SOLVED Nvidia GT 120 (Tesla) drivers on Monterey

[NerdyName]

Hi all,

I have a working iMac9,1 with 8GB of RAM and a (new) SSD. It was on the latest supported version (10.13.x), but, as I could not browse the Internet nor install Firefox (requires 10.15+), I updated it to Monterey using OCLP (v1.5.0 - post-install updated to 2.0.0 today). It is now working and I can (safely) browse the Internet.
However, I want to play 2D games (Don't Starve, Terraria, Mindustry, ...) on it, and currently the performances are very poor (3-10 FPS, some do not even launch).

My guess is that GPU acceleration is not available/enabled, as said on this thread.
However, I want to know if someone managed to get GPU acceleration to work for the GT 120. Will it work if I install the official Nvidia driver ? Is there any alternative to make it works ?

 

[EliteMacx86]

Hi all,

I have a working iMac9,1 with 8GB of RAM and a (new) SSD. It was on the latest supported version (10.13.x), but, as I could not browse the Internet nor install Firefox (requires 10.15+), I updated it to Monterey using OCLP (v1.5.0 - post-install updated to 2.0.0 today). It is now working and I can (safely) browse the Internet.
However, I want to play 2D games (Don't Starve, Terraria, Mindustry, ...) on it, and currently the performances are very poor (3-10 FPS, some do not even launch).

My guess is that GPU acceleration is not available/enabled, as said on this thread.
However, I want to know if someone managed to get GPU acceleration to work for the GT 120. Will it work if I install the official Nvidia driver ? Is there any alternative to make it works ?

Once you run post install using OCLP, you should be able to get the acceleration. Also, what macOS version are you running?

 

[NerdyName]

How should I be able to get the acceleration ?
I am running the latest Monterey 12.7.6.

 

[EliteMacx86]

How should I be able to get the acceleration ?
I am running the latest Monterey 12.7.6.

Open OCLP and run post install root patch and reboot. That's it!

Some caveat might be present. Attach a video of the issue.

 

[NerdyName]

I did patch post-installation, but the performances were really bad. I think OCLP only includes Kepler drivers (and not Tesla, i.e the GT 120 drivers).

I managed to unpack the official Nvidia WebDriver and to copy the .kext files in /Library/Extensions with success. I improved the performances by about 10 FPS.
However, I cannot copy the .bundle files under /System/Library/Extensions as it's write-protected. Is there an easy way to do so ? I tried to disable SIP and to copy the files, but they got removed by the system. I think I fell into a rabbit hole.

 

[EliteMacx86]

I did patch post-installation, but the performances were really bad. I think OCLP only includes Kepler drivers (and not Tesla, i.e the GT 120 drivers).

I managed to unpack the official Nvidia WebDriver and to copy the .kext files in /Library/Extensions with success. I improved the performances by about 10 FPS.
However, I cannot copy the .bundle files under /System/Library/Extensions as it's write-protected. Is there an easy way to do so ? I tried to disable SIP and to copy the files, but they got removed by the system. I think I fell into a rabbit hole.

Provide a quick video of the Desktop showing About This Mac>Graphics and Displays.

 

[NerdyName]

I completely reinstalled Monterey with OCLP v2.0.1, which now includes Tesla drivers (by following their tutorial : so build and install + post-install root patches).
However, the performances are still bad. Any idea ?

You'll find the video attached.

 

[EliteMacx86]

I completely reinstalled Monterey with OCLP v2.0.1, which now includes Tesla drivers (by following their tutorial : so build and install + post-install root patches).
However, the performances are still bad. Any idea ?

You'll find the video attached.

How are you measuring the performance exactly? It can be seen that the mouse cursor is laggy.

 

[NerdyName]

How are you measuring the performance exactly? It can be seen that the mouse cursor is laggy.

Two ways : FPS and feelings.
I enabled the FPS counter on Steam. For example, I get 15-25 FPS on Starbound.
The UI are slow and the mouse is laggy as you said.

 

[EliteMacx86]

Two ways : FPS and feelings.
I enabled the FPS counter on Steam. For example, I get 15-25 FPS on Starbound.
The UI are slow and the mouse is laggy as you said.

GT120 is such an old card and i don't think it can give 60 FPS.

For the mouse cursor lag, are you using an Apple Keyboard/Mouse? Either the case, the connectivity is wired or wireless? If wireless, using a Dongle or Bluetooth?