OSX 10.9 Hackintosh not working after changing case + GPU

[ComputerWizKid]

I have an older Core 2 Duo system and I got a "new" case and graphics card (Palit GTS 250). I can put the old ATI HD2400 back in and get into the OS but I was hoping to get the GTS 250 to work correctly as with the HD2400 I am stuck at 1024 x 768 and my monitor is 1440 x 600


I can get to the screen with the Apple symbol (The one with the moving circle) and after about 30 seconds the monitor turns off saying no signal it does it for both the GTS 250 on DVI or VGA

System Specs:

Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R
Core 2 Duo E6550
Palit Geforce GTS 250 (I tried all of the outputs except the HDMI)
4GB (X4 1gb sticks) of DDR-II 800
Samsung 320GB (SATA-0)
Seagate 500GB (SATA-1)
Lite-On DH24AAS SATA 24X DVD Burner (SATA-2)
AHCI is enabled and I am using the ICH9 ports
Generic USB Internal Card Reader
Netgear WG311T
Antec EA-650

I also tried to just reinstall OSX and the system does the same thing although it will goto a black screen and then reboot with a BIOS/CMOS reset

I have tried the boot flags GraphicsEnabler=Yes, IGPEnabler=No
still with the same problem

I was very careful changing cases and the motherboard & GTS 250 will work with Linux and Windows so I don't think it is a hardware issue

I am at a loss here as of what to try next can there be a critical step that I am missing?

Thanks

 

[Zaap]

I'm pretty sure that card should have native driver support in Mavericks. Try GraphicsEnabler=no.

Also try booting with -v flag (verbose) to see what's hanging the system. My guess is an incompatible driver that GE=y is loading.

You could also try -x to see if it will boot in safe mode.

Could also be any number of things depending on how you set things up. (DSDT, SMBios, various incompatible kexts, bad efi string, etc.)

Search the web and see if anyone is running similar hardware and video card with Mavericks and how they set it up.

You shouldn't even need the IGPenabler setting with that hardware. If I'm not mistaken that's for newer CPU based graphics, not old school motherboard graphics. (In fact I don't think that board even has built in graphics.)

Frankly, I'm kind of amazed Mavericks even runs on hardware of that vintage. But good luck.

 

[Kaido]

I've had good luck in the past with GTS250's (in particular, several Zotac 1GB models), but that was back in 2009. Looks like I was using EFI strings at the time, with no native HDMI support: (but HDMI support via adapter)

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/169434-nvidia-gts250-does-work-in-1057/?p=1173737

Holy crap Zapp, has it been that long?? That was like 5 years ago! Hahahaha...

 

[Zaap]

Yeah isn't 5 computer years like 15 people years or something?

Kinda funny reading that old thread. Even 5 years ago it seems a GTS250 wasn't much to write home about among stat-snobs. I can only imagine the outlook now!

 

[ComputerWizKid]

I know the GTS 250 was not that great of card even when new

The problem is I can't even boot into the OS, I can't even use my UniBeast USB flash drive install to try to reinstall the OS as it will do the same thing
I have tried booting with the -v and the screen moves to fast to see what is actually going to plus I don't actually understand all of that stuff.

I just wanted a card to install to get past the 1024 x 768 resolution problem as my HD2400 is not fully supported
So is there a way to actually fix this issue? or am stuck in 1024 x 768 forever with the ATI HD2400

When working the computer actually runs Mavericks surprisingly well It just take forever (about three minutes at the grey apple screen with the spinning wheel) to actually boot up

Thanks all

 

[Zaap]

Hard to tell you what to try if you don't give more details on what you've already tried and what the full results were.

The purpose of -v by the way isn't to try and read or understand all the verbose text flying past at boot, but to watch for the last string of text you see before the machine hangs or screen goes black. This can give you a starting point to reasearch what's causing a problem.

Check out this thread:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/mavericks-desktop-support/113662-mavericks-osx-black-screen-boot.html

And this:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/mountain-lion-desktop-support/63698-nvidia-gts-250-black-screen.html

Whatever you do, don't waste your effort using VGA. Stick with DVI.

