Retail DVD Guide, 10.5.8, PC-EFIv9 installer, EFI studio, Vanilla or Voodoo, GA-P35-DS3P (L,R), DS4, or OS X Compatible board

[mavvert]

Yes, it is a fresh install, using your v1 file,

and step-by-step of your advance guide.

just replace the SMBIOS in v2 after install the Leopard

 

Can you try running /Applications/Utilities/Console.app while running photoshop ?

It'd be interesting to know what it logs when Photoshop crashes.

[LTL]

Yes, it is a fresh install, using your v1 file,

and step-by-step of your advance guide.

just replace the SMBIOS in v2 after install the Leopard

 

thats good idea, run your console .. go to all messages and let us know what is going on

[davejones]

Hi guys,

 

Well thanks to LTL, I have now managed to get my purchased copy of Leopard up & running with my PC.

 

My rig is running 10.5.2 (Netkas Sleep & Reboot Kernal 9.2.0 & Netkas AppleSMIBIOS 27). Although I was running everything as totally Vanilla, on the recommendation of LTL I switched. Despite this the PC is having the same issues as it was having Vanilla install.

 

Hardware is as follows:

 

CASE (Barebone): Asus Pundit P1-5945GCX

Intel 6550 Core 2 Duo

Motherboard: Asus P5L8L SE/P 5945GCX

2GB 667Mhz RAM

160GB SATA HDD

Sparkle 256MB Nvidia 8500GT (PCI! not PCI-express) < installed with NVInstaller .41

Netgear WG111v2 < installed with RTL8187L drivers from Realtek

AD1988B Onboard sound < tried it all, but still intermittently appears & disappears

 

Now, mostly everything appears to be running beautifully, BUT! (and there always is...) there are still a few quirks.

 

Firstly, the sleep functioning is really driving me insane as I cant, for love nor money, get it to function correctly. On all Kernels the outcome is the same, on both Graphics cards (GMA950 & 8500GT) it just puts the monitor into Standby, but all the fans and the PC are still running. I have checked all my BIOS options and they all appear to by OK (limited as they are ) I have spent ages on Google & the forums for a "Hackintosh Sleep FAQs" to no avail

 

Secondly, my Nvidia 8500GT (PCI) runs Leopard perfectly silky smooth, but Xbench only scores it as a 98.44 (on Quartz GT & OpenGL GT tests). This would never usually bother me, but I'm sure the onboard GMA950 does better than this??? The only real reason I investigated this was I was trying to run the Call of Duty 2 demo; only to be greeted by audio but a BLACK SCREEN??? I have also tried Unreal Tournament 2004 and Tomb Raider Anniversary all with the same result = blank black screen. (BTW System Profiler correctly detects it 256MB QE/CI Enabled - NVInject 0.21)

 

Lastly (I promise ) is the audio issue. I am well aware of the on going investigation by Tortuga into the AD1988B issues not functioning in Leopard, but some lucky SOBs are getting audio ok on their rigs (2-ch only) despite having the same onboard soundcard as me. I, sometimes, happen to be one of them! I must stress sometime though It is really bizarre that occasionally (more like miraculously!) after a reboot the audio (icon and all) reappear, then after another reboot (without any system changes) it goes again???... I have tried all the kexts files, pkgs & fixes suggested here but alas again to no avail!

 

As you can see, I have been pretty busy (even took 1 week off work and then 2 extra sick days just to keep working on this and get it this far), so please look in your heart and take pity on me please offer me some guidance & advise to possible fixes for my issues. The 100% completion of my Hackintosh is soooo close, I can taste it....

 

Cheers guys

[Boot Camp]

I installed using the P5W post-patch (I can't thank you enough for that ) to my external hard drive (test install).

Everything looks like its working great, haven't tried sleep, will try right after this post. EDIT: Hell yeah! Sleep works with ultra vanilla.

 

But one problem, is at the boot menu, where you have five seconds to press enter and choose if you want to boot with single user and yadda....yadda....yadda....that doesn't happen, it just starts loading. It doesn't say any info at the top either, its just blank. Its suppose to say Darwin/x86 Boot loader Version, the memory and one more line of something.

 

Whats up? Is it because I'm booting from a USB Hard Drive?

[davejones]

Hi Boot Camp,

 

Did you try just pressing F8 repeatedly after your motherboard splash screen/bios prompt? Works for me

[bazz38]

You should go and check out com.apple.boot.plist -> that's the file where all the boot settings are.

