kinkadius Posted March 18, 2006 Author Share Posted March 18, 2006 at what point does osx86 load a "driver" for the video card though? This machine is sketchy even on the very first boot (ie on the white screen with apple right after you choose to install osx86 from the darwin screen). The little circular progress wheel exhibits the same sort of jerky stuttering motion as dock icons do when you open a program. I don't know anything about video cards really, but it seems like the card initially fills up its RAM fine, but then can't flush it cleanly. Other evidence for this: when you run xbench and it gets the the graphics tests, the first 3 seconds or so of the test work lightning quick, like every gma 900 desktop i've used, but then it almost freezes, to where you're getting like 1 frame per second, literally. After that test finally finishes, three more seconds of full speed, then almost full freeze again. Very strange. to be honest i'm not sure exactly how apple does it, but we do know that the mac mini has the same video card, and their drivers are running just fine, so at this point, why not try it out? This post may help, a partial success on an Acer TM Core Duo:http://forum.osx86project.org/index.php?s=...indpost&p=77723 Sweet! i'll have to check how close the acer really is though to the dell e1505 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brywalker Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 Anyone try 10.4.4? Personally I think that there are so many problems with the patched 10.4.5, it could be rearing its ugly head here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williedigital Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 downloading the hotiso disk now. fingers crossed. And responding to an earlier post--the machine is fast as hell in windows. I'm getting much faster recode encoding speeds. Very pleased. The only problems with the laptop is that in general it feels somewhat cheap and is ugly (compared to my latitude d600) and there is a bit of blacklight bleeding at the base of the lcd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinkadius Posted March 19, 2006 Author Share Posted March 19, 2006 downloading the hotiso disk now. fingers crossed. And responding to an earlier post--the machine is fast as hell in windows. I'm getting much faster recode encoding speeds. Very pleased. The only problems with the laptop is that in general it feels somewhat cheap and is ugly (compared to my latitude d600) and there is a bit of blacklight bleeding at the base of the lcd. *crosses fingers* man i was hoping the machine would scream. How bad is the backlight bleeding? it's it something that would ruin say a dvd? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williedigital Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 Well, I've been messing with it some more. The hotiso disc was even worse than the myzar. I couldn't even get a completed install. ALTHOUGH, disabling the core duo in the bios does completely fix any issues. Hopefully this is something that can be fixed and one day I can use both cores, but for now I'm pretty happy having a $800 laptop that boots windows with a core duo and osx86 with a core solo, has working wifi (dell 1390 is recognized and works perfectly!), has the 1680x1050 screen recognized with no external monitors or dongles (the only laptop I know that this happens), has core image/quartz extreme automatically recognized, firewire, usb 2.0, etc etc. I do most of my cpu intensive stuff in windows anyway. I just wish there was a faster way to change the option for the core duo in the bios. The only stuff that doesn't seem to work is the memory card reader and audio (although I haven't tried any of the common fixes). I also haven't tested the modem or the standby features yet. As for the backlight bleeding, It's worse than any other lcd monitor ive ever used, but still isn't enough to drive me crazy I don't think. I'll have to get back to you. Overall I'm very happy with the machine. My only real complaint is the lack of gig-e ethernet, but I suppose I could just buy an expresscard to make due until 802.11n is ready for prime time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooki Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 Great to hear it's working well for you. Mighty good news about the screen res as that was my biggest concern. I'm still waiting for my E1505 to arrive (was ordered two weeks ago, and has only recently shipped). Can you confirm which osx version did you finally end up installing? myzar 10.4.5? PS the light bleeding from the LCD screen should become less noticeable after a few weeks use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williedigital Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 yeah it's myzar 10.4.5. the bleeding seems worse sometimes than others. never so bad that i should complain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinkadius Posted March 20, 2006 Author Share Posted March 20, 2006 yeah it's myzar 10.4.5. the bleeding seems worse sometimes than others. never so bad that i should complain. so has it stabilized more? i get my laptop tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williedigital Posted March 20, 2006 Share Posted March 20, 2006 yeah it's not that bad. I was overreacting I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williedigital Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 my ethernet doesn't seem to work. Let me know what your results are when you get your machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinkadius Posted March 21, 2006 Author Share Posted March 21, 2006 my ethernet doesn't seem to work. Let me know what your results are when you get your machines. well i'm at work right now, but my laptop should be coming to my house anytime now. now i'm just waiting for my wife to give me a call Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcbroch Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 well i'm at work right now, but my laptop should be coming to my house anytime now. now i'm just waiting for my wife to give me a call Got mine yesterday (well an Inspiron 6400 but I believe they are identical). It's a sweet box, but I haven't had a chance to try OSX yet. Will likely reformat tonight! Will post my experience tonight or tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinkadius Posted March 22, 2006 Author Share Posted March 22, 2006 whooo!!! i got my