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Solution to boot GMA900 without monitor or dongle


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Hi,

 

I find a solution to boot my Thinkpad Z60t without external monitor or VGA dongle, and even -v is not required. I have successfuly installed 10.4.6 and I am using it right now to post this.

 

My laptop's configuration:

Thinkpad Z60t / P-M 1.73GHz / 512MB Memory / Intel GMA900 integrated display card / Thinkpad a/b/g wireless / Gigabit Ethernet

 

The solution is very simple:

 

1. Boot Mac OS X, from installation DVD or hard disk

2. You would see Apple logo and spining circle.

3. Press Fn+F7 to switch display to externel. No externel monitor or VGA dongle acturally required and your LCD screen shows black

4. Press Fn+F7 again to switch back to internal LCD

5. Wait for remaining boot process and enjoy Mac OS X

 

That is all.

 

Known issues: You must switch back to internal LCD before spining circle is over, otherwise you will get a weird screen and have to reboot again.

 

CI/QE is enabled. USB is good and wheel USB mouse works perfectly. Trackpoint and touchpad works. wireless (after patch) and ethernet works (after patch). Sound output is OK but no input device.

 

I am still struggling with sound input device and card reader, but so far I am extremely satisfied with my new Thinkpad Mac.

 

thanks

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Rather than having to hit the F7 key at just the right time during a boot, some people feel more comfortable using the 2-wire trick: http://forum.osx86project.org/index.php?ac...ost&id=1522

 

Using -v during boot doesn't really "help" you get booted. It does not change the boot operation. All it does is turn on "verbose" mode which displays messages generated during the boot. These messages help you diagnose problems that need fixed. If you are not trying to diagnose a problem, then you do not need the messages and do not need to enter -v.

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Do you have to do this each time you boot or does the OS remember the setting?

Each time you boot. It is not a setting. What is happening is that when OSX quizzes the video on the laptop, it cannot resolve anything. Using an external monitor, or a dongle or the 2-wire trick or hitting the F7 key to switch to external monitor mode - this gets the proper info to OSX to continue booting.

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Rather than having to hit the F7 key at just the right time during a boot, some people feel more comfortable using the 2-wire trick: http://forum.osx86project.org/index.php?ac...ost&id=1522

 

Using -v during boot doesn't really "help" you get booted. It does not change the boot operation. All it does is turn on "verbose" mode which displays messages generated during the boot. These messages help you diagnose problems that need fixed. If you are not trying to diagnose a problem, then you do not need the messages and do not need to enter -v.

 

I knew that. But that would not help before I had installed Mac OS X and set 'mirror' mode. I have no externel monitor and Fn+F7 is the only solution for me. And I don't want to pin 2 wires into VGA connector because I think it a little bit more dangeous.

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