Jump to content

Triple monitors with ATI Radion 5000, 5xxx

Dradis

By Dradis,
in ATi

 Share
37 posts in this topic

Recommended Posts

Dradis
Dradis
Posted
Posted

I've read a lot of stuff lately about ATI 5000's on hackintosh, but I cant find any mention of triple monitors. This is the primary reason I want a 5000, so I would love to know if it will work. I'm leaning toward a 5750 or a 5770. Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
abezors
abezors
Posted
Posted

Surprised no one else has replied too..

 

Well the new Mac Pros have just been released with 5770 graphics, and you may already know the new iMacs use 5750. Apple advertises the triple monitor feature so I would expect full support soon if not already.

 

I've had a 5770 for a while, just waiting for the official driver release (haven't managed to get it working yet, gave up for now).

 

Depending what you want 3 screens for, I'd go for the 5770 since it has more memory (needed for high resolutions) - also it's only an extra £20 or £30 more than 5750 last time I checked.

 

Not a very helpful reply I know, but just hang in there I'm sure you'll find something useful. I expect the next OS update will sort the 5 series out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Dradis
Dradis
Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks, guess i i didnt make it to page 16. So, it looks like it SHOULD work, but i still dont see anyone who's done it to be sure. I guess i'll have to try it to find out. Maybe i'll be the first to report it.

 

I just found this XFX 5670. iMacs use 5670s so this one SHOULD work too right? I dont really need the high performance of the 57xx but i want eyefinity without any VGA ports. So far this is the lowest option i've found. Any thoughts?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...0-466-_-Product

Link to comment
Share on other sites
demonfox13x
demonfox13x
Posted
Posted

im running three monitors on my 5870, im guessing im one of the first ones to have this working because i havent seen many other posts about this either. The key is to have an ACTIVE display port adapter if you dont have a display port monitor. It will not, i repeat will not work with the two dvi and hdmi slot. im running latest drivers from the developer seed of the snow leopard graphics update and a modified ATY_init.kext. Its running silky smooth, i havent run any benchmarks on it but i played a 1080p video across three monitors and it was beautiful. i have a 30 inch cinema display and 2xDell 20" monitors. ill post my drivers and video if anyone is interested.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
zoob
zoob
Posted
Posted
im running three monitors on my 5870, im guessing im one of the first ones to have this working because i havent seen many other posts about this either. The key is to have an ACTIVE display port adapter if you dont have a display port monitor. It will not, i repeat will not work with the two dvi and hdmi slot. im running latest drivers from the developer seed of the snow leopard graphics update and a modified ATY_init.kext. Its running silky smooth, i havent run any benchmarks on it but i played a 1080p video across three monitors and it was beautiful. i have a 30 inch cinema display and 2xDell 20" monitors. ill post my drivers and video if anyone is interested.

 

Does your 30" ACD start flickering if you let it go into sleep? Once it woke back up with crazy noise (pixels dancing everywhere), and usually it just does a full screen of gray noise for a fraction of a second flicker.

 

I have a similar setup with all Dell LCDs and first I was blaming it on my video cards (tried various nVidia, and now on a 5870), but it seems like it happens only when using 2560x1600.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
demonfox13x
demonfox13x
Posted
Posted

Honestly i havent even tried sleep mode yet on my hackintosh, ive always had trouble with it on previous builds so i dont even bother with it anymore. Ill try testing it out tonight though. I havent had any flickering problems yet. Ive heard of some flickering and blackscreen issues when using a displayport adapter, it could be that it isnt getting enough power. Try plugging it into a powered hub. Just a stab in the dark.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
J Lamp
J Lamp
Posted
Posted
The key is to have an ACTIVE display port adapter if you dont have a display port monitor. It will not, i repeat will not work with the two dvi and hdmi slot.

 

Thanks for that info (i've been searching this for hours now.) My 5870 is working fine too, but I've been unable to get HDMI and 2xDVI working simultaneously (which is why I bought this thing.)

 

I'm using kexts I extracted from the Mac Mini update and the injector. Is there a difference with the developer release you have?

 

I'll try the active adapter and post back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
demonfox13x
demonfox13x
Posted
Posted

I think im getting a few more points in gl extensions viewer with the developer kexts but thats about it. You have to modify the ATY_init.kext in addition to the active display port adapter. The original kext that netkas includes doesnt have the 3rd monitor enabled.

 

Adding this after all the @1,name parts:

 

 

  1. <key>@2,compatible</key>
  2. <string>ATY,Uakari</string>
  3. <key>@2,connector-type</key>
  4. <string>0x00000004</string>
  5. <key>@2,device_type</key>
  6. <string>display</string>
  7. <key>@2,display-type</key>
  8. <string>0x454e4f4e</string>
  9. <key>@2,name</key>
  10. <string>ATY,Uakari</string>
     
    Uakari worked for me but the original poster on netkas' website stated that Vervet worked for him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
J Lamp
J Lamp
Posted
Posted

Thank you demonfox13x!

 

Worked perfectly using your mod to the injector and an active display port to dvi adapter.

 

The only issue I'm having with this is that if I now boot with the 3rd monitor (my plasma) turned off, my desktops get screwed up. My dock and menu get moved to my secondary monitor and my main monitor flickers on and off. I can fix the flickering if I turn on the plasma, sleep then wake the computer. Once it's stable I can turn the plasma off again (I'll keep looking into this.)

 

In any event I'm very pleased with how well this is working. I literally spent 4 hours the other night fighting BSODs on Win 7 making this work. Sadly, that's supposed to be the software that's supported. It's been much easier getting this working on my hackintosh.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Spanky Deluxe
Spanky Deluxe
Posted
Posted

Has anyone managed to get triple display working on a 5970?

 

I'm in the process of upgrading to a triple monitor setup and so I'm trying to get triple display working. Dual DVIs (one Dual link) works fine but if I use the mini display port with a dual link active adapter then I get lines on the screen and no desktop display.

 

I'm using Uakari and I've added:

 

<key>@2,compatible</key>
<string>ATY,Uakari</string>
<key>@2,connector-type</key>
<string>0x00000004</string>
<key>@2,device_type</key>
<string>display</string>
<key>@2,display-type</key>
<string>0x454e4f4e</string>
<key>@2,name</key>
<string>ATY,Uakari</string>

 

to ATY_init's info.plist but no joy. This seems to be an issue with the 5970 since I've seen that 5870 owners have managed to get triple displays working by just adding that string.

 

I've tried Uakari, Vervet and Langur now all to no avail. The only useful one is Uakari which lets me use both DVIs. Nothing seems to allow the mini display port to work. It's odd though since I thought the 0x00000400 connector type referred to displayport and 0x00000004 referred to DVI. The default ATY_Init settings are that @0 is 400 and @1 is 004 but that would make me think that the primary display connector is the displayport one so that one should work and one of the DVIs shouldn't but instead both DVIs work. I tried changing @0 to 004 and @2 to 400 to no avail, it didn't seem to change a thing.

 

So far the adapters I've tried are:

 

MDP to Dual Link DVI Active Adapter -> Dual Link Display

MDP to Dual Link DVI Active Adapter -> Single Link Display

MDP to Single Link DVI Passive Adapter -> Dual Link Display

 

All with either one other display or no other display connected (due to get the third one in the next few days). No matter what I do I can't seem to get the MDP port working. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LOLmoe
LOLmoe
Posted
Posted

Only reason 3 displays is possible is because of 2x dvi style connections and a display port connection.

 

the display port connection doesn't require a ramdac unlike dvi styles (HDMI, 2x DVI)

 

so you're limited to 2x dvi connections (meaning 2x dvi, or 1x dvi, 1x hdmi,) and a display port with an active (not passive) adapter for an eyefinity setup.

 

hope this clears.

 

ill pick up a 5770 if the drivers are stable enough, i only need 2 monitors at most anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Dradis
Dradis
Posted
  • Author
Posted

Wow. Thanks for the great info, everyone. Since I posted this topic I've learned a little more about eyefinity. demonfox, please verify this or correct me if I am wrong. Eyefinity does not show up as three separate monitors in your display settings. Instead it will show as one monitor with a combined resolution. For example, instead of showing three monitors with 800x600 resolution, it would be seen as one monitor with a 2400x600 resolution. This is great if you want to stretch a movie or game across all three, but i want my three monitors to be individually configurable. O well, its not for me but it might be for someone else. Keep the good info coming.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Spanky Deluxe
Spanky Deluxe
Posted
Posted
Wow. Thanks for the great info, everyone. Since I posted this topic I've learned a little more about eyefinity. demonfox, please verify this or correct me if I am wrong. Eyefinity does not show up as three separate monitors in your display settings. Instead it will show as one monitor with a combined resolution. For example, instead of showing three monitors with 800x600 resolution, it would be seen as one monitor with a 2400x600 resolution. This is great if you want to stretch a movie or game across all three, but i want my three monitors to be individually configurable. O well, its not for me but it might be for someone else. Keep the good info coming.

 

You don't have to use Eyefinity. You can just use them as three separate displays. Eyefinity doesn't work in OSX anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ndboost
ndboost
Posted
Posted

alright,

modified ATY Init for 57xxx series area and added what demon said. Still cant get 3rd monitor to work...

 

Running Vervet

 

have the following monitors

LP2475w - hooked up via displayport connection

2x lp2465 - hooked up via DVI connections

 

Any ideas?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Spanky Deluxe
Spanky Deluxe
Posted
Posted
alright,

modified ATY Init for 57xxx series area and added what demon said. Still cant get 3rd monitor to work...

 

Running Vervet

 

have the following monitors

LP2475w - hooked up via displayport connection

2x lp2465 - hooked up via DVI connections

 

Any ideas?

 

Which monitor doesn't work? Silly question but did you run kext utility after modifying ATY_Init so as to rebuild the kext cache in the Extra folder?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ndboost
ndboost
Posted
Posted
Which monitor doesn't work? Silly question but did you run kext utility after modifying ATY_Init so as to rebuild the kext cache in the Extra folder?

not a silly question at all, i didnt... kext utility? you mean kext helper what do i click to rebuild kext cache?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Spanky Deluxe
Spanky Deluxe
Posted
Posted
not a silly question at all, i didnt... kext utility? you mean kext helper what do i click to rebuild kext cache?

 

I use Kext Utility. I've put it in my Utilities folder in Applications and run it if I ever change anything kext-wise. In my case any changes I've made to ATY_Init result in a non bootable system unless I run Kext Utility beforehand. Kext Utility repairs permissions and updates the mkext cache files. You can do it from the terminal too but in my experience while trying to get triple display to work, the only thing that worked was running Kext Utility - manually doing it didn't work well).

 

The reason I mention this about the cache file is that it may be using your old ATY_Init file compressed into the cache file rather than your edited one. Easy thing to rule out (and easiest thing to fix too!).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...