Guide: GA-EP35-DS4 10.5.2 Vanilla Install + 10.5.5 Update

[Coadey]

Guide: GA-EP35-DS4 10.5.2 Vanilla-est Install w/ MBR

 

Updates for 10.5.5+ are at the bottom.

 

The Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS4 varies from the GA-P35-DS4 in several ways, including firmware. I thought I'd post the most vanilla 10.5.2 install I was able to come up with. These guides were most helpful to get me started:

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=7640
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=86167
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=83689
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=77165

Here is the hardware I used (at a cost of around $1100):

• Processor: Intel E3110 45nm Xeon Dual-Core 3.0 Ghz (OC to 3.6 Ghz, stock HSF)
  Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS4 (OC FSB to 400 Mhz, stock 1.2 voltage)
  Memory: Mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800mhz
  Video: MSI Nvidia GeForce 8800GT OC 512MB
  Drives: Two Seagate 500GB 7200.11 hard drives, one LITE-ON SATA DVD
  Power: Antec 430W EarthWatts ATX12V
  Keyboard: Apple Aluminum Wired Keyboard MB110LL/A
  Mouse: Logitech RX1000
  Case: Thermaltake VD2000BNS with additional Enermax UC-12EB fan
  
  

Using this guide and hardware everything works with a vanilla kernel. You'll also be able to do "Software Updates" (as of 3/27/2008).

________________________________________________________________________

Prerequisites

________________________________________________________________________

 

Necessary Software

 

You'll need to copy this software to a USB drive:

OS X 10.5.2 Combo Updater
Leopard Graphics Update 1.0
The EP35DS4pack (Alternate Link)

You'll also need two DVD's:

• Kalyway 10.5.1
  

Retail Leopard 10.5

Hardware Notes

• Press "Delete" during boot and setup the BIOS to match the attached screenshots.
  Remove the jumper from any Seagate hard drive to enable 3 GB/s SATA.
  The 6 ICH9 SATA ports can be used, but not the last 2 Gigabyte ones.
  Although it should work, I left AHCI "Disabled" for better compatibility with Windows/Linux.
  The "Hard drive boot priority" changes the order that OS's detect the drives.
  This system uses 102 watts idle, 179 watts peak.
   
  Benchmarks:
  • Cinebench: 4167 (1 CPU), 7936 (2 CPU), 7952 (OpenGL)
    Geekbench: 4863
    Xbench: 217
    Openmark: 33292 (at 1920x1200)
    

________________________________________________________________________

Installation

________________________________________________________________________

 

This is broken down into three stages using 2 drives. The goal is to have one MBR OS X drive, and one MBR Linux + Windows drive.

By using MBR for OS X, the Linux GRUB bootloader can automatically configure and boot both OS X and Windows volumes.

 

Stage One - Installing and booting Kalyway on a GUID Partition

 

Insert the Kalyway 10.5.1 DVD and boot from it. Press F8 when prompted, select "Kalyway".

 

Use "Disk Utility" under the "Utilities" menu to partition both drives:

• Partition the first drive as "GUID" into 2 partitions; "Kalyway" and "LeopardGUID"
  Partition the second as "MBR" (use the "Options" button) into 1 partition named "LeopardMBR"
  

Proceed with the install onto the "Kalyway" volume, then remove the DVD and reboot into OS X.

 

 

Stage Two - Installing a mostly Vanilla 10.5.2 on a GUID Partition

 

While booted from the Kalyway volume, insert your retail Leopard DVD.

 

Now open Applications/Utilities/Terminal to execute this command:

 

open /Volumes/Mac\ OS\ X\ Install\ DVD/System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg

This will start the Leopard installer without rebooting. Be sure to install onto "LeopardGUID".

 

When finished, install OS X 10.5.2 Combo Updater and Leopard Graphics Update onto LeopardGUID, and do not reboot.

