Post subject: Re: Does OSX Have a BIOS? Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:21 pm
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What would you want to do in said BIOS? Whatever you want is probably in the System Preferences.
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Post subject: Re: Does OSX Have a BIOS? Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:40 pm
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Location It depends. Which one of me are we talking about?
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Sorry tohaaaa I don't know and I couldn't find any thing on how to overclock a mac using Google.
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Post subject: Re: Does OSX Have a BIOS? Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:41 pm
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BIOS's have nothing to do with an operating system - so just like Windows, Linux, and every other OS in the world don't "have" a BIOS, neither does OS X. What you probably mean to ask is whether or not Mac's have BIOS's - in which case no, they don't. PPC Macs have what's called "OpenFirmware" while Intel Macs use EFI.
Post subject: Re: Does OSX Have a BIOS? Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:27 pm
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Well if you want to overclock, I first off, wouldn't recommend it and second, there are programs which will ask you for your password and let you control variables that you would like to overclock. The BIOS however is a feature that comes on the motherboard and not the system it self. PCs without a HDD have a functional BIOS.
Post subject: Re: Does OSX Have a BIOS? Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 12:30 am
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The BIOS is a specific type of Firmware. Macs (not Mac OS X) have a firmware called EFI. EFI was initially created by Intel for the IA64 (Itanium) architecture. It is considered the next generation firmware also for 32 and 64 bit x86 architectures, though most non-Apple implementations are built around version 2.0 of the EFI specification (now known as UEFI). EFI provides a lot of advantages compared to the BIOS, that can be found by seeing the wikipedia page.
Regarding the BIOS in Macs, there is also such a thing, but differently implemented. There is a CSM (Compatibility Support Module), which is a special kind of payload (EFI application if you want) which emulates a system BIOS and a video BIOS for legacy operating systems. While technically not accurate, you can think of it as a mini-VMWare running in EFI mode. So, especially for Windows XP, 2003 and 32-bit Vista and 7 you have an emulated BIOS.
Since Apple computers implement a mix between UEFI 2.0 and EFI 1.1, they are not compatible with Windows 7 in UEFI mode. Windows 7 and Windows Vista SP1+ require a UEFI 2.0 compliant system to run in UEFI mode. Thus, on Apple computers, the EFI is useless in Windows and only the CSM is used. However some other vendors have UEFI 2.0 compliant systems (just not Apple compatible out of the box).
Getting back to the purpose of your question regarding over clocking and fine-tuning. The Mac EFI allows you to customize it by two ways:
Write an EFI application that does exactly what you want (over clocking or others). Not something that most people might consider the first option though.
Using the NVRAM from the OS. The Mac EFI allows you to change a few variables, as follows (mid-2010 mbp):
efi-boot-device (the default boot device)
efi-boot-device-data (parameters for above)
gpu-policy (the implicit settings for switching between integrated and discrete video card)
BootCampHD (what partition is to be used for the CSM)
SystemAudioVolume (what audio volume was last setup in the OS, so that the startup sound doesn't blow the roof off)
prev-lang:kbd (What language is the keyboard in)
And probably a few others.
In conclusion, it's highly unlikely that you can over clock using EFI. Though there are a few Mac applications that allow you to manage the CPU and FAN speed. The Mac doesn't use a BIOS, it has an EFI firmware, however it emulates a very basic BIOS.
Post subject: Re: Does OSX Have a BIOS? Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 7:45 pm
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tohaaaa wrote:
WHat Apps are these?
cant remember the apps name but the are many, try google. I am sorry at the moment i working with 7850 and have no hazard hackingtosh installed at the moment. I am without snow leopard at the moment. I have modified the efi string for my graphics card and for me I see altering the efi quite complex and easy to get the panic screen
Post subject: Re: Does OSX Have a BIOS? Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:02 pm
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looking at the kind of questions you're asking here, it seems you have no idea what you're talking about, therefore please forget about overclocking...
Post subject: Re: Does OSX Have a BIOS? Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 11:19 pm
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orsg wrote:
looking at the kind of questions you're asking here, it seems you have no idea what you're talking about, therefore please forget about overclocking...
Hey we all forget apps sometimes. I have a friend who had been working with a simulation program for over 5 years and I asked him what it was and he couldn't remember for a couple hours. We all forget. That's the beauty of the human brain.
Post subject: Re: Does OSX Have a BIOS? Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 11:39 pm
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Overclocking a Mac is possible but it is much harder then in a PC. Now I am almost always against people who tell you to stop, but if you have no clue what you are doing, I suggest you don't try it because overclocking involves changing various variables that can burn out your CPU, GPU, and other peripherals needed by the computer.
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