10.6.3 update problem [SOLVED]

[eido]

I am at my wits end by now. I have installed OS X 10.6 on my Dell Studio XPS 16 laptop several times now fine, using the retail disc with the Empire EFI 1.085 boot cd. However, I desperately need to update to at least 10.6.2 to get support for my graphics card.

 

Unfortunately, every time i install an update I get problems, I've made about 5 or 6 attempts now, and after each attempt my OS X partition no longer boots. My last attempt was to install just the 10.6.2 combo update to see if that made a difference, and this is the sequence of events:

 

-I installed 10.6 with the Empire EFI boot disc, it boots in safe mode

-Using [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url], I installed FakeSMC, NullCPUPowerManagement, LegacyAppleRTC, and EvOreboot kexts, and rebooted (again in safemode)

-I installed the 10.6.2 combo update and rebooted as the installer requires

-the Boot hangs, the last three lines are:

 

DSMOS has arrived

FakeSMC: key info not found MSDS, length - 6

ACPI_SMC_PlatformPlugin : :start - waitForService(resourceMatching(AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement) timed out

 

In my previous attempts, I sometimes had a kernel panic that referenced something about the IONetworkFamily Kext already being loaded, one install would hang at the same lines as above but also give me two lines that said Error something, and I also had two installs that gave me a kernel panic that referenced three IOsomething kexts.

 

Note: I believe that this boot cd automatically makes a boot verbose, as regardless of my boot commands I don't get a graphic boot, but using another boot cd, prior to the update it ends in a garbled/blocky screen as my graphics isn't supported, and after the update I get the spinning loading thing under the apple logo and then a message pops up in a dark grey box saying I need to restart my computer

 

These are the basic specs of my system:

Dell Studio XPS 16 laptop (intel pm55 chipset)

Intel Core i7 720QM processor

ATI Radeon Mobility HD 4670

 

Can anyone please help?

[MaLd0n]

try with arch=i386 -f -v -x

[eido]

I had already been trying -x -v -f, but I did try that with arch=i386, no luck - thanks anyways though

 

any other ideas? Im desperate to get this fixed

[projekt 8e]

I am kind of in the same boat as you. I too have a StudioXPS 1640. I have a retail cd of 10.6.3 and can install it from safe mode and then make a few tweaks to get it to boot from i-boot bootdisk.

 

I would try to boot from the boot loader though and get a similar ACPI error. I created a DSDT with a program and fixed it. Have you tried anything like that?

 

Additionally, what video card do you have? My HD3670 is still not compatible as far as I know.

 

Finally, what are you using for your keyboard and mouse functions? If I boot from the boot disk, everything works. Sound, mouse, keyboard, optical drive ect...But if I boot using the bootloader with that new DSDT I lose all of that, but gain the boot option. Not a goot trade.

 

Anyone know if I can just implement the i-boot bootdisk settings without needing the cd?

[eido]

Hmm I'll look into that, I have two other theories I'm going to try to test tomorrow, and I'll post my results.

 

One is to follow the 10.6.3 update instructions on the EFI Empire website, Prasys' Blog, which offers a patched kernel to install after the update, before restarting for certain processors, including mine.

 

The other is to access my 10.6.2 installation via my windows partition and take out the Ati4600Controller.kext and AtiRadeonX2000.kexts and add them in a new 10.6 install. (I came up with this method on my own and am more skeptical that it might work.)

 

I have the mobility 4670 HD, I actually bought the laptop from the Dell outlet store to avoid getting a dreaded 5xxx card and to get the RGBLED, I think officially none of the recent mobility cards are fully supported, however, if you read this: http://netkas.org/?p=297 You'll see that what they label a desktop 4670 HD in the iMacs is actually the same card I have, so I assume it will work, maybe this is the case for other cards as well.

 

As far as your boot issue, I know you can install a version of Chameleon either to the hard disk or to your EFI partition, maybe that will work for you? Tonymacx86's site has some good tutorials I've seen on that.

[Organgrinder]

thats strange. On the guide from lifehacker, it states once installed updating shouldnt be a problem :S

[spectheintro]

Have you tried using chameleon with "Graphics Enabled = Yes" ? Normally that's enough to at least get you a functional display. I haven't tried installing onto a Studio XPS 1640 but I remember that I had very little luck with [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] in general, whereas Chameleon got me into OS X very, very easily.

