Come and check at http://www.macvidia.com (forum, NvidiaEFI section) for how to fix 512Mb NVIDIA cards issue, and get full 512Mb + QE/CI

Already tested successfully on GeForce 7800/7900 series, now need tester for other cards (7600 and other, AGP/PCIe)

As this involves modding your NVIDIA card ROM and flash it, this is risky procedure.
This basically allows your card to be detected as 512Mb VESA straight from Darwin Bootloader, which fixes the problem where bootlader detects only 256Mb (or less) then OS detection mismatching, causing the card not to work at all with NVIDIA extensions.
So if you feel you can risk frying your NVIDIA card and try getting it to work as it should, come and see !!

good thing!

but, wouldn't be better to fix the darwin boot loader instead?
edit typos

Nice work gotoh .

the issue is Darwin bootloader reads from graphics card ROM, and newer graphics card have missing settings (just because Windows doesn't need these settings) but other OSes could require it (here OS X )
so fixing darwin bootloader would mean you would need to have a specific fix depending on installed nvidia card, because bootloader can't get accurate value from the card ROM since it is missing.
Another approach (like NvidiaEFI) it to force OS X to see 512Mb and don't use bootloader detection. This last approach might be much safer, as it stays at OS software level, but it would also might require patching after each system update for compatibility.

The ROM patch is definitive, as it would work as long as you're using darwin bootloader. It doesn't affect MS OS, just because Windows don't use it so the card will still behave fine in windows, and presumably in Linux. I even used the same fix to get some GeForce 6200 AGP and other cards correctly working in Windows 98, because memory amount was not set correctly in ROM, and Windows 98 would crash...

thx for the explanation!

gotoh has graciously provided a fixed ROM image for my 7900 GTO and I am now running in 10.4.8 with full QE/CI!

So long as the card flashes properly, this fix really does work!

its odd, i always had qe/ci on my fx6600 w/512mb

simply because your card had correct setting in ROM, I already tested a 7800GT 512Mb card which worked straight from boot too, but newer cards based on G71/G73 doesn't need this anymore for windows operation, so many new cards don't have it correctly defined in ROM, this won't work in OS X without ROM patching.

Now we need GF 7600 and other cards testers !!

what about a geforce go7700?

if you can dump your card ROM and flash it back, it could work (only requirement is software/driver support in OS X, but you should at least be able to have QE/CI and card working as unknown NVIDIA)

I Confirm, the trick works well ===

I might give this a show if my EVGA Geforce 7950GT KO Superclocked gives me trouble... It is 512mb, so it might.

Exactly how dangerous is this?

well, so far, few people tried it, and most of them got it to work fine.
Only 2 issues to report, 1 misflashing (which resulted in the need to reflash the card blind), and someone with a 7950 GX2 (dual GPU card) who is not getting good results (but card is not toasted, still can be reflashed to original ROM). The second issue is probably due to OS X lacking dual GPU software support. The first issue is the worst thing which could happen to you...

So how exactly do I flash the rom? Just out of curiosity? I really want Natit to work on my laptop (but I also want everything to be fine in windows too). I work helpdesk and fix computers for a living so I'm not an idiot, but a point in the right direction would be nice. THANK YOU

if it's for a laptop, it depends.
if your laptop has an MXM graphics card with its own ROM, you can proceed just like with a desktop PCIe/AGP card. (details at macvidia)
if your laptop has VGA ROM inside the laptop whole BIOS, it's much more complicated and risky (need to extract the VGA part from the BIOS, patch it, insert it back and flash the whole laptop BIOS back, which is highly risky since it can just kill your entire laptop unless you can have it fixed later by a FLASH BIOS RECOVERY company)

for standard flashing, everything is detailed at macvidia forum. Anyway, if you can flash your laptop VGA BIOS, you might still encounter the internal display issue (internal display stays blank and only external display works) but this is another issue, whic has nothing to do with correct detection of VRAM. NP_ at macvidia is working on it with nvidiaEFI and laptopDisplay but I know little about this, since I have no laptop to work on it...

"I" wouldn't go flashing laptop cards

well, if it's an MXM card, there's not much more risk than full size PCIe card (one guy has already done it)
still remains the internal display issue...

Just wanted to report that this fix works on my PNY 7950GT 512MB card. Dual DVI monitors. Full QE/QE2D/CI... Using Natit Dual 0.2

(Screen shot Attached)

Hi Would this fix help me get OSX to actually boot with any version of natit or titan installed, as at the moment they all leve me with a blue/black screen or the reboot messege?

EDIT: sorry forgot to say i have a MSI 7900GTO 512MB

Hey,

I have an Idea for fixing 512MB cards (and also Laptop 512MB cards) without flashing. Some time ago there were dos-based-tools like vbe 0.3 and loader which allowed loading (and testing without flashing) vga-bioses in dos.

So, if we would load fixed bioses in dos, then call the bootloader, the bootloader would read the values from the fixed bios instead.

The problem is, that fixing darwin 1.3.2 is not enough to get things working here.

Also some IO...Familys have to be fixed - and if there is a new version, it has to be fixed as well.

So, the tools are there, the sources are there - just an idea from a guy without an nvidia-card...

What about 8800GTS 320MB??? Will it work???

No. There is no driver support for the 8xxx series of cards.

How would I find out if my 512MB geforce go 7600 in my hp dv9000t laptop has its own bios?

Hi,

I've got a 7900GT with 512Mo. I would fix it with the patch. How could I do it ?
Another important question. Does the card still work under XP after patching ?

Thanks.

it will.
Just go to macvidia for more info. I won't be explaining things twice as everything is detailed there

Thanks,

I've seen the posts on macvidia. And I've seen there were some ROMS. But my card is a "no-name" one. Will I have to do it myself ? Or do you think I could use one of the two ROMS I've seen there ?

I'm little afraid to do it. I have no floppy. So If I have to re-flash it to restore the old working bios...

I have a GeForce 7600GS AGP card that i can not get working with qe/ci and dual screens. I am either: 1) going to return the card to best buy and get a different working card. 2) Help test then return if broken.



Hurry up only got 2 more days to piddle with this.

I have an Nvidia 7300GT 512mb that has always worked WITHOUT flashing, using Titan, see here

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=55812

some card don't need this fix, because their BIOS is already correctly set for 512Mb in softstraps. The very first 512Mb card I tested had it, that's what gave me the idea to check what was not working for other cards (it was a Gainward 7800GT 512Mb Golden Sample, a really nice card)

Most XFX cards work fine to. XFX GeForce 6800 Xtreme 512mb.

How difficult is it for someone to create a utility to run under osx which pings the GPU ROM and lets you know if you need to patch or not?

Thanks.

it depends on your programming skills. Also the problem is how are you going to run it in OS X when you can't reach the finder because your 512Mb card is not fixed yet ?

For the record, I had to flash my Geforce XFX 7300 GT 512, -- and it works! Full everything, dual screen, rotation, etc.etc....
The Macvideia website was the key. Someone had a fixed rom for the 7300 GT and I used that. Took a while to create a bootable flashdisk ( no floppy). But I got it done. The flash worked on the first try. Used a second video card on the system as recommended. Installed Natit Dual, Diabolik and the rest is history.....

Well, as soon as the macvidia site comes back online i'll try it with my 7600GS 512mb.

Just an update, like i said i had the 7600GS 512. Well i fixed the bios and reflashed, it now works perfect on an install from the jas 10.4.8 sse2-sse3 dvd. Full gfx support and all resolutions! Thanks for the info and if anyone wants a copy of my fixed bios or wants theirs fixing, let me know.

I would like that very much actually

i have a 512 just going to waste

Works with XFX 8500 GT 512MB ?

not sure at all.
G80 series ROM are different.

can you tell me where to get the bios, and how to flash it onto my card?

i have an evga geforce 7600gs 512mb.

btw, i REALLY wish macvidia would come back online

1. Dump your own rom with nvflash utility. (Has to be in dos, use an old 98 boot floppy)
2. Run nvflash --compare <original.rom> should check ok, if not re-dump.
3. Copy the original rom for safe measure.
4. Edit the rom with a hex editor.
5. write down the hex numbers contained within addresses 5a to 5b and swap them round.
6. subtract 1 from the first swapped number and 80 from the second number (hex goes from 1-9 and then a-f, so for example, 80 subtracted from e4 would be 64. Now swap the numbers round again and you're done with those 2.

7. Do the same for the hex numbers contained within 5e to 5f, but add instead of subtract.

8. Now replace the original hex numbers with your adjusted hex numbers and save the rom.
9. Use nvflash --eraseeeprom to erase your original rom on the card.
10. Next do nvflash --index=0 -4 -5 -6 -j <edited.rom>
11. When it's finished flashing check it with nvflash --compare <edited.rom>

12. Only when its says ok, do you reboot.



All this is in another thread but i though i'd try and make it a bit more simple. Hey, i'm not the sharpest tool myself but i managed it

I wouldn't risk using someone else's rom.

thanks! now i'll work on it.

I have the same card (7600 GS 512) can you send me yours fixed bios ?
Is that card became an 7300 GT after flashed (i had this when i flashed it with an another rom)

Thanks

everything is detailed, and some ready made patched ROMs available at http://nvinject.free.fr

Thanks gotoh !

is there any update on this? i've got a pny geforce 7600 gs 512mb agp sitting here still in the plastic. I'm willing to risk flashing it, i got it on clearance =]

did you flash your card now? Just curios if it worked for you...

Yeah I am curious as well. How did the flash go? I have a PNY Geforce 7600 GS 512MB AGP and i'm stuck with no QE/CI & 1024x768 res.

AGP is still a no go regarding flashing...

do you know if there are any development efforts on 512mb agp to get qe/ci? where we can check for the latest updates? thanks!

i have GeForce MSI 7900 GS, 512mb, already flashed, and it don't work. QE\CI disabled.