[HOW TO] ATI Radeon HD 2400 / 2600 / 2900 / 3850 / 3870 on Leopard

[mcsmart]

This is a small guide on how to set up Natit for PCI-E Radeon HD graphics cards in Mac OS X Leopard (10.5.5 & higher). By following the steps below you will get full QE/CI/OpenGL and DVI output. HDMI, S-Video and Composite outputs are confirmed to work with a Radeon HD3870.

It is actually a lot easier than you might think.

 

Important!

This guide is for advanced users only. If you want a simple installer, check lastExile's installer collection.

In case you have an older version of Leopard installed, see the archived copy of this post.

 

Supported Radeon HD cards:

• Radeon HD 2400
  
• Radeon HD 2600 Pro, Radeon HD 2600 XT
  
• Radeon HD 2900 Pro, Radeon HD 2900 XT
  
• Radeon HD 3850
  
• Radeon HD 3870
  
• Radeon HD 3870x2
  
• Other Radeon HD 2x00/38x0 cards might work as well
  

Step by step guide:

1. Get Natit (attached to this post)
   
2. Extract the archive and copy Natit.kext to /System/Library/Extensions
   
3. Locate ATIRadeonX2000.kext in /System/Library/Extensions, Open /System/Library/Extensions/ATIRadeonX2000.kext/Contents/Info.plist with the editor of your choice and add the PCI ID of your card (if it is not already in there). Save.
   
4. • Only if you have a Radeon 2900 Pro or a Radeon 2900 XT download this
     Extract it and copy ATY_Franklin.kext to /System/Library/Extensions/ATINDRV.kext/Contents/PlugIns.
     
   • Otherwise skip this step.
     

[*]Open Terminal (if you haven't already done so) and type:

cd /System/Library/Extensions
sudo chown -R root:wheel *
sudo chmod -R 755 *
sudo rm /System/Library/Extensions.mkext
sudo rm /System/Library/Extensions/Caches/com.apple.kext.info

[*]You are done. Reboot and pray

Additional files

If you have problems with white menus, you might want to try one of these files. Starting with 10.5.5 it should not be necessary to install these patches any more.

• If you have a Radeon 2600 Pro or a Radeon 3850 and 10.5.1 download this (white menu fix)
  Extract it and replace the original ATIRadeonX2000GLDriver.bundle in /System/Library/Extensions with the one you have just downloaded.
  
• If you have a Radeon 2600 Pro or a Radeon 3850 and 10.5.2 download this (white menu fix)
  Extract it and replace the original ATIRadeonX2000GLDriver.bundle in /System/Library/Extensions with the one you have just downloaded.
  

Notes:

• It is recommended to perform a clean install. Do not select any graphics-related things during the installation.
  
• AMD users: you might need a patched OpenGL.framework.
  
• Radeon HD 2400 users: You do not get DVI support. You have to use a DVI2VGA-converter instead.
  
• If DVI works, HDMI will work as well (with DVI2HDMI adaptor), no HDMI audio ATM
  
• AGP versions of these cards require additional patching. I cannot test it and therefore this guide does only apply to the PCI-E versions.
  

Changelog:

• 2009-03-01: Updated permissions of Natit.
  
• 2009-02-27: Added new Natit.kext and updated the post.
  
• 2008-04-03: updated 2900 information, added ATY_Franklin.kext link, added link to FAQ
  

Thanks to netkas who made these great drivers. For more information check the #radeonhd IRC channel at irc.osx86.hu

Please also have a look at this FAQ!

Natit.kext.zip

[1long]

Hello,

 

I am a newbie just have Kalyway 10.5.1 installed on a 945G chipset MB. Going to buy a HD 2600 pro to get rid of the GMA950 mouse glitch problem.

 

May I know if the above steps enable DVI output?

 

Rgds.

[mcsmart]

Hello,

 

I am a newbie just have Kalyway 10.5.1 installed on a 945G chipset MB. Going to buy a HD 2600 pro to get rid of the GMA950 mouse glitch problem.

