racerx123 Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 preface: i have been reading a lot of threads here and over at osx86scene, so I think i have a basic knowledge of installation, but most things i've been reading presuppose some things that i don't understand (yet). 1). EFI. so i read up on EFI and know that EFI>bios and is most preferred, and when i get around to installing leopard i will try to get it working, but my main question is, what is EFI going to do with my old bios/boot loader? nothing? will it take it over? does it just act like a boot loader? 2). This seems like a really dumb question, but why is a "vanilla" install necessarily better? I don't know all the jargon yet but i assume it's just installing from as clean as an image of the Leopard GM as you can get. But with the stuff we have to change, wont the ToH/brazilmac releases work better? 3). For dual booting with XP already installed on the machine, is it preferable to install leopard on a completely different HD, or is just a separate partition ok? Assuming you don't type in the wrong HD partition, will the original windows XP partition be ok? (not wiped) 4). For installing i was going to use mysticus's post as a guide, since I have an nforce 680i mobo as well (and i plan on using the ToH image) (but if theres a better guide for nforce 680i and ToH, do tell). And when i read it, all the steps for installation seem pretty clear to me, but I think my problem lies in post-install. I am a COMPLETE newb when it comes to doing anything fancy with a mac (even though i do own a macbook). These things called kexts... they are drivers, right? If so, is there a place to get these and a howto? 5). If anyone can tell me any hardware incompatabilities you see after I list them, that would be helpful too. I don't have a dvd drive yet (current one has been dead for a while) so i'm ordering one so I've got some time. Mobo: DFI NF680i LT SLI CPU: Intel C2 Q6600 RAM: 2x1gb DDR2 6400 (G-Skill) HD1: WD 320gb SATA (3 partitions) HD2: WD 250gb SATA (2 partitions) Video: XFX Nvidia 7900 GS (dual dvi) thanks in advance. even pointing me in the general direction to find answers would be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybeatle Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 This is my first post, but I've successfully been able to get Leopard to work fairly well and have read through these forums fairly extensively. That being said, since no one has replied, I'll try to take a stab at your questions. 1.) As far as I can tell, EFI does nothing with your bios or windows bootloader. There are several great threads in the forum, so if you have concerns, I suggest the search button. 2.) Since I've installed the vanilla kernel via EFI, I've noticed a performance increase over the hacked kernel. Also, it allows you to upgrade the Mac OS software through the software updater, meaning you don't have to wait for someone else to hack it. 3.) I'm running a tri-boot of XP/Vista/Mac OS, with the vista bootloader being the main bootloader (setup using EasyBCD). My setup is with the XP and Vista on one hard disk and Mac OS on another. Many people run both Mac and XP on the same physical disk, so it shouldn't be a huge issue. Mine's setup on seperate disks mostly because I was having some install issues and I found it easier to simply just have a disk where I wasn't afraid of screwing things up. 4.) With kexts, search the forums or check the IRC channel. I say just follow the guide and be confident with what you're doing. I'm sure there are plenty of people with more experience than me and will probably correct me. But I hope what I wrote helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx123 Posted December 14, 2007 Author Share Posted December 14, 2007 hey thanks for the reply. just another question. when people say vanilla kernel do they mean they use the original leopard dvd? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybeatle Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 In essence, yes. Vanilla Kernel refers to the unmodified OS X kernel and kexts. I used this guide Digitmemo How To Install EFI and I found it to be simple and effective. Just be careful about which kernel you're patching from. You might end up in an endless reboot cycle. You won't have to reinstall the OS, but will probably have to repatch from the original hacked kernel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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