[GUIDE] (10.5.x) Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3 Retail Tutorial

[invisiblesurfer]

Great post mate. Maybe I could share my past experience installing retail 10.5.5 on my Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R featuring a C2Duo 8200 at 2,66 GHz, 2 Gigs of RAM and an Nvidia 8800 GT.

 

*I did not use boot132 as I was not aware of its existence*

 

Threw in the retail DVD of 10.5.5 and everything installed like a charm. However:

 

- it would not boot into osx directly (perhaps caused by the fact that I had vista installed on the primary partition, which further complicated things) but I could put in the retail osx dvd and would direct it to boot into osx.

 

- would not recognise my wifi network card (made by ASUS, featuring a big ass antenna). this was my biggest issue, I couldn't do much without internet access.

 

- no video card drivers. Running at 800x600 on a 24" Samsung is depressing to say the least.

 

I read your post and I was wondering, how on earth does the addition of the boot132 and the motherboard software changes things? I was stunned to read that you had lan access prior to installing the motherboard software fixes! HOW?

[helob]

Hey helob,

 

what exactly do you want me to do? Don't get it honestly Is it just regarding the Chameleon Bootloader? The rest on how to do it is written clearly on the very first post of mine.

 

Ciao

Nemo

 

Hi CaptainNemo,

Just the new Chameleon 2.0 bootloader.

How to install the new bootloader on existing installation.

 

On your first post, pls spell out what is required to incorporate the new Chameleon 2.0 RC1 bootloader into the Chameleon_DFE_for_Hard_Disk etc

 

Thanks

[CaptainNemo]

Great post mate. Maybe I could share my past experience installing retail 10.5.5 on my Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R featuring a C2Duo 8200 at 2,66 GHz, 2 Gigs of RAM and an Nvidia 8800 GT.

 

*I did not use boot132 as I was not aware of its existence*

 

Threw in the retail DVD of 10.5.5 and everything installed like a charm. However:

 

- it would not boot into osx directly (perhaps caused by the fact that I had vista installed on the primary partition, which further complicated things) but I could put in the retail osx dvd and would direct it to boot into osx.

 

- would not recognise my wifi network card (made by ASUS, featuring a big ass antenna). this was my biggest issue, I couldn't do much without internet access.

 

- no video card drivers. Running at 800x600 on a 24" Samsung is depressing to say the least.

 

I read your post and I was wondering, how on earth does the addition of the boot132 and the motherboard software changes things? I was stunned to read that you had lan access prior to installing the motherboard software fixes! HOW?

 

Hey invisiblesurfer,

 

well - to point to the last question: the ISO contains Extensions that loads the kext files when booting this enables the drivers. As simple as it sounds, it works. I must admit, that this is not made by me! I found the ISO here or in another forum after some days of searching and it works like a charme.

 

Regarding the graphic card issues: 2 ways to solve.

 

1st: get NVkush (included in my package or get it from the web)

2nd: get OSx86 Tools and select the 8800GT from the list and insert it to the boot.plist-stuff (the GUI does it for you) and give it a reboot. Should work. Never used it before my issues with the 8600GTS, but it really seems to work much much better.

 

Honestly, I don't know which chips are used on the GA-EP35C-DS3R, well I read a ICHR and a PowerEfficience from the model, but that's it.

 

I would recommend you to:

- get a second HDD

- install the system with the Boot132 from scratch and the Retail DVD (which "of course" you bought in a store )

 

Hi CaptainNemo,

Just the new Chameleon 2.0 bootloader.

How to install the new bootloader on existing installation.

 

On your first post, pls spell out what is required to incorporate the new Chameleon 2.0 RC1 bootloader into the retail installation.

 

Thanks

 

Hmm ok - when I find some time, I'll try it, ok? Otherwise, everyone is more than welcome to test it on his own and share his results with us This is not a 1 person tutorial, you are all invited to participate the knowledge-sharing-party!

 

Ciao

Nemo

[invisiblesurfer]

Thanks for the reply Nemo, you're a star!

