Almost there...HP DV7 3085dx

[RunningJumper]

I have tried several guides to getting OSX onto my DV7. The latest guide I used was by Tonymacx86. It involves [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url]/Snowleopard 10.6.3 OEM/[url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url]. I am to the point right now where I have Snowleopard 10.6.5 on one hard drive and Win7 on the secondary drive with Chameleon as my boot manager. Both operating systems boot fine.

 

I can boot into SL using CPUS=1 and it runs very smoothly(with the exception of Activity Monitor...it hangs on the beachball when launched). The sound is enabled and I have 2 out of 4 USB ports functional. I am able to connect to the internet via USB with my iPhone(I don't think my wifi card is supported).

 

My keyboard however, only works in safe mode so I have to use a USB keyboard. This is my next hurdle as I keep having to unplug my mouse(trackpad doesn't work yet) to use my keyboard when I am tethering my internet connection.

 

I have tried voodoo kexts and appleps2 kexts, but they make my system hang at boot when I install them.

 

Any help would be highly appreciated.

 

My system specs are in my signature.

[RunningJumper]

I'm not sure what happened, but I dropped the voodoops2 kext into the trash and then reinstalled it. My system wouldn't boot again. So I uninstalled it once more via safe mode, rebooted, and now not only does my laptop's keyboard work but also my two left USB ports.

 

I have noticed that I cannot control the volume of iTunes or DVD Player with the volume control on the top of the systems taskbar(next to the Time Date). I have to do it in whatever program is playing sound ie iTunes, DVD Player, QuickTime which kinda sucks because I have to swap back to that Spaces screen to do it. Is there a work around for this? My touch volume slider on my keyboard shows functionality, but doesn't actually change the volume either.

[RunningJumper]

I figured out why the Activity Monitor didn't work: I moved it to the desktop and it apparently doesn't like it there lol. I moved it back into the Utilities folder and it works again.

[RunningJumper]

I have a pretty decent machine going here and even though it gets better and better I have the following questions:

 

1. Is there any way for me to use all of my 8 cores in the i7? I have read something about it concerning a legacy kernel? Right now I am booting using the bootflag cpus=1. Anything else gives me a KP.

 

2. I wish to update to 10.6.6 from my current 10.6.5. How can I make a backup of my current state so that when something fails I can point a program to my backup to reimage the drive? Are there any free programs out there that can do this? I have an empty 500gb external drive i can dedicate for this purpose.

 

3. When playing music or a movie I cannot control the volume of it using the Sound Icon on the upper right task bar of the desktop. I have to switch Spaces and lower or raise the volume through whatever program is playing it.

 

4. I have the Intel Ibex Peak-M PM55, Intel Lynnfield mobo. There are 4 models though and I can't figure out which one is mine. I am trying to generate a DSDT at Tonymacx86.com and get stuck verifying which of the 4 I have.

 

5. I have to get a USB wificard since mine will never be supported. I saw a picture of one on here that was just a little nub that sticks out instead of a gigantic one. Has anyone seen one like this? I can't find the thread it was in.

 

6. The USB ports on the left side of the laptop allow functionality, but I noticed that they do not provide power to devices. Has anyone else been able to make them supply power? They work fine for a mouse and to sync my iPhone, but they will not power the phone or an external drive.