nForce OS X Snow Leopard (10.6) RETAIL INSTALL GUIDE on a Series 6 or 7 nForce chipset / Intel CPU MOBO

verdant · May 16, 2010

you are absolutely correct. verdant has been more than helpfull in helping me and you wouldnt belive how appreciative i am as if it wasnt for his time,knowledge and dedication i would be writing from my windows 7 right now.
its just hard and tiring understanding so im reading and taking it in bit by bit.

about the firewire. its more of a cost issue in why im using it. my sound from the 410 is having no effect with osx thats y i thought it wasnt the firewire making it freeze.

but as it to do with the Southbridge 680i MCP chipset, i would get hte same with usb right?

i only ask as im using midi and phono out/inputs so i ideally need it to work. but i understand now that as its to do with my chipset. im kinda screwed.

but will try your suggestions i.e MeDevil / aryajuanda AppleNForceATA.kext and cooling as i know they will be 100% helpfull.

i will post and tell you how it goes. thank you kindly

You could also try booting with cpus=1 maxmem=2048 at the Chameleon 2.0 bootloader boot: prompt when you want to do any heavy Firewire//USB/SATA/PATA data transfers........then after the data transfer is complete you can reboot as normal with 4 cores to do the CPU-intensive audio work on the transferred audio data files........this approach used to work when using Leopard.......

djcoma1200 · May 17, 2010

First off, mad props to you Verdant for all the time taken on this guide.

Sorry if this is a noob question or if it's been answered before. I tried searching but this thread is way big and I couldn't find what I was looking for.

I'm going to use Part F to install Snow Leopard onto my desktop with a 680i mobo. It says for Part F to use the same steps (1-13) as part D to begin with. I'm a little confused by that part. It just kind of jumps into using disk utility so is it assuming you are already using OS X to begin steps 1-13?

verdant · May 17, 2010

First off, mad props to you Verdant for all the time taken on this guide.

Sorry if this is a noob question or if it's been answered before. I tried searching but this thread is way big and I couldn't find what I was looking for.

I'm going to use Part F to install Snow Leopard onto my desktop with a 680i mobo. It says for Part F to use the same steps (1-13) as part D to begin with. I'm a little confused by that part. It just kind of jumps into using disk utility so is it assuming you are already using OS X to begin steps 1-13?

Thanks for your appreciation for the guide.........

Yes, unless you are using a Snow Leopard distro, the simplest method of installing Snow Leopard (if you do not already have Leopard installed on the PC) is to do a distro install of Leopard on one volume and then use the Leopard OS X system to:

1. Generate a RTC patched DSDT.aml file for Snow Leopard [Part B]

2. Format a HFS+ volume as your target Snow Leopard OS X volume (OSX_MAIN) and any other volumes your require on the GPT partitioned HDD using Disk Utility

3. Use Disk Utility to get the UUID for your target SL OS X volume

4. Establish OS X target HDD ownership

5. Run EFIStudio or OSx86Tools to generate the graphics string for your graphics card

6. Install Chameleon 2.0 RC3 (or RC4) onto your target Snow Leopard OS X volume (OSX_MAIN) and in the process generate a /Extra directory.....

7. Put all the necessary kexts in /Extra/Extensions/, sort out the com.apple.Boot.plist and SMBIOS.plist files to put in /Extra, as well as putting DSDT.aml in / or in /Extra......

8. Carry out Part F step 14.

Then follow Part F steps 15. to 20. and after you have a working Snow Leopard system you can clone it to the Leopard volume as a backup system......or, keep both the Leopard and Snow Leopard systems.......

If anything is not clear, I will try to clarify matters for you.......

djcoma1200 · May 17, 2010

Ok that's what I figured would have to happen. So I installed Snow Leopard without following your guide (had seen it awhile ago but forgot about it) using just the nforceboot132 dvd and a Snow Leopard retail DVD. so basically I had skipped steps 1-13. Not surprising it doesn't completely work and I can see why now (steps 1-13 needed to be done first). So I don't have a leopard install on that hard drive but I have a half working Snow Leopard install, can I still accomplish 1-13 with that?

I have a 500 gig hard drive specifically for OS X and I had split it into 2 partitions when I was putting Snow Leopard on there. Should I just format the partition that currently doesn't have Snow Leopard on it? Or can I just reformat the whole drive and erase the whole thing while running the Snow Leopard install? Hopefully that made sense lol. Thanks again!

smungle · May 17, 2010

You could also try booting with cpus=1 maxmem=2044 at the Chameleon 2.0 bootloader boot: prompt when you want to do any heavy Firewire//USB/SATA/PATA data transfers........then after the data transfer is complete you can reboot as normal with 4 cores to do the CPU-intensive audio work on the transferred audio data files........this approach used to work when using Leopard.......

verdant..... thank you for your knowledge and help. using cpus=1 maxmem=2044 at boot seems to work a treat. i hope it lasts.

yeah thats a great idea. but i dont this i can call my system "stable" using all cores. shame really but i hope i can deal with just using 1 as mac is working better than windows can with full spec.

strange how i can hardly tell the differance on mac with a 1/3 on spec missing and on pc so slow.....

what are your thoughts on intensive audio work on just the 1 core?

you really have helped me so much and i carnt belive that you have been here to do so. really really greatfull!!!!!

verdant · May 17, 2010

Ok that's what I figured would have to happen. So I installed Snow Leopard without following your guide (had seen it awhile ago but forgot about it) using just the nforceboot132 dvd and a Snow Leopard retail DVD. so basically I had skipped steps 1-13. Not surprising it doesn't completely work and I can see why now (steps 1-13 needed to be done first). So I don't have a leopard install on that hard drive but I have a half working Snow Leopard install, can I still accomplish 1-13 with that?

