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ASrock Conroe945G-DVI

rkwok

By rkwok,
in OSx86 10.4 (Tiger)

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TopazBar
TopazBar
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I put in a 120mm (? the big one) fan inside my case and hooked it up to one of available IDE power connectors. However, it was way too loud (747 airplane taking off, lol), so decided to rewire it to use 5V instead of 12V. I re-installed the fan and reconnect. The fan was much quieter. I liked it.

I re-ran Xbenchmark today and was pleasantly surprised to find higher number (low 80's to 90). Compared new benchmark numbers to baseline benchmark numbers that I got when I first setup the machine.

CPU was identical, no surprise there, but memory, hard drive, and opengl got the most benefit from being cooled with added fan.

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plympton
plympton
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is there a way to partition a Mac OS system disk? I mean the HD on which the Mac OS is installed.

 

Thanks

 

If you mean before an install - yes. After an install, not that I have found. Before an install, you go into Disk Utility at the first boot install screen (in the menus) and partition your disk from there. It's a destructive format, though.

 

iPartition doesn't work in OS X Intel (yet?), not that I found, so a non-destructive re-partition isn't possible. I don't think Windows utilities work, either, since they can't read the format.

 

-Dan

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alessiof
alessiof
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Hi !

 

I'm running into some troubles installing over this board, let me explain my setup:

 

Conroe945G-DVI

DVI riser card installed

Monitor connected to the onboard VGA (no DVI)

IDE HDD, master

DVD WR, slave

No SATA

 

Install went absolutely smooth, got b0 error at first boot: fixed the mbr, system is booting.

 

After root device has been mounted and journal checked I'm getting

 

display: family specific matching fails (repeated a few times)

 

then

 

display: mach category IOframebuffer exists

 

Then boot "goes to sleep": waited for 10 minutes, no luck.

 

In graphic mode mouse is still usable, while waiting.

 

Any idea about this behaviour ?

 

P.S.

 

I'm running latest bios (1.2) and vga is set in fixed memory mode, 128 MB

 

TNX!!!

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TopazBar
TopazBar
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Before I can help, what version of OSX did u install? Did u do custom install? Try booting in single user mode (-s). Try booting in safe mode (-x). I think u r almost home free. I think you just need to re-install with GMA900 support checked from custom install option.

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rhalls
rhalls
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My Asrock945-DVI only supports USB 1.1 in windows xp sp2 and osx 10.4.7 (JaS) - there are 5 busses displayed, 4 with usb 1.1 and one with usb 2 - the four at the back are two pairs with 1.1, the two onboard-pin-sets represent tow other usb 1.1s, no out for the dispalyed 2.0 ports. USB 2 is enabled in BIOS, BIOS version 1.10.

???

Anyone experienced the same ?

Im windows i de-installed the four usb 1.1 drivers, just the 2.0 driver was available. after a restart, the four 1.1 drivers where automatically reinstalled. So what ???

USb is enabled

USB 2.0 is enabled

USB Legacy was tried as auto and on.

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alessiof
alessiof
Posted
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Before I can help, what version of OSX did u install? Did u do custom install? Try booting in single user mode (-s). Try booting in safe mode (-x). I think u r almost home free. I think you just need to re-install with GMA900 support checked from custom install option.

 

Tnx for your suggestions: actually i'm downloading the

 

Mac-OS-X-10.4.6-AMD.Intel-(JaS)-ISO-Repack

Hash code 74D07F8CBB45F00D4E3EC6B406399B5EE463A4CD

 

Anyone tried this with the board ?

What packages have you selected in custom install?

 

Will let you know!

 

P.S.

 

while downloading I'm testing the board with XP: it seems to me that video quality (I'm using VGA, not DVI) is quite low.

 

On my Philips LCD at native resolution 1280X1024@75Hz) small text, black on white background, flickers a lot.

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rhalls
rhalls
Posted
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Hi !

 

First of all, you shouldnt use 75 Hz i think, LCDs work mostly with 60 Hz if i am not wrong ?

But here, it flickers, too with VGA. Im going to check if thats for some cable quiality reasons or because of some interferences with other machines around.

 

I installed with JaS 10.47, not with 10.4.6.

Checked GMA900 Support and SSE3

 

Had to do some fixes for Audio out (azalia thing, described before in this thread) and had to use the 10.4.6 kext, not the 10.4.7, else it wouldnt work. I stored the patched kext for further updates.

THe i had to do the MPIP103_10.4.7.SMB.CIFS.AFP.FIX (once downloaded you have to remove the ".zip" at the end - its a .dmg. for full network support with my old Kingston Network Card (PCI, 10/100, dont know which chipset, i think its an intel). Now it works fine.

 

Thats so long. My Griffin iMic wont work at the moment. Sound in of the internal sound doesnt work. I have no relieable chance to backup my system bootable on a second harddrive. No firewire cause of the lack of a card. But it works.

Will try the 10.4.8 update that floats around, maybe that fixes som things (and ups some others...)

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alessiof
alessiof
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Hi !

 

First of all, you shouldnt use 75 Hz i think, LCDs work mostly with 60 Hz if i am not wrong ?

But here, it flickers, too with VGA. Im going to check if thats for some cable quiality reasons or because of some interferences with other machines around.

 

I have to correct my previous message: I'm downloading 1.4.7 JaS repack, not 1.4.6!

 

 

Regarding the flicker ... I do think that the DAC quality of the analogic interface is not too high, considering that the board got DVI this can be reasonable.

 

Anyone can confirm that there is no flickering using DVI interface ?

 

Probably I will have to change the monitor, some reassurance on this matter will help me while shelling out the money :)

 

Actually I'm 50 minutes away from the 1.4.7 ISO: will test immediately after download, then post the results.

 

Tnx for your help!

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alessiof
alessiof
Posted
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I'm writing this on my new Hackintosh!!!

 

Here is a report:

 

Installed using the 1.4.7 repack ISO, then I got a "crashed login screen" upon reboot.

 

Restarted in safe mode, browsed trough the install DVD, applied the GMA900 patch; this time all went smooth: QE active and 1280X1024 resolution!

 

Modified the azalia kext for sound that now is working pretty good.

 

My sound blaster audigy usb is not working at all, even if detected and shown in the control panel.

 

Had SERIOUS problem installing from a DVD writer!

 

I burnt the image in XP using the writer, but it was disc not booting .... then I switched the writer with a dvd reader: this time disc was booting to the install process.

 

Even now, that i have reinstalled the burner, my osx disc is not readable ... a mistery!

 

Anyhow i had a load of problems even XP with my IDE chain, probably i should switch to a sata HDD and leave the writer as singe device over the IDE bus.

 

Anyone is using the board with an ide hdd (ultradma5) and a dvd writer (ultradma2) ? Any problem reported?

 

Tnx to anyone who helped!

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TopazBar
TopazBar
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I have two monitors: 1280x1024 CRT (vga) and 1440x900 LCD (vga+dvi).

I have tried both the single and dual monitor setting. I'm very satisfied with visual output from vga and dvi. No flicker issues whatsoever.

 

Note: My LCD has an issue with dvi color sync'ing, but this is corrected by power cycling LCD when it happens.

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Bamboo
Bamboo
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Hello,

 

I've finally bought my ASRock 945G-DVI and it really rocks. Gave it :

 

- an Antec Sonata II case (not the easiest case I worked with - bad documentation)

- an E6600 pretty well overclocked (seems to be stable at 2894 Mhz - PCIE Sync. CPU 320, PCIE 120) (works out of the box)

- thanks to a Zalman CNPS9500 LED (works out of the box)

- three SATA-II Samsung SP2004C 200 GB HD's (works out of the box)

- four modules of Transcend RAM 5-5-5 800 Mhz (still a bit confused about what latency settings would be the best for them) (works out of the box)

- two Xerox XA7-17i monitors (1280 x 1024 @ 60 Mhz -- the one with the DVI-D adapter rocks, the DVI to VGA one has a less sharp image) (both work out of the box and both are correctly detected as XA7-17i's)

- a Plextor PX-760A - 18x DVD-R writing - one of the best DAExtractors on the marked (System Profiler says 'unsupported' but it works out of the box with Disk Utility!)

- an el cheapo iDREAM RTL8139D 10/100 ethernet card (works out of the box)

- a VIA VT6306 FireWire 3+1 PCI controller card (works out of the box)

- an Ednet 18 in 1 Multi Card reader (fills the 3.5" floppy bay, uses internal USB 2.0) (works out of the box)

- two 512 MB USB 2.0 sticks - useful for flashing various BIOSes through Hiren's boot CD or Windows XP on USB (work out of the box)

- a Logitech G3 USB Laser Mouse (wired, I hate wireless keyboards and mouse) (works out of the box)

- an el cheapo Acer black PS/2 keyboard (I wanted it to be qwerty and they are not widely available here. I'll find an USB good looking one to replace it ASAP) (wired too for the same reason) (works out of the box)

- USB D-Link DBT-122 Bluetooth 1.2 USB dongle (works out of the box)

- a Creative Live! Cam Vista IM (doesn't work at all)

 

OS & Patches :

 

- BIOS update -> 1.20

- OS X 10.4.7 JaS, waiting for kiko's final 10.4.8 combo update, which I'll probably apply to a basic 10.4.4/10.4.5 distro

- The Azalia 888 patch

 

I paid it 'just' 1500€ (not counting the LCD's), not bad for such a beast!

 

So far, only two disappointments:

 

- I thought that my Creative Live! Cam Vista IM would be driven by macam, but it is not even detected. Well, not the most crucial part of the machine, I'll either wait or buy another one. I'll take your advice with pleasure :D

 

- My HD Xbenches suck :

 

Disk Test 43.12

Sequential 92.51

Uncached Write 115.65 71.00 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Write 102.50 58.00 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Uncached Read 64.57 18.90 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Read 106.97 53.76 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Random 28.11

Uncached Write 8.95 0.95 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Write 101.57 32.51 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Uncached Read 81.68 0.58 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Read 117.70 21.84 MB/sec [256K blocks]

 

(complete Xbench attached for self-gratification)

 

4K blocks are really bad, bad, bad, especially in 8.95 Random Uncached Write. I've read virtually all the postings on the forums, but haven't found any insight. Comments are welcome.

 

Take care,

B.

Bamboo_Xbench.txt

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CyGoR
CyGoR
Posted
Posted

Running OSX for a few weeks now on this great board (just upgraded to 10.4.8)!

I should have read this topic before buying a board to run OSX on, tried it on an Intel P965 mobo, but that didn't work..

 

A few pages back people were saying that you can read CPU temperatures with CHUD tools? I do have the option in System Preferences, but no temps..

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TopazBar
TopazBar
Posted
Posted
Hello,

 

I've finally bought my ASRock 945G-DVI and it really rocks. Gave it :

 

- an Antec Sonata II case (not the easiest case I worked with - bad documentation)

- an E6600 pretty well overclocked (seems to be stable at 2894 Mhz - PCIE Sync. CPU 320, PCIE 120) (works out of the box)

- thanks to a Zalman CNPS9500 LED (works out of the box)

- three SATA-II Samsung SP2004C 200 GB HD's (works out of the box)

- four modules of Transcend RAM 5-5-5 800 Mhz (still a bit confused about what latency settings would be the best for them) (works out of the box)

- two Xerox XA7-17i monitors (1280 x 1024 @ 60 Mhz -- the one with the DVI-D adapter rocks, the DVI to VGA one has a less sharp image) (both work out of the box and both are correctly detected as XA7-17i's)

- a Plextor PX-760A - 18x DVD-R writing - one of the best DAExtractors on the marked (System Profiler says 'unsupported' but it works out of the box with Disk Utility!)

