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

[DoiX]

Flash.... i hate it, you will always encounter problems with it on mac, less if you are using Safari. You might want to consider updating to safari 5.2 beta 3. It's stable, better performances and flash runs better.

 

Back to the USB3. I don't know what exactly i've done... but mine are 100% working. I'm not sure if 10.7.4 beta is to "blame" or my recent SSDT mods as i didn't bother checking the ports in the past few months.

 

One thing you can help me speed up the process. Download the latest M.Be ast and re-install the USB3 kext, then test the ports.

 

Edit: Seriously InsanelyMac ? Stop censoring my message.

 

Another edit: Due to some coffee overdose i've tested and most likely eliminated artifacts for 0x0116 users, all i need to do now is patch some kexts to allow the IGPU to use more RAM, thus reducing if not eliminating artifacts generated by memory leak.

 

@NotMeAgain, how much ram do you have? Couldn't find your exact specs on the forum.

Edited April 25, 2012 by DoiX

[NotMeAgain]

Flash.... i hate it, you will always encounter problems with it on mac, less if you are using Safari. You might want to consider updating to safari 5.2 beta 3. It's stable, better performances and flash runs better.

 

Back to the USB3. I don't know what exactly i've done... but mine are 100% working. I'm not sure if 10.7.4 beta is to "blame" or my recent SSDT mods as i didn't bother checking the ports in the past few months.

 

One thing you can help me speed up the process. Download the latest M.Be ast and re-install the USB3 kext, then test the ports.

 

Edit: Seriously InsanelyMac ? Stop censoring my message.

 

Another edit: Due to some coffee overdose i've tested and most likely eliminated artifacts for 0x0116 users, all i need to do now is patch some kexts to allow the IGPU to use more RAM, thus reducing if not eliminating artifacts generated by memory leak.

 

@NotMeAgain, how much ram do you have? Couldn't find your exact specs on the forum.

 

I'm on the caffeine as well chap, just finished migrating my companies Sharepoint/sbs to our new offices, re-routed a butt-load of dns's moved our pbx and set up 45 work stations.

 

Not bad for a nights work.

 

Specs:

l502x (Obviously)

1366x768 display

i7-something or other not too sure but it's got a default clock of 2ghz

8gb ram - osx shows 512mb dedicated to the hd3000

GT540M

 

Unfortunately, flash is the only way I can watch my time-wasting naruto episodes at the moment.

 

Another issue I have is with "Over-processing" on the line-in port, it makes my guitar sound {censored}e, but that is really low on the list of worries since i got my new marshall.

[Monkeys]

@Doix - Regarding the USB3 ports, I would love to know what you did to get them working! Mine are still flaky at best. I've tried everything I can think of including different usb3 kexts and updating the usb3 firmware through windows. Still no good. The best I can seem to get out of them is for unpowered devices like flash drives are recognized but then disconnect randomly. Powered devices such as my iPhone aren't recognized at all.. If you could post an updated dsdt with the new mods you have made I could try that to see if that helps. Then if it doesn't it would seem that maybe 10.7.4 is the reason?

 

Your help and continued efforts are greatly appreciated as always =)

[NotMeAgain]

@Doix - Regarding the USB3 ports, I would love to know what you did to get them working! Mine are still flaky at best. I've tried everything I can think of including different usb3 kexts and updating the usb3 firmware through windows. Still no good. The best I can seem to get out of them is for unpowered devices like flash drives are recognized but then disconnect randomly. Powered devices such as my iPhone aren't recognized at all.. If you could post an updated dsdt with the new mods you have made I could try that to see if that helps. Then if it doesn't it would seem that maybe 10.7.4 is the reason?

 

Your help and continued efforts are greatly appreciated as always =)

 

I've just gotten as far as you chap!

 

Before, plugging in devices to the usb3 ports randomly crashed the laptop, now the devices are showing, but not working (My bluetooth adaptor for example)

 

In system profiler beneath the usb3 hub node, it shows the BCM2045A adaptor, but bluetooth is not available.

Plugging it into the USB2 brings it back.

 

Also: I still have the weird - screen is dark until it sleeps issue

[DoiX]

@Monkeys, i'll post them tomorrow... since ive started working on it i could might as well update the installer package.

 

@NotMeAgain, hmm it means the kext is only part of the equation, probably 10.7.4/SSDT-DSDTs are the other, i'll have to isolate the exact code that makes this damn thing functional.

 

Interesting, you with 8GB experience more artifacts than 6GB systems, sounds like you just need to patch some kexts to trick OS X you have less ram. I'll PM you tomorrow the patched kext files with reduced ram and increased ram so you can test them and see which works better.

