I've been googling my Dell Inspiron 2200 to see what osx086 distro would be the most painless to get up and running, but most of the comments out there are old, which is no surprise, as my PC is no spring chicken.

Can anybody advise as to the best distro to use for this notebook?





The specs are:

• Intel Pentium M 735 (1.7GHz) Processor
• 512MB PC2700 DDR Memory
• 40GB 4200rpm Hard Drive
• 24x CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive
• 14.1" XGA LCD and Intel GMA 900 Integrated Graphics with 128MB Shared Memory
• AC'97 Audio
• v.92 56Kbps Modem, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11g Wireless
• Three USB 2.0 and One Type II PC Card Slot

I'd like to use it on a home network with other Win XP PCs if that's at all possible.

Many thanks.

I recommend to use a Leopard Retail DVD for installation using an 132-Boot CD with Voodoo based Kernel.
OS X supports using Samba - if it's about filesharing...

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For your response.

But I really have no idea about Bootloaders and stuff... was hoping to simply put in a dvd and watch it install Or am I living in a dream world?

This is what many people promise themself from using a prepatched distro...
But it many cases using the prepatched systems default settings doesn't even let OSX boot up for them.
What distros do is to offer a number of packages within customized Setup options, that contain patched stuff, additional kernel extensions, bootloader, etc - http://i41.tinypic.com/r8cl1k.jpg this is for example the list of packages included in iAtkos v7 - you know what you need to select to have a working configuration? I guess you don't.

The way OSx86 work is simple, most of us use a bootloader that emulates the EFI Firmware & number of Kernel Extensions - patched default ones and additional ones, that are used for various purposes to make OS X boot on your Hardware - those of us who don't have a Intel Core- or -Nehalem even use a patched Kernel, as the default one (usually called Vanilla) doesn't work for them.
Newer bootloaders even allow to inject values to the systems default Kernel Extensions, so that you no longer need to edit them. This is also possible by using a patched DSDT table, but thats advanced stuff.

If you build such a system configuration yourself you will learn how this works, what will make it much easier for you to find a solution if you run into problems.
When using a disto you might not know about all modifications done and how they work, so this wouldn't be such easy to use.

If you want a system that runs OS X without grobing your system, getting a Mac is the best way.

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Thank you v much for your in-depth response... Really wasn't expecting to receive so much individual attention...

But I would like to give it a shot, non-retail. Is there a distro you can recommend?

Most latest Leopard prepatched systems, are made to be universall. I think the one I named above - "iAtkos v7" is one of the best compilations avaible...

I used to take some research about your notebook, as you provide a bit too less infos about it, so my following statements are based on the infos here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=418387
But it seems to match with yours.

In generall this options would fit for your hardware:

iATKOS v7 Main System
Chameleon v2
/Extra directory
DSDT
dsmos
9.7.0 Kernel voodoo
Disabler
OHR
Intel SATA/IDE
Apple PS/2 driver
Intel Pro/100 VE
Laptop Battery
Post-Install Actions

The Wifi will work out of the box & for the sound I can upload a specific one - but VoodooHDA should work as well.

Your biggest problem will gonna be the GMA900. It's not supported by OS X natively - so you need patched GMA950 drivers to use it.
The result is that you might run into a plain blue screen without your desktop beeing loaded and / or beeing able to work with an external monitor only.
There are fixed Kernel Extensions to solve this - you just need to install - more infos here:
http://www.infinitemac.com/f19/how-t...ht-full-t1754/

Good Luck - excuse my bad english and feel free to report back if problems emerge.

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Imkantus - thanks so much! I'm dling Iatkos as we speak! Very grateful for the lengths you went to in finding drivers and info for me.

Who knew people that I've never met could be so kind!

What are your thoughts on iPC instead of iAtkos? It seems to include many more drivers from what I've been reading... I could be wrong...

Any idea where I could locate a specific sound driver?

Well the iAtkos release is more up-to-date - for example a lot of the SMBIOS fixing is no longer requiered with using Chameleon v2 & VoodooHDA works on allmost all ALC*** codecs. Things like that are mainly whats making the iPC package-list looking bigger.

But you're right iPC might be a better choice for you, as it already contains a GMA900 driver.

On iPC I'd try the following settings:

iPC OSx86 10.5.6 Base System
9.5.0 Voodoo Kernel
Intel GMA900
Intel ICHx SATA Drivers
Intel PRO 100/VE
AppleACPIBatteryManager
Clamshell Display Support
Seatbelt.kext 10.5.5
Shutdown / Restart Fix
PS/2 Keyboard Fix
PS/2 Mouse Fix
Patch DSDT with NewHPET
Chameleon with SMBIOS/DSDT

Here you go.

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Thank you. I've seen a number of osx86 installation videos on youtube. Are there any specific ones you can recommend? Or any text tutorials that have been written for complete idiots?