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

[SilverSix311]

Hey Verdant!

I was wondering if you knew why my network keeps cutting off randomly... I have a USB Ethernet from apple and my 2 nForceLan on the MOBO.

[verdant]

Hey Verdant!

I was wondering if you knew why my network keeps cutting off randomly... I have a USB Ethernet from apple and my 2 nForceLan on the MOBO.

 

How many Ethernet cables are connecting your PC to your Network router?

 

I have encountered this problem too because I have 2 onboard LAN/nForceLAN and 1 PCI LAN/Realtek 8169 NIC......and at present I have 1 onboard LAN/nForceLAN port and the PCI LAN/Realtek 8169 NIC connecting to my Network router, but I have to have only one Ethernet port active (connected) at anytime in System Preferences > Network to avoid this issue......

 

So, if you have a connecting cable to more than one active Ethernet port on your MOBO (in your case 2 onboard LAN/nForceLAN plus 1 external LAN/USB), then you should have only one Ethernet port active (connected) at anytime in System Preferences > Network..........

[Starbuxx]

Hey Verdant,

 

I am very sorry to says that after everything was working perfect, my sound is broken. As you know, Ihave a creative x-fi, so I used VodooHDA.kext. Now it says: No audo device found. Every version I tried worked more or less in the past. I really dont know what I can do, removing my Realtek Patch brought no result.

 

 

Edit: Also broken Vodoo on Leopard, my helping OS on 40Gb external. --> It seems to be the new networking card. I think THIS IS IT, im sure there is no solution , what a waste of time for everybody

 

 

Thank You

 

Starbuxx

[verdant]

Hey Verdant,

 

I am very sorry to says that after everything was working perfect, my sound is broken. As you know, Ihave a creative x-fi, so I used VodooHDA.kext. Now it says: No audo device found. Every version I tried worked more or less in the past. I really dont know what I can do, removing my Realtek Patch brought no result.

 

 

Edit: Also broken Vodoo on Leopard, my helping OS on 40Gb external. --> It seems to be the new networking card. I think THIS IS IT, im sure there is no solution , what a waste of time for everybody

 

 

Thank You

 

Starbuxx

 

With the RTL8139 NIC taken out with no other changes (including not removing PCGenRTL8139.kext in PlugIns) is VoodooHDA driven sound immediately restored in Leopard and Snow Leopard..........?

 

The answer to this question determines your options:

 

1. Have you tried the kX Project OS X driver 1.3b0 (BETA) instead of VoodooHDA?

 

2. Alternatively, get a RTL8169 NIC or a Apple USB Ethernet Adapter

[Starbuxx]

I will try removing it, this is really bad....

 

1.Soundblaster X-Fi (All cards) are not supported (I have X-fi Titanium)

2.You mean buying a new card? LAst option, but I think i will not go so far....

 

I am sry but I have to state that I think OSX is bad, Windows is much easier and better. I wasted some money buying Snow Leopard, fortunatly I bought no MacPro

 

Nevertheless I am very impressed by your help, one of the best support I experienced in any community. No words about: You have to use google, you have to do this by yourself......

 

So THANK YOU Again, without your help, I would stuck now installing Snow Leopard

 

Greetz

 

Starbuxx

[verdant]

I will try removing it, this is really bad....

 

1.Soundblaster X-Fi (All cards) are not supported (I have X-fi Titanium)

2.You mean buying a new card? LAst option, but I think i will not go so far....

 

I am sry but I have to state that I think OSX is bad, Windows is much easier and better. I wasted some money buying Snow Leopard, fortunatly I bought no MacPro

 

Nevertheless I am very impressed by your help, one of the best support I experienced in any community. No words about: You have to use google, you have to do this by yourself......

 

So THANK YOU Again, without your help, I would stuck now installing Snow Leopard

 

Greetz

 

Starbuxx

 

Your network card and sound card could be having interrupt conflicts (which could happen with another NIC too)........try disabling HPET in BIOS and/or try Slice's IOPCIFamily.kext.........

 

I am sorry that you are so disappointed with OS X versus Windows.........

 

BUT you have to remember that

 

1. OS X was/is not designed to run hassle-free on a non-Apple PC

 

2. All PC MOBO hardware and 3rd party cards/drivers are invariably designed and optimised for Windows OS only (not for OS X or Linux)

The fact that we are able to run OS X on a PC almost 100% OK in the majority of cases is simply a great bonus..........