 

The fix to those pesky artifacts might be system dependent values unless i find a common denominator that can explain the "randomness"

[NotMeAgain]

@Monkeys, i'll post them tomorrow... since ive started working on it i could might as well update the installer package.

 

@NotMeAgain, hmm it means the kext is only part of the equation, probably 10.7.4/SSDT-DSDTs are the other, i'll have to isolate the exact code that makes this damn thing functional.

 

Interesting, you with 8GB experience more artifacts than 6GB systems, sounds like you just need to patch some kexts to trick OS X you have less ram. I'll PM you tomorrow the patched kext files with reduced ram and increased ram so you can test them and see which works better.

 

The fix to those pesky artifacts might be system dependent values unless i find a common denominator that can explain the "randomness"

I appreciate the effort, thank you.

 

If i could find a common denominator it would definitely help, they are few and far between and seem to disappear after the quotient of annoyance has been met, pesky buggers.

I can do something simpler and take out one of the dimms, and see if they come back. Running on 4gb isn't going to hurt me for the day.

 

Would you recommend upgrading to 10.7.4 from 10.7.2?

Just patching the speed stepping, and my applehda kexts before the reboot should see me sorted.

[DoiX]

Sure, remove one memory and see if it's better.

 

Well for me 10.7.4 is stable, tho i can't boot without -v... seems to be a chimera problem.. didn't get to see what exactly causes it. Rockball tried to update and encountered problems... meh, i say wait. It's gonna be released soon enough, i expect next week.

[HOTcakes]

Hey all,

I was having similar graphic artifacts when I upgraded to 10.7.3. I reverted all my graphics related kexts from 10.7.2 and the artifacts went away even you heavy GPU use, I can post em later.

 

I'll do it now

GFX_Fix

[maxey]

Hey all,

I was having similar graphic artifacts when I upgraded to 10.7.3. I reverted all my graphics related kexts from 10.7.2 and the artifacts went away even you heavy GPU use, I can post em later.

 

I'll do it now

GFX_Fix

 

Funny enough i have the artifacts with 10.7.2 too..

realized though, since i stopped using the USB3 ports it works better than ever, still sometimes having lock ups.

Maybe its really the 8GB? (Since i am also on 8 GB)

[DoiX]

Try removing a memory slot, or boot with maxmem=4096 not exactly sure if it accomplishes the same thing but it's worth a try. Test maxmem=6144 as well, maybe 6 GB is the sweet value.

 

I have 6GB and i rarely have GFX artifacts and when i do, switching some app to fullscreen gets rid of them.

 

USB3 Update: Well, it's working for pretty much every usb tech i could find except the iPhone. That's caused by a basic PXHCD kext error... nothing i can do about it, it requires some patching and i'm no expert in that. But on the bright side, Android phones, flash drives, keyboards, wifi dongles.. all perfectly working.

 

More info about the iPhone error: Console reports "TEH look for next TD not free" that keeps spamming the logs, as soon as you connect the iPhone, kernel_task in activity monitor will spike up to 100% and will stay like that until you disconnect the device, sometimes that won't do the trick immediately so you have to connect and reconnect it again until the process error disappears.

 

If you do that a couple of times you can get to bypass that error so you can only charge your device without the processor being at 100%.

 

P.S I assume this applies for ipads and ipods as well.

Edited April 26, 2012 by DoiX

[Rockball73]

Great news for the USB3.0. I have the same issue as somebody ine here : when I plug WiFi or bluetooth dongle in USB3.0, it's recognized but not functionnal. But when I plug it in the USB2.0, there it's working properly...

 

And as you said, DoiX, I tried a couple of times to install 10.7.4 (and with the 3 latest builds) but I always get an error when I reboot... With -v or -v UseKernelCache=no, ... So maybe when can wait for the official release and then give it a try one more time.

 

When you get some positive results with your USB fixes, if you're looking for some "beta tester", I'm here.

 

See you all.

[Monkeys]

@Doix - So did you decide that the new DSDT mods would not affect the USB3 issues? You still seem to be having better luck than me with it. Like I said, I can get devices to be recognized, apart from the iPhone, but they are not useable and they also randomly disconnect after a short time... Could you post the dsdt anyways so I can test if it helps with the issue?

 

Cheers =)

[Rockball73]

Great news for the USB3.0. I have the same issue as somebody ine here : when I plug WiFi or bluetooth dongle in USB3.0, it's recognized but not functionnal. But when I plug it in the USB2.0, there it's working properly... And as you said, DoiX, I tried a couple of times to install 10.7.4 (and with the 3 latest builds) but I always get an error when I reboot... With -v or -v UseKernelCache=no, ... So maybe when can wait for the official release and then give it a try one more time. When you get some positive results with your USB fixes, if you're looking for some "beta tester", I'm here. See you all.

