Lifehacker Guide with GA-EP45-UD3P Motherboard

[captcrunch24]

Yep...after some troubleshooting, I decided to disconnect all of my HDD's except the Boot drive. Worked fine. So I slowly added each drive then rebooted and found that my Time Machine drive was causing the issue. I disconnected that drive from the SATA port and everything worked great!

 

Now, troubleshooting my Time Machine drive...I will completely reformat and partition this drive and start over after I pull a few things off of it.

 

I will update this process once I have completed it.

 

Thanks Stellarola!

Reformatted my Time Machine drive and rebooted. So far everything is working fine...

[D-an-W]

Stell, just tried the Halloween pack. All detected ok but can only use one monitor at once.

 

Mine is VGA/DVI, last time I had to edit the NVCAP string in your DSDT.aml but it looks like the auto-detect routine does things differently now?

 

NVCAP for VGA/DVI (I think )

0x04 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x01 0x00
0x06 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x07
0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00

 

 

Should I be able to use both as is or does it only auto-detect DVI/DVI cards?

[pixelblender]

hi guys,

 

i've successfully installed Snow Leopard on GigaByte EP-45 UD3P using Adam's "No Hacking Required" method. the problem is, after the installation done i cannot boot into the harddrive.

 

if i have my usb device as first boot device, it just went straight to the installation windows again. i saw dustanio's post regarding his "out of range" monitor problem which is not happening with me. the boot process only detect one Snow Leopard installation and that is the usb stick it self. one thing to note is that during this process pressing enter or tab or any key won't take me to the boot console options.

 

if i unplug the usb stick, it tries to boot into harddrive and shows:

boot0: GPT

boot0: testing

boot0: testing

boot0: error

 

please help. Snow Leopard is installed on the harddrive it just that i can't boot into it

 

many thanks for your help guys.

 

cheers,

 

PA

[D-an-W]

Did you install the package onto the HD you are trying to boot from once SL was installed?

[pixelblender]

Did you install the package onto the HD you are trying to boot from once SL was installed?

 

Hi,

 

wow, that was a fast reply. i can't execute the package from installation window. is there a way to do so? the guide says about executing the package from within Snow Leopard.

 

cheers,

 

PA

[MacWannaBe]

New installer available here: http://stellarola.tumblr.com/post/21398368...lloween-edition

 

Read the instructions before proceeding.

 

Thanks,

 

-Stell

 

 

This worked great. It freaked me out that I had no sound, but then remembered I had to select the output on the sound preference pane.

 

Thanks!

[James Stewart]

It sounds like you are having the exact same problem I had. I thought the heatsink was seated properly too. I realized its really important to push down the pins opposite each other. Before, I went in a circle and even though it seemed like it was seated correctly, when I pulled it off, only half of the thermal compound was smooshed.

 

I would take off the heatsink and then put it back on, maybe with some arctic silver instead. I just got some, though I don't think its necessary because mine is running fine now.

 

I had to replace the stock fan with a better fan. I found the "clip-on" variety to be poor, and got a bolted backplate type of fan.

 

Temperatures should not exceed 72C on this chip!! Before with the stock fan I was getting temperatures of 90+. Now it's down to about 48C max.

[rspencer]

I was wondering if any of you guys could help me out here. I've followed the LH guide and got everything up and running except for installing Little Snitch. I checked out this thread (link) and followed the steps here but still get the screen of death. I'm not sure where to go from here if I want to keep the program. Any ideas?

[myeomans]

Hey Stellarola,

 

I tried your new Halloween installer and my idle temps are 10c lower than before. Whoo Hoo! How was that accomplished?

On another note, I'm trying to get three monitors running but I get an immediate KP at the boot screen when both my 9800 GTX+ and my 8800 GT are installed at the same time. Would you happen to know what would be causing that?

 

Thanks for all the work you are doing on our behalf!

 

Michael

 

P.S. My hardware specs are exactly the same as the lifehacker tutorial.

 

update: I'll try installing just the 8800 GT to see if it is the cause and not the presence of two video cards.

