Asus P5N7A-VM

[kristian Overby]

try deleting Disabler.kext and see if that solves your sleep/shutdown problem

 

and dual boot is very easy

if you use two hard drives, just install windows on the other one

when you want to use windows, just choose to boot with that drive instead

 

ok ... but iss'nt there a problem with the ahci instead of sata? - windows xp dont seem to work if mobo is not on Sata mode ...

 

well i tried deleting Disabler.kext earlier, so that might work after some restarts - it seems to take more than one before the action kicks in.

[ratzfatz]

**BEWARE** do NOT update to the newest BIOS because OSX will not boot with or without the fixed DSDT.

 

Can you post your BIOS version, please? I have no problems to boot with BIOS file P5N7A_VM_0504.zip. Only problem I have is that internal video does not support resolution above 1920 x 1200. It does so running XP, but not with OSX.

[anitanium]

oh yeah, i forgot about AHCI mode

 

 

there is a way around it if you do a search on Windows + AHCI using intel drivers

[kristian Overby]

oh yeah, i forgot about AHCI mode

there is a way around it if you do a search on Windows + AHCI using intel drivers

 

Well im gonna try to install win xp on a IDE harddrive, think that will just do the trick

[anitanium]

that would work

[your mother]

Well I tried deleting the disabler kext but that caused me to KP on boot so I had to use the HD from my g/f laptop to boot into Vista and put it back with macdrive. I hope someone out there can come up with a sleep fix.

[anitanium]

are you running AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement kext?

if you don't care about it, delete it

 

then it should work

[your mother]

are you running AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement kext?

if you don't care about it, delete it

 

then it should work

 

I did that and after 2 reboots suddenly sleep started working however now I can't shut down or restart which I really don't care about since it's a media center and I just need sleep to work.

[Ayla]

I have a PCI-E card with an ESATA port and RAID functionality.

 

It's used in my Mac Pro right now, but I want to use it with my P5N7A-VM instead.

 

As I'm already using it in my Mac Pro, without problems, I should have no problems at all using it with the Asus board, right?

[ratzfatz]

As I'm already using it in my Mac Pro, without problems, I should have no problems at all using it with the Asus board, right?

 

I just tried that with a Sonnet card. Epic fail.

 

I am going to sell this board because of its incapability to output 2560 x 1600 via DisplayPort in OSX. New Mac mini delivers better.

[Ayla]

I just tried that with a Sonnet card. Epic fail.

 

So, you have used your Sonnet card in a Mac and it works perfectly, but when you move it to the Asus board it doesn't work?

 

PS. My card is a HighPoint RocketRAID 2314 (which has 10.5 drivers on their Web site).

[ratzfatz]

Exactly.

[Ayla]

Exactly.

 

I believe you of course

 

But, I think that I may have better luck than you with my RocketRaid card.

 

I have read several threads on the forum here and it seems that peoples experiences with HighPoint RAID cards and hackintosh systems are very good !

 

Is your card PCI or?

 

Mine is PCI-E.

 

If the HighPoint cards are working in peoples hackintosh systems, I can't see why it shouldn't work on this Asus board? - something would have to be very wrong with the PCI-E slot on the Asus or something like that... Hmm

[winktinkler]

@Udfah

 

excuse noob question ....

 

I assume a 'working Mac' means PCMac or Real Mac (either ?)

 

 

 

 

Here's my meager attempt at a step by step walkthrough. When finished you should have a stable, functional, vanilla install. I followed these steps twice and it worked great both times. (After 30+ hours of trial end ERROR!) I've attached or linked to all the files needed throughout the post. That being said, lets get started:

 

1) From a working Mac, use Disk Utility to format the hard drive you will use for your hack. Make sure to format in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and select GUID under options when repartitioning. The drive can be connected any which way, external, internal, USB, SATA, IDE...

 

2) Install OSx 10.5.5 (NoPE version) on the freshly formatted drive using the Universal OSx86 Installer. Before this step is performed, the 10.5.5 disk or image must be mounted.

Make sure to select the right drive:

 

3) Install the Apple - Leopard 10.5.6 update to the drive:

 

4) Using the Universal OSx86 Installer, install the essentials kext package, boot delay > 0sec, monitors native resolution (not necessary), EFI Chameleon V 1.0.12, and the two audio kext's. Audio_Kext_s.zip (props go to frodokenny for the audio fix).