I think I solved my problem (with the great help of DoiX, once again)... I had problems installing 10.7.4 because I updated directly from 10.7.2 with the combo update. The same happened when I tried to update from 10.7.2 to 10.7.3 with combo update.

Here, I tried with the Delta updates, from 10.7.2 to 10.7.3 and it worked the first time I tried (replacing all the needed kext). I hope this will work with 10.7.4 (11e52). Tell you in a couple of minute, I'm gonna press the "restart" button

 

EDIT : Unforntunately, did work with 10.7.4, so I'm stuck on 10.7.3...

I'll try 10.7.4 once again when there will be some "final" release...

[DoiX]

@Rockball, you're encountering the same problems?

 

@Monkeys, the DSDT mod is for graphic glitches, there's nothing you can change in the DSDT to make USB3 ports functional because apple hardware has no USB3 ports yet. I guess it would be possible to change them to appear like USB2 but i'm not sure it will accomplish something.

 

The SSDTs tables are the ones that may do something for it. In my case, with them i don't KP when i use the USB3 port, i didn't find exactly what code is fixing it.. but i assume it's related to the power (?) section.

 

Something i noticed, USB2 Hubs won't work at all in USB3 ports.

[Rockball73]

@Rockball, you're encountering the same problems? @Monkeys, the DSDT mod is for graphic glitches, there's nothing you can change in the DSDT to make USB3 ports functional because apple hardware has no USB3 ports yet. I guess it would be possible to change them to appear like USB2 but i'm not sure it will accomplish something. The SSDTs tables are the ones that may do something for it. In my case, with them i don't KP when i use the USB3 port, i didn't find exactly what code is fixing it.. but i assume it's related to the power (?) section. Something i noticed, USB2 Hubs won't work at all in USB3 ports.

Yes, something wrong about the FileSystem (I don't remember exactly what) and also, lots of line like "Can't load xxxxxxxxx.kext" and "Can't alloc ...."

 

Concerning the USB3 ports, I'll give it a try with other SSDT tables to see if I get any improvements... Because even with the new PXHCD from M.B.ast. 4.3.2, I can't get it working.

 

I edited my last PM to you DoiX, about the 10.7.4 problem and the USB3 issues...

[savour]

Hello i started trying to install Mac Os X Lion following DoiX's Tutorial (http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=257950&st=200&p=1759951entry1759951)

 

I have an Dell Studio XPS 15 L502X FHD(1920x1080) (i7-2670QM, 16GB Ram, 750GB HD, NVidia GT540 2GB)

 

I started with iAtkas Mac Os X Lion 10.7.1 (tried 10.7.2 also) and followed the tutorial.

I created Partition and formatted to hfs+ filesystem with Disk Utility

I choose the customizations needed and so on.

The installation was completed without a hitch.

 

I tried to boot the installation with the flags proposed

-v GraphicsEnabler=No busratio=23 (i checked i7-2670QM at intel's site for busratio), but i had no luck the boot process always stalled.

With the following error:

 

ACPI_SMC_PlatFormPlugin::Start waitForService(resourceMatching(AppleIntelCpuPoweManagment) timed out

Transcript Offline : Buffer pool allocate [18100] failed

 

I tried many combinations of flags for safe mode, single user mode, maximum memory e.t.c (-x ,-s, -f, PCIRootUID=1, maxmem=4096 e.t.c) no luck

I managed to boot successfully with rboot 1.2 but i get no keyboard found error, the colors are blend and almost half output is rendered outside screen so cant do anything.

I suspect that my issue is related with http://tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=28851, but i cannot try any solution since i cannot but the installation.

I am also concerned for the 16GB of ram i could try with 4GB ram installed if that helps.

I am completely stuck, any hints would be very helpful,

 

Many Thanks,

 

Savour

[DoiX]

@Savour,

16GB Ram holy {censored}! Anyway, you must boot with rBoot the first time.. because you need to set the SMBIOS to 8,1 or above and install my installer package.

 

ACPI_SMC_PlatFormPlugin::Start waitForService(resourceMatching(AppleIntelCpuPoweManagment) timed out <<< Patch the AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement kext...

Transcript Offline : Buffer pool allocate [18100] failed <<<< Normal error.

 

It's all in the tutorial you just linked.

