Mårten Posted August 1, 2010 Share Posted August 1, 2010 Hi Minimac, How stable is the Vostro 3500 on 10.6.x? I got myself a desktop hack for 2 yrs now and it's working all fine, time to get a laptop now... :-) the 3500 sounds like a good machine for hacking and I would like to do HD video editing with it. What do you guys think? I can deal with the sleep/speedstep issue at the moment, but overall how does the 3500 work for you guys? thanx in advance I don't have the 3500, I got the 3700 and I think the 3500 is a better choice, mainly because the 3700 is a little to big to cary around and it has two diffrent SD card chipset, I made a post about it somewhere in this thred, no big deal but my camera use it so I have to use usb cable. As a hackingtosh it has been stable, no problems at all. I run 10.6.4.(1) the new macmini update and it just runs fine. Very few kext in \extra\extensions folder. With MiniHack's dsdt shutdown and usb ports is working. Had some trouble with usb without it. Oh you need to change the wifi card, as the 1520 is not working also in this thred. So yes I'm happy with this as a hackingtosh and I don't regrets buying it as a hackingtosh. //Mårten Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlos228 Posted August 1, 2010 Author Share Posted August 1, 2010 a bit OT but maybe interresting: I just bought a Yuraku YV24WBH1 monitor with a high resolution of 1920 x 1200 NEW for less than 100 EUR (!). Works out of the box with the Vostro 3700 / 330 Card via HDMI. The build quality of the monitor housing is a bit poor ( light plastic ) but picture quality is amazing, great colors, contrasts and brightness. Matches well to the look of the Vostro LED screen. Its THE recommendation for a budget monitor. Maybe a good additional monitor if you need one and travel by plane because its very very light weight compared to other monitors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mårten Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 Mårten, Did you try the attached kext for your SD slot? Just a thought, as I know it works for the Dell Mini 9..... Hi, yes I have tried it, don't seams to work for me. Actually don't know if the cardreader works in Windows ether, have to check that out, first I guess. //Mårten Edit: He he, noob error, forgot to change device id in kext... Sucsses but not, now my trackpad/mouse stops working when I insert SD card, but that problem are well known, time to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piyokos Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 The quality feels good (better than some Dell) but of course it is no MacBook Pro in terms of look or feel. In performance, it is though probably close to an MBP. Screen res. is only average for a 15".All in all I am happy with the purchase as I simply couldn't justify (afford) to pay for the full Apple experience this time around. ive witnessed such a plethora of failing HP, sony, acer, lenovo laptops the last few years, while dell has been consistently mediocre and their {censored} budget laptops are unkillable, you pay a minor premium and get an "acceptable" trackpad, keyboard, and a design that wont melt itself, as opposed to the pure trash everyone else churns out. its worth noting that macbooks have a terrible reliability record, especially the 8600GT line. Hi, yes I have tried it, don't seams to work for me. Actually don't know if the cardreader works in Windows ether, have to check that out, first I guess. the 3700 has a ricoh R5C822 which doesnt work with voodoosdhc, ya'll can give it a try anyway or even try injecting the device into the driver to force it to load. also, i was experimenting with a dsdt patching script, which pulls the dsdt off the vostro and applies patches based on context (so its applicable to any minor revisions), my goal is to turn it into a package, get the rest of the packages together and turn it into a custom snow DVD with the 10.6.4 combo update onboard as well as all the neccecary packages, with independent options for the 33/34/35/37xx series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
force quit Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 It is pretty stable once you stop playing around with the configuration under OSX. Not had any KPs in ages, though I did have issues with occasionally having trackpad prob.s - just wouldn't be able to select anything after boot and would have to do a hard shutdown. I think that is down to some wrong options I had in the boot plist as it hasn't happened for a while.....other than that it is solid.The quality feels good (better than some Dell) but of course it is no MacBook Pro in terms of look or feel. In performance, it is though probably close to an MBP. Screen res. is only average for a 15". All in all I am happy with the purchase as I simply couldn't justify (afford) to pay for the full Apple experience this time around. I've not tried video editing on it, but as I used to edit on my 2GHz MacBook I am sure that the 3500 will cope much better than that! Main thing about the Dell is you pretty much can be sure what you are getting and it is not filled with blacklist/whitelist hardware or video tricks (which is what makes Vaios ridiculously stupid for OSX). Hope this is useful. Oh yeah, battery life stinks. I have since bought the long life battery and that will last maybe 4 to 5 hours, the standard is only okay for 2 hours...... Thanks to both of you for your insights! That confirms my expectations. I don't think there is any better deal out there for a good working i5/7 hack laptop at the moment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zerg2000 Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 Finally I managed to boot from the HDD. I upgraded to 10.6.4. The keyboard and trackpad did not work - and used VoodooPS2Keyboard VoodooPS2Trackpad. Everything's totally kexys i used: VoodooPS2Keyboard VoodooPS2Trackpad DellBluetoothHCI.kext HDAIDT.kext RealtekR1000SL.kext My CPU and video correctly defined. Bluetooth - work Web Camera - work LAN - work WI-FI - not work CartReader - dont work Finally I got it. It's my first Hack. All many thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mårten Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 Finally I managed to boot from the HDD.I upgraded to 10.6.4. The keyboard and trackpad did not work - and used VoodooPS2Keyboard VoodooPS2Trackpad. Everything's totally kexys i used: VoodooPS2Keyboard VoodooPS2Trackpad DellBluetoothHCI.kext HDAIDT.kext RealtekR1000SL.kext My CPU and video correctly defined. Bluetooth - work Web Camera - work LAN - work WI-FI - not work CartReader - dont work Finally I got it. It's my first Hack. All many thanks for your help. Good work, The Dell DW1520 is not working, but there are some tips on working cards in this thred. I am trying to get the cardreader to work, I got so far as the kext is loaded and in verbose boot I do see that the SD is detected and started, but when I insert a SD card I loses keyboard and mouse/trackpad. I have some idé's to try, my guess is that there are some IRQ conflict as things stops working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ardeus Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 Found interesting link on tonymac about 1520. Maybe this will help to understand how to make it work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macuserfan Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 Could anyone make a benchmark of the dell vostro ? (geekbench or antything else) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adisor19 Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 Could anyone make a benchmark of the dell vostro ? (geekbench or antything else) Here it is : My 32 bit geekbench is : 4195 On the following specs : Vostrotosh 3400 Core i5 2.4Ghz 4GB RAM 500GB SATA HDD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adisor19 Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 Found interesting link on tonymac about 1520. Maybe this will help to understand how to make it work It's not overly complicated actually since thanks to MiniHack, all the Vostro models now have proper DSDT.aml files available which makes the process very simple. Take a look at the posts back in this thread and you'll find all the necessary files. Here's how i got mine up and running : 1 - Boot up with [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] - Supported (latest version) 2 - When prompted, swap the [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] DVD and replace it with the OS X 10.6.3 RETAIL DVD and press F5 3 - Select the OS X Install DVD to start the installation process and install OS X on your HD 4 - Once the install it done, boot back your computer using the [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] - Supported and then select the OS X HD installation and boot it up 5 - Once OS X boots up, go through the inital setup and then browse the web and download the latest version of [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url]. 6 - Start [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] and install ONLY the Chamelon bootloader on the HD 7 - Restart the computer when done and boot back up with the [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] DVD. 8 - Replace your /Extra folder with the one that Minihack posted above and also place the DSDT.aml for your specific model (Vostro 3700) that Minihack posted in this thread in the Extra folder. 9 - Restart the computer this time booting with the Chameleon bootloader installed on your HD. At this point the following should be working on your laptop : - Video card - Sound (err i think there is an extra step to do to enable the sound.. look at the above posts..) - Keyboard, track pad and USB ports - Ethernet port - Battery info - Bluetooth Stuff that don't work : - Wifi - Sleep - Speedstep - LCD brighness control - Fingerprint sensor I suggest buying a replacement wifi card off of ebay as wifi is definitely something you'll need to get working. So far i can say that the only thing that really bugs me is the lack of sleep since this is a laptop after all. Hopefully it can be fixed in the future but from what i understand, it's not gonna be easy. Hope this helps and if someone finds i made a mistake in there, please feel free to correct me. Adi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zerg2000 Posted August 7, 2010 Share Posted August 7, 2010 After installation 10.6.3 I advise to be updated to 10.6.4 (do not use a combo updating) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ardeus Posted August 8, 2010 Share Posted August 8, 2010 It's not overly complicated actually since thanks to MiniHack, all the Vostro models now have proper DSDT.aml files available which makes the process very simple. Take a look at the posts back in this thread and you'll find all the necessary files. Here's how i got mine up and running : 1 - Boot up with [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] - Supported (latest version) 2 - When prompted, swap the [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] DVD and replace it with the OS X 10.6.3 RETAIL DVD and press F5 3 - Select the OS X Install DVD to start the installation process and install OS X on your HD 4 - Once the install it done, boot back your computer using the [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] - Supported and then select the OS X HD installation and boot it up 5 - Once OS X boots up, go through the inital setup and then browse the web and download the latest version of [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url]. 6 - Start [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] and install ONLY the Chamelon bootloader on the HD 7 - Restart the computer when done and boot back up with the [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] DVD. 8 - Replace your /Extra folder with the one that Minihack posted above and also place the DSDT.aml for your specific model (Vostro 3700) that Minihack posted in this thread in the Extra folder. 