[projekt 8e]

Well I have some good news in regards to my SXPS16. After I made my post yesterday I just decided to started copying the files from the [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] disc and now have a fully functional dual boot on it without any hangups. Every once in a while it will freeze on boot, but rarely. It seems like I have to do it from verbose mode though which is odd, I thought that just displayed what was being loaded? Or maybe it slows the boot down which helps it out? Not sure, but now I need to get to work on getting the HD 3670 and WiFi 5100 functions up and running.

 

I literally just started all of this over the weekend so I think I made good progress. Before this, I had never used OS X, but I need it to assist in a summer research project I am working on and so far, I am at a point where I can work with it, but I would love to have better resolution, seems like a waste of my 1080P RGBLED screen

[eido]

Well after a couple weeks break I've come back to this, I was able to solve the FakeSMC problem by editing the FakeSMC kext and adding the MSDS key line with a blank string line, but the Power management problem is still bugging me.

 

I read one thing that suggested I needed to install EVOenabler.kext, which I tried, but this just means that after running through all the verbose boot commands and getting to that powermanagement line it fades to an uneven gray screen and slowly darkens.... help?

[eido]

I fixed it! Interestingly enough, the solution was to delete all the ATI related kexts from S/L/E... kinda counter intuitive, but hey, it worked. I don't even need EVOenabler anymore, hope this helps someone else in the future

[dekozi]

This guide that i stumbled on, worked great for me XPS 1640

 

http://www.hackint0sh.org/f213/117717.htm

 

- Download the .iso that's mentioned

- When you boot from the cd, do not press any keys, wait till it counts down and loads the Snow Leopard installation.

- MAKE SURE YOU SELECT ALL OF THE OPTIONS UNDER "Customize".

- After install, the computer will reboot and when you see the boot loader countdown, make sure you hit any key and boot with -v -s and remove all ATI kexts or do the following commands at command prompt

/sbin/fsck -fy

/sbin/mount -uw /

rm -rf /system/library/extensions/ATI*

exit

- This will boot right into OSX

- You will not have ethernet, sound or trackpad

- You will need to find SL_PS2_Voodoo (It's a zip file with a couple of kexts that must be installed together along with the PrefPane) which will get your trackpad working

- You will need to find VoodooHDA.kext (this will get your sound working)

- Delete/rename the following kexts that are located in your extensions folder:

- HDAEnabler.kext (which interferes with VoodooHDA)

- AppleHDA.kext (which also interferes with VoodooHDA)

- ApplePS2Controller.kext (which intereferes with VoodooPS2)

- Reboot and everything should be working

 

I haven't been able to get my ethernet working but i'm running on wireless.

 

Updating to 10.6.1 is not a problem. You just have to once again, delete all ATI kexts as mentioned above.

Updating to 10.6.2 is nothing but a problem, i haven't had much luck with it.

If anyone knows how to update to 10.6.2, i'm all ears (and eyes).

[eido]

This guide that i stumbled on, worked great for me XPS 1640

 

http://www.hackint0sh.org/f213/117717.htm

 

- Download the .iso that's mentioned

- When you boot from the cd, do not press any keys, wait till it counts down and loads the Snow Leopard installation.

- MAKE SURE YOU SELECT ALL OF THE OPTIONS UNDER "Customize".

- After install, the computer will reboot and when you see the boot loader countdown, make sure you hit any key and boot with -v -s and remove all ATI kexts or do the following commands at command prompt

/sbin/fsck -fy

/sbin/mount -uw /

rm -rf /system/library/extensions/ATI*

exit

- This will boot right into OSX

- You will not have ethernet, sound or trackpad

- You will need to find SL_PS2_Voodoo (It's a zip file with a couple of kexts that must be installed together along with the PrefPane) which will get your trackpad working

- You will need to find VoodooHDA.kext (this will get your sound working)

- Delete/rename the following kexts that are located in your extensions folder:

- HDAEnabler.kext (which interferes with VoodooHDA)

- AppleHDA.kext (which also interferes with VoodooHDA)

- ApplePS2Controller.kext (which intereferes with VoodooPS2)

- Reboot and everything should be working

 

I haven't been able to get my ethernet working but i'm running on wireless.

 

Updating to 10.6.1 is not a problem. You just have to once again, delete all ATI kexts as mentioned above.

Updating to 10.6.2 is nothing but a problem, i haven't had much luck with it.

If anyone knows how to update to 10.6.2, i'm all ears (and eyes).