 

Had you bought a MacPro your opinion of OS X would have been different I am sure and I have no axe to grind as I use OS X and Windows and Linux......and you would still be running Windows via Bootcamp.........

 

The Apple USB Ethernet 10/100Base-T Adapter (works OTB) costs $29.00 from US Apple Store and less on eBay (new and secondhand) and see here.........

 

Glad to have helped........just sorry about the outcome for you.......

[SilverSix311]

SO i cant have a nForce LAN plugged in with the Apple USB Ethernet adapter? I have router to USB Ethernet, then i have the internet shared through one of the nForce NIC's. Would it work if i had 2 USB ethernets?

[verdant]

SO i cant have a nForce LAN plugged in with the Apple USB Ethernet adapter? I have router to USB Ethernet, then i have the internet shared through one of the nForce NIC's. Would it work if i had 2 USB ethernets?

 

Have you tried connecting Router to the onboard NForceLAN and internet shared with other PC via the USB Ethernet? Or is this not possible to try? It may work with 2 USB ethernets...........not sure..........

[SilverSix311]

Yea i had tried that. I think it just kicked off sometimes or somethin ill try it again. I dont remember what happen honestly. I wanna just buy a new router.

[Dilemma Prison]

Verdant :

 

I have some general ideas why dual video cards are so problematic to get running on 680 and similar chipsets; most of this is conjecture and may be wrong but i figured i would pass on my assumptions.

 

pci-e interface enumeration is somewhat backwards in the bios; looking at ioreg it appears that 2nd and 3rd slots are picked up prior to the first in the list; it's been reported w/ injection methods that you have to compose an efi string or device injection list in the order the cards show up in ioreg; the order in which the system scans them. etc. The workaround on some other mainboards is to set the init boot display (or similar setting) as peg2 / pcie16x2 or similar setting, this won't work for folks locked out of that type of setting. (later 680 bios revisions, etc)

 

It may be possible to shuffle these list orderings around using some DSDT editing to get the slot picked up after the primary one (assuming such reordering is possible); I'm trying to craft a tweaked dsdt as we speak just to get the list ordering fixed w/ one card. I'll post my changes if it works.

[Paulyh]

Check that you have NVDANV40Hal.kext in /S/L/E/ and try first switching your display connector port (if you can) to the other port on your graphics card) (if your card has two)

 

From post #1, have you tried all 3 methods (mutually exclusive) for getting nVidia graphics cards working:

 

 

If not try all three and report back.............

 

Hi Verdant,

 

Okay, I've made some progress. I am able to get snow leopard to boot using the graphics enabler option and by using the hexadecimal graphics string option, but with both of these the only resolution option available in settings is 1024 x 768. I have checked and confirmed that I do have NVDANV40Hal.kext.

 

Where I am at now is that I am running with the hexadecimal string option and have added "Graphics Mode"="1280x1024x32@60 to my com.apple.Boot.plist file which now looks like this:

 

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

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

<plist version="1.0">

<dict>

<key>Kernel</key>

<string>mach_kernel</string>

<key>Kernel Flags</key>

<string>"Graphics Mode"="1280x1024x32@60</string>

<key>Boot Graphics</key>

<string>Yes</string>

<key>Quiet Boot</key>

<string>No</string>

<key>Timeout</key>

<string>5</string>

<key>device-properties</key> <string>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</string>

<key>arch</key>

<string>i386</string>

<key>PciRoot</key>

<string>1</string>

<key>USBBusFix</key>

<string>Yes</string>

<key>Legacy Logo</key>

<string>Yes</string>

</dict>

</plist>

 

This gives me the 1280 x 1024 resolution option in settings menu, (now this is the only option available but that's fine). 1280 x 1024 now working!!!

 

But........I noticed general graphics performance, (running HD videos etc) is slow. On investigating this issue I realise that QE and CI are not working, learning more every day haha

 

I'm not sure how to proceed from here.

 

 

With the third option you presented: NVEnabler.kext, I was unable to identify the exact device ID for my card, (followed a few guides online but still not sure) and where to add it into the kext. Happy to try this if you could give me a bit of help. Or maybe now with the progress I have made you know how I could get QE/CI working?

 

Many thanks so far!

 

Paul.

[macaddict1234]

Hi i read through your guide and have managed to burn the bootloader iso to cd and it comes up correctly named Legacy Boot CD, i manage to boot from the CD it comes up with the screen that prompts me to switch disks to my snow leopard install disk, so i then put in the disk and press return to boot from the snow leopard disk and it loads as far as the grey screen with the frog and the whirling OSX symbol then the screen goes totally grey with lines at the bottom.

 

 

I'm running this system:

 

Acer 5738g laptop

 

Mainboard Acer JV50

Intel C2D T6670

Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570

 

Any idea what could be going wrong or what i need to do to make it boot? is my graphics card not recognised or something?

[verdant]

Hi Verdant,

 

Okay, I've made some progress. I am able to get snow leopard to boot using the graphics enabler option and by using the hexadecimal graphics string option, but with both of these the only resolution option available in settings is 1024 x 768. I have checked and confirmed that I do have NVDANV40Hal.kext.

 

Where I am at now is that I am running with the hexadecimal string option and have added "Graphics Mode"="1280x1024x32@60 to my com.apple.Boot.plist file which now looks like this:

 

This gives me the 1280 x 1024 resolution option in settings menu, (now this is the only option available but that's fine). 1280 x 1024 now working!!!

 

But........I noticed general graphics performance, (running HD videos etc) is slow. On investigating this issue I realise that QE and CI are not working, learning more every day haha

 

I'm not sure how to proceed from here.

 

 

With the third option you presented: NVEnabler.kext, I was unable to identify the exact device ID for my card, (followed a few guides online but still not sure) and where to add it into the kext. Happy to try this if you could give me a bit of help. Or maybe now with the progress I have made you know how I could get QE/CI working?

 

Many thanks so far!

 

Paul.

 

Your graphics card Device ID mask is given in post #1 in long list of Snow Leopard supported graphics cards...........0x00f010de&0xfff0ffff........which includes the 00f6 NV43 [GeForce 6800 GS] graphics card

 

You need to put your graphics card Device ID mask in the Info.plist file of each of these kexts:

 

GeForce.kext

 

<key>IOPCIPrimaryMatch</key>

<string>0x004010de&0xfff0ffff 0x00f010de&0xfff0ffff 0x022010de&0xfff0ffff 0x014010de&0xfff0ffff 0x016010de&0xfff0ffff 0x009010de&0xfff0ffff 0x01d010de&0xfff0ffff 0x039010de&0xfff0ffff 0x029010de&0xfff0ffff</string>

 

NVDAResman.kext

 

<key>IOPCIPrimaryMatch</key>

<string>0x00f010de&0xfff0ffff 0x011010de&0xfff8ffff 0x017010de&0xfff8ffff 0x017910de 0x018010de&0xfff8ffff 0x018810de 0x018910de 0x020010de&0xfff8ffff 0x025010de&0xfff8ffff 0x028010de&0xfff8ffff 0x030010de&0xfff8ffff 0x031010de&0xfff8ffff 0x031910de 0x034910de 0x05e010de&0xfff8ffff 0x05f010de&0xfff0ffff</string>

NVDANV40Hal.kext

 

 

NVEnabler.kext

 

<key>IOPCIMatch</key>

<string>0x00f010de&0xfff0ffff</string>

<key>IOProbeScore</key>

<string>0</string>

 

To get to Info.plist file in each kext:

 

1. Navigate to /System/Library/Extensions

2. Find each kext one at a time, then right-click on kext icon, choosing "Show Package Contents", then open Contents folder to find Info.plist.

3. Open Info.plist file via Terminal using sudo nano etc., or right-click, choosing "Open With", and selecting your preferred Text Editor app; e.g.Text Edit, TextMate, TextWrangler, Property List Editor, or PlistEdit Pro etc.

4. Once open navigate to root IOKitPersonalities next arrow then click value next to IOPCIMatch or IOPCIPrimaryMatch and enter 0x00f010de&0xfff0ffff

5. Also in NVEnabler Info.plist, change IOProbe score to 0

 

Anyhow I have made the changes for you........see your PM.........remember to set Graphics Enabler = No and remove graphics string...........add kexts to /S/L/E/ using Kext Helper b7..........let me know if it works for you

 

Hi i read through your guide and have managed to burn the bootloader iso to cd and it comes up correctly named Legacy Boot CD, i manage to boot from the CD it comes up with the screen that prompts me to switch disks to my snow leopard install disk, so i then put in the disk and press return to boot from the snow leopard disk and it loads as far as the grey screen with the frog and the whirling OSX symbol then the screen goes totally grey with lines at the bottom.

 

 

I'm running this system:

 

Acer 5738g laptop

 

Mainboard Acer JV50

Intel C2D T6670

Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570

 

Any idea what could be going wrong or what i need to do to make it boot? is my graphics card not recognised or something?

