Gigabyte P35-DS3R Thread

[Appleseed]

Thought I'd share my delight at a completely functional Gigabyte DS3R P35 / ICH9 chipset w/QuadCore.

 

Board: Gigabyte P35 DS3R / ICH9

CPU: C2Quad 6600 @ 2.4Ghz

Mem: Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800

GPU: eVGA GeForce 7800GT 256MB PCIe

HD: Seagate 320GB Sata *

DVD: IDE based burner

 

OS: 10.4.8 JaS (ppf1 & ppf2) installing Only the Intel patches, no additional drivers from the install DVD

 

Video Drivers: After install/reboot.... Titan Nvidia (latest build as of 8/30/07)

**see caveat below

 

Audio Drivers: After install/reboot.... Find the ALC889 Kexts linked in these forums.

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...mp;#entry436207

*** simple installation instructions below

 

LAN Drivers: After install/reboot.... Opensource RT8xxx Linux driver port at sourceforge.net

http://sourceforge.net/projects/realtekr1000/

 

 

DO NOT EVEN ATTEMPT the RT1xxx_1.02.pkg driver install found on another OSX86 site. You'll regret it. Use the opensource lan driver linked above.

 

QE / CI fully supported (it flys too!)

2ch audio out

line-in mic

working LAN

 

 

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* You must connect your sata HD to the -First- Orange SATA port during install.

Also, there is a bug in 10.4.8 disk utility which will not acknowledge drives larger than 128GB. Either live with the reduced capacity, or partition your drive using gparted live cd or a legit mac or a linux box. Formatting at 128GB using disk utility Does work/boot, but leaves the rest of the drive as free space.

 

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** eVGA 7800GT + Titan caveat: On my setup there is an odd procedure I must follow at boot/restart time. I MUST 'prime the pump' or the video driver will fail to load just before the desktop appears. It's really quite a simple and reliable workaround. When restarting / booting... I must kill the power at the PSU (unplug/switch off). Then I must hit the computer's power switch while unpowered. This makes my fans twitch briefly, then stop. Turn the PSU power back on and you're good to go everytime. There's some kind of persistant state on the board or gpu which requires discharge. If this is not done, the video driver will hang every single time, requiring shutdown and the procedure above.

 

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*** to install the kext files for 889a audio:

Drop the two kext files into "/System/Library/Extensions/" (authenticate w/password).

Then, open a Teminal & do the following:

 

# sudo -s

 

# chown -R root:wheel /System/Library/Extensions

# rm /System/Library/Extensions.kextcache

# kextcache -k /System/Library/Extensions

 

# reboot

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Long story short... my Hac Pro Quad is absolutely smokin' fast... except there's room for improvement in the sata department. IDE does however work.. at least for my DVD drive. This P35 is as compatible as my ol' 915GL when it's all said and done.

 

Super nice OC'er mobo too!

[josh256]

hey dude,

Assuming you got up to 10.4.10 did you get the 8.10.0 kernel working/booting w/o diskarb errors? My buddies GA-P35-DQ6 needs the 8.9.x kernel to avoid diskarb junk (no sata patches)

[BJMoose]

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* You must connect your sata HD to the -First- Orange SATA port during install.

Also, there is a bug in 10.4.8 disk utility which will not acknowledge drives larger than 128GB. Either live with the reduced capacity, or partition your drive using gparted live cd or a legit mac or a linux box. Formatting at 128GB using disk utility Does work/boot, but leaves the rest of the drive as free space.

 

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Hi, sounds like you've got a fairly nice system, and an excellent tutorial for your system, although I'm not sure about that 'priming the pump' thing for your video card. That card seems to be pretty compatible with most systems. Have you tried using Natit Dual .02 instead of Titan?

 

Also, I think it must be just a matter of how JaS interacts with the controller on your board. I just used that same installer to rebuild the system you see in my spec. All told I have 8 hard drives connected to two different controllers (ICH7 and Marvell). Four of the drives are really devoted to Windows and the other 4 are devoted to OSX, however they can all be on at the same time and 6 of them are single partition, 500gb drives and Drive Utility shows all of them as 467gb (formatted), whether they are NTFS or Mac OS Journaled. This occurs under 10.4.8 and when I added PascalW's 10.4.10 updater.

[josh256]

yeah no need to prime the pump... although I'd recommend Macvidia's NVInject (over Natit/Titan)..

