GFX Strings - DUAL CARDS - How To

[aquamac]

Certainly don't use the series 9 installer. Never mix Leo & Snow. Download the 10.6.4 drivers from here:

aquamac.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=osx86driversandkexts&action=display&thread=1133

As I said if your com.apple.boot.plist works in one it is OK in the other. If you can't boot the problem lies elsewhere. Try the drivers and then repair permissions before rebooting.

[jeansebastienbg]

I'll just repost what I did earlier cause I don't think you had it (I replied to my own post and not yours) :

"Okay, it booted!!!

I tried again with the com.apple.boot.plist from Leo, it didn't work, then I tried with a new DSDT for my motherboard. V3.3 in post #4 of this thread: www.insanelymac.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t208724.html

So, now it's booting, it recognizes my two cards, but I can't get QE and CI enabled.

For Leo, I used OSX86tools, when I try it in Snow I get this error message:
Can’t make "The domain/default pair of (com.apple.windowserver, QuartzGLEnabled) does not exist" into type boolean. (-1700)

What's the next step?"

It booted with a new DSDT! Darn! If I had known earlier, I tried so many different combinations of GFX strings and DSDT before getting there.

I installed the new kexts you referred to, but I still get the apple script error with 0sx86tools. I think I'm close though! Thx!!

[aquamac]

What are you trying to do with OSX 86 tools? are you trying to mod your com.apple.boot.plist again. I don't think OS X86 tools works in snow leo.

You might like to try making new strings with the attached in.plist file as it has far more injection than the regular ones around. Don't forget though, you will have to change the 2 location paths to be compatible with your board before making the out.plist.

Attachments:

[jeansebastienbg]

Oh! I didn't know that OSX86tools was modding the com.apple.boot.plist.

I'm so rushed it's hard to keep track and try one thing at a time... I would have been the worst scientist!!

I just tought I had to manually enter the string, and then enable it with OSX86 for the OS to recognize... i don't know. It was probably already enabled after using your guide, because the com.apple.boot.plist is intact.

Thanks for the In.plist, but I already went trough this. I tried combining it with another one from iFabio at insanelymac, specific for my board. It adds a few lines before, for AHCI and Eternet controller. It added support for my board, but I still don't have QE and CI enabled in Snow, with the same string working perfectly in Leo.

I'll start from scratch tomorrow, just to give it a try. But I think it could come from the DSDT. Assuming the fact that I know next to nothing about it !! I don't know, I achieved to boot using a newer DSDT, maybe if I dig in this way I'll get QE and CI.

[fgullama]

Hi,

I just wanted to chime in and say a BIG thank you to aquamac for the excellent multi card tutorial!!! I'd been racking my brains for DAYS trying to get a PCIe Nvidia 7600GT and a PCIe Dell OEM Nvidia 7300LE to play nice together in my Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 on Snow Leo 10.6.5. It took me a few reads to fully understand what I was having to do, but after getting through it all it works AMAZINGLY WELL. Full acceleration too! Thank you thank you thank you!

Now I can sleep

Frank

[leopaquard]

2048 MB graphic cards was recognized like minus 2048 MB of vram !

It was impossible to install some softwares or to play some games...

But with the 10.6.5 combo update and the tonymacx86 NVIDIA Update it woks now !

[bcrawfo2]

I'm new with OS86. I have a working 10.6.5 install on a GA-X58-UD3r with a GT240. I'm trying to add a second GT240. I can boot with both cards installed (tried both 1/3 and 1/5). I've played with the varios PEG2 options, whether the 8 or 16.

I haven't followed the instructions on page 1 yet because I wasn't sure if I could start with the GTX280 files, or would I need to try something else.

I think I have some progress because I see this in my system profiler (this is the second card).
GeForce GT 240:

Chipset Model: GeForce GT 240
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-2
PCIe Lane Width: x8
VRAM (Total): 1 MB <----------
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0ca3
Revision ID: 0x00a2
ROM Revision: 0x00
Displays:
Display Connector:
Display Connector:


Please be gentle. I really appreciate any support you can give.
Thanks
Scott

[aquamac]

Scott, you obviously have your first card working and it looks like you are on your way to getting the second going. Are you using graphics enabler = yes in your com.apple.boot.plist or some form of injector kept in your extensions folder to enable the card?

[bcrawfo2]

I believe I'm using an injector. No graphics enabler=yes in my plist.
I used Kakewalk for my install (if that helps).
I found that I'm using these kexts.
kextstat | grep -i nv
66 2 0x89a77000 0x2ee000 0x2ed000 com.apple.NVDAResman (6.2.4) <65 64 14 5 4 3 1>
67 0 0x8a1dc000 0x415000 0x414000 com.apple.nvidia.nv50hal (6.2.4) <66 4 3>

Wouldn't those be the ones I need to remove and go the manual route you describe?

An update/more info...if I boot with peg2 (the identifier for my slot5), I get a kernel panic. This is probably what should happen, just adding details as to what I see.

