116 replies to this topic

[Panther1]

Hello to everyone,

Today I want to share with you my experience with installing Snow Leopard on an Asus P5Q motherboard with absolutely no kernel panics whatsoever! Defaults to 64bit enabled too!

1. Obtain the modded bios for this motherboard here:

Modded Bios for P5Q

2. Download and burn the bootcd here:

SL Boot CD - Chameleon RC3

3. Boot system with bootcd and eject when menu appears

4. Insert your retail SL dvd into drive and wait a few seconds then hit F5 and it will now show Mac OSX Install Disk

5. Hit enter and it will boot up into the setup

6. Open up Disk Utility and partition your drive for SL with GUID format

7. Exit out of Disk Utility and then proceed with install picking the defaults or removing unecessary items from list

8. Once install finishes it will state that it did not install successfully (hint it really did, it just could not bless the booting of the installation with out the help of the cd)

9. Reboot system with boot cd and then arrow over to your SL install and hit enter

10. Once you are at the setup screen finish setting up your system.

11. After setting up your system you will have just a few more steps to go for your perfect retail install

12. Download the Kext Helper app here:

Kext Helper App

13. Download the VoodooHDA 64bit kext file here:

VoodooHDA 64Bit Audio driver for ALC1200

14. Install VoodooHDA kext with Kext Helper

15. Reboot system with BootCD still in drive and pick your SL install

16. Voila! At this point you can update as normal and get up to 10.6.1 without any hassles or kernel panics.

* No drivers are needed for the graphics, they are native with full Open CL 1.0 enabled!

* Time Machine works out of the box!

* The only thing missing from this near perfect retail install is a way to get the BootCD boot loader installed on the SL install. Once this is achieved, you will have the perfect Mac Pro using your retail disk unmodified!

Below are the screen shots of my Mac Pro with Snow Leopard 10.6.1 installed:

Attached Files

•  Screen_shot_2009_09_12_at_9.26.16_PM.png   130.87K   1531 downloads
•  Screen_shot_2009_09_12_at_9.26.30_PM.png   131.85K   1148 downloads
•  Screen_shot_2009_09_12_at_9.26.46_PM.png   121.65K   1010 downloads
•  Screen_shot_2009_09_12_at_9.30.47_PM.png   29.53K   858 downloads
•  Screen_shot_2009_09_15_at_6.58.28_PM.png   177.99K   1053 downloads

[juveline]

Is it possible to boot SL installer from HDD/flash? It's really hard to find DL-DVDs here :/
Thank you

[bxtreme]

Now we just need a way to get Chameleon to boot from the Leopard Partition and not the BootCD! Everything else seems to be working fine!

[ehh]

Mind listing your exact specs and hardware? Congratulations!

[Panther1]

Thanks Ehh!

My system specs are as follows:

Asus P5Q  - modded bios 2102 from Juzzi
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33GHZ CPU
EVGA Nvidia 8600GTS SSC 256mb PCI-e
1 x Seagate 500GB Sata II drive (Snow Leopard)
2 x Western Digital 160GB Sata II drives - 1 Time Machine backups - other misc
8GB DDR2 667 Kingston memory
Buffalo 54G PCI Wireless card

ehh, on Sep 16 2009, 09:56 AM, said:

Mind listing your exact specs and hardware? Congratulations!

That's excellent news Bxtreme!

bxtreme, on Sep 16 2009, 06:44 AM, said:

Now we just need a way to get Chameleon to boot from the Leopard Partition and not the BootCD! Everything else seems to be working fine!

[bxtreme]

I got it to work!

http://www.insanelym...howtopic=185701

I made sure I did these steps correctly..

This is what I did to remove the "acpi_smc_platformplugin::pushCPU_CSTData......" issue when booting through Chameleon on my leopard partition. Previously I was only able to get into OSX from the BootCD provided in this tutorial.

You will need: P5Q.zip and kexthelper from the first post by Quaza

Restating Quaza's directions:

1. Install Chameleon RC2 from the package provided in P5Q.zip
2. Download MainMenu, install it and use it to reveal hidden files.
3. Move the 'boot' file you find in your Snow Leopard partition to the trash.
4. From P5Q.zip take the 'boot' file from the RC3 folder and drop it where the old one was.
5. Now go to the root of your S.Leopard partition, click Extras, then open the Extensions folder
6. Put ALL the .kext files you got from P5Q.zip and drop them in the root\extras\extensions folder you just opened. Replace the old ones if duplicates are found.
7. Open "Kext Helper" and drag all the kext files you just put in 'root\extras\extensions' to the kext helper window.
8. Insert your snow leopard password if any, and then click on easy install.
9. Restart without BootCD and see if you can get into Snow Leopard

Panther1, on Sep 16 2009, 10:34 AM, said:

Thanks Ehh!

