10.9 Mavericks on Dell Precision M6400 (work in progerss)

[fegato]

Sorry guys, my laptop is away from me, I left in a conference because it was doing YT streaming for client and still I have to get it back..

I tried to switch to clover but I was always doing something wrong with it... so I wondered the same as c0ke...

I think I'm gonna stick with Yosemite also because all the Mac owner I know are quite pissed off by the new update!

[quamiensuongtrang]

Sorry everyone for the late notification. I've upgraded to El Captian a long time, but because the old acc lost. To upgrade to 10:11 you should use Clover and fix the USB port, my old acc MienSuongTrang, sorry for my bad English

111.tiff

[c0ke]

Sorry everyone for the late notification. I've upgraded to El Captian a long time, but because the old acc lost. To upgrade to 10:11 you should use Clover and fix the USB port, my old acc MienSuongTrang, sorry for my bad English

 

nice to know it @quamiensuongtrang!

Did you succeed throughout OS upgrade or a fresh install with a distro or vanilla?

 

Can you please report if your computer's now running fine as it were on yosemite or if is there some kind of glitch? 

I'm still not sure if I have to proceed to the upgrade or not.

I would like to keep my system up-to-date but at the same time I prefer to be sure about having the better performance.

 

Thank you for sharing your experience!

[c0ke]

wow! seems great!

I'll find some time to make tests and eventually report any progress!

 

Thank you very much @quamiensuongtrang

[fegato]

Hey seems like the post from @quamiensuongtrang just disappeared... anybody knows why?

I'm going to explore this option too, the original post of @quamiensuongtrang was this in the quote:

I always install new os to another partition, no direct upgrade from previous versions I do not use Distro, my osx versions always vanilla. To do this you need to use Clover Bootloader as I have been telling you from the version of Yosemite, but the fact that I use Clover to launch low-end version Leopard
What works in Yosemite version also near El Captian equivalent.
You should upgrade to the El Captian for much improvement in its depth.
To do this you need to:
1. Clover Bootloader required config:<Key> BooterConfig </ key><String> 0x28 </ string><Key> CsrActiveConfig </ key><String> 0x3 </ string> This helps you to overcome some barriers to be installed Kext to S \ L \ E of El Captian. But not to worry if you've never used Clover, I will send you my config file.
2. Fix USB port by:http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/306777-guide-usb-fix-el-capitan-1011/(For ease I recommend you do the following. Find all the values ​​EHC2 in your DSDT and renamed it the attention it EH02 0 =

  Zero)Use kext DummyUSBEHCIPCI I attach, in this I have revised the available USB port and then. Install it to S \ L \ E and proceed to boot the El Captian your settings, it's easy.
3. Tell me where you were errors during installation if you have, very sorry for the English translate. Here is necessary to be able to install the El Captian like other mandatory kext is PS2Controller. Good Hack

I would also like to change the name of the thread topic in "10.11 EL CAPITAN on Dell Precision M6400 (work in progress)" but I don't know how... maybe I've to ask some moderator also to move the thread in the right section so we are easier to find...

[quamiensuongtrang]

Update 10.11.2

[quamiensuongtrang]

@fegato, @c0ke, ....

 

1. Clover Config copied to EFI / EFI / Clover (USB use config USB, HDD use config HDD)

2. Dummy kext installed to S / L / E obligatory and not placed in Clover Kext

  b. Keep Original AppleHDA.kext use aDumHDA12.kext (12 here is LayoutID)

This will not be affected when you upgrade your system USB port that is still recognized and audio still works.

3. Full Fix DSDT warnings placed in EFI / EFI / Clover / ACPI / Patched

4. Kext to Clover EFI / EFI / Clover / Kext / 10.11

 

Attention:

I do not use the Dell Bluetooth. If you use you add kext like section 4.

 

AGPU inject FakeSMC

EHC2 inject FakeSMC

......

 

Reset CMOS after sleep, temporarily do not Fix, fix somebody free for me!

 

If you use your DSDT and still use Section 2, you must do the following steps

   a. Search your DSDT every name AZAL rename it HDEF and add layoutID 12 to receive sound.

DSDT Other CPU.zip

DSDT Qx9300 Vanil SS.zip

config.plist easy install USB.zip

Kext Clover.zip

config.plist HDD.zip

[c0ke]

I everybody, I would like to inform you that I was able to successfully upgrade my system to OS 10.11 with chameleon enoch bootloader.

