2305 replies to this topic

[wen1]

If the usb disk is bad it should still see it.

Chameleon (part of iboot CD) does not really care whether the partition has valid content on it or not as long as it is a valid partition.

I have seen this issue sporadically. Hers is what i would suggest.

1. Make sure you did not change and BIOS defaults for USB. I did not remember having to change any of dell's default values.

2. Insert the iboot legacy cd and plug the usb disk in to the port on the left (next to CPU vents).

3. Power off the laptop completely. (shutdown completely)

4. Power on by pressing the power button, it should see the OSX install DVD, sometimes it is not on the screen and you will have to scroll right to see it.

Hope this helps

edddo, on Jun 6 2011, 11:02 AM, said:

OK well great, fell down at the first hurdle. Made my Snow Leopard USB stick, added the files as per the instructions, burned the iBoot legacy disc, booted the disc no problems BUT the iBoot menu simply doesn't detect the USB stick, regardless of which USB port I use or however many times I hammer the F5 button.

I followed the USB creation process to the letter, and it if I plug it in to my MacBook then it mounts as a OS X install disc, so it seems to be OK.

Bios version is A05 on L502X, considering we all (should) have identical hardware, this is a bit of a mystery. The only thing I can think of is the Snow Leopard disc I used to make the USB loader is a replacement DVD which I got from Apple since the brand new Snow Leopard disc I bought off Amazon wouldn't read in my drive. Could this have an effect?

Thanks in advance,

[wen1]

minor tweaks to the guide. missed sudo -s in a spot for removing ACPI kext.

[Simon H]

Hi wen1, that's some good work you're doing, thanks for posting your findings.
First of all I'm new to running Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware so bear with me. Do you think this could be ported for use with Snow Leopard as a guest OS on VirtualBox with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit as the host OS on my L502X in theory? My install is attributing the exact same symptoms as you described, but I'm not on the Developer Program so I would need to wait until July to update to 10.6.8 as you mentioned in your first post to follow your guide exactly.

Thanks in advance,

Simon.

[wen1]

Simon H,

The best way for you to install is to use VMWare PLayer. I actually have installed retail leopard in VMWARE running on L502x.

Follow the directions from the thread below

http://www.insanelym...howtopic=243274

The only exception to that guide for L502x is removal of the cpuid. Do not remove it once you done installing. The system will function fine with it being there.

Simon H, on Jun 7 2011, 04:51 PM, said:

Hi wen1, that's some good work you're doing, thanks for posting your findings.
First of all I'm new to running Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware so bear with me. Do you think this could be ported for use with Snow Leopard as a guest OS on VirtualBox with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit as the host OS on my L502X in theory? My install is attributing the exact same symptoms as you described, but I'm not on the Developer Program so I would need to wait until July to update to 10.6.8 as you mentioned in your first post to follow your guide exactly.

Thanks in advance,

Simon.

[wen1]

Major changes to the guide to simplify the process.
Removed redundant reboots and grouped together some install steps.
I just installed it using the steps to confirm.

Also, it is not that hard to find 10k542

[rawbkk]

@wen1

maybe you have an idea?!im running still into the same probs as birdibird (l702x with 3d display).
tryd several times,also 3 times with your new guide and 10k542 but my system also stops after the final reboot (with -v) and it says:

ACPI_SMCPlatformPlugin: : start - wait For Service (resource Matching (AppleIntelCPUÜowerManagment) timed out

removal of ACPI_SMCPlatformPlugin before was propper done,touch also...
i couldnt find anyway around,after that i cant even start with iboot -x.
dont really have an idea,only thing is that im using multibeast 3.7.1 instaed of 3.7.0.
could this be a problem?also what device is in the dsdt.aml,is it for audio?
has it somthing to do with the 3d and not using optimus?
i would really appreciate some help!

also is there somebody installed mac osx succesfully on l702x and can give me some advice.preferred would be somebody with 3d display...
if i remember right steverings had one,are you still around and could you help me out??

