64 replies to this topic

[Mammoth]

Vanilla Retail 10.6.3 Installation Guide With Chameleon on its Own Partition
Sony VAIO laptop VPCF115FM/B (and similar where applicable)

* ABOUT THIS METHOD *

The following describes the objectives of this installation method:

- Be able to multi-boot 2 installations of OS X and also Windows 7 all on a single hard drive.
- Creation of a repair partition for booting to OS X when your main installation has failed so you can work on it
- Have Chameleon on its own partition (same hard drive as OS X and Windows 7 is installed on)

Benefits to Chameleon on it's own partition are as follows:
* Chameleon is easily accessible
* Very simple to update
* Never any need to mess with permissions
* Very easy to add/update the DSDT (and other) files
* Unlike using the EFI partition, no need to mount/unmount ever to make changes
* Plenty of room to store backup copies of files / other versions for testing

* Sony Vaio VPCF115FM Specification *

Intel® Core™ i7 - 720QM
Installed: 6GB (4GB+2GB)
Maximum: 8GB
Type/Speed: DDR3/1333MHz
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU w/ 1024 MB
Marvell® Yukon 88E8040 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
Realtek ALC275 audio

* CURRENT STATUS *
This method and the SONY VAIO VPCF115FM/B are ONLY vanilla compatible with OS X 10.6.3 and above.

Retail SL Install Test Results:
10.6.0 - NO - (Confirmed by Mammoth)
10.6.1 - ? -
10.6.2 - ? -
10.6.3 - YES - (Confirmed by Mammoth)

Here is what is NOT working yet:
- Full video support: Video is displayed on the laptop's LCD display (using current, unfinished DSDT).
- LAN/WLAN: (but I have a way of getting networking/Internet working using firewire which is detailed in Guide Part IV).
- Audio: Not working at all.

What IS working:
- NOTE: While we are having trouble getting full video support to work on the laptop's built-in display, FULL VIDEO IS AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW for external displays connected either to the VGA or HDMI ports! So that's at least something for the meantime.

- Working multi-boot: Chameleon on own partition, OS X 10.6.3 partition, Repair OS X partition and Windows 7 partition, all working.
- All eight cores are working!
- Firewire
- Laptop keyboard & trackpad
- Bluetooth
- SATA connections (internal/external)
- BD DVD drive (of course, no Blu-ray discs on any Mac)
- Networking, only via a tethered Firewire connection (as mentioned above)
- Full USB support @ 2.0 speeds!

* CURRENT ISSUES / WORKAROUNDS*

1) Laptop left idol (for x period of time), seems to freeze.
Workaround (by OoTlink): Disable sleep under System Prefs -> Energy Saver. Likewise, you can always break out of a sleep state by tapping the power button (that glows green on the side, of course).

Update: Tapping the green button DOES WORK once the system is fully configured as outlined in the guides.

2) Clicking on "About this Mac" causes the GUI to crash.
Workaround: none yet.
(The GUI comes right back after displaying a black screen, so just use System Profiler to get the info you need).

3) Windows 7 time is often way off.
Workaround: none yet.
After being in OS X and then restarting into Windows 7, the Windows 7 time is often way off.

4) Display limited to 1024 x 768.
Workaround (by PTDM): Add "Graphics Mode" string to com.apple.boot.plist.
This wont change it to the full native resolution, but it will take the resolution higher to (1280 X 1024).
NOTE: No need for you to do this manually, it has been implemented in the Mammoth v1.0 boot CD.
<key>Graphics Mode</key>
<string>1920x1080x32</string>

* CURRENT WORKING METHOD FOR THE FOLLOWING DEVICES *
Ultimate goal is a pure vanilla system; however, other methods are often needed before that goal is reached. Here we will track this progress for each needed device.
==================================
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU w/ 1024 MB
As of 05-17-2010
DSDT & com.apple.Boot.plist:
Internal laptop display: Working only at 1280x1024, no QE/CI
External displays : Fully working and with QE/CI
==================================
Marvell® Yukon 88E8040 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
As of 05-17-2010
None:
Not working at all currently
==================================
Realtek ALC275 audio
As of 05-17-2010
None:
Not working at all currently
==================================

* RESEARCH AND LINKS *

Following are links to research, files, and other information related to Sony VAIO's and OS X.

