Chimera 1.8.0 Source

The Chimera 1.8.0 source is now available for downloading. Here is the link to the commit: http://forge.voodooprojects.org/p/chameleon/source/commit/1832/

There is a standalone installer, available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. For bug reporting, feature requests, and general feedback please use the Chimera forum.

-tonymacx86 & MacMan

Related Posts:
Chimera 1.8 Change Log
Chimera 1.8 Update: OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Support

For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

Chimera 1.8.0 Change Log

Here are the details on specifically what I changed in Chimera 1.8.0.

• Mountain Lion Boot Support:
Based on cparm's patch.

i386/boot2/boot.c
Changed all (checkOSVersion("10.7") to ((checkOSVersion("10.7")) || (checkOSVersion("10.8")))

i386/libsaio/bootstruct.c
Changed:
&& (gMacOSVersion[2] == '.') && (gMacOSVersion[3] == '7'))

To:
&& (gMacOSVersion[2] == '.') && ((gMacOSVersion[3] == '7') || (gMacOSVersion[3] == '8')))

• Fixed showing boot volume detail:

i386/boot2/gui.c
Changed:
shoWinfo = true

To:
shoWinfo = false

• Trunk Commit: 1827 Xcode 4.3 compile fix:

i386/util/fdisk/misc.c
Changed:
void
putshort(p, l)
void *p;
u_int16_t l;

To:
putshort(
void *p,
u_int16_t l)

• Added addtitional NVIDIA cards and fixed some card definitions using info from latest trunk, ErmaC branch and tonymacx86.com users:

i386/libsaio/nvidia.c
Added:
{ 0x10DE05E7, "Tesla C1060" },
{ 0x10DE061E, "Quadro FX 3700M" },
{ 0x10DE0621, "GeForce GT 230" },
{ 0x10DE062B, "GeForce 9800M GS" },
{ 0x10DE0655, "GeForce GT 120" },
{ 0x10DE06F1, "GeForce G105M" },
{ 0x10DE06FF, "HICx16 + Graphics" },
{ 0x10DE0840, "GeForce 8200M" },
{ 0x10DE0869, "GeForce 9400" },
{ 0x10DE08A0, "GeForce 320M" },
{ 0x10DE08A4, "GeForce 320M" },
{ 0x10DE0A26, "GeForce 405" },
{ 0x10DE0A27, "GeForce 405" },
{ 0x10DE0A38, "Quadro 400" },
{ 0x10DE0A76, "ION" },
{ 0x10DE0A7A, "GeForce 315M" },
{ 0x10DE0CA5, "GeForce GT 220" },
{ 0x10DE0CAC, "GeForce GT 220" },
{ 0x10DE1051, "GeForce GT 520MX" },
{ 0x10DE1084, "GeForce GTX 560" },
{ 0x10DE1087, "GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores" },
{ 0x10DE1089, "GeForce GTX 580" },
{ 0x10DE108B, "GeForce GTX 590" },
{ 0x10DE1091, "Tesla M2090" },
{ 0x10DE109B, "Quadro 7000" },
{ 0x10DE10C0, "GeForce 9300 GS" },
{ 0x10DE10D8, "NVS 300" },
{ 0x10DE1241, "GeForce GT 545" },
{ 0x10DE1243, "GeForce GT 545" },

Changed:
{ 0x10DE0CAC, "GeForce 315" }, to { 0x10DE0CAC, "GeForce GT 220" },
{ 0x10DE0DF4, "GeForce GT 450M" }, to { 0x10DE0DF4, "GeForce GT 540M" },
{ 0x10DE109A, "N12E-Q5" }, to { 0x10DE109A, "Quadro 5010M" },