 

The Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R is Intel P35-based with ICH9R. So it shouldn't really be much different from your Gigabyte, I mean it's the same bloody chipset and all!

 

Like you suggested, I plan on getting a 2nd HDD (Seagate 120GB for 36 euros) and use it as primary drive to try your method.

 

Are my internet connection issues going to disappear? Having no internet connection due to a non Airport compatible wifi adapter REALLY BLOWS.

 

Will my video card be able to handle all resolutions? Did yours 8600 performed at all resolutions and refresh rates?

 

 

Hey invisiblesurfer,

 

well - to point to the last question: the ISO contains Extensions that loads the kext files when booting this enables the drivers. As simple as it sounds, it works. I must admit, that this is not made by me! I found the ISO here or in another forum after some days of searching and it works like a charme.

 

Regarding the graphic card issues: 2 ways to solve.

 

1st: get NVkush (included in my package or get it from the web)

2nd: get OSx86 Tools and select the 8800GT from the list and insert it to the boot.plist-stuff (the GUI does it for you) and give it a reboot. Should work. Never used it before my issues with the 8600GTS, but it really seems to work much much better.

 

Honestly, I don't know which chips are used on the GA-EP35C-DS3R, well I read a ICHR and a PowerEfficience from the model, but that's it.

 

I would recommend you to:

- get a second HDD

- install the system with the Boot132 from scratch and the Retail DVD (which "of course" you bought in a store )

 

Ciao

Nemo

[CaptainNemo]

Thanks for the reply Nemo, you're a star!

 

The Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R is Intel P35-based with ICH9R. So it shouldn't really be much different from your Gigabyte, I mean it's the same bloody chipset and all!

 

Like you suggested, I plan on getting a 2nd HDD (Seagate 120GB for 36 euros) and use it as primary drive to try your method.

 

Are my internet connection issues going to disappear? Having no internet connection due to a non Airport compatible wifi adapter REALLY BLOWS.

 

Will my video card be able to handle all resolutions? Did yours 8600 performed at all resolutions and refresh rates?

 

Yes. My card SHOULD support up to 30" with a 2560x1600 (or so) resulution as all current cards are DualLink-able (well, the cheap PC cards, I can't say that for original Apple EFI cards ). The EFI and NVkush, both, should enable you full resolution. As you can see in the pictures above that I've posted this morning (EU Time), I can fully drive all my displays at the native resolution of 3x 1680x1050 + 1x 1280x1024 (180° rotated) and yes, this also makes the driver )

 

Regarding the WiFi issue, a suggestion: get a cheap WiFi Router and connect it via LAN cable to your board, bridge it to your main AP and you're done. Otherwise, check the forums for a 100% compatible PCI card. I would recommend one that works with the native drives. My wife's Netbook with OSX Retail has a card that is NOT 100% compatible and needs a special tool. Works fine, but on a 10" display you're happy about every single window that does NOT appear...

 

Ciao

Nemo

[thylaxene]

captain,

you just said that the p35-ds3 accepted the 45nm quad even with the F12, but with the wrong ID???

It works fine???

 

because I got a p35-ds3 and a q8200 , and it was f12, refuses to power on...

 

I'm in the same boat as you. I bought a Q8200 before I found this list:

 

http://ee.giga-byte.com/products/mb/cpulist/ga-p35-ds3.html

 

So I'm still waiting for my power supply to arrive and when it does I will see if I get the same problems. It's a pity the f14c is causing problems... But I guess worst case is buying another MB as I got my p35-ds3 off ebay so wasn't too expensive.

 

Will be back when I get my build finished.

 

Cheers.

[invisiblesurfer]

When everything is loaded into your PCs memory, it's time to remove the P35 CD and insert your original Apple Leopard Retail DVD into your drive. You should see the word "BOOT", when the DVD is recognized by the drive, press Enter (Return).

 

 

Simply press Enter (Return) again. The hexadecimal code should be the correct one.

 

If you see this message, press Enter (Return) again

 

 

This step here does not work for me. I am lost.

