[UPDATED: 31 August 2009]

Since you're reading this, it is an assumption that you've somehow read about boot-132 (by dfe) and chameleon and hopefully all other members of the osx86 community who have dedicated their time & knowledge to make this happen: run Retail (vanilla) Mac OS X Leopard in non-Mac computers and get updates direct from Apple website. The advantage of this is that EFI-strings (i.e. for graphics/video, audio, lan, boot parameters, etc.) can be loaded on boot w/out touching the original/vanilla com.apple.Boot.plist.

roisoft brought this method right in my doorstep and I'm just here to share my experience using it and experimenting around it.

Pre-requisite is a working boot-132 disc loader which has been discussed in the original thread by f41qu3. You may visit this thread to check some boot-132 iso(s) and add yours to the collection. You can also use my Boot-132 DiscMaker.

Now let's get started preparing a Boot-132-Chameleon w/ EFI-strings Loader to "power up" a Retail Mac OS X Leopard install.

1. Buy a retail copy of Mac OS X Leopard DVD Installer.

Install Retail Leopard for the 1st time:

2. Boot with your Boot-132-Disc loader. At prompt, press [ENTER] then remove Boot-132-Disc and put in the Retail Leopard DVD Installer. Wait until LED light of your optical drive stops blinking then press [ENTER]. Press [ENTER] again at prompt. Wait for a while.

3. After the "installation language" window, open Disk Utility.

4. Make at least two (2) [Mac OS Extended (Journaled)] partitions. One for our MacLoader (only about 200MB or less) and then one for the retail Leopard install. DO NOT use space(s) for the names of these two partitions.

5. Close Disk Utility then proceed with the installation.

6. After completing installation, restart/reboot with your Boot-132-Disc.

7. At prompt, press [ENTER] then type "80" (for the 1st HDD, "81" for the 2nd HDD, and so on) then press [ENTER]. Select the partition where you installed retail Leopard then press [ENTER].

8. You should now be booting to your newly installed retail Mac OS X Leopard. Fill-up all required forms then you'll get to your Leopard desktop.

Setting-up the MacLoader:

9. Download this MacLoader (already inclusive of Chameleon-2.0-RC2-r640.pkg) then unzip.

10. Open the MacLoader folder from step 9 then put inside the "KEXTs" folder all extra kexts from your Boot-132-Disc.

11. Still in the MacLoader folder, double-click macloader.command.

12. Enter your root password and follow succeeding prompts.

13. Reboot without your Boot-132-Disc in the optical drive. If all is well, you should be able to boot back to your Retail Leopard via MacLoader. If not, try rebooting your computer.

14. If you still can't boot to your retail Leopard, put back in your Boot-132-Disc and reboot your computer then review the steps you've taken.

15. Once you've successfully loaded your retail Leopard, install any necessary updates.

16. After installing every [critical i.e. (usually) the ones that need to restart your computer after install] update, open MacLoader folder from step 9 then double-click updater.command and follow prompts.

17. Restart your computer and enjoy your OSx86 (untouched) Leopard!


n.b.
To disable automount for the MacLoader, thus you will not see the partition in your desktop and make any unintentional edits, execute the following in Terminal:


You can still easily mount it back by using Disk Utility.

THX can really use this

sound great . and video of "how to" will be great also.. thanks for the hard work

Nice work Roisoft and great instructions MACinized.

Worked a treat for me.

Previously tried the hidden EFI partition method however having tried this method I think theres greater flexibibility and its easier to make changes.

Thanks both.

Nice guide MACiniced

Keep up the good work!

I want to thank everybody who made this possible and thank you MACinized for writing such a clear tutorial. I consider myself very experienced with computers, hardware and software (Win, Lin, whatever you name it) but I have a hard time trying to figure out tutorials that are written here because most of the writers expect that most of us have a fair amount of knowledge of and experience with everything the OSx86 scene has to offer (and that's a lot) and therefore are written like were all OSx86 veterans Thank you!

tnx for the comments guys.

would anyone confirm whether or not contents of /System/Library/Extensions and Extensions.mkext of a freshly installed leopard 10.5.5 are all the same across any computer?

coz if yes, i could image/clone a "generic" mac loader that can be restored to anyone's target partition and all that needs to be replaced is the uuid string & add any other necessary strings. and of course to set that partition active.

any advice?

I have the same mobo as you, an Intel DP35DP, and your ISOs are not working for me.

The USB one shows this when I reboot: "boot error"
And the CD version runs well, but when I switch the DVDs and put the Leopard retail DVD, I can't boot from it because the loader doesn't recognize my DVD drive (I can however boot from my first and second hard drives). I have an ASUS DVD SATA2.

Just in case I checked my BIOS settings and configured my SATA drives as IDE, but then the CD becomes not recognized showing a CRC error. When I switch the setting to AHCI again, it boots from the CD (but I'm stuck again in the DVD switching step).

It seems that Boot-132 is not working for this mobo... so I don't understand how you managed it. Could you explain please?

this is the boot-132 disc loader that i used. if u can't run your retail leopard dvd installer w/ it, then there must be something wrong w/ your leopard installer. make sure it is the RETAIL copy & not something else (i.e. "drop-in"/upgrade dvd or the hacked/modified ones).

if u can't make my usb-version work, better follow stickpin's guide or u can try this guide.

good luck.

My Leopard disk is the one I used to install in my MacBook, and it worked perfectly. But I think the problem is not the DVD itself, but the DVD drive detection. The original Boot-132 didn't recognize it either.

What DVD drive do you have? What ID appears when you have to switch the disks?

[fe] & it means i no longer need to type anything. just have to press [ENTER].


can u do a FRESH install to your macbook using your leopard dvd installer?

Yes I can, it's the original disk. But as I said, it's not because of the disk, but about the drive.
Do you have a SATA drive? And how do you configure your drives in BIOS? Native AHCI or Native IDE?

sata optical drive. sata is set to ahci.

After the 10.5.5 update installed, I can't get back into OS X at all. The hard drives go into standby after being on the grey apple logo screen for like 3 minutes.

I'm using a Q6600 CPU on a Gigabyte P35-DS3L Rev 2 board, 4GB of ram, 250 GB SATA drive, 8800 GT 512MB video card.

I followed these steps to the T. What could I be doing wrong?

Then I don't understand where is the problem...
Today I tested this method on another computer, and it worked perfectly. But in my computer, with the DP35DP mobo, it doesn't work. When I get to the "boot: " prompt waiting for the disk swap, I just put the original Leopard DVD, wait for the led to stop, and then press Enter twice. Nothing happens. The system will not even read the DVD. I press Enter and get another "boot: ", I press Enter again and get another "boot: ", and so on...

Using the original Boot-132 I'm getting identical results.

on 1st reboot after the 10.5.5 update, just give the grey apple bootscreen about 10mins. if after 10mins your still on that screen, forche shutdown your computer then reboot (w/ your boot-132 disc loader in the optical drive of course). if you're still stuck to the grey apple bootscreen, then there must be something missing w/ your boot-132 disc loader.


if you're still at it, re-download the boot-132 disc loader (for intel dp35dp) here.

Done. I erased my CD-RW with Disk Utility, and burned your new.iso

I restarted my PC, and when it boots the CD I get this:




And it gets refreshed each few seconds repeating those lines. If I press Enter I get yet another time the same. So, it doesn't work.

By the way, before I said that I was getting the 'boot: ' prompt each time. Well, what I intended to say is that I get the 'boot: ' prompt, then I swap the CD for the Leopard DVD and press Enter, and I get the [fe] line, I press Enter again and I get again 'boot: '. I press Enter and I get the [fe] line, enter again and 'boot: '.... and so on. This happens with your modified iso, the original one, and Kabil.

I have DP35DP, SATA2 DVD drive and Intel Core 2 Duo.

weird. don't have any idea why it won't work on your dp35dp.

ok. here's what i did just now. made an image of my [actual] boot-132 disc loader. difference only is it has natit.kext (w/c works for my gf6500). u can dowload it here.

if it still won't work, u can visit superhai's guide.

good luck.

It doesn't work either

Thanks for your help anyway!

it musn't be w/ the boot-132 disc then. maybe something peculiar w/ your mobo.

anyways, u may be interested w/ superhai's guide.

hope you'd still get it to work.

good luck.

Hi,
Nothing is wrong with both of you. The original DVD of Macbook is not "Retail".

No no no, you didn't understand. I said that I installed Leopard in my Macbook with that DVD. It's not the one provided with the computer. I also used this disk to install in some other computer successfully, so it's retail.

I beg you pardon. I'm sorry.

Results of the guide in an ASUS p5ld2 mobo:

Thanks in advance MACinized for this IMPRESSIVE guide, it's awesome!

I followed it step by step in that ASUS mobo and all worked as expected until i made the last reboot. I tested 2 cases:

- I get to the bootloader that countdowns from 3 to 0 (I set a timeout), so I waited and then the gray Apple appears, but instantly half the screen is filled with a dark gray color and just freezes. It seems that it tried to show a kernel panic, but it froze on the way.

- I do a hard reset and again I get to the bootloader. This time I press whatever key in my keyboard and it shows a menu containing 2 items: "hd(0,2) Mac Loader" and "hd(0,3) Macintosh". Then I selected "hd(0,3) Macintosh" and it started to boot. The gray Apple screen appears, then the waiting indicator spins, and after a few seconds it shows a complete panic error saying "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button for several seconds or press the Restart button".


So I still need the Boot-132 disk to boot into the desktop. Any ideas?