- an el cheapo iDREAM RTL8139D 10/100 ethernet card (works out of the box)

- a VIA VT6306 FireWire 3+1 PCI controller card (works out of the box)

- an Ednet 18 in 1 Multi Card reader (fills the 3.5" floppy bay, uses internal USB 2.0) (works out of the box)

- two 512 MB USB 2.0 sticks - useful for flashing various BIOSes through Hiren's boot CD or Windows XP on USB (work out of the box)

- a Logitech G3 USB Laser Mouse (wired, I hate wireless keyboards and mouse) (works out of the box)

- an el cheapo Acer black PS/2 keyboard (I wanted it to be qwerty and they are not widely available here. I'll find an USB good looking one to replace it ASAP) (wired too for the same reason) (works out of the box)

- USB D-Link DBT-122 Bluetooth 1.2 USB dongle (works out of the box)

- a Creative Live! Cam Vista IM (doesn't work at all)

 

OS & Patches :

 

- BIOS update -> 1.20

- OS X 10.4.7 JaS, waiting for kiko's final 10.4.8 combo update, which I'll probably apply to a basic 10.4.4/10.4.5 distro

- The Azalia 888 patch

 

I paid it 'just' 1500€ (not counting the LCD's), not bad for such a beast!

 

So far, only two disappointments:

 

- I thought that my Creative Live! Cam Vista IM would be driven by macam, but it is not even detected. Well, not the most crucial part of the machine, I'll either wait or buy another one. I'll take your advice with pleasure :blink:

 

- My HD Xbenches suck :

 

Disk Test 43.12

Sequential 92.51

Uncached Write 115.65 71.00 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Write 102.50 58.00 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Uncached Read 64.57 18.90 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Read 106.97 53.76 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Random 28.11

Uncached Write 8.95 0.95 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Write 101.57 32.51 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Uncached Read 81.68 0.58 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Read 117.70 21.84 MB/sec [256K blocks]

 

(complete Xbench attached for self-gratification)

 

4K blocks are really bad, bad, bad, especially in 8.95 Random Uncached Write. I've read virtually all the postings on the forums, but haven't found any insight. Comments are welcome.

 

Take care,

B.

Very nice setup and good Xbench numbers. I'm jealous.

 

Running OSX for a few weeks now on this great board (just upgraded to 10.4.8)!

I should have read this topic before buying a board to run OSX on, tried it on an Intel P965 mobo, but that didn't work..

 

A few pages back people were saying that you can read CPU temperatures with CHUD tools? I do have the option in System Preferences, but no temps..

CHUD tools doesn't monitor temps. Yeah, we need a tool that monitor temp desperately.

 

 

just a curiosity: I tried installing MacOSx onto an external USB drive, and it seemed to work. But then it won't boot up even by selecting the storage drive from the BIOS. Why's that?

In theory, you should be able to. What happens when you try to boot from that device? b0 error?

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Bamboo
Bamboo
Posted
Posted
My HDDs performance is low too.

Bamboo, if you find some solution, please let me (us) know.

I tried many things, it can be that we need to add our ATA id (0x27df8086) and our ICH7 SATA id (0x27c08086) in the Info.plist of a (S)ATA .kext. I tried to tweak a few of them, but no success so far.

 

Maybe there's something we can set in the BIOS in order to make the transfer mode more like a real supported OS X machine (UDMAx, SWDMAx or MWDMAx, IIRC).

 

Take care,

B.

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aberracus
aberracus
Posted
Posted

infamous wich HD you have? maybe is an HD problem...

 

my xbench i sway better and at less cloking. Its the HDs obviously, im using one of those mainboards to build a mini mac for my brother, so i will love to help with the HD slowness you have detected.

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Infamous
Infamous
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This is mine. Please post your result and HD type, everybody who can. My HDD is Seagate 160GB 7200.9 SATA.

 

---------

 

Disk Test 52.60

Sequential 103.99

Uncached Write 88.66 54.44 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Write 125.86 71.21 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Uncached Read 116.00 33.95 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Read 94.16 47.32 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Random 35.20

Uncached Write 12.04 1.27 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Write 77.73 24.89 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Uncached Read 92.77 0.66 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Read 143.83 26.69 MB/sec [256K blocks]

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