How to: ATI 4850 working on SL

[Sabr]

I have EVOenabler and put in my devid, that is all there is for now.

 

Where exactly did you put your dev/vendor ID's? It sounds like you put them inside EVOenabler, but they should be in ATI4800Controller.kext

[H17737]

i have no outpout with my golden sample 4870 on SL

tried evoenabl aty_init and 4800controller but i think it's caused by the port configuration (VGA-DVI-HDMI-DspPrt)

had the same issue on leopard and had outpout by forwarding signal with an adapter on HDMI port (somewhat same method as dual DVI card)

 

does someone have an idea ? solution ?

[stada]

evoenabler is work for me, but I have one problem, I got mouse lag every few second repeatedly. Anyone know how to fix this mouse lag problem?

 

EDIT: FIXED: have unplug DVI2VGA dongle(used for ATY_Init on leopard) and the problem is gone, the evoenabler is work great

[berlindude]

If you're not noticing any screen tears when moving your mouse, or if your screen is at full resolution (or if you can even change resolutions) then you most likely have QE/CI enabled.

 

As for the whine - I can confirm that evoenabler does something screwy with the fan speeds/whine, which was why i went the EFI/atindrv.kext route. No more whine, and my OpenGL benchmarks seem to be 2x as high.

 

Well I do not care anymore about my fans ;-) I had the refernce cooler which was extremly loud so I put Arcticcooling cooler with two fans on it. Windows stresstest let reference cooler and card stay at about 85°C under load now I do not come above 57°C and I do not even hear it.

 

Well, I have the very same card as yours, and still... it doesn't work. I don't understand.

I try to boot in verbose mode and when gui should come up, some artifacts appear over the text. And then nothing.

I tried your method at 10.5.8 and at 10.6 as well, with no success.

Can it be chameleon? It has an own Boot plist too... Or am I doing something wrong? I should simply copy this string into the plist, right? Or does it have another trick?

 

Try to boot up with -x the first time. You'll be able to enter in vesa mode. apply your changes (maybe make a backup of your S/L/E - folder). repair permissions and restart normal. Check if it works. otherwise try it again with -x and try an other way.

[Gymnae]

Where exactly did you put your dev/vendor ID's? It sounds like you put them inside EVOenabler, but they should be in ATI4800Controller.kext

 

No worry, the DevID is in ATI4800Controller.kext. (0x94421002 if I remember correctly).

 

No matter what I tried, the thing won't boot really anymore. With the setup most people have here (EFI String + vanilla kexts + DSDT) I get junk onscreen. ATIRNDRV/ATINDRV don't seem to load. When I move ATISupport.kext out of the way, then the system boots up, but I get a Kernel panic soon after. EVOenabler also doesn't help me. I tried the stock version, which lead me to a working desktop without QE/CI and random KP, when I edit the plist in EVOenabler and put in the parts for my card from aty_init, then after bootup I get junk on screen.

With ATIRNDRV/ATINDRV + GFX String + ATI4800 Kext the results are mixed. One boot process let me to a desktop without QE/CI, one just to junk.

I wish I could go back 24hrs when all was fine. Whatever I did, it messed the system up good. And as far as I remember, I only moved ATIRNDRV/ATINDRV out of S/L/E and put evoenabler into /E/E, that was the start of the dilemma last night.

 

I was missing the ATIX2000VAbundle or so. Other than that, I suffer from Kernel Panics, but CI/QE is back. Yeah...

[halsaman]

1. Save and delete ATI4800Controller.kext and ATIRadeonX2000.kext on /System/Library/Extensions
   
2. Boot SL on VESA mode
   
3. Copy ATI4800Controller.kext, ATIRadeonX2000.kext, ATINDRV.kext, ATIRNDRV.kext on /System/Library/Extensions
   
4. Run Kext Utility.app (google)
   
5. Insert string in /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist
   
6. Reboot
   

 

Following your guide, I get dual blue screens.

 

 

(Is it a problem, that my Chameleon Extra folder is located on another partition? - I installed sl after the blackosx guide - Kext Utility reports, that it can't make mkext from my Extra folder. From the standard s/l/e it can.)

[Gymnae]

Ok, my system is back:

GFX Strings + DSDT + ATINDRV/ATIRNVDR + evoenabler (against the screen shakes)

 

Very good!

[Gymnae]

Sleep (Wake) dont work with evoenabler

 

Just checked, it works for me (sleepenabler + nullcpupowermanagement + appleintecpupm + openhaltrestart)

[halsaman]

ATI4800Controller.kext original? Do not edit it

 

 

Yes, it is original.

[halsaman]

Sleep (Wake) dont work with evoenabler

Try without evoenabler

 

Finally, I tried with a HDMI-DVI and DVI-VGA dongle combination, and yes, it works, and wakes from sleep fine.

But if I connect my other monitor via hdmi-dvi adapter, I got the dual blue screens and I can't do anything until I reboot.