[Appleseedling]

Edit: I was typing while you were replying. Thank you for the tip to .10 and the video alternative. I will try both once I get a dd image of this drive.

 

----- end edit----

 

 

Hadn't even tried to 10.4.10 the thing.. and probably won't lest given a good reason (for instance, if sata works competently).

 

Can't help ya on that one.

 

After a lil more time with this build ... I can say that the disk access is pretty sad. As i understand it.... they may be running the sata ports in PIO mode. bleh. Doesn't totally suck... doesn't compete w/my real mac pro either.

 

CPU / computational stuff is generally very good and using a decent mix of the cores.. provided it's in ram and isn't a single threaded thingy anyway.

 

GPU performance is just stellar. Why the {censored} i had to cheat by using x86 to get a DECENT FREAKIN' GRAPHICS CARD WITH MY FOUR THOUSAND DOLLAR MACINTOSH.. is beyond me. WtF Apple. I would have paid it (since 1985)... but NO! not even an option until this year... and even those X1950 offerings are getting weak thanks to moores joke. //endspontaneousrant

 

LAN/WAN transfers seem mostly full tilt.. hadn't really pushed duplexing tests. I may be experiencing a short initialization hang/hitch when accessing the wan after some inactivity .. probably an OSX dns issue w/my isp tho. pisses me off that winbloz dns is so fast.

 

Games are working well.. believe it or not. No video issues changes resolutions mid-game etc... audio isn't like.. real quality, but it's dependable w/no glitchiness. I heard someone now has the full 5.1 digital output working on these boards.. but haven't done it myself.

[ekwipt]

After a lil more time with this build ... I can say that the disk access is pretty sad. As i understand it.... they may be running the sata ports in PIO mode. bleh. Doesn't totally suck... doesn't compete w/my real mac pro either.

 

Does anyone know if this a the same problem on all motherboards all just with ICH9?

 

How does the Badaxe2 Sata drives perform?

[Appleseedling]

Wow. I take it back. Disk performance isn't just sad.. it's freakin' deplorable if not useless.

Most mac pros etc .. geez.. anything sata for that matter, usually rates 100+.

 

But 8.67 ????? holy smokes! Anything to be done for this under jas .8?

 

[Xbench]

Disk Test 8.67

Sequential 6.09

Uncached Write 4.98 3.05 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Write 5.24 2.97 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Uncached Read 9.96 2.91 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Read 6.05 3.04 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Random 15.06

Uncached Write 11.69 1.24 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Write 9.80 3.14 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Uncached Read 77.95 0.55 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Read 15.31 2.84 MB/sec [256K blocks]

 

 

Everything else about this build benched right up alongside the macpro averages.

[Appleseedling]

ThaT's Better!

 

Resolved more than one issue by setting the Sata AHCI/Raid to enabled and Sata 0-3 mode to native in the DS3R bios.

 

1) The 'bug' at install time which showed only 128GB on my 320GB sata drive

-- OSX now sees the drive for it's true capacity.. i'll be reinstalling shortly

 

2) The super sad, wtF disk access has improved a Ton. Its still subpar, but whoa what a difference from 8.7!!

 

 

 

Disk Test 43.29

Sequential 72.47

Uncached Write 64.57 39.65 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Write 133.95 75.79 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Uncached Read 74.86 21.91 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Read 52.96 26.62 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Random 30.86

Uncached Write 11.48 1.22 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Write 101.79 32.59 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Uncached Read 62.54 0.44 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Read 59.88 11.11 MB/sec [256K blocks]

[pavn]

I tried OSx86 10.4.6 with:

 

GA-P35C-DS3R

Intel Core2Duo E6750 @2.66mhz

2GB Ram DDR2

Gainward nvidia Bliss 8500GT PCX 256mb

20GB Fujitsu IDE

DVD LG GSA-4163B

 

got:

"Waiting for boot volume with UUID 732B1B37-E75B-3115-8B90-5011C6E7A10B"

 

"Still waiting for root device"

[steeple]

bought the same mobo on your recommendation- WORKS BRILLIANTLY!

here's my 2 cents...

• i had to use jas 10.4.8, then upgrade to 10.4.10, none of my upchuck versions would boot- "Waiting for boot volume"
  
• i had to set achi mode for the sata drives before installation, or none of my drives showed up in disk utility
  
• i used the RTL1xxx_1.02.pkg (i googled it's location) for the gigabyte lan, the drivers that worked for you didn't for me
  
• didn't bother with sound hacks, i used usb speakers
  
• after upgrading to 10.4.10 i got full sleep/wake!
  