Seems like a known problem with no surefire solution. For some, a combination of bootflags seems to work, for others it doesn't. Seems to depend on the card. (9800/Gts250 etc.)

Try all combinations of bootflags others have tried and see if you get lucky.

Keep in mind the only solution may just be a completely compatible graphics card. (GT640 or better). I'd be reluctant to buy anything new for such an old system though.

Also consider, unless you specifically need Mavericks, you could probably install and run an older version of OSX just fine on that hardware. Snow Leopard should install (from an original DVD + iBoot) and work perfectly up to 10.6.8.

 

[ComputerWizKid]

So far I have tried the
-GraphicsEnabler=Yes and No
IGPEnabler=Yes and No (this board has no IGP so I don't even know if that even does anything in my situation)
and -V

I will try more latter when put the GTS 250 back into the computer

also how do I go about inserting more then one boot flag?

 

[Zaap]

also how do I go about inserting more then one boot flag?

Just leave a space between each boot flag. ie: GraphicsEnabler=Yes -x -v

 

[ComputerWizKid]

OK I just tried every boot flag that was mentioned and still the black screen:'(

Is there anything else?
or should I get another card?

 

[ComputerWizKid]

OK so I can't get this video card to work in Mavericks no matter what I tried but it will work fine in Mountain Lion so I reverted back to ML as I did not need Mavericks anyway

 

[Zaap]

^probably the best outcome.

Nothing wrong with sticking with Mountain Lion. In many ways it's still my favorite version of OSX. (I like Mavericks, but things like the loss of proper color labels annoy me. )

 

[ComputerWizKid]

OK so Finally got around to installing Mountain Lion and I can boot into the OS with the USB drive I created and Ethernet works and so does the rest of the system (Except the audio) but as soon as install Multibeast (Version 5.5.5 or whatever the newest is) I am still getting a black screen :twisted: but this time only after I install the boot loader and all of the other goodies so I can boot without the USB drive. I really don't mind the USB drive but the BIOS/CMOS resetting after every reboot/shutdown is driving me crazy (What causes OSX to do that anyway as I have never seen Windows or another OS do that)
So what am I doing wrong this time around? Probably because I do not have a DSDT.aml file? or installing multibeast wrong by selecting the wrong checkboxes

 

[Zaap]

No idea. Could be a lot of things. If Multibeast is tripping you up, then you need to be super-careful what settings you're picking.

Multibeast is pretty specific for what to chose for the *right* hardware it's meant for. But of course the problem is, you're using tools/software that's several generations ahead of your hardware.

Only thing I can tell you is you need to follow exactly what someone else with the same hardware has done to get things working. Or if you're blazing the trail yourself, you need to carefully figure out one kext at a time what's needed to make things work. That process doesn't just happen usually in one go, press click and done.

Personally, this kind of thing is why I simply don't deal with outdated/random incompatible hardware for Hackintosh. Life is simply too short. It's not worth it to pull your hair out trying to make things work, when all one has to do is use the right newer hardware that's up to date with all the known-working methods for Hackintosh.

By the way, I'd say the same thing for anyone trying and failing to install Mountain Lion or Mavericks on actual Mac hardware that's years behind the required hardware for those- it may be fun trying it, but not worth ripping your hair out over vs. using required hardware.

 

[ComputerWizKid]

I finally got my "Pinkintosh" (It is in a pink Apevia X-Dreamer so I named it "Pinkintosh") to work correctly :biggrin:

I found a DSDT for my motherboard on OSX86.net and I then installed the audio and network drivers

I made a *.DMG disk image right after I installed OSX (So if/when It failed I did not have to wait 1/2 Hour for a reinstall of OSX) I was just able to copy the image over the screwed up install and start over like a :ninja: would

I can't believe it took me this long to find out that I only needed a DSDT.aml file for my "Pinkintosh" to be fully up and running

I am going to be buying a new Core i7 computer soon (My AMD Athlon II X4 635 computer is getting old)

So I will be trying a dual boot of OSX Mavericks and Windows 8.1

 

[PrayForDeath]

I have a GTS 250 and been having the same exact problem. I finally said fuck it and decided to upgrade to a GTX 770. It should get here tomorrow