 

Is there a way to enable dual monitors and sleep at the same time?

[comatron]

strange things goin on here:

 

i installed SL - added dev id in the vanilly ati4000 kext - added evoanabler in /E/E. that worked nice, fast, perfect. now after some time (the ONLY thing i did was deactivate - and later reactive beamsync) i got "bumbpy screen" (some missing FPS when i use the "show all windows function" or dashboard or stuff like this) ... stange - anyone got this "loss of performance" too?

 

CI/QE of course workin - no artefacts yet ...

[ggfan]

Ok, my system is back:

GFX Strings + DSDT + ATINDRV/ATIRNVDR + evoenabler (against the screen shakes)

 

Very good!

Hello! Do you able to start with -x64 flag in 64bit mode?

[Gymnae]

Hello! Do you able to start with -x64 flag in 64bit mode?

 

Didn't try that yet, but I would say it won't work because ATINDRV/ATIRNDRV are from Leopard times (already so far, far away) and therefore 32Bit only.

 

Really, as far as I know you don't feel any difference between 32Bit or 64Bit in Userland - so it's not really that important to hunt after full 64bit. But that's only my opinion.

[xiaoapple]

Hello,

My 4850 works in SL 32 bit,

I use gfx strings, ATINDRV.kext and ATIRNDRV.kext from Leopard, no need to add devid in ATI4800Controller.

 

Attached is my gfx-string

remember to change PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x3,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0) with yours, convert the plist to hex and add the result in your com.apple.Boot.plist

 

You can get your PciRoot with gfxutil from here : http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,64.0.html

EDIT 03-sept-2009:

Snow 32-64 bit works with EVOEnabler+ devid in ATI4800Controller only, no efi strings, no need for ATINDRV from leopard.

can you open qe/ci?

[ggfan]

Didn't try that yet, but I would say it won't work because ATINDRV/ATIRNDRV are from Leopard times (already so far, far away) and therefore 32Bit only.

 

Really, as far as I know you don't feel any difference between 32Bit or 64Bit in Userland - so it's not really that important to hunt after full 64bit. But that's only my opinion.

 

Thx:)! I am use same method like you. Everything works fine, but only in 32bit mode.

 

Did somebody lunched in 64 bit mode?

[HawgGuy]

What files exactly have to be in S/L/E (or anywhere else) regarding to 4850?

Could someone post his/her working with instructions what to modify?

 

Im on x64, cant get it working.

 

Here goes. Took me a boatload of trial & error to get a working Snow Leo with the HD4850.

This may not be the best way, but it is the best way for me in that everything works, 32/64 bit, sleep (and more importantly wake).

 

The thing I like about this method is that it is one of the easiest, with no extra .kext files (no ATY_init, no EVOenabler, no ATINDRV or ATIRNDRV from 10.5x).

 

This is the card I have: GIGABYTE Radeon HD 4850 GV-R485MC-1GI Video Card

 

1. I made a GFX string to be inserted into com.apple.boot.plist - To do this I found a generic HD48x0.plist and edited the PciRoot line to be appropriate for my system. Instructions how to do this can be found elsewhere on the web and in the thread. I then compiled the .plist file to a .hex string using the gfxutil program, also discussed eleswhere.

 

The HD48x0.hex string was then inserted into com.apple.boot.plist --

<key>device-properties</key>

<string>-=-=-=-HD48x0.hex string here -=-=-=-=-</string>

 

2. Changed the device ID to 9442 in the Info.plist file of ATI4800Controller.kext.

 

3. Rebuilt the cache.

 

Reboot, enjoy. Everything seems to work - including sleep/wake.

 

That's it.

 

Here is My HD48x0.plist

Here is my HD48x0.hex

 

Here are my results from the OpenGL benchmark:

 

 

If someone knows a better/easier way which yields better results - please post.

[halsaman]

The thing I like about this method is that it is one of the easiest, with no extra .kext files (no ATY_init, no EVOenabler, no ATINDRV or ATIRNDRV from 10.5x).

 

 

This method is total failure for me. I need original 4800 controller, otherwise machine stops. I need ATINDRV to have gui at least, and I need EVOenabler to have dual screen.

 

So far, there are two methods working for me (I indicated them at previous posts), one of them gives sleep, the other one gives dual screen.

 

A perfect working solution would have:

-qe/ci

-dual screen support

-glitchless sleep/wake

-support for hot plugging/unlpugging display cord. (For changing display to tv.) And of course if you use one display only, there shouldn't be a need for dvi-vga dongle.

 

From these requirements I was able to have just two or three at the same time. I am really unhappy with this situation...

To be honest, Snow leo is quite new, so there may be a solution. But this card has never worked perfectly yet, neither on SL, nor on Leo.

[Awsxedc]

Here goes. Took me a boatload of trial & error to get a working Snow Leo with the HD4850.

This may not be the best way, but it is the best way for me in that everything works, 32/64 bit, sleep (and more importantly wake).