Snow Leopard on VAIO P(VGN-P90HS) working!, US15W chipset GMA500



* FILES *

INSTALLATION GUIDES (I - VII)
PART I - Preparation (v1.20) May 29, 2010 04:56 PM  1InstallGuide_Sony_VAIO_VPCF115FM_PI_1.20.pdf.zip   910.64K   992 downloads
PART II - Installing OS X (v1.25) June 3, 2010 04:40 PM  2InstallGuide_Sony_VAIO_VPCF115FM_PII_1.25.pdf.zip   935.12K   789 downloads
PART III - Installing Chameleon (v1.20) May 29, 2010 04:57 PM  3InstallGuide_Sony_VAIO_VPCF115FM_PIII_1.20.pdf.zip   884.72K   689 downloads
PART IV - VPCF115FM Customizations (v1.00) June 3, 2010 10:58 PM  4InstallGuide_Sony_VAIO_VPCF115FM_PIV_1.00.pdf.zip   1.03MB   697 downloads
PART V - Booting with Chameleon (v1.00) on hold
PART VI - Troubleshooting (v1.00) on hold
PART VII - News and Updates (v1.00) on hold

Disappearing Keyboard/TrackPad Fix May 29, 2010  ResolvingTrackPadIssue.zip   1.34K   423 downloads

DSDT.aml (v1.00) May 19, 2010 11:04 PM  dsdt.aml.zip   14.49K   500 downloads (Current DSDT.aml for VPCF115FM/

DSDT Clean, unmodified for VPCF115FM/B May 27, 2007 7:03 PM  RAW_DSDT_VPCF115FM.zip   40.91K   307 downloads (If you want to try making your own DSDT, these are the files to use. Please share any significant finds / improvements with us here. Thanks.)

com.apple.Boot.plist (v1.10) May 27, 2010 7:05 PM  com.apple.Boot.plist.zip   454bytes   439 downloads
SMBIOS.plist (v1.00) May 19, 2010 11:20 PM  smbios.plist.zip   977bytes   414 downloads
Mammoth Boot CD (v1.20) May 29, 2010 5:50 PM  MammothBootCDv1.20.zip   1.65K   651 downloads

* CREDITS *

BlackOSX has written what I believe to be the best guide for installing OS X. Much of the info and procedures I will present in this thread are heavily based on his terrific work. You can visit his thread here:
BlackOSX's install guide for GA-EP45-DS3L

Kizwan is working very hard to help us get a DSDT that will allow for perfect video (maybe audio and NIC/WLAN too). Please visit that thread here:
Sony Vaio VPCF115FM Discussion: DSDT Injection, Discussion about DSDT injection on Sony Vaio VPCF115FM


* MESSAGE *

* June 3, 2010 *

It is with much regret that I have been forced to make the decision to SELL my Sony VAIO VPCF115FM/B.

I have made this decision due to the issue of not being able to get video acceleration or resolutions above 1280 x 1024 because Sony implements proprietary parts and drivers that prevent it. Had I known this in advance, obviously I would not have bought this machine.

This is a shame, because you cannot get a nicer, more powerfully equipped machine for the money. But I need a machine that can run OS X in all of its glory 2 weeks ago. The fact is, this problem has existed with Sony laptops FOR OVER 3 YEARS NOW, and nobody has been able to resolve it, so I don't think it is going to happen anytime soon, if ever at all.

What a shame. NO MORE SONY FOR ME EVER! I have been burned countless times whenever I have bought a Sony, so this is it for me.

After tomorrow I will no longer have a VPCF115FM/B in my possession, so my desire and ability to support it further will nearly cease.

THE GOOD NEWS

I have ordered a replacement laptop, and I will be porting the Mammoth Boot CD, Installation Guides, and my support over to this new machine:

The Hewlett-Packard DV8T

You can find out more about it here:
http://www.shopping..../computer_store

Here is my new DV8t thread for support of this machine: http://www.insanelym...howtopic=221653

Thank you, and good luck,

Mammoth

[arasa]

Mammoth I would like to thank you for creating this thread!

I found that booting with Empire Efi build V108_i5 enables the touch-pad and the keyboard in OSX GUI at least for the installation prompts. I just installed from 10.6.3 retail dvd and booted for the first time and will keep everyone interested posted!

[Mammoth]

arasa, on May 17 2010, 11:53 PM, said:

Mammoth I would like to thank you for creating this thread!

I found that booting with Empire Efi build V108_i5 enables the touch-pad and the keyboard in OSX GUI at least for the installation prompts. I just installed from 10.6.3 retail dvd and booted for the first time and will keep everyone interested posted!

You're very welcome Arasa!  Keep us up to date on your progress and problems.

I have a bunch of things going on right now impacting my time, but getting this laptop working 100% on OS X IS a high priority for me. I will be adding plenty of info / install guides here as soon as I can.

Thanks!

Mammoth

[fiddles88]

def keep up to datee

[OoTLink]

Thought I'd add, if you disable sleep under system prefs -> energy saver, that freezing will go away. Likewise, you can always break out of a sleep state by tapping the power button (that glows green on the side, of course).

