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Dell Inspiron 545 SL Install Please help!

bigoats

By bigoats,
in OSx86 10.6 (Snow Leopard)

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bigoats
bigoats
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Hi all,

 

I am a complete newbie to this whole hackintosh process but decided to try to follow lifehacker's guide to installing SL on a newly bought Inspiron 545. I have done a bit of research for about two weeks and I've gotten as far as getting the SL installation on a thumbdrive with chameleon 2.0 RC3+netkas boot file+kexts I've collected around in several places.

 

I was able to boot in to the loader and load the installation program. However, when it gets to the part where I can select a drive to install the OS, I don't see any drive being recognized at all. Going to Disk Utilities only shows my thumb drive as the only drive available. After going to the system profiler in the install, I can see that ATA drives are not showing up, Serial-ATA is not showing up either and I don't hear my HDD spinning.

 

My guess is that I'm missing some Kext in the boot loader or I'm missing a step here. I think the boot drive I created is fine since I can get as far as the install program I just need help getting my HDD recognized. I have a bunch of kext in my /extras/extensions folder but the ones that should be working with my mobo/chipset don't seem to be get my SATA HDD recognized. One thing I noticed is that I can't explicitly enable AHCI on my bios; I only see IDE and RAID available.

 

Below are the spec of the computer. If some one could help me I'd greatly appreciate it. And if you could please be detailed in the answers that would be very helpful. Again, I'm very new to this all but willing to learn.

 

Dell Inspiron 545

MOBO: DG33M06 OR DG33FB

Chipset:G33 ICH9R or ICH9DH

Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q8200 (2.33GHz, 4M, L2Cache, 1333FSB) 95W

1 TB SATA II Hard Drive

256MB ATI Radeon HD 3450

 

Let me know if you need any more information.

 

PLEASE HELP!!!!!

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bigoats
bigoats
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Anyone out there have an idea if this has to do with the wrong Kext files?

 

Do Kext interfere with each other e.g. if I have the AppleIntelPIIXATA.kext and the IOATAfamily.kext in the /extra/extensions file for the bootloader.

 

I see I'm not the only one with this problem but no clear answer yet on why these drive can't be seen.

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  • 1 month later...
wejdy
wejdy
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I have the same computer as you, the only difference that my motherboard is an Intel G33 Bearlake. I would like to install snow leopard on my computer.

Have you managed to switch to AHCI, how are you made thee? could you explain it step by step please.

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  • 2 weeks later...
mrinsanelymac2
mrinsanelymac2
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I have this spec too:

 

Dell Inspiron 545

MOBO: DG33M06

 

I followed lifehackers guide but like the author of this thread I get stuck at the point where no hard drive is found on booting up off the usb stick --> can't install as hard drive not detected

 

I then tried messing around with the advised kext file:

 

Solved by using LegacyAppleAHCIPortIntelICHx.kext referenced here http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=147102

 

What do I do with the ktext? I tried putting it in the usb like this /Extra/Extensions/LegacyAppleAHCIPortIntelICHx.kext but all I get is a blank grey screen and spinning beach ball.

 

I have Sata setting in bios set to IDE rather than RAID.

I am using Chameleon-2.0-RC4-r684.bin and PC EFI v10.5 (deviated from lifehacker's tutorial by using newer boot and loader files).

 

Anyone got a simpler way of doing this else I'm going to have to drag myself back to doing Final Cut work on my shoddy dual core macbook. :(

 

Lifehacker or Bigoats or anyone else please help :wacko::(:(

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funimac
funimac
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Solved by using LegacyAppleAHCIPortIntelICHx.kext referenced here http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=147102

 

 

I was finally able to see me SATA drives and got 10.6 installed. Now just need to get it to boot with out the usb stick in the machine.

I have a very similar Dell Desktop 545 as yours and I wish to install Snow Leopard on it.

Been trying without much success. Either get stuck at the apple logo prior to the installation or preparing for installation stage.

Can you share your list of kexts and files that worked well for you?

Thanks.

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mrinsanelymac2
mrinsanelymac2
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I have a very similar Dell Desktop 545 as yours and I wish to install Snow Leopard on it.