 

The thing I like about this method is that it is one of the easiest, with no extra .kext files (no ATY_init, no EVOenabler, no ATINDRV or ATIRNDRV from 10.5x).

 

This is the card I have: GIGABYTE Radeon HD 4850 GV-R485MC-1GI Video Card

 

1. I made a GFX string to be inserted into com.apple.boot.plist - To do this I found a generic HD48x0.plist and edited the PciRoot line to be appropriate for my system. Instructions how to do this can be found elsewhere on the web and in the thread. I then compiled the .plist file to a .hex string using the gfxutil program, also discussed eleswhere.

 

The HD48x0.hex string was then inserted into com.apple.boot.plist --

<key>device-properties</key>

<string>-=-=-=-HD48x0.hex string here -=-=-=-=-</string>

 

2. Changed the device ID to 9442 in the Info.plist file of ATI4800Controller.kext.

 

3. Rebuilt the cache.

 

Reboot, enjoy. Everything seems to work - including sleep/wake.

 

That's it.

 

Here is My HD48x0.plist

Here is my HD48x0.hex

 

Here are my results from the OpenGL benchmark:

 

 

If someone knows a better/easier way which yields better results - please post.

 

Thank you

Work fine for me without HDMI-DVI-VGA dongle!

OpenGL benchmark same

[Ayla]

HawgGuy,

 

Thanks a lot for the info!

 

I'm looking to buy the GIGABYTE Radeon HD 4850 GV-R485MC-1GI Video Card and running Snow Leopard.

 

Does dual-link DVI work with the card in Snow Leopard?

 

I want to use a 30" 2560x1600 monitor with the card.

[HawgGuy]

Does dual-link DVI work with the card in Snow Leopard?

 

I want to use a 30" 2560x1600 monitor with the card.

 

 

Sorry - don't know. I just a have a puny 20 inch Apple Cinema Display.

[scorcho]

Sorry - don't know. I just a have a puny 20 inch Apple Cinema Display.

hawgguy: thanks too for your method - works much better since it allows x64 booting. Cheers!

 

this also removes the need for a DVI2VGA adapter. great!

[HawgGuy]

Somebody want to remind me again what the advantage is of these cards over cheaper, more compatible Nvidia cards?

 

Just to recap, Here are my OpenGL results with the HD4850 (1 Gig):

 

 

Now here are the results from my bargain-basement Nvida 9600GT (512mb):

 

 

 

So, it looks to me as if this finicky PITA card, when finally installed and functional actually performs roughly 30% slower than (in my case) the card it replaces.

 

Is there something else to tweak? Is there another, more meaningful, test I could do to demonstrate some added value?

 

I'm just sayin........

[scorcho]

ATI wrote crappy drivers for the Mac - that's it. if you have no desire to multi-boot to game in Windows, it might be better to switch to that old crappy nvidia card. in terms of pure hardware the 4850 is vastly superior, just sad how badly ATI has hobbled its performance on the Mac side.

 

[HawgGuy]

ATI wrote crappy drivers for the Mac - that's it.

 

 

Thanks, that explains it well. Perhaps there's hope for better OSX drivers down the road. Is it ATI's or Apple's responsibility? Apple offers variants of this card on both the iMac and Mac Pro, so presumably they have a vested interest in improving the drivers.

[xiaoapple]

Here goes. Took me a boatload of trial & error to get a working Snow Leo with the HD4850.

This may not be the best way, but it is the best way for me in that everything works, 32/64 bit, sleep (and more importantly wake).

 

The thing I like about this method is that it is one of the easiest, with no extra .kext files (no ATY_init, no EVOenabler, no ATINDRV or ATIRNDRV from 10.5x).

 

This is the card I have: GIGABYTE Radeon HD 4850 GV-R485MC-1GI Video Card

 

1. I made a GFX string to be inserted into com.apple.boot.plist - To do this I found a generic HD48x0.plist and edited the PciRoot line to be appropriate for my system. Instructions how to do this can be found elsewhere on the web and in the thread. I then compiled the .plist file to a .hex string using the gfxutil program, also discussed eleswhere.

 

The HD48x0.hex string was then inserted into com.apple.boot.plist --

<key>device-properties</key>

<string>-=-=-=-HD48x0.hex string here -=-=-=-=-</string>

 

2. Changed the device ID to 9442 in the Info.plist file of ATI4800Controller.kext.

 

3. Rebuilt the cache.

 

Reboot, enjoy. Everything seems to work - including sleep/wake.

 

That's it.

 

Here is My HD48x0.plist

Here is my HD48x0.hex

 

Here are my results from the OpenGL benchmark:

 

 

If someone knows a better/easier way which yields better results - please post.

your method qe/ci no work for me, i have powercolor hd 4850 512mb with hdmi/vga/dvi, my PciRoot information:PciRoot(0x1)/Pci(0x1,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0) ,anybody can help me