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

[silentsaint]

Hello all.

For the past 4 days, I've been trying to install SL onto my desktop.

 

Specs:

EVGA 780i 3-way SLI board

nvidia gtx 260 x2 (only have one powered and connected for install)

750gb SATA HD

SATA DVD drive

PATA DVD drive

 

I've matched the BIOS settings in the first post as well as I could (I do not have control over AHCI mode with this board)

 

My first attempts were with the SATA drive and I constantly would get "still waiting for root device.." errors.

 

I grabbed a PATA DVD drive from an old PC and would get as far as systemShutdown false. It would then freeze.

 

I found in the first post a nforceSL132 bootloader.. I've had the most success with this.

 

I get the furthest when using flags -v -x cpus=1 and maxmem=2048

 

it will load all the way up to "DSMOS has arrived." and then the DVI input will shut off and my monitor won't be able to find a signal.

 

I feel as if I'm making tons of progress but I can't figure out why this is happen.

 

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

edit: the second gtx 260 is still in the 2nd PCI-e slot. When I get home I'll have to try removing that. It isn't connected to the PSU though.

[bpool1982]

Here are Krishna21's 630i files from an earlier version of his guide.......they may be what you are looking for......

Extensions.zip bootnmackernel.zip

 

Thanks for the files I followed your guide but used the extensions folder from Krishna21 that you gave yet I get the same problem it doesn't detect any sata drive but I can't work out why??

 

Is a way round this to buy a sata PCI-e card that has a more compatible chipset?

[verdant]

Hello all.

For the past 4 days, I've been trying to install SL onto my desktop.

 

Specs:

EVGA 780i 3-way SLI board

nvidia gtx 260 x2 (only have one powered and connected for install)

750gb SATA HD

SATA DVD drive

PATA DVD drive

 

I've matched the BIOS settings in the first post as well as I could (I do not have control over AHCI mode with this board)

 

My first attempts were with the SATA drive and I constantly would get "still waiting for root device.." errors.

 

I grabbed a PATA DVD drive from an old PC and would get as far as systemShutdown false. It would then freeze.

 

I found in the first post a nforceSL132 bootloader.. I've had the most success with this.

 

I get the furthest when using flags -v -x cpus=1 and maxmem=2048

 

it will load all the way up to "DSMOS has arrived." and then the DVI input will shut off and my monitor won't be able to find a signal.

 

I feel as if I'm making tons of progress but I can't figure out why this is happen.

 

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

edit: the second gtx 260 is still in the 2nd PCI-e slot. When I get home I'll have to try removing that. It isn't connected to the PSU though.

 

1. Remove 2nd GFX card until OS X is installed and running OK then see here

 

2. Connect display cable connector to GFX card (in primary GFX slot) port closest to MOBO first but if the display gets no signal try the other port on the GFX card

 

3. Disconnect SATA DVDRW until installation is complete

 

4. Ensure that PATA DVDRW is jumper-set and connected as Master to the MOBO using a 80-wire IDE cable

 

5. Ensure that in your BIOS you have set

 

RAID Enable [Enabled]

SATA 0 Primary RAID [Disabled]

SATA 0 Secondary RAID [Disabled]

SATA 1 Primary RAID [Disabled]

SATA 1 Secondary RAID [Disabled]

SATA 2 Primary RAID [Disabled]

SATA 2 Secondary RAID [Disabled]

 

because you MUST have RAID Enable set to [Enabled], so that you can enable or disable the SATA functions. This because WHEN you set RAID Enable to [Disabled], all SATA functions are changed to Disabled and cannot be changed, yet you want to set Serial-ATA Controller [All Enabled]......

 

Thanks for the files I followed your guide but used the extensions folder from Krishna21 that you gave yet I get the same problem it doesn't detect any sata drive but I can't work out why??

 

Is a way round this to buy a sata PCI-e card that has a more compatible chipset?

 

What *ATA.kext(s) have you got in /Extra/Extensions and/or /S/L/E?

