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Dell Inspiron Mini 9 ?

jns_mt

By jns_mt,
in OSx86 10.5 (Leopard)

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Type11
Type11
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So I ran through installing to EFI partition via the page

 

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=127330

 

no real gotchas at all works great. This is definitely more technical than the other method we are working on but for those who know what they are doing it is the best.

 

It has the same issue with Audio we see from the other method in that you can't get the kext to work from the efi partition you still must run that acl installer and will have to redo it after updates.

 

Speaking of updates after getting this setup I ran software update and it just worked fine.

 

One note about the methods we are working on, they take a fair bit of space on the drive, like 8 or 9 GB before updating. XSlimmer can help but still more cramped than iAtkos.

 

Here are the kext you put into the efi partition

 

http://rapidshare.com/files/151782020/Exte...ForEFI.zip.html

 

If you need the whole shebang with boot123 iso you can grab mine here.

 

http://rapidshare.com/files/151786552/Mini...FI.iso.zip.html

 

This disc has all you need to get leo installed from retail and the kexts and bootloader you will need as well on it

 

So here are the steps I did (assumes you are installing to internal disc)

 

1. Boot from boot123 iso (can use one above)

2. Put in leopard retail disc

3. do install (it will say it failed at end this is ok)

4. boot from boot123 again selecting first hard drive and MAKE SURE and add -f flag our you will not make it through setup wizzard

5. After setup wizzard is done follow instructions at http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=127330, for the bootloadder use the efi_boot_v4 (on my iso) and use extensions from the link above or on the iso

6. Reboot

7. Install updates

8. Install Audio driver via installer

 

Hope this helps, again this is very technical so if you are new to this wait for the much easier version we are working on that does not need to use the EFI parition

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darkten
darkten
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One note about the methods we are working on, they take a fair bit of space on the drive, like 8 or 9 GB before updating. XSlimmer can help but still more cramped than iAtkos.

 

For the sake of accuracy and clarity I'd like to state that the method that we worked out last night uses 17MB of additional space on top of your install.

 

I'm not sure where Type11 is geting that number from ;) If your install was 6GB, it will be 6GB+17MB, etc.

 

At any rate, I was going to make a "Setup Assistant" to go with this, but after a little tweaking, have found it wholly unneeded.

 

Here is what you're gonna do:

 

1. Burn boot-132 iso

2. Boot from iso

3. Switch in your Leo retail, install as per usual. Choose any customize option you like.

4. Boot again from boot-132; select boot device 80, boot with -f option

5. Complete MacOS X Setup

6. Install Chameleon from boot-132 disc

7. Install Audio support

8. Reboot. You are Done.

 

No scripts, no term, no futzing about with hidden partitions...no tricks.

 

You can then go ahead and install 10.5.5 or whatever else you'd like.

 

If someone could tell me about the mediafire or the rapidshare or whatever it is you kids today use, or just grab the iso from me off the iChat and do it for me, that would be great..and we can all USE our Mini9's now instead of tinkering with them.

 

Assuming you've been able to actually score one, heheh...

 

:)

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francola
francola
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For the sake of accuracy and clarity I'd like to state that the method that we worked out last night uses 17MB of additional space on top of your install.

 

I'm not sure where Type11 is geting that number from ;) If your install was 6GB, it will be 6GB+17MB, etc.

 

At any rate, I was going to make a "Setup Assistant" to go with this, but after a little tweaking, have found it wholly unneeded.

 

Here is what you're gonna do:

 

1. Burn boot-132 iso

2. Boot from iso

3. Switch in your Leo retail, install as per usual. Choose any customize option you like.

4. Boot again from boot-132; select boot device 80, boot with -f option

5. Complete MacOS X Setup

6. Install Chameleon from boot-132 disc

7. Install Audio support

8. Reboot. You are Done.

 

No scripts, no term, no futzing about with hidden partitions...no tricks.

 

You can then go ahead and install 10.5.5 or whatever else you'd like.

 

If someone could tell me about the mediafire or the rapidshare or whatever it is you kids today use, or just grab the iso from me off the iChat and do it for me, that would be great..and we can all USE our Mini9's now instead of tinkering with them.

 

Assuming you've been able to actually score one, heheh...

 

:)

 

 

Is the boot-132 download above in Type11's post the same one for your instructions?

I would be glad to upload it if you can meet me in the chat!

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Type11
Type11
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Well I think the leopard reatil disc is installing more stuff than iAtkos. for instance I just did an install from the retail disc unchecking everything but X11. I then updated to 10.5.5 and did all other updates from software update. Free space left on 16GB SSD after this 4.85 GB. that is without ANY 3rd party software. My iAtkos installs after updating everything were like 7 or 8 GB. This is right around 10 GB

 

My ISO does not have chameleon installer on it, it has the efi_boot_v4 which you use for efi partition install (did not want to have both on there and have people get confused). Extensions will be the same. Again the one mentioned by darkten we were working on is easier but if you wipe the partition or in certain update situations you will need to reinstall the bootloader it can have issues. The EFI partition though more technical and more work does not have these problems. It also works with time machine for restoring etc (just did it) which the above one cannot do.

