7300 GT and HD 2600 XT not compatible concurrently on 2007 MP

[jemo07]

I just update my system since I was out all week.
I got a security update and an upgrade of Aperture.

Rebooted the system and came back to run by some images that I imported, and when I clicked the adjustment tab, Aperture crashes.

Did the typical, downgrade Apeture to 2.0 (trash and install off DVD) I know I did a good job of cleaning everything out since it asked me for my Serial Number again... No problem, rebooted, fixed permissions, rebooted... and wam ! still did not work, and 2.0.1 was working before...

So I took each of the card one bu one out, and things worked again... I left one of the cards in and upgraded to 2.1, and it worked, swapped out the cards and all was working. I then added the both cards back in and it it stopped working.

I then fixed permissions again.. couple of reboots and noticed that there where funny things happening... things that I had changed like applications that used to start a start up failed, and those I stopped started... since I have three monitors and diff wall paper on them I go aleatory non refresh form the Leopard splash... My wacom table driver did not load properly and I coudl not use the mouse...

Not of this was present until the last security upgrade... so it is an issue...

But, this all happens only when I have both cards in and only when I leave the HD2600XT in. Not when I run with the 7300 only.
Any clues?

JM

 

[velocityg4]

Generally ATI and NVidia cards do not mix well with eachother, at least in Windows computers this is the case. So I assume this is the case in the Mac as well. I think ATI and NVidia drivers must have some program in them like.

if competing vendor card present
true bork computer
false work great

Though it probably has more to do with how each of the GPU's handle video processing that causes conflicts. Since from what I know Aperture takes advantage of the GPU's processing ability through Core Image.

You would be much better off running two ATI (AMD) cards or two nVidia cards.

 

[jemo07]

Well, i have been playing with this, and I have to agree with you on that you need like to like cards.
My dilemma is that this would mean 2x X1900XT to get my 3 Displays working.

The problem is that I when trough 3 1900XT before deciding to get the 7300 for stability. My MP is fro November so I did have all the EFI and firmware up to date on the MP and the vCard but it just kept on crashing. I have since gotten a new HD 2600XT from apple since there was so much acclamation that this was the best solution for pro apps on the MacPro1.1 platform. I can tell you that after having the card for some time, I regret not getting a second 7300 since the HD 2600 XT lacks good performance for Aperture which is the App I use more. There is almost negligible performance gains with hadbrake and Final Cut, but I have nt pulled the stop watch to give any finite times.
What is clearly visible in Aperture is the fact that there is a lack or update to the previews with the ATI card than with the 7300. I believe that this is because there is a better driver for the GT card than the XT, since I can see the test published, specially those in windows.

I have opened a bug report with apple, so let's see what happens.

 

[Eidorian]

The HD 2600XT is a much better card in general then the 7300GT and has good drivers in Windows. You'd be better off with a pair of HD 2600XT cards.

 

[Mackilroy]

While the above is true (that two HD2600 XTs would be better) I have to disagree with the statement that the 7300 GT and HD2600 XT will not play nice in the same system, as I currently have both installed in my Mac Pro and neither causes an issue with the other.

Also, HandBrake is largely dependent on your processor speed, not on your graphics card. You wouldn't see much (if any) improvement with that app.

 

[jemo07]

While the above is true (that two HD2600 XTs would be better) I have to disagree with the statement that the 7300 GT and HD2600 XT will not play nice in the same system, as I currently have both installed in my Mac Pro and neither causes an issue with the other.

Also, HandBrake is largely dependent on your processor speed, not on your graphics card. You wouldn't see much (if any) improvement with that app.

Will you care to try Aperture? It is simple, open Aperture then select the "adjustment tab", please tell me what happens? Also, this all started to happen after the March 27th update.

Another test is, Open Aperture or Final Cut, in Aperture scroll your preview images fast trying out each of the cards individually? In Final Cut, open a clip a Scroll the? Tell me wich of the two refresh better?

Remember I have my two ACDs connect alt all time on each of the card to try this. And something happens with the March security updates that killed it all. I know get system reboots while in cover flow (viewing fonts) and while in Safari or Firefox.