I finally had some time to test this usb installer solution, anyway hanging to "still waiting for root device" error message.

So I understood that I needed this USB fix for EC to recognize our machine's ports and applied the method 3, as described by @quamiensuongtrang too.

Then I was just able to boot the installer and to upgrade. Once done, I was then able to boot the newly installed OS through the installer bootloader in order to run the post install script that basically installed enoch onto the main drive.

Once applied also dummy usb kexts to S/L/E I was able to boot directly 10.10 Extra folder including dsdt, smbios & boot.plist (I've noticed that the system was running with no "rootless" until I applied CsrActiveConfig => 3 setting) and to upgrade to 10.11.3 through app store.

Everything seems to work fine, the new system's performance seems better than the previous OS one. I've still to fix a couple of issues in order to be 100% functional as in yosemite:

 

• dummy USB fix prevents the USB to work by default from boot/login: I have to unplug and then plug again any USB stuff in order to see it up and running (I have external keyboard and mouse plugged..).
• same as above prevents bluetooth to work or being recognized at all automatically (I remember it was seen as an internal USB port device). Turning it off and then on again with the physical switch on the right side let it being seen. Booting without dummy kexts also let this stuff work from startup.
• appleHDA didn't work, had to replace it with the old one posted at #38 by @madmatt, now up and running. Not sure about what let it work, I would prefer to patch a newer version by myself in the future or maybe try to inject my device stuff within the bootloader
• I'm not able to boot with -f getting KP with "unable to find driver for this platform: \"ACPI\" (...) /IOPlatformExpert.cpp:1665 (...)" and noticed that Kext Utility.app is not able to update system cache (Timeout 60sec).. I'll try to restore permissions and see what happens
• cannot upgrade to last enoch r2795, getting KP, still using r2760 from chameleon USB installer
• shutting down works quickly and sleep's ok, but as seen before the ethernet card would not work anymore after wake and until system restart. I noticed that this broke something at the bios since when I restart after sleep&wake it takes around 5 mins to be able to pass the initial-dell-logo-and-blue-progress-bar-screen.

I'll keep you informed about further development. 

I hope this will help

[djouija]

I just recently dusted off my old M6400 and decided to give it an upgrade to El Capitan (10.11.3), and after some head scratching and painstaking effort, I'm pleased to announce that I've got it up and running now WITH the latest version of Clover running!

 

I've still got some optimization and tweaking to do, but I'm planning on returning here in the near future with an updated guide of what I did to get it all working.  I've gotten much better at my Hackintosh installs so this will be a fully working setup (sleep, speedstep, etc.)

 

Stay tuned.

[fegato]

WOW! this laptop is still kicking, I'm sure also the others that already succede are looking for your version of the story, this is cool.

[c0ke]

Hi there!

Glad to see the old school of this topic coming back to contribute! I look forward to see djouija updated guide.

In the meanwhile I'll report my EC progresses:

• I've finally fixed every USB issue using a custom injector based on this dell latitude thread then revised by me with my machine' specs and the usb fix topic knowledge. Now every usb port including the internal BT one (through bcc9's DellBluethootHCI driver) is working properly from startup. I attach the kext below;
• my external PCI USB 3.0 card works with GenericUSBXHCI driver by Rehabman, but I cannot see its entries in EC's system profiler and I have to plug in the device a couple of times to be able to use it;
• it still seems I'm not able to load kexts from E/E and still can't boot with -f, getting KP with "unable to find driver for this platform: \"ACPI\" (...) /IOPlatformExpert.cpp:1665 (...)" message;
• updated enoch to r2795 with the released installer;
• still have to patch updated appleHDA;
• shut down and reboot are quicker than in Yosemite;
• sleep's ok, but as seen before the ethernet card would not work anymore after wake and until system restart. I noticed than that sleep broke something at the bios since when I reboot after a sleep&wake it takes around 5 mins to be able to pass the initial-dell-logo-and-blue-progress-bar-screen.

Stay tuned for further development. 

