Creating new .mkext for USB installer

[naquaada]

Hi !

 

I created USB installers for my Leopard Server and Snow Leopard Server DVD's. I added the usual kexts (FakeSMC etc.) which are working in my normal Leo and SnowLeo installations with Clover. I have to put them in S/L/E because I'm using mixed OS versions, and I prefer having all kexts there. The Clover setting 'No Caches' doesn't work well, the safest way to boot is in safe mode with option -x.

 

So I have to create a new mkext. I tried Kext Wizard and Mkext Tool, but they did not really what I wanted, and they are also stripping either to Intel 64bit or Intel 32bit, not both. So I experimented with the kextutil in the terminal. But the UNIX terminal isn't really my thing, I'm used to MS-DOS and AmigaDOS.

 

An installation DVD cloned to an USB stick is still not read/writeable, but this isn't too bad. In single user mode it's also not difficult to make it writeable. However, creating a mkext or recreating new caches wasn't working. Neccessary kexts like FakeSMC always got the error Kext Not Authentic; Omitting. There's an option, -no-authentication (-z), but that didn't work. I also tried this not only in Safe Mode, I booted to the installer and opened the Terminal from the Utilities menu. Still, no success.
 

I presume I have some problems with the terminal command kextutil, the option structure in UNIX confuses me always. Some options have to be before, some behind, and then somewhere a path and/or a target. In MS-DOS and AmigaDOS all options are behind the command, that's much easier. I would be glad if somebody could provide me the information or terminal commands for these things on the installer partition:

 

- creating .mkext for all kexts in /SystemLibrary/Extensions in Safe Mode including not authentic kexts

- updating system caches (if neccessary)

- creating prelinked kernel (if neccessary)

 

Everything should be with Intel 32bit and Intel 64bit architectures. PowerPC can stay in if it is easier. If some permissions have to be corrected (with touch or else) I have to know this, too. And, last but not least, the kextutil must be from Leopard and Snow Leopard. Maybe they changed something in newer versions of this command. If something isn't working directly from the installer system, I can boot into a Snow Leopard and a Leopard system, if this helps.

 

Thanks, naquaada.

[0000-1248]

Remove Clover and install Chameleon if possible. Then use Chameleon Wizard to rebuild the mkext. If you don't wish to uninstall Clover, you can fool Chameleon Wizard into making you an mkext anyway. Create a new file path /Extra/Extensions and place your files there. Use Chameleon Wizard to rebuild an mkext and then copy it to your desired Clover installation.

 

Best of luck,

 

- Matt

[naquaada]

Didn't work. I also tried to copy Kext Utility and Kext Wizard to the Applications/Utilities directory of the USB installer. I could start them, but they don't really work.

 

There must be a way directly using The Terminal. In the early times of OSx86 it was common to use preconfigured installer DVDs, they also have their own mkexts prepared for booting with a minimal Chameleon 1.0 bootloader. And ten years ago weren't so many tools, so there must be a method to create a mkext only with Safe-Mode and unsigned kexts.