[Guide & Boot CD] D-Series Latitude/w NVIDIA or GMA950 and Intel Dual Core Retail Installs

[Laddu]

The problem is that my BIOS reports the same 1.03 Ghz and I cant determine why. I have A09 as I remember correctly.

 

I also updated to 10.6.1 but I did not check the Proc frequency before upgrading.

 

Any ideas ?

[leppy700m]

I think CPUS not being run in optimal modes is a speedstep issue. I think voodoopower.kext will go a log way toward correcting that. Also, a copy of smbios.plist in /Extra will help correct they way things are displayed in system profiler after that - but you'll each have to edit one for your own application (machine).

 

1. Can you point to some Intel Wi-Fi driver? If not, can you suggest some Wi-Fi card to buy ?

 

As I said in the document on the CDs, no working Intel drivers exist as of yet, and I'm not holding my breath in wait. You can get a Dell DW1490 (Broadcom) on ebay for about $20.00 USD delivered to your door from E-bay. They work fine.

 

Also, sleep doesn't work on my machines, and I've tried everything suggested for far.

 

Leppy700m .

my main issue is the shutdown and restart.. what did u find that fixes the shutdown? i thought i had it pinpointed but i havent yet as im exhausted with 12 hrs on this..

i noticed the wireless unloads on shutdown after cpu halted when i boot your cd booting to 80 with my way it doesn't and hangs running fan and powe LED on.

I can't say what kext enables it, because it's often more of a matter of what kext is preventing it.

 

The combination of kexts I used worked best for me on my D620 with GMA950. Your mileage may vary.

 

I don't even start to tailor kexts for anything else until post install, when I provide a crude, shotgun solution for Nvidia machines. I hope to refine that at some point.

 

The bottom line is that if you are using a different combination of different kexts, I can't tell you how they are interacting.

[Laddu]

I think CPUS not being run in optimal modes is a speedstep issue. I think voodoopower.kext will go a log way toward correcting that. Also, a copy of smbios.plist in /Extra will help correct they way things are displayed in system profiler after that - but you'll each have to edit one for your own application (machine).

 

Hi Leppy,

 

I am a beginner in Mac OS X. This is my second interaction with this OS. Could you please be a little more specific with your above explication? I dont really get what I have to do in order to have the correct frequency in OS X.

 

Regarding the Dell Wi-Fi Card, I cant buy from ebay because they not ship outside of US. The cards found by me ships to US only and I am not from US.

 

Regards.

[leppy700m]

Hi Leppy,

 

I am a beginner in Mac OS X. This is my second interaction with this OS. Could you please be a little more specific with your above explication? I dont really get what I have to do in order to have the correct frequency in OS X.

 

Regarding the Dell Wi-Fi Card, I cant buy from ebay because they not ship outside of US. The cards found by me ships to US only and I am not from US.

 

Regards.

 

I don't have a procedure nailed down for correcting CPU frequencies, but it involves getting speedstep working correctly, or disabling it completely. After that, in order for the system profiler to report CPU speed correctly, it's a matter of installing a smbios.plist in /Extra that matches your hardware. Since CPUs in the target machines vary widely, I can't provide one that will work right for everyone. What I may do is provide one as a starting place for others in the future. They'll have to edit it to suit.

 

There are certainly hong kong and china vendors for Dell/Broadcom cards on Ebay that ship outside of the US.

I've used DW 1490, 1500/1510 cards successfully. Others have had success with DW 1390 cards.

[Laddu]

What I may do is provide one as a starting place for others in the future. They'll have to edit it to suit.

 

That would be great and very appreciated.

[khan7272]

That would be great and very appreciated.

 

Ok but why it was all correct before upgrading to 10.6.1? Before i have upgraded the CPU Speed was correct no matter nothing!

 

I have a Dell DW1490 or 1390 im not at home but i bought this one because i had 10.5.6 running before and i had Dell dw3945 i think in and there where no change to get it running but with this one i had no probs!

 

But why it displays me this CPU Speed? What can i do?

[larryo108]

Well I got to work this morning and tried my OSX install on my docking station. I have a docking station with dual monitors at work. I only got one monitor to work and it was not hardware accelerated. That is because my docking station is an older style and actually incorporates a video card within it rather that using the laptops video card. It is kind of annoying really, because I can not hot undock from XP. But just wanted to provide that feedback.

 

Still no sleep in OSX when working at home. I have my energy saver settings set to NEVER let the display or hard drive go to sleep. I do not like to do this, but until a sleep solution presents itself, I will continue with this method.

[leppy700m]

Still no sleep in OSX when working at home. I have my energy saver settings set to NEVER let the display or hard drive go to sleep. I do not like to do this, but until a sleep solution presents itself, I will continue with this method.

