Hack Pro for 4K film editing and VFX

[kundica]

You mean you need to modify your computer configuration because of the motherboard requirements ?
Or you just plan to buy more stuff for working more comfortably ? (SSD, RAM, etc)

Other components. I'm looking to get a 10-bit panel and 10-bit capable card to run it for grading. I'm thinking maybe a BM Decklink, Intensity Pro, or one of the external solutions. I'm also searching for an audio solution so that I can comfortably do some of my own sound design/mixing rather than renting studio time or hiring someone. With that, I'm looking at different pci-e audio cards that work well in OSX and have balanced outputs to run some new monitors, which I also plan to get. An external breakout box is also a possibility rather than the pci-e card (I'm concerned about the internal card picking up electrical noise, etc.). I found a card I'm very much interested in, but it's impossible to find it in stock in the US. It's a German manufacture and it's even difficult to find it in stock from European vendors.

So... I'm putting a lot of money into other things as you might imagine, especially a 10-bit panel solution. I'm not looking for something perfect since most of the work I finish myself isn't bound for broadcast, but I'd like it to be somewhat close and consistent.

 

[qwerty123]

@Kundica Thanks so much for the suggestions!!!!!! It's been very frustrating, as this is now day 2 of almost non-stop trying to get this thing to work!

I'm going to try them now. I came across that x79 dsdt but I was a bit wary since it's not really a tonymac sponsored solution Is that an issue or?

Looks like the latest bios he has a dsdt for is the 3009.

BTW, I have an mbox pro 3, which is a very sweet audio interface breakout box!

 

[kundica]

I'm going to try them now. I came across that x79 dsdt but I was a bit wary since it's not really a tonymac sponsored solution Is that an issue or?

BTW, I have an mbox pro 3, which is a very sweet audio interface breakout box!

The site/guy is totally legit and does a lot of work to make x79 hack builder's lives easier. I believe he used to be active on this site, but there were some conflicts and so he pulled his stuff and started a blog. This site is a great resource, but there are others, especially if you want more in-depth knowledge about the mechanics of things, rather than just a solution.

Hmm... I've heard great things about the mbox pro 3, but it's a bit more than I need. I really just need the ability to push to 2 reference monitors at good specs with low noise. I know there's a regular mbox for half as much, but I'd like to have a 192khz capable device. This is one of the reason I've been looking at pci-e cards. There are some great options for the price.

 

[qwerty123]

The site/guy is totally legit and does a lot of work to make x79 hack builder's lives easier. I believe he used to be active on this site, but there were some conflicts and so he pulled his stuff and started a blog. This site is a great resource, but there are others, especially if you want more in-depth knowledge about the mechanics of things, rather than just a solution.

Hmm... I've heard great things about the mbox pro 3, but it's a bit more than I need. I really just need the ability to push to 2 reference monitors at good specs with low noise. I know there's a regular mbox for half as much, but I'd like to have a 192khz capable device. This is one of the reason I've been looking at pci-e cards. There are some great options for the price.

Thanks Kundica. I'm in the process of reinstalling now--crossing my fingers otherwise, I'm growing weary enough that I might just return my 3930k and asus board and go back to my previous build.

Although your needs are are only to have two ref monitors... that may change in the future! The mbox is also nice because of its great I-O spread; it's ability to support 5.1 setups; and have two distinct headphone outs (which can be very useful for ADR sessions), and having a box is nice when you need to do some recording but can't take your comp with you... Just my two-cents.


UPDATE: Followed the guide and now sound is working! and video plays back fine so far! ...bad news is still no USB 3.0 support. That is a kind of a deal breaker for me. I need some sort of high speed connectivity with this build, and I was banking on USB3!

At the moment, the 32-bit geekbench is a little disappointing: 14,122... though I'm sure I could improve this some with some bios mods. Not yet though! I need to clone this first, and see if I can figure out the USB 3 issues! Grrr

 

[kundica]

Hey Qwerty, I just saw your post about the USB3. The Caldigit is the kext you need to load. Oh... Just saw that you figured that out. Congrats on your working Sabertooth x79 setup!