laptop! man, this thing does fly... okay so which install route should i go? (i also got my 360 on the same day, so i'm super distracted now lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcbroch Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 whooo!!! i got my laptop! man, this thing does fly... okay so which install route should i go? (i also got my 360 on the same day, so i'm super distracted now lol) Sorry, you should install linux or windows cause I've been trying all night with 3 different installs and it's no go. Something is wrong that makes it lag every few seconds. And the wireless is not detected, which for me kind of defeats the purpose of a laptop! If you do get somewhere, please let us know what you did. If it helps, I tried the HotIso disk, the Myz disk and another "no-name", all with the same results. Even the old 10.4.3 is not working well on my box. Good luck, and keep us posted. Now off to install Gentoo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williedigital Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 broch did you try turning off one of the cores in the bios? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcbroch Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 broch did you try turning off one of the cores in the bios? No I haven't, simply because I'm not willing to "dumb down" a laptop that I bought specifically for the dual core processor! ;-) I will try tonight when I'm facing the box again, just to provide feedback if it can help "the cause" . Stay tuned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac_newbie Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Hi williedigital, Are you using myzar DVD 10.4.5 or the HOTIso? Since you have said you are getting 1600x1050, is it giving you widescreen? Mine is stretching on Inspiron 6000 and not going beyond 1400x1024@60Hz. If you do get widescreen, is is looking good like on Windows? Also, are you getting more than 60Hz and what is your video card? Is it Intel GMA or ATI Radeon X1300/X1400 w/HyperMemory 128MB? Also, please confirm this: 1. Is your power socket at the back loose? Mine seems to be loose after I insert the power card into the socket. It is easy to pull it out. What is your DVD+-RW model on your machine, Ethernet card model and what is your audio card? What happens when you don't disable dual core and boot it into OS X? On mine, everything is fine in 10.4.5 and my issues are here: 1. No widescreen (1400x1024@60Hz) 2. Occasional mouse tearing Finally, Sigmatel Audio - native (no tweaks applied). Hey williedigital, would you please attach your machine's comprehensive summary using aida32 or the Everest Home Ed? It would be very helpful for me to decide to return my i6000 and get E1505 if you confirm that it is giving you true widescreen on OS X. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerPilot Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Has anyone gotten the sound to work whith this machine yet? After ghosting my original HDD I used the no name 10.4.5 downloaded from the binary news servers to compleatly make my machine a Mac - No dual-booting. The install went very smoothly since I had the foresight to disable the second core first. The wireless card was detected and the video is good enough for what I use it for. (I didn't get an upgraded screen.) Thanks Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williedigital Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 My machine gives me 1680x1050 native resolution in osx (shows up as that in the screen preferences and if definitely displaying it). So, yes I guess it's giving me widescreen and it looks great. The ethernet model is broadcom 440 10/100. It shows up in network preferences, but when i plug the cord in nothing happens. Sound doesn't work. It's sigmatel 9200. Power cord seems fine to me. I'm using myzar 10.4.5 with no amd enabler installed. When I enable the dual cores it boots and is stutterly, usually crashes after a few minutes. I'll try to run everest when I get a chance, but am busy with exams now. w does anyone have an expresscard to try that in osx86? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcbroch Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 If it helps, my Inspiron 6400 also gives me 1680x1050 from the start. Quite nice looking if it wasn't for the stutter with the 2 cores enabled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac_newbie Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Hi williedigital, Sorry to bother you again. If you could please upload your machine inventory using aida32 or Everest Home by today, it will be awesome since I have to call up Dell tonight to do a exchange to E1505 as I'm running out of my 3 week return policy. Also, more importantly, are you using Intel GMA950 or ATI Radeon X1300 128MB? Please assist me. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williedigital Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 i'm using gma 950. Unfortunately I wont be able to upload that stuff since i wont be home in time. maybe someone else could... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinkadius Posted March 22, 2006 Author Share Posted March 22, 2006 i'm using gma 950. Unfortunately I wont be able to upload that stuff since i wont be home in time. maybe someone else could... using the myzar iso right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac_newbie Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Anybody please upload your system inventory for E1505 using aida32 or Everest Home? Rgds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFMan Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 I got my Inspiron 6400 today. I installed 10.4.3 off a patched bootable DVD. I can confirm the graphical issues with the 2 cores enabled. It seems like the refresh slows down very much after a few seconds of activity. Speed picks up again when the cursor is moved. Display works great at 1680x1050 with the GMA950. No audio or wireless, didn't check wired Ethernet. Interestingly enough, I did a CPU test with Xbench with Dual Core on and then off, and the scores were both in the mid 60s. Seems odd. Either something is wrong with Xbench, or there's a bigger issue than video with the Dual-core setup in the 6400/E1505. I will try 10.4.4 and 10.4.5 tomorrow to see whan happens. I'd really like to get dual-core support working properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts