ClownCoder

Hi guys! New member here and wanted to share some info for other osx86 newbies. Thanks to this thread I am up and running on a 6820s, dual boot (of sorts) xp and osx 10.6, This version was required to install the iPhone sdk, so I'm a very happy camper! Everything appears to be working except wifi (I have the Intel/Pro wireless. As I understand it, broadcom will work, or maybe some usb cards) Here are some important steps which helped me, a total osx86 newbie, reach this happy ending.

Equipment used:
*The list of things referred to in the text guide found in the poster's boot disk directory.
*Second 2.5 hard disk and USB adapter/enclosure (Philips -probably any type will work though).
*Ethernet cable (I'm ok with not having wifi for my purposes)
*Small phillps head screwdriver

Notes

Signing up for this forum: I was perplexed for some time as to why I couldn't download anything from the forum. Finally I realized that clicking the verification link allows you to log in, but does does not fully verify your account. You have to also go back to your original email and type in the code. Without that step, you will only get a very uninformative "you are not authorized" message when you try to download anything, such as the Kext Utility that you need to update from 10.6.3 to 10.6.4.

Re the retail 10.6. disk: if you only have your backup copy of this disk, burned to a dual layer dvd, that seems to work fine.

The steps.

Note: This is to the best of my recollection, after a lot of trial and error and many dead ends. Your mileage may vary.

Follow the guide contained in the txt file in the boot disk download. It's easier to follow all the steps from his blog, linked from the first post. You will find all the files and current information about updates there. Using the info in the posts there, I got updated to 10.6.4.

I had originally tried to keep my original xp installation and attempted to install osx86 to a second FAT partition. This did not work for me however. The install did not recognize the FAT partition, and Disk Utility insisted on wiping the entire drive. Maybe this problem had something to do with my existing XP installation being on an NTFS partition. Anyway I finally gave up and bought a second SATA 2.5 drive and took out my xp drive and set it aside. It was smooth sailing from that point on and I was soon updated to 10.6.4. on my new drive.

At this point I had proof of concept that osx86 would work on my laptop, but my "dual boot" consisted of swapping out two SATA drives, which would be not so convenient, and would put a lot of wear and tear on the internal drive connector. So, I decided to gamble $15 on an external drive enclosure. I took the completed osx86 drive out of the laptop and left the internal connector empty. I put the drive into the SATA 2.5 enclosure (scary - it fit really tight. I didn't like putting that much pressure on the drive case. Be sure to push on the edges and not apply pressure to the center of the drive). To my utter shock it booted up perfectly on the first try! Booting from USB seems a little slower, but acceptable.

When I put my xp internal drive back inside the computer, I had a problem at first with it booting straight into XP, apparently not recognizing the external drive as a valid boot device. I played around with bios (F10) and these setting seem to have resolved the problem:

Boot order:
Optical Drive
USB Hard disk
Hard drive

USB Device Detection Delay: 4 seconds.

So, obviously the lucky part here is that the external drive, if plugged in, will boot up! I assume it doesn't matter what OS you are using on the internal drive, so this "dual boot" system should be compatible with any OS on the internal drive. When you boot up, it will first look for the external osx86 usb drive. If it is not plugged in on bootup, you will boot to your internal OS.

I don't know if I actually *had* to switch the drives out to begin with. Maybe it is possible to do this install directly onto an external usb drive in the first place. However, switching them out just requires a few minutes and a small phillips head screwdriver, so it could be the easiest way to go.

Thanks so much for all the time and hard work that is being put into this project!! Really amazing cooperative effort!!!!!