I know some will say that three monitors is just crazy but when you have to use Photoshop and Final Cut Pro as well as keep an eye on email three monitors come in handy.

 

update: Both cards work just fine when they are installed in either PCIe slot on their own. It is only when both are installed that the KP happens.

[rspencer]

I was wondering if any of you guys could help me out here. I've followed the LH guide and got everything up and running except for installing Little Snitch. I checked out this thread (link) and followed the steps here but still get the screen of death. I'm not sure where to go from here if I want to keep the program. Any ideas?

 

Scratch the above. I went back and reinstalled SL using Stell's latest posted a earlier and, for some reason way above my head, allowed me to install Little Snitch.

[Rx4Mac]

I got my video working ( bad video cable/connector ...) and have set up the BIOS -

 

BUT... I always get stuck at the 'Verifying DMI Pool Data ..............' point

 

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core 2 Quad 3.0GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor

GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16

 

TRENDnet TEG-PCITXR 10/ 100/ 1000/ 2000Mbps PCI Copper Gigabit Network Adapter

 

Antec Sonata III 500 Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply

 

Patriot PVS24G6400LLK Extreme Performance Viper Series PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz 4GB CAS 4-4-4-12 EPP x 2

( not exactly the same as the build; but the original was unavailable )

Samsung CD/DVD Burner SATA Model ( same model sold by OWC as a Mac replacement )

Seagate SATA 750GB HD (it was available)

 

I am not overclocking.

 

I am using a Transcend USB Flash reader with a Class 6 16GB card formatted GUID with SL Installer from Apple restored to it and have tried one of the earlier and the Halloween version of stellarola's installer - No joy.

 

( although I don't have an Extras folder at the root level ( that stell says to ‘backup’)- could this be an issue ?)

 

( I even tried just installing SL on to the HD from a Mac and using the installer directly on it, then re-installing it into the Hackintosh, resetting the boot priorities to HD - still no joy ( there could easily be reasons for this not to work that I don't fathom as I am not completely clear on what the installer is doing))

 

All input welcome. Thanks to stellarola and Adam for all the work on the installer & Guide and to all else who are helping make this project move forward.

 

Update: I went back and used the terminal method vs the installer and I was able to get to the install screen! The installer wasn't moving the needed files over to the SD Flash card - permissions issues maybe? The Extras folder didn't appear on the SD drive until I did it manually ( and I used Cocktail to make the invisibles visible )

 

I don't know if the other mods had taken place until my manual intervention.

 

I am next going to try the manual method directly on the HD that I had previously installed SL on ( the install was halted at the point where you start to put in your personal info )

 

But THAT will have to wait until I get back from work. Thanks to All!

[CoHPhasor]

 

 

You will want to be able to add the new stuff to the HD as it will force OSX to identify your proc,

helping with things like Little Snitch, and I believe even Parallels.

[stellarola]

Try connecting your OSX drive to either of the FIRST two ICH10 sata ports. Assuming you hdd is not booting. I believe this to be a problem with Gigabyte boards.

 

-Stell

[jas819]

Stell,

 

I have been an early adopter of your work. The initial installer that was put out from Lifehacker has some issues: Bonjour would not work and Time Machine would not work.

The Processor would be running at full speed all the time - ie no Speedstep, hence higher CPU temperatures.

 

The new installer enables the machine to obtain UUID so Time Machine Works.

I suppose that Speedstep has been enabled hence CPU temps are lower.

This installer works very well.

 

Regarding people who want to use Bonjour on the onboard NICs: you need to force the onboard NICs into promisc mode which will enable Bonjour.

The onboard NIC do not support Multicast, hence no Bonjour.

(note that if you have a fairly modern router, there are no real world problems to force the onboard NICs into promiscuous mode)

 

BTW, Bonjour is necessary for "Home Sharing" feature in iTunes and Apple TV, etc.

[CoHPhasor]

Hey Stell, up and running!

 

The Halloween installer has me showin a Xeon,.. sweeet!

 

Questions though; the vid card is shown as a 9800 GTK+, isn't it GTX+?

And I thought that if a card supported QE/CI it would show in in about this mac under Graphics? (It doesn't.

