Lots of folks freaking out about Mojave and Metal. Early adopters are being forced to watch the new "Dancing Poo Emoji" wriggle his way into their hearts from a stuttering,  un-acclerated screen.

Who is already enjoying this little stinker in full 3d glory? Folks with the few Metal cards that got included in the OS before apple jammed their head into the sand in 2012. As i live in a temperate location and on the roof, i can't have those little heat engines from AMD in my place. This leaves me with Nvidia.

i'm about to go toss in a 470/480/570/580 to verify that those work. But most folks are sticking with GTX680 as it is on 'the list'. no Web driver needed, and metal support to run Mojave. It "just works".

but the good news is you don't have to limit yourself to this specific card. in the same family (and using same driver files in OSX) are other cards from Kepler family. Apple also includes the Quadr0 K5000 on their VERY short list. So we are too. Starting in next few days you will see K5000 available from us. We may do some other Quadro cards while we are at it.

But forgotten here is that a GTX780 can run rings around either of those two. The 3g version is popular but 6G version far more useful, and is supported. The creme de la creme of Kepler was Titan. But hard for most to tell a Kepler Titan (supported) compared to Titan Black  (which was NOT supported in the OS last I checked, and is   confusingly,  not black but silver like the one that IS supported )

but frequently overlooked are the entry level Kepler cards. Specifically, the GT630 and GT640. These cards have boot screens on any port up to 2560x1600 and will do full 4K 60p once desktop is reached. and they DON'T REQUIRE Web Driver. 

SO, whenever there is an os update or Web Driver delay, these cards all keep working. A GT630/640 thus becomes a good basic card for these machines. A fitting replacement for the GT120, which is now a lovely grey paper weight.

For some time now, our customers have relied on our EFI cards to allow File Vault to work. Apple pain ted themselves into a corner on this, disabling 'non-metal' cards in Mojave. Since they never sold a cMP with a Metal card inside and their deal-with-the-devil (AMD) cards do n't have EFI, they couldn't REQUIRE an .EFI card for File vault for Mojave.

Instead of rewarding the folks who kept their machines current, they decided to punish these people instead. they make it look like you just have to turn off FV to install Mojave. But they intend for you never to use it again. All so they can avoid admitting they've been petty, vindictive jerks about Nvidia.

Anyhow, it seems that there is a workaround that involves dosdude and his patcher. I haven't tried it myself yet. (I've been busy meeting demand for GT630/640 metal cards, oddly enough, which don't require Web Driver and work OOTB) 

So as the driver gets released and more people upgrade, please post your stories here. Is FV working for you?

Don't install Mojave yet if you want Nvidia Web Driver cards to work. Hopefully that is clear.

but the other thing I've been getting nasty emails about is our "All Nvidia cards support Metal in Mojave" claim. People create a usb installer, fire up their 1080Ti or Titan Xp and are told they can't install due to there not being a metal card present. In fact, if you run the installer from an OS build with Web Driver running you won't see this. Why? because the minimal OS included in USB installer doesn't have driver for card to enable Metal, just our EFI running your screen, no METAL.

2 easy ways to fix this and run the install (which you don't want to do yet anyhow, see previous Blog posts)

1. Run from 10.13.6 with web Driver, or many other OS builds, as long as Web Driver running, and Metal enabled. It checks, sees a 5,1 with Metal card and you are off to the races.

2. Build a USB installer using dosdude's patcher. He offers a patcher that takes the "red tape" checks out. A previous  version of his tool made problems for 3,1 mac Pros (and I got nasty emails about my 'borked' cards) but he has fixed that. And his new patch solves this install check too, though I haven't tried it myself. Others have and issued good reports. In fact, there are claims that his patch lets you keep using File Vault. (subject of next blog post)

In a few days when Nvidia releases the Mojave driver, I hope folks will come post their install results here.

And if you are penning a nasty, vitriolic email to MVC about this situation, instead send it to Tim Cook. He may be a superman doing wonderful things throughout the world, but he has made an error with this petty, vindictive stance toward Nvidia and the users of his products. AMD offered some bargain basement deals on their "Space Heater 1000" line of cards, but I think time and reality have shown this to be a bad deal for end users.

In a similar vein, I got a GREAT deal on some expired film last week. Incredible price break. Of course it doesn't work for my project, (or at all, actually) but it was REALLY CHEAP. Sometimes things are a bargain because they AREN'T a bargain . Tim? My people are waiting to take your call...

1. IF YOU HAVE AN NVIDIA CARD THAT REQUIRES WEB DRIVER DON'T INSTALL MOJAVE YET !!
My last blog post already has 30 comments, many are disgruntled folks watching slow redraws on a single screen. Apple didn't like the nMP 6,1 being embarrassed by it's older brother and stopped letting Nvidia include drivers for their vastly superior cards in the OS builds from Cupertino.
Last cards included were the GTX 780 and Titan Kepler.  Apple has buried their heads in the sand, the OS is stuck in 2012 for Nvidia drivers. The nMP 6,1 is stuck with 2012 tech so I guess they decided that they needed to hobble the 2008-12 MPs similarly. (anyone else think of Cathy Bates when they hear "hobble"?)
I sent Tim Cook an email looking for a reasonable solution, I'm sure he'll get back to me soon. (not)
Anyhow, Nvidia had a little issue with final 10.13.6 driver #108. I'm sure someone got a wonderful dress down in the boss-woman's office. And they are probably taking the testing a little further than Tim in the guard shack's Hackintosh. Heck, they may even test it on 4 or 5 machines this time. (wink)

