[Guide] Dell XPS 15 L502X (Early 2011) Snow Leopard Install (possibly L702x too)

[meikrekel]

I can't find a decent place where I can buy that dell wireless card, I live in Holland so I can't order it in America or something like that. Any Dutch people here who could PM me a link to that wireless card?

[Alex DeWolf]

No, Apple don't support the Nvidia 5xx cards in laptops. You have to use the Intel HD3000 graphics built on the processor. 8gb of ram assigns 512mb to the graphics, which isn't bad actually as I can edit on FCPX very fast with that at 1920x1080

 

Does the Nvidia GPU shutdown to save battery and reduce heat? If I have 6GB RAM how much ends up on the Intel GPU? How is the OpenGL/CL performance? Anyone try Steam on this yet?

 

No, Apple don't support the Nvidia 5xx cards in laptops. You have to use the Intel HD3000 graphics built on the processor. 8gb of ram assigns 512mb to the graphics, which isn't bad actually as I can edit on FCPX very fast with that at 1920x1080

 

Does 10.7 (Lion) support the Nvidia 5xx GPUs in laptops?

[meikrekel]

Does the Nvidia GPU shutdown to save battery and reduce heat? If I have 6GB RAM how much ends up on the Intel GPU? How is the OpenGL/CL performance? Anyone try Steam on this yet?

 

 

 

Does 10.7 (Lion) support the Nvidia 5xx GPUs in laptops?

 

 

Lion doesn't support the Nvidia 5xx GPU's, and I'm affraid they will never do this.

[metamorphoise]

Hi guys, I have the opportunity to pick one of these computers up cheap - just wanted to confirm one thing before I decide..

 

In Lion and with the Intel3000, does the external display (HDMI?) work flawlessly with projectors (800x600 resolution and higher), with no artifacting/lines?

For me this is more important than audio because I would be using the machine for live video performance.

 

Thanks,

Tom.

[Kirky]

Hi guys, I have the opportunity to pick one of these computers up cheap - just wanted to confirm one thing before I decide..

 

In Lion and with the Intel3000, does the external display (HDMI?) work flawlessly with projectors (800x600 resolution and higher), with no artifacting/lines?

For me this is more important than audio because I would be using the machine for live video performance.

 

Thanks,

Tom.

 

NO, as the HDMI is connected internally to the Nvidia 540m card which isn't supported by Apple! Maybe think about getting a proper MacBookPro if you want HDMI working I'm afraid!

[metamorphoise]

thank you for the information.

[whitegerry]

I think so, I much prefer mac to windows, you can still have both running anyway. Unless you're a gamer, I don't think you'll miss the nvidia graphics card. No monitor out though. Sd card doesn't work, but have only tried a couple of different kexts for it.

 

Lack of sleep kinda sucks, but I have a ssd, so starting and shutting down is pretty quick.

 

I got mine for around $1000, that's pretty cheap for a quad core macbook pro! It's basically a desktop replacement anyway, so you're not going to be far away from power for long. If I am, I just use windows.....

 

Try this driver to make sd card working: ftp://driver.jmicron.com.tw/CardReader/MAC_OS_X/SD/

[Kirky]

WORKING AUDIO IN LION 10.7.1

 

Finally found a solution to the audio problem in the L502 running Lion 10.7.1. Install the attached VoodooHDA.kext. This is the kext found in the VoodooLabs 2.7.1 driver, but without the pref file as that just messes up file? Audio pretty much works, but there might be a slight hiss heard in headphone mode?

 

This is not a fully working solution, but it works until we have anything better come along!

 

Install using a kext installer like Kext Helper, then repair permissions.

VoodooHDA.kext.zip

[bryan Rowe]

WORKING AUDIO IN LION 10.7.1

 

Finally found a solution to the audio problem in the L502 running Lion 10.7.1. Install the attached VoodooHDA.kext. This is the kext found in the VoodooLabs 2.7.1 driver, but without the pref file as that just messes up file? Audio pretty much works, but there might be a slight hiss heard in headphone mode?

 

This is not a fully working solution, but it works until we have anything better come along!

 

Install using a kext installer like Kext Helper, then repair permissions.

 

This unfortunately did not work for me. While it didn't KP on boot, it still does not recognize any audio output devices in system preferences/sound.

 

I do have a way of enabling sound that uses a few kexts from the L702x thread over on tonymax86. The downside of that method is that I need to run a script upon booting in order to enable sound -- so definitely less than ideal.

 

EDIT: I am a liar. The reason the kext wasn't working was because it had a dependency on IOAudioFamily.kext -- which I had removed from S/L/E to load it via the script I mention above. I popped IOAudioFamily back into SLE and the audio became enabled. I am going to do some testing and see if I get any popping or anything.