USB_Injector.kext.zip

[chippinganimal]

Hey guys, new to the whole hackintosh thing. Been lurking around for a while but decided tomato an account yesterday. I downloaded EC and made a USB thumb drive with [url=&quot;http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/&quot;]#####[/url] on my old mac mini, everything went successful, until i boot off of it and I get this kernel panic shown in the attached pic below. Now it seems that you guys solved it by putting files into system/library/extensions but i don't have any version of mac os x installed previously, as I am coming from Windows 10 and i can't find that directory on the usb drive in either the "usb" or "EFI"partition. And according to the error code it spit out it seems to e the generics error. Have any of you guys run into this? Any ideas/fixes and solutions?

 

Thanks in advance,

Aaron

[c0ke]

@chippinganimal

Hi and welcome here!

First of all I'll encourage you to write your hardware specs on your signature since it would help you getting the right advices.

Assuming you're trying to setup EC on a Dell Precision M6400 with my same specs, I would like to suggest you to discard any b-east install method since AFAIK it is supposed to install on a very wide range of stuff and maybe some custom component could break the installation for some reason.

I think I'm the only one here still adopting chameleon/enoch bootloader, anyway if you would like to use Clover I'll recommend you to follow this guide and then fix it with quamiensuongtrang attached files on post #57.

I think you may also adopt my usb_injector kext to fix internal usb2 ports instead of "dummy" kexts. You'll find S/L/E on your USB drive's root folder from your dear old mac mini.

Anyway there's an enoch version too in case you'll prefer it.

 

Good luck and keep us updated!!

[c0ke]

Hi everybody!

I would like just to let you know that I've successfully updated my M6400 to 10.11.5

I had to patch AGPM indeed and then finally patched the last appleHDA with the same specs as the one provided by madmatt for Yosemite posts ago, actually from a Latitude E6400 installation mounting the same card.

The patch was easily done with this great app and this guide. I'll try to understand if something's still adjustable, but right now every audio i/o is working pretty fine.

The system is running overall very well.

[fegato]

that's good!

as I've been out of the hackintosh practice for a while I think I'll wait for the input from djouija before join you in this journey

[imrazor]

I've upgraded my main laptop to an M6600, but I still have my old M6400 kicking around. Since my old 2007 iMac will soon be obsolete, I was thinking about trying to convert the M6400 into a Hackintosh. Last time I tried I ran into two main obstacles. I could never find a kext that would work with my ATI/AMD FirePro M7740, and the WiFi would only work with open access points. Bluetooth was also problematic, but I didn't really care about BT. Are these issues still present with Clover and El Capitan? I still have my old Quadro 2700M I can install if necessary, but that's a real pain.

[imrazor]

Thanks to @quamiensuongtrang, I've made substantial progress. I installed El Capitan and made it to the desktop, but still face a number of issues.

Right now, my only networking is via Bluetooth to my iPhone. Not ideal. I have native resolution, but as in the past, can't get acceleration out of my FirePro M7740 (aka Mobility

Radeon 4860) and it only shows 8MB of available VRAM. I also have no audio, though I followed @quamiensuongtrang 's advice as closely as I could. I can get audio with USB if 

I have to, though.

 

Oh, and I'm still only able to boot from USB. I take it I need to install Clover to the HD, but I'm not sure where to download it. Once I do, can I just copy the /EFI folder from the USB

stick to my SSD?

[c0ke]

Thanks to @quamiensuongtrang, I've made substantial progress. I installed El Capitan and made it to the desktop, but still face a number of issues.

Right now, my only networking is via Bluetooth to my iPhone. Not ideal. I have native resolution, but as in the past, can't get acceleration out of my FirePro M7740 (aka Mobility

Radeon 4860) and it only shows 8MB of available VRAM. I also have no audio, though I followed @quamiensuongtrang 's advice as closely as I could. I can get audio with USB if 

I have to, though.

 

Oh, and I'm still only able to boot from USB. I take it I need to install Clover to the HD, but I'm not sure where to download it. Once I do, can I just copy the /EFI folder from the USB

stick to my SSD?

 

Hi and welcome back!

You're in VESA mode.

If you try again to activate you graphic card with this procedure, getting black screen again (with flicker framebuffer), I would suggest you to plug an external display and see if it works. In this case maybe it's just a matter of lvds fix that should be solved in some way (newer apple stuff doesn't use lvds so it lacks support in most cases). I remember the same stuff happened to my inspiron 1545 ATI Mobile card.

