[HOW TO] GFX-EFI Tutorial for NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT 512MB (G92)

[agrafuese]

I've updated the tutorial to version 1.4!

I've included an Appendix at the end to answer questions like the one daskog and others have asked. *hint hint*

[mitfried]

I've updated the tutorial to version 1.4!

I've included an Appendix at the end to answer questions like the one daskog and others have asked. *hint hint*

 

nice appendix!

 

i'm still stuck at not booting with 2 equal 8800gt cards, one card runs perfect. tried various things with a monitor at each card. driver installation with different card position, with/without sli-bridge. any idea if i it would help to put in the device key and efi sting two times? or simpliy how to prevent osx to load drivers for device at pos pcieXY. thx for any hint

[agrafuese]

When you do "./gfxutil -f display" what does it give you? If it only shows one device path, then that's your problem right there. That means it's only showing you the device path of the main (first) card, not the second one. In theory, if there were a way to get your second card's device path, then you'd want to add new lines in the in.plist for it.

 

There is a way to see all of your device paths, actually. You have to download a small app called IORegistry Explorer. Forgive me if that's not the right name - I don't have it right now - but I'm pretty sure that's what it's called. Basically it allows you to look through your entire device tree. From there, you might be able to figure out a way to get that second device path. The real question is - do REAL Macs support SLI? I don't know anything about this. If you know they do, then give it a try, otherwise it's probably not possible at all, due to the OS limitations.

[Llamatron]

STEP 1: Plugging into the correct DVI port

 

The most important step in this tutorial is choosing the correct DVI port to plug your monitor into. When looking at the back of your computer, this will be the LEFT DVI port (it is considered DVI port #1). If you are not plugged into this port, you will experience many problems (unchangeable resolutions, blue screen, color calibration problems, etc). You will still be able to use the other port for dual monitor setups, but only if you have both monitors plugged in at the same time. The reason for this is not clearly defined, but it is believed that this is a bug that may even affect real mac users.

 

 

I've been able to get the other (the one on the right as facing the rear of the computer) DVI port to act as primary on an EN880GT using the following NVCAP entry:

				<key>NVCAP</key>
			<data>
			BQAAAAAADAADAAAAAAAACwAAAAA=
			</data>

[agrafuese]

interesting! does it change the right port to primary instead of left or does it allow either port to be primary depending on which port you plug into? does it also fix mirrored mode? it seems i recall that independent dual-monitor mode worked, but mirrored mode (where both screens display the same thing) had some problems.

[babs]

I've wondered if there is a fix for my Nvidia 9600 GT

[cyclonefr]

Not unless Apple adds G94 support into their geforce drivers.

[Llamatron]

interesting! does it change the right port to primary instead of left or does it allow either port to be primary depending on which port you plug into? does it also fix mirrored mode? it seems i recall that independent dual-monitor mode worked, but mirrored mode (where both screens display the same thing) had some problems.

 

It changes the right port, which is mostly useful if you have only (room for) one monitor, and have to boot other OS's. A single monitor plugged into the left port behaves... badly. I am able to use a second monitor both as an extended desktop, and in mirrored configuration; which kind of makes sense since the cards firmware should think that the port on the right should be primary.

[oSxFr33k]

May I ask which vendor I should get? MSI? EVGA? I saw a real good deal on both of them.

 

 

Which one did you use?

[zonker]

OK, followed the tutorial and this is what system profiler says:

 

Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

Type: Display

Bus: PCIe

PCIe Lane Width: x16

VRAM (Total): 512 MB

Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)

Device ID: 0x0611

Revision ID: 0x00a2

ROM Revision: 3233

Displays:

Display:

Resolution: 1024 x 768

Depth: 32-bit Color

Core Image: Software

Main Display: Yes

Mirror: Off

Online: Yes

Quartz Extreme: Not Supported

Display Connector:

 

Note the bold lines. No QE, no Rotation no displays and nothing after display connector. What did I do wrong here? BTW, I'm posting this from my hack so I got it half right, lol

[agrafuese]

It changes the right port, which is mostly useful if you have only (room for) one monitor, and have to boot other OS's. A single monitor plugged into the left port behaves... badly. I am able to use a second monitor both as an extended desktop, and in mirrored configuration; which kind of makes sense since the cards firmware should think that the port on the right should be primary.

 

Thanks for this info. If I get a free moment, I'll try it out on my card and possibly add this info to the tutorial.

 

May I ask which vendor I should get? MSI? EVGA? I saw a real good deal on both of them.

Which one did you use?

 

No complaints about my EVGA. It's stock - no factory overclocking. Runs great. I can run Crysis full-quality on my AMD @ 1280x1024. It's a bit choppy at certain parts of the game, but the visuals are well worth it. If I had the card installed on my new Intel system and overclocked it a bit, the game would run perfectly.

 

OK, followed the tutorial and this is what system profiler says:

Note the bold lines. No QE, no Rotation no displays and nothing after display connector. What did I do wrong here? BTW, I'm posting this from my hack so I got it half right, lol

 

If you have your monitor plugged into the correct port, then try reinstalling the kexts again. Delete the ones that are currently in your Extensions folder, and install the ones from my pack once more. You can do it with Leopard booted up this time instead of single user mode. If you are new to this stuff, you might want to use Kext Helper to install them for you. Also, if you had NVinject.kext inside your Extensions folder at any point, make sure it isn't there anymore. Oh, and we ARE talking about an 8800GT, right - not the 8600GT that's in your sig, eh? Just have to make sure - you'd be surprised.

[zonker]

lol, yeah, 8800GT. I bought the evga 8800GT superclocked yesterday but didn't change my sig.

[dang251]

Thank you for putting the tutorial together! I got through almost all of it but ran into a problem!

 

In the last step where I need to use the patcher, as an AMD user, it completes only the 1st patch but could not do the last two. It said something about an offset not being correct. Now when I reboot, i see a black screen which disappears and i see an empty blue screen. I installed the leopard graphics update and everything.

 

Here was the error message:

 

.../Versions/A/OpenGL

File does not contain the reference bytes at vmaddr 0x6fcf (fileoffs 0x33f0f)!

 

../Versions/A/Resources/GLEngine.bundle/GlEngine

File does not contain the reference bytes at vmaddr 0x8e9d3 (fileoffs 0x3f28d3)!

 

 

Any ideas on how to correctly patch this? Does the cpuid.txt file need to be updated? did apple change the graphics update? Or how to undo what I did so I get a working system again?

 

thanks, Dan

[zonker]

OK, did a clean install after erasing the partition. I found where I messed up on the old kext and cache deletion. I didn't wait long enough for it to process. Here is what I get

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT:

 

Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

Type: Display

Bus: PCIe

PCIe Lane Width: x16

VRAM (Total): 512 MB

Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)

Device ID: 0x0611

Revision ID: 0x00a2

ROM Revision: 3233

Displays:

Display:

Resolution: 1280 x 1024 @ 75 Hz

Depth: 32-bit Color

Core Image: Hardware Accelerated

Main Display: Yes

Mirror: Off

Online: Yes

Quartz Extreme: Supported

Rotation: Supported

Display Connector:

Status: No display connected

 

Full support except for one small issue, the very last line in bold. I can calibrate my display etc, but why does it say "No display detected" under status? Is this an NVCAP editing thing? How do I correct this. I haven't tried the right DVI port yet, I just used the left like your tutorial said.

 

No more NVInject for me!!

[agrafuese]

Thank you for putting the tutorial together! I got through almost all of it but ran into a problem!

 

In the last step where I need to use the patcher, as an AMD user, it completes only the 1st patch but could not do the last two. It said something about an offset not being correct. Now when I reboot, i see a black screen which disappears and i see an empty blue screen. I installed the leopard graphics update and everything.

 

Here was the error message:

 

.../Versions/A/OpenGL

File does not contain the reference bytes at vmaddr 0x6fcf (fileoffs 0x33f0f)!

 

../Versions/A/Resources/GLEngine.bundle/GlEngine

File does not contain the reference bytes at vmaddr 0x8e9d3 (fileoffs 0x3f28d3)!

Any ideas on how to correctly patch this? Does the cpuid.txt file need to be updated? did apple change the graphics update? Or how to undo what I did so I get a working system again?

 

thanks, Dan

 

That sounds really strange to me. First, what kind of AMD CPU is it? Have you ever used Marvin's utility before? The AMD patch supplied is just the resulting patcher file from running Marvin after the Leopard Graphics Update. It was provided by Macgirl some time ago (about 2 months), but as far as I know it should still work the same, as I am not aware of Apple changing any of the OpenGL frameworks. Then again, it has been a while since I've had to apply that patch, and I'm not aware of its current compatibility. Another question: did you already have the Leopard Graphics Update installed once before this?

 

That said, I don't think that is the reason you aren't able to boot up to a normal screen. First, try switching your monitor to the other port, then see what happens. If that's not it, try deleting the NV* and Ge* kexts in your Extensions folder from single user mode. That may allow you to boot up into vesa mode and go from there. It wont solve the OpenGL frameworks not being patched, but at least you'll be able to get back into the OS so you can try reinstalling the Leo Graphics Update and start from there again (replacing the kexts, etc...). If you still can't get into the OS after deleting the kexts, then try booting up with -x (safe mode). Unfortunately, that's all I can suggest at this point.

 

I can calibrate my display etc, but why does it say "No display detected" under status? Is this an NVCAP editing thing? How do I correct this. I haven't tried the right DVI port yet, I just used the left like your tutorial said.

 

Congrats on getting it to work. The "no display detected" you're seeing is just for the other monitor port, I believe. If you had another monitor plugged in, you would see its stats instead of that message. In other words, all normal Enjoy.