• Added additional AMD/ATI Cards:

i386/libsaio/ati.c
Added from trunk, ErmaC and tonymacx86.com users:
{ 0x9440, 0x0851174B, CHIP_FAMILY_RV770, "ATI Radeon HD 4870", kMotmot },
{ 0x68BA, 0x31501682, CHIP_FAMILY_JUNIPER, "AMD Radeon HD 6770", kVervet },
{ 0x68BF, 0x31401682, CHIP_FAMILY_JUNIPER, "AMD Radeon HD 6750", kVervet },
{ 0x68C0, 0x395217AA, CHIP_FAMILY_REDWOOD, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730", kNull },
{ 0x68C1, 0x02051025, CHIP_FAMILY_REDWOOD, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5750", kNull },
{ 0x68C1, 0x02961025, CHIP_FAMILY_REDWOOD, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5750", kNull },
{ 0x68C1, 0x030A1025, CHIP_FAMILY_REDWOOD, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5750", kNull },
{ 0x68C1, 0x033D1025, CHIP_FAMILY_REDWOOD, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5750", kNull },
{ 0x68C1, 0x03471025, CHIP_FAMILY_REDWOOD, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5750", kNull },
{ 0x68C1, 0x03561025, CHIP_FAMILY_REDWOOD, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5750", kNull },
{ 0x68C1, 0x03581025, CHIP_FAMILY_REDWOOD, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5750", kNull },
{ 0x68C1, 0x035A1025, CHIP_FAMILY_REDWOOD, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5750", kNull },
{ 0x68C1, 0x035C1025, CHIP_FAMILY_REDWOOD, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5750", kNull },
{ 0x68C1, 0x03641025, CHIP_FAMILY_REDWOOD, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5750", kNull },
{ 0x68C1, 0x03791025, CHIP_FAMILY_REDWOOD, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5750", kNull },
{ 0x68C1, 0x037E1025, CHIP_FAMILY_REDWOOD, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5750", kNull },
{ 0x68C1, 0x03821025, CHIP_FAMILY_REDWOOD, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5750", kNull },
{ 0x68E4, 0x1426103C, CHIP_FAMILY_CEDAR, "AMD Radeon HD 6370M ", kNull },
{ 0x68E4, 0x397917AA, CHIP_FAMILY_CEDAR, "AMD Radeon HD 6370M ", kNull },
{ 0x6719, 0x21FD1458, CHIP_FAMILY_CAYMAN, "AMD Radeon HD 6950", kGibba },
{ 0x6719, 0x186B174B, CHIP_FAMILY_CAYMAN, "AMD Radeon HD 6950", kNull },
{ 0x6720, 0x04901028, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS, "AMD Radeon HD 6970M", kElodea },
{ 0x6739, 0x03B41043, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS, "AMD Radeon HD 6850", kDuckweed },
{ 0x6740, 0x1631103C, CHIP_FAMILY_TURKS, "AMD FirePro M5950", kNull },
{ 0x6740, 0x3388103C, CHIP_FAMILY_TURKS, "AMD Radeon HD 6770M", kNull },
{ 0x6741, 0x1688103C, CHIP_FAMILY_TURKS, "AMD Radeon HD 7690M", kNull },
{ 0x6758, 0x00121028, CHIP_FAMILY_TURKS, "AMD Radeon HD 6670", kBulrushes },
{ 0x6759, 0x20121787, CHIP_FAMILY_TURKS, "AMD Radeon HD 6570", kPithecia },
{ 0x6760, 0x00031179, CHIP_FAMILY_CAICOS, "AMD Radeon HD 6450M", kNull },
{ 0x6779, 0xE180174B, CHIP_FAMILY_CAICOS, "AMD Radeon HD 6450", kPithecia },

• Added the following missing AMD/ATI default card definitions:

i386/libsaio/ati.c
{ 0x944A, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_RV770, "ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series", kMotmot },
{ 0x9480, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_RV730, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 Series", kGliff },
{ 0x9553, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_RV710, "ATI Radeon HD 4300/4500 Series", kShrike },
{ 0x9581, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_RV630, "ATI Radeon HD 3600 Series", kNull },
{ 0x9583, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_RV630, "ATI Radeon HD 3600 Series", kNull },
{ 0x9588, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_RV630, "ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT Series", kNull },
{ 0x9589, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_RV630, "ATI Radeon HD 3610 Series", kNull },
{ 0x9591, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_RV635, "ATI Radeon HD 3600 Series", kNull },
{ 0x68A1, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_CYPRESS, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5800 Series", kNomascus },
{ 0x68A8, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_CYPRESS, "AMD Radeon HD 6800M Series", kUakari },
{ 0x68BF, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_JUNIPER, "AMD Radeon HD 6700 Series", kVervet },
{ 0x68C0, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_REDWOOD, "AMD Radeon HD 6570M/5700 Series", kNull },
{ 0x68C1, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_REDWOOD, "AMD Radeon HD 6500M/5600/5700 Series", kNull },
{ 0x68E0, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_CEDAR, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5400 Series", kEulemur },
{ 0x68E1, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_CEDAR, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5400 Series", kEulemur },
{ 0x68E4, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_CEDAR, "ATI Radeon HD 6300M Series", kNull },
{ 0x6750, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_TURKS, "AMD Radeon HD 6600A Series", kNull },

• Added the following missing AMD/ATI chip family:

i386/libsaio/ati.c
Added CHIP_FAMILY_RV790 to chip_family_t;
Added "RV790" to chip_family_name[]

• Made the following cosmetic changes for AMD/ATI cards:

i386/libsaio/ati.c

• Changed all vendor names in radeon_cards to ATI as that would be contrary to what Apple would report.
• For any specific card configuration that contained a generic name using something like "ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series" changed it to the specific card name and removed "Series".
• Added "Series" to any generic card configuration to signify it's a generic and not card specific.
• Corrected a bunch of card names.

There is a standalone installer, available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. For bug reporting, feature requests, and general feedback please use the Chimera forum.

-MacMan & tonymacx86  

For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

Chimera 1.7.0 Change Log

Back ported the following Chameleon commits:

• r1671 Updated credits
• r1674 Improved Multi-drive boot support from dmazar.
• r1710 Fix for kernel flags not being passed to kernel on RAID volumes.

Added the following AMD GPUs:

• 0x9440, 0x114A174B, CHIP_FAMILY_RV770, "Sapphire Radeon HD4870 Vapor-X", kCardinal
• 0x954F, 0x20081787, CHIP_FAMILY_RV710, "ATI Radeon HD 4350", kNull
• 0x6899, 0xE174174B, CHIP_FAMILY_CYPRESS, "ATI Radeon HD 5850", kUakari
• 0x68A0, 0x043A1028, CHIP_FAMILY_CYPRESS, "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870", kNomascus
• 0x68B8, 0x21F61458, CHIP_FAMILY_JUNIPER, "ATI Radeon HD 5770", kVervet
• 0x68B8, 0x200A1787, CHIP_FAMILY_JUNIPER, "ATI Radeon HD 5770", kVervet
• 0x68BE, 0x22881787, CHIP_FAMILY_JUNIPER, "ATI Radeon HD 5750", kVervet
• 0x68F9, 0x010E1002, CHIP_FAMILY_CEDAR, "ATI Radeon HD 5450", kEulemur
• 0x68F9, 0x03741043, CHIP_FAMILY_CEDAR, "ATI Radeon HD 5450", kEulemur
• 0x68F9, 0x23401462, CHIP_FAMILY_CEDAR, "ATI Radeon HD 5450", kEulemur
• 0x68F9, 0xE145174B, CHIP_FAMILY_CEDAR, "ATI Radeon HD 5450", kEulemur
• 0x68F9, 0xE153174B, CHIP_FAMILY_CEDAR, "ATI Radeon HD 5450", kEulemur
• 0x6719, 0x0B001002, CHIP_FAMILY_CAYMAN, "AMD Radeon HD 6950", kGibba
• 0x6719, 0x20101787, CHIP_FAMILY_CAYMAN, "AMD Radeon HD 6950", kGibba
• 0x6720, 0x04BA1028, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS, "AMD Radeon HD 6970M", kElodea
• 0x6738, 0x31071682, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS, "AMD Radeon HD 6870", kDuckweed
• 0x6738, 0x31081682, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS, "AMD Radeon HD 6870", kDuckweed
• 0x6738, 0x174B174B, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS, "AMD Radeon HD 6870", kBulrushes
• 0x6739, 0xAA881002, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS, "AMD Radeon HD 6850", kDuckweed
• 0x6740, 0x1D121043, CHIP_FAMILY_TURKS, "AMD Radeon HD 6730M", kNull
• 0x6760, 0x165A103C, CHIP_FAMILY_CAICOS, "AMD Radeon HD 6470M", kNull
• 0x6760, 0x167D103C, CHIP_FAMILY_CAICOS, "AMD Radeon HD 6470M", kNull
• 0x68A0, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_CYPRESS, "ATI Radeon HD 5800M Series", kNomascus
• 0x68BA, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_JUNIPER, "ATI Radeon HD 6770 Series", kVervet
• 0x6719, 0x00000000, CHIP_FAMILY_CAYMAN, "AMD Radeon HD 6950 Series", kGibbas

Added a change that should hopefully allow the ability to override kNull frame buffer definitions.

