PC GeForce in MacPro 1,1 ... possible this way?

[!ntruder]

Hey everyone ...

I did my reSearch on MacRumors and even if I didn't find exactly what I need, it seems to me that You guys have good knowledge about DaVinci resolve and CUDA and simmilar topic ... so this is my situation

I have MacPro 1,1 with GeForce7300GT graphic adapter and SL 10.6.8 installed ... I need to have another gaphic adapter in MacPro that supports CUDA technology for DaVinci Resolve to run properly.

Is it possible to pick PC nVidia card from osx86wiki SL 10.6.8 compatible hardware list that works OOB with just minor adjustments and to make it work along with existing GF7300GT in MacPro 1,1 on existing SL 10.6.8 that works perfectly (for now ) or that is possible only on hackintosh?

My choice would be ASUS GeForce GT210 or GT240 because it only needs GraphicEnabler=Yes (as it is written in osx86). I do not need to use its GPU to do some heavy CUDA in DaVinci Resolve Lite ... only for practise. Monitor would be connected via GF7300GT wich would be used as GUI card. Also GT240 would be positioned in slot 1 and 7300GT would be positioned in slot 4.

Does anybody have some experience with this type of dual graphic card combining and is this possible on MacPro1,1 or it is possible only on Hackintosh?

 

[Cindori]

dude get aty_init and 480 / 580 GTX, and youre set. They have much better performance.

But if you just want a cheap CUDA card then I guess yes, those should work. (with aty init)

 

[!ntruder]

But if you just want a cheap CUDA card then I guess yes, those should work. (with aty init)

yes ... cheap with CUDA

so i get the card, install aty_init vie kexthelper, turn off macpro, install PC GF210 or PC GF240 in slot1, install MAC GF7300 in slot4, connect monitor to 7300, turn on MacPro1,1 with SL10.6.8 and it should work? no need to repair premisions or execute any other command via terminal? no need to remove any existing kext? no need for nvidia drivers? am i right?

 

[Cindori]

I have no experience with GT200's, but that's the method for other cards.

Use Kext Drop instead as kexthelper just crasches - it hasnt been updated since Leopard.

It might be necessary to add your firmware strings to aty_init. I'd do some research by googling "aty init gt 220"

 

[!ntruder]

OK ... I'll try that and will report back with results ...

It might be necessary to add your firmware strings to aty_init.

where do i find out how to do this properly if I need it?

 

[!ntruder]

First results ...

What I have found is that on osx86wiki for SL 10.6.7 and 10.6.8 the cheap and CUDA supported graphic card with no problems is Gigabyte GeForce GT220

I have installed ATY_Init.kext 1.0.0d1 via KextUtility (KextDrop didn't worked for me) and then I turned off MacPro

Next was moving GF7300GT from PCI-E slot1 to slot4 on wich Apple CinemaDisplay 24" is connected and finally I installed brand new GT220 in PCI-E slot4.

And that was it ... MacPro started and SL10.8.6 was up and running
Final result is exactly the same as on this blog.
It's not recognising GT220 as I suppose it should, only as NVIDIA and with 512MB RAM
However my main goal is that I could make DaVinci Resolve Lite to work and it does ... Resolve recognises GT220 but it says that it is not optimal solution and there is no real time image processing but it works OK for first test ... will report after a while about performance in Resolve

I didn't add any firmware strings to ATY_Init because I didn't find how to do that for GT220

It might be necessary to add your firmware strings to aty_init. I'd do some research by googling "aty init gt 220"

... found nothing usefull ... if anybody knows how to do that please report

few questions for the end ...
1. should I try with NVenabler instead of ATY_Init and if so what is the proper way to uninstall ATY_Init.kext
I found command sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/ATY_Init.kext ... is that enough?
2. what kind of test do you suggest me to do?
3. is my pci-e configuration OK? ... would I get some performance in SL if I connect display to GT220?
4. And anything else should I try?

 

[!ntruder]

... and here is CUDAZ report ...

is this OK or not?

 

[Cindori]

first, what did go wrong with Kext Drop? i'm interested since I developed it.

1. no
2. check for Quartz Extreme support by downloading zeus and going to Driver->Test button
3. its ok
4. add efi to aty init


you add efi to aty init by creating a property in the Info.plist, upload your firmware and maybe i'll do it

 

[MacVidCards]

first, what did go wrong with Kext Drop? i'm interested since I developed it.

