Dell Vostro 1500 Mega Thread

[gfodor]

NICE! I got my wireless working now, thanks man!

[batman612000]

Hexidecimal GREAT GUIDE!

 

I have a Vostro 1500 with similar specs. I used the Kalway 10.5.1 install and everything works (excluding shutdown,restart,sleep). When I update using Kalway 10.5.2, my ethernet stopped working. People also have the same problems: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=88636 but there is no solution. I am wondering if you guys can help me out.

[Descalzo]

Am I the only one who's tried this and gotten nothing?

 

I installed using the iATKOS v1.0ir2 disk, I selected the choices suggested in the thread, it installs, and I get nothing. I use the GPartEd liveCD to flag it bootable, and still get nothing. I get the flashing cursor. So I tried it again and got the infinite reboot loop. Am I alone here? More importantly, do you all have any suggestions?

 

Thanks

[M. Carlson]

Am I the only one who's tried this and gotten nothing?

 

I installed using the iATKOS v1.0ir2 disk, I selected the choices suggested in the thread, it installs, and I get nothing. I use the GPartEd liveCD to flag it bootable, and still get nothing. I get the flashing cursor. So I tried it again and got the infinite reboot loop. Am I alone here? More importantly, do you all have any suggestions?

 

Thanks

 

Hey - I had this same thing happen when I was first setting up iATKOS v1.0ir2 on my Vostro. The issue is with how the installer options were changed in ir2, after the instructions were written. You have to install *all* of the bootloader options, not just one or the other of them. What you're seeing right now is only *half* the Darwin bootloader, and why you just come up with a blinking cursor. Good luck.

[Descalzo]

OK, I finally fixed this. I had named the volume "Hackintosh HD", unaware that I was only allowed one word for the volume name. I fixed it to one word, "Leopard" and installed all the bootloaders and it seemed to work.

[x4N70pHyLL]

Hi,

 

I tried to install Leopard a couple of times from different releases and always had a problem with my GF 8600M GT. I had to delete the NV**** files manually before I was able to boot. Finally, I had a working Leopard, but without the devices not working (Bluetooth, n-wlan, Sound and, of course, wothout a proper working graphics driver). I have the 1680x1050 Display and was not able to set another resolution than the default one.

 

Anyone with an idea? What release should I use?

[Descalzo]

Hi,

 

I tried to install Leopard a couple of times from different releases and always had a problem with my GF 8600M GT. I had to delete the NV**** files manually before I was able to boot. Finally, I had a working Leopard, but without the devices not working (Bluetooth, n-wlan, Sound and, of course, wothout a proper working graphics driver). I have the 1680x1050 Display and was not able to set another resolution than the default one.

 

Anyone with an idea? What release should I use?

 

I hope I understand you correctly, and I hope I can help because I have the same video card and resolution you do, and I got mine to work.

 

I ran this installer: http://monoperative.net/~lysol/8x00%20Inst...0Leo%20Only.zip

 

I rebooted (which took longer than usual) and it just worked. The guy who posted that link to the HCL used the Kalyway DVD, and I used the iATKOS DVD, so it should work with either one.

 

Also, huntz back on page 3 got 2 screens working. You might want to do what he did.

 

Let me know what you try and what works.

[stangri]

I hope I understand you correctly, and I hope I can help because I have the same video card and resolution you do, and I got mine to work.

 

I ran this installer: http://monoperative.net/~lysol/8x00%20Inst...0Leo%20Only.zip

 

I rebooted (which took longer than usual) and it just worked. The guy who posted that link to the HCL used the Kalyway DVD, and I used the iATKOS DVD, so it should work with either one.

 

Also, huntz back on page 3 got 2 screens working. You might want to do what he did.

 

Let me know what you try and what works.

Do both QE/CI and restart/shutdown work for you now? The Vostro 1500 I've experimented with before belonged to a friend and I no longer have access to it, but will ask my friend to bring his laptop in if you have found the solution for the shutdown/restart problem.

thanks!

