Working 5-monitor setup, 13MP, GTX 650 Ti + HD3000, Z77 board, 10.8.4

[abreis]

Hello everyone,

I'd like to share my latest build with you, hoping it might help someone in the future as much as all of your threads and comments have helped me set this up.

So without further ado:

These are 4xU2412M (1920x1200) plus a U2713HM on the right (2560x1440), for a total of 12.9 megapixels.
This is a work setup, not geared towards gaming.

First, some important observations I noticed when setting this up:

- RAM matters (and consequently, the available memory for the HD3000). I was having artifacts and glitches with 4GB RAM, that went away with 16GB (the HD3000's VRAM went from 384MB to 512MB).
- If Flash is broken or you're having graphical glitches, try a different SMBIOS.
- Display arrangement matters. If I set my displays in a single row, 2D performance is *miserable*. This arrangement works best for me, very little stuttering:

Hardware:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-DS3H
CPU: i5-2500K (Sandy Bridge, HD3000)
Graphics: Gigabyte GTX 650 Ti Boost

After much iteration, this is what's working so far:

Sleep: okay
2 displays on HD3000 (1xHDMI, 1xDVI)
3 displays on GTX 650 (2xDVI, 1xDP)
2D performance: Mission Control isn't ultra-smooth, stutters just a tiny bit
Integrated audio: don't know, I use an external card
USB3: don't know

org.chameleon.Boot.plist:

<key>EthernetBuiltIn</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>GenerateCStates</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>GeneratePStates</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>GraphicsEnabler</key>
<string>No</string>
<key>IGPEnabler</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>Kernel</key>
<string>mach_kernel</string>
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>darkwake=0</string>
<key>Legacy Logo</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>Timeout</key>
<string>2</string>
<key>UseKernelCache</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>Graphics Mode</key>
<string>1920x1200x32</string>

Software:

OSX 10.8.4
Chimera 2.2
SMBIOS: MacPro3,1
i5 SSDT (Sandy Bridge CPU, not Ivy)
NVidia drivers: OS X

BIOS settings:

All CPU features enabled (not Auto), except EIST (disabled)
Integrated Graphics: Enabled (not Auto)
Primary display on: IGFX
Graphics memory: 64MB (doesn't seem to matter, it jumps to 512MB when drivers load)
Virtualization extensions: Enabled (did not cause any issues)
Other than that, just follow the guides for 7-series UEFI motherboards.

I also took notes of each step to get this to work. Here they are:

A01 - Installation

4GB RAM (upgraded to 16GB on step A05 below)
Disabled Intel Speedstep on BIOS (called EIST)
HD3000 only (IGFX=enable, default adapter: IGFX)
MacMini 5,1 + i5 Sandy Bridge SSDT on MultiBeast
No issues, good performance, no stutter with 2 screens
Boot okay
Sleep okay
CPU idle states okay, confirmed with MSR dumper
HD3000 reports 384MB graphics memory

A02 - Add GTX 650 Ti Boost

GTX 650 only, HD3000 disabled on BIOS
GraphicsEnabler=no
Boot okay
Sleep okay
Tested 3 monitors at once on GTX 650, no issues, no stutter
Flash on Safari doesn't work when hardware acceleration is on, this happens:

A03 - Going for 5 displays

Install Chimera 2.2
IGPEnabler=yes, GE=no
BIOS: IGFX=enable, default adapter: IGFX
Boot okay
Sleep okay
5 screens at once with no issues, mild stutter on Mission Control, if we're picky
Artifacts on the HD3000 screens (2 or 3 buggy horizontal lines), can't span a video across all displays (fails)

A04 - Set default card to PEG

Boots with no issues, but HD3000 never loads, only the 3 screens on the GTX show up.
Reverted back to HD3000 as default card, and 5 screens work again.

A05 - Boost RAM to 16GB

HD3000 now reports 512MB graphics memory (was: 384MB on 4GB RAM)
Artifacts on HD3000 displays are gone, mild stutter on Mission Control is the same as before
Can now span and play a video across all screens
Flash on Safari still doesn't work.

A06 - Try npci=0x3000

I think this is always set by MultiBeast right now, so it made no difference.

