cgsheen
01-23-2008, 06:17 AM
Sorry, I'll warn you upfront this post will likely be longish...
Some unusual things I've learned fooling around with Zephyroth 10.5.1:
A. Installing on an EXTERNAL hard drive:
I've tried several installs on spare hardware I have lying around. I've avoided trying to install OSx86 on any of my main computers (mostly running Vista, and mainly HTPC's running Vista Media Center (Home Theater Computers - we have three))
I also wanted to try installing it on my AMD laptop (which ISN'T very OSx86 friendly), but NOT on the internal drive.
Anyway, I did an install to a USB 2.5" hard drive - from a computer that was already running Zephyroth. Once the install was done, I DIDN'T boot from it on that computer (not that it would matter, I found out later). I attached it to my laptop and booted the laptop from the USB drive. Much to my surprise, it actually worked! (I still had problems that would keep the laptop from being fully usable, but it got me into the desktop and many functions worked)
OK, that didn't work so well & I've got OSX sitting on the USB drive - I decided to plug it into ANOTHER computer, boot up, and see what happened. Ya, it worked. I started in safe mode and it actually ran on completely different hardware. I did this with a couple of computers to verify. Best part is: YOU NEVER have to go through "account creation" again!
MORAL:
1. External drives are cooler than I thought.
2. Having problems with a particular install? Install to an external drive on ANY computer and use the external drive to boot your "problem child"...
3. It's a lot like Linux! You can carry your OS around with you (almost...)!
B. OSx86, The 8600GT, and HDTV
One of the computers I hadn't heretofore touched was our main HTPC - a newish AMD AM2 setup with a 690G motherboard, an LG Combo HD-DVD / Blu-ray drive, the nvidia 8600GT video card, and DVI to a 55" Mitsubishi 1080i widescreen rear-projection HDTV.
Yup, I hooked up my little USB drive and rebooted! And it worked... After I was in the Desktop, I loaded the 10.5.2 nvidia kexts with 8600 support and rebooted.
Danged if it didn't come back up with the Desktop at 1920x1080! I hurried and checked: FULL QE/CI support! AND: In the Display Settings, not only were multiple resolutions enabled, TV SUPPORT was also active - AND overscan compensation! The Mits is a CRT rear-projector and it overscans - badly... Initially ALL edges of the Desktop were cut off. I unchecked "overscan" and the display came back to normal!
Dude!
I still haven't fixed the chipset kexts or checked the sound codec, but it's running FAST, video support is awesome, the Realtek RTL8110 Gigabit LAN is purring right along, and my wireless multimedia keyboard is working great!
Anyone interested - here's the hardware specs:
Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H 690G AM2 Motherboard (onboard Radeon x1250 video is disabled)
Realtek RTL8110 - Max LAN Speed 10/100/1000Mbps - working (supported natively)
Realtek ALC889A HD Audio (working! with digital audio output!)
Athlon64 x2 4200+ AM2
2GB Dual Ch RAM
Gigabyte fanless 8600GT PCIe (WORKS with all features supported!)
Maxtor 320GB SATA HD (SATA enabled with the VIAATA kexts!)
LG GGC-H20L Combo Blu-ray & HD-DVD drive (SATA & working! Wish OSx could play HD-DVD's! )
FusionHDTV5 Gold & FusionHDTV3 Gold QAM PCI ATSC tuners
PowerColor 550 Pro PCIe NTSC Tuner
Mitsubishi WS-55813 55" RP HDTV - DVI
Some unusual things I've learned fooling around with Zephyroth 10.5.1:
A. Installing on an EXTERNAL hard drive:
I've tried several installs on spare hardware I have lying around. I've avoided trying to install OSx86 on any of my main computers (mostly running Vista, and mainly HTPC's running Vista Media Center (Home Theater Computers - we have three))
I also wanted to try installing it on my AMD laptop (which ISN'T very OSx86 friendly), but NOT on the internal drive.
Anyway, I did an install to a USB 2.5" hard drive - from a computer that was already running Zephyroth. Once the install was done, I DIDN'T boot from it on that computer (not that it would matter, I found out later). I attached it to my laptop and booted the laptop from the USB drive. Much to my surprise, it actually worked! (I still had problems that would keep the laptop from being fully usable, but it got me into the desktop and many functions worked)
OK, that didn't work so well & I've got OSX sitting on the USB drive - I decided to plug it into ANOTHER computer, boot up, and see what happened. Ya, it worked. I started in safe mode and it actually ran on completely different hardware. I did this with a couple of computers to verify. Best part is: YOU NEVER have to go through "account creation" again!
MORAL:
1. External drives are cooler than I thought.
2. Having problems with a particular install? Install to an external drive on ANY computer and use the external drive to boot your "problem child"...
3. It's a lot like Linux! You can carry your OS around with you (almost...)!
B. OSx86, The 8600GT, and HDTV
One of the computers I hadn't heretofore touched was our main HTPC - a newish AMD AM2 setup with a 690G motherboard, an LG Combo HD-DVD / Blu-ray drive, the nvidia 8600GT video card, and DVI to a 55" Mitsubishi 1080i widescreen rear-projection HDTV.
Yup, I hooked up my little USB drive and rebooted! And it worked... After I was in the Desktop, I loaded the 10.5.2 nvidia kexts with 8600 support and rebooted.
Danged if it didn't come back up with the Desktop at 1920x1080! I hurried and checked: FULL QE/CI support! AND: In the Display Settings, not only were multiple resolutions enabled, TV SUPPORT was also active - AND overscan compensation! The Mits is a CRT rear-projector and it overscans - badly... Initially ALL edges of the Desktop were cut off. I unchecked "overscan" and the display came back to normal!
Dude!
I still haven't fixed the chipset kexts or checked the sound codec, but it's running FAST, video support is awesome, the Realtek RTL8110 Gigabit LAN is purring right along, and my wireless multimedia keyboard is working great!
Anyone interested - here's the hardware specs:
Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H 690G AM2 Motherboard (onboard Radeon x1250 video is disabled)
Realtek RTL8110 - Max LAN Speed 10/100/1000Mbps - working (supported natively)
Realtek ALC889A HD Audio (working! with digital audio output!)
Athlon64 x2 4200+ AM2
2GB Dual Ch RAM
Gigabyte fanless 8600GT PCIe (WORKS with all features supported!)
Maxtor 320GB SATA HD (SATA enabled with the VIAATA kexts!)
LG GGC-H20L Combo Blu-ray & HD-DVD drive (SATA & working! Wish OSx could play HD-DVD's! )
FusionHDTV5 Gold & FusionHDTV3 Gold QAM PCI ATSC tuners
PowerColor 550 Pro PCIe NTSC Tuner
Mitsubishi WS-55813 55" RP HDTV - DVI