[HowTo] Building my first OSx86 box...

[Careless]

Sounds great, but perhaps you could be a little more specific?

 

 

well if you're dual booting with windows on one drive, and OSX on the other, you have to enable the windows drive as the main boot drive and then copy the chain0 file from the /usr folder on the 10.4.3 to your c:\drive. and then adding it as an option in the boot.ini file by going to start >>> run >>> msconfig >>> enter >>> and then hitting the boot.ini tab and entering the proper line ( which i fail to remember right now )... and set your timeout to 10 seconds, 30 seconds is way too long.

 

if you dont press anything, it will go straight into windows after 10 seconds.

 

 

 

or you can read this thread, which is all about dual booting =)

 

http://forum.osx86project.org/index.php?showtopic=4749&st=0

[bofors]

I am not dual booting. I do not have Windows installed and have no intention of using Windows for anything other than flashing BIOS upgrades (since I have no 3.5" floppy drive).

 

I am looking for a way switch between OS X boot paritions/drives. I assume that Startup Disk nor OpenFirmware's <option> on boot work.

 

I think there is a way to do this in "single user" mode when starting Darwin.

Edited January 26, 2006 by bofors

[Careless]

ohhh

ok.. well in that case, there should be another button that you can press once the memcheck has completed.

 

like on my bios its

 

DEL for setup

F9 for Xpress Bios recovery

F12 for boot menu

 

in my bios, i pick so that only my Harddrive is scanned for boot options by the BIOS on startup.

 

but since i have the F12 menu.. whenevre i want to boot into the mac OSX repair disk. i just pick F12, then CDROM, then im into the osx installer/repair screen.

 

maybe your bios has a similar boot option? but i still dont see it showing the option of which partititon to load.

 

you might need acronis or grub. i have no experience in those.

[bofors]

OK, that sounds good.

 

BIOS has the option to enable something like "advanced boot menu" but I suppose that I need to try F12 or something.

 

But I doubt that will allow me to pick which parition to boot from, but only which drive.

 

EDIT: F12 does not seem to bring up this "advanced boot menu" but seems to trigger "network boot" mode.

 

I need to find this "advanced boot menu".

Edited January 27, 2006 by bofors

[kuruu]

OK, that sounds good.

 

BIOS has the option to enable something like "advanced boot menu" but I suppose that I need to try F12 or something.

 

But I doubt that will allow me to pick which parition to boot from, but only which drive.

 

EDIT: F12 does not seem to bring up this "advanced boot menu" but seems to trigger "network boot" mode.

 

I need to find this "advanced boot menu".

 

 

Try all the Fxx keys. on my asrock board it is F11

 

Good luck!

[bofors]

I just Googled for it instead, and looks like F8 is the key, but the page I found is taking about Windows so.... ???

 

http://www.intel.com/support/processors/pe...b/CS-008000.htm

 

 

OK, looks like it will work. I can't the "advanced boot menu" is working though.

 

In any case, F8 gets me into Darwin where I can select the boot device (including partitions) with the BSD device name (like "disk1s1") which I get through disk utility.

 

I have yet to test this out because I only have only one OSx86 installation right now.

Edited January 27, 2006 by bofors

[norrafi]

Hi Bofors,

 

I followed your update everyday, TQVM for great step-by-step story. Very helpful.

But I would like to asking some question:

 

- Why need to update your BIOS? Since I using Intel D945GNTL, so I curios want to know.

- Looking forward your level of feel usage compare your G5?? 100% same as your G5?? 50%??

 

norrafi

[bofors]

I followed your update everyday, TQVM for great step-by-step story. Very helpful.

Great, I am glad that people are reading this and getting something useful from it.

- Why need to update your BIOS? Since I using Intel D945GNTL, so I curios want to know.

Two reasons:

(1) As BIOS updates are generally bug fixes, one should install them to avoid problems.

 

(2) Forum member "forcer" specifically informed me that updating the BIOS was necessary for the on-board audio to work with OSx86.

- Looking forward your level of feel usage compare your G5?? 100% same as your G5?? 50%??

It basically feels the same as my G5, 100%, but I have not used it much either. It seems to boot quite a bit faster though. Once I get dual displays running on my OSx86 box, I intend to make it my main work machine and set up right next to my G5. So, I should have a better prespective on it later, like next week when my ADD2-N card shows up.

