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GFX Strings - DUAL CARDS - How To
« Thread Started on Jun 1, 2008, 8:42am »

How to get 2 Graphics cards going with GFX Strings in OSX86. (Dual Card only - Go here for Single Cards).

PLEASE NOTE - SNOW LEOPARD 10.6 - 10.6.3 When making your output file - that must be done booted from Leopard only or upgrade to 10.6.4 onwards. Snow Leopard 10.6 - 10.6.3 gives the wrong info in the output file and you WILL NOT get QE/CI working!

This is now working in 10.6.4 onwards again!

You may well want to print out these instructions first and go over the procedure first!

You have to have EFI V8 or Chameleon 1 or 2. It will not work with EFI V7 to V7.4

Download one of the following files to your desktop:

Cards for Leopard/Snow Leo Below:

Dual GeForce 8800 GTX 768 mb cards: Click to Download

Dual GeForce 9800 GTX 512 mb cards: Click to Download

GeForce 7800 GX2 512 mb per card:Click to Download

Quadro FX 4500 x2 1024mb:Click to Download

Dual GeForce GTX 280 1024 mb cards: Click to Download

1. Unpack it and drag both the gfxutil program and the in.plist onto your desktop.

Open in.plist with either the Apple "Property List Editor" that comes with Apple developer tools or download Plist Edit Pro for free:

http://www.macupdate.com/download.php/14363/PlistEditPro.dmg

2. Open up in.plist with one of the above programs, you should see something that looks like this:

[image]

Click on the first small triangle next to PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0) and expand the display as below:

[image]

3. Where you see NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX DDL, change this to the name of your graphics card that you want to use by double clicking it and overwriting the supplied info.

4. Next, do the same with the "00000020" value next to VRAM,totalsize. The default entry is for a 512 mb card, but you need to replace the existing value with one for your card. Here are the values you need for differing Ram amounts of graphics cards.

<00000008> - 128Mb
<00000010> - 256Mb
<00000014> - 320Mb
<00000020> - 512Mb
<00000028> - 640Mb
<00000030> - 768Mb

Only enter the figures between the arrow heads as the original default info!

4. Now expand the second "PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x6,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)" and change the info for your second card, the name of the card and the ram size using the info supplied above.

5. Click on File and save the file.

6. Remove either NVInject, NVKush or Natit from your extensions folder. You must do this otherwise GFX strings will not work. Backup the one you use somewhere safe.

7. Shutdown your computer.

8. Place the card you want to use as your main card in your first PCIe slot but NOT the second card.

9. Boot your computer, you may have crappy resolution as you will currently not have QE & CI.

10. Open up the Terminal program in OSX and type the following:
cd ~/desktop (then hit return)

then type:

./gfxutil -f display (then hit return)

You should get something along these lines printed out in the terminal:

PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)

Open up your in.plist again this time with text editor and overwrite the first instance of this information at the top (not the info half way down).

Save the info by clicking File then Save.

You need to power down your PC and REMOVE the first graphics card. Install the second card in THE SECOND PCIe slot, NOT the first slot. This is important.

Reconnect your monitor and fire up your PC again.

11. Open up the Terminal program in OSX again and type the following:
cd ~/desktop (then hit return)

then type:

./gfxutil -f display (then hit return)

You should get something along these lines printed out in the terminal:

PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x6,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)

Open up your in.plist with text editor again and overwrite the SECOND instance of this information HALF WAY DOWN (not the info at the top).

Save the info by clicking File then Save.

Phew! You still with me....Good, the hard work is done. You now have a complete in.plist file.

12. Open up the Terminal program in OSX again and type the following:
cd ~/desktop (then hit return)

then type:
./gfxutil -i xml -o hex ./in.plist ./out.hex (then hit return)

you should now have a new file called out.hex on your desktop. Open this file with text editor and it will have your new graphics string. It should look something like this:

