thestevo 775Dual-VSTA v2.1 patch

[thestevo]

Ladies and Gentlegeeks,

 

After slight delays, I am happy to announce that my second PPF for the installation of OS X on the ASRock 775Dual-VSTA is now available at the usual place.

 

This patch fixes:

 

SATA: SATA drives are now seen by the installer and supported by the final installation.

Network: The VIA Rhine network adapter is supported and functional.

Audio: Skippyretard's ALC 888 kext provides full input and output support.

 

This PPF will only patch Uphuck's v1.3 installation disc correctly! You know where to find that. The PPF can be applied using PPF-o-matic. This GUI (as in not command line) application is a small download (a matter of a few hundred kilobytes) and can be found in the first result page of Google. It is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. I did not include them with this torrent, but they are included with my last torrent and JaS' PPF1. So, you can obtain the necessarily application by downloading from a hosted site or downloading only the application out of my last torrent or JaS PPF1.

 

Now, why would you want to use this?

 

1. You currently don't have any install discs. The install disc that this patch creates constitutes the most advanced support for the ASRock 775Dual-VSTA and accompanying peripherals that the community has to date. Most likely, your installation will be easier, more intuitive, and faster than that of Windows XP or Vista. The end result will be an installation that will be a very near-Mac experience. Most of the applications that you could want, as well as community patches, are included so as to reduce the amount of searching around for needed tools.

 

2. You have a pre-10.4.8 install/install disc. Most likely you are missing out on the full OS X experience on this motherboard. Pre-10.4.8 installations use the 8.4.1 kernel and because of that the functionality of the new kexts and applications are limited. One of the prime examples would be nVidia graphics cards. To my knowledge, it is not possible to get QE/CI on these cards without the new kernel and appropriate kexts (Natit). Also, though I may be wrong, I believe that AppleHDA.kext support for ALC888 is not available without at least the 8.8.1 kernel. Performance has been improved in this newer version as well as stability. The 10.4.9 kernels included in this release have been well tested and offer full support for SSE2 and SSE3 as well as CPU features like speedstep and HPET. Older hack kernels did not have truly full SSE3 emulation and therefore had some issues with stability and application support.

 

3. You have a 10.4.8 install/install disc. Though the least urgent of the three scenarios, I very much appreciate working install discs for a couple of reasons. The main one is that they provide the ability to reinstall without as many headaches. Right behind that is that upgrades and I don't have a good track record. I don't know why, but I have kernel panics after upgrades and all sorts of fun, hair pulling problems. However, I can always seem to get an installation disc to work. I'm sure that those more knowledgable can make upgrades work on my hardware everytime, but if you're like me you'd rather wipe it clean and have it work. Plus, you can upgrade using a disc too and not destroy your existing data. 10.4.9 offers broader application support and some new nVidia drivers. I also noticed a bump in speed and seemingly greater stability.

 

Any way you slice it, Uphuck's install DVD is just great. JaS stamped reliability on installation discs, and Uphuck has picked up the torch and is exploring new areas of functionality. With integration of office suites, multimedia, network and system tools, and the majority of patches, drivers, and hardware support that the community has to offer, these installation discs truly are a peace of mind in themselves. So, support your local installation DVD maker. I haven't done nearly as much as Uphuck has to the install DVD but I know that it takes a significant amount of work to produce and test these discs.

 

Interesting info:

*Part of the 10.4.9 update is an updated AppleHDA.kext. Whenever I tried to install the ALC888 AppleHDA.kext as a part of a package it was always replaced at the end by this new one from Apple. So, edited the postflight to copy the ALC888 AppleHDA.kext back at the end of the whole installation. (Thank you to JaS for the idea.) This was the only solution I've found so far that works. I did not see any other AppleHDA.kext packages that Uphuck has on their to mimic how to get around this problem. So, if you use this disc to install on some other hardware you'll have the ALC888 AppleHDA.kext installed at the end. However, it really doesn't matter because as I said there wasn't any other AppleHDA.kext options and the one from Apple won't work for you either.

 

*I see that Uphuck's v1.4i v2 is out and it contains support for VIA SATA 8237 and a package for installing VIA Rhine support. So, theoretically you could use that successfully on this motherboard also. However, I did not see any listing for ALC888 support, so you wouldn't have audio. I haven't downloaded this DVD, I don't know what it is or isn't capable of. But just so you know that it may be another option.

 

Special Thank You: JaS, Uphuck

 

Please report successful installations so I can diagnose problems easier!

[richtig]

Would the ALC888 driver also work for ALC655? (See sig.)

I'm guessing not...

[thestevo]

The ALC888 driver will not work for ALC655. Being that it is a completely different chipset, its not really designed to be that versatile.

 

Sorry,

Stevo

[vavwl]

Awsome work, thank you for this. I have the uphuck 10.4.9 Intel x86 install dvd v1.4i r2 iso, but it doesn't show my SATA drive in the installer. So im going to have to download 1.3 and try you ppf.

 

Thanks again

[thestevo]

Thanks for the information that v1.4i r2 doesn't work on 8237 chipsets. I mentioned it as a possibility because it says on D that it is an addition to this revision.

 

- added support for all ICH8, ATI SB4xx, VIA VT8233/35/37/51

 

Thanks for the feedback, keep me posted!

 

Stevo

[Cyberdog !]

Hello.

 

I've a problem with my Asrock 4CoreDual-VSTA

- Northbridge: VIA® PT880 Ultra

- Southbridge: VIA® VT8237A

 

No sound.

- Audio ALC888 Audio Codec

 

How to use this patch with my JAS 10.4.9 ? without install again Uphuck

 

Thank's

[thestevo]

Admittedly, the 4CoreDual-VSTA is similar in most every aspect to the 775Dual-VSTA but I can not gaurantee that it will work for sound for that motherboard. For the ALC888 chipset, Skippyretard has four different options for kext configurations in his package installer. To my knowledge none of these are compatible with configurations other than the one that they are designed for. Therefore, if the 4CoreDual-VSTA should require a differently configured kext, this patch has virtually no chance of working for that machine.

 

Since I still have not heard anybody say that it has worked correctly for them, I can't rule out that there is a problem with audio after the installation. However, 24 hours after the issuing of the patch I would like to think I would have heard if that were so.

 

Have you achieved working audio before? If so, what did you have to do to achieve it. It is possible that I could tell you how to edit the installer so as to have working audio for that motherboard if you find an appropriately configured AppleHDA.kext

 

Anybody: please tell me if its working so I know whether I need to correct something or not!

 

Stevo

[olmirror]

I've been trying like a madman to install uphuck 10.4.9 1.3 on my 4coredual vsta, but no luck so far. It get's stuck just before it should load up the desktop. Jas 10.4.8 runs great, with the Jas 10.4.9 update, including your previous set of patches. Only thing is it's still running on the 8.8.1 kernel, that's why I would like to upgrade. Any quick suggestions as to which kernel I should choose from the setup disk, and what patches I should and shouldn't tick. In other words, what did you do to get your machine to run on 1.3?

 

Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[thestevo]

I'm gonna need more information about what hardware you're running, not just the motherboard. Things like CPU, graphics card, and even monitor configuration can play a role.

 

As far as I know, this patch should allow you to install OS X to an SATA drive on that motherboard also as well as correctly taking care of the network. Audio will be the only thing you have to worry about. You'll need to download skippyretard's ALC888 package and try the 6 output with digital.

 

If you aren't using an SATA drive you should be able to use Uphuck without any modifications. However, it offers no fixes to the big three problems after installation.

 

Stevo

[olmirror]

My setup is 4coredualvsta - CD2 6300 - 7600GS AGP - 4 IDE devices, two sata drives and two firewire cards. I'm installing OSX on an IDE hard drive. Had absolutely no problem with 10.4.8. Dual monitor using natit 1, UDMA after tweaking my via kext and everything sweet and smooth. The furthest I got with uphuck is close to the desktop, after removing the apple cpu power managment kext, thermal kext and disabling several other kexts I can't recall right now.