9 - Restart the computer this time booting with the Chameleon bootloader installed on your HD. At this point the following should be working on your laptop : - Video card - Sound (err i think there is an extra step to do to enable the sound.. look at the above posts..) - Keyboard, track pad and USB ports - Ethernet port - Battery info - Bluetooth Stuff that don't work : - Wifi - Sleep - Speedstep - LCD brighness control - Fingerprint sensor I suggest buying a replacement wifi card off of ebay as wifi is definitely something you'll need to get working. So far i can say that the only thing that really bugs me is the lack of sleep since this is a laptop after all. Hopefully it can be fixed in the future but from what i understand, it's not gonna be easy. Hope this helps and if someone finds i made a mistake in there, please feel free to correct me. Adi Thank You for detailed guide but I already have installed 10.6.3. Now I'm trying to find how to get working Dell Wireless 1520 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ardeus Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Found topic about how to make keyboard, mouse and webcam look like Apple ones in System preferences via kexts. Will check today and if it works we'll have iSight and Apple native keyboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kartikeya Bhalla Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 It's not overly complicated actually since thanks to MiniHack, all the Vostro models now have proper DSDT.aml files available which makes the process very simple. Take a look at the posts back in this thread and you'll find all the necessary files. Here's how i got mine up and running : 1 - Boot up with [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] - Supported (latest version) 2 - When prompted, swap the [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] DVD and replace it with the OS X 10.6.3 RETAIL DVD and press F5 3 - Select the OS X Install DVD to start the installation process and install OS X on your HD 4 - Once the install it done, boot back your computer using the [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] - Supported and then select the OS X HD installation and boot it up 5 - Once OS X boots up, go through the inital setup and then browse the web and download the latest version of [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url]. 6 - Start [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] and install ONLY the Chamelon bootloader on the HD 7 - Restart the computer when done and boot back up with the [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] DVD. 8 - Replace your /Extra folder with the one that Minihack posted above and also place the DSDT.aml for your specific model (Vostro 3700) that Minihack posted in this thread in the Extra folder. 9 - Restart the computer this time booting with the Chameleon bootloader installed on your HD. At this point the following should be working on your laptop : - Video card - Sound (err i think there is an extra step to do to enable the sound.. look at the above posts..) - Keyboard, track pad and USB ports - Ethernet port - Battery info - Bluetooth Stuff that don't work : - Wifi - Sleep - Speedstep - LCD brighness control - Fingerprint sensor I suggest buying a replacement wifi card off of ebay as wifi is definitely something you'll need to get working. So far i can say that the only thing that really bugs me is the lack of sleep since this is a laptop after all. Hopefully it can be fixed in the future but from what i understand, it's not gonna be easy. Hope this helps and if someone finds i made a mistake in there, please feel free to correct me. Adi Thank you for this. Do you know how I can convert this into a dual-boot, with Windows 7 being the other OS!... Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kartikeya Bhalla Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Convert OSX drive into a dual boot Snow/Windows 7 drive. On next reboot, you will find that you have a lovely dual boot system and have the choice to boot either OSX or Windows 7...... Thank you so much dear sir. I shall try this over the weekend once I have my Shiny New 3700!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ardeus Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Found topic about how to make keyboard, mouse and webcam look like Apple ones in System preferences via kexts. Will check today and if it works we'll have iSight and Apple native keyboard. It works. Now builtin webcam shows as iSight and my M1crosoft mouse shows as Apple with extended settinds(unfortunately you still need AppleACPIPS2Nub.kext and VoodooPS2Controller.kext or ApplePS2Controller.kext). Is this possible to include modifications to DSDT for webcam and keyboard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adisor19 Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Has anyone noticed that the time on the Vostro starts lagging behind by about 3 - 5 minutes a day ? I just noticed that because my Entourage would no longer connect to my Exchange server. While troubleshooting this problem, i found out that my Exchange server was refusing to issue a Kerberos ticket to my laptop due to a time difference between the server and the laptop. Indeed, it was almost 18 minutes different. I synced the time yesterday and this morning i noticed again that the time was about 4 minutes behind on the laptop. Has anyone else noticed this ? I leave my laptop on all the time in the office so i guess i'd be seeing the biggest difference, but still this isn't normal and i have no idea what's causing it.. I tried dual booting to my Win 7 partition and the time always stays synced so it's not a problem in windows, it only happens in OS X. Adi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adisor19 Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Hi Adi,Have you got the set time and date automatically options selected in sys pref.s? I must admit I hadn't really noticed an issue, but I will keep an eye open for it! Hi MiniHack, Yes, the time is supposed to sync automatically but it doesn't seem to sync it everyday so the time difference is noticeable. As soon as i open the time pref pane, it immediately triggers a sync and corrects the time discrepancy but i have to do this at least once every 2 days in order for my Exchange server to issue me a Kerberos ticket to use for Entourage. (sadly it's an exchange 2k3 server so i can't use mail ) Adi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zerg2000 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 A new version of BIOS for vostro 3700 - A07. There is a new DSDT for this version? Can I use an old version of the A05? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adisor19 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 A new version of BIOS for vostro 3700 - A07. There is a new DSDT for this version? Can I use an old version of the A05? The new BIOS A07 is out for all the Vostro 3xxx models. Here are the changes according to Dell : 1.Update bios microcode for new Intel CPU i3/i5/i7 2.Fixed Intel vbios fix SG uninstall black screen issue 3.Support INT2 (Pin-11) FFS but we all know there are a lot of changes to the code that Dell never bothers mentioning. Unfortunately i use my laptop now and i'm afraid to update as the DSDT.aml file that MiniHack made is essential to keep my 3400 up and running so i can't flash it in order to extract the DSDT from it. MiniHack, Have you taken a look at it yet by any chance ? I wonder if the bios microcode update means they have included the CPU tables in the DSDT and no longer in the SSDT.. one can dream Adi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shef_city_techno Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Hi, I am looking at getting a new laptop for dual win/osx and the vostro 3700 sounds really good. What I am wondering though is does anyone use this setup for audio work (i.e. Logic/Reason/Ableton + firewire sound etc.) in both windows and mac? The reason I am so worried about it is this review I read saying about severe audio streaming dropouts it sounds awful!!: REVIW A friend just spent £800 on a Dell Vostro 3700 for use with professional Firewire audio hardware and programs. The capabilities of these computer systems handling real-time data streams properly is extremely poor. When connecting the Focusrite Saffire Firewire audio hardware the computer did not seem to be able to stream sound from the device. I was advised to run the DPC atency checker programme on the Dell Vostro to see what the performance was like. http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml The realtime graph showed huge red spikes when the machine was in idle mode. NOT GOOD! I then came across a thread on a message board with someone who had the same problem with another audio device - he was also getting no sound or terrible drop outs. It turned out to be related to the battery and the software that manages this. When removing the battery and running on mains power only then the problem was solved and sound was working through the Focusrite Saffire audio Firewire device. Pro audio software was working again. But this is still a problem, which means you cannot have the battery attached to the Dell Vostro's if you are thinking of using them for audio work or using as a DAW (digital audio workstation) - as they are draining the system performance greatly. I suggest you DO NOT buy these machines until Dell fix the problem. This problem could even effect watching movies/DVD/games etc. The 4 pin Firewire port is also badly placed and the connection comes loose if moved slightly. So not recommended for people wishing to connect their DV cams or other Firewire hardware. A 6 pin Firewire slot with screw fixings should have been implemented in these machines. Can anyone dispel this terrible review cos this otherwise looks like a great laptop but audio work is essential to me and this review is really bad! Any advice massively appreciated cheers:)!, thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ardeus Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 The new BIOS A07 is out for all the Vostro 3xxx models. Here are the changes according to Dell : 1.Update bios microcode for new Intel CPU i3/i5/i7 2.Fixed Intel vbios fix SG uninstall black screen issue 3.Support INT2 (Pin-11) FFS but we all know there are a lot of changes to the code that Dell never bothers mentioning. Unfortunately i use my laptop now and i'm afraid to update as the DSDT.aml file that MiniHack made is essential to keep my 3400 up and running so i can't flash it in order to extract the DSDT from it. MiniHack, Have you taken a look at it yet by any chance ? I wonder if the bios microcode update means they have included the CPU tables in the DSDT and no longer in the SSDT.. one can dream Adi Updated BIOS to A07 on 3700. Normally boots with no KP with older DSDT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kartikeya Bhalla Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Hi, I am looking at getting a new laptop for dual win/osx and the vostro 3700 sounds really good. What I am wondering though is does anyone use this setup for audio work (i.e. Logic/Reason/Ableton + firewire sound etc.) in both windows and mac? The reason I am so worried about it is this review I read saying about severe audio streaming dropouts it sounds awful!!: REVIW Can anyone dispel this terrible review cos this otherwise looks like a great laptop but audio work is essential to me and this review is really bad! Any advice massively appreciated cheers:)!, thanks I read the same review and was having second thoughts. These issues seem to be battery/power management related it seems. My laptop should reach me any day. Will try and run some tests for you when i have it. Don't hold your breath do. I have a LOT of work to do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adisor19 Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 Hi MiniHack, I will update to A07 and extract the new DSDT version using the [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url]-Supported DVD. If i understand correctly, if i boot with an external DVD, nothing is loaded from the /Extra folder, right ? I also found on the Ubuntu forums a thread where someone managed to compile the SSDT table from a 3500 with the help of one of the linux gurus. I shall post the link for you tomorrow as it might be useful... Adi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts