Windows 10 overrides OpenCore Picker - GA-Z97x-gaming 5

[nielsdolieslager]

Hi,
I have a Haswell system from 2014 working with OpenCore and Monterey! The Dortania guide helped me set it up.

I had a weird problem installing Monterey that I think is connected to the Picker problem. When I tried to install Monterey from the installation USB, I had no Apple keyboard, mouse or trackpad connected and the installation stopped, showing animated icons of mice and trackpads being switched on. I connected them but nothing happened.

When I restarted the computer and tried again with the trackpad and keyboard connected, it didn't recognize the installation USB anymore. It tried to boot from the internal SSD EFI, which had no OpenCore folder to boot from, so I got stuck.

I googled for solutions, I only learned it could be the NVRAM telling the computer to boot from the internal drive. I found no way to reset the NVRAM.

So I removed the SSD, put it in my other Hackintosh, mounted the EFI and put the OpenCore files on it. It worked, the computer booted from the EFI, started and completed the installer on the USB. After some fine tuning (proper settings for graphic card, onboard won't work, still don't have audio or wifi) I installed Windows 10 on another partition. I expected to see a sort of Picker, but I only had a horizontal list with text. I needed to press a number or letter to select an OS. How do you get the picker normally?

I need to start up with F12, select "UEFI OS", then OpenCore builds a list. I need to press the right key in a couple of seconds or it picks an OS for me.

Then I wanted to troubleshoot the audio and I put the original SSD back in. I forgot to remove the ethernet cable and it started updating Windows. After getting the information I needed with HWInfo64, I shut down the computer, removed the original SSD and put the OpenCore SSD back in. The computer skipped the list and went straight to Windows 10. If I tried selecting OpenCore, it said "no bootable device detected". I managed to boot from the installation USB one time, after that the computer wouldn't recognize it. I reset the CMOS RAM, no change.

I removed the SSD again, moved the Windows folders from the EFI and now I get the list again. I can boot in Monterey but not in Windows.

Next step I can think of is move the Windows folders back to see if it gets added to the list, but I'm afraid I'll get stuck on Windows forever.

Does anyone have any ideas on what goes wrong here?

 

[Middleman]

Hi there,

Sorry to hear about your issues.

First of all it’s not a good idea to remove any Windows folders from the drive. Modern Windows setups are tricky in that the boot EFI partition data is linked to the volume, could also be encrypted. Any changes you make such as physically ‘deleting’ the folder may cause more issues than they’re worth, worse case scenario could render your system unbootable. So in this instance I’d advise to put the Windows EFI back to its original spot.

Secondly, despite the age of your board Opencore should allow your system to boot from USB so there is no real need to remove the original Windows drive as it were (unless your BIOS is very old and totally refuses to let you boot externally). What should be done is that your main Windows EFI drive only contains the Microsoft folder whilst the Opencore drive contains the EFI/OC and EFI/Boot folders.

As to the boot picker issue, have a look and see if Picker mode for OC is set to External and not Builtin. If you want the graphical menu you’ll also need OpenCanopy.efi added to the OC/Drivers folder as well as having a fully filled OC/Resources folder for the boot icons.

As for resetting the NVRAM you need to add the ResetSystem.efi file from OC added to the Tools section and then have it enabled in the config.plist. By running ResetSystem.efi at the OC boot menu after pressing space bar it should clear your drive recognition issues.

For the USB issues I’d advise to use USBInjectAll.kext for starters before switching over to a custom map kext. If there are still USB device issues at boot try adding either OpenUSBKbDxe.efi or Ps2KeyboardDxe.EFI from the OC Drivers list. They are all found in the OC Release/X64/OC/Drivers folder.

And if you have problems editing with Plist Editor I’d advise to use Opencore Configurator or OCAT (Opencore Auxiliary Tool) to do the job. Just make sure the version of tool you’re using matches the version of OC you have on the EFI ie. 0.9.3.

 

[nielsdolieslager]

Thank you! It's working again. I should have mentioned I'm multibooting from one SSD.
I checked the guide for ResetSystem.efi and it mentioned I needed the ResetNvramEntry.efi driver for resetting NVRAM. I forgot about it, it said I didn't need it for installing, that's why I left it out. I'm not sure I need ResetSystem.efi now, the ResetNVRAM option showed up.

I decided to generate new Windows files for the EFI partition following this guide: https://woshub.com/how-to-repair-uefi-bootloader-in-windows-8/

I'm going to look into the graphical menu and OpenCanopy, thanks for pointing me in that direction. I also read the audio issues might also have to do with NVRAM, all layouts of AppleALC I tried in config.plist sounded equally bad. Only one speaker and mono headphones with weird phasing.

USB is working I think. The guide said I needed to map with USBToolbox before installing Monterey because USBInjectAll won't work since a certain Big Sur update.

I haven't tried editors you mention, are they better than ProperTree?

 

[Middleman]

Good to hear it’s working again! As for your issues:

1) I believe with OC 0.9.3 the issue of XHCIPortLimit has been fixed (quirk is working again), so if you are using the USBToolbox version you only need the UTBMap.kext OR default USBInjectAll.kext (along with SSDT-UIAC).

2) Yes I find them very helpful and they can be a lot more easier to use than a text editor. One bonus they have is that aside from (mostly having) the updated fields from a new release of OC they also have error-checking for the config.plist so even if you choose a wrong setting at least you know the syntax for it is correct.