I tried to repeat those cases with the -v option in the boot prompt, and these are the errors I get:

- First case (Mac Loader):
panic(cpu 1 caller 0x0036FE37): "Process 1 exec of /sbin/launchd failed, errno 2\n"@/SourceCache/xnu/xnu-1228.7.58/bsd/kern/.........................."
Debugger called: (panic)
Backtrace (CPU 1), Frame: Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
........... bla bla bla

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: init

Mac OS version:
Not yet set

Kernel version:
Darkin Kernel Version 9.5.0: ............. root:xnu-1228.7.58~1/RELEASE_I386
(and it freezes)


- Second case (Macintosh):
It shows the correct boot process with some messages of this kind: "Package 0 didn't get an HPET", to finally crash because of the AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement module.

I'm going to delete that kext and see what happens...

Ok... I deleted it and reboot. Before rebooting the system said that it was updating the caches. It finally rebooted.

I get to the bootloader again, pressed some key and selected Macintosh. The Apple gray screen appears and the waiting indicator spins and spins forever. The computer will never boot.
I repeated the operation this time with the -v option. Everything seems to be correct, but it freezes after these lines:

Sep 28 20:53:02 localhost mDNSResponder[35]: WARNING: sandbox_init error Could not set Mach lookup policy for service com.apple.distributed_notifications.2 err=1100Could not set Mach lookup policy for service com.apple.ocspd err=1100Could not set....................... (it repeats itself showing different files)
Sep 28 20:53:02 localhost configd[47]: InterfaceNamer: no network interfaces, could not update platform UUID
(and it finally freezes)


Any ideas?

I followed the guide up till step 14. I updated to 10.5.5 and rebooted. Then I selected my OSX partition but this time with -f. It booted and I got the grey screen with the spinning wheel. After a minute or so it rebooted, so I selected my OSX partition again with -f but this time it hung. So I started again with -v and the last line is:

"localhost mDNSResponder mDENResponder-176.2 (some date): starting"

And that's it. I searched the forums but they are not the same as this and there is no solution (at least I couldn't find it). Help is appreciated

[UPDATE] I just disabled my LAN and now I get two more lines about ntpdate and that no server can be used. After that my HDD does some things and it hangs.

Hey guys, I'm giving up. I'm going to install Kalyway 10.5.2

Thanks anyway

Step 27: Shouldn't need BootX, just boot.efi. I think BootX is only for PPC.

http://developer.apple.com/documentation/M...ootProcess.html

yes you are right, you only need boot, mach_kernel, extensions.mkext, boot.plist and your Extra/extensions
I used these files (boot.efi, bootx, systemversion..) in my first attempts

MACinized - I guess the only way to know is for a few people to post copies and someone cross check them.It could make a difference if install disc is 10.5.1 and you upgrade to 10.5.5 as opposed to 10.5.4 install disc updated to 10.5.5, the reason I say this is because I've just done a fresh 10.5.4 disc install updated to 10.5.5 today and since installing by this method and with 10.5.4 install upgraded to 10.5.5 for the first time i have QE on my nvidia gs8300! (used same kext set for all installs I've done). Only thing not solved yet on Asus p5k-vm is ALC883 sound for which i have used installer from Kayway disc. If thats all I have to change in future it's no real issue.

Having said I reckon the kernel on mac loader partition will need changing if upgrade has a kernel change. I say because initially i did method with 10.5.4 then updated after and got kernal panic. Then did it again after first updating to 10.5.5 and everything spot on.

roisoft - Thanks for the update

Have removed actions of step 25 & 27 now boots a lot quicker

MACinized - need to edit original post.

ok, will check on it when i get home. too bad i'm out of town right now until wednesday.

can't just edit post#1 yet since it provides for my complete process of the method which works just great w/ my machine. when i get home & tried w/out the /System/Library/CoreServices folder and all the original/vanilla kexts from /Extra/Extensions, i'll update the guide.

everyone should remember that w/ this method, u can never boot directly w/ the "Macintosh" partition simply because it's the retail/vanilla one, thus the needed hacked/modded kexts were never loaded. if timeout is not set or interrupted, need to boot w/ the "Mac Loader" partition.

hope MACinized able to update the 1st post.. im getting blur already, but i can see this method rocks!!

u may want to try it already taking note of the input from incabulos as confirmed by roisoft himself. DB1 has already tried it and says it makes bootup faster.


i can't edit the 1st post just yet since i haven't tried it myself. can't wait to try it as soon as i get home.

No need for all extensions as also no need for CoreServices.

You can boot only with 3 files, I did a guide that covers darwin to darwin bootloader (2 separate disks) but can be used as pre-loader (Boot-132) see my post: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=115636

Of course if you use boot-132 you need the modded kexts on initrd

Hi oguz286!