 

5) Copy the DSDT.aml file to the root folder of the new drive. (Props to DiaboliK)

New DiaboliK DSDT (2/16/09)

 

6) Delete the AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext file located in: System/Library/Extensions/

 

7) Close all open apps and shutdown the computer with the drive still mounted. When I did this it said that it was building the necessary cache files for boot for a couple seconds before shutting down. I'm not sure that it's mandatory but I know that it worked for me.

 

8) Attach the fresh drive to the P5N7A-VM via IDE or SATA. I can confirm that both methods work. USB may even work when set to FullSpeed (USB1) but will be extremely slow and is NOT recommended. When set to HighSpeed the OS randomly locks up at different stages of the boot. Note: Some have claimed that only the two black SATA ports support AHCI so you may want to use one of those if using SATA.

 

9) Configure the P5N7A-VM BIOS. Critical thing here is enabling AHCI for the SATA ports and making sure that Legacy USB Support is either off or set to Full Speed. I'm not sure how much else really matters. Here are my settings:

 

10) Boot into Leopard! Really, I just let it boot straight through with no command line switches and it worked beautifully.

 

11) Install nvkush from DiaboliK. Restart the computer then change your display color profile to the Adobe RGB. You should now have full hardware acceleration although the model number doesn't display correctly.

 

12) ENJOY! My hack has been running flawlessly for two weeks now just chugging along. The only problem I have is that sleep does not work. I've disabled it in the power settings. Otherwise everything is working beautifully.

 

 

@DiaboliK other 'pre planning questions ... after reading the posts you suggested to me last pm in links .. and to use the Udfah method ... and frodokenny audio fix

 

On 730i BIOS ... (nForce MOBO not Asus) 9300 GPU either Always Enable OR Enable if NoEXT GPU Detected ... I assume Always Enable must be on to try and INSTALL using Udfah method (I have iPC 10.5.6 running already, plan to try on another partiiton or other HD) ...

 

 

(I have nForce 8500GT 1GB PCIEx board running with NVKush currently in this system, AND using 4 GB RAM without any issues with RAM as I have read so many people have if above 2GB ...

I assume the reason I am not having issues with 4GB ram is that I have an External GPU which I use ...

 

 

 

I assume there will be Different steps to get "both GPU's working ... ???? suggestions will I need to do a lot more using the Udfah method to get both GPUs working? use NVKush or use the nonNVKush you mention in one of the posts I read last night?

 

 

 

 

 

I read a comment you made somewhere in these threads about the great perf specs of the 9300

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Signal64 ftw!

 

soon to be on the working list is : asus p5n7a-vm

 

not as easy as the gigabyte but hopefully fully operational soon.

 

*UPDATE*

 

ASUS P5N7A-VM is up and fully operational!

LAN - SOUND - GFX and all the other bells and whistles work!

 

BTW, running on a Xeon E3110 (3Ghz wolfdale) and 4x 2Gb ddr2 800Mhz ram w/ 1 7200rpm hdd and slim dvd drive and 1x 100mm fan. this board runs nice with a low wattage. right now it runs perfectly off of a picoPSU 150-XT.

 

*** HOW-TO by Ufdah : http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...t&p=1080065

 

*** Updated DSDT : http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...t&p=1082035

 

*** Optional iGPU OC (in BIOS) : Scores 21621 in OpenMark, max OC I could get without glitching.

 

iGPU OverClock Mode = Manual
iGPU OverClock = 650
Shader OverClock = 1500

-D-

[Ayla]

Damn, I thought I had a stable system

 

I experience sudden crashes, where the system completely reboots (not a kernel panic).

 

I'm not doing anything special, the system is just idling in Plex, when the crashes happen.

 

With those symptons, what do you think is the problem and how can I try and fix it?

 

Thanks

Martin

[Skyfluff]

Damn, I thought I had a stable system

 

I experience sudden crashes, where the system completely reboots (not a kernel panic).

 

I'm not doing anything special, the system is just idling in Plex, when the crashes happen.

 

With those symptons, what do you think is the problem and how can I try and fix it?

 

Thanks

Martin

 

Check your CPU temps. It could be overheating.

[Ayla]

Check your CPU temps. It could be overheating.

 

When the crash happens both cores are around 43-47 degrees warm.

[Skyfluff]

When the crash happens both cores are around 43-47 degrees warm.

