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

[leppy700m]

I was so stupid. I didn't think about switching DVD drives between D610 and D620.

It worked perfectly. I am updating to 10.6.1. I will try to install Windows XP or 7 for the dual boot as instructed.

Awesome Job!! Thank you very much.

 

You're welcome. Dont forget to create a FAT partition with the Snow Leopard Disk Utility. Just resize your current partition and format the new one fat. Windows will give some kind of warning when you install, but it should be fine if you pick the last partition to install windows on. When the windows install prompts, just quick format the fat partition as NTFS .

 

Thanks for the feedback.

[jh49]

You're welcome. Dont forget to create a FAT partition with the Snow Leopard Disk Utility. Just reseize your current partition and format the new one fat. Windows will give some kind of warning when you install, but it should be fine if you pick the last partition to install windows on. When the windows install prompts, just quick format the fat partition as NTFS .

 

Thanks for the feedback.

Thank you very much for reminding me the of the dual-boot instruction.

I am really amazed about how easy you made the Snow Leopard installation.

It is not comparable to IPC 10.5.6 I used to have in the easiness and completeness.

[Synaesthesia]

You can also restore the Snow Leopard DVD to an 8gb Flash or a partition on a harddrive, then add these kexts, then install chameleon rc3.

 

That's what I did. Works really well.

 

Thank you leppy700m I will report back soon on my SL installation.

[leppy700m]

You can also restore the Snow Leopard DVD to an 8gb Flash or a partition on a harddrive, then add these kexts, then install chameleon rc3.

 

That's what I did. Works really well.

 

Thank you leppy700m I will report back soon on my SL installation.

 

It's not quite that simple, but yes, you're right - that's doable. I'm working on a way to automate the process of building that installation partition/drive so that it is simple.

 

 

 

If you are using my cd as a base for your flash drive build, you want to grab /Extra out of /Extra/Preboot.dmg (for Extensions.mkext) from my disk, then add the .Boot.plist from /Extra off the root of my cd.

 

If you know how to install Chameleon RC3 and restore your DVD tot he flash drive, and then activate the flash drive partition, you should have it knocked. If you are using my cd as a base for your flash drive build, you want to grab /Extra out of /Extra/Preboot.dmg (for Extensions.mkext) from my disk, then add the .Boot.plist from /Extra off the root of my cd. It'll work, because that's the reverse of my cd build process.

 

Basically what I do is build a flash drive booter first, building something that potentially boots OS X install from that flash drive. I adjust kexts until I can boot with it, then I fine tune the kext set until I get as much as possible working. Then I script the post install that tunes a little more based on graphics chipset, then I build a boot cd. When I am done, it might not be the fastest way to install, but it's a lot faster and easier than building the 2nd drive method and then installing and it doesn't require another OS X installation first. But people who cannot read the OS X install DVD from the Chameleon prompt will need that 2nd method. I've seen the problem myself, and it's a pain in the ass. And people that may install more than once or twice may just want it.

[Synaesthesia]

Alright well I tried Snow Leopard on my D620 - everything seems to load fine except the GMA 950 - there is a black screen at bootup. Do you have any idea why this is happening? I'm gonna try loading your Extensions.mkext

 

Thank you again for the kextpack though - I will try get Intel GFX working with the other FrameBuffer.kext or maybe an EFI string

[jh49]

Everything works perfectly except "wake from sleep".

Do you think there can be a fix for it? Thanks.

[leppy700m]

Everything works perfectly except "wake from sleep".

Do you think there can be a fix for it? Thanks.

 

 

I think that will require a custom dsdt.aml for every machine, and even then I don't know if it will work. I've tried with no success so far, and I don't know of anyone with sleep working the way it is supposed to on these machines.

 

When I say every machine, I mean every individual machine; a different series motherboard, bios, cpu and memory can make a difference. dsdt.aml is supposed to be custom patched for every installation, and I haven't learned how to patch my own for working sleep yet.