Thanks so much for all your work here,i hope i will finish my installation soon,using it for musicproduction!

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Simon H]

wen1, on Jun 7 2011, 10:14 PM, said:

Simon H,

The best way for you to install is to use VMWare PLayer. I actually have installed retail leopard in VMWARE running on L502x.

Follow the directions from the thread below

http://www.insanelym...howtopic=243274

The only exception to that guide for L502x is removal of the cpuid. Do not remove it once you done installing. The system will function fine with it being there.

That's brilliant, you've saved me about a month of banging my head against a brick wall with VirtualBox/VMWare, thanks so much, I got it up and running perfectly in about 2 hours using that link!

Sorry for derailing your thread.

Simon.

[wen1]

rawbkk,

I have not realized that you have a 3D panel too. Sorry if you have mentioned that before.

3D panel L702x systems do not have optimus enabled. In that case there are two changes from the guide in the first post.

1. Do not add "device-properties" key to your com.apple.Boot.plist since you do not need it.

2. Install "Nvidia 2.0 dirver" option when you are installing other stuff in multibeast.

No QE/CI for thos systems but you will atleast get a atleast native video resolution.

What i have noticed is that, when that message is shown, the system is up but the display is not showing the screen. If you enable screen sharing before you install 10.6.8, you can connect to it via TightVNC after 10.6.8 install and you will actually see the screen.

In any case hopefully the stuff above helps. Steve Rings also has a 3d panel system and i did hear that he got full native res.

rawbkk, on Jun 8 2011, 05:11 AM, said:

@wen1

maybe you have an idea?!im running still into the same probs as birdibird (l702x with 3d display).
tryd several times,also 3 times with your new guide and 10k542 but my system also stops after the final reboot (with -v) and it says:

ACPI_SMCPlatformPlugin: : start - wait For Service (resource Matching (AppleIntelCPUÜowerManagment) timed out

removal of ACPI_SMCPlatformPlugin before was propper done,touch also...
i couldnt find anyway around,after that i cant even start with iboot -x.
dont really have an idea,only thing is that im using multibeast 3.7.1 instaed of 3.7.0.
could this be a problem?also what device is in the dsdt.aml,is it for audio?
has it somthing to do with the 3d and not using optimus?
i would really appreciate some help!

also is there somebody installed mac osx succesfully on l702x and can give me some advice.preferred would be somebody with 3d display...
if i remember right steverings had one,are you still around and could you help me out??

Thanks so much for all your work here,i hope i will finish my installation soon,using it for musicproduction!

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[edddo]

wen1, on Jun 7 2011, 11:01 AM, said:

If the usb disk is bad it should still see it.

Chameleon (part of iboot CD) does not really care whether the partition has valid content on it or not as long as it is a valid partition.

I have seen this issue sporadically. Hers is what i would suggest.

1. Make sure you did not change and BIOS defaults for USB. I did not remember having to change any of dell's default values.

2. Insert the iboot legacy cd and plug the usb disk in to the port on the left (next to CPU vents).

3. Power off the laptop completely. (shutdown completely)

4. Power on by pressing the power button, it should see the OSX install DVD, sometimes it is not on the screen and you will have to scroll right to see it.

Hope this helps

Thanks for the advice but no, still not working.  I tried plugging it in to my MacBook and rebooting with the option key and it shows up on the bootlist (it doesn't load properly but I guess this is because of the modifications maybe?).

I put my BIOS back to default, not many USB options anyway, but again no difference.  Tried using the latest iBoot disc instead of legacy but again, no change.  The USB ports work fine in Windows/Linux so no issues there.

