[Guide] Yosemite 10.10.X - Dell Optiplex 780 (760)

[macosixx]

Now sound works. I've done the installation of AppleHDA for injection with kext-utility again. Don't know, what has been mixed up. 

 

Wether iMac13,1 nor MacPro3,1 do the trick in SMBIOS section. The second Monitor is dark and without signal. The card is able to drive the two Displays with 2560x1600, like ubuntu 14.04 has shown.

In Clover boot menu the NVCAP string is empty. But it doesn't matter. If I fill it up, there is no difference.

Then I set

VRAM 4096

Video Ports 3    (DVI, DVI, miniHDMI)

NVCAP 04000000000003001C0000000000000700000000

 

No difference.

Arghh,

SMBIOS: MacPro4,1 produces nice kernel panics...

[polyzargone]

Ok.

 

Let's try another way : Reboot and press F4 at the Clover boot menu to dump your original DSDT.aml in EFI/CLOVER/ACPI/origin and post it here. That way, I should be able to replace the whole GFX section of the patched DSDT with the original one.

 

I think it's best to let Clover do the injection for us instead of trying hazardous methods by ourselves .

 

Just make sure that you check FixDisplay, AddDTGP, FixHDA and AddHDMI in ACPI section of Clover Configurator so HDMI audio could be enabled without appropriate device (HDAU) in the patched DSDT (the one that will be ex-purge of any GFX informations).

[macosixx]

OK, here it is:

 

By the way: sleep is functional. But I cannot wake it up by touching any key on the keyboard. I have to touch the power button of the mini tower, then the system is awaken. 

 

The system is actualized to 10.10.5 by combo update. Now App-store likes me to update today. Should I?

Do you mean "Old way" or " New way"?

For "Old way" there is no option "AddHDMI", for "New way" the other options "FixDisplay", "AddDTGP" and "FixHDA" aren't there.

DSDT.aml.zip

[polyzargone]

The system is actualized to 10.10.5 by combo update. Now App-store likes me to update today. Should I?

That's the beauty with Clover. OS X Updates installs flawlessly .

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Chameleon can't do the same job, just that I rarely had serious issues with updates installed straight from the Mac App Store so far.

 

Do you mean "Old way" or " New way"?

I mean both ! Wherever they are, just make sure they are checked.

[macosixx]

 

OK, you will get a new file.

 

Just one moment...

... here we are!

DSDT.aml.zip

[polyzargone]

Well, you don't need to post a new file each time you modify the config.plist since the DSDT is dumped directly from the bios and is the original one .

No matter what you do, it'll be the same and that's exactly we want to !

The goal here is to have a clean DSDT without any patch so we can replace the GFX patched section that's currently designed to work (fine) with AMD Radeon HD 5450 series or (half-fine ) NVIDIA hardware by the original one and let Clover do the job.

NVIDIA hardware usually doesn't need patched DSDT. It works OOB for most with minors bootflags if needed.

I'll have a look at all of this later cause I'm a bit busy atm (it's dark here in France and I'm hungry ).

Meanwhile, you still can ask in the NVIDIA forum for help. you already have a half-working DSDT so finishing the job shouldn't be a big deal for the NVIDIA's gurus out there .

 

To be honest, I'm not an expert in DSDT patching, especially when it comes to NVIDIA .

[macosixx]

Enjoy your meal

 

Ok, so I'll go to get a bloody nose out there in the dark, cold, wide space of the forum, in the strange Nvidia section ...  

[polyzargone]

Ok, here we go again . Test this one :

DSDT_nvidia3.aml.zip

[macosixx]

Hi,

I'm back in the show.

In the other thread in the nvidia section noone answered. So I'm on my own.

After hours of digging for information I thought I have to give up. Very frustrating.

So I'd gonna downloaded the nvidia webdrivers from

http://us.download.nvidia.com/Mac/Quadro_Certified/346.02.03f01/WebDriver-346.02.03f01.pkg

 

Drop out ( ) Nvidia injection and put in nvda_drv=1 for loading the webdrivers.

Reboot.

 

 

Tadaa. Both screens working.

[polyzargone]

Nice !

 

Actually, that was my secret weapon in last resort !

 

Glad it worked for you

[macosixx]

Hey, polyzargone, you are alive! And back from a long meal.

 

 

Ok, seriously.

Thank you very much. With this DSDT file there you have eliminated every graphics stuff?

Well, than I should test that in addition to my webdrivers to get a "cleaned" system configuration.

I have to go out in the other section and just close the other thread...

OK, is working too. No negative side effects.

I will rename it to DSDT.aml and use it by default.

Thank you very much, polyzargone.

 

[macosixx]

Hi polyzargone,

 

you've done a great job.

 

Today I've digged in my experiments toolbox for a larger harddisk. Then I was gonna going to install OS X new from scratch.

 

Very (over)motivated I put your last "DSDT.aml" into "patched" folder of my USB installation stick. In my dude mind I put the last "config.plist" onto the pendrive too. But I had not in mind, that this file a.) points to the nvidia webdrivers with boot flag/param "nvda_drv=1", which aren't on the pendrive and b.) doesn't inject built in nvidia drivers and so on.

 

I remind that while the first boot was going on.

 

 

But, what you're believing, he?

 

The installer of OS X comes up for choosing its installation options with both screens working with 2560x1600!

 

So I dont't need the nvidia webdrivers any more for my purposes.

Your last DSDT file does the trick.

 

 

_You_   are  _great_

 

 

[polyzargone]

That's cool news indeed !

 

For information purpose, I just changed the connectors types in the DSDT.

 

With the previous ones, they were all defined as HDMI type (0x00, 0x08, 0x00, 0x00) like this :

                        "@0,connector-type", 
                        Buffer (0x04)
                        {
                            0x00, 0x08, 0x00, 0x00
                        },

So according to the specs of the EVGA GT740 SC, I just changed the two first ones to : 0x00, 0x04, 0x00, 0x00 (DVI-D) and left the third to 0x00, 0x08, 0x00, 0x00 (HDMI).

                        "@0,connector-type", 
                        Buffer (0x04)
                        {
                            0x00, 0x04, 0x00, 0x00
                        }, 

                        "@1,connector-type", 
                        Buffer (0x04)
                        {
                            0x00, 0x04, 0x00, 0x00
                        }, 

                        "@2,connector-type", 
                        Buffer (0x04)
                        {
                            0x00, 0x08, 0x00, 0x00
                        },

I also removed the other unnecessary connectors.

 

Note that :

 

1) This should only work for GFX models with the same configuration of video outputs.

2) Since the GT 740 is not a Maxwell based card, webdrivers and InjectNvidia=true are not mandatory.

 

For those cards, ones have to boot with nv_disable=1 when installing OS X and continue to use this bootflag as long as the webdrivers aren't installed.

[macosixx]

Good Morning polyzargone,

 

thank you for your descriptions and your analysis of my cards specs. I like to undestand things and not only stupid redoing pre-brewed things. If I understood, "cooking reciepts" are pretty welcome for administration purposes.

 

 

Bizarre. I've used the param "nv_disable=1" previous, but that had have no effect.

 

Bizarre too: After reinstallation, the machine doesn't shut down and off, it shuts down and ... reboots. At BIOS time boot screen, I have to push the power button to shut off completely.    Sleep works indeed.

 

And very strange lastly: iMessage (fix) doesn't work (any more). Two days before, after installation of Nvidia webdrivers, I fixed the serial numbers - with the real MLB and serial number taken of my MacBookPro - within Clover and logged in with my working account (not my administration account). iCloud accepted my credentials and Apple servers sent me two recognize mails. Fine. Nowadays with the same config.plist and serial numbers shown in Clover Config, iCloud signin has a problem with my computer.

 

If I like to (I'm not sure if I am?), I may reinstall the other harddisk and try to login into iCloud...

[macosixx]

This MLB/ROM tupel drives me crazy...

 

So I pull myself to reinstall the old drive again.

Of course, iMessage accepts my credentials and with the new harddisk and the fresh installation of OS X not. Grrrr.

I put the old config.plist to a pendrive and import it into the configuration onto the new harddisk.

Abracadabra.

iMessages works.

Don't ask me, where the difference is between the old and the new config.plist.

I use the same credentials from my MacBook Pro for calculation of the new ones by Clover Configurator.

 

For now, it works.

N8

[polyzargone]

I suggest you not to use MLB/ROM RtVariables in Clover Configurator. Not sure about this but I think it's depreciated and no longer necessary to have full enabled iMessage with a "specific to your Hack" serial number etc.

 

I mean, you shouldn't use the one from your real Mac because it could have some annoying effects with your iCloud account.

 

Don't forget that the serial number is calculated for specific models and is based on SMBios informations : i.e serials for MacBook Pro laptops are different from serials for iMac desktops and so on. Think about the Apple's servers seeing an iMac with a MacBook Pro's info !

 

So i think it's best to calculate your own specific informations for your Hack. All you have to do is set the SMBios in Clover Configurator and click a couple of times on "Shake" to make a random serial :

 

 

 

 

Then, you have to copy that serial number in Board Serial Number and add numbers and letters to have a 17 digits long serial. Finally, open a terminal and type : uuidgen to calculate the SmUUID.

 

 

MacBook-Pro:~ polyzargone$ uuidgen
5917BDF3-7F37-4DD0-BBB5-9B84312037FC // this is an example

 

 

 

 

 

That's it. After a reboot, you should now have a working iMessage and be sure that it will not interfere with the one you use for your real Mac.

[macosixx]

Hm, I've calculated MLB for a MacPro 3,1 fom 2008/2009 by my own. The weird is, that clover calculates the same MLB as before I put in my own calculated.

As often as I tried to use clover calculated values, my iMessage login didn't work. Now I'm using the first config and iMessage login has success.

The miracle is, that in SMBIOS screen the values SmUUID and Board Serial Number aren't filled up. iMessage is ok. If they are filled up, iMessage failes.

