[GUIDE] How to install Snow Leo on ASUS Z8NA-D6

[oraton]

it looks like you are using my provided dsdt.aml - this could be the problem

put disabler.kext instead into Extra and delete dsdt.aml

 

 

THAT WORKED!!

 

Thankyou,

 

you Rule.

 

 

I am doing some benchmarks now, and will post my results here.

[peach-os]

my dsdt was made for the E5520 cpu´s.

 

now use dsdtse or similar to generate your own dsdt.

 

if you compare your dsdt in dsdtse with mine you should be able to do the necessary patches yourself - just don´t touch the cpu section at the beginning of the tables

[oraton]

my dsdt was made for the E5520 cpu´s.

 

now use dsdtse or similar to generate your own dsdt.

 

if you compare your dsdt in dsdtse with mine you should be able to do the necessary patches yourself - just don´t touch the cpu section at the beginning of the tables

 

 

great, thanks for the tip. I am very close to being done, but i had 3 more very noobish questions:

 

1. Why is generating my own dsdt necessary? It is booting nicely now.

 

2. i have to use a PS2 keyboard at the Chameleon step right now because usb isn't working until SL loads, why is this?

 

3. Is there a way to have chameleon boot automatically into HD1? I am cloning this machine and building 10 others identical to it. They are all living in one large rack in our server room, and just being controlled remotely. It would be nice to just have the machines boot automatically into snowleopard w/o having to hit "enter" at the chameleon screen.

 

 

 

Again, many thanks peach-os.

 

-oraton

 

 

 

 

1. Why is generating my own dsdt necessary? It is booting nicely now.

 

After re-reading the guide, i think i might be able to answer this.. but wanted to confirm w/ you. I am guessing that using the 10.6.4 combo update is going to break the system if i don't generate my own dsdt? Is that correct?

 

I just got gigabit working w/ the ionetworkingfamily.kext

 

But don't want to do the combo update until i know for sure.

 

thanks again,

 

-o

[oraton]

GeekBench Numbers:

 

2x 5506 w/ 12gb -

http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/279335

 

Curious as to anyones thoughts or feedback on these results.

 

-oraton

[peach-os]

1. for working USB you might have to change the USB legacy setting in bios to enabled

2. my geekbench with the E5520 cpu´s is 12300

3. you need dsdt for proper shutdown, some stuttering if it appears and the cmos reset fix (you won´t realize it, but otherwise bios is resetting with every shutdown on this board) - 10.6.4 works also without dsdt

 

4. for your boot problem you should experiment with these settings in you com.apple.boot.plist in Extra:

 

Wait=Yes|No Prompt for a key press before starting the kernel.

"Quiet Boot"=Yes|No Use quiet boot mode (no messages or prompt).

Timeout=8 Number of seconds to pause at the boot: prompt.

"Instant Menu"=Yes Force displaying the partition selection menu.

 

"Default Partition" Sets the default boot partition,

=hd(x,y) where 'x' is the disk number, 'y' the partition number.

 

GUI=No Disable the GUI (enabled by default).

"Boot Banner"=Yes|No Show boot banner in GUI mode (enabled by default).

[apc103]

GeekBench Numbers:

 

2x 5506 w/ 12gb -

http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/279335

 

Curious as to anyones thoughts or feedback on these results.

 

-oraton

 

I have the same setup as you. Here is my Geekbench score.

http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/279612

 

Just Curious as to why your 5506's Frequency read 2.27Ghz. And also your memory frequency is 1333MHz, the memory controllers on those cpu's can only do 1066MHz.

[apc103]

my dsdt was made for the E5520 cpu´s.

 

now use dsdtse or similar to generate your own dsdt.

 

if you compare your dsdt in dsdtse with mine you should be able to do the necessary patches yourself - just don´t touch the cpu section at the beginning of the tables

 

Hi peach-os. Thanks for the great guide, I just skipped part "B" of the guide and used empire EFI iso to boot a retail copy of Snow Leopard and everything went well. Also I am using your dsdt.aml on my E5506's and have not experienced any problems. Would it cause any damage to the cpu's in the long run? Thanks.

[peach-os]

Hi peach-os. Thanks for the great guide, I just skipped part "B" of the guide and used empire EFI iso to boot a retail copy of Snow Leopard and everything went well. Also I am using your dsdt.aml on my E5506's and have not experienced any problems. Would it cause any damage to the cpu's in the long run? Thanks.