Added the following NVIDIA GPUs:

• 0x10DE06DF, "Tesla M2070-Q" 
• 0x10DE0DCD, "GeForce GT 555M" 
• 0x10DE0DCE, "GeForce GT 555M" 
• 0x10DE0DD6, "GeForce GT 550M" 
• 0x10DE0DDA, "Quadro 2000M" 
• 0x10DE0DEC, "GeForce GT 525M" 
• 0x10DE0DED, "GeForce GT 520M" 
• 0x10DE0DF4, "GeForce GT 450M" 
• 0x10DE0DF5, "GeForce GT 525M" 
• 0x10DE0DF6, "GeForce GT 550M" 
• 0x10DE0DF7, "GeForce GT 520M" 
• 0x10DE0DFA, "Quadro 1000M" 
• 0x10DE0E31, "GeForce GTX 485M" 
• 0x10DE0E3A, "Quadro 3000M" 
• 0x10DE0E3B, "Quadro 4000M" 
• 0x10DE1054, "GeForce GT 410M" 
• 0x10DE1057, "Quadro NVS 4200M" 
• 0x10DE107F, "NVIDIA GF119-ES" 
• 0x10DE10C5, "GeForce 405" 
• 0x10DE1201, "GeForce GTX 560" 
• 0x10DE1251, "GeForce GTX 560M"

Added the following cards to the NVIDIA memory detection bug workaround:

• GT 440 Device ID 0x0DE0 
• GT 525M Device ID 0x0DEC

There is a standalone installer, available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. For bug reporting, feature requests, and general feedback please use the Chimera forum.

-MacMan & tonymacx86  

For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

Chimera 1.5.4 Change Log

It's been a busy couple of weeks since I released Chimera 1.5.0. I delayed this blog post due to the updates I had to make to fix and support additional AMD cards and the Facetime issue. This revision is based on  Chameleon 2.0 Revision 1394 which is the code base for the official release of Chameleon 2.0. Since Chimera 1.4 was released the Chameleon team has included some of what I did in Chimera 1.4 to the trunk. I have also have been supplying some fixes and enhancements to the Chameleon trunk to make future updates of Chimera easier.

The main features in this release are:

• Support for additional NVIDA and AMD video controllers
• Inclusion or correction fo some AMD frame buffer names 
• Facetime fix from olegpronin at insanelymac (of which I have added a new Boot key to bypass this fix if needed (thanks to Lnx2Mac for the idea.))
• Sandy Bridge HD Graphics support based on the work valv started to support the Mobile HD 3000 controller. I've enhanced it to support mobile and desktop controllers.

Here are the specific edits for this version and as a reminder, all lines starting with a dash will be the name of the affected file starting at the branch root.

General fixes and enhancements:
 - i386/boot2/boot.h
   Added #define kSkipFTFix  "SkipFTFix" for disabling the Facetime fix code.
 - i386/libsaio/ati.c
   Enhanced some of the debug messages for ports and frame buffers.
   Added a debug message to display the number of ports the cards VBIOS is reporting.
   Changed default frame buffer for the HD 6670 and HD 6450 to Bulrushes
   Added the following additional AMD cards:
  { 0x68BF, 0x220E1458, CHIP_FAMILY_JUNIPER, "ATI Radeon HD 6750", kVervet },
        { 0x6738, 0x00D01002, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS,    "AMD Radeon HD 6870", kDuckweed },
        { 0x6738, 0x21FA1002, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS,    "AMD Radeon HD 6870", kDuckweed },

{ 0x6738, 0x21FA1458, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS,    "AMD Radeon HD 6870", kDuckweed },

{ 0x6738, 0x31031682, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS,    "AMD Radeon HD 6870", kDuckweed },

{ 0x6738, 0x31041682, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS,    "AMD Radeon HD 6870", kDuckweed },

{ 0x6738, 0xE178174B, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS,    "AMD Radeon HD 6870", kDuckweed },

