manta Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 OK so I've got several hacks up and running, but always with the Apple boot screen stretched. I've read conflicting info about this, with the Graphics Mode key/string in the com.apple.boot.plist file. But I've never got this to work, but I've seen youtube videos of it working, like this one: I've also got 2 screens connected (graphics card has 2 outs) which are different resolutions - I guess this is complicating things. The smaller one (1280x1024) looks fine, but the larger one (1920x1200) looks stretched very wide, even with the Graphics Mode key with 1920x1200x32 string. Is a definitive fix for this just not possible on hacks? It bugs the hell out of me for some reason. Should I stop worrying about it and just get on with my life? (don't answer that one) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Vermelho Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 It's a video card issue and there are many threads about it already. The boot resolution that you set in com.apple.Boot.plist must be supported by your video card BIOS. If you have Chameleon RC2 installed, at the GUI you can see a list of supported VESA modes. If the resolution you want to use is not listed there, it will not work when setting it via com.apple.Boot.plist. Some people have had luck with upgrading their video card BIOS. Visit your video card manufacturer's website or mvktech.net and see if there's a newer BIOS available for your video card. Another way to fix it (but it's kind of cheating) is to use a Chameleon 2.0 theme that compensates for the non-native resolution you're running. You can alter the apple boot logo in an image editor and replace it with a slightly stretched one to compensate. Of course it will not look as sharp because you're not running at the display's native resolution but at least the aspect ratio will be correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manta Posted August 5, 2010 Author Share Posted August 5, 2010 Thanks for the input... I did try searching and found a lot of threads but also a lot of conflicting info. That answer makes a lot of sense. It does look like a whole world of pain, as I'm essentially a noob. I think the best solution for me is to use the verbose mode and not show the Apple boot screen at all. Thanks anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Vermelho Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 Is this on the video card in your sig...are you using an unmodified video card for Macs in your PC? If that's the case then I have no idea what your options are. On a PC with a PC nvidia video card, you would boot up from a floppy or bootable USB flash drive, and run nvflash to flash the BIOS. It's really easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manta Posted August 5, 2010 Author Share Posted August 5, 2010 Yep it's an Apple-branded 7300GT. I guess it was standard in the first Mac Pros. It works perfectly in my hack but yeah as you said, flashing the BIOS is a bit of an unknown, and probably not really worth the hassle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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