[zonker]

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT:

 

Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

Type: Display

Bus: PCIe

PCIe Lane Width: x16

VRAM (Total): 512 MB

Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)

Device ID: 0x0611

Revision ID: 0x00a2

ROM Revision: 3233

Displays:

Display:

Resolution: 1280 x 1024 @ 75 Hz

Depth: 32-bit Color

Core Image: Hardware Accelerated

Main Display: Yes

Mirror: Off

Online: Yes

Quartz Extreme: Supported

Rotation: Supported

Display Connector:

Status: No display connected

 

Cool, but what about the two lines in bold above it? I just noticed that. Shouldn't my display info for the connected one show up there?

[agrafuese]

Everything is normal, except the second one, "Display:" should be the name of your monitor. For whatever reason, it's not showing up, but it's not an issue. All good, now go play and have fun :censored2:

[zonker]

lol, I figured out that it was just the monitor name missing. Thanks for the tutorial. Easy to follow.

[curveball692]

This is a great HOW TO, so much so that I just ordered this video card to upgrade my 8600GTS 256mb card. Question I have though, I am in the middle of re-installing my Hackintosh via the retail DVD onto another hard drive, and I wonder if I can jump the gun and install the EFI stuff for the 8800GT card prior to actually installing it (swapping out the 8600GTS) and booting the new drive? The only thing that seems like it might be an issue is the Device path, but would that change any from my install? If not, then I could just run gfxutil to get the address of my PCIexpress slot and install everything for the 8800GT, and then be ready to shutdown, swap cards, and reboot into the new system?

 

Also, would there be any issue on Step 5 in my case? I would think I could just go ahead and move the new kexts from the graphics update, and install the correct ones for the card, set permissions and modes, all without rebooting since I wont actually be running off that new drive at the moment?

[dang251]

That sounds really strange to me. First, what kind of AMD CPU is it? Have you ever used Marvin's utility before? The AMD patch supplied is just the resulting patcher file from running Marvin after the Leopard Graphics Update. It was provided by Macgirl some time ago (about 2 months), but as far as I know it should still work the same, as I am not aware of Apple changing any of the OpenGL frameworks. Then again, it has been a while since I've had to apply that patch, and I'm not aware of its current compatibility. Another question: did you already have the Leopard Graphics Update installed once before this?

 

thanks for the response. I restarted in safe mode and redid the -f flag and it appears to work now. QE/CI show that it is supported! I am running an eVGA 8800 GT with Athlon A64 60000+.

 

 

 

However, the system was unstable, getting frequent crashes when I do some things that are graphic related, such as zoom in itunes, running iMovie etc. I have never used Marvin's patch utility before, but i did run it on the two files, GLengine and OpenGL and got different CPUID output. I run "Create Patcher Package" on two those two files and get teh following results

 

GLEngine

000012f0

0008e903 cpuid

 

OpenGL

0000170

0000760d cpuid

0000800f cpuid

 

 

 

I reran the patch and it completed successfully. Now the system works great and is stable!!

 

thanks for all the work and support on this!!!

 

..dan

[FabricioGS]

agrafuese,

 

Could you please mirror the zip files into Rapidshare or another, I just can't download from any of those two you posted.

 

I just got a XFX 8800 GT Alpha Dog ^^

 

EDIT: Nevermind. I was able to download. Testing...

[cyclonefr]

This is a great HOW TO, so much so that I just ordered this video card to upgrade my 8600GTS 256mb card. Question I have though, I am in the middle of re-installing my Hackintosh via the retail DVD onto another hard drive, and I wonder if I can jump the gun and install the EFI stuff for the 8800GT card prior to actually installing it (swapping out the 8600GTS) and booting the new drive? The only thing that seems like it might be an issue is the Device path, but would that change any from my install? If not, then I could just run gfxutil to get the address of my PCIexpress slot and install everything for the 8800GT, and then be ready to shutdown, swap cards, and reboot into the new system?

 

Also, would there be any issue on Step 5 in my case? I would think I could just go ahead and move the new kexts from the graphics update, and install the correct ones for the card, set permissions and modes, all without rebooting since I wont actually be running off that new drive at the moment?

right

[rohizzle121]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR HELP WITH THIS FOR LIKE 4 DAYS!!!

 

 

YOU DESERVE A GOLD STAR

THIS POST DESERVES A STICKY!

 

 

ok now that i am done yelling, is there any way you could put all of the things you need to do in a script?

[agrafuese]

@dang251: glad to hear you got it to work. i'm still pretty baffled by the whole cpuid thing, but your post serves as a caution for anyone else that may be having the same types of problems. speaking from prior experience as an AMD user, i think it's a great idea to have Marvin's utility in your back pocket just in case. it never hurts to give it a run every now and again.

 

@Viper.Br: still down?

 

@rohizzle121: thank you thank you! glad to hear of your success! i would love to see this post get a sticky. i would also love to have this all in a nice script too, unfortunately i have neither the time nor the skill for a fully functional script. if anyone here has the skill for such a thing, i think it would be great to see something like that, and hell, i'd use it too! cyclone? waddaya say bud?

 

i've often thought that it would also be really nice to see someone put together a universal EFI script that would handle all of the most popular cards. it doesn't sound too far off, really! anyone?

[zonker]

I would like to try the EFI string method for my audio chip on my EP35-DS3R board. I've seen where it has been done but I don't remember where I saw it.