io5150

No ... I had downloaded it, but hadn't ran it again. Sheesh. What a noob I am at times. I assumed it wasn't the partition ... I thought it might have to do with file corruption. I did have to reformat my pin drive and re-do the myhack build on it. It kept locking up at different point of either the install or boot - pretty random. Once I wiped it and redid the myhack on it (and redid the hd partitions), the install of SL went smoothly. Just got ahead of myself ... need to laugh at myself sometimes. Thanks.

Strange. This time around with the change in partition scheme, the battery status is not working. In energy saver, it will allow me to check the menu bar option, but then within a second or two it will "uncheck" the option itself. It also shows the current battery charge as 0%. The battery itself shows a full charge. Is this easily fixed? In the previous install of SL it worked well. Thanks.

Ah ... I had left it as unformatted space and the Win7 installer couldn't partition the space. Thanks.

Ok ... I ended up re-doing the system because it would not let me install the W7 because of the GUID partition type. I redid the build using MBR and it now works. How do I remove the "recovery partition" (from the W7 install - @100MB) from the list on the chameleon boot loader? Is there a txt file I can edit? or a utility? Thanks.

I am officially up and running SL on this D630. Very smooth. I did have a KP booting into the myHack the first time. The messages were all tied to the intel wifi card. I removed the card and was able to boot into the myHack installation. I tracked down a couple of broadcom wifi cards from a friend who has some laptop parts he collects (no BT modules though). I believe it is a 1390 (he also let me have a 1490). After that the install went great. But I also had a duh moment in this whole process. AirPort would not turn on after the install and all of the system updates. The system recognized the wifi card (3rd party with modes and channels). I then realized that the wifi button on the side was turned off. That was an id10t error ... what a noob. On to installing the "other" OSs ... will let you know my progress on that front.

I was wondering if I have to do the SL first and then upgrade to the Lion? Or just go with the Lion? I would prefer to use what ever will run best on the D630 that I have. That was the point I was wanting to make sure of. Thanks.

OK ... one more question. I also have a dmg of the Lion ESD. Could or should I use this when creating the myHack boot drive?

Looking at the installation page, step 5 Your installation target device needs to be a Mac OS X Journaled (Extended) partition on your hard drive. So – create it! When you only want OS X on your harddrive, choose the GUID partition table (under Advanced). If I plan on making a double (W7) or triple (Ubuntu) boot, do I leave this setting as the default or is there something else to choose for multiboot (chameleon, stolen and rebranded) at this stage of the process. Just asking before I get to that point. I have the myHack boot created with the D630 extras for my model, the BIOS is set (except for my previous post), and I am ready to roll. YeeHaw. Thanks.

Quick question. Should I leave the BIOS settings for Bluetooth (which I may never get one) and Cellular (don't plan on getting one) enabled at this point during install? Thanks.

Thanks Bob ... will keep that in mind as well. Ok ... have the OSX-SL disc now and an 8GB Cruzer thumbdrive. Ready to begin this project in earnest. First and foremost - since I traded for the Macbook and had no idea what was hidden in the nooks and crannies - I did a fresh install of SL (with a disc erase to start with) and setup it up with our Apple account (our iPhone/iTunes). Install went great, but wouldn't update the latest firmware for Superdisk when running all of the system updates. Will need to do some research on that one. A couple of quick questions before I move forward: 1. Should I get the Superdisk firmware issue on the Macbook resolved before moving forward? Will this affect the creation of the usb boot drive (myHack)? 2. Should I wait until I find a compatible Bluetooth module before starting? Would it be a quite a hassle to add the module later? Thanks.

Thanks for the BT link. I was referring to the maximum file size under Fat32, which is around 4GB - the drive size can be quite larger (used to be a 32GB partition limit on Fat32 - not sure if there is a work around for that now, but assume so). Ran into the problem when I was trying to copy some stuff to a W98 machine years ago and had to format an external drive to Fat32 - ended up have to break apart the file (a disk image of 10 or 11GB) into smaller chuncks (used winrar or some other file splitter).

