Updates
It's been a while since I've logged into this site (381 unmoderated posts or be exact, I need to go through those).
I've been extra busy with work, but the good news is that I've recently been working quite a bit on integrating the NBI chameleon patches with the official release of chameleon. Not all of the patches will be included. Chameleon 2 RC5 is coming along and already has some of the patches already include (postboot ramdisk), and I'll be cleaning up the resolution code so that can be included.
I've also begun work on integrating NBI and NBBM into the same application so as to reduce confusion on which one to use.
Lastly, I've done a little bit of work on the GMA 3150. The framebuffer kext works with the Mini 1012 and speeds up the graphics quite a bit, even without QE/CI. Right now there is a cursor corruption issues that I'm trying to fix, and if that doesn't work, I'll instead revert to a software cursor (not nearly as nice as a hardware cursor. Once I get that working, I'll be trying to get QE enabled using the GMA950 kext. There is a slowdown somewhere in the kext (like it's spinlocking where is shouldn't be / setting a register it shouldn't / etc) that I'll be trying to fix as well.
NetbookInstaller + 10.6.4
For those of you wanting to update to 10.6.4 with NBI, please note that there is a slight issues wiht NBI and large /System/Library/Extensions folders, the 10.6.4 undate increates this folder above the threshold, and so NBI is unable to regenerate the Extensions.mkext correctly. If you do update, please boot with recovery=y and run the fixed up version below
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/863180/NetbookInstaller 20100616212351.app.zip
Kernel Support for Wine
This past week I've been playing around with adding native(ish) support for wine in the kernel. Essentially, to run Win32 binaries using wine, just like Rosetta is used to run PowerPC binaries.
I've written a simple kext that hooks into XNU's executable handler functions, and tell it to run wine when it detects a windows executable.
Running exe files natively in the terminal
Pretty much, this lets you run exe's form the terminal without having to type wine first. Finder can also be set to run .exe files in the terminal, and wine will automatically be run as well.
This is just a proof of concept, there are better options out there such as Darwine.app and accompanied programs (WineHelper.app, WineBottler.app).
NOTE: Currently, the kext must be loaded manually when you want to use it. If someone wants, I'd be hapy to modify it to autoload on startup.
NOTE2: I've currently hardcoded the path to the installation of wine that MacPorts generates.
LidSleep.kext Update
I've spent a bit of time rewriting LidSleep.kext to be *much* nicer. It's finally something I'm willing to release the source for (the previous version was just a huge hack, this one is nicer). In either case, if you've had issues with sleeping via the clamshell (having to wait a set amount of time before sleeping works again), this should fix those.
Source code and Binary is attached (version 1.2)
10.6.3 DVD + 10.6.4 Status
I just finished testing both the 10.6.3 dvd and updating to 10.6.4. Everything looks good for users of NBI / NBBM.
To use the 10.6.3 DVD you *must* use NBI 0.8.4 RC1 or later. If you do, it'll install without issues.
The 10.6.4 update also applies without any issues (again, tested with 0.8.4 RC1). NBI automatically runs after the update and patches the machine. Afterwards, it works just like before.
I have had one user comment that the new kernel does not change the pm version, and as such, you need to manually specify pmVersion=19 (or =0) if you use SleepEnabler.kext instead of the native power management (we don't use SleepEnabler any more, so this doesn't affect us). I have not verified it, but just know that if you receive a panic you can work around it by manually specifying the pmVersion kernel flag.
Moving…
Just aheads up.
I'm currently in the process of moving (have been for part of last week). I won't be very active untill I finish moving, and possibly a few weeks after (finals are coming up again...). Once I'm out for summer, I should be able to send a bit more time on NBI and everything else. If it's taken me a while to respond to emails / comments / etc, that's why.
NBI Testers Wanted
As more and more netbooks are being supported, It's becoming difficult to test every single configuration on every singe netbook (which means, NBI doesn't actually get tested thoroughly). Some of you may have noticed that the last few releases have been reuploaded once or twice to fix last minute bugs that slipped out (due to incomplete testing). As such, I could use your help so that a higher quality product can be released.
If anyone is interested in testing build before they are released, let me know.
Some of the requirements are as follow:
- Must be willing to reinstall Mac OS X multiple times (as well as run it on your current version). That means you might want backups.
- Must have an 8gb or larger usb drive to test NetbookBootMaker with. you won't have to restore it every time.
- Must be proficient with the terminal. I may need you to modify extensions and generate a new mkext on your machine.
- Must have fairly good debugging issues. I won't be able to walk you through everything.
- Reliable email communication. Checking emails once a week won't cut it, although I'll try to be fairly consistent on emails. I'll also try to put up a website to help out with bug reports (or use google code, one of the two).
- In the future, windows support will be added. When that happens, access to a windows box would be extremely useful as well.
