[ SOLVED ] MSI MEG UNIFY: ethernet + wifi dead

clover84

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UPDATE

Fixed all the issues. Steps:
1. Install Monterey with your current BIOS (important, with an old BIOS the Monterey installer GUI doesn't work due to AGESA issues), but don't launch it yet. Once you see the first Monterey welcome screen, just exit / reset.
2. Get BIOS version 7C35vA3 from 2020-01-16, flash it, setup properly (CSM→UEFI, Above 4G decoding→on, disable secure boot etc). It might work with Monterey installer too, but no guarantee (it didn't on my setup, thus I had to install the whole thing with a recent firmware).
3. Rebuild your SSDTs from Windows if needed after flashing BIOS.
4. Update OC for Monterey.
5. Launch Monterey. You should now have working PCI devices including built-in wifi, ethernet etc.

Shoutout to @yawlex on Discord for pointing me to the bios downgrade trick.

---
Hey all.

I've tried installing Monterey (12.2 and 12.2.1) a few times, via an update from Big Sur and by installing a fresh copy on a separate disk. The major problem I'm facing is that none of my network works, I have a Fenvi WiFi card and an RTL8125 ethernet. BigSur is my daily driver with no issues whatsoever.

Specs:
MB: MSI MEG UNIFY
CPU: Ryzen 7 3700X
OC: 0.7.8

Things I've tried:
  • Playing with config.plist and BIOS options
  • Updating BIOS to the latest version
  • Using config.plist values and ACPI files from here
  • Explicitly specifying PCI paths for Ethernet & WiFi copied from Hackintool
  • Enabling / disabling SIP options (I thought, the LucyRTL kext just wouldn't load)
  • IONetworkingFamily.kext & IOPCIFamily.kext from here (won't boot, OC can't find the path to extension) from here
@Shaneee everybody seems to believe that there are no issues with RTL8125 (Lucy kext), only with the Intel network cards. But here I am, I've spent a few days researching to find zero info / similar cases. Maybe you know smth :)
 
Last edited:

clover84

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(I assume, it's a PCI issue, but my skills don't allow me to figure this out)
 

Edhawk

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Some people has been able to install macOS Monterey on their MSI motherboards by downgrading their bios. Did you try this?

You are the first person I have seen report issues with the Realtek 2.5Gbe port and Lucy....kext. If this is the same issue others with an Intel 2.5Gbe device are facing, you will either need to add a macOS compatible Ethernet card or use a USB to ethernet adapter.

The alternative is to wait for MSI to fix the issues in their latest bios's. Or wait till a revised kext is released, which fixes this issue.

I have no idea why your Fenvi WiFi Card is not working, it should work out of the box with no need for any kexts, patches or other fixes.
 

clover84

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Some people has been able to install macOS Monterey on their MSI motherboards by downgrading their bios. Did you try this?

You are the first person I have seen report issues with the Realtek 2.5Gbe port and Lucy....kext. If this is the same issue others with an Intel 2.5Gbe device are facing, you will either need to add a macOS compatible Ethernet card or use a USB to ethernet adapter.

The alternative is to wait for MSI to fix the issues in their latest bios's. Or wait till a revised kext is released, which fixes this issue.

I have no idea why your Fenvi WiFi Card is not working, it should work out of the box with no need for any kexts, patches or other fixes.
Hey, thank you for for your reply :)

Yeah, I've installed 12.2.1 and then 12.3 beta 3, no problems here. Didn't have to downgrade the BIOS (and I find it a bit dangerous, wouldn't risk my mobo). Intel kexts and bluetooth related stuff is common, but not RTL8125 and Fenvi.

Here is a similar issue. But yeah, the weirdest part is that native Fenvi doesn't work either, there simply are no network interfaces. RTL8125 and Fenvi should work, Hackintool sees them both in the PCI section. Maybe it has to do with ACPI…
 

Edhawk

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Anything ACPI related is derived from the system Bios.

An updated or downgraded Bios for any motherboard will have different ACPI tables. As the changes the Bios manufacturer make will happen in the ACPI tables.

If you created custom SSDT's for your system, and subsequently update or downgrade your Bios, you should always create new custom SSDT's for your system. So they reflect any changes made in the alternative Bios.

Regarding your Fenvi card, you should look to see if adding AirportBrcmFixup.kext helps. The plugin AirPortBrcmNIC_Injector.kext, which AirportBrcmFixup.kext contains, should help. Just make sure you disable the other plugin, AirPortBrcm4360_Injector.kext. as that doesn't work in Big Sur or Monterey.

The easiest way to disable the injector kext is to set the MaxKernel entry for the kext to 19.9.9, this will limit the kext to working in macOS Catalina or older.

Here is a link to the kext - https://github.com/acidanthera/AirportBrcmFixup, the latest release is version 2.1.4.
 

clover84

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Anything ACPI related is derived from the system Bios.

An updated or downgraded Bios for any motherboard will have different ACPI tables. As the changes the Bios manufacturer make will happen in the ACPI tables.

If you created custom SSDT's for your system, and subsequently update or downgrade your Bios, you should always create new custom SSDT's for your system. So they reflect any changes made in the alternative Bios.

Regarding your Fenvi card, you should look to see if adding AirportBrcmFixup.kext helps. The plugin AirPortBrcmNIC_Injector.kext, which AirportBrcmFixup.kext contains, should help. Just make sure you disable the other plugin, AirPortBrcm4360_Injector.kext. as that doesn't work in Big Sur or Monterey.

The easiest way to disable the injector kext is to set the MaxKernel entry for the kext to 19.9.9, this will limit the kext to working in macOS Catalina or older.

Here is a link to the kext - https://github.com/acidanthera/AirportBrcmFixup, the latest release is version 2.1.4.
Thnx! I've tried with my custom SSDT and with a pre-built, with the same result.
Fenvi: tried playing with AirportBrcmFixup: with only NIC_Injector I have a kernel panic, with only 4360_Injector I'm able to boot, but it does nothing. Same result with just the Fixup kext enabled without plugins.

I've managed to see what's happening at least with LucyRTL8125 kext. It starts loading (saying don't support tonymacx86 lol), and then I see this:
ARPT: 4.567928: AirPortBrcm43xx::start: Failed PCIe configuration
PCI power management unsupported


My Fenvi is BCM4360. Quick googling doesn't bring any useful results. I guess, I'll just wait it out and see what progress OC and Apple make.
 

Edhawk

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These are the details of the Expansion slots on your motherboard:
  • 2x PCIe 4.0/ 3.0 x16 slots (PCI_E1, PCI_E3)
    • 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen™ support PCIe 4.0 x16/x0, x8/x8 modes
    • 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen™ support PCIe 3.0 x16/x0, x8/x8 modes
    • Ryzen™ 4000 G-Series support PCIe 3.0 x16/x0, x8/x8 modes
    • Ryzen™ with Radeon™ Vega Graphics and 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen™ with Radeon™ Graphics support PCIe 3.0 x8 mode1
  • 1x PCIe 4.0/ 3.0 x16 slot (PCI_E5, supports x4 mode)
  • 2x PCIe 4.0/ 3.0 x1 slots2
  1. PCI_E3 slot is only available for 2nd and 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen™ processors.
  2. The PCIe x1 slots can not be used simultaneously. PCI_E2 will be unavailable when installing the PCIe card in PCI_E4 slot.
  3. The speeds may vary for different devices
Your CPU is a 3rd Gen Ryzen, so should have all three of the longer PCIe 4.0/3.0 slots available.

Note No. 2 above is something to keep in mind, as the higher of the two PCIe x1 slots (PCI_E2) will be unavailable when the lower PCIe x1 slot (PCI_E4) is populated.

Do you have the PCI_E4 slot populated?
Which slot is the Fenvi card plugged in to?

Screenshot 2022-02-21 at 19.05.38.png MSI X570 Unify motherboard layout

Installing the Fenvi card in to the bottom PCIE x4 slot (PCI_E5) might be worth a try.
 

clover84

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These are the details of the Expansion slots on your motherboard:
  • 2x PCIe 4.0/ 3.0 x16 slots (PCI_E1, PCI_E3)
    • 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen™ support PCIe 4.0 x16/x0, x8/x8 modes
    • 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen™ support PCIe 3.0 x16/x0, x8/x8 modes
    • Ryzen™ 4000 G-Series support PCIe 3.0 x16/x0, x8/x8 modes
    • Ryzen™ with Radeon™ Vega Graphics and 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen™ with Radeon™ Graphics support PCIe 3.0 x8 mode1
  • 1x PCIe 4.0/ 3.0 x16 slot (PCI_E5, supports x4 mode)
  • 2x PCIe 4.0/ 3.0 x1 slots2
  1. PCI_E3 slot is only available for 2nd and 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen™ processors.
  2. The PCIe x1 slots can not be used simultaneously. PCI_E2 will be unavailable when installing the PCIe card in PCI_E4 slot.
  3. The speeds may vary for different devices
Your CPU is a 3rd Gen Ryzen, so should have all three of the longer PCIe 4.0/3.0 slots available.

