Sedna Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Hi! I have a MSI P965 Platinum motherboard with the ICH8R SATA controller. I installed Mac OS X (JaS 10.4.8), but before that I had to set the SATA#1 config in the BIOS from "Enhanced" to "Compatible". Installation was fine apart from slow disk operation. Even after installation, Xbench shows very poor results (around 3 MB/s). If I enable "Enhanced" in the BIOS, than I get the feared "Still waiting for root device" error... I read a lot of forums, and I know that this is a problem many people suffer, so please: someone who actually HAS this same motherboard could share his experiences, and describe how he managed (if at all) to force his SATA drives to achieve the normal (at least UDMAx) speed under Mac OS X? Regards. PS: Oh btw I tried the "AppleIntelPIIXATA.kext" method, also the "IOATAFamily.kext" method which eventually lead to the destruction of my OS X partition. I'm planning to reinstall it on 2x200 GB SATA (RAID0), if you can also help with this I'd very much appreciate it. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/45125-msi-p965-ich8r-slow-sata-performance/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivangrozny Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Hi. I have similar motherboard - MSI G965M with ICH8 (without RAID), and I have the same problem. I tried all setting in BIOS, flashed latest version of BIOS, but nothing works. Also I can say that it is definitely not a chipset problem - because lots of people runs 965/ICH8 wo SATA problems. And one more thing: in 'Enchanced' - native SATA mode even Acronis software (DiskDirector and TrueImage) don't see hard drive, so it is more than Mac OS problem. And, by the way, in IDE mode Mac OS don't see more than 128GB on disk, do you find some solution to this problem? For now I'm running Mac OS on my ancient 4200rpm external hard drive, and it is still faster than main HDD (Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB) in non SATA mode. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/45125-msi-p965-ich8r-slow-sata-performance/#findComment-323011 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedna Posted March 14, 2007 Author Share Posted March 14, 2007 IT IS WORKING, I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've changed to AHCI in the BIOS, and without reinstalling the system my Xbench is now 132.56! I'm so happy!!! Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/45125-msi-p965-ich8r-slow-sata-performance/#findComment-323658 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivangrozny Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 You are lucky, as I understand ICH8 doesn't support AHCI. By the way: where in BIOS you find AHCI option? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/45125-msi-p965-ich8r-slow-sata-performance/#findComment-323811 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedna Posted March 14, 2007 Author Share Posted March 14, 2007 Hm, first of all I don't really understand the BIOS setting mechanics for RAID, but in the INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS menu I chose RAID, and there is another submenu down there for SATA settings, where I can choose RAID, IDE, AHCI. And there I chose AHCI. BTW my motherboard has two different controllers (MSI P965 Platinum). One is JMicron (1x IDE, 1x SATA), and the other is ICH8R (6x SATA). I have my DVD burner connected to the single IDE port (Pioneer DVR111-D), and the 3x SATA II drives connected to the ICH8R ports (1x 80GB Samsung, 2x 200GB Samsung). Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/45125-msi-p965-ich8r-slow-sata-performance/#findComment-323830 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivangrozny Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Thanks. I have no RAID, so I haven't such option in BIOS. The only option I have is grayed option 'Configure SATA1 as = 'IDE'' under Integrated Peripherals/SATA Device Configuration, but it is not changeable as I understand. It's a pity, but I think I would connect HD via USB/Firewire, and run Mac OS this way. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/45125-msi-p965-ich8r-slow-sata-performance/#findComment-323873 Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgansson Posted March 18, 2007 Share Posted March 18, 2007 i have the same problem @ same mainboard. tried with ich7r/ich8r patch and still, i have no raid controller so.. 3mbps and 128gb =( Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/45125-msi-p965-ich8r-slow-sata-performance/#findComment-326634 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedna Posted March 18, 2007 Author Share Posted March 18, 2007 (edited) Hey morgansson, make sure you install OS X from "JaS 10.4.8 AMD INTEL SSE3 SSE2 with v1p and Defiant Disk Utility Patches Applied". No need for the ICH7/8R patch... Just make sure all your drives are connected to the ICH8R channels, not the JMicron ones, except for the DVD drive. Also set your BIOS parameters according to my previous post. Should work. Lemme know if you succeeded or have problems. PS: beware of abbreviations though, 3 mbp/s, or 3 MB/s. Not the same :censored2: Edit: make sure in the main INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS menu you choose RAID, and in the submenu you choose AHCI! Edited March 18, 2007 by Sedna Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/45125-msi-p965-ich8r-slow-sata-performance/#findComment-326670 Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgansson Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Hey Sedna, i mean that i have the G965M like ivan. i've got only ich8 without raid. as enhanced sata options i can set IDE only =( thanks Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/45125-msi-p965-ich8r-slow-sata-performance/#findComment-326978 Share on other sites More sharing options...
demoniac Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Finally... YeeeeeeeeEEEEEESSS!!! It worked like a charm. Changed from IDE to AHCI. Xbench score from 37 to 85!! HD random read went from 2,5MB/s to 150MB/s! And the boot of OS X... I no longer se "Darwin OSX" at the beginning, boots right into OS X. Doesn't even see the "MAC OSX" loader at the beginning... Just straight through to OS X... Lovely man...Lovely... My specs; MSI G965MDH-FI Intel Core 2 Duo 1,8 Ghz (Think it's the 4300, but not sure) 1GB RAM (PC4300 or something, planning to upgrade to 2x 1GB PC6400) Geforce FX5200 PCI (Used nativ, everything is supported...I think even dual screen!) 500GB Seagate Barracuda ES SATA II D-Link DWL-G122 USB WLAN dongle. Everything works great! Bought all except the HDD for $30 of someone who didn't want it... Never used, just booted once. That's a cheap mac! If anyone should have trouble getting the sound to work, or the graphic accelator, contact me and I will try to help! Ah...lovely.. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/45125-msi-p965-ich8r-slow-sata-performance/#findComment-517459 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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