Socket 939: Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe / Asus A8N-SLI Premium

[CyCLoBoT]

Hey guys, I am thinking about purchasing the Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard and was wondering if it works well with Leopard? I checked the HCL on osx86 site and the one here and this motherboard is not mentioned anywhere. If anyone is using this board, please do tell if its working fine with Leopard or not.

[naquaada]

I have this board, it woks without problems with Leo4All V3 and the 10.5.3 Update, using an Athlon 64 3700+. At installation use the old nForce chipset driver and the forcedeth-v network driver. skge.kext ist not neccessary, it doesn't support the 2nd Marvell network connector. If you want to update to 10.5.3 with Zephyroth's Updater, backup the 10.5.2 kexts because mostly graphic cards won't work with the 10.5.3 drivers.

BTW: If you don't have the board yet, I wouldn't recommend it. It has a 9 seconds boot pause every time and the overclocking features are rather bad. If you want to have a real good Socket 939 board, buy the Asus A8N-SLI Premium. This board is also fully compatible, to OS X, I installed a 10.5.3 system on the Premium and ported it to the A8N-32SLI and this worked. Try to get board revision 1.04G, it can be better overclocked than the older version 1.02. If you need a smaller board, try the Asus A8N-E FM/S. It's a well-equipped microATX board with 2x IDE, 4x SATA2, 6x USB 2.0, 2x Firewire, PCI-E 16x and 3x PCI. It's the only nForce 4 microATX-board what I found (at least from Asus). The LAN chip is the Realtek 8201CL from which many people say it doesn't work, but it's fully working here.

[naquaada]

I'm also no big overclocking fan, but I tested it and it works fine with the Premium board. With good overclocking options you can f.e. lower your CPU voltage, this means the processor won't create so much heat - even if you don't overclock it. The boot pause is as following: Normal prodedure after power on is beeping, little memory test, detecting hardware, showing components as usual. But then you have a boot pause from 9...0 with the message 'Press Esc to continue booting' which is fully unneccessary and I never saw on another board ever.
Another thing is the bad positioning of the 2 PCI-E slots. In the A8N32-SLI the slots are set in this order: PCI, PCI-E x16, PCI, PCI, PCI-E x16, PCI-E x4
http://www.asus.de/490/images/products/744/744_l.jpg
On the Asus A8N-SLI Premium it's PCI, PCI, PCI, PCI-E x16, PCI-E x8, PCI-E x1, PCI-E x16
http://www.asus.de/490/images/products/539/539_l.jpg
The most gfx card need two Slots at the back side (especially if they are passive), so you'll always lose one PCI-slot on the A8N-32SLI, if you use two you lose two. On the Premium you don't lose a PCI slot, only a PCI-E x1 slot. Oly by use of 2 gfx cards you'll use one slot. On the Premium is the Airflow better using 2 cards because they are not so tight together. The only difference - The Premium board reduces in SLI mode (with 2 nvidia SLI-compatible gfx cards) the PCI-E bus with of PCI-E 16x to PCI-E 8x, so it's PCI-E 16x in total. The A8N-32SLI Deluxe provides full PCI-E 32x in SLI mode. But I don't know if you need this. MacOS doesn't support SLI.

I always would recommend the premium board, I got the Deluxe as a gift to my Opteron 185 processor. I have three, a friend has also two or three, two other friends have each one, and another friend also has one and a cheaper variant of it, the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe (without heatpipe and some other differences).

[CyCLoBoT]

Does it matter if the board revision is either 1.02 or 1.04G? I mean in terms of compatibility with Leopard, it should work just fine right? Cause I have bought the motherboard (A8N-SLI Premium) off eBay and not sure what revision it would be.