 

Go back to the Terminal to "fix" your LeopardGUID install. First, backup/remove incompatible kext's:

 

sudo su
mkdir /Volumes/LeopardGUID/vanilla
mv /Volumes/LeopardGUID/System/Library/Extensions/AppleACPIPlatform.kext /Volumes/LeopardGUID/vanilla/
mv /Volumes/LeopardGUID/System/Library/Extensions/AppleAHCIPort.kext /Volumes/LeopardGUID/vanilla/
mv /Volumes/LeopardGUID/System/Library/Extensions/AppleEFIRuntime.kext /Volumes/LeopardGUID/vanilla/
mv /Volumes/LeopardGUID/System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext /Volumes/LeopardGUID/vanilla/
mv /Volumes/LeopardGUID/System/Library/Extensions/AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext /Volumes/LeopardGUID/vanilla/
mv /Volumes/LeopardGUID/System/Library/Extensions/AppleSMBIOS.kext /Volumes/LeopardGUID/vanilla/
mv /Volumes/LeopardGUID/System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext /Volumes/LeopardGUID/vanilla/
mv /Volumes/LeopardGUID/System/Library/Extensions/IOATAFamily.kext /Volumes/LeopardGUID/vanilla/
mv /Volumes/LeopardGUID/System/Library/Extensions/IONetworkingFamily.kext /Volumes/LeopardGUID/vanilla/
mv /Volumes/LeopardGUID/System/Library/Extensions/JMicronATA.kext /Volumes/LeopardGUID/vanilla/

Now remove the "download quarantine" flags and install the EP35DS4pack kext extensions:

 

find /Volumes/*/EP35DS4pack/kext -exec xattr -d com.apple.quarantine {} ";"
cp -R /Volumes/*/EP35DS4pack/kext/* /Volumes/LeopardGUID/System/Library/Extensions/
diskutil repairpermissions /Volumes/LeopardGUID

The included kext's are needed as explained below:

• AppleACPIPlatform: Fixes restart/shutdown (otherwise only sleep works)
  dsmos: Enables page decryption for some applications
  AppleSMBIOS: Properly detects hardware features (e.g. fixes System Profiler) by macdotnub
  Note: Some applications may not work with his SMBIOS. You can try this one:

http://netkas.org/?p=58
AppleAHCI: Prevents internal drives from appearing as external (not needed if AHCI is disabled)
IOACHIFamily: Required for AHCI support (not needed if AHCI is disabled)
IOATAFamily: Enables SATA ports 2-5, otherwise system may not boot past grey apple.
AppleHDA: Patched for EP35-DS4 onboard sound (Realtek ALC889A)
ALCinject: Detects EFI string for onboard sound (instead of using com.apple.Boot.plist)
NVinject: Detects EFI string for NVIDIA graphics (instead of using com.apple.Boot.plist)
IONetworkingFamily: Fixes Time Machine and "_CFGetHostUUIDString" errors
RealtekR1000: Fixes Apple Filesharing. (Realtek 8111B LAN)

Do not reboot.

 

 

Stage Three - Cloning the GUID partition to an MBR

1. Open Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility
   
2. Select one of the partitions
   
3. Click the "Restore" tab
   
4. Drag the LeopardGUID volume into Source, and LeopardMBR into Destination
   
5. Click the "Restore" button
   

After the clone is done, open Terminal, and get the disk identifier for LeopardMBR (e.g. /dev/disk1s1)

 

df | grep LeopardMBR

Now carefully install the EFI bootloader. Replace the #'s with your disk identifier number(s):

 

sudo su
diskutil umount /Volumes/LeopardMBR
cd /Volumes/*/EP35DS4pack/efi8/
./startupfiletool /dev/rdisk#s# ./boot_v8
dd if=./mbr/boot1h of=/dev/rdisk#s# bs=512 count=1
dd if=./mbr/boot0 of=/dev/disk# bs=400 count=1

Make the partition bootable:

 

diskutil umount /Volumes/LeopardMBR
fdisk -e /dev/disk#
flag 1
quit

You should now be able to reboot, press Delete to enter the BIOS, change the hard drive boot priority, and boot into LeopardMBR.

 

You can safely do a "Software Update", including Security Update 2008-002 and Time Machine 1.0 (which includes kernel 9.2.2)

 

Re-partition the old Kalyway/LeopardGUID drive into an MBR disk to insall Windows and/or Linux. I also added a third FAT32 partition, since all OS's can read/write that. If you install Linux, do it last, and it will automatically configure the GRUB Bootloader to see both Mac and Windows.

