asus m2n sli deluxe

evilGUI · #1 01-15-2009, 02:30 AM

Hello I have a asus m2n sli deluxe, and want to get a stable install going what would you recommend for this board? I see one of the mods on the forums use this board.

lanceomni · #2 01-15-2009, 04:12 AM

Welcome to InfiniteMac!

Ive been pleased with it. You should be able to get everything working except the on-board Fake RAID. I have not attempted to get 5.1 working but I heard of others that have done so. Any of the recent distros should work fine including doing a retail install (Which I have neglected to do

Its next on my list.) iPC 10.5.6 should probably work just fine.

In my opinion, you should install with the least amount of options selected and then fix each problem one by one from inside OSX. You will have a better chance of booting into OSX after the first install and you will get a better understanding of the additional kexts (drivers) and patches that are required.

For example, If you went with iPC 10.5.6. This link shows a list of the options available on install. Here are some suggestions.

Kernel: 9.5.0 Voodoo Kernel
Video: None
Chipset: AppleNForceATA
Audio: AD1988B
Ethernet: nForce Ethernet Driver
Fixes and Patches: Seatbelt.kext 10.5.5 & Verbose Mode.
Applications: OSx86 Tools, Kext Helper & Pacifist

It has been a while since my last install on this machine. I installed Kalyway 10.5.2 & upgraded to 10.5.5. but you should not have a problem going with any of the recent ones.

When you boot both your Install Disk and your actuall installation you will be greeted with an screen that says "Darwin" and an option to press F8 to enter boot options. If you have problems booting the installer try using the following options:
-v -f -x

It is generally good practice to use -f immediatly after you install on your first boot.

-v Verbose Mode, Displays useful information during the boot process instead of a white screen with Apple Logo. If you have problems it will hang on a certain line.
-f Forces OSX to pull kexts (drivers) from the extensions folder instead of the cache file.
-x Safe Mode, loads only the basics

The first things to tackle after you have a working install.

These two should be the first on the list. After you have a working installation we can discuss these in depth.

Graphics drivers
You might have noticed I listed "none" for graphics drivers. Choosing none gives you default 1024x768 graphics. You can then get your card fully supported once you are inside of OSX. Choosing the wrong driver or multiple drivers will cause problems and may cause your system to hang on boot.

4GB or greater of memory
If you are using 4GB of memory or more then you may want to look into replacing AppleNForceATA.kext with a 64bit modified version (They may have included it in this distro as they have a modified VIA version. Basically with the original you may get system freezes when memory usage goes over 3.2-3.5GB. The modifed file prevents this. I have been using it with 4GB for several months now

Please provide us with some specifications about your system (CPU, Motherboard, Graphics & Model Number if applicable). Adding more specific information allows us to respond quickly with more precise answers. Chipset, LAN, Audio & If your Graphics are integrated or not, are excellent additions.

You can also place this information in your "Signature". It will then appear on every post you make. How to edit your signature: http://www.infinitemac.com/faq.php?f...atures_avatars

Let us know how it goes

evilGUI · #3 01-15-2009, 04:44 AM

I have a BFG 8800GTS 640MB G80 I believe, I will try the install with iPC 10.5.6 in the next few days.

My setup:
Athlon 4000+ X2 2.01ghz overclocked to 2.40ghz
8800GTS 640MB
2GB RAM

Also I'm going to add a new partition to my drive I have XP and Windows 7 on there will it find and auto install a boot loader such as leo4all did?