 

Navigate to /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/

Once there, open com.apple.boot.plist with Textedit.

You should look for the key (line) with TimeOut.. If it's there change the string to the ammount of seconds you want it to wait. If not, add it yourself. There's a topic somewhere on this forum with a list of all the kernel flags, though i can't remember the exact location . If you're having troubles adding it yourself, i'll have a look for the flags.. Good luck!

[Boot Camp]

You should go and check out com.apple.boot.plist -> that's the file where all the boot settings are.

 

Navigate to /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/

Once there, open com.apple.boot.plist with Textedit.

You should look for the key (line) with TimeOut.. If it's there change the string to the ammount of seconds you want it to wait. If not, add it yourself. There's a topic somewhere on this forum with a list of all the kernel flags, though i can't remember the exact location . If you're having troubles adding it yourself, i'll have a look for the flags.. Good luck!

That did the trick! I just needed to add <key>Timeout</key> and under that <string>5</string>. Thanks.

[davejones]

Anything?... Anyone?... Help Me!!! SOS Mayday, mayday!

 

Please...err...pretty please??? With a cherry on top!

[LTL]

Anything?... Anyone?... Help Me!!! SOS Mayday, mayday!Please...err...pretty please??? With a cherry on top!

I wish I had an answer for you, but I do not have that board, and I have a full time job running my business. I would say get a more OS X friendly MOBO and go back to work!!! haha

That Soyo I was talking about used a PMVA display, that's why it was such a hard choice, plus Office Max was having a sale on it for $300. The most recent reviews I've read on it however said that they have started to quietly change the panels to the common TN. Some people who thought they were getting a great deal, ended up returning them when they saw they were TN. Here are some comparison sites I used.http://www.prad.de/en/guide/vergleich_auswahl.htmlhttp://www.digitalversus.comhttp://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=78

I think its going to be this LG monitor and here, check this ref site out!http://lcd24-7.info/Monitor/LG/Flatron-L246WP/Default.aspx - getting this one http://lcd24-7.info/Monitors.aspx - great ref site

[LTL]

My Hackintosh runs better than my macbook pro

[Red Oak]

LTL- this is just amazing! everything that you have done gives me hope. I am a long time Mac user with countless software and numerous hardware purchases. The gaping hole in Apples line up has driven me towards OSX86 and your solution seems to be the best that I have found.

 

I am still in the research phase of the project and just want to make sure that I am reading everything correctly. I know that this is not a hardware thread so I want to be clear that i am not asking for help choosing, but rather, am I approaching this correctly.

 

I have gone to the Gigabyte website and I have printed the tech specs for the GA-P35-DS3P. I then compared it to other boards in the Gigabyte family. The particular board that i am looking at has the same ICH9R chipset, same ALC889A codec fro audio, Same 8111B Lan chip (GA-EX38-DS4). The north bridge is different but your guide states that x38 chipsets of the same family will work. As far as I can tell if I chose the x38 nothing would have to be changed in you scripts. Is there anything else that i need to compare when judging one Gigabyte board vs your?

 

The next issue for me is the video card. I plan on using the Evga GT 8800 512mb card similar to the one that you had abandoned. I have read post #203 where you address this with someone else but I don't think that I fully understand how to use the GatorV8se.zip? When I download it it shows up as a GatorV8se.plist, not as a zip file. Would I rename it as com.apple.boot.plist and replace the one in the extra folder? Obviously I would not use the Natit.kext but I am unclear about the ALCinject.kext in the same section of the script (post 203 suggests that the gator zip has strings for sound lan and the 8800). What about an nvinject? Sorry but this is one are where all of my research has served to confuse as much as it has clarified.

 

Finally, I know that power users need to separate the OS and applications from user data to benefit from multiple sata channels improving performance. My needs are not of that sort but I remember reading that you use a similar set up and it has made it much easier for you to re install the os the few thousand times it has taken to get everything right. I would be interested in setting my system up like this but if I recall it requires terminal to correctly move and connect the entire users folder? At the time that I was considering it for my G4 and my plan was to do it low tech and create iphoto, itunes and document folders on another drive without the use of terminal. I am just curious what you would recommend for OSX86?

 

Once again thanks to you and the whole OSX86 community for allowing me to dream of the system that i actually want and need!

[LTL]

LTL- this is just amazing! everything that you have done gives me hope. I am a long time Mac user with countless software and numerous hardware purchases. The gaping hole in Apples line up has driven me towards OSX86 and your solution seems to be the best that I have found.

