Shuttle SH67 The Good, Bad and Ugly News
PH
The AMI BIOS is very sensitive to hard drives for booting.
ALWAYS start with a CLEAN hard drive, one which has been initialized
to contain only empty partitions. Doing otherwise will lead to all
kinds of false starts, some of which may be recoverable only with a
lot of work.
The iBOOT/MultiBeast installation method does not work with Snow
Leopard.
Yes, SL will install, but it can only be booted using the iBOOT CD as
a "helper". Many double faults.
I have not found a circumvention to this problem.
The Bad News ...
The hacked LaCie/Renesas driver doesn't work for the ASMedia USB 3.0
chips, of which this product has two. The hacked Renesas driver works
for Etron chips, however.
So, although the subject product has ASMedia chips, and these are
fully compliant with the "USB 3.0 Mafia" specification, they are
currently unusable.
Forewarned is forearmed!
The Realtek LAN chip is a new one and it requires the driver contained
in the RTGMac_v2.0.6 package, not the usual Lnx2Mac driver.
The ALC888 sound chip will not work using the usual AppleHDA "roll-
back" + ALC8xxHDA method.
The 0.2.1 Voodo doesn't work, either.
Use the 0.2.7.3 Voodoo, it works well.
The Good News ...
Kakewalk 4.0.4 works well, almost.
You may have to boot into another MacOS and manually copy the /Extra
folder to the Lion hard drive, although this could be a manifestation
of the hard drive issues mentioned under Ugly News.
IF you have to manually copy the /Extra folder, it helps to have SL on
a small partition, even though you will have to boot it using iBOOT as
a "helper".
Chimera 1.4.1 is recommended over later versions, for now. Too many
issues with the later versions, such as those which come with the
latest MultiBeast.
For my SH67, I used a stand-alone Chimera 1.4.1 installer. Chimera
1.4.1 has been running quite well on my H61 system for nearly two
months now with Lion, so I see no reason to take a bath with a buggy
later version of Chimera.
The H67 BIOS setup screen allows you to set specific SATA ports as non-
hot pluggable (the default) or as hot pluggable. It makes sense to set
the two eSATA ports (ports 5 and 6) as hot pluggable.
The Very Good News ...
My DSDT for the SH67 works for all functions, except for sound.
However, leaving the DSDT with an ALC888 HDEF device still allows
sound to work using Voodoo, so I see no reason to change the HDEF
device. Perhaps a better solution to ALC888 sound will be forthcoming.
Miss Cellaneous Issues ...
The Rosewill RAID eSATA card (a Highpoint products using a Marvell
SATA III 6 Gb/s chip set) appears to MacOS as SCSI devices.
Further investigation is needed on this product, particularly as I
have a second RAID box due to arrive this coming Tuesday.
Th ... Th... That's all for now, folks.
PH
DSDTs are available at ...
http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?p=203747#p203747
... both unmodified and modified for OSx86.
PH
partition.
I am presently applying the appropriate updates.
For the present, I am using a Rosewill 802.11a/b/g/n USB 2.0 dongle.
Use of the wired LAN awaits installation of the Shuttle driver disk.
pete...@cruzio.com
> For the present, I am using a Rosewill 802.11a/b/g/n USB 2.0 dongle.
> Use of the wired LAN awaits installation of the Shuttle driver disk.
My "open box" H67H3 was missing these two items:
1) the package of four M3-0.5 x 3/16" screws for retaining the optical
drive, and
2) the driver disk (for Windows).
(1) was solved by visiting HSC, one of Silicon Valley's original
electronics surplus houses. The required screws, although not identical to
the originals (which have a flange), were only $0.02 apiece. I bought a
couple dozen of them.
(2) was solved by downloading all of the individual driver packages from
Shuttle's site (the downloads actually come from an FTP site in Taiwan,
although you reach it from Shuttle's USA site).
All the driver packages were installed on Win 7 without issues, and now
everything works on Windows 7.
