AMD Phenom Installation advice required

[KusariNinja]

Hiya Guys

Firstly I would like to say well done on all the amazing wealth of info you provide in this forum.

I have an AMD System which is currently running Vista Ultimate x64. This is installed on a sata drive but will be disconnected whilst setting up osx86 on a ide device which will later be put in an external caddy so i can plug it in as and when i need to play around with it.

I currently have 3 different distros, ideneb 1.3 10.5.5 (could not install always had root drive wait error), ipc 10.5.6 beta (not tried yet) and lawlessppc 10.5.4 (had success up to a point, was unable to get decent graphics resolution, no audio, no network, tried to update to 10.5.5 with a patched installer so i could try out some nvidia graphics drivers but this killed the installation.)

i have spent best part of 20 odd hours trying various things before asking for help as I usually like to solve problems myself but alas i am a bit beat on this one lol.

My main system specs are in my signature, I would like to know what would be the best distribution to use, how to update correctly to 10.5.5/6 (if needed) and get working graphics on 9500GT, not overly concerned with getting both cards working together but would be a bonus.

IDE HD is on master channel, DVDROM drive is on slave channel, sata disconnected. In my bios there are raid options but no ahci or whatever it's called though I would assume as i am not installing on sata that these settings are irrelevant?

Any help would be gratefully appreciated

Kindest Regards

KusariNinja

[LawlessPPC]

the best would be an unpatched osx installed with just the drivers and latest kernel but you need a working osx to make it. I would install my distro with nothing but chipset selected then reboot and install network adapter driver go to realteks site for this. Then use the latest voodoo kernel rc1 and update to 10.5.5 from apples download site just get the 10.5.4 to 10.5.5 update. The driver for your alc888 on my disc should provided you select the right version 3ports etc (this depends on your board) but just download the latest available but make sure you click customize during install to select which version you have. There also drivers about for the 9 series of nvidia cards believe they were added to 10.5.6 update as these are in the next macs (correct me if im wrong).

[KusariNinja]

many thanks for the response Lawless :)

right so far to make life a bit simple i have temporarily disabled the SATA altogether. I have a 250GB HD installed on IDE Master, partitioned into 2. Lawlessppc 10.5.4 installed with just the nforce chipset installed. booted up fine, decided to loop at the do you have a another mac section, so rebooted into single user, and added root account and touched the AppleSetupDone file. rebooted, added a new user account and that is where i am currently at now. I am going to boot up with dvd again and do a backup so it I screw up the next stages at least i should be able to get back to a working clean install again (fingers crossed)

[KusariNinja]

ok, I now have working network, audio and Voodoo Release 1.0 :xnu-1228.7.58 installed .... So far so good :)

[KusariNinja]

downloaded 10.5.5 update from apple, installed, rebooted, machine resets. rebooted and used flags -x -f system hangs at a blue screen but mouse is movable. :'(

edit: last line appears to be localhost kextd[10]: IOKitWaitQuiet() time out waiting to write kernel symbols

[KusariNinja]

restore frommy backup using Disk utility worked fine. going to reinstall network and audio and kernel again then backup again from that point lol

[KusariNinja]

Backed up with Working audio, network Voodoo kernel... Now to screw it up again by updating it ;)

[KusariNinja]

is there anything that needs to be done after installing 10.5.5 such as patching it to work or replacing any files once the install has completed? It says it has completed the install successfully but then when i reboot it resets the machine as it is loading up on the apple screen (seems to be at the point it would switch to the blue screen).

I removed all ATI related kexts as I don't have any ati hardware, plus the intelcpumanagment kext

an error i have noticed when exiting out of single user mode is UUID of on-disk kernel (mach_kernel) does not match running kernel

Could this be what is causing the reset? if so how would i go about fixing it?

any help gratefully appreciated as always ;)

edit: using -x -f boot options i got to the blue screen after the apple logo with a working mouse but nothing displayed, just blue screen and mouse pointer. Reinstalling backup again

[KusariNinja]

I dunno if i am going off on the wrong track here but i was reading a post by nfoav8or http://www.infinitemac.com/showthread.php?t=1756 regarding 3 specific files needed beofre updating to 10.5.5. I have checked my Extensions folder and I have none of these... huting around for them but not had any luck as yet :(

[nfoav8or]

check your inbox. PM'd you a few links. Enjoy the new graphics.

[KusariNinja]

many thanks nfoav8or, will install those when i get home from work :)

[KusariNinja]

One little side note, my ps/2 keyboard did not work after booting kernel, I had a mac usb keyboard from my dead dual 867mhz g4 floating about which worked a treat. :)

Will hopefully have a working 10.5.5 done sometime this evening :)

[KusariNinja]

ok the three kexts, AppleDecrypt, AppleSMBIOSEFI and Disabler were installed with kext helper, rebooted, installed 10.5.5, rebooted, machine reset on loading. rebooted with -x -f and was able to login with safe mode, rebooted with -f and hangs at apple screen before the part where it loads blue screen. I have a feeling I have missed somethign but not sure what! any ideas?