I have a 500 gig hard drive specifically for OS X and I had split it into 2 partitions when I was putting Snow Leopard on there. Should I just format the partition that currently doesn't have Snow Leopard on it? Or can I just reformat the whole drive and erase the whole thing while running the Snow Leopard install? Hopefully that made sense lol. Thanks again!

Yes, with the proviso that if you are planning to using a graphics string to drive your graphics card(s), you have already generated the string using Leopard (based on the comment by aqua-mac in post #1)........

If you originally partitioned the HDD as GPT, then you should just have format the 2nd volume on it as HFS+........if not, then simply partition/format the entire HDD as GPT/HFS+ into as many volumes as you want.......I recommend 2 OS X SL systems; one main and other Backup.......

I personally always put a 10GB OS X Boot volume that works 100% at the start of my OS X HDDs, that I never "mess" with, plus OS X Main and OS X Backup volumes.

This is because I do a lot of installation testing for my nForce guides alternately on Main and Backup but always need a bootable working OS X system; both Leopard and Snow Leopard Boot volumes on separate HDDs.......a 500GB SATA HDD for Windows 7 and Vista; a 500GB SATA HDD for Ubuntu; a 500GB SATA HDD for Leopard; a 750GB SATA HDD for Snow Leopard (and 10.7 testing when it arrives....) and a 500GB SATA HDD for archiving......

All these HDDs are inside my PC but the 500GB SATA HDD for archiving is set up in an ODD WAY.....this is because I have 6 SATA ports but no native eSATA ports, yet have 5 internal SATA HDDs and a SATA DVDRW (and 2 PATA DVDRWs on my MOBO single IDE channel), PLUS a eSATA HDD enclosure that I use........so my 500GB SATA HDD for archiving is connected to an 1 x eSATA backplate and another 1 x eSATA backplate is connected to the only free MOBO SATA connector......I then use a short 0.5 m eSATA-eSATA cable to connect the 500GB SATA HDD to the MOBO when I want to use it for archiving........but when I want to use my eSATA HDD enclosure I just unplug the short eSATA loop-cable from the active eSATA port and plug in the eSATA HDD enclosure eSATA cable......

Dilemma Prison · May 17, 2010

verdant..... thank you for your knowledge and help. using cpus=1 maxmem=2044 at boot seems to work a treat. i hope it lasts.
yeah thats a great idea. but i dont this i can call my system "stable" using all cores. shame really but i hope i can deal with just using 1 as mac is working better than windows can with full spec.

strange how i can hardly tell the differance on mac with a 1/3 on spec missing and on pc so slow.....

what are your thoughts on intensive audio work on just the 1 core?

you really have helped me so much and i carnt belive that you have been here to do so. really really greatfull!!!!!

damn i wish that southbridge wasn't so problematic.

verdant · May 17, 2010

verdant..... thank you for your knowledge and help. using cpus=1 maxmem=2044 at boot seems to work a treat. i hope it lasts.
yeah thats a great idea. but i dont this i can call my system "stable" using all cores. shame really but i hope i can deal with just using 1 as mac is working better than windows can with full spec.

strange how i can hardly tell the differance on mac with a 1/3 on spec missing and on pc so slow.....

what are your thoughts on intensive audio work on just the 1 core?

you really have helped me so much and i carnt belive that you have been here to do so. really really greatfull!!!!!

It is not a fault with OS X but rather the Southbridge chipset and its interaction with OS X kexts for SATA/PATA, USB, Firewire, AppleHDA, Ethernet etc.........

The ability to do intensive audio work using just 1 core really depends on just how multi-core aware your audio software is.........that is, how fully it supports multiprocessing and/or multithreading.......if the software only recognises and so uses just 1 core, then it will make no difference in practice......also, OS X Snow Leopard is a fully UNIX compliant OS designed with intensive audio/video work in mind......look at the current MacPro spec to see what I mean.......if you can afford it, get a MacPro......otherwise, try out OSx86 while saving money to buy a MacPro (new or 2nd/3rd hand).........

Glad to help.......

UPDATE: Apologies.........I have just spotted a typo in my earlier post to you..........

Corrected now to cpus=1 maxmem=2048 instead of cpus=1 maxmem=2044

smungle · May 17, 2010

It is not a fault with OS X but rather the Southbridge chipset and its interaction with OS X kexts for SATA/PATA, USB, Firewire, AppleHDA, Ethernet etc.........

The ability to do intensive audio work using just 1 core really depends on just how multi-core aware your audio software is.........that is, how fully it supports multiprocessing and/or multithreading.......if the software only recognises and so uses just 1 core, then it will make no difference in practice......also, OS X Snow Leopard is a fully UNIX compliant OS designed with intensive audio/video work in mind......look at the current MacPro spec to see what I mean.......if you can afford it, get a MacPro......otherwise, try out OSx86 while saving money to buy a MacPro (new or 2nd/3rd hand).........

Glad to help.......

UPDATE: Apologies.........I have just spotted a typo in my earlier post to you..........

Corrected now to cpus=1 maxmem=2048 instead of cpus=1 maxmem=2044

thank you for the insight and i will look into this for my software. i can seem to run without any freezing just using "cpus=1" but if any issues should come i will use maxmem=2048 and see if it helps.

would it be possible you use cpus=1 without typing it in at boot? i mean its not a big issue but i would like to use it most of the time to avoid freezing and make it mimimum.

my whole aim with osx86 is to use mac completely with my needs and in the end buy a mac like you say. and you have made this possible. i canrt thank you enough.

i surpose i just have to wait and keep checking to see if there are any fixes with my issues? to help with my Southbridge chipset and if not...... ill have to get a mac pro

kbosselman · May 18, 2010

I'm trying to do a Retail 10.6 USB install on a Dell XPS 631i (nForce 650i SLI). I can see my 2 SATA drives in the Chameleon 2.0 RC4 boot menu but not in Disk Utility in the installer. Only my USB boot drive shows up.