 

 

10.5.5 Update

 

I don't recommend performing an in-place update on a running system, even if it's vanilla. I've had systems kernel panic during an update because kernel extensions are reloaded as they're installed if they're not removed fast enough. This leaves you with a non-booting system that you have to boot using a different drive anyway. First download the 10.5.5 Combo Updater (601 MB) and updated kext pack:

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/mac...omboupdate.html
http://rapidshare.de/files/40528454/EP35DS...10.5.5.zip.html

Mount the disk image and copy the .pkg updater to the root of your boot volume. Unzip the kext pack and put it there too, then follow these instructions (replace "BOOTVOLUME" with the name of the volume you're updating).

 

1. Reboot using the Kalyway insaller DVD.

 

2. When the install wizard appears click the right arrow.

 

3. Pull down the "Utilities" menu and choose "Terminal".

 

4. Run the update installer. Remember to choose the right disk to update. It may fail at the end during the "postinstall" cleanup, but that won't effect operation:

 

 /Volumes/*/usr/bin/open /Volumes/*/MacOSXUpdCombo10.5.5.pkg

5. Back in the Terminal, backup the kext's:

 

 mkdir /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/10.5.5_Backup
mv /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/System/Library/Extensions/ALCinject.kext /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/10.5.5_Backup/
mv /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/System/Library/Extensions/AppleACPIPlatform.kext /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/10.5.5_Backup/
mv /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/System/Library/Extensions/AppleAHCIPort.kext /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/10.5.5_Backup/
mv /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/System/Library/Extensions/AppleEFIRuntime.kext /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/10.5.5_Backup/
mv /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/10.5.5_Backup/
mv /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/System/Library/Extensions/AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/10.5.5_Backup/
mv /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/System/Library/Extensions/AppleSMBIOS.kext /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/10.5.5_Backup/
mv /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/System/Library/Extensions/dsmos.kext /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/10.5.5_Backup/
mv /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/10.5.5_Backup/
mv /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/System/Library/Extensions/IOATAFamily.kext /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/10.5.5_Backup/
mv /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/System/Library/Extensions/IONetworkingFamily.kext /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/10.5.5_Backup/
mv /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/System/Library/Extensions/JMicronATA.kext /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/10.5.5_Backup/
mv /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/System/Library/Extensions/NVinject.kext /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/10.5.5_Backup/
mv /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/System/Library/Extensions/RealtekR1000.kext /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/10.5.5_Backup/

6. Now install the new kext's from the kext pack. Only two major changes have been done; a switch from NVinject to NVkush (to fix Quartz Extreme and other issues in 10.5.5) and a switch to the mac.nub version of AppleSMBIOS patched by Duvel (otherwise the hardware serial number doesn't work, e.g. Second Life will crash).

 

 chown -R root:wheel /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/EP35DS4pack_10.5.5/kext/*
find /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/EP35DS4pack_10.5.5/kext -exec xattr -d com.apple.quarantine {} ";"
cp -pR /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/EP35DS4pack_10.5.5/kext/* /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/System/Library/Extensions/
rm -f /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME/System/Library/Extensions.mkext
diskutil repairpermissions /Volumes/BOOTVOLUME

7. You should now be able to reboot normally. If you see a grey "no" symbol during boot, wait a while, and it should continue booting (then later warn you about a misinstalled kext). If it doesn't boot, re-follow the instructions.

 

Hope this helps!

 

________________________________________________________________________

Remaining Issues

________________________________________________________________________

 

You can only wake from sleep by pressing the power button, despite any BIOS wake settings.

 

Upon waking, any attached USB drives will warn that they weren't unmounted properly, but do reappear.

 

When using DHCP, the IP information is lost after sleep due to the realtek driver.

Use a static internal IP, or remove the RealtekR1000 kext if you don't need Apple Filesharing.

 

No eSATA hot-swap due to AHCI being disabled. Must reboot to see a new external SATA drive.

[chuckeroo]

Thanks for your guide, I am building an almost identical set up today and will give you method

a shot. I will report back with any issues or suggestions. I was wondering what you know to

be the differences between the ep35 and p35, as I was told that they are identical except for the energy

saver function, and the bios which supposedly is easily changeable if necessary.

 

Thanks again!

[Coadey]

the differences between the ep35 and p35

 

I think the firmware and energy-saving functions are the biggest differences, as the two boards are almost physically identical. The AppleHDA and a few other kext's provided by others for the P35-DS4 wouldn't work on my EP35, which is why I posted this.