 

I guess it boils down to which kernel, what AGP gart and which kexts/patches to tick or untick. I tried 8 different combos with no luck. The 4coredual is the same as the 775dual, so if your's is running, mine shouldn't be that far off. You say: no modifications - what do you mean with that? - I shouldn't use any of the patches on the DVD?

 

By the way, I still can't get over how smooth, fast and stable OSX is, beats the pants off of anything windows has to offer. I'm using it more and more as my primary OS. Keep up the great work, you're making a lot of people very happy campers.

[thestevo]

Here is what I'd select on a Uphuck v1.3 patched with my PPF

 

SSE3 Kernel 2

10.4.4 Login Window

Remove AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement

Natit (the one that you know works for you)

AGPgart

Intel Speedstep

775Dual-VSTA support package

 

Now, when you say 'close to the desktop' I need a better description than that. It doesn't tell me what exactly is happening, what you see when you determine something is wrong. Here is a possiblity that is just off the top of my head. Say, you see like a blue or dark but not off screen on the monitor after a perfect installation. This would happen right about the time when the welcome video is supposed to play. You'll need to play with your monitor configuration. This happens for me every time I reinstall, because Natit doesn't always recognize my monitor resolutions correctly. If you try only one monitor to get it up and running then configure the other monitor it will work. Otherwise, for me, it makes the monitor it correctly can configure the second monitor and I don't see anything. So, that could be way off, but I still need to know what 'close to the desktop' means.

 

Stevo

[olmirror]

I'm installing it in -v mode so it goes untill the last lines before it should load up the desktop. I'll specify after I try installing it one more time.

 

Which one of the agpgart'd did you use?

 

One last thing, is there a big difference between the 8.8.1 kernel and the 8.9.1?

 

thanx

[thestevo]

I didn't use AGPgart. I'm using a PCIe card, so you'll have to experiment for yourself on that one. Sorry. Once upon a time I used an AGP card, but that was back in the beginning before I knew about AGPgart. I think I remember it working fine without anything, but I'm not sure about it.

 

There isn't a huge difference between the two, I would say. But I'm not nearly an expert on this subject. I think that the biggest issue is stability. New features in kexts sometimes correspond with new features in the kernel. I think that there has been a little bit more work on 64bit and HPET in the 8.9.1 as well as general improvements.

[olmirror]

It turns out that it was the graphic card drivers that kept my install from booting all the way up. Tried Natit 1,2 and Titan. None seem to work, which is rather odd seeing that the jas 10.4.8 installs my card with no problem what so ever. Is there a way I can tranfer my graphic card kexts from the 10.4.8 install to the new install or do you have any other suggestions? Could it be the AGP that's making things difficult for me?

 

Thanx again.

[thestevo]

Well, I'm not the expert on the graphics related stuff, but I would first try stuff without AGPgart. As I said, I think I remember it working fine for me without. Then, I know that some people have to downgrade the drivers for things to work properly with 10.4.9 This involves downgrading the actual drivers and not the kext files. If it is possible (if you saved it or have the time) I would grab the natit file that is working for you on 10.4.8. That way we would know where the problem is coming from.

 

So, I would first mess with AGPgart and see if that fixes it for you. If not, then you might want to talk to either Diabolik or Bofors because they know more about the inner workings of the graphics drivers than I do. The kexts are one thing, but those darn graphics drivers are just a little more than I have time to explore these days.

 

Let me know how it turns out!

 

Stevo

[olmirror]

Got it working, since I'm installing OSX on two spare drives I can just drag and drop files between them. WHich is what I did, dragged Titan, Natit and all NV related kexts from one installation 10.4.8 (Jas) to the other and voila, Titan and Natit working simultaneously.

 

Did you by any chance get the 8.10.1 kernel working on your machine. Mine updates fine to 10.4.10, jut the kernel gives me no go: straight up restart, not even a single letter popping up

[thestevo]

Good, I'm glad that you got it working. One thing that I would consider is to try to replace some of the 10.4.9 NV kexts if you have the patience left. That way you'll get some of the graphics improvements that the update offers, or find which kext is the offender.

 

I haven't tried the new kernel yet. Mainly because I don't want to update to 10.4.10 right now. I think that there will be more improvements that will benefit everybody if we just wait a little. Sounds like your problem is kernel related, obviously, so I'm gonna hold off a little.

 

So, is this the first report of my patch working? I need a little feedback in case I have to change anything. Has anybody else got it to work other than myself and olmirror?

 

Stevo

[Lorak]

I proud to say that i just instaled the Uphuck v1.3 patched with your 775Dual-VSTA v2.1

After several tryes (about 5-6 instalations) i read your topic and selected exactly the same options that you mentioned:

SSE3 Kernel 2
10.4.4 Login Window
Remove AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement
Natit (the one that you know works for you)
AGPgart
Intel Speedstep
775Dual-VSTA support package

 

My hardware is:

Motherboard - AsRock 775Dual-VSTA

Procesor - Inter Core 2 Duo E6300 1.79GHz

Video Card - ATI Radeon x1300 Pro PCIe

HDD - Maxtor 6H500F0 500GB SATA

2GB DDR II - kingmax

Network and Audio - Onboard

 

Thank You Very Much thestevo for this patch...

[thestevo]

Thanks for the feedback. Good to know I can rest easy.

 

I would like to venture a theory that something about our motherboards makes kernel selection very picky. I had a bear of a time figuring out exactly what I had to use. I thought Universal was supposed to include all the features of SSE3 Kernel 2. idk

 

Stevo

[olmirror]

No luck on the new NV drivers, tried all sorts of configurations, never been able to start up. But who am I to complain, all is working, dual monitors and 3D. If anyone out there has a suggestion on how to get these new NVidia drivers working with an AGP 7600GS, I'm all ears.

 

Just one more thing, how did you get your UDMA working on your rig? My Xbench scores are still low, running around 21 to 23MB's a second. ANd whenever I burn a DVD the burner starts off burning at 8x speed but drops lower and lower to 1x speed. Any chance on getting a hold on your kexts or some advice? I once found a device code I placed in VIAATA kext and deleted the PII...kext out of the IOATAfamily.kext. Maybe I'm missing something here.

 

Appreciate it.

[thestevo]

Sorry to hear about your continued troubles with your card. I'm sure the genious likes of Diabolik or Bofors could clean that up pretty quickly. You might want to send them a message to see if they have any input.

 

I'm not sure about the UDMA. Mine works with the kext that is included as a part of the package. There must be some minor differences between the 4core and the 775Dual. Obviously it is similar enough to boot off SATA, but something more is required for the UDMA. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful, as I don't have that board. My only advice would be to steal back the kexts from your working system. You might need the 10.4.8 ATA kext as well. Some subtle difference is all that I can think of, because you have the exact kext that is working fine for Lorak and I.

 

Stevo

[olmirror]

Got it working, decided to install your patch one more time, replaced my modified VIASATA kext & IOATAfamily.kext and it's now at around 40mb's. This time I didn't replace my old ALCinject.kext and I guess that fixed it. Way to go.

 

Now to the NVidia.

 

One last thing: is 56-59 degrees celcius a normal temp for C2D in OS x?

[thestevo]

I'm glad you got it working. As for the temperature, thats a little high but not a whole lot. I run 51-56 on mine, and 48-56 on a friends that I just set up. I read somewhere that for a Core 2 Duo OS X reads a different sensor than Windows does within the CPU. Something about one being between the cores and the other being above it. I'm not sure, I tried to find the article again and couldn't. Not completely sure, but your not terribly far off base.

 

Stevo

[daherb]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Steve!!!

 

You made my day und with your patch, my 775Dual-Vsta now works out of the box. The main thing for me, was the SATA support in the installation. Before that, on IDE-installations, the xbench results are ca. 60 - 70. I think there were problems with UDMA.

Now on SATA-HDD the system works great und xbench shows 122

Sound, lan, sata, usb, dualcore - all works - and great performance!

 

thank u so much

[madjvi]

i need 1 invitation for de big green to down the patch please ...

sorry for my english from spain ..