My first Hackintosh is Amazing, but.... (Pro Tools)

[diggi]

Well, I just did my first Hackintosh using [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] and Snow Leopard - and updating to 10.6.4 using Software Update and [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url]. I am using a Gigabyte x58 UD3 board, 12gb of Crucial RAM, 3, 500gb HDD's (only the System drive plugged in at the moment), and PNY (nVidia Chipset) GeForce 9800 GT (1024mb)

 

Everything went perfect during installation! I was patient and read every thing twice before moving onto the next step. At this point, I am pretty happy, but one thing is puzzling: when I open up Dashboard, and add a Widget, I don't see that "ripple" effect that I think I am supposed to see. In addition, when using Pro Tools software, on some of the audio plugins, I can't see the graphic for which ever utility I am using, so - when i load a plug in to a track, all I see is a blank window in the shape of the plugin window I would otherwise normally see.

 

I think the fact that I can't see that "ripple" effect in Dashboard, and the plugin issue in Pro Tools is related.

 

Is there something "obvious" I need to do to fix these two things?

 

 

My sincere thanks for any replies.

 

 

Cheers,

 

~ Diggi

[diggi]

I have to apologize, as I didn't mention what I've tried to solve this:

 

 

So far:

 

- Installed SL using [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] and my SL DVD (then using [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url], installed the 10.6.4 update) - My Graphics card was recognized in System Profiler and I have complete functionality when it comes to resolution, etc) I am currently running it at my monitor's preferred setting: 1600x1050x60hz)

 

When I realized that I could NOT open Front Row, or see ripples when adding Widgets to Dashboard, I tried the following:

 

 

- Downloaded and installed: EFI Studio: loading the GeForce 9800 GT (1024) and written to com.Apple.Boot.plist (this did not work)

Downloaded and installed: PCI EFI

Downloaded and Installed: OSX TOOLS, repaired permissions, emptied caches, etc

Downloaded and Installed: [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url], and used it in conjunction with my [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] install as recommended

Downloaded and Installed: Kext Utility, but could not find any related Kexts to enable QE CI for my graphics card/ system.

 

I've tried several other methods to get this working, but to no avail.

 

 

 

 

Help, please $$$??

[diggi]

Try this

http://www.kexts.com/view/457-nvenabler_by_krazubu.html

 

edit :(Haven't tried this one used the other enabler at this site, but it SHOULD work)

 

 

THANK YOU.

 

Do I just copy this to my S/L/E folder? Or in boot/extra/extensions ?

[diggi]

Weird, when I try to drop it on the Kext Utility, I get an error message saying it doesn't recognize it as a kext.

The Kext I'm familiar with are like this white little square-ish thing - but this is just a small dark grey rectangle. Looks like a Windows file?

 

 

 

 

 

OK, I found a regular looking (that white square-ish thing) and added it to Boot/ Extra/ Extensions, and I dropped it onto the Kext Utility.

 

No Joy......... :-(

 

 

Oh Jedi Master, what can i try next, please?

 

 

Joel

 

 

 

I tried the 32bit version as well, still no joy.

 

 

I tried VGA and DVI -

[diggi]

You drop your B/E/E folder onto kext utility and it will make Extensions.mkext in B/E.

 

 

B/E/E = boot drive/extra/extensions, right?

[diggi]

Yes

Maybe good idea to post your specs and what bootloader you use too.

 

 

This is my first OSX system (besides the MBP I have). In terms of specs, what should I post?

I hate to say it, but I don't know for sure which bootloader I am using - and I am not exactly sure what it is :-(

 

I know that I tried to install the latest Chameleon Boot Loader, but.... if I remove the [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] disk from the CD drive, and assign my Boot drive as the first boot device, I just get a 1/2 second's worth of the Apple Start up logo, (it literally blinks, and then restarts) and won't boot to the HDD. When I installed OSX, I also used that in conjunction with [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] (as directed) after I downloaded and installed the 10.6.4 update.

 

I can live with having the [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] disk in the CD drive in order to boot up, but the graphics issue gives other problems for me. I need it to work properly because the music software I am using allows me to use Reverb and Delay "plugins", and when i launch any of those, the graphical window for them is "blank".

 

I am serious when i say I am willing to pay money to solve this issue. I am very much a noob, and my time is unfortunately limited so I can't hunt and peck, or experiment with what "I" think my be the problem.

 

I can tell you that whomever helps me get this performing fully will be rewarded - not a joke.

 

So, I hope you stick around to assist me, please?

[diggi]

What motherboard/cpu are you using and we'll take it from there

NOT interested in financial reward, just want to help

 

 

i7 CPU (Quad Core 2.7)

Mobo:: Gigabyte X58 UD3

[Gringo Vermelho]

NVenabler doesn't work from /E/E, it must be in /System/Library/Extensions.