[olav]

Hi, seems to be a nice board, I just wonder if it boots fast or have the delay of 10-15 seconds like users have reported for the GA-P35-DS4 some time ago (hopefully this problem is solved). I'm choosing between this board and the bad axe 2 right now. Bad axe seem to be more compatible but lacks support for 45 nm and the system will draw more power, one other thing is that the geekbench scores fot the bad axe actually is higher than the gigabyte with the q6600 at the same speed (will try to find a link for those numbers). Hmm, what do you think?

[cmantheo]

Fantastic guide. Thank you, big time!!

 

Everything worked as you described.

[Coadey]

Hi, seems to be a nice board, I just wonder if it boots fast or have the delay of 10-15 seconds like users have reported for the GA-P35-DS4 some time ago (hopefully this problem is solved). I'm choosing between this board and the bad axe 2 right now. Bad axe seem to be more compatible but lacks support for 45 nm and the system will draw more power, one other thing is that the geekbench scores fot the bad axe actually is higher than the gigabyte with the q6600 at the same speed (will try to find a link for those numbers). Hmm, what do you think?

Are you thinking of a specific delay? It depends on your setup, but generally the biggest waits are on "Verifying DMI pool data" (2-3 seconds, which is common to many boards), and the onboard ACPI controller detecting drives (2-3 seconds even if ACPI is disabled). From there your bootloader takes over (2-3 seconds to get through GRUB), and the OS X boot itself (6-10 seconds). So, going from power-on to "ready" could take 30 seconds or so. An Intel iMac can take around 40 so this is pretty typical.

 

http://www.silvermac.com/2006/macmini-core...-start-up-time/

 

Fantastic guide. Thank you, big time!! :mellow:

 

Everything worked as you described.

Glad to hear it!

[LTL]

good job!!!

[Stellair]

I thought all SATA ports could be enabled?

[Coadey]

I thought all SATA ports could be enabled?

 

The ICH9R southbridge supplies 6 SATA ports, and all of these work. Gigabyte went one step further, and provided 2 more using a Gigabyte SATA controller, but I never enabled or tested these.

[longtom]

Hi, seems to be a nice board, I just wonder if it boots fast or have the delay of 10-15 seconds like users have reported for the GA-P35-DS4 some time ago (hopefully this problem is solved). I'm choosing between this board and the bad axe 2 right now. Bad axe seem to be more compatible but lacks support for 45 nm and the system will draw more power, one other thing is that the geekbench scores fot the bad axe actually is higher than the gigabyte with the q6600 at the same speed (will try to find a link for those numbers). Hmm, what do you think?

 

Found any link?

[olav]

Here some geekbench results of the bad axe 2, http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...mp;#entry537684

 

3682 - single 2.4ghz @ 2.8ghz Core 2 Duo E6600 (Onetrack) - bad axe 2

3910 - dual 2ghz dual-core Xeons (Mac Pro)

4652 - single 2.4ghz quad-core Core 2 Quad (weaksauce12) - bad axe 2

5018 - dual 2.66ghz dual-core Xeons (Mac Pro)

5574 - dual 3.0ghz dual-core Xeons (Mac Pro)

6011 - single 2.4ghz @ 3.0ghz quad-core Core 2 Quad (weaksauce12) - bad axe 2

6538 - single 2.4ghz @ 3.3ghz quad-core Core 2 Quad (weaksauce12) - bad axe 2

7103 - single 2.4ghz @ 3.6ghz quad-core Core 2 Quad (karol) - GA-P35-DS4 v 2.0

8626 - dual 3.0ghz quad-core Xeons (Mac Pro)

 

If I remember correct there are some benchmarks with q6600 at the same clock on the GA-P35-DS4 and the bad axe 2, but I didn't find these. Anyway it looks like the performance is quite the same with the two motherboards.

[redrobot222]

Thanks for the great install guide. I have everything working except audio and I can't get the audio device to show up in Mac OS no matter what I try. I purchased the board this month from Newegg and received a GA-EP35-DS4 Rev 2.1 board which sure appears to have the same audio device as the previous edition, but none of the methods I've tried result in working audio.

 

So I am curious, are you using a Rev 2.1 board or an earlier edition of the GA-EP35-DS4? I wonder if they changed something just slightly in the 2.1...

[redrobot222]

Ohhh I'm new at this, but I just caught on that System Profiler never says it has an audio device, and that I need to use actual headphones and attempt to play sound to tell if the AppleHDA patched kext is working.