I still don't have a solution for sleep - I do the same as you are doing - I disable sleep.

 

 

 

Ok but why it was all correct before upgrading to 10.6.1? Before i have upgraded the CPU Speed was correct no matter nothing!

 

I have a Dell DW1490 or 1390 im not at home but i bought this one because i had 10.5.6 running before and i had Dell dw3945 i think in and there where no change to get it running but with this one i had no probs!

 

But why it displays me this CPU Speed? What can i do?

 

Mine doesn't work consistently before I update to 10.6.1, so I don't think it's broken by the 10.6.1 update. You can find an smbios.plist, edit it and put it in /Extra. Adding VoodooPower.kext and ApplACPIThermal.kext helps with CPU and thermal management. I am adding those to the next version of the SL boot cd, and Synaethesia posted a link to them earlier in this thread.

[Laddu]

Very strange.

 

I came home and restore defaults from BIOS. Now SL reports:

 Model Name:	Mac Pro
 Model Identifier:	MacPro2,1
 Processor Name:	Intel Core Duo
 Processor Speed:	1.92 GHz
 Number Of Processors:	1
 Total Number Of Cores:	2
 L2 Cache:	2 MB
 Memory:	2 GB
 Bus Speed:	667 MHz
 Boot ROM Version:	MP21.005C.B01
 SMC Version (system):	1.30f3
 Serial Number (system):	SOMESRLNMBR
 Hardware UUID:	02F5D18F-3618-3BDE-BC2F-C581A7BA4042

 

It seems that it is working and I have not done any modifications to any kext.

 

Waiting for your feedback

[leppy700m]

Here's what's in my smbios.plist for my D620 with a T7400 processor.

 

Under SMmaximalclock I entered 2160, because the CPU spec is 2.16 ghz. Under SMproductname I entered Dell D620.

 

It shows the machine as a MAC, model D620, and for some reason rounds up the CPU speed to 2.17 in profiler. Go figure.

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>SMmaximalclock</key>
  <string>2160</string>
  <key>SMproductname</key>
  <string>Dell D620,1</string>
 </dict>
</plist>

[khan7272]

Here's what's in my smbios.plist for my D620 with a T7400 processor.

 

Under SMmaximalclock I entered 2160, because the CPU spec is 2.16 ghz. Under SMproductname I entered Dell D620.

 

It shows the machine as a MAC, model D620, and for some reason rounds up the CPU speed to 2.17 in profiler. Go figure.

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>SMmaximalclock</key>
<string>2160</string>
<key>SMproductname</key>
<string>Dell D620,1</string>
  </dict>
</plist>

 

 

Hmmmm just curios, as i mentioned i did switch of speedstep, than the problem was not solved still the same! then i got back into bios switched speedstep again on and what should i say, the CPU shows now the right Ghz ?????? hmmmm just wondering ......

[leppy700m]

Hmmmm just curios, as i mentioned i did switch of speedstep, than the problem was not solved still the same! then i got back into bios switched speedstep again on and what should i say, the CPU shows now the right Ghz ?????? hmmmm just wondering ......

Okay, add these kexts from Synaesthesia's post. They work for me.

BTW the only kexts I added were AppleACPIThermal.kext and VoodooPower.kext - they give me a cooler laptop with speedstepping. I am attaching them for your convenience. Just put in /Extra/Extensions and run the nice rebuild mkext script provided.

pmkexts

That and a /Extra/smbios.plist should solve cpu management and reported speed problems.

[mac-es]

10.6.2 is out! Anybody who tried it & is still alive?

 

Some instructions at: netkas.org

[leppy700m]

10.6.2 is out! Anybody who tried it & is still alive?

 

Some instructions at: netkas.org

Thanks mac-es,

 

Please note that netkas says that you'll get kernel panics if you use SleepEnabler.kext. I don't use it because it doesn't fix sleep for me, but I know others have been playing with it or use it on other platforms with success.

 

So, be warned. If you use sleepenabler, either remove it and run rebuild_mkext or do not run the update for 10.6.2.

 

Update: There is a link to a patched sleepenabler on netkas's website. I haven't tested it. Still, anyone using sleepenabler will need to remove it prior to update.

 

update:

 

D620/nvidia - not okay - breaks DVD player with or without efi string. All else seems okay.

 

D620/IntelGMA950 - Okay. Full QE/CI, airport works.

 

TSCsync is fine.

[mac-es]

D620/IntelGMA950 - Okay. Full QI/QE, airport works.

 

So, for this configuration, just downloading and installing the update via software updater works fine, doesn't it?

 

Thanks for being the test pilot!

[larryo108]

D620/nvidia - not okay - breaks QI/QE without efi string. It looks like it may be defeating the chameleon graphics enabler, which is a bummer for Nvidia users who don't want to fool with EFI strings.

