Solved Intel HD3000 artifacts on laptops with 2-4-6Gb RAM.

[11212]

I don't know the 10.11.5 update, or maybe the changed DSDT done the trick, but finally looks like solved: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/309954-please-help-me-with-hd3000-connector-table-edit/

2Mb GTT size, 32Mb DVMT-Prealloc, 512Mb Aperture size, 256Mb DVMT size. No artifacts since a day with gaming!

 

[11212]

With 10.12 beta (16A238m), the artifacts showed again, so i have placed 8Gb RAM into the laptop, but it simply won't start, just black screen with running fan. So this is impossible to solve with dual channel.

 

[VioletDragon]

With 10.12 beta (16A238m), the artifacts showed again, so i have placed 8Gb RAM into the laptop, but it simply won't start, just black screen with running fan. So this is impossible to solve with dual channel.

After hardware upgrade. Always re-patch DSDT.

 

[11212]

After hardware upgrade. Always re-patch DSDT.

The laptop won't start after it, tried with many types of RAM, maybe slot is bad... :/

 

[VioletDragon]

The laptop won't start after it, tried with many types of RAM, maybe slot is bad... :/

Oh so your saying the laptop won't post when you've got a stick of ram in one of the slots? Are they a matching pair? Never mix RAM it's a bad idea.

 

[11212]

Yes, same type, same frequency, etc. The laptop's previous owner said something is damaged with ram slot... So i think this is the problem. Hope this can be solved in software somehow... I have modded bios too, can change DVMT sizes, Aperture size, etc.

 

[VioletDragon]

Yes, same type, same frequency, etc. The laptop's previous owner said something is damaged with ram slot... So i think this is the problem. Hope this can be solved in software somehow...

If the RAM slot is damaged then it might be time to either buy a new laptop or maybe find a nice clean board on eBay etc. You could replace the slot if you're good at entry level board repair then you could replace the slot.

 

[11212]

I can change DVMT memory sizes in BIOS, but i don't know what these doing... And im not sure this is VRAM problem, can be EDID or connector info too.

IGD - Gtt size: 1-2Mb
IGD - Aperture size: 128-256-512Mb
IGD - DVMT Pre-Allocated: 32-64-128-256Mb
IGD - DVMT Size: 128-256Mb

See my topic above. If this is a VRAM problem, why it worked for about 2 months without any artifacts / glitches? This is very confused.

If you have any idea, i have same BIOS as in the video without UEFI.

 

[RehabMan]

Yes, same type, same frequency, etc. The laptop's previous owner said something is damaged with ram slot... So i think this is the problem. Hope this can be solved in software somehow... I have modded bios too, can change DVMT sizes, Aperture size, etc.

Don't attempt to install any OS on a system that has not passed a memory test (memtest86).

 

[11212]

Don't attempt to install any OS on a system that has not passed a memory test (memtest86).

Memtest ran fine with the first slot, its working normally, Windows and Linux was stable for years too. But i don't know why it worked normally for months, and why it started suck again...

Edit: the framebuffer kext (AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB) is changed internally, the old way VRAM size patching won't work (find and replace C745BC00000018) looks like its now C7 45 C4 00 00 00 18.

Changing AppleIntelHD3000Graphics.kext/Contents/Info.plist VRAMMethod from 0 to 2, and patching the number above with Clover, it works!

C7 45 C4 00 00 00 80 = 2048Mb
C7 45 C4 00 00 00 40 = 1024Mb
C7 45 C4 00 00 00 30 = 768Mb
C7 45 C4 00 00 00 20 = 512Mb (default for 8Gb system RAM)
C7 45 C4 00 00 00 18 = 384Mb (default for 4Gb system RAM)
C7 45 C4 00 00 00 10 = 256Mb
C7 45 C4 00 00 00 08 = 128Mb
C7 45 C4 00 00 00 04 = 64Mb
C7 45 C4 00 00 00 02 = 32Mb
C7 45 C4 00 00 00 01 = 16Mb

This actually changes the size displayed in about this mac, but not in IOReg. ioreg -lw0 | grep -e 'vram', adding vramUsedBytes and vramFreeBytes gives the same result, 384Mb.

Edit 2: The Clover patches above are working, we just need to add VRAMSize = value you selected in AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB kext to AppleIntelHD3000Graphics.kext/Contents/Info.plist. So if you want 256Mb for example:

Find and replace in Clover's config.plist at kext patches:

find: C7 45 C4 00 00 00 18
replace: see the code above, in this example it will be C7 45 C4 00 00 00 10
name: AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB

Then copy AppleIntelHD3000Graphics.kext from /S/L/E to desktop, show contents, open info.plist:

Change VRAMMethod from 0 to 2
Add VRAMSize and enter the value you have selected above, in this example its 256, after changes, it should look like:

            <key>VRAMMethod</key>
            <integer>2</integer>
            <key>VRAMOverride</key>
            <integer>0</integer>
            <key>VRAMSize</key>
            <integer>256</integer>

Save, install the kext, reboot, in terminal: ioreg -lw0 | grep -e 'vram', adding vramUsedBytes and vramFreeBytes will be result of what value you have selected.

Im not sure it will solve artifacts, but we can change the VRAM size used by OS X from 16Mb to ~3Gb. You can test it by resizing heavy OpenGL app's window, or scrolling on webpages with many pictures / gif / flash.

If the computer won't start after changes, press O in Clover menu, select graphics, check Inject Intel, enter a random number, boot OS X, it will not load the wrong kext, and you can change it.

For me, values below 64Mb makes the OS stop at loading login screen, try at your own risk!