NEW Intel P55 Mobos & Core i7 860 / i5 750 CPU LGA1156

[rekursor]

../. Well it seems I have a bigger problem as I am unable to boot into Linux either.

../.. when I reboot all I get is GRUB and a blinking cursor that never changes. When I tried to boot the OS X USB key I had similar behaviour, the cursor would just down one line and then just blink with no more progress?

if you see GRUB starting it must not be the bios setup, but try reseting it though with defaults and override manually the AHCI mode and the HPET 64bit mode, no overclocking, all advanced cpu features enabled (this one is necessary for now but will be important later on post install).

Then, Try to determine which disk is booting if you have more than one and setup the boot first disk in bios.

Then check that you have formatted your disk using GUID model partition, there must be one active/bootable partition that the MBR boot will seek for.

If you try to boot from a third party hd card (like a raid pci/e card), you will have pbs to install ubuntu on it, before you install the linux drivers for your card.

 

@dorkiaa:

The pb is more complex that it seems, I recently discovered that os x rely on 'compatibility' mode for USB as an example. A weird phenomenon I experimented during my recent DSDT works was that if I specified the real ICH10r device-id from lspci that i got in my mobo, then sleep would not work anymore. This demonstrates that os x 'needs' to rely on compatibility flags to know how to deal with new hardware.

Most of the time labels are just cosmetics, but I fear that it is not always the case for some DSDT fields (like IOName, ..) though I have no proof of it right now. In doubt, it does not cost much to be as close as possible of a mac dsdt/ssdt.

 

Hope this helps.

[Ooh_Gravy]

Thanks rekursor,

 

so the disc I used was a clean one and I just used the default Ubuntu install. I'm assuming that would set things up as necessary regarding the MBR. Is there a way I can check this? I can successfully boot into Ubuntu if I choose the 'boot without installing' option from the CD.

 

Just reinstalling from fresh and will check the BIOS settings as you advised.

 

Thanks.

[YoYelloW]

Ok so i got my parts today, installed just fine all took a while thou, booting went fine, getting into macosx and all, but network and audio dont work, i used tony's latest dsdt, together with teh 4 kexts still needed in /extra, still doesnt work

 

using an UD2 with a I7 860 cpu.

 

 

whats im also wondering, how do i update my BIOS, still on F3 atm, i see various updates on gigabyte's site, but they are all .exe files, i only got macs here, i know i once flashed teh bios by putting a file on my usb stick and loading that into bios, is that still possible?

 

 

edit: ethernet works, still to come, sound: it shows in system info as : Intel High Definition Audio:

 

Device ID:	0x1458A002
 Audio ID:	889
 Available Devices:
 Line Out:
 Connection:	1/8-Inch Jack
 External Microphone:
 Connection:	1/8-Inch Jack
 External Microphone:
 Connection:	1/8-Inch Jack
 Headphone:
 Connection:	1/8-Inch Jack
 S/P-DIF Out:
 Connection:	Combo
 S/P-DIF In:
 Connection:	Combo

 

but i cant use any as input or output, any suggstions?

 

also it seems that only 4 of my 8 threads are being used, looking at teh dsdt im using it displays code for 8 cores, but when i extract a dsdt, it only makes code for 4

[dorkiaa]

 

i know i once flashed teh bios by putting a file on my usb stick and loading that into bios, is that still possible?

 

yes, you can still do that.

[YoYelloW]

 

 

yes, you can still do that.

 

 

ok and where do i find these files, i have looked on various places and all i found were .exe files

[rekursor]

../.. i used tony's latest dsdt, together with teh 4 kexts still needed in /extra, still doesnt work using an UD2 with a I7 860 cpu.

Network needs realtekr1000SL.kext driver , works in 32/64 bits mode.

Audio usually needs differents kext whether you boot in 64 bits or 32 bits

I would greatly recommend to have a look the AppleHDA and HDAEnabler kexts posted here recently see approx. from page 35 ...

If u have an UD2, check again tony's audio dsdt patch, it should work.

[dorkiaa]

 execute these EXE files. they are self extractors, and they will produce the BIOS file you need.

