11 replies to this topic

[bigboss_]

I have setup a hackintosh with Kalaway 10.5.2 on an Intel 975bx2 board. This board has 3 x16 PCIe slots (that run at x8 when you have multiple cards inserted). I have 4 21" wide screen monitors hooked up via DVI. I would like all 4 of these monitors to be working on the hackintosh. I can currently get 2 working fine using one video card but as soon as I add the other card, I get a boot kernel panic with the "You need to hold power to reset your computer" message.

I currently have two Nvidia 8600 GT cards and am using NVKush to install the driver. I have also installed Leopard Graphics update. When I remove the 2nd Nvidia 8600, the system boots up and I get full HW accelerated dual monitor video support. When I add the 2nd card in, the system will not boot. I have also tried using PC_EFI 8.0 and adding the appropriate string to my com.apple.Boot.plist file and the results are the same..

I have also at my disposal, two ATI x1600 dual DVI cards. I have also tried removing one of the NV 8600 GT's and replacing it with the ATI x1600 then using maclover's patched driver to get the card working. Here are the results using a combination of cards:

NV 8600 slot 1  - both DVI ports working
ATI x1600 slot 2 - card recognized in system profiler as ATI x1600 but no monitors attached, no video on these monitors.

ATI x1600 slot 1, NV 8600 slot 2 - System will not boot.

ATI x1600 slot 1 - first DVI port works full HW acceleration 1680x1050, 2nd DVI no monitor attached
ATI x1600 slot 2 - all ports no monitor attached, no video.

NV 8600 slot 1, NV 8600 slot 2 - System will not boot.

I am looking for any solution to get 4 monitors working via DVI. Anyone have any ideas?

BigBoss

[redsockosx]

I spent several days attempting to get this to work. I have the same board, XBX2, 10.5.4, everything works great.

Dual graphics cards, no dice. I saw the other success stories, but was unable to replicate here.

I have the following graphics cards:

(1) ATI HD3870x2
(2) ATI 2600XT
(2) NVidia 8600GTS
(2) ATI 1950XT

All of the cards work fine by themselves... Booting wasn't too traumatic, but never got monitors on the second card working regardless of the method I tried.

I too would love to have my 4 monitors working but as yet haven't been able to get it to work. :-/

[bigboss_]

I have ordered one of these: http://www.amazon.co...duct/B000QRTHX8
It will be here on Tuesday. If it works, I will need to run two of them. The way it works is it will advertise itself as a monitor that supports 3360x1050 resolution. I will then need to set my video card to output that on each port. The device will break up the 3360 into two 1680 outputs and let me attach two dvi monitors to that converting the one signal into two monitors. If OSX will not output @ 3360x1050 on my hardware, I'm still screwed. Will update with the results. This solution is about $450 though so a way to run both video cards is still preferred.

[dwest576]

I tried to get Dual Cards working w/ ATI HD 2600 Pro's.  I would get to the exact same spot as you guys.  One Vid Card working, second on nothing.  After reading around, seems the only way to get Dual Cards working is to use GFX Strings.  I was never able to get GFX strings to work w/ my 2600's, always garbled Video..  I decided to start w/ some supported 8800GT's.  Threw them in, created a couple of GFX strings, Booted from PEG2, and whala.  Dual Cards, Full Everything, 3 Monitors (DVI), 4th DVI is available.

[matthieu/ergosteur]

any updates on this?

I have a 7950GT and a 7300LE and will be reinstalling OSX soon...

[MagForAll]

Thats bad news I can read here... I have two ATI HD 2600 XT and only first is working well. Second I can see in system profiler, but no attachet monitor is working.
Have anybody some progress in 4 DVIs with ATI working ?

[frogster]

Hello,

Does anyone have any progress with this?  

I have 2 x 8600GT 512MB cards installed on a Asus P5K.  Both are exactly the same.

Running EFI (used EFI studio to insert efi card string into boot.plist)

Running 10.5.5

The non- working card shows up in system profiler but is not recognized as 8600GT

Display:

  Type: Display
  Bus: PCIe
  PCIe Lane Width: x4
  Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
  Device ID: 0x0402
  Revision ID: 0x00a1
  Displays:

The working card shows up properly and looks like this.

nVidia GeForce 8600 GT:

  Chipset Model: nVidia GeForce 8600 GT
  Type: Display
  Bus: PCIe
  PCIe Lane Width: x16
  VRAM (Total): 512 MB
  Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
  Device ID: 0x0402
  Revision ID: 0x00a1
  ROM Revision: nVidia GeForce 8600 GT OpenGL Engine [EFI]
  Displays:
DELL 2405FPW:
  Resolution: 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz
  Depth: 32-bit Color
  Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
  Main Display: Yes
  Mirror: Off
  Online: Yes
  Quartz Extreme: Supported
  Rotation: Supported
SP2208WFP:
  Resolution: 1680 x 1050 @ 60 Hz
  Depth: 32-bit Color
  Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
  Mirror: Off
  Online: Yes
  Quartz Extreme: Supported
  Rotation: Supported


Would appreciate any ideas on how to get the second card working!



