DCBassman
macrumors 65816
Upcoming work: disassemble 2009 Mac Mini. Upgrade RAM to 8GB, remove optical drive and install OWC Data Doubler and a 500GB spinner in its place. Might repaste if I think I can do it without damage.
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What have you done with an early Intel recently?
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Amethyst1
macrumors G3
If you boot verbosely, what are the last few messages before it hangs?
What does the system do with it?
It's very hard to go back to less than what one has become used to. 😉 Joking aside, what about another flashed GT 640 or whatever your other two (working) cards are? That would give you nine displays at least.
On XP, you're limited to two displays per card, but you can at least check if they work.
eyoungren
macrumors Nehalem
I do boot verbosely. At first, it was some lines regarding USB. So, I messed with my USB stuff and then it came down to some processor lines. At that point I figured, maybe I didn't insert the card right. So, I reseated it. Now it holds at some lines about IP/Bluetooth. I'd have to go look in the logs for the specific references. But it changed each time. But this is why I suspect the BIOS on the card. It's newer.
I left it there for a short while a few times, thinking it might advance. It did not.
In a normal boot where the old card is working (or removed), there is a ton of verbose messages that consistently scroll down the screen until it gets to the Apple logo and the progress bar. Once those appear, all my screens snap on, the progress bar completes and I'm dropped into my desktop.
If I am booting to Safe Mode, the same happens, but only for one screen.
So, I know the system is freezing with the new card because it's stopping at these lines and not advancing even when I give it some time.
With the old card installed, the system boots normally scrolling through verbose mode as I mentioned above. Once it hits the Apple logo and progress bar though it freezes. On Monday morning, this is how I found the Mac when I came downstairs.
Only the six displays attached to the 640s come on. The other four attached to the card remain off (standby mode). This is why I suspect the card died.
There is nothing I did any different on Sunday or earlier. There was nothing installed that altered any display settings. The Mac was fine, shut itself down at 4:10am like normal Monday morning and then started up at 4:15. That's when I found it like I describe above when I came down Monday morning.
Yes, if that happens I will find it hard. No joke. 😀
Anyway, that's why I ordered another card with the exact same BIOS. If I put this card in and everything boots fine then I know that the old card died and the BIOS on the new card is the culprit. If I get another round of problems, then it has to be something else.
Based on the fact that everything is still working exactly like before, only with 6 displays and not 10, I have to assume this has got nothing to do with OCLP. So, I doubt a reinstall of the OS is going to fix anything and that is why I have not tried it.
As far as adding another 640…well, the two I have are dual slots. Right now my third slot is being blocked. Adding a third 640 could be done, but it's going to mean removing two drives in order for it to fit.
Of course, I could find the single slot 640. But then we get into the financials. And I've already dropped $40 so far on two NVS 510s.
Sure, why not. I have a 2GB ram stick in my PowerMac B&W G3. It only shows 1GB. Not like I haven't done that sort of thing before, LOL! 😉
DCBassman
macrumors 65816
So, here it is, the late 2009 Mac Mini 3,1, now sporting a 256GB Patriot boot drive and a 512GB Patriot data drive.
Also, 8GB RAM, running El Capitan with Momiji browser. Pretty quick, too!
Also, 8GB RAM, running El Capitan with Momiji browser. Pretty quick, too!
Minghold
macrumors 6502a
Minghold
macrumors 6502a
Here's something maybe you can help with:
I don't know long this has been going on, but Apple has hard-locked Safari* to be the default for opening webfiles, and grayed-out the relevant setting.
I'd like to assume this is something that can be disabled in Terminal.
(*How awful is Safari? Go trying installing uBlockOrigin in it. You'll be shunted to the weak-sauce 'Lite' version, via the AppStore, then told you can only apply it to Ventura and above.)
Wowfunhappy
macrumors 68020
Sorry, I actually have no idea! I either never saw or noticed this back when I used Mojave (I never used Catalina, that was when I nope'd out).
DCBassman
macrumors 65816
No reason except it's the max supported. Remember that for me, it's the hardware I like about Apple. The OS? Not so much. Having done the upgrades and ensured that I didn't break anything in the process, it will now revert to MX Linux.
Andy5Kimac
macrumors member
I added a Razer Core X Chroma RX 6900XT reference card to my top spec 2020 5k iMac. I modified the eGPU with two Noctua premium fans for better cooling and use it for Video editing in Mac OS and bootcamp Windows gaming. In Mac OS gaming the EGPU gets loud playing long sessions in 4k. However in Windows gaming it stays silent in 4k with significantly better FPS.
Gloomy
macrumors regular
As cool as that is, I doubt it qualifies as “Early Intel”. 😂
Andy5Kimac
macrumors member
lol ya sorry I missed the “Early” part in the title. 😂
Gloomy
macrumors regular
No worries and thanks for sharing - it's a fantastic iMac setup, that's for sure. My Late-2013 27" recently bit the dust - the power supply failed and I very nearly replaced it with a 2019 iMac 27" I saw a deal on. I sprung for the higher end 24" M4 in the end. The smaller screen is taking some adjustment to get used to, but the Retina is gorgeous. I still have my 2011 17" MBP and 2015 13" MBA for Intel stuff too. 😀
Gloomy
macrumors regular
Early morning for me. Currently playing some Angry Birds Star Wars and browsing some MacRumors on my Early-2011 17" MBP running Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard. 👍
Andy5Kimac
macrumors member
Ya I still have my 2017 5k iMac and 2013 MacBook Pro too. 😂 I probably gonna install Linux on the 2017 iMac.
Minghold
macrumors 6502a
Q. What are using for an MX installer? (MX is one of those distros whose ISO just will not launch off a Yumi/Ventoy drive.)
Minghold
macrumors 6502a
I don't remember this being in Mojave before, but it's possible one of the last "updates" smuggled it in, and it cheeses me off to no end. (I like to leave helpful vid links on the desktop of refurb computers I'm passing along, and want them to bring up a browser with proper adblocking already installed.)
DCBassman
macrumors 65816
I almost invariably make up my installer USBs using Rufus in Windows. Otherwise, it's Balena Etcher.
Minghold
macrumors 6502a
What version of Etcher? (There's a hundred versions, and none of the later ones ones seem to work that well.)
DCBassman
macrumors 65816
Whatever is current. Never had an issue with either program. I don't use the portable versions of either, just install both standard versions to Windows, and the standard version of Etcher offered to either macOS or Linux.
Minghold
macrumors 6502a
Ah. That's the trick. (Windows versions work. I know this because the only way I've been able to get Etcher to not suck in Mojave is via a non-Mac VM.)
eyoungren
macrumors Nehalem
Fixed. All 10 displays are back.
So it would seem that the previous card has flat out died. I had ZERO issues booting right back into the system with this new card. It would ALSO seem that if I need to replace this card in the future, I MUST MATCH THE BIOS!!!!!!
DCBassman
macrumors 65816
And it has, via the usual Linux nausea of Nvidia drivers, but all good.
My reality is Windows, and eventually, Linux. For all the messing around with Macs, the biggest single thing I don't like is the OS. Any version of the OS. Having said that, I'm typing this on a 2015 MBA 11" in Monterey, as it's such a great travel device and I'm away from home right now. I usually have this running Windows 10 under Bootcamp, but this and the Trashcan are both pure Monterey at the moment.
Gloomy
macrumors regular
I concur. I have a triple-boot of Windows 10/Mojave/Monterey on my MBA. Monterey is a pretty solid version of macOS with impressive software and browser support even into 2026, and it still has a functionally usable icon based Settings application! 😅 The newer versions with the iOS inspired vertical list make my skin crawl.