 

Did you overclock the GPU? I found which Diabolik's settings I get a pretty unstable system that restarts on me.

[Ayla]

Did you overclock the GPU? I found which Diabolik's settings I get a pretty unstable system that restarts on me.

 

No, I have reset everything to defaults in BIOS. No GPU overclock, no CPU overclock. RAM on "Auto". Everything is standard.

 

Do you suspect RAM or CPU or software or something else, to be causing my sudden system resets?

[Skyfluff]

No, I have reset everything to defaults in BIOS. No GPU overclock, no CPU overclock. RAM on "Auto". Everything is standard.

 

Do you suspect RAM or CPU or software or something else, to be causing my sudden system resets?

 

I doubt it's software. Do you have your system set to restart after a power failure? If you do then I'd still suspect the CPU could be shutting it down. It would then start up again if it considered the sudden shutdown a power failure. RAM usually just locks the system if it fails. How much RAM do you have though?

[Ayla]

I doubt it's software. Do you have your system set to restart after a power failure? If you do then I'd still suspect the CPU could be shutting it down. It would then start up again if it considered the sudden shutdown a power failure. RAM usually just locks the system if it fails. How much RAM do you have though?

 

Shold I try and disable the restart after a power failure thing?

 

My CPU is a E8500 Core 2 Duo. When everything is set to Auto in the BIOS, and you suspect it could be the CPU causing the crashes, what can I try to change, regarding the cpu?

 

PS. I have 2 x 2GB G.SKILL RAM (Asus certified). And I have tried running Single channel with them but it slows my system down, so it's actually unsuable.

[Skyfluff]

First, I'd try running your machine with only one stick of ram. A lot of people are having issues with two modules if they total over 2GB.

 

Did you use the stock thermal paste that came with your CPU? If you did then you should reapply it with some quality paste. I work at an AASP so I have access to the thermal paste used in real Macs, but you might want to try Arctic Cooling. I've heard good things about that brand.

[Ayla]

First, I'd try running your machine with only one stick of ram. A lot of people are having issues with two modules if they total over 2GB.

 

Did you use the stock thermal paste that came with your CPU? If you did then you should reapply it with some quality paste. I work at an AASP so I have access to the thermal paste used in real Macs, but you might want to try Arctic Cooling. I've heard good things about that brand.

 

Thanks a lot for your suggestions Skyfluff !

 

I can't run with just 1 stick of RAM. As I wrote earlier, my system behaves weird / slow, if I do that.

 

I already used Arctic Silver 3 on my CPU, and wouldn't my temps be higher, if it were the CPU temp that causes the crashes (my CPU temp never goes over 50 degrees celsius)?

[winktinkler]

@Ayla

 

 

Not sure if this might help, but have you tried running your system with External GPU? I assume you are using the internal GPU (9300?) ... if this does not apply to you, please my apologies ...

 

otherwise, it would be a 'cheap' way to try it ... maybe $50 Nvidia 94xx or 9500 card, disable internal GPU on BIOS

 

I run 4 GB and Have run 8GB on my system, using video card noted in my Signature, and extremely stable system, PHotoshop/multitasking, lightning fast, no issues (except slow USB transfer rates to and from USB sticks will be working on that) etc. etc. with never once a symptom like so many describe here. My MOBO is a 730i / 9300

nForce MOBO .... not ASUS etc. but I think they are basically the same board ...

 

If my comment does not apply to your hardware, again my apologies ... posted this just in case ..

 

 

 

Thanks a lot for your suggestions Skyfluff !

 

I can't run with just 1 stick of RAM. As I wrote earlier, my system behaves weird / slow, if I do that.

 

I already used Arctic Silver 3 on my CPU, and wouldn't my temps be higher, if it were the CPU temp that causes the crashes (my CPU temp never goes over 50 degrees celsius)?

[kinktao]

I just joined and would like to say thank you for everyone's hard work. With all your advice, I decided to take the plunge and build my first hackintosh.

 

I have a few questions:

 

In the tutorial it recommends to use the NoPE 10.5.5 version of mac, do I have to use this or can I use a retail version 10.5.2 I got with my MBP?

 

Second, can I install both Windows and Leopard on the same hard drive if I partition and follow this guide?

 

I know everyone recommends using two separate HDs but I don't have this option due to space limitations in my case.

 

Last, if I can use the same hard drive, is it easier if I install windows first or leopard first?

 

Thanks for all the help.