Out of ideas, mavericks installs then hangs during boot unless in safe mode.

[SOLVED] Out of ideas, mavericks installs then hangs during boot unless in safe mode.

Greetings,

First. Let me thank you for taking the time to click this post.

The "tl:dr" version of this is I've installed mavericks 10.9.4 using the unibeast and multibeast. It boots fine so long as I boot with "-x". Details below.

I built this computer around the time 10.6 was released. I remember cause I was so happy I had the money to build a custom computer intended for a hackintosh. Everything installed ok except the graphics card. With a little help from friends and google I finally got it up and running. I stayed with it until 10.7.5 attempted to install 10.8 on a different partition (tried to update and as a clean install) and failed. Life got in the way and I was happy and content with 10.7.5 so I used windows for gaming and mac for productivity etc.

About a week ago I decided that I wanted to get myself current and read that mavericks was a free download. So I booted into Mac, downloaded the Mavericks install from the app store, and made a USB installer. At first I couldn't get the installer to run, used the -x modifier and it booted and installed without a problem. When it wouldn't boot to do initial setup i tied the -x modifier again and made it to the desktop where I ran multibeast. I used the DSDT.aml from my 10.7.5 install and checked off the options I wanted (instant menu, verbose boot, etc) and rebooted. I can now boot to the desktop (safe mode) without the USB but can not for the life of me get it to boot without flags. I'm willing to try anything at this point. I no longer have the 10.7.5 install or anything else for that matter. In a moment of desperation I repartitioned the drive for a quad boot setup (win7/8, Mavericks, and whatever linux flavor I want to give a spin that week, with a partition for CCC to clone a backup to).

Things I've tried:
Installing from Clover= Massive failure, wouldn't even get to install screen. Waiting for root device (will happily take advice on this also

Installing from Unibeast USB with different options in multibeast (dsdt free, easy dsdt, different profiles, etc)

swapping in old kexts for graphics card, from 10.7.5, then I realized that those kexts have been deprecated and no longer work (e.g ATI5000.kext, atisupport.kext are now AMD5000.kext, AMDSupport.kext).

unplugging everything but the base components (i.e one drive, mouse, keyboard, one monitor, no bluetooth, no network, etc).

I think that covers everythng I've tried.


Boot:
It hangs in various locations, Before I unplugged the extra drives it would hang and say NTFS 3.11, "Drive name" ver. 3.1
Now it hangs shortly after saying something about smc error fallback to old smc mode. It also mentions something about the bluetooth driver (which isn't plugged it so I'm not sure why it loads). It says these things when I boot into safe mode though so I'm not sure if they're important.


As I said, I'm willing to follow any steps I have to just to get back to a working system, even if it means installing windows to get a file, and then wiping the drive again.

I do have access to a mac system. An old macbook air (wifes, that runs 10.6.8 i think) and my Probook running 10.9.4.

Thanks for any help,

- P

Can you post a picture of the end of your verbose boot and your rig specs?

An update.
I stayed up all night working on it and have gotten it to boot to the desktop with out using safe mode. I did a fresh install and concentrated entirely on getting the graphics to work. I tried various kexts from various sources always restoring what was changed if it didn't work. Eventually I settled on some kexts I found from Google. The resolution is wrong, there's no QI/QE, and no dual screen just mirroring. Now that it's booting without safe mode I've done a backup and started working on the other things, WiFi, sound, etc. I think I've gotten WiFi pretty much wrapped up. Once it's finished I'll go back to graphics andsee if modifying my framebuffer manually will work . Looks challenging, but I have backups of everything so I'm hopeful.

As for my rig:
Motherboard:H67M-D2-B3
CPU: Intel i5 2500k socket 1155
HDD:WD 1tb 7200 desktop drive
GPU: xfx ATI Radeon 5770 znfc v.5
Apple keyboard & Magic pad
Standard cheap usb mouse.
No ODD.
Wireless: rt2870 nanousb dongle
Bluetooth: the recommended one from the buyers guide.
Don't know if I'm missing anything
Thanks for the help

- P

PharbishDuex said:

An update.
I stayed up all night working on it and have gotten it to boot to the desktop with out using safe mode. I did a fresh install and concentrated entirely on getting the graphics to work. I tried various kexts from various sources always restoring what was changed if it didn't work. Eventually I settled on some kexts I found from Google. The resolution is wrong, there's no QI/QE, and no dual screen just mirroring. Now that it's booting without safe mode I've done a backup and started working on the other things, WiFi, sound, etc. I think I've gotten WiFi pretty much wrapped up. Once it's finished I'll go back to graphics andsee if modifying my framebuffer manually will work . Looks challenging, but I have backups of everything so I'm hopeful.

As for my rig:
Motherboard:H67M-D2-B3
CPU: Intel i5 2500k socket 1155
HDD:WD 1tb 7200 desktop drive
GPU: xfx ATI Radeon 5770 znfc v.5
Apple keyboard & Magic pad
Standard cheap usb mouse.
No ODD.
Wireless: rt2870 nanousb dongle
Bluetooth: the recommended one from the buyers guide.
Don't know if I'm missing anything
Thanks for the help

- P

Click to expand...