Oh, yes, the installation of Windows left the machine only able to boot
into Windows. A known issue with a single drive system.
The usual method of dealing with this is to boot the Windows repair CD and
change the "active" partition from the Windows 7 partition to the EFI
partition.
I did this, but the result was the first stage boot loader within the
Shuttle's BIOS said "no operating system".
I have seen this before, and the usual circumvention is to reinstall the
boot loader (Chimera 1.4.1, in this case) which also reinstalls the EFI
partition, but this gave me a Lion which KP'ed. Not nice!
I am, therefore, reinstalling Lion.
I would strongly recommend using two hard drives if a dual boot system is
desired. I run my ASRock P55 Pro this way and it really helps when you get
an update, like the Service Pack 1, which demands that the Windows hard
drive is the only hard drive on the system, for otherwise the update will
fail with an obscure error code. Its easy enough just to unplug the data
cable for the MacOS drive and then let Windows believe it is the only game
in town.
pete...@cruzio.com
> I have Win 7 (32-bit) presently on the Shuttle SH67, in a secondary
> partition.
>
> I am presently applying the appropriate updates.
Win 7 is now up with all Shuttle add-ons and all M$ updates.
Everything works perfectly on Win 7.
Reinstalled Lion. This time the /Extra folder was copied.
Alas, Lion crashed ... got a KP in Voodoo, so I was forced to remove Voodoo.
Therefore, again no sound in Lion.
The SH67H3 config at this point is:
1) Shuttle SH67H3 (obviously),
2) LG super-multi optical drive (24X DVD burning),
3) 300 GB Seagate SATA I HD, just because I had it available, I will
update to something else later, most probably a 1 TB SATA III or SATA II,
4) 2 x 4GB = 8GB Corsair XMS3 1600 RAM,
5) eVGA 8400GS video card with HDMI, SVGA and DVI (PCI-e 16x),
6) Highpoint RAID/JBOD card (PCI-e 1x).
PH
Back up on Lion.
Ran Lion all afternoon, all evening and into the early morning. Runs
quite well, than you very much.
No sound, and I'm not likely to tempt fate by trying another
installation of Voodoo as the last one KP'ed all over the place after
application of the 10.7.1 update.
That, plus I am quite likely going to apply the Server Lion update,
and who the Hell knows how Voodoo will handle that!
My SH67H3's proc is an i5-2400. I saved $30 at Fry's Electronics over
the price of an i5-2500K at Micro Center. Not so sure that was such a
good idea, but I knew I would be using a PCI-e 16x video card anyway,
so why spend the the extra $$$ on a feature (HD 3000 video) which is
only usable on Lion and Server Lion, and I tend to run a whole gamut
of OSes on my Hacks, on an as-needed basis.
Applied the firmware update for the ASMedia USB 3.0 chips (it is a
Windows-only installer) ... still works on Win 7, but doesn't yet work
on MacOS X.
So ...
IF you want a very compact H67 system, one which has PCI-e 16x and PCI-
e 1x conventional ports and a PCI-e 1x WiFi port, and supports HD 3000
with SVGA, DVI and HDMI and you don't particularly care about USB 3.0,
then perhaps this is a good choice.
Kris Tilford
> No sound, and I'm not likely to tempt fate by trying another
> installation of Voodoo as the last one KP'ed all over the place after
> application of the 10.7.1 update.
Did you forget to remove the AppleHDA.kext before rebooting after
installing 10.7.1? What about those pesky kext caches? I think you
should probably run Kext Utility before rebooting.
You have a lot more trouble with Voodoo than I do. When I have a
problem like a panic caused by a specific kext, I have an iPC 10.5.6
Live DVD that I can boot and remove whatever causes the panic from a
normal OS X GUI. I'd rather have a USB stick with an fully installed
bootable System, but don't have the $$ right now for a 16GB USB stick.
pete...@cruzio.com
>> No sound, and I'm not likely to tempt fate by trying another
>> installation of Voodoo as the last one KP'ed all over the place after
>> application of the 10.7.1 update.
