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Windows only Addons in Macs under Boot Camp


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Windows only Addons in Macs under Boot Camp
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Kraetos
Lovable Bastard
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Boston-ish
 
2006-07-12, 19:55

So here's an interesting question: Does hardware added to a Mac, which only works on a PC, work when you are running Windows?

Obviously its impossible to answer at the moment as there is no expandable Intel Mac, bit given that the Mac Pro is probably 3-6 weeks away at this point, can anyone think of a reason why such an upgrade wouldn't work?

The thing that comes to mind first would be a PhysiX card. I plan to sell my Alienware and replace it with a Mac Pro before September - I don't like having to use Windows as a primary OS at all. A Mac Pro fits my needs perfectly: use Mac OS X to do school work and other work, and more importantly, finally have a Mac with DL DVI capability so I can use my Dell 30", but then I can boot into Windows and it becomes a full-fledged gaming machine, like my Alienware is now.

Not that a PhysiX card is a dealbreaker for me at all, but it is something I plan to own once more games can utilize it. But, would a PhysiX card work in a Mac Pro? I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't, assuming you're running XP.

I guess it comes down to this: does putting hardware in a dual OS machine of which only one of the OS's can utilize cause any problems? I suppose it already goes one way: Windows can't use some Apple specific hardware, like the iSight or the SMS, but it's not like this causes any problems; the unsupported hardware simply doesn't work. Can anyone think of a reason this wouldn't work going the other way?

Logic, logic, logic. Logic is the beginning of wisdom, Valeris, not the end.
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initialsBB
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Paris, France
 
2006-07-13, 04:57

hum... sounds like you pretty much answered that question all by yourself !!!

and how exactly is this speculation ?
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chucker
 
Join Date: May 2004
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2006-07-13, 05:02

Indeed, wrong forum.

Some hardware may expect and require the availability of a BIOS. While the Boot Camp-supplied firmware emulates a simple BIOS, this apparently is not channeled through to the PCI Express bus (or even to the Southbridge at all?), as evidenced by the apparent inability to use a generic ATI graphics driver (although that may be the lack of VGA BIOS, rather than regular BIOS, that's causing problems).

So, for hardware that relies on BIOS, it may be necessary to sue a specific driver. This is likely rare.
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Kraetos
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Boston-ish
 
2006-07-13, 08:45

Quote:
Originally Posted by chucker
Indeed, wrong forum.
Given that the Mac Pro isn't out yet, I would count this as speculation

Quote:
Some hardware may expect and require the availability of a BIOS. While the Boot Camp-supplied firmware emulates a simple BIOS, this apparently is not channeled through to the PCI Express bus (or even to the Southbridge at all?), as evidenced by the apparent inability to use a generic ATI graphics driver (although that may be the lack of VGA BIOS, rather than regular BIOS, that's causing problems).

So, for hardware that relies on BIOS, it may be necessary to sue a specific driver. This is likely rare.
That's what I was looking for. I remember people having problems with their graphics cards, which is why this thought popped up to begin with.

But, wouldn't this cause a problem with the hardware in question, a PhysiX card, which uses a PCI slot? Or is this problem specific to PCI-Express peripherals? Or does nobody know because there is no Intel Mac available with extra PCI-Express slots, or any PCI slots for that matter?

Logic, logic, logic. Logic is the beginning of wisdom, Valeris, not the end.
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chucker
 
Join Date: May 2004
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2006-07-13, 08:46

The problem is specific to cards (regardless of whether they're PCI, AGP, PCIe, anything else) that rely on BIOS. Some network cards years ago did.
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Kraetos
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Boston-ish
 
2006-07-13, 09:17

Quote:
Originally Posted by chucker
The problem is specific to cards (regardless of whether they're PCI, AGP, PCIe, anything else) that rely on BIOS. Some network cards years ago did.
Thanks chucker. You made it sound like the X1600 does in fact rely on BIOS. Do most modern graphics cards?
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chucker
 
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2006-07-13, 09:21

Most modern graphics cards on generic (non-Apple) PCs still use implement old, old VESA/BIOS standards on their firmware, which is why you still have shitty resolution and color when booting your average computer. Once the system actually loads proper drivers, the resolution can be increased.

Macs, however, have always had a more modern firmware which implements full-resolution and full-color drivers, regardless of the OS. Thus, even the grey Apple at the very, very beginning of the boot is in full resolution.

So, the X1600 in Intel Macs has a special EFI firmware instead.
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