Guys, I managed to get 9800GX2 work with all resolutions and QE/CI enabled!

To start off, my system specs are as follows:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 o/c@3.5GHz - Aircooled
OS: Leopard 10.5.2 (Leo4All)
M/B: XFX Nvidia Nforce 790i SLI Ultra
Mem: Patriot DDR3 PC 10666 @1333MHz
GPU: XFX GeForce 9800GX2 (QE/CI Enabled with All resolutions)
Sound: Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Platinum (Not working with 10.5.2 )
HDD: 2x500GB SATA WD Caviar & 1x750GB SATA WD Caviar

Ok now for the best part of making 9800GX2 work with your Leopard:

1. Uninstall / Delete NVinject.kext
2. Install GeForce.kext, NVDAResman.kext and NVDANV50Hal.kext from here (extracts from latest kexts for 10.5.3).
3. Go to System Profiler and note down the 4-digit Device ID for your 9800GX2 (4 digits after 0x.)
4. Now go to DiaboliK's Helpful Files and install NVKush.

DO NOT RESTART YET

5. Now using some help from DiaboliK's plist generator, we will create Info.plist for the three kexts installed in step 2 using the Device ID for your 9800GX2 noted in step 3.

• On DiaboliK's Plist Generator page, click "NVIDIA". Once you click it, it will expand to show Info.plist generator for GeForce.kext, NVDAResman.kext and NVDANV50Hal.kext.

• Modifying Info.plist for GeForce.kext
  • Let's start with creating the Info.plist for GeForce.kext. enter the 4-digit Device ID noted in Step 3 in the FIRST box saying 10.5.2 GeForce.kext Info.plist. and press Create Info.plist.
  • Now you should see the Info.plist text with an option to copy it to clipboard. Press the button "Copy to Clipboard".
  • Now go to /System/Library/Extensions, select GeForce.kext and go to its contents. Now in the Contents folder of GeForce.kext, move Info.plist (don't use copy command otherwise you will lose the plist text you copied earlier!) to desktop. Now open Info.plist you moved to the Desktop with TextEdit and replace all the text in the file with the plist data you copied to the clipboard from DiaboliK's plist generator website. Save Info.plist and move back to the Contents folder of GeForce.kext.

• Modifying Info.plist for NVDAResman.kext
  • Now we will create the Info.plist for NVDAResman.kext. enter the 4-digit Device ID noted in Step 3 in the SECOND box saying 10.5.2 NVDANV50Hal.kext Info.plist and press Create Info.plist.
  • Now you should see the Info.plist text with an option to copy it to clipboard. Press the button "Copy to Clipboard".
  • Now go to /System/Library/Extensions, select NVDAResman.kext and go to its contents. Now in the Contents folder of NVDAResman.kext, move Info.plist (don't use copy command otherwise you will lose the plist text you copied earlier!) to desktop. Now open Info.plist you moved to the Desktop with TextEdit and replace all the text in the file with the plist data you copied to the clipboard from DiaboliK's plist generator website. Save Info.plist and move back to the Contents folder of NVDAResman.kext.

• Modifying Info.plist for NVDANV50Hal.kext
  • Let's start with creating the Info.plist for NVDANV50Hal.kext. enter the 4-digit Device ID noted in Step 3 in the THIRD box saying 10.5.2 NVDAResman.kext Info.plist and press Create Info.plist.
  • Now you should see the Info.plist text with an option to copy it to clipboard. Press the button "Copy to Clipboard".
  • Now go to /System/Library/Extensions, select NVDANV50Hal.kext and go to its contents. Now in the Contents folder of NVDANV50Hal.kext, move Info.plist (don't use copy command otherwise you will lose the plist text you copied earlier!) to desktop. Now open Info.plist you moved to the Desktop with TextEdit and replace all the text in the file with the plist data you copied to the clipboard from DiaboliK's plist generator website. Save Info.plist and move back to the Contents folder of NVDANV50Hal.kext.

6. Last step, we will change the com.apple.Boot.plist. Go to /Library/Preferences/System Configuration/ and COPY com.apple.Boot.plist to Desktop and open it using TextEdit. Now replace teh contents of the file with the following (change the flags as you desire but the ones I am using were stable for my system):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Kernel</key>
<string>mach_kernel</string>
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>-f cpus=1</string>
<key>Timeout</key>
<string>5</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Save com.apple.Boot.plist and move it back to /Library/Preferences/System Configuration/.

