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

[darren cox]

Oh well...So Close I think!

 

EDIT

 

No did try as root, sudo -i or sudo su neither make a difference

 

Plus theres a next in that archive...assume its for ATI cards though?

[DoiX]

I didn't mention the kext in my reply because it's not mandatory to dump the rom.

[darren cox]

I didn't mention the kext in my reply because it's not mandatory to dump the rom.

 

 

OK well thanks anyway maybe someone else will have luck....

 

I'm using Chimera 1.6 ATM everything else seems OK maybe thats something to do with it.

 

Seems to be something a lot of people have tried and failed at, as i think you said maybe porting the linux optimus code could work but seems a lot of work

[DoiX]

The linux port is basically a little program that injects code LIVE in the DSDT of the system, it just activates the power in the card, thing you can do manually by editing the DSDT, which is what i did but IOReg still doesn't show the card being powered by the driver.

 

Currently trying to force inject IOPowerManagement values.

[darren cox]

Thanks for all your efforts DoiX, it really is an annoying issue, the card is detected, but the kexts just refuse to load/ activate the damn thing

 

Would e great to just get the hdmi out working so I can watch stuff on my tv once more! I see a dual boot happening sometime in the near future... If I already have osx working I just create a partition and install I think... Time to read up

[fernandoalrs]

Thanks for all your efforts DoiX, it really is an annoying issue, the card is detected, but the kexts just refuse to load/ activate the damn thing

 

Would e great to just get the hdmi out working so I can watch stuff on my tv once more! I see a dual boot happening sometime in the near future... If I already have osx working I just create a partition and install I think... Time to read up

 

How you get the card detected?

[darren cox]

How you get the card detected?

 

sorry i meant as in OSX sees theres an Nvidia card there!

 

Verbose boot seemed to show it detected a 450 series card and hung - didn't show cram either but that might be me messing up the next edit to add the device id

[DoiX]

@fernandoalrs, efi string or DSDT edit, either way at this point it's just cosmetic.

 

@darren, nope, it's chimera, the devs put it as 450m months ago when it was thought (at least by some) that 0df4 is the id of a 450m card.

[darren cox]

Ah ok just can't seem to get osx to want to use it.

[AKennedy_4]

1768400[/url]']

If my some weird - freak-o-system - difference, yeah it's possible. From my searching and documentation i haven't encountered anything about the 540m working, 555m 525m yes... this issue is puzzling chimera devs as well.

 

So the 525m will work with GraphicsEnabler=Yes? What version of chimera do we have to have installed?

[DoiX]

@futuregator, latest(1.6) add id to nvd100hal.kext... the freak -o-system thing is available for that card as well. Only some systems work.

 

 

About disabling the nvidia card using the kext provided by darren one page ago. It doesn't work for our models, it requires a specific acpi method to be used which funny enough our bios lacks (possibly related to why it's hard to get this card working) anyway manually disabling it doesn't reduce heat or anything like it, it just disables laptop screen (another stupid- funny thing) so you have an external screen:)

[lloydowen]

I'm a little confused now... I tried reading back to the last few pages (to be honest I joined in on this thread way to late) Is there a way to get the 525M enabled just on its own? (without optimus)

 

Or is that just the 540M?

[DoiX]

Recap: some laptops with 520/525/550/555m cards can get them to work just by adding EFI string and device id in 100hal.kext... from what i found, SOME l70Xx laptops with 520 and 550m cards got them to work, l50Xx didn't found any mention about it for os x only linux but that's another story.

 

 

If you are extremely lucky you can get them to work using GraphicsEnabler=Yes (which is basically using EFI string) but you still need to add the card to that kext.

 

 

 

Improved DSDT (Full HD one) may fix sound problems and possibly other problems like usb sleep for some peopledsdtbeta.aml.zip:

 

Note: as the name states, it's beta, so don't rename it to DSDT, just move it as it is in Extra folder and boot with DSDT=/Extra/dsdtbeta.aml so you can test and see if it improves/fixes your system in anyway and no, it has no GT5XXM related code in it.

[lloydowen]

Recap: some laptops with 520/525/550/555m cards can get them to work just by adding EFI string and device id in 100hal.kext...

 

Thanks DoiX!!! I'll give it a go tomorrow (hopefully getting my new Wi-Fi card) I'll let you know what happens

[owen77]

Hi everyone,

 

I wanted to buy me a new Dell XPS 15 with a 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M graphic card inside.

 

Now I wanted to ask if there have been some changes/news 'cause of the hardware that doesn't work.

In older guides I've read that

 

1. Wifi

2. Sleep

3. Nvidia Graphics

4. External display ports (miniDP, HDMI etc)

 

do not work. Has there been some development?

I really care about the graphic/resolution and that I can plug TFT display onto it. Wifi is not a big deal, sleep function would be nice to have.

 

Thx,

Owen

 

Does someone have an answer to that?

