jblackwood Posted April 26, 2010 Share Posted April 26, 2010 Hello I was wondering what the best .kext would be for the GTX 295? As far as I can tell the reason that I can only boot in safe mode on my install of iAtkos v7 (10.5.7) is because my video card is not installed properly. If the GTX 295 is not supported, what is the best graphics card for under $75 that would be supported by Leopard/Snow Leopard by default? THANKS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerkex'd Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 The best kernel extensions to use are usually the ones that come with the version of OS X you're running and, if needed, modified by you. On 10.5.6-8 however, you should download and install the Leopard OS X drivers from Nvidia. But unless you're using MacPro3,1 or MacPro4,1 as model identifier, it's not as easy as it sounds. You can find a download link and read about how to get past the installation check here: http://www.projectosx.com/forum/index.php?...post&p=1677 Sometimes you'll need to add the video card's device ID to one or two kernel extensions to get full support. In your case - if the device ID is not present already - those would be NVDAResman.kext and NVDANV50Hal.kext. You can use LSPCI to find your video card's device ID: pciutils_osx_installer_1.03.zip To open a .kext file (it's a folder) right-click it and click 'show contents'. You'll find a list of Device IDs somewhere in the info.plist inside. Plist files are in xml format so you can use any xml editor but it's much more convenient to use the plist editor that comes with the XCode Apple Developer tools. You can download the latest version for Leopard 10.5.x at the Apple Developer site (free registration required) or you can pop in an original Leopard Installation DVD and install XCode from there. Hacked DVDs like the one you used to install usually don't come with Xcode, to cut down on the size. There's also a shareware plist editor called Plist Editor Pro, try google. Read this guide for more information about nvidia cards and kernel extensions: http://www.projectosx.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=4 PC video cards are not compatible with OS X even if they are recognized by the Nvidia drivers, for this reason you'll need an injection method, which can be any of the below: Injector.kext (For example NVEnabler.kext, but there are others) Device-properties string in com.apple.Boot.plist (Generated with EFI Studio, OSX86Tools or gfxutil) Chameleon 2.0 bootloader with GraphicsEnabler=y in /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist DSDT patch And to learn about using Terminal (for example to fix permissions on your modified Nvidia Kernel Extensions, which you will need to do) read this: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=14496 Don't forget to make backups of any file you modify. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblackwood Posted April 27, 2010 Author Share Posted April 27, 2010 Thanks so much for the advice! I was at a loss as to what to do next. I have seen many of your posts before while googling my problems and all of your posts were very helpful. I was hoping that you may see my thread when I posted. I will try this tomorrow after class. Too busy studying right now (gotta love cost accounting...). Thanks! One more question. I see you mentioned DSDT patching. Is it essential to patch a system's DSDT? Every time I have tried to use the GUI DSDT patcher the build has always failed. Force compiling doesn't work either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerkex'd Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 Is it essential to patch a system's DSDT? It depends on your hardware. On some motherboards (like my P5Q) you can't boot OS X without first removing the CPU aliases from the DSDT. In many cases it can be practical to patch something in DSDT rather than using modified kernel extensions or other patches. If you update, drivers get updated but the DSDT stays the same and things keep working. Well that's the idea anyway :-) The first thing to do when starting out with DSDT editing is to fix the compiling errors. When you can decompile and compile your unmodified DSDT without getting any error messages, you're ready to continue. If you're lucky the code that is buggy can be ripped out instead of fixed. For example half of my DSDT is code that works with ASUS overclocking and fan control software that only runs on Windows. So I just removed it and that took care of a lot of compiling errors. Some of us need to remove or reroute IRQs or adress ranges for some devices for example to remove sound skipping or resolve hardware conflicts: http://www.projectosx.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=564 http://www.projectosx.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=956 On a vanilla system you can have native speedstepping: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=181631 http://efixusers.com/showthread.php?t=533 You can patch device IDs in the DSDT and use unpatched, retail drivers for USB, SATA and other devices (which is awesome): http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=168014 A DSDT patch (that I use) by THe KiNG that replaces HDAEnabler.kext: http://www.projectosx.com/forum/index.php?...post&p=3781 The thread that I used as guide and inspiration for patching my own DSDT: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...t&p=1280888 More interesting stuff here: http://www.efixusers.com/showthread.php?t=219 Download and install DSDTSE and browse the code examples included: http://www.osx86.es/?p=610 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblackwood Posted April 27, 2010 Author Share Posted April 27, 2010 I think i've made some progress. I added my device id into both of NVDAResman.kext and NVDANV50Hal.kext. Then I installed the NVEnabler.kext. Repaired the permissions and removed the extensions caches. Then i tried to boot in -x -f -v and everything seemed to be going well until it finished loaded... suddenly the screen lost connection from my computer and I was unable to see anything, then my monitor said "device disconnected". I then tried to boot only with -f -v and the same thing happened. I believe the drivers are working and it may be possible to for me too have graphics card support. My monitor is http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx...n82e16824009145 Now what should I do to enable support for my display? Thanks for all of the advice so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerkex'd Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 Did you install the Nvidia drivers first? This is important, this is the only way to get support for 200 series cards on 10.5.x Make sure your monitor is plugged into the output that's closest to the motherboard and that it's the only device that's plugged in for now. At least OS X doesn't crash, that's a good sign.. /Edit ohhh..I forgot...the 295 is one of those two-in-one cards. Looks like you have your work cut out for you (page 2): http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=147149 Which in turn will lead you here.. http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p...p;postcount=236 If I recall correctly, the mentioned EVGA drivers are older than the Nvidia drivers you've installed. You should compare version numbers and file dates before trying the EVGA drivers. The GTX295 is a special case that I know nothing about, so I can't offer more help. At least you know now that it's possible to get it working. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalkishnu Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 cool info this forum kiks ass ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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