All my kexts are those that Apple provided for installing Mountain Lion. So far I have had no need to replace any kexts after applying an Apple ML update.
The only non Apple kexts I use are the following:
1. Networking - I use the Lnx2Mac's RealtekRTL81xx Ethernet v0.0.90 kext. It just works great, even my USB-->Ethernet adapter from my WII console
is recognized and fully functional. That one drives my VPN to HMASS
2. Video - I use my own NVDANV50HAl.kext and NVDAResman.kext in order to be able to use a nVidia display card that Apple felt prudent to exclude from
Mountain Lion. My video subsystem on ML 10.8.2 comprises a GTX285 - still supported by ML - as well as a 8400GS not supported by ML.
3. Then I naturally also use my unlocked LaCie Ver 1.0.11 PXHCD.kext for my USB3 devices. All my boot stuff, ie. "Extra" is placed in the EFI partition,
so it is conveniently tugged away and can be forgotten that it exists.
So basically I have to look after only 4 kexts to maintain a system that really runs like a dream.
My philosophy has always been not to buy myself the functionality that I think I need or want , but rather exploit possibilities to enable the functionality
that I require, in the devices I already own.
Many Many moons/decades ago, when my son needed extra storage capacity on his Apple 2E floppy drive, he wrote an assembler routine which increased the
floppy capacity from a mere 180 kbytes to 360 kBytes. Soon thereafter he cut out a notch at the "backside" of the floppies available then, and voila
he ended up with 720 kByte total floppy storage. Man that was a lot in those days. Steve Jobs subsequently amply rewarded him for his endeavors. Bless you
Steve, and thank you for the paths that you have paved for all of us.
Coming back to USB3 and my unlocked LaCie Version 1.0.11 PXHCD.kext, after this trip to memory lane, for which I appologize, I discovered that
in my particular case, disabling "Use Kernel Cache" in the org.chameleon.Boot.plist file, or by using the -f bootup flag, allows me to boot
my machine every time successfully, with the USB3 drives connected.
I found this out by observing that my first cold boot was always successful, and only with subsequent reboots did I get this message
"SerialAtapi device configuration did not complete successfully. (failed command info =0x1) After which one of my DVD drives was inaccessible.
I figured that some resources did not get released between boots, probably in memory, or wherever, resources that the "failed" DVD drive desperately
needed. Applying the -f flag during boot, or setting the Use Kernel Cache flag to No in the org.chameleon.boot.plist file fixed this issue.
To me me this was the last straw, realizing that this whole USB3 thingy in ML is still not really usable, the software foundation on which this
USB3 functionality is built is rather shaky, and appears to be supported by spaghetti code. So I pass for the time being and await the arrival
of 2 Fresco Logic USB3 cards, which it is rumored, integrates somewhat better with ML. At least it appears that those cards will work properly,
as the code to make them work is supposedly embedded by Apple in ML, or so I understand. Where I live, it will take about another 2 months
for those items to arrive. In the meantime I will use my system as is and enjoy what it can do for me without any issues. In the interim Apple
may well have fixed some issues on their side in a 10.8.3 update, which I expect rather soon to be forthcoming.
My system is working extremely well, is stable and exceptionally fast, OCed to 4.2 Gigs. At this stage I do not want to compromise my computing
experience with half backed eggs. So the current incarnation of Apple's USB3 is on the back burner for me now. until such time that it's
integration and functionality approaches that which Microsoft has already achieved a long long time ago.
Actually wondering whether Apple will ever get there with the way things are going at the moment at Apple. Presently their priorities seem to
be elsewhere, somewhere in the "Cloud" I think, and perhaps maybe rightly so, only the future can tell.
Greets Henties