>
> Did you forget to remove the AppleHDA.kext before rebooting after
> installing 10.7.1? What about those pesky kext caches? I think you
> should probably run Kext Utility before rebooting.
That was the FIRST think I checked.
I discovered that MultiBeast is renaming a lot of stuff to inforce its
preferred new strategy of moving everything possible into /S/L/E.
I countered this by reinstalling, but using the stand-alone Chimera 1.4.1
installer.
I'm really not too pleased by tonymacx86 constantly changing the rules.
If he doesn't understand what is going on, that's no good reason to change
... wholesale ... that which has been working for literally years.
PH
The 12" WiFi internal cable and short WiFi card arrived from Hong Kong
today.
Alas, the short WiFi card was an 4324 and NOT the 4322 which I had
ordered.
The 4324 card didn't work, anyway, in either the Gigabyte P67 or
anywhere else, so I stole the Gigabyte's 4322 card and installed both
the stolen card and the 12" internal cable in the Shuttle SH67.
Works well, and it supports AirDrop, as I had expected:
Software Versions:
CoreWLAN: 2.0 (200.46)
CoreWLANKit: 1.0 (100.43)
Menu Extra: 7.0 (700.42)
configd plug-in: 7.0 (700.57)
System Profiler: 7.0 (700.3)
IO80211 Family: 4.0 (400.40)
WiFi Diagnostics: 1.0 (100.26)
AirPort Utility: 5.5.3 (553.20)
Interfaces:
en1:
Card Type: Third-Party Wireless Card
MAC Address: 00:21:00:6b:a1:f3
Supported PHY Modes: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Supported Channels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 36,
40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128,
132, 136, 140
AirDrop: Supported
Current Network Information:
PHY Mode: 802.11g
BSSID: 00:50:18:4f:51:f8
Network Type: Infrastructure
Security: WPA Personal
Signal / Noise: -83 dBm / -76 dBm
Transmit Rate: 5
As soon as the short-to-long adapter arrives from HK in the next few
days, and that HK vendor replaces the 4324 card with the expected
4322, I will retest the SH67 system.
My router is b/g, but not a or n. I do have another router which
supports a/b/g/n, and I might try that sometime soon. Well, NOT A ...
LOL!
Then, I will more-or-less permanently install the 4322 (whether it is
a short or long is yet to be determined) in the SH67.
STILL NO solution for the ASMedia USB 3.0 chips in the H67, but that
isn't of primary importance to me.
The dual SATA III card which supports external port multipliers works
well, and that certainly satisfies my present and future needs for
external mass storage.
PLUS, I still have the two eSATAs of the SH67 unused. Also, the two
internal SATA IIIs of the SH67 are also unused.
Should I go to a dual internal HD arrangement on account of Windows 7,
then both internal HDs will be SATA III, and the two 6 Gb/s ports will
then be used for their best application: system residence.
I see that Fry's Electronics usually has a couple of Shuttle SH67s in
stock, and their prices are a tad lower than NewEgg's, plus there is
no $13.99 shipping charge to swallow. You have to swallow the
California sales tax in either case.
But, should you find a Shuttle SH67 on NewEgg as an "open box" unit
(i.e., "returned"), then you can save a LOT of $$$, as I did.
PH
For best WiFi performance in a single antenna system (the Shuttle
SH67's case has provisions for THREE antennas), the antenna cable
should be connected to the terminal which is designated 2, not the one
which is designated 1 (there is no third terminal, anyway, on these
Broadcom cards).
However ...
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CONNECT THE CABLE TO THE CARD WITH POWER APPLIED TO
THE SYSTEM.
For, right next to the terminal which is designated 2, there is an IC
on the motherboard and should you fail to make a secure connection and
slip, the cable end, which is gold-plated, will more than likely
contact the IC and this will cause a power surge and shut down the
machine, or worse.
