Jump to content

Gigabyte's Nvidia 9400 powered M-ATX MOBO

stellarola

By stellarola,
in Reader News and Reviews

 Share
643 posts in this topic

Recommended Posts

Eastwind
Eastwind
Posted
Posted
Eastwind, a lot of people tried before and nobody find a solution. So don't really hope...

 

I figured out my BIOS flashing. I borrowed a Sandisk USB flash stick and it worked perfectly. It didn't like my other one. Go figure.

 

As for the restart, thanks. I had that kext, but I never installed it. It works great now.

 

I used the Linksys as it was sitting in a drawer. I didn't expect it to work so easily. I really don't need wireless, but I will hope to get WOL working so I can leave this sleeping and spin it up remotely. We'll see.

 

As to the 4GB issue, yeah, honestly, it's way way above me. I read the threads on the 32-bit vs 64-bit mapping and while I understand the words, the rest is out of my league. I saw that netcastle posted a link to Engadget that discussed the 9400 having an issue, so maybe things will work out. If they don't and I need more that 2GB, I'll get a separate video card I guess.

 

I just tried to copy from the USB drive to the SATA HD on a USB/SATA, put it in the the case and still, it's not working. It simply won't boot. I cloned the drive, installed Chameleon PC_EFI, but still, it won't boot. I installed Chameleon after putting it in the case. Think that matters? Any ideas welcome.

 

Edit: I reinstalled and basically started over. It worked fine. Hmm. Cloning just doesn't work for me I guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dlach
dlach
Posted
Posted
It always worked for me, but I suspect that it has to do with what DiaboliK has said several times, this board is best used with the MBP restore disc for compatibility.

 

Thanks Eastwind, its nice to know that it isn't a hardware or BIOS problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
koalala
koalala
Posted
Posted
Koalala, what version of the BIOS did you patch? There is a fairly new one that "fixes CPU compatibility issues" on the Gigabyte website.

I patched F3A. This 'fairly new' version isn't really new since its from early february :( . But it's the last one ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lowrizzle
lowrizzle
Posted
Posted

So far I can get everything working aside from the 4gb ram issue which I'm not sure what to do about, and dual displays.

 

I've tried just about everything imaginable to get two displays working at once. With the DVI cable plugged in, when I hook up the VGA and detect displays, both go blank. Boot the machine with both hooked up, neither displays turn on. I even tried an HDMI to dvi-i cable to one monitor, and a DVI-D to DVI-D cable to the other, HDMI to DVI-I to one and VGA to the other, etc. Every possible combination.

 

I've tried the nvkush method with a modified NVCAP, I've reflashed the mobo's bios to koalala bios and QE/CI is working great but I'm not sure where to go from here to get two displays to work. This mainboard is useless if I can't, and I stupidly had work order 10.

 

Thanks in davnace

Link to comment
Share on other sites
koalala
koalala
Posted
Posted

First of all, try only DVI+VGA, it's the only thing which theorically should work (or HDMI+VGA).

DVI + HDMI is impossible due to hardware limitations (DVI=HDMI).

 

Go back to original F3A BIOS and try these NVCAP value : http://i41.tinypic.com/2n8ppmw.png (from Krazubu)

If you find a correct value, please tell me so I could put it in the BIOS.

 

I can't test because I have only one screen (I have CRT but too complicated to move)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DiaboliK
DiaboliK
Posted
Posted
This mainboard is useless if I can't, and I stupidly had work order 10.

 

well if you read the whole thread you probably would have seen that i have said the asus p5n7a-vm is just about the same but without all the problems this gigabyte is having.

 

ie. everything works perfectly from >2Gb ram to sleep, and all without stupid hacked kexts.

 

-D-

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wanky
wanky
Posted
Posted
For those who want a modified BIOS :

It does NOT fix the 2GB+ RAM problem but it is patched for HPET, RTC and HDAEnabler (from Signal64) and I added 9400 GFX support (NVKush not needed anymore).

I tested it and it works.

I might try to understand 4GB problem.