 

Thanks for finding this!

[whitegerry]

This unfortunately did not work for me. While it didn't KP on boot, it still does not recognize any audio output devices in system preferences/sound.

 

I do have a way of enabling sound that uses a few kexts from the L702x thread over on tonymax86. The downside of that method is that I need to run a script upon booting in order to enable sound -- so definitely less than ideal.

 

EDIT: I am a liar. The reason the kext wasn't working was because it had a dependency on IOAudioFamily.kext -- which I had removed from S/L/E to load it via the script I mention above. I popped IOAudioFamily back into SLE and the audio became enabled. I am going to do some testing and see if I get any popping or anything.

 

Thanks for finding this!

 

Edit: sorry, the attach below is the same as the one posted by Kirky.

 

---------------------------

You can try this one. It works fine on L501x.

 

VoodooHDA.kext.zip

[markmac81]

Try this driver to make sd card working: ftp://driver.jmicron.com.tw/CardReader/MAC_OS_X/SD/

 

It doesn't work for me, has anyone had success with it?

 

Edit:

 

It does work now! I installed it and it said the kext's were improperly installed and can't be used. So I uninstalled and reinstalled and rebooted a couple of times and it works!

 

THANKS!

 

It sucks having to boot into windows just to get some stuff of a sd card!

[whitegerry]

It doesn't work for me, has anyone had success with it?

 

Edit:

 

It does work now! I installed it and it said the kext's were improperly installed and can't be used. So I uninstalled and reinstalled and rebooted a couple of times and it works!

 

THANKS!

 

It sucks having to boot into windows just to get some stuff of a sd card!

 

And you must put the sd card into the laptop before booting the mac os.

If not, the card will not work.

[amit_talkin]

I get KP if is select NULLCPUpowermanagement in [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url]. So I didnt remove it, does that mean my system running at full throttle even in idle condition? Also, is there any way to enable sleep and power management in my case?

 

p.s. thanks "Kirky" for Voodoohda.kext , my sound finally working after too much of hassles and KP with AppleHDA and other voodoohda drivers. Tried many of them and none of them worked. but kirky's voodoo worked like a charm!

 

Also, I have installed this on MBR disk with no other os installed so far, but I get boot0 error while booting from my disk.

I dont have EFI partition all boot files on my Mac partition. how can i boot from my mac partition on my mbr disk?

I am gonna install windows 7 after this.

[markmac81]

And you must put the sd card into the laptop before booting the mac os.

If not, the card will not work.

 

Ok, thanks....

[amit_talkin]

I need help with "boot0: error" of bootloader. I installed chimera and I never get my OS X bootable!

I tried every possible solution given there in google search to fix this problem and none of them working.

 

I only have 1 partition on whole 750GB disk , which is of OS X Lion.

[Kirky]

I need help with "boot0: error" of bootloader. I installed chimera and I never get my OS X bootable!

I tried every possible solution given there in google search to fix this problem and none of them working.

 

I only have 1 partition on whole 750GB disk , which is of OS X Lion.

 

Try and install the 'ShowAllFiles' program to show all hidden files, you should then be able to delete your existing boot file and install a new one?

 

WORKING AUDIO IN LION 10.7.1

 

Finally found a solution to the audio problem in the L502 running Lion 10.7.1. Install the attached VoodooHDA.kext. This is the kext found in the VoodooLabs 2.7.1 driver, but without the pref file as that just messes up file? Audio pretty much works, but there might be a slight hiss heard in headphone mode?

 

This is not a fully working solution, but it works until we have anything better come along!

 

Install using a kext installer like Kext Helper, then repair permissions.

 

AUDIO CONTROL VIA PREF PANE...

 

If anyone wants more control over the audio in the L502, here is the working installer package for the VoodooHDA.kext including the preference pane file which loads in system preferences.

 

Note: The only problem is that it automatically loads with a high amount of gain that you need to turn down in System Preferences each time you boot the laptop? Just curious if anyone can work out how to alter the Preference Pane so that the hiss/gain is set permanently to zero???

VoodooHDA_2.7.1.pkg.zip

[bastisk8]

Did you guys actually get QE/CI working in Lion now?

I understand that it is already working in Snow Leopard properly, but didn`t find any information about Lion

[bryan Rowe]

I got sleep working with a new version of sleepenabler. I've attached the kext I used.