 

May I know if the above steps enable DVI output?

 

Rgds.

Yes, they do enable DVI.

[iBryce]

do you have to have the graphics update? Because i have tried everything and all i get is a display of white vertical lines. my install takes 5 hours. i havent had a successful install of these drivers yet.

 

Zephyroth 10.5.1

amd athlon 64 x2

radeon hd3850

ide hard drive

[sdelano]

Thanks for the guide but is all that necessary really? With my completely vanilla install all I had to do was add Natit and my card worked great. I am using an MSI HD2600XT Diamond 256MB.

 

Thanks,

sdelano

 

edit: nm I guess my dev id must have already been in the other kext

[mcsmart]

do you have to have the graphics update?

No, 10.5.1 and 10.5.2 have the update included already. You just need 10.5.1 or 10.5.2, no updates, no custom kernel, no OpenGL.framework and all that stuff...

 

Because i have tried everything and all i get is a display of white vertical lines.

Have you really tried the steps above with a clean install? By clean I mean not selecting any graphics-related things during the installation process. Are you using DVI?

 

Thanks for the guide but is all that necessary really?

Yes

 

edit: nm I guess my dev id must have already been in the other kext

Yeah, if your device ID is in ATIRadeonX2000.kext you're good. The other steps don't apply to your craphics card either, so all you need is Natit

 

mcsmart

[Josh D]

I have the Sapphire 2600 xt ddr3.

I've followed the above steps (skipped step 4. because I have the 2600 "xt" not the "pro".

VGA works fine, but DVI does not work. I also get a blue screen for about 2 minutes on startup. Eventually I get a bit a graphics tearing and I see my desktop.

In my system profiler my card shows up fine and appears to have full support including resolution switching, QE and CI, just no DVI.

 

Thanks to everyone who puts effort into this site.

[iBryce]

 

Are you using DVI?

 

I am using DVI with a DVI to VGA converter attached.

 

 

I also have another question. I noticed how many forums mention a modified bios of the 3850. Do i need this?

[mcsmart]

VGA works fine, but DVI does not work. I also get a blue screen for about 2 minutes on startup. Eventually I get a bit a graphics tearing and I see my desktop.

That is strange. DVI is supposed to work in this version. You could wait for netkas' next driver release and give it a try. I will update the instructions above, as soon as a new driver comes out

 

 

I also have another question. I noticed how many forums mention a modified bios of the 3850. Do i need this?

No you don't need it at all.

[iBryce]

That is strange. DVI is supposed to work in this version. You could wait for netkas' next driver release and give it a try. I will update the instructions above, as soon as a new driver comes out ;)No you don't need it at all.

Dang I can't get it working even on the rev 2 install disk. I have PCI 2.0 if thats a problem. Which kernel are you using?And by not working I mean a garbled screen at startup..

[mcsmart]

Dang I can't get it working even on the rev 2 install disk. I have PCI 2.0 if thats a problem. Which kernel are you using?

Strange, PCI-E 2.0 should not be the problem. I use the 9.2.0 kernel (10.5.1 users would probably use the 9.1.0 kernel) (Darwin Kernel Version 9.2.0: Tue Feb 5 16:13:22 PST 2008; 9c31:xnu-1228.3.13~1/RELEASE_I386 i386). Your DVI2VGA-Adaptor should not be a problem either.

 

Are you sure you have added the device id of your card?

Did you install the ATIRadeonX2000GLDriver.bundle? If not, do it. If you have, try it without it

 

I haven't used Zephyroth 10.5.1, so maybe something is missing or outdated there. If you can, try getting Zephyroth 10.5.2.

 

mcsmart

[iBryce]

Thanks for your help. I tried again yesterday with my sb600 kext injected into a 10.5.2 install which now takes 30 minutes rather than 5 hours

 

I noticed there are 2 versions of the driver on the installation disc. One that is called 38x0 driver that is about 13mb, and another that is called the title of this forum that is 356kb. If no success today, I will try the x1600 and see how that works out.

 

typing on the iPhone is tireing!

