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

wen1

By wen1,
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NotMeAgain
NotMeAgain
Posted
Posted
Weird. I'm using the "white" on this text box as a guideline and it seems considerably brighter in windows.

 

Forgive my retardation.

 

A brief screen calibration and moving away from the overcast sunshine helped a tonne.

 

Also Doix, I've noticed that on occasion I can restart just fine.

 

I've not been able to replicate it in any particular way, but it's happened a few times after disconnecting my bluetooth adaptor (from usb2) then restart, sometimes after wake from sleep it worked too.

 

Mostly it just halts though :)

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DoiX
DoiX
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Hehe, restart works 8/10 cases when i wake the laptop from sleep. I know whats causing the bug but i don't know how to fix it.. as what generally fixes it is already applied both in the DSDT manually and by the browser, nothing fixes it.

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sheyac
sheyac
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Hi it's my first post but i've been lurking for a while. Got my L502x last week and am writing this off 10.7.2 :D . I owe it all to this forum especially DoiX, A_Kennedy, Wen1 and all the rest - many many thanks!

 

I have a few questions and would be really grateful if you can answer them:

1) Chimera 1.7 doesn't seem to be reading off org.chameleon.boot.plist - no matter which theme I select or which partition is default I always get both my windows 7 partition and os x partition appearing in a text based selection without even a countdown. I've reinstalled Chimera a few times. Champlist says that my boot is corrupted?

 

2) Sometimes I get graphical glitches, either horizontal or vertical glitches (very obvious sometimes) - is this expected? I have 1080p and using the EFI injection from pack v6.

 

3) The SSDT in pack v6 is for i7 right? I have i5-2430m - will it work or do i need an alternative?

 

I get around 4:30 hours with the nvidia_off DSDT :D. Also, I noticed that bluetooth doesn't switch off when I attempted restarting the system (had it tethered to my iPhone). Maybe this is linked to the restart issue?

 

Thanks

 

Sheyac

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DoiX
DoiX
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1. org.chameleon.Boot.plist must be in /Extra/ folder, if you got another one in root folder delete it. Champlist says that because you are using chimera, not the pure chameleon build.

 

2. those glitches are supposed to be caused by lack of memory, i noticed them appear when my laptop is overheating.

 

3. you don't need them, i specifically specified in the installer to not use them if you don't have a i7 processor. Just use GeneratePStates=Yes and GenerateCStates=Yes

 

4. i don't think it's linked to that. i remember that i couldn't power off the bluetooth when os x was active, only on windows or at the bios screen. It's just OS X not being compatible with the function keys. Now i have the bluetooth in the second mini pci slot, the fn key is only active on the first pci slot so i can't test it.

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maxey
maxey
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Hi,

 

I am new to this...saw that some bios updates where posted (at least it showed me something when i searched the thread for gt540) and also a rar file by jkbuha. I dont expect the gt540m to be working properly yet?

How does this effect performance?

 

 

Cheers

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maxey
maxey
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Yeah....i read some but hoped somehow that the insight, somebody capable of doing it (unfortunately not me .. :( ) got lately, would have helped to figure something out...

 

Not to be rude, but did you read the before and after replies?...

 

GT540M is not working on OS X.

 

Btw...ur not rude ;) actually you delivered quite the information i was looking for :)

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pcwiz13
pcwiz13
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After doing a lot of looking around I finally got a l502x to try my hand at OSX with. My dad has had several "hackintosh's" over the years so it inspired me to get one.

 

I've successfully got 10.7.3 completely working with the exception of sleep and restart (and the 525m, but thats all of us) but thats no big deal. I used a little different route than most i used the aitkos_L2 install and a different lion battery kext to get it up and running but it was fairly simple. Even dual booting windows 7.

 

I'm waiting on my Dell 1510 WIFI card to arrive in the next day or 2 to get the wireless up and running.

 

Thanks to all for all the information in this thread, I look forward to getting the integrated graphics working eventually. I may work on putting together my own install guide while its still fresh in my mind (for others and incase i crash it! lol)

 

Thanks again, I'll be happy to help when i can.

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Monkeys
Monkeys
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@pcwiz13 - To get sleep working you need to add the patched AppleCPUPM kext for 10.7.3 from the previous page, and/or downgrade your bios to the v6 bios, as sleep functionality with osx was broken after those revisions.

 

Also which battery kext did you use and why? Just curious if it has any advantages over the one supplied in doix's pack?