Note No. 2 above is something to keep in mind, as the higher of the two PCIe x1 slots (PCI_E2) will be unavailable when the lower PCIe x1 slot (PCI_E4) is populated.

Do you have the PCI_E4 slot populated?
Which slot is the Fenvi card plugged in to?

View attachment 5229 MSI X570 Unify motherboard layout

Installing the Fenvi card in to the bottom PCIE x4 slot (PCI_E5) might be worth a try.
Eeeeha, we're going in-depth here! Yes, I have the card installed in the bottom-most slot (PCI_E5) and the gpu in the top slot (PCI_E1). The rest of the slots are empty :) BTW, I do have some options to control the PCI lanes in the BIOS, I'll take a look.
 

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Edhawk

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Installing the Fenvi card in PCI_E4 would be my first try. Then try PCI_E2. As your DGPU is a single width there will still be space between the DGPU and Fenvi card if it were installed in the top x1 slot.

I wouldn't populate PCI_E3 unless it was with another matching discrete GPU. As doing so might effect the performance of the GPU in slot PCI_E1. Making the GPU drop from 4.0 x16 speed down to 4.0 x8 speed.
 

clover84

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Installing the Fenvi card in PCI_E4 would be my first try. Then try PCI_E2. As your DGPU is a single width there will still be space between the DGPU and Fenvi card if it were installed in the top x1 slot.

I wouldn't populate PCI_E3 unless it was with another matching discrete GPU. As doing so might effect the performance of the GPU in slot PCI_E1. Making the GPU drop from 4.0 x16 speed down to 4.0 x8 speed.
Tried all of the slots, nope :/
Looked at my BIOS options, there's just PCI gen switch control (1—4) for PCI_E1 and PCI_E3, plus PCI_E1 lanes (x1, x4, x8 etc).
Staying on Big Sur. Don't need Monterey that much, just wanted to test the new Metal GPU rendering in Blender. It sucks, coz it's at a very early stage :)
 

Edhawk

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OK.

But just to clarify - the Fenvi card works in Big Sur, without any issues. In whichever slot you had it in previously. So it is definitely not a hardware issue with the Fenvi WiFi card and/or bluetooth module.
 

clover84

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OK.

But just to clarify - the Fenvi card works in Big Sur, without any issues. In whichever slot you had it in previously. So it is definitely not a hardware issue with the Fenvi WiFi card and/or bluetooth module.
Yes, exactly. It works in Big Sur placed in any slot. Also if I load up my Monterey config and launch Big Sur with it, it boots normally and has a working network. So it seems, it's a macOS issue (breaking kexts etc).
 

clover84

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Solved!
 

Edhawk

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clover84

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uzmi

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1. Instale Monterey con su BIOS actual (importante, con un BIOS antiguo, la GUI del instalador de Monterey no funciona debido a problemas de AGESA), pero no lo inicie todavía.​

Please be more explicit.
When it is installing, it reboots several times before reaching the setup screen.
If you continue you end up in Monterey initiated.
Thank you.
 

clover84

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Please be more explicit.
When it is installing, it reboots several times before reaching the setup screen.
If you continue you end up in Monterey initiated.
Thank you.
Hi!
Nothing terrible is going to happen if you launch Monterrey for the first time, it's just that you won't have any network capabilities. And if you're using an eth or wifi dongle, it will become en0 and you might mess up your smbios. But not necessarily. Anyways, I had more than unpleasant experience with this MSI board, so if you have an opportunity, get an Asus one ;) I ended up using 7C35vA3 BIOS (from early 2020).
 

clover84

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Ah, easy. Once you see the first Monterey welcome screen, just reboot to BIOS and flash the old firmware.
 

Ehnoah

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Can you go back to the latest BIOS after downgrading once, for the Setup?

Also, is there any huge benefit going for Montesery instead of staying on Big Sur?
 
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