 

 

I believe SnowOSX universal is a Distros installer... which is somewhat outdated and no longer the preferred method. I don't know exactly what is needed to update that version, if anything different, but if you install SL using a retail boot method, all you will need to update to 10.6.2 and later versions is the kext that disables Apple CPU power management, and a new version of SleepEnabler

[dekozi]

I believe SnowOSX universal is a Distros installer... which is somewhat outdated and no longer the preferred method. I don't know exactly what is needed to update that version, if anything different, but if you install SL using a retail boot method, all you will need to update to 10.6.2 and later versions is the kext that disables Apple CPU power management, and a new version of SleepEnabler

Which distro works for this laptop? I went out and bought a copy of SL and tried it with the boot cd, and it was nothing but a kernel panic after another. I don't know what i'm doing wrong.

 

Is there any hope for a kext for the video card? Does anyone know if there's one for 10.5 or 10.6?

[eido]

Which distro works for this laptop? I went out and bought a copy of SL and tried it with the boot cd, and it was nothing but a kernel panic after another. I don't know what i'm doing wrong.

 

Is there any hope for a kext for the video card? Does anyone know if there's one for 10.5 or 10.6?

 

 

EmpireEFI boot disc, by Prasys, is the only one that worked for me, I don't really know anything about distros on this laptop.

 

In theory there could a kext eventually, it is very unlikely that Apple will start using the 4670 in their laptops, they use a laptop version in an imac, but the problem is that the imac card is connected to the monitor using a different standard than the windows laptop version of hte card does (something like LVDS instead of TVDS or vice versa). You can get it fully working now if you use a monitor hooked up by display port, as the imac has a display port out connector and the apple driver can at least power this (for this you should not delete the ATI kexts). Netkas seems to be the most recognized hackintosher to work on ATI kexts, but as far as I know he nor anyone else are currently working on something for this card.

[dekozi]

Interesting.... I actually have one of the older XPS 1640's, mine came with the 3670 not 4670. How can you not delete the ATI kexts? I know you at least need to delete ATIRADEONX2000.kext to at least get a screen or you will have a scrambled screen. I'm dying to get some sort of resolution on mine, i'm running with the basic 1024x768.

[eido]

Interesting.... I actually have one of the older XPS 1640's, mine came with the 3670 not 4670. How can you not delete the ATI kexts? I know you at least need to delete ATIRADEONX2000.kext to at least get a screen or you will have a scrambled screen. I'm dying to get some sort of resolution on mine, i'm running with the basic 1024x768.

 

well its possible that theres method to get the 3670 fully working, which is what it would take to keep the ati kexts. You can however get a different resolution by adding a line to the apple.com.boot.plist file <key>Graphics Mode</key>

with <string>1920x1080x32</string> if you want 1920x1080 resolution with 32 bit color. With the 4670, the vesa driver won't give me full 1920x1080 res, but entering that gives me something like 1600x1050, which is much better than 1024x768

[dekozi]

well its possible that theres method to get the 3670 fully working, which is what it would take to keep the ati kexts. You can however get a different resolution by adding a line to the apple.com.boot.plist file <key>Graphics Mode</key>

with <string>1920x1080x32</string> if you want 1920x1080 resolution with 32 bit color. With the 4670, the vesa driver won't give me full 1920x1080 res, but entering that gives me something like 1600x1050, which is much better than 1024x768

I've tried that already, doesn't work. As a matter of fact, it's running right now with that command and i still can't change my resolution. I only have one option under System Preferences --> Display, which is 1024 X 768.

 

well its possible that theres method to get the 3670 fully working, which is what it would take to keep the ati kexts. You can however get a different resolution by adding a line to the apple.com.boot.plist file <key>Graphics Mode</key>

with <string>1920x1080x32</string> if you want 1920x1080 resolution with 32 bit color. With the 4670, the vesa driver won't give me full 1920x1080 res, but entering that gives me something like 1600x1050, which is much better than 1024x768

This is my com.apple.boot.plist. Tell me if anything that i had entered in is wrong

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<plist version="1.0">

<dict>

<key>Kernel</key>

<string>custom</string>

<key>Kernel Flags</key>

<string></string>

<key>Boot Graphics</key>

<string>Yes</string>

<key>Quiet Boot</key>

<string>No</string>

<key>device-properties</key>

<string>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</string>

<key>Graphics Mode</key>

<string>1920x1080x32</string>

</dict>

</plist>

[eido]

Believe me I've had plenty of troubles with configuring the boot.plist, its possible that that is the highest resolution your card supports with the VESA drivers, but I think more likely its just a problem with the boot.plist. The entry looks ok to me, but what I reccomend is that you make sure you add to both the boot.plist in you /Extra/ folder as well as the one in /Library/Preferences/System Configuration/, also editing the one in /Extra/ can be done with a neat little app called Lizard, I'd download that and see if it does the trick, as opposed to editing it manually.