 

The only remaining thing I hope someone can get working is QE/CI on the intel card. I have tried the new Chimera bootloader which supposedly supports the Intel 3000 HD card natively with no luck. I think Chimera passes in 'GraphicsEnabler=Yes' which then uses the nvidia card. However, the 425m is listed as a supported card, so I'm not sure why that would cause the crash. When I boot with the 1.5.4 Chimera I see a message about dependencies not being found for geforce.kext and then some green lines cover the top third of the screen. It finally hangs a few lines later when it hits the IntelCPUPowerManagement load.

SleepEnabler.kext.zip

[amit_talkin]

I got sleep working with a new version of sleepenabler. I've attached the kext I used.

 

The only remaining thing I hope someone can get working is QE/CI on the intel card. I have tried the new Chimera bootloader which supposedly supports the Intel 3000 HD card natively with no luck. I think Chimera passes in 'GraphicsEnabler=Yes' which then uses the nvidia card. However, the 425m is listed as a supported card, so I'm not sure why that would cause the crash. When I boot with the 1.5.4 Chimera I see a message about dependencies not being found for geforce.kext and then some green lines cover the top third of the screen. It finally hangs a few lines later when it hits the IntelCPUPowerManagement load.

 

I just tested sleepenabler kext, lappy goes to sleep but when resumed, i can't move mouse cursor or cant use keyboard, even can't use any usb keyboard/mouse. and devices attached to USB hubs gives error. it just stuck there.

[koundinya_avk]

Try and install the 'ShowAllFiles' program to show all hidden files, you should then be able to delete your existing boot file and install a new one?

 

 

 

AUDIO CONTROL VIA PREF PANE...

 

If anyone wants more control over the audio in the L502, here is the working installer package for the VoodooHDA.kext including the preference pane file which loads in system preferences.

 

Note: The only problem is that it automatically loads with a high amount of gain that you need to turn down in System Preferences each time you boot the laptop? Just curious if anyone can work out how to alter the Preference Pane so that the hiss/gain is set permanently to zero???

 

I have installed the vodoo HDA audio kext you gave here but sound doesn't work for me. I am on 10.6.8. All my IO devices are recognised in system preferences/audio. When I play a song, I just hearing some rumbling sound with some words from the song.

 

Does this kext works only on Lion? Any solution for audio on 10.6.8.

[Kirky]

I have installed the vodoo HDA audio kext you gave here but sound doesn't work for me. I am on 10.6.8. All my IO devices are recognised in system preferences/audio. When I play a song, I just hearing some rumbling sound with some words from the song.

 

Does this kext works only on Lion? Any solution for audio on 10.6.8.

 

Yes, this audio solution is for Lion only. For Snow 10.6.8 use the kexts from wen1's original post on page 1 entitled L502X_v2 as they are for Snow Leopard and work very well.

[koundinya_avk]

Yes, this audio solution is for Lion only. For Snow 10.6.8 use the kexts from wen1's original post on page 1 entitled L502X_v2 as they are for Snow Leopard and work very well.

Thanks Kirky. Wen1's solution didn't work for me. I copied the three kexts to S/L/E and used wen1's dsdt but the audio is still rumbling. Please let me know if you got the audio working in 10.6.8 using his kexts and dsdt.

 

ps: I will try to upgrade to lion over the weekend if this doesn't work out. I already tried installing lion but when try to boot from usb drive, it says no operation system found. I copied PXHCD on to the drive but stil doesn't workl.

[markmac81]

I got sleep working with a new version of sleepenabler. I've attached the kext I used.

 

The only remaining thing I hope someone can get working is QE/CI on the intel card. I have tried the new Chimera bootloader which supposedly supports the Intel 3000 HD card natively with no luck. I think Chimera passes in 'GraphicsEnabler=Yes' which then uses the nvidia card. However, the 425m is listed as a supported card, so I'm not sure why that would cause the crash. When I boot with the 1.5.4 Chimera I see a message about dependencies not being found for geforce.kext and then some green lines cover the top third of the screen. It finally hangs a few lines later when it hits the IntelCPUPowerManagement load.

 

Is the sleepenabler kext only for Lion?

[bryan Rowe]

Is the sleepenabler kext only for Lion?

 

Yep, that version is at least.

[Kirky]

Thanks Kirky. Wen1's solution didn't work for me. I copied the three kexts to S/L/E and used wen1's dsdt but the audio is still rumbling. Please let me know if you got the audio working in 10.6.8 using his kexts and dsdt.

 

ps: I will try to upgrade to lion over the weekend if this doesn't work out. I already tried installing lion but when try to boot from usb drive, it says no operation system found. I copied PXHCD on to the drive but stil doesn't workl.

 

Yes, the three kexts from Wen1's original post work perfectly in 10.6.8. Try to use [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url] or KextHelper to install the kexts and repair permissions and caches in [url="http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/"]#####[/url]?