Here is just did a quick test... this is the crash problem details I just consistently am able to generate:

Process: Aperture [1330]
Path: /Applications/Aperture.app/Contents/MacOS/Aperture
Identifier: com.apple.Aperture
Version: 2.1 (2.1)
Build Info: Aperture-803261837~2
Code Type: X86 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [110]

Date/Time: 2008-03-30 09:19:27.845 +0200
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.5.2 (9C7010)
Report Version: 6

Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS)
Exception Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE at 0x0000000000000000
Crashed Thread: 14

Thread 0:
0 com.apple.Foundation 0x916c9ddf -[NSKeyedUnarchiver initForReadingWithData:] + 399
1 com.apple.AppKit 0x95bc105b loadNib + 119
2 com.apple.AppKit 0x95bc0a4d +[NSBundle(NSNibLoading) _loadNibFile:nameTable:withZonewnerBundle:] + 946
3 com.apple.AppKit 0x95bc0690 +[NSBundle(NSNibLoading) loadNibFile:externalNameTable:withZone:] + 171
4 com.apple.AppKit 0x95bc05ce +[NSBundle(NSNibLoading) loadNibNamedwner:] + 391
5 com.apple.Aperture 0x0017530e 0x1000 + 1524494
6 com.apple.Aperture 0x00175732 0x1000 + 1525554
7 com.apple.Aperture 0x0004c1d3 0x1000 + 307667
8 com.apple.AppKit 0x95d18a48 -[NSTabView selectTabViewItem:] + 1383
9 com.apple.Aperture 0x00504321 0x1000 + 5255969
10 com.apple.Aperture 0x00504da2 0x1000 + 5258658
11 com.apple.AppKit 0x95cc8ac3 -[NSWindow sendEvent:] + 5381
12 com.apple.prokit 0x0099ceba -[NSProWindow sendEvent:] + 273
13 com.apple.AppKit 0x95c95714 -[NSApplication sendEvent:] + 2780
14 com.apple.Aperture 0x0037247a 0x1000 + 3609722
15 com.apple.AppKit 0x95bf30f9 -[NSApplication run] + 847
16 com.apple.prokit 0x00979e5a NSProApplicationMain + 325
17 com.apple.Aperture 0x00003252 0x1000 + 8786
18 com.apple.Aperture 0x00003179 0x1000 + 8569

 

[Mackilroy]

I don't actually use either Aperture or Final Cut, but I'll see what I can do and get back to you.

EDIT: I've downloaded Aperture now... with the 7300 GT clicking on the Adjustments tab does nothing but bring it up, and scrolling is decently smooth. Some of the thumbnail previews are pixelized until I let the card fully render them, but otherwise there's nothing unusual. I'll reboot here and plug into the 2600 and edit this with my results momentarily.

EDIT II: With it plugged into the HD2600 rendering seems (subjectively) faster, none of the thumbnails are pixelized as they were with the 7300, and there are still no issues with clicking on the Adjustments tab.

So the HD2600 definitely refreshes better, but I also only imported around 600 images into Aperture... don't know how that would change with more.

 

[jemo07]

Are both cards in? had to ask

I can't get them both to work. Also, it leads me to believe that there is something wrong with my system?
BTW, I use a Canon 1DsMKIII and I have 1000+ photos per project, so there is a difference. It's odd because the 7300 is able to refresh very fast (I don't see the dotted white lines that show up while the preview is been created) yet it begins to sloe down when I make adjustments. (lift an adjustment and apply it to several images) here the 2600 is a bit better and I don't get the beachball like I do with the 7300.

I don't know, could it be that I have three screens when I crash? I have two screens (23" ACDs) connected to the HD 2600 XT and the Cintiq 12 connected to the 7300GT. I also moved the 7300GT to slot 4 like someone recommended.

One last question, do you have the security patch from Monday the 26th installed? This is when it all started to seriously crash on me.

Is there a procedure to save may user... reinstall Leopard and then migrate my user back? Is the same possible for applications? (link???)

I think there might be something awed with my install form what you are telling me.

 

[Mackilroy]

Yeah, both cards are currently installed in the system.

Hm. I do get the dotted white lines you refer to, unless I stop scrolling, but they vanish very quickly. No beachballs with either card.

That might be it, I only have one monitor. I could hook my MP up to the TV on one card and then the monitor on the other card and try that out if you'd like. Could probably also borrow a friend's monitor for a few hours if need be.

Yep, installed it about an hour after Apple released it.

You could try and upgrade and install (or maybe it's archive and install, it's whichever one that the system tells you that saves your data) and 'downgrade' to the original version of Leopard.

 

[jemo07]

That might be it, I only have one monitor. I could hook my MP up to the TV on one card and then the monitor on the other card and try that out if you'd like. Could probably also borrow a friend's monitor for a few hours if need be.

Hmmm, I will put the card back in and connect just one monitor. Then I will add the second monitor, this time the Cintiq 12WX and see if I could then use this setup. I have access to a 30" display, I will try that to see where I get.

I have to look into the "Archive and Install" of OSX again... I did this not too long ago. If I could find a true Migration procedure, I can install into a new drive, Migrate my user and install each of my apps. It's not much of a pain, but CS3 is SLOW to install and that is a pain.

I search/ then post on the OSX forum to see if I could find a solution.

 

[Mackilroy]

Alright. Later tonight I'll haul the Pro out to the living room and dual-screen it. We'll see how things go from there.