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Foray into Hackintosh

P

Parasitic

Diamond Member
Well, I need portability and my MBP isn't giving me that. Originally ordered a XPS from Dell Outlet but cancelled the order because I decided that a second 13" computer at $800 is too much for me.

So I did it: ordered a black MSI Wind. Atom 1.6, 120GB HDD, 1GB ram, along with a liteon external DVD burner and an USB wireless adapter. Going to try getting Leopard running on it.

My original plan is to have OSX set up and running for a little bit, get the feel of it before I crack open the system and do the "required" upgrades: a second stick of RAM, a Dell wireless card, etc.

I hope this is going to be awesome!
 
Oh yeah, I need to write up a tutorial for that. Basically -

1. Download the Wind OSX disc (torrents)

2. Install via USB DVD Drive/HDD/Memory Stick; HDD/USB stick method here (see weaksauce12 post partway down)

http://forums.msiwind.net/mac/...msi-wind-t857-560.html

3. Follow the 10.5.5 instructions in the weaksauce12 post here:

http://forums.msiwind.net/mac/...msi-wind-t857-580.html

4. Download any remaining updates

Pretty easy. The screen rez sometimes flips out and does 1024x768 or 800x600, but a reboot or two fixes that. Be sure to get a Syba USB stick if you want a headphone jack in OS X. Fun little machine! 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Kaido
Originally posted by: Parasitic
Thanks Kaido!

BTW with Hackintoshes, how would I go about making dual boot possible on those systems?
Click to expand...

What's the other OS going to be? There's a lot of methods:

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showforum=104
Click to expand...

Probably going to be Windows XP, since the Wind comes with a license. Also I don't suppose Hackintosh could run Parallels or Fusion, could they?
 
Also ordered a Dell 1490 mini PCIe wireless card and would salvage a 1GB DDR2 stick off another laptop. Getting pretty excited about this new project! Was going to just sell my MBP and buy a used 12" Powerbook but doing it from scratch with a netbook sounds like a better choice.
 
Originally posted by: Parasitic
Originally posted by: Kaido
Originally posted by: Parasitic
Thanks Kaido!

BTW with Hackintoshes, how would I go about making dual boot possible on those systems?
Click to expand...

What's the other OS going to be? There's a lot of methods:

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showforum=104
Click to expand...

Probably going to be Windows XP, since the Wind comes with a license. Also I don't suppose Hackintosh could run Parallels or Fusion, could they?
Click to expand...

Yup, it can. The Wind has a single-core 1.6ghz Atom, but it's hyperthreaded and actually runs XP in a VM decently. Be sure to get Fusion 2.0 and XP SP3 for optimal performance.
 
Originally posted by: Parasitic
Also ordered a Dell 1490 mini PCIe wireless card and would salvage a 1GB DDR2 stick off another laptop. Getting pretty excited about this new project! Was going to just sell my MBP and buy a used 12" Powerbook but doing it from scratch with a netbook sounds like a better choice.
Click to expand...

Well, don't jump the gun. The Wind is great, but it's also small. I don't think you realize just HOW small, haha. For normal typing you can get by, but I had trouble with it in programming class, doing the special symbols and all. Also sometimes the video flakes out when you boot it up and you have to reboot it (minor quirk), plus you need a USB adapter for headphones. For Internet and stuff though, it's really great. It's like a fat Kindle, haha.
 
I've just ordered a 6-cell MSI Wind with 160GB HDD... this will also be my first foray into Hackintosh! Shame about lack of support for the onboard wireless and audio though.

edit: can't spell!
 
Got the Wind today and the first impression is that it isn't much smaller than a 12" powerbook. I now have too many laptops 🙁
My 120GB came with a weird way of partitioning: 40/80 split, so hopefully I can install OSX on the 80GB partition and dual boot XP Home/OSX.
 
Ok, this first step isn't going too well at all. I tried to create a bootable flash drive with the Wind-specific OSX86 iso with disk utility and it kept getting timed out after 2-3 hours of trying.
 
Originally posted by: Parasitic
Ok, this first step isn't going too well at all. I tried to create a bootable flash drive with the Wind-specific OSX86 iso with disk utility and it kept getting timed out after 2-3 hours of trying.
Click to expand...

How big is your USB stick? Are you using the "Restore" feature in Disk Utility?
 
Originally posted by: Kaido
Originally posted by: Parasitic
Ok, this first step isn't going too well at all. I tried to create a bootable flash drive with the Wind-specific OSX86 iso with disk utility and it kept getting timed out after 2-3 hours of trying.
Click to expand...

How big is your USB stick? Are you using the "Restore" feature in Disk Utility?
Click to expand...

