bobdamnit Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 I stumbled upon this website about a month ago. Forums seem to be decently active, and the members seem to be respectful. Not like a few of the other OS X homebrew sites I used to frequent. Thanks for making me feel welcome! I'm interested in a few things being done here. Particularly the Latitude BIOS modding, DSDT modding, and the EDP package. I have a few questions. I'll stick to the EDP package for now though. I've downloaded the EDP package, but not having a Mac (or a "hack"), I really don't have any way to open the package. I'm not one for pirating software (which is why I purchased Snow Leopard 10.6) so please don't recommend stealing "MacDrive". As of now, I'm not even sure MacDrive can open a package file. Plus, I really don't want to pay for software I'm only going to use to open a package file once. So please forgive these questions. First, I'm not exactly sure what the EDP is about. Is it like the Dell Post Installer? Or is it like pre-made "driver packs" that you find online that are a zip file containing E/E with kexts and /S/L/E with kexts you should drop in there? I only ask because most of the time the "driver packs" you find online "SPECIFICALLY FOR YOUR COMPUTER!!!11ONE!!" don't end up being for my specific Latitude, on top of not being properly documented and damn confusing to figure out. And while the Dell Post Installer was great, there never was proper support for my specific machine. I only used it to make the external speakers shut up when I plugged headphones into my STAC9200. Patch Leopard with Taruga's HDAPatcher, run the Post installer for sound, reboot, and it would enable mute and muting of the external speakers when you plugged something into the headphone jack. Mic has never ever worked for me. (No big deal.) Even though the Post installer had "drivers" for my machine, none of them worked. I ended up collecting a huge collection of drivers, kexts, how-to's, and utilities that ended up making installing OS X Leopard a real pain in the butt that took a full 24 hours with no guaranteed results. Sometimes you could get it all to flow together properly, but most times the same procedure you did the last time to get OS X installed properly and working to your liking wouldn't work and you'd brick your install. Its the single reason I dumped OS X and everything regarding it from my computer and external drive. Also, does the EDP contain DSDT.aml files for each machine? If so, wouldn't it just be easier to write a tutorial on how to modify your own DSDT? Not having any DSDT modifying experience other than using the DSDT patcher or having a pre-made distro patch my DSDT for me, I'm unsure how daunting a task modding a DSDT would be. I also ask this because I've gotten other Latitude D520 users DSDT.aml files where they've modified it to make the GMA 950 (27a2) work and they've made my build kernel panic. So I wonder if you can really use a "generic" DSDT.aml file made to work on *all* Latitude DXXX machines. (Forgive me if I'm wrong. I really don't know, and am trying to learn. Eventually I would love to get into DSDT modding, if its not something thats outrageously hard.) Thanks for reading, responding, and helping if you can! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Bronxteck Posted March 29, 2011 Administrators Share Posted March 29, 2011 well if you don't have any thing to start from then your best bet is a boot cd... this one started me out. http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=178411 i used his D620slv1 iso and a retail 10.6.0 disk. this will hopefully get osx installed on your machine. once it is installed then use the disk to boot the install. when your finally at the desktop run the EDP package and install with your choices. now when finished with EDP make sure you install chameleon rc5 rev.655 or higher. then update to 10.6.7 use the combo update; and thats it your running snow. so make sure you have chameleon, 10.6.7 combo update from apple website and EDP packages on a thumbdrive to make this process easier for yourself. We have done alot of work along the way to optimize each specific model listed including the dsdt. so as long as you choose the correct model in the selection it will work. i have gotten from blank harddrive to 10.6.7 in less than 1/2 hour. as long as you read and understand the guides then you should be perfectly fine. and what ever you do, DO NOT use case sensitive when formatting the drive unless you like weird issues and kp. So what is there to loose? try it out. you dont like it try something else like debian or ubuntu or windows Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdamnit Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 I planned on giving it a shot. I just would like to understand how this works. I have a Snow Leopard 10.6 DVD I plan on installing from. But I want to do it without using the DVD if I can because it requires another boot CD. So I'm in the process of attempting to create an OS X bootable USB drive. Just have to wait until I get back to work and ask a coworker if I can borrow his Macbook. I wasn't discrediting your work making each individual Latitude series computer work at all! I was merely commenting on my experiences with premade driver packs. I was certainly going to attempt! Should I update OS X before running EDP? After? Am I finding FakeSMC, or does EDP have it? I've got a copy of Chameleon RC5 rev 655, but is there a benefit to using a later revision? How about SleepEnabler.kext? This was the only way I could get "sleep" to work in Leopard, albeit it was really hibernation. Is this the way I am to set up again, or is there a S3 sleep fix? Thanks Bronxteck for being patient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Leon Posted March 29, 2011 Administrators Share Posted March 29, 2011 Hey mate, Welcome to OSX Latitude. Just curios, what dell model do you have ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crc-error404 Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Hi there and welcome... If you dont want use your original DVD you have to create a bootstick. Leon correct me if im wrong - the only way you get this is cloning the dvd in a working OSX onto your usb stick (easy - format Pen Drive "Mac OS Journaled with GUID" - restore DVD to USB Pen - thats all). After that: boot from the Bootdisk - Bronx told you - and choose the Pen drive for installing OSX. When finished boot with the Bootdisk into your installed OSX and install Chameleon and the latest EDP (from Wiki) for your Notebook. DONT RESTART - INSTALL ALL COMBO/UPDATES FIRST.... If you have installed all Updates and you are sure you are at Version 10.6.7 its time to restart. Now it boots without Bootstick into OSX - this is basically all - next step is doing all the cosmetic stuff (BIOS, GMA Booster, Sleep, ...) - but please read at your own in our wiki and/or our forum... Hope it helps Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeppo Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 ... I've downloaded the EDP package, but not having a Mac (or a "hack"), I really don't have any way to open the package .... Well, you actually have, You can install OS X in a VMWare virtual box in your Windows environment. There is a free version of VMWare able to do this. So, no need to steal. It takes around an hour and you will have an environment where you can format your USB drive (remember: GUID partition, Extended/Journaled and NOT case sensitive). If you can afford two sticks, even better: you might use one with your working solution and one to experiment around. This way you can always have your system up and running, even if something goes wrong with your experimental configuration. Your D520 is supported. The newest EDP package contains all kext (drivers) and fixes available for your machine. You don't need any other sources. However, although there are newer versions of Chameleon out there I suggest you stick with the one offered for download here. Later, when you have all things working, you can experiment with newer versions. Also, stick to described procedures, they are tested many times and produce very good results. I think the rest was covered by Bronxteck and CRC already. Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Leon Posted March 29, 2011 Administrators Share Posted March 29, 2011 Actually.. if you just spend the time to read on the Wiki, you will see that its all there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdamnit Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 Hi there and welcome... If you dont want use your original DVD you have to create a bootstick. Leon correct me if im wrong - the only way you get this is cloning the dvd in a working OSX onto your usb stick (easy - format Pen Drive "Mac OS Journaled with GUID" - restore DVD to USB Pen - thats all). After that: boot from the Bootdisk - Bronx told you - and choose the Pen drive for installing OSX. When finished boot with the Bootdisk into your installed OSX and install Chameleon and the latest EDP (from Wiki) for your Notebook. DONT RESTART - INSTALL ALL COMBO/UPDATES FIRST.... If you have installed all Updates and you are sure you are at Version 10.6.7 its time to restart. Now it boots without Bootstick into OSX - this is basically all - next step is doing all the cosmetic stuff (BIOS, GMA Booster, Sleep, ...) - but please read at your own in our wiki and/or our forum... Hope it helps Cheers Thanks for the replies guys! CRC, is there a way I can boot from the USB stick? Would installing Chameleon on the USB stick enable me to boot from it and also install OS X? I saw Bronx answered some of my questions in the "Hey there..." forum. Thanks Bronx! A lot of those minor questions have been annoying me and having them answered helps out a lot. I'm in the process of making a VMWare install of OS X Leopard. Minus the install, I'm done. Its currently installing inside of VMWare Workstation, and as soon as I get that accomplished, I plan on preparing a USB stick for installation. Knowing to stick with the version of Chameleon you guys reccomend is a huge help. I spent quite a while last night downloading multiple versions of Chameleon, but for now I will stick with rev655. Leon, I have read the wiki, especially all that covers my D520. However the latest BIOS revision that one of your contributers have is A05. I'm currently on A08. I don't know if this makes a difference in DSDT or not. Thanks guys. I'm just trying to make my transition back into OS X as smooth as possible. You guys have been a great help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeppo Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 8GB USB Stick is sufficient for your needs. You can format it, restore the retail SL DVD to it (Disk Utility) and install Chameleon on it like described here. After that you need to copy the content of the Extra.zip (same wiki article) and you are good to go. Boot from stick into the SL DVD image and run installation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdamnit Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 8GB USB Stick is sufficient for your needs. You can format it, restore the retail SL DVD to it (Disk Utility) and install Chameleon on it like described here. After that you need to copy the content of the Extra.zip (same wiki article) and you are good to go. Boot from stick into the SL DVD image and run installation. Thanks Zeppo! I had read that wiki article. Even have it bookmarked, just wasn't sure if this is how its still done. My VMWare build of Leopard works, albeit slowly. Its currently booted to the desktop, and I'm in the process of restoring the DVD to the USB stick. (The USB stick in question is a 32Gb SanDisk U3 Cruizer. I have an 8Gb Cruizer, but I'm currently using it for hosting Backtrack 4 R2 with persistance+nessus and I really don't want to FUBAR that setup.) I'm really just waiting for now. I don't expect Leopard in a VM to restore my OS X SL DVD very quickly, so I'm expecting it to take a few hours. In the meantime... Anyone have any idea whether or not a Revision A05 DSDT.aml from your D520 will work with my Revision A08 Latitude D520? I'm not sure if I can downgrade, however I can certainly get you guys an A08 DSDT.aml file from linux if you would like. Also, are the BIOS mods worth it? Am I going to lose any functionality, or do they just change cosmetics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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