[naquaada]

No, both work, but the 1.04G is better to overclock. But the 1.02 seems to work with noname RAM which the 1.04G doesn't like so much. I recommend always 2 RAM modules of the same speed and size to get Dual-Channel RAM. The max RAM you can use is 3GB, when using 4GB Toast crashes unless you use a reduction settiing in BIOS. I can mail you the actual BIOS version, it's very easy to upgrade: just insert the CD and hold Alt-F2 during startup.

EDIT: This problem is solved due to slashacks improved nForce drivers with 4 GB support.

[CyCLoBoT]

Yeah sure that would be great. Do you need my email or what?

[coreyinoz]

naquaada,

How exactly did you get the nForce LAN port to work without the dreaded freezing issue? I've tried disabling IPv6. I've tried both forcedeth and forcedeth-v, with a variety of kernels under Leo4allv3. I've also tried Zephyroth rev 2, and no success their either. As an aside, I can use the Marvell port, but it's achingly slow.

The nForce port works for 10 seconds or so but maxes out my internet connection, but Marvell maxes out at about 10kb/s when it should be closer to 400!

Any advice?

If I can get LAN working, I just have a nagging video issue (blue screen for 10 mins at boot) and I'll be sorted...

Athlon X2 4200+
Asus A8N32-SLI
BenQ IDE DVD-RW
Maxtor SATA 320GB
Asus HD 3650 512MB (QE/SI enabled, but takes 10-15 mins to boot after I install video drivers)

[naquaada]

I attached the driver I'm using, including some installation instructions. Watch out, it's no rar archive, it's a zip. I can't upload zip files because of some unknown reason.

With the orgininal forcedeth driver I always got a kernel panic when transferring large files via network. This driver hasn't this problem. Internet worked with both drivers without problems.

For the gfx card I have no idea, my Radeon X1600Pro works fine. You can try to remove all unneccessary extensions from ATI*, GeForce* and NV*, start with the GeForce ad NV* drivers. But don't delete them, backup them somewehere, also the old forcedeth driver. Install Onyx (http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/11582/onyx) and clean your system with it, it can help.

[coreyinoz]

Thanks so much!

I'm going to try this and will report back.

Onyx looks very similar to pcwiz's OSX86 Tools Utility. I just read about it today, and haven't tried either yet, but I will try to remove unnecessary extensions as you say.

http://pcwizcomputer.com/osx86tools/

Thanks again.

coreyinoz

[naquaada]

The OSx86 Tools Utility is different to Onyx. I personally would not use this tool, I have a bad feeling with it.

[coreyinoz]

Hi naquaada,

So the network driver appears to work a treat! I haven't put it through heavy paces, but this is the first time I've been able to download more than 1MB without it freezing hard. I managed to download Firefox and Onyx no problem.

However, no dice with the video drivers yet. It's a new video card, and the drivers are brand new, so I'm not holding my breath. I tried running cleaning with Onyx - no dice.

I'll try picking off some of the unused kext's as you suggest, but I just didn't have the patience to wait through another 20 minute bootup! Safe mode is slow too...

coreyinoz

[hellonwheels]

@ naquaada

(first of all sorry for my bad english)

ok this seems to be the right discussion for me !

as i wrote here : http://www.infinitemac.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=1253&page=1#Item_5

i have a broken s 939 board , an 3200+ amd , 1024ddr , 120 gig sata drive , ati sapphire x550
and my first thought was to buy an new mainboard (am2) new cpu , ram - but then Doix showed me this thread,
and it would be realy nice if i would only have to buy a new motherboard !

so the "Asus A8N-SLI Premium" sounds realy good to me , and it would be realy nice if you can answer me some questions about this board!

first of all i would like to know if this board should work without any troubel with leo4all (or better zephyre 10.5.2 ?? )

i think the rest of my hardware should be compatible with osx (except the graphicscard could become a problem , but if needed i m going to buy a new one! ) !?

Would be realy realy nice if you could help me !

best regards

hell

[naquaada]

I'm using this board since 10.4.5 ;-) and it was working on with all images I ever tested - about 20.