Both SATA drives are MBR with NTFS partitions. The first SATA drive has Windows XP and my plan is to reformat the second to Mac OS X Journaled using Disk Utility and install OSX there, but I’m stuck because they won’t show up in Disk Utilitiy.

I’m using a patched dtsd and the basic kexts in /Extra/Extensions.

I successfully installed Snow Leopard on my Lenovo laptop and can see all my MBR NTFS partitioned drives fine there and was able to reformat one to install OS X, so I don’t think that’s the issue.

I believe my issue is that my BIOS (Phoenix 1.0.13), doesn't support setting AHCI. I've been playing with this for days, read every post in this thread, and have tried various versions of AppleNForceATA.kext and AppleIntelPIIXATA.kext but no success.

Can anyone help me out here?

My relevant system details are as follows:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo Quad Q9400 2.66 ghz

MotherBoard: NVidia nForce 650i SLI

SATA Hardware Ids: 026610DE and 026710DE

verdant · May 18, 2010

thank you for the insight and i will look into this for my software. i can seem to run without any freezing just using "cpus=1" but if any issues should come i will use maxmem=2048 and see if it helps.

would it be possible you use cpus=1 without typing it in at boot? i mean its not a big issue but i would like to use it most of the time to avoid freezing and make it mimimum.

my whole aim with osx86 is to use mac completely with my needs and in the end buy a mac lie you say. and you have made this possible. i canrt thank you enough.

i surpose i just have to wait and keep checking to see if there are any fixes with my issues? to help with my Southbridge chipset and if not...... get a mac pro

With 8GB RAM, just confirm which version of the AppleNForceATA.kext you are using.........

From my Snow_Support_Files_v 2.3, use either AppleNForceATA.slash.kext, or AppleNForceATA.64AnV.kext, or try the Aryajuanda AppleNForceATA.kext (see post #1 Part K Item 4.) to avoid any >3GB RAM issues with the AppleNForceATA.kext.......

If you still find that running on only 1 core is best for you, then in com.apple.Boot.plist in /Extra just change the entry under Kernel Flags to the following: (I always use -v as i like to see what is happening during bootup but you can remove it if you prefer to see the "apple" at bootup.....

<key>Kernel Flags</key>
 <string>-v arch=i386 cpus=1</string>

If you find you need to use maxmem=2048 or maxmem=3072 (3072 is the max RAM you can use with the original MeDevil AppleNForceATA.kext and AppleNForceATA_TEST.kext.......), then simply:

<key>Kernel Flags</key>
 <string>-v arch=i386 cpus=1 maxmem=2048</string>

OR

<key>Kernel Flags</key>
  <string>-v arch=i386 cpus=1 maxmem=3072</string>

As I said I am glad to help........

But I am not sure what is needed for a complete Southbridge solution.......there appear to be varying degrees of instability depending on the nForce chipset...........the 780i and 680i seem to be the most problematic..........I have no major issues with my 650i chipset...........but then I directly cool my Northbridge and Southbridge chipsets........so, as I said in an earlier post in this thread it may be temperature related in part........

Dilemma Prison · May 18, 2010

With 8GB RAM, just confirm which version of the AppleNForceATA.kext you are using.........

From my Snow_Support_Files_v 2.3, use either AppleNForceATA.slash.kext, or AppleNForceATA.64AnV.kext, or try the Aryajuanda AppleNForceATA.kext (see post #1 Part K Item 4.) to avoid any >3GB RAM issues with the AppleNForceATA.kext.......

Verdant, is the AppleNForceATA.64AnV.kext in your current support files the same kept that anv released under the label AppleNForceATA v. 1.0.4?

verdant · May 18, 2010

I'm trying to do a Retail 10.6 USB install on a Dell XPS 631i (nForce 650i SLI). I can see my 2 SATA drives in the Chameleon 2.0 RC4 boot menu but not in Disk Utility in the installer. Only my USB boot drive shows up.

Both SATA drives are MBR with NTFS partitions. The first SATA drive has Windows XP and my plan is to reformat the second to Mac OS X Journaled using Disk Utility and install OSX there, but I’m stuck because they won’t show up in Disk Utilitiy.

I’m using a patched dtsd and the basic kexts in /Extra/Extensions.

I successfully installed Snow Leopard on my Lenovo laptop and can see all my MBR NTFS partitioned drives fine there and was able to reformat one to install OS X, so I don’t think that’s the issue.

I believe my issue is that my BIOS (Phoenix 1.0.13), doesn't support setting AHCI. I've been playing with this for days, read every post in this thread, and have tried various versions of AppleNForceATA.kext and AppleIntelPIIXATA.kext but no success.

Can anyone help me out here?

My relevant system details are as follows:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo Quad Q9400 2.66 ghz

MotherBoard: NVidia nForce 650i SLI

SATA Hardware Ids: 026610DE and 026710DE

In your BIOS do you have the option to enable the SATA controller and/or to enable RAID mode but disable RAID on the individual SATA channels.......in certain BIOSs, doing this is equivalent to enabling AHCI mode (i.e. the SATA controller implicitly uses AHCI when RAID is enabled)......but no guarantee that it is true of your BIOS......but you could try using your two SATA HDDs in RAID mode without actually RAIDing them by creating RAID volumes......

Anyhow, see the Pre-Series 7 nForce thread link in post #1, it will take you to post #1 in that thread where you can see the required 650i chipset BIOS settings in OS X.........

