Video card not detected

RJ
Posted By
Rohlfing_Jeff
Dec 22, 2008
Views
541
Replies
12
Status
Closed
I have a late 2007 MacBook Pro with the 8600M GT 128MB GPU. According to every list, this card should be supported, but the option to enable acceleration is non-existent. It doesn’t even tell me what video card I have installed, it is just a grey box.

Does anyone have any suggestions?
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R
Ram
Dec 22, 2008
According to every list, this card should be supported,

How can that be? You yourself write it has 128MB of VRAM. The minimum requirement is 256MB.
RJ
Rohlfing_Jeff
Dec 22, 2008
According to:http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId =kb404898

Introduction to the GPU

Photoshop CS4 leverages the graphics display card’s GPU, instead of the computer’s main processor (the CPU) to speed its screen redraw. For Photoshop to access the GPU, your display card must contain a GPU that supports OpenGL and has enough RAM to support Photoshop functions–at least 128 MB of RAM–and a display driver that supports OpenGL 2.0 and Shader Model 3.0.

??? I have 128MB. I should at least be able to get basic functionality.
R
Ram
Dec 22, 2008
The ONLY card with 128MB of VRAM I can see in the list of supported cards is the one in the iMac. The listing for the 8600 card specifically mentions 512MB.

MAC OS GRAPHICS DISPLAY CARDS

We tested the below cards on Mac OS 10.5.4 and 10.4.11.

The following cards were tested only on Mac OS 10.5.4: 8800GT, iMac 8800 GS, and 8600M.

MACTEL iMac 8800 GS 512 MB
MACTEL 8800 GT 512 MB
MACTEL Radeon x1900 512MB
MACTEL nVidia Quadrofx 4500 512MB
MACTEL nVidia 8600M 256MB
PPC nVidia 7800 256MB
MACTEL ATI HD 2600 MAC 256MB
17" MACTEL iMac x1600 128MB
Macbook Air intel GMA X3100

Note: Due to technical issues we enable OpenGL for the 7300GT, but we had to disable Advanced Drawing and 3D Acceleration.
RJ
Rohlfing_Jeff
Dec 22, 2008
Either way, the documentation is confusing. My card has the required features, it is low on video memory. Is there a way to make this work? Older cards with the same amount of memory (ie x1600) work, and even the X3100!!!
R
Ram
Dec 22, 2008
the documentation is confusing

Agreed, no argument there.

Is there a way to make this work?

You might try the "AllowOldGPUS.plugin", but be advised that Adobe engineers have warned that "you do so at your own (great) risk" (their words) and that you could see smoke come out of your machine in the worst scenario. :/
AS
Ann_Shelbourne
Dec 22, 2008
Something very curious about that "AllowOldGPUS.plugin":

My 7800GT would not allow the use of Advanced Drawing to begin with, so I used the "AllowOldGPUS.plugin":

At some point I disabled the plug-in because I was testing something and must have forgotten to re-enable it.

The extraordinary thing is that CS4 apparently no longer needs the plug-in because the 7800 is now recognized, and Advanced Drawing remains enabled, without the plug-in!

I would most interested to hear Chris Cox’s comments on THAT one!
R
Ram
Dec 22, 2008
A hit–and–run plug-in! 🙂
RJ
Rohlfing_Jeff
Dec 22, 2008
haha. I tried that plugin, but I can’t tell if its even installed. The card still doesn’t show up.
AS
Ann_Shelbourne
Dec 22, 2008
Then that would probably indicate that 125MB of VRAM is indeed insufficient for running OpenGL on your computer.
B
Buko
Dec 23, 2008
My 7800GT would not allow the use of Advanced Drawing to begin with, so I used the "AllowOldGPUS.plugin":

reading the KB article on the requirements I noticed that you need 512MB for the advanced drawing. That’s why we need the plugin. I’m not sure why its still working. I’ll have to give it a try.
B
Buko
Dec 23, 2008
Then that would probably indicate that 125MB of VRAM is indeed insufficient for running OpenGL on your computer.

yes my original card only had 128MB it did not work.
AS
Ann_Shelbourne
Dec 23, 2008
I’m not sure why its still working.

I was totally amazed to find that it was too.

I can only surmise that the plug-in works like a double-shot of Espresso for breakfast to get things up and running.

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