My system specs are as follows:

Asus P5Q  - modded bios 2102 from Juzzi
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33GHZ CPU
EVGA Nvidia 8600GTS SSC 256mb PCI-e
1 x Seagate 500GB Sata II drive (Snow Leopard)
2 x Western Digital 160GB Sata II drives - 1 Time Machine backups - other misc
8GB DDR2 667 Kingston memory
Buffalo 54G PCI Wireless card




That's excellent news Bxtreme!

[ocZZZ]

Do you think it's worth moving from a P5k motherboard to this one ? the setup looks really easy... is everyone else successful with this?

[Panther1]

Hi Bxtreme,

I successfully got it to boot with the older menu. I wanted to get the boot menu from the boot cd. What boot menu does your SL have?

Panther1

bxtreme, on Sep 16 2009, 09:48 PM, said:

I got it to work!

http://www.insanelym...howtopic=185701

I made sure I did these steps correctly..

This is what I did to remove the "acpi_smc_platformplugin::pushCPU_CSTData......" issue when booting through Chameleon on my leopard partition. Previously I was only able to get into OSX from the BootCD provided in this tutorial.

You will need: P5Q.zip and kexthelper from the first post by Quaza

Restating Quaza's directions:

1. Install Chameleon RC2 from the package provided in P5Q.zip
2. Download MainMenu, install it and use it to reveal hidden files.
3. Move the 'boot' file you find in your Snow Leopard partition to the trash.
4. From P5Q.zip take the 'boot' file from the RC3 folder and drop it where the old one was.
5. Now go to the root of your S.Leopard partition, click Extras, then open the Extensions folder
6. Put ALL the .kext files you got from P5Q.zip and drop them in the root\extras\extensions folder you just opened. Replace the old ones if duplicates are found.
7. Open "Kext Helper" and drag all the kext files you just put in 'root\extras\extensions' to the kext helper window.
8. Insert your snow leopard password if any, and then click on easy install.
9. Restart without BootCD and see if you can get into Snow Leopard

[bxtreme]

The bootloader i have is Chameleon v2 RC3. It looks lovely! it opens at full resolution 1920 x 1200, unlike the BootCD which gives me something that looks more like 800x600 .. even the Apple loading screen looks better than the one I have on my macbook pro

i used the com.apple.boot.plist  file provided by Quaza from his thread. My video settings were the same so I just left it as is.. check part 7 of his guide here: http://www.insanelym...p...185701&st=0

Panther1, on Sep 17 2009, 01:17 AM, said:

Hi Bxtreme,

I successfully got it to boot with the older menu. I wanted to get the boot menu from the boot cd. What boot menu does your SL have?

Panther1

by the way.. when I install Chameleon RC2 from the pkg file it says that it installed unsuccessfully.. I just ignored that and moved on.

[3mp3ror]

nice guide, I will try it on my p5q-e but first I need to know if you used a retail image or one of those custom made floating around the net.

thanks

[Panther1]

Thanks 3mp3ror!

I used my retail dvd with this tutorial. It's the cleanest install to date that I have achieved. It only needs a few kexts after installation to make it all work but no modified images or dvds were used.

I have not managed to get the bootcd bootloader onto the SL install, but was successful with Bxtreme's info getting my SL installation to boot on it's own now with the Chameleon RC2 and RC3 from the P5Q.zip file.

Hope this helps!

Panther1

3mp3ror, on Sep 17 2009, 11:09 AM, said:

nice guide, I will try it on my p5q-e but first I need to know if you used a retail image or one of those custom made floating around the net.

thanks

[snuffy58]

I have a copy of mac box set copied the sl dmg to dl dvd when I boot from the boot cd I get can't find mach kernel am I missing a step?

[rcasca]

It works great for me, but only when I connect my video camera imovie shuts down. Can someone help me????

Thanks.

[Dex_Gbr]

bxtreme, on Sep 16 2009, 10:48 PM, said:

I got it to work!

http://www.insanelym...howtopic=185701

I made sure I did these steps correctly..

This is what I did to remove the "acpi_smc_platformplugin::pushCPU_CSTData......" issue when booting through Chameleon on my leopard partition. Previously I was only able to get into OSX from the BootCD provided in this tutorial.

