Flies and others wanting to install an PC 8800GT on their Old Mac Pro
I am using a Mac Pro 3.0ghz Dual Core x2 Old Mac Pro, I am running 10.5.2 and have the X1900 installed and am using a dedicated internal hard drive to install Windows Vista Ultimate 64 onto. I am using a Gefen DVI Switcher to manage the dual card single Apple Cinema 30" display for this experiment. I used Flies' link to the torrent to download the drivers, I simply drag and dropped the folder onto a blank cd, and burned the cd in Mac OS 10.5.2. I run BootCamp, select a dedicated drive to install Vista on, I place the Vista 64 cd in the top drive, and I install Vista 64 without problem. Here is where my situation completely deviates from Flies' experience.
1. Upon installing Vista 64 Ultimate to a completely dedicated hard drive, once installation is complete, there isn't any prompting for any drivers to make Vista 64 work, it already is, but of course is without recognizing the Mac Pro's hardware specific features (i.e. Bluetooth, RealTek audio support, iSight support, Airport Extreme, etc.)
2. So, I have this nifty cd to use for drivers; I named the cd "Driverscd". The real question now is, what specifically do I execute from the cd to install the drivers? I explore the cd and go to D:\Driverscd\Apple BootCamp MacPro Drivers\Apple\Bootcamp64.msi. Is this the program, which is a Windows setup program mind you, I should be using to install the drivers?? Well, I run the Bootcamp64.msi, it installs an array of drivers and I am asked to reboot. I do, so and Vista is up and running using the ATI X1900. I now shut the Mac Pro down to install the 8800GT.
3. I install a PC eVGA brand Nvidia 8800GT into Slot 1 on my Mac Pro, I move the X1900 to slot 2. **PROBLEM* I realize that the power cord supplied with the eVGA 8800GT doesn't match the power supply cord used by Apple to power the X1900, but the power supply plugin is located next to the plug the X1900 was using as mentioned by Flies. The cord that supplies the X1900 and any other graphics card used in a Mac Pro is a proprietary design; 6-pin to small 6-pin. Flies, you mention nothing of this and expect someone to be able to buy a PC Nvidia 8800GT card and install it? What is your rationale or logic? This cable CANNOT be found in just any electronics store, its a proprietary design. I found a cable at
www.welovemacs.com. Welovemacs.com is located in Silicon Valley in CA and I'm glad I live in Silicon Valley too. I managed to just drive over there and pick one up the next day.
4. Ok, so I have the 8800GT installed in slot 1 in my Mac Pro, I have it connected via the proprietary cable to the Mac Pro power supply slot. I have the 8800GT set to my DVI switch #1 and the X1900 to my DVI switch #2. I have Vista set to be the primary booted OS using Bootcamp, so I don't need to hold down the Option key. Ok, so I set it to the DVI switch #1, I start up Vista, I hear the Vista startup noises, but I am getting a black screen! Huh? I thought I was supposed to see it start up DOS stuff, but I see nothing. I switch over to DVI switch #2 and the X1900 is still the active display and the 8800GT is not working. I look in the device manager in Vista and see "Error Code 43" for the 8800GT, but the X1900 is working fine.
**Note: When Flies mentions installing the 8800GT, the placement of the X1900 is omitted (the X1900 is factory installed in the lowest slot "Slot 1" Flies recommends to put the 8800GT in, which is the slot closest to the RAM. What did you do with the X1900 in that step Flies?) and the use of a DVI switch and/or how it is being used to manage 2 cards if 2 cards are even installed during Flies steps isn't mentioned either. **
5. I wanted to see if the Mac Pro could really run the 8800GT, so I removed the X1900 and kept the 8800GT in Slot 1. Since the BootCamp settings are set to boot Windows upon power up, I kept the DVI switch to #1 (the connection to the 8800GT) and started Vista. Vista started up using the 8800GT, the resoultion wasn't set up correct, so I downloaded the most recent drivers from the manufacturer (they are 3 month more recent than the Nvidia website drivers), they install fine, I restart again and viola, Vista is running at the correct resolution for a 30" Apple Cinema Display.
6. I power off the system, reinstall the X1900 in Slot 2, kept the DVI switch to #1 (#1 for the 8800GT) and boot into windows. I hear a chime, the monitor is responding to the card (a change in the screen to a blackish color), then I get across the top left hand corner of a blackish screen "A52027 X1900XT BIOS." The screen clears, stays the same color, and Vista doesn't boot anymore.
7. Based on my experience and lack of information to the contrary, the X1900 cannot be installed in the Mac Pro at the same time as the PC 8800GT to boot into Vista 64 Ultimate using Bootcamp.
8. I tested these same steps on Windows XP SP2 32 bit. On Windows XP SP2 32 bit, both cards can be installed at the same time, the 8800GT can be used if the X1900 is "Disabled" in the Device Manager in Windows. Disabling one card, such as the X1900, and/or uninstalling said card in the Device Manager makes no difference in Vista 64 for functionality. The lack of recognition of my additional 2 gigs of RAM was the reason I chose not to use Windows XP SP2 32 bit, as was the lack of improved performance in playing a game such as WoW in XP (using the 8800GT) versus OS X (using the X1900).
Any insight would be much appreciated as Flies' experience wasn't clearly outlined to provide reliable steps, Flies' use and/or placement of all hardware was extremely vague and I cannot run both cards at the same time, which kind of defeats the purpose of using Bootcamp with a PC 8800GT card. Thanks.