The only component you can't use in OS X is the SiliconImage 3114 RAID ontroller. It worked in Tiger, but not in Leopard anymore because it doesn't use AppleVIAATA.kext. But if you want to expand you system to the max you can use 6 harddisks for OS X and 4 addidtional ones for Windows!

New components: Some are rather old and you'll loose a lot of speed with them. I have selected some costs, prices are from Germany.

Graphics card: I'm using on 4 machines a Gigabyte Radeon X1600 Silentpipe 2. It's a passive cooled card, so noise at all. I still have some in spare ant would sell them for 35 Euro.
CPU: I would definetively recommend to replace the 3200+ because it only has 512K Level 2-Cache. All newer Socket 939 CPUs and the X2 have only 512K Level-2-Cache and AMD replaces with 200 MHz higher frequency. The 4000+ is a nice cpu, it has 2.4 GHz, 1 MB Level-2-Cache and brings about 85-88 in Xbench. It worked stable overclocked at 2.63 GHz. Price is 32 Euro (new).
Harddisk: 120 GB are not so much fun ;-) I would recommend an IDE HD though, it's faster than SATA. The Samsung HD400LD has 400GB and costs 52 Euro.

These were my infos at the moment, if there are more ask me.

P.S.: If you're bad in English, what is your native language? I opened a thread for listing this.

[hellonwheels]

thank you ! ... im a bit confused right now if is should buy an intel or an amd board :D the only problem with the asus is that i cant buy it new .... i only found it on ebay!

the x1600 sounds realy good to me !

so you are from germany ? i am living there.

hell

[naquaada]

The Premium board is only available on ebay. But it's no problem in the most cases, me and my friends bought a lot of boards and all are working.

I'm personally proud to use AMD systems, I would not switch to Intel. It's everything working and Zephyroth's AMD Updater will make the life easy. If I'd buy a Laptop I would use an Intel, but not on desktop computers. BTW, we're an AMD forum here and the AMD support is maybe better than the one for Intel boards.

[coreyinoz]

@naquadda,

One more question for you... Were you able to get USB ports working without resorting to disabling legacy USB in the BIOS?

Right now I have USB keyboard and mouse only if I leave legacy turned on. If I disable legacy USB support, I can get my iPod, etc. but then I can't use the keyboard until the OS boots (no boot flags).

Are you in the same boat?

coreyinoz

[nfoav8or]

@coreyinoz

I've found on certain boards that you need to have the mouse/keyboard plugged in to certain ports for them to work non-legacy wise at boot. weird, I know, because I've only experienced this with a few AMD and Intel boards (names of which escape me right now). I guess my first thought would be to square this away before getting balls-deep in OS X. I think it will resolve a few headaches before they happen.

Anyone else, feel free to comment on this issue... I'm not sure why I experienced this in the past.

[naquaada]

I never tried to use a USB-keyboard for longer because I can't change seetings in the BIOS then. So I'm always using PS/2 for mouse and keyboard and can use it with USB Legacy Support disabled or enabled. I don't know what you're using for a keyboard, but try an USB -> PS/2 adapter. These things are very cheap and you can use your USB keyboard in a PS/2 port.

[coreyinoz]

@nfoav8or, naquaada,

Thanks for the tips. I'm using an MS4000 USB keyboard which I really like, but I do have a PS/2 adapter laying around that I could use.

I was just wondering if I had missed a magical USB kext that lets USB devices work while leaving legacy options on.

I'll try swapping USB ports though - worth a shot.

coreyinoz

[dragonspeed]

Hi,
I have an A8N-SLI Premium with opteron single and now dual core, I have run for at least 1 year Iatkos 10.4.9 nicely without any problem.
Now I am testing the Zephyroth 10.5.2 wich looks like nice also.
One thing that is common in both cases is that my the sound AC97 is not present when I dont' boot with a wired keyboard.
I have been using apple bluetooth keyboard and mouse with excelent results except for this detail: I need a plugged keyboard to my nice wireless almost apple system.
Anyone has a clue why this happens?