So frustrating ;/

[sybexs]

rawbkk, on Jun 8 2011, 09:11 AM, said:

@wen1

maybe you have an idea?!im running still into the same probs as birdibird (l702x with 3d display).
tryd several times,also 3 times with your new guide and 10k542 but my system also stops after the final reboot (with -v) and it says:

ACPI_SMCPlatformPlugin: : start - wait For Service (resource Matching (AppleIntelCPUÜowerManagment) timed out

removal of ACPI_SMCPlatformPlugin before was propper done,touch also...
i couldnt find anyway around,after that i cant even start with iboot -x.
dont really have an idea,only thing is that im using multibeast 3.7.1 instaed of 3.7.0.
could this be a problem?also what device is in the dsdt.aml,is it for audio?
has it somthing to do with the 3d and not using optimus?
i would really appreciate some help!

also is there somebody installed mac osx succesfully on l702x and can give me some advice.preferred would be somebody with 3d display...
if i remember right steverings had one,are you still around and could you help me out??

Thanks so much for all your work here,i hope i will finish my installation soon,using it for musicproduction!

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

after you install 10.6.8 do not reboot.. first replace the Appleacpiplatform.kext and IOPCIfamily.kext from Snow Leopard and repair permissions. Then reboot. This should fix your issue and the "PCI configuration begin" lock up. You can find the kext here or google.

[rawbkk]

sybexs, on Jun 9 2011, 09:00 PM, said:

after you install 10.6.8 do not reboot.. first replace the Appleacpiplatform.kext and IOPCIfamily.kext from Snow Leopard and repair permissions. Then reboot. This should fix your issue and the "PCI configuration begin" lock up. You can find the kext here or google.

@ sybexs

thanks so much for your help!!really appreciate this!
i was trying your tip but had a system uptime almost in the beginning of booting the system.
could you please point me to the files you mean?maybe sen me link?
i was downloading Appleacpiplatform.kext and IOPCIfamily.kext but im not sure if this are the right ones.not sure if they are different kexts around but i guess so.
IOPCIFamily.kext ive downloaded from kexts.com,it says: IOPCIFamily.kext fixed for SNOW 32/64,is this one right?
Appleacpiplatform.kext ive just found one on mediafire.
thanks for your help!!!

@ wen1

thanks for your tip,it was bringing the same result: "PCI configuration begin"
but im sure with all your help i will fix this soon!!!!
thanks to everybody!!!

kai

[dxluong]

Hello wen1,

I also have an L502x like you, and thanks to your excellent guide, it is Snowing Leopard now

I have 6GB of RAM and no artifact.
I notice that the artifact problem disappears after I apply the following changes:

- To the smbios file:

<dict>
	[color="#FF0000"]<key>SMbiosdate</key>
	<string>02/07/11</string>[/color]
	<key>SMbiosversion</key>
	<string>[color="#FF0000"]MBP81.88Z.0047.B04.1102071707[/color]</string>
	<key>SMfamily</key>
	<string>[color="#FF0000"]MacBook Pro[/color]</string>
	<key>SMproductname</key>
	<string>MacBookPro8,1</string>
	[color="#FF0000"]<key>SMmanufacter</key>
	<string>Apple Inc.</string>[/color]
	<key>SMboardproduct</key>
	<string>Mac-94245B3640C91C81</string>
	<key>SMserial</key>
	<string>C02F93FQDH2G</string>
</dict>

- The com.apple.Boot.plist file:

<dict>
	[color="#FF0000"]<key>GenerateCStates</key>
	<string>Yes</string>
	<key>GeneratePStates</key>
	<string>Yes</string>[/color]
	<key>Kernel</key>
	<string>mach_kernel</string>
	<key>Kernel Flags</key>
	<string></string>
	<key>device-properties</key>
	<string>600000000100000001000000540000000100000002010c00d041030a000000000101060000027fff04001e00
00004100410050004c002c006f0073002d0069006e0066006f0000001800000030490111111108000001f01f01000000
10070000</string>
	<key>DSDT</key>
	<string>DSDT.aml</string>
</dict>

- Repair permission and rebuild cache with MultiBeast.
- Reboot with -v (not sure if this is needed).