[jfelix71]

I had the 7300GT, I pulled it and installed the HD2600XT, failed to load, did not know I needed a new kext. I found this thread, just installed the netkas kext and put the HD2600XT back in and it works great. Only slightly better performance over the Asus 7300GT I had, but it works as a dual link DVI, both ports are working. Check my sig for my specs if you have questions.

[mcsmart]

I noticed there are 2 versions of the driver on the installation disc. One that is called 38x0 driver that is about 13mb, and another that is called the title of this forum that is 356kb. If no success today, I will try the x1600 and see how that works out.

Well, good that you got 10.5.2. But actually you might want to try it without the drivers from the install DVD, and use the drivers from my post above. They should be more up to date. Good luck!

 

 

I had the 7300GT, I pulled it and installed the HD2600XT, failed to load, did not know I needed a new kext. I found this thread, just installed the netkas kext and put the HD2600XT back in and it works great. Only slightly better performance over the Asus 7300GT I had, but it works as a dual link DVI, both ports are working. Check my sig for my specs if you have questions.

Good to hear, thanks for your feedback.

 

Regards,

mcsmart

[stegg]

i tried with my 2400 but got no success! the system gets panic at very early boot; even with the "-s" flag I can't boot anymore.

using amd 5200+ , asus M2v motherboard, and Leo4all 10.5.2

 

never mind, i quit, i'll purchase another graphics card

[mcsmart]

i tried with my 2400 but got no success! the system gets panic at very early boot; even with the "-s" flag I can't boot anymore.

using amd 5200+ , asus M2v motherboard, and Leo4all 10.5.2

 

never mind, i quit, i'll purchase another graphics card

Well, if it panics when booting with "-s" it is probably not because of your craphics card. What does the kernel panic say? My guess are some Nvidia kexts. Put in your install DVD, open Terminal and navigate to your Leopard install. Then try to remove all Nvidia kexts

 

Regerds,

mcsamrt

[linhnd2000]

Hi all, I followed all the above instruction but after rebooting, the white screen with the apple logo appears (distorted res) and then the screen turns blue (a very nice and smooth blue though). All I can see is a mouse which i can control and it appears to be in the correct resolution (1650x1080). And also I think that OSX is running behind that blue screen 'cuz I notice when i moved the mouse to the corner that I set up to display all windows, the mouse changed into a hand with a finger pointing.

Any advice, guys?

Thanks

 

Here's my system:

Zephyroth Leopard 10.5.2 AMD EFI

AMD X2 3800+

Asus A8N-VM CSM

Visiontek HD 2600 Pro 512mb (dev id:9589)

HDD: Maxtor 200GB IDE (MBR partitioned)

audio: Soundmax (got it working with azalia package installer)

Lan: Nforce ethernet (not working, tried forcedeth and skge)

[iBryce]

so.. Im back. I can't live with my 3850 sitting in the static proof bag on my table. But, even without selecting any drivers off the zephyroth 10.5.2 rev2, I still get the "scrambled" screen at startup. do you have any guess of what this might be?Do I have to edit the Natit.kext or anything??

[Guest cavallo]

This is a small guide on how to set up Natit for Radeon HD graphics cards in Mac OS X Leopard (10.5.1 & 10.5.2). By following the steps below you will get full QE/CI/OpenGL and DVI output. I know there already is a guide but it is horribly outdated. It is actually a lot easier than you might think.

 

Supported Radeon HD cards:

• Radeon HD 2600Pro
  
• Radeon HD 2600XT
  
• Radeon HD 2900
  
• Radeon HD 3870
  
• Radeon HD 3870×2
  
• Radeon HD 3850
  
• Other Radeon HD 2x00/38x0 cards might work as well
  

Step by step guide:

1. Get Natit from here
   
2. Extract the archive and copy Natit.kext to /Sytem/Library/Extensions
   
3. Locate ATIRadeonX2000.kext in /Sytem/Library/Extensions, Open /Sytem/Library/Extensions/ATIRadeonX2000.kext/Contents/Info.plist with the editor of your choice and add the PCI ID of your card (if it is not already in there). Save.
   
