If the PC card supports EFI, why can't Apple just support the PC version? There's little difference hardware-wise between a Mac and a PC that uses EFI. Nothing in the firmware has to be or even should be OS specific. PC cards already support two operating systems, Linux and Windows, so what's the difficulty in supporting one more?
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Upgrading old Mac Pro to 8800 GT graphics?
- Thread starter Fezzy
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If the PC card supports EFI, why can't Apple just support the PC version? There's little difference hardware-wise between a Mac and a PC that uses EFI. Nothing in the firmware has to be or even should be OS specific. PC cards already support two operating systems, Linux and Windows, so what's the difficulty in supporting one more?
Normal PC cards don't have EFI firmware. They only have old-school BIOS firmware. That's the real problem.
Excactly. Hardware-wise, there is NO difference between a Mac or PC compatible card (this has been true for over a decade in many cases, but is more so now than ever).
The issue is that Apple's video cards work with both BIOS for bootcamp and EFI for OS X. So for a card to work Apple and either ATI or NVIDIA have to provide technical input.
Just so everyone knows, it is very possible to a PC 8800 in a Mac Pro. I have an EVGA 8800 GTS 640 MB installed in my Mac Pro at home, no special firmware, and it runs in both Leopard and Vista great. This is done using the special Apple power cable and some drivers from the 'Hackintosh' scene.
Please humor us. Judging by the responses with the veteran members here, they speak of no way possible "Yet" to have a 8800GT boot osx in a NON hackintosh machine.
What is this driver? Where do you get it? You don't have to flash anything, really?
What about this cable?
What you have is big news and you've teased us with the info.
What is this driver? Where do you get it? You don't have to flash anything, really?
What about this cable?
What you have is big news and you've teased us with the info.
Does it show the white apple loading screen though? Can you run it without an apple supported card in another slot?
I guarantee you this was not some unfortunate oversight that caused this. Look at Apple's history. It's their M.O. They had no intention of allowing any previous Mac Pro owners the ability to upgrade to the 8800GT. They'd rather have you buy a brand new Mac Pro than, heaven forbid, get some milege out of your current investment. When does the greed machine stop? They already have $14 billion in "spare" cash. Is that not enough? So why am I all in a huff??? Because I know that in 512 days (or whenever my soon-to-be Mac Pro gets updated) I'll be in the same spot.
I really don't think that Apple intentionally decided to make the "old" Mac Pros not work with new cards.
We're talking about a card that is in the 2nd generation of Mac Pros. Will we have the same tantrums from people in 8 months at the next update? "I can't BELIEVE that Apple isn't making the EFI4.0 cards backward compatible with my Mac Pro from 2 years ago. I am SO DONE with Apple! I'm gonna sue them too -- who's with me?"
Give them a frickin break. We have no idea what is going to happen so let's just wait and not invent stories of how Apple has always been evil.
He may have it working. He's most likely using a G92.kext from the 10.5.2 seeds.
If he has a 7300GT installed in his system, more than likely it handles initialization for the 8800GT.
It's basically exactly what I was trying to accomplish with my project earlier in the thread, only I was trying to do it with a PC flashed X1900, which wasn't being initialized properly. Might be just an ATI thing.
I'd like to see real proof dynamic has this working, though. Assuming he does, it'll prove my theory correct, at which point I can write a one-click installer and System Preference Pane for configuration, then everyone can easily run PC 8800s in their system.
I don't think they deserve one right now. It was just a screw up on their part for not checking sooner. I don't know but we'll see what happens. Im a little upset i cant upgrade right now but in no means am i going to leave apple. Just have to wait to see what they will do and hopefully they will fix this and we'll all be happy.
This is one of the things I like about APPLE people. You guys are always doing more work so the end user has it easy.
One click. We like that idea.
One click. We like that idea.
I have no doubt it works in the OS. However, without EFI drives on the 8800 EFi won't be able to show the nice high resolution boot screen. Also i thought it wouldn't even boot unless it recognized a EFI supported graphics card. Which is why a second graphics card that is supported normally gets around this.
He would have problems getting a G80 core running with the G92 kext.
He is most likely using the Titan.kext for this. You can easily find it at a certain site.
8800GT is a G92 core.
At the very least he has to be using a 7300GT to get past pre-boot. If the 7300GT's UGA isn't taking care of the 8800GT then he may be using Natit.kext to place the proper entries into the IOReg. No one uses Titan.kext anymore, FYI; Natit.kext is the open-source replacement.
Again, we'd all appreciate a step by step tutorial. Many of us have "spare" 7300's lying around that could quite easily sit idle in the system if it'll facilitate the necessary boot routines.
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well i could kinda confirm dynamic's story as i did some major research in to building a hackintosh and it was widely confirmed that the pc 8800 worked fine
here some links to the osx86 guys success who have the card working however this hack would need to be confirmed working in a mac pro using efi and a logic board as opposed to pc mobos with bios support.
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=65849&hl=8800
well i could kinda confirm dynamic's story as i did some major research in to building a hackintosh and it was widely confirmed that the pc 8800 worked fine
here some links to the osx86 guys success who have the card working however this hack would need to be confirmed working in a mac pro using efi and a logic board as opposed to pc mobos with bios support.
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=65849&hl=8800
Right, we all know this. We've all been over this.
The issue is, the cards may not initialize themselves properly without BIOS support on the motherboard. This appears to be the issue I ran into when trying to get my X1900 working.
People got 7800's working because it seems like the 7300's UGA driver would find and initialize both cards. The 7300 very well may not initialize the 8800.
If dynamic can't provide proof for his claim then we'll wait until 10.5.2 is released and I can provide steps for people to try. You will need: PC 8800, Mac 7300, spare time and a bit of patients.
Timb - I'm guessing the chances of getting a PC 8800 initialized and working from the EFI on an HD 2600 are somewhere between zero and razor thin. Any comment?