SL on a Dell Precision 490

[zchef2k]

I can usually get by on my own or possibly with a little IRC help, but this one is killing me...

 

I got a Dell Precision 490 for $20 and put about $80 into it and now I'm running dual Dual Core Xeons at 3.2Ghz, 8G RAM, and an NVIDIA 8800GTS.

 

I did a USB install and it went well, the only problem is I cant get it to consistently boot form the attached SATA drive, I presume because of the IRQ conflict on the 5000X boards.

 

Here's what I have done so far with mediocre results:

 

1) Edited DSDT to remove IRQ assignments for PICB, TIMR.

2) Using netkas's HPET kext, I edited Info.plist to grab IRQ 2 for HPET.

 

It this time I cannot get the SATA drive to boot. I have booted the drive before and now have gotten stuck when I try to add in functionality for the NVIDIA card via GraphicsEnabler and/or the Ethernet card. I think the problem is how the IRQ lines are laid out for the PCI bus and the SATA controller is not getting picked up.

 

So.....

 

Anyone running 10.6 on a Dell Precision 490? I need DSDT and/or kext help.

[zchef2k]

Ok, no replies, but this will be a brain dump for me and anyone else who's attempting an install on this machine.

 

I removed AppleHPET.kext from /S/L/E and the 10.6 install on the drive is booting consitently without issue. I also am enjoying full acceleration on the 8800GTS via GraphicsEnabler and PciRoot 4.

 

The BCM5751 Ethernet is up and running via a patched Leopard AppleBCM5701.kext.

 

Installing the combined 10.6.4 update reinstalled IOATAFamily.kext which no longer KP's the machine and gives me reliable support from attached IDE drives.

 

Audio is supported via VoodooHDA out of the box, no kext modification needed.

 

Issues remain:

 

1) I am having to boot the machine using the legacy kernel which precludes me from using all 6 gigs of installed RAM.

 

2) Using the legacy kernel, I have to disable Hyperthreading in the bios which sucks because I'm about to put in a second dual core Xeon and would like to run 8 logical cores.

 

3) I have no support for HPET via the removal of AppleHPET.kext.

 

4) No processor stepping.

 

5) netkas's latest (or any) FakeSMC does not yield available temp sensors for CPU, GPU, or northbridge

 

If anyone has experience with this machine or a similar platform, feel free to chime in.

 

-Z

[bender12]

I picked up a 490 recently too, although not as cheaply as you did. Mine has dual 5150's, so no hyperthreading anyway.

 

I have no problem with a vanilla install and a modified DSDT, as you said. Removed IRQ from PCI/TIMR and RTC, and add the IRQ settings on HPET as suggested in so many threads. I have HPET working, I am using the default kernel, and I'm running in 64 bit mode.

 

I use a standard 10.6.3 install and patched to 10.6.5 fine.

 

Sound worked after installing VoodooHDA.

 

I did not bother with the onboard networking, and instead installed an Intel gigabit card, and used the Intel E1000 driver that is in these forums.

 

I'm using a cheapo NVidia 8400 GS right now, which worked just fine using Chameleon GraphicsEnabler=Yes and setting PciRoot=4.

 

I actually put 32GB of RAM in my system and OSX sees it all. Yep, 32GB of RAM.

 

My biggest problem/issue is power management. I can't get the LPC to work at all. The driver loads, the device-id for it is native in the AppleLPC.kext, but it continues to say that it failed initialization. I can't figure out how to fix this.

 

Oh and any sort of high speed USB devices won't wake a sleeping system, and sometimes have the issue of not working on wakeup. This is because of missing information in the 001D0007 section for EHCI, however, there is no section for EHCI in the DSDT. So I tried adding some of it from other peoples posts, and got it to the point where it says EHCI is built in, but devices (such as an Apple keyboard) won't wake the system.

 

So, my two biggest issues are : EHCI sleep and C-States issue/LPC driver.

 

There are other little issues that I'm not super worried about right now, such as the memory not being detected as having ECC, or the processor type being wrong and having to hard code the smbios.plist with the right processor type, and a slew of others. But I probably won't use this box as an OSX box if I can't get it to use less power and run cooler. I haven't tried any sort of software to detect temperatures, I'm just going by the power usage my Kill-A-Watt shows and by feeling the heat pumping out of the back of the system.

[zchef2k]

I picked up a 490 recently too, although not as cheaply as you did. Mine has dual 5150's, so no hyperthreading anyway.

 

I have no problem with a vanilla install and a modified DSDT, as you said. Removed IRQ from PCI/TIMR and RTC, and add the IRQ settings on HPET as suggested in so many threads. I have HPET working, I am using the default kernel, and I'm running in 64 bit mode.

 

Sweet. I knew there would be a reply eventually.

 

I'm now using the legacy test7 kernel, which happens to facilitate hyperthreading but still limits me to 4G ram.

 

Sound was a lost cause. I don't like using VoodooHDA because a lot of compile X11 stuff won't respect the audio system with VoodooHDA- stuff just throws off audio errors and crashes. A lot of emulators complain too. I threw in a USB audio device in the back and said 'screw it.'

 

I'm controlling the 2 Intel coolers, 2 80mm rear exhaust fans, and the ram cooler with a Zalman fan controller. I have to run the Intel coolers full bore because my CPUs won't step either.