 

ACPI is enabled. As soon as I get to the "boot:" prompt I remove the boot132 disk and insert the leopard retail disk. I press enter and then I get to your first screenshot, above. I leave it at "fe" and hit enter. Then it takes me back to the "BOOT:" prompt which shows just that - no option to boot from the retail cdrom whatsoever! Pressing enter or escape takes me to the device selection (80, 81 etc) - I have tried booting to all of them 80, 81, 82 etc etc but no go. It always returns me to the "BOOT" prompt. What can I possibly be doing wrong?

[CaptainNemo]

Hi invisiblesurfer,

 

1st: AHCI, not ACPI. ACPI is for the Power Management, AHCI is the way the chipset accesses the drive.

2nd: Do you really use a SATA or USB external drive?

3rd: Is it for sure a DualLayer Leopard RETAIL (!) disk? Best if it's the original, bought one.

 

Ciao

Nemo

[invisiblesurfer]

Hi invisiblesurfer,

 

1st: AHCI, not ACPI. ACPI is for the Power Management, AHCI is the way the chipset accesses the drive.

2nd: Do you really use a SATA or USB external drive?

3rd: Is it for sure a DualLayer Leopard RETAIL (!) disk? Best if it's the original, bought one.

 

Ciao

Nemo

 

Talk about instant reply... Many thanks mate.

 

1 - You are right, AHCI is enabled from bios.

2 - It is an internal SATA Seagate 160GB hard disk

3 - Yes it the DUAL LAYER LEO RETAIL.

 

The problem is that once I swap the boot132 with the leo retail disk, the drive does not read any data at all - so I am guessing it is not a matter of the disk not being bought from the store. I will definitely go out and buy my own copy once I get it to work - I have wasted so much money on Microsoft's OSes that paying for OSX is really nothing at all.

[CaptainNemo]

Talk about instant reply... Many thanks mate.

 

1 - You are right, AHCI is enabled from bios.

2 - It is an internal SATA Seagate 160GB hard disk

3 - Yes it the DUAL LAYER LEO RETAIL.

 

The problem is that once I swap the boot132 with the leo retail disk, the drive does not read any data at all - so I am guessing it is not a matter of the disk not being bought from the store. I will definitely go out and buy my own copy once I get it to work - I have wasted so much money on Microsoft's OSes that paying for OSX is really nothing at all.

 

I fully understand your concerns

 

2 - Ok - the harddisk COULD be a SATA drive, but the DVD-ROM MUST be a SATA drive.

 

Is the DVD-ROM also a SATA one?

[invisiblesurfer]

YES they are both SATA!

 

The weird thing I noticed was that both the HDD and the DVD do not show up in the bios screen - although it still boots from the DVDROM drive! Without AHCI they both show up fine. Am I missing something?

[CaptainNemo]

Hmm that sounds strange.

 

I would recommend that you load the Optimized Defaut Settings in the BIOS and do the changes again. Sounds stupid, but I also had some issues with my board even if I know exactly what to do. There is possibly one setting int the BIOS that does those strange things. So - try that.

 

If this also won't work, try this:

Maybe you could also try to find the GENERIC ISO here in the forum and try this one. You said that you've the GA-EP35-DS3R, maybe it differs too much. The GENERIC SHOULD work, but be sure to have at least a fitting network driver on a USB stick! The GENERIC will possibly NOT see the LAN by default.

[invisiblesurfer]

Hmm that sounds strange.

 

I would recommend that you load the Optimized Defaut Settings in the BIOS and do the changes again. Sounds stupid, but I also had some issues with my board even if I know exactly what to do. There is possibly one setting int the BIOS that does those strange things. So - try that.

 

If this also won't work, try this:

Maybe you could also try to find the GENERIC ISO here in the forum and try this one. You said that you've the GA-EP35-DS3R, maybe it differs too much. The GENERIC SHOULD work, but be sure to have at least a fitting network driver on a USB stick! The GENERIC will possibly NOT see the LAN by default.

 

Hello again Captain, what exactly do you mean by Generic ISO? Are you referring to the RETAIL OSX 10.5.6 iso?

[CaptainNemo]

No, but searching could help

 

Oh there's a EP35-DS3R one:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...mp;#entry917398

[invisiblesurfer]

No, but searching could help

 

Oh there's a EP35-DS3R one:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...mp;#entry917398

 

WOAH Thanks a lot mate!! I am sorry I'm new to all this and not quite sure what exactly I should be looking for! Much appreciated!

[CaptainNemo]

You're welcome - and please keep us updated

[thylaxene]

Success! Thanks Captain Nemo I got my build up and running. Everything seems more or less stable and I'm running 10.5.6.... but I am noticing "sticky cursor" and poor performance running QT player, like it is reading slow off the HD or like there is some heavy process going on in the background. But I know there isn't as I'm checking the activity monitor, and both the HDs are fast 7200s.

 

So I'm wondering if I'm running the wrong MB BIOS? How do I check which BIOS version I'm running on the motherboard, anyone know? My about mac dialog correctly identifies my CPU so I'm thinking I might be using some newer BIOS then 12F? The MB was off eBay so don't know it's history.

 

Specs of my machine below:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3 v1

- Intel Core 2 Quad 2.33Ghz (Q8200)

- Palit Geforce 8800gt 512MB DDR3

- Lian Li PC-K8B Black Midi Tower Case w/ 580W PSU

- Kingston DDR2 4GB Kit (2x2GB) 1033 Mhz

- 2x 250GB SATA HD

- Pioneer SATA DVD-RW

 

Again thanks for the dead simple installation instructions!

 

Cheers.

[CaptainNemo]

Hi thylaxene,

 

Success! Thanks Captain Nemo I got my build up and running. Everything seems more or less stable and I'm running 10.5.6.... but I am noticing "sticky cursor" and poor performance running QT player, like it is reading slow off the HD or like there is some heavy process going on in the background. But I know there isn't as I'm checking the activity monitor, and both the HDs are fast 7200s.

 

So I'm wondering if I'm running the wrong MB BIOS? How do I check which BIOS version I'm running on the motherboard, anyone know? My about mac dialog correctly identifies my CPU so I'm thinking I might be using some newer BIOS then 12F? The MB was off eBay so don't know it's history.

 

Ok - so, also for you means: Try first to set the BIOS options to Optimized Defaults and don't forget to change the settings for AHCI and (I personal recommend) to DISABLE the GA-SATA option in the same menu.

 

Have you installed the graphic card as shown in the tutorial?

 

You must be quick to recognize the BIOS version When the system boots (you should disable the full screen logo), you will see the version information like 12F (good) or 14C (bad).

 

Specs of my machine below:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3 v1

- Intel Core 2 Quad 2.33Ghz (Q8200)

- Palit Geforce 8800gt 512MB DDR3

- Lian Li PC-K8B Black Midi Tower Case w/ 580W PSU

- Kingston DDR2 4GB Kit (2x2GB) 1033 Mhz

- 2x 250GB SATA HD

- Pioneer SATA DVD-RW

 

Again thanks for the dead simple installation instructions!

 

Cheers.

 

8800GT is supported by EFI, so maybe run OSx86 Tools and use the EFI (and let the tool include it to the com.boot.Apple.plist) - it solved some performance issues (lagging mouse also) here on the ASUS motherboard. Be careful here, but maybe also remove the NVkush.kext with "sudo -s", "rm -rf /System/Library/Extensions/NVkush.kext" before rebooting.

 

Be careful! It possibly could crash your installation! So, do it before you customize your system

 

Hope this helps!

 

Ciao

Nemo

[thylaxene]

Hi thylaxene,

 

Ok - so, also for you means: Try first to set the BIOS options to Optimized Defaults and don't forget to change the settings for AHCI and (I personal recommend) to DISABLE the GA-SATA option in the same menu.

 

Have you installed the graphic card as shown in the tutorial?

 

You must be quick to recognize the BIOS version When the system boots (you should disable the full screen logo), you will see the version information like 12F (good) or 14C (bad).

8800GT is supported by EFI, so maybe run OSx86 Tools and use the EFI (and let the tool include it to the com.boot.Apple.plist) - it solved some performance issues (lagging mouse also) here on the ASUS motherboard. Be careful here, but maybe also remove the NVkush.kext with "sudo -s", "rm -rf /System/Library/Extensions/NVkush.kext" before rebooting.

 

Yes I ran the EFI tool to get my system to recognize the 512mb card. So what does NVKush do anyway? Should I now remove it now that I have the GFX card settings in the boot plist? Also I followed your BIOS setup instructions precisely so I guess I will disable fullscreen logo at startup on the MB and try and see what version BIOS I'm running.

 

Cheers.

[allencc3]

Hello All. Mr. Nemo, I would like to know if it is possible to use the Chameleon 2.0 bootloader with this guide. I am a noob when it comes to the Leopard OS. I have the ep35-ds3r and I have successfully installed the Retail 10.5.4 with my fully working Diamond 4870. Ethernet and the sound is fine too. I also installed disabler.kext and updated to 10.5.6. However, I am still booting from your boot disk.

 

I just bought a 500gb hd so that I can dual boot windows 7 and Leopard. I am half way there. The leopard dvd wont let me use MBR at all. I always have to use GUID. My goal is to install leopard on 205gb partition first. This is already done. Then install Windows 7 to an 84gb partition. I have already created this partition within my XP OS. I have not tried installing windows 7 to it yet. I ran into a problem at first because with the LEO retail disk, I made 2 partitions. 1 for leo install the other I selected as free space. Win 7 would not install to the drive at all. So I reformatted and did 205gb for Leo and the rest to FAT32. I then booted into xp to format the fat32 to ntfs. So, could you please help me to finish this off. The Chameleon 2.0 is def not a must. I really want to use EasyBCD and the windows 7 bootloader to boot into my Leopard. Please assist.

[braid]

My p35 ds3 is now DEAD. After 30 days of fight, now she is resting in peace.

So sad.

 

Running out of money now, I got a asus p5kpl

But for security issues (ok ok it is other question) I decide to drop osx for now...

[CaptainNemo]

Hello All. Mr. Nemo, I would like to know if it is possible to use the Chameleon 2.0 bootloader with this guide. I am a noob when it comes to the Leopard OS. I have the ep35-ds3r and I have successfully installed the Retail 10.5.4 with my fully working Diamond 4870. Ethernet and the sound is fine too. I also installed disabler.kext and updated to 10.5.6. However, I am still booting from your boot disk.

 

I just bought a 500gb hd so that I can dual boot windows 7 and Leopard. I am half way there. The leopard dvd wont let me use MBR at all. I always have to use GUID. My goal is to install leopard on 205gb partition first. This is already done. Then install Windows 7 to an 84gb partition. I have already created this partition within my XP OS. I have not tried installing windows 7 to it yet. I ran into a problem at first because with the LEO retail disk, I made 2 partitions. 1 for leo install the other I selected as free space. Win 7 would not install to the drive at all. So I reformatted and did 205gb for Leo and the rest to FAT32. I then booted into xp to format the fat32 to ntfs. So, could you please help me to finish this off. The Chameleon 2.0 is def not a must. I really want to use EasyBCD and the windows 7 bootloader to boot into my Leopard. Please assist.

 

Hi allencc3,

 

first of all - not take it personal - this thread is about the GA-P35-DS3 and no other board. Those boards differ so much even from Rev. A to Rev. B and so on, that it's pretty hard to give tips if you don't have the exact board for own tests - and I really don't have a bunch of boards here to test Sorry.

 

Regarding Chameleon 2.0, I already wrote something about it earlier in this thread. I haven't found time (and yeah, honestly - mood) to test it on my own, even because the previous version works fine and I had issues with some tests of the 2.0 version with the ASUS board. Maybe you could find some useful information at the link I posted before about the GA-EP35-DS3R this morning.

 

Also, I don't know disabler.kext. What is it good for?

 

I admit, I never installed 2 or more systems on one board. I'm a harddisk-junkie and I have 7 disks from 200 to 320GB SATA-II laying around (not to mention the 6x 1TB HDDs in the Linuxserver in the basement (Areca RAID)), so, I could always attach up to 4 different drives. Even if I have the hardware - I'm so "addicted" to OSX, that I just wanted to use this. I was personally pretty unsatisfied with Vista... so... but that will not answer your question - sorry. Maybe you've really more luck on the EP35-DS3R thread.

 

Good luck!

 

My p35 ds3 is now DEAD. After 30 days of fight, now she is resting in peace.

So sad.

 

Running out of money now, I got a asus p5kpl

But for security issues (ok ok it is other question) I decide to drop osx for now...

 

I'm sorry to hear this, braid.

 

I fully understand your concerns regarding the law. I think most guys here in Europe are safe, because if you have no chance the EULA before installing (and using) the product, the "OEM" is no longer operative. Anyway - if it would be illegal in my country, I would also think 10x about using it and 100x if I would write something about it.

 

Ciao

Nemo

[braid]

Nemo,

 

no no, this is not about law. no. I´m worry about internet security, bugs, those kind of things. After some research on the web, I did read a lot about how bad the osx security are. In some firewall tests it fails 100%. So Until I learn ipfw at least, I will keep distance from it. I know, I know, this is not the subject of this topic but just for explain whats going on here.

[allencc3]

Hi allencc3,

 

first of all - not take it personal - this thread is about the GA-P35-DS3 and no other board. Those boards differ so much even from Rev. A to Rev. B and so on, that it's pretty hard to give tips if you don't have the exact board for own tests - and I really don't have a bunch of boards here to test Sorry.

 

Regarding Chameleon 2.0, I already wrote something about it earlier in this thread. I haven't found time (and yeah, honestly - mood) to test it on my own, even because the previous version works fine and I had issues with some tests of the 2.0 version with the ASUS board. Maybe you could find some useful information at the link I posted before about the GA-EP35-DS3R this morning.

 

Also, I don't know disabler.kext. What is it good for?

 

I admit, I never installed 2 or more systems on one board. I'm a harddisk-junkie and I have 7 disks from 200 to 320GB SATA-II laying around (not to mention the 6x 1TB HDDs in the Linuxserver in the basement (Areca RAID)), so, I could always attach up to 4 different drives. Even if I have the hardware - I'm so "addicted" to OSX, that I just wanted to use this. I was personally pretty unsatisfied with Vista... so... but that will not answer your question - sorry. Maybe you've really more luck on the EP35-DS3R thread.

 

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the reply. I followed your guide and I got perfect install. I know we have different boards but I tried and it worked very well. The disabler kext is supposed to disable appleIntelCPUmanagement.kext and 1 other one. I installed so that I would not have to delete the cpumngmt.kext that causes problems for some. Some have had problems with booting into 10.5.6 after the update. It was just a precaution. The first time I followed your guide, I got it booting with the chameleon EFI, not the disc. That was good. Then I reformatted to try the dual boot. I installed leo like I did before but decided to update to 10.5.6 before I did the cham. EFI. I tried it after updating but it will not boot from Hard drive, only the cd. I will start over again because I think I have to install windows7 first. Thanks for the Perfect Guide!!!

 

One more thing, If I plan to use EasyBCD to dual boot Win7 and Leo, do I still need the chameleon EFI installed in order for EasyBCD to pick it up?

[CaptainNemo]

Thanks for the reply. I followed your guide and I got perfect install. I know we have different boards but I tried and it worked very well. The disabler kext is supposed to disable appleIntelCPUmanagement.kext and 1 other one. I installed so that I would not have to delete the cpumngmt.kext that causes problems for some. Some have had problems with booting into 10.5.6 after the update. It was just a precaution. The first time I followed your guide, I got it booting with the chameleon EFI, not the disc. That was good. Then I reformatted to try the dual boot. I installed leo like I did before but decided to update to 10.5.6 before I did the cham. EFI. I tried it after updating but it will not boot from Hard drive, only the cd. I will start over again because I think I have to install windows7 first. Thanks for the Perfect Guide!!!

