Mavericks install gone horribly wrong...

[ISR]

I tried installing Mavericks on my system because I wanted an up-to-date OS (or as up-to-date as I can get since this site doesn't yet have Yosemite support). It has been a disaster. So I want to recount what has happened to my little computer and let you tell me where I went wrong.

 

1. I installed 10.8.4 and ran EDP.

2. I "attempted" to update which failed but version string became 10.8.5.

3. I installed the good Bluetooth module the 360.

4. I upgrade installed 10.9.3 and ran EDP.

 

Now my computer no longer works. I get an Apple logo with spinning watch-me-while-you-wait loading spike wheel and then nothing. It's just blank.

 

Tommorow I'll try reformating the partition to see if it helps. I'll lose everything but I was jst getting started with it anyway. I must say I really like the UNIX environment a lot more than I thought I would. I hope to get Maverucks up and going soon. Can you all help?

[Bronxteck]

tell us what model machine you are working with.

[Hervé]

Yosemite is only at DP1 and not fully finished; its hardly been out 2 weeks to dat… Wait until GM before you consider it. There are lots of things that are not supported yet.

 

This being said, ML, Mavericks and Yosemite can only work on the nVidia-based D830 so make sure you have that model. You should not have encountered any problems updating to ML 10.8.5 from 10.8.4 on such model, whether you updated through Apple Menu or through Combo update. Something wrong must have been done, unless of course it's the GMA X3100 model that you have.

 

If indeed it were the X3100-based D830, you can only install ML at best and every time you update, you have to re-run MLPF hack. Do not bother with Mavericks or beyond on the X3100 model, there is no graphics support.

 

PS: it's very common to obtain a "installation failed" with ML, whether at initial install, after update or even with other application installation. It appears to be cache related but can be considered a false negative and everything is in fact Ok. It's been mentioned several times before.

[ISR]

Oh. I came here before I came anywhere close to buying so I could get what is considered the best.  I have the Dell Latitude D830 Nvidia Quadro NVS 140m with maxed out RAM, a 480GB solid state hard drive, and an added bluetooth module 360-something.

 

I know Mac OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) is a new Operating System and is probably out of the question maybe completely or maybe just for now.  I just want Mavericks up and going or head back to one of the kitty cats.

 

Interesting issue, I tried to reinstall the previous OS but got a blank screen there too. I'm sad that it was working well and I messed it up because the update icon notification was annoying me.  But.  What's done is.  Just need to try and fix it.  Please help if you can.  I'm a bit out of my depth.  I'll learn in time but for now, I'm a blind kitten out in the world.

[ktazn2k]

I suggest doing a fresh install of Mavericks rather than trying to update from ML. I have the same D830 as you (minus the SSD and bluetooth dongle). Although I did succeeded upgrading directly from Mountain Lion to Mavericks, in the end I had to reinstall Mavericks from start because the system became buggy.

 

Also, try to find version 10.9 of Mavericks (untouched App Store copy) if you can, meaning not 10.9.1, 10.9.2 or 10.9.3. Later releases tend to not work well with initial installation as I've heard.

 

Once you have that, create an OS 10.9 installer with myHack, install Extra from the boot pack here and install OS 10.9 on a freshly formatted drive/partition. Once you get Mavericks up and running, then should you upgrade to 10.9.3. After doing the 10.9.3 upgrade, proceed to run EDP and configure for your laptop. That should get you going. Good luck!

 

And don't bother with Yosemite unless you want massive headaches from switching between Chameleon and Clover. I still have yet to get Yosemite DP2 working perfectly with my D830. It's just still too early to be an easy and functional install.

[Hervé]

Also, try to find version 10.9 of Mavericks (untouched App Store copy) if you can, meaning not 10.9.1, 10.9.2 or 10.9.3. Later releases tend to not work well with initial installation as I've heard.

'never experienced such thing; silly rumours or quick conclusions as far as I'm concerned.

[ISR]

Well, I found a copy and am getting it.  I was wondering if you had something the same as me: in my BIOS (which is A11) it shows an Nvidia Quadro NVS 140m but in system specs in shows NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS 256 MB.  Also, do you think updating BIOS to A16 would help?

The computer only seems to boot when it wants to.  I sometimes add in boot flags like VBIOS=yes and GraphicsEnabler=no.  These seems to work more often than not but it's still a crap shoot.  I have both of them set the way I type them in the Chameleon Wizard but it almost never boots straight through.  I'll give 10.9.0 a try and see how that does when I get back from work (assuming the download is finished).

 

Hopefully this can be sorted soon.

[Hervé]

nVidia description is just a text description in the DSDT. It's easily changed. Theprocedure has been described in an article on DSDT patching in the Articles page of the web site. Have a look at it. BIOS versions have been mentioned in the dedicated pinned thread on the matter.

 

For the rest, I guess your /Extra is not properly set/tuned. There is no need for the VBIOS option and GE should be set to Yes.

[ISR]

So, 10.9.0 did not help at all. I noticed that the installer won't always load but it loads more often when I use -x to load. It seems to load better, though, before I run EDP. You say that my Extra folder needs to be properly setup and tuned. How do I do that? My Extra folder is the one I get from the boot packs here. I'll try re-downloading and recreating the installer USB with myHack and try installing into a blank partition.