[Descalzo]

Sorry, man. Reboot, sleep, etc. don't work for me still. I have full graphics functionality aside from that, as far as I can tell. I played 2 full games of Warcraft 3 on Battle.net, and it never crashed or hiccupped. I also haven't tried 2 screens yet, nor have I tried huntz's solution. I'm just waiting until I get up the patience to possibly have to do a reinstall.

 

While I'm posting, what solutions have you all tried with the touchpad? I'm wishing I had scrolling or something working.

[Descalzo]

I got the second screen working, and it looks to have been eaiser than I thought.

 

I reread huntz's post on page 3 of this forum, then I followed the link at the bottom of his post, which led me here.

 

I read that post, and decided to try just what he did. I edited the NVInject.kext Info.plist file to include the value from a MacBook Pro's video card. Here's his post, which I recommend reading for yourself.

 

This is the trick for have a VGA out WORKING on my mac box:

- then with PlistEditPro modify the Info.plist in NVinject.kext (the value to edit is in IOKitPersonalities -> NVinject -> entriesToAdd -> NVCAP) changing the NVCAP value with this value of a 15" MacBook Pro 8600M GT 256Mb:

040101010e0001000e0000000000010b00000000

 

Remember, you can't use vi or nano to edit that plist file, because the NVCAP value is not written in plain text. You'll have to use an editor. I used the one he recommended. Anyway, I edited the NVInject.kext, cleared cache, repaired permissions, rebooted, and I hooked up an external monitor. It's working!

 

If you have any problems, I hope I can help you.

 

Speaking of problems, here's what I had to do to edit that plist file:

I had to download plisteditpro, download Pseudo, extract Info.plist, open plisteditpro with Pseudo, then use plisteditpro to open the extracted plist, then edit the plist file and put it back in the kext. All this so I could authenticate to save a read-only Info.plist file. Is there an easier way?

[x4N70pHyLL]

I dont really understand your problem with shutdown/reboot. Whats the exact problem with it? I had as i wrote iAKTOS and TOH working, and none of them refused to reboot/shutdown. I had to do some things as deleting graphic kexts and making the drive bootable but then it worked as it should.

[Descalzo]

My problem with shutdown is this: When I tell OSX to shut down or reboot, it turns off the OS, but not the computer. The screen goes off and everything, but the power lights are still on. I have to hold down the power button until the computer finally shuts all the way down. This happened after I got the audio and video working properly.

[stangri]

I dont really understand your problem with shutdown/reboot. Whats the exact problem with it? I had as i wrote iAKTOS and TOH working, and none of them refused to reboot/shutdown. I had to do some things as deleting graphic kexts and making the drive bootable but then it worked as it should.

Descalzo below has described what happens to restart/shutdown if you use the nvidia kexts. You can remove the nvidia kexts to regain the shutdown/restart, but then you will lose Quartz Extreme/Core Imaging. It's ok if all you do is Office/Internet, but most games, the built-in DVD player and some iLife applications require QE/CI to run. Essentially you either get a QE/CI or the shutdown/restart for now, until someone comes up with the proper kexts.

[indianguy]

@ ALL forum insanely members

 

 

i have dell inspiron 1520 with gma x3100

i have checked most of the forums i dint find a solution for this.

 

my problem is that i have to use either sleep display trick or sleep display script to get the display on after login . i.e. as soon as i login the screen goes black and then i move mouse little bit to get the display. moreover whenever i change the screen resolution then also the same problem occurs

the screen goes black. so this is a big problem because i cant play any games, becoz games on being run have different native resolution different from desktop resolution.

[M. Carlson]

@ ALL forum insanely members

 

 

i have dell inspiron 1520 with gma x3100

i have checked most of the forums i dint find a solution for this.

 

my problem is that i have to use either sleep display trick or sleep display script to get the display on after login . i.e. as soon as i login the screen goes black and then i move mouse little bit to get the display. moreover whenever i change the screen resolution then also the same problem occurs

the screen goes black. so this is a big problem because i cant play any games, becoz games on being run have different native resolution different from desktop resolution.

 

The ways of dealing with the X3100 are handled in a lot of detail on the Vostro 1500 Mega thread, which you can easily search for on this forum.

[indianguy]

sorry to say, but the solution posted on this website is i have been already using.

using a script sleep display.

