Howto: Compaq Presario A909US laptop --> 17" MacBook

[weaksauce12]

This guide is no longer supported. I sold the laptop. Leaving it up for reference only!

 

Is Apple's 13" MacBook laptop too small for you, but the MacBook Pro too expensive? How about a DIY 17" MacBook for cheap?

 

I recently picked up a 17" Compaq Presario A909US laptop (under $1,000 from Staples, eBay, Craigslist, etc.) and discovered that it works almost perfectly with Kalyway 10.5.2. Currently only a few minor things are not working, which can be solved by using USB peripherals (Webcam and Partial Audio). It is basically the same machine as a 13" MacBook, minus Bluetooth and Firewire, but has a 17" screen with a 1440x900 resolution! With this guide, you can now have your very own 17" MacBook with an X3100 video card for cheaper than a real MacBook!

 

 

Instructions: Last updated June 2nd, 2008

1. Download and burn Kalyway 10.5.2 Intel AMD to a blank DVD

2. Boot up the DVD in the laptop

3. Open Disk Utility and format the hard drive (be sure to set the drive to GUID in Options under Partitions before formatting)

4. Click on the Customize button, set the video card to Intel X3100, uncheck the wireless network drivers box, select the PowerManagement_bundle under Patches, and choose any of the third-party apps you want

5. Install the Power Management bundle when you get to the desktop after installing Leopard (alternative here)

6. Install the Leopard Graphics Update 1.0 to enable QE (full video card support)

...that's it!

 

What doesn't work, and solutions:

1. Partial Audio (only Stereo Speakers work, thanks to a modded driver in Kaly): Get a USB sound card, such as a Griffin iMic, or a USB mic if you just need a mic.

2. Webcam (no Mac driver available): Get a USB notebook webcam (Logitech and Microsoft both make them).

3. Battery has minor issues - it doesn't show percentage and disappears when woken from sleep (it does show a visual battery indicator, just not numbers).

 

What does work: (pretty much everything else!)

-Intel X3100 (resolution change works, QE is hardware accelerated after installing Leo Gfx Update 1.0)

-Wifi & Ethernet

-Keyboard, Numpad, Function keys (volume, brightness, etc.)

-Trackpad (tap-click and 2-finger scroll require additional software, see #6 in Observations below)

-Speakers (onboard stereo speakers)

-USB ports (3 total)

-Card reader (SD, MMC, etc.)

-Power Off/Restart/System Sleep/Display Sleep

-Basic Power Management (automatic fan control, Energy Saver preferences, visual Battery indicator in menubar)

 

Observations:

1. This model was on clearance at Staples for $399 (1.6ghz Pentium Dual-Core, 2gb ram, 120gb hdd), so you may have a hard time finding it there. Check out eBay and Craigslist and you should be able to find one for $600 - $800 USD. Best Buy sells a similar model called the A931NR for $749. It looks like the a9xx series all have the same basic parts, just a faster or slower CPU and more or less RAM and HDD space. Here's a list of about 40 models that all use the same chassis, from what I can tell.

2. The hard drive is SATA according to the manual, so you can put in a bigger and faster model (stock in the A909US is a 120gb 5400rpm). I'll update this when I actually do it. Currently the fastest drive is a 320gb 7200rpm model and the largest is a 500gb 5400rpm model (the Samsung M6 is a 9.5" model that will fit, I'm not sure if the other 500gb 12.5" models fit or not).

4. From what I've read, the maximum memory is 4 gigs. Best Buy sells this model loaded with 3 gigs of ram, so 3 gigs definitely works for sure. From my google research, the maximum memory should be 4 gigs though. Someday I'll try it when I upgrade my ram.

5. Check out this tutorial to get tap-click and 2-finger scrolling working. I've got it working, but I have to tweak the values to get the 2-finger scrolling calibrated; I'll post an update when I've got that figured out. Note for editing parameters: ALPS touchpad

6. Lacks the following hardware: Bluetooth, Firewire (any), PCMCIA/ExpressCard (no expansion). Bummer, I'll need to find a cheapo USB MiniDV cam to record my tapes from now.

7. The speakers work thanks to a modded driver included with Kaly. It's better than nothing (many laptops ONLY have headphone out). So if you want to use headphones or a mic, you'll need a USB sound card.