[KusariNinja]

did the following.....

rm -Rf Extensions/ATI*
rm -Rf Extensions/GeForce*
rm -Rf Extensions/NVDA*
rm -Rf Extensions.*
reboot

then got a kernel panic on reboot.. i think I did a do do :(

Can Still login in safe mode though

[nfoav8or]

ok, so you can run OS X in safe mode but can't get your 9500GT working. Have a look at the insanelymac forum: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=133989
This topic deals with your card and if you have questions, we can discuss it here or over at insanelymac.

The post within this thread that you should pay most attention with is #45 (http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=133989&view=findpost&p=1037773). Hope to hear it is working soon.

[KusariNinja]

Hiya nfoav8or...

many thanks for the files btw....

did i do anything bad in my last two posts? if so i can easily recover to a state before the stuff i did in the last two posts.

Oh and what is Pacific?

D'oh, it's Pacifist.. (google is my fwend!)

[nfoav8or]

one thing to keep in mind with nForce systems is there finicky nature with Large amounts of RAM. (>4GB to be exact) are you using kexts that counter this?

It doesn't sound like something is really wrong with your system except that from you posting back what you did, things seem to have gotten switched around a bit.

did you follow what I wrote to you for directions to the letter? what is your voodoo kernel named? what does your com.apple.Boot.plist file look like. do you currently have dsmos.kext? This is like AppleDecrypt but older...
Did you ensure permissions were correct after you installed the kexts or did you just use the GUI app? I recommend booting with -s
sbin/mount -uw /
cd /System/Library/
chmod -R 755 Extensions/
chown -R root:wheel Extensions/
rm -Rf Extensions.*
reboot

EDIT: Pacifist allows you to look inside Packages and extract files.

[KusariNinja]

hiya again :)

one thing to keep in mind with nForce systems is there finicky nature with Large amounts of RAM. (>4GB to be exact) are you using kexts that counter this?

as far as i am aware I have no kexts relating to larger amounts of ram, I must have missed that on my trawling of the forum. ( I don't really want to remove memory from the system physically as it's there for Lightwave3d, graphic and video work.)

It doesn't sound like something is really wrong with your system except that from you posting back what you did, things seem to have gotten switched around a bit.

I'm pretty sure i have followed everything you have advised but there is always a possibility I have missed something or got mixed up somewhere along the line

did you follow what I wrote to you for directions to the letter?

I followed the info regarding the 9500gt drivers and followed that exactly (hopefully) but as it stands I still cannot boot into normal mode and i still have basic resolution in safe mode. (though at one point I did have extra resolutions in safe mode but would go to blank blue screen when changing. kernel panics when attempting to boot in normal mode.

what is your voodoo kernel named?

my kernel (from memory as I am work now) is called mach_kernel.voodoo the 1.0 version.

what does your com.apple.Boot.plist file look like. do you currently have dsmos.kext? This is like AppleDecrypt but older...

I cannot be 100% sure of what the boot.plist says exactly but i do recall it having the same name for the kernel as the voodoo.

I do have a dsmos.kext but this was not installed as i assumed it was obsolete due to the appledecrypter.

Did you ensure permissions were correct after you installed the kexts or did you just use the GUI app? I recommend booting with -s
sbin/mount -uw /
cd /System/Library/
chmod -R 755 Extensions/
chown -R root:wheel Extensions/
rm -Rf Extensions.*
reboot

All kexts were installed with kext helper, i recall doing the single user stuff at some point but can't remember if it was at that stage.


Before the update to 10.5.5 I have the following working installation which boots up fine with no boot options required but of course no accelerated graphics as the drivers are not installed at this point.

Lawless 10.5.4 distro with working ac888 audio and working rtl8211b network.
AppleDecrypt, AppleSMBIOSEFI and Disabler installed.

This has been imaged to a dmg file on a second partition on the same drive so I can at least recover when 10.5.5 goes wonky.


Will revert to the 10.5.4 image tonight and will go through all the information again.


What steps would i need to take to update 10.5.4 to 10.5.5 and having it booting ok in normal mode? if i can get to this stage then i can image it again so i don't have to keep going through the updating process each time i screw up ;)

.

[KusariNinja]

here is a screen grab of error after starting up with -v (10.5.5)

[KusariNinja]

oh well it looks like it's not going to happen... i've spent the whole week trying (4 nights working on it from 6/7pm to 5am in the morning) and I am at a loss. There's only so many times i can wipe and install and curse before the novelty wears off. I guess it will just have to stay with Vista only

[LawlessPPC]

when you reboot make sure you boot with -v -f to clear the kext cache of the old drivers as if you have updated some will have been replaced. If after that you have no joy make sure extensions are repaired and boot with -v -f -x this will flush kext cache and boot in safe mode.

[KusariNinja]

hiya lawless

I have done that but i still get the issues

I have a minimulist(sp?) installation as far as I am aware.

