Dell Inspiron Mini 9 ? Options

[Type11]

yeah it is just an hfs partition marked EFI. However I thought with the way it is doing the stage 0 and stage 1 boot loader you had to use the dd method to get the bootloader onto the partition versus chameleon installing the boot file to it? I guess they are just both binary boot files so maybe it doesn't matter. Also how does chameleon know to point to disk0s1 and not disk0s2 for its boot file? Is it that smart based on where you install it?

yep ran into that with coolbook he claims that different distros use different serial numbers etc HOWEVER I have done the same distro several times and still had it think it was a different registration. I am not using my reset until i get it 100% stable hopefully with sleep working. I asked him just about like 30 bucks for a site license etc but no dice.

[darkten]

yeah it is just an hfs partition marked EFI. However I thought with the way it is doing the stage 0 and stage 1 boot loader you had to use the dd method to get the bootloader onto the partition versus chameleon installing the boot file to it? I guess they are just both binary boot files so maybe it doesn't matter. Also how does chameleon know to point to disk0s1 and not disk0s2 for its boot file? Is it that smart based on where you install it?

I over-simplified a bit here...

Basically, with all of these bootloaders, which are modded versions of apple's code, you can pass boot params to the kernel via the boot plist. What I was doing was telling it the root device's UUID so that after it loaded the intial driver set, it could pick up the boot process from there.

Again, this is "advanced" stuff to say the least, far outside of the scope, or really, need of most users on a platform such as the mini9, as it is fairly close to the Intel reference, anyway.

When I get time/get around to it, I'd personally like to learn what, if any of the kexts we're using are even *modified* at all, outside of the ever-important dsmos and the CPUDisabler I'm pretty sure the mini is using stock stuff.

[Type11]

do you get KP on reboot or shutdown when mini9 is off power and on battery? i seem to get them about every 3rd time.

[aerolith]

just checking in on this, my mini9 is on order (i got it because of this thread -- thanks for all the effort thus far guys)

I haven't been able to find any documentation of the SD chipset, but my suspicion based on your mention of J-micron is that its a jmb835 (same as in the wind--which is also unsupported as far as i know)

but it explains it not showing up on usb probe as its a pci-e device.

has anyone tried booting with an SD card in the device prior to power on? I know that CF is basically just onboard pata controller, but i don't know if SD is similar...

[UnaClocker]

My hope, is that when the Linux version of the Mini9 finally ships, it comes with an open source driver for the JMicron SD slot. If that's the case, it's possible someone will be able to port that driver to OSX.. That, or I hope the Linux version comes with a completely different SD slot.. One that DOES work in OSX.. But I find that even less likely..

[darkten]

Hi everyone!

After a lot of work, a lot of tests, a lot of tweaking and a lot of cdrs...we have the Mini9-132-EZ iso.

As mentioned before, this is a boot-132/Chameleon CD hand tuned for our Mini 9's to make retail Leo installs as clean, easy and painless as possible.

So clean that with the exception of a single kext, none of the files in Apple-Land are touch or modified in any way.

Here is how it works:

Step 1: Download the iso. You can get it here:Mini9-132EZ

Step 2: Burn to cd. Boot your Mini 9 with this CD.

Step 3: At the boot: prompt, press the Return key, then swap out this CD for your retail leopard dvd

Step 4: The computer should ask for a boot device, and suggest one in brackets, likely [9f]. Press return. Your Leo dvd should be booting.

Step 5: Format your drive "as per usual" via Disk Utility. Install Mac OS X as you would normally.

Step 6: At the very end, the install will "fail". This is normal. Don't Panic. Reboot. Eject your Leo DVD and insert the Mini9 132 disc.

Step 7: When you boot up again, this time chose [80] as your boot device. Press Return, and you should see your MacOSX drive highlighted, and a new boot: prompt.

Step 8: This is very important. Type -f at this boot: prompt and press Return. It should look like this:

CODE

boot: -f

Step 9: Complete the Setup process, as per usual. We are nearly done!

Step 10: The Mini9 CD should be on the Desktop. Open it. You will find a Chameleon_DFE_for_HD-Mini9.dmg.zip file. Copy it off the CD, to say, the desktop, doesn't matter. Mount it, and install Chameleon. Do NOT add anything to the "Extras Content" folder...just install it as is.

Step 10a: If you'd like at this point, you can also copy off the ALC268_Installer1.zip and install that as well.

Step 11: Reboot your Mini 9. You may remove the CD, as you won't be booting from it anymore. Your system is now ready and done. and should boot with sound, wifi, Quartz Extreme accelerated graphics, etc. You're all set.

At this point, you can install 10.5.5, software updates, etc.

Please post any questions or issues here.

I'd like to thank everyone here, PeteRock for his insights, bertlmike for testing and putting up with the much harder, typing and term ridden Method A, motivating me to get this"done right"... and especially Type11 for digging thru tons of files and bad documentation, for helping me with this. Thanks also to Unaclocker for his insights, and to everyone that stopped past mini9osxftw to cheer us on

Let me know how this works for you.

-D10

[aimfire]

Darkten,

Awesome, thanks so much for everyone's hard work on this!

I've been lurking in here for a few days, lol, watching all the progress being made and silently cheering you guys on!
I have a Mini 9 "in production" at Dell right now, scheduled to arrive (hopefully) in 1-2 weeks. Being able to install OSX is the main reason why I ordered the Mini, and this just makes it so much easier now - thanks again all!