[AKennedy_4]

@owen To my knowledg:

 

sleep works with speedstepping or sleepenabler kext for 10.7

 

You get native resolution through sandy bridge graphics. They're has been some development in the nvidia graphics but it doesn't work for everyone

 

wifi will never work. you have to buy a wifi card like the DW1510

 

Not sure aboutt he display ports. I think I remember DoiX saying that was appart of getting Nvidia graphics to work

[darren cox]

1768868[/url]']

Does someone have an answer to that?

 

Wifi - no unless you change the stock card most recommend the dell dw1510 I think or a reall apple airport card

Sleep - works fine for me with sleepenabler.kext

External ports - hdmi no, miniDP maybe think should work as internally connected to the hd3000 that works, as a note the Nvidia card is currently inactive under OSX (answers no 3.)

 

In other news got my casing to hold the bluray drive externally today, 2nd hdd caddy arrives tomorrow so will be back running from SSD think will attemp the dual boot with win 7 so the nvidia card doesn't go to waste (plus I really wanna get into Skyrim on Friday lol)

[owen77]

So there's no chance for the Nvidia card and no possibility to connect a external display?

I was thinking to buy that laptop in stead of a mac to save money and get better performance.

Is that a good idea?

 

Thx

[AKennedy_4]

DoiX had been working on a solution to the nvidia card. So it may or may not be solved. Either way. It's always a better a safe bet to get a real Mac in case or compatibility issues in the future

[DoiX]

You can connect external displays using 8,1 as system definition, i mentioned it in the tutorial. Personally i used mini DP, i'm pretty sure hdmi port is supported as well because i saw some stuff being active while browsing IOregistry.

 

As for performances, l502x i7 is better both price and performances than a MBP 8,1, if you check benchmarks (geekbench for example) you will see that even with the nvdia card not working the score is still bit higher than the 8,2 models as well.

 

 

As for the nVidia card, the only thing keeping it from working is the system refusing to power it. i force injected the values needed but unfortunately the original ones have priority. When i return home i'll start looking at chimera or nvenabler/natit/nvinject source code if i can find it.

[darren cox]

1768916[/url]']

You can connect external displays using 8,1 as system definition, i mentioned it in the tutorial. Personally i used mini DP, i'm pretty sure hdmi port is supported as well because i saw some stuff being active while browsing IOregistry.

 

As for performances, l502x i7 is better both price and performances than a MBP 8,1, if you check benchmarks (geekbench for example) you will see that even with the nvdia card not working the score is still bit higher than the 8,2 models as well.

 

 

As for the nVidia card, the only thing keeping it from working is the system refusing to power it. i force injected the values needed but unfortunately the original ones have priority. When i return home i'll start looking at chimera or nvenabler/natit/nvinject source code if i can find it.

 

Sorry I assumed hdmi didn't work, will give it a go in a bit then!

Checking the prices for uk for the spec of xps 15 I have I could more or less get a real MacBook air / pro depending on how much you need your system to "just work" aka what macs do best then I might suggest just getting one.

 

Gonna try this as well...Won't work but never know

[darren cox]

Sorry I assumed hdmi didn't work, will give it a go in a bit then!

Checking the prices for uk for the spec of xps 15 I have I could more or less get a real MacBook air / pro depending on how much you need your system to "just work" aka what macs do best then I might suggest just getting one.

 

Gonna try this as well...Won't work but never know

 

EDIT - HELP

 

I just realised that QE/CI aren't enabled for some reason for me - anyone got any ideas? I've ended up using Chimera 1.6 - could that be the issue?

[DoiX]

SystemProfile > Displays and Graphics post screenshot.

[CaduTo]

Hello, this is my first post.

 

I have a dell XPS15 L502X FullHD screen and got Lion Installed as your guide. Sadly, after first reboot I got a message complaining about the keyboard not being connected and also the mentioned pink noise screen.

I also try to get it working using the instructions in the sticky topic on this forum. Selecting Voodoo PS2 at custom install render to a hang and messages complaining on unsupported chip ID=0x8518 and after I try to boot into single user, remount with read write permission and delete the two lines from "System/CoreService/Setup Assistant.app/Contents/Info.plist" (not that exact path, but the closer one) I got good video but still the same message.

 

I also read many other posts but cant find something more applicable to my case other than these two hints mentioned before. Do you guys may suggest me something?

 

Also, The laptop is a DELL XPS15 L502X i5 FullHD and the busratio on intel pages is 24.

 

Thank you

[DoiX]

@CaduTo, that error is pretty much normal, for some reason the system doesnt load the keyboard, the easiest way to overcome this is to connect a USB keyboard (before you boot in it so you avoid kernel panic) in the USB3 or USb2 slot (depends which one works for you, for me USB3 is powered at first boot) as soon as it detects an external keyboard the internal one starts working as well...

 

If you don't have a usb keyboard or can't borrow one, you can boot with extra -s flag and get pass that screen using terminal commands, i believe futuregator said couple pages back what the commands are.

 

 

 

Update: GT540M - baby steps, baby steps, baby steps.