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[Guide] Dell Precision M6600 w/ FirePro M8900

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Hello guys @InsaneCultist
after many attempts I managed to compile my dsdt and my SSDT. it works pretty much everything. Now i did not quite clear what should I do with all the other files I have in the origin folder and what it means to drop all oem SSDT and MCFG table? sorry but the things that are obvious to you are a discovery for me :)

PS: when I put the computer to sleep when it reactivated the monitor is black but the cmputer is working, I have to shut it down physically. At last at startup while the loading bar goes on, there are video artifacts...it's normal?

ACPI patching: https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/guide-patching-laptop-dsdt-ssdts.152573/
 
@InsaneCultist the level of the headphone port is very low, you know how I can fix it? i used your applehda kext.
 
@InsaneCultist the level of the headphone port is very low, you know how I can fix it? i used your applehda kext.

There is a bug in that AppleHDA.kext where the headphone output is low volume until the system sleeps. If you sleep the system and wake it back up, it will have proper volume levels back. If you've patched DSDT properly, you can do what I do and just close the lid to induce system sleep, then wake it back up.

Hello guys @InsaneCultist
after many attempts I managed to compile my dsdt and my SSDT. it works pretty much everything. Now i did not quite clear what should I do with all the other files I have in the origin folder and what it means to drop all oem SSDT and MCFG table? sorry but the things that are obvious to you are a discovery for me :)

PS: when I put the computer to sleep when it reactivated the monitor is black but the cmputer is working, I have to shut it down physically. At last at startup while the loading bar goes on, there are video artifacts...it's normal?

Apologies on the delay on this. The other files are not needed as they are loaded automatically through the BIOS. Only devices that you have patched (DSDT and SSDT) are needed in the ACPI/patched folder. By dropping the other SSDTs, you remove the conflict that, in my testing, caused system instability under load. The MCFG table is dropped by default in the default Clover config.plist provided by RehabMan (thanks for the addition, by the way) but make sure it is selected to be dropped, as your system will not boot with it being included.

Be sure you've enabled laptop sleep and brightness fix as outlined in the guide. I see RehabMan has linked you to his guide on ACPI patching - this is a great source of knowledge. I started with it, and with some patience and testing, it should work fine. Does your system also have this issue with the DSDT I provided? It seems your hardware is almost identical. If you're having issues patching your own DSDT, you could attempt to use the one I provided for debugging.

If you cannot wake from sleep, then the solution I have provided to you for the low audio will obviously not work until this is corrected. There is an additional AppleHDA kext that you may be able to locate with some googling that does not have this issue, but it also does not allow for use of the built in Microphone. If this is not important to you, perhaps that would be a reasonable solution if you are unable to fix your sleep/wake issues.
 
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thank you so much @InsaneCultist
I start work on these things!but considering that we have the same identical hardware (except for the amount of RAM you have installed on your notebook) you could send me your clover folder and AppleHDA kext you were talking about, for me it would be of great help to better understand many things, always if that is not a problem or somehow is against the forum rules!
thanks again!
 
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Is it possible to disable the cpu graphics and leave the discrete graphics enabled instead? I do graphics programming and hardware video encoding for a startup company, and I would prefer to be able to use the dedicated GPU.
 
Is it possible to disable the cpu graphics and leave the discrete graphics enabled instead? I do graphics programming and hardware video encoding for a startup company, and I would prefer to be able to use the dedicated GPU.

This guide seems to be for a laptop without integrated graphics, and only dedicated AMD Firepro.
 
This guide seems to be for a laptop without integrated graphics, and only dedicated AMD Firepro.

Thanks for your reply.

Perhaps my board etiquette is improper, but I have a Dell Precision M6600. They all have integrated and the option for dedicated graphics via an MXM slot. Am I misunderstanding your post?