Talking about another stuff and to share one good experience in this forum I would recommend to use Cambridge Silicon chiped Bluetooth dongles on A8N-SLI which works nicely, compared to Broadcom ones, that gave me problems.
Regards
Dragon

[naquaada]

Never tried Bluetooth keyboards, I always use Logitech wireless using PS/2. It's still the safest connection.

[PingunZ]

I have the Premium board 1,02 rev.
Installed with Zephyroth v2, works great just install:
- forcedeth for nvidia ethernet ( no need for -v here, I don't have freezes )
- AppleNforceATA for the chipset
- AC97 for audio

I didn't 1 driver after installing with the zephyroth dvd.

The only problem I'm having is random kernel panics.. but those are not related to the board afaik.
I'll post a new discussion about this as soon as I can :)
edit: but I might try leo4all v3, maybe the kernel panics will be gone

[naquaada]

post your specs and use Leo4All V3. Use ALC850Audio für Audio, skge.kext and forcedeth-v driver for LAN.

[PingunZ]

Motherboard: Asus A8N SLI Premium 1,02 BIOS 1303 ( nforce 4 sli )
CPU: AMD Athlon64 3500+ Venice
Graphics: nVidia 8500GT 512mb ( nvinject )
HDD: S-ATA 250gb
RAM: 4x1GB DDR400

Will try Leo4All v3.. I don't need skge, since I only use the nvidia lan.

[naquaada]

Deactivate in BIOS in DRAM settings both of the 4GB options. This will disable 1 GB of RAM, but if you use the full 4Gig and try to burn or even create an DVD image with Toast it will crash. You also can check in the overclocking options to reduce the CPU Core voltage, this keeps it cooler. Compare first with the actual used in the hardware monitor. The 1.02 boards aren't too well for CPU overclocking.

If I combine me and my friends' boards we have about 10 or more, versions 10.2 and 10.4G mixed, all with different CPUs. We don't have various kernel panics. Install Leo4All V3 and maybe use an IDE HD, it's faster than SATA in OS X.

[PingunZ]

Reducing the CPU voltage will result in lower performances afaik, and I have no heating-troubles.
Removing 1GB of ram just to make Toast work seems a bit drastic to me, but anyway I had the same panics when I had 1GB of ram so it's not related to my memory.
I already have 2 S-ATA drives, and I don't feel like buying new harddrives.

Tomorrow, I'll try leo4all.. thanks for the info!

[naquaada]

I have noticed no lower performance on my Opteron, it's just getting not so hot. With the memory I hadn't problems with other programs, but I need Toast, there no DVD burning prog which can be compared with it. It's a bad feeling to disable 1 full Gig of RAM but believe me you don't notice it. I'm working with Logic and 3 Gig are enough. If there are problems, it's worth a try.

For the system: I would recommend to use the Marvell port. skge.kext works better than forcedeth(-v) driver. You can install both drivers this no problem, but I'm using the Marvell Port. I made some changes to my installation guide, so take a look.

To all: plz only use quotes if it's really neccessary.

[PingunZ]

Well, afaik increasing the voltage is overclocking -> for better performance. So logically decreasing it would be underclocking. Perhaps you didn't "feel" the difference, but I'm quite sure a benchmark will.
I don't really burn dvd's a lot, mainly for testing images ( linux / osx / windows ) so I don't need Toast -> I'm keeping the RAM :)

I'll try the skge.kext tomorrow with leo4all v3 with JaS patch ( I really hope it'll resolve my kernel panics).
By the installation guide, you mean the stable osx guide?

Btw, sorry for the unnecessary quotes.

