Hey all,
 
Installed Windows 7 HOme Premium x64 on my 2008 Mac Pro (8 core with GTX 285 for mac) using bootcamp, and all went well. Being that I wanted to do some gaming in Windows, I downloaded and installed the latest nvidia drivers, and ended up with a black screen after installation. No cursor, no nothing - just a black screen. On reboot, the boot sequence is normal, I get the Windows splash animation screen, but then the same black screen in Windows (before the login screen even comes up).
 
I was able to restore my system to the drivers installed by boot camp (or windows not sure where it came from) and it works, but the driver is several years old and the latest games aren't supported.
 
Does anyone know if the drivers are the problem? Is this card suppported by the latest nvidia drivers? Am I stuck with the old ones on this card?
 
Thanks for any info.
 
Scott

I have the exact same issue....
 
 
I just installed a GTX 285 for Mac into my Mac Pro, with the latest Lion, and boot camp with Windows 7 all 64 bit.
 
When I let windows install a driver update, it made my display go black!  I hate to shut it down by pressing and holding there power button, as I know it is bad for the HD...
 
Does anyone know if EVGA will release drivers to make this compatible anytime zoo, with Windows 7, 64 bit, on Lion 10.7.1 also 64 bit?
 
Seems rather strange they would not six the driver problem by now?
 
Thanks for any insight in advance.   
 
I read I should uninstall the video driver in safe mode and reinstall the boot camp driver and not let it update till a working version exists, can anyone comment on this by chance?
 
Cheers,
 
 

Hey kkanuck! In my testing, I figured out it is the driver. For whatever reason the Mac gtx 285 card doesn't work in Windows with new drivers. I have tried multiple resolutions, monitors, configurations, etc. Nothing worked. Black screen on any newer version of nvidia drivers than what came with my Windows 7 install (SP1). I also tried various "tweaked" drivers like gamers make and use - all with the same results. I also installed my older 8800GT, and it works fine with old and new drivers - so it appears it is specific to the gtx 285 (for mac) in Win7. A shame, as I know it makes a decent gaming card ;)

Hi Scott,
 
Thanks for your input.  Did you manage to install an older driver and make it work?
I also have an EVGA GT120 that I removed, if I reinstall this beside the GTX 285 can I just pull the display cable from the GTX 285 and slap it on the GT 120 when I go over to Windows and it would work?  
 
Have you heard at all if there will be a fix, or if Windows 8 may fix this in the future?
 
One last question, when I first installed the GTX 285, I had it crash on the Lion side too, the screen went grey, not black, and it was after watching a movie. I also had to power it dow to reboot.....is there any other way to reset the computer if the video card crashes or only by power down method which is damaging to the HD?
 
Thanks Again.

I ended up giving up entirely as it wasn't worth the hassle (I have an actual PC I built but it is often in use - this was just a backup). But doing a system restore (in safe mode) back to before you did the update should work. You'd then just have to tell it to let you choose your updates so you never upgrade the driver. That's a bummer because the drivers improve.
 
Assuming the drivers work with the GT120, that method should work just fine.
 
No word of a fix - you're really the first person who has confirmed the problem (here and at the apple forums). Not really a popular one I don't think. I doubt there's a fix coming for such an old card that not many people have.
 
Not sure about the Lion thing (I'm in no hurry to upgrade from Snow Leopard). If you have an iphone or ipad (or maybe android) you might be able to use an app like "remote HD" to control your mac over your network and shut down that way -- I know how you feel I hate forcing shutdown (my RAIDS hate it most it seems).

UPDATE!!!!!
Thanks to some peeps at the apple discussion forums I was able to resolve this.
Short version is install with nothing connected to the 285 (or only 1 monitor if you only have 1 gpu) and do updates etc, then shut down, attach second monitor, and reboot. Worked several times with clean installs.
 
Here's the full thread:
hxxxs://discussions.apple.com/message/16001137#16001137
Hope this helps someone like it did me!!!