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Dell XPS 410 Resource Extravaganza

slave-zeo

By slave-zeo,
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Bezerk
Bezerk
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I bought the Nvidia 9400 1Gb card for mine, used osxtool to create the efistring for it but cant get it have different resolutions, any ideas?

 

/B

 

That card does not support quartz or core image. It is garbage in os x. If you want to make work I hope you know how to program. I have the nvidia 9400 1gb and it works great under windows and os x. It's easier to get a supported card graphics are a pain in the ass.
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iMoshi
iMoshi
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anybody do the 10.6.3 update? Any gotcha's?

If you had no trouble upgrading to 10.6.2, then 10.6.3 is safe...

 

I bought the Nvidia 9400 1Gb card for mine, used osxtool to create the efistring for it but cant get it have different resolutions, any ideas?

 

/B

Do you use any other injector? Like GraphicsEnabled=Yes etc or NVenabler?

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iMoshi
iMoshi
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No just osxtools...

 

/B

Something weird that I have experienced is, on some install EFI works very very well, but on some installs it just does not wanna work and you have to try something different... You know...

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scottyd33
scottyd33
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OK! Here's where I stand now!

 

Tried installing Snow onto my 1 internal HDD and it went off without a hitch.

 

I tried updating to 10.6.2, but when I reboot after a successful update message I get a kernel panic (no matter what flags I use) and cant boot into Snow anymore.

 

I reinstalled 10.6, and tried updating to 10.6.1 first. That went just fine and I currently am running 10.6.1.

 

I try updating to 10.6.2 from 10.6.1 and when I reboot I get the "waiting for root device" error again. I can't figure out why that's happening again. Why would I be able to boot into 6.1 with no problems but 6.2 gives me waiting for root error?

 

Any ideas?

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iMoshi
iMoshi
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OK! Here's where I stand now!

 

Tried installing Snow onto my 1 internal HDD and it went off without a hitch.

 

I tried updating to 10.6.2, but when I reboot after a successful update message I get a kernel panic (no matter what flags I use) and cant boot into Snow anymore.

 

I reinstalled 10.6, and tried updating to 10.6.1 first. That went just fine and I currently am running 10.6.1.

 

I try updating to 10.6.2 from 10.6.1 and when I reboot I get the "waiting for root device" error again. I can't figure out why that's happening again. Why would I be able to boot into 6.1 with no problems but 6.2 gives me waiting for root error?

 

Any ideas?

Yup I know why that happens exactly. It's one of 2 reasons.

1. Did you write down your boot-uuid in your com.apple.Boot.plist?

2. Did you change Sata settings in your BIOS?

 

Solution for 1. Go into your Disk Utility, get the info of your UUID by right clicking on your OSX Installed Partition, copy "Universal Unique Identifier" which may look like 8X63C639-34FA-3EDA-91DF-E7B3218536C5 and add that to your com.apple.Boot.plist exactly like: <key>Boot Flags</key> , <string>boot-uuid=8X63C639-34FA-3EDA-91DF-E7B3218536C5</string> and update it using the terminal ./update.sh

 

Solution for 2. Go into your BIOS and change your Sata settings. Because, 10.6.0 was working fine with SATA on, but since I updated to 10.6.2 it would't...

 

Now we're all on 10.6.3

 

Good luck buddy :(

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scottyd33
scottyd33
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I did change my SATA settings and that didn't fix it. I did not update the UUID like you said.

 

Question though - I'm assuming I'm supposed to put that in there AFTER updating? How can I do that if OSX won't boot after updating?

 

Or do I do it BEFORE I update to 10.6.2?

 

Thanks again! I'm almost there, I've got Windows 7 running now so I'm in the home stretch!

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iMoshi
iMoshi
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I did change my SATA settings and that didn't fix it. I did not update the UUID like you said.

 

Question though - I'm assuming I'm supposed to put that in there AFTER updating? How can I do that if OSX won't boot after updating?

 

Or do I do it BEFORE I update to 10.6.2?

 

Thanks again! I'm almost there, I've got Windows 7 running now so I'm in the home stretch!

Yup. That's why you were having trouble. You should put that right after you install OSX, repair permission etc... You know, you should get done with the Vanilla settings and all before you reboot for the very first time.

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scottyd33
scottyd33
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Didn't get a change to play with it much unfortunately. Where is update.sh? I copied my UUID into com.boot as directed but no matter where I tried to run update.sh it would give me command/file not found error. Do I need to be in a specific directory? I know that update.sh came with the Vanilla folder for working with EFI, but if I install and run that won't it mess up my Windows 7 boot?

 

Yup yup. So how did it go?
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scottyd33
scottyd33
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Still no dice.

 

Followed your advice, updated to 10.6.3 and reboot.