Now go to Disk Utility and select your Leopard volume and repair permissions.

Now reboot and hopefully, like me, your 9800GX2 will be up and running with all the resolutions and QE/CI enabled!!!

Good luck!

Thanks for the tutorial! I will report back on my success.

Your download link only links to a geforce kext.

Also, all 9800gx2's have the device id of 0604. You could just upload your kexts with them modified.

The download link has a zip file with all three kexts and NVKush.

Point noted. Download 9800gx2 tweaked kexts from following links:

Tweaked NVKush for 9800Gx2 (512MB each core)

GeForce.kext

NVDAResman.kext

NVDANV50Hal.kext

For all others, if you install the kexts from the above links, please ignore Step 2 to 5 in Post 1 above.

Did you edit the NVKush plist for 512mb ram?

I did edit it but am not able to get 512MB on my system profiler. Correct me if I am wrong, I made the following change to Info.plist for NVKush.kext:

<key>IOPCIMatch</key>
<string>0x060410de</string>

Is my setting correct?

This needs to be added to your plist in the right place:

<key>VRAM,totalsize</key>
<data>AAAAIA==</data>

On Diaboliks's site you chose to generate a plist for nvkust and select 512mb ram.
I can't get it to work, trying various things. I have a EVGA 9800gx2. The only thing that i can think that's different with your set up that would make a difference is the rom on the card.

Maybe you could dump the rom from the GX2 for us.

All done. Edited Post 3 above to include modified NVKush.kext.

Working great now!

If you can tell me how I can get the rom from my GX2 I will gladly dump it here for you guys.

Bubs / Aqua

My 9800GX2 ROM dumps as requested:

XFX 9800 GX2 1

XFX 9800GX2 2

Good luck!

Thanks a lot my friend! Will try as soon as i can get these off rapidshare, the cat image verification drives me nuts.

Having a look at the rom file before i flash it. It seems to be a revision above the one i have on my card. Hopefully this will do it for me


Edit: No luck Same problems still exist. I'm running a EVGA card on a DFI-P35-T2R motherboard.

I think the problem is with your Intel motherboard. Before my 9800gx2 worked for me on leopard, I was really cursing my 790i but now its a completely different story.

BTW, try changing the flags to -f cpus=1 maxmem=2048 (that is if you use more than 2GB on your system) and see if it works for you

Thanks for the suggestion. Tried it, didn't help. Those flags are only necessary for nvidia chipset users.

hm this is wierd lol nvidia works?! i feel bad now for giving my 680i SLI away =(

You could still give it a try.

SUCCESS!!!! I can see 512MB on each of my 9800GX2 cores!!! The best part, Leopard recognizes my cards as GeForce 9800 GX2 and its QE/CI enabled!!!

So in short, my 9800 GX2 has no shortfalls on Leopard now.


The problem as I mentioned earlier was due to the usage of older kexts. I have uploaded the kexts working on my system (CAUTION! only compatible with 9800GX2) here.

Edit: Do not forget to fix permissions!

Note: These kexts may not work with non-Nvidia motherboards.

thanks Azamic! i try with one card...

A bit off topic here, but did you get LAN to work on your 790i? What kernel and drivers did you selected in leo4allv3?

Can you post some openGL benchmark in 1280 x 1024 x 32 @ 75Hz?

My lan is working with ForceDeth-V kext. But I am currently using Wireless connection via my USR PCI card (used Broadcom kext).

this works in kalyway or only in leo4allv3?
and on x48 chip not works?

I am a bit lost, did you install everything correctly before you upgrade to 10.5.3?

Alexlyc, I have not upgraded my system to 10.5.3 using combo update. The only thing I have from the 10.5.3 update are the kexts. I don't think Forcedeth-V kext was part of the official Apple 10.5.3 update so I am presuming it was there on Leo4all installation.rstt, I have Leo4allv3. I gave up on kalyway long time ago... it was too much of a hassle to even get it to disk utility window during install.Leo4allv3 is the best if you have nv 790i ultra chipset and a 9800gx2 gpu. So, since I only have one rig with an Nvidia chipset, I am not sure if it is going to work on non-Nvidia ones. Some have tried to use my procedure on Intel boards but they failed.

Azamic:

Could you please to dump your ioregistry, i would like to have a look at it.

If you don't already have ioregistryexplorer, you can get it here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?4b2ap1lagzh

Just run it and go save a copy as.

Thanks for all the support.

just dump using ioreg -lw 0 > ioregdump.txt

Could you also let me know what specific nvidia kexts you are using in general to get your board working. A look at IORegistry explorer would be very useful. I am pretty sure this is NV board only compatible at this stage.

i was using 10.5.3 kexts and got my 9800 working that way

Here you go bubsterboo. I am attaching both the IORegistryExplorer version and ioreg dump as suggested by Kiko.



I am using the following kexts besides NVKush. You can take a note of their versions:

GeForce:

Version: 1.5.28
Last Modified: 20/04/2008 10:34 PM
Get Info String: GeForce 1.5.28.16 (16.7.6f2)
Location: /System/Library/Extensions/GeForce.kext
kext Version: 5.2.8
Load Address: 0x60b46000
Valid: Yes
Authentic: Yes
Dependencies: Satisfied
Integrity: Kext has no receipt

NVDANV30Hal:

Version: 1.5.28
Last Modified: 07/06/2008 11:25 AM
Get Info String: NVDANV30Hal 1.5.28.16 (16.7.6f2)
Location: /System/Library/Extensions/NVDANV30Hal.kext
kext Version: 5.2.8
Load Address: 0x60a6c000
Valid: Yes
Authentic: Yes
Dependencies: Satisfied
Integrity: Kext has no receipt

NVDANV40Hal:

Version: 1.5.28
Last Modified: 09/06/2008 6:53 PM
Get Info String: NVDANV40Hal 1.5.28.16 (16.7.6f2)
Location: /System/Library/Extensions/NVDANV40Hal.kext
kext Version: 5.2.8
Load Address: 0x60c2e000
Valid: Yes
Authentic: Yes
Dependencies: Satisfied
Integrity: Kext has no receipt

NVDANV50Hal:

Version: 1.5.28
Last Modified: 20/04/2008 10:34 PM
Get Info String: NVDANV50Hal 1.5.28.16 (16.7.6f2)
Location: /System/Library/Extensions/NVDANV50Hal.kext
kext Version: 5.2.8
Load Address: 0x60dfa000
Valid: Yes
Authentic: Yes
Dependencies: Satisfied
Integrity: Kext has no receipt

NVDAResman:

Version: 1.5.28
Last Modified: 20/04/2008 10:34 PM
Get Info String: NVDAResman 1.5.28.16 (16.7.6f2)
Location: /System/Library/Extensions/NVDAResman.kext
kext Version: 5.2.8
Load Address: 0x6082c000
Valid: Yes
Authentic: Yes
Dependencies: Satisfied
Integrity: Kext has no receipt

Azamic,

Could you please post up any info on the Nvidia related kexts in your extensions folder. Thanks in advance.

Also, you have posted up the program IORegistry explorer, as Kiko suggested, could you open up the terminal, type in:

ioreg -lw 0 > ioregdump.txt

then hit the return key and save. It will record all the hardware info so we can see why your system is working.

tried the kexts, now getting no signal tried both dvi and hdmi ports

Aqua,

Please find attached info on all the kexts in my Extensions folder. Also, I am attaching the hardware info using ioreg.

Hope it works. Keep me posted.

Cheers mate!

Azamic,

What mach_kernel are you using, is it an nvidia one? Can you upload it? Many thanks in advance.

For starters, YOU ARE MY HERO, I have been wanting my 7series nvidia chipset to work as well as GX2 forever. Quick question though, will this work with the EVGA 780i chipset (as far as I know 790i and 780i are identical except 790i has ddr3 slots for the ram) as well as my EVGA 9800GX2. Thanks! I will be trying this out tomorrow if anyone knows if the EVGA products work.

Aqua-mac,I am using Netkas 9.2.2 kernel as vanilla ones did not work for me (did not even let me into the OS!!!). I am travelling at the moment, will upload the one I am using in the next 12 hours.Cheersjxa4508Thank you for your words of appreciation but I did not invent anything new... it was all 'trial-and-error' which got my 9800gx2 work. All the clues are here on this forum, you just need to try different things one at a time.I have not used a 7 series GPU by nVidia but I am certain that there is more proven documentation to make that card work than it is available for the 9 series. As for your motherboard, sharing the same architecture, you could give my solution a shot and see if it works for you. If you get stuck anywhere, I can guide you through the process.Also, please document your steps so once your system starts working, you can help others on the forum to learn from your experience.CheersA

Thanks Azamic!

alexlyc,As requested, here is the openGL benchmark result for my system running at 1280 x 1024 x 32 @ 75Hz. Is 32,514 score something to be proud of?EDIT: For some odd reason the OpenGL Benchmark detects my card as 8600GTS but thats OK, perhaps OpenGL is not configured to detect 9 series yet Aqua-mac,You may download the back-up of my mach_kernel here.Let me know if it helps!

Being detected as a 8600 GTS is quite normal, same as an individual 9800 GTX.

Azamic, there is no mach_kernel in your backup folder, only kexts. To find the mach_kernel, you need to show hidden files, then double click your HD icon, mach_kernel is in there.

Many thanks.

Hmmm... you are right . The mach_kernel as requested.

This is where I'm at so far, I have the EVGA 780i, EVGA 9800GX2 SSC Edition, 2X500GB Seagates, QX9650, and 4GB of Dominator DDR2 @ 1066, just so everyone knows. Graphics card and CPU are on stock clocks, as well as RAM.
I went to install using Leo4AllV3 and it would "hang/freeze" at the preparing installation part after I selected my installer language. I then rebooted and attached these flags "-v cpus=1" I then got past the hang/freeze problem. I then opened disk utility and formatted my little 60GB passport external drive - which I always install leopard to first and adjust kexts, packages, kernels, things like that before I know what works and doesn't - then I will install to my internal. Anyhow, I format the external, and exit disk utility.
I then select these options at the installer - Kernel - Vanilla 9.2.2, I used the NforceTEST, "good apps", the forcedeth -v controller, and Azalia Audio chipset. I let leopard check my DVD for errors - there were none. It begins to install (disc is spinning, bar is advancing) then just freezes and stops. Would anyone know the reason why it quit installing, or at least does anyone have a method that worked for them with their 780/790i?

Thanks guys, I hope we can get this workin for everyone with this chipset, I'd be happy to make a how to guide, I'm just runnin into a few problems in the beginning. Once again, thanks for any help.

What type of optical disk you use to install leo? It will be helpful to other if you can list all your hardwares in your sign .

I was able to completely install leo4allv3 with "cpus=1 maxmem=2048" using my SATA OD on Evga 780i board, but it keeps on rebooting afterward.
Azamic suggested me to boot with "-x -f -v -legacy cpus=1 maxmem=2048" but I am not able to try it it. For some reason, after I format the drive, I keep on getting can't read disc error at installtion.

jxa,I suggest you run the installer using these flags: -v cpus=1 maxmem=2048. If you get stuck even on these flags, add another flag "-legacy". On install customization, DO NOT use Vanilla kernel, instead use the netkas 9.2.2 one. Also for the MB, use Old Nforce (not NforceTEST) rest should be fine.Give it a shot and let me know if it works.Good luck.Alexlyc,I hope you are using the MBR option and not GUID option during install! I am using the LG GSA-H62L 18X DVD+/-RW SATA drive for installation. Also which kernel do you select during install? try the non-vanilla one by netkas (9.2.2).

My fault with not adding all the information, here is my system specs, I will also add it into my sig. I will try with the suggested options and report back with my results. Thank you!

LCD: 2 X 22" Dell 2208 WFP / 1680X1050
CPU: Core 2 Extreme QX9650 / 3.0GHz
HSF: NorthQ Siberian Tiger Water Cooling / Arctic Silver 5
RAM: 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair Dominator DDR2 / 1066MHz
MB: EVGA 780i SLI / Bios P05p
VGA: EVGA GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB / 675MHz Core 1050MHz Memory 1674MHz Shader
PSU: Corsair HX620W
HD1: Seagate 7200.11 500GB SATA - Leo, Vista, XP
HD2: Seagate 7200.11 500GB SATA - Storage
OD: LG GGC-H20L SATA
CASE: Lian Li V1110B Plus
FAN: 4x120mm Enermax Magnetic Barometric Fans
OS: Trying at Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.3, Windows Vista Business SP1 64-Bit, Windows XP Professional SP3 32-Bit

ok, so I tried it with -v cpus=1 and maxmem=2048 and it is installing, but its been installing for around 2 hours now and shows it has another 3 and a half to go. This is on my external, but it has never taken almost 5 hours to install. Anyone know why it could take that long? I tried searching and came up with nothing. Also, after it is installed and booting from the hard drive, will I need to continue using those flags when I boot into OSX, or is it just for the installation part?