 

this is a terrific result that performs beautifully, xbenches at 188 with a 3 gig core duo and four gig of ram, it has a nice F12 boot menu so you can put windows on a different drive, i can't recommend the Gigabyte P35-DS3R highly enough!

[ovof]

bought the same mobo on your recommendation- WORKS BRILLIANTLY!

here's my 2 cents...

• i had to use jas 10.4.8, then upgrade to 10.4.10, none of my upchuck versions would boot- "Waiting for boot volume"
  
• i had to set achi mode for the sata drives before installation, or none of my drives showed up in disk utility
  
• i used the RTL1xxx_1.02.pkg (i googled it's location) for the gigabyte lan, the drivers that worked for you didn't for me
  
• didn't bother with sound hacks, i used usb speakers
  
• after upgrading to 10.4.10 i got full sleep/wake!
  

 

this is a terrific result that performs beautifully, xbenches at 188 with a 3 gig core duo and four gig of ram, it has a nice F12 boot menu so you can put windows on a different drive, i can't recommend the Gigabyte P35-DS3R highly enough!

 

And whats' your disk xbench please ? (im scared of ahci)

[steeple]

Hi-

i'm getting 84.74, everything feels "snappy" i'm using it all day as my main mac- very stable.

i don't know this for a fact, but i read you can instal to an external usb drive if you're wary of ACHI?

 

Finder generates icon previews instantly (a good guide to HD speed)

I did have to reinstall Vista64 , but i only installed it in the first place to check my hardware build and memory- i intended to build a 3ghz macbox for photoshopping , so Windows was a secondary consideration for me, i got it OEM so what the hey.

Vmware fusion is a bit twitchy for me, but usable...i gather it's problematic for most hackintoshes, every thing else works just fine

I used a NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT graphics card, i got it cheap and i knew the imacs used it, so i didn't go looking for driver trouble

[zippod]

Yep, this mobo is great. I got everything working after a few patches and fix for the initial HFS+ Partition error.

I have a WD hardrive on the purple ports though. It won't recognize the HD when it's on the orange port.

I'm on JAS 10.4.8, but will try the 10.4.10 upgrade to get the sleep to work

 

Steeple, Did you experience any problems upgrading to 10.4.10 or was it a breeze.

Do you have to upgrade to 10.4.9 before upgrading to 10.4.10?

 

My Bench:

Disk Test 77.92

Sequential 124.69

Uncached Write 130.73 80.26 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Write 122.85 69.51 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Uncached Read 107.81 31.55 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Read 142.54 71.64 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Random 56.66

Uncached Write 21.75 2.30 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Write 180.95 57.93 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Uncached Read 83.37 0.59 MB/sec [4K blocks]

Uncached Read 140.90 26.14 MB/sec [256K blocks]

[rajindia]

* You must connect your sata HD to the -First- Orange SATA port during install.

Also, there is a bug in 10.4.8 disk utility which will not acknowledge drives larger than 128GB. Either live with the reduced capacity, or partition your drive using gparted live cd or a legit mac or a linux box. Formatting at 128GB using disk utility Does work/boot, but leaves the rest of the drive as free space.

 

probably your hdd controler chip problem.

 

I used the same Jas 10.4.8 with ppf 1 and 2 patche all the big drives 500 gb 250 gb works fine with and i can use diskutility to modify as i wanted all intel (945 gnt,gcl,gccr,gncl )

[lobo76]

bought the same mobo on your recommendation- WORKS BRILLIANTLY!

here's my 2 cents...

• i had to use jas 10.4.8, then upgrade to 10.4.10, none of my upchuck versions would boot- "Waiting for boot volume"
  
• i had to set achi mode for the sata drives before installation, or none of my drives showed up in disk utility
  
• i used the RTL1xxx_1.02.pkg (i googled it's location) for the gigabyte lan, the drivers that worked for you didn't for me
  
• didn't bother with sound hacks, i used usb speakers
  
• after upgrading to 10.4.10 i got full sleep/wake!
  

 

this is a terrific result that performs beautifully, xbenches at 188 with a 3 gig core duo and four gig of ram, it has a nice F12 boot menu so you can put windows on a different drive, i can't recommend the Gigabyte P35-DS3R highly enough!