A07 - Try IGPEnabler=No

Interestingly, HD3000 still works, but the two displays on it are Mirrored now.
HD3000 recognized as "Display 64 MB of Shared System Memory graphics".
Flash on Safari still doesn't work, different colors now:

A09 - Install NVidia Drivers (just the GTX650 enabled now) 313.01.02f01

Release 313.01.02f01, date 2013.06.13
Modify 'Distribution' inside the .pkg to allow it to install on Macmini5,1 smbios.
The installation starts, but fails close to the end.
Try manual install:
Extract kexts with Pacifist, install kexts with Kext Utility (*.bundle and *.plugin copied to /S/L/E as well)

A10 - NVidia drivers, manual installation

NVidia preference pane fails to load, unsure if driver installation was successful
Flash on Safari: still borked.
Lots of "NVDA(OpenGL): Channel exception! exception type = 0x20 = PBDMA Error" on the Console

A11 - Reverted the NVidia kexts installation

A12 - Trying different smbios, MacPro3,1

Flash on Safari now works perfectly! The smbios was causing the problem.
HD3000 support: okay, 5 screens working, mild stutter as before
Sleep: okay
CPU States: okay

A13 - Retry NVidia driver installation

NVidia's .pkg installs cleanly now, so changing the list of allowed smbios in the .pkg's 'Distribution' file (as in A09) isn't enough, as it turns out.

A14 - Reboot after NVidia driver installation

Boot okay
NVidia pref pane is working this time, good
NVidia pref pane says it defaulted to load the OSX Drivers
Changed to NVidia Web Drivers on the pref pane, and rebooted

A15 - NVidia Web Drivers (failed)

No change, NVidia pref pane still reports "OSX Drivers" instead of "NVidia Web Drivers".
Mouse is feeling odd, skippy, jumping around.
Switched back and forth between OSX and NVidia on the preference pane to try to revert to clean OSX drivers.

A16 - Back to OSX drivers

Things are smooth again, no mouse issues
Sleep works, CPU idle states work, Flash and hardware acceleration works
Not sure why I'd want to use a newer SMBIOS setting now.

I just heard about the nvda_drv kernel flag that is required to enable the NVidia Web Drivers, I'll give it a try later.
For reference, you can't activate the Web Drivers from the NVidia pref pane, you need to add 'nvda_drv=1' to org.boot.chameleon.plist:

<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>darkwake=0 nvda_drv=1</string>

 

[toleda]

After much iteration, this is what's working so far:

Good work. Interesting how you got to the working system. More important, consider adding to the summary, the exact settings for the BIOS, org.chameleon.Boot.plist, HD4000/framebuffer, Nvidia drivers (retail/OS X) and identifying the boot display.

 

[abreis]

Thanks toleda. I updated my post and added these notes, things that I hadn't read about in other posts yet:

- RAM matters (and consequently, the available memory for the HD3000). I was having artifacts and glitches with 4GB RAM, that went away with 16GB (the HD3000's VRAM went from 384MB to 512MB).
- If Flash is broken or you're having graphical glitches, try a different SMBIOS.
- Display arrangement matters. If I set my displays in a single row, 2D performance is *miserable*. This arrangement works best for me, very little stuttering:

 

[toleda]

I updated my post and added these notes

Almost, which HD3000 connector is the boot display and which screen is that in your layout?

 

[abreis]

Almost, which HD3000 connector is the boot display and which screen is that in your layout?

Ah, you mean physically.
The main display is the DVI port (I don't think I can change this to the HDMI).
Both ports become mirrored a couple seconds after power-on.

In my layout, that's the 23" landscape one on the upper middle.

On OS X, I make the portrait 27" (connected to the DisplayPort) my main.

 

[abreis]

Just heard about the nvda_drv flag to enable the NVidia drivers, that must have been why I couldn't enable them.
I'll give it a try later and report back.

The system is really smooth right now though, with OS X drivers and that particular display arrangement. Lining displays up perfectly helped a lot with the stuttering.

 

[cadsii]

I'm running 2 X 640s to power 6 X 1080p, had to install the web drivers, but OSX still chooses the strandard oSX ones, but all monitors work, no glitches, full hardware acceleration

 

[abreis]

I'm running 2 X 640s to power 6 X 1080p, had to install the web drivers, but OSX still chooses the strandard oSX ones, but all monitors work, no glitches, full hardware acceleration

Did you try adding 'nvda_drv=1' to the Kernel Flags on org.chameleon.Boot.plist?
Also note that the NVidia pref pane will always show 'OSX Drivers' even if the NVidia ones are loaded.
You need to check the Console to see what drivers were actually loaded.

 

[inactive-user]

Now you only need to attach some Cameras out of your Home, and you get a top Home Security System.
Even the NSA would dream about! Kkkkkk

Nice Setup!

cheers

 

[dtrvndrn]

Another way to go about this, more costly but likely more performant, is via 1 or more Matrox Triplehead2go's. That way you can connect all monitors to the Nvidia card. The desktop then isn't spanning across the Nvidia and Intel graphics, which likely prevents a lot of glitches and performance degradations.