 

[qwerty123]

Hey Qwerty, I just saw your post about the USB3. The Caldigit is the kext you need to load. Oh... Just saw that you figured that out. Congrats on your working Sabertooth x79 setup!

Ya! I got USB 3 and audio working now! My mbox pro is not working yet, I tried a new install of the mbox drivers and got a kernel panic. Luckily I made a clone before that happened!

I think I'm going to try a more vanilla install without a DSDT (I'm making a clone first of course!). I'm going to use a traditional install a la erik's thread here: http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-buil...gb-ram-evga-gtx650-mountain-lion-g5-case.html

EDIT: I'm sooo close to a clean vanilla install w/o a DSDT. The only thing I can't get working is the damn sound, and that, by itself, prevents me from even running quicktime files as I get an error!

 

[kundica]

The audio kext requires a DSDT edit, so you have to run a DSDT if you want audio. Also, LGA 2011 is not LGA 1155, the boards won't work OOB despite having a UEFI bios. Why do you not want to run a DSDT? If you run w/o fixing the audio, will the Mbox work? What exactly does the Mbox install? Does the mbox work in apps other than pro tools?

People run Mbox setups on hacks all the time, so it has to be an issue of the way firewire is seeing it, or that you might need a dsdt edit. I don't know why you're getting a KP after you install. Are you making sure to repair permissions?

 

[kundica]

A few more things. Have you been able to run your mbox with 10.8.2 before without issues? You might also try using one of the latest Chameleons instead of Chimera.

 

[qwerty123]

A few more things. Have you been able to run your mbox with 10.8.2 before without issues? You might also try using one of the latest Chameleons instead of Chimera.

Guess what? I've got everything working without a DSDT!!

The reason I don't want a DSDT is frankly: (1) I don't understand them or how to change them, etc, and it seems to add yet another layer of complexity, and (2) for some reason, it increased my boot-up times.

The solution was to use Toleda's Interim Apple HDA and install a specific kext from multibeast 4.6.1!!! USB 3.0 works great, and I can play back quictimes, etc no problem. Yay!

At stock 3.2ghz, I'm getting a 64bit geekbench of 15,717. This number should probably bit a bit higher as memory performance is rated lower than it should be. Even a simply OC to 4ghz will likely get me close to 20,000.

Haven't run it through all it's paces yet with the mbox (which btw was working perfectly in 10.8.2. on my 3770k build), with blu-ray player, or with premiere, etc but i'm very hopeful!!

UPDATE:I spoke a little too soon. For some reason, I can't boot into my drive without the Unibeast stick as bootloader. I think I know what it is: I partition the original drive onto which I later installed the OS into two separate partitions; I then went through the install; then made a clone of the working install partition onto the second one. Even if I erase the second partition, I still get hanging on either the gray apple logo or right after. I think I need to try again but without partitioning the original install. Doh! I'm thinking / hoping this will be an easy (albeit time consuming) fix.

@MarcReide I'm going to eventually (maybe within the week) write up a build description so you don't have to suffer through the three days that I had to go through if you decide to go forward with a 3930k build!

 

[kundica]

UPDATE:I spoke a little too soon. For some reason, I can't boot into my drive without the Unibeast stick as bootloader.

Hmm... My system boots ridiculously fast with DSDT, so not sure why it slows your system down a bunch. For the Unibeast thing, if you restore from a clone, you need to reinstall the bootloader to the drive/partition you boot OSX from. I would also run Chameleon over Chimera. Many of the things Multibeast installs are just rebranded projects from elsewhere and they're not always the most up to date. Multibeast streamlines the process of building a hack for many people, but it also keeps them from learning many valuable things about running a system like utilizing a DSDT to one's advantage.