8. The Webcam light turns on when used, but just gives me a black screen in Photo Booth. Also tried it in iChat, no dice. System Profiler says it's a Syntek UVC PC Camera; I checked out their website and it says it's OS X-compatible, but there aren't any drivers available to download. iChat sees the camera properly, but nothing comes out. I tried MaCam but didn't get a picture there, either. There is a Linux port, but nothing for Mac. Oh well.

9. The Card Reader port works, surprisingly! Popped my camera's SD card in and it came right up on the desktop, yay!

10. Untested: Analog Mic Input, S-video output; Update: Quick test - VGA mirrors output (having video problems with 10.5.3, will update later)

11. I've had one kernel panic and the keyboard/trackpad/usb ports have frozen on me a couple times, requiring a hard reboot. I've heard that this may be a problem in 10.5.2, related to USB ports, so I'll give the Kaly 10.5.3 updater a shot and see if that fixes it. I just did a second fresh install of 10.5.2 and haven't had any freezes so far...

12. Wake from sleep has frozen twice on me - I hit a key, it starts looking like it's going to wake up (onboard lights go solid and all), and the fans spin up...then nothing. The fans just spin on high and I don't get anything.

 

Overall it's a gorgeous laptop. I picked mine up for $399 and had a $30 off Staples coupon, so I walked out the door with it for $369 plus tax. Can't beat that! Try calling your local Staples to check stock (SKU 729360); it's on clearance and will be super hard to find, in fact it is sold out in my area, but you can find it elsewhere for $650 or so. Also your local Staples store can check other store's inventories in the area so you don't have to call around, so make sure to ask them to do that. Also, the Best Buy model is more powerful (1.73ghz, 3gb ram, 160gb hard drive) and I believe is essentially the same machine; the SKU is 8782588. That one is available for $750 (currently sold out online). I'll post a Youtube video sometime next week.

[Onetrack]

Wired thats a great find, good score - congrats on not only getting a great deal, but one that nearly runs osx

 

I'll be watching this forum to see what happens with the non/semi non working stuff.

[weaksauce12]

I tried a Natit kext (thanks Stella!) but it didn't make any changes, either. The problem is that my x3100 vid card isn't giving me any Quartz Extreme acceleration. I used both the x3100 in Kaly and this Natit kext:

 

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...0282&st=160

 

Here's a copy of Graphics/Displays from System Profiler:

 

Intel GMA X3100:

 

Chipset Model: GMA X3100

Type: Display

Bus: Built-In

VRAM (Total): 144 MB

Vendor: Intel (0x8086)

Device ID: 0x2a02

Revision ID: 0x0003

Displays:

Display:

Resolution: 1440 x 900

Depth: 32-bit Color

Built-In: Yes

Core Image: Software

Main Display: Yes

Mirror: Off

Online: Yes

Quartz Extreme: Not Supported

Display Connector:

Status: No display connected

 

 

Update: Installed Leopard Graphics Update 1.0 and got Quartz Extreme support, but still get a black screen for the webcam. Hmm...

 

Intel GMA X3100:

Chipset Model: GMA X3100

Type: Display

Bus: Built-In

VRAM (Total): 144 MB

Vendor: Intel (0x8086)

Device ID: 0x2a02

Revision ID: 0x0003

Displays:

Display:

Resolution: 1440 x 900

Depth: 32-bit Color

Built-In: Yes

Core Image: Hardware Accelerated

Main Display: Yes

Mirror: Off

Online: Yes

Quartz Extreme: Supported

Display Connector:

Status: No display connected

 

 

Update 2: Re-installed Kaly (testing various things) and tried it without installing the X3100 driver; it simply gave me a funky gray/black screen when it finished installing. You definitely need that driver installed during Leopard installation!

 

 

Update 3: 10.5.3 kills video. It boots to the desktop, because if I use the Function keys to adjust the volume I can hear the "pop-pop-pop" noise. Third time it's done it, I didn't figure out it actually booted to the desktop until I tested the audio, since the screen was black. I'll try installing the Natit kext via command-line to see if that fixes it. I let the laptop sit for 15-20 minutes after running "update -v" but I got nothing. Might try installing the Leo Gfx Update again before installing 10.5.3 if the Natit kext doesn't work. Odd.

 

Update 4: Leopard Graphics Update 1.0 fixes QE, but Macam still doesn't work. Still no luck finding a Syntek driver. It shows up under USB and in iChat, but nothing comes on the screen. I found a Power Management bundle; Sleep now works, but the Video doesn't come back on (black screen; volume works so the keyboard works on Wake). Link is here:

 

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=14912

[weaksauce12]

Sleep works! Instant-on, just like a PDA (or a real Mac).