 

It really is about your comfort level. if you have never heard of fdisk, diskutil or dd then go with darkens method

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francola
francola
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Thank you both very much for your hard work and time! :)

 

If I am not using the EFI partition method what technique would you recommend for doing say a TimeMachine reinstall to reestablish the boot loader? I have had success with a couple, but would like your professional opinion please.

 

I know that Darkten said Chameleon, but I have not tried it before. Is it flexible to use with different machines?

 

Is Cameleon installed at boot time?

 

Thanks!

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darkten
darkten
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My ISO does not have chameleon installer on it, it has the efi_boot_v4 which you use for efi partition install (did not want to have both on there and have people get confused). Extensions will be the same. Again the one mentioned by darkten we were working on is easier but if you wipe the partition or in certain update situations you will need to reinstall the bootloader it can have issues. The EFI partition though more technical and more work does not have these problems. It also works with time machine for restoring etc (just did it) which the above one cannot do.

 

It really is about your comfort level. if you have never heard of fdisk, diskutil or dd then go with darkens method

 

 

Well...*actually*...

 

:)

 

With the modifications I made here, once the EFI partition is made visible, you could install this on that instead.

 

For the sake of accuracy (again) the "EFI" partition method isn't *really* an EFI anymore; it is merely a hidden boot partition flagged as EFI with a chainloader on it.

 

Around my...3rd? 5th? install of these mini9 things, i actually had a 2-partition boot setup thingee going; Leopard however really, for really ignores /etc/fstab now, so it looks that this method is basically an end-run around that to keep the boot partition hidden.

 

But Like Type11 says, it is more about your "comfort levels" and expertise than anything else. If you are a *nix guy or tinkerer, go that way. If you are a tinkerer that has other stuff to do, make it easier on yourself via the other way.

 

Even if for some bizarre reason after some update of some sort you find that you can't boot your drive (I am not aware of such a reason, others may be) you can pop in the same boot 132, boot, install one package, and everything is fixed again.

 

One more note coolbook works out of the box on either method...

 

A Note/Warning about Coolbook:

 

I've had a bit of back-and-forth with Magnus about this app, and people need to know:

 

If yo do a reinstall, it may NOT REGISTER again. The author of this app seems to feel his app is "pirate bait" and has some severe, and intrusive installation policies.

 

Just be warned, if you re-install on your "hackintosh" and the hardware "looks different" it will likely not register again...and magnus will only "reset your registration one time"

 

It is a shame too, because it is worth $10. Just not $10 over and over again :)

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Type11
Type11
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yeah it is just an hfs partition marked EFI. However I thought with the way it is doing the stage 0 and stage 1 boot loader you had to use the dd method to get the bootloader onto the partition versus chameleon installing the boot file to it? I guess they are just both binary boot files so maybe it doesn't matter. Also how does chameleon know to point to disk0s1 and not disk0s2 for its boot file? Is it that smart based on where you install it?

 

yep ran into that with coolbook he claims that different distros use different serial numbers etc HOWEVER I have done the same distro several times and still had it think it was a different registration. I am not using my reset until i get it 100% stable hopefully with sleep working. I asked him just about like 30 bucks for a site license etc but no dice.

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darkten
darkten
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yeah it is just an hfs partition marked EFI. However I thought with the way it is doing the stage 0 and stage 1 boot loader you had to use the dd method to get the bootloader onto the partition versus chameleon installing the boot file to it? I guess they are just both binary boot files so maybe it doesn't matter. Also how does chameleon know to point to disk0s1 and not disk0s2 for its boot file? Is it that smart based on where you install it?

 

I over-simplified a bit here...

 

Basically, with all of these bootloaders, which are modded versions of apple's code, you can pass boot params to the kernel via the boot plist. What I was doing was telling it the root device's UUID so that after it loaded the intial driver set, it could pick up the boot process from there.

 

Again, this is "advanced" stuff to say the least, far outside of the scope, or really, need of most users on a platform such as the mini9, as it is fairly close to the Intel reference, anyway.

 

When I get time/get around to it, I'd personally like to learn what, if any of the kexts we're using are even *modified* at all, outside of the ever-important dsmos and the CPUDisabler I'm pretty sure the mini is using stock stuff.

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aerolith
aerolith
Posted
Posted

just checking in on this, my mini9 is on order (i got it because of this thread -- thanks for all the effort thus far guys)

 

I haven't been able to find any documentation of the SD chipset, but my suspicion based on your mention of J-micron is that its a jmb835 (same as in the wind--which is also unsupported as far as i know)

 

but it explains it not showing up on usb probe as its a pci-e device.

 

has anyone tried booting with an SD card in the device prior to power on? I know that CF is basically just onboard pata controller, but i don't know if SD is similar...