Point being:
​
1. IF YOU HAVE AN NVIDIA CARD THAT REQUIRES WEB DRIVER DON'T INSTALL MOJAVE YET !! (unless you can live running just on our EFI driver, which is not ideal nor accelerated by hardware)

​2. If you don't understand point #1, read it again or ask for clarification. We are NOT Nvidia. Just a couple guys in 800 sq ft. in Hollywood, CA. And three more guys sprinkled throughout Eastern & Western Europe. That's it. We have no control over Nvidia or their driver release schedule. Sending us nasty emails and demanding refunds based on poor Mojave performance isn't helping anything. Really, nothing. If you are seeing a screen in Mojave on a 970 or 1080 it is solely, 100% because of our EFI. Everyone with unflashed cards is staring at a black screen or wishing they'd kept their old GT120 or 5770 while waiting for their Time Machine backup to finish resurrecting High Sierra.

3. If you have a GTX780 or 680 or K5000, count your blessings. You are up and running with Apple's 2012 drivers. Even a crusty old GTX480 is better off than a 1080Ti right now. Penny-pinchers win for today.

4. Be patient, when the driver's drop we will Tweet and link.

Please hold off updating if you have an Nvidia card that needs the Web Driver.

UPDATE: READ THE ABOVE SENTENCE !!!

See the title again if not sure what that means

I can't make this any clearer, really, I can't.

If you honestly can't wait another day for a dancing poo emoji, run the update on another machine.

​

I know whenever I install a driver and have problems that the end users certainly will. And you did.

And I got lots of emails.

​So Nvidia has pulled 108 for awhile. Hopefully they figure out the multiple card issue as well as whatever was broken in 108.

I started getting emails when 387.10.10.10.40.108 dropped, and since then I tried to install it myself.

(Sad Trombone Sound here)

This email sums up the issue nicely:

Issue:

I recently updated my drivers to the 387.10.10.10.40.108 when they became available in my Nvidia driver App. After the routine update thats had no issues before, I noticed the mac dock turned solid white instead of being transparent. The system became very sluggish as well. Graphic issues for sure. So I uninstalled the driver and returned to the previous driver I was using, 387.10.10.10.40.105. Still the issue remained. 

I tried purging the ram and restarting and leaving the computer unplugged for a while before turning the power back on. Still the same issue. I do not have any other gpu installed. 

I did see some similar sounding issues on the blog but I’m not sure if it’s the same problem or not.

Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.

​Basically, we are leaving the 10.13 Web Drivers like we began them. With a very picky installer/OS combo prone to "white dock syndrome".

When I installed 108 via the Nvidia Control Panel, I got a "Metal Error" on next boot. Then the Finder began an endless crashing cycle. Switching back to Apple Default drivers let me get to desktop, but only because I was using a GT630. A flashed Titan Xp also got to desktop, but had white dock and when windows were moved they left trails.

So, once again we have some sort of library validation error, just like 10.13's first Web Driver.

Here is how I fixed:

0. If you are in boot loop or finder crashing, do a PRAM reset, will kick it back to default OS driver. EFI flashed cards will work on next boot with software rendering, non-EFI will stay black.

1. Use terminal to verify that CSRutil is running. Type "csrutil status". If it is not enabled, it needs to be. Resetting PRAM will do this, or you can boot into Recovery and turn it on there. "csrutil enable" will work there, but lot quicker to PRAM it. Will also blow out any other oddities in the NVRAM.

2. If you have already installed a broken/borked 108, open the Driver Control Panel and use your admin password to enable the "Uninstall" button on lower right. Hit it and run the uninstaller. It should force a reboot at end, if not do one anyway.

3. Next boot, first open the Security & Privacy Control Panel. Choose the "General" tab. Hit the Padlock so you can mod the status after entering password. If you haven't already allowed "App Store and Identified Developers" to run, do so now. Keep this window open off to the side.

4. Run the 108 Installer again. At some point you should see a. notice pop up on the "Security" control panel stating that Nvidia has been blocked. Hit "Allow" and it should be all good.

5. Come back here and post your results.

Mojave drops support for several older Apple WiFi and BT cards while simultaneously adding requirement for Metal GPU.

It only makes sense that we carry the WiFi/BT cards again to go along with the GPUs we already offer.

We will also be creating kits for iMacs. To start we will have a WiFi BT combo for 2009-2011 iMacs. This will offer AC WiFi along with BT 4.0 (may go up to 4.2, we'll check out)

We will be offering some iMac Nvidia MXM GPUs. Not sure when we'll have time to p[erfect them, currently we can offer boot screens on GTX780M, which means we can -probably do most Kepler cards at least to that level. Will shoot for brightness control and TB Display Mode, but for now the Boot Screen is a big thing.

And by swapping those 2 items out, a 2011 iMac goes from Mojave useless, to Mojave compliant and capable. (No WiFi at all without the newer card)

​More WiFi/BT news coming.

We will be offering the EFI V2 with support for Kepler in addition to DP 1.3 and 1.4 for Pascal and Maxwell. So 4K boot screens for a GT630/40 as well as GTX680 and GTX780.

I'dsay no more than 2 weeks. So if considering a 630/640 for Mojave, might be better to hold off. There will be a small price increase to cover R & D for new EFI. If you don't need 4K boot screens now or ever, buy the older version at regular price.

​These new EFIs will be released in stages, starting with GTX1070Ti.