 

Power Management works, thanks to the Jas ACPI stuff in the Kalyway disc options and the Power Management bundle available here on the forums. The battery is only a visual indicator and does not show percentage left, but it's better than nothing, which is what I had before (the laptop actually shut off on me earlier because I was using it with no battery indicator and it ran out of juice, haha). The Power Management bundle kills temperature monitoring, which isn't such a big deal because it seems to be managing the fans better. You can now choose Energy Saver options in System Preferences just as if it were a real MacBook.

 

Tomorrow I will give 10.5.3 a shot again, this time using the darwin950 project files (thanks Lorne!). There really isn't anything left now, except to tweak the 2-finger scrolling system to get it "just right". The webcam doesn't have an available Mac driver, so that's out of the picture unless MaCam decides to port it (there is a working Linux version already, so it wouldn't be too hard). The audio driver is stuck at audio output only, and in the case of this laptop it's just the stereo speakers (which is fortunate because some laptops only have headphone out, which is kind of a dealbreaker for me). So all you have to do is pick up a USB Notebook Webcam and a USB Sound Card and your problems are solved. I use a Griffin iMic USB sound card, which runs $29 and is about the size of a 1/4" silver dollar, so it's very portable to carry with your headphones or analog mic. Most notebook webcams have a built-in mic, but you could always pick up a USB mic or USB headset if you don't want to go the analog route.

 

Yay

 

Update: Laptop fan still comes on, but it's only every minute or two for about 10 seconds now (it did it more before installing the Power Management bundle). Also, the battery disappears after waking from sleep - the icon turns into a battery with an X on it and says that it can't find any batteries. Weird.

 

Update 2: Re-installed Kaly, this time using the Power Management bundle option in place of the Jas_APCI option. Nothing came up, so I installed the PM bundle manually. NOW the fans work properly! The battery still turns to an "X" when you wake the laptop from sleep, but at least the fans aren't being annoying anymore.

 

I think this is pretty much as good as we're going to get on this laptop. Syntek's site says that their webcams are supported on Mac, yet they have no drivers at all on their website, so that's kind of a lost cause. I'm quite happy that the stereo speakers work, even though the headphone output doesnt. Unless there's a better-working driver floating around out there, I don't think this one will be solved by anything but a USB sound card, same as the webcam. The battery doesn't percentages, just a visual representation (which is GREAT to have and is WAY better than nothing!), and the battery can't be found after waking from sleep, but at least the fans work properly now. Yay.

 

Tomorrow I'll tackle 10.5.3 and start doing some burn-in testing to make sure it's stable!

[weaksauce12]

I've been trying to get up to 10.5.3, but I haven't had much luck. It's primarily a video driver issue; I can get it to work in safe mode, but not normal mode yet. I'm going to have to make my own scripted install disk with 10.5.3 built-in in order to get it to work, I think. It's mainly a video card problem, so I'm hoping a customized disc with the latest update will do it for me. Overall it's a great little machine. Wish it had a faster CPU, but for 95% of the stuff I do, it screams.

 

Anyone else pick one of these up and care to share their experiences?

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

ROFL, someone on Craigslist is now linking their laptop to my tutorial:

 

http://denver.craigslist.org/sys/707916145.html

 

Screenshot for when the listing ends:

 

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/3162/craigslistkq0.png

 

[jamiller]

Hey Weaksauce! Thanks mucho for the guide. I was searching for specific guides on installing OSx86 on my new 17" Compaq A900 and found this. Anyways, went through the entire setup and everything appears to be working great except my wifi.

 

I must note that this thing came installed with Vista with all kinda crapware so I reinstalled with a spare Vista disk I had, Compaq didn't give me an OS disk.. and when I did I reinstalled the driver for the wifi card (Atheros AR5007) from the HP/Compaq site and it didn't work. So I installed another model Atheros card driver and it suddenly worked.

 

I'm curious, did your wifi just "work" when you installed Kalyway? Oh, I used the same Kalyway 10.5.2 you did. Also, what wifi card do you have? After looking at the Compaq site it appears you have the same one I do. Not sure why mine isn't working...

 

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!!

 

And this laptop is beautiful. I picked mine up from Best Buy for under $800 with 3 gigs of RAM. Great system. So far running Leopard screaming fast!