 

Hello,

 

so I also made the approach with your BIOS koalala. Flashing was no problem and Vista :) still boots normal. So what I did:

- Installed PC EFI v9 + Chameleon

- Installed 10.5.5 from Unibody MacBook Restore Disk

- Installed Combo Update 10.5.6

- Installed those kexts:

- nvdarwin.kext/ also tried nvkush

- nForceLAN.kext

- LegacyIOAHCIBlockStorage.kext

- LegacyAppleAHCIPort.kext

- JMicronATA

- IntelCPUMDisabler.kext

- AppleHDA.kext

- AppleAHCIPort.kext

- OpenHaltRestart.kext

- dsmos.kext

- SMBIOSEnabler.kext

- AppleDecrypt.kext

 

The system seems to boot normal but after the grey Apple startscreen the display switches off. If I boot with Options "-v -f" it boots fine (most of the time). Sleep works great :) . Sometimes the harddrive icons are orange (USB) sometimes they are grey (normal).

 

The processor information says 3 GHz, but I have 3.16 GHz. In system profiler memory says: "There was an error while gathering information". Memtest gives same results than in my post before

Some lines form the log:

...
malloced meg 3505, res 0xffc00000
malloced meg 3506, res 0xffd00000
memtest(190) malloc: *** mmap(size=1048576) failed (error code=12)
*** error: can't allocate region
*** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug
malloc meg 3507 failed
memtest(190) malloc: *** mmap(size=1048576) failed (error code=12)
*** error: can't allocate region
*** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug
malloc meg 3508 failed
...
memtest(190) malloc: *** mmap(size=1048576) failed (error code=12)
*** error: can't allocate region
*** set a breakpoint in malloc_error_break to debug
malloc meg 8191 failed

I fixed the "no network after sleep" problem, but sound disappears.

 

Did I miss any kexts? Maybe there are too many? I hope it works some time in the future...

Hope dies last :)

 

Cheers

wanky

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DiaboliK
DiaboliK
Posted
Posted
- nvdarwin.kext/ also tried nvkush

- nForceLAN.kext

- LegacyIOAHCIBlockStorage.kext

- LegacyAppleAHCIPort.kext

- JMicronATA

- IntelCPUMDisabler.kext

- AppleHDA.kext

- AppleAHCIPort.kext

- OpenHaltRestart.kext

- dsmos.kext

- SMBIOSEnabler.kext

- AppleDecrypt.kext

 

 

holy {censored} on a shingle! no wonder you frakin' n00bs get all sort {censored} for problems.

lest go down the list of UNNEEDED KEXTS:

 

- nvdarwin.kext/ also tried nvkush - unneeded if the gpu injection is in the dsdt

- nForceLAN.kext - WAY UNNEEDED

- LegacyIOAHCIBlockStorage.kext - ?? WTF for ??

- LegacyAppleAHCIPort.kext - ?? WTF for ??

- JMicronATA - understandable if you ant PATA to work

- IntelCPUMDisabler.kext - not needed with fixed HPET

- OpenHaltRestart.kext - not needed once so ever

- dsmos.kext - use one or the other no1 needs two decryptors

- AppleDecrypt.kext - use one or the other no1 needs two decryptors

 

you kids still got a long way to go.....

 

BTW - the >2Gb is quite a simple fix. its in the bios (not in dsdt), have fun searching.

 

-D-

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wanky
wanky
Posted
Posted
holy {censored} on a shingle! no wonder you frakin' n00bs get all sort {censored} for problems.

lest go down the list of UNNEEDED KEXTS:

 

- nvdarwin.kext/ also tried nvkush - unneeded if the gpu injection is in the dsdt

- nForceLAN.kext - WAY UNNEEDED

- LegacyIOAHCIBlockStorage.kext - ?? WTF for ??

- LegacyAppleAHCIPort.kext - ?? WTF for ??

- JMicronATA - understandable if you ant PATA to work

- IntelCPUMDisabler.kext - not needed with fixed HPET

- OpenHaltRestart.kext - not needed once so ever

- dsmos.kext - use one or the other no1 needs two decryptors

- AppleDecrypt.kext - use one or the other no1 needs two decryptors

 

you kids still got a long way to go.....

 

BTW - the >2Gb is quite a simple fix. its in the bios (not in dsdt), have fun searching.

 

-D-

 

Thanks for the flowers and the fast reply.

 

A kid

 

EDIT

- nvdarwin.kext/ also tried nvkush - unneeded if the gpu injection is in the dsdt

Need this for my 8600GTS without it does not work.

- nForceLAN.kext - WAY UNNEEDED

Fixes the "no lan after sleep" problem for me.

