Troubleshooting

From tonymacx86 Wiki

This Wiki article is a place to track frequent problems and frequently asked questions for the iBoot + MultiBeast Method. Should you come across solutions or advice to common problems, please detail them here to help the community. Avoid problems and/or solutions that relate to specific models; instead, use this space for families of products and chipsets. If you cannot find your answer here, thoroughly search the forums for your hardware and problem descriptions to find a previously encountered problem and solution. Post in the forum if you're still having trouble.

Organized by installation step. Make sure you follow the correct wiki formatting.

Contents 1 General Tips 1.1 Before you start 1.2 Hard Drive 1.3 Other Hardware 1.4 BIOS 2 Build 2.1 Are the components compatible? 2.2 Motherboard won't POST 2.3 Can't boot from optical drive 2.4 BIOS doesn't match DSDT Version 3 iBoot/Installation 3.1 Can't load iBoot or Install DVD 3.2 Retail DVD is fine, iBoot gives DISK BOOT FAILURE 3.3 Can't boot without safe mode 3.4 Installation Problem on Multi-Boot System 4 Multibeast 4.1 The changes I made in MultiBeast were not applied 5 Fine Tuning 5.1 Cannot boot without iBoot 5.2 My system boots really slow, then USB doesn't work 5.3 My screen goes black and my graphics card fans kick up at boot 5.4 It appears as though my DSDT did not load correctly 5.5 Features of my Intel CPU are not being used 5.6 After installing, my Ethernet isn't working 5.7 Incorrect processor or memory speed is displayed. 5.8 A kext I installed causes a kernel panic 5.9 I don't have hotswap support. What gives? 5.10 I have less-than-stellar framerates / graphics performance 5.11 My USB/SATA/eSATA peripheral doesn't work 6 Updating to latest version of OSX 6.1 My audio/USB/Ethernet was working but I updated OSX and now it's not

General Tips

Before you start

• Use Intel only, AMD is not supported
• Purchase and use a genuine OS X Snow Leopard Retail Installation DVD
• iBoot + MultiBeast is known to work with the P55, X58, P35, and H55 chipsets and most "Core 2"-compatible boards
• "Intel HD Graphics" by itself is currently unsupported, you'll need a discrete card

Hard Drive

• Use an SATA optical drive and hard drive
• If using a Gigabyte board, use Port 0 and 1 of the Blue Intel SATA ports
• If using a hard drive >1TB, limit your system partition to 1TB
• Remove any hard drives besides the blank drive being used for OS X

Other Hardware

• Limit yourself to 4GB of physical RAM during the installation process
• Use only 1 graphics card in the 1st PCIe slot with 1 monitor plugged in
• Remove any PCI cards besides graphics—they may not be Mac compatible
• Remove any USB peripherals besides keyboard and mouse

BIOS

• Update your motherboard's BIOS to the latest version available in the DSDT Database
• Set BIOS to Optimized Defaults, then set SATA to AHCI mode and HPET to 64-bit
• Set Boot Priority to boot from the optical drive, then hard drive
• MultiBeast should be run from the boot drive. Copy to Applications folder or Desktop

Build

Are the components compatible?

Check the motherboard, optical drive, CPU, and graphics databases. Additionally search the forums for the model. For hardware that has not been tried, the graphics, audio, and ethernet chipset databases may point you in some further directions.

Motherboard won't POST

Check that your CPU, memory, and graphics card are compatible with the board and that they have been installed correctly. Try re-seating your memory and graphics card.

Can't boot from optical drive

Check that your optical drive is compatible, powered, and connected to the motherboard. Ensure that your optical drive is recognized by the BIOS and that you can load other discs such as Memtest86+. Consider purchasing a new optical drive.

BIOS doesn't match DSDT Version

Update your BIOS to match the DSDT version

iBoot/Installation

Can't load iBoot or Install DVD

If you can't load iBoot, attempt to burn another ISO on a fresh disc. Ensure that you are using a purchased Retail DVD of OS X, gray-colored system-specific OS X DVDs that come with a Mac will not work.

Retail DVD is fine, iBoot gives DISK BOOT FAILURE

You have a faulty disc or did not burn iBoot correctly. You can't burn the iBoot ISO as a file directly to disc, its contents must be burned as a bootable image. In OS X, use Disc Utility to Open Disk Image and select the ISO. Do not just right click and burn. On Windows, free and paid solutions exist as well.

Can't boot without safe mode

If your video card is compatible but doesn't work out of the box, you should update to the latest version of OS X to receive the drivers. Boot with the "-x" option and update using the latest combo update from Apple. Search the forum for your video card model.

Installation Problem on Multi-Boot System

See Multi-Boot Systems

When installing an operating system on a build with multiple drives, always disconnect all extra HDD's and SSDs.

Multibeast

The changes I made in MultiBeast were not applied

Ensure that when changing kexts, you "Rebuild caches" under System Utilities in MultiBeast. For more on the topic, see Kexts.

Fine Tuning

Cannot boot without iBoot

If you installed using a downloadable DSDT, insure you downloaded the correct one. Insure that your boot partition is less than 1TB, as is required to boot from your HDD. Multibeast is updated automatically with the same download link, so insure you have the latest version. Attempt to boot from Chameleon in safe mode.

My system boots really slow, then USB doesn't work

Believe it or not, the Official Realtek Ethernet kext causes this error. If you are experiencing it, use Lnx2Mac's RealtekRTL8xx.kext

My screen goes black and my graphics card fans kick up at boot

If you are using an ATI graphics card, try setting GraphicsEnabler=no and use a 32Bit version for ATI in MultiBeast. If you are using an Nvidia graphics card, try setting GraphicsEnabler=yes. See Graphic Chipset Database and GraphicsEnabler.

It appears as though my DSDT did not load correctly

Ensure you used the correct DSDT for your board and that the version number / revision number match that of your bios version number. If need be, update your bios. Make sure you have booted from your hdd and not iBoot.

Features of my Intel CPU are not being used

Ensure that you enabled CPU Advanced Features in your bios, and that they are not set to "Auto", but to "Enabled". Additionally, speed-stepping and other CPU features may be blocked by the smbios.plist.

After installing, my Ethernet isn't working

Research your chipset, the model number can be found in your motherboard documentation (i.e. Realtek 8111D). Check the Ethernet Chipset Database to find suggestions for your chipset. You can install a kext yourself or with MultiBeast.

Incorrect processor or memory speed is displayed.

More than likely this is completely cosmetic, but it can be changed by using an appropriate smbios.plist from Multibeast or editing one yourself.

A kext I installed causes a kernel panic

Boot into the retail dvd, go to terminal, delete the kext and make sure you rebuild the caches through terminal.

I don't have hotswap support. What gives?

If you selected IOAHCIBLOCKSTORAGEINJECTOR in multibeast, you will lose hotswap support. Search the forum for more information.

I have less-than-stellar framerates / graphics performance

For certain graphics cards, MacPro4,1 and 5,1 smbios.plists initiate AppleGraphicsPowerManagement.kext which throttles framerates and general GUI performance severely. You can disable this kext or try to use a different smbios.plist.

My USB/SATA/eSATA peripheral doesn't work

Make SURE that you have the appropriate kexts installed using MultiBeast for using the ports on your motherboard. Example: Before you start bumbling around trying to reinstall printer drivers, make sure you didn't plug your printer into the USB3.0 port without installing the USB3.0 kext.

Updating to latest version of OSX

See OSX Updates.

My audio/USB/Ethernet was working but I updated OSX and now it's not

Check the Chipset Databases, relaunch Multibeast and rollback to a previously working kext for your chipset. Search the forum for information from others who have updated.