Verdant, is the AppleNForceATA.64AnV.kext in your current support files the same kept that anv released under the label AppleNForceATA v. 1.0.4?

It is the same one as in Item 7. in the BREAKING NEWS section in post #1 in this thread.......i.e.

AppleNForceATA 1.0.4 optimized for SL 32/64bit, AppleNForceATA fixed up for SL by AnV........see here.....according to AnV

but it does not work in 64bit mode only in 32bit mode on my 650i chipset MOBO.......

smungle · May 18, 2010

With 8GB RAM, just confirm which version of the AppleNForceATA.kext you are using.........

From my Snow_Support_Files_v 2.3, use either AppleNForceATA.slash.kext, or AppleNForceATA.64AnV.kext, or try the Aryajuanda AppleNForceATA.kext (see post #1 Part K Item 4.) to avoid any >3GB RAM issues with the AppleNForceATA.kext.......

If you still find that running on only 1 core is best for you, then in com.apple.Boot.plist in /Extra just change the entry under Kernel Flags to the following: (I always use -v as i like to see what is happening during bootup but you can remove it if you prefer to see the "apple" at bootup.....
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
 <string>-v arch=i386 cpus=1</string>
If you find you need to use maxmem=2048 or maxmem=3072 (3072 is the max RAM you can use with the original MeDevil AppleNForceATA.kext and AppleNForceATA_TEST.kext.......), then simply:
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
 <string>-v arch=i386 cpus=1 maxmem=2048</string>
OR
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
  <string>-v arch=i386 cpus=1 maxmem=3072</string>
As I said I am glad to help........

But I am not sure what is needed for a complete Southbridge solution.......there appear to be varying degrees of instability depending on the nForce chipset...........the 780i and 680i seem to be the most problematic..........I have no major issues with my 650i chipset...........but then I directly cool my Northbridge and Southbridge chipsets........so, as I said in an earlier post in this thread it may be temperature related in part........

and a good fellow you are you helping.

i did put that in my boot.plist and still had all cores but i will check if i made an error.

at this moment im using the slash kext so thats all good. but will keep the others on backup just in case.

yes cooling is now my next prority so hopefull will able my chipset you run more smoothly.

shame and the chipset wasnt my choice in this osx86 build. but that to late now.

glad to of had you help me verdant

verdant · May 18, 2010

and a good fellow you are you helping.

i did put that in my boot.plist and still had all cores but i will check if i made an error.

at this moment im using the slash kext so thats all good. but will keep the others on backup just in case.

yes cooling is now my next prority so hopefull will able my chipset you run more smoothly.

shame and the chipset wasnt my choice in this osx86 build. but that to late now.

glad to of had you help me verdant

If you have put cpus=1 in the com.apple.Boot.plist in /Extra and want to check that only 1 core is active, type in Terminal:

sysctl hw.activecpu

and if you see

hw.activecpu: 4

then the com.apple.Boot.plist in /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/ may need to be changed to

<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>-v cpus=1</string>

to see if that makes a difference, i.e. forces cpus=1 mode..........

Dilemma Prison · May 18, 2010

In your BIOS do you have the option to enable the SATA controller and/or to enable RAID mode but disable RAID on the individual SATA channels.......in certain BIOSs, doing this is equivalent to enabling AHCI mode (i.e. the SATA controller implicitly uses AHCI when RAID is enabled)......but no guarantee that it is true of your BIOS......but you could try using your two SATA HDDs in RAID mode without actually RAIDing them by creating RAID volumes......

Anyhow, see the Pre-Series 7 nForce thread link in post #1, it will take you to post #1 in that thread where you can see the required 650i chipset BIOS settings in OS X.........

It is the same one as in Item 7. in the BREAKING NEWS section in post #1 in this thread.......i.e.

AppleNForceATA 1.0.4 optimized for SL 32/64bit, AppleNForceATA fixed up for SL by AnV........see here.....according to AnV

but it does not work in 64bit mode only in 32bit mode on my 650i chipset MOBO.......

Kk, same kext that I am using. Doesn't work for 64bit for me either on my i680. It does seem to be safe for use with 6gb ram though; and pata burning is working just fine for me with it.

verdant · May 18, 2010

Kk, same kext that I am using. Doesn't work for 64bit for me either on my i680. It does seem to be safe for use with 6gb ram though; and pata burning is working just fine for me with it.

Yes, I am using it on my main 10.6.3 system booted in 32bit mode and it is fine with my 6GB DDR2 667MHz RAM OC'd to 800MHz......and likewise, I have no PATA DVDRW issues (but I cannot put a CD or DVD inmy SATA DVDRW......if I try, Disk Utility goes into a search loop..... )

BUT my backup 10.6.3 system uses AppleNForceATA.slash.kext (as an insurance policy).......it is a shame that slashack has gone quiet (AFAIK MeDevil is no longer active in the OSx86 scene) on his AppleNForceATA.kext development.......see here......I was hoping taht with Snow Leopard on the scene, he would have a go at writing a fully functional 64bit mode AppleNForceATA.kext with SATA DVDRW read/write capability......

With slashack's AppleNForceATA.kext, I have not personally had to use cpus=1 very often (except when transferring video files from digicam to the SATA HDD via Firewire when using iMovie HD for example.....likewise with AIFF audio files......when I do so, I manually boot with cpus=1 maxmem=2048 because data integrity is more important than the data transfer rate; after the data transfer is complete, I then reboot as normal with all 4 cores enabled, to do the CPU intensive video/audio work.....), nor have I tried with cpus=2 and then cpus=3, to push the stability envelope when doing large data transfers to a SATA HDD via SATA/PATA/USB/Firewire/Ethernet......

