Illustrated PDF: Vanilla OSX 10.5 on the Asrock ION 330 NetTop - NB: NOT for Pro or HD versions

[fpoil]

An atom 330 CAN'T decode 1080p without the help of the gpu, that's it...

 

and you can't use gpu (on linux, windows or osx or whatever) for decoding flash HD (for now).

 

That's why i'm very curious to know if quicktime X (and then peraphs Frontrow) is using the 9400M to decode 1080p

[lzthqx]

With my current config, I cannot play HD content (disabled HT and having to use NVinject).

It actually has trouble with SD content.

 

My Acer Revo with XBMC Live however is playing 1080p content flawlessly.

 

I am anxious to get the 9400m properly recognized (dsdt.aml I'm guessing), and I bet QT10 will be able to play the clips.

 

Anyone with suggestions.. Im all ears :-)

 

Curiously, iPhoto '09 can import and display photos, but when you select edit, it's just black screen. suckage!

 

Asrock ION 330 2GRAM SnowLeopard

[lzthqx]

Quick update..

 

Using SilentNatit.kext on SL, I have full QE/CI, and am playing HD content without difficulty.

 

Cheers!

[shoarthing]

Quick update..

 

Using SilentNatit.kext on SL, I have full QE/CI, and am playing HD content without difficulty.

 

Cheers!

. . . . exactly which booter are you using with SL? I gave Chameleon RC2 640 a try with SL, then RC1 431 w/ the boot-file from PC-EFI v10.0 (then tried 10.1); & all produced the same immediate KPs

[DUally]

Being a N00b here

Wat is QE/CI ?

 

How's the audio on Snow Leopard ?

Still need an external USB sound card to get good audio ?

 

thnx

 

Quick update..

 

Using SilentNatit.kext on SL, I have full QE/CI, and am playing HD content without difficulty.

 

Cheers!

[fpoil]

Izthqx tell us more pleaaaaaaaase

[Goz]

I'm having a problem. After following the guide and making the appropriate edits and BIOS settings and flashing the BIOS, etc... I'm stuck to where the ION will boot up to Chameleon and anything past POST I cant seem to utilize my keyboard. Chameleon starts the apple logo flashes and then the ION reboots.

 

Any ideas where I messed up?

 

 

{edit} I got passed the no keyboard. This was the Legacy USB setting in the BIOS. I had to deviate on that from the guide in order to have USB keyboard.

 

I'm still stuck in an endless reboot though.... I'll try to capture a pic of the boot attempt in Verbose mode

 

{edit#2}

 

Ok it looks like I'm facing the CPUS=1 thing

 

This worked...

 

No-execute memory protection in BIOS

[gastromagig]

hey lzthqx

did u use the chameleon rc3 to get gpu acceleration for HD in SL.

That is the graphics enabler that we used for leopard in this tutorial?

Also are all the kexts the same for everything else

 

Thanks,

gastromagig

[k0tr@kt0r]

Hi!

AsRock released new bios 1.60

Description:

1. Improve SSD hard disk performance/compatibility.

2. Add <DEL> key for the 2nd option to enter BIOS Setup.

3. System can be waken up by onboard lan under S5 through GigaLan hub.

4. Add "Good Night LED" feature.

5. Improve compatibility of Lan connection.

 

I didn't update yet.Where are options,which we asked asrock?

 

P.S.

I updated the BIOS. I really did not find "Legacy USB Support", "USB 2.0 Controller Mode", "BIOS EHCI Hand-Off". WTF? Why they did not include our options in the new version?

[shoarthing]

k0tr@kt0r - Hi - our 150d BIOS is a special troubleshooting one they kindly supplied on my request to Asrock techs: suggest - if you actually have a need for any of the new features/fixes in 160 - that you ask for a version of 160 w/ all our special USB settings from 150d [except suggest it does *not* have a 'disable' option for 'Legacy USB'].

 

BTW - when you were playing with SL; did you find the same old hassles with USB2/EHCI? . . . & which booter did you use?

[k0tr@kt0r]

When I installed SL , I used BIOS 1.50c with disable usb2.0.Usb worked but slow speed.I didn't check "enable usb 2.0" option.

I use http://www.teknojunkie.com/2009/08/guide-s...32-coming-soon/ tutorial.They use chameleon2 rc1 431 with modified boot1 for SL.

[shoarthing]

When I installed SL , I used BIOS 1.50c with disable usb2.0.Usb worked but slow speed.I didn't check "enable usb 2.0" option.

I use http://www.teknojunkie.com/2009/08/guide-s...32-coming-soon/ tutorial.They use chameleon2 rc1 431 with modified boot1 for SL.

. . . aaaah; thank you. Nice to get solid info.

 

A proper install of SL on the ION 330 is going to be an amusing challenge; I've spent a couple of days editing a dsdt to try to sort/enable the key functions - expect to have this sorted [or to have admitted failure] in a day or two.

[DUally]

Great stuff you guys !

Any word on better audio support under SL ?

[Goz]

Is there a clear path / guide to upgrading the ASROCK 330 to SL? I was able to follow the guide and am enjoying Leo on it, but really would like to go Snow and try to use the GPU for decoding 1080p

[shoarthing]

Is there a clear path / guide to upgrading the ASROCK 330 to SL? I was able to follow the guide and am enjoying Leo on it, but really would like to go Snow and try to use the GPU for decoding 1080p

. . . I've been making a dsdt for SL, & am testing what appears to be a near-final version now.

 

If there is a reasonably simple, repeatable SL install method then I'll make a SL guide: obviously you or someone else may find a better way & publish a howto before I get round to it.

 

The hassle for pretty well everyone with every motherboard has been with loading the install DVD, plus having working graphics.

 

Installation is pretty trivial - given a working dsdt, which is non-trivial - with the install DVD restored to a fast 8GB USB stick

 

I doubt there is a simple update [as in: updating a real mac to SL] method; but will have a look into it.

[Goz]

Shoarthing

 

Thanks for the reply. A friend of mine hopped online last night and made a DSDT for me and put it and the necessary bits for together in a nice little package that made it really simple and as a result I have a nice fresh install of SL running in 64bit mode. I didn't have enough time to do a full range of tests yet but everything appears to be working great minus sound. 1080p playback of Apple Trailer "Whiteout" was smooth and flawless. I'll try out Plex and run some additional tests tonight after work in case anyone is interested of 1080p playback in different containers than MOV like MKV, etc.

 

Since he did the heavy lifting I'll ask permission to post the how to here in case others need it or maybe he will.

 

Attached is a screenshot with Geekbench results

[shoarthing]

Yes, of course . . . . please add your SL guide plus files & so on & I'll try it out then edit the title/first page as necessary to point there.

 

[Edit] . . . amazed you've encouraged the poor little thing all the way up to 2.2GHz - is it 100% 24/7 stable?

 

I've backed off down to 1.8 - admittedly am running fans at lowest possible speed.

 

[Another edit] . . . well, have been spending some more time in 10.6 on the ION 330 & just can't see the point right now - mainly because you lose the 2 extra HTT 'cores' - a pretty big deal with such a low-powered box.

 

Installation is as easy as 10.5: the dsdt I uploaded here matched to BIOS 150d works, use the same 150d BIOS settings, use Chameleon RC3 b658 'boot' binary in the root of your SL drive, overwriting the one you install if/when using the RC2 b640 installer pkg.

 

The Chameleon RC3 b658 graphicsenabler works. Fakesmc v2 works.

 

As with 10.5 load a 10.6 64-bit version of the UUID.kext & make sure the last 12 characters of the UUID string are those from your MAC, minus the colons - this is partly for Time Machine function.

 

There's a lot of fuss being made about system UUID in SL, much of it badly-informed; it seems sensible to add a 'bootuuid=xxxxxxxx' kernel flag to apple.com.boot.plist, with xxxx = the UUID of your boot volume.

 

I spent quite a bit of time playing with possible ways to install from the retail DVD - sadly couldn't get the CD loaders from Chameleon RC2/3 or Boot Think 2.3 to work properly - this seems to be most folks' experience with most mobos.

[DUally]

Hey Goz,

 

you souped up the little guy to 2.2ghz, but is that stable ?

I mean you managed to almost get the same geekbench score on 10.6 without the 2 htt cores, than shoarthing on 10.5.6 with them. So do the fans go wild, or is it still a quiet little bugger

 

thnx.

[EnDumEn]

I read a review of the ASRock running win7 and they had tested 2,1ghz in various situations. Rock solid was their verdict!

[Goz]

I have the fans set to auto. At 2.2Ghz its rock solid.

 

The boot loader is Chameleon 2

 

I have also installed Win7 and XP and ran similar tests and yeah with the right codec pack it handles 1080p content and quite a few games like the new Wolfenstein, UTIII, etc and it does a commendable job.

 

I've been able to playback 1080p trailers downloaded from the apple site and they play beautifully but am having issues playing back MP4 and MKV packaged 1080p content without dropping just enough frames to have it be unacceptable.

[shoarthing]

I have the fans set to auto. At 2.2Ghz its rock solid.

 

The boot loader is Chameleon 2

 

I have also installed Win7 and XP and ran similar tests and yeah with the right codec pack it handles 1080p content and quite a few games like the new Wolfenstein, UTIII, etc and it does a commendable job.

 

I've been able to playback 1080p trailers downloaded from the apple site and they play beautifully but am having issues playing back MP4 and MKV packaged 1080p content without dropping just enough frames to have it be unacceptable.

. . what an amazing little box it is - 2.2GHz is high for an Atom 330.

 

These playback issues are all in QuicktimeX - yes? I've always found mkv tricky.

 

Which release of Chameleon RC2? [there are 3]. I couldn't use the 'boot' file from any version prior to b658 - had to use a booter from PC-EFI 10.x

 

What are you using for sound in OSX?

[DUally]

Wow Is 2.2 a setting in the bios ? I thought it wouldnt go beyond 2.1, and as shoarthing could you tell me what your using voor sound on OSX ?

[Goz]

. . what an amazing little box it is - 2.2GHz is high for an Atom 330.

 

These playback issues are all in QuicktimeX - yes? I've always found mkv tricky.

 

Which release of Chameleon RC2? [there are 3]. I couldn't use the 'boot' file from any version prior to b658 - had to use a booter from PC-EFI 10.x

 

What are you using for sound in OSX?

 

Quicktime X wont play an MKV even with Perian 1.1.4 installed. I'm seeing the playback issues in Front Row, Plex, VLC, QuickTime7, and mPlayer. I can get .MOV files that are 1080p to play beautifully (apple trailers). I have my main hack configured to convert some MKV's to other format to test playback in QuickTime X

 

Its running Chameleon v2 rc1 build date 2009-07-23 at least thats whats on the screen. My friend set an installer. It wasn't any more complicated than install SL from a flash drive or HDD restore. Run the installer and reboot. He was working on cleaning up some more items so that they appeared to be more genuine Mac last night and I went through the install again and it was like buttttta.

 

For sound I'm using a USB dongle from a Logitech gaming headset. Most cheap USB audio connections seem to work fine.

[DUally]

Is Quicktime X playing other formats than mkv @ 1080p okay or dropping frames as well.. ?

[shoarthing]

. . . hmmm: the big hassle with SL is the lack so far of 64-bit drivers - I am using a dongle based on the Ralink 2870 wireless 'n' IC & of course there's only a 32-bit driver.

 

Also need to use openhaltrestart in SL - didn't need this before.

 

. . just can't see the point so far; but will give it a go for a week or so.

 

Effortless & apparently complete transfer of all my files & settings from a CCC clone of the Leopard install using the Migration tool.

 

Some things don't work - including custom display resolutions.

 

SL is a *very* easy install, given a working OSX install you can plug the ION 330's HDD into. With a mildly edited dsdt & Chameleon RC3b658 the only major issues are no onboard sound & [presumably - haven't tried yet] sleep. Everything else appears to work really well.

 

Four kexts in /Extra/Extensions . . . . . . vanilla install.