Leopard Install Hangs (Blue Screen)

I have installed Leopard iAtkos r1 10.5.1 on a dell d620 Latitude, after the install finished and it was the moment to see the desktop or the login screen it simply hanged (nothing but a blue screen appeared), the mouse moved and it looked like something is working but no desktop exist.

the image at the top of this post is of that state, the problem is that the LoginWindow.app has crashed for some reason, this is the application that should display the login screen and after validation will transfer you to finder and desktop.

the solution is one of two:

ether you simply reboot and you will see the login screen, or that you need to copy a healthy application (from a working hackintosh) into your hard driver (recently installed leopard).

in order to copy the LoginWindow.app perform the following steps:

1. download the application or get it off another leopard dvd copy (different install DVD but not apple Leopard original one, it has to be hackintosh), you can find one in this link.

2. you can also extract it from a working hackintosh, it is found at: /System/Library/CoreServices/loginwindow.app
3. copy the extracted application into a USB disk on key or CD/DVD

4. boot into your new Leopard into single mode see here how

5. next insert the USB Disk On Key CD/DVD so the leopard will identify it

6. CD into it like this: cd /Volumes/Untitled (for example, use Tab key for auto complete so you can see what mounts are available at Volumes folder and CD into yours)

7. delete your original loginwindow.app like this: rm /System/Library/CoreServices/loginwindow.app

8. copy the application into your CoreServices folder like this: cp -R loginwindow.app /System/Library/CoreServices

9. fix permissions like this: chmod -R 755 /System/Library/CoreServices/loginwindow.app

and another command: chown -R 0:0 /System/Library/CoreServices/loginwindow.app

10. reboot

that should be it.

Enjoy.

Dell Latitude D620

today i helped another one of my friends to install a hackintosh,

this time we used an iatkos r1 version 10.5.1,

what amazed me is that the wifi airport worked perfectly out of the box in the setup screen,

we installed it on an external usb hard drive, the keyboard worked perfect, trackpad and all,

it was amazing to see almost a perfect install (including sound, and sound control with on screen display and all), beside the video card that i didn't install, it was (almost) perfect.

there was some problem after the setup stage has finished and the login screen should have came up, i mention it in my next post.

here is the wifi fully working screenshot:

in the coming days i am going to have some more installations, and i will use different types of install DVDs so you should expect more tutorials regarding other installations including screenshots, step by step walk through, and troubleshooting.

it will include: Leo4All Beta, Kalyway 10.5.2, iatkos 10.5.2 R2...

hope it will help more for the installers out there.

meanwhile Enjoy this great song:

Enjoy.

Constant reboot after OSX86 install

if you are suffering from endless reboot after leopard hackintosh install, then follow these steps to solve it.

1. check your BIOS setup (see this post)
2. try using some darwin bootloader switches (or combinations of them):
cpus=1
-f
-x
-v
-legacy
platform=X86PC
platform=86PC
rd=diskXsY (where X is the number of the leopard drive starting from 0 and Y is the number
of Leopard partition starting from 1 example: rd=disk0s1)
see "Darwin Boot Options" for more details
3. make sure (from windows) you have at least SSE2 using the CPUz utility as stated in this post
4. try reinstalling with as minimum options you can (please see my post "Install Leopard")
5. try to install the leopard without EFI support
6. goto the HCL and make sure that your hardware is supported.
7. try stripping hardware pardts you don't need for the install process (like PCI cards, 1.44, USB deices etc.)
8. i heard (i dont believe its true, but doesn't hurt to try) you need to change the name of the hard drive to something without spaces, special characters something like: "myhd"
9. if you are using kalyway 10.5.1 then try "TOHKERNEL" at the darwin boot prompt it will boot TOH kernel instead of the vanilla one (this solution is mostly for when the DVD reboots befor getting to the graphical install screen).
10. if you are using iAtkos r2 or later then make sure you choose "x86 Darwin Bootloader"
11. if you are using iAtkos r1 then make sure you done the Darwin boot loader step in the Install Leopard post (try with and without the EFI support)
12. a more complex way is to:

1. boot the Leopard install DVD
2. from the darwin boot prompt write -s and press enter
3. write: /sbin/mount -uw /
4. goto /usr/standalone/i386
5. write: ./startuptools -v /dev/rdiskXsY boot (where X stands for the number of Leopard installed hard disk starting from 0, and Y stands for Leopard installed partition starting from for example: rdisk02)
6. reboot

hope this helps,
Enjoy.

Blinking cursor after OSX86 install

blinking cursor after hackintosh install or blinking cursor after leopard install.

if you encounter a blinking cursor after you installed the hackintosh OSX86, you probably did not follow my "Install Leopard" post, in it i explain how to do the fdisk step (after darwin boot loader install), the fdisk stage state that the hackintosh leopard partition is bootable and that partition should be booted from.

in order to fix the blinking cursor after the install you need to take these staeps:

1. insert the leopard install disk and boot from it into single mode (press F8 and write -s and press Enter), see more detail here.

