[ PRE-INSTALL AUTOMATOR v1.1 ] For easily installing vanilla snow leo.

djnitehawk · #1 09-12-2009, 03:55 AM

What is this?

This is a script which lets you do quick and easy Snow Leopard installs by automating the pre-install preparation process.

What exactly does the script do?

It takes care of the following:

Installs Chameleon 2 RC3 boot loader
Creates a patched dsdt.aml file for your specific motherboard
Installs the required kexts + boot plist

Why use this?

Fully automated - you only need to tell it where to install
No more typing commands in terminal
No more editing plist files
- No need for EFI strings for nVidia graphics cards. Chameleon 2 RC3 detects them automatically.
- No need for disk UUID strings. Again, Chameleon takes care of it.
Can install to any disk/partition, even to raid helper partitions
Can be used from within Leopard 10.5 or Snow Leopard 10.6
Can be used straight from the retail Snow Leo Installer DVD (follow guide below).
Not specific to a certain motherboard make/model.
Helps doing a basic pure vanilla installation quickly.
Can easily customize for your needs.
- Can easily add any additional kexts for your system
- The source code is editable

Warning:

This is not meant for complete noobs. It will not magically give you a working Snow Leopard install. The upcoming iKaros distro is recommended for that.

How do I use this?

This script could be used in a few different ways but here's the easiest way that i could come up with to get a working Snow Leo installation quickly.

Brief guide (for experienced/intermediate hackintoshers):

Restore the retail "Snow Leopard Install DVD" to a read/write disk partition (hdd or usb flash drive).
.
Download and extract the attached zip file to your desktop.
.
Add any additional kexts your system needs to the following location: (see tip #2 below)
- "desktop/snow-installer/filez/Extra/Extensions/"
  .
Run the script from your "desktop/snow-installer/installnow" by double-clicking on it or via the terminal.
.
Go through the on-screen prompts. Select the above restored install dvd partition as the target.
- For ex: "/Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD" so that the installer dvd partition becomes bootable.
  .
Copy the folder "desktop/snow-installer" to the above restored location.
- For ex: "/Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD/"
  .
Restart the computer and boot into the above install dvd disk/partition.
.
After the retail installer loads, go to the menu and click "Utilities" > "Terminal" and type the following to launch the script again:
- "/snow-installer/installnow"
  .
Go through the prompts again and select your ultimate Snow Leo destination disk/partition.
- For ex: "/Volumes/MySnowLeo"
  .
Close the terminal and continue with the retail snow leopard installer and select the same location you chose in step 9 as the target for installing.
- "/Volumes/MySnowLeo"
  .

That's it in 10 easy steps!!!

Is this guaranteed to work?

Hell no!!! No guarantees...
Use at your own risk...

This is just a tool that i made to make my life easier when doing new OSX installations for myself and friends. Just wanted to give something back to the community.

I apologize in advance if i don't answer your questions in a timely manner. Im sure all the other knowledgeable members here will step in and help...

Last but not least... My heartfelt gratitude goes out to the following people:

-The Chameleon Team (for a kick ass boot loader)
-Netkas (for fakesmc)
-Fassl (for the dsdt patcher)
-Voodoo Team (for voodoohda and voodoops2)
-Psystar (for openhaltrestart)
-iAtkos Team (for giving me my first fully working hackintosh)
-Everyone else that's made OSX86 a reality.

LONG LIVE THE HACKINTOSH SCENE!!!

Note for non-nVidia graphics card users:

If your graphics card is not nVidia, chameleon's auto graphics detection will not work. Before doing anything, please edit the file "desktop/snow-installer/filez/Extra/com.apple.boot.plist" and change the "Yes" to "No" where it says:

GraphicsEnabler=Yes

Then you will have to take whatever measure necessary to add the proper graphics card support by using EFI strings, injectors/enablers, custom kexts, etc. Just search the web/forums for help with that...

Tip 1:

Before running this script, please go through your bios setup and make sure that the following(or similar) are enabled if available. these settings help in trouble[free/less] booting.

hpet(high precision event timer), sata ahci, intel xd(execute disable bit), intel vt (virtualization technology), acpi 2, s3 sleep state, intel speedstep

even if they are not available, just give it a whirl and see what happens.

Tip 2:

The kexts that are included in this package are only the real basic ones that are required to get a basic vanilla system running on any modern desktop assuming it has sata hdd's with ahci support + multi core intel processor + intel chipset on southbridge etc...

You may have to add any additional kexts your system might need for ex: sound + network + ide hdd support etc. if they are not detected by the stock kexts that come with snow leo...

The best way to figure out what additional kexts are needed, is to look at a guide specifically written for you motherboard or computer model and see which kexts are missing and simply add them in step 3 of the above guide.

