980 ti working in Yosemite but not accelerated only 1 monitor

[stirfry2112]

I just recently upgraded from my old AMD 6870 to a Gigabyte Windforce OC 980 ti. I've been researching on the forums here and thanks to the great posts, I have my new card running. The problem is, it is performing worse than my previous card and the HDMI port is not working.

After installing the correct nvidia drivers, in order to get the card to boot, I used Chameleon Wizard to add the following boot args to my setup:

• graphics enabler
• Use Nvidia ROM
• VBIOS

My second display is still not working and the performance is below my previous card in all programs (example: my cinebench score went from 85 w/ the 6870 to 74 w/ 980ti). I noticed there are many more options for graphics in Chameleon Wizard that are unknown to me, is there a chance that someone could point me to some recommended reading to figure out how to get both my displays working and full acceleration. Much appreciated, thanks!

 

[stirfry2112]

I just recently upgraded from my old AMD 6870 to a Gigabyte Windforce OC 980 ti. I've been researching on the forums here and thanks to the great posts, I have my new card running. The problem is, it is performing worse than my previous card and the HDMI port is not working.

After installing the correct nvidia drivers, in order to get the card to boot, I used Chameleon Wizard to add the following boot args to my setup:

• graphics enabler
• Use Nvidia ROM
• VBIOS

My second display is still not working and the performance is below my previous card in all programs (example: my cinebench score went from 85 w/ the 6870 to 74 w/ 980ti). I noticed there are many more options for graphics in Chameleon Wizard that are unknown to me, is there a chance that someone could point me to some recommended reading to figure out how to get both my displays working and full acceleration. Much appreciated, thanks!

Here is a simple comparison of benchmark to Stork's GTX 980 build just to prove something is not right here:

 

[Adrian B]

• graphics enabler
• Use Nvidia ROM
• VBIOS

The ONLY graphics boot argument that you should be using is GraphicsEnabler=No. See Common Issues:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/read-me-first-graphics-setup-troubleshooting.183617/

Ensure that you have nvda_drv=1 active in the org.chameleon.Boot.plist
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...raphics-drivers-for-10-10-1-343-01-02.149031/

 

[stirfry2112]

Thanks so much Adrian! So I disabled all my graphics options in Chameleon Wizard and changed my chameleon.boot.plist to the following:

<key>EthernetBuiltIn</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>GenerateCStates</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>GeneratePStates</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>IGPEnabler</key>
<string>No</string>
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>kext-dev-mode=1 npci=0x2000 nvda_drv=1 InjectNvidia=False GraphicsEnabler=No </string>
<key>Legacy Logo</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>SSDT</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>Scan Single Drive</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>Theme</key>
<string>AngelBird</string>
<key>Timeout</key>
<string>1</string>
<key>UseKernelCache</key>
<string>Yes</string>​

I still am getting the same results. Maybe this is due to the order of my boot.plist flags? Or "kext-dev-mode=1", not sure what that one is there for.

 

[Adrian B]

Make the following highlighted changes.

<key>EthernetBuiltIn</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>GenerateCStates</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>GeneratePStates</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>GraphicsEnabler</key>
<string>No</string>
<key>IGPEnabler</key>
<string>No</string>
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>kext-dev-mode=1 npci=0x2000 nvda_drv=1</string>
<key>Legacy Logo</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>SSDT</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>Scan Single Drive</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>Theme</key>
<string>AngelBird</string>
<key>Timeout</key>
<string>1</string>
<key>UseKernelCache</key>
<string>Yes</string>

 

[stirfry2112]

Thanks so much for continuing to follow up with me Adrian!

So, I made the changes and still no change in acceleration and no second monitor.

In your initial link, they state:
Kepler- & Maxwell-Generation: InjectNvidia=False / GraphicsEnabler=No

So, should I add the InjectNvidia=False to the kernel flags? Any other suggestions?

I'm using MacPro 5,1 if that makes any difference. And because I am on 10.10.5 using chameleon, I do not have Nvram working.

 

[Adrian B]

Thanks so much for continuing to follow up with me Adrian!

So, I made the changes and still no change in acceleration and no second monitor.

In your initial link, they state:
Kepler- & Maxwell-Generation: InjectNvidia=False / GraphicsEnabler=No

So, should I add the InjectNvidia=False to the kernel flags? Any other suggestions?

It is only used for Clover - which is why I removed it from your .org.chameleon.Boot.plist - you are using the Graphics Enabler=No option for Chameleon/Chimera

using MacPro 5,1 if that makes any difference. And because I am on 10.10.5 using chameleon, I do not have Nvram working.

MacPro 5,1 should be fine but if the nvram is not working then this may be an issue - it is certainly a known issue with some Skylake boards and stops the nVidia drivers from working.
It might be worth you trying a Clover installation to overcome this issue. If you have a spare 16GB Usb drive and a spare HDD/SSD to hand then I would recommend giving a Clover test installation a try.

 

[stirfry2112]

It might be worth you trying a Clover installation to overcome this issue. If you have a spare 16GB Usb drive and a spare HDD/SSD to hand then I would recommend giving a Clover test installation a try.

I had a feeling you were going to say this

I have been postponing updating since clover still confuses me and upgrading sound like a pain from my limited research. But it is definitely worth a test, so I'll try on a backup drive to see if it makes any changes when I get some free time. Thanks so much Adrian for the continued support, very much appreciated! I'll post back if I discover any changes or improvements.

 

[Adrian B]

I had a feeling you were going to say this

I have been postponing updating since clover still confuses me and upgrading sound like a pain from my limited research. But it is definitely worth a test, so I'll try on a backup drive to see if it makes any changes when I get some free time. Thanks so much Adrian for the continued support, very much appreciated! I'll post back if I discover any changes or improvements.

Clover isn't as bad as you may think and there is plenty of good experienced people to help if you get lost. For the nvram issue see problem 6 for the clover solution:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/solving-nvidia-driver-install-loading-problems.161256/

 

[stirfry2112]

Oh man, this clover thing is a huge mess to my brain. I spent the last 4 hours getting a spare drive to successfully install and run Sierra, and even then I have no idea what settings to use for a P9x79pro, 3930k and GTX 980 TI. I tried following other suggestions from the forum, but what I settled on just seems wrong. Even my command key doesn't work. My RAM is showing up as 4GB chips, not 8GB (32GB total, not the full 48GB).

In Sierra, I see a very small bump in performance, but still no HDMI second monitor and nowhere near the performance I should see from a 980, not to mention a 980ti. I tried the NvidiaWeb thing from tonymac here, no change. In the system profiler, it shows Metal: supported. In the system preferences, Nvidia driver shows web driver is in use, but the G-Sync and ECC show no slot for the card - slots 1-4 show "no device found" empty and the 980ti has a "-". Maybe that is cosmetic, but it seems odd to me, like a setup issue in clover?