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help configuring 10.4.9 v1.4i on an acer 3680 laptop


jmartin
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Hello all-

 

First off, I most say I am thankful for all the support provided on this board.

 

 

I am a mac user, however this hackintosh thing is presenting some issues. Here is what I have.

 

An acer 3680 with a broadcom card (some 3680 models come with an atheros card). I had read on other sites that this notebook was a prime candidate for a hackintosh since it was almost 100%. I have tried SEVERAL installation configurations and nothing is giving an acceptable result.

 

At this point I have decided to only install the main system and work my way up from there. After doing this, the machine does boot, but gives the infamous blue screen until I hook up a monitor.

 

I have the intel 950 chipset and if I install that I get the same results.

 

Once I am in the desktop environment I obviously have no internet, wired nor wireless. This machine also has bluetooth but I am unsure on the odds of getting it to work.

 

 

All I want to do is have the LCD working and wifi working. The ethernet port would be nice, but is not a necessity. USB and the trackpad and keyboard work fine. I have seen a hardware solution to the no picture problem involving making a VGA dongle that shorts out some of the pins and I somehow forces it to work; but a software solution would be excellent.

 

As mentioned, I tried many different drivers and patches and most led to the mac death screen.

 

If anyone has gotten it down on a 3680 or similar hardwa re from acer, please spell it out for me.

 

 

It would be a nice desktop, but I already have 2 intel mac desktops and I needed mobile OS X on the cheap, so I picked up this acer for $400.

 

 

Again thanks.

 

 

p.s.

 

Also I am using the uphuck 10.4.9 v1.4i install DVD

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Okay a vga dongle got the video going while using the 900 drivers not the 950 (which my machine has on board). Anyone enabled a broadcom 4311 card for 10.4.9 v1.4i? I tried the en0/1 trick, but it was already configured correctly. Sound and wifi and I am all systems go. USB works as well as the trackpad and keyboard.

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General Disscusion

 

Took one back as it had the 5007EG wlan. Now the same model has the Broadcom card and the 1gig ram for the same $. Can't see you having a LCD display problem. I'd try a 10.4.8 Jas or 1.4.9 v3 release. My main concern would be heat and battery life etc , are the fans working did you try some of the Temp monitor programs ? Overall I felt that with a low end laptop with a low cell battery I wouldn't get enough use out of it to justify buying it as it might not last anyway Could you post the CPU render score from cinebench 9.5 .

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General Disscusion

 

Took one back as it had the 5007EG wlan. Now the same model has the Broadcom card and the 1gig ram for the same $. Can't see you having a LCD display problem. I'd try a 10.4.8 Jas or 1.4.9 v3 release. My main concern would be heat and battery life etc , are the fans working did you try some of the Temp monitor programs ? Overall I felt that with a low end laptop with a low cell battery I wouldn't get enough use out of it to justify buying it as it might not last anyway Could you post the CPU render score from cinebench 9.5 .

 

I'll post some results. It shows up in the system profiler as a 1.86 core solo, when acer says it is a 1.83 I believe. Not that it is a huge boost by any means. Great mobile linux machine, but I prefer OS X over any OS. I suppose I will be trying a different OS X86 installer.

 

 

Which brings me to a question. I have been told lower releases, 10.4.6/8, should be more compatiable; but I need to run things like iwork 08 and others that require 10.4.10. So, if I start out at 10.4.6 will I be able to update that release by some means, or will I be stuck where I am at? Obviously I am use to updating the easy way with software update and I am a hackintosh noob, which is sad because I fancy myself a mac whiz.

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I reconfigured the brcm4311.kext to have all the chip IDs Identical to the IDs found in the windows .inf located in the driver download from acer's website. I have also tried taping over pin 20 (in hopes of achieving an always on status, since the card is switch controlled and there is no BIOS option to disable it; in fact this is the crappiest BIOS I have ever worked with, there are literally no options) The wifi still works while taped under Madriva linux. I am going to boot up into OS X and check it out.

 

 

I have little to no hope this will work.

 

Anyone got some hot tips for the Broadcom 4311 mini pci?!?!?!?!?