[weaksauce12]

Hey Weaksauce! Thanks mucho for the guide. I was searching for specific guides on installing OSx86 on my new 17" Compaq A900 and found this. Anyways, went through the entire setup and everything appears to be working great except my wifi.

 

I must note that this thing came installed with Vista with all kinda crapware so I reinstalled with a spare Vista disk I had, Compaq didn't give me an OS disk.. and when I did I reinstalled the driver for the wifi card (Atheros AR5007) from the HP/Compaq site and it didn't work. So I installed another model Atheros card driver and it suddenly worked.

 

I'm curious, did your wifi just "work" when you installed Kalyway? Oh, I used the same Kalyway 10.5.2 you did. Also, what wifi card do you have? After looking at the Compaq site it appears you have the same one I do. Not sure why mine isn't working...

 

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!!

 

And this laptop is beautiful. I picked mine up from Best Buy for under $800 with 3 gigs of RAM. Great system. So far running Leopard screaming fast!

 

I had to disable (uncheck) Wifi in the Customize options under the Networking section when I used the Kalyway disc. Then it worked like magic. If your card isn't supported (I'm not sure exactly what mine has), then you can pick up a Dell B/G model for like $20 shipped on fleabay.

 

I didn't get an OS re-install disc with mine, either, which is kind of annoying. However, Vista Extreme Edition (the one off the torrents based on Ultimate with SP1 and Office Enterprise) works just peachy. Compaq is stupid for not including a 5-cent reinstall DVD...what if you want to upgrade the hard drive, how are you supposed to reinstall your OS? Anyway, drivers can be downloaded here, just find your A900-series model:

 

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/prodTop...;cc=us&dlc=

 

Also, Windows XP works on it, but you have to disable the native SATA mode in BIOS so that XP can see it. If you've already formatted the drive with Kalyway, just use the Kaly disc to format it to MS-DOS format and then XP will see it. Most of the drivers are available through Windows Update, the last couple it doesn't get are available with a quick search online. TinyXP works great (I recommend Rev06 because it has SP2; SP3 breaks some apps like BurnAware 1.3).

 

I'm curious, did the Leopard Graphics Update work for you? I've re-installed OS X roughly 10 times, tweaking the install each time, and sometimes I get problems with the Video driver. One problem is that I get a black screen on reboot (but not in safe mode), especially when I update to 10.5.3 using an installer. The other problem is that sometimes I get this weird white-to-black fade. I think I may just need an updated Natit for the X3100, any idea where that would be? Also, iATKOS might be worth trying:

 

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...26&hl=x3100

[jamiller]

I'm pretty sure we have the same card although I can't be 100% on that. I have an Atheros AR 5007 on a Compaq A900. Another weird thing is that the Compaq site doesn't simply have an "A900.". It's always something on the end of A900 and as far as I can tell, mine is simply A900. That is what is listed on the bottom next to Product.

 

But when I reinstalled Vista on my Compaq and proceeded to download and install the driver on the HP/Compaq website it didn't work. I can't remember what I did to get it to work but was working on downloading all kinds of Atheros drivers for hours. It works now, in Vista nogo in Leo.

 

On the graphics update, because I've been so busy trying to get wifi to work I never checked after I installed the update to see if it worked. Since then I've reinstalled quite a few times. I'll check in a few because on my recent install I did install the update.

 

On another note I cannot get the PowerManagement to work at all. I've installed and reinstalled with and without the option checked in Kalyway and nothing. So with my current install I left the option unchecked and installed manually. I get nothing. When it goes to sleep and I try and wake it up I get that weird black/gray screen and have to reboot. Fans spin crazily and no battery meter as well.

 

I may have installed the PowerManagement wrong though. Here is how I did it:

 

Download from: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=80425 and unzip to desktop.

Because I didn't have permissions to simply overwrite the original file I deleted it and moved the bundle on the desktop into the folder.

Reboot.

 

Is this right/wrong?

 

Thanks again for the reply!

[jamiller]

Just checked and I do have the Leopard Graphics Update working.

[jamiller]

Weaksauce, is there anyway you can find out what wifi card you have? I'm still working on getting my wifi to work and it appears that there is no solution for the Atheros AR 5007, the card I have.

 

Thanx

[weaksauce12]

Weaksauce, is there anyway you can find out what wifi card you have? I'm still working on getting my wifi to work and it appears that there is no solution for the Atheros AR 5007, the card I have.

