noog Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 Stuffed a 10.4.6 DVD into a Dell dimension machine, had to struggle installing it in a horrible greyscale, installed the right patches I think, but now it's booted and It's still stuck in 800x600 256colours (although it seems like 256 shades of grey!) Is there a way to fix this? Machine is a dell dimension 3000 with an Intel GMA950 graphics controller (intel 945G) Would i be better off downloading a more recent version of the hackintosh software? Hope someone can help . This is what's actually being displayed: This is what the mac -thinks- it's displaying Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/42243-intel-945g-1046-256-colors/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
munky Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 I hate to tell you this, but this is a known issue with Dell machines' BIOS. Its only allocating something like 8Mb of vram to the GMA950 whereas it should be getting 64Mb (the figures here perhaps arent quite right). Several other people had this problem with Dell machines and as far as I know there is no solution. Perhaps someone who has faced this issue can suggest something? Maybe its possible to reflash your dell mobo's BIOS with a more standard bios which will let you override the RAM allocation to the GMA950. Alternatively, I guess you'll be looking at getting a PCI-E card and using Natit / Titan. Might be worth trying 10.4.8, as well. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/42243-intel-945g-1046-256-colors/#findComment-301956 Share on other sites More sharing options...
noog Posted February 13, 2007 Author Share Posted February 13, 2007 thanks for the fast detailled reply! I wasn't aware of any such issues, I will try and get a 10.4.8 disc and I'll also be on the lookout for a bios patch Unfortunately the mobo only has PCI, and not even AGP so i'm a bit limited as to what graphics cards I can use. thanks Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/42243-intel-945g-1046-256-colors/#findComment-301976 Share on other sites More sharing options...
munky Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 no problem mate. sorry it wasnt good news. check your BIOS to see if there are any options for the amount of ram given to the GMA950 - you never know. are you sure its a GMA950? dell's site says the dimension 3000 has intel extreme 2 which i think is an 865 chipset? EDIT: ok, you could try this program (its a windows program, so i hope you have windows installed...) http://bgoglin.free.fr/DOWNLOAD/dimension3000/BIOS-A02.exe this page: http://bgoglin.free.fr/dimension3000.php suggests that BIOS version will let you select more than 8Mb of video RAM. do this at your own risk tho - dont blame me if your computer explodes, killing your cat and blinding you in one eye. good luck! Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/42243-intel-945g-1046-256-colors/#findComment-301982 Share on other sites More sharing options...
noog Posted February 13, 2007 Author Share Posted February 13, 2007 well, the mobo is labelled 'e210882' , in windows the adaptor is identified as 'Intel® 82865G Graphics Controller' but I downloaded a pdf on the e210882 and it said it had the 945G. Will reset and see if there's an option in the bios for increasing it edit: Just found an option for the video buffer, upped it from 1meg to 8meg, and it's displaying in a decent res with full colour Thankyou *SO* much. I would never have thought to look there. *dances* Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/42243-intel-945g-1046-256-colors/#findComment-301989 Share on other sites More sharing options...
munky Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 ah cool. glad to help. perhaps that bios update will let you set it even higher, and open up bigger resolutions? who knows... EDIT: im pretty certain you do have an 865 chipset, and Intel Extreme Graphics 2. just FYI. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/42243-intel-945g-1046-256-colors/#findComment-301990 Share on other sites More sharing options...
noog Posted February 13, 2007 Author Share Posted February 13, 2007 Luckily my mum only has a 15" tft so it maxes out at 1024x768 anyway , so it's perfect . thanks for all your help Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/42243-intel-945g-1046-256-colors/#findComment-301994 Share on other sites More sharing options...
munky Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 you're welcome Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/42243-intel-945g-1046-256-colors/#findComment-302670 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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