USB Problem with GFX fix through EFI Strings

[kgc2k3]

Hello everyone

 

This is my first post so if there are any problems with my post please let me know and i will do whatever is necessary to fix it.

 

So, normally i would just troll forums or go through trial and error to solve my problems but i am so close that I decided that it might be worth creating a post. And who knows, maybe this will help someone else.

 

Before I start, some info and history:

 

PC Build

780i Nvidia motherboard

8800GTS 640mb Graphics card

q6600 core 2 quad CPU

 

osx86 build

iPC 10.5.6

9.5.0 Voodoo Kernel

AppleNForceATA nForce Drivers Chipset Driver

ALC888 Audio Driver

nForceLAN Ethernet Driver.

 

GUID formatting with 2 partitions

1. main OS X install

2. maintenance partition

 

 

With this setup everything seems to work like a charm except for the graphics. Normally I would settle and call it great except that during normal use the computer is hardly usable due to many of the windows not refreshing correctly or scrolling correctly or having numerous other issues. I also have multiple monitors connected to my rig and setting up the correct settings is the only way to get that to work.

 

I have done plenty of research and from what I have read there are two different ways to go about getting graphics to work; 1) injectors, 2) EFI strings. After much experimentation I have never had a successful boot using any injector. I am also planning on adding a second video card to my system once i get this working and the only way to go about getting both to work is through EFI strings so method 2 is the way to go.

 

I have successfully been able to get EFI strings to work through the use of an app named EFI Studio. However, whenever these settings get applied I run into a a bigger problem than bad graphics. It seems that any time after i edit com.apple.boot.plist all of my USB devices become unresponsive after restarting my machine. I am not sure if the boot.plist is the problem or not but i am sure that any time after applying the EFI String, after restart i am unable to use any USB devices. However, I am able to restart and it does succesfully boot to the desktop and I am able use the keyboard in bios and the boot-loader so i know the hardware is not that problem. I have tried unplugging and re-plugging the devices although it doesn't do any good. I have noticed though that the light on the mouse is on during the boot and after unplugging and re-plugging the light does not turn back on. I have also noticed that USB thumb drives / jump drives are never recognized either.

 

I have tried adding adding a kext that is supposed to help with USB Mounting problems, however, even after booting with -f it did not change anything.

 

This problem may also be bigger than com.apple.boot.plist or the implementation of the EFI string. The first time that this USB problem had happened i thought it was simply an anomaly and erased just the osx86 partition to reinstall. After the reinstall had completed and i had booted back into the new install and noticed that the reinstall did not fix the problem. I thought maybe editing files through my bare bones maintenance partition would fix the problem but the USB did not work on that partition either. The only way i was able to get it working was to format the entire drive rather than just erasing one partition of it.

 

This makes me think that the problem may indeed be something wrong with the bootloader or maybe permissions. I was thinking that it may be something that affects more than just the local partition. In one guide i read they stressed that you must repair permissions on your drive before you restart after applying the EFI String and editing the boot.plist. However, it would seem that the problem appears regardless of weather the permissions are repaired or not. I was curious if permissions are repaired on reboot or if permissions are irrelevant to this problem.

 

It is very possible that i am looking way way too much into this. If anyone has any tips, tricks, ideas, or anything to try please do not hesitate to respond. Thanks in advance for everyone's help.