You will need: P5Q.zip and kexthelper from the first post by Quaza

Restating Quaza's directions:

1. Install Chameleon RC2 from the package provided in P5Q.zip
2. Download MainMenu, install it and use it to reveal hidden files.
3. Move the 'boot' file you find in your Snow Leopard partition to the trash.
4. From P5Q.zip take the 'boot' file from the RC3 folder and drop it where the old one was.
5. Now go to the root of your S.Leopard partition, click Extras, then open the Extensions folder
6. Put ALL the .kext files you got from P5Q.zip and drop them in the root\extras\extensions folder you just opened. Replace the old ones if duplicates are found.
7. Open "Kext Helper" and drag all the kext files you just put in 'root\extras\extensions' to the kext helper window.
8. Insert your snow leopard password if any, and then click on easy install.
9. Restart without BootCD and see if you can get into Snow Leopard

i tried,but i can't boot 64 bit kernel.on 32 all works fine.

[Tom1356]

snuffy58, on Sep 17 2009, 07:49 PM, said:

I have a copy of mac box set copied the sl dmg to dl dvd when I boot from the boot cd I get can't find mach kernel am I missing a step?

Restore your .dmg image to some partition on HDD and it gets work. DVD did not work for me too.

[deadpxl]

Hi! i got my snow leopard running perfectly (with some few random freezes sometimes) i have a minor problem on my About this Mac which displays incorrect value on my cpu & ram, my cpu is 2.40ghz but it indicates 2.43ghz while my ram indicates 667mhz but im using 800mhz, any suggestion how to fix this? Thanks!

 Screen_shot_2009_09_21_at_9.31.54_AM.png   41.47K   164 downloads

plus anyone of you tried running iLife '09? on my previous installation using SnowOSX distro caused a lot of kernel panic, not tried it yet on Retail because i don't want to mess up my installation

Thanks for this wonderful guide!

[kooby]

Panther..This Sounds like a great guide!

I'm going to pull the trigger tomorrow.  I've done a leopard install on a P5Q-EM about 6 months back and it went great - nearly 100% stable.

I was wondering whether you have had any stability issues re iLife or final cut pro (if you use it).  I would like to make this my primary OS X machine and was wondering if it will be relatively problem free.

Thanks again!

[Panther1]

Hey Kooby,

Thanks! I have not had a single kernel panic from this installation. It is rock solid! I'm getting a evaluation of Snow Leopard Server shortly and will test it out as well.

I run ILife 09 and IWork 09 flawlessly! As far as OSX is concerned, I have a real Mac Pro!

I have noticed that I too have the incorrect cpu speed listed. I do have DDR2 667 memory so that read out is correct. Also in Disk Utility its stating that the drives are external instead of internal. None the less My Mac Pro is purring like a beautiful kitten!

Panther1

kooby, on Sep 23 2009, 06:08 PM, said:

Panther..This Sounds like a great guid!

I'm going to pull the trigger tomorrow. I've done a leopard install on a P5Q-EM about 6 months back and it went great - nearly 100% stable.

I was wondering whether you have had any stability issues re iLife or final cut pro (if you use it). I would like to make this my primary OS X machine and was wondering if it will be relatively problem free.

Thanks again!

Hi Deadpxl,

I had nothing but kernel panic after kernel panic running SnowOsX 3.5. I finally managed to get a working installation of it but wanted a more stable and clean installation. Using this retail method has produced the cleanest and stable Snow Leopard installation to date. As far as OSX is concerned, I have a real Mac Pro.

Go ahead and pull the trigger and install with this method. You won't regret it

Panther1

deadpxl, on Sep 21 2009, 11:38 PM, said:

Hi! i got my snow leopard running perfectly (with some few random freezes sometimes) i have a minor problem on my About this Mac which displays incorrect value on my cpu & ram, my cpu is 2.40ghz but it indicates 2.43ghz while my ram indicates 667mhz but im using 800mhz, any suggestion how to fix this? Thanks!

Screen_s...31.54_AM.png

plus anyone of you tried running iLife '09? on my previous installation using SnowOSX distro caused a lot of kernel panic, not tried it yet on Retail because i don't want to mess up my installation

Thanks for this wonderful guide!

[yehia Amer]

what about the rest of P5Q series Mobs

i am thinking to buy P5Q pro or P5Q-E

[Panther1]

Hi Yeahia Amer,

I cannot personally comment on either of these P5Q series boards as I do not own them. I can only imagine that if the differences in hardware are ever so slightly, they both should work and have the same results of a clean stable panic free installation of Snow Leopard

Panther1

yehia Amer, on Sep 23 2009, 06:54 PM, said:

what about the rest of P5Q series Mobs

i am thinking to buy P5Q pro or P5Q-E