Creating EFI String for Asus 8400GS Silent

There are a number of ways of getting your graphics card working within OS X (in order of difficulty) : -

  • Adding “GraphicsEnabler=Yes” to Chameleon /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist
  • Adding EFI string to Chameleon /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist
  • Using an injector such as NVInject or NVEnabler
  • Patching your DSDT file

The first one didn’t work for my Asus Silent EN8400GS, so here’s how I generated and added an EFI string.

First, install “gfxutil”

Next, get the location of your graphics card by entering the following: -
gfxutil -f display

You should get something back like this: -

DevicePath = PciRoot(0×1)/Pci(0×1,0×0)/Pci(0×0,0×0)

Next, create a file called “graphics.plist” which is the following (but put your settings in): -

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC “-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN” “http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd”>

<plist version=”1.0″>

<dict>

<key>PciRoot(0×1)/Pci(0×1,0×0)/Pci(0×0,0×0)</key>

<dict>

<key>@0,compatible</key>

<string>NVDA,NVMac</string>

<key>@0,device_type</key>

<string>display</string>

<key>@0,name</key>

<string>NVDA,Display-A</string>

<key>@1,compatible</key>

<string>NVDA,NVMac</string>

<key>@1,device_type</key>

<string>display</string>

<key>@1,name</key>

<string>NVDA,Display-B</string>

<key>NVCAP</key>

<data>BAAAAAAAAwAEAAAAAAAABwAAAAA=</data>

<key>NVPM</key>

<data>AQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==</data>

<key>VRAM,totalsize</key>

<string>0×20000000</string>

<key>device_type</key>

<string>NVDA,Parent</string>

<key>model</key>

<string>nVidia Geforce 8400GS</string>

<key>name</key>

<string>display</string>

<key>rom-revision</key>

<string>nVidia Geforce 8400GS OpenGL Engine</string>

</dict>

</dict>

</plist>

Next you need to generate a hex string to be inserted – run the following command: -

gfxutil -i xml -o hex graphics.plist graphics.hex

This will create a “graphics.hex” file in the current directory.

Lastly, copy and paste this string into your /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist file in the following format: -

<key>device-properties</key>
<string>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</string>

Reboot and voila! You should have Quartz Extreme (QI) and Core Image (CI) enabled – open up Front Row, if it works then you’re done!

8 Responses to “Creating EFI String for Asus 8400GS Silent”

  1. geekanddestroy  on March 22nd, 2010

    Hey Finster,

    I finally took the plunge and built myself a Hackintosh based on your guide. So, firstly I just wanted to say thanks for the posts – I found the really useful.

    However, I haven’t managed to get the audio to work as yet. I’ve tried a few things on the infinitemacthread, but none of them seem to work. Do you have any words of wisdom?

    G&D

  2. finster  on March 22nd, 2010

    Hey G&D,

    Glad you found it useful. My audio works fine.

    Have you copied “LegacyALC883.kext” to /Extra/Extensions?

    You also need to go to system prefs -> sound and choose internal speakers/built-in speakers in both sound effects & output.

    Think that’s right – I’m copying from my notes rather than looking at the machine.

  3. geekanddestroy  on March 24th, 2010

    Hey Finster,

    Hope you’re good. I finally got the sound working last night, however the graphics card isn’t working properly!

    I used one of the DSDT file on the InfiniteMac guide because I had trouble compiling my own. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind posting your DSDT fixed file one your site somewhere?

    G&D

  4. finster  on March 24th, 2010

    G&D,

    I’ve not gotten around to creating a DSDT file for mine yet, I’m just using the EFI string in /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist posted above.

    Have you got the same card?

  5. geekanddestroy  on March 29th, 2010

    Hiya,

    All up and running now. :-) Did a complete reinstall from scratch and upgraded to 10.6.2 relatively painlessly. I built my entire system based on your guide, so thanks for that. And the Geekbench score I got for it is almost twice that of my similarly speced MacBook.

    G&D

  6. tanmaniac  on April 19th, 2010

    Okay, I’m a complete newbie at this and I desperately need help. I’ve gotten the device path:

    DevicePath = PciRoot(0×0)/Pci(0×3,0×0)/Pci(0×0,0×0)/Pci(0×8,0×0)/Pci(0×0,0×0)

    but now what do I do? When it says to replace all of the information in the graphics.plist file, what information do I need to put?

    These are my system specs:
    Core i7 920 @ 3.2 GHz
    6GB OCZ XMP DDR3 1600 MHz RAM, triple channel
    MSI X58 Pro mobo
    Sapphire Radeon HD 4850X2 2GB
    Running Windows 7 x64 and Mac OS X 10.6.3 now, but Quartz Extreme doesn’t work at all, so I’m installing to a new HDD.

  7. finster  on April 19th, 2010

    Sorry tanmaniac, if you’re not using the same graphics card that I am, you won’t be able to use the graphics.plist file that I listed above.

  8. tanmaniac  on April 19th, 2010

    Yeah, I know. But it is possible to create a graphics.plist file for ATI, right? If so, how would you go about writing one?
    Thanks.


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