[aquamac]

Under no circumstances remove those 2 kexts as they are needed to get your card going and without them you will have severe problems. Check your Extensions folder and Extra/Extensions folder to see what injector kexts you are using. You can post a list of Extensions from System Profiler too.

[bcrawfo2]

Dang....multiple com.apple.Boot.plist files.
I found the one in /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration
the one I just found in /Extra. That has graphics-enabled=yes.

I have a second install of OSX on a different hard drive that I'll do any possibly intrusive config testing on.


Thanks again for your help.

[pappilio2]

Hello Aquamac,

I have read your post several times, and I had already used your guide to activate my Geforce 9600 on my old laptop with your gfx strings, great work! Now I have a new Laptop with a Core i3 370m which has a Intel HD Graphics card and a Geforce GT 425m. With Leopard 10.5.7, I am stuck at 1024 x 768 and none of my card is correctly shown:
img529.imageshack.us/img529/9813/intelhdleopard.png
img219.imageshack.us/img219/4507/gt425leopard.png

With Snow Leopard, with graphics enabler=yes, while booting, I see this screen for about 2 minutes:


Then everything seems to boot normally, but finally the Desktop does not appear and the screen is stuck here:



I have tried many things, and I have read a lot but no solution so far. Would it be possible to activate my card with GFX Strings using your guide? You can find additional infos about my card on this picture: img805.imageshack.us/img805/2614/gt425m.jpg

I would be happy if you could help me!! thanks

[bcrawfo2]

Hi Aquamac.
I've spent a little more time and I'm still stuck.
I have one low res display when I booted with this plist
<dict>
<key>Kernel</key>
<string>mach_kernel</string>
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>arch=i386</string>
<key>GraphicsEnabler</key>
<string>No</string>
<key>Timeout</key>
<string>5</string>
<key>EthernetBuiltIn</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>Boot Banner</key>
<string>No</string>
<key>RestartFix</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>device-properties</key>
<string>960700000100000002000000c50300001500000002010c00d041030a000000000101060000010101060000007fff04003a000000400032002c0068007700730065006e0073006f0072002d0070006100720061006d0073002d00
this goes on.

I started with -> Dual GeForce GTX 280 1024 mb cards and modified it for my dual GT240s.

Attached are my extensions, just in case there is something there.

In looking at my in.plist just prior to posting here....I saw one possible mistake, but I don't know if this field is free-text, or if it gets used to find the card. I called the card GTX240...but it's really just a GT240.

Here is my in.plist.
more in.plist
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x3,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)</key>
<dict>
<key>@0,compatible</key>
<string>NVDA,NVMac</string>
<key>@0,device_type</key>
<string>display</string>
<key>@0,name</key>
<string>NVDA,Display-A</string>
<key>@1,compatible</key>
<string>NVDA,NVMac</string>
<key>@1,device_type</key>
<string>display</string>
<key>@1,name</key>
<string>NVDA,Display-B</string>
<key>@2,#adress-cells</key>
<string>0x01000000</string>
<key>@2,#size-cells</key>
<string>0x00000000</string>
<key>@2,compatible</key>
<string>NVDA,sensor-parent</string>
<key>@2,device_type</key>
<string>NVDA,gpu-diode</string>
<key>@2,hwctrl-params-version</key>
<string>0x02000000</string>
<key>@2,hwsensor-params-version</key>
<string>0x02000000</string>
<key>@2,name</key>
<string>sensor-parent</string>
<key>@2,reg</key>
<string>0x02000000</string>
<key>NVCAP</key>
<data>
BAAAAAAAAwAMAAAAAAAABwAAAAA=
</data>
<key>NVPM</key>
<data>
AQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==
</data>
<key>VRAM,totalsize</key>
<data>
AAAAQA==
</data>
<key>device_type</key>
<string>NVDA,GeForce</string>
<key>model</key>
<string>NVIDIA GeForce GTX 240</string>
<key>name</key>
<string>NVDA,Parent</string>
<key>rom-revision</key>
<string>3172a</string>
</dict>
<key>PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x9,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)</key>
<dict>
<key>@0,compatible</key>
<string>NVDA,NVMac</string>
<key>@0,device_type</key>
<string>display</string>
<key>@0,name</key>
<string>NVDA,Display-A</string>
<key>@1,compatible</key>
<string>NVDA,NVMac</string>
<key>@1,device_type</key>
<string>display</string>
<key>@1,name</key>
<string>NVDA,Display-B</string>
<key>@2,#adress-cells</key>
<string>0x01000000</string>
<key>@2,#size-cells</key>
<string>0x00000000</string>
<key>@2,compatible</key>
<string>NVDA,sensor-parent</string>
<key>@2,device_type</key>
<string>NVDA,gpu-diode</string>
<key>@2,hwctrl-params-version</key>
<string>0x02000000</string>
<key>@2,hwsensor-params-version</key>
<string>0x02000000</string>
<key>@2,name</key>
<string>sensor-parent</string>
<key>@2,reg</key>
<string>0x02000000</string>
<key>NVCAP</key>
<data>
BAAAAAAAAwAMAAAAAAAABwAAAAA=
</data>
<key>NVPM</key>
<data>
AQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==
</data>
<key>VRAM,totalsize</key>
<data>
AAAAQA==
</data>
<key>device_type</key>
<string>NVDA,GeForce</string>
<key>model</key>
<string>NVIDIA GeForce GTX 240</string>
<key>name</key>
<string>NVDA,Parent</string>
<key>rom-revision</key>
<string>3172a</string>
</dict>
</dict>
</plist>


Thanks for your help. Happy soon to be New Years.

