Dell GX270 - recommendations for a fresh install

[Baldrick45]

Ok Guys (and Gals)

 

I'm a Winblows savvy user with experience of installing/running several custom XP distro's. I've hacked a few Thin clients to get them to run XP too and fought my way through the hardware issues that threw up but I have no real OSX or Linux experience and I want to remedy that sinful omission now.

 

I have been given an old Dell GX270N 2.8Ghz P4, 1 Gig Ram, 30 Gig HD DVD-ROM, integrated graphics, AC97 sound, and built-in ethernet. CPU-z reports that whatever P4 variant I have it is single core but does support SSE3.

 

I rather ambitiously DL'd Kalyway's 10.5.1 distro and tried to jump straight in to re-format the HD. After an EBIOS error, I eventually got to the opening screen showing our friend's breakdancer, but the graphics were badly corrupted (like when winblows can only run in 4 colour VGA) to the point where I could not even read the Disk Utility option screens well enough to proceed.

 

So humble pie eaten, I now ask for your forebearance and advice. I don't need to run Leopard, I need a fairly straightforward install which picks up on most of my hardware and allows me to start learning. Tiger will be more than enough for me.

 

So then, any Guru's fought the fight with an older Dell and emerged sane and able to recommend a starting point for me?

 

Even pointers to relevant threads would be welcome (and yes I have already searched on osx86 and here). Most existing threads are dealing with resolving specific hardware issues once you have a working OSX install

 

So please... be kind... You too were once a young Padwan!

[Danyel]

Hi Baldrick:

 

I've installed OSx86 on several Dell Machines including Dell Inspiron 1300, Optiplex 170L and Optiplex GX-260. I'm not sure how different the GX-260 is from GX-270 but they should be similar.

 

I installed Myzar's OSx86 10.4.6 on Dell Optiplex GX-260 with an older nVidia Card. I had to download MacVidia Driver but everything else was recognized by OSx86 without any modifications. For the older Dell Machines, Myzar's 10.4.6 seems to work great.

 

Details on OSx86 Project's Hardware Wiki:

http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.ph...Optiplex_GX-260

 

Good luck and let us know how it works for you.

 

--danyel

[PopeOnABomb]

Ok Guys (and Gals)I'm a Winblows savvy user with experience of installing/running several custom XP distro's. I've hacked a few Thin clients to get them to run XP too and fought my way through the hardware issues that threw up but I have no real OSX or Linux experience and I want to remedy that sinful omission now.I have been given an old Dell GX270N 2.8Ghz P4, 1 Gig Ram, 30 Gig HD DVD-ROM, integrated graphics, AC97 sound, and built-in ethernet. CPU-z reports that whatever P4 variant I have it is single core but does support SSE3.I rather ambitiously DL'd Kalyway's 10.5.1 distro and tried to jump straight in to re-format the HD. After an EBIOS error, I eventually got to the opening screen showing our friend's breakdancer, but the graphics were badly corrupted (like when winblows can only run in 4 colour VGA) to the point where I could not even read the Disk Utility option screens well enough to proceed. So humble pie eaten, I now ask for your forebearance and advice. I don't need to run Leopard, I need a fairly straightforward install which picks up on most of my hardware and allows me to start learning. Tiger will be more than enough for me. So then, any Guru's fought the fight with an older Dell and emerged sane and able to recommend a starting point for me?Even pointers to relevant threads would be welcome (and yes I have already searched on osx86 and here). Most existing threads are dealing with resolving specific hardware issues once you have a working OSX installSo please... be kind... You too were once a young Padwan!

In the bios options you need to change the video size from 1mb to 8mb. This will cure the crappy colors.

[Baldrick45]

Thanks for the help guys. I found the video size option listed elsewhere (by a more exhaustive search of the site) and having sorted out that pain in the a*se I've just got JAS 10.4.6 running. In fact I'm typing this on my first hackintosh and feeling very smug!

 

I had to work through activating my HDD after the install but apart from that ethernet worked OOB, (and since I selected the GMA900 option in the custom install) graphics are working well, my AC97 sound card is detected (although I've no speakers hooked up at present to be sure) and my USB pendrives are all mounting correctly.

 

I'm already inspired to start looking for further tweaks. I've spotted a low profile Geforce4 card on eBay, another 512M of RAM and possibly a cheap DVD burner. I need a low profile card to fit my case - Any advantages in going for Nvidia rather than a low profile Radeon 7000 series card (2-3 of them on the go too)?

 

I understand that if I want to hook up my ipod Touch I now need to upgrade to 10.4.10 or 10.4.11. Any advice on that step? I see some posts about the GMA900 drivers breaking when attempting this. Also, do I need to D/L a full JAS 10.4.10 ISO again or can I get away with finding a patch somewhere?

 

Thanks again - Chuffed to bl**dy bits would be an understatement for how I'm feeling tonight and I honestly owe it all to this site!!

 

Baldrick45