Nvidia go 6150 with SL

[kappachampion]

I'm trying to get my graphics working properly and I'm encountering a lot of trouble.

 

My Hardware:

HP dv6233se

AMD Turion X2 TL-52

nvidia geforce go 6150

 

I have installed SL 10.6.2 via leohazard. When my laptop boots if I do nothing I just get a black screen until the OS loads and then I get static across the top third and lower third of the screen (unusable).

 

If I hit F8 prior to booting and then just hit enter to boot the default OSX install, graphics work as expected.

 

I have tried installing different drivers (nvinject, nvinjectgo, natit, nvenabler) to no avail and was told it might not be possible to use this card with SL. I'm not looking to do anything graphically heavy, so if I could just get it to boot without having to hit F8 and having working graphics I would be happy. If I could get the graphics working fully I would be very happy.

 

Has anyone had any success with this card and SL? Does anyone know what the difference in the video configuration is when I boot with or without F8? And how I can configure that as default?

[ifrit05]

That card is just not compatible with SL. (You need at least a GeForce 7xxx) Get a cheap discrete GPU that SL supports (look on the HCL Wiki). I have a GeForce 8400 GS 256MB working with Chameleon's "Graphics Enabler" with no extra/hacked kexts.

[kappachampion]

That card is just not compatible with SL. (You need at least a GeForce 7xxx) Get a cheap discrete GPU that SL supports (look on the HCL Wiki). I have a GeForce 8400 GS 256MB working with Chameleon's "Graphics Enabler" with no extra/hacked kexts.

 

 

It's a laptop so I can't alter the graphics hardware. And I'm puzzled by this because if I boot with F8 graphics seems to work just fine. If the card is not compatible why does F8 allow me to get into a working state? If anyone can explain that I might be able to figure out how to make the VGA configuration from booting with F8 persist to booting normally.

 

When you hit f8 and chameleon has to display the boot menu, what vga settings/driver does it use? To be specific, I have also tried to set quiet boot = no and timeout = 8 to force the boot menu to appear, but this doesn't work. It leads me to believe that hitting f8 puts the system into a different vga configuration.

 

 

 

From original forum (http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=258254):

 

The OS X nvidia drivers don't support your video card. No hardware acceleration, lots of stuff won't work.

 

OS X will be like running Windows in safe mode, only worse.

 

So this reply makes it all make sense, if I assume that by hitting F8 I have forced the system to boot into a graphics 'safe mode' (not to be confused with the actual safe mode boot flag -x) with no hardware acceleration. I haven't tried anything graphically intense, although everything looks fairly decent. If the 'safe mode' graphics suit my needs does anyone know how I could make it default to this?

 

On a side note, ifrit05 mentioned that leopard would support my graphics card. Is it not possible to port that driver to SL?

[Gringo Vermelho]

Pressing F8 is not related to what you are seeing, all that does is bring up your boot selector. It has no bearing on graphics or graphics drivers.

OS X loads with only basic VESA framebuffer graphics support because there are no drivers loaded for your video card.

 

I don't know why you can't boot normally, it makes no sense that selecting the partition manually would make any difference.

 

Your video card will not work on Leopard either, you cannot have hardware accelerated graphics on Nvidia xx50 video cards.

[kappachampion]

Pressing F8 is not related to what you are seeing, all that does is bring up your boot selector. It has no bearing on graphics or graphics drivers.

OS X loads with only basic VESA framebuffer graphics support because there are no drivers loaded for your video card.

 

Your video card will not work on Leopard either, you cannot have hardware accelerated graphics on Nvidia xx50 video cards.

 

 

Pressing F8 is what makes the graphics work properly, so there must be something that is happening there that is not happening when I boot without F8. If it is using basic VESA support when I hit F8, is that persisting after boot (I assume so since graphics work after booting with F8)? Is there a way that I can configure that as the default driver so that when booting without F8 I get the same results?

[ifrit05]

Is there a way that I can configure that as the default driver so that when booting without F8 I get the same results?

 

No.

[Gringo Vermelho]

Pressing F8 is what makes the graphics work properly

No, it most definitely isn't.

so there must be something that is happening there that is not happening when I boot without F8.

Yes that's right, that's a much better way of putting it.

If it is using basic VESA support when I hit F8, is that persisting after boot (I assume so since graphics work after booting with F8)? Is there a way that I can configure that as the default driver so that when booting without F8 I get the same results?

You are not listening to me. That you can only boot with F8 has nothing to do with graphics. Your graphics behavior is a consequence of what is wrong, it's not the cause of it. It's something else, maybe a corrupt com.apple.Boot.plist or something.

[kappachampion]

I appologize for being difficult and I appreciate your help. I'm trying to learn so thanks for taking the time to explain. I know that pressing F8 isn't actually doing anything. But I fail to see what is actually happening. If com.apple.boot.plist were corrupt, would I not experience the same effects booting whether I hit F8 or not?

 

So the way I'm imagining things are happening is that the VESA support is loaded when I hit F8 and then persists throught OSX startup. I don't know why this wouldn't be the same results of setting Quiet boot = no. If I could force it to boot with vesa support (or whatever F8 is triggering) I would be happy, but I think Gringo said "no".

