[GUIDE] 10.6.8 on a Dell Optiplex GX620

[pabloscotty]

Our computers are the same. My EFI list looks just like yours. I have had trouble with DSDT files that I had extracted when I had already upgraded to 10.6.8. The only DSDT files that I have gotten to work are ones where I extracted the file in 10.6.3 and I had not yet done any hackintosh stuff to the computer, ie no EXTRA folder or special kexts. Please do try my attached DSDT.aml file. I know that it works.

 

Also I have been using MyFix to set all the permissions correctly.

 

OK. I've tried copied AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer.kext (from 10.6.8), used myFix for permissions and something, copied yours DSDT file to extra folder. After reboot my screen goes gray:

 

 

So I give up but anyway thank you very much for your help.

[bartmac86]

Hi there all... Thank you @ topicstarter for the nice how-to, I've read it a 100 times, and even printed it! I prepared everithing, and tried to install it on a second disk (disconnect the old 10.5.X-one)

 

However, I still dont have a working 10.6 dell gx620 after a 10-12 installs.

I had a 10.5.X working (I think Kalyway, but dont remember right), but it went broke (cant boot anymore) while trying to install 10.6 on another disk.

 

The problem I have:

- when booted the nawcomm (I have a P4HT, not a dual core), and press F5 he can't start reading the DVD (dual layer burned image)

- when using other install methods (iATKOS, Hazzard-distro, ..), some don't finish, other say the dvd is not complete, ...

- when I use the SnowLeo distro (the only one I can finish the install) there is a kernel panic (IATAOSFamily ?)

 

So, what would i like to know :

- I need to burn the dvd on a windows xp-system. Do I swap the dvd-unit, so the burning an reading is done with the same unit ?

- anybody has burning guidelines to burn that 10.6.3 image to a DL-DVD (what program and settings to use). Do I need disk-at-once or track-at-once? My writing program said it did successfully write the image, but there was a problem closing the session.

- how can I test the abovementionned DVD to check if it is fully readable, bootable (if needed), and closed correctly.

- a howto, what options (kext, kernels, ..) I need to select on that SnowLeo-distro --> this is my alternative to the howto of the topicstarter.

- my dvd is a PATA unit, the harddisk can be SATA or PATA (I have both, so pls say what has the best chances)

 

 

Please, It's starting to drive me mad. I started saturday morning te update process

 

System:

Stock GX620 (3Ghz HT cpu), but with added RAM (3gig now, instead of 1gig)

 

The DVD-drive is pata.

 

Thank you!

[Cerastez]

Hi there all... Thank you @ topicstarter for the nice how-to, I've read it a 100 times, and even printed it! I prepared everithing, and tried to install it on a second disk (disconnect the old 10.5.X-one)

 

However, I still dont have a working 10.6 dell gx620 after a 10-12 installs.

I had a 10.5.X working (I think Kalyway, but dont remember right), but it went broke (cant boot anymore) while trying to install 10.6 on another disk.

 

The problem I have:

- when booted the nawcomm (I have a P4HT, not a dual core), and press F5 he can't start reading the DVD (dual layer burned image)

- when using other install methods (iATKOS, Hazzard-distro, ..), some don't finish, other say the dvd is not complete, ...

- when I use the SnowLeo distro (the only one I can finish the install) there is a kernel panic (IATAOSFamily ?)

 

So, what would i like to know :

- I need to burn the dvd on a windows xp-system. Do I swap the dvd-unit, so the burning an reading is done with the same unit ?

- anybody has burning guidelines to burn that 10.6.3 image to a DL-DVD (what program and settings to use). Do I need disk-at-once or track-at-once? My writing program said it did successfully write the image, but there was a problem closing the session.

- how can I test the abovementionned DVD to check if it is fully readable, bootable (if needed), and closed correctly.

- a howto, what options (kext, kernels, ..) I need to select on that SnowLeo-distro --> this is my alternative to the howto of the topicstarter.