{ 0x6738, 0x20101787, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS,    "AMD Radeon HD 6870", kDuckweed },

{ 0x6738, 0x23051787, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS,    "AMD Radeon HD 6870", kDuckweed },

{ 0x6739, 0x24411462, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS,    "AMD Radeon HD 6850", kDuckweed },

{ 0x6739, 0xE177174B, CHIP_FAMILY_BARTS,    "AMD Radeon HD 6850", kDuckweed },

{ 0x6758, 0x67581002, CHIP_FAMILY_TURKS,    "AMD Radeon HD 6670", kBulrushes },

{ 0x6758, 0x22051458, CHIP_FAMILY_TURKS,   "AMD Radeon HD 6670", kBulrushes },

{ 0x6758, 0x31811682, CHIP_FAMILY_TURKS,     "AMD Radeon HD 6670", kBulrushes },

{ 0x6758, 0x31831682, CHIP_FAMILY_TURKS,     "AMD Radeon HD 6670", kBulrushes },

{ 0x6758, 0xE1941746, CHIP_FAMILY_TURKS,     "AMD Radeon HD 6670", kBulrushes },

{ 0x6779, 0x64501092, CHIP_FAMILY_CAICOS,   "AMD Radeon HD 6450", kBulrushes },

{ 0x6779, 0xE164174B, CHIP_FAMILY_CAICOS,   "AMD Radeon HD 6450", kBulrushes },

 - i386/libsaio/fake_efi.c

   Added olegpronin's Facetime fix
   Added the ability to bypass this fix at boot time using the boot key of SkipFTFix=Yes
 - i386/libsaio/gma.c
   Added valv's code for Mobile HD 3000 Graphics support
   Added support for Mobile HD 2000
   Added support for desktop HD 2000 and HD 3000
   Added specific code for HD 2000 and HD 3000
   Added a work around for desktop HD 3000's to work with unpatched kexts or DSDT edits.
 - i386/libsaio/nvidia.c
   Added the following new device ID:
  { 0x10DE1086, "GeForce GTX 570" },

Chimera Specific Changes:
 - i386/boot2/prompt.c
   Changed Chameleon to Chimera and hardcoded version information
 - i386/libsaio/fake_efi.c
   Changed FIRMWARE_VENDOR from Chameleon 2.0 to Chimera 1.5

For bug reporting, feature requests, and general feedback please use the Chimera forum. 

-MacMan & tonymacx86 

For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

Creating a Bootable “DOS” USB Stick on a Hackintosh Without Windows or MS-DOS

A lot of manufacturers provide DOS only firmware updaters. If you have a dual boot system with Windows it’s a piece of cake. But the issue is how do you do this on a Hackintosh without Windows installed?  Well I have found a solution, FreeDOS, a free DOS-compatible operating system for IBM-PC compatible systems. 

What you need:

• USB drive greater than 16 MB
• FreeDOS Base CD
• Blank CD or CD-RW

Installation procedure:

1. Format the USB drive as a MBR/FAT volume
2. Burn the FreeDOS Base CD
3. Shut down OS X and disconnect all disk drives
4. Boot computer while ensuring that Legacy USB support is enabled in the BIOS and USB drive is connected
5. Boot from FreeDOS Base CD and follow instructions to install. It will install by default to the 1st drive it finds. In this case it’s the USB drive as it’s the only one connected.
6. Shutdown and reconnect all disk drives.
7. You now have a bootable “DOS” drive.

This drive is bootable and can be read and written to in OS X. You can copy any DOS based programs on to it and boot from it to run them.

For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

My 5,000th Post on tonymacx86 Forum

I've just posted my 5,000th post on the tonymacx86 Forum, In this post I've recapped my Hackintosh and tonymacx86 experience. If you've wondered how I got started and what all I've done, check it out.

Chameleon's GraphicsEnabler vs. Enabler Kexts

Not too long ago, one of the only ways to enable certain graphics cards was using enabler kexts such as NVEnabler.kext and ATY_init.kext. These standalone enablers do an adequate job in identifying cards and enabling full graphics acceleration, however there are numerous issues.

For example, when using the latest ATY_init.kext, you are stuck with running the kernel in 32-bit mode.  If you need to change the default frame buffer for your card, you need to manually edit the kext. Finally, this enabler only supports a limited number of HD 5700 and HD 5800 cards.

With NVEnabler, you are limited to only 9xxx cards and earlier. Of the more recent cards, it only supports the GTX 260 and GTX 280. It will not recognize nor properly identify any other newer cards.  In that case, you're stuck with Unknown Graphics Controller in System Profiler or a barely functional card. Finally, there has been no further development since the last release in October 2009.

While the benchmarks are the same, it's more advantageous to use Chameleon's GraphicsEnabler instead of these kexts. The Chameleon team as of Chameleon 2.0 RC5, has been advancing GraphicsEnabler development. For instance, there are 89 more supported cards in Chameleon 2.0 RC5 r699 GraphicsEnabler than in NVEnabler. While in Kabyl's branch of Chameleon 2.0 RC5 r700, there is now support for the HD 5400, HD 5500 and HD 5600. With his branch, you can also configure the frame buffer at boot time or in com.apple.boot.plist. Kabyl has stated that his branch will get merged into the main Chameleon trunk as soon as testing has completed.

So it  makes sense to switch from these enablers to GraphicsEnabler. For NVIDIA cards, use the main trunk version, 2.0 RC5 r699 or newer. For ATI/AMD cards, use Kabyl's branch, 2.0 RC5 r700 or newer until his code get merged into the trunk. As always you can find the latest version of both in MultiBeast.

How to Use Chameleon's GraphicsEnabler:

If using a DSDT, simply make sure that your com.apple.Boot.plist includes:

If you are not using a DSDT, Chameleon will most likely not identify which slot your graphics card is in. In this case, make sure that your com.apple.Boot.plist includes:

Good luck- and use GraphicsEnabler!


-MacMan & tonymacx86

Graphics Card Support and Mac OS X

The issue with graphics cards in OS X is that there are what is called a "Reference Design" which is based on what ATI/AMD or NVIDIA provides to manufactures for a baseline hardware design. Then there is what cards manufacturers ship, either a "Reference Design" or their own unique spin on that hardware. They do this unique spin to set their card part from the "Reference Design" cards. That is fine in Windows, but can create problems in OS X. Apple typically uses a "Reference Design" or very close to one in their graphics cards.

So where am I going with this. Apple ships and supports a limited set of ATI/AMD "Reference Design" cards in OS X, they do not provide support for all models or any major variations from the "Reference Design". The reason being that the ATI/AMD architecture requires specific model driver support. For example in 10.6 Apple only supports some 46xx and 48xx cards, there is no OOB support for the 45xx cards. So that is why you see patches and/or modifications for Apple's drivers to support some of these other cards.

The ATI/AMD 5xxx cards are finally easier to install. This has more to do with the GraphicsEnabler technology used within Hackintoshing, Kabyl's boot loader and ATY_Init. Even then you are limited to what cards are supported Out Of BOX (OOB) by Apple. For example the following are the only desktop ATI 5xxx cards Apple supports OOB:

ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series:        Device ID 0x6898
ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series:        Device ID 0x6899
ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series:        Device ID 0x68B8
ATI Radeon HD 5600 Series:        Device ID 0x68D8
ATI Radeon HD 5500 Series:        Device ID 0x68D9

If your card's device id is not in this list, then you need to add your device ID to ATI5000Controller.kext and possibly ATIRadeonX3000.kext. This is great workaround but will be needed to be done after each and any Apple software update that touches the ATI drivers. Ouch.

NVIDIA cards use a different architecture and allows for a more generic driver than can support more models and variations. The new 4xx cards are based on a new architecture nicknamed "Fermi" and require new drivers.  Check out this article on Tony's blog for our solutions for NVIDIA 4xx cards.

So until Apple ships support for more cards or allows AMD and NVIDIA to ship generic drivers, graphics card support is a challenge.

Welcome to MacManx86: Advanced Hackintosh Tips, Tricks & Techniques

Let me introduced myself, I am known as MacMan on the tonymacx86 forum and blog. I had to use an different name for my blog, so I decided to go with MacManx86 here as an homage to 
tonymacx86. It also makes sense as this is a sister site to tonymacx86.blogspot.com.

On this blog I will be posting more advanced topics than what has typically been posted on tonymacx86.blogspot.com. So if things like DSDT, kexts, and Terminal don't scare you. Or, you want to learn more, stay tuned.