Got iDeneb 1.4 - 10.5.6 running on my Dell D630

[joutlaw]

So on Monday i started researching "hackintosh's" and tried to install it on my desktop.

GA-965P-DS3
E4300 @ 3.0GHz
4x1GB DDR2 800
2x74GB raptors

Unfortunately even after partitioning out 20gb for the install I still couldn't see the array... only the individual drives.

I gave up and focused on my work laptop a Dell Latitude D630 with a 2.6Ghz (T7800 or T7600 i think?) and 4GB of 667 RAM. I gave it 10GB of my 80GB drive (I wish it was more).

I tried iATKOS initially and it saw the drive and the partition and installed. Everything went great until the post-install and it couldn't see my keyboard or touchpad. I could use USB devices though.

So I blew that install away and tried Kalyway. This one worked better, but the guide I read had a lot of issues with the X3100 graphics that have. It only allowed 1024x768 and no hardware acceleration.

So then I tried iDeneb 1.4 and it worked great until the post install came up with a blue screen then it went black. I read some posts that said to let it unplugged and the lid closed for 15-20 minutes and then "wake it up". Sure enough that worked. I put some changes in the Expose and Spaces area and now at boot I can wake up screen. I'm still trying to get it fixed permanently, but this will work for now.

I had to install audio injects and a power management package. My ethernet doesn't work, but that seems to be it. These D630s are pretty stripped down from the start.

I sucessfully modified BCD in Vista and I am dual-booting Vista Enterprise and OSX. It's pretty slick and took me about a solid day of formatting, install, format, install... etc... but I got it working.

Now I think it may be time to build a dedicated hackintosh rig

 

[silverpig]

Nice!

If you start with hardware you know is compatible, then it's a lot easier. Once you get it working, be sure to make a backup image, and don't install any updates (like 10.5.7) until you see somewhere that they are safe.

 

[joutlaw]

Thanks for the tips. I'm definately at a learning stage. I don't think I've used a mac this much since elementary school (I'm almost 29).

Do you think I'm ok doing software updates... just not OSX updates?

It also seems to be using the battery more than Vista does. I went to system preferences>energy saver and changed it to Battery Saver. My screen seems bright, but I usually keep it this bright in Vista.

I feel like a complete noob moving around the OS. It's a nice change to me being .Net programmer and being pretty familiar with Windows.

There's just some stuff that seems so smart in the way mac does it. i.e. it's been around forever, but the application toolbar at the top for whatever application.

Some stuff I can't find like show desktop. I also can't get my Safari screens to maximize with the green +. I had to stretch it to my monitor. Any insight on these issues?

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: joutlaw
Some stuff I can't find like show desktop. I also can't get my Safari screens to maximize with the green +. I had to stretch it to my monitor. Any insight on these issues?

Go into System Preferences and select Expose & Spaces.

Expose is like Alt-Tab for Windows on Steroids. You can bind function keys to certain features of Expose (All windows, Application Windows & Show Desktop) or even make an active screen corners that activate that feature of Expose when you move the cursor to that corner.

I find active screen corners to be the most useful, I set 'All Windows' to bottom left and 'Desktop' to the bottom right.

As for Safari, pressing the green button maximizes Safari for the content on the window, not full screen. If you want the green button to do a true full screen maximize, I think the Safari Plugin Glims can do it, but i'm not 100% sure.

 

[jcnicnic]

Hi joutlaw, after doing some searching, I ran across your post about success getting the iDeneb OS X onto your Dell laptop. I have the same laptop (but a slower speed processor), and I have tried various BIOS settings and such (based on comments from other website/posts) but the install never works. Using the "-v" option during boot, it stops at the line "IOAPIC: Version 0x20 Vectors 0:23" every time.

Just curious about your own experience, and whether you had to flash a new BIOS, or change particular settings, etc.

Thanks.

Jeff

 

[joutlaw]

Try -v cpus=2. I had the exact same error and that worked.

