GA-h67n-usb3-b3 i52500 OSX 10.6.8 update Installation Guide

[Prometheo]

It took me two nights to figure out how to install 10.6.8 combo update on my Gigabyte H67n-usb3-b3. I've tried to follow the sandy bridge guide 10.6.3 --> 10.6.8 using Updatehelper but it didn't work for me (reboot loop everytime).
But then I've found this way and I thought it would be useful for other noobs like me so here it is
Basically to make it works I had to install 10.6.7 first and then the 10.6.8 update.
Please reboot only when it's explicitly noted

Hardware:
-Gigabyte H67n-usb3-b3
-Intel i5 2500 Sandy Bridge
-Nvidia GT 440

Software:
-Mac OSX 10.6.3 Snow Leopard Retail DVD
-iBoot
-Multibeast 3.8.0
-BridgeHelper
-10.6.7 ComboUpdate (you can find it here)
-UpdateHelper
-10.6.8 ComboUpdate (you can find it here)
-Nvidia 4xx Fermi Driver (you can find it here but use it after 10.6.8 has been installed, it doesn't work with 10.6.7)
-josjev's DSDT (You can find it on his h67n installation post it's called "dsdt-patched_verified.aml". This was my main starting point, please read it it is really useful)

Basically, I've downloaded all those programs and put them inside my USB stick cause at first boot my network didn't work.

Now here's the guide:

BIOS Settings
- set HPET to 64bit
- enable AHCI
- prioritize Onboard graphics card to use it instead of PCI-E Card

Install 10.6.3 Retail DVD
- Boot up using iBoot
- Install 10.6.3
- Reboot in a fresh install using iBoot again

Install 10.6.7 Combo Update
-Install 10.6.7 Combo Update
-Install BridgeHelper
-Copy the file dsdt-patched_verified.aml on your desktop and rename it as dsdt.aml
-Run Multibeast and check Chimera Bootloader, set System Definitions to MacPro 3.1 (or Macbook Pro 8.1, they both work), check UserDSDTInstall and install them.
-Reboot and switch back to PCI-E Graphic Card

Install 10.6.8 Combo Update
-Install UpdateHelper
-Reboot
-Install 10.6.8 Combo Update (DO NOT REBOOT)
-Run Multibeast and check IOPCIFamily Fix and then install it (without it won't reboot)
-Install Nvidia 4xx Fermi Driver
-Reboot

Audio and Network Post Install
-Run Multibeast and Check Realtek Gigabit (Network)
-Check AppleHDA Rollback (Audio)
-Install and Reboot


To do
-I didn't have enough time to check Sleep mode
-I don't have a HDMI Monitor so couldn't check it but josjev post has some really useful informations about it.

Problems
-OSX DVD Player crashes (I use VLC and it runs fine)
-OSX tells that my Nvidia GT 440 has only 512MB of video ram instead of 1GB. Does anyone know how to solve it?

Does anybody know how to check OpenGL capabilities and if hardware accelleration is active? Front Row runs fine and when I add a widget it gives me the ripple effect so I guess hardware accelleration is active but I'd like to have a bit more information like glxinfo on Linux.

Thanks to tonymac for his incredible job, josjev for his helpful post and all the community.
Sorry for my english I'm italian

 

[damilchmann]

at first, thx for the guide, i have the same motherboard with the smallest candy bridge cpu

but:

1. after install combo 10.6.7 and install chimera i can't boot without the iboot boot-cd. i get boot0: gpt
boot0:test
boot0: error

2. the install of multebeast fail after combo update 10.6.8. i get a message, that the installation fail.

3. after booting with iboot again my mouse and keyboard freeze and i see only a blue screen on my desktop.

any idea, what my problem is?

thx

 

[flinstone]

Thanks for writing this up, it's a very clean summary of instructions from josjev's post.

I did have some issues during the 10.6.7 steps. After rebooting, it would hang with "PCI configuration begin". This may have been because: I have an Nvidia 9600GT video card, I used the DSDT from the database instead, I also installed sound and network kexts at this step, too.

Setting PCIRootUID or npci=0x2000 didn't work. I ended up using iBoot to boot into the SL install CD so I could open a terminal to remove the /Extra directory from my HD. Then I iBooted back into the HD, installed 10.6.8 combo update then Multibeast for just the IOPCIFamily fix. Multibeast also claimed that installation failed (ran it several times) but all the files in /Extra seemed to be there. Maybe the 10.6.8 update locks out some files.

I removed the iBoot CD, rebooted and it startup up just fine, reinstalled network,audio,hardware monitor extras.

I haven't tried DVDPlayer yet, or audio through HDMI, but everything else works now, including auto-sleep! One odd thing is that TemperatureMonitor and the OSX Activity monitor shows my i3 2100 with 4 cores.

3. after booting with iboot again my mouse and keyboard freeze and i see only a blue screen on my desktop.

any idea, what my problem is?
thx

Did you try booting with the '-v' option? Are you using an HDMI connection to your monitor/hdtv? Whenever I've had blue screen's it's always been an issue with my monitor's HDMI port not syncing properly. Try making sure your monitor is not in power-save mode when you boot up, or try using a dvi/vga connection, or a different monitor.