I get these changes from MaLd0n thread, file: Extra_MacBookPro8_1.zip. Thanks to him  
http://www.insanelym...howtopic=235523

I'm not sure these are the exact steps but I did this two times and it simply worked.

Hope this help.

[dxluong]

Anyway wen1,

The key under the Esc key in my keyboard always spells § instead of `

Do you know why? And how to fix it?

Thanks.

[wen1]

dxluong,

Thanks for the information. I have 8GB ram now and i do not see artifacts too. I do however see two or three lines on the wallpaper.

I tried the settings you mentioned below but made not difference in lines. I wonder if it makes a big difference when you have 4 GB of ram.

I will probably give it a shot with 4GB soon.

Thanks again.

wen1

dxluong, on Jun 11 2011, 06:04 PM, said:

Hello wen1,

I also have an L502x like you, and thanks to your excellent guide, it is Snowing Leopard now

I have 6GB of RAM and no artifact.
I notice that the artifact problem disappears after I apply the following changes:

- To the smbios file:

<dict>
[color="#ff0000"]<key>SMbiosdate</key>
<string>02/07/11</string>[/color]
<key>SMbiosversion</key>
<string>[color="#ff0000"]MBP81.88Z.0047.B04.1102071707[/color]</string>
<key>SMfamily</key>
<string>[color="#ff0000"]MacBook Pro[/color]</string>
<key>SMproductname</key>
<string>MacBookPro8,1</string>
[color="#ff0000"]<key>SMmanufacter</key>
<string>Apple Inc.</string>[/color]
<key>SMboardproduct</key>
<string>Mac-94245B3640C91C81</string>
<key>SMserial</key>
<string>C02F93FQDH2G</string>
</dict>

- The com.apple.Boot.plist file:

<dict>
[color="#ff0000"]<key>GenerateCStates</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>GeneratePStates</key>
<string>Yes</string>[/color]
<key>Kernel</key>
<string>mach_kernel</string>
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string></string>
<key>device-properties</key>
<string>600000000100000001000000540000000100000002010c00d041030a000000000101060000027fff04001e00
00004100410050004c002c006f0073002d0069006e0066006f0000001800000030490111111108000001f01f01000000
10070000</string>
<key>DSDT</key>
<string>DSDT.aml</string>
</dict>

- Repair permission and rebuild cache with MultiBeast.
- Reboot with -v (not sure if this is needed).

I get these changes from MaLd0n thread, file: Extra_MacBookPro8_1.zip. Thanks to him
http://www.insanelym...howtopic=235523

I'm not sure these are the exact steps but I did this two times and it simply worked.

Hope this help.

dxluong, on Jun 11 2011, 06:55 PM, said:

Anyway wen1,

The key under the Esc key in my keyboard always spells § instead of `

Do you know why? And how to fix it?

Thanks.

Mine does the same thing. I need to do some research on why.

[sybexs]

rawbkk, on Jun 11 2011, 03:15 PM, said:

@ sybexs

thanks so much for your help!!really appreciate this!
i was trying your tip but had a system uptime almost in the beginning of booting the system.
could you please point me to the files you mean?maybe sen me link?
i was downloading Appleacpiplatform.kext and IOPCIfamily.kext but im not sure if this are the right ones.not sure if they are different kexts around but i guess so.
IOPCIFamily.kext ive downloaded from kexts.com,it says: IOPCIFamily.kext fixed for SNOW 32/64,is this one right?
Appleacpiplatform.kext ive just found one on mediafire.
thanks for your help!!!

@ wen1

thanks for your tip,it was bringing the same result: "PCI configuration begin"
but im sure with all your help i will fix this soon!!!!
thanks to everybody!!!

kai

back up the kexts from the initial install of 10.6.3 and after you install 10.6.8 replace them.