[Mammoth]

OoTLink, on May 19 2010, 12:17 AM, said:

Thought I'd add, if you disable sleep under system prefs -> energy saver, that freezing will go away. Likewise, you can always break out of a sleep state by tapping the power button (that glows green on the side, of course).

Awesome! Thanks for sharing that. I will add that to the list of fixes!



Mammoth

[Phantom Thief Dark Mousy]

Just as a quick reminder, while we cant get full video support at the moment, you can add the "graphics mode" string to com.apple.boot.plist.  Go ahead and add whatever the native resolution is (I believe its 1980X1080 but not sure).  It wont change it to the native resolution but it will make the resolution higher (1024X1280 I believe).  It's not an ideal fix but it makes some things look better.

[OoTLink]

You can do a 'custom geforce' graphics string in OSX86tools, as I mentioned in my Vaio F series thread. (I think it's on page 2...

http://www.insanelym...p...13388&st=60

these were the NVCAP values I tried:

From main BIOS dump:

0400000000007f00000000000000000700000000



From IORegistryEditor voodoo:

04000000000001007e0000000000000a00000000



From VGA BIOS dump:

0400000000000200000000000000000700000000


They all produce the same results. IIRC the VGA BIOS one may not work. Either way, it's a sham - the graphics string will make System Profiler say you have whatever you named your card, and it'll show the proper memory, but toss the NVDA50HAL.kext in the mix from the MBP update that SHOULD support our GT330m, and the screen goes black.

[Phantom Thief Dark Mousy]

OoTLink, on May 19 2010, 06:26 PM, said:

You can do a 'custom geforce' graphics string in OSX86tools, as I mentioned in my Vaio F series thread. (I think it's on page 2...

http://www.insanelym...p...13388&st=60

these were the NVCAP values I tried:

From main BIOS dump:

0400000000007f00000000000000000700000000



From IORegistryEditor voodoo:

04000000000001007e0000000000000a00000000



From VGA BIOS dump:

0400000000000200000000000000000700000000


They all produce the same results. IIRC the VGA BIOS one may not work. Either way, it's a sham - the graphics string will make System Profiler say you have whatever you named your card, and it'll show the proper memory, but toss the NVDA50HAL.kext in the mix from the MBP update that SHOULD support our GT330m, and the screen goes black.

Yes the reason it's going black is b/c of the nvcaps all pointing to the external display (VGA),  What we need is some way of getting the proper nvcap for the internal LVDS display on these laptops.

[Mammoth]

Phantom Thief Dark Mousy, on May 19 2010, 08:58 AM, said:

Just as a quick reminder, while we cant get full video support at the moment, you can add the "graphics mode" string to com.apple.boot.plist.  Go ahead and add whatever the native resolution is (I believe its 1980X1080 but not sure).  It wont change it to the native resolution but it will make the resolution higher (1024X1280 I believe).  It's not an ideal fix but it makes some things look better.

Thanks PTDM    !

I have added your workaround to the main post. I have also made this change to my system. Very nice!



Mammoth

[OoTLink]

Phantom Thief Dark Mousy, on May 19 2010, 04:28 PM, said:

Yes the reason it's going black is b/c of the nvcaps all pointing to the external display (VGA),  What we need is some way of getting the proper nvcap for the internal LVDS display on these laptops.

Which nobody has really figured out for Sony laptops. I almost think we need to dissect it under Windows to see what it's doing.

[Mammoth]

Is there anyone else who can try this?

Have you guys try this?

http://redirectingat.....wtopic=218556


I'm trying it right now, but have not got it to work yet.

[PlumberGr]

Mammoth, on May 20 2010, 02:25 AM, said:

Is there anyone else who can try this?

Have you guys try this?

http://redirectingat.....wtopic=218556


I'm trying it right now, but have not got it to work yet.

I have tried, with no success! Did you finish trying it?

[Phantom Thief Dark Mousy]

just an idea to throw out for you all, for sound, why dont we look at patching the Apple HDA kext?, it would still require us making a minor modification to the DSDT (adding a method to device HDEF) but it may be something worth looking into.  To do this though it would require somebody booting up a linux live distro and getting a codec dump as well as going into regedit in windows.  If anybody is interested in this tell me here.

[jlvaio]

Mammoth, on May 22 2010, 08:47 PM, said:

WOW JLVaio!!! You are AWESOME!     

Thanks SOOO much for sharing all of this information. I am hoping some of our InsanelyMac GURUS can use this to get our laptops running finally!!!