- LegacyIOAHCIBlockStorage.kext - ?? WTF for ??

- LegacyAppleAHCIPort.kext - ?? WTF for ??

With those the Serial-ATA in system profiler shows the right NVidia MCP79 AHCI.

- JMicronATA - understandable if you ant PATA to work

- IntelCPUMDisabler.kext - not needed with fixed HPET

I didn't know.

- OpenHaltRestart.kext - not needed once so ever

- dsmos.kext - use one or the other no1 needs two decryptors

- AppleDecrypt.kext - use one or the other no1 needs two decryptors

Will try this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lowrizzle
lowrizzle
Posted
Posted

Has anyone been able to successfully dump the graphics bin using nvflash? I was going to try to get nvcap values out of that but when I run nvflash in does I get "Nvidia display adapters present in system: No NVIDIA display adapters found" which I'm assuming is due to it being integrated video, but this version of nvflash is pretty recent. Any suggestions?

 

I think the issue may be that the nvcap strings I've used have been DVI-I/vga instead of DVI-D/vga, but I'm not sure how to get the right string to be able to use two monitors on this board

 

:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mad.mac
mad.mac
Posted
Posted
BTW - the >2Gb is quite a simple fix. its in the bios (not in dsdt), have fun searching.

 

-D-

 

I have been following this thread for quite some time. I don't see a solution for the >2Gb Mem issue when using internal display. Could you please directly point it out? Thanks in advanced.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
genzai
genzai
Posted
Posted

Yes,

Diabolik - Please spill the beans on getting over 2GB of memory to work. That seems to be the last major flaw of this board. It was really a bios setting all along? Be a hero!

:D

g/

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wanky
wanky
Posted
Posted

So I tried to get rid of the unnecessary kexts. Here is my result:

 

- nvdarwin.kext/ also tried nvkush - unneeded if the gpu injection is in the dsdt

Need this for my 8600GTS without it does not work.

- nForceLAN.kext - WAY UNNEEDED

Fixes the "no lan after sleep" problem for me.

- LegacyIOAHCIBlockStorage.kext - ?? WTF for ??

- LegacyAppleAHCIPort.kext - ?? WTF for ??

With those the Serial-ATA in system profiler shows the right NVidia MCP79 AHCI. The other way, as DiaboliK said, is to edit some strings. But as a noob I don't now where and how to do this, so I am fine with this solution.

- JMicronATA - understandable if you ant PATA to work

- IntelCPUMDisabler.kext - not needed with fixed HPET

I removed IntelCPUMDisabler successfully.

- OpenHaltRestart.kext - not needed once so ever

- dsmos.kext - use one or the other no1 needs two decryptors

- AppleDecrypt.kext - use one or the other no1 needs two decryptors

I tried without those kexts but than I cannot boot, even with flags -v -f.

OpenHaltRestart.kext

Without this kext system does not shutdown or restart properly.

 

It seems that there is a way to install Leopard without all the issues I have. I used this guide (simple). But after DiaboliKs reaction there seems to be a better way.

 

Cheers

wanky

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mad.mac
mad.mac
Posted
Posted
It seems that there is a way to install Leopard without all the issues I have. I used this guide (simple). But after DiaboliKs reaction there seems to be a better way.

 

Cheers

wanky

 

You may just follow DiaboliK's installation steps in this thread, simple and easy. Even one of my previous post has steps listed. Plz do a search.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lowrizzle
lowrizzle
Posted
Posted

I got DVI + vga working by passing the proper NVCAP as an EFI string rather than by placing it in the nvidia wrapper's Info.plist

 

All is working now. Can someone extrapolate on Diabolik's assertation that the 2gb ram thing can be fixed via bios settings?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wanky
wanky
Posted
Posted
You may just follow DiaboliK's installation steps in this thread, simple and easy. Even one of my previous post has steps listed. Plz do a search.

 

Thanks for the hint. I looked up your recent posts and now it boots fine (with a few hick ups). DSMOS alone didn't work (I tried this already on my last installation), but AppleDecrypt did. Replacing AppleAHCIPort.kext is also unnecessary. With original one there is no problem like internal drives are shown as orange external drives.

Thank you for your patience.

(Maybe everything well known facts, then I am sorry for the spam)

 

Cheers

wanky

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...