UPDATE:  Tried to make custom efi gfx string with efi studio to no avail.  Got it working first try with info in this post.  Cheers Aquamac!!

http://aquamac.probo...?...=569&page=1

[vulcanman09]

i have the original bad axe
sorry to burst your bubble people, but the second video card connector does not feed video signals
it is just a connector for electrical connections
in order for the 2 cards to work , you need the external\internal  ( crossfire cable / bridge )
the newer cards with the internal bridge work better
both cards must be of the same manufactuter / graphics chip / memory size  and graphics speed
( crossfire only really works in windows though )
and only ati`s drivers will enable crossfire

because amd bought out ati , there are legal issues regarding ati writing drivers for the macintosh osx o.s.
( you can bet microsoft is involved with that issue )

basically you need 2 of these

http://www.tigerdire...a...3&CatId=317

no loss of video signal quality

to run 4 monitors

[matthieu/ergosteur]

I have both my GeForce 7300LE and GeForce 7950GT working (QE+CI) on my P5W DH Deluxe.
I'm running JaS 10.5.4, updated to 10.5.5 via software update, and using the NVkush provided on the JaS DVD. One thing that 's a bit weird though is that I can only get 3 displays working at a time. Don't remember exactly what happens when I connect a fourth, but it doesn't work. Although that might be because my fourth display is a projector...

Anyway, here's what System profiler tells me:

GeForce 7950 GT:

  Chipset Model:	GeForce 7950 GT
  Type:	Display
  Bus:	PCIe
  PCIe Lane Width:	x8
  VRAM (Total):	512 MB
  Vendor:	NVIDIA (0x10de)
  Device ID:	0x0295
  Revision ID:	0x00a1
  Displays:
Acer X203W:
  Resolution:	1680 x 1050 @ 60 Hz
  Depth:	32-bit Color
  Core Image:	Hardware Accelerated
  Main Display:	Yes
  Mirror:	Off
  Online:	Yes
  Quartz Extreme:	Supported
  Rotation:	Supported
Philips 170S:
  Resolution:	1280 x 1024 @ 60 Hz
  Depth:	32-bit Color
  Core Image:	Hardware Accelerated
  Mirror:	Off
  Online:	Yes
  Quartz Extreme:	Supported
  Rotation:	Supported

I Can Has Model?:

  Chipset Model:	I Can Has Model?
  Type:	Display
  Bus:	PCIe
  PCIe Lane Width:	x8
  VRAM (Total):	128 MB
  Vendor:	NVIDIA (0x10de)
  Device ID:	0x01d1
  Revision ID:	0x00a1
  Displays:
Radius Rad-5:
  Resolution:	1024 x 768 @ 60 Hz
  Depth:	32-bit Color
  Core Image:	Hardware Accelerated
  Mirror:	Off
  Online:	Yes
  Quartz Extreme:	Supported
  Rotation:	Supported
Display Connector:
  Status:	No display connected

[steenamaroo]

magforall,,,we should stick together,,,i have the same cards as you <94c1?>

i've also gotten to the same stage as you...


i have various cards and test installations at my disposal for testing..

my working setup is dual 7600gs 512mb on injectors,,although i've had strings working too..




has anyone,,,ever,,,,,,ever,,,,,had dual cards working,where at least one of them was ATI?????

also worth mentioning, i have four of the adapters mentioned.....

[muchlife]

dual nVidia cards work fine so long as you can get each working separately (1 at a time) with efi string. dont forget to remove any natit or other injectors

and you need pc efi v8 or higher or chameleon 2 installed (i believe, dont quote me)

i have two 9600 GT (OC) 512MB (BFG) in a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P and following aquamac's dual cards guide it works flawlessly!

at the moment i have 3 monitors hooked up spanning desktops with a 4th DVI port just waiting to be plugged in

[Shannon]

I thought you would need a SLi Cable between the 2 graphics cards? But then you would only be able to utilize the ports of one card..