SL 10.6.8 on Dell XPS 17 (L702x) with Win 7 and Ubuntu

[Jim989]

Speedstepper modification for AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement in ANY release of Lion:

This is really interesting!
Do you know what the 0xe20000000f30 means and why changing it will work?
Is it cpu specific, or will the same adjustment work on different cpus?
How does it affect the values "GeneratePStates", "GenerateCStates" & "DropSSDT" in org.chameleon.Boot.plist?

Thanks in advance!

 

[StarbucksSteve]

This is really interesting!
Do you know what the 0xe20000000f30 means and why changing it will work?
Is it cpu specific, or will the same adjustment work on different cpus?
How does it affect the values "GeneratePStates", "GenerateCStates" & "DropSSDT" in org.chameleon.Boot.plist?

Thanks in advance!

The instruction is a command (0f30) to 'write to e2' - the issue seems to be that that location is locked on some machines so the attempt fails (KP) ... if you get the KP, you will note that one of the registers, and I have forgotten which one (EAX?), always contains '0000000e2'. We are changing the write command to a NOP (9090) thereby avoiding the write failure.

Multiple people have been, and are, working on this issue; flaked and revogirl to name just two of the many. This write up is pretty much a manual effort taken from flaked's SpeedStepper 'fix' program; as a developer, I desire to make these changes as soon as a new developer release comes out instead of waiting; it has worked for every release of LION and that unmentionable OS to date.

It is not CPU-specific, although there is no guarantee going forward that this fix will always work nor that it will be the only one necessary. As far as the Cstate, Pstate or SSDT switches, I find that those seem to be situation specific and I continue to test various combinations looking for that final state of Nirvana ...

Steve

 

[Jim989]

The instruction is a command (0f30) to 'write to e2' - the issue seems to be that that location is locked on some machines so the attempt fails (KP) ... if you get the KP, you will note that one of the registers, and I have forgotten which one (EAX?), always contains '0000000e2'. We are changing the write command to a NOP (9090) thereby avoiding the write failure.

I wonder what the purpose of writing the command is. If it works without writing the command, what could the Apple hardware be using the command for.

This write up is pretty much a manual effort taken from flaked's SpeedStepper 'fix' program;

Ah yes, I did look at that but at the time there was varying reports of it working on different hardware so I avoided it.

For the time being I'll stick with SSDT files, but it's always interesting to see what developments are being made. Thanks for the info.

 

[StarbucksSteve]

For the time being I'll stick with SSDT files, but it's always interesting to see what developments are being made. Thanks for the info.

Well, I always thought that it was probably an SMC location and since we don't actually have that bit of memory, it just didn't work ... in any case, I get pretty good control, not exactly Windows level yet, but I am getting close.

Steve

 

[sirushtim]

I still do get frequent Video kernel panics . Any possible workaround?

 

[StarbucksSteve]

I still do get frequent Video kernel panics . Any possible workaround?

Rumor has it they are going back to nVidia in the MBP ... this will improve things greatly, I would assume, as it means they will incorporate improved nVidia handling for our GPUs.

Are you on LION? It is better than SL and 10.7.4 will be out soon - if they are working on the drivers for a new MBP release, it may include some of that work. I run LION with only 1 mods for support of my GT550; it recognizes it and runs it pretty well. Every new release, I go into APGM and copy the 0a29 child from under the MBP6,2 into the parent for MBP8,3 (my SMBIOS is MBP8,3) and rename the new child to match my board 0dd6 ... the GT555 would be either 0dcd or 124d (there maybe others) - check your windows info for the number. I use the 0a29 as it is the closest, previously supported GPU for us. In my case, I do this to reduce error messages in the log - I get tens of thousands of them without this mod; 30 every second mostly when running Safari and its ilk.

I still have KP's rarely - they hit one or two and then I'm good for several days. I run a moving desktop and/or turn off dock animations which maybe help but have no permanent solution, yet.

Steve

 

[StarbucksSteve]

I still do get frequent Video kernel panics . Any possible workaround?

crunch81 spotted this - it may make your video more stable ...
http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?t=20367

In addition, I have verified that 8GB memory sticks do work; I ordered two from transintl.com - had to send one back (beep-beep-beep-beep) but I am currently running 12 GB in 1x8GB and 1x4GB and when the replacemnet comes, 16GB! Yea! My bios is A17 but I know of no BIOS on the L702x that would not work. VERIFY your CPU handles 16GB with Intel before you buy, please.

I am NOT responsible for your results regardless of what they may be ...

Steve

 

[jfm75]

Hello, anybody could help me with the dsdt??

DSDT_A17.rar

And another question, would this work on our laptop??

http://www.ebay.es/itm/NEW-APPLE-Ai...f5cc5a#ht_4706wt_1180&clk_rvr_id=337584374123

 

[StarbucksSteve]

Hello, anybody could help me with the dsdt??

DSDT_A17.rar

And another question, would this work on our laptop??

http://www.ebay.es/itm/NEW-APPLE-Ai...f5cc5a#ht_4706wt_1180&clk_rvr_id=337584374123

2012-05-08-095518.zip Your DSDT modified to add ALC665 pinouts under HDEF.

I run an Airport card but it is not that one ...
Untitled.jpg
Be aware that the full-height slot has only two wires available; I run the Dell Intel card for Bluetooth. And you should be sure the power and height are acceptable as this card was not made for a laptop.

As far as your DSDT, what is it you need? With the A17 BIOS, we are virtually able to run vanilla except for sound ... do you have the ALC665 for sound? And your target environment is Lion?

Steve

 

[jfm75]

Thanks a lot Steve, I needed a basic DSDT based on my own laptop, and I had planned to install the retail version of Snow Leopard and then upgrade it to Lion, like I did on my desktop. Will the sleep function work with this dsdt?