 

afaik - no, but to be sure I would generate a new dsdt. what about shutdown, restart and sleep? what is working on your machine ?

oraton´s problems seems to be a mixture of dsdt and other problems (old bios version, bios settings etc)

[apc103]

afaik - no, but to be sure I would generate a new dsdt. what about shutdown, restart and sleep? what is working on your machine ?

oraton´s problems seems to be a mixture of dsdt and other problems (old bios version, bios settings etc)

 

Shutdown and restart works fine. I don't use sleep but I tried it and the system went to sleep but did not wake, I had to restart. My bios is the latest and the only settings that may be different from everyone else's is I have A20M, SR-IOV and VT-d enabled. Other than that its a very stable machine, as I use it for music production.

[oraton]

I have the same setup as you. Here is my Geekbench score.

http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/279612

 

Just Curious as to why your 5506's Frequency read 2.27Ghz. And also your memory frequency is 1333MHz, the memory controllers on those cpu's can only do 1066MHz.

 

 

-Nice, thanks for sharing that. Seems to be pretty similar marks.

 

If you don't mind, i had a few questions about your machine.

 

Are you happy w/ the overall speed and stability of your machine?

 

How long have you had it running, and what types of tasks are you using it for?

 

 

 

-As far as the memory speed and proc Mhz goes, i am equally curious.

 

Intel's site supports your statement, w/ the 1066 cap, but I see some machines out there that use the 5506, and report using 1333. Like This One

 

I do have 1333 memory installed, and in system profiler it reports the same as geekbench. 2.27 and 1333.

 

Is having 1333 memory going to be an issue down the road? if the processor can only do 1066, it would just run the memory at that speed correct?

 

Peach, where exactly does system profiler get that info from?

 

Is there any utility that would help me get to the bottom of this?

 

Thanks for the feedback guys.

 

-o

[apc103]

Are you happy w/ the overall speed and stability of your machine?

Very much, although im going to upgrade the cpu's to L5640's and faster memory.

How long have you had it running, and what types of tasks are you using it for?

About three months now. On the OSX side, I mainly use it for music production, video rendering, and a little web design. On the linux side, I develop virtualization software and build custom kernels.

Is having 1333 memory going to be an issue down the road? if the processor can only do 1066, it would just run the memory at that speed correct?

It wont cause any problems, it will just down clock the memory to match whatever speed the cpu supports.

[peach-os]

go to smbios.plist in Extra and change setting memspeed to 1066

[oraton]

Hi Peach-OS.

 

Have been offline for a while on another project, but I am back.

 

Now im about to start installing software on my new machine.. so I want to clone my SL hard-drive before i put anything else on it.

 

I am running 10.6.4, and have to make 10 more of these machines, so its at the perfect place to clone the hard-drive.

 

But for some reason Chameleon isn't seeing my SL retail DVD upon boot.

 

* My machine doesn't have an onboard dvd-drive, so i am connecting to it w/ a USB external DVD drive.

 

Any idea why chameleon isn't giving me the option to boot from the original OSX disc?

 

I just want to run DiskUtility during the Installer, restore the SL drive to another HD, and that's it.

 

Thanks again for all your help,

 

-o

[peach-os]

this doesn´t work - you can´t boot the retail installer dvd with the chameleon bootloader on your HD.

there was a reason for the second maintainance install in my guide

 

boot from a second harddrive or USB with Snow Leo on it and copy it with Carbon Copy Cloner or CopyCatX.

if you use CopyCat you won´t need to apply the bootloader - it copies all

[oraton]

this doesn´t work - you can´t boot the retail installer dvd with the chameleon bootloader on your HD.

there was a reason for the second maintainance install in my guide

 

boot from a second harddrive or USB with Snow Leo on it and copy it with Carbon Copy Cloner or CopyCatX.

if you use CopyCat you won´t need to apply the bootloader - it copies all

 

 

got it, thanks.

 

I still have the maintenance install on my usb stick, and can boot from that, but it is at 10.5.

 

Will work for just booting to, and cloning the SL drive?

 

I was under the impression that the cloning would have to happen from a SL boot of some kind.

[peach-os]

cloning should work with it

[oraton]

thanks peach.