I have installed with your 10.5.4 distribution (only distro that actually gets a bootable system for me) with only nforce chipset drivers installed. then i ripped out the alc888 from the dvd for my audio and i have a working nforcelan kext. I've then added disabler, appledecrypter and applesmbiosefi and dsmos kexts. repaired persmissions, deleted mkext etc and still having a bootable 10.5.4 which i have then backed up entirely.

I had another go with ideben 1.4 10.5.6 last night and that would install but not boot afterwards. iPC just refuses to even boot up the installer, it just hangs. I've even diabled my sata in the pc so it's not accessable and using just the two ide channel i have on this board, hd master, dvd slave.

I would be ever so grateful if someone could give me a a step by step guide to updating from 10.5.4 to 10.5.5 because I am either stupid or I am missing something somewhere and I don't think I am stupid ;)


As it stands your distro works perfectly for me apart from no accelerated graphics hence the requirement to go to 10.5.5 as the things I've read that I need to do have to be on 10.5.5, that's if i have read correctly)

kindest regards

KusariNinja

.ps. What would i need to get around the memory limit issues? I have 8gb showing in 10.5.4 but i have read and have been told that it could cause an issue as it is over 4gb.

[LawlessPPC]

hiya lawless

I have done that but i still get the issues

I have a minimulist(sp?) installation as far as I am aware.

I have installed with your 10.5.4 distribution (only distro that actually gets a bootable system for me) with only nforce chipset drivers installed. then i ripped out the alc888 from the dvd for my audio and i have a working nforcelan kext. I've then added disabler, appledecrypter and applesmbiosefi and dsmos kexts. repaired persmissions, deleted mkext etc and still having a bootable 10.5.4 which i have then backed up entirely.

I had another go with ideben 1.4 10.5.6 last night and that would install but not boot afterwards. iPC just refuses to even boot up the installer, it just hangs. I've even diabled my sata in the pc so it's not accessable and using just the two ide channel i have on this board, hd master, dvd slave.

I would be ever so grateful if someone could give me a a step by step guide to updating from 10.5.4 to 10.5.5 because I am either stupid or I am missing something somewhere and I don't think I am stupid ;)


As it stands your distro works perfectly for me apart from no accelerated graphics hence the requirement to go to 10.5.5 as the things I've read that I need to do have to be on 10.5.5, that's if i have read correctly)

kindest regards

KusariNinja

.ps. What would i need to get around the memory limit issues? I have 8gb showing in 10.5.4 but i have read and have been told that it could cause an issue as it is over 4gb.

dsmos and appledecryptor both do the same thing you only need one dsmos is installed by default. Have you tried repairing permissions in single user mode. Also when you update to 10.5.5 are you replacing the kernel after apple has installed its own. If not it definately wont boot. To use over 3.5gb you must use a chipset kext that is 64bit that is not on my distro but heres the link
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=127611

[KusariNinja]

Okay i am back to the working (albeit with basic video) 10.5.4.

What is the best course to take from here to upgrade to 10.5.5?

Are there any specific criteria I need to follow before applying update?

Are there any specific files I need to backup beforehand.

I know that I should back up any modified kexts that are installed and the kernel. I am on voodoo rev1 kernel, do i need to back up just mach_kernel.voodoo or mach_kernel also?

Should I update using 10.5.5 update direct from apple or a prepatched version (if prepatched, which one is recommended)?

any help again is gratefully appreciated.

KusariNinja

[LawlessPPC]

my way is to copy is name mach_kernel.voodoo to mach_kernel then make a copy of it called backup still just on root of drive then when i reboot i just type backup -v -f after an update. Then i can recopy backup back as mach_kernel incase apple replaced it. Always good practice to keep that renamed kernel "backup" where it is. Alot of time after an update it wont reboot first time may need a couple of reboots each time with -v -f as i think it finishing installing updates. If you have voodoo rc1 you should be fine just using apples update but having said i am running no patched files.

[KusariNinja]

WHOOOOO!!!!!!! my perseverance paid off!


After trying a few other things out i finally got 10.5.5 booted in normal mode.. no audio/network/acc gfx as yet as I did things a little differently this time.

I did a fresh install of lawless 10.5.4 distro with nforce chipset driver only. installed voodoo. backed up, installed 10.5.5 update from a modifed package. did not work from beginning. removed cpupowermanagement and all ATI/ Geforce/NVDA kexts, added appledecrypt, applesmbiosefi and disabler and the damn thing decided to work.

nForceLAN 0.62.9 kernel panics after kext install. rebooted into single-user, removed kext, fixed permissions etc and rebooted.

extracted forcedeth.kext from install with pacifist and installed and network now running.

audio working.

Backing up ready to concentrate on getting accelerated graphics on my 9500GT's

1680x1050 resolution now working :)

[LawlessPPC]

congrats on this

[KusariNinja]

thanks lawlessppc, and nfoav8or for pointing me in the direction I needed to be, granted i did not get it right the first few dozen times lol but I got there in the end :)