 

However, I have a two disk striped RAID array set up on my G5 which essentially provides twice the disk speed of what I have now on my OSx86 box. Since, I have been unable to do the same on the OSx86 box yet and I do not plan to be updating OS X as frequently (who knows when OSx86 10.4.4 will be availible for it), I am going to set up a dedicated swap parition instead. I guess the two disk systems will be roughtly the same, but still different.

Edited January 27, 2006 by bofors

[Careless]

(1) As BIOS updates are generally bug fixes, one should install them to avoid problems.

 

sometimes they fix bugs, or add new CPUID's (for new processors) and fix certain issues.

but at the same time, they can also add instability.

 

i know for a fact that with the F10 bios on my motherboard, it is missing some features.

but with the F11 bios, the HTT (FSB) is always saved for some reason. im pretty sure its a bios error.

 

i will set it to 290 x 9 (2615 mhz), and will run a prime95 test in windows, and fail.

 

then i will set it to 285 x 9 and will boot into windows. and when i check CPU-Z, it says 290 x 9 again.

and it never goes down unless i reset it using the Battery removal trick.

 

I should email gigabyte about this. but that's just one example. think of it as a driver. it could be better, but it could also introduce new problems

[munky]

hey bofors - why cant you setup a RAID set on osx86? im sure i saw the options in Disk Utility... have you tried it? does it definitely not work?

 

just something i was considering doing too, at some point....

[orph3us]

man that dual monitor picture is a site of beauty. Hope you get the dual monitors working with osx86.

wonder also if the new macvidia drivers will support dual monitor support

[bofors]

hey bofors - why cant you setup a RAID set on osx86? im sure i saw the options in Disk Utility... have you tried it? does it definitely not work?

 

I spent quite a bit of time messing with this. My internal Raptors simple do not seem to be recognized as valid drives for RAID by Disk Utility. Specifically, I was not able to "drag" them into the RAID set-up panel area. But I was able to "drag" an external FireWire drive and even a USB drive. So, RAID looks possible, just not with internal SATA drives for the moment.

 

I am not sure what the problem is. It is not clear if the issue is the lack of drivers for the RAID functionality of my Intel southbridge, ICH7-R, or what, perhaps missing kernal extensions (kexts). I was hoping AHCI would fix the problem but it did not.

[bofors]

For those who do not know, a "companion" forum "win2osx.net" exists. It is now back online after being down for the last week or so, when I received the last of my parts.

 

In any case, this thread was actually a continuation of what I had already started there:

 

http://www.win2osx.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2691

 

Now, I may be going back (or perhaps trying to maintain both threads).

[Juurlo]

I'll upgrade to a clean install 10.4.3 as soon as I get the ISO... meanwhile, I'm waiting for your expriences with the ADD2 -card

 

Update:

 

Did 10.4.3. clean install, still no dice, the ADD2-card won't give a picture of any kind - and the VGA connector just gives the secondary screen picture (so I can't log in to try switching diplays or anything).

 

Something's not right - can someone positively confirm success with Sil1364 DVI ADD2-N card and Intel D945GNT board. I'm starting to suspect that I have a defective ADD2 -card...

[bofors]

I should have my ADD2-N card in two days.

 

Do you know what the "DVMT Mode" in BIOS under Advanced->Video Configuration is supposed to mean?

 

So changing the"Primary Video Adapter" in BIOS has no affect?

 

Does BIOS "see" your ADD2-N card?

 

Do you have any other PCI cards in your machine?

 

Have you tried Windows (or Linux) for comparison?

[Juurlo]

Do you know what the "DVMT Mode" in BIOS under Advanced->Video Configuration is supposed to mean?

 

From the MB manual (from www.intel.com):

"1.5.1.2 Dynamic Video Memory Technology (DVMT)

DVMT enables enhanced graphics and memory performance through Direct AGP, and highly

efficient memory utilization. DVMT ensures the most efficient use of available system memory for

maximum 2-D/3-D graphics performance. Up to 224 MB of system memory can be allocated to

DVMT on systems that have 512 MB or more of total system memory installed. Up to 128 MB can

be allocated to DVMT on systems that have 256 MB but less than 512 MB of total installed system

memory. Up to 64 MB can be allocated to DVMT when less than 256 MB of system memory is

installed. DVMT returns system memory back to the operating system when the additional system

memory is no longer required by the graphics subsystem.