 

So i am just about ready to order parts for 10 more of these machines. I am building them in 1U cases, which all fit nicely in a 15U Rack, in a small air conditioned room.

 

I would like to be able to boot those 10 machines w/ the network boot option.

 

Peach, Do you think network booting would be possible from this 1 disc image you have helped me create?

 

Can Chameleon load via network booting on multiple machines?

 

Does anyone have any experience w/ this and/or know if its possible?

[peach-os]

no experiences with that, but why don´t you try it first with one machine ?

what benefits do you have running all those servers with os x? wouldn´t linux be a better choice in this case?

[oraton]

no experiences with that, but why don´t you try it first with one machine ?

what benefits do you have running all those servers with os x? wouldn´t linux be a better choice in this case?

 

 

 

tried w/ one machine today, but chameleon intercepts it, and it just boots from the local drive.

 

linux wouldnt work for us as these are being used as render machines at a special effects house, so we need osx for maya and after effects etc..

[peach-os]

ok - but as I said.....no experiences with that - sorry

[Jack Donker]

Sleep is working now just update to 10.6.4 and use from kexts.com the sleepenabler.kext from myhack link: http://www.kexts.com/view/409-sleepenabler...for_10.6.4.html install with kexthelper b7 Greats

 

 

 

here is a pretty is simple guide to install Snow Leo on ASUS Z8NA-D6.

 

I try to keep it as short and simple as possible - therefore please no questions like could I use this or that instead

99% the answer would be I don´t know - I´m no hardware dealer who would be able to test different configs

 

please follow the guide as it is

 

 

also I would go with an nvidia card - they are much easier to install ( in my case it´s a 9800gt / 512mb)

I can´t give any support for ati cards, you will find a solution yourself in the forum.

 

This is what you need

 

1. a kalyway 10.5.2 distro (exactly this one - please don´t ask for other distros - they won´t work)

2. an official Snow Leo DVD ( I won´t give any support for a distro as main install)

3. two harddrives ( I still prefer the WD AAKS series) .- we name them HD 1 (main install) HD 2 (maintenance)

4. Tinker Tool from here

5. chameleon 2 RC1 431.mpkg and Cameleon RC3 658

 

 

Let´s go

 

 

A. Bios Settings - credits for this to MightyLedZepp

 

1. on the main menu, select IDE configuration. Configure SATA as AHCI.

2. on the advanced menu, select CPU configuration. Disable HT Technology, disable Intel C-State technology,

and set Active Processor Cores to 1.

3. on the advanced menu, select PCIPnP configuration. Set Plug and Play OS to Yes.

4. on the boot menu, select boot device priority and make sure the DVD drive is set to the first boot device.

 

 

B. Install Kalyway

 

1. now boot into kalyway

2. format HD2 with GUID (maybe a small partition with 10GB for the kalyway maintenance install and the rest for data)

3. customize the install > uncheck everything except kernel > choose sleepkernel

4. install the kaly to HD 2

5. reboot without the DVD, hit F8 and set CPUS=1 -v as boot options

6. install Chameleon 431.mpkg

7. now go to root and delete the "boot" file

8. copy the "boot" file from *chameleonRC3>i386 to root.

9. reboot to kaly with options CPUS=1 -v

 

C. Install Snow Leo

 

1.boot into HD 2 with options -v cpus=1

2.finish setup and copy Tinker Tool to desktop (you might need a second smaller USB drive)

3.format the HD1 you will use for SL with GUID

4.start Tinkertool, check show hidden files and apply.

5. now boot the SL DVD

6. in SL DVD go to System>installation>packages

7. start osinstall.mpkg and choose HD 1 to Install SL. uncheck the printer drivers, otherwise installation will fail.

8. install should be done in 30 minutes - don´t reboot

9. install chameleon 431.mpkg to the new SL drive.

10. when done go to SL root and delete the "boot" file

11. copy the "boot" file from *chameleonRC3>i386 to SL root.

12. copy the working dsdt.aml to SL/ Extra

12. replace the kexts in SL/Extra/Extensions with the attached files

13. replace the com.apple.boot.plist in Extra with attached file (edit the serial in case - now its set to 012345...)

14. it won´t be possible to repair disk permission in SL, without the last step:

go to the SL DVD again and reinstall the BSD.pkg (also in System>installation) from the DVD.

