I found some answers! Instead of rebooting/panic now it boots into the graphic mode/High Sierra installation
- Vt-D isn't the same as vPro and it's OK to leave vPro enabled in the bios
- I videoed the kernel panic and found that Lilu (1.2) was in the backtrace. I downloaded the latest Lilu release from github then found the Lilu.kext directory in EFI/CLOVER.
There were two identical copies, one in 10.13 and another in Other. Backed those up and removed them both then unzipped Lilu 1.2.3 - that fixed the panic.
Other things:
- Dell 1540 WiFi isn't working with this guide
- After booting the USB and selecting install, it doesn't try to install from USB even the Volume is mounted. I got the Recovery server error which is fixed by connecting the LAN cable and running ntpdate.
- After re-downloading High Sierra, it needs to reboot a couple of times - just have to go back to Clover boot and select the new boot entry to finish the install (don't boot from the USB again)
So to summarize: update Lilu and it installs and mostly works - just have to fix the WiFi and the mouse has some issues.