 

AFAIK your Acer 5738g laptop with the Acer JV50 MOBO is not nForce chipset based.............?

[Paulyh]

Anyhow I have made the changes for you........see your PM.........remember to set Graphics Enabler = No and remove graphics string...........add kexts to /S/L/E/ using Kext Helper b7..........let me know if it works for you

 

I added the kexts you sent, set Graphics Enabler = NO and it booted fine BUT with only 1024 x 768 resolution available and no QE/CI.

 

Again, by adding "graphics mode=1280x1024x32@60" I can get that resolution but with slow performance.

 

Is there anything else that can be done now or should I just stick with 10.5.2?

 

Thanks very much for your help.

 

Paul.

[verdant]

I added the kexts you sent, set Graphics Enabler = NO and it booted fine BUT with only 1024 x 768 resolution available and no QE/CI.

 

Again, by adding "graphics mode=1280x1024x32@60" I can get that resolution but with slow performance.

 

Is there anything else that can be done now or should I just stick with 10.5.2?

 

Thanks very much for your help.

 

Paul.

 

Do you get full CI/QE in 10.5.2...........?

 

Suggest you update to 10.5.6.............but also try using NVDarwin in Snow Leopard but make same changes as for NVEnabler.........but remember you can then only boot with arch=i386........

[macaddict1234]

AFAIK your Acer 5738g laptop with the Acer JV50 MOBO is not nForce chipset based.............?

 

Ok... well it said installing snow leopard on 10.6 intel core 2 duo, which i have. So where would i go for a guide that caters to my system, or would you be so kind to tell me how i can change your bootloader or the kexts or something so i can run it on my system.

 

Done a lot of reading of different guides at this point and it seems there are so many hardware compatibility issues that it would be rediculously hard to find a guide that actually caters precisely to my own system, and i'd be better off finding one that's as similar as possible then just modifying it, but so far i've found nobody that has said... "oh by the way download this utility and change blah where it says blah to your system".

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[verdant]

Ok... well it said installing snow leopard on 10.6 intel core 2 duo, which i have. So where would i go for a guide that caters to my system, or would you be so kind to tell me how i can change your bootloader or the kexts or something so i can run it on my system.

 

Done a lot of reading of different guides at this point and it seems there are so many hardware compatibility issues that it would be rediculously hard to find a guide that actually caters precisely to my own system, and i'd be better off finding one that's as similar as possible then just modifying it, but so far i've found nobody that has said... "oh by the way download this utility and change blah where it says blah to your system".

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

The first word in the topic title is "nForce"........and "a Series 6 or 7 nForce chipset" precedes "Intel Core2 Duo"...........

 

Anyway, now to help you.........your laptop has a Mobile Intel GM45 Express chipset MOBO, so look for MOBO guides for Intel GM45 chipset MOBOs..........also be aware that your ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 graphics card may be problematic.........use Google to search for it with netkas included........

 

Wish you success with whatever install guide you find........

[smungle]

thank you verdant for your links and information ( sent a few weeks back ) i will be taking your advice in the near future to buy a mac pro as i wont be getting the problems im getting now :/.

 

anyway. i wonder if you may be able to assist me?..

im getting a few random KP's. not many and i can just leave it standing on destop with nothing loading nd still get them.

 

i can only pin point them due to the AppleNforceATA kext and me having a nforce chipset (as we disused before)

but i just hope its not that and there is a way i can at least reduce the KP's if not eliminate them completely.

 

i will put my setup in sig asap. and sorry for the lack of infomation. if i had any idea i would give you more to go from.

 

thanks hope all is well btw

[verdant]

thank you verdant for your links and information ( sent a few weeks back ) i will be taking your advice in the near future to buy a mac pro as i wont be getting the problems im getting now :/.

 

anyway. i wonder if you may be able to assist me?..

im getting a few random KP's. not many and i can just leave it standing on destop with nothing loading nd still get them.

 

i can only pin point them due to the AppleNforceATA kext and me having a nforce chipset (as we disused before)

but i just hope its not that and there is a way i can at least reduce the KP's if not eliminate them completely.

 

i will put my setup in sig asap. and sorry for the lack of infomation. if i had any idea i would give you more to go from.

 

thanks hope all is well btw

 

I am OK thanks..........hope you well too..........

 

Try the following

 

Include

cpus=1

in your /E/E/ com.apple.boot.plist and report back if you get a reduced number of random KPs when the desktop is idle.......if not, include

cpus=1 maxmem=3072

and report back..........I want is see if KPs are CPU and/or RAM related.........