I have exactly the same problem! My Board is a Asus P5K-E WIFI.
This problem exists after upgrading to 10.5.5. (The Original-install 10.5 works)
Does anyone has an idea about this?
Thanks!

grisu & oguz286 - which boot iso's are you using, have you checked posts related to boot iso's for your mobo's?

Here's the place to look: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...114834&st=0

This method only works with RETAIL DVD

If you are using retail it would seem update to 10.5.5 update is affecting Lan or Wifi, just need to find the right kext to modify your initial boot iso CD and use those for initial install and making boot loader.

Have either of you had a retail install running by any other method (Chameleon, DFE 132, EFI) ?

For peeps to help they need more detail

hey macgirl! nice to have you visit this thread.

when i get home tomorrow, i'll go try edit my "Mac Loader" to contain just the following:

• boot (dfe's)
• mach_kernel
• /Extra/Extensions/*modded*.kext(s)
• /System/Library/Extensions.mkext
• /Library/Prefences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist

for the purposes of proper acknowledgement, this method of (pre)loading com.apple.Boot.plist from the boot-132-chameleon partition was introduced by roisoft. in my knowledge, it was about last month that a number of people (including myself) were looking for this kind of method & roisoft was the one who shared the idea. but w/ your guide (link you've provided) time-stamped Jul 14 2008, 02:12 PM, this approach is also/already provided. was it just u didn't notice us before and we've not looked around hard enough or roisoft really deserves the credit?

"deserves the credit"? I´ve never wanted credits man, if you read carefully the previous threads, you will see i´m only answering a question about if this stuff is posible or not, I´ didn´t know anything about the macgirl´s work ok? and cmon, this stuff is not the philosophal stone, you can go at netkas forums and you will see several months ago(february) people like zephyroth, taruga, kiss, forik, favlex and myself included are talking about this, so please stop with this ...

ok. no harm intended.

it only means i've not looked around hard enough for the purpose.

still, tnx to u roisoft since you're the one who delivered the method right in my doorstep.

Hehe roi deserves credit i would say even if just because he told you about the method and motivated you to create this guide .

hear. i agree.

I don´t want credits, end of history please...I´ve always answered questions even p.m´s and whatever you´ve requested , right MACiniced?
this situation is not funny for me, so please delete my name of your guide and stop with this

Why do you take this in a bad way roi ? he just means that he is thankful for the help you gave him and from there you gave others since he made the guide .

It's not like he's saying something bad about you (bit confused atm)

ok, i´m sorry , my apologies, but please understand me my english is very bad...

Ah i see , guess it was a language barrier problem heh .

All is good then

The boot iso I'm using is the one provided by Elastic. It's the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4_ISO. And I have used a retail dvd, so that should not be the problem. This is the first time I did a retail install so I've not tried Chamelion or DFE 132, but I did use EFI once but that was when 10.5.2 was just out. I have no problem running 10.5.0.

About the Lan part, I have a Realtek RTL8168/8111 PCI-E Gigabit onboard. Further specs are in my sig. I don't know if there are kexts for Lan in the boot iso I used, but if there isn't one that means that I have been using the one in 10.5.0. But the 10.5.5 kext isn't compatible with my onboard Lan, or at least it's a possibiliy. I'll try to see if I can find more info on this. Thanks for your help

hope i didn't offend u in any way roisoft. i've edited post#1 to thank u for bringing the method right in my doorstep. tnx Ziggar for expressing our shared appreciation of roisoft's help in giving the meat of this guide.

btw, just got back home & tried & tested that "CoreServices" & /System/Library/Extensions/*.kext are not needed. edited post#1 accordingly.

hey thx for this great guide,

I have some questions about this method:

• what about apple updates, which change the mach_kernel and the Extension.mkext file? This won't update the corresponding files on the boot-partition. Will I still be able to boot the updated system?
• or are these files (mach and extenstion) only needed in the first stage of starting the whole system and after this the "updated files" on the untouched partition are loaded?

thx

after each update (i.e. to 10.5.5, to upcoming 10.5.6, & so on), update also the mach_kernel & Extensions.mkext in the "Mac Loader" before restarting your computer.

i've edited post#1 to provide for this. tnx.

I did some testing tonight with this method both on internal HDD and external USB HDD. With the internal HDD, I installed the Retail 10.5.4 and then updated to 10.5.5 using the MacOSXUpd10.5.5.dmg. Then I patched audio and copied the Extensions.mkext and mach_kernel to my boot-partition. Rebooted and everything was good.

With the external USB HDD, installed Retail 10.5.4 and this time I updated through Apple's Software Update. It rebooted by itself the first time and the second time it booted up to 10.5.5. Again, I patched audio and copied the Extensions.mkext and mach_kernel to my boot-partition. Rebooted and here I am typing this post to give my feedback.

Thanks Macinized and roisoft for this!