For appleHDA try to follow post #38 instructions. You have to patch DSDT and the kext's old but it should work right now.

Anyway I still prefer not to use clover, so I can't say nothing about it, sorry.

Keep us informed and good luck!

[imrazor]

So I've made some progress. I tried an external monitor with Flicker, Gliff, Shrike, etc., but had no luck. So I went ahead and swapped in my old Quadro 2700M. It was recognized immediately, and I've had no further trouble with video.

 

Audio is a different story though. At various times I've had VoodooHDA working, but with a lot of distortion. I tried the AppleHDA kext in post #38, but the DSDT I downloaded from quamiensuongtrang is significantly different from the one in the posting. So I went ahead and hooked up a Soundblaster USB X-Fi 5.1 I had lying around. It too was distorted, until I went into Audio MIDI Setup and changed the sample rate to 96khz. Audio sounds great now, but I have a big problem with video sync. Youtube videos play likely badly dubbed foreign movies.

 

I also have not had much luck booting from hard drive. I tried to use a "beastly" method to install Clover. It worked for a while, but I ran into problems with various devices not working. For now, I'm booting off USB.

 

UPDATE: I've made more progress. I can now boot directly off my SSD and I have sound via VoodooHDA. Still having weird problems; I have to manually load the ethernet driver after sleep and since booting off the SSD I now only have two USB ports functioning. Audio is still glitchy; system sounds have significant distortion, and video/audio sync is a problem. Fortunately the HTML5 video player in Firefox works properly, but Safari plays videos like a poorly dubbed movie. Any suggestions for a video player besides VLC?

[imrazor]

I now have things mostly working, but I've had to return to booting off USB. I'm having some weird time sync problems. Audio/video sync is still off badly in Safari (Firefox is OK) and there's a lot of "drift" in the system time. The time will drift off about 8 minutes over an hour, then suddenly adjust to the correct time (probably syncing with an NTP server.) It had been working fine under Windows, and I've had some odd timing problems in the past under OS X. Anyone see anything similar on their M6400?

[imrazor]

I wanted to make one more post in case it might help others trying to get this laptop working. I finally figured out how to properly install Clover without the beastly option. Numerous problems with USB were solved by switching the system ID in Clover's config.plist to MacBookPro3,1. I had to repeatedly install various versions of VoodooHDA and patched AppleHDA's to get onboard sound working. Even then sound was garbled, so I had to go to Audio MIDI Settings and set the output sample rate to 192KHz. No WiFi still, but I have a WiFi minicard on order from Amazon to fix that. In the meantime, Bluetooth and Ethernet are meeting my networking needs. My time is still out of sync, but I'll set up a crontab job to sync ntp to fix that.

 

Now I have a fake Mac that can blow my old iMac out of the water...

[c0ke]

Hey there! 10.11.6 is out and guess what?

I've just updated via app store and applied AGPM & appleHDA dear old patches. It seems that everything's ok right now.

[imrazor]

I'm using VoodooHDA, so hopefully I won't need to worry about audio. However, I'm concerned about "AGPM." What is it, and how would I patch it?

[c0ke]

I'm using VoodooHDA, so hopefully I won't need to worry about audio. However, I'm concerned about "AGPM." What is it, and how would I patch it?

 

Yeah, I'm sorry for the confusion generated. It's AppleGraphicsPowerManagement kext, actually taking care of our laptop cooling AFAIK.

I have to patch it after every OS update as described here by madmatt to be able to get proper cooling under various cpu/gpu loads along with proper DSDT patch.

[imrazor]

Well 10.11.6 was a disaster for me. The patch installed OK, but when I rebooted I had no audio. (Turns out I *was* using AppleHDA.) So I tried patching AppleHDA by changing the LayoutID to 12, but that still didn't work. So I fired up Clover Configurator and tried the "FixHDA" option. The result was an unbootable system.

So I tried to open my config.plist with Clover Configurator, and unchecked "FixHDA" and saved config.plist - but the bloody thing still wouldn't boot. Of course I didn't back up the config file before I did it, so I'm stuck booting off USB. I'll have to rebuild the config file from scratch by reinstalling Clover and getting a default config. Any M6400 users out there with a working config.plist?

As far as I can tell, it looks like my GPU is running full tilt all the time. So far it hasn't caused any issues, and I'm on AC power 99% of the time anyway...