comankha Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 some nvidia quadro benchmarks: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isidoro Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 I don't think you should be concerned with benchmark numbers but more about the "feel" of the install. Obviously there's something wrong since your USB ports aren't working... There are a couple DSDT edits, sounds like you tried one but maybe not the other? I think you can get your USB ports working again, the hardware on the 9440 is almost identical to the 9420. However, it is possible that your model doesn't exactly match the hardware these DSDT edits address. Please try the workaround I mentioned about the 10.6.7 because the stock 10.6.8 killed my USB ports and slowed down SATA performance. I said this earlier: " I don't know why, but all I had to do was replace Apple80211Monitor.bundle in the System/Library/SystemConfiguration folder with the one from 10.6.7 and all of a sudden everything worked perfect after rebooting." You could start over fresh, update up to 10.6.7, make a backup of the file I mentioned, then update to 10.6.8, but replace that file after you reboot, or do it in single user mode if you're comfortable with Terminal commands. I'm almost 100% positive you're experiencing the same problem I had. Just make sure you do everything as root or it might not work. And refresh the kext cache too. You'll be surprised at how much faster the system is if you try my suggestion. Or not, it's up to you. Just keep track of what you're doing, take notes so you remember your steps. That's really the only way to do it, if you like the challenge! Good luck, post your results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comankha Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 it is definitely DSDT issue. when booted without dsdt file (and of course with cpus=1 for successful boot) all ports are working. transfer is still crippled but this is something to figure out yet, Apple monitor bundle from 6.7 didn't help much. netroms' dsdt file doesn't fork for me at all, i use modified one found on some elitebook pages, so nw9440 may be a bit different. as editing dsdt's for me is like walking in the dark I'll wait till someone finds satisfactory solution. Anyway, I consider hard disk speeds cormal having some experiences with real macs and other hackintoshes, so no prob, it boots fast, works fine with big files etc. I'd be glad to see graphic benchmarks from ati x1600, nvidia quadro 1500 beats it in 3dmark and other tests by 300-350%. I use my hakmacs for video related work so working vga/dvi (via dock) comes as a blessing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isidoro Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Yeah, your nw9440 must have significantly differently hardware and chipsets so the nx9420 DSDT won't help you much. If you have the time you should try compiling your own DSDT through Linux then looking up edits for the specific hardware in your particular computer. I didn't know what I was doing at first either but it's the only way to learn, and the best way to get a vanilla system. Your GPU is better than the x1600 but we're talking about over 6 year old technology here so I'd have no benefit of swapping for the Quadro, I don't use the nx9420 for anything important. If you're editing video I strongly advise you to save your money and buy a real Mac. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isidoro Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Ok, I'm hoping someone out there can help me out. I ended up doing some major upgrades to the machine. It used to be an NX9420 with T2400 CPU and ATI x1600 mobility video board. Then I replaced the CPU with a T7600 (dual core 64-bit @ 2.33 Ghz with 4mb cache, compared to T2400's 2mb cache, 32-bit only, and slower clock speed). I then decided to upgrade the video card and it's heatsink with the Quadro FX 1500m 512MB. I got a good deal on the video card and the CPU. Installed everything, Windows 7 works well, a lot faster. Especially since I put in an SSD. I have a few problems - OSX won't always boot with both cores enabled, and I can't seem to get the Quadro FX to work. I compiled my own DSDT and edited it with the USB and CPU patches we've been talking about earlier in the thread. The CPU isn't that big of a problem for me, maybe I can figure that one out later. The biggest concern is the video card. If everything is vanilla, I can boot with poor resolution and no QE/CI, even though "NVDHAL40 (snow leopard) and NVDHAL40G7xxx" appears to load. GraphicsEnabler in Chamelon and Chimera do not work, it boots but I get a kernel panic with Lion and frozen screen in Snow. I know there is a confusion with the NVDHAL40 and GeForce kexts but I don't know what to do. I've tried NVEnabler and NVinject, but I still don't get QE/CI. GraphicsEnabler recognizes the card and VRAM but OSX doesn't know what to do with it. The device ID is listed in NVDHAL40 and it's trying to load it but some other dependencies don't agree. The OSX versions are 10.6.3 Retail DVD, Lion 10.7.3 custom USB installer from tonymacx86. The only thing I haven't tried is using a 10.5.x install DVD or 10.6.1. This should be easy, the card is supposedly supported by Apple's drivers. Anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comankha Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 forget about nvinject/nvenabler -you'll get more problems than results, chameleon graphics enabler should work - the drivers are vanilla! you can download latest driver package from nvidia afair. my setup didnt work from the start - i had to boot several times, finally booting into single mode and exiting into os worked for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isidoro Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Hmm. I know the drivers in Snow Leopard and Lion are supposed to support the Quadro fx 1500m with GraphicsEnabler in Chameleon, but that still doesn't work for me. When I use GraphicsEnabler=Yes, it picks up the card and is recognized by chameleon and OSX says the driver is successfully loaded but it panics with the GeForce Kext. If I delete the GeForce Kext it boots with full resolution and is recognized but there is no QE/CI. Maybe your card is slightly different from the one I bought. Mine is 512mb version but that shouldn't make a difference to OSX. Also, while I was doing the upgrades I got to know the hardware in these machines pretty well so your nw9440 has the same motherboard. Actually, since I did the upgrades mine is now basically a nw9440 (Quadro and T7600). Can you look and see what revision your quadro is? Mine is rev 1. Also, how is your hack? Good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isidoro Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Actually I just checked and my Quadro is revision A2 with vbios version 5.71.22.43.A8. Would you be able to help me out and check what your card's revision number and vbios version it has? On Windows you can use a free app called GPU-Z and on Mac OS X I think an App called Zeus is similar, or OpenGL Extensions viewer, all free. If you can find those numbers for me, and they are different from mine, it could explain why my card won't work. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comankha Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 checked - my quadro fx has the same revision. also right now i'm using nx9420 mobo (nw9440 poer circuit died some time ago) and osx behaves in the same way (eg. sometimes needs help with cpus=1). my os version is leo snow 10.6.8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isidoro Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 That's strange that we have the same vbios but mine doesn't work. I will try a few more things but my guess is that since mine is rev a2 there's a problem. The worst part is that I was able to get the x1600 to work, but took your advice on upgrading. It's definitely a better card than the x1600 in Windows but in OS X I just can't get it to work. I'll also keep looking into the CPU core problem, there must be a DSDT edit out there for this chipset. By the way, the 9420 and 9440 have the same motherboard so if I find something that works I'll update you. If you have any suggestions about the FX 1500m please let me know. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comankha Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 yeah, i wonder how to help. try this - boot into single mode (-s), fix permissions and then start xmanager by leaving (exit). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comankha Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 some clues: Retail_256.02.25f1v1.dmg 10.6.7 version of Apple80211Monitor bundle <key>GraphicsEnabler</key> <string>Yes</string> <key>Kernel</key> <string>mach_kernel</string> <key>Kernel Flags</key> <string>arch=i386 npci=0x2000 darkwake=0 PCIRootUID=1</string> <key>Legacy Logo</key> <string>Yes</string> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isidoro Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 I never thought maybe the driver only works in 32-bit. I see in your boot.plist you're booting up in 32 but have you tried 64? In Lion I don't think you can boot in 32 bit mode so I'm sticking with Snow for now. Can you try booting up with arch=x86_64 so I can know if it is in fact a driver problem? If you have time, would you also mind if I compared your DSDT.aml to mine? Thanks a lot. I appreciate all your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isidoro Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Ok, so I found out that the nvidia 7x00 cards lost 64 bit drivers in 10.6.3. I can successfully boot up with QE/CI and full resolutions only in 32 bit (arch=i386). If I try 64 bit the screen remains blue and there is no Login screen. I know the quadro fx 1500m is based on the 7900 so what they all suggest is to replace the kexts and bundles involved with the ones from 10.6.0 if we want 64-bit support. I know 64 bit isn't completely necessary but it's nice to know your computer is being used the way it's supposed to. I will try it later in Snow, but the problem is you can't install those old drivers on Lion (I don't think so, because they have different names). The only reason I want to install Lion is for iCloud. I'll let you know what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comankha Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 yup, i'm booting into 32bit mode. glad you solved it! btw. i don't really see huge benefits by using 64bit on a machine that can be maxed up to 4gb of ram, also on the cpu side... T7x00 isn't the newest one. but running 64bit mode wouldn't hurt ;] so let me know if you'll find something. anyway, you're right fx 1500m has the same gpu core, under windows can be turned easily into 7900gtx with RivaTuner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isidoro Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 So I tried and using kexts from 10.6.0 works. I'm going to see if I can install Lion and just boot 32-bit on it because you're right 64 bit isn't a huge difference. The only problem I'm having now is getting both cores to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
existation Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Is there an user guide for this laptop with X1600 vga & T2500 cpu? Snow Leopard or Leopard runing on it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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