Indeed, it is probably best to make the antenna cable connection
BEFORE the PCI-e module is mounted to the mobo, OR a short length of
PVC electrical tape may be applied over the IC in order to insulate
it.
Should you want to try a two antenna installation, you will require
two cable kits and two antennas. The cable kits sold on eBay are
usually too short, but at least one eBay vendor is selling 12" long
(30 cm) cables at no extra charge.
While I haven't done all the measurements, I would estimate that one
12" cable (for terminal 2) and one 10" cable (for terminal 1) would
probably work in a two antenna installation.
I am quite pleased that the Shuttle SH67 system includes the provision
for a mobo-mounted mini-PCI-e WiFi card as this saves the backpanel-
mounted PCI-e 1x slot for either a Firewire card or a dual SATA III
card for supporting external RAID or JBOD drives using a port
multiplier (Rosewill, and several others).
Port multiplier chips are actually one-in/five-out, as made by Silicon
Image and there are indeed some one-to-five RAID/JBOD cases out there,
but using the very same hardware a one-to-four case is more often
found, with the fifth port being internally terminated so it cannot be
used. The one-to-four solution saves space and power. Also cooling.
Now, if I could only find a solution for the presently unusable two
ASMedia USB 3.0 chips (two ports on the back and two ports on the
front) in the SH67!
PH
The second 12" (30 cm) internal WiFi cable arrived from HK today.
Alas, the punch-outs on the Shuttle are "D" shaped, not round, so I
will have to ream those two openings to make them round (there is a
provision for a third, say, for an Atheros WiFi card, but that third
would require a 14" cable and those are nearly impossible to find).
I'll probably use one of those stepped drills which are more-or-less
"D" shaped in order to remove a bit of metal from the case ... just
enough to allow the R-RMA connector to pass through. I'll probably do
this by hand and not by machine (a drill press, in my case).
With the Broadcom 4322/94322 WiFi chip connected to two antennas, I
should have excellent reception on all channels (1-11, anyway; I
usually use 1 as no-one else in my area seems to use it) and in all
modes (my router supports b and g, but I have a second one which
supports b, g and n; I am anxious to try n).
So much for the Shuttle SH67H3.
No news on ASMedia USB 3.0 chip support. Also no news on ALC888
support (probably on account of the presence of the HDAU codec).
I have ordered a PCI-e 1x 4-port USB 3.0 card. VLI VL800 chip set (the
similar VL801 chip set supports only two ports).
Hopefully, that might prove to be compatible with the PXHCD driver,
which is known to work with NEC/Renesas and Etron chip sets.
Only $15, shipped, from HK (of course).
PH
Shuttle supplies three "D" shaped knock-outs for WiFi antennas. Only
two are needed for Broadcom WiFi cards. My Broadcom card is a full-
sized 4322 (AirDrop-compatible). (Three antennas are supported by
certain Atheros WiFi cards, but I have seen no objective evidence
which proves two antennas are better than two).
The antenna connections are through 12" (30 cm) long cables, obtained
from one of the "usual suspects" in HK.
In order to mount these, the "D" shape has to be changed to an "O"
shape, or at least the flattened portion of the "D" has to be
relieved, somewhat.
It was easiest to use a "Uni-Bit", which is a multi-diameter sheet
metal drill which is nearly fully circular, but which has a relieved
portion and which forms the functional part of the drill.
Holding the "Uni-Bit" in a battery-powered drill, but with the battery
removed, the "Uni-Bit" was placed so that just the functional part of
the drill just contacted the flattened portion of the "D" and the
chuck was turned manually through about 45 degrees, thereby removing
most of the offending portion of the "D". Took all of about two
seconds to accomplish.
Although the R-SMA connectors are metric, a common 5/8" nut driver
proved to be suitable to tighten the nut. DO NOT OVER-TIGHTEN!
The two 12" (30 cm) internal cables are long enough to clear both the
PCI-e 16x and the PCI-e 1x expansion slots and also to avoid the built-
in fan of the 8400GS video card.