Tip 3:

Some kexts such as network card drivers, sound drivers (voodoohda) do not work from "/Extra/Extensions" if that's the case for you, simply move them to "/System/Library/Extensions" once you get your basic snow leo up and running.

Tip 4:

After messing with the "/System/Library/Extensions" always issue the following commands in the terminal so that there wont be any errors regarding permissions and outdated boot caches:

sudo chown -R root:wheel /system/library/extensions
sudo chmod -R 755 /system/library/extensions
sudo diskutil repairpermissions /volumes/NAMEOFSNOWVOLUME
sudo touch /system/library/extensions

Tip 5:

This script generates and places a dsdt.aml file on the target disk which will only work with the computer you ran it on.

If you want to try booting that disk on a different computer, you can temporarily disable the loading of the patched dsdt.aml by interrupting chameleon at boot time by pressing any key and typing in the following:

"DSDT=nothing.aml" without quotes.

Tip 6:

The patched dsdt.aml currently does not include the "cmos reset fix" which is required if your bios/cmos gets corrupted/reset everytime you reboot. So if your mobo suffers from this problem, you will have to edit your dsdt manually. Guide's can be found on the net on how to do that...

Im currently trying to learn the C language so i can update Fassl's dsdt patcher code with the cmos reset fix. If any of you C pros out there would like to help, that would be great!!!

Revision History:

v1.0:

Initial release

v1.1

fixed issues encountered when running from within leopard 10.5
solved bash external command dependencies when running from the retail dvd installer
increased error checking for trouble[free/less] operation
enabled manual volume mounting/unmounting in case of error
updated the guide for better and trouble[free/less] install experience

Request from the pros:

If you think any of the info on this post is incorrect or could be improved, please do let me know...

And you guys are welcome to edit the script and make improvements to it. Just send me a copy so i can post it up here...

.

InteliMacPro · #2 09-12-2009, 04:18 AM

I'm sitting here wondering if it would fix my dsdt recompiling problem, cuz if all it does is the basic patch dsdt/iasl decompile/recompile, i'm screwed. I have to force compile and get an error and three warnings, then i edit it, and it won't recompile because of said errors/warnings. Nice work though.

djnitehawk · #3 09-12-2009, 04:34 AM

aha...

yeh this script only does the basic dump > fix > compile using fasssl's dsdt patcher... which is usually enough to get a machine to boot without any hitches...

question: what dsdt patches are u trying to apply? cos ur mobo has the ich9r chipset, which is exactly what my mobo has and the only non-standard dsdt fix im using is the "uhci/ehci devices to ich10" hack in order to get my machine to go to sleep...

clarification: this script dumps whatever dsdt table u have in memory when it runs... so if u somehow have a manually patched dsdt loaded atm, that will be what is used from now onwards...

if u somehow have a weird bios and ur stock dsdt is screwed up, try doing all the hacks by hand using this tool:
http://www.osx86.es/?p=610

good luck!!!

InteliMacPro · #4 09-12-2009, 04:44 AM

i don't think i've ever applied a dsdt mod... I tried it with force compile on the iPC install disc awhile back, but i never noticed if it worked. The only thing i need it for is to get my cmos to stop resetting, otherwise i wouldn't care about it. Although I'd love to be able to get mine to sleep/wake. It's never done that and I haven't ever really put much time into getting it to work.

djnitehawk · #5 09-12-2009, 04:49 AM

u only got to change a single line for the cmos reset fix right... change a 4 to 2 or something right... cant remember...

try doing that with DSDTSE app i posted earlier...

it also has fixes for a lot of compile errors u might be getting...

InteliMacPro · #6 09-12-2009, 04:51 AM

yeah i just downloaded it. I'll give it a try. I've gotten the line edited, where i run into the problem is on recompiling it back to an .aml. Using iaslme it just gives me a log file. I'll give dsdtse a shot though. thanks

djnitehawk · #7 09-12-2009, 04:53 AM

attach ur dsdt.dsl file ill give it a shot as well...

InteliMacPro · #8 09-12-2009, 05:35 AM

Here ya go. I included the log too. You probably don't need it but i don't know how to find the problems without it. Thanks for taking a look. Feel like i'm hijacking your thread here.

djnitehawk · #9 09-12-2009, 06:26 AM

no worries mate!!!

here's ur dsdt all fixed up...

do test it on ur machine let me know if its working properly...

good luck!!!

InteliMacPro · #10 09-12-2009, 08:16 AM

I could freakin' KISS you. Works like a champ. No more cmos reset. THANK YOU. I've been beating my head against that one for the last 3 days.