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GTX480 running OSX in 1st Gen & Nehalem Pro !!!

M

MacVidCards

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Original poster
Nov 17, 2008
6,096
1,057
Hollywood, CA
I used parts of a couple threads to do this, wasn't sure which one to post in, decided to start my own darn thread.

Using the "leaked" Nvidia drivers AND Netkas little "ATY_Init" extension, I am staring at desktop rendered by a GTX480. After I read the Hackintosh stuff, I realized that it shuld work in real Mac as well.

So, I found a "just fell off a truck" sort of deal on CL for a GTX480, and ran it home.

With the same old Netkas ATY_Init that worked for GTX285, I got GTX480 working from OSX desktop on.

It behaves differently from Hackintosh reports. Perhaps I need to add Device ID into Netkas extension, or try some of the ones used by Hacky folk.

Scores are worse than GTX285 on everything I tried thus far.

More pix coming.

BTW...CS5 seems to know what it is, and I don't have current CUDA drivers.
 

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I thought..

Mac Pro 1,1 and 2,1 were ALL EFI32 only and can only run ati video based cards, as nvidia shut out those with efi32 as they only support EFI64?


The Rominator said:
I used parts of a couple threads to do this, wasn't sure which one to post in, decided to start my own darn thread.

Using the "leaked" Nvidia drivers AND Netkas little "ATY_Init" extension, I am staring at desktop rendered by a GTX480. After I read the Hackintosh stuff, I realized that it shuld work in real Mac as well.

So, I found a "just fell off a truck" sort of deal on CL for a GTX480, and ran it home.

With the same old Netkas ATY_Init that worked for GTX285, I got GTX480 working from OSX desktop on.

It behaves differently from Hackintosh reports. Perhaps I need to add Device ID into Netkas extension, or try some of the ones used by Hacky folk.

Scores are worse than GTX285 on everything I tried thus far.

More pix coming.

BTW...CS5 seems to know what it is, and I don't have current CUDA drivers.
Click to expand...
 
TheStrudel said:
Fascinating.

If CS5 knows what it is, is it leveraging it in any way?
Click to expand...

I don't know how I would test this.

Per some hints at InsanelyMac, I have added the device id to the NVResman kext.

No change.

OpenGl test scores still much lower than GTX285.

I have tried Bioshock and Doom3. Oddly, Bioshock runs great, while Doom3 is sluggish.

Netkas posted that it was possible to add NVCap value to his ATY_Init, but I have no idea how to do that.

I will fix the VRAM amount next, but that isn't going to help much other than cosmetic.
 
You beat me to it! I will try this myself on Friday in an 08 Pro alongside the Mac 285, and see what numbers I get for various apps and CUDA/OpenCl progs. I have found all kinds of rations compared to earlier cards. I found a C2050 Tesla running a CUDA code the same speed as a 285, a 480 running 40% faster than a 285 in some single precision stuff, but 160% quicker in double. I suspect early drivers are well short of making full use of the card.
 
yay, now need to find at_init sources and update it for fermis.

The Rominator, can you try this ? (updated, forgot to add nvidia devid into plist in first version) http://mirror.netkas.org/ATY_Init.kext.zip

p.s. dont add dev-id to nvdaresman, some noobs at imac dont know what they talking about.
 
I read that whole thread before i even started trolling cl for a Fermi.

Thing is, the Hack crowd uses a bootloader method. There is no such file for Mac Pro, so I just put the GTX480 in slot 1 and a 8800GT in slot 3. I already had ATY_Init in to run GTX285, etc. From that thread I downloaded the ORIGINAL Nvidia driver which came with Fermi support. Nvidia has since REMOVED the Fermi kexts, but once the horse is out of the barn...

I was more than a little surprised when I booted first time and GTX480 screen popped on at first blue screen, right before desktop appeared.

I looked at the hackintosh bootloaders but no idea where they would go. I am having similar performnce to what they claim. Not up to full speed yet.

But I am certainly enjoying a smoother experience than the 4890 crowd has been having. And while it may not test faster than an 8800, there is a particular room in Bioshock that I have been testing with. With the 8800GT the room is a slide show. 2560x1600 with everything MAXXED. There are 2 grenade turrets and some spider splicers in the room. While the 8800GTs have been CHOKING on this room (think Doom 3 on a GeForce 3) the GTX480 doesn't even slow down.

There is speculation from that thread that Fermi is staying in lower performance state. I can say that I have seen the "throttling" that we saw with GTX285, the OpenGl test bangs it up a notch. But maybe not all the way?

The Hack crowd has means to tell system it is a Mac Pro 3,1 or 4,1 and have found that has an effect on speeds / throttling. Might be interesting if there was a way to do this on REAL Mac. If I could convince machine that it was a 3,1 it might work better.

They also have a terminal command to see clocks on card. (Might be a neat feature to add to Zeus when you fix the Nvflash part...you could show real time Nvidia speeds)

Who else has a Fermi card and another Nvidia card and a real Mac Pro?