 

So if we have incorporated the EFI string noted previously in the thread, then we should be fine to update?

[leppy700m]

So if we have incorporated the EFI string noted previously in the thread, then we should be fine to update?

No, SOMETHING is still broken. I haven't isolated the problem yet, except that with Nvidia, everything seems to be okay except the DVD player. But if that's broken, I don't know what else doesn't work right for the same reason.

 

 

So, for this configuration (gma950), just downloading and installing the update via software updater works fine, doesn't it?

 

Thanks for being the test pilot!

 

well, my limited testing looked okay that way, yes.

[khan7272]

No, it is still broken. Evidently, some of the graphics kexts for Nvidia must have been updated.

 

We may be able to fix by running 10.6.1 graphics kexts.

 

 

 

 

 

well, my limited testing looked okay that way, yes.

 

No Probs at all till now

[Laddu]

Okay, add these kexts from Synaesthesia's post. They work for me.

 

That and a /Extra/smbios.plist should solve cpu management and reported speed problems.

 

I am still a little bit confused.

 

To fix CPU management I have to edit smbios.plist right ? Unfortunately I can not find it on my Mac. Is there any other kext that i need to put first in extra and execute the cmd ? If yes, can you poit to your kext or smbios ?

 

Sorry for being confused

 

Regards

[leppy700m]

No Probs at all till now

Now being what condition? 10.6.2? It's brand new - time tends to sort these things out.

I am still a little bit confused.

 

To fix CPU management I have to edit smbios.plist right ? Unfortunately I can not find it on my Mac. Is there any other kext that i need to put first in extra and execute the cmd ? If yes, can you poit to your kext or smbios ?

 

Sorry for being confused

 

Regards

I am just not sure why you are confused. I posted the contents of my own smbios.plist and provided a link to kexts which should be added to enable proper speedstepping and better thermal management.

[Laddu]

Now being what condition?

 

I am just not sure why you are confused. I posted the contents of my own smbios.plist and provided a link to kexts which should be added to enable proper speedstepping and better thermal management.

 

Cause I cant find that link. I will re-read and try to find it.

 

PS: Updated to 10.6.2 on IntelGMA. Everything works exceptional. I cant say this for wifi, I have Intel Wireless at this moment. I ordered a Dell DW 1490. Keep you posted.

 

Thanks again for you hard work, Leppy

[leppy700m]

Cause I cant find that link. I will re-read and try to find it.

 

PS: Updated to 10.6.2 on IntelGMA. Everything works exceptional. I cant say this for wifi, I have Intel Wireless at this moment. I ordered a Dell DW 1490. Keep you posted.

 

Thanks again for you hard work, Leppy

the first two posts at the top of this page have the info you need. The link is pmkexts for kexts, and the smbios.plist text is quoted in the post at the top of the page. just make a text file called smbios.plist and copy in that text.

[goozy01]

I installed snow leopard on an extrernal hard drive and everything works well, but i have to use the cd to boot each time to osx. How do i make the external hard drive bootable? I tried selecting it through my bios but it says no operating system found.

 

Also my video card only goes up to 1280 X 800 is this normal? I have the intel 945GM video card. How can i get a higher resolution? I looked in system profiler and it says chipset model: nVidia Graphics Card. So i am really confused!!!

 

THANKS!!!

[leppy700m]

I installed snow leopard on an extrernal hard drive and everything works well, but i have to use the cd to boot each time to osx. How do i make the external hard drive bootable? I tried selecting it through my bios but it says no operating system found.

 

Also my video card only goes up to 1280 X 800 is this normal? I have the intel 945GM video card. How can i get a higher resolution? I looked in system profiler and it says chipset model: nVidia Graphics Card. So i am really confused!!!

 

THANKS!!!

The natit.kext used to get QI/QE working for GMA950 was actually meant for Nvidia. If you have GMA950, that's where profiler is picking up the nvidia info.

 

No, a limit of 1280 x 800 resolution is not normal for a D620. Did you try adjusting your resolution? What kind of machine are you using? Edit: 1280 x 800 IS normal for SOME D620s not ALL D620s.

 

 

You'll need to install the Chameleon boot loader on your external drive to make it bootable. I'd need more info to tell you how to install. Open terminal and enter:

 

diskutil list

 

then post the results here.

[sci85]

Good morning Leppy,

 

I noticed some slowness when working on some charts today. I pulled up system profiler and did not see any mention of Hardware Acceleration or Quartz Extreme enabled for some reason. I don't recall if I ever had them enabled before however. Anyway, I installed using SL retail DVD and have done the 10.6.1 update. Can I just rerun the post installer of your CD image to get QE/CI working or do I have to do something different?

 

D620 with nVidia 110 card.

 

 

Thanks,

 

sci85