[markmac81]

rawbkk, on Jun 8 2011, 05:11 AM, said:

@wen1

maybe you have an idea?!im running still into the same probs as birdibird (l702x with 3d display).
tryd several times,also 3 times with your new guide and 10k542 but my system also stops after the final reboot (with -v) and it says:

ACPI_SMCPlatformPlugin: : start - wait For Service (resource Matching (AppleIntelCPUÜowerManagment) timed out

removal of ACPI_SMCPlatformPlugin before was propper done,touch also...
i couldnt find anyway around,after that i cant even start with iboot -x.
dont really have an idea,only thing is that im using multibeast 3.7.1 instaed of 3.7.0.
could this be a problem?also what device is in the dsdt.aml,is it for audio?
has it somthing to do with the 3d and not using optimus?
i would really appreciate some help!

also is there somebody installed mac osx succesfully on l702x and can give me some advice.preferred would be somebody with 3d display...
if i remember right steverings had one,are you still around and could you help me out??

Thanks so much for all your work here,i hope i will finish my installation soon,using it for musicproduction!

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have the L502x, but I had the same problem, I solved it by doing step 11 twice, once on the first boot as per the guide, then once again after the 10.6.8 upgrade. I guess the upgrade reverts to the original kext.???

If you don't do it after the first boot, you will get a kernel panic when upgrading to 10.6.8 (trust me - trial and error), so you have to do it twice.

wen1, i'm not sure if the guide needs to be updated with this....

Thanks for this awesome guide!

[sybexs]

wen1, on May 27 2011, 10:35 AM, said:

This a rough guide on how to install Snow Leopard on Dell XPS 15 L502x. Might also work for XPS 17 L702X

There are still a few things that do not work. But i am hoping that if i post these here some of you may team up and be able to figure out the things that do not work.

This is put together with input from a lof of great individuals on this forum.

What Works

1. Proper CPU detection
2. Wired Network
3. Intel HD Graphics
4. Native Video resolution through Intel HD 3000 (some artifacts exist with 4GB ram)
5. Webcam
6. Some power management.
7. Audio

What does not work

1. Wifi (get a Dell DW 1510 on ebay, works like a charm. Search for dw1510 or PW934)
2. Sleep
3. Nvidia Graphics
3. External display ports (miniDP, HDMI etc)


Things that you need

1. iboot Legacy Boot CD
2. Retail Mac OSX DVD 10.6.3 (Extracted to a DMG file)
3. 8GB or Larger USB drive
4. 10.6.8 combo update (10k524)
5. A working MAC system (even your own laptop running bare bones 10.6.0 will work). You can just wipe it and reinstall after you create your usb disk.



Your dell comes with MBR partitioned from the the factory. And we also found that the current version of Bios only allows booting from MBR drives (GPT partitioned drives do not boot)

Here are the steps. You will have to perform these steps on a currently functioning mac.


Creating your USB install disk


0. On your xps, boot into windows 7, shrink the partition or find a way to create a new partition with appropriate size for your OSX needs.

1. On a mac, Create 10.6.3 USB drive by using disk utility (Restore the Retail DMG file to USB drive)

2. Now modify two files on USB to enable MBR support. Download the files needed from here http://deviato.wordp...ned-hard-disks/ and copy them to appropriate location on the USB drive as shown on that site.

3. Add USB3 kext to our install USB drive. Download from http://www.kexts.com...?do=file&id=612 and extract PXCHD.kext from it. Copy it to "/System/Library/Extensions" on the USB drive.

4. Now you have your 10.6.3 install image ready on a USB drive.


Installing on your laptop


5. Plug the USB drive into one of the blue USB ports (i used one on the left when looking at the laptop)

6. Use iboot Legacy to boot and choose the select USB drive to install with the following options "-v -f GraphicsEnabler=No cpus=1 busratio=20" .
My busratio is 20 for i7-2630qm. look on intels site to figure out what it is for your processor http://ark.intel.com...t.aspx?id=52219

7. It will boot to welcome screen, once you select the launguage and hit next go to disk utility and prep the osx partition you created by formatting it with MAC OS Journalled format.