Are you using GE=Yes or GE=No? Be aware that the new MB has diferent default settings now - if your gfx card needs GE=Yes, you have to select it as it is not default any longer.

xfx 5770 was always a PITA to get working properly. Check the device id with GPU-Z in Windows. then look for it in the ATI kexts. Add it if not there.

I've tried both and leaving it out entirely. It doesn't seem to make a difference. I'm stuck at 1024x768 on a 29" monitor... ugly. I know it's a RPITA to get going, that's why I totally stopped trying to get the stupid thing to work back in 10.7.5. I was hoping that something would have changed since then. Unfortunately the only thing that appears to have changed is the graphics cards that work (the newer expensive ones ). But that is ok. I think there are enough people who claim to have working cards that I have hope.

As for the kexts. I've downloaded new ones and tried to modify the originals. Nothing seems to change other then if I'm using the originals I have to use safe mode, and if not I can boot straight but not with the right resolution.

Right now I am reading up on flashing the card or modifying the ATY personalities file manually per a guide by bcc9 and others. (more of a compilation of many guides into one). I'm probably going to give the frame buffer idea a shot as the last time I tried to flash my card I came very close to bricking it, no post no boot, nothing, had to jump through some mighty tall and tiny hoops to fix it.

Thanks for the suggestions though.

- P

PharbishDuex said:

I've tried both and leaving it out entirely. It doesn't seem to make a difference. I'm stuck at 1024x768 on a 29" monitor... ugly. I know it's a RPITA to get going, that's why I totally stopped trying to get the stupid thing to work back in 10.7.5. I was hoping that something would have changed since then. Unfortunately the only thing that appears to have changed is the graphics cards that work (the newer expensive ones ). But that is ok. I think there are enough people who claim to have working cards that I have hope.

As for the kexts. I've downloaded new ones and tried to modify the originals. Nothing seems to change other then if I'm using the originals I have to use safe mode, and if not I can boot straight but not with the right resolution.

Right now I am reading up on flashing the card or modifying the ATY personalities file manually per a guide by bcc9 and others. (more of a compilation of many guides into one). I'm probably going to give the frame buffer idea a shot as the last time I tried to flash my card I came very close to bricking it, no post no boot, nothing, had to jump through some mighty tall and tiny hoops to fix it.

Thanks for the suggestions though.

- P

Click to expand...

According to Tom's Hardware GPU Heirarchy chart the GT 740 recommended in the Buyer's Guide is about 3 steps up on the 5770 and is under $100

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487045&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=4902415&SID=

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KJGYS4Y/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tonymacx86com-20

Thank you for those links

This shows that I could have done more research into the buyers guide To be honest I didn't even notice that option.

I did notice that even after adding my device to the kexts (AMD5000controller.kext, AMDX3000controller.kext, one other but I'm not sure the name as I'm at work and don't have access to the actual files I modified). I did notice that no kexts are loading. The System report in "about this mac" do show the device and it's model number etc, but then comes back with no kext loaded. Is there a way to force a kext to load for a device? Also, if anyone has a link to a reference on how kexts work and are choosen to load I'd be happy to read it myself. (and will be googling today in my free time to see if I can find it)

As for this post, I solved the hanging issue, but don't know if there is a way to solve the GPU problem. In the long run I'll keep researching on the kexts issue, until I can afford to build a new rig. All the computers in the house are getting long in the tooth and I think that I can build a new rig and cascade all the parts to the others. I am quite taken with WonkeyDonkeys steambox build.

Thanks

- P

The 5770 should work oob with maverick. Make sure you have:
<key>Graphics Mode</key>
<string>1920x1080x32</string>
<key>GraphicsEnabler</key>
<string>no</string>
<key>IGPEnabler</key>
<string>no</string>

In your chameleon boot.plist and remove any kext mods you have as it should be pure vanilla graphics kexts

I think it also should be the vervet framebuffer

I'll try this when i get home today and post an update on how it goes. I'm curious will my entry at the chameleon prompt overwrite whats written in my boot.plist?

I'm planning on erasing everything graphics related in the boot.plist file and then entering everything myself at the prompt. When I first started I assumed (incorrectly probably) that IGPEnabler and GraphicsEnabler were both no by default. My plan is to enter "IGPenabler=No GraphicsEnabler=No AtiConfig=Vervet -v" without the quotes and see where I land. I know that most 5770 (the "Batmobile" model specifically) seem to work OOB with ease but I think there is something in the GPU Rom that makes things go sideways. I've looked at the basic specs of the ROM file (voltages, etc) and the only differences that I see are the voltage provided at boot. Anywho, I'll get back to you all with an update after I try this and I just thought of a possible solution via flashing that I'll try to.

Thanks for all your help

- P

So I reverted all of my changes back to vanilla and changed the boot.plist to say what you recommended. The computer boots and even gets to login. Just without graphics, Text all the way. It stops at [AGPM Controller] unknownPlatform. I know it's at the login screen because I can type my password, wait a few seconds, then press Apple+eject...R...enter and the computer reboots as it should. When I get home I plan on going through all the framebuffers and trying each one of them to see if any of them work. I tried Vervet, Baboon, Eulemer, and Orangutan last night. All resulted in the same issue. The only thing I can think of after this is a guide for direct DSDT injection, or buying a new card.

Oh well. The fight continues :~)
Thanks
- P