2nd pci slot questions (p55m-ud4)

[matix]

Hi Guys

Have a gtx 260 in my primary slot and an (unworking) dlink dwa-552 in the pci (will be removed). I ordered an apple bcm94321mc pci-e wifi card and pci-e (x1) adapter for it.

Since the pci-e x1 slot is covered by the graphics card, what is the best way to reconfig these cards? Can i just put the x1 into the 2nd x16 slot? What implications does this have on my video card i.e. will I still run 16 lanes?

Alternatively, I could put the video card into the 2nd slot and gain access to the x1 slot. Again, from what I'm reading I'll be losing lanes this way... ? AND have to do some DSDT editing?

I know some folks on here have this wifi card setup so hopefully someone can share how they configured their h/w. Cheers!

 

[dale-uk]

Hi Guys

Have a gtx 260 in my primary slot and an (unworking) dlink dwa-552 in the pci (will be removed). I ordered an apple bcm94321mc pci-e wifi card and pci-e (x1) adapter for it.

Since the pci-e x1 slot is covered by the graphics card, what is the best way to reconfig these cards? Can i just put the x1 into the 2nd x16 slot? What implications does this have on my video card i.e. will I still run 16 lanes?

Alternatively, I could put the video card into the 2nd slot and gain access to the x1 slot. Again, from what I'm reading I'll be losing lanes this way... ? AND have to do some DSDT editing?

I know some folks on here have this wifi card setup so hopefully someone can share how they configured their h/w. Cheers!

Sorry it's off topic, do you know if that card works in windows as well?

 

[thelostswede]

It should work, but be aware that the top slot will be shifted down to 8 lanes as the second x16 slot is enabled (also at 8 lanes). This means slightly slower performance for your graphics card. The UD2 wouldn't have done this, as the bottom slot is connected to the chipset rather than the PCIe controller in the CPU as is the case with your board.
Also, FYI, the orange slot is a x4 slot, not x1

 

[matix]

Thanks for the replies. I haven't got the card yet as I ordered it on eBay from [where else but] China, and it usually takes 2-3 weeks. However I'll try a few setups and report back.

I read that 95% of the time a GTX 260 is really not going to suffer under x8 configuration, so I may just move it to slot 2.

Also, I am betting that as soon as the card comes, 10.6.3 will come out and the dlink 552 will start working properly!

 

[matix]

Hi Guys

Have achieved victory! Forum Thread

Have not tested graphics card to see if performance is suffering, but I don't notice anything different at all so far!

 

[Jocelyn84]

Gratz on getting it working. Your 260 won't drop in performance via PCIe 2.0 x8. Only a 295, 4870x2, 5870, or better will and even then its generally only 1-2%.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/ ... s_Scaling/

 

[So?crates]

Using a Gigabyte board, along with Tonymac's instructions, I have successfully activated my DWA-552 card in 10.6.3. Thanks so much, TM! I think he's using a different card, something like a 557. But it doesn't matter (thank goodness!).

The guides on Insanely Mac were driving me bonkers. Hours of reading from 1000's of experts, and no one was offering up a clearly written and simple guide. I can't recall now where Tony's link was, but this is the basics of his guide.

1. Locate and download "AtherosFix.kext", "Kext Helper b7" and "Kext Utility 2.3.2".

2. Install Kext Helper and Kext Utility

3. Drag/drop the AtherosFix.kext into the Kext Helper app and apply. After it's finished, quit it. If it won't quit, force quit it (mine would hang, preventing cache updates, etc.). It MUST be finished and quit before step 4.

4. Run the Kext Utility. It will make sure that the kext is properly registered for use with the OS.

5. For safety's sake, fire up Disk Utility (part of the utilities, in the utilities folder of OS X). Repair permissions on your main hard drive.

6. Cross fingers and reboot. Go into System Preferences / Networking, and select Airport. It should be showing up without any problems. Exhale, go grab yourself a coffee and relax

After step 6, no stations showed in the pref pane, so I selected from the Apple bar dropdown. After that, my pref pane functions 100% normal.

Enjoy!

PS: In Canada? Canada Computers has a refurb available on this card for only 40 dollars. Get them while they're still available.

 

[So?crates]

Looks like I will be returning my Wireless N card to Canada Computers. I bought it as a refurb. Well guess what, it's not really a refurb, Win users return them because they slow their PC down. And to think I was blaming OS X and was about to reinstall everything. Here's a quote from one of the not-so-impressed owners -

"This card incorrectly scans for access points causing massive "DPC Latency" which result in high CPU usage for a second or two which causes real time audio and video to skip."
http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=3082.75

Now, I don't have audio issues, but watching YouTube is bad. Pops and skips galore. You have to let the whole thing load, turn off Airport, and then watch. Similar experience with iTunes cover flow, but not as bad. My biggest headache was in CS3 window pane responsiveness. I also tried installing Vista via VMWare, and it felt like a 386 machine. Horrible.

My machine is a recent rebuilt of a c2d. Put in a new Gigabyte board - UD3L, transferred 4 GB of ram over, 2 500 WD hard drives, plunked in a new corsair 450 watter to go with a new EVGA 9800 GTX+. So it's not the system that's slow.

This really sucks, because it certainly works with TM's advice in 10.6.3. That leaves me with trying to return a "refurb", which I'll probably get hosed on, and then what card to use? I might just say screw it and run some good ol' fashioned RJ45, as the port on my UD3L works great.

 

[So?crates]

Ok, some good news. Just for sh*ts and giggles, I removed the DWA-552 card and plugged in my older WDA-1320 wireless G. http://www.dlink.ca/products/?pid=475

Hey, what do you know... after resetting the hub, the card worked beautifully! Speed is back to 100%. So much for wireless N... for now.

Just to recap - running 10.6.3

 

[tonymacx86]

Ok, some good news. Just for sh*ts and giggles, I removed the DWA-552 card and plugged in my older WDA-1320 wireless G. http://www.dlink.ca/products/?pid=475

Hey, what do you know... after resetting the hub, the card worked beautifully! Speed is back to 100%. So much for wireless N... for now.

Just to recap - running 10.6.3

Well- if you have any G devices in your house on the same network- you'll only get G speeds anyway, so no big deal. Glad you got it going!