 

Thanx

 

I popped mine open and it said "Broadcom BCM4311KFBG", which a quick Google search revealed to be a "TrueMobile Wireless 1390 Broadcom Mini PCI Express" card, also known as the "HP Presario V3000 Mini Wireless LAN card". It's available on ebay for about $30. It seems to be showing up under a ton of names, such as "Intel PRO wireless LAN 394 5A/B/G" and "Hewlett-Packard Intel PRO/Wireless LAN 3945 B/G". Interesting...

 

Also, I have a new install method - select Vanilla kernel instead of the Sleep kernel, then for post install you just have to install the Leopard Graphics Update 1.0 - the Power Management bundle on Kalyway 10.5.2 will actually make the fans work properly this way! I'm going to work on getting to 10.5.4 next :censored2:

 

Update: Okay, I am still having massive trouble with the video card driver. Basically it goes like this:

 

1. No graphics card installed in Kaly = black screen on boot

2. X3100 in Kaly = no QE/CI

3. Leo Gfx Update 1.0 = QE/CI, black screen on wake from sleep, white-lined screen on wake from display sleep, sometimes melts down on boot (requires power plug & battery removal then a reboot)

 

So the most compatible way right now is simply to use the X3100 driver, sans QE/CI. Which is dumb. And 10.5.3 breaks the video. I'm going to see if I can VNC into the machine after upgrading in order to reinstall the graphics stuff. If anyone has experience with getting the X3100 or Natit to work properly, please share!

[weaksauce12]

Another quick update - np_'s LaptopDisplay.kext works better than Natit. So select the X3100 during install, and on your install boot (1) install Leo Gfx Update 1.0, (2) delete Natit.kext & Extensions.mkext, and (3) instal LaptopDisplay.kext using Kexthelper. Then restart. So far I haven't had any melting screens. Sleep is still broken - I get a black screen on wake; I can still hear the sound noise when I adjust the volume, so the desktop is definitely up, just the video driver is broken. Props to stella for passing the new kext info along. Link here:

 

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=37630

 

I tried it with SATA enabled and disabled. I also tried it with a VGA monitor and also tried pressing the Fn key for switching to the external monitor, nothing - still a black screen on wake. Very very very stable with the Vanilla kernel; the stock laptop fan control is very nice (using the Power Management from Kaly). Sleep's not a huge deal though, so I'm not complaining much. It lets me use my apps and restarts/shutdowns normally so I'm pretty happy.

[amazinrobert]

Hey, Weaksauce have you had any further developments on this laptop?

[weaksauce12]

Hey, Weaksauce have you had any further developments on this laptop?

 

Sold the laptop awhile ago; I just added a note in the first post that I no longer support this guide. I'll leave it up for reference though.

 

Care to take it over? :censored2:

[Kevin Peters]

Hey weaksauce! I'm trying to install Boot 132 + Retail Leopard on my Compaq A931NR. I noticed you had a laptop from the same build so I thought I might ask you for some info. I've also been reading your blog which has some great software and guides on it. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

 

I'm a total Newbie here so go easy on me. I am trying to install Mac OS X on my computer using the Boot 132 / Retail DVD method that David Elliot documented here: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=113288

 

I am running on a Compaq A931NR (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&cc=us&docname=c01393349&dlc=en).

 

I created a bootable CD from the generic Boot 132 ISO posted here (http://www.mediafire.com/?uwd9dtttjfk)

 

I have a retail Mac OS X Leopard DVD (10.5.4.) "Family Edition" if that makes any difference.

 

Here's what happens:

1. I booted from the bootable CD

2. Booted fine to darwin prompt

3. Removed Boot CD and replaced with mac OS X retail DVD

4. Hit enter (uses default option 90) after DVD light goes off

5. OS X install process begins

6. Looks like it is reading the disk

7. Grey Apple splash screen comes up

8. DVD spins some more (3-5 mins)

9. Screen goes blank (no errors)

10. Computer becomes unresponsive and DVD stops running

11. Have to power off after the computer does nothing for 10-15 mins

 

I've been reading through the forums and notice this happens to a lot of people but I have not seen any solutions posted. Does anyone know why this is happening and if so how I can fix this and (at least) finish the installation process? If so, I'm pretty tech savvy and would be willing to follow posted instructions. Thanks!

[vinccarter]

how i can getting sound driver for my laptop (Compaq Presario A900) ...where can download it?

[Deals Hunt]

Hello Weaksauce have you had any further developments on this laptop?

This guide is no longer supported. I sold the laptop. Leaving it up for reference only!

 

Is Apple's 13" MacBook laptop too small for you, but the MacBook Pro too expensive? How about a DIY 17" MacBook for cheap?

 

I recently picked up a 17" Compaq Presario A909US laptop (under $1,000 from Staples, eBay, Craigslist, etc.) and discovered that it works almost perfectly with Kalyway 10.5.2. Currently only a few minor things are not working, which can be solved by using USB peripherals (Webcam and Partial Audio). It is basically the same machine as a 13" MacBook, minus Bluetooth and Firewire, but has a 17" screen with a 1440x900 resolution! With this guide, you can now have your very own 17" MacBook with an X3100 video card for cheaper than a real MacBook!

 

 

Instructions: Last updated June 2nd, 2008

1. Download and burn Kalyway 10.5.2 Intel AMD to a blank DVD

2. Boot up the DVD in the laptop

3. Open Disk Utility and format the hard drive (be sure to set the drive to GUID in Options under Partitions before formatting)

4. Click on the Customize button, set the video card to Intel X3100, uncheck the wireless network drivers box, select the PowerManagement_bundle under Patches, and choose any of the third-party apps you want

5. Install the Power Management bundle when you get to the desktop after installing Leopard (alternative here)

6. Install the Leopard Graphics Update 1.0 to enable QE (full video card support)

...that's it!

 

What doesn't work, and solutions:

1. Partial Audio (only Stereo Speakers work, thanks to a modded driver in Kaly): Get a USB sound card, such as a Griffin iMic, or a USB mic if you just need a mic.

2. Webcam (no Mac driver available): Get a USB notebook webcam (Logitech and Microsoft both make them).

3. Battery has minor issues - it doesn't show percentage and disappears when woken from sleep (it does show a visual battery indicator, just not numbers).

 

What does work: (pretty much everything else!)

-Intel X3100 (resolution change works, QE is hardware accelerated after installing Leo Gfx Update 1.0)

-Wifi & Ethernet

-Keyboard, Numpad, Function keys (volume, brightness, etc.)

-Trackpad (tap-click and 2-finger scroll require additional software, see #6 in Observations below)

-Speakers (onboard stereo speakers)

-USB ports (3 total)

-Card reader (SD, MMC, etc.)

-Power Off/Restart/System Sleep/Display Sleep

-Basic Power Management (automatic fan control, Energy Saver preferences, visual Battery indicator in menubar)

 

Observations:

1. This model was on clearance at Staples for $399 (1.6ghz Pentium Dual-Core, 2gb ram, 120gb hdd), so you may have a hard time finding it there. Check out eBay and Craigslist and you should be able to find one for $600 - $800 USD. Best Buy sells a similar model called the A931NR for $749. It looks like the a9xx series all have the same basic parts, just a faster or slower CPU and more or less RAM and HDD space. Here's a list of about 40 models that all use the same chassis, from what I can tell.

2. The hard drive is SATA according to the manual, so you can put in a bigger and faster model (stock in the A909US is a 120gb 5400rpm). I'll update this when I actually do it. Currently the fastest drive is a 320gb 7200rpm model and the largest is a 500gb 5400rpm model (the Samsung M6 is a 9.5" model that will fit, I'm not sure if the other 500gb 12.5" models fit or not).

4. From what I've read, the maximum memory is 4 gigs. Best Buy sells this model loaded with 3 gigs of ram, so 3 gigs definitely works for sure. From my google research, the maximum memory should be 4 gigs though. Someday I'll try it when I upgrade my ram.

5. Check out this tutorial to get tap-click and 2-finger scrolling working. I've got it working, but I have to tweak the values to get the 2-finger scrolling calibrated; I'll post an update when I've got that figured out. Note for editing parameters: ALPS touchpad

6. Lacks the following hardware: Bluetooth, Firewire (any), PCMCIA/ExpressCard (no expansion). Bummer, I'll need to find a cheapo USB MiniDV cam to record my tapes from now.

7. The speakers work thanks to a modded driver included with Kaly. It's better than nothing (many laptops ONLY have headphone out). So if you want to use headphones or a mic, you'll need a USB sound card.