Dilemma Prison · May 18, 2010

Yes, I am using it on my main 10.6.3 system booted in 32bit mode and it is fine with my 6GB DDR2 667MHz RAM OC'd to 800MHz......and likewise, I have no PATA DVDRW issues (but I cannot put a CD or DVD inmy SATA DVDRW......if I try, Disk Utility goes into a search loop..... )

BUT my backup 10.6.3 system uses AppleNForceATA.slash.kext (as an insurance policy).......it is a shame that slashack has gone quiet (AFAIK MeDevil is no longer active in the OSx86 scene) on his AppleNForceATA.kext development.......see here......I was hoping taht with Snow Leopard on the scene, he would have a go at writing a fully functional 64bit mode AppleNForceATA.kext with SATA DVDRW read/write capability......

I have a feeling that nforce owners will be getting less development love in general; given the intel northbridge drama + new upgrade cycle w/ lots of folks moving over to the new popular flavor of hardware (that being mostly i7 cpus w/ the intel chipsets). I guess i can relate ; The nforce machine i'm using now will probably become my osx-based file server sometime soon as i build out my next win+hack system.

other things :

my quest for getting dual video cards up and running is thus far supreme fail : i680 reference boards + e8x00 series cpus makes life rather difficult. We are stuck running the p32 and p33 bios releases from evga (possibly different numbering but same issues from other board makers) The bios locks out the 2nd video slot from running independent for some poorly documented reason; either as a fix for some unlisted issue or as a workaround, who knows. the result is a lot of juggling is needed even for basic testing. I still can't find anyone breathing who has confirmed that they have it working or has some solution etc for my cpu-bios revision combination. I'll be giving it another round of fiddling in the next day or so but *shrug*

i did find an easy way to toggle things on and off for testing though; switching my pciroot in com.apple.boot.plist to something arbitrary allowed me to boot fully w/ graphics essentially disabled and multiple cards in. Still able to prob my busses and run lspci/ioreg and all that jazz. It is easy enough to change it back when finding you have a bunk graphics string etc without having to crash when booting into the GUI or booting off a recovery volume.

verdant · May 18, 2010

I have a feeling that nforce owners will be getting less development love in general; given the intel northbridge drama + new upgrade cycle w/ lots of folks moving over to the new popular flavor of hardware (that being mostly i7 cpus w/ the intel chipsets). I guess i can relate ; The nforce machine i'm using now will probably become my osx-based file server sometime soon as i build out my next win+hack system.

other things :

my quest for getting dual video cards up and running is thus far supreme fail : i680 reference boards + e8x00 series cpus makes life rather difficult. We are stuck running the p32 and p33 bios releases from evga (possibly different numbering but same issues from other board makers) The bios locks out the 2nd video slot from running independent for some poorly documented reason; either as a fix for some unlisted issue or as a workaround, who knows. the result is a lot of juggling is needed even for basic testing. I still can't find anyone breathing who has confirmed that they have it working or has some solution etc for my cpu-bios revision combination. I'll be giving it another round of fiddling in the next day or so but *shrug*

If nVidia win their case against Intel, they may renew their nForce chipset R&D, especially with Apple now talking to AMD.......

Just a thought off the top of my head.......could you not compare BIOS ACPI tables and hence DSDT.aml files (e.g. using DiffMerge) from non-EVGA 680i nForce chipset MOBOs that users have reported running with dual graphics cards (assuming they exist, that is.....I have not done a search myself, having only a single graphics card.....) with your EVGA p32 or p33 BIOS equivalents......?

Dilemma Prison · May 18, 2010

If nVidia win their case against Intel, they may renew their nForce chipset R&D, especially with Apple now talking to AMD.......

Just a thought off the top of my head.......could you not compare BIOS ACPI tables and hence DSDT.aml files (e.g. using DiffMerge) from non-EVGA 680i nForce chipset MOBOs that users have reported running with dual graphics cards (assuming they exist, that is.....I have not done a search myself, having only a single graphics card.....) with your EVGA p32 or p33 BIOS equivalents......?

lol. I like the lines that you think along; i've been digging around in ioreg/dsdt for the last few hours :/. not sure if it is what will yield a solution but it's the only thing i can really tinker with that could yield results.

actually, found some interesting things. The p33 bios seems to have the RTC fix in it already aka not need it.

Also; there were a lot of language changes between p33 and p32. .and other edits that i didn't notice; p33 has a lot of additional labeling in it. I am in the process of re-doing all my edits on my new copy of the table :/

I don't know the significance of it; but the table entries for my PCIE16x1 and PCIE16x2 have very different layouts and the number of variables is different. Trying to figure out what it all translates to at this point.

I am having a devil of a time finding folks running i680 boards. . anywhere . .with any mention of dual graphics.

EDIT : Switched to nvenabler. Works great for single card usage. ; no tweaks just drop it in etc.

Windows sees my 2nd board just fine. Everything works there.

Tried some random *nixs They fire up but don't do diddle with the 2nd board.

nvenabler is supposed to work w/ multiple cards with a plist flag set (the documentation isn't very helpful, i had to dig through dozens of forum pages to find it with a load of dead ends in the process.). I get the same sort of hang before loginwindow loads with nvenabler that I do with gfx strings and other methods if my 2nd card is present. I'll be floating some questions about it's config in the irc channel when more folks are around but i'm pretty sure this is a dead end too at this point.

I have spent some time looking at various DSDTs from other systems and basically aside from my theory that the 2nd slot may be represented improperly, multi card support is otherwise impossible due to some obscure technical detail. The evga DSDT table is structured differently from most other examples that i can locate; enough that i can't sluth out what is going on. . .I guess if you come across someone w/ a i680 running dual video . .I would love to hear about it but this is the point where i give up.

verdant · May 18, 2010

lol. I like the lines that you think along; i've been digging around in ioreg/dsdt for the last few hours :/. not sure if it is what will yield a solution but it's the only thing i can really tinker with that could yield results.
actually, found some interesting things. The p33 bios seems to have the RTC fix in it already aka not need it.