 

Do you mind posting what steps you took to go from 10.4.8 to 10.4.10? Or point to another thread you may have followed?

 

I am thinking about picking one of these boards up.

[zippod]

OsX 10.4.10 killed my system. I don't recommend installing this unless you really need to. I had to reformat my harddrive and reinstall JAS 10.4.8 after spending a couple of days trying to fix it.

 

Now if there's only a fix for this sleep feature...

[BarryBar]

OsX 10.4.10 killed my system. I don't recommend installing this unless you really need to. I had to reformat my harddrive and reinstall JAS 10.4.8 after spending a couple of days trying to fix it.

 

Now if there's only a fix for this sleep feature...

 

Did you use the dsmos.kext with 10.4.10? Although I have an older ontel D945GNT motherboard I have no problems with 10.4.10.

[knobi]

Hey appleseed. I was thinking of getting the same setup as yours but I am confused with a lot of things...........

[ovof]

Well, i bought this board

 

Q6600 with P35DS3R with 2GB, and XFX 7600GS

 

Video OK,

 

but LAN driver NOK; i tried the linked driver (sourceforge) or the RTLXXX 1.02 package,

 

i can see the MAC adress in the system profiler

 

But no lan access ?

 

Any idea ?

 

(pS i use XXX 10.4.10 DVD)

 

Bye

[ovof]

Well, i bought this board

 

Q6600 with P35DS3R with 2GB, and XFX 7600GS

 

Video OK,

 

but LAN driver NOK; i tried the linked driver (sourceforge) or the RTLXXX 1.02 package,

 

i can see the MAC adress in the system profiler

 

But no lan access ?

 

Any idea ?

 

(pS i use XXX 10.4.10 DVD)

 

Bye

 

Fixed Bug in XXX DVD, i used uphuck then koolkal update, everythinh works, including sleep/wake

 

I was afraid of disk performance, but i've tested 3 different hard drive on P5LD2-VM and GA P35 DS3R : same XBENCH after AHCI/native/ATA patch !!! So good...

 

Still some details :

- i must use power button to wake up; mouse or keyboard dont work to wake (it does with P5LD2-VM); does any know how to activate this feature ?

- in system profiler, my Q6600 is unknown; i saw ppl have this fixed (smbios ?), do you know where i can find the fix ?

 

Very GREAT board, as good as my old P5LD2+VM !!!!

 

Love !

[ovof]

Fixed Bug in XXX DVD, i used uphuck then koolkal update, everythinh works, including sleep/wake

 

I was afraid of disk performance, but i've tested 3 different hard drive on P5LD2-VM and GA P35 DS3R : same XBENCH after AHCI/native/ATA patch !!! So good...

 

Still some details :

- i must use power button to wake up; mouse or keyboard dont work to wake (it does with P5LD2-VM); does any know how to activate this feature ?

- in system profiler, my Q6600 is unknown; i saw ppl have this fixed (smbios ?), do you know where i can find the fix ?

 

Very GREAT board, as good as my old P5LD2+VM !!!!

 

Love !

 

Wake up fixed : no hub between mouse keyboard and computer, so nice

[Appleseed]

hey i was just wondering how to make the lan driver work for the DS3R motherboad. i saw your post and got my audio to work. thank you for that.

the only thing that i couldnt figure out was the lan driver. what files do i need to use in the realtekr1000 folder? also are there any terminal code that i need to enter?

 

 

You build the driver from source code using the mac os terminal.

The exact syntax to type is located in the build instructions for the RT1000 driver on sourceforge.net (though I'm failing to find anything at present)

 

something like:

 

(open a terminal)

type:

 

#cd /path_to_the_RT100_folder

#./configure

#./make

#./make install

 

and restart

 

 

---------------

 

ALSO: enable the AHCI bios option and the 128GB HD limitation goes away at install time. It also makes booting a bit smoother when using multiple drives of mixed types.

[guaterickie]

i get a waiting for root device error could you help me with this?

[empire29]

Wake up fixed : no hub between mouse keyboard and computer, so nice

 

How did you get wake up to work using the mouse/keyboard? Are you saying you cant plug the mouse/keyboard into a usb hub - but rather you have to plug it directly into the motherboard?

 

Thanks

[karaakeha1]

Hi can you pl tell what is AHCI/native/ATA patch. where did you get how appliedthanks