Installing a new video card- Help! GeForce FX5500

[aeronauticsrock]

I got osx86 running pretty well on my HP a1010n.

 

I couldn't get the Intel GMA card to work, so I tried installing a Nvidia GeForce FX5500 (PCI). Im pretty new to this scene, so I wasnt sure how to go about installing it. I booted my install disk (iAtkos v7) and installed "EFI Strings for nVidia- I selected VGA/DVI. The card only has VGA.

 

When it shut down, I put the card in and tried booting- it wouldnt work. I gets to the apple logo but does not start spinning. When I try booting with -v, it doesnt get to the point of displaying any text. With the card in, the monitor only works when plugged into the card, and everything is a little flickery and werid looking.

 

I then went back into the iAtkos disk and install the EFI string for "DVI/VGA" and the Natit enabler. Basically the symptoms are the same- I cant get it to boot at all.

 

Is there anyway to undo what ive done? Or will I need to fresh install the system?

 

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!

 

EDIT: I just realized this should be in the nVidia Graphics Card Forum. Sorry. Admin, please move. Thanks!

[Beerkex'd]

What OS X version are you running?

You must use nvidia kernel extensions from 10.5.5 or earlier with 5xxx series cards.

 

Recovery info:

http://www.projectosx.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=10

 

Afterwards, following this guide should get you up and running.

http://www.projectosx.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=4

[aeronauticsrock]

I Was on 5.7 so that was at least part of the problem. So I can download the 10.5.5 kexts from somewhere? Or will I need a 5.5 installer?

 

I'm still unclear on when I plug the video card in... After following that proceedure in the guide? Shutdown, insert card and boot?

 

Thank you!!

[Beerkex'd]

You can use pacifist to extract the relevant nvidia kexts from this package - it's a bit old (10.5.2) but your card should be supported by the drivers in it:

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/appl...csupdate10.html

I don't know if using drivers that old will cause problems though. And I don't know if it would be safe for you to run the installer as it is on a 10.5.7 system, who knows what else it replaces.

 

You could also download the 10.5.5 combo update and extract the drivers from there. It's probably your best option - unless you have a 10.5.5 install DVD at hand of course.

 

Install the drivers first or plug in the video card now, it's up to you. If you get a black screen when booting up try booting up in safe mode ( -x flag) and if that doesn't work, follow the part of the guide that tells you how to delete the existing nvidia drivers.

 

If you're going to use NVEnabler, be sure to remove your EFI device properties strings from com.apple.Boot.plist first.

[aeronauticsrock]

Thanks for all your help so far. I downloaded the combo update and pulled the 3 kexts from it. I added my device id, per the instruction guide you linked.

 

I rebooted, saw the chameleon bootloader and then everything got fuzzy and lines come all across the screen, starting with a pink one, vertically in the middle. After a few minutes, it booted up and seem to be using the card- I could change the res. to 1920x1200.

 

There seemed to be quite a bit of corruption in system preferences window and everything, so i rebooted before applying corruption fixes.

 

On the reboot, I saw chameleon, everything went fuzzy again and it hangs on a white screen. Some really weird stuff come on the screen while it is going fuzzy, resembling a black and white "wave". It will not boot past the white screen any more.

 

Advice from here? Thanks so much!

 

1 other note- i have figured out it is a time issue- I paused chameleon for a few seconds, and all the weirdness happened while it was sitting there, so its not related to an actual boot failure. Thanks!

 

Ok i have even a little more info. If i turn the monitor off and back on, i see the apple loading screen. About 5 seconds later the weirdness all starts happening and it goes all white again. I can keep seeing what happening with resetting the monitor. About 30 seconds into the boot, the computer completely shuts down.

One of the last things is "CPU Halted .... safe to shutdown". thank you!

[Beerkex'd]

It sounds like your video card or your monitor is defective. Can you test it in another computer?

 

Make sure the on-board GMA video is disabled in the BIOS.

 

Don't forget to remove your EFI strings. Download and install NVEnabler.kext from the ProjectOSX Forums.

 

Try changing the boot graphics mode in /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist. And if you have a refresh rate specified there, remove it.

 

If you're using Chameleon 2.0 RC2, make sure the built-in video injector is disabled.

 

What happens if you boot with -x ? It should boot up in unaccelerated VESA mode with the video drivers disabled. If it still goes berzerk, then the problem is not with the drivers.

 

Try installing the card in a different PCI slot.