 

I suspect your processors are allowing for the vanilla kernel. My 5060s like to crash with the vanilla kernel. I don't know that we'll get temp readings, Dell controls fans and reads in temps on a separate chip. Let me know if you want support for the onboard NIC. I have it through a 10.5 kext.

 

Zac

[cbushjr56]

I picked up a 490 recently too, although not as cheaply as you did. Mine has dual 5150's, so no hyperthreading anyway.

 

I have no problem with a vanilla install and a modified DSDT, as you said. Removed IRQ from PCI/TIMR and RTC, and add the IRQ settings on HPET as suggested in so many threads. I have HPET working, I am using the default kernel, and I'm running in 64 bit mode.

 

I use a standard 10.6.3 install and patched to 10.6.5 fine.

 

Sound worked after installing VoodooHDA.

 

I did not bother with the onboard networking, and instead installed an Intel gigabit card, and used the Intel E1000 driver that is in these forums.

 

I'm using a cheapo NVidia 8400 GS right now, which worked just fine using Chameleon GraphicsEnabler=Yes and setting PciRoot=4.

 

I actually put 32GB of RAM in my system and OSX sees it all. Yep, 32GB of RAM.

 

My biggest problem/issue is power management. I can't get the LPC to work at all. The driver loads, the device-id for it is native in the AppleLPC.kext, but it continues to say that it failed initialization. I can't figure out how to fix this.

 

Oh and any sort of high speed USB devices won't wake a sleeping system, and sometimes have the issue of not working on wakeup. This is because of missing information in the 001D0007 section for EHCI, however, there is no section for EHCI in the DSDT. So I tried adding some of it from other peoples posts, and got it to the point where it says EHCI is built in, but devices (such as an Apple keyboard) won't wake the system.

 

So, my two biggest issues are : EHCI sleep and C-States issue/LPC driver.

 

There are other little issues that I'm not super worried about right now, such as the memory not being detected as having ECC, or the processor type being wrong and having to hard code the smbios.plist with the right processor type, and a slew of others. But I probably won't use this box as an OSX box if I can't get it to use less power and run cooler. I haven't tried any sort of software to detect temperatures, I'm just going by the power usage my Kill-A-Watt shows and by feeling the heat pumping out of the back of the system.

 

 

Would you be willing to PM the DSDT file. I have a Dell 490 and I can get SL installed on an IDE drive but not a SATA drive.

[cbushjr56]

I can usually get by on my own or possibly with a little IRC help, but this one is killing me...

 

I got a Dell Precision 490 for $20 and put about $80 into it and now I'm running dual Dual Core Xeons at 3.2Ghz, 8G RAM, and an NVIDIA 8800GTS.

 

I did a USB install and it went well, the only problem is I cant get it to consistently boot form the attached SATA drive, I presume because of the IRQ conflict on the 5000X boards.

 

Here's what I have done so far with mediocre results:

 

1) Edited DSDT to remove IRQ assignments for PICB, TIMR.

2) Using netkas's HPET kext, I edited Info.plist to grab IRQ 2 for HPET.

 

It this time I cannot get the SATA drive to boot. I have booted the drive before and now have gotten stuck when I try to add in functionality for the NVIDIA card via GraphicsEnabler and/or the Ethernet card. I think the problem is how the IRQ lines are laid out for the PCI bus and the SATA controller is not getting picked up.

 

So.....

 

Anyone running 10.6 on a Dell Precision 490? I need DSDT and/or kext help.

 

 

Did you get the 490 running. If not and you are still interested in running Snow Leopard on it, I can send you a patched DSDT. I finally got SL running on my 490.

[cbushjr56]

I can usually get by on my own or possibly with a little IRC help, but this one is killing me...

 

I got a Dell Precision 490 for $20 and put about $80 into it and now I'm running dual Dual Core Xeons at 3.2Ghz, 8G RAM, and an NVIDIA 8800GTS.

 

I did a USB install and it went well, the only problem is I cant get it to consistently boot form the attached SATA drive, I presume because of the IRQ conflict on the 5000X boards.

 

Here's what I have done so far with mediocre results:

 

1) Edited DSDT to remove IRQ assignments for PICB, TIMR.

2) Using netkas's HPET kext, I edited Info.plist to grab IRQ 2 for HPET.

 

It this time I cannot get the SATA drive to boot. I have booted the drive before and now have gotten stuck when I try to add in functionality for the NVIDIA card via GraphicsEnabler and/or the Ethernet card. I think the problem is how the IRQ lines are laid out for the PCI bus and the SATA controller is not getting picked up.

 

So.....

 

Anyone running 10.6 on a Dell Precision 490? I need DSDT and/or kext help.

 

I have SL running on my 490 and I have uploaded a boot disk here. With this disk you should be able to boot and install SL on to the SATA drives.

[kmisterk]

Still trying to get this thing up and running. I'm always late in the game, but better late than never.

 

I can't get this thing to take an install.

 

Dual 2.33 5345's, 16gb ram, ati radeon hd 6750. Can't even get to the point of install, if I use that boot disk you uploaded (had to do a crazy search to find it since megaupload went down), it like. freezes after switching over to loading up into the installer and stops sending video, then if I use i b oot, it stalls at waiting for root device. I'm stuck. I need this thing running osx! Let's get it.