Doesn't know what to do with bundles. They should just be treated like kexts. SHould be a simple fix. Most GPU driver packages include bundles.

you add efi to aty init by creating a property in the Info.plist, upload your firmware and maybe i'll do it

Good luck with that. Did we ever identify an actual problem that needs to be solved? The performance numbers are what he should expect. It is a low level card. The 7300 doesn't support CUDA at all.

 

[Cindori]

Doesn't know what to do with bundles. They should just be treated like kexts. SHould be a simple fix. Most GPU driver packages include bundles.

know about that, it's a simple "look for .kext ending" that needs to be changed to also .bundle

but aty_init is not a bundle

 

[!ntruder]

first, what did go wrong with Kext Drop? i'm interested since I developed it.

I don't know ... I dragged kext to KextDrop window and when I clicked install button it just hung there ... curosr turned into "working-like-stopwatch-circle" animation and I never got any other massage saying that installation is OK or anything simmilar ... had to ForceQuit app ... than I used KextUtility ... I liked that it was reporting back to me what is going on ... at the end Installation succesfull ... enjoy

check for Quartz Extreme support by downloading zeus and going to Driver->Test button

Zeus is not recognising GT220 ... only 7300GT ... could not preform test ... altough there was not TEST button anyway
and on web it says that card needs to be in bottom slot ... what's that ... slot4?
it also says that I have only 1 NVidia card ... bug !?

you add efi to aty init by creating a property in the Info.plist, upload your firmware and maybe i'll do it

so this means that I need to save ROM from GPU and upload it?
or it's something other ... am I right?

 

[!ntruder]

OK ... have some time and here is what I did

I hooked up GT220 to a PC and I saved BIOS from it ... both BIOS files are attached in GT220bios.zip file (GT220.ROM, GT216.bin)

GT220.ROM is backup from nvflash in DOS ... I also attached SCREEN01.TXT file wich is report from nvflash after successfully saved ROM file

GT216.bin is backup from GPUz in WinXP

now I am waiting for someone who knows how to enter that efi string ... if anything else is needed please tell me what and I will upload it as soon as I can ... tnx

 

[Cindori]

I don't know ... I dragged kext to KextDrop window and when I clicked install button it just hung there ... curosr turned into "working-like-stopwatch-circle" animation and I never got any other massage saying that installation is OK or anything simmilar ...

It's supposed to ask for your password at that stage.

Could you provide some info about your system? Were you admin, what osx version, etc.
Maybe open "System Messages" (from Applications/Utilities folder) and see what log output you get when Kext Drop hangs. I'd really appreciate it.

now I am waiting for someone who knows how to enter that efi string ... if anything else is needed please tell me what and I will upload it as soon as I can ... tnx

I don't think that is needed or will help, based on Rominators response:

Good luck with that. Did we ever identify an actual problem that needs to be solved? The performance numbers are what he should expect. It is a low level card. The 7300 doesn't support CUDA at all.

He knows more then me, but he is not very helpful as usual :/

 

[!ntruder]

I'll try to find that log about KextDrop and upload it ... I am admin on MacPro ... it is old 1,1 running SnowLeopard10.6.8

you add efi to aty init by creating a property in the Info.plist, upload your firmware and maybe i'll do it

can you do this?

 

[MacVidCards]

He knows more then me, but he is not very helpful as usual :/

I think you are both missing the boat here.

Nowhere is a problem identified that can be "fixed".

A GT220 is a crappy, low level card.

It is running in OSX for him as a ...wait for it......crappy, low level card.

There is nothing to fix unless he was hoping that with a few text edits he could make it run as a GTX480. That isn't going to happen.

So you drive your Chevy Sprint into a Chevy dealership and say "It runs like a cheap piece of ****"...do you really expect the mechanics to turn it into a Corvette for you with a few wrench twists?

If your GUI card is the 7300, connect display to that and GT220 will be the GPU card. Done.

If he is trying to get Resolve running, there are PROFESSIONAL forums for that. This is more like a tourist hotspot. Enjoy the view, but don't buy anything in the gift shop.

 

[!ntruder]

@MacVidCards
I am aware that GT220 is weak, and everything is connected and working as I said before, but it was my intention to pick weak PC graphic card and make it work on MacPro.

I do not expect it to run as GTX480 and I do not need help with Resolve nor did I asked for it.

I only want to add that efi string and I hope that when that is done it will display info about GT220 properly in SysProfiler. That's all I want.

 

[MacVidCards]

Oh, all this just to fix the cosmetics?

I detailed in another thread how to adjust the RAM that shows up.

But you should see that the important info is known properly by the important programs.

And if you can update to 10.7.3 the driver update there fixes all these issues by itself.