Is this a card/driver issue, or a monitor issue? Black bars!

[Oshawapilot]

Thread Edit: Resolution issues solved somehow....but now I have black bars at the top and sides of my display - see latest responses on page 3 - any help appreciated!

My hackintosh build has come along nicely and it's been a real (awesome!) leaning experience. Despite the bumps in the road along the way I've enjoyed it.

I'm currently stumped with a display issue though. I'm using a nVidia GeForce 8400GS 512M card which I understood was supposed to be the next best thing to plug and play for SL, and was even better supported in Lion - I upgraded to 10.7.2 last night.

However, I'm stuck with resolution issues. After much editing of boot.plist files to try to manually add resolutions I at least got past 1024x738 (ack!) but now I'm stuck with 1280x1024. My monitor is capable of 1920x1080, but no amount of tweaking seems to get me there. To the contrary, I discovered that although my control panel prefpane now shows a resolution higher than 1280x1024 (I forget exactly, I'm not at home right now) the monitor is sensing (and running in) a much lower resolution.

The results are a crappy image. Low res and big time issues with font smoothing, despite instituting the usual font-smoothing hacks via the command line. I need to get up to the proper resolution obviously.

The monitor is a rather off-brand "Calypso" 24" widescreen LCD from best buy.

OSX refuses to "detect" the monitor, and all attempts at getting it to step up to a proper native resolution have stumped me.

Any opinions on of this is a driver/kext/whatever issue, or the fault of the monitor? I hate to fault the monitor as it seems like it would hapily support the proper resolution if it was being fed correctly, but I'm at a loss now.

Thanks all.

 

[Mate94]

Re: Is this a card/driver issue, or a monitor issue?

Installing NVEnabler.kext makes something?

 

[hardmantosh]

Re: Is this a card/driver issue, or a monitor issue?

Wasn't you quizzing me on this card the other day dude??.............
I have seen a few issues with 10.7.2 update and resolutions on this site and others...i dont have a prob with the card but i havnt gone to 10.7.2 im on 10.7 only for the reason that 10.7.1 & 10.7.2 updates are new and not good for everybody entirely...i wont update my system until 10.7.4 because really no need..Did you have the card on 10.7 release ...working..??............mine has been plug and play since 10.5.6 10.5.8......
I can say that this card will not drive some large monitors and maybe brand specific....
Dont forget its a $35 Gpu................. ..............But then again Nvidia claim it works with 1900x1200...

 

[Oshawapilot]

Re: Is this a card/driver issue, or a monitor issue?

Ok, apparently I had missed the obvious with nvenabler. Why was it removed from Multibeast...it would have been a lot more obvious as a necessity for people like me not aware of it.

So, I installed it...rebooted, and now my resolution is lower than before and I still don't have any more resolution options in System Preferences/Displays.

Did I miss something?

 

[hardmantosh]

Re: Is this a card/driver issue, or a monitor issue?

Ok, apparently I had missed the obvious with nvenabler. Why was it removed from Multibeast...it would have been a lot more obvious as a necessity for people like me not aware of it.

So, I installed it...rebooted, and now my resolution is lower than before and I still don't have any more resolution options in System Preferences/Displays.

Did I miss something?

Im not sure man..have a look at this post below,this user has 8400gs but not the same
but his ( process ) may be of help to you..
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=34980&start=0
.................................

 

[hardmantosh]

Re: Is this a card/driver issue, or a monitor issue?

And this utility Open GL Viewer may help as well...Free==app store....
Download it an investigate all tabs etc .....Its pretty cool and Useful...

 

[Oshawapilot]

Re: Is this a card/driver issue, or a monitor issue?

Is there a "how to install nvenabler" FAQ somewhere? The documentation for it is pretty scarce and often contradicting. There was mention of making sure your plist files are stripped of any previous graphics related Entries (which I did) but some install guides mention removal of other kexts, some don't, and others include additional files that they say should be installed with the enabler kext.

I'm sure there's just something I missed.

 

[hardmantosh]

Re: Is this a card/driver issue, or a monitor issue?

Is there a "how to install nvenabler" FAQ somewhere? The documentation for it is pretty scarce and often contradicting. There was mention of making sure your plist files are stripped of any previous graphics related Entries (which I did) but some install guides mention removal of other kexts, some don't, and others include additional files that they say should be installed with the enabler kext.

I'm sure there's just something I missed.

Just open kext utility and drag NVenabler on top of kext utility and it should install;
if you want to do it with multibeast just download earlier version and apply it with system utilities and reboot...

 

[Oshawapilot]

Re: Is this a card/driver issue, or a monitor issue?

Yep, OK...exactly what I did. Not the expected results. It shows the only option for resolution in System Config as 1024x768 now, and the monitor itself shows as running in 1280x768.

 

[hardmantosh]

Re: Is this a card/driver issue, or a monitor issue?

Yep, OK...exactly what I did. Not the expected results. It shows the only option for resolution in System Config as 1024x768 now, and the monitor itself shows as running in 1280x768.

Ok try this if you havn't already....
...
reboot and at the boot screen type .. "GraphicsMode"="1280x1024x64"
or this if you want 32bit....... "GraphicsMode"="1280x1024x32"
.if you want to add a refresh rate add @60 or @75 after 32 or 64
example...................."GraphicsMode"="1280x1024x64@75"
see how you go..do it without refresh rate first..