 

One more thing, If I plan to use EasyBCD to dual boot Win7 and Leo, do I still need the chameleon EFI installed in order for EasyBCD to pick it up?

 

You're welcome. I'm happy to hear that the instructions seems to work nicely also with your board, even if it's not perfect.

 

Let me explain a thing about the cpumngmt.kext. When you use a distribution like Kalyway, iAtkos or so (which are REALLY good!), you really have to be aware of this. Apple has installed routines in the updates that would kick your Hackintoshs installation badly and this really often results in systems that no longer boot. I spend exactly 12h's on the GA-P35-DS3 to get Kalyway 10.5.2 running a few months ago, upgraded to 10.5.6. I think I reinstalled the system for 6 or 7x this day (it was a rainy Saturday, so it was Ok). When everything worked great and I used it for some hours, I got a lot of Kernel Panics. This was the day when I really learned a lot about this board and the hardware.

 

Retail installations are completely other kind of installations. Distributions are hacked. Really hacked, means, the code was modified which makes the usage illegal. Installing a Retail DVD on the other side is not a problem, because you use the regular Retail disc (yes, you have to buy it ). But this little difference also makes a difference regarding updates. The system really "thinks" that it is installed on a real Mac. EFI is emulated on the boot by the Chameleon tool and sits in your OS while running the OS. So the update doesn't harm your installation on the Retail install which means: the usage of this disabler.kext is not needed here. I think it doesn't make a real difference if you use it or not, I just want to explain it so that you and other readers understand the real benefit of the Retail variant.

 

I just can recommend you to get another additional HDD if you want it the easy way. As described before, I haven't used to install 2 or more systems on one HDD, so sorry - I can't help you with this, but I think that Windows has killed the bootsector.

 

If you install a Linux and a Windows on one HDD, it is HIGHLY recommended to install Windows first, then install Linux afterwards. GRUB is able to work with both, Linux and also Windows partitions. Windows is MBR, Mac OS X is EFI and with Windows bootloader (ntldr.sys) has possibly killed the EFI boot partition. If that is killed, no Chameleon is able to help you. Chameleon can just navigate you to the right bootsector, but if it's killed: no chance. Anyway - it boots without any issues using the CD. The stuff that you load while booting the ISO CD-R IS the bootsector. Sounds funny, but it's that way :-)

 

Maybe this helps. My recommendation: Install Windows Vista, 7, whatever and leave enough space FREE on the HDD to create a partition with the Disk Utility in the OS X Installer. Install it as GUID and you should be fine. Well, there's one thing that could also happen: Maybe Chameleon does not allow you to boot Windows anymore. Maybe search the forum for this topic. I'm sure there are great instructions around.

 

 

Nemo,

 

no no, this is not about law. no. I´m worry about internet security, bugs, those kind of things. After some research on the web, I did read a lot about how bad the osx security are. In some firewall tests it fails 100%. So Until I learn ipfw at least, I will keep distance from it. I know, I know, this is not the subject of this topic but just for explain whats going on here.

 

Hmm - I really understand this. I live in Germany and our goverment is about to really go nuts regarding data protection. Every ISP has to log EVERYTHING you do back to 6 months. So I really understand your concerns and I'm also looking out for a payable DNS or VPN access which does not drop my downspeed from 16 to 8MBit/s or so Regarding the system security: don't you use a hardware router that has a nice build-in firewall? This should solve SOME of these OS X issues regarding security.

 

That's the main issue of more and more people using OS X, the "bad guys" also seek out for new victims and the Mac users always had those idea that Mac OS is the savest OS in the world. Honestly - the truth is, that even Vista is much more secure! :/

 

Ciao

Nemo