So I'm not shure, if I should tinker around with this.

Never touch a running system, he?

 

But I'm looking for a solution for my shut-off problem. Like I saw in other threads, I'm not alone.

 

Perhaps it may be a problem with ACPI and therefore with DSDT. And here we are again with this file...

FixShutdown in ACPI section didn't the trick.

[macosixx]

Argh. {censored} happens, doesn't?

 

I suspect that I have mixed up my system and drove it into freezes while network transfers were occuring, e.g. TimeMachine was working or mobile account sync took place.

If I return to the pc after some time, it was frozen. I think automated sleep has frozen the system. If I chose sleep manualy, sleep works. But shutdown don't kill power, it reboots. After I removed AppleTyMCEDriver.kext and replaced ethernet kexts, shutdown works, but the automated inducted sleep-freezes still are occuring.

 

The kexts in S/L/E were installed out of Clover-780-package and were be updated by combo update 10.10.5, weren't they? And me zany, I took them out of S/L/E if suspect that they may not work properly, e.g. ethernet kexts. Alternative kexts were installed by kext utility, but - silly me - I took them out of Clover-780-package too. But _after_ system was updated by combo update.

 

So I should use the combo again and replace the kexts in the Clover-780-package with the updated kexts installed by the combo update, shouldn't I? I think I was mislead by kext utility, which installs into /S/L/E/ by default.

 

And what's about AppleTyMCEDriver.kext in /S/L/E/ ? Should I ban that kext out of S/L/E/ if sleep and wake aren't working proper (profile MacPro3,1) or is there another failure I didn't recognize?

[MacWiesel]

After a power outage my 780 SFF got major problems:

Keyboard and mouse freeze every other second for about two seconds which makes work impossible.

 

My first thought was to replace the video card and I bought a new one without luck.

Now I'm running the machine withe everything detached exept the USB install stick and mouse/keyboard and one memory bar. Still the same problem.

 

I think it might be the power supply but I'd really want to be sure before ordering a new one...

 

Unfortunately its not a regular ATX connector but some weird mobile format so I cant test with a different power supply.

 

Any idea how to go on from here?

[polyzargone]

[EDIT] Seems like I read too fast and mixed two posts thinking I was answering to the same person !

 

@MacWiesel

 

Damn !

 

Are you doomed by some sorcery ?

 

Hardware issues are out of my range so I can't say nothing more than order a new PSU… Anyway, using a faulty or nearly-dead one is not a good idea so I guess it's worth the cost.

 

@macosixx

 

For OS X and your sleep issues/updates, I'd say that kexts should stay in EFI/CLOVER/kexts with the exception of the Ethernet one's (whatever the one you choosed). Since they're not modified versions of Apple's existing kexts, there is no reason an OS X update would overwrite them.

 

There's also the case of AppleHDA which must stay in S/L/E and be replaced/updated in the case you're using a patched version versus Clover's injection where there's nothing particular to do.

 

Furthermore : I didn't really understood what SMBios you're finally using but I'd say that MacPro3,1 is definitely not suitable for Optiplex Series. I might be wrong but regarding it's specs, I think an iMac10,x would be more appropriated.

 

Finally, you're probably guessed correctly about AppleTyMCEDriver.kext which is known to cause issues with NVIDIA hardware. Removing it (or patching it via Clover) could be the solution to your shutdown issue .

[MacWiesel]

Actually I'm pretty sure I'm jinxed, but this extends to all kinds of hard- and software. Therefore my regular nickname is sir_brickalot.

 

PSUs are {censored}in expensive for these SFF computers and since the video card demands 400 watts in the specs I should consider using a bigger one anyways but I just don't find an adapter for the mini atx mainboard power connector.

damn damn damn

 

we'll see what comes up. I'll keep you posted.

 

/edit: Any idea if a Dell Optiplex 745 sff psu will fit into the 780? Has more power and is cheaper!

[polyzargone]

/edit: Any idea if a Dell Optiplex 745 sff psu will fit into the 780? Has more power and is cheaper!

 

Well I don't want to mislead you by anyway but I would say that it's OK if it can physically fit in it.

 

IMHO, A PSU is still a PSU after all and I would tend to think that Dell & Co have just find an easy way to make profits selling specific parts for specific models only …

[MacWiesel]

Already bought one. 24 € incl shipping. Hope it fits. I desperately need to work!!!!

[polyzargone]

I'll do some voodoo to make it work if it doesn't !

[lolwatpear]

After a power outage my 780 SFF got major problems:

Keyboard and mouse freeze every other second for about two seconds which makes work impossible.

 

My first thought was to replace the video card and I bought a new one without luck.

Now I'm running the machine withe everything detached exept the USB install stick and mouse/keyboard and one memory bar. Still the same problem.

 

I think it might be the power supply but I'd really want to be sure before ordering a new one...

 

Unfortunately its not a regular ATX connector but some weird mobile format so I cant test with a different power supply.

 

Any idea how to go on from here?

 

There are converters for the 24 pin mini ATX to standard ATX.  I was looking into that so I could use a better PSU.