 

but the problem occurs on playing games like warcraft , whose native resolution is different from desktop's

[Descalzo]

I have heard about this 9.2.2 kernel. I have heard that if you have EFI and vanilla kernel it works like a charm. I don't have EFI, but do have the vanilla kernel. As anyone tried this out? From what I understand, it helped some people get shutdown/reboot to work. Others got sleep to work with it. Others had shutdown and sleep broken. I'm anxious to try this, but don't dare kill my working install.

[Artreus]

Thanks a lot for this article, it helped me out. I had tried it a long time ago with my Inspiron 9200, which ended up being not supported, so it was really nice to find a guide for my new laptop. Everything is working wonderfully (aside from battery meter, sleep/restart/shutdown) but those are not a problem.

 

However, I was wondering if there was something else you guys could help me with. I am considering the puchase of My Book Home Edition 1 TB Hard Drives ( WDH1CS10000 ) this soon. It comes with eSATA capability, and the Vostro does not have the slots, but it does have an expresscard slot, which I was going to buy. However, as I was looking around, I found some people saying you can not boot from an eSATA linked HD. Do you guys know if this is true of the Vostro 1500?

 

If I bought the USB only model, it would end up saving me about $80, but the speeds will be much lower and I won't be able to run video games or whatever as smoothly as I would like (or will I be able to?)

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

[k3nny]

I guess there should be no problem to reboot and shutdown when you create an EFI string for your video card. I heard this helped people to solve the issue. I successfully created one for the nVidia GeForce 8600M GT but i use kernel version 9.2.2 (vanilla) now and thus cant reboot or shutdown.

Using an EFI string allows you to delete the NVInject.kext.

[Descalzo]

I guess there should be no problem to reboot and shutdown when you create an EFI string for your video card. I heard this helped people to solve the issue. I successfully created one for the nVidia GeForce 8600M GT but i use kernel version 9.2.2 (vanilla) now and thus cant reboot or shutdown.

Using an EFI string allows you to delete the NVInject.kext.

 

Could you expound on that? It sounds like you had full graphics support, with QU/CI, including reboot/shutdown, and then you upgraded the kernel, and that broke reboot/shutdown. Is that right?

 

I wish I was on EFI, so I could try this out. Too bad I only have 32-bit XP and no Vista.

 

However, as I was looking around, I found some people saying you can not boot from an eSATA linked HD. Do you guys know if this is true of the Vostro 1500?

 

I only wish I could answer that question. I have no way to connect an eSATA drive. I would imagine that the Vostro is susceptible to the same problems as any other computer, though.

[k3nny]

Could you expound on that? It sounds like you had full graphics support, with QU/CI, including reboot/shutdown, and then you upgraded the kernel, and that broke reboot/shutdown. Is that right?

 

I wish I was on EFI, so I could try this out. Too bad I only have 32-bit XP and no Vista.

 

You dont need Vista for this.

The problem is that the version shipped with iAtkos does not accept EFI strings. You manually need to install the latest one. Here is a good tutorial this guide, its pretty easy.

I didnt have the chance to test reboot/shutdown because i installed all the updates plus kernel 9.2.2 directly after the installation. But I'm very sure reboot/shutdown would actually worked with the fixed 9.2.0 kernel and efi.

 

I attached the .plist file I successfully applied to enable the 8600M GT (256MB) and SigmaTel Audio 9205. For the most of you I guess it would be enough to edit both PciRoot paths and to convert the .plist into an efi string.

A nice tutorial on how to do this, is located here.

 

Good luck

8600M.GT.256_SigmaTel.9205.rar

[seldomheard]

which Stac9205.txt to i use? there are 5 different ones on the link provided.

thanks

[k3nny]

Is there any way to get the multimedia buttons on the front panel working? The three sound buttons are ok, but the rest not.

[Descalzo]

The Macgirl thread says the media buttons are usable, but I didn't get them to work. Have a look at it.

[Descalzo]

FYI, I just tried adding the EFI string in com.apple.Boot.plist, and had no success. I had to put back my audio and video injectors and do all the chown and kextcache and permissions and everything.

 

I'm using the latest kernel and everything. If anyone else tries it and has some success, let us know.