 

Now I get still waiting for root device error. Tried different flags/raid on and off and same thing happens.

 

When it's booting I can see "waiting on root volume with UUID ...." and the UUID listed is the one I entered so it seems I did that right.. Thoughts?

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iMoshi
iMoshi
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Didn't get a chance to play with it much unfortunately. Where is update.sh? I copied my UUID into com.boot as directed but no matter where I tried to run update.sh it would give me command/file not found error. Do I need to be in a specific directory? I know that update.sh came with the Vanilla folder for working with EFI, but if I install and run that won't it mess up my Windows 7 boot?

Ok, I have no idea if it'll mess up your Windows installation... But if I were you, I'd take this time to switch to Windows. That update.sh file is meant to be ran from Terminal however. I have not found any info of it from Google, so BrownDogFred taught me how to use it ;) here's some terminal worl:

 

1. sudo -s

2. enter your password

3. assuming your Vanilla folder is in root: cd /Vanilla/boot.plist

4. ./update.sh

5. cd/Vanilla/EFIkext

6. ./update.sh etc...

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scottyd33
scottyd33
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Ok, I have no idea if it'll mess up your Windows installation... But if I were you, I'd take this time to switch to Windows. That update.sh file is meant to be ran from Terminal however. I have not found any info of it from Google, so BrownDogFred taught me how to use it ;) here's some terminal worl:

 

1. sudo -s

2. enter your password

3. assuming your Vanilla folder is in root: cd /Vanilla/boot.plist

4. ./update.sh

5. cd/Vanilla/EFIkext

6. ./update.sh etc...

 

 

No no - i get how to use it.. my problem is that I never had a Vanilla folder anywhere. Last time I installed Snow I ran EFI finisher and the guide said "it will make a Vanilla directory on your computer" - but I couldn't find the Vanilla folder anywhere.

 

I downloaded a vanilla.zip that had all of the directories/files you mention above, but it never got "installed" anywhere.

 

here's my process:

1. install 10.5 with the iPC disk.

2. Modify the appleahci kext to include the correct string for my HDD (0x2822086 or something like that - i needed to do this to get rid of the root device error before)

3. restore the 10.6 image to a 2nd partition on a usb flash drive

4. install the chameleon package found in this thread to the 1st partition

5. boot from the USB and install snow

 

This gives me a 100% working 10.6. I can download and install 10.6.1 and have no problems there either.

 

So this evening I tried adding the UUID like you mentioned and I got the waiting for root error. I've never HAD to use the EFI finisher (or the Vanilla folder stuff that you mentioned above) to get 10.6.1 working. What am I missing? Where am I going wrong?

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iMoshi
iMoshi
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No no - i get how to use it.. my problem is that I never had a Vanilla folder anywhere. Last time I installed Snow I ran EFI finisher and the guide said "it will make a Vanilla directory on your computer" - but I couldn't find the Vanilla folder anywhere.

 

I downloaded a vanilla.zip that had all of the directories/files you mention above, but it never got "installed" anywhere.

 

here's my process:

1. install 10.5 with the iPC disk.

2. Modify the appleahci kext to include the correct string for my HDD (0x2822086 or something like that - i needed to do this to get rid of the root device error before)

3. restore the 10.6 image to a 2nd partition on a usb flash drive

4. install the chameleon package found in this thread to the 1st partition

5. boot from the USB and install snow

 

This gives me a 100% working 10.6. I can download and install 10.6.1 and have no problems there either.

 

So this evening I tried adding the UUID like you mentioned and I got the waiting for root error. I've never HAD to use the EFI finisher (or the Vanilla folder stuff that you mentioned above) to get 10.6.1 working. What am I missing? Where am I going wrong?

EFI finisher never installed Vanilla folder on mine either. So here I got mine for you. http://imoshi.com/vanilla.zip I have only edited com.apple.Boot.plist, and all did not touch anything else. MIND that AppleIntelPIIXATA.kext file in EFIkext folder. You may have to replace that with an older one (it was made for 10.6.3). Put that extracted folder in your Root. In my case, it'll be Macintosh HD. So yours should be whatever the name you gave when you made the parition. Maybe Snow Leopard. Put Vanilla folder in there, make sure you have EFI finisher installed, go into the boot.plist folder, edit com.apple.Boot.plist to your needs. Let's just say the one I gave you is a template of it. Open up your Terminal.app type down sudo -s and enter your password, type down "cd /Vanilla/boot.plist" hit enter, type down "./update.sh", type down "cd /Vanilla/DSDT" , "./update.sh" , and "cd /Vanilla/EFIkext" etc and update every folder that has .update.sh file. Quit Terminal.app after you're done, open up Disk Utility, Fix Permissions reboot (assuming you're still on 10.6.1 or lower). Power it up, if it doesn't boot up try booting up with arch=i386 (for 36bit) reason is I was first having trouble running OSX in 64 bit. If it works, add <key>Kernel Flags</key> , <string>arch=i386</string> in your com.apple.Boot.plist for a while. I have found a better solution. And now try updating from Software Update. After the update is done, and when booting give it -f flag. When you update to 10.6.3 you may have to use -f flag everytime, but BrownDogFred has found a solution to it. That is included in the folder I gave you named AppleIntelPIIXATA.kext in EFIkext folder.