 

 

 

 

I don't expect you guys to do all the work for me, but if I posted any details like the boot log do you think that would help understand whats happening? Also The video mode info under chameleon identifies the card properly and lists several supported video modes. I know that may not be related at all since chameleon is not part of the OS, but I figure it doesn't hurt to mention.

 

To clarify, I believe it is booting even when I don't hit F8 because the screen changes as if the OS has loaded but the graphics are not functioning properly. I can try pinging it to verify or something.

[ifrit05]

I don't expect you guys to do all the work for me, but if I posted any details like the boot log do you think that would help understand whats happening? Also The video mode info under chameleon identifies the card properly and lists several supported video modes. I know that may not be related at all since chameleon is not part of the OS, but I figure it doesn't hurt to mention.

 

It wouldn't help. Those modes it lists are from your graphics card's supported resolutions in your VESA BIOS.

 

I suggest finding different hardware to install OS X on.

[Gringo Vermelho]

To clarify, I believe it is booting even when I don't hit F8 because the screen changes as if the OS has loaded but the graphics are not functioning properly.

 

Yes, you made that clear in your first post.

 

Zip and attach your com.apple.Boot.plist and I'll take a look at it...a long shot but worth trying.

 

Boot logs will probably not show anything.

 

Personally I would follow ifrit's advice, OS X is not much fun with no video acceleration, it was different with Tiger where you could get by, but at this point (Snow Leopard) OS X pretty much depends on it. Many apps will not work right, some will not work at all.

[kappachampion]

I haven't modified the boot.plist:

 

<?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></string>
</dict>
</plist>

 

System.log attached

system.log.zip

[Gringo Vermelho]

Your System.log shows nvidia drivers are not loading at all, which is no surprise. You could probably just delete them and your Hackintosh will boot fine without pressing F8.

 

Which boot loader/Chameleon version are you using and how did you install it? Or are you booting with a boot CD?

 

The com.apple.Boot.plist you posted is from /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration or from /Extra?

 

Don't paste the contents in a codebox, zip and attach it like I asked for. If you don't do what I ask, I can't help you.

Though there's not much of a chance that that com.apple.Boot.plist is corrupted since it has never been modified. If you find one in the other location that I mentioned, zip and attach it.

 

zip and attach kernel.log as well.

[kappachampion]

haha my bad... I was trying to post the information where anyone searching could see it without needing a login.

 

I installed Chameleon RC4 from the LeoHazard installer. The boot.plist is from /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration. I don't have a boot.plist under /extras.

 

Your System.log shows nvidia drivers are not loading at all, which is no surprise. You could probably just delete them and your Hackintosh will boot fine without pressing F8.

 

 

So I had the same idea, I will try this real quick - I just have to be careful not to remove anything related the the nvidia 430 northbridge chipset. I should be able to remove them one by one and if it kills the sata driver, then revert the file with the bootcd. Is there a better way (the bootcd takes a while to load)?

com.apple.boot.plist.zip

kernel.log.zip

[Gringo Vermelho]

The Nvidia display drivers are Geforce.kext, NVDANVxxHal.kext and NVDAResman.kext.

 

I was trying to post the information where anyone searching could see it without needing a login.

Hmm, well you should really think that through. Consider that those who use this forum without being logged in can't help you.

 

Go to /System/Library/Extensions and delete nvinjectgo.kext.

 

Run terminal.app and enter sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions (followed by your password) to clear the kext cache.

 

Reboot, see if you can boot without pressing F8.

 

It looks like you have the old MacVidia drivers installed. I'm not familiar with those but from a quick google it looks like you're supposed to remove the OS X nvidia drivers when using MacVidia, but you haven't done that. That's probably not good. Google/Forum Search macvidia for more information.

 

It's possible that the macvidia drivers are causing this. On the other hand, they might be useful. I don't really know. Apparently they allow for basic framebuffer (VESA) functionality but I think you can have that without the MacVidia drivers. Remember that these are very old and were never meant to be used with Snow Leopard.

[kappachampion]

Sorry for the delayed response. I was getting the "IPS driver issue" when trying to respond the other night, so I decided to call it an evening.

 

I have reinstalled the OS to get back to the most basic set of kexts. I have attached the logs again along with the list of kexts installed. I will try uninstalling the nvidia kexts that are installed by the OS X installer.

 

I think something of importance is the fact that chameleon doesn't show up properly unless I hit F8. Doesn't that mean that it hasn't even reached the point of loading kexts? So maybe I need to be adjusting the configuration of chameleon? Or am I misunderstanding when Kexts get loaded?

Info.zip

[kappachampion]

So, I'm still working on this and would appreciate it if anyone had any information on what the bootloader (chameleon rc4) is doing differently or what is getting altered when I hit F8 during boot.

 

I have reinstalled numerous times trying different versions of the bootloader and different installers.

 

Does anyone know if there are specific parameters that get defaulted when F8 is hit? Possibly number of cpus or architecture? I'm currently running through any option I can set via the boot.plist to see if it can alter the boot behavior.

 

I'm still very confused as to why I'm seeing this behavior and how F8 is effecting the outcome.

 

Thanks