 

I'm sure this is noob-tastic, but can I use Boot Camp to setup Win, or do I need to do it separately?

 

Thanks Stell, You're the man!

 

 

ps, The Gray Apple screen to choose boot device, is it always

Supposed to come up? (In case I want to select another boot device?

[hermitizer]

Hey Stell, up and running!

 

The Halloween installer has me showin a Xeon,.. sweeet!

 

Questions though; the vid card is shown as a 9800 GTK+, isn't it GTX+?

And I thought that if a card supported QE/CI it would show in in about this mac under Graphics? (It doesn't.

 

I'm sure this is noob-tastic, but can I use Boot Camp to setup Win, or do I need to do it separately?

 

Thanks Stell, You're the man!

 

 

ps, The Gray Apple screen to choose boot device, is it always

Supposed to come up? (In case I want to select another boot device?

 

I've got the GTK+ too (weird) and also auto-sleep does work eventually, just not "on time" with Energy Saver settings. Other than that everything I can think to throw at it seems to work flawlessly.

[Silvermail]

I've followed the No-Hack Method and it's working great! I got sound etc with no problems.

 

The main issue right now is that when I run iMovie, the entire OS will freeze up at random times and I will have to press the reset button.

 

But if I'm to use it for Web Surfing/IM it works great. Could it be due to some problems with my video card? I've tried looking at /var/log to see if there are any abnormal errors but couldn't find any.

 

These are my specs:

 

Gigabyte EP45-DSP4

Quad Q9550

4 * 2GB RAM

GeForce 8800 GTS 320 MB

[stellarola]

I've followed the No-Hack Method and it's working great! I got sound etc with no problems.

 

The main issue right now is that when I run iMovie, the entire OS will freeze up at random times and I will have to press the reset button.

 

But if I'm to use it for Web Surfing/IM it works great. Could it be due to some problems with my video card? I've tried looking at /var/log to see if there are any abnormal errors but couldn't find any.

 

These are my specs:

 

Gigabyte EP45-DSP4

Quad Q9550

4 * 2GB RAM

GeForce 8800 GTS 320 MB

 

 

Ok, I can't seem to get this through to everyone.

 

This is for the EP45-UD3P ONLY, NO OTHER BOARD. IF YOU USE ANOTHER BOARD, CHANCES OF PROBLEMS/ISSUES ARE EXTREMELY LIKELY.

 

-Stell

 

Stell,

 

I have been an early adopter of your work. The initial installer that was put out from Lifehacker has some issues: Bonjour would not work and Time Machine would not work.

The Processor would be running at full speed all the time - ie no Speedstep, hence higher CPU temperatures.

 

The new installer enables the machine to obtain UUID so Time Machine Works.

I suppose that Speedstep has been enabled hence CPU temps are lower.

This installer works very well.

 

Regarding people who want to use Bonjour on the onboard NICs: you need to force the onboard NICs into promisc mode which will enable Bonjour.

The onboard NIC do not support Multicast, hence no Bonjour.

(note that if you have a fairly modern router, there are no real world problems to force the onboard NICs into promiscuous mode)

 

BTW, Bonjour is necessary for "Home Sharing" feature in iTunes and Apple TV, etc.

 

The initial "No Hack" method, was all dependent on the user having the PCI network card and NOT using onboard networking. It seemed people didn't want to spend an extra $10, and problems ensued. The idea behind the Lifehacker guide was just a simple "follow to a T" set of instructions. When people sway from that... you get my point.

 

So, after seeing that people weren't following the guide 100%, I decided to make the v2 installer package (which is on my site). I made adjustments to ethernet and video, which seemed to be the most problematic for everyone.

 

As far as CPU temps dropping, that'd be because I'm disabling cpu power management in the OS. This has been known to cause higher temps on OSx86 boxes.

 

Also on a side note, UUID/Time Machine/Built-in Ethernet are all related.

 

Thanks for trying the installer out.

 

-Stell

[D-an-W]

Stell, my mods we spoke about worked and allowed the GPU to be recognised. I will reinstall after I watch the F1 qualifying finished I recorded earlier...