I physically remove 3 sticks of ram and leave only 2gb of ram in my system, I was able to install leo on my SATA Seagate (MBR) using "-v cpus=1" with a SATA OD

This are the kernels I selected:
- Kernel 9.2.2
- NForce test
- AzaliaAudio + ALC888
- Forcedepth V
- other options by default

Everything is working except LAN, I am using wireless at the moment. I am running on dual cores with cpus=2 and 8GB ram, I will report any instability later on.

I have the same processor but running on a 790i MB and with the flags you mentioned above, it has never taken me more than 20 minutes to complete the installation. Why are you installing it on an external drive? As for your question, you can try booting your system without the flags after install. However, if you get frequent system freezes, you may have to use cpus=1 flag till you find a good solution.

Hi there, ok I finished the installtion on the external, everything is a bit slow so im just going to install to my internal SATA drive and I think that should work a bit faster, I will also try taking out a stick of ram for the installation, then putting it back in, as well as the installation options you chose, so from my understanding the only flag I should need is "cpus=1"?

EDIT: I installed on my Internal HD(SATA) and it was about 1000X faster, so don't try to install to an external through USB 2.0!!

This was with 2GB ram and "-v cpus=1 maxmem=2048"

Anyone who couldnt get their system stable or to work, I just got mine to work EXCELLENT. I am on the 780i. The trick is to use Leo4Allv4! it works excellent! I boot with zero flags and I haven't had any stability issues yet.

ok sorry to keep posting, but I finally have both monitors working and 1680X1050 on both!!! I have a boot flag of only -f and I have audio, wifi, lan, bluetooth, sata hd, and sata dvd, My entire system is rock solid stability as well - no freezing on large file transfers. I am using all of the QX9650, no CPUS=1 and I have 4GB's of 1066 RAM installed.

My last issue with the GX2 is when I scroll down on a window it gets somewhat "laggy", and I checked in the system profiler and Quartz Extreme is currently not supported on both GX2's, do you know what I need to do to enable quartz extreme?? Thank you so much for all of your help this far guys!

Glad to know you made some progress. I did not use Leo4allv4, instead I used Leo4allv3 (10.5.2) and upgraded to 10.5.3 using Apple's official update.

To make your 9800GX2 use QE/CI functionality, you cannot go anywhere with NVInject. You should install NVKush (please refer to instructions on my first post.

To install NVKush you need to uninstall NVInject.

Let me know how it goes!

Here is my try:

motherboard: GA-P35-DS3P
gfx: EVGA SSC 9800X2

installed leo4all 10.5.2 (vanilla 9.2.2)

all work perfect, every device, i didnt installled any graphic drivers.

I did it 2 different try:
first simple try, by download directly your kext package, and then copied in Extensions, i had no other graphics drivers installed...the only i was seeing in Ext list was some GeForcexxxxxx.bunble
did you think i should remove them too?
After copied your kext in Extensions folder, i got a popup window thats was saying something like driver not installed properly, i pushed OK and ignored.
After fixed permission, i rebooted system.

At boot all was looking normal, i saw display strings without any errors...boot is very fast.

But at time to switch to desktop, then i got black screen and monitor power led started blink.

Then i reinstalled leo4all and tried install not from your kext package, but by follow your insctructions above, i downloaded 4 files you linked and then copied in Extension.
I even changed boot file as your.

Too bad result after reboot was the same...same black screen with monitor power led blink just when system try switch from console to desktop.

My card is reconised as your 604 10de, what i did it wrong?
Any suggest is welcome, and i wanna underline im really new, and not much familiar with drivers handling.

when you say install nvkush, do you mean by installing the NVKush.kext in /system/library/extensions or the actual package, or both? All my NVInject kexts are gone, I deleted those before I attempted this, I also used the 9800 kext folder that had the info.plist numbers already edited for my card, I believe it was post 2 or 3, so about this NVKush, what should I do?