The disk image is 3.8gb. My stick is 4gb. And yes this is the restore feature.
 
I'm running into a problem where Chameleon isn't making my USB drive bootable. I've tried 2 different flash drives and restored the image 3-4 times. Each time takes 2-3 hours to complete and it hasn't worked. The Wind sees it upon boot-up but wouldn't do anything afterwards at all.

Tried both GUID and MBR mode when I repartitioned the flash drive - no difference. It simply won't boot off it.
 
Originally posted by: Parasitic
I'm running into a problem where Chameleon isn't making my USB drive bootable. I've tried 2 different flash drives and restored the image 3-4 times. Each time takes 2-3 hours to complete and it hasn't worked. The Wind sees it upon boot-up but wouldn't do anything afterwards at all.

Tried both GUID and MBR mode when I repartitioned the flash drive - no difference. It simply won't boot off it.
Click to expand...

Got a USB HDD perchance? Sounds like it's having some weird issues with your USB stick...
 
Originally posted by: Kaido
Originally posted by: secretanchitman
wow kaido..you know more about the wind then i do, and i own one too! 🙂
Click to expand...

Ya got Leopard on it yet? 😀
Click to expand...

oh yes...everything works but sound, and ethernet craps out sometimes if i close the lid or something.
 
Ok, quick update 1:
Got my external Lite-On usb dvdrw from newegg, still no sign of Dell 1490. Used ImgBURN to burn the windosx86 iso onto a DVD, and booting/installation was a success!

Wiped the hard drive and installed OSX on the second partition; left the first partition empty for Windows XP installation. Now if I wanted to dual boot, should I just install Windows XP and it'll automatically get the bootloader working?

Also ran migration assistant to transfer all data and apps off a TM backup on my ex-MBP. Aside from having to rename the user and home folder, everything seems to be working so far.

Things to fix:
1. Sound - waiting on Syba USB
2. Wireless - waiting on Dell 1490
3. About This Mac - for some reason it's showing "4GHz unknown processor" and nothing seems to show under more info.

Edit/Update:
1. Dual boot issue has now been resolved - was easier than I thought; install Windows XP on a separate partition, copy chain0 and edit boot.ini. That was it 🙂
2. Should probably update to 10.5.5.
 
So, to those of you running OS X on the Wind... how is the trackpad. I wouldn't mind a little OS X portable that I can take with me most anywhere (especially one with that size hard drive... jeez!) but the trackpad would be a major sticking point for me.

Can you 2 finger scroll on it?
 
Originally posted by: TheStu
So, to those of you running OS X on the Wind... how is the trackpad. I wouldn't mind a little OS X portable that I can take with me most anywhere (especially one with that size hard drive... jeez!) but the trackpad would be a major sticking point for me.

Can you 2 finger scroll on it?
Click to expand...

Trackpad works fine, it's just small.

Technically yes, you can do 2-finger scroll on the OLDER trackpad with a modified driver (there's a thread in the OS X section of the MSI Wind forum), but I don't think it works on the newer trackpad on the 6-cell models. Either way, it doesn't really work that well - it's the same one I tried on my Compaq 17" Hackintosh. You kind of have to press your fingers down into it and then scroll, and it's kind of buggy, i.e. doesn't always work as expected.
 
The trackpad is a bit more sensitive than I would've liked...and if you were putting in the Dell 1490 make sure you also pick up a pair of small pliers and some electrical tape so you can nick the standoff off the board to prevent shorting.
 
damn, I just got this installed on the dell mini 9.... no sound! I followed the darkten guide w/ a retail dvd... wireless was fine off the bat. but no sound (or sleep and I believe no SD card too).

neat, faster than I thought it would be. unfortunately, pretty useless w/o sleep and sound for me. oh well. money I can save.. ha
 
Originally posted by: randomlinh
damn, I just got this installed on the dell mini 9.... no sound! I followed the darkten guide w/ a retail dvd... wireless was fine off the bat. but no sound (or sleep and I believe no SD card too).

neat, faster than I thought it would be. unfortunately, pretty useless w/o sleep and sound for me. oh well. money I can save.. ha
Click to expand...

Check here.- there's an archive file, and an ALC 268 installer to enable sound on the mini9.
 
Originally posted by: Zaap
Originally posted by: randomlinh
damn, I just got this installed on the dell mini 9.... no sound! I followed the darkten guide w/ a retail dvd... wireless was fine off the bat. but no sound (or sleep and I believe no SD card too).

neat, faster than I thought it would be. unfortunately, pretty useless w/o sleep and sound for me. oh well. money I can save.. ha
Click to expand...

Check here.- there's an archive file, and an ALC 268 installer to enable sound on the mini9.
Click to expand...

done deal, still no sound.
 
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