[naquaada]

Nope, the benchmarks are the same, about 103 for my Opteron 185 o'clocked to 2x2,86 GHz. I use Xbench rather often for testing purposes. Increasing the vltage doesn't speed up the CPU, you have to increase the multiplicator or the bus frequency. I bumped my Opteron up to 3,03 GHz on zephyroth 10.5.1, newer ersions crash at this speed. Actually I'm using a bus frequency of 220 MHz, standard is 200.

I didn't use the JaS patched image, I don't like his work. I'm using the original 10.5.2 image and updated to 10.5.3 using Zephyroth's AMD updater.

[PingunZ]

I'll try playing with the voltage then, I knew about the multiplier but I thought you could also overclock by increasing the voltage.. seems like I was wrong :)
What's wrong with the JaS patched image / his work? I'm using this version ( installing right now..)
I'll post here if it works / if I still have the same issues.

[Voyn1x]

The only reason you up the voltage when overclocking is for stability.

[PingunZ]

But when I decrease the voltage of my CPU, will my system become unstable?
And what voltages are safe to use ( I don't overclock ).
Thanks for all the info :)

[Voyn1x]

Unless your overclocking i would leave your voltage at the standard bios setting.

When you get the kernel panics what does your Console say? That should give some indication to whats causing them.

[PingunZ]

Debug Output (http://pingunz.googlepages.com/IMG_0562.JPG), tried posting a new discussion several times about this but I get a 404 error when I submit the discussion.
I contacted Puttabong about this, so I hope he'll fix it :)

[Voyn1x]

It seems to be a problem with your drive kexts. I would look at trying a different IOATAFamily or AppleNForceATA kext.

I found this thread on InsanelyMac with the same panic error as you:

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=82546&st=0

[PingunZ]

I will try another IOATAFamily.kext, but first I'll try leo4all v3.
Btw: the kernel panic on insanelymac is caused by viaata, mine is nforceata..

[Voyn1x]

I still think it's the same issue, I quote from the thread:

Also, I've tried using the JMicron kext, and not using it. The kernel panics happened either way, except that the panic would list JMicron.kext as the culprit, and not AppleVIAATA.kext.

Which indicates it's IOATAFamily.kext thats causing the problem.

Btw. How much ram do you have?

[PingunZ]

I have 4gb of ram, but I had the same issue with 1gb. ( for system specs, see my profile )
I'm currently installing leo4all, if that doesn't work I'll go back to zeph v2 and install another IOATAFamily.

Thanks for the help

[Voyn1x]

It's still worth trying booting with the maxmem=3048 switch.

Most motherboard's IDE controllers and 4gb of RAM do not coexist peacefully in a Hackintosh.

[Voyn1x]

Also look in your bios if there is a 'memory remap' feature

If it does and is enabled, disable it

[PingunZ]

Just installed leo4all v3, everything seems to work fine.
I'm checking some big files in transmission, and till now the kernel hasn't panicked yet :)

I guess I'm sticking with leo4all :)

Thanks for all the help!

[dragonspeed]

Hi all,
Two questions.
1) Leo4All is better than Zephyroth for A8n-SLI Premium.
2) I have read in this forum that ATA is faster than SATA on OSX86, is there any way to improve that, maybe installing a PCI SATA controller with INTEL chipset or somethin like that?

Regards.
Dragon

[dragonspeed]

sorry the first one is a question I just forgot the question mark.
1) Leo4All is better than Zephyroth for A8n-SLI Premium?

[naquaada]

Oh, my god, this is so extreme! We never, never, never and again never with mustard on top we will forgive you the error with the question mark!!

<Joke> ;-) For something like this use the 'edit' function at the top right of the post.

It is a personal choice which image is better. Zeph's image was better in driver selection and so, Leo4All is more complicated in this and eddie11c used custom background pictures what is not so neat. The reason for me to used it because it solved the last two problems, DVD Images weren't played with DVD Player and Toast won't start. But both images work on the Premium board.

[PingunZ]

I prefered the zephyroth image over leo4all, but I had to use leo4all to fix kernel panics.
They both work fine on the a8n sli premium motherboard.