- my dvd is a PATA unit, the harddisk can be SATA or PATA (I have both, so pls say what has the best chances)

 

 

Please, It's starting to drive me mad. I started saturday morning te update process

 

System:

Stock GX620 (3Ghz HT cpu), but with added RAM (3gig now, instead of 1gig)

 

The DVD-drive is pata.

 

Thank you!

 

I was just chatting with someone about who had similar problems to yours and he felt that it was due to having a PATA IDE DVE drive. My only experience with a PATA DVD drive is an install on a GX620 tower. It was awfully hard to get to work and I don't know if that was because of the PATA DVD drive or some quirk with the towers. Anyway I did finally get it to work. I used the latest Nawcom ModCD 0.3.2 The only real difference is when you are installing the system, the Nawcom's will try to install some kexts that you don't want installed. Once you are done formatting the drive and start the installation process, on some screen before you get to the "Install" button, there should be a button that says "Customize." Hit "Customize" and that will take you to a screen where you can un-check the box that says something like"special install." I didn't actually write down what the check box lable says. It is 'special or 'custom.' Anyway after that the instal will continue according to the tutorial.

 

I don't have any experience burning CDs with a PC so the only advice I can give you is burn at the slowest speed that you can. Use decent quality blank CDs. And if you have acces to a SATA DVD drive, it probably would work better.

[bartmac86]

I was just chatting with someone about who had similar problems to yours and he felt that it was due to having a PATA IDE DVE drive. My only experience with a PATA DVD drive is an install on a GX620 tower. It was awfully hard to get to work and I don't know if that was because of the PATA DVD drive or some quirk with the towers. Anyway I did finally get it to work. I used the latest Nawcom ModCD 0.3.2 The only real difference is when you are installing the system, the Nawcom's will try to install some kexts that you don't want installed. Once you are done formatting the drive and start the installation process, on some screen before you get to the "Install" button, there should be a button that says "Customize." Hit "Customize" and that will take you to a screen where you can un-check the box that says something like"special install." I didn't actually write down what the check box lable says. It is 'special or 'custom.' Anyway after that the instal will continue according to the tutorial.

 

I don't have any experience burning CDs with a PC so the only advice I can give you is burn at the slowest speed that you can. Use decent quality blank CDs. And if you have acces to a SATA DVD drive, it probably would work better.

 

hi, thank you. It is a towermodel of the gx620 (and the dvd-reader is the one who came in it). Reading dvd's (like booting osX86 distro's) is no problem. When 10.5 was installed I was able to burn dvd's on that pata-dvd.

 

Yesterday I tried some other software (in wintendo) to burn the dvd: burn is successfull, but the data verification gives errors. So I need to go and find another way to have a 10.6.3 disk (need to buy a physical disk instead of buying the download ).

 

I guess, I narrowed the problem: or it is the quality of my DL-DVD-media, or my writer is no good at writing DL-DVDs.

[Cerastez]

hi, thank you. It is a towermodel of the gx620 (and the dvd-reader is the one who came in it). Reading dvd's (like booting osX86 distro's) is no problem. When 10.5 was installed I was able to burn dvd's on that pata-dvd.

 

Yesterday I tried some other software (in wintendo) to burn the dvd: burn is successfull, but the data verification gives errors. So I need to go and find another way to have a 10.6.3 disk (need to buy a physical disk instead of buying the download ).

 

I guess, I narrowed the problem: or it is the quality of my DL-DVD-media, or my writer is no good at writing DL-DVDs.

 

The other fix would be to put the retail installer on a flash drive and install from that or if you have access to an external USB DVD drive, that would work as well.

[bartmac86]

got it working since yesterday evening via the SnowLeo distro.

 

I have now 10.6.3 installed, when I tried 10.6.8 combo update it rebooted with kernel panic.

I'll look into that further (if the 10.6.3 to 10.6.8 changelog tells me anything usefull)

[Cerastez]

got it working since yesterday evening via the SnowLeo distro.

 

I have now 10.6.3 installed, when I tried 10.6.8 combo update it rebooted with kernel panic.

I'll look into that further (if the 10.6.3 to 10.6.8 changelog tells me anything usefull)

 

I don't really know what the SnowLeo distro would have installed, but I am fairly certain that you would have to instal a kernael that would work with 10.6.8. did you install the the Legacy Kernel 10.6.8 package?

[bartmac86]

I don't really know what the SnowLeo distro would have installed, but I am fairly certain that you would have to instal a kernael that would work with 10.6.8. did you install the the Legacy Kernel 10.6.8 package?

 

ok, now I got any further.

 

now: after the install of the combo update and the legacy kernell it boots (no panics), and then tries to start the window server (in linux I would say the X-server). the mouse pointer is on the upper left corner (as it is as usual) but the desktop, dock, .. doesnt come. the pointer dissapears, and 3-4sec later it retries.

 

I already deleted the file containing the resolution, as I tought it would be he has no driver anymore to have that resolution

 

 

EDIT now I have a fully working 10.6.8. Thank you!

what I did: reinstalled the original kext for the gma950 and patched the DSDT.

[cartoony]

Trying to install Snow_Leopard_10.6.1-10.6.2_SSE2_SSE3_Intel_AMD_by_Hazard on to a USFF Dell GX620. 2.8GHz P4

 

I have followed the instructions up to & including

 

**This is a good time to run myFix1.3, eject your boot CD and restart.

 

After I reboot I get an error screen as per the attached photo.

 

Can anyone please advise what I need to do?

 

many thanks

 

 

 

UPDATE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

I have since installed the 10.6.8 update & legacy kernel by booting from the cd rather than the hdd. All went well & now I don't get the error message on startup, however it doesn't complete startup & just hangs on a plain grey screen. HELP!

[Cerastez]

Trying to install Snow_Leopard_10.6.1-10.6.2_SSE2_SSE3_Intel_AMD_by_Hazard on to a USFF Dell GX620. 2.8GHz P4

 

I have followed the instructions up to & including

 

**This is a good time to run myFix1.3, eject your boot CD and restart.

 

After I reboot I get an error screen as per the attached photo.

 

Can anyone please advise what I need to do?

 

many thanks

 

Don't use the Hazard distro, it will install kexts and I don't know what else. The tutorial calls for a retail version of snow leopard.

[cartoony]

Don't use the Hazard distro, it will install kexts and I don't know what else. The tutorial calls for a retail version of snow leopard.

 

Many thanks for the reply/ I have 2 images of the retail disc, a .dmg & a .toast.

They're both sufficiently big that they require Dual Layer DVDs, so I can't experiment by using re-writeables.

 

I burned one of them to a DVDR-DL but the disc isn't recognised as bootable after booting off the required boot cd, although they CAN be read once in OSX.

 

Any advice on how I can burn these on a Windoes 7 PC please?

[pabloscotty]

Many thanks for the reply/ I have 2 images of the retail disc, a .dmg & a .toast.

They're both sufficiently big that they require Dual Layer DVDs, so I can't experiment by using re-writeables.

 

I burned one of them to a DVDR-DL but the disc isn't recognised as bootable after booting off the required boot cd, although they CAN be read once in OSX.

 

Any advice on how I can burn these on a Windoes 7 PC please?

 

use USB drive for a bootable retail version. I think you need mac for making this USB drive

anyway good luck

[cartoony]

That's cool - I can get the Dell up & running on OSX using the boot cd.

 

Not having used a Mac for years, can someone please advise what software I need to convert a DMG in to a bootable ISO?

 

Many thanks

[cartoony]

OK, I've started again from scratch with a retail DVD

 

All went well and it now boots up but after the loader screen I just get the blank grey screen.

 

I see there's instructions for this on page 2, but it says to boot to the HDD installation using the CD, however it won't boot in to the install

 

Any suggestions please?