Also; there were a lot of language changes between p33 and p32. .and other edits that i didn't notice; p33 has a lot of additional labeling in it. I am in the process of re-doing all my edits on my new copy of the table :/

I don't know the significance of it; but the table entries for my PCIE16x1 and PCIE16x2 have very different layouts and the number of variables is different. Trying to figure out what it all translates to at this point.

I am having a devil of a time finding folks running i680 boards. . anywhere . .with any mention of dual graphics.

EDIT : Switched to nvenabler. Works great for single card usage. ; no tweaks just drop it in etc.

Windows sees my 2nd board just fine. Everything works there.

Tried some random *nixs They fire up but don't do diddle with the 2nd board.

nvenabler is supposed to work w/ multiple cards with a plist flag set (the documentation isn't very helpful, i had to dig through dozens of forum pages to find it with a load of dead ends in the process.). I get the same sort of hang before loginwindow loads with nvenabler that I do with gfx strings and other methods if my 2nd card is present. I'll be floating some questions about it's config in the irc channel when more folks are around but i'm pretty sure this is a dead end too at this point.

I have spent some time looking at various DSDTs from other systems and basically aside from my theory that the 2nd slot may be represented improperly, multi card support is otherwise impossible due to some obscure technical detail. The evga DSDT table is structured differently from most other examples that i can locate; enough that i can't sluth out what is going on. . .I guess if you come across someone w/ a i680 running dual video . .I would love to hear about it but this is the point where i give up.

Have you tried a Linux Live CD, to see what it sees video-wise..........?

If I find anything on a 680i running dual video cards, I will post it here.......

Have you tried your dual video card setup under Leopard too? I ask because of this post from haroot in my Leoaprd OS X on Series 7 nForce thread:

EXAMPLE HOW TO DO TWO CARDS ON 780i 8800GTX, I DON"T OWN G92 SORRY, THERE IS A THREAD WHERE SOMEONE GOT 9800GTX WORKING SAY WAY. U HAVE TO DO IT MANUALLY WITHOUT EFI STUDIO. BUT I USE EFI STUDIO=] SINCE I'm a LUCKY G80 OWNER.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">'>http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<plist version="1.0">

<dict>

<key>PciRoot(0x1)/Pci(0x3,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)</key>

<dict>

<key>@0,compatible</key>

<string>NVDA,NVMac</string>

<key>@0,device_type</key>

<string>display</string>

<key>@0,name</key>

<string>NVDA,Display-A</string>

<key>@1,compatible</key>

<string>NVDA,NVMac</string>

<key>@1,device_type</key>

<string>display</string>

<key>@1,name</key>

<string>NVDA,Display-B</string>

<key>NVCAP</key>

<data>

BAAAAAAAAwAMAAAAAAAABwAAAAA=

</data>

<key>NVPM</key>

<data>

AQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==

</data>

<key>VRAM,totalsize</key>

<string>0x30000000</string>

<key>device_type</key>

<string>NVDA,Parent</string>

<key>model</key>

<string>nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX</string>

<key>name</key>

<string>display</string>

<key>rom-revision</key>

<string>nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX OpenGL Engine [EFI]</string>

</dict>

<key>PciRoot(0x1)/Pci(0x4,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)</key>

<dict>

<key>@0,compatible</key>

<string>NVDA,NVMac</string>

<key>@0,device_type</key>

<string>display</string>

<key>@0,name</key>

<string>NVDA,Display-A</string>

<key>@1,compatible</key>

<string>NVDA,NVMac</string>

<key>@1,device_type</key>

<string>display</string>

<key>@1,name</key>

<string>NVDA,Display-B</string>

<key>NVCAP</key>

<data>

BAAAAAAAAwAMAAAAAAAABwAAAAA=

</data>

<key>NVPM</key>

<data>

AQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==

</data>

<key>VRAM,totalsize</key>

<string>0x30000000</string>

<key>device_type</key>

<string>NVDA,Parent</string>

<key>model</key>

<string>nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX</string>

<key>name</key>

<string>display</string>

<key>rom-revision</key>

<string>nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX OpenGL Engine [EFI]</string>

</dict>

</dict>

</plist>

HEX:

e804000001000000020000006e0200000d00000002010c00d041030a010000000101060000040101

60000000101060000000101060000007fff04000e0000004e00560050004d0000002000000001000

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000220000005600520041004d002c0074

06f00740061006c00730069007a006500000008000000000000301c0000006400650076006900630

65005f00740079007000650000000f0000004e5644412c506172656e740e0000006e0061006d0065

000000b000000646973706c617922000000400030002c006400650076006900630065005f0074007

007000650000000b000000646973706c617922000000400031002c00640065007600690063006500

f00740079007000650000000b000000646973706c6179100000006d006f00640065006c0000001b0

00006e5669646961204765466f72636520383830302047545820000000400031002c0063006f006d

0700061007400690062006c00650000000e0000004e5644412c4e564d616314000000400030002c0

6e0061006d0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d4114000000400031002c006e00

1006d0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d4220000000400030002c0063006f006

00700061007400690062006c00650000000e0000004e5644412c4e564d6163100000004e00560043

04100500000001800000004000000000003000c00000000000007000000001e00000072006f006d0

2d007200650076006900730069006f006e0000002f0000006e5669646961204765466f7263652038

8303020475458204f70656e474c20456e67696e65205b4546495d6e0200000d00000002010c00d04

030a010000000101060000030101060000000101060000000101060000007fff04000e0000004e00

60050004d00000020000000010000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000002