I used this guide... but its a year out of date...

http://www.insanelymac.com/for...6&mode=threaded&start=

This guide was much more useful

http://antyalias.wordpress.com...-dell-1525-ideneb-v14/

The biggest help for me was the settings to choose in when you customize the install. Choose these options:

ICHx Fixed
Network wifi Broadcom 43xx
FireWire Remove
IOUSBFamilyFix
kexthelper

Also... the sleep trick helped to. The first post wants you to remove the intel video drivers... well that works but you get 1024x768 video with no hardware acceleration.

Follow the 2nd link I posted. Get through the install and when it reboots to iDeneb after the install the screen will go blue then the screen will go blank. Unplug the laptop from the power strip to get on battery power and close the lid. In 15 to 20 minutes the power light on the D630 should be flashing every 1-2 seconds... open the lid and you will have OSX up and running.



As far as the show desktop... F11 clears the desktop. I also got speedstep installed and its helping on the battery usage.

 

[jcnicnic]

Thanks for the reply. I tried using the cpus=2 setting, but it still stops at the same place (at the "IOAPIC line). I also noticed that the DVD drive spins down, and it sounds like it is "docking" itself, i.e. completely shutting off. Now, one issue was I had to use my Mac to burn the .iso file, as my Dell doesn't have the DVD burner. I also read somewhere about needing a dual layer drive (which my Mac has) but the .iso file was about 4.3 GB, i.e. just single layer (maybe the comment on the DL was about an actual Leopard disc?).

I had also read the first link you sent, and I went through the second one, but those (and others) assume you even make it to the install screen.

Finally, do I just need to wait it out? I believe I tried a few hours last time (waiting at the "IOAPIC" line) but I suppose I could leave it overnight. Does it matter if the chip is a Centrino? Based on the BIOS, it is a Dual core (thus my understanding of using the cpus=2 line).

I know you can't fix everyone's problem, but I do appreciate any pointers you may have.

Jeff

 

[jcnicnic]

DOH! In my zeal to change BIOS settings, I turned off multicore support. So, currently I am past the "IOAPIC" line and up to the line that says "Darwin Kernel Version 9.2.0...." and it is currently paused (again with no disc noise). Hmmm...farther along and yet.

 

[jcnicnic]

Ok, so running it without the "-v" option starts the install, but then I quickly get the screen that says "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button....".

Strange.

 

[skulkingghost]

-v is nothing more than verbose setting to see if there are any errors, try running it with -v -k, and optionally cpus=1

 

[joutlaw]

It may sound strange, but I would die at that point too. I sometimes had to reboot 2-3 times and it then would get past it. I don't know why it was sporadic like that, but I eventually did get it to work.

I'd also disable firewire in the bios.

Are you using iDeneb v1.4 - 10.5.6?

 

[jcnicnic]

Thanks to the suggestion from skulingghost, using the "-k" option got it past all the initial load and I was able to get to the installation screens. What exactly does the -k option do? (sorry for all the dumb questions, but even though people who have worked it all out are helping my installation go smoother, I do like to learn exactly what I'm doing in the process. Who knows, maybe I can help someone else in the future).

And to answer joutlaw, yes I am using the v1.4-10.5.6 file. I'll try the settings you recommended later today during the custom install.

Another quick question for you joutlaw, are you running a dual boot system by any chance? Since this laptop is actually my work's computer, I need to keep the XP on it. So I partitioned and am installing OS X on the partition. I've been reading about the AHCI vs ATA mode, and while I could just switch back in the BIOS I thought it would make more sense to update the drivers in XP. However, most of the info out there says to re-install XP using those drivers, and the few posts I've seen detailing how to update the drivers without a re-install link to a non-existent file on the IBM Lenovo site.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[joutlaw]

I am dual-booting Vista Enterprise as this is my work laptop as well.

Vista makes it a little easier to dual-boot in my opinion as it's bootloader seems easier to configure.