 

What are your SATA and IDE BIOS settings currently?

[silentsaint]

verdant, thank you for your reply. I was hoping maybe I'd get the chance to troubleshoot with you.

 

I went down the BIOS settings list and set everything that I had the ability to.

 

I removed one gtx 260 entirely from the board and also disconnected the SATA DVD drive.

 

This time, I was able to see an APCI timeout (i believe) before the screen went black and was searching for an input.

 

After I lose input, the DVD drive still is active. I can see the activity light processing something, I just can't see what is going on on the screen.

 

I've watched videos of people installing on other motherboards, and they get the same ACPI_SMC_Platform timeout that I'm getting.. but the next thing that happens is that the OS X install screen appears. On mine, it just loses input signal.

[verdant]

verdant, thank you for your reply. I was hoping maybe I'd get the chance to troubleshoot with you.

 

I went down the BIOS settings list and set everything that I had the ability to.

 

I removed one gtx 260 entirely from the board and also disconnected the SATA DVD drive.

 

This time, I was able to see an APCI timeout (i believe) before the screen went black and was searching for an input.

 

After I lose input, the DVD drive still is active. I can see the activity light processing something, I just can't see what is going on on the screen.

 

I've watched videos of people installing on other motherboards, and they get the same ACPI_SMC_Platform timeout that I'm getting.. but the next thing that happens is that the OS X install screen appears. On mine, it just loses input signal.

 

Did you try swapping the display connector cable between GFX card ports.......? See post #1 for graphics 'driver' options.....

 

Suggest you retry setting up and using a USB flash drive installer as in post #1, or try the iATKOS S3 v2 install DVD (see my install guide here) to have more flexibility in installing a working video 'driver' for your GTX 260 to enable the OS X installation to proceed.........

[silentsaint]

Did you try swapping the display connector cable between GFX card ports.......? See post #1 for graphics 'driver' options.....

 

Suggest you retry setting up and using a USB flash drive installer as in post #1, or try the iATKOS S3 v2 install DVD (see my install guide here) to have more flexibility in installing a working video 'driver' for your GTX 260 to enable the OS X installation to proceed.........

 

yes, I've tried switching the ports

 

the iATKOS install freezes at systemShutdown false

 

I do not have access to a working mac to do the USB install method, however, I am on ubuntu 10.10 right now with the ability to format hfs+.

 

I think first I'm going to try to find my 8800 GTX and see if that solves the blank screen problem. If i could just get the installer running, then I could change components back after the install completes.

 

edit: of course I wouldn't be able to find that card.

 

I tried your 132 loader with -v -x cpus=1 maxmem=2048 and PciRootUID=1

 

no change

 

another edit: sorry for editing so much. I'm just trying to get you as much information as possible. It seems to me that each bootloader will freeze at different areas. For example, I tried the OSX86 mod cd. and used GraphicsEnabler=Yes. and it immediately told me that I had a gtx 260 at PCIRootUID=0. it loaded up to the ACPI_SMC_Platform timeout, and froze.

 

HUGE EDIT:

Not sure if anyone is having similar problems as me, but I've managed to get the installer running.

OSX86 modcd with -v -x cpus=1 maxmem=2048 GraphicsEnabler=Yes

 

eventually after AppleAPIC_SMC_Platform timeout, you will get a black screen with a white cusor that does not move whatsoever.

I gave it 3-4 minutes and it eventually loaded the installer.

 

Thank you so much for your help verdant, I'll be following the first post more to make sure I can get the OS stable.

[verdant]

yes, I've tried switching the ports

 

the iATKOS install freezes at systemShutdown false

 

I do not have access to a working mac to do the USB install method, however, I am on ubuntu 10.10 right now with the ability to format hfs+.

 

I think first I'm going to try to find my 8800 GTX and see if that solves the blank screen problem. If i could just get the installer running, then I could change components back after the install completes.

