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D420 Video Issues w/ multiple OSX versions - what am I doing wrong here?


CorBryant

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This is my first run at this, and I've read through the forums until my eyes bled and can't seem to find any references to the issue I'm having, which surprised me.  Perhaps my search skills just suck?

 

I've tried Kalyway 10.5.2 and a 10.6.3 retail image and the issue is the same either way.

 

I'm using the Dell Miniboot (chameleon, stolen and rebranded) 123 to start it.. Oh, and I've also just booted straight from the Kalyway DVD.

 

I manage to install it, and get it to run with various issues, WiFi, no LAN, no sound, etc -- but I've seen posts for that stuff so I'm sure I can get past all that.. The video issue is what is holding me up..  I can only get a good screen on an external monitor using the VGA port.  If I hit F8, it whacks the screen out and looks like I'm trying to push it to a resolution that it can't handle which isn't the case, I've tried 640x480 and 1028x768 and the results are the same.  I've also adjusted the refresh rate from 75 to 60. 

 

When I hit F8 to go back to the external screen, the issue jumps to that screen to.  I can only use it if I boot it to the external screen and leave it be.  Video is kind of choppy too. 

 

I'm downloading the iFail S3 v2 ISO right now though I don't know if this is going to help.  It's going to take a day to get it at a whopping 50kB/sec so I thought I'd post here and see if anyone could point me in the right direction. 

 

This D420 has the Intel 82945 chipset and the Dell WiFi card so I thought I was in good shape!  For the record, the WiFi sees my network but says connection timeout when I enter the key.  If I click cancel, it says it's connected but doesn't pull an IP address or subnet.  If I manually assign it still doesn't work. 

 

Thanks for any help!  It seems to me this D420 might quell my lust for the AirBook I'll never be able to afford.  LOL  Hey, it's thin at least.  ;)

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Sounds like your video problems come from lack of DSDT and use of distros (iFail, Kalyway, ...). Use our bootpack and myHack to create your USB installer for a full Vanilla installation, then follow up with EDP fine-tuning. Everything should be Ok then. Read-up the documentation provided in EDP pages of the web site.

 

Re: wireless, which card do you have exactly? You can easily check that by opening the little door under the D420: you'll see the card, which will have the model on the sticker. There's a non-exhaustive list of supported/unsupported cards here: https://osxlatitude.com/index.php?/topic/2120-supportedunsupported-wireless-cards-inventory/?p=16194

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Thanks for the quick reply!  Wow.. I had not even looked under the EDP menu on this site.  Very nice!  I'll grab what I need and get started.  I was obviously looking at the wrong forums where they do it the hard way.  LOL

 

I have only D420 Dual Core models so I see that I'm going to loose SD-Card and Fingerprint support which I can live with, but will the PCMCIA slot still work?  I have a rather rare Delkin Cardbus Compact Flash adapter that I use for extra storage (128GB CF), and the last driver I see on Delkin's website is for Tiger OS-X 10.4.x.   Do you think I will there be a way to get this driver running?  I'm not quite sure how the progression of OS-X goes as far as which drivers work where.  I'm assuming they have a cut off point, as with Windows (XP, Vista, 7, 😎 where some work with one version but not the other. 

 

I bought a pallet of these D420/D430 machines and refurbed them a year or so ago so I have a bunch of them laying around and I've got quite a few extra WiFi cards.  The Intel WM3945 and Broadcom DW1390 seem to be what I have most of...

 

Thanks for the help!!

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SD card reader will never work in Mac OS X: it shares an IRQ with the 10/100 LAN port and Mac OS X does not support that. Even when you disable the LAN in BIOS, the SD card reader never works properly; you can insert a card and it gets detected, however it'll remain unreadable no matter what you do.

 

Intel wireless cards are not supported at all in Mac OS X; make sure you only use those supported cards like the Dell DW1390 (a Broadcom-based model that works OOB in Mac OS X :P).

 

I don't know about Fingerprint support, never had a D4xx that had one.

 

There's no PCMCIA support after 10.6.6. I did some extensive tests last year and noticed that you can get it to work in subsequent SL releases (at least with some cards - I tested it with an old 2xUSB 2.0 Cardbus adapter) to the detriment of network connectivity. It's either or, but they will no coincide. Hot plugging did not seem to be supported either.

 

All the rest works (bluetooth, wireless, LAN, sleep & wake, audio, LCD brightness, trackpad, USB, etc.)

 

Now you know what to expect  ;)

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Whoops.  Glad I read that!  LOL I had 10.7 queued up and it looks like I'll need 10.6.   Heck, I have 10.6.3 that I bought off of EBay so I know it's not molested.  That's even better!  I don't have to wait all day to start.  =)

 

Thanks again for all of the info!  Looks like I talked to the right person with my need for the CF support.  You rock!  =)

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LOL I didn't see the note on having to have access to a working OSX machine.  Mine is an old Power PC so I can't run anything recent on it.  Looks like I'm SOL unless I can do this with a OSX install inside of VirtualBox.  Trying that now..  

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Make a temp SL installation with Nawcom's ModCD. It won't be perfect, but it'll give you the sufficient basis to create your myHack installer.

 

ModCD comes as an ISO image that you burn to a CD/DVD. That gives you a bootable disc with which you can use either the Apple retail Snow Leopard DVD (10.6.0, 10.6.3, possibly 10.6.8) or a DMG image restored to HDD or USB key.

 

Look it up on the forum, I mentioned this several times in the past.

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LOL this is where I officially say to hell with it.  Thanks anyway.  OSX86.net seem to think they have to charge for everything and that seems to be the only place the Nawcom mod still exists.  Every other site has bad links. 

 

What a waste of a weekend!

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tuh tuh tuh, you have to be a little more persistent... and God knows you'll need quite a lot of patience with Hackintoshing!

 

I really don't see the issue with the link below, so I don't understand what you're on about osx86.net:

http://www.osx86.net/view/2298-nawcom_modcd_0.3.2.html

I think you mistakenly ran too quickly into bad conclusions...

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