8. Close Disk Utility and return back to the installation screen. Now select that partition and choose default install options and install.

9. Once install is complete it will restart and fail to boot.

10. Do not worry, put the iboot legacy CD, boot and select the new OSX partition this time with options "-v GraphicsEnabler=No cpus=1 busratio=20" (notice -f is no longer needed)
Go throught the welcome video/setup process (Do not select the webcam to capture snapshot for your icon).

11. Now, remove ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin.kext from IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext with following steps. In a terminal window type the following. You should not see any error messages after each command.

sudo -s
cd /System/Library/Extensions/IOPlatformPluginFamily.kext/Contents/Plugins
rm -R ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin.kext
touch /System/Library/Extensions

12. Restart the system by selecting restart from the menu. It will take some time to reboot, Wait for it to shutdown. Do not turn the power off by holding power button.

13. Boot with iboot legacy cd again ("-v GraphicsEnabler=No cpus=1 busratio=20").

14. Once back in Snow leopard, Copy 10.6.8 combo update (use your wired network connection, it should work) to desktop. Install 10.6.8 Combo update (Do not reboot)

15. Run multibeast (3.7.0) with following options (Do not Reboot after completion)

System Utilities
FakeSMC
NullCPUPowermanagement
USB3 Reneseas Kext
Chimera v1.4.1
MacBook Pro8,1
Kext Helper

16. Now extract dsdt from the attached zip and rename it to DSDT.aml and copy it to the root of your snow leopard drive. Make sure it is named exactly "DSDT.aml" (case-sensitive)

17. Edit com.apple.Boot.plist in /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist to include the following

<key>device-properties</key>
<string>600000000100000001000000540000000100000002010c00d041030a000000000101060000027fff04001e00
00004100410050004c002c006f0073002d0069006e0066006f0000001800000030490111111108000001f01f01000000
10070000</string>
<key>DSDT</key>
<string>DSDT.aml</string>

18. Install all the 5 kexts from the attached l502x zip file with Kext Helper.

19. Now Restart by selecting restart from the menu.

20. Now the laptop should boot with no boot options required, Native Resolution and Audio should work smoothly.


Update 5/28/2011: Native video resolution now works.

Thanks to Kyle_C and Lenovo3000 from this thread: http://www.insanelym...p...50332&st=60


Research Stuff:

Nvidia:

Can possibly be enabled as a second graphics card. It appears that optimus is purely a driver implementation where they switch between the two available cards based on the need (At least on the windows side).

miniDP is connected to Intel HD
HDMI is connected to nVidia on L502x

Here is the messages i see when i boot with GraphicsEnabler = Yes

nVidia Unknown 0MB NVc1 [10de:0df5] :: PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x0)/Pci(0x0,0x0)
ERROR: dcbtable_version is 0x10
ERROR: nVidia ROM Patching Failed!
Intel VGA Controller [8086:0116] :: PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x2,0x0) (currently NOT SUPPORTED)

does your dsdt include the edits for audio or is it just the kexts?

[markmac81]

My ethernet doesn't work  

It should work out of the box right?

edit: I installed the realtek gigabit kext in mulitbeast and it now works.

[wen1]

Yes the DSDT did have edits for Audio. mald0n edited the DSDT for L502x.

sybexs, on Jun 13 2011, 11:58 PM, said:

does your dsdt include the edits for audio or is it just the kexts?

thanks for the info markmac81, yes the guide does need an update

markmac81, on Jun 14 2011, 05:54 PM, said:

My ethernet doesn't work

It should work out of the box right?

edit: I installed the realtek gigabit kext in mulitbeast and it now works.

[nightwalker925]

I don't have a Dell XPS L502X but I do have a Intel Core i7 SandyBridge 2630QM and I'm trying to get the integrated graphics running. How would the steps differ from yours? Do I need a different DSDT or just not use one?