 

UPDATE

 

Installed 10.6.3 perfectly using the guide but DIDN'T amend the DSDT file. Ran the MyHack, & the GX620 boots perfectly in to 10.6.3, from the HDD.

 

However, when I update to 10.6.8, delete the ChocolateKernel & install the LegacyKernels & reboot, it hangs on the apple loader screen (with the swirly at the bottom). It does this irrespective of whether or not I do the DSDT edit.

 

Please let me know what I'm missing here? Thanks

[cartoony]

10.6.3 is now working perfectly. I have two 10.6.3 partitions.

 

However, when I do the 10.6.8 update on one of the partitions & then remove the chocolate kernel & install the legacy kernels, when I reboot it just hangs on the grey screen with the swirly at the bottom.

 

I then tried running MyFix (by booting off the non updated, 10.6.3 partition) but I can't seem to get the 10.6.8 partition to start up.

 

Please help - I'm so close to getting this finished!

[Cerastez]

10.6.3 is now working perfectly. I have two 10.6.3 partitions.

 

However, when I do the 10.6.8 update on one of the partitions & then remove the chocolate kernel & install the legacy kernels, when I reboot it just hangs on the grey screen with the swirly at the bottom.

 

I then tried running MyFix (by booting off the non updated, 10.6.3 partition) but I can't seem to get the 10.6.8 partition to start up.

 

Please help - I'm so close to getting this finished!

Start up the computer and when you get to the screen where you can decide which drive to boot off of, quickly type in -v That will start you up in verbose mode. Look at the text on the screen when it freezes up, hopefully that will give you some idea what your problem is.

 

Hanging at the grey screen is often a video problem. Do you have a video card, something other than the onboard video?

[cartoony]

You're dead right - I updated the video drivers & it starts up to 10.6.8 just fine, however I can only set the desktop to 1024x768.

 

My monitor goes much higher than this, so can anyone please point me at the graphics card driver I need to use?

 

I am using the onboard GMA950 graphics.

[Cerastez]

You're dead right - I updated the video drivers & it starts up to 10.6.8 just fine, however I can only set the desktop to 1024x768.

 

My monitor goes much higher than this, so can anyone please point me at the graphics card driver I need to use?

 

I am using the onboard GMA950 graphics.

 

If you use a driver you will have some artifacts. There will be an after image of the cursor, but other than that your graphics will work like they are supposed to. This kext should work for you: http://www.osx86.net...950_+_lion.html

 

Using DSDT is a better option. There will be no video artifacts. I have had problems extracting the original DSDT file in 10.6.8, so if you just want to use my DSDT file it should work just fine. Extract the dsdt.aml file then open your hard drive's root directory and drag the dsdt.aml file into the Extra folder.

• dsdt.aml.zip 6.48K
  

[cartoony]

If you use a driver you will have some artifacts. There will be an after image of the cursor, but other than that your graphics will work like they are supposed to. This kext should work for you: http://www.osx86.net...950_+_lion.html

 

Using DSDT is a better option. There will be no video artifacts. I have had problems extracting the original DSDT file in 10.6.8, so if you just want to use my DSDT file it should work just fine. Extract the dsdt.aml file then open your hard drive's root directory and drag the dsdt.aml file into the Extra folder.

• dsdt.aml.zip 6.48K
  

 

Many thanks, but I've copied your unzipped dsdt.aml file in to the Extra folder, but when I then go to Display properties, I still only have 1024x768 available

[hawley12]

I need help! first time trying this on my gx620. its a p4 so which means i need to use nawcoms mod cd correct? but when i do so it says no boot device able and makes this sketchy skipping sound in the drive......i burned 3 copies praying that it was just a bad burn but no luck! is it my bios because im on a11? what could it possibly be?! its the super small mini dwarf looking gx620. Please help im running out of dvds with all these copies!

[sbaby3]

Hi, it should be working. I also have a P4. Use nawcom's wonderfull CD and follow the tutorial. You can use IATKO S3 as well, it works too.