 

Also, check your system log when rebooting after a KP, to see if there is a recurring error each time you have a KP.........

 

When you get your MacPro your worries should be over.........

 

Cheers

verdant

[macaddict1234]

The first word in the topic title is "nForce"........and "a Series 6 or 7 nForce chipset" precedes "Intel Core2 Duo"...........

 

Anyway, now to help you.........your laptop has a Mobile Intel GM45 Express chipset MOBO, so look for MOBO guides for Intel GM45 chipset MOBOs..........also be aware that your ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 graphics card may be problematic.........use Google to search for it with netkas included........

 

Wish you success with whatever install guide you find........

 

Ok thanks, i've done a lot more reading on hackintosh's and it's my understand that all the bootloaders and chameleon and whatnot do is install a modified version of OSX with kexts injected for their particular hardware. I've seen people not able to even install OSX because they've had problems not getting a bootloader that caters for their hardware so i wondered would it be possible to use a mac to do a clean install of OSX 10.6 to a drive, then update it to 10.6.4 in the software update and just inject the kexts myself from a repository like kexts.com?

 

Just thinking this way i'll have OSX installed no problem, i'll just need to mess around with drivers essentially to get my system to boot from that HD or is there something else that needs to be done with the BIOS?

 

p.s. in case you're wondering, i have access to a friend's mac and my main computer atm is a windows pc, but i have a clean hd with no OS on it i could use for drive to dual boot onto OSX on the same system, or that's my hope

[verdant]

Ok thanks, i've done a lot more reading on hackintosh's and it's my understand that all the bootloaders and chameleon and whatnot do is install a modified version of OSX with kexts injected for their particular hardware. I've seen people not able to even install OSX because they've had problems not getting a bootloader that caters for their hardware so i wondered would it be possible to use a mac to do a clean install of OSX 10.6 to a drive, then update it to 10.6.4 in the software update and just inject the kexts myself from a repository like kexts.com?

 

Just thinking this way i'll have OSX installed no problem, i'll just need to mess around with drivers essentially to get my system to boot from that HD or is there something else that needs to be done with the BIOS?

 

p.s. in case you're wondering, i have access to a friend's mac and my main computer atm is a windows pc, but i have a clean hd with no OS on it i could use for drive to dual boot onto OSX on the same system, or that's my hope

 

I want to keep this thread for nForce chipset MOBO posts only, so I have PM'd you..........

[ACross]

I've written a small guide on how to install SL 10.6.4 retail using the Boot132CD method.

The machine (Packard Bell iMax) hw basics are:

CPU: Core2 Quad Q8300, @2.5GHz;

GPU: nVidia GeForce GT 120/1GB

ChipSet: nVidia GeForce7050/nForce 630i

Audio: Realtek ALC 888S

LAN: Realtek RTL8201N 100M Ethernet Controller

 

In case it interests you, you can find more here:

http://tonycr.wordpress.com/snow-leopard-1...ell-imax-x6760/

 

Cheers

[smungle]

I am OK thanks..........hope you well too..........

 

Try the following

 

Include

cpus=1

in your /E/E/ com.apple.boot.plist and report back if you get a reduced number of random KPs when the desktop is idle.......if not, include

cpus=1 maxmem=3072

and report back..........I want is see if KPs are CPU and/or RAM related.........

 

Also, check your system log when rebooting after a KP, to see if there is a recurring error each time you have a KP.........

 

When you get your MacPro your worries should be over.........

 

Cheers

verdant

 

 

im as well as i can be thank you kindly

 

im using cpus=1 due to freeze but not maxmem. i will ferom now on tho and let you know.

 

ahh console yes i forgot about that.

 

13/07/2010 20:28:54 com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[115] (com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-i@me.com-SharedServices[143]) Exited with exit code: 1

 

that was the last one after KP. i hope there is a solution as i can see tiny grey hairs poking though :/

[verdant]

im as well as i can be thank you kindly

 

im using cpus=1 due to freeze but not maxmem. i will ferom now on tho and let you know.

 

ahh console yes i forgot about that.

 

13/07/2010 20:28:54 com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[115] (com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-i@me.com-SharedServices[143]) Exited with exit code: 1

 

that was the last one after KP. i hope there is a solution as i can see tiny grey hairs poking though :/

 

Do you have the corresponding saved crash report?

[smungle]

Do you have the corresponding saved crash report?

 

not sure where to get it :S

the only place i thought of is system/library/logs/crash reporter but empty.....