Attachments:

[crimson]

Hi aquamac,

I have followed your guide for installing dual graphics card (nVidia GeForce GT220) in 10.6.5, unfortunately no success.

I have attached screenshots of what I am referring to.

I used the in.plist file which I modified accordingly:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>PciRoot(0x1)/Pci(0x1,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)</key>
<dict>
<key>@0,compatible</key>
<string>NVDA,NVMac</string>
<key>@0,device_type</key>
<string>display</string>
<key>@0,name</key>
<string>NVDA,Display-A</string>
<key>@1,compatible</key>
<string>NVDA,NVMac</string>
<key>@1,device_type</key>
<string>display</string>
<key>@1,name</key>
<string>NVDA,Display-B</string>
<key>@2,#adress-cells</key>
<string>0x01000000</string>
<key>@2,#size-cells</key>
<string>0x00000000</string>
<key>@2,compatible</key>
<string>NVDA,sensor-parent</string>
<key>@2,device_type</key>
<string>NVDA,gpu-diode</string>
<key>@2,hwctrl-params-version</key>
<string>0x02000000</string>
<key>@2,hwsensor-params-version</key>
<string>0x02000000</string>
<key>@2,name</key>
<string>sensor-parent</string>
<key>@2,reg</key>
<string>0x02000000</string>
<key>NVCAP</key>
<data>
BAAAAAAAAwAMAAAAAAAABwAAAAA=
</data>
<key>NVPM</key>
<data>
AQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==
</data>
<key>VRAM,totalsize</key>
<data>
AAAAQA==
</data>
<key>device_type</key>
<string>NVDA,GeForce</string>
<key>model</key>
<string>NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 DDL</string>
<key>name</key>
<string>NVDA,Parent</string>
<key>rom-revision</key>
<string>3172a</string>
</dict>
<key>PciRoot(0x1)/Pci(0x6,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)</key>
<dict>
<key>@0,compatible</key>
<string>NVDA,NVMac</string>
<key>@0,device_type</key>
<string>display</string>
<key>@0,name</key>
<string>NVDA,Display-A</string>
<key>@1,compatible</key>
<string>NVDA,NVMac</string>
<key>@1,device_type</key>
<string>display</string>
<key>@1,name</key>
<string>NVDA,Display-B</string>
<key>@2,#adress-cells</key>
<string>0x01000000</string>
<key>@2,#size-cells</key>
<string>0x00000000</string>
<key>@2,compatible</key>
<string>NVDA,sensor-parent</string>
<key>@2,device_type</key>
<string>NVDA,gpu-diode</string>
<key>@2,hwctrl-params-version</key>
<string>0x02000000</string>
<key>@2,hwsensor-params-version</key>
<string>0x02000000</string>
<key>@2,name</key>
<string>sensor-parent</string>
<key>@2,reg</key>
<string>0x02000000</string>
<key>NVCAP</key>
<data>
BAAAAAAAAwAMAAAAAAAABwAAAAA=
</data>
<key>NVPM</key>
<data>
AQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==
</data>
<key>VRAM,totalsize</key>
<data>
AAAAQA==
</data>
<key>device_type</key>
<string>NVDA,GeForce</string>
<key>model</key>
<string>NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 DDL</string>
<key>name</key>
<string>NVDA,Parent</string>
<key>rom-revision</key>
<string>3172a</string>
</dict>
</dict>
</plist>


This is the hex output I got:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//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></string>
<key>device-properties</key>
<string>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</string>
</dict>
</plist>



This is driving me crazy..can you please help

Thanks

Attachments:

[akasurreal]

Just wanted to add my success story here and a pitfall I ran into for others.

I now have a GeForce GTX460 and GeForce 8400 GS working with 3 monitors!!

I followed the instructions on here and just changed the name of the card and memory sizes (1GB and 512MB) in the in.plist, but it was not working no matter what I did. My system would boot, but I would get a black screen. I could remote desktop to the system and it would show the cards in Profiler but thought no monitors were connected. If I booted with just one or the other card installed, they both worked on their own, but never together.

So then just for the hell of it, I moved my second video card to a different PCIe slot, and redid the whole process. And boom, works!! No idea why that mattered, but there ya go.

Good luck!