 

edit: of course I wouldn't be able to find that card.

 

I tried your 132 loader with -v -x cpus=1 maxmem=2048 and PciRootUID=1

 

no change

 

another edit: sorry for editing so much. I'm just trying to get you as much information as possible. It seems to me that each bootloader will freeze at different areas. For example, I tried the OSX86 mod cd. and used GraphicsEnabler=Yes. and it immediately told me that I had a gtx 260 at PCIRootUID=0. it loaded up to the ACPI_SMC_Platform timeout, and froze.

 

HUGE EDIT:

Not sure if anyone is having similar problems as me, but I've managed to get the installer running.

OSX86 modcd with -v -x cpus=1 maxmem=2048 GraphicsEnabler=Yes

 

eventually after AppleAPIC_SMC_Platform timeout, you will get a black screen with a white cusor that does not move whatsoever.

I gave it 3-4 minutes and it eventually loaded the installer.

 

Thank you so much for your help verdant, I'll be following the first post more to make sure I can get the OS stable.

 

Glad to help.........

[silentsaint]

Glad to help.........

 

I'm hoping this install works because it's been going for over 4 hours.

 

It's current doing some .postflight/ stuff

 

I've been leaving it alone, but moving the mouse and clicking things every so often to make sure it's working.

I'm sure it shouldn't be taking this long but I'm not going to complain

[silentsaint]

Okay so the install has successfully completed. I restart the computer and use the OSX86 mod cd to boot to the HD.

however, I'm getting a kernel panic

 

I'm not very good with unix based panics, but do i need to delete the elliotforcelegacyrtc.kext ?

 

Remember, I'm a newbie. So if there is an easy way to fix this, could you please enlighten me?

 

Here is the panic:

 

http://img153.imageshack.us/i/20110428201928331.jpg/

 

edit: probably should have searched before just asking for help. seems that a lot of people have this problem. i will try to remove the kext with terminal

[verdant]

Okay so the install has successfully completed. I restart the computer and use the OSX86 mod cd to boot to the HD.

however, I'm getting a kernel panic

 

I'm not very good with unix based panics, but do i need to delete the elliotforcelegacyrtc.kext ?

 

Remember, I'm a newbie. So if there is an easy way to fix this, could you please enlighten me?

 

Here is the panic:

 

http://img153.imageshack.us/i/20110428201928331.jpg/

 

edit: probably should have searched before just asking for help. seems that a lot of people have this problem. i will try to remove the kext with terminal

 

Remove the kext and see post #1 Part B. on how to patch your DSDT.aml file for the CMOS reset RTC fix.........

[silentsaint]

I'm able to use a cd to boot into the HD.

It is just incredibly slow. OS X sees my computer as a 3.2 ghz quad core processor (which is correct) but it only sees 2 GB of ram (but I'm sure there's a kext fix for that)

and I've not yet installed an extension for my graphics card so it sees that as 32mb

 

I'm assuming it's running this slow because of the graphics "drivers" not being loaded.. it just takes long to refresh.

 

system hangs when loading. takes 2 or 3 minutes to "catch up" it seems.

 

I'm in the process of installing updates and trying to install the kexts from your snow support files v 2.2

 

we'll see how it goes

 

edit: this is absolutely ridiculous. it takes over 7 minutes to open a folder. i still can't get it to boot from the HD, but I know it's because the nforceATA kexts aren't loading. i can't even get to them. is something wrong with the apple.boot.pl file? i mean 2gb of ram and 3.2 ghz should NOT be this slow.

[verdant]

I'm able to use a cd to boot into the HD.

It is just incredibly slow. OS X sees my computer as a 3.2 ghz quad core processor (which is correct) but it only sees 2 GB of ram (but I'm sure there's a kext fix for that)

and I've not yet installed an extension for my graphics card so it sees that as 32mb

 

I'm assuming it's running this slow because of the graphics "drivers" not being loaded.. it just takes long to refresh.

