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Dell XPS L321X - El Capitan / Sierra Install


GatorGeek

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Hello

 

I've recently been given an older Dell XPS L321X laptop and am attempting to install El Capitan on it.

Dell XPS L321X, i7-2637m, 4GB RAM, BIOS A04, Intel 3000 GPU @ 1366x768, Samsung SSD PM830 @256GB

 

I've created the legacy bootable USB with Clover r4061 and the El Capitan installer following Rehabman's guide. I am able to get Clover itself to boot fine; however, when the installer begins I get a kernel panic and crash as shown in the attached screenshot.

post-90490-0-90675600-1499272258_thumb.jpg
 

 

I've attached my EFI folder and config.plist in hopes that someone can help me identify the reason for the crash and get me moving ahead.

 

EFI.zipcopy_plist.txt

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

post-90490-0-90675600-1499272258_thumb.jpg

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This model has Fresco Logic USB 3.0 and there's no support for it. So the last working OS X that will run on it is Yosemite since GenericUSBXHCI stops supporting Fresco after Yosemite.

 

Update:

El Capitan /Sierra installation works. Drive must be MBR formatted

Use left USB port to install

See here for bootpack

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Thanks Jake. That's certainly helpful information.

 

Is there any hope of GenericUSBXHCI ever supporting Fresco again?

 

Is there any way to disable USB3 on this notebook and live with only USB2 and install a more modern version of OSX?

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I've been able to successfully install Yosemite now, but am struggling to get Clover 4061 installed on the HDD so that I can boot without the USB.

This model does not support UEFI, so I'm forced to install in Legacy mode.  But no matter what combination of options I try, nothing seems to work.  The install appears to complete, but when I reboot without the USB, all I get is "Operation System Not Found"  :(

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I retract my statement in post #5. I got curious and decided to give El Capitan and Sierra a try. I was able to install El Capitan and Sierra but not without issues.

Main thing, you need to format the drive to MBR!

So that means you'll have to patch the installer with the MBR patch otherwise you won't be able to select the drive during install.

You'll encounter the error you're getting now "Operation System Not Found"

It's not able to read the GPT formatted drive.

 

Issues I'm encountering:

No USB 3.0 Support...right side USB is dead, only usable port is the left side (USB 2.0)

Brightness slider not working, brightness stays the same (WIP)

After wake from sleep, screen flickers if you don't see the brightness bar to either the lowest or the highest, nothing in between

I think the reason is because of the low VRAM 386MB size. My system comes with i5-2467M and only 4GB of built-in ram. You can't add more as it's soldered in. I'd tried patching the FB to increase VRAM to 512 and 1024, but to no effect.

Some artifacts will occur due to this low VRAM.

 

I'll write up the steps and bootpack if you're interested in trying El Capitan.

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