Been trying without much success. Either get stuck at the apple logo prior to the installation or preparing for installation stage.

Can you share your list of kexts and files that worked well for you?

Thanks.

 

I've followed the instructions to the letter here

 

http://lifehacker.com/5351485/how-to-build...start-to-finish

 

but used the aforementioned newer chameleon and efi files and get stuck on installation part as no drives are detected :mellow:

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funimac
funimac
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I've followed the instructions to the letter here

 

http://lifehacker.com/5351485/how-to-build...start-to-finish

 

but used the aforementioned newer chameleon and efi files and get stuck on installation part as no drives are detected ;)

 

Alright, let me take a look at this as well. Will share my experience here. With both of us sharing, it should be much easier to get Mac up running soon.

 

For your case, are you able to boot up your installer and see the select language page? For me, it gets stuck forever after that....

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mrinsanelymac2
mrinsanelymac2
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Ok guys...sounds like a plan:

 

I can boot into the installer and get past the language selection. When I get to the part where it asks for which disk to install to - there are no disks available.

 

I get to the same point whether my Mobo Sata option is set to IDE or RAID.

 

But if I use the additional Kext file and place it in /Extra/Extensions/LegacyAppleAHCIPortIntelICHx.kext like the author of this thread did then I get stuck at a blank grey screen at the point the language selection should appear.

 

UPDATE: Flashed my bios with DELL vA12 and I tried using the original (older) chameleon files (RC2) and efi files (v10.1) as Lifehacker but still no luck!

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mrinsanelymac2
mrinsanelymac2
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Observation: I thought the kexts added to /Extra/Extensions on the USB stick were killing the installation and giving me a grey screen of death!

 

But just tried removing all the kexts from it and leaving the Extensions folder also gave me the grey screen. When I remove the Extensions folder and leave everything else intact. It boots into the installation screen but I still can't see my drives.

 

Question: In order to mess around with different kexts to detect Sata drives where would I place them as merely creating the Extensions folder within /Extra on the USB stick crashes the installation!!!??!! ;)

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funimac
funimac
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Observation: I thought the kexts added to /Extra/Extensions on the USB stick were killing the installation and giving me a grey screen of death!

 

But just tried removing all the kexts from it and leaving the Extensions folder also gave me the grey screen. When I remove the Extensions folder and leave everything else intact. It boots into the installation screen but I still can't see my drives.

 

Question: In order to mess around with different kexts to detect Sata drives where would I place them as merely creating the Extensions folder within /Extra on the USB stick crashes the installation!!!??!! :wacko:

 

Have not had much time recently.

Just resumed this project... my thoughts..

At this stage for us, certainly some kexts must not be working well. What I need to do is to find out what causes the unsuccessful installation. (instead of hitting around in the dark and hope to find a perfectly fitting package from other successful PC installation).

To do that, boot into verbose mode after you boot up your Mac OS X Install (be it USB, HD or DVD) by hitting UP or DOWN arrow key. Choose verbose. Then see what breaks. Go net and search for more details regarding that broken part. Find the right kext and iterate the process again.

 

What I just said is so basic so don't laugh at me.. I am a Mac newbie (using iMac) and now trying on PC.. (osx86 newbie as well) .. lol

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mrinsanelymac2
mrinsanelymac2
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Ok pressed the arrow keys as it loads to get into verbose mode - no effect - how do you do this again?

 

...The author of this post moved a legacy AHCI kext file. I'm guessing to Extra/Extensions so I tried doing the same and following advice here to rebuild the Extensions.mkext file this way:

 

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...mp;&do=findComment&comment=222574

 

But again no luck! Basically create a folder at root of my macbook drive. Executed commands to transfer kexts to that folder then included the legacy kext file there. Run another set of commands to turn it into a mkext file. Then copied that over to the USB stick into the Extra folder. Tried to load the hackintosh box with Extensions folder being present with legacy file and without the Extensions folder and legacy file. Not sure if I'm not rebuilding it correctly but I still get the same hanging grey screen with beachball of death!

 

Where's the hackintosh wizards when you need em?

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funimac
funimac
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Ok pressed the arrow keys as it loads to get into verbose mode - no effect - how do you do this again?

 

...The author of this post moved a legacy AHCI kext file. I'm guessing to Extra/Extensions so I tried doing the same and following advice here to rebuild the Extensions.mkext file this way:

 

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...mp;&do=findComment&comment=222574

 

But again no luck! Basically create a folder at root of my macbook drive. Executed commands to transfer kexts to that folder then included the legacy kext file there. Run another set of commands to turn it into a mkext file. Then copied that over to the USB stick into the Extra folder. Tried to load the hackintosh box with Extensions folder being present with legacy file and without the Extensions folder and legacy file. Not sure if I'm not rebuilding it correctly but I still get the same hanging grey screen with beachball of death!

 

Where's the hackintosh wizards when you need em?

What bootloader are you using? Chameleon?

To insert extra parameters, hit TAB. You can key in -v to go into verbose mode.

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funimac
funimac
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OIC - yes Chameleon RC4 - will give that a try. For now I've managed to install SL onto a detected USB hard drive and it seems to run fine but does not discover my LAN, native graphics resolution, etc. So got something up and running but.

 

Wow! That's great achievement.

What is your mobo and cpu specifications?

Which set of kexts do you using? Any url link for me to try?

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mrinsanelymac2
mrinsanelymac2
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Wow! That's great achievement.

What is your mobo and cpu specifications?

Which set of kexts do you using? Any url link for me to try?

 

Just follow the Lifehackers guide thats on my signature. I followed it to the letter upto the point where he formats the internal hard drive but I used an external USB hard drive instead as that was easily detected. The kexts are as per instruction. I haven't gone any further and have not attempted to sort out the sound as in the bottom of the guide yet.

 

I'll see if I want to go any further when I get some time to play with the machine again. I just wish the author of this topic (BigOats) would just come and tell us exactly how he got his legacy kext to be loaded enabling the internal SATA drives to be detected.

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funimac
funimac
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Just follow the Lifehackers guide thats on my signature. I followed it to the letter upto the point where he formats the internal hard drive but I used an external USB hard drive instead as that was easily detected. The kexts are as per instruction. I haven't gone any further and have not attempted to sort out the sound as in the bottom of the guide yet.

 

I'll see if I want to go any further when I get some time to play with the machine again. I just wish the author of this topic (BigOats) would just come and tell us exactly how he got his legacy kext to be loaded enabling the internal SATA drives to be detected.

I find going to the study room to cook the kexts using my good iMac a chore and decided to install Leopard using Kalyway 10.5.1 on my good old Acer Travelmate 3002.

Surprisingly after much testing and trials, it worked pretty well.

With 10.5.1 lappy beside my Dell, I guess setting SL up on my Dell 545 would be faster.

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funimac
funimac
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I find going to the study room to cook the kexts using my good iMac a chore and decided to install Leopard using Kalyway 10.5.1 on my good old Acer Travelmate 3002.

Surprisingly after much testing and trials, it worked pretty well.

With 10.5.1 lappy beside my Dell, I guess setting SL up on my Dell 545 would be faster.

 

Some good progress.

I managed to install SL on my USB HD Partition 2. Partition 1 is the SL Installer image itself.

USB HD itself is partitioned using MBR (for some historical reason and is likely to be wrong as all guides state it is a must to use GPT). Both partitions are Mac Extended Journaled.

 

Installer has the following modifications.

Kexts used are as follows:

  • NullCPUPowerManagement.kext
  • FakeSMC.kext
  • AppleRTC.kext
  • Disabler.kext
  • OpenHaltRestart.kext
  • PlatformUUID.kext (not used but needed to remove error 35)

After installation, the following are not working

  • wireless (WMP300N) and LAN
  • graphical display only at 1024 x 768
  • no sound
  • unable to see my internal HD

Next, will be searching for the right kexts to fix up the problems. Then finally to install the perfect SL on my internal HD with dual boot to Windows 7.

 

My desktop specs (CPU-ID)

  • Intel® Core2 Quad CPU Q8300 @ 2.50GHz
  • Intel P35/G33/G31 rev. A2
  • Intel 82801IR (ICH9R) rev. 02

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