I don't know if anyone has been paying attention to my posts, but Netkas' little "ATY_Init" is a very useful little piece of software. I have used it to flash Nvidia cards in OSX and run a GT120 in my 1st Gen. Instead of writing it to work with specific Nvidia cards, it appears he wrote it to work more like a scattergun for Nvidia. I even found that Slot 3 card can be Non-EFI 8800GT with just BIOS ROM on it.

I will attach the two files you need to do this if anyone asks. I have a hacked Nvidia Installer that runs on any Mac Pro and the original ATY_Init, all you need.
 
21fps on cinebench? That seems kinda weak for a 480. My mobility 4850 got 50fps on the same benchmark.
 
this is indeed an interesting turn, next gen graphics before next gen mac pro is released. i'm sad the drivers are not fully functional and that nvidia pulled them back, means we won't see any improvements until the card is launched

there are MacPro1,1.plist etc on real macs, but I don't know what the effect is to have them replaced
 
The Rominator said:
Who else has a Fermi card and another Nvidia card and a real Mac Pro?
Click to expand...

How are you powering the cards? I have the problem of the fan not working, but it boots in Windows ok, until it hits 110°C and then shuts off. Problem posted in the topic GeForce GTX 480 on a Mac PRO. Possible?.

I have bought a MaxInPower PS-525 power supply which fits in the optical bay. Unfortunately it only came with 6-pin cables, so I'm currently waiting on a 2 x 6-pin to 6+2-pin cable which should arrive tomorrow. I'm hoping this will work otherwise I might try an EPS 8-pin to PCI-E 8-pin splice of a couple of cables I have.
 
I am using the two motherboard connectors.

One goes to 6 pin, the other to a 6 pin splitter that allows ends to be either 6 or 8 pins.

Ideally, I will make a special Mac connector that will go to the motherboard connector but end in an 8 pin, there will be less current loss over the reduced length.

Why your fans aren't going is very perplexing.

Mine fires up everytime, no issues. It is a PNY GTX480.
 
The Rom..

can you boot in verbose mode and make cam shot of panic message ?
 
netkas said:
The Rom..

can you boot in verbose mode and make cam shot of panic message ?
Click to expand...

I decided to refresh my OS installs to get rid of any refuse from other experiments.

I now have a clean 10.6.3 w newer Nvidia drivers and a 10.6.4 w Nvidia drivers.

So, re-trying your newer ATY had a different result. It still did not function....but.....it DID make System Profiler see it properly as GTX480.

I put the OLD ATY_Init in and I can use the GTX285 as helper card for GTX480. As I posted before, there does NOT need to be an EFI card in slot 3, just an Nvidia card. So, a 1st Gen running a GTX285 AND a GTX480 at same time. If OpenCl ever works out, would be nice setup.

Ready to test whatever else. Before using GTX285, I tried 7300GT and 8800GT, same results.

Only difference in using EFI card in slot 3 is that ports work on EFI Helper card, while a PC BIOS helper card will not.

Screen shot with "Nvidia Graphic Card" was taken on Pro, others via Screen Sharing.
 

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ioreg -l -w0 > dump.txt

with both aty_init kexts versions plz, so I can compare it
 
netkas said:
ioreg -l -w0 > dump.txt

with both aty_init kexts versions plz, so I can compare it
Click to expand...

Certainly !!! And with a bonus, I saved the IORegistry Explorer reports. May be easier to read, though I suppose it's whatever you are used to.

I am attaching image of the IORegistry page for the GTX480 while running.

The things labeled "New ATY" are done from Screen Sharing on another Mac. The "Old ATY" are done with GTX285 in slot 3 and GTX480 in slot one. In that config, the ports on GTX480 work, the ones on GTX285 do NOT.

FInal set is of GTX480 with a 7300GT as EFI Nvidia card in slot 3. Those are labeled "w EFI". Ports on 7300 functional.

Let me know what else I can grab for you.
 

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Success! I moved the 480 to slot 2 and the fan works! Not sure why it won't work in slot 1, so I now have my 8800 in slot 1. Now I'm going to fire up Crysis and put the 480 through it's paces.
 
The Rominator said:
Did you install the Nvidia Drivers with Fermi support and ATY_Init?

Idn't gonna work w/o
Click to expand...

No I was just trying to boot with the display connected to my 8800. I haven't installed any drivers to try and get the 480 working yet, it should be ignored at the moment.

Can you post links for the required files?
 
Go to this thread (post #78) at Insanely Mac to find link to the drivers:

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=214219&st=60

I will see if I can find a working link to ATY_Init...or maybe Netkas will come by and have a new one to test when he gets a minute to look at the ioreg stuff I posted.

Look in his thread "GTX260 / 280, etc working in any Mac Pro" for a working link.

Same package.
 
haha, my memory failz :D

check it out, should work now
 

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