 

Alright well I tried Snow Leopard on my D620 - everything seems to load fine except the GMA 950 - there is a black screen at bootup. Do you have any idea why this is happening? I'm gonna try loading your Extensions.mkext

 

Thank you again for the kextpack though - I will try get Intel GFX working with the other FrameBuffer.kext or maybe an EFI string

 

Yeah, you will find a file called kexts.zip on the CD. unpack that and you'll find the kexts needed to make gma950 work. I think they are natit.kext, appleintelintegratedframebuffer.kext and appleintelgma950.kext. I am doing this from memory so I could be wrong, but it's enough to point you to the correct kexts folder from the zip. Add all the kexts from that folder for GMA950.

 

Thank you very much for reminding me the of the dual-boot instruction.

I am really amazed about how easy you made the Snow Leopard installation.

It is not comparable to IPC 10.5.6 I used to have in the easiness and completeness.

 

Well, this effort is simple compared to what it took to assemble IPC 10.5.6. I am still in awe of the guys that did that kind of work when they did it, because they found a way to load OS X onto a far wider selection of hardware with far fewer tools available. The fact that it was so hard to get going for so many people is only because it was an attempt to provide a one-size-fits all solution. For what it is, it remains an absolutely amazing distribution. My solution is a very narrow application in comparison - and it makes my head spin to even think about how to load an installer on so many different types of machines. I have tremendous respect for the people who went before all of us who do these "retail" installations - they made it possible.

[Synaesthesia]

Got it all working perfectly by just putting the provided Extensions.mkext file in /Extra/Extensions.

 

That post install script is just brilliant - I just ran it and boom!

 

Thank you!

[leppy700m]

Got it all working perfectly by just putting the provided Extensions.mkext file in /Extra/Extensions.

 

That post install script is just brilliant - I just ran it and boom!

 

Thank you!

 

Glad you like it!

[jh49]

Dual boot - this works:

 

1. Partition and Install OS X on the first of two partitions with a GUID partition scheme. Set the first partition to format as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Set the second partition to format as FAT and apply your changes.
   
2. Do the post install from the CD, installing Chameleon and get it so that OS X boots on it's own.
   
3. Install Windows XP on the second partition. Do NOT adjust partitions in the Windows install. Just select the last partition and reformat as NTFS. Windows will warn that the other OS must have a dual boot loader installed. Don't worry - it does.
   
4. When you reboot, Chameleon should allow you to boot either OSX or Windows XP.
   

Just the OS X drive. Don't repartition, just go into disk utility and ERASE the OS X partition before installing Snow on it. Leave the Windows partition alone. You'll have to reinstall chameleon after the Snow install.

After I install Windows XP on the second partition, Chameleon is not shown and only Windows XP is started. Do you think what went wrong? Thanks.

[leppy700m]

After I install Windows XP on the second partition, Chameleon is not shown and only Windows XP is started. Do you think what went wrong? Thanks.

 

In order for this to work you must set up a second fat partition for WINXP in OS X. Then when you install WINXP, do not adjust partitions AT ALL. Just reformat the fat partition, don't delete it, or any others. Once you do that, you mess up the GUID partition table. I know this works, because I did it here.

[jh49]

In order for this to work you must set up a second fat partition for WINXP in OS X. Then when you install WINXP, do not adjust partitions AT ALL. Just reformat the fat partition, don't delete it, or any others. Once you do that, you mess up the GUID partition table. I know this works, because I did it here.

I created a second FAT partition in OS X and, when I install Windows XP, just quick-formatted it as NTFS. I don't know what kind of mistakes I made.

I will appreciate any advice.

[leppy700m]

I created a second FAT partition in OS X and, when I install Windows XP, just quick-formatted it as NTFS. I don't know what kind of mistakes I made.

I will appreciate any advice.

 

Okay well you can try to restore your active partition to OS X like this:

 

• Boot to OSX using the Boot CD you used to install.
  
• open terminal
  
• sudo –s
  
• fdisk –e /dev/rdisk0
  
• p
  
• f 2 (was f 1 before edit)
  
• w
  
• q
  

[jh49]

Okay well you can try to restore your active partition to OS X like this:

 

• Boot to OSX using the Boot CD you used to install.
  
