Intel GMA X4500HD

naquaada · #1 10-29-2008, 05:13 PM

Do you know if the Intel GMA X4500HD is or will be supported? I have here two notebooks which would be interesting for me:

Acer TravelMate 5720-602G16_XPP and Acer TravelMate 5730-842G25N

The main reason for there notebooks is the long running time from up to 5 hours. The problem is, the left one has the X3100 which is supported, but the right one has the X4500HD. I don't need much graphics power at all, I don't need massive 3D power, just for working with applications or playing some DOS or Amiga games.

The difference except the gfx card and the larger harddisk the CPU: The left one has an Intel Core™2 Duo T7500 2x 2,20 GHz with 2x 4 MB L2-cache and 800 MHz FSB, the second Intel Core™2 Duo P8400 Montevina 2x 2,26 GHz with 2x3 MB Level 2-Cache and 1066 MHz FSB. Would the speed difference be noticeable?

changturkey · #2 12-08-2008, 10:41 PM

Anyone have any news/info for these cards?

scififan68 · #3 12-08-2008, 11:05 PM

I doubt the gma x4500 will ever work in os x, because Apple switched to nvidia chipsets, it's now very unlikely.

changturkey · #4 12-08-2008, 11:19 PM

Well I was hoping someone might get some driver dev going, or even just the ability for the driver to change the resolution, QE/CI is not important.

martin255 · #5 06-18-2009, 08:33 PM

changturkey, if all you care about is using your native resolution, there are currently two known hacks/fixes. One involves installing Linux, then using Grub as a bootloader with a patched version of the 915resolution module. It is rather complicated but it was reported as working by several people at different resolutions.
There is another, simpler solution using a custom boot file originally compiled for the Vaio P. We just discovered this solution this week, so there are not many reports of it working. In my case (Thinkpad X200s) I can get 1280x800, but not 1440x900.
Both solutions are detailed in this thread over at Insanelymac (from post #38 for the first one and from post #106 for the second one): http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/ind...owtopic=129744

Undead Surfer · #6 06-24-2009, 03:04 AM

If you want a special resolution, why not just use the "Graphics Mode"="yyyxyyyxyy" ????

uman · #7 06-24-2009, 04:51 PM

I may have interest in this soon myself, as I may end up with a lappie that has this. I found these docs:

http://intellinuxgraphics.org/documentation.html

But haven't had time to scan them. Can we get some crowdsourcing done on this doc? Basically what we are looking for is if the 4500 can go into some compatibility mode with the 3100 or (worse) the 950. If so, then it maybe possible to inject that into the ACPI tree using natit, or EFI strings.

martin255 · #8 06-24-2009, 06:45 PM

Well UndeadSurfer, because it does not work. The videocard bios contains a list of the supported VESA modes and if the one you want is not listed there, com.apple.Boot.plist won't be much help. So the solution is to patch the video card temporarily at boot time. That way you can get the desired resolution.

uman, as far as I know the X4500 architecture is really different of the X3100 (according to Intel marketing, anyway). It's not like with the X3500, which was just a variation. But maybe you can join forces with this happy person: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/ind...post&p=1184892

uman · #9 06-25-2009, 03:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by martin255

uman, as far as I know the X4500 architecture is really different of the X3100 (according to Intel marketing, anyway). It's not like with the X3500, which was just a variation. But maybe you can join forces with this happy person: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/ind...post&p=1184892

Their approach won't work. Apple doesn't release the source for the video drivers.

Undead Surfer · #10 06-25-2009, 03:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by martin255

Well UndeadSurfer, because it does not work. The videocard bios contains a list of the supported VESA modes and if the one you want is not listed there, com.apple.Boot.plist won't be much help. So the solution is to patch the video card temporarily at boot time. That way you can get the desired resolution.

Strange. I have the 45 on my PC at work and I run it at 1280x1024 using the com.apple.Boot.plist method.

Dunno. Strange stuff.