8. The Webcam light turns on when used, but just gives me a black screen in Photo Booth. Also tried it in iChat, no dice. System Profiler says it's a Syntek UVC PC Camera; I checked out their website and it says it's OS X-compatible, but there aren't any drivers available to download. iChat sees the camera properly, but nothing comes out. I tried MaCam but didn't get a picture there, either. There is a Linux port, but nothing for Mac. Oh well.

9. The Card Reader port works, surprisingly! Popped my camera's SD card in and it came right up on the desktop, yay!

10. Untested: Analog Mic Input, S-video output; Update: Quick test - VGA mirrors output (having video problems with 10.5.3, will update later)

11. I've had one kernel panic and the keyboard/trackpad/usb ports have frozen on me a couple times, requiring a hard reboot. I've heard that this may be a problem in 10.5.2, related to USB ports, so I'll give the Kaly 10.5.3 updater a shot and see if that fixes it. I just did a second fresh install of 10.5.2 and haven't had any freezes so far...

12. Wake from sleep has frozen twice on me - I hit a key, it starts looking like it's going to wake up (onboard lights go solid and all), and the fans spin up...then nothing. The fans just spin on high and I don't get anything.

 

Overall it's a gorgeous laptop. I picked mine up for $399 and had a $30 off Staples coupon, so I walked out the door with it for $369 plus tax. Can't beat that! Try calling your local Staples to check stock (SKU 729360); it's on clearance and will be super hard to find, in fact it is sold out in my area, but you can find it elsewhere for $650 or so. Also your local Staples store can check other store's inventories in the area so you don't have to call around, so make sure to ask them to do that. Also, the Best Buy model is more powerful (1.73ghz, 3gb ram, 160gb hard drive) and I believe is essentially the same machine; the SKU is 8782588. That one is available for $750 (currently sold out online). I'll post a Youtube video sometime next week.

[vinccarter]

I finder sound driver, but wifi driver(Atheros 5007) is hard to finding, anybody can teach me where can find it?

[Jarepa]

I have made a Snow Leopard 10.6.2 successful install on 2 Compaq A900 (my wife and my own A916NR laptops). For awhile I had iAtkos v1.2 10.5.4 that's what I believe most people have been able to install. So I've made install for may friends on different laptops and even on my own desktops I decided to take the challenge and install Snow Leo 10.6.2 on our 2 Compaq's (which are the same as C700 if google it you'll find it true).

Everything works except the built in camera, that always been an issue. Sleep works but only on 32 bit boot mode. The install is very tricky and I believe its not for rookies or people with moderate to advance knowledge.

I can create a guide if still there are out there enough people with these laptops that don't want to give them up like me. Actually the install came out that good and because the nice screen that these A900 have (a 17" brightview) that it made me to try also a CPU swap on my wife one since hers was overheating a lot and self turning off (a well known issue on these laptops). The swap was also so successful that I will now mine as well. I got T8300 on hers and planning to get the same for mine. The cores temperature went from constant 80-84 Celsius down to 52-56 C.

One thing that I also did was to install a 802.11N wireless pci-e card so these laptops now won't have anything to envy to most current laptops, all done for cheap (I paid for them $499 at Bestbuy back in 2007).

 

Mike K.

[DipDog3]

I have made a Snow Leopard 10.6.2 successful install on 2 Compaq A900 (my wife and my own A916NR laptops). For awhile I had iAtkos v1.2 10.5.4 that's what I believe most people have been able to install. So I've made install for may friends on different laptops and even on my own desktops I decided to take the challenge and install Snow Leo 10.6.2 on our 2 Compaq's (which are the same as C700 if google it you'll find it true).

Everything works except the built in camera, that always been an issue. Sleep works but only on 32 bit boot mode. The install is very tricky and I believe its not for rookies or people with moderate to advance knowledge.

I can create a guide if still there are out there enough people with these laptops that don't want to give them up like me. Actually the install came out that good and because the nice screen that these A900 have (a 17" brightview) that it made me to try also a CPU swap on my wife one since hers was overheating a lot and self turning off (a well known issue on these laptops). The swap was also so successful that I will now mine as well. I got T8300 on hers and planning to get the same for mine. The cores temperature went from constant 80-84 Celsius down to 52-56 C.

One thing that I also did was to install a 802.11N wireless pci-e card so these laptops now won't have anything to envy to most current laptops, all done for cheap (I paid for them $499 at Bestbuy back in 2007).

 

Mike K.