980700000100000002000000c60300001500000002010c00d041030a000000000101060000010101060000007fff040014000000400032002c006 e0061006d00650000001100000073656e736f722d706172656e74220000005600520041004d002c0074006f00740061006c00730069007a0065000000 080000000000002036000000400032002c00680077006300740072006c002d0070006100720061006d0073002d00760065007200730069006f006e000 00008000000000000021c0000006400650076006900630065005f0074007900700065000000100000004e5644412c4765466f7263650e0000006e0061 006d00650000000f0000004e5644412c506172656e7422000000400030002c006400650076006900630065005f00740079007000650000000b0000006 46973706c6179100000006d006f00640065006c0000001f0000004e5649444941204765466f7263652039383030204754582044444c22000000400031 002c006400650076006900630065005f00740079007000650000000b000000646973706c617912000000400032002c007200650067000000080000000 000000222000000400032002c006400650076006900630065005f0074007900700065000000120000004e5644412c6770752d64696f64652000000040 0032002c0063006f006d00700061007400690062006c0065000000160000004e5644412c73656e736f722d706172656e7422000000400032002c00230 0730069007a0065002d00630065006c006c0073000000080000000000000020000000400031002c0063006f006d00700061007400690062006c006500 00000e0000004e5644412c4e564d616314000000400030002c006e0061006d0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d413a00000040003 2002c0068007700730065006e0073006f0072002d0070006100720061006d0073002d00760065007200730069006f006e000000080000000000000226 000000400032002c0023006100640072006500730073002d00630065006c006c0073000000080000000000000114000000400031002c006e0061006d0 065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d4220000000400030002c0063006f006d00700061007400690062006c00650000000e0000004e56 44412c4e564d61631e00000072006f006d002d007200650076006900730069006f006e000000090000003331373261100000004e00560043004100500 000001800000004000000000003000c00000000000007000000000e0000004e00560050004d0000002000000001000000000000000000000000000000 000000000000000000000000c60300001500000002010c00d041030a000000000101060000060101060000007fff040014000000400032002c006e006 1006d00650000001100000073656e736f722d706172656e74220000005600520041004d002c0074006f00740061006c00730069007a00650000000800 00000000002036000000400032002c00680077006300740072006c002d0070006100720061006d0073002d00760065007200730069006f006e0000000 8000000000000021c0000006400650076006900630065005f0074007900700065000000100000004e5644412c4765466f7263650e0000006e0061006d 00650000000f0000004e5644412c506172656e7422000000400030002c006400650076006900630065005f00740079007000650000000b00000064697 3706c6179100000006d006f00640065006c0000001f0000004e5649444941204765466f7263652039383030204754582044444c22000000400031002c 006400650076006900630065005f00740079007000650000000b000000646973706c617912000000400032002c0072006500670000000800000000000 00222000000400032002c006400650076006900630065005f0074007900700065000000120000004e5644412c6770752d64696f646520000000400032 002c0063006f006d00700061007400690062006c0065000000160000004e5644412c73656e736f722d706172656e7422000000400032002c002300730 069007a0065002d00630065006c006c0073000000080000000000000020000000400031002c0063006f006d00700061007400690062006c0065000000 0e0000004e5644412c4e564d616314000000400030002c006e0061006d0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d413a000000400032002 c0068007700730065006e0073006f0072002d0070006100720061006d0073002d00760065007200730069006f006e0000000800000000000002260000 00400032002c0023006100640072006500730073002d00630065006c006c0073000000080000000000000114000000400031002c006e0061006d00650 00000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d4220000000400030002c0063006f006d00700061007400690062006c00650000000e0000004e564441 2c4e564d61631e00000072006f006d002d007200650076006900730069006f006e000000090000003331373261100000004e005600430041005000000 01800000004000000000003000c00000000000007000000000e0000004e00560050004d00000020000000010000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000

Copy it and open the finder and head to /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration and drag a copy of your com.apple.boot.plist to the desktop. Open it up with Text Edit and under the last string, which is usually the......

<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>Yes</string>

add a couple new lines as follows
<key>device-properties</key>
<string>PASTE YOUR LONG HEX STRING HERE!</string>

