InsanelyMac Forum > Dual nvidia 8600m GT SLI laptop - both cards properly identified with EFI Strings

Full Version: Dual nvidia 8600m GT SLI laptop - both cards properly identified with EFI Strings

InsanelyMac Forum > OSx86 Project > Hardware and Drivers > Graphics Cards

ludacrisvp

Nov 18 2008, 12:22 PM

I am hoping to find some help for my new hackbook pro.

I have installed iDeneb 10.5.5 (v1.3)

Laptop is 17" Toshiba Satellite x205-SLI6
2x 8600M GT (SLI) 256Mb each
Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 @ 2.5Ghz
4Gb DDR2-667 EDIT - Added another GB of ram to make 4 total.
2x 200Gb 7200RPM SATA

I tried using nvinject 0.2.1, nvinject GO, "nvidia universal installer.mpkg"
Leading me to nowhere...
While booting with -v i can see that it does load or tries to load,
NVDANV50HAL.kext
and
GeForce.kext
and
NVDAResman.kext
and that it shows running the inject twice, I am assuming once for each graphics card.
It will Kernel Panic if all 3 kexts above are installed.
I have modified them for my device ID, I copied them from my Mac Pro 10.5.5 and made the changes for the cards I have. (0x040710de)

In order to boot I need to remove one of the above kexts, leading me to this
Then it just loads with no kext loaded under system profiler where it does see both graphics cards.

I then decided to try using EFI strings to get things going instead of using an injector.
I used EFI Studio that came with iDeneb and it does work for one of the cards (See 3rd post for how to have both cards)
Both of the cards have 256mb of video ram, however system profiler only sees 32mb on the first card (darwin sees 14mb)

This is the first card:

CODE

Display:
	   
		 Type:	Display
		 Bus:	PCIe
		 PCIe Lane Width:	x16
		 VRAM (Total):	32 MB
		 Vendor:	NVIDIA (0x10de)
		 Device ID:	0x0407
		 Revision ID:	0x00a1
		 Kernel Extension Info:	No Kext Loaded
		 Displays:
	   Display:
		 Resolution:	1680 x 1050
		 Depth:	32-bit Color
		 Core Image:	Software
		 Main Display:	Yes
		 Mirror:	Off
		 Online:	Yes
		 Quartz Extreme:	Not Supported
		 QuartzGL:	Supported

And the Second Card:

CODE

nVidia GeForce 8600 GT:
	   
		 Chipset Model:	nVidia GeForce 8600 GT
		 Type:	Display
		 Bus:	PCIe
		 PCIe Lane Width:	x16
		 VRAM (Total):	256 MB
		 Vendor:	NVIDIA (0x10de)
		 Device ID:	0x0407
		 Revision ID:	0x00a1
		 ROM Revision:	nVidia GeForce 8600 GT OpenGL Engine [EFI]
		 Displays:
	   Display Connector:
	   Display Connector:

What it looks like to me is that EFI Studio only generates the EFI string for one card,
and it is not the card that OSX is choosing to run off of.

Any ideas?

ludacrisvp

Nov 19 2008, 10:23 PM

So basically if I use an injector it will Kernel Panic until I remove the following:
GeForce.kext
NVDAResman.kext
NVDANV50HAL.kext

Any ideas?

ludacrisvp

Nov 20 2008, 11:52 AM

Well I have been able to get both cards to be detected properly via EFI Strings.
However I will still get KP on boot, or within about 2 seconds of installing the GeForce.kext or NVDAResman.kext or NVDANV50HAL.kext
I can have 2 of the 3 installed and there is no panic but once all three are installed then it panics.

To determine the 2nd card's device path without removing one card and swapping it like suggested in the tutorials that are floating around here all you have to do is this:
Boot into Vista
Open Device manager
View properties for each video card
Details tab (where you look for DEV and VEN IDs)
Scroll through the list box looking for something similar to this (detail tab, Location paths)

QUOTE

PCIROOT(0)#PCI(0100)#PCI(0000)#PCI(0000)#PCI(0000)

and get the one from the second card too

QUOTE

PCIROOT(0)#PCI(0100)#PCI(0000)#PCI(0100)#PCI(0000)

See the one spot that is different... this is what you will use when you are making your EFI strings in EFI Studio.
Just add your device twice then edit the XML code above the HEX code and it will update the hex automatically to reflect what you change.

QUOTE

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)</key>
<dict>
<key>@0,compatible</key>
.....removed to save space....
<string>Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT OpenGL Engine [EFI]</string>
</dict>
<key>PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)</key>
<dict>
<key>@0,compatible</key>
.....removed to save space....
<string>Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT OpenGL Engine [EFI]</string>
</dict>
</dict>
</plist>

You can see how the different sections corellate to each other.
The only difference is that the PCIROOT in windows just shows one "0" and in OSX it is "0x0"
So just line up your zeros and viola no swapping of cards.

NOW if I could just get the stupid Kernel Panic issue to go away when attempting to get QE/CI Enabled....
I am using 10.5.5 .... do I need those kexts from a different version of OSX to get QE/CI?

It would appear that I am just talking to myself in this thread but if anyone feels like they can help it would be nice.

Click to view attachment

whityini

Nov 26 2008, 12:02 PM

Hello ludacrisvp,
I have a Toshiba Satellite X200-24H and I'm fighting with my graphic card from a long time.
The installed card is the same (an nvidia 8600m GT) and I get the same KP at the boot if I use an injector. I have test a lot of them without any succefully result.
I have read your posts and I would like to follow your suggestions.
Please could you tell me step by step the procedure you used?
Thanks in advance for your help.

ludacrisvp

Nov 27 2008, 09:29 AM

QUOTE(whityini @ Nov 26 2008, 06:02 AM)

Hey, sorry I didn't get back to you right away... this site doesn't always email me like it is supposed to when there is a reply to a topic I subscribed to.
But so far no luck in getting Quartz Extreme or Core Image to be hardware accelerated, or additional displays, or resolution changing.
I added a boot flag to give the proper screen resolution of "Graphics Mode"="1680x1050x32" that at least makes it useable without having QE/CI.

I still cannot get sound to work at all on my machine... ALC268...

I have EFI Strings setup that properly add my cards to the system profiler with the proper information, however having the
GeForce.kext, NVDAResman.kext, NVDANV50HAL.kext installed with or without an injector leads to a KP.

I have tried the kexts from 10.5.2 and 10.5.5 and no luck with either choice.
I just tried NVInstaller.v41....KP

Nobody seems to want to help those who have SLI enabled laptops...
I dont want SLI to work in OSX I just want QE/CI support from the cards.

Here is my GFX String that recognizes both cards if you want it.

CODE

0a05000001000000020000007f0200000d00000002010c00d041030a000000000101060000010101
60000000101060000010101060000007fff04000e0000004e00560050004d0000002000000001000
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000220000005600520041004d002c0074
06f00740061006c00730069007a006500000008000000000000101c0000006400650076006900630
65005f00740079007000650000000f0000004e5644412c506172656e740e0000006e0061006d0065
000000b000000646973706c617922000000400030002c006400650076006900630065005f0074007
007000650000000b000000646973706c617922000000400031002c00640065007600690063006500
f00740079007000650000000b000000646973706c6179100000006d006f00640065006c000000200
00004e7669646961204765466f72636520383630304d2047543120534c4920000000400031002c00
3006f006d00700061007400690062006c00650000000e0000004e5644412c4e564d6163140000004
0030002c006e0061006d0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d4114000000400031
02c006e0061006d0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d4220000000400030002c0
63006f006d00700061007400690062006c00650000000e0000004e5644412c4e564d616310000000
e00560043004100500000001800000004000000000003000c00000000000007000000001e0000007
006f006d002d007200650076006900730069006f006e0000003b0000004e7669646961204765466f
2636520383630304d2047543120534c49204f70656e474c20456e67696e65205b454649205374726
6e675d7f0200000d00000002010c00d041030a000000000101060000010101060000000101060000
00101060000007fff04000e0000004e00560050004d0000002000000001000000000000000000000
00000000000000000000000000000000220000005600520041004d002c0074006f00740061006c00
30069007a006500000008000000000000101c0000006400650076006900630065005f00740079007
00650000000f0000004e5644412c506172656e740e0000006e0061006d00650000000b0000006469
3706c617922000000400030002c006400650076006900630065005f00740079007000650000000b0
0000646973706c617922000000400031002c006400650076006900630065005f0074007900700065
000000b000000646973706c6179100000006d006f00640065006c000000200000004e76696469612
4765466f72636520383630304d2047543220534c4920000000400031002c0063006f006d00700061
07400690062006c00650000000e0000004e5644412c4e564d616314000000400030002c006e00610
6d0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d4114000000400031002c006e0061006d00
5000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d4220000000400030002c0063006f006d0070006
007400690062006c00650000000e0000004e5644412c4e564d6163100000004e0056004300410050
000001800000004000000000003000c00000000000007000000001e00000072006f006d002d00720
650076006900730069006f006e0000003b0000004e7669646961204765466f72636520383630304d
047543220534c49204f70656e474c20456e67696e65205b45464920537472696e675d

whityini

Nov 27 2008, 11:50 AM

Thank you for your prompt reply.
Unfortunatley it seems that Toshiba notebook doesn't like OSx86 Project.
Anyhow thank you for your suggestions, at least I will try to use my osx with a better resolution than tha basic 1024x768 even if without QE and CI.
Same problem for the sound card: no way to make it correctly recognized.
Please, if you agree, let's stay in touch if we have some more better result.
Thankz again.

ludacrisvp

Nov 28 2008, 10:12 AM

Yeah, it looks like we are alone out here with the Toshibas and the SLI laptops.
If I can get something more than what I have I will be sure to let ya know.
What install are you running?
Im on iDeneb v1.3 (10.5.5) Vanilla Kernel with all updates directly through Apple Software Update.
I might try running an older version... Maybe my copy of JaS 10.4.8 or a Kalaway 10.5.1... not sure though.