 

 

DITTO for me. Apple does not have a desktop...they have wimpy desktops and over kill... they don't have anything in the middle. So its not my fault I had to build my own mac!!! if Steve would stop being such a snob and fill out his portfolio of products with a workstation that was modifiable and priced appropriately, I bet a lot of us would have bought it instead of building hacks...atlho, building my hack has got to have been the most fun I have had computing ... umm... ever. Another shot and :censored2: Steve who used to be cool and edgy, they should just go ahead and release a more expensive version of the OS we can do what we like with... thereby opening up the cloning market to OS X - like it used to be.

 

I am still in the research phase of the project and just want to make sure that I am reading everything correctly. I know that this is not a hardware thread so I want to be clear that i am not asking for help choosing, but rather, am I approaching this correctly.

 

The way you are asking things, its my pleasure to help bro

 

I have gone to the Gigabyte website and I have printed the tech specs for the GA-P35-DS3P. I then compared it to other boards in the Gigabyte family. The particular board that i am looking at has the same ICH9R chipset, same ALC889A codec fro audio, Same 8111B Lan chip (GA-EX38-DS4). The north bridge is different but your guide states that x38 chipsets of the same family will work. As far as I can tell if I chose the x38 nothing would have to be changed in you scripts. Is there anything else that i need to compare when judging one Gigabyte board vs your?

 

I would not assume that the EX38-DS4 will work as smoothly. I have heard that the Asus Maximus works really well, but I was to scared to buy anything but the exact board I have...v.2.1. So with that said, I would be careful.

 

The next issue for me is the video card. I plan on using the Evga GT 8800 512mb card similar to the one that you had abandoned. I have read post #203 where you address this with someone else but I don't think that I fully understand how to use the GatorV8se.zip? When I download it it shows up as a GatorV8se.plist, not as a zip file. Would I rename it as com.apple.boot.plist and replace the one in the extra folder? Obviously I would not use the Natit.kext but I am unclear about the ALCinject.kext in the same section of the script (post 203 suggests that the gator zip has strings for sound lan and the 8800). What about an nvinject? Sorry but this is one are where all of my research has served to confuse as much as it has clarified.

 

 

The V(video)8(8800GT 512)s(sound)e(ethernet) plist file covers your EFI strings for Video Sound and Ethernet. You will not need natit, nvinject, or ALCinject. If I remember correctly, you should just rename that file, check contents first, and place it into the OS.

 

Finally, I know that power users need to separate the OS and applications from user data to benefit from multiple sata channels improving performance. My needs are not of that sort but I remember reading that you use a similar set up and it has made it much easier for you to re install the os the few thousand times it has taken to get everything right. I would be interested in setting my system up like this but if I recall it requires terminal to correctly move and connect the entire users folder? At the time that I was considering it for my G4 and my plan was to do it low tech and create iphoto, itunes and document folders on another drive without the use of terminal. I am just curious what you would recommend for OSX86?

 

 

I would recommend two or more drives. I have one for my OS (i don't move my docs or anything around), one for Time Machine, and one for my 400GB of music, BS files, storage, etc

 

Once again thanks to you and the whole OSX86 community for allowing me to dream of the system that i actually want and need!

[Red Oak]

LSL-

 

I am not looking for trouble with the motherboard, just excited about all of the options that this project presents. I would be delighted to have your exact board but all I could find was.

 

GA-EP35-DS3P

 

According to the Gigabyte website it is a revision 2.1. It could be the same board but with different energy saving ability? I would hate to be so close and have that one extra letter ruin the compatibility.

 

Thanks again for the help

[LTL]

LSL-

 

I am not looking for trouble with the motherboard, just excited about all of the options that this project presents. I would be delighted to have your exact board but all I could find was.

 

GA-EP35-DS3P

 

According to the Gigabyte website it is a revision 2.1. It could be the same board but with different energy saving ability? I would hate to be so close and have that one extra letter ruin the compatibility.

 

Thanks again for the help

 

I read somewhere that the "E" was a trouble board. I would prefer to see you get the P35-DS4 if you can not find the DS3 newegg

 

My board, open box... hurry up!!! DS3P

[triptolemos]

I followed this guide, but when i try to install from the retail DVD image, i get a message to restart my mac when Migration Assistant is being installed. I cannot seem to get past that point. Any clues?

[LTL]

I followed this guide, but when i try to install from the retail DVD image, i get a message to restart my mac when Migration Assistant is being installed. I cannot seem to get past that point. Any clues?

 

we need your machine specs and it sounds like your not following the instructions

[triptolemos]

Sorry, i probably asked to soon. Got to get into it a bit more before i ask questions, so i'll try on my own this evening first

[LTL]

Sorry, i probably asked to soon. Got to get into it a bit more before i ask questions, so i'll try on my own this evening first

 

Fair enough... and good thought. When your deep in the trenches... we will know

[mavvert]

Well, just a heads up for the people also getting

CGSResolveShmemReference : reference offset (65200) exceeds bounds (32768) on shmem obj 0x14b7

errors i posted about a few pages back..

On my rig, they seem to be caused by IONetworkingFamily.kext, also known as the Time Machine fix.

 

My machine is rock-solid now, it runs better than ever before.

Got 10 days of uptime with some sleeps/wakeups in between, no issues at all!

Of course Time Machine doesn't work right now, but i'll try to fix that later..

[iSkylla]

You can fix TimeMachine with EFI strings.

[Red Oak]

LTL-

 

As far as I can tell that open box board is a rev 1.1.

 

I am new to all of this so the idea of an open box is very scary to me. I called both gigabyte and Newegg today trying to get a better picture of my options. Your board has been replaced by the version with the E in the title. This could mean that the open box items from Newegg are merely old stock that they are clearing out. I did not receive confirmation of this theory when talking to them on the phone so I hesitate. The other board that you recommended is out of stock and I fear that it will only come back in the E form.

 

I am going to purchase the E revision of your board as others have claimed good success with it in the HCL.

 

I will be back! Either with stories of my success or desperate pleas for help.

 

As always

 

Thanks

[LTL]

Well, just a heads up for the people also getting

CGSResolveShmemReference : reference offset (65200) exceeds bounds (32768) on shmem obj 0x14b7

errors i posted about a few pages back..On my rig, they seem to be caused by IONetworkingFamily.kext, also known as the Time Machine fix.My machine is rock-solid now, it runs better than ever before.Got 10 days of uptime with some sleeps/wakeups in between, no issues at all!Of course Time Machine doesn't work right now, but i'll try to fix that later..

I use the vanilla IONetworkingFamily.kext with EFI strings.

LTL-As far as I can tell that open box board is a rev 1.1. I am new to all of this so the idea of an open box is very scary to me. I called both gigabyte and Newegg today trying to get a better picture of my options. Your board has been replaced by the version with the E in the title. This could mean that the open box items from Newegg are merely old stock that they are clearing out. I did not receive confirmation of this theory when talking to them on the phone so I hesitate. The other board that you recommended is out of stock and I fear that it will only come back in the E form.I am going to purchase the E revision of your board as others have claimed good success with it in the HCL.I will be back! Either with stories of my success or desperate pleas for help.As alwaysThanks

Fingers, Toes, are crossed...!!!

[mavvert]

I use the vanilla IONetworkingFamily.kext with EFI strings.Fingers, Toes, are crossed...!!!

 

Added the EFI string for my ethernet to com.apple.Boot.plist and yes, Time Machine works again

Thanks LTL and iSkylla for the suggestion!

[iSkylla]

Added the EFI string for my ethernet to com.apple.Boot.plist and yes, Time Machine works again

Thanks LTL and iSkylla for the suggestion!

 

No problem. EFI strings take care of a lot of problems because that is almost what real mac computers use. It also avoids problems with using hacked kexts because a lot of the time a hacked kext will fix one thing and then break another so you're left with a net gain of nothing.

[davejones]

Hi guys,

 

Quick question, I have now finally got my Retail Vanilla rig running fine, but am really interested in the "EFI Strings" method of installing the drivers for my hardware, instead of manually adding kexts & installers etc... Can someone please explain to me what EFI Strings are & how they work or even just a nod in the right direction?

 

Cheers guys

 

PS I'm now officially back to work lol!

 

Ok scratch that! I've found the netkas.org forum that explains it (thanks LTL) and man does that stuff look HARD!!!

 

Can anyone maybe tell if this hardware would be supported by EFI Strings:

 

Sparkle 256MB Nvidia 8500GT (PCI! not PCI-express - currently installed with NVInstaller .41)

Netgear WG111v2 (USB WiFi card - currently installed with Kalyway 10.5.2 RTL8187L kexts)

AD1988B Onboard sound (currently installed with AppleAzalia.pkg, but still intermittently appears & disappears)

 

Thanks again guys