 

It's not necessary to use kext utility when working with kernel extensions on /E/E, Chameleon is responsible for loading those and it doesn't care what permissions they have. Including the mkext.

[diggi]

NVenabler doesn't work from /E/E, it must be in /System/Library/Extensions.

 

It's not necessary to use kext utility when working with kernel extensions on /E/E, Chameleon is responsible for loading those and it doesn't care what permissions they have. Including the mkext.

 

 

Thank you very much. I will try this.

 

Just so I understand, all I have to do is copy and paste the NVenabler in S/L/E - nothing more?

 

 

Is it important that I remove it from /E/E as well?

 

 

Thank you so much. Please stay with me on this as I am brand new to it, and I would like to take what I learn from you and help others as well.

 

 

~ Joel

[Gringo Vermelho]

Just so I understand, all I have to do is copy and paste the NVenabler in S/L/E - nothing more?

I can't guarantee that NVEnabler will work for you, but that's where it's supposed to be.

Please stay with me on this as I am brand new to it

That's no excuse but I will hold your hand this once. Please try searching, how to properly install kernel extensions has been covered a million trillion times over since cavemen were running OS X Tiger on PCs.

 

You can't just copy kernel extensions to S/L/E, the OS will not load them unless ownership and permissions are set correctly. This is what 'Kext Utility' is supposed to do for you, but unfortunately it doesn't set the correct permissions when it installs kernel extensions (repair permissions with Disk Utility after using Kext Utility to see what I mean). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_permissions

 

Kext Utility is good for quickly creating an mkext (an extension cache) of your /Extra/Extensions folder, but it has a permissions quirk there as well where after using it you'll have to type your password every time you want to change something in the /Extra folder hierachy. Including editing a Chameleon theme. That's really annoying and unnecessary, since Chameleon doesn't give a damn about permissions on anything in /Extra.

 

Therefore, in the long run it's better if you learn how to use Terminal and do this manually.

 

After copying NVEnabler to /S/L/E you can set ownership and permissions manually this way; open Terminal.app and type:

sudo -s (and type your password at the prompt)
chown -R root:wheel /System/Library/Extensions
chmod -R go=u-w /System/Library/Extensions
touch /System/Library/Extensions/

Delete the NVEnabler you placed in /Extra/Extensions.

 

Reboot, NVEnabler should work if the device ID of your video card is present in the proper NVDANVxxHal kernel extension.

 

Look up the NVEnabler release thread at the Project OSX forums to learn how to customize and configure NVEnabler, and look up 'Guide for all Nvidia boards' at the same forum to learn how to edit the Nvidia driver kernel extensions to get the drivers to load.

[diggi]

I can't guarantee that NVEnabler will work for you, but that's where it's supposed to be.

 

That's no excuse but I will hold your hand this once. Please try searching, how to properly install kernel extensions has been covered a million trillion times over since cavemen were running OS X Tiger on PCs.

 

You can't just copy kernel extensions to S/L/E, the OS will not load them unless ownership and permissions are set correctly. This is what 'Kext Utility' is supposed to do for you, but unfortunately it doesn't set the correct permissions when it installs kernel extensions (repair permissions with Disk Utility after using Kext Utility to see what I mean). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_permissions

 

Kext Utility is good for quickly creating an mkext (an extension cache) of your /Extra/Extensions folder, but it has a permissions quirk there as well where after using it you'll have to type your password every time you want to change something in the /Extra folder hierachy. Including editing a Chameleon theme. That's really annoying and unnecessary, since Chameleon doesn't give a damn about permissions on anything in /Extra.

 

Therefore, in the long run it's better if you learn how to use Terminal and do this manually.

 

After copying NVEnabler to /S/L/E you can set ownership and permissions manually this way; open Terminal.app and type:

sudo -s (and type your password at the prompt)
chown -R root:wheel /System/Library/Extensions
chmod -R go=u-w /System/Library/Extensions
touch /System/Library/Extensions/

Delete the NVEnabler you placed in /Extra/Extensions.

 

Reboot, NVEnabler should work if the device ID of your video card is present in the proper NVDANVxxHal kernel extension.

 

Look up the NVEnabler release thread at the Project OSX forums to learn how to customize and configure NVEnabler, and look up 'Guide for all Nvidia boards' at the same forum to learn how to edit the Nvidia driver kernel extensions to get the drivers to load.

 

 

 

That's the thing, Google has not been my friend. Rather, it has lead me on a wild goose chase with MANY differing options from "how to install SL", to how to and what to use to repair permission, to which tool set to use, to which version of Chameleon is the most current one. I've spent a week reading everything I can, in hopes of finding common denominators between the different ways to Install, Implement and Post tweak all things OSX. Believe me, finding such things in common among the various sites and hackers has NOT been easy, and not very fruitful, except for your reply to me, and a couple other folks gracious replies.