4. • If you have a Radeon 2600Pro or a Radeon 3850 and 10.5.1 download this
     Extract it and replace the original ATIRadeonX2000GLDriver.bundle in /Sytem/Library/Extensions with the one you have just downloaded.
     
   • If you have a Radeon 2600Pro or a Radeon 3850 and 10.5.2 download this
     Extract it and replace the original ATIRadeonX2000GLDriver.bundle in /Sytem/Library/Extensions with the one you have just downloaded.
     
   • If you have another card skip this step.
     

[*]Open Terminal (if you haven't already done so) and type:

cd /System/Library/Extensions
sudo chown -R root:wheel *
sudo chmod -R 755 *
sudo rm /System/Library/Extensions.mkext
sudo rm /System/Library/Extensions/Caches/com.apple.kext.info

[*]You are done. Reboot and pray

Hints:

• Do a clean install. Do not select any graphics-related things during the installation.
  

Thanks to netkas who made these great drivers. For more information check the #radeonhd IRC channel at irc.osx86.hu

 

Thanks for you info and guide but no Qe/ci on hd ati 2600 where and how to put device id (may another name) in info plist.

thanks once again

[mcsmart]

so.. Im back. I can't live with my 3850 sitting in the static proof bag on my table. But, even without selecting any drivers off the zephyroth 10.5.2 rev2, I still get the "scrambled" screen at startup. do you have any guess of what this might be?Do I have to edit the Natit.kext or anything??

Very strange. Are you using an AGP card? You don't have to to anything with Natit.kext!

Try to install the Leopard Graphics Update and tell me if it helps

 

 

Thanks for you info and guide but no Qe/ci on hd ati 2600 where and how to put device id (may another name) in info plist.

thanks once again

Locate "<key>IOPCIMatch</key>" and add your device id in the string field below:

"<string>0x95891002</string>" (where 9589 is the device id of your card).

[Morpheus Phreak]

mcsmart there was a BIOS released by ATi for the 38x0 series recently that affected the fan controls.

 

Since that update I cannot use my 3850 in OSX once drivers are installed. Until the point that they are installed it works, but only at 1024x768 with no QE/CI etc.

 

I think a lot of people moving forward will be affected by this. The DevID stays the same for the cards, but I'm thinking that something else must have changed that affects the rendering.

 

Any ideas?

[iBryce]

mcsmart:

 

Do you think my trouble is caused by my card being 512 mb and not 256?

[jake123]

2 questions.

1) I have the 2600 Pro, does this mean because it has 2 DVI that both ports work, making me be able to do dual screens

2) Is the resolution changeable, or is it stuck, IE can OS X change the resolution in Control Panel, or do I have to use a boot flag.

 

Thanks

[linhnd2000]

So, anyone got any idea for my problem yet? Please, guys?

I've just tried the Leopard graphic update and got my kernel panic. Really don't know what else I can do.

 

 

My previous post:

 

Hi all, I followed all the above instruction but after rebooting, the white screen with the apple logo appears (distorted res) and then the screen turns blue (a very nice and smooth blue though). All I can see is a mouse which i can control and it appears to be in the correct resolution (1650x1080). And also I think that OSX is running behind that blue screen 'cuz I notice when i moved the mouse to the corner that I set up to display all windows, the mouse changed into a hand with a finger pointing.

Any advice, guys?

Thanks

 

Here's my system:

Zephyroth Leopard 10.5.2 AMD EFI

AMD X2 3800+

Asus A8N-VM CSM

Visiontek HD 2600 Pro 512mb (dev id:9589)

HDD: Maxtor 200GB IDE (MBR partitioned)

audio: Soundmax (got it working with azalia package installer)

Lan: Nforce ethernet (not working, tried forcedeth and skge)

[demonfox13x]

i have an asus EAH3870x2 and installing the drivers gives me a black screen after boot.. i tried using DVI and vga nothings working so far.