0000005600520041004d002c0074006f00740061006c00730069007a006500000008000000000000

01c0000006400650076006900630065005f00740079007000650000000f0000004e5644412c50617

656e740e0000006e0061006d00650000000b000000646973706c617922000000400030002c006400

50076006900630065005f00740079007000650000000b000000646973706c6179220000004000310

2c006400650076006900630065005f00740079007000650000000b000000646973706c6179100000

06d006f00640065006c0000001b0000006e5669646961204765466f7263652038383030204754582

000000400031002c0063006f006d00700061007400690062006c00650000000e0000004e5644412c

e564d616314000000400030002c006e0061006d0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c617

2d4114000000400031002c006e0061006d0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d42

0000000400030002c0063006f006d00700061007400690062006c00650000000e0000004e5644412

4e564d6163100000004e00560043004100500000001800000004000000000003000c000000000000

7000000001e00000072006f006d002d007200650076006900730069006f006e0000002f0000006e5

69646961204765466f726365203838303020475458204f70656e474c20456e67696e65205b454649

d

HERE IS: /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist

Last login: Mon Mar 2 20:14:30 on console

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<plist version="1.0">

<dict>

<key>Kernel</key>

<string>nforcekernel</string>

<key>Kernel Flags</key>

<string></string>

<key>Timeout</key>

<string>5</string>

<key>device-properties</key>

<string>e804000001000000020000006e0200000d00000002010c00d041030a010000000101060000040

01060000000101060000000101060000007fff04000e0000004e00560050004d0000002000000001

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000220000005600520041004d002c0

74006f00740061006c00730069007a006500000008000000000000301c0000006400650076006900

30065005f00740079007000650000000f0000004e5644412c506172656e740e0000006e0061006d0

650000000b000000646973706c617922000000400030002c006400650076006900630065005f0074

079007000650000000b000000646973706c617922000000400031002c00640065007600690063006

005f00740079007000650000000b000000646973706c6179100000006d006f00640065006c000000

b0000006e5669646961204765466f72636520383830302047545820000000400031002c0063006f0

6d00700061007400690062006c00650000000e0000004e5644412c4e564d61631400000040003000

c006e0061006d0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d4114000000400031002c006

0061006d0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d4220000000400030002c0063006f

06d00700061007400690062006c00650000000e0000004e5644412c4e564d6163100000004e00560

43004100500000001800000004000000000003000c00000000000007000000001e00000072006f00

d002d007200650076006900730069006f006e0000002f0000006e5669646961204765466f7263652

3838303020475458204f70656e474c20456e67696e65205b4546495d6e0200000d00000002010c00

041030a010000000101060000030101060000000101060000000101060000007fff04000e0000004

00560050004d00000020000000010000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

0220000005600520041004d002c0074006f00740061006c00730069007a006500000008000000000

00301c0000006400650076006900630065005f00740079007000650000000f0000004e5644412c50

172656e740e0000006e0061006d00650000000b000000646973706c617922000000400030002c006

00650076006900630065005f00740079007000650000000b000000646973706c6179220000004000

1002c006400650076006900630065005f00740079007000650000000b000000646973706c6179100

00006d006f00640065006c0000001b0000006e5669646961204765466f7263652038383030204754

820000000400031002c0063006f006d00700061007400690062006c00650000000e0000004e56444

2c4e564d616314000000400030002c006e0061006d0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c

1792d4114000000400031002c006e0061006d0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792

4220000000400030002c0063006f006d00700061007400690062006c00650000000e0000004e5644

12c4e564d6163100000004e00560043004100500000001800000004000000000003000c000000000

0007000000001e00000072006f006d002d007200650076006900730069006f006e0000002f000000

e5669646961204765466f726365203838303020475458204f70656e474c20456e67696e65205b454

495d</string>

</dict>

</plist>

I know haroot has a XFX 780i nForce chipset MOBO but at least it would instructive for you to compare DSDT.aml files since AFAIK he is running his dual GeForce 8800 GTX cards under Snow Leopard too as posted here.......suggest you PM him to ask for a copy of his DSDT.aml......(let me have a copy too..... )

Dilemma Prison · May 18, 2010

Have you tried a Linux Live CD, to see what it sees video-wise..........?

If I find anything on a 680i running dual video cards, I will post it here.......

Have you tried your dual video card setup under Leopard too? I ask because of this post from haroot in my Leoaprd OS X on Series 7 nForce thread:

I know haroot has a XFX 780i nForce chipset MOBO but at least it would instructive for you to compare DSDT.aml files since AFAIK he is running his dual GeForce 8800 GTX cards under Snow Leopard too as posted here.......suggest you PM him to ask for a copy of his DSDT.aml......(let me have a copy too..... )

The 2nd board doesn't work with any of the live distros i tried :/. I did get it working with windows just fine; swapped cards around to verify that both worked in both slots in windows. Tested all outputs, etc. I know the hardware physically works, etc.

i shall pm him about that;

I was comparing block diagrams between the various recent nforce chips and the PCI-e buses sit on different compenents; etc the i780 has all of it's 2 16x speed PCIe channels running off the northbridge; the i680 the 2nd 16x slot runs through the southbridge and the first through the northbridge.

haroot's i780 graphics string root addresses are :

PciRoot(0x1)/Pci(0x3,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)

PciRoot(0x1)/Pci(0x4,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)

my i680 addresses; from both gfx util and manually eyeballed via the ioreg are :

PciRoot(0x1)/Pci(0x3,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)

PciRoot(0x1)/Pci(0x18,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)

my LSPCI output :

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Device 0612 (rev a2) - 1st 16x port

04:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Device 0612 (rev a2) - 2nd 16x port

the other PCI ports are also enumerated with higher number addresses like my 2nd 16x port.