 

system hangs when loading. takes 2 or 3 minutes to "catch up" it seems.

 

I'm in the process of installing updates and trying to install the kexts from your snow support files v 2.2

 

we'll see how it goes

 

Are you booting in 32bit mode using arch=i386 in com.apple.Boot.plist?.......it is best to use 32bit mode first to get OS X running 100%......

 

Use these kexts in /Extra/Extensions/

 

AppleNForceATA by AnV or slashack

fakesmcV2

nForceLAN

OpenHaltRestart

PlatformUUID (Not needed with RC4 or RC5)

 

Type in Terminal

kextstat

to check the kexts that are being loaded........

[silentsaint]

for some reason the nforceATA and fakesmcv2 kexts were not getting properly installed. everything is working 100% now. for some reason, system only wants to boot from HD in verbose mode. But I'm totally okay with that, I actually prefer it. Boot up takes a few minutes, I think there was a kext to speed that up? I'll have to go searching for it. seems like most of things displayed during boot deal with nvenabler (which works perfectly however)

 

i've hooked the second GTX with the SLI bridge. I know it probably isn't supported but I just don't want to have to put the bridge back on whenever I want to boot to windows. so far, no problems with that.

 

Thank you so much for your help, I think I've finally got it working and I couldn't be happier.

 

Now, off to buy Logic 8

 

 

edit: can't seem to boot into SL with my SATA dvd drive connected. oh well, that's ok

[verdant]

for some reason the nforceATA and fakesmcv2 kexts were not getting properly installed. everything is working 100% now. for some reason, system only wants to boot from HD in verbose mode. But I'm totally okay with that, I actually prefer it. Boot up takes a few minutes, I think there was a kext to speed that up? I'll have to go searching for it. seems like most of things displayed during boot deal with nvenabler (which works perfectly however)

 

i've hooked the second GTX with the SLI bridge. I know it probably isn't supported but I just don't want to have to put the bridge back on whenever I want to boot to windows. so far, no problems with that.

 

Thank you so much for your help, I think I've finally got it working and I couldn't be happier.

 

Now, off to buy Logic 8

 

That is good news........

 

Glad to help..........BTW I boot in verbose mode all the time as I like to know what is happening during boot.......

 

In Terminal type:

 

sudo chown -R root:wheel /System/Library/Extensions/
sudo chmod -R 755 /System/Library/Extensions/
sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions/
sudo kextcache -v 1 -t -m /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/Extensions.mkext  /System/Library/Extensions/

Reboot with -v -f and then use Disk Utility to repair OS X permissions............

 

Also as for com.apple.Boot.plist, I assume that both will be loaded, one after the other, so I ensure that the one in /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/ does not conflict with the one in /Extra/ by keeping it very simple:

 

<?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>Kernel</key>

<string>mach_kernel</string>

<key>Kernel Flags</key>

<string>-v arch=i386</string>

</dict>

</plist>

 

whereas com.apple.Boot.plist in /Extra is the one that I use for the EFI graphics string because it is loaded first:

 

<?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>Graphics Mode</key>

<string></string>

<key>Kernel</key>

<string>mach_kernel</string>

<key>Kernel Flags</key>

<string>-v arch=i386</string>

<key>Timeout</key>

<string>5</string>

<key>device-properties</key>

<string>"for example, 6c0200000100000001000000600200000d00000002010c.."</string>

<key>Default Partition</key>

<string></string>

<key>Instant Menu</key>

<string></string>

</dict>

</plist>

 

For faster bootup see Part K item 3. in post #1.....

 

Edit: SATA DVDRWs are invariably a problem with most nForce chipset MOBOs..........I got mine working with OS X by getting an eSATA card from Leaf Computer........Raid Controller LC363Q Rev 6.0 Leaf 4 Port Sata II 300MB/s......and connecting the SATA DVDRW to one of the eSATA card's internal SATA ports.

[silentsaint]

Ok yes, thank you.

 

All of a sudden, I can't boot into SL normally. I have to use safe mode. I'm not sure if it's because I added the second graphics card or not.

 

I can boot into SL normally... but I get the spinning beach ball. I can move the mouse but can't click on anything.

 

So frustrating. Maybe if I rebuild the kext library in safe mode it'll help.

[verdant]

Ok yes, thank you.

 

All of a sudden, I can't boot into SL normally. I have to use safe mode. I'm not sure if it's because I added the second graphics card or not.

 

I can boot into SL normally... but I get the spinning beach ball. I can move the mouse but can't click on anything.

 

So frustrating. Maybe if I rebuild the kext library in safe mode it'll help.

 

You could check by taking the 2nd card out before rebuilding the kextcache file and see if it boots normally as before......usually for dual graphics cards a graphics string is typically used.......

[silentsaint]

I rebuilt it with it.

system boots into SL INCREDIBLY fast after following Part K.

 

working on getting working gfx strings for the cards. that's the only thing that doesn't work right now.

 

i'm sure i'll figure it out

 

edit: i can't get the strings to work.

 

I've followed the instructions 100% and it still doesn't work.

 

I tried to reinstall nvenabler, but it won't load at bootup, and so i'm forced to run at 1024x768 since my card can't be identified.

 

also, the system freezes every single time after ~2 minutes without safemode enabled.

i don't understand because the system was working perfectly earlier today.

 

i installed the nforce_speedup kext and now nothing works. I've since removed it, but it doesn't change anything.

[iLeopod]

working on getting working gfx strings for the cards. that's the only thing that doesn't work right now.

 

i'm sure i'll figure it out

 

edit: i can't get the strings to work.

 

I've followed the instructions 100% and it still doesn't work.

 

I tried to reinstall nvenabler, but it won't load at bootup, and so i'm forced to run at 1024x768 since my card can't be identified.

 

what card u use ? instead of efi string u can try to add GraphicsEnabler=Y to your boot plist (best is to install Chameleon RC5 because he supports more cards)

 

also, the system freezes every single time after ~2 minutes without safemode enabled.

i don't understand because the system was working perfectly earlier today.

 

exclude all hard drives from spotlight indexing

[silentsaint]

Okay, I'll boot into safe mode and use RC5. I believe I'm using RC3 instead.

With RC 3, the com.apple.Boot.plist has GraphicsEnabler=Yes already set in it.

I'm using dual gtx 260's. But I only want one of them to function correctly. I don't need both

The other one is just for SLI in windows.

 

When in safe mode, i'll also exclude the hard drives from indexing.

 

Last night, I was able to get NVenabler to load again. It makes boot time quite longer, but if it works, I'm about to just keep it.

[iLeopod]

im not sure if dual graphic card working. i heard about problems on nforce MBs

[silentsaint]

disabling spotlight indexing has seemed to work.

 

fully functional in 32 bit mode. i've tried to install the ApplenForceATA_snow that should work under 64 bit. But i haven't got it working yet.

 

Thank you so much for the indexing tip though. Crazy how something so little could cause a system freeze

[iLeopod]

this one is the working 64 bit : http://www.sendspace.com/file/jhqsoq

also its not needed to run sl in 64 because on our MB booting takes also longer

[verdant]

@ silentsaint

 

Yes, I agree with iLeopod........slow booting SL in 64bit has for me outweighed its advantages over 32bit mode for me..........as for Spotlight indexing, it is not an issue with all nForce MOBOs.......for example, I can run Spotlight indexing on my 650i without any problems........

[silentsaint]

You guys are probably right. 64 bit mode would most likely offer me no advantages.

 

I'm getting the freeze after ~1 minute again. Just when everything seems to work, something else fails. I'll have to repair permissions in safe mode again I guess

[iLeopod]

u sure u disabled all drives for spotlight?

 

im also fighting with this issue : it still occurs sometimes. the problem is it's no KP and nothing in the logs so its a hard way to get that fixed