 

Remember few things:

 

1. update.sh is used only from Terminal. to run that script you have to be logged in as Root User (sudo -s and hit enter, and enter your password)

1.1 Terminal command: cd /path-to-/folder is the way to find your update.sh file

1.2 To run it, enter: ./update.sh

2. After updating EFIkext folder and SLEkext folders, Repair Disk Permission from Disk Utility.

3. BOOT-UUID is important in com.apple.Boot.plist

4. We have installed OSX in different way than how you have installed it.

5. AppleIntelPIIXATA.kext inside EFIkext folder is for 10.6.3 (one that's in the .zip file)

6. You may have to use 32 bit flag first.

6.1 If yes, and your OSX can't run in 64 bit, I'll give you another boot file

 

Good luck!

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scottyd33
scottyd33
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This is excellent man - all makes sense and I have a good feeling it will work. Can't wait to get home and try it. Thank you again!

 

EFI finisher never installed Vanilla folder on mine either. So here I got mine for you. http://imoshi.com/vanilla.zip I have only edited com.apple.Boot.plist, and all did not touch anything else. MIND that AppleIntelPIIXATA.kext file in EFIkext folder. You may have to replace that with an older one (it was made for 10.6.3). Put that extracted folder in your Root. In my case, it'll be Macintosh HD. So yours should be whatever the name you gave when you made the parition. Maybe Snow Leopard. Put Vanilla folder in there, make sure you have EFI finisher installed, go into the boot.plist folder, edit com.apple.Boot.plist to your needs. Let's just say the one I gave you is a template of it. Open up your Terminal.app type down sudo -s and enter your password, type down "cd /Vanilla/boot.plist" hit enter, type down "./update.sh", type down "cd /Vanilla/DSDT" , "./update.sh" , and "cd /Vanilla/EFIkext" etc and update every folder that has .update.sh file. Quit Terminal.app after you're done, open up Disk Utility, Fix Permissions reboot (assuming you're still on 10.6.1 or lower). Power it up, if it doesn't boot up try booting up with arch=i386 (for 36bit) reason is I was first having trouble running OSX in 64 bit. If it works, add <key>Kernel Flags</key> , <string>arch=i386</string> in your com.apple.Boot.plist for a while. I have found a better solution. And now try updating from Software Update. After the update is done, and when booting give it -f flag. When you update to 10.6.3 you may have to use -f flag everytime, but BrownDogFred has found a solution to it. That is included in the folder I gave you named AppleIntelPIIXATA.kext in EFIkext folder.

 

Remember few things:

 

1. update.sh is used only from Terminal. to run that script you have to be logged in as Root User (sudo -s and hit enter, and enter your password)

1.1 Terminal command: cd /path-to-/folder is the way to find your update.sh file

1.2 To run it, enter: ./update.sh

2. After updating EFIkext folder and SLEkext folders, Repair Disk Permission from Disk Utility.

3. BOOT-UUID is important in com.apple.Boot.plist

4. We have installed OSX in different way than how you have installed it.

5. AppleIntelPIIXATA.kext inside EFIkext folder is for 10.6.3 (one that's in the .zip file)

6. You may have to use 32 bit flag first.

6.1 If yes, and your OSX can't run in 64 bit, I'll give you another boot file

 

Good luck!

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scottyd33
scottyd33
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No dice. Followed your steps and ended up getting waiting for root device error after rebooting after update. Other than that everything went fine. It's worth mentioning that I replaced that 10.6.3 only kext you warned me about with an older one, but did not replace it afterwards. Might that cause it?

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Bezerk
Bezerk
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Had a look today, now all the resolutions are there.... Must be something in 10.6.3...

I´m happy!

 

/B

Something weird that I have experienced is, on some install EFI works very very well, but on some installs it just does not wanna work and you have to try something different... You know...
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scottyd33
scottyd33
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Get this.

 

I was not paying attention when i tried to boot into my Snow Leopard installation USB (I was going to reinstall just now.)

 

I didn't have the USB set to the primary boot device, so the chameleon installed on my hard drive loaded.

 

I had the choice of loading windows, Snow Leopard, or SnowInstaller.

 

I chose snow installer with flags of -v and -f like I always did to install Snow.

