On 1/4/11 12:30 PM, Greg Kennedy wrote: > I had a question about the graphics card. This is a Geforce 2 MX with > 32MB of RAM. I have in the garage a Geforce 3 of some sort, which I > think would benefit Tiger thanks to the higher speeds and more RAM. > Can I drop this card in the AGP slot, or is it unlikely to work? I > know there is something or other about changing firmware on a video > card to make it Mac-compatible but I don't know anything about that.
Sadly, no, this probably won't work. PowerPC based Mac's (like your DA) didn't use a BIOS like IBM compatible machines do, they use what is called OpenFirmware. For a video card to work on a PPC Mac, it has to have a ROM that OF can 'talk with'. Flashing a "PC" card with a modified "Mac ROM" is an option at times, but the very limited number of cards that this approach will work with, not to mention that most of the sites that dealt with this are either gone or more or less abandoned, makes it tricky at best. http://themacelite.wikidot.com/ seems to be one of the few left that has information that is of use in this subject. Personally, I think your best bet would to be to either find someone who still sells pre-flashed video cards or pick up one of the older AGP cards from a G5 and do any modifications needed to the card so it will work. Fortunately, the DA AGP slot is a 4x universal slot, which does make it a bit easier to get a G5 video card working. Depending on the card, like an ATI 9600 from a G5, taping a few pins on the connector is enough (See http://themacelite.wikidot.com/pins-3-and-11). Others, such as the GeForce FX 5200, require the tape AND removing the ADC connector at the front of the card (I did this one with my DA and the card still works a treat. See http://www.sunsetmac.com/images/6613230.gif for a picture of the card). -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