• open terminal
  
• sudo –s
  
• fdisk –e /dev/rdisk0
  
• p
  
• f 1
  
• w
  
• q
  

Hi Leppy,

 

When I executed the above commands (f 2 instead of f 1), only Mac OS started after Chameleon is briefly displayed. Do you think one of two OS's can be selected?

[ccotten]

Just finished installing on my d420 with Snow Leopard. It works perfectly! I had been using the Leopard version for a while but never had success with your mkext. Now, things are great! Just wish I could figure out how to get sleep to work. That and a 9 cell battery would make me a happy camper.

 

Also, why aren't you using the voodoo trackpad kexts?

 

Thanks for all your work!

[Synaesthesia]

Hi Leppy,

 

When I executed the above commands (f 2 instead of f 1), only Mac OS started after Chameleon is briefly displayed. Do you think one of two OS's can be selected?

He's got a short countdown on the Chameleon. Push a button while it shows and see if you can choose windows.

 

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. PM_Kexts.zip

 

Sleep works if I add Sleepenabler.kext, and an SMBios.plist. However, upon wake the VoodooHDA kext is loaded improperly, causing distortion, and the TSCSync kext is also not loaded properly, causing stuttering.

[leppy700m]

Hi Leppy,

 

When I executed the above commands (f 2 instead of f 1), only Mac OS started after Chameleon is briefly displayed. Do you think one of two OS's can be selected?

 

 

No I think Chameleon defaults to one OS and that I have the timeout set to one second in Boot.plist.

 

Increase the timeout by changing the /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist to read like this:

<key>Timeout</key>

<string>30</string>

 

 

That will delay the Chameleon auto boot for 30 seconds.

 

When you see the first chameleon prompt with the Dell logo, hit an arrow key ONCE, then move the Cursor over to the Windows partition to select it and then hit enter.

 

 

 

 

 

Just finished installing on my d420 with Snow Leopard. It works perfectly! I had been using the Leopard version for a while but never had success with your mkext. Now, things are great! Just wish I could figure out how to get sleep to work. That and a 9 cell battery would make me a happy camper.

 

Also, why aren't you using the voodoo trackpad kexts?

 

Thanks for all your work!

 

Glad to hear the D420 works too. What video does your machine have?

 

I don't use the voodoo trackpad kext because I don't like it. I prefer the way the trackpad works without two finger scrolling. The trackpad kext is easy enough for users to add on their own. But I guess I could include it in on the CD so they don't have to hunt it down - maybe even add an option in the script to add it in.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

 

 

 

He's got a short countdown on the Chameleon. Push a button while it shows and see if you can choose windows.

 

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. PM_Kexts.zip

 

You're right about the countdown - I set it very short by default.

 

Thanks, I'll give those another shot and if they work out, I'll add them to the next version of the CD.

 

I am glad your getting some use from the rebuild_mkext script. Posting successes with it will make the next distro better.

 

Sleep works if I add Sleepenabler.kext, and an SMBios.plist. However, upon wake the VoodooHDA kext is loaded improperly, causing distortion, and the TSCSync kext is also not loaded properly, causing stuttering.

 

Yeah, I've played with that, too. To me, it's not worth giving up two core operation for sleep. We could probably script a unload/load for sound to fix that, but that's not my preference either.

 

If you want to play with sleep further, remove the TSCSync kext and then add the cpus=1 string in /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist.

 

That'll cure the stutter issue after sleep, but you'll only have one active core.

 

I thought about including an smbios.plist, too, but they are also pretty machine specific and I haven't found that they fix anything new except the profiler for the machine they are intended for. If someone knows how to generate one from the command line that is accurate for the machine it is installed on, I'd love to know.

 

If someone could come up with a dsdt.aml patch procedure for these machines that fixes sleep, we'd all be happy campers. I know it's been the solution for otherwise impossible hardware, but I don't even know if that's possible on these Latitudes.

[Synaesthesia]

I can live without sleep honestly - everything is just working so well now

[leppy700m]

I can live without sleep honestly - everything is just working so well now

 

My sentiments exactly - if I found a sleep solution that worked consistently and didn't have some negative impact, I'd be all over it.