 

All of the sudden, I see my desktop. My computer booted into Snow 10.6.3. Sound and internet was working.

 

I rebooted without the USB inserted and got waiting for root.

 

I rebooted with the USB inserted and tried selecting Snow Leopard (instead of SnowInstaller) - waiting for root no matter what flags I tried.

 

I tried again, selected Snow Installer and booted with only -v. Waiting for root.

 

So I can now boot into 10.6.3, but only if I use the Chameleon on my hard drive, with usb drive inserted, and choose SnowInstaller with -f -v.

 

WHY WOULD THIS HAPPEN?

 

I don't care if I have to keep a usb drive inserted to boot into snow, but I'd like to figure out what is happening here!

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iMoshi
iMoshi
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Get this.

 

I was not paying attention when i tried to boot into my Snow Leopard installation USB (I was going to reinstall just now.)

 

I didn't have the USB set to the primary boot device, so the chameleon installed on my hard drive loaded.

 

I had the choice of loading windows, Snow Leopard, or SnowInstaller.

 

I chose snow installer with flags of -v and -f like I always did to install Snow.

 

All of the sudden, I see my desktop. My computer booted into Snow 10.6.3. Sound and internet was working.

 

I rebooted without the USB inserted and got waiting for root.

 

I rebooted with the USB inserted and tried selecting Snow Leopard (instead of SnowInstaller) - waiting for root no matter what flags I tried.

 

I tried again, selected Snow Installer and booted with only -v. Waiting for root.

 

So I can now boot into 10.6.3, but only if I use the Chameleon on my hard drive, with usb drive inserted, and choose SnowInstaller with -f -v.

 

WHY WOULD THIS HAPPEN?

 

I don't care if I have to keep a usb drive inserted to boot into snow, but I'd like to figure out what is happening here!

That's weird! Maybe EFIfinisher did't install correct. I'm on my laptop right now, will be home soon. I'll give you my boot file. You may wanna replace the one you have in your EFI partition with mine. I don't remember what exactly, but it fixed me lotsa stuff. Anyways, go into your EFI parition (google for EFIupdater.app), see everything in there. I think it may be because you have chameleon boot file in your Leopard install. And maybe it's loading 2 boot files or whatever... Really have no idea. I'm sure BrownDogFred and RedG and other masters will help you better. You know what? Go to BestBuy, jack an 16gb thumb drive. I made my friend do that once :D he said it was easy, and fast. Wear some Mexican like big hats, it's getting hot these days so no one will make fun of it. Go to BestBuy like store, Grab a 16gb that is in the smallest box, put that in your hat (the laser sensors can't scan a thing if you're taller than 5.8"), and just walk off :P

 

Prolly a bad idea. But, I really recommend installing it on a single partition. Or just buy a new hard drive. Maybe you'll find a 160gb for 30 bucks maybe..? And install OSX on the bigger and better one. Because you'll hate Windows after a month or bit longer and wanna get rid of it. I work with lots of StockPhotos and .psd, .ai, and thousand of pages of .php, .js, .css etc... So OSX really helps me, saves me time, makes the job lot easier sma rter faster and I find more fun switching between my Spaces (you'll know what it is ^.*), Expose, QuickLook and Powerful Spotlight. And all the apps that are made for Mac are all organized, all have same basic shortcuts, and all are f*ing beautiful! F* Windows, F* Windows apps except for Ccleaner and Adobe Suites :D

 

Oh well, I was bored a minute ago :P again, you should get red of your Leopard install, or it's boot file at least. Otherwise, I kinda doubt that your Graphics card and all extra stuff are working fine since Snow Leopard is booting up from USB that has no extra kexts... Or... Iono... :P

 

I will not take any responsibility if you lose your important data or whatever :D

 

edit: try booting with arch=i386 flag

 

Had a look today, now all the resolutions are there.... Must be something in 10.6.3...

I´m happy!

 

/B

Good for ya! I got something better for me :D I still keep that "troublesome GT220" and I wanna make that work someday :P just wanna succeed with something lol

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scottyd33
scottyd33
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Well, I did it!

 

I stumbled across this kext last night:

 

http://www.kexts.com/view/339-fix_still_wa...device_....html

 

Installed that as a long shot, and BOOM. 10.6.3 loads just fine. Only problem is I have to use arch=i386 or it will freeze one it hits the desktop.

 

To automatically enter boot flags, you modify the boot.plist and add <key>Boot Flags</key><string>arch=i386</string> right?

 

I tried that but it doesn't seem to take. Am I doing something wrong?

 

Anyway - thanks to this thread (and many others) I now have a beautifully running XPS 410 dual booting with Windows 7 and Snow Leopard 10.6.3!

 

If you have any waiting for root device errors that you can't figure out, try that kext!

 

Thanks Moshi and everyone else!

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