M6600 side notes:
  • supports Optimus
  • does not support Enduro
  • graphics card options limited by BIOS whitelist (can this be removed/modified via DSDT edits?)
  • can run multiple wifi cards (has antenna leads for wifi and cellular)
With that said, I'd like to sell my Firepro M6100 which works well under windows, but doesn't seem to be present (and thus have drivers) in any Apple model. According to Dell tech support, the best possible Nvidia card (on the whitelist) is the Quadro 5010m. I assume this is at least supported via the Nvidia web driver.

So, with that said, since there is no known _off method to call for the MXM graphics, can we disable the cpu graphics, and run with only the MXM based graphics card?

If I'm being dense I apologize! Written communications require extra effort so I am a bit OCD about it.
 
Thanks for your reply.

Perhaps my board etiquette is improper, but I have a Dell Precision M6600. They all have integrated and the option for dedicated graphics via an MXM slot. Am I misunderstanding your post?

M6600 side notes:
  • supports Optimus
  • does not support Enduro
  • graphics card options limited by BIOS whitelist (can this be removed/modified via DSDT edits?)
  • can run multiple wifi cards (has antenna leads for wifi and cellular)
With that said, I'd like to sell my Firepro M6100 which works well under windows, but doesn't seem to be present (and thus have drivers) in any Apple model. According to Dell tech support, the best possible Nvidia card (on the whitelist) is the Quadro 5010m. I assume this is at least supported via the Nvidia web driver.

So, with that said, since there is no known _off method to call for the MXM graphics, can we disable the cpu graphics, and run with only the MXM based graphics card?

If I'm being dense I apologize! Written communications require extra effort so I am a bit OCD about it.

This guide uses dedicated Firepro m8900 (as per title).
Your profile is not filled out as requested in the FAQ so no idea what CPU/integrated graphics you have.
But certainly this guide does not apply to integrated graphics. Any such query in this thread is off-topic.
 
Thanks for your reply.

Perhaps my board etiquette is improper, but I have a Dell Precision M6600. They all have integrated and the option for dedicated graphics via an MXM slot. Am I misunderstanding your post?

M6600 side notes:
  • supports Optimus
  • does not support Enduro
  • graphics card options limited by BIOS whitelist (can this be removed/modified via DSDT edits?)
  • can run multiple wifi cards (has antenna leads for wifi and cellular)
With that said, I'd like to sell my Firepro M6100 which works well under windows, but doesn't seem to be present (and thus have drivers) in any Apple model. According to Dell tech support, the best possible Nvidia card (on the whitelist) is the Quadro 5010m. I assume this is at least supported via the Nvidia web driver.

So, with that said, since there is no known _off method to call for the MXM graphics, can we disable the cpu graphics, and run with only the MXM based graphics card?

If I'm being dense I apologize! Written communications require extra effort so I am a bit OCD about it.

From what I have tried firsthand, there is no way to whitelist a GPU using DSDT edits. DSDT edits are applied when booting the OS, and the BIOS's whitelist is applied at bootup, leaving no way for the BIOS to interface with the hardware. On one of my Precision M6600s, I attempted to install an MXM 700 series NVIDIA card, which did not work. You may have gathered from previous posts that while the Quadro 3000M that shipped with several of the M6600 models does in fact function with a bit of work, it has numerous problems. Sleep does not work, multi-display does not work, and several other issues. As RehabMan has pointed out, this guide is specifically for the FirePro M8900, as it is the one card I have been able to get up and running near flawlessly.

To answer your question, there is in fact an option in the BIOS to disable Optimus while an NVIDIA card is installed in the system. This allows the Precision to use only the discrete card, but as I previously mentioned, there are underlying issues with the way that each particular card plays with OS X. Perhaps if you are able to find someone who has a Quadro 5010M up and running in OS X, they could assist you with getting display to function properly, should you want to go that route. However, I have settled for the FirePro M8900 (which does NOT support graphics switching) under OS X Yosemite, as it works very well with the tweaks I have outlined.

-IC
 
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