[jh49]

No I think Chameleon defaults to one OS and that I have the timeout set to one second in Boot.plist.

 

Increase the timeout by changing the /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist to read like this:

<key>Timeout</key>

<string>30</string>

 

 

That will delay the Chameleon auto boot for 30 seconds.

 

When you see the first chameleon prompt with the Dell logo, hit enter ONCE, then move the Cursor over to the Windows partition to select it and then hit enter.

You are correct.

When I hit any key from the first chameleon prompt, Mac and Window selection was displayed.

Thank you very much.

[leppy700m]

You are correct.

When I hit any key from the first chameleon prompt, Mac and Window selection was displayed.

Thank you very much.

 

You're welcome. I'm glad it finally worked out for you - I don't know why Windows updated the active drive on your installation and did not on mine. At least now we have a method that works in either eventuality, right? Thanks for hanging in there and working it through.

 

How are you liking Snow Leopard?

[Synaesthesia]

Not to interject, but

 

Snow Leopard is brilliant. I've already installed it on a bunch of computers. Love all the little fixes and speed increases. Apps like Mail, Dictionary, Safari, Quicktime are really fast now. Even iTunes feels a bit faster.

 

All the small things

 

eg. Safari 64-bit + Safari Adblock + Glims + Click2Flash = Best damn browser ever!

 

Now I wanna try my hand at XCode though

[jh49]

You're welcome. I'm glad it finally worked out for you - I don't know why Windows updated the active drive on your installation and did not on mine. At least now we have a method that works in either eventuality, right? Thanks for hanging in there and working it through.

 

How are you liking Snow Leopard?

To be honest with you, I didn't expect your installation CD to be this perfect.

I am new to Mac OS, but all the Mac OS X 10.5.6 distributions I tried had a lot of issues.

But yours is perfect except the wake from sleep function which doesn't seem to be working in any distributions.

I don't have any other issues at all.

I didn't try Windows 7 yet, but I like Snow Leopard much better than Windows XP.

What is the best source for knowing the inside working of Mac OS X including Cameleon boot process?

Great Job!!

[ccotten]

Since the d420 went so well I thought I would give it a go on the d620. They are both GMA950 systems but that is apparently where the similarity ends. On boot, the 620 hangs at ACPI_SMC_PlatformPluginLLstart - waitForService(resourceMatching(AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement) timed out

 

Any ideas on this? I'll see if I can get it to ignore AppleIntelCPUPM this afternoon.

[leppy700m]

Since the d420 went so well I thought I would give it a go on the d620. They are both GMA950 systems but that is apparently where the similarity ends. On boot, the 620 hangs at ACPI_SMC_PlatformPluginLLstart - waitForService(resourceMatching(AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement) timed out

 

Any ideas on this? I'll see if I can get it to ignore AppleIntelCPUPM this afternoon.

 

It runs fine on my D620 with GMA950. How are you loading OS X? Boot DVD?

 

 

To be honest with you, I didn't expect your installation CD to be this perfect.

I am new to Mac OS, but all the Mac OS X 10.5.6 distributions I tried had a lot of issues.

But yours is perfect except the wake from sleep function which doesn't seem to be working in any distributions.

I don't have any other issues at all.

I didn't try Windows 7 yet, but I like Snow Leopard much better than Windows XP.

What is the best source for knowing the inside working of Mac OS X including Cameleon boot process?

Great Job!!

 

The best source is the search function on www.insanelymac.com - it's also the worst. There are ideas that work and ideas that don't. Test them and use the ones that do.

 

Not to interject, but

 

Snow Leopard is brilliant. I've already installed it on a bunch of computers. Love all the little fixes and speed increases. Apps like Mail, Dictionary, Safari, Quicktime are really fast now. Even iTunes feels a bit faster.

 

All the small things

 

eg. Safari 64-bit + Safari Adblock + Glims + Click2Flash = Best damn browser ever!

 

Now I wanna try my hand at XCode though

 

 

please - interject away.