15. now reboot

 

 

D. Starting the first time Snow Leo

 

1. enable CPU Settings - credits for this to MightyLedZepp

when the system restarts, enter the BIOS menu. Its now safe to enable the features that were previously disabled: HT, C-State, and all cores.

Change the boot order if needed, and reboot to HD1.

2. when the Chameleon bootloader comes up boot only with option -v (in case it doesn´t boot) .

3. install the attached IONetworkingFamily.kext to S/L/E with kextutility

4. reboot

3. now you should have a workin Snow Leo

 

 

E. updates

 

using the attached dsdt.aml and fakesmc (dsmos.kext = kp) there won´t be any problems with any updates.

to make your system safe in any case, install first Snow Leo also to HD2 and replace the kaly 10.5.2 install

using the same procedure, or copy the HD1 install with Carbon Copy (as long it´s small enough)

from within this "maintenace install" you could easily repair any problems and redo any updates in case it didn´t work

the regular way.

important: this works only from an other Snow Leo install !

 

 

 

 

working

 

1. restart

2. graphics with GraphicsEnabler=yes for Nvidia cards (already set in the attached com.apple.boot.plist) QE/CI all working

3. shutdown works if you use disabler.kext instead of dsdt

5. USB

5. firewire (with an extra pcie firewire TI instruments)

4. ethernet - if it doesn´t work with the attached IONetworkingFamily.kext - this is the solution (credits to MightyLedZepp):

 

go to /System/Library/Extensions/IONetworkingFamily.kext/Contents/PlugIns/Intel82574L.kext/Contents/Info.plist and edit the following lines:

 

<key>IOClass</key>

<string>Intel82574L</string>

<key>IOPCIPrimaryMatch</key>

 

1. change <key>IOPCIPrimaryMatch</key> to <key>IOPCIMatch</key>.

2. add your Ethernet Controller's uid to the list in the line right after the <key>IOPCIMatch</key> line.

usually the id is 0x10D38086 - the simple way to find out is to use Windows Device Manager.

3. remove the line that says <key>IOPCISecondaryMatch</key>, and also remove the line immediately below that.

 

once complete, open terminal and type

sudo -s > enter

enter passwort > enter

rm -rf /System/Library/Extensions/Caches > enter

rm -rf /System/Library/Extensions.mkext > enter

 

 

not working / in progress

 

1. shutdown with dsdt (works sometimes)

2. sleep

 

 

at the moment I´m still trying to get sleep/shutdown to work editing the dsdt.

the included dsdt has many optimizations following a lot of instructions by Masterchief .

everybody is welcome to help with the dsdt - still to do:

1.p-states for the nehalems (in my case the E5520)

2.sleep

3.shutdown

 

enjoy !

 

AsusZ8NA_D6.zip

 

EDIT: shutdown fixed with DSDT - use the attached DSDT file and Asere´s Bootloader - you need still only fakesmc and IOstorageinjector in Extra

 

[peach-os]

Sleep is working now just update to 10.6.4 and use from kexts.com the sleepenabler.kext from myhack link: http://www.kexts.com/view/409-sleepenabler...for_10.6.4.html install with kexthelper b7 Greats

 

thanks, but still not working for me

 

could you send me your dsdt, com.apple.boot.plist and smbios.plist ? are you booting 32 or 64 Bit? which bootloader did you install? what additional kexts do you have in Extra and S/L/E?

[peach-os]

UUAAAAHHH.......I love it if someone talks about a solution and disappears.......... where is it ???

[oraton]

ok - but as I said.....no experiences with that - sorry

 

 

Hey peach, so i have my 2nd machine built, and it boots perfectly w/ machine#1's HD.

 

I am trying to make a system drive for the 2nd machine by cloning machine#1's drive.

 

I have tried cloning that drive w/ disk utility (from SL install) - when i put it in my new box, no luck.

 

I have tried cloning it w/ carbon copy, no luck.

 

Same result for both methods,

 

It isn't reaching the chameleon screen.

 

any ideas?

[peach-os]

with carbon copy cloner you have to reinstall chameleon manually.

you could use copcatX - this copies all 100% - but it makes only sense if the HDs have same size

 

btwy - is your sleep workin? Mr. Donker didn´t get back with any responses............