 

 

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Interesting tidbit of info

 

 

I pulled the airport card from my intel mac mini and swapped it with the broadcom. The airport card is an atheros ( I thought it was broadcom). When I swapped them and started them up, the hackintosh shows nothing in system profiler, while the mini hoped on my network.

 

 

This leads me to believe that this is without a doubt, a problem related to the card not getting any power. Since it is controlled by a switch, I some how have to short it to always be on. Damn I really wish there was a option in the bios for this!!!!

 

 

However, I do not have to flip the switch while under linux to make it come on. You would have to in windows though. I dont want to trial and error try to short the card out and possibly fry it, but it seems like there could be some software resolution as well................

 

 

 

Some have stated that holding the switch while booting makes it happen, I have tried several times and if it does work it is all about the timing, which I cannot seem to get down.

Time to ponder on this :?

 

 

Installed VMware to boot xp, then tried to install the atheros drivers for xp, so I could at least get net connection that way. However since VMware wants to use the mac connection to the net, no wifi card shows up in device manager. Anyone have any ideas for a quick fix on this?

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How do we make a mini-pci card work with OS X86? My mac mini uses a mini pci port for its atheros airport card, which is now in the acer. Which extensions manage this? Maybe I will copy them from my mini onto the acer and hope.

 

 

Some one spread the love please.

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Wow

 

Thought that Acer model was a perfect install.

How could the wireless change from Athereos to Broadcom cause screen issues etc.

Sure most laptops users swap out there intel 2200iw's or whatever for Dell Truemobile 1390's mini PCI. My Toshiba has a 2100 mini PCI but now Lon Drugs as a Hawking OSX & XP supported USB G adapter for $79. Hence could use it on more than one Comp. To bad about the lack of wlan switch , your probably pretty close. you checked for Bios updates?

I only plan on using the Toshiba it for G band and to use Stretch screen in bios to get full screen.

Would't consider anything older than 10.4.8 / 8.8.1 kernel.

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can anybody help me get my wifi working with my Acer Aspire 5100, i got the sound to work all i need is to get my wifi working and if anybody knows how i can get to read my SATA drive as well, my Acer's wireless card is a Broadcom 4311, i already tried the family.ktext thing and everything is set up correctly, even the light on my wireless card is lit to green, any help please

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@slip

 

 

At first I was having issues being confused on which of the intel video chipsets to choose on install. It would boot to a blue screen, but give a signal out the vga port. So I tried the other driver and all was good. Its the wifi card that has all the issues. I switched the original broadcom4311 with the Atheros based Mini-Pci Airport card from out of my Mac mini. Still with no tangible results =. There is a wifi switch and it is never on, not even ion linux, where it is being utilized. I got a USB Wifi adapter that is compatible with OS X and use it for now. I have sound, sleep, and internet now. I had power management under uphuck v1.4i, but I had to ditch it for its lack of networking ability. The lan does not work, but I do not care. I would like to have power management at that point I could shut up and stop bitching about this.

 

 

@ Izzy

 

you have a mini pci 4311 in an acer and the wifi led is on?

 

Please do share

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Can you guys please post which 3680 you have? there should be another 4 numbers after the 3680.

 

microcenter.com has the 3680-2682

 

Bestbuy has 3680-2633

 

Circuit city has 3680-2682

 

etc.

 

thanks, I would really appreciate the info.

 

:censored2:

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  • 4 weeks later...

I also have one the acer 3680's (3680-2682). The problem that i'm having is that i've downloaded the JaS 10.4.8 sse3 iso version. When I boot from the dvd, the apple screen comes up and then it says that "I need to restart my computer..." so i try again, then i do the -v thing and it comes up with "debugger called panic". The first thing that i noticed when it tries to install is the vesa driver for intel graphics. Could this be the problem? I'm so new to this, I was also wondering if it is mandatory to reformat your drive before you attemt to install osx, if so that maybe my problem. I just don't want to get rid of my windows installation just yet if I don't have to. Another thing is that if 10.4.8 won't work, which one of the releases would be my best bet?

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