 

I have the C712NR which is similar. I have 10.5 installed but would like Snow Leopard. Could you post the guide?

 

Thanks

[kbtarl]

I have made a Snow Leopard 10.6.2 successful install on 2 Compaq A900 (my wife and my own A916NR laptops). For awhile I had iAtkos v1.2 10.5.4 that's what I believe most people have been able to install. So I've made install for may friends on different laptops and even on my own desktops I decided to take the challenge and install Snow Leo 10.6.2 on our 2 Compaq's (which are the same as C700 if google it you'll find it true).

Everything works except the built in camera, that always been an issue. Sleep works but only on 32 bit boot mode. The install is very tricky and I believe its not for rookies or people with moderate to advance knowledge.

I can create a guide if still there are out there enough people with these laptops that don't want to give them up like me. Actually the install came out that good and because the nice screen that these A900 have (a 17" brightview) that it made me to try also a CPU swap on my wife one since hers was overheating a lot and self turning off (a well known issue on these laptops). The swap was also so successful that I will now mine as well. I got T8300 on hers and planning to get the same for mine. The cores temperature went from constant 80-84 Celsius down to 52-56 C.

One thing that I also did was to install a 802.11N wireless pci-e card so these laptops now won't have anything to envy to most current laptops, all done for cheap (I paid for them $499 at Bestbuy back in 2007).

 

Mike K.

 

 

Mike,

 

 

 

I'd love a guide if you are still willing. I have a c700 I'd like to try dual boot on.

 

 

 

I have the C712NR which is similar. I have 10.5 installed but would like Snow Leopard. Could you post the guide?

 

Thanks

 

 

Care to share how you did it? i have not started yet but hope I can get a quick install. I've tried my old Dimension desk top and nothing but frustration.

[Galla]

I am also interested to see the guide. I own A931, previously I had 10.5.2 on it quite succesfully running, more than interested to see snow on it, many thanks

[drakect]

I have the C712NR which is similar. I have 10.5 installed but would like Snow Leopard. Could you post the guide?

 

Thanks

 

Hi I Also Have A compaq presario a900 Running iAtkos S3 V2 Snow Leo Install If Anyone Needs Help With The Install Send Me A msg With What U Need Help With

 

Ill Try To List What I Did To Get It Work On A900 I Made About 7 Installs Before It Worked So Its Kind Of Blurred Together.

 

Defenetly To Get The Video To Work You Have To Select the x3100 And The Other One For It Support Cant Miss It

 

I Selected All Of The Laptop Support

 

You Have To Select The PS2 Drivers Otherwise After Installation Completes It Will Say You Have No Keyboard Connected.

 

If I Remember Correctly You Have To Install USB Support

 

Select The Wifi Driver For Your Card I Know There Is only One Available For My Particular Card And It Was The 3rd From The Top In Wifi Drivers

 

Oh There Is Also The Sound Driver Witch is Nice Because Now It Supports The Headphones Jack Witch it Didn't in Kalyway Leo

 

i guess thats it if i missed something let me know ill try to remember

[snakeman]

I keep getting just a blue screen after the install using iAtkos S3 V2! Did you have this issue?

 

 

This is a very Dodgy install for some reason. Could you explain in a little more detail please?

 

 

 

snakeman

[Jarepa]

Mike,

 

 

 

I'd love a guide if you are still willing. I have a c700 I'd like to try dual boot on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Care to share how you did it? i have not started yet but hope I can get a quick install. I've tried my old Dimension desk top and nothing but frustration.

 

 

I will reinstall Vanilla Snow Leo on my A916 Compaq because the 801.11n wireless (300 meg) card that I installed only works in 32 bit mode and it should be working in 64 bit since its a widely used Atheros adapter. I can run fine in 64 bit mode but that specific wi-fi card won't work.

 

If people interested around is still around I can document the install with detailed steps. I did not created a guide previously because the requests came few months after and it was really difficult to explain all detailed steps, although I know them once I start doing it.

 

One thing I'd like to share is that my laptop got new blood. I removed that stupid Intel T2350 processor and I installed and awesome T6600. It runs so much faster and way much more cool (I was getting up to 76 C before) now I'm at 37 C steady.

I also upgraded the DRam to 4Gig.

 

basically I got an awesome laptop (after 3 years) for very cheap. Not looking to buy any new at least for 2-3 years more with this refreshed baby...

 

Mike.

 

Open the attachment and you'll see the 4 Gig on SL vanilla install...