[stellarola]

Stell, my mods we spoke about worked and allowed the GPU to be recognised. I will reinstall after I watch the F1 qualifying finished I recorded earlier...

 

Glad it worked for you. Thanks for taking the initiative!

 

-Stell

[MacWannaBe]

For those that are curious, with the halloween installer, you can install silverlight and do netflix streaming.

 

I have done this without any issues.

[Rx4Mac]

I'm up and running; ran the Halloween installer against by boot HD - Success as far as I can tell ( Stell - how would we tell if this has been completely applied ? )

 

The resolution during startup was lower and the processor shows as a quad Xeon

 

I failed in trying to use a firewire 400 external DVD drive; a USB case version worked ok.

 

Network access seems fine with the TRENDnet card.

The 4-4-4-12 4x2GB RAM seems to work fine

Video Card shows as a 9800 GTK+ vs GTX ( typing glitch I am sure... )

 

I will try some other Firewire devices and some SATA devices later today or tomorrow

 

Is there a FW800 card that is known to work in the LifeHacker config ?

 

Again, Many thanks!

[stellarola]

I'm up and running; ran the Halloween installer against by boot HD - Success as far as I can tell ( Stell - how would we tell if this has been completely applied ? )

 

The resolution during startup was lower and the processor shows as a quad Xeon

 

I failed in trying to use a firewire 400 external DVD drive; a USB case version worked ok.

 

Network access seems fine with the TRENDnet card.

The 4-4-4-12 4x2GB RAM seems to work fine

Video Card shows as a 9800 GTK+ vs GTX ( typing glitch I am sure... )

 

I will try some other Firewire devices and some SATA devices later today or tomorrow

 

Is there a FW800 card that is known to work in the LifeHacker config ?

 

Again, Many thanks!

 

It appears it's been applied for you. The "typing error" you're referring to is how GraphicsEnabler works, not my doing. Check newegg.com for a pci-e firewire 800 card thats Mac compatible.

 

-Stell

[serich]

Hey Stellarola,

 

I tried your new Halloween installer and my idle temps are 10c lower than before. Whoo Hoo! How was that accomplished?

On another note, I'm trying to get three monitors running but I get an immediate KP at the boot screen when both my 9800 GTX+ and my 8800 GT are installed at the same time. Would you happen to know what would be causing that?

 

Thanks for all the work you are doing on our behalf!

 

Michael

 

P.S. My hardware specs are exactly the same as the lifehacker tutorial.

 

update: I'll try installing just the 8800 GT to see if it is the cause and not the presence of two video cards.

I know some will say that three monitors is just crazy but when you have to use Photoshop and Final Cut Pro as well as keep an eye on email three monitors come in handy.

 

update: Both cards work just fine when they are installed in either PCIe slot on their own. It is only when both are installed that the KP happens.

 

Hey myeomans & stell,

 

Working on a tri-head setup as well. (Do bio-stats, so the extra real estate is very beneficial). I'm running the "lifehacker" setup almost exactly, but trying to run dual 9800gtx+ cards (& had to switch to the onboard eth due to second graphics card taking up too much space, but have that running w/ bonjour).

 

Using the Halloween installer w/both cards I get the same KP on boot screen (assuming the new boot loader graphics detection can't handle 2 graphic cards). Card in either port works. Right now I switched back to the previous boot loader and the DSDT hard coded for the card, but only the primary works obviously.

 

I'd be fine staying with the DSDT solution if I could get that running dual cards. Stell, any thoughts on how to get dual cards setup, DSDT or some other way?

 

Thanks,

~serich

 

P.S. Halloween installer rocks, major thanks from the community!

[Idahomoon]

This worked great. It freaked me out that I had no sound, but then remembered I had to select the output on the sound preference pane.

 

Thanks!

 

I have the exact build from the article, no subs. Everything works perfectly. I switched to the Halloween install and lost sound. Did the select in the sound preference pane like before but no success with Halloween. I reloaded the saved "Extra" folder and have sound again, without Halloween of course. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks.