Please post Results / Tips , or mini tutorials on success with GMA 900 boards.


Known Issues.

Onboard NIC not working
Video not working better than VGA
Poor sound quality.
Login window error.


Board upgrades.
What AGP/PCI-E video cards work sucessfully.

Vote for a AMD or Intel MOBO UPGRADE

I have the same board, but didn't try the new kernel yet. Everything is working right now (besides audio in), so I'm not in a hurry.

Did you try older kexts for sound and NIC?

And what is this login window error?


If you want my advice for an upgrade: get a real mac. It's not worth to invest much money in hardware with leopard not far away.

If you do install I'd recommend using disk-util from 10.4.3 on the install partition

Ethernet. I put in a 3com905b for ethernet works fine. If i reboot to 10.4.4 it's not recognized . Could always run to cables to the router. ie One for built in.

Video. Will try one more time to install gma drivers from 10.4.8 dvd and del kext.cache and fix permissions. Not sure if gma900 drivers can be extracted from 10.4.6 or 10.4.7 . I figured 10.4.4 drivers would be to old but if it's all the same kernel from 10.4.3 to 10.4.7 whats the difference --unless it's in the decrypts.

Sound. Fix video first ----should help. As it works somewhat.

Login error. When clicking about this Mac GUI logs out. Has worked with some success with older login file. Havn't tried yet.
Latest test kernel cl-rc12 same results.

So lots of issues with the newer kernel build and this hardware , but still patient.
Long weeked comming should have time then.



RE: A new Mac.

Good plan might buy a Mini-Mac especially if stuck with GMA950 video ,like the new MacBook. As I have a older centrino notebook now , maybe a macbook in another year ie next generation video. But's it is tempting to build a smoking AMD system with 64 Bit Linux and all.

This doesn't sound good... My 10.4.5 system runs perfectly. It's my production system for web programming right now. So I don't want to lose this installation. Maybe I'm trying the new kernel on a spare hard drive.

I'm planning to buy a real mac as soon as leopard is out. So long my good old hackintosh (over 15 months now!) has to do the job.

Please report your experiences with the new kernel. If I try it, I will report here, too.

Update .

Fixed video finally as per JaS. Worked this time. Still gest a 915.kext error on login though. Did a -s reboot after permissions to rebuilt the kext.cache. Shows CI and QE not enabled in ATMac , but probably incorrect.
Can drag a movie around in VLC with no stutter and sound seems fine.

Used login from 10.4.4 to fix ATmac login error, 2 files as mentioned here somewhere.


Apps

Don't notice any improvement with Rosetta and PPC apps. AdobeCS, Freehand,Expressions3, all seem to load slow still. Poser6 crashes before completing the windows now. Also ical wont run , but can run it from the 10.4.4 partition.


Using Nebukanezer cl-rc12

#####computer.local 8.8.1 Darwin Kernel Version 8.8.1: Tue Nov 7 23:31:28 AZOT 2006; semthex:/nebukadnezar/BUILD/obj/RELEASE_I386 i386 i386

Okay here it is my last post ever on this Thread.

Broke down today and bought a BFG 7300 GSOC on sale from Staples $79 B4Taxes.
As this MOBO board and manual state PCI-E 4x only I wasn't sure as everything is 16x now but they have a good 14day return policy, and PCI-E seems to give more bang for the Buck.
Would something Fry?

Boot right into full 8.8.1 as I still have Titan.kext in the Ext folder from trying a Quadro 280xxx card.
Copied back the original OpenGL.framework and Apple*Framebuffer.kext reboot and all is well. The replacements were for correcting 915GL Video problems.

Net result extended the life of this Board/Hackintosh till I buy a Real Mac or something else.


local 8.8.1 Darwin Kernel Version 8.8.1: Tue Nov 14 22:03:31 AZOT 2006; semthex:/nebukadnezar/BUILD/obj/RELEASE_I386 i386 i386




uptime
20:42 up 1:13, 2 users, load averages: 1.03 0.58 0.46 ( two users WHAT? )

NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GS:

Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GS
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x01df
Revision ID: 0x00a1
Displays:
SyncMaster:
Resolution: 1152 x 864 @ 75 Hz
Depth: 32-bit Color
Core Image: Supported
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Display:
Status: No display connected


Thanks Guys