[Bansaku]

Glad it worked for you! You'll know it's sleeping if all of the system fans go off- then you should be able to wake by mouse or keyboard. Here's what my Serial ATA looks like in System Profiler for comparison. I still have 2 ports unknown- I'm thinking they're the 2 Gigabyte ports.

 

 

I have the same (cosmetic) problem for my UD3R only it has 4 unknown ports; 2 back eSATA and the 2 internal RAID, both are JMicron (Gigabyte). I have a dummy kext that will report them as JMicron, however, it will override my DSDT and name the Intel ports JMicron as well. Unlike my previous Gigabyte boards where I can disable the un-used SATA ports, the new P55 chipset well, kinda incorporates the SATA on a PCI bus so disabling the ports in the BIOS will cause a KP at boot. Oh well, considering the great accomplishments we pioneers of the P55 chipset have achieved on this MSG board, I can sleep well at night knowing there is only a small cosmetic fix left to be done.....that is with the exception of Speedstep.

I have an idea though. Someone needs to go into BestBuy, Futureshop or anywhere else they have i5/i7 iMacs on display and bring a USB flash drive with DSDTSE on it. All that needs to be done is to launch the app from the stick, quickly go "Extract DSDT" which will generate a DSDT.aml file, and also extract the SSDT table for that iMac. Copy folder (Library/AppSupport/EVOSoftware) back to the USB drive and viola! I came up with this idea last night while I was drifting off to dream-state.

[HerbM]

Bansaku, rekursor and tonymac,

 

My head is swimming trying to figure out the current state of the boards. Is the ud3r working as well as the ud2?

 

It seems going with the ud3r makes more sense for me in case I need extra slots later on. Using that logic, I'd love to get the P55A-UD3 for the 3.0 but I'd probably be pushing my luck with having everything functioning.

[rekursor]

Team,

 

just checked the speedstep + turbo mode with a tool call MSRTools for SL (32 bits only)

 

it proves that speedstep + turbo modes both work on i7/UD3R with our recent DSDT patches !!!

I believe it works just the same on UD2 because I added no ssdt code to see that it works.

The only thing I did is that I checked that all advanced CPU features are enable in my bios (F3).

 

To figure wether yours works download MSRTOOLS for SL here:

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=135974

 

Then notice that your cpu speed is about 42% when there is no big activity (speedstep), then it overclocks over 2.92Ghz when running geekbench (Turbo mode) which is very good as it is a multiple cores overclocking, as opposed to a single core overclocking (like playing a heavy 3D game where cpu will probably go beyond 3.2Ghz)

 

It just works as is folks !!

Note: please check that your advanced cpu settings in bios are all enabled and that no overclocking is set.

[profdre]

Seriously? Do you have an article or reference for this?

 

 

Okay I got it wrong, internal connectors are made for 50, not 15 "plug-in-events": "The external connector and cable have a design-life of over five thousand insertions and removals, while the internal connector is only specified to withstand fifty."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA (section External SATA)

[Bansaku]

Team,

 

just checked the speedstep + turbo mode with a tool call MSRTools for SL (32 bits only)

 

it proves that speedstep + turbo modes both work on i7/UD3R with our recent DSDT patches !!!

I believe it works just the same on UD2 because I added no ssdt code to see that it works.

The only thing I did is that I checked that all advanced CPU features are enable in my bios (F3).

 

To figure wether yours works download MSRTOOLS for SL here:

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=135974

 

Then notice that your cpu speed is about 42% when there is no big activity (speedstep), then it overclocks over 2.92Ghz when running geekbench (Turbo mode) which is very good as it is a multiple cores overclocking, as opposed to a single core overclocking (like playing a heavy 3D game where cpu will probably go beyond 3.2Ghz)

 

It just works as is folks !!

Note: please check that your advanced cpu settings in bios are all enabled and that no overclocking is set.

 

Fantastic news Rekursor. I suspected this all along but now we have a confirmation! I have tried MSR tools but with no luck booting into 32-bit mode (tried -x32, and arch=i386 with HPET in 32-bit. Very odd). However, I am no longer going to be concerned about this.

 

 

Bansaku, rekursor and tonymac,

 

My head is swimming trying to figure out the current state of the boards. Is the ud3r working as well as the ud2?

 

It seems going with the ud3r makes more sense for me in case I need extra slots later on. Using that logic, I'd love to get the P55A-UD3 for the 3.0 but I'd probably be pushing my luck with having everything functioning.

 

 

I believe the DSDT for UD3R is finally complete. Looking back at Tonymac's post from last night it seems the UD2 is also pretty much complete as well (I d/l and checked out his DSDT mods and they look sound). Our last issue seems to be regarding speedstep/turbo boost however, read the post above this, as this concern has been addressed.

 

Interesting that it's the opposite for you UD2 users, that the Gigabyte ports don't work for you. But I would change instantly, I just can't connect my three drives to the only 2 functional S-ATA ports Any ideas?? It's my main issue right now...cause I heard you shouldn't connect the internal S-ATA plugs too often, they wear out, are just built for 15 connections/disconnections. Every time I boot into OS X, I have to unplug the Win 7 drive (most time it's disconnected, because I only use Win 7 for gaming and overclocking tests)

 

I fing your problem rather odd.

Intel® P55 Express Chipset:

5 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATA2_0, SATA2_1, SATA2_2, SATA2_3, SATA2_4) supporting up to 5 SATA 3Gb/s devices

1 x eSATA 3Gb/s connector (eSATA/USB Combo) on the back panel supporting up to 1 SATA 3Gb/s device

Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10

GIGABYTE SATA2 chip:

1 x IDE connector supporting ATA-133/100/66/33 and up to 2 IDE devices

2 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (GSATA2_0, GSATA2_1) supporting up to 2 SATA 3Gb/s devices

Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, and JBOD

 

I do not see why only 2 of your SATA ports work. I have used Gigabyte boards for years and my old AMD 780/790 chipsets use identical SATA configurations and I never had a problem. My only suggestion outside of DSDT patching is to use the JMicronATA.kext in E/E and see if that works. Also, have you confirmed in Windows that the ports actually work? Maybe you have a bum board. I have 5 out of the 6 P55 SATA ports used (HD, HD, DVD, eSATA bracket) and have never had issues in 10.5.8 or 10.6.X.

[LucaM]

GA-P55-UD4P update:

 

Gigabyte posted a new update to the BIOS (F5). With the new BIOS and tonymac's latest DSDT file:

 

- Intel SATA ports are recognized in Apple Profiler as Intel SATA but still not working. This is a big step forward: with F4 BIOS the SATA tab in Apple Profiler would say that there was an error looking at SATA ports.

 

- Gigabyte SATA ports are recognized as JMicron SATA and work. It turns out that the two eSATA ports on the back panel are also connected to the Gigabyte chipset and work, so for the moment I am using a SATA to eSATA cable and using these ports to run the optical drive and third HDD (total of 4 working SATA ports).

 

- sleep is a bit worse off: the fans don't stop running when the computer goes to sleep; on awake, the computer reboots.

 

- still trying to find the right boot command to boot without a DSDT.aml file in /. I have tried unsuccessfully: GraphicsEnabler=Yes, or -x, or cpus=1. I have been getting a kernel panic saying something to the effect that cpu7 HPET is unhappy. Any suggestions on this point are appreciated.

[Ooh_Gravy]

An update from my end for anyone willing to help. I now have Ubuntu installed so that's a first hurdle out of the way.

 

I have now tried to follow both the USB method and the iAtkos method - both of which fail. The USB boot doesn't get further than a blinking cursor and the iAtkos install fails with a "com.apple.Boot.Slist not found" error. No matter what combination of busratio, cpus, etc I try.

 

I have an IDE DVD-ROM set up as master and a single SATA HDD for the install. Nothing else.

[Janus Kirin]

This might be useful. I followed Tony's guide to get a P55-UD4P working. Later, I extracted my own DSDT, fixed Gigabyte's errors (I'm on BIOS version 4), and added the No-CMOS-reset. Here's the DSDT I'm using. Going to try the later tutorial to add sleep and other things.

 

Oh, and I got audio working. The secret (as far as I could tell) is to find a VoodooHDA with a preferences panel file. Remove AppleHDA from S/L/E, put in VoodooHDA, and double-click the preferences panel. It'll fail and complain about the registry, but when I rebooted it worked.

 

But I'm concerned about my pitiful 32-bit Geekbench score of about 3300. I have a Core i7 at 2.8GHz. Shouldn't it be higher?

DSDT.aml.zip

[YoYelloW]

I just updated my GA P55 UD2 to BIOS version F5 succesfully, only sound isnt workign atm but that was teh same before F5.

 

Why do u want F5? it boots a hell faster then the previous versions!

 

 

 

Included the F5 thats downloadable as an .exe on gigabyte website,

 

you can put this file on a usb stick, boot into bios and start up your Q-flash to update your bios.

[rekursor]

An update from my end for anyone willing to help. I now have Ubuntu installed so that's a first hurdle out of the way.

 

I have now tried to follow both the USB method and the iAtkos method - both of which fail. The USB boot doesn't get further than a blinking cursor and the iAtkos install fails with a "com.apple.Boot.Slist not found" error. No matter what combination of busratio, cpus, etc I try.

 

I have an IDE DVD-ROM set up as master and a single SATA HDD for the install. Nothing else.

If you want to install a working leo 10.5.8 release, get iDeneb lite 1.6, it works flawlessly

with -v cpus=4 busratio=20 USBBusFix=Yes, I started like this on our mobos so I know it works.

Cornbread even explained the options he used to install it flawlessly goto the the link in the first topic from Core i7 -> will work for sure !

Go Here:

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...p;#entry1297150

 

@Janus Kirin

Janus, check that your bios is set properly (i.e:that the mult. is set to 21), that HPET is set to 64bits mode (had an impact on perfs for me), don't overclock, enable all advanced cpu features (EIST,...)

... and pray

[LucaM]

This might be useful. I followed Tony's guide to get a P55-UD4P working. Later, I extracted my own DSDT, fixed Gigabyte's errors (I'm on BIOS version 4), and added the No-CMOS-reset. Here's the DSDT I'm using. Going to try the later tutorial to add sleep and other things.

 

Oh, and I got audio working. The secret (as far as I could tell) is to find a VoodooHDA with a preferences panel file. Remove AppleHDA from S/L/E, put in VoodooHDA, and double-click the preferences panel. It'll fail and complain about the registry, but when I rebooted it worked.

 

But I'm concerned about my pitiful 32-bit Geekbench score of about 3300. I have a Core i7 at 2.8GHz. Shouldn't it be higher?

 

How did you boot without a DSDT file? I'll give your DSDT file a go, thanks for posting it!

 

I have noticed that sometimes the CPU clock multiplier in the bios gets changed from 21 to 15, giving a clock speed of 2.0GHz. It could explain your low Geekbench score. I noticed this when the computer was having a hard time playing HD content on Vimeo smoothly. Geekbench score on my machine with an i7 860, 8GB of RAM, GTX260, and GA-P55-UD4P are in the mid to high 8000 range (32 bit version) when clock speed is set at the stock 2.8GHZ.

[vetters]

Wow! Thanks tonymac and the rest of the P55 team... sleep is working on my UD2/i7! I also think speedstep is working to some extent as my cpu temps have dropped about 4 to 5 degrees on idle with the latest dsdt file. Everything with sleep works fine (powering down/waking up) except for one issue. I would like to be able to "wake for network access" feature so I can wake up my hack for bonjour services. I can do this with my other Macs but was unsure if this is possible for the UD2. Does anybody have this option avaliable to them in the energy saver pane in system prefrences?

[Bansaku]

Two questions in relation to the recent posts...

 

First, am I the only one that runs Geekbench64? I am interested in other people's scores with P55 and i7 860. Thus far, at stock speed my best Geekbench64 is 9874, and running regular Geekbench I get 8390.

 

Second, what bios versions do my fellow UD3R users use. My board came with F3f installed, and I have yet to change/update since I find no reason to. However, after reading that some systems boot faster with a newer bios I am wondering if maybe I should update (if any exist...haven't bothered to check). As well, maybe this is an unrelated problem, but some of you are having problems connecting your iPod Touch/iPhones. My 80GB iPod Classic has problems when I plug it into the front USB inputs. Hangs up my whole computer. Maybe updating the bios will help regular iPods as well. And will updating the bios kill anything in my DSDT? TBH, I have yet to update any bios AFTER compiling a working DSDT. I tend not to update my bios unless there is an absolute reason to; basic bios rule of thumb.

[rekursor]

Two questions in relation to the recent posts...

 

First, am I the only one that runs Geekbench64? I am interested in other people's scores with P55 and i7 860. Thus far, at stock speed my best Geekbench64 is 9874, and running regular Geekbench I get 8390.

I get the same results but it is not really surprising as our MB and dsdt are just the same.

 

Second, what bios versions do my fellow UD3R users use. My board came with F3f installed, and I have yet to change/update since I find no reason to. However, after reading that some systems boot faster with a newer bios I am wondering if maybe I should update (if any exist...haven't bothered to check). As well, maybe this is an unrelated problem, but some of you are having problems connecting your iPod Touch/iPhones. My 80GB iPod Classic has problems when I plug it into the front USB inputs. Hangs up my whole computer. Maybe updating the bios will help regular iPods as well. And will updating the bios kill anything in my DSDT? TBH, I have yet to update any bios AFTER compiling a working DSDT. I tend not to update my bios unless there is an absolute reason to; basic bios rule of thumb.

I run a bios F3 (came with F2) in it, and I believe the usb /ipod problems are related to the bios, not to our hack.

Proof of that is that our Windows fellow users are having the same problem with ipods.

I believe gigabyte fixed this for other P55 MB and would certainly try another update.

I'm not afraid of updating because I always keep track / save my previous bios.

Now concerning the hack compatibility, I think that there is theoretically a risk of regression so I would never update if not for a good reason (like the usb compat. with ipods).

More precisely, concerning the compatibility of our hack with a potential new fixed usb, I think it should ok because, as I related in a previous post, we don't use the real device-ids of our usb ports, so our patch is quite generic (proof of that is that this usb patch was working more or less the same on ep35 chipsets) and therefore has good chances to remain valid after bios updates IMHO.

[Eyecube]

Im also running F3 for the fix to connect my iPhone.

 

By the way, HOORAH Got Sleep to work on my UD3R I made a few mistakes in the process though and my g33kbench score would pass the 4k line and I got a bit scared. Re-did my DSDT and now all is working well I'm hitting in average 9600 in 64bits. It's true though that I keep getting a better score with a few apps opened. If nothing is opened, I only get 9300/9400.

 

I just have a few questions.

In the BIOS, i've set my RAM to Profile1 which says my RAM is running at 1600. Unfortunately, in OSX, it says 1333 everywhere. Is it really seeing/using it at 1333 or is it just a visual problem and the ram is actually running at normal speed (1600). My RAM scores in g33kbench are 4971 for Memory Perfermance and 4928 for the Bandwitch Performance. I have 8Gb with latencies of 8 (GsKill models). How much do you guys get?

Also when I put to sleep/wake from sleep, there's a big bang coming out of it. It seems to be the same noise when I press the mechanical button to start to computer (Antec P183). Is that normal?

 

I seem to have a problem with the front audio jack. Inside the computer, I have the choice to plug either HDA or AC'97. I've tried both and neither seem to work. Which one should be working?

 

iStat display's only the CPU and my two HDD temps. Is it possible to have the GPU temp also? (GTX 275)

 

Finally, sorry for all the questions, any recommendations for a silent CPU cooler (I have the stock Intel but I find it to be pretty high pitched), as well as a Fan controller. I currently have the Zalman MFC1 but there's no 4pin connector (CPU cooler). Should I just leave that on auto and stick with this controller or go with one that supports a 4pin connector? (Was looking at the Zalman MFC3).

 

Thanks again for all the info

[LucaM]

Finally I have a fully functional Hackintosh Pro!!!!!!!

 

Using Koalala's DSDT patcher I was able to extract the DSDT from the F5 BIOS of the GA-P55-UD4P board and patch it following all the advice in this thread to enable built in USB, SATA ports (both Gigabyte and P55 FINALLY!!!!!), sleep, and speedstepping (I think but my Geekbench score is still a bit low, so maybe not yet).

 

I get a 32bit Geekbench score of 7670 with i7 860, 8GB of 1333 DDR3 memory, and 1T WD Caviar Black drives (I have a 21x multiplier set in BIOS and Turbo Boost feature Enabled [instead of Auto, but it makes no difference]).

 

I am still using VoodooHDA for sound but the next step will be to try and get AppleHDA working (I have already replaced the AZAL instances in DSDT).

 

I am attaching the patched DSDT file for my motherboard and the Geekbench report.

 

EDIT: A few additional observations:

 

- Geekbench score bumped up to 8400 by connecting the hard drives to the Intel P55 SATA ports instead of Gigabyte ports. Memory performance is still the bottleneck ... I wouldn't have guessed that.

 

- Speedstep works: I checked in 32bit mode with the tools posted in this thread and the CPU clock bounces around between 1.2GHZ and 2.94GHz depending on CPU load. I haven't seen it go above 3GHz during a Geekbench run, it looks like several cores are active at all times.

 

- The hard drives appear as external with an orange icon if they are connected to the Gigabyte port, while they appear with the standard gray HDD icon if they are connected to the P55 SATA ports.

DSDT.UD4P_F5.aml.zip

Geekbench_32bit.zip

[YoYelloW]

Two questions in relation to the recent posts...

 

First, am I the only one that runs Geekbench64? I am interested in other people's scores with P55 and i7 860. Thus far, at stock speed my best Geekbench64 is 9874, and running regular Geekbench I get 8390.

 

 

im also running GB at 64 bit, getting as high as 8884, with an UD2 I7 860 and 4gb 1333mhz ram, seems reasonable, if i got better ram it would be higher i guess, if i start OCing, ill also get higher, got a decent cooler and all.

 

 

 

 

btw just for fun, im using Menumeters, and now with this 860, every thread has its own percentage, looks pretty cool

 

 

 

When i put a big stress on my CPU, temps will get as high as ~58 degrees (using handbrake to encode some movies, perfect stresstest imo)

 

whats the temp you guys get at high stress? and at normal usage?

[Janus Kirin]

How did you boot without a DSDT file? I'll give your DSDT file a go, thanks for posting it!

 

I have noticed that sometimes the CPU clock multiplier in the bios gets changed from 21 to 15, giving a clock speed of 2.0GHz. It could explain your low Geekbench score. I noticed this when the computer was having a hard time playing HD content on Vimeo smoothly. Geekbench score on my machine with an i7 860, 8GB of RAM, GTX260, and GA-P55-UD4P are in the mid to high 8000 range (32 bit version) when clock speed is set at the stock 2.8GHZ.

 

I can actually boot my system without a DSDT, but without one my CMOS gets cleared on reboot. Here's a summary of how I set up my system (vaguely following Tony's guide for using a retail DVD).

 

* Use Disk Utility to copy Snow Leopard DVD to hard drive image

* Restore image onto 8GB USB stick

* Copy boot, DSDT.aml, /Extra folder (from Tony's site) onto USB stick root

* Run Chameleon (PC-EFI) on the USB stick

* Grab the Snow Leopard 10.6.2 combo updater from Apple's site

* Extract it using UNPKG and use Terminal to copy just mach_kernel to the USB stick (I didn't have luck with the Qoopx kernel he provided)

* Set BIOS as Tony recommends, boot using USB memory stick with parameters "BUSRATIO=21 CPUS=1"

* Format/partition hard drive

* Install OSX

* When it completes, but before it restarts, quickly enter Terminal

* Copy boot, DSDT.aml, mach_kernel, /Extra to hard drive

* Turn off computer manually

* Restart with USB stick in drive, tell Chameleon to boot from hard drive

* Once OSX loads, install Chameleon, use the kext utility to install the Realtek kext, NVEnabler (regular and 64), and VoodooHDA. Somewhere on the net I found a version of VoodooHDA that works with my P55-UD4P's 889a card. It's about 512kb, twice the size of the current (0.2.2?) version

* Before you reboot, also run the 10.6.2 combo updater. You should then be able to boot from the hard drive without the USB stick.

 

I'm still limited to the two blue SATA ports, and entering the BIOS takes a lot longer with the F5 BIOS, but it could be worse.