I used this guide http://inihilist.wordpress.com...-quick-and-fool-proof/

Basically you install OSX after Vista. After OSX is installed it will boot straight to it bypassing Vista's bootloader. You then flag the 1st partition where Vista is in OSX as the primary partition. Then you reboot, modify the Vista bootloader for another entry to reference the CHAIN0 file. What CHAIN0 is... I have no clue.

OSX86 Wiki has a lot of install guides and I'm sure someone has done it on XP.

I messed up my Vista bootloader a few times in getting this to work. I ended have to repair the bootloader twice after it couldn't find winload.exe. I imagine if XP gets messed up it won't find ntloader.

 

[joutlaw]

As far as AHCI vs ATA mode... I went AHCI. Vista bombed at startup and had to switch back to ATA. You have to modify a regkey in Vista to get AHCI to work. It's disabled by default during the Vista install.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976

I'm not sure if there is a similar fix for XP.

 

[skulkingghost]

Originally posted by: jcnicnic
Thanks to the suggestion from skulingghost, using the "-k" option got it past all the initial load and I was able to get to the installation screens. What exactly does the -k option do? (sorry for all the dumb questions, but even though people who have worked it all out are helping my installation go smoother, I do like to learn exactly what I'm doing in the process. Who knows, maybe I can help someone else in the future).

And to answer joutlaw, yes I am using the v1.4-10.5.6 file. I'll try the settings you recommended later today during the custom install.

Another quick question for you joutlaw, are you running a dual boot system by any chance? Since this laptop is actually my work's computer, I need to keep the XP on it. So I partitioned and am installing OS X on the partition. I've been reading about the AHCI vs ATA mode, and while I could just switch back in the BIOS I thought it would make more sense to update the drivers in XP. However, most of the info out there says to re-install XP using those drivers, and the few posts I've seen detailing how to update the drivers without a re-install link to a non-existent file on the IBM Lenovo site.

Thanks again everyone.

-K is for safe mode and disables advanced graphics option, I used it on my Aspire one, the graphic wont load which was causing the problems so i used -k to boot till I could install the correct graphics kexts

 

[jcnicnic]

Well, two steps forward.....

So, I got through the installation screens, and using the tips from joutlaw, set the appropriate install options. I then allowed the computer to reboot and it went for awhile, then the screen went dark (it never was blue), so I unplugged the power cord, closed the lid and let it sit for 20-25 minutes. However, when I opened it up, nothing happened. The hard drive sounded like it spun for awhile, but then I could clearly hear it stop spinning. Running using the "-v" option didn't show anything I could really interpret as an error, and it too would eventually go to a black screen.

Also, unless I misinterpreted, I didn't choose any option under video during the install--could that be the problem?

 

[skulkingghost]

boot with -v -k cpus=1 and let it sit for a bit on my acer it took a good 20 minutes first time

 

[joutlaw]

I didn't choose any video options either.

Did you notice if the power light blinking everything second or so where HDD/Bluetooth/Wifi/ lights are located when the lid was closed and power unplugged?

Are you in AHCI mode? That seems to be the only other difference in our setup.

 

[jcnicnic]

I feel like I have two personal helpers--thanks again.

I tried the -v -k cpus=1 and still no go--still stuck at the black screen.

I did not notice the power light blinking when the lid was closed and power unplugged. The only thing I did notice was if I clicked on the mouse button, or clicked a key, the hard disc light would light up every time, but still the screen is black. Also, when the lid is closed and unplugged, the hard disc light would occasionally flash.

Also, I am running it in AHCI mode.

 

[joutlaw]

I hate to say it, but I'd try again. I'd let it sit for at least 30 minutes. Are you still able to see the blue screen then go black when you reboot now?

When my D630 is sleeping in Vista or OSX the power light is the only one flashing.

In OSX I can manually put my D630 to sleep my hitting the function and esc key. I don't know if that will work at this point in your OSX setup b/c you are still technically in the setup process. You would need to be filling in your personal info and setting up a profile basically then it would be ready to use.