- You must be abel to create fairly comprehensive reports on what went wrong as well as how to reproduce it. A camera would also be useful to take pictures of the kernel panics, however this isn't required if you can transcribe them reliably.
If you are interested, please use the contact form or email me with the following:
- What netbook(s) you are running and willing to test with. This does not have to be a Dell netbook.
- How experienced you are at hackintoshing / manipulating kernel extension (using the terminal).
NetbookInstaller 0.8.4 RC1 Released
NetbookInstaller 0.8.4 RC1 is now officially released. For a list of changes from 0.8.3, check out the change log. This includes a few new features us well as bugsfixes form 0.8.4
Some major changes from 0.8.4 include:
- Added a recovery option to the bootlaoder. Type "recovery=y" and a known good set of kexts will be loaded. Recovery mode also defaults to the 32bit kernel so that the kernel patcher does not fail. This has been fixed from 0.8.4pre.
- AppleIntelCPUPowerManagment.kext is now used. I've create a kext that bypasses the CPUID check panic. This should allow for work to begin on speed stepping. NOTE: This can cause issues with bad DSDT's. Let me know if you have issues, if you do, I'll probably revert to a disabler for the NetbookBootMaker only, and fix the HPET during the install.
- ClamshellDisplay.kext is no longer used. It has issues in 10.6.3 and has been replaced with LidSleep.kex from the previous post. Note: you still need USB Legacy disabled int he bios for sleep to work correctly.
- NBI no longer needs to be run after an OS update, it'll run automatically at bootup.
- Initial (basic) support for the Asus 1201n. This is a work in progress and is enough to run in 64bit mode. Note that not all features are complete and this is (most likely) not as complete as other methods available. NOTE: The auto update feature is broken (I believe) for the 1201n. If you update, run NBI manually before you reboot.
- NetbookInstaller now completely support 10.6.3. This version has no issues (that I can find) compared to 0.8.3 + 10.6.2.
10.6.3 NOTE: The 10.6.3 update is *very* large. Be patient when updating, it will take quite some time. I had to reinstall my machine multiple times due restarting early, the installer freezing, or just the machine going to sleep and failing to wake up (I didn't have USB Legacy disabled). Please be careful with the update (it might be a good idea to disable sleep and to double check that USB Legacy is disabled before you update).
NOTE: This build is broken on the 1012. Don't update, the next version will fix this.
Grab the files below:
NetbookInstaller 0.8.4 RC1
NetbookBootMaker 0.8.4 RC1
NetbookInstaller 0.8.4 RC1 Source Code
ClamshellDisplay replacement: LidSleep.kext
Mac OS X 10.6.3 removes the clamshellEnabler function from the IOFramebuffer class. As such, ClamshellDisplay.kext can no longer be used to enable sleeping via the lid. I've created a simple (and yet way too hackish for my liking) kext that allows the machine to sleep like before.
The good news is that this enables lidsleeping on 10.6.3, and it can be loaded form /Extra, unlike ClamshellDisplay.kext. The bad news is that I had to resort to using code I'd rather not (such as polling). It works, but could be cleaner. I'll be uploading the source code the the google code svn repository soon. If you don't see it, send me a message.
NetbookInstaller 0.8.4pre
The latest version on NetbookInstaller has been released. There are a couple of new features but mostly just updated kexts from the previous version.
- Updated Chameleon. I've also included numerous patches which are detailed in the previous post.
- (Partial) Support for 64bit cpus. For best results boot in 32bit mode (arch=i386). I'll try to update the 64bit kexts shortly and post an update.
- Updated the bootloader code so that when chameleon is installed, it no longer messes up windows installations.
- Added code so that in the event of a system update, NetbookInstaller is automatically run on reboot.
- NetbookBootMaker no longer patches the install dvd, instead it installs a kext to patch the dvd at runtime (like NetbookCD). This means you'll probably want to restore the install dvd (this won't be required in the future since the dvd isn't modified anymore).
- Added a recovery option for chameleon. Just type "recover" and a known good set of kext will be loaded, while /Extra/Extensions.mkext will be ignored.
How to update to 10.6.3: The only requirement is that you have NetbookInstaller 0.8.4pre (or later) installed. Once you update the system, NBI will be run automatically.
NOTE: If when booting, you see the NBI logo, do *not* restart. This is indicating that NBI is running and updating files (/Extra) due to a system change. There currently is an issue where restarts take a while after NBI is running, just wait it out, eventually it'll reboot again and start up to your desktop.
NOTE2: There is no Asus 1201n support in this build, I'll try to get one out shortly (this weekend) for it.
Known Issues
- DSDT generation is broken when using NBI, it should work fine during the auto update and install versions of the app.
- Due to the above, people are having issues with the S10 sleeping and the battery information on the 10v being reported incorrectly.
- 10.6.3 breaks ClamshellDisplay (clamshellEnable is no longer exported by AppleACPIButtons).