Oh and I added my boot flag to the apple.boot.plist so that I didnt have to type it in everytime... may be a good idea for you too, and it makes the Apple logo screen not look so crappy during boot.

whityini

Nov 28 2008, 01:33 PM

Thanks for accepting our cooperation, let's hope it will bring to something.

I'm too on a iDeneb 10.5.5 with 9.2 Sleep kernel, because using Vanilla I had KP at the first start-up after the installation.

I made a lot of test about Graphic Board (GB) and I have found out that the problem is NVDAResman.kext module.

There are three different cases (all without Quartz Extreme or Core Image hardware accelerated, or additional displays, or resolution changing):

if NVDAResman.kext contains (in plist file) the ID of my GB the system starts to boot but when the GUI should appears I only get a black screen
if NVDAResman.kext doesn't contains the ID of my GB the system starts correctly but only with the booting flag -x
if NVDAResman.kext is deleted the system starts correctly.

Instead of using EFI string I have got the same result using 'NVkush.kext' injector. See attached screen.

Click to view attachment
Hope this could be usefull for our job.

Let me know if you need more details.

ludacrisvp

Nov 29 2008, 04:20 AM

The issue with using an injector is that it only sees one of your cards as having 32mb VRAM and the 2nd card has no VRAM apparently.
With the EFI Strings it sees both cards as having the proper amount of VRAM (256Mb per card)

ludacrisvp

Nov 29 2008, 02:01 PM

I have been making some progress here... I was comparing my DSDT to another 965 chipset with integrated x3100 intel card and they are very similar setups. I added the device info to the appleintelgax3100 kexts and now I have transparancy support.... still no QE/CI though maybe it will come....

whityini

Nov 30 2008, 10:12 AM

QUOTE(ludacrisvp @ Nov 29 2008, 03:01 PM)

Your are great!!!
Please let me know how I can do the same.
Thanks

thorne

Dec 31 2008, 08:46 AM

Hey Guys,

You are not alone! I'm running an x205-sli3. Pretty much same setup as the sli6 (dual sli 8600gt, etc). Anyway, I've been trying to get at least my resolution at 1680x1050, and could never get the right EFI strings. I also get the kernel panics as soon as I try to use an injector on NVhal50. My base install is Kalyway 10.5.2. I'm going to give your strings a try, and try to figure out how to properly do the boot flag.

Thanks for the very informative post, and please post back if you find anthing out! I'll post back when/if I can get my cards recognized and 1680x1050.

Now, if only someone could get the onoard wireless card to work (as well as sound).

FYI - It's the detail tab, Location paths, not Device path.

thorne

Dec 31 2008, 09:49 PM

Hi,

Using information from all the above posts, I can boot without a kernel panic, however it won't get past the "startlogin.app" line during boot. Can anyone get this working?

ludacrisvp

Dec 31 2008, 11:02 PM

QUOTE(thorne @ Dec 31 2008, 02:46 AM)

FYI - It's the detail tab, Location paths, not Device path.

Well it's nice to know that the 2 of us are not alone.
I have been trying out iPC beta from ~PCWiz with some graphical issues.

It would be nice to have the Intel 4965abgn card work but most likely it will never happen.

Sound might work on this laptop one day.

NVcap values have been the approach that I am looking at now.

both cards have a different BIOS and also different NVCAP values.

I think that this is what we need to look into now.

Card0
ROM file: /Volumes/DOS/8600mgt0.rom
04000000 00000100 00000000 00000007 00000000

BAAAAAAAAQAAAAAAAAAABwAAAAA=

Card1
ROM file: /Volumes/DOS/8600mgt1.rom
04000000 00000500 02000000 00000007 00000000

BAAAAAAABQACAAAAAAAABwAAAAA=

QUOTE(thorne @ Dec 31 2008, 03:49 PM)

Hi,

Using information from all the above posts, I can boot without a kernel panic, however it won't get past the "startlogin.app" line during boot. Can anyone get this working?

I think that the computer actually goes past this point but the NVCAP values that are default provided by the EFI strings and the injectors basically stop the monitor from being updated. I can get to a standby type monitor and can login via screen sharing from my real mac and it does boot fully so not sure where to go from here.

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?s=&...t&p=1015180

This is my post from iPC that nobody noticed All of the needed GeForce related kexts do load however there is no qe/ci and iPC has graphical corruption.

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