Herve ... I was thinking about tracking down a BT module. I looked up the DW630 and couldn't find anything. How would I tell the difference between models on ebay or amazon? Do you have a BT module in one of your 630s? They usually just say "compatible with xxxx model of laptop" without stating the model or p/n. I remember reading something about exfat being supported by both OSX and Win7 ... not sure of Linux though. I believe both can read Fat32, but would be limited to the 4GB file size (so large image files would be beyond Fat32). Thanks, io

No HiRes LCDs in any of the models we have in the office. BIOS is updated to A17. Now I need to order that SL DVD from Apple before I can move to next step. I will follow the BIOS settings in the sticky In planning for the build, would it be possible to have a shared data partition between all three OSs (what format would it have to be to read and write for all OSs?)? Or would it be better to keep them all "self contained" in their own corner of the HD? Maybe share an external drive? io

Bronx ... I'll keep that in mind if I do find a HiRes LCD on one of the models. Thanks

The BIOS reports the Video as the Crestline, BIOS ver 1466, 8MB, 14" LoRes WXGA, 1280x800 as the native resolution. I can check the other 630 for the Vid (in case it is the HiRes - but doubt it). The RAM is DDR2-667. The wifi is the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG card. There are no bluetooth models in any of these systems (unless there is one in the 6400?). They deployed mostly 620s, then a hand full of the 630s, and then even less of the 6400s before switching over to other brand models. Other than the rare DVD-RW drive on an occasional model (which are already gone), they were ordered with the same configuration for that model. Standardized support and creation of system images for rebuilds (hard drive retention policy). I'll get that BIOS Loaded today and check the Video resolution on the other D6xx models. I'll have to swap the LCD (if not just the the whole lid) if I do find one. Thanks again for all the input and direction. io

Dar ... that looks quite involved to get the 6400 up and running. Actually ... there is only one 6400 left and it has two 1GB modules taking up both slots. I was able to salvage the keyboard, RAM, hard drive caddie and a couple of other items from two D630s and build a decent one that runs. There is only one D620 here in the office and it is in bad shape. It boots, but looks like something the cat dragged in. io

Bob ... Thanks ... I do have a little white macbook I just traded for that is running SL 10.6.8. So I should be able to run thos For multiboot (chameleon, stolen and rebranded) ... OS X installs first? Also ... the link above to the guide above keeps timing out and not loading. Hopefully it will be back up online soon. Thanks io

Ok ... I wish I had a choice in the matter (in terms of a nVidia vs Intel option), but these are decommissioned laptops from the field sales members (some in better shape than others - some totally trashed). The E6400 has the Intel 4 series mobile video and 2GB RAM and is in pretty good shape. The D620 is in worse shape than I thought and only has 1 GB RAM (not to mention the cigarette burn on the keyboard ). The D630 is actually quite usable with the parts from two machines - each actually had single 2GB chips in the configuration instead of the typical 2 - 1 GB (now I have 4GB). The Vid in WinXP is listed as Intel 965 Express. CPU is Core 2 Duo T7250 @ 2.00GHz. And the BIOS version is A07. As well as a DVD/CD-R drive. Hopefully this D630 will work for this project? I am not expecting it to be necessarily easy, but want to know if the chance for success is very good based upon your collective experience. Thanks, io

Which one? I have a chance to get one of the three models - but all models have the Intel Video. I recently traded for a Macbook 13 (a1181) running SL 10.6.8 (160GB HD & 3 GB RAM). A little banged up, but everything runs and works fine. No SL DVD disc, but plan on purchasing a copy from Apple for $20. I will have 2 GB RAM and 250GB hard drive available for the build. I would like to do a triple boot (W7, OSX, & Ubuntu). Can some tell me which would be the best bet for getting all three OSs running well on one of these models. Or would it work better with XP, Mountain Lion, and a different Linux distro? From a casual stroll through some of topics, it appears that Intel Video and the WiFi are two of the major hurdles to get over to get one of these puppies running. Also which would be the best order to install the OSs? Obviously the 6400 will be the most powerful with the D6xx models pretty close in performance. Someone point me in the right direction, please Thanks io