Mac OS 10.5.3/10.5.4 nvidia 256 Colors Driver Fix

I can't take credit for the idea, I found a poorly translated blog post that explains it. He found the fix on the MacRumors forum. Anyway, lets start from the facts.

Problem:

Mac OS 10.5.3 nvidia video card drivers no longer support 256 colors mode, and 10.5.4 didn't fix it. This means that all your old favorites no longer work, namely Diablo 2 and Starcraft (Both games by Blizzard).

Fix:

Revert to 10.5.2 Drivers. Seems simple, eh?

Unfortunately most people don't have a second computer sitting around that they haven't upgraded yet. So the key is to find a legal free download. Thankfully Apple still has the Leopard Graphics Update 1.0 available. And to get into those compressed files without actually installing it (since it probably wont install on a 10.5.3+ OS anyway) you have to run a piece of shareware called Pacifist that lets you view the files to be installed by a package.

WARNING: If you have 10.5.5 already DO NOT USE THIS PATCH. It will cause your computer to fail to boot.
10.5.5 Fixes 256 color mode for Mac Pros and MacBook Pros with nVidia cards, but not MacBooks or MacBook Airs with intel cards.
If you have a MacBook or MacBook Air, in order to get 256 color mode you must be using these 10.5.2 drivers on 10.5.4 or lower.
NOTE: Starcraft now works in thousands of colors.

My Contribution:

I didn't want to re-explain the process for non power users. So I've extracted the nvidia drivers and created a double click package that backs up your current drivers and reverts to the 10.5.2 ones.
Download (Version #4 - 22.4mb compressed dmg):
mediafire.com mirror
(1000+ downloads of the latest version as of 7/13/08)
(6100+ downloads of the latest version as of 10/1/08)

Yay! Have fun re-living your Diablo 2 days waiting for Diablo 3 to come out!

To Restore:

To revert to your backed up drivers just run the installer again! It should say uninstall on the customize page.

Manual Restore:

If the above doesn't work you can try the following in Terminal:

sudo chown -R 0:0 "/System/Library/Extensions Backup"
sudo cp -r "/System/Library/Extensions Backup"/* /System/Library/Extensions/

Drivers in this Package:

AppleIntelGMA950.kext
AppleIntelGMA950GA.plugin
AppleIntelGMA950GLDriver.bundle
AppleIntelGMA950VADriver.bundle
AppleIntelGMAX3100FB.kext
AppleIntelGMAX3100GA.plugin
AppleIntelGMAX3100GLDriver.bundle
AppleIntelGMAX3100VADriver.bundle
AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer.kext
NVDANV50Hal.kext
NVDANV40Hal.kext
NVDANV30Hal.kext
NVDANV20Hal.kext
NVDANV10Hal.kext
NVDAResman.kext
GeForce.kext
GeForce2MXGLDriver.bundle
GeForce3GLDriver.bundle
GeForce7xxxGLDriver.bundle
GeForce8xxxGLDriver.bundle
GeForceFXGLDriver.bundle
GeForceGA.plugin
GeForceVADriver.bundle

Update Version #1 (7/3/08):

- If you get a prescript error then you probably didn't have all the drivers that it tried to backup. Either that or you were running it a second time and the drivers were already moved.
- If you get a postscript error then it failed to set the permissions after installing the files. I'm not sure what would cause this yet.

Update Version #2 (7/3/08):

-The prescript is a bit more robust now and checks for the existence of files before trying to move them.
-The postscript has been removed. The installer should now handle the permissions itself.
-If the backup files exist on your hard drive the installer will only allow you to uninstall, at which point it will restore them and remove the backups.

Update (7/3/08):

-My server couldn't handle all the downloads so I've mirrored the file on mediafire.com

Update Version #3 (7/4/08):

-I added the drivers for the Apple Intel integrated cards, 950 and X1300 series.
-I also contained the pkg in an apple dmg, which compresses a bit better than zip.
-I'm not sure why so many people aren't getting the files installed. The installer is supposed to handle that part, and I have reports that it does work on more than just my machine. Worse comes to worse you can at least run the uninstaller, since the scripts seem to work for everyone.

Update Version #4 (7/4/08):

-I was finally able to duplicate the problem of the scripts running the files not being installed. I believe it is a limitation of PackageMaker that it doesn't want to let it install into system folders.
-So I've made a new package (version 4) that backs up your files (prescript), installs the new files into the /tmp/Extensions directory, moves the files to the correct location and then deletes the temp files (postscript).
-Hopefully this solves the problem. I was able to fully revert to my 10.5.4 files and then run the package backwards and forwards without problems. Hopefully you all will have the same results this time.

</SCHOOL><REAL-LIFE>

Short Version:
I graduated from college, got a car, got a job, got my own apartment and can now start my real life.

Long Version:

School
I now have my Information & Computer Science bachelors degree from UC Irvine. It took me 5 long years, but I had some fun doing it. Only in the last year did it really start to drag on; I had done most of the classes I wanted to take and was just taking ones left required for the major. But now that's behind me. I passed all my math classes, had fun programming, learned a lot of Java, took some cool Human Computer Interaction classes, made a cell phone game, wrote a web app collaboration center from scratch, sang in the choir, went to some parties, made a couple friends and met my girl friend Niki (dating nearly 2 years now). I'd say it was definitely worth it.

A lot of people wish they'd majored in something else or still don't know what they enjoy doing after they get out, but I think I've got a pretty good idea. I enjoy programming and I enjoy designing user interfaces that are intuitive and make user manuals unnecessary. To that end I've done a lot of web design and web application development, but I'm hoping at some point in the future I'll get a chance to do some strait application development. On the other hand I love that the web is cross platform and can be used on a multitude of platforms. Plus there's a lot of cool new developments that make web coding more versatile and standardized.

Work
So I've been working for Administrative Computing Services, one of the computer departments at UCI, part time since Sept 2007. They had originally told me they could probably find a place for me after I graduated. I also applied to my three favorite companies as mentioned before, but no one else seemed interested in me. I had interviews but no offers. Then as I was nearing graduation I was told that UCI had a highering freeze on new positions until the next budget was made and that they weren't going to be able to hire me. So I sent out a bunch of new apps with nothing comign of it.

Finally, the week of my graduation, my friend Alex told me his friend was CEO of CenterCode, a small company that did web apps and beta testing. They were looking for a web tools programmer. So I applied with them and had a great interview. It looked like he was gonna hire me and then I got an offer from AdComm! I was pretty surprised that they had gotten me a spot. Apparently they got the VP of UCI to sign off on it to push it through the hiring freeze! So I told CenterCode and they said they would have probably made an offer, but it would have been for about $10k less than AdComm was offering. He recommended I take the one at AdComm. So I did! I 'start' July first.

Apartment
I've got a great apartment in Alisa Viejo, but you'll have to wait for more on that. Hopefully I'll have pictures soon!

You have a 'Go' for graduation.

Finally, another chapter of my life comes to a close. After five years at UCI I'm finally graduating (provided I pass my last math class). No one will know what the 'I' in ICS means in my degree, but at least I will know that it meant 5 years instead of 3.

Now I (try to) enter the work force, mostly mental exertion I'm betting. Everyone say's I've been limitting my job search too much, and that's probably true. I applied to Apple and Google and Blizzard. I would love to work at any one of them. I also applied at the two computer agencies at UCI, which would be both familiar and convenient.

The few phone interviews with Apple didn't go quite as planned. One didn't call me back and the other I blanked out on the 2nd technical interview and sounded like a unix nub.
Google never called.
Blizzard finally got back to me less than a month before graduation (many months after applying) for a web app dev position. I'd love to take that one, still waiting for a call back after the phone interview.
I went through the whole interview process at UCI, but it's been almost 2 weeks and I haven't heard back.

So I'm still looking, hoping for a 'real' career. Web apps or user interface design would be right up my ally. Lease is up June 30th. I'll be continuing work at Administrative Computing Services at UCI until then (working on the staff web portal, SNAP).

So between now and the 30th I need to have confirmation of a job and find a new apartment or else I'll be moving back home for a while. As much as I love my parents, it kind of feels like failure to have to go home after they put so much into my education.

Apple's just releasing a myriad of web apps and a ton of new iPhone upgrades, and the rest of the world is web app crazy. I didn't think I'd have trouble finding a place to do that. I'm really hoping to avoid startups. The failure rate is just too high. I need some consistent cash flow and some real experience before I would want to throw my fate in with a new company. I'd really like to be somewhere recognizable. For some reason I feel it's important to be able to tell people what I do, where, without getting blank stares.

My dreams for the future:
- Job
- My own apartment (my own room for the first time ever!)
- iPhone3G
- Nissan 350z (or 2009 370z)
- Niki