You should end up with something like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Kernel</key>
<string>mach_kernel</string>
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>device-properties</key>
<string>980700000100000002000000c60300001500000002010c00d041030a000000000101060000010101060000007fff04001400000040003200 2c006e0061006d00650000001100000073656e736f722d706172656e74220000005600520041004d002c0074006f00740061006c00730069007a00650 00000080000000000002036000000400032002c00680077006300740072006c002d0070006100720061006d0073002d00760065007200730069006f00 6e00000008000000000000021c0000006400650076006900630065005f0074007900700065000000100000004e5644412c4765466f7263650e0000006 e0061006d00650000000f0000004e5644412c506172656e7422000000400030002c006400650076006900630065005f00740079007000650000000b00 0000646973706c6179100000006d006f00640065006c0000001f0000004e5649444941204765466f7263652039383030204754582044444c220000004 00031002c006400650076006900630065005f00740079007000650000000b000000646973706c617912000000400032002c0072006500670000000800 00000000000222000000400032002c006400650076006900630065005f0074007900700065000000120000004e5644412c6770752d64696f646520000 000400032002c0063006f006d00700061007400690062006c0065000000160000004e5644412c73656e736f722d706172656e7422000000400032002c 002300730069007a0065002d00630065006c006c0073000000080000000000000020000000400031002c0063006f006d00700061007400690062006c0 0650000000e0000004e5644412c4e564d616314000000400030002c006e0061006d0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d413a000000 400032002c0068007700730065006e0073006f0072002d0070006100720061006d0073002d00760065007200730069006f006e0000000800000000000 00226000000400032002c0023006100640072006500730073002d00630065006c006c0073000000080000000000000114000000400031002c006e0061 006d0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d4220000000400030002c0063006f006d00700061007400690062006c00650000000e00000 04e5644412c4e564d61631e00000072006f006d002d007200650076006900730069006f006e000000090000003331373261100000004e005600430041 00500000001800000004000000000003000c00000000000007000000000e0000004e00560050004d00000020000000010000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000c60300001500000002010c00d041030a000000000101060000060101060000007fff040014000000400032002c00 6e0061006d00650000001100000073656e736f722d706172656e74220000005600520041004d002c0074006f00740061006c00730069007a006500000 0080000000000002036000000400032002c00680077006300740072006c002d0070006100720061006d0073002d00760065007200730069006f006e00 000008000000000000021c0000006400650076006900630065005f0074007900700065000000100000004e5644412c4765466f7263650e0000006e006 1006d00650000000f0000004e5644412c506172656e7422000000400030002c006400650076006900630065005f00740079007000650000000b000000 646973706c6179100000006d006f00640065006c0000001f0000004e5649444941204765466f7263652039383030204754582044444c2200000040003 1002c006400650076006900630065005f00740079007000650000000b000000646973706c617912000000400032002c00720065006700000008000000 0000000222000000400032002c006400650076006900630065005f0074007900700065000000120000004e5644412c6770752d64696f6465200000004 00032002c0063006f006d00700061007400690062006c0065000000160000004e5644412c73656e736f722d706172656e7422000000400032002c0023 00730069007a0065002d00630065006c006c0073000000080000000000000020000000400031002c0063006f006d00700061007400690062006c00650 000000e0000004e5644412c4e564d616314000000400030002c006e0061006d0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d413a0000004000 32002c0068007700730065006e0073006f0072002d0070006100720061006d0073002d00760065007200730069006f006e00000008000000000000022 6000000400032002c0023006100640072006500730073002d00630065006c006c0073000000080000000000000114000000400031002c006e0061006d 0065000000120000004e5644412c446973706c61792d4220000000400030002c0063006f006d00700061007400690062006c00650000000e0000004e5 644412c4e564d61631e00000072006f006d002d007200650076006900730069006f006e000000090000003331373261100000004e0056004300410050 0000001800000004000000000003000c00000000000007000000000e0000004e00560050004d000000200000000100000000000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000000000</string>
<key>Graphics Mode</key>
<string>1680x1050x32</string>
</dict>
</plist>

NOTE: You don't need the bit at the bottom where I have put

<key>Graphics Mode</key>
<string>1680x1050x32</string>,

this just gives better res while the Grey apple is doing it's spinny thing.

Close and save the file. If it doesn't let you save it, save as a copy elsewhere and you can move it back replacing the old one. Make sure to save a backup copy of the original just in case.

Repair Permissions with disk utility, you should see the com.apple.boot.plist appear and be corrected.

13. Power down and install both your cards in their correct PCIe slots.

14. Boot up again - Hopefully you have 2 cards showing in System profiler

Don't hold me responsible if you break your own install but this does work for some, but not all.

THIS MAY NOT WORK ON MOTHERBOARDS WITH NVIDIA CHIPSETS!

aquamac: 01/06/08
modified: 10/11/08

FOOTNOTE: On Gigabyte and some other boards, you will need to set your bios to boot from PEG2 and put your main card in the second PCIe slot. Failure to do this will result in a kernel panic or your system will hang at the blue boot screen.

Thanks go out to the Netkas/Matrix and all who were involved in the writing of GFX Strings!

« Last Edit: Feb 12, 2011, 2:45pm by aquamac »