 

Nevermind my previous post, I have everything working great on a GA-EP35-DS4 Rev 2.1 board.

 

Thanks everyone!!!!

[JestaGeek]

Hey, thanks for sharing this, Coadey... it definitely helped me get up the nerve to try building this EP35-DS4 -based system. I used the newer Kalyway 10.5.2 installer and have been enjoying what seems to be full support "out of the box"... and everything has been running so well that I haven't bothered trying to tweak things too much or go to the trouble of a "retail install", though I have a 10.5.1 retail DVD and could go ahead and try it out at some point if/when I have time and sufficient motivation. The Kalyway 10.5.2 seemed to install everything I needed. I just ran software update and installed latest security patches, etc... and ran the Leopard Graphics Update, but didn't ever notice anything changed from doing so.

 

Just thought I'd add my experience in case there are people reading this who'd just like to keep things simple and/or wouldn't have known that the Kalyway 10.5.2 (complete installer, not "combo update") seems to include all that's necessary.

[xtrgt]

great walkthru.. used the acpiplatform kext in the ep35-ds4 pack and now, i have reboot / shutdown on vanilla 9.3.0.

 

THANKS !!

[Hourglass]

For starters I tried the install but on a GUID partition. I skipped the clone to MBR drive code only and installed the 10.5.3 update as well as 10.5.2. I think I messed up by installing the boot flag? The drive was not recognized.

Also I am using an IDE DVD rom drive and an ide hd for Kalyway. I am using an SATA for the Retail Install. I know about the AHCI SATA Mode bios and ide issue so have it disabled; IDE onboard setting of course.

Back to the issue of the install, was the error in setting the boot flag to a GUID partition? I believe I should have just left off after the efi bootloader code.

Let me know what you think. Much appreciated and thanks for posting this guide. My board is the EP35C-DS3R r. 2.1 bios F2.

- Lates'

BTW. I am getting the impression of faulty transfer issues using both IDE drives/connections and SATA drives/connections with installs, making bios settings difficult for noobs.

edit: I did another install run excluding the boot flag. Boot loader only sees kalyway drive.

[Barcode]

I'm another happy beneficiary of all the hard work done by many members of this forum, especially LTL and Coadey. My brand new hackintosh is built from very similar components to Coadey's:

 

• GA-EP35-DS4 rev 2.1 motherboard

• Intel Q6600 quad 2.4GHz

• Gigabyte 8800GT video card

• 2x Seagate Barracuda 500GB HDD

• LiteON iHAS220 optical drive

• Linksys WMP300N wifi

• 4x 1GB Kingston 800 MHz RAM

• Antec Sonata Plus 550 case

 

With one fatal error on my part, I had a pretty easy installation to the point where I am now: vanilla kernel updated to 10.5.5, Coadey's kext list, and Chameleon. So far, everything is working without any problem, but I've only spent a few hours with the system since I finished. OS X reckons it's a Mac Pro with Airport Extreme wifi (I saw in one of the topics about recommended hardware that the WMP300N is recognised as Apple and works OOB, which is true).

 

I originally intended to use LTL's guide -- I like his scripts but when I looked at the guide in detail I wasn't at all confident that I could handle the EFI string setup, as I'm am a complete noob in this area, though I've used PCs forever. So I opted for Coadey's guide both because of his highly similar hardware list and the straight forward process in his guide. I used Kalyway 10.5.2, my retail Leopard DVD and the OS X 10.5.5 Combo update which is two days old.

 

Sound -- works through the Sonata rear audio ports but not the front yet (I think there is a mismatch in the wiring between Gigabyte and Antec)

Graphics -- perfect at 1680 x 1050 on my LG W2242T

Wifi -- working very well with my Netcomm NB9WMaxx

LAN -- not tested yet

Sleep OK -- sleeps by timed settings and Apple menu, wake by power button

Restart, shutdown/restart OK

 

The only fright I had was after the retail install and combo update, when on reboot I got a black screen with cryptic codes. I had to boot using the Kalyway DVD. Eventually I realised that, because I wasn't following Coadey's extra steps for cloning the install to an MBR partition, I hadn't installed any bootloader! Oh boy! so I installed Chameleon and all is OK. The other thing is that my Kalyway partition is there, but it won't show up in the list of startup disks. Would that be because it needs a boot loader installed?

 

Anyway, I'm very happy and extremely grateful.