Thanks again!

sorry i have nt seen you topics i have posted first  in better order in "anval acpi  loader topic" with more info but i ve just deleted my original post but may be you can find them with google cache in searching my name on the site insanely...on the gooooogl preference but i have no time now to search

[Phantom Thief Dark Mousy]

Okay Everybody I have made a special Boot CD for the installation of Snow Leopard on the VPCF115FM Laptop.  The only catch is that you have to use a 10.6.3 retail disk (Due to the use of the vanilla Kernel).  I do not know if you can use the 10.6 retail disk but you are free to try.  This disk will help you install Snow leopard and have use of the trackpad as well as the keyboard.

Link is here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?zy3mmj31dmm

test and try it tell me how it works

Dark

[Mammoth]

Thanks Dark for taking the time and making the effort to create a boot CD for us. I don't know about others, but it won't work for me. : ( Have you tried using it on a totally blank hard drive, fresh install? That is what I am doing. Do you have the same machine as I? I have a VPCF115FM/B (bought from Best Buy, which is different from ones bought elsewhere). My machine has 1024 MB for video memory while others only have 512 MB. Right now, I only have the 4 GB memory module installed, not the additional 2 GB module. I am using a SL retail 10.6.3 DL DVD (not 10.6.2 or earlier).

I created a USB install on an external USB hard drive, and from there it installs beautifully and FAST! I have tried many, many other boot CD's (iBoot, EmpireEFI, etc.), and have about the same results.

The way I got my system installed in the beginning was by installing the laptop hard drive in my Hack tower and install 10.6.3 directly to the drive; worked like a charm. But I really want to create a CD that everyone can use.

Any help, from anyone, is welcome.

Thanks,

Mammoth

[Phantom Thief Dark Mousy]

Mammoth,

The Laptop I have is the same one purchased from Bestbuy, what boot flags are you using? if you use "-f" I believe it'll block out the trackpad.  It's working on my end but Give me details as to what your doing.

anybody else having issues with the CD?

[Mammoth]

NOTE: I have now figured out all these issues and will share the answers here as time permits.

Thanks Dark,

Wow, that's crazy. Macs! I tell ya.

I have tried EVERYTHING and several boot CD's, but they hang at either 19 or 17 minutes to go, and NEVER get TrackPad working in GUI (other than my USB hard drive installer I created). I have tried, in various combinations, the following boot parameters:

-f
busratio=12 (also tried 30, 20, 19, but 12 is actually the correct number for my CPU)
PciBus=0 ( 1, 2, and 3 also tried)
cpus=1

I'm back to trying to create my own boot CD from scratch. What pisses me off is, I HAVE created a boot CD that works, and is fast, I just cannot get the friggin' TrackPad and Keyboard working during the GUI install! If I could figure that out, my worries would be over and we would all have a great, working boot CD.

My first challenge - what specific .kext files  and versions need to be added, and where do they need to be added? Do you know? I have found that it SEEMS to be AppleACPIPS2Nub.kext and ApplePS2Controller.kext. Removing and adding them back to S/L/E on the VAIO seems to do it; however, I have not been successful at copying them to Extra/Extensions, placing them in an Extensions.kext file, or in a Preboot.dmg file and have them work in order to create a boot CD. I know I am close, but there is some OS X trick / technique I am missing. > So irritating.

On a strange note, like I said, I can remove/add those 2 files to S/L/E, HOWEVER, I just tried to do it again and I got an error saying the files were not installed correctly, and then of course it stopped working. I tried repairing permissions several times, no good. I tried setting permissions manually with 755 and root:wheel, still no good. I tried clearing caches: extensions.kext, caches in the usual places, nothing. Tried restarting, even with -f, still no good. Finally, I had moved the originals to the trash so I tried moving them back, and did NOT get the installation error messages. Repaired permissions, yet again, then like magic, it was working again! Does ANYONE know why I could not "install" those two files? What did I miss, please? I'm getting ready to turn this crap into a Mac-and-toss!

I'm DEFINITELY a PC! When I fix crap on a PC, it STAYS fixed! Stupid Apple and OS X.

Do you have any idea what's going on with this stuff (or anyone, please), if so, could you clue me in!

Ok, back to wasting more time learning OS X.

[Midtown]

@ Phantom Thief Dark Mousy

The Boot CD works fine with my VAIO F (VPCF11JFX/ and the 10.6.3 retail DVD. Both machines are very similar. I get 1280 X 1024 as resolution. What's the kext used for display/graphics?


@ Mammoth

Are you posting the instruction for dual boot & separate partition for Chameleon soon? Phantom's boot CD works fine and I'd like to setup a dual boot system.

An user (Extraspeed) used voodoohda for the ALC275 audio, I'm still trying to get the audio.
Also, I think the "real" ethernet controller in our laptops is 88E8057, even though in sony's support site the driver is listed as 88E8040.

You mentioned about getting wifi using firewire, are you gonna post that anytime soon?