i am trying to confirm if the PciRoot notation needs to be padded with the additional depth when doing a dual display hex string atm; this stuff is poorly documented.

on most of these forums people post their in files and someone on the thread just posts back a hex for them to try; nobody explains what they did to fix anything. .it's rather frustrating.

posting a bunch of other tidbits just so i can cut/paste refer to a forum post if i need to :/

DSDT entry for 1st PCIe slot

			Device (XVR0)
		{
			Name (_ADR, 0x00030000)
			OperationRegion (PCV0, PCI_Config, Zero, 0xFF)
			Scope (\)
			{
				Field (\_SB.PCI0.XVR0.PCV0, ByteAcc, NoLock, Preserve)
				{
					PEV0,   16, 
							Offset (0x9A), 
						,   3, 
					PRS0,   1, 
						,   2, 
					HST0,   1, 
							Offset (0x9B), 
					DLS0,   1, 
							Offset (0x9C), 
						,   3, 
					XPE0,   1, 
							Offset (0xA0), 
					RQD0,   16, 
					PES0,   1, 
					PEP0,   1
				}
			}

			Name (_PRW, Package (0x02)
			{
				0x11, 
				0x05
			})
		}

DSDT entry for 2nd PCIe slot

 
Device (MXR0)
		{
			Name (_ADR, 0x00180000)
			OperationRegion (PCVA, PCI_Config, Zero, 0xFF)
			Scope (\)
			{
				Field (\_SB.PCI0.MXR0.PCVA, ByteAcc, NoLock, Preserve)
				{
					PEVA,   16, 
							Offset (0x9C), 
						,   3, 
					XPEA,   1, 
							Offset (0xA0), 
					RQDA,   16, 
					PESA,   1, 
					PEPA,   1
				}
			}

			Name (_PRW, Package (0x02)
			{
				0x11, 
				0x05
			})
		}

kbosselman · May 18, 2010

In your BIOS do you have the option to enable the SATA controller and/or to enable RAID mode but disable RAID on the individual SATA channels.......in certain BIOSs, doing this is equivalent to enabling AHCI mode (i.e. the SATA controller implicitly uses AHCI when RAID is enabled)......but no guarantee that it is true of your BIOS......but you could try using your two SATA HDDs in RAID mode without actually RAIDing them by creating RAID volumes......

Anyhow, see the Pre-Series 7 nForce thread link in post #1, it will take you to post #1 in that thread where you can see the required 650i chipset BIOS settings in OS X.........

I've looked at the 650i chipset BIOS settings in the link, unfortunately my POS Phoenix 1.0.13 BIOS doesn't allow me to set the relevant ones (ie. AHCI). I played around with the RAID BIOS options, but that didn't have a positive effect. I can't enable the RAID option withoout having to actually set up the RAID. There is also no option to enable the SATA controller.

Is there anyway to get my drives recognized without setting AHCI in the BIOS? Can I set AHCI through a dsdt patch? Is there a kext out there that might help me?

Thanks

verdant · May 18, 2010

@ Nick Savage

Hopefully with the amount of relevant information you have posted, someone may be able to help........had you thought of PMing aqua-mac as well?

I've looked at the 650i chipset BIOS settings in the link, unfortunately my POS Phoenix 1.0.13 BIOS doesn't allow me to set the relevant ones (ie. AHCI). I played around with the RAID BIOS options, but that didn't have a positive effect. I can't enable the RAID option withoout having to actually set up the RAID. There is also no option to enable the SATA controller.

Is there anyway to get my drives recognized without setting AHCI in the BIOS? Can I set AHCI through a dsdt patch? Is there a kext out there that might help me?

Thanks

It might be worth you trying the following commands I came across in the Project OS X forum in a post by THe KiNG; although he said that fixing AHCI mode in DSDT only works for ICH7-M or ICH7-R............but you have nothing to lose by seeing what info the following commands throw up......

A simple way to test:
Boot from a live Linux CD(do not use sata port in question, guess the DVD is connected on PATA port)

Open terminal and run:

sudo -s

lspci -s 00:1f.2 -nnvvxxx // this it will show the actual registers and controller mode

setpci -s 00:1f.2 90.b // Double check the value of the register

setpci -s 00:1f.2 90.b=40 // Set the new value of the register

setpci -s 00:1f.2 90.b // Check if it changed, if yes then you are lucky, if not gave up u can't set it

lspci -s 00:1f.2 -nnvvxxx // run again to see how is controller set, if success should be in AHCI mode

Dilemma Prison · May 18, 2010

@ Nick Savage

Hopefully with the amount of relevant information you have posted, someone may be able to help........had you thought of PMing aqua-mac as well?

It might be be worth you trying the following commands I came across in the Project OS X forum in a post by THe KiNG; although he said that fixing AHCI mode in DSDT only works for ICH7-M or ICH7-R............but you have nothing to loose by see what info the following commands throw up......

aquamac, probably best to simply post on his proboard; i shall do that too.

When i investigated w/ my linux live distros yesterday i did check LSPCI output; the basic addresses were the same output that i got w/ my 10.6 installations. Good idea though; I'll pull the extended info when i get a chance

nForce OS X Snow Leopard (10.6) RETAIL INSTALL GUIDE on a Series 6 or 7 nForce chipset / Intel CPU MOBO

Snow Leopard on nForce + Intel CPU MOBO in Desktop 213 members have voted

1. Have you successfully installed a working, bootable Snow Leopard system?

2. Would you say that your Snow Leopard system is working to your satisfaction (e.g. compared to Leopard)

3. Is your Snow Leopard system working 100% on

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Snow Leopard on nForce + Intel CPU MOBO in Desktop
213 members have voted