2. write /sbin/mount -uw /

3. write fdisk -e /dev/rdiskX (X stands for the number of hard drive your leopard is installed on)

4. write p and press enter, it will print your partition table, find the one that Leopard is installed on (the partition should be of HFS+ file system type)

5. write f X (where X stands for the number of the partition your leopard installed at)

6. write u and press enter (for update)

7. write w and press enter (for write)

8. write q and press enter (for quit)

9. reboot and it should work. (don't forget to eject the install DVD)

10. if your Leopard install partition is allready bootable (you see at the 'p' command at step 4 that the partition is marked by *), then just flag (step 5) some other partition as bootable (doesn't matter what partition), reboot, and repeat the process to flag back the leopard partition.

this should get you out of the Jam.

Enjoy.

All About Kext

What is KEXT?
KEXT stands for Kernel Extension, this means that whatever needs to run in the kernel (OS core) environment can be written as extension and then loaded, even after the OSX has finished loading, this mostly answer the needs for hardware drivers.

Where are kext located?
kext are not files rather a folder (disguised as a file),

Leopard holds kext files/folders in the /System/Library/Extensions folder,
at boot time the relevant kext are uploaded from Extensions.mkext this is a cache folder that contains kext related to the installed hardware,

you can delete it, if Leopard can't find it, it will create it again,

you can also state to rebuild it from darwin prompt at boot time using the switch -f see this post for further information.

How to Load and UnLoad Kext?
Kext can be loaded and unloaded during runtime using the kextload and kextunload command lines.

in order to load kext, from terminal write:
sudo kextload kextName (where kextName stands for the kext name you want to load)
enter your password and press enter
the system should reply with a success or fail message.
see the manual page for this command

in order to unload kext, from terminal write:
sudo kextunload kextName (where kextName stands for the kext name you want to unload)
enter your password and press enter
the system should reply with a success or fail message.
see the manual page for this command

you can also check the load status of your kext using kextstat, from terminal write:
sudo kextstat
the system will display a list of loaded kext and details on it
see the manual page for this command

How to Install a new Kext?
cd /System/Library/Extensions
mv KextName.kext KextName.old (where kextName stands for the kext you want to replace)this will rename the kext and this way back it up, it is highly recommended, warmly advised, very important to follow this step, it saved my OS many times

cd /path/to/new/kext (put your downloaded kext path here)
cp -R KextName.kext /System/Library/Extensions

next you need to fix permissions so the kext can be executed by OS user (root/system)
cd /System/Library/Extensions
chmod -R 755 KextName.kext
chown -R 0:0 KextName.kext (this will set the ownership on files to system user (root))
rm /System/Library/Extensions.mkext (this will reset all kext caching done by OSX)

KextHelper


there is an easier method (not appropriate for all kext installs but works for 99% of them),
it is a little utility named KextHelper and can be downloaded here.

kext helper is a window that allow a drag and drop interface to install quickly a kext (including fix permissions).

in order to install new kext using KextHelper follow these steps:
1. launch KextHelper
2. drag and drop to the center of the application the kext you wish to install
3. enter your password in the bottom textfield
4. press the "Easy Install" button
5. wait for success reply
6. reboot

there are also advanced features such as backup, run script, etc.
if you are a developer you might want to read apple "Kernel Extension Programming"

Enjoy.

Hackintosh Drivers

Edie:
soon my site will be ready give it a try:
http://www.osx86driver.com/osx86driver

"Where can i find OSX86 / hackintosh drivers"
this post is for all the people that asked "where can i find a driver for..." well here is a link list that i will maintain:

for those of you that don't know a kext is mac kernel extension or as called in windows a driver.
access "All About Kext" post in order to find out how to install one.

links to the drivers is at the OSX86 Project HCL (Hardware Compatibility List) there is one for each OSX version released on the OSX86 Project:
Leopard 10.5.2
Leopard 10.5.1
Leopard 10.5.0
Tiger 10.4.9
Tiger 10.4.8

link lists and threads found on insanelymac:
a great compiled list of kext
Keyboard and trackpad/mouse
Video Cards
Ethernet
Wifi
CardBus/PCMCIA
Network Printers
Audio
Misc

here are some important kext that may get lost in the list:
NVInject - NVidea Injection kext that support nVidia video cards
Titan - Support for ATI and nVidia video cards
Natit - Open-Source Support for ATI and nVidia video cards
Natit - Natit releases by Netkas (better IMO)
PC_EFI - EFI support for PC, what makes OSX86 updates, and run native kernel possible
AppleSMBios - Apple System Management BIOS Driver

Enjoy.

MultiBoot using Vista BootManager

I have promised to write these multi-boot procedures so here they are, this is the first of them, displaying how to multi boot OSX86 and Vista using the Vista Boot Manager.

in