[adv392]

I am not having any problems with USB 3 using v6 pack. Will check with iPhone and get back

[Monkeys]

@ Doix- So I tried the latest ###### USB 3 kext, and it sort of helped, in that it appears that my Verbatim flash drive is working now corretly. But still no iPhone or midi devices, which was what really hoping to get working..

 

Have you tried midi devices with your setup?

 

I'm wondering if there is anything in your SSDT tables that you suspect are helping to make your USB3 work correctly, that I need to integrate to my SSDT tables?

 

Do you think you could try to integrate the required information into the SSDT tables for the i5 2410m which I have uploaded here previously? Or if you could just advise me or post here what you have added?

 

Would be greatly appreciated =) The USB 3 issues are basically the last thing that I need to fix with my setup to get it running more-or-less, perfectly..

 

Also there's the very occasional graphics glitches, what did you do to eliminate yours? Care to post a guide or something similar? I have the full hd monitor and the GT 540m.

[Rockball73]

Ho, great news for you... On my install, it seems not to work. But maybe I'll make a fresh install in these days, because I think I have some errors with it : can't load MSRDumper via Terminal, can't install 10.7.4 even if it worked for DoiX, ... and some other things I didn't have before.

I hope some day we will get an unlocked BIOS with GUID support and more important : nVidia as primary GPU

 

**Please, make our dreams come true**

 

I tried 10.8 DP3 yesterday, and the install was successful, with DSDT, Speedstepper, ... and everything working as expected. Only problem that remains on my install is that I'm unable to launch apps such as Mail, Tasks, ... but Calendar, Messages, and others are working fine. Don't know if it's related to my install or if it's a general issue.

[Kirky]

Has anyone heard anything about the new MacBook Pro's? if they have nVidia graphics cards would that help solve the 540m cards, or is it still down to a bios issue?

 

I've been running 10.7.3 fine, but since upgrading from 10.7.1 I can only seem to have one 4GB memory stick installed? if I try and add the second one the system doesn't load? not sure if its an update issue or a Chimera issue. I also have occasional memory glitches, usually I log off and back on and they are fine though. Took the Bluray player out and got a hard drive caddie and run 2x 480gb Agility 3 drives, works very well editing in FCPX, but would love to have that damn elusive nVidia 540m card working!

[DoiX]

First time i hear about your 4GB only problem... when i have time i'll look into it.

This is a little random: glitches occur when having too much memory or too low, beside the overheating problem. Personally with 6 GB and modded Intel GPU kexts to have 512mb of mem detected works fine, i guess you need to have less. I said i'll release these mods with my next package... hope thats gonna be soon.

 

At the moment i'm working on DSDT for nvidia gpu.. debugging my work. I'm 90%, when i'm done i'll get confirmation if it's a DSDT problem or a driver problem. Right now it seems the DSDT is finished, the card struggling to get activated but something crashes it at startup. I've tracked that something to NVDAResman.kext. I'll debug this when i'm done with the DSDT.

 

New MBPs are rumored to have ati gpus... but it's not reliable yet. I think the next line of MBPs will be released with ML, and ML still has a lot of surprises for us.

[Rockball73]

I've got 4Go of RAM and my IntelHD is detected with 384mb of memory. Is the memory of the iGPU related to the size of RAM our laptop has? Or is it a matter of CPU power?

 

Still, if you need testers, I'm here to test your new DSDT

[DoiX]

It scales, but i think 384mb is the limit. Or Sys profiler has a visual bug, not sure. With standard kexts i too have 384mb... 8GB too i think tho i'm not sure, i've only seen one screenshot.

[Kirky]

First time i hear about your 4GB only problem... when i have time i'll look into it.

This is a little random: glitches occur when having too much memory or too low, beside the overheating problem. Personally with 6 GB and modded Intel GPU kexts to have 512mb of mem detected works fine, i guess you need to have less. I said i'll release these mods with my next package... hope thats gonna be soon.

 

At the moment i'm working on DSDT for nvidia gpu.. debugging my work. I'm 90%, when i'm done i'll get confirmation if it's a DSDT problem or a driver problem. Right now it seems the DSDT is finished, the card struggling to get activated but something crashes it at startup. I've tracked that something to NVDAResman.kext. I'll debug this when i'm done with the DSDT.

 

New MBPs are rumored to have ati gpus... but it's not reliable yet. I think the next line of MBPs will be released with ML, and ML still has a lot of surprises for us.

 

@Doix Hmm, its definitely been an odd one? I had 8gb ram when I ran 10.7.0, 512mb assigned to the HD3000 graphics and no glitches at all? Thought it might be the ram (Corsair CMS4GX3M1A1333C9) but not too sure? I think I might try and go back and start again.

 

Looking forward to the next package!