCHED and CLOVER/KEXT/OTHERS
My laptop's config: DELL PRECISION 5520 / CPU i7 7820HQ / Graphics HD630/NVIDIA M1200 / PM981 1To / 32Go Ram/.
I' m using CLOVER for install...
Any help's welcome...

[zacharysalvatore]

@GUNNERSx Use OC config to do this. I’m not familiar with clover.

[thalatamsainath]

1. I would not suggest PM981 install for anyone who is doing this for the first time.
2. PM981 installs are not stable and have sleep issues.
3. Just get a new drive or use windows, unless you are experienced enough to actually get everything working.

[gplast]

Hello @zacharysalvatore,

Can you please specify how exactly did you manage to backup the drive that you install mac os? Unfortunately my work gave me a PM981 with windows installed and i'm doing everything that i can in order to avoid deleting windows on the drive. I even put the drive on different laptop just to confirm that it was actually the disk.

So my question is, i installed MacOS on a usb Drive and i would like to backup that and restore it on the internal drive. I copy the partition using MiniTool Partition but it seems that is not working, since i have problem booting into the drive.

Thank you very much for all the help!

[zacharysalvatore]

Hello @zacharysalvatore,

Can you please specify how exactly did you manage to backup the drive that you install mac os? Unfortunately my work gave me a PM981 with windows installed and i'm doing everything that i can in order to avoid deleting windows on the drive. I even put the drive on different laptop just to confirm that it was actually the disk.

So my question is, i installed MacOS on a usb Drive and i would like to backup that and restore it on the internal drive. I copy the partition using MiniTool Partition but it seems that is not working, since i have problem booting into the drive.

Thank you very much for all the help!

Installing on PM981 could be quite troublesome though it do come to success eventually. Running macOS on PM981 is quite stable, but it usually causes problems when updating system. So I bought a WD ssd once and for all. I’ll write a step by step tutorial and post here.

[thalatamsainath]

As @zacharysalvatore mentioned its just better to get a cheap replacement for the drive. I got myself a Silicon Power 34A80 1TB drive with SMI SM2262EN and Intel flash. It works OOB and way lower power consumption and is much faster than PM981.

[gplast]

I completely agree with you, the only problem is that this is my work laptop, so i'm not allowed to open it (i already did that just to confirm that was an SSD error and it is) so i don't want to replace the drive, and i spend the last week trying everything just to find a workaround.

I tried to install it using VMware on a USB drive, then boot to linux and use dd to copy the drive into an empty partition, but it seems that is not booting from the drive, only when i have the USB connected is trying to boot but again it freezes at some point.

I think that i'm missing something when i'm cloning the drive, thats why i'm asking a clarification about this step :)

If that was my personal laptop (i have a Mi Notebook pro and i actually replace my drive with a 960 Pro, re-paste it with liquid metal etc.) I would definitely replace the drive at once.

Thank you for your replies!

[antoniomcr96]

Managed to install! I used VirtualBox with a virtual disk linked to a physical drive (external USB drive). Then I booted with OpenCore from external drive.
Even though I'm not booting from the NVME PM981 itself I saw random kernel panic on boot related to "com.apple.iokit.IONVMeFamily". I took some pictures. I'm only using NvmeFix.kext.

Then I cloned the partition. At first I tried to use gparted, system didn’t boot. Then as suggested in #43 (comment) I used paragon disk manager. System boots, it’s overall stable but there are random kernel panic sometimes on boot that I can’t reproduce. (I have some photos if useful) I see panics also on shutdown and reboot, and sometimes if I copy large files.

This disk isn’t the best choice and I think that the best idea is to replace it.

Big Sur doesn’t seem to improve the situation.

EDIT: probably last. Just out of curiosity I tried this patch: acidanthera/bugtracker#780 (comment) So I recloned the partition from the external drive.
Well, less kernel panics but the system is not usable. Disk benchmark shows 20-30mb write speed and the boot takes 2 minutes. Opening apps is also extremely slow.

I think that @07151129 you’re on the right road. I hope the disc is therefore not abandoned, there’s still hope. At the moment I would suggest to try to sell it, though.

[Kaijun]

Hi all,

i'm using pm981(MZVLB512HAJQ-000L7) only with NVMeFix

BigSur installaer can recognize my ssd and partitions, but it always stuck at '14 minutes remaining' and then freeze.

should i use the recover method to install?

BTW, is the latesst NVMeFix already enough for the hack? or should i also have ssdt-nvme.aml and HackrNVMeFamily.kext in addition?

[antoniomcr96]

Hi all,

i'm using pm981(MZVLB512HAJQ-000L7) only with NVMeFix

PM981 at the moment doesn’t work and hasn’t ever worked. I tried many times with Big Sur. I finally replaced the disk.

You can choose:

1. Remove the NVMe drive and install Big Sur on an external usb drive (probably with a virtual machine). Then boot from it.
2. Replace the disk with something that surely works with macOS

[tylernguyen]

As @antoniomcr96 stated,

Though the process is possible with various workarounds. I don't really recommend it as it can be quite troublesome, buggy, and overall not very well supported by the community. I suggest you get a more compatible drive and resell your PM981.

[Kaijun]

Hi all,
i'm using pm981(MZVLB512HAJQ-000L7) only with NVMeFix

PM981 at the moment doesn’t work and hasn’t ever worked. I tried many times with Big Sur. I finally replaced the disk.

You can choose:

1. Remove the NVMe drive and install Big Sur on an external usb drive (probably with a virtual machine). Then boot from it.
2. Replace the disk with something that surely works with macOS

@antoniomcr96 @tylernguyen

for now, i have to use this shitty PM981 to build my hack. 😢

as @antoniomcr96 did in comment #43 (comment) , I installed BigSur on my another hackintosh build and backup the disk with paragon software. then restore back to PM981 on windows.

However, it seems that opencore can not recognize the restored disk. do you know why?
I am using NVMeFix without any other Kext/DSDT, and opencore can recognize the USB Installer indeed.

[antoniomcr96]

However, it seems that opencore can not recognize the restored disk. do you know why?
I am using NVMeFix without any other Kext/DSDT, and opencore can recognize the USB Installer indeed.

Honestly I can’t help you. I did exactly the same except for the fact that I didn’t create an intermediate image file, but instead I did a direct copy from a disk to the other one with paragon software in windows.

However, since I (and, like me, other users) have wasted a lot of time trying to make the disk work, it is honestly not worth it. The system will probably boot but you will have constant kps and slowdowns. It is a waste of time, at least in this moment.

Buy a cheap 256gb NVMe drive if you can (except Intel 600p, another drive that gives problems)

[alexdrean]

@Kaijun I really, really don't recommend going the PM981 route. You get it working and next thing you know it kernel panics at boot. Wasted a month trying every possible workaround... which always seems to work until it doesn't.
256/512/1024 GB SX6000 is $35/45/90 on Amazon. Will be well-spent money unless some hackintosh whizz can figure out what is wrong between that drive and OS X.

[Kaijun]

@Kaijun I really, really don't recommend going the PM981 route. You get it working and next thing you know it kernel panics at boot. Wasted a month trying every possible workaround... which always seems to work until it doesn't.
256/512/1024 GB SX6000 is $35/45/90 on Amazon. Will be well-spent money unless some hackintosh whizz can figure out what is wrong between that drive and OS X.

thank you sir. i just bought a new SSD now all things work flawlessly.

i also recommend people who are still struggling to make macos work on your shitty PM981, just buy a new NVMe SSD!

[oq-x]

Where do I get ssdt-nvme and the kext?