Good luck

[joeyeye]

I have successfully followed cerastez's guide to installing retail 10.6.8 on my GX620 SFF, and have a couple of observations and remedies, with one outstanding problem. I would welcome your thoughts and suggestions on any and all of these!

 

1. The GX620 SFF only has VGA video, and when I built my DSDT under 10.6.3 video was good (1440x900) until I applied the 10.6.8 combo, after which I got the dreaded secondary display only - i.e. the grey desktop background, mouse was movable and visible and I could right click to display a context-sensitive menu etc. To resolve this, I restarted with a fresh 10.6.3 install and waited until after 10.6.8 to generate and patch my DSDT.aml. Rebooted and all was good.

 

2. Using 32-bit legacy kernel, I have everything working just fine (video is 1440x900, internal audio is AC97Audio with IntelICH personality and AD198x codec), so I added an RTL8129SU based USB wireless controller with 10.6 drivers from Realtek here. Now, with this installed, I get wireless but it fails after a few minutes and I need to reboot. Nothing is really reported in system.log other than a network reconfigure right before the network fails. Perhaps someone else is using these same drivers and has problems in 32-bit 10.6.8 legacy kernel ?

 

3. I changed to 64-bit kernel by adding <key>Kernel Flags</key><string>arch=x86_64</string> to com.apple.Boot.plist. I have had great success with 64-bit kernel, with one exception. Wireless is rock solid, video is great, but any audio event causes a kernel panic (double panic). Obviously I can live without audio, but want to get it working. I have searched and found a number of AppleAC97Audio.kexts that are advertised to work/might-work in 64-bit mode, but all of them have caused the kernel panic. The troubleshooting I have done to-date is to edit the Info.plist of AppleAC97CodecAD198x.kext which had the following <string>ADS75 ADS74 ADS73 ADS72</string> in the the AD198x key. I understand these are vendor version-ids from Kykops' fix. Not knowing exactly what to put in there I played around and know that when the string is:

• ADS75 ADS74 ADS73 ADS72, I get no audio
  
• ADS78 ADS75 ADS74 ADS73 ADS72, I get a little blip of the correct audio followed by a kernel double-panic
  

At this point, I am so close I am sure there's a solution, I just don't know really what I'm doing in the config of the AppleAC97CodecAD198x.kext config.

 

After this long post, I don't understand why in 32-bit mode the Realtek driver was a problem, indeed it may have been something else. I don't really need to be in 64-bit kernel (I only have 2.5GB RAM), but it really stable except for the audio crashing the system.

 

I'd love to hear from any of you with some suggestions on how to troubleshoot or what to try.

 

Thanks to cerastez who replied to my PM, and getting me over an earlier hurdle.

[sbaby3]

Hi,

I experienced the same audio problem in 64bits mode. After a long search, I finaly gave up...

[DvdX]

I followed this guide SEVERAL times but I'm still having problems!!  I have the Pentium D 3.0Ghz with A07 BIOS.  I get OS X installed without any problem, but thats it, i'm stuck on 10.6.3.  EVERY time I try to update, it fails.  I downloaded the 10.6.8 combo update TWICE off Apple's website and both times it failed.  Also, even after getting OS X installed, I can't get it to boot WITHOUT the boot disk.  It will either kernel panic or go to a white screen. 

 

 

EDIT:  Tried creating a second partition and installing OS X on it, did the update and changed the update to go to the PRIMARY one and won't boot up after that....either a white screen or double panic.....

Edited May 14, 2014 by DvdX

[remusator]

Hello,
i have been going through whole tutorial successfully, however i get stuck after installing 10.6.8.

I used nawcom bootcd to install...installed update 10.6.8 (didn't restart)

I was going to remove chocolate kernel -> so i opened finder and immediately god double kernel panic.

 

Now i cannot boot to os anymore - nor with nawcom nor by itself.

Please help.