I really think you are close though. I installed iDeneb again last week after I re-partitioned my drive and the sleep trick worked like a charm for me.

 

[skulkingghost]

Ill second what Joutlaw is saying about letting it sit, also when it hit the apple logo I would start seeing the spinning color wheel, but it would dissapear, I would hit enter every few minutes to make it show up agian, dont know what that did but it assured me something was happening.

 

[jcnicnic]

Well, thought I should update my helpers ;-) I tried multiple times with the unplug/close screen option, but still nothing. So then I thought I would just try the installation over, but that wasn't working (maybe because it already tried some of the install?) So, I booted back into XP to try and erase the partition again, but then XP didn't really "see" the partition. Under computer configuration, i could see it, so I "made" the partition again, thinking I had removed everything.

Then the problems REALLY began! Now I can't boot back into XP (I get the boot0: error), and I still can't run the OS X install. I've tried every combination of -k, -v, cpus=2, cpus=1, -x etc etc, also setting just about everything off using the BIOS settings (and I do have it set to ACHI for the OS X install, and I did switch it back to ATA before I tried to boot into XP, which DID work previously before I messed with the partition.

Now, when running -v -k cpus=2 on install, I get to the point where it lists the kernel version line ("Darwin Kernel Version 9.2.0....") and goes no farther. (Using cpus=1 causes the install to stop at the IOAPIC line as before).

Sorry for all the questions--I think I've really messed things up, and if I can't get the XP back, I'll have to ask my IT department to reinstall everything (no big deal overall as I don't use the XP, thus the reason for wanting to get OS X on it and actually use this large paperweight!).

 

[jcnicnic]

Another update. I tried a different OS X build (Kalyway) and got the installation running again. But now the previous partition I made for the OS X doesn't show up. Running diskutil shows that I have a 75 GB drive, with a 94 MB partition (which was there before and was "owned" by XP), and a 20.4 GB partition which has XP on it. So the 65 GB partition I made doesn't even show up! Even Disk Utility doesn't see it under the partition options. Man, I really screwed the pooch on this one!

Any thoughts? I would just wipe everything and do only OS X, but I do need to keep the appearance of XP to avoid the wrath of the IT department!

 

[joutlaw]

Sounds like your partition with OSX was flagged as primary so when you tried to start after you erased that partition ... things got out of whack.

I tried Kalyway, iATKOS, and iDeneb. iDeneb was the only one that would run correctly on my laptop.

I'd suggest trying iDeneb again with -v cpus=2 at the bootloader. I would sometimes get errors and retry the install and it would work... I don't know why.

As far as getting XP running right now... You need to figure out what the partitions look like now in order to get back into XP. Search on fdisk in google for OSX. You need to look at the partition structure. Once you find the partition with the 20GB... you need to flag it as primary. Once that's flagged it should go into XPs bootloader instead of the OSX's darwin bootloader that can't find OSX. Dells usually have a few garbage partitions for backup... etc.. and your XP may be the 2nd or 3rd... I'm not sure.

This will have to be done in the command prompt via the OSX installation disk... so if you have to use the Kalyway install disk...do that.

 

[jcnicnic]

Well, more on the updates and saga of this install: So, even with fdisk, I couldn't get back to my XP partition, so I decided to start over and wiped the drive completely and started over. I reinstalled XP and got that running. But going back to the iDeneb install, regardless of the boot options, it keeps stopping at the line "Darwin Kernel Version 9.2.0: Sun Mar .......etc".

So, using my Kalyway disk, I again wiped the disk using Disk Utility, putting my OS X partition at the beginning, and ran the iDeneb install again. Still stopping at the same place.

I've turning off every "extra" in the BIOS, and various combinations of settings to no avail. Dumb question, but in the BIOS, I assume I want multicore support to be "ON"? I have BIOS Revision A12 if that matters.

I do love a challenge, but this one is starting to drive me crazy (and I'm sure everyone else who has been able to get this to work and keeps wondering what I'm doing wrong! ;-)