[mypup]

Great work guys, I'm still trying to digest all this (I am a noob to mac) I think it would be great (at least for me....lol) if there was an irc channel as even I can use that. I tried to use aim and couldn't figure that out. Guess I will really have a hard time trying to get this installed the proper way. From what I understand with this setup you could in theory dual boot? one os on 80 and another os on 81 (might have those numbers wrong). Another question I take it that I cannot use say the two dvd's that come with my new macbook? And Im not suppose to talk about torrents but if I needed one which one should I use? (for example Kalyway 10.5.1) Currently my mini is running the windosx86 version on a single formatted ext2 partition with GUID checked and custom unchecked fonts I tried it without all the patches and got the spinning wheel of death although it never did cross out the spinner but after about 20 minutes i figured I had to start over. I want to thank all of you for all the hard work and info that you have provided. I hope to eventually get it installed the correct way and have it play nice with the ssd. Last thing I need is to not set it up right and have to get another ssd.

[ѕӎѳѳҭңӌ]

From what I understand with this setup you could in theory dual boot? one os on 80 and another os on 81 (might have those numbers wrong).

In theory yes, but it would have to be from an external USB drive. This is because the numbers (80...) do not correspond to an OS but to a disk.

[Equaliser]

Darkten thanks for the instructions, unfortunately I cannot get past step 4 once I swap the disks over. The retail leopard dvd will not boot (I have 10.5 Leopard retail dvd). My Mini has BIOS A01 and my external USB dvd is a Pioneer DVR-115. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

an error eventually appears after 'Using default boot device 9f' that says 'EBIOS read error: Device timeout Block 0 Sectors64

edit: just got it working using a different dvd drive, there seems to be a delay then a message pops up asking you to press a key to boot.

[Type11]

My DVD reader gives that error as well a couple times and then boots. Any chances you have another drive to try?

Just a note for dual boot once you get the chameleon (efe) laoder on if you want to change boot disks from the default loader screen (which only shows main disks partitons) hit ESC and you can choose another disk like 81. I boot linux this way

Nice work darkten. Now we have EFI partiton and non-efi partition Boot123 working with retail disc, awesome! Now sleep and that card reader ;-)

[Equaliser]

Right, I have it nearly all working by following Darkten's instructions. No sound though. I tried installing the sound package twice to no avail. The only other issue/quirk is when I reboot I have to hit enter to load up OS X through the bootloader, is this normal?

[Type11]

You can change this in /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist if you use the efi partition you put it on /Volumes/EFI/com.apple.Boot.plist so it will not get deleted.

add
<key>Quiet Boot</key>
<string>Yes</string>

To set Darwin to boot from a particular partition:
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>rd=diskXsY</string>

for the internal drive this is
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>rd=disk0s2</string>

to get the darwin menu back you can hit ctrl when the machine boots

[Equaliser]

Got sound working after installing 10.5.5 combo updater. When rebooting it stuck a few times but by putting -f in the boot prompt all seems well again. Thanks once again guys, you have really pulled out all the stops on this one, it really is a quality release.

To anyone who is thinking about this - just do it! The speed of the Mini is amazing, it's much faster than my iBook G4 1.2GHz and really snappy. I ran Monolingual after updating all the apps to remove unwanted languages and the PowerPC binaries. I now have used 8.22GB with 5.81GB free. I also used the non-journalling file system when formatting the SSD. Every little helps!

[Elucid]

You guys are like GODS lol thanks
I really cant wait for my linux mini to come so i can install mac :D
I really cant wait so tempting
Thank you guys for making it simple as much as possible

[Type11]

Just a note repairing your permissions a couple times seems to make shutdown on battery more reliable, go figure...

[aerolith]

My hope, is that when the Linux version of the Mini9 finally ships, it comes with an open source driver for the JMicron SD slot. If that's the case, it's possible someone will be able to port that driver to OSX.. That, or I hope the Linux version comes with a completely different SD slot.. One that DOES work in OSX.. But I find that even less likely..

i'm pretty sure it works on stock ubuntu from my cursory googling so theoretically its out there.

i realize suspend is the larger issue here, but i figured i'd try to chip in what little i can.

[iphone529]

Can some that has ALREADY used this method successfully note which things work, and which do not, for instance sleep, All usb ports, SD card reader, Video out, wifi, ichat, sound, headphone port, etc...

[darkten]

Can some that has ALREADY used this method successfully note which things work, and which do not, for instance sleep, All usb ports, SD card reader, Video out, wifi, ichat, sound, headphone port, etc...

Heh.

We seem to keep going over this, so...

Here is what DOES NOT work, with a bit of detail:

1. Card Reader: Just isn't there; doesn't work. Not seen by OS X in any way, no driver.
Apple hardware doesn't have built in card readers. Never even missed it.

2. Wake from sleep from SSD: Upon waking from sleep, the SSD doesn't seem to turn back on, causing the system to hang.

As far as I know and have tested, these are the things that do not work. I don't know about video out as I have no external display.

Everything else you mentioned up there works. As far as the audio out, on the Mini 9 the speakers and the headphone jack are discreet outputs; both work.

-D10

[iphone529]

Thanks, Sorry, i didnt feel like reading 300 posts.