 

Good to hear you are having success with your new l502x, such a great MacBook pro replacement! I got mine for just $700, with the full hd screen, about 1/3 the price of an 'equivalent' 15" MacBook pro, although the screen on this and GPU (although it doesnt work in lion, yet, but does in windows) are even better! Not meaning to boast, just very pleased with the whole thing =)

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pcwiz13
pcwiz13
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@Monkeys - I have the A06 bios installed, but sleep has never worked right for me, I'll try the kext you mentioned, thanks!

 

My battery was not recognized after DoiX's package install so I began looking for others i used a package i stumbled across on the web called "battery lion fix" it included 2 kext files which i installed and now my battery works great! I'm not positive speed stepping is working correctly but my meter shows almost 4 hours at full charge.

 

Thats a great deal on the l502x, you're right, they are a great macbook pro replacement for the money.

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Monkeys
Monkeys
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@pcwiz13 - Also, I forgot to mention that you need to remove the NullCPUPowerManagement kext from SLE after installing the patched appleCPUPM kext. And repair caches etc. That should give you full speedstepping and sleep functionality.

 

Also what were the names of the two kexts that you used for the battery display? Probably voodoobattery.kext and ACPI something or other, I can't remember ATM and don't have access to my laptop right now..

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DoiX
DoiX
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I'm pretty sure they are the same kexts... voodoo and a patched ACPIMonitor. We don't have many kexts to choose from when it comes to the battery. You needed to rebuilt caches and permissions after using my installer.

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jkbuha
jkbuha
Posted
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Weird.

 

I'm using the "white" on this text box as a guideline and it seems considerably brighter in windows.

 

I had the same problem, until I realised that when the display went to sleep and woke up again it was considerably brighter :)

Have you tried this out?

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iMac2009
iMac2009
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I had the same problem, until I realised that when the display went to sleep and woke up again it was considerably brighter :)

Have you tried this out?

 

Yepp, same for me.

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jkbuha
jkbuha
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I somehow expected them to be general, not specific to systems.

 

Stupid question: if you would replace the intel bios rom with the nvidia one would the bios still flash/ pc boot?

 

Probably not. It relates how Optimus works with the primary/secondary card - which is triggered via BIOS settings (currently hidden from us).

 

Besides the Intel BIOS is (surprisingly) larger than the Nvidia BIOS so the two files don't match as well.

 

We're making some progress (albeit slowly) on BIOS modding so hopefully we should see some results soon.

 

Fingers crossed.

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sheyac
sheyac
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1. org.chameleon.Boot.plist must be in /Extra/ folder, if you got another one in root folder delete it. Champlist says that because you are using chimera, not the pure chameleon build.

 

2. those glitches are supposed to be caused by lack of memory, i noticed them appear when my laptop is overheating.

 

3. you don't need them, i specifically specified in the installer to not use them if you don't have a i7 processor. Just use GeneratePStates=Yes and GenerateCStates=Yes

 

4. i don't think it's linked to that. i remember that i couldn't power off the bluetooth when os x was active, only on windows or at the bios screen. It's just OS X not being compatible with the function keys. Now i have the bluetooth in the second mini pci slot, the fn key is only active on the first pci slot so i can't test it.

 

Hi DoiX, thanks for the quick reply :)

 

I only have org.chameleon.boot.plist in Extra folder, no where else :/

 

In the post it says its not i3/i7 so I thought its for i5 (reading it again it does also say its for i7 only), i have already installed it but it seems to be ok. I have found an SSDT for i5-2430m, do I just replace the SSDT in the root folder to install it over the i7 one i have? How does this interfere with the Nvidia_off DSDT?

 

Many many thanks DoiX.

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NotMeAgain
NotMeAgain
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Hello people,

 

I was wondering if anyone has any ideas for a fix or workaround for the 'disable trackpad' hotkey?

 

Obviously it doesn't work, well the light changes on the trackpad, but it remains active.

 

Any ideas?

 

Indeed, it caught me out in Starbucks (LOL) this lunch time.

 

There i was happily speed typing my way through act 4 of my screen play, then I realised i'd randomly tapped the trackpad at some point and my paragraph is all over the place :D

 

There may be a disable trackpad app, and maybe better touch tool can pick up the hotkeys?

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pcwiz13
pcwiz13
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@Monkeys - AppleACPiPlatform.kext and VoodooBattery.kext they could possible be the same ones that DoiX included, but these worked for me. I've attached them incase someone else needs them.

 

I'm still chasing my sleep fix, the patched files and removing the one you mentioned allow it to go to sleep now, it just won't wake up! (it turns on, no video) One step closer i guess.

Battery Fix - Lion.zip

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