[Coadey]

Just a bump for those needing to do a 10.5.5 update. I finally got around to it and posted a new kext pack (replaced NVinject with NVkush and changed to a different AppleSMBIOS) with instructions in the original article.

[Shadow_2k]

Update: The RealtekR1000 kext that can by downloaded from psystar.com fixed my DHCP issues after sleep.

[me@home]

...10.5.5 update....posted a new kext pack...

 

THANK YOU !

 

Worked 4 my Gigabyte hack mac...I used the delta update was easier to get it working with my grafic card...had to reboot with -f -s to remove the NV driver, then re installed leo grafic update and with your nvkush voila full QE+CI.

10.5.5 seems to have some troubles with certain grafic cards.

[Duckydude]

1.) Would it be possible to use a 10.5.4 retail disc with this guide? (That is the only retail disc I have right now unfortunatley)

 

2.) I just want Leopard, could I just use the boot132 iso, install the retail 10.5.4 and then use your guide to install the kexts/drivers?

 

3.) How would I go about installing 10.5.5 from stratch, I assume the 10.5.5 section is for people updating from 10.5.2?

 

4.) Would I have to do anything different to install the kext from the directions listed in the 10.5.5 section if I were to update from 10.5.4?

 

5.) With this audio patch, would it properly recognize the sound output? (I used a different guide, the sound worked, but OS X couldn't detect the output device, therefore several programs wouldn't start or wouldn't work properly, i.e.: Halo, Garageband, Logic Studio)

 

EDIT: It looks like there isn't a way to get it to display properly, is there anyway to make these applications work?

 

 

Thank you . Here's my hardware if it makes any difference:

 

Motherboard: GA-EP35-DS4 revision 2.1 F5 BIOS

CPU: Q6600 @ 3.0Ghz 1333Mhz FSB

RAM: Gskill 4GB DDR1000 5-5-5-15 timings

Video Card: EVGA 8800GT

Hard Drive: WD 500GB AAKS

Wireless Adapter: Asus WL-138g V2

[PatrickMac]

Hey, great guide! I managed to install everything and it seems that everything works just fine! There are only two minor problems:

 

1. The computer does not shut down correctly. When I select shut down in Mac OS, it will go through the usual shut down procedure but it looks like it shuts down too early because the "turning ring" is stil there. Also, the fan and the power led are still on after shut down!

 

2. The font in Mac OS seems to be damaged. At the resulution of 1920x1200 the font is not clear, parts of letters seem blurred. Is that normal?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

My sytem:

 

Motherboard: GA-EP35-DS4

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600

Ram: Geil 4GB DDR2-800

Graphic Card: Asus HD 3850 Silent

HDD: Seagate Sata

DVD: LG Sata DVD Burner

[PatrickMac]

Hey,

 

just in case someone had the same problem: OpenHaltRestart.kext solved the problem for me. No Mac shuts down normally.

 

However, the graphic problem still exists. Does anyone have a clue how to solve that? The font is really blurry, for instance in "normally" one "l" appears bigger than the other!!! I already checked the display with my Macbook, but plugging it in all works fine! Are there different drivers for the Ati HD 3650?

 

Thanks for your help!

[JestaGeek]

Hey,

 

just in case someone had the same problem: OpenHaltRestart.kext solved the problem for me. No Mac shuts down normally.

 

However, the graphic problem still exists. Does anyone have a clue how to solve that? The font is really blurry, for instance in "normally" one "l" appears bigger than the other!!! I already checked the display with my Macbook, but plugging it in all works fine! Are there different drivers for the Ati HD 3650?

 

Thanks for your help!

Hi Patrick, Nice to know about the OpenHaltRestart kext... I'll look for that. I think there are other drivers for HD3850 (that's what you meant, right). I don't think I've ever seen the problem you are describing and I think other people have had good luck with the HD3850... so don't give up. If the native resolution of your monitor is making things look funny, you probably do need a different Natit kext and/or other special drivers. There should be good drivers, for instance, on the latest iDeneb 10.5.5 install disk (which you can find at the "Green Demon".

 

HTH...

 

Besta,

 

Jesta

[eyemac]

I was wondering why you installed onto MBR as the last step rather than a GUID installation which I thought was more 'Mac' like? Also, I thought MBR only allows up to 500gb partitions with the current Disk Utility whereas GUID allows for much larger single partitions(?). Thanks very much for your great set of instructions!