Will iPC run on this?

nicky9499 · #1 06-09-2009, 04:17 AM

I, want to build a completely new SFF machine specially for OSX. Either way you look at it, it'll still be more fun and cheaper than buying an Mac Mini.

Currently we have:

Intel E8400 + MSI G45M-Digital
Kingston 4GB DDR2-800
Hitachi 1TB SATA
Samsung DVDRW 22x SATA
Silverstone SG02F
Seasonic 430w m12 power supply
Asus 9400 GT 512MB
Wireless-N adapter pending.

The point of building a new machine is so that all hardware is fully compatible with as little hassle as possible. Can anyone verify that the above is satisfactory? Are there any known issues; perhaps some components that I should replace with another?

Motherboard is not in Hardware Compatibility List, while graphic card has multiple entries, cause for concern. Advice needed, thanks in advance.

Cheerio,
Nicholas.

Voyn1x · #2 06-09-2009, 01:54 PM

Hmm yeah, that mobo is a bit of a unknown.

Your best bet is getting a Gigabyte board as they are generally very compatible. I built myself a new microATX based system recently using the GA-G31M-ES2L. Slightly lower spec but works mostly out of the box using a retail EFI install. I can give you my kexts, dsdt and boot132 disk if you're interested

The rest sounds fine

sunfire523 · #3 08-22-2009, 01:19 AM

FYI, try to get the rev1.x version, not the rev2.0 kind. The lan on the 1.x works out of the box, but I bought the 2.0, and can't get it to work. They changed the lan chip from Realtek to Atheros, and the Atheros chip generally sucks on all OS's...

The LAN chip is a AR8131. There is a driver for that chip on kexts.com, but it's for the mobile version of the chip... Everything else was smooth as silk. Guess I'm gonna have to drop $10 on a lan card

As a side note, anyone think there is a way to tweak the existing AR8131 chip to work with this mobo? I would assume that there isn't much difference, but I am far from a driver programmer. Anyone want to be really awesome and make this motherboard perfect for OSX?

Imkantus · #4 08-22-2009, 02:06 AM

Can you maybe post a direct Link to that kext file (seems I am either to dump or to tired to find it

) in addition with the result of "lspci -nn" (get it by using some Linux Distro or PCIUtils for OS X) ?

sunfire523 · #5 08-22-2009, 02:46 AM

Geez, my mistake, I thought it was on kexts.com (it was easier to say that

). Anyways, here is the thread where I found it http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/ind...owtopic=140907. I also attached the zip file I used (from the thread).

This is the lspci -nn output. I used an ubuntu live cd.

Code:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ lspci -nn
 
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express DRAM Controller [8086:29c0] (rev 10)
 
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82G33/G31/P35/P31 Express PCI Express Root Port [8086:29c1] (rev 10)
 
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller [8086:27d8] (rev 01)
 
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:27d0] (rev 01)
 
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 [8086:27d2] (rev 01)
 
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:27c8] (rev 01)
 
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:27c9] (rev 01)
 
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:27ca] (rev 01)
 
00:1d.3 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:27cb] (rev 01)
 
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller [8086:27cc] (rev 01)
 
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge [8086:244e] (rev e1)
 
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR (ICH7 Family) LPC Interface Bridge [8086:27b8] (rev 01)
 
00:1f.2 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7 Family) SATA IDE Controller [8086:27c0] (rev 01)
 
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:27da] (rev 01)
 
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: nVidia Corporation GeForce 9500 GT [10de:0640] (rev a1)
 
03:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Attansic Technology Corp. Device [1969:1063] (rev c0)

Thanks for your help!

sunfire523 · #6 08-22-2009, 06:07 AM

Well, this is interesting... I installed the attached kexts (thanks to Voyn1x for putting them in his guide), and an ethernet adapter has shown up in system profiler and network (under system preferences). Network says it's there, but the cable is unplugged (it isn't). The network diagnostics still say the ethernet has failed, and "ifconfig en0" says the interface dne.

Did the drivers just create a dummy ethernet adapter, or is this a good sign? I do have the Attansic driver still installed.

So the plot thickens...

Imkantus · #7 08-22-2009, 08:24 AM

Well I just had a look at it, what I would do would be the following:

Before you do I recommend to remove both Ethernet kexts from /System/Library/Extensions and the to boot up using -f parameter at boot prompt once.

1. Have the AttansicL1eEthernet.kext placed on some of your locations - likely the Desktop.
2. Right-click it and choche "Show Package contents", then go to "Contents" folder and open Info.plist with you prefered editor.
3. Look up for 0x10261969 and replace it with 0x10631969
4. Save the file, close the coresponding windows and try to reinstall that kext file using KextHelper.

I don't know if changing that ID is enaugh or if the binary file would need changes also, but you might give it a try.

sunfire523 · #8 08-22-2009, 09:57 PM

Well, the adapter was recognized in network preferences and has the status of connected, but it's running with a self-assigned IP address, and can't connect to ze internet. I also tried to configure my ISP's address manually, but to no avail.

I guess it's the binary... More complicated than I had hoped

.

I also replaced the binary with a blank file, installed that kext, and still have the active, yet self-assigned ethernet connection.

You wouldn't happen to be a really nice developer, would you?

Imkantus · #9 08-22-2009, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunfire523

You wouldn't happen to be a really nice developer, would you?

I am no developer or at least this would exceed my qualifications, independend there is no source code which could be changed.

Problem is that there is no working driver for Atheros L1C currently, just the one for L1E you picked up and another one designed for L1 owners. And trying to change one of these to be compatible with your one shows as beeing more complicated as I thaught.

Sorry for wasting your time.

All I can do is to recommend you to get one of these: Edimax EN-9230TX-32 as it's working fine for me on OS X.

sunfire523 · #10 08-23-2009, 01:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imkantus

ISorry for wasting your time.

Geez... if anything, it would be the other way around

Speaking of source code, I found some code for the Attansic L1e, from Reader02, who wrote the driver. I would look through it... but for some reason Xcode isn't installed on my computer (I thought it was installed by default)

I attached it... and I will try to get some papers (white papers?) on the card to take a look at (and try to get Xcode on my computer)

Thanks again!

BTW, I got your pm, and the hex editing didn't work