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UnaClocker
UnaClocker
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My hope, is that when the Linux version of the Mini9 finally ships, it comes with an open source driver for the JMicron SD slot. If that's the case, it's possible someone will be able to port that driver to OSX.. That, or I hope the Linux version comes with a completely different SD slot.. :D One that DOES work in OSX.. ;) But I find that even less likely.. :)

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darkten
darkten
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Hi everyone!

 

After a lot of work, a lot of tests, a lot of tweaking and a lot of cdrs...we have the Mini9-132-EZ iso.

 

As mentioned before, this is a boot-132/Chameleon CD hand tuned for our Mini 9's to make retail Leo installs as clean, easy and painless as possible.

 

So clean that with the exception of a single kext, none of the files in Apple-Land are touch or modified in any way.

 

Here is how it works:

 

Step 1: Download the iso. You can get it here:Mini9-132EZ

 

Step 2: Burn to cd. Boot your Mini 9 with this CD.

 

Step 3: At the boot: prompt, press the Return key, then swap out this CD for your retail leopard dvd

 

Step 4: The computer should ask for a boot device, and suggest one in brackets, likely [9f]. Press return. Your Leo dvd should be booting.

 

Step 5: Format your drive "as per usual" via Disk Utility. Install Mac OS X as you would normally.

 

Step 6: At the very end, the install will "fail". This is normal. Don't Panic. :( Reboot. Eject your Leo DVD and insert the Mini9 132 disc.

 

Step 7: When you boot up again, this time chose [80] as your boot device. Press Return, and you should see your MacOSX drive highlighted, and a new boot: prompt.

 

Step 8: This is very important. Type -f at this boot: prompt and press Return. It should look like this:

 

boot: -f

 

Step 9: Complete the Setup process, as per usual. We are nearly done!

 

Step 10: The Mini9 CD should be on the Desktop. Open it. You will find a Chameleon_DFE_for_HD-Mini9.dmg.zip file. Copy it off the CD, to say, the desktop, doesn't matter. Mount it, and install Chameleon. Do NOT add anything to the "Extras Content" folder...just install it as is.

 

Step 10a: If you'd like at this point, you can also copy off the ALC268_Installer1.zip and install that as well.

 

Step 11: Reboot your Mini 9. You may remove the CD, as you won't be booting from it anymore. Your system is now ready and done. and should boot with sound, wifi, Quartz Extreme accelerated graphics, etc. You're all set.

 

At this point, you can install 10.5.5, software updates, etc.

 

Please post any questions or issues here.

 

I'd like to thank everyone here, PeteRock for his insights, bertlmike for testing and putting up with the much harder, typing and term ridden Method A, motivating me to get this"done right"... and especially Type11 for digging thru tons of files and bad documentation, for helping me with this. Thanks also to Unaclocker for his insights, and to everyone that stopped past mini9osxftw to cheer us on :D

 

Let me know how this works for you.

 

-D10

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aimfire
aimfire
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Darkten,

 

Awesome, thanks so much for everyone's hard work on this! ;)

 

I've been lurking in here for a few days, lol, watching all the progress being made and silently cheering you guys on!

I have a Mini 9 "in production" at Dell right now, scheduled to arrive (hopefully) in 1-2 weeks. Being able to install OSX is the main reason why I ordered the Mini, and this just makes it so much easier now - thanks again all!

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mypup
mypup
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Posted

Great work guys, I'm still trying to digest all this (I am a noob to mac) I think it would be great (at least for me....lol) if there was an irc channel as even I can use that. I tried to use aim and couldn't figure that out. Guess I will really have a hard time trying to get this installed the proper way. From what I understand with this setup you could in theory dual boot? one os on 80 and another os on 81 (might have those numbers wrong). Another question I take it that I cannot use say the two dvd's that come with my new macbook? And Im not suppose to talk about torrents but if I needed one which one should I use? (for example Kalyway 10.5.1) Currently my mini is running the windosx86 version on a single formatted ext2 partition with GUID checked and custom unchecked fonts I tried it without all the patches and got the spinning wheel of death although it never did cross out the spinner but after about 20 minutes i figured I had to start over. I want to thank all of you for all the hard work and info that you have provided. I hope to eventually get it installed the correct way and have it play nice with the ssd. Last thing I need is to not set it up right and have to get another ssd.

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ѕӎѳѳ₮ңӌ
ѕӎѳѳ₮ңӌ
Posted
Posted
From what I understand with this setup you could in theory dual boot? one os on 80 and another os on 81 (might have those numbers wrong).

 

In theory yes, but it would have to be from an external USB drive. This is because the numbers (80...) do not correspond to an OS but to a disk.

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Equaliser
Equaliser
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Posted

Darkten thanks for the instructions, unfortunately I cannot get past step 4 once I swap the disks over. The retail leopard dvd will not boot (I have 10.5 Leopard retail dvd). My Mini has BIOS A01 and my external USB dvd is a Pioneer DVR-115. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

an error eventually appears after 'Using default boot device 9f' that says 'EBIOS read error: Device timeout Block 0 Sectors64

 

edit: just got it working using a different dvd drive, there seems to be a delay then a message pops up asking you to press a key to boot.

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