DVMT will always use a minimal fixed portion of system physical memory (as set in the BIOS

Setup program) for compatibility with legacy applications. An example of this would be when

using VGA graphics under DOS. Once loaded, the operating system and graphics drivers allocate

additional system memory to the graphics buffer as needed for performing graphics functions."

 

As far as I can see, this has nothing to do with ADD2.

 

So changing the"Primary Video Adapter" in BIOS has no affect?

 

Nope. Tried every setting.

 

Does BIOS "see" your ADD2-N card?

 

No.

 

Do you have any other PCI cards in your machine?

 

No.

 

Have you tried Windows (or Linux) for comparison?

 

I briefly tested the card in WinXP, installed the chipset drivers and the card was recognized. I'm starting to suspect that this is mainly a problem with the Intel BIOS, not OSX, since people report success with ADD2 -cards with other motherboards (like Asrock 915G -boards).

 

I hope someone proves me wrong. Maybe I'll send an email to Intel tech support, since my ADD2-card seems to be on their recommended hw list.

[bofors]

I briefly tested the card in WinXP, installed the chipset drivers and the card was recognized.

Did you try dual displays under XP?

 

I'm starting to suspect that this is mainly a problem with the Intel BIOS, not OSX...

This seems to contradict your suggestion that the ADD2-N card worked under XP.

 

since people report success with ADD2 -cards with other motherboards (like Asrock 915G -boards).

Yes, the people reporting success seem to be using 915 chipsets.

 

Once I get my card on Tuesday, we should be able to isolate the problem alot better.

[Juurlo]

Did you try dual displays under XP?

I'm afraid not. I used XP only to check the device ID's of the board and used the drive for OSX after that. I never really used the DVI connector.

 

This seems to contradict your suggestion that the ADD2-N card worked under XP.

Not really. I just suspect that the card needs to be "activated" somehow by the OS driver in order to get it working and that the XP drivers do this - and OSX drivers don't (I'm not a specialist, so this is just lame speculation).

 

The reason that I suspect that there's a problem with the BIOS is the fact that if I connect a display to the ADD2 card DVI connector and boot, I don't get any signal at all. Shouldn't I be seeing the Intel MOBO statup screen?? The only way to get to the BIOS settings, for example, is to use the onboard VGA connector.

 

Once I get my card on Tuesday, we should be able to isolate the problem alot better.

I really hope that you succeed with this and that my card is busted!

[bofors]

The reason that I suspect that there's a problem with the BIOS is the fact that if I connect a display to the ADD2 card DVI connector and boot, I don't get any signal at all. Shouldn't I be seeing the Intel MOBO statup screen??

Yes, that sounds like some kind BIOS or hardware problem.

 

It also sounds like some the reports I read in ADD2-N threads here about people having to boot without monitors pluged in and such to work around problems (but I thought those were limited to some non-Intel boards).

 

In any case, I actually hope that we can isolated you problem to a bad ADD2-N card as well. I will be posting as soon as get my ADD2-N card installed on Tuesday.

[bofors]

@Juurlo

 

As I believe that the Dell / Silicon Image Orion ADD2-N card only is DVI-D (not analog as well), I wondering if you are testing with a truely digital display? A DVI->VGA convertor will not work here.

[Juurlo]

@Juurlo

 

As I believe that the Dell / Silicon Image Orion ADD2-N card only is DVI-D (not analog as well), I wondering if you are testing with a truely digital display? A DVI->VGA convertor will not work here.

 

A good point, but I have a HP2035 (if I remember correctly) display that has a true digital DVI-D input (it also has VGA and DVI-Analog options.

 

I actually purchased the ADD2-card just to get DVI-D output from the MB, not to have dual displays. I expected that to be just Plug'n'Play, but no such luck... Luckily I seem to be getting a pretty decent picture using the onboard VGA connector.

[encom]

ADD2 card works on my board P5GD1-VM, after upgrading the BIOS. In Fact both displays work in Dual mode on OSX. 2005FPW, and 19" Samsung.

[bofors]

My card just arrived (early)...

[Careless]

who hates bofors for having a cool setup!

 

I DO!!! =(

[munky]

aha... i just posted to the 'other' forum about your ADD2. any joy with it?

 

EDIT: removed ignorant nonsense. question tho - does anyone use the ADD2 to drive a second VGA (ie non-DVI) display? (successfully?)