 

So, since I don't want to waste this opportunity to get it "right", I am going to wipe the drive, reformat and start over. I am absolutely certain that between the myHack, Chameleon 1, 2,3, 5 and 9000, and [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] installs, I have added more in some places that necessary and less in places where I should have.

 

I am going to reinstall SL with the help of [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url], then install Chameleon RC5, and stop there.

 

Then, go about using the information you supplied above, and hopefully with a little bit more of your guidance, I'll have a clean running OSX with full graphics functionality.

 

Is this a good idea, or should I go about starting over with another route?

 

 

Thank you again for your time, knowledge and willingness to help me. I promise it will not be wasted.

 

 

~ Joel

[diggi]

~ So here's what I've done in the mean time:

 

- Erased the Boot Drive (Zeros written to the drive)

- Installed SL using [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url]

- Installed Chameleon RC5

- Repaired Permissions using Disk Utility

 

I made the HDD first in the Boot Priority in the Bios. When I do so, it gives my just the choice of selecting my new Boot Drive: (I'm calling it "Mac 1")

If I press enter to select that drive (since it is the only thing listed there), I get the nice shiny "Apple" logo - then it greys over and tells me I need to restart my computer by holding down the Power button, then restart pressing the Power button again.

 

I've tried this twice, and each time it has "reset" the Bios.

 

 

I'm going to hold off doing anything else until I hear back from you sir.

 

Thank you again for helping me.

 

 

~ Joel

[diggi]

YAY! UPDATE!

 

 

Alright, I wiped it again and reinstalled using the myHack method. After doing so, I used EFIStudio and now have FULL QE CI and my graphics look fantastic.

 

Now I am missing my FireWire capabilities and I cannot boot from my HDD (yet)

 

Thoughts on how I can fix these couple of things?

 

I'm ALMOST there!

 

 

 

~ Joel

[Gringo Vermelho]

Okay. NVEnabler.kext never worked for me in /E/E.

 

I don't understand what you're saying. You can make an mkext containing the extensions in /E/E manually using Terminal and if it's going in /Extra, it doesn't matter what permissions or owner it has. You don't need Kext Utility for anything.

 

Diggi:

 

Install Chameleon to your HDD.

 

I don't know what you can do about the firewire, my firewire works out of the box, I never had to do anything.

[diggi]

Okay. NVEnabler.kext never worked for me in /E/E.

 

I don't understand what you're saying. You can make an mkext containing the extensions in /E/E manually using Terminal and if it's going in /Extra, it doesn't matter what permissions or owner it has. You don't need Kext Utility for anything.

 

Diggi:

 

Install Chameleon to your HDD.

 

I don't know what you can do about the firewire, my firewire works out of the box, I never had to do anything.

 

 

Gringo Vermelho:

 

I installed RC5 to my HDD. I then assigned that HDD as "first" my boot priority. On reboot, everything seemed to be going "OK", but after I got the fancy Apple logo, and while the circle thing was spinning (getting ready to boot), I got a dark grey screen saying I needed to "Hold down the Power Button" to turn the computer off, and press it again to start the computer. I tried this a couple of times, each time it did the same thing.

 

What should I do next to get it to boot from my HDD?

 

Thank you again my friends. Your help is what will get me all fixed up :-)

[Gringo Vermelho]

Post the contents of your [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] CD.

 

If there's a ram disk image on it, post the contents of that as well.

[geiman]

Yeah, sounds like your [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] cd has something that isn't on your boot drive for Chameleon to load. Also try booting with the "-v" option (no quotes) to get verbose output when it boots and post what error message is given when it crashes along with what Gringo Vermelho asked you to post.

 

Also, after this last reinstall did you update to 10.6.4? If not that may be where your KP is coming from. I think I've read of others having this problem, someone correct me if I'm wrong. The [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] cd may be running a patched kernel which is why it boots fine.

 

[url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] is nice and all, but you need to figure out what hardware you have, and what extensions/DSDT fixes/etc.. you need for on your boot drive.

[A Little Electric Person]

I used the cake walk installer and an 8Gb pengrive to install a v.similar system. (bought an X58A UD3 so I could make a second PTHD system using a cheap PCI core card).

I have the same graphics card and run 2 monitors and have had this problem with only one plugin which is my wrapped VSTs for my liquidmix. window opens but is white where the controls are supposed to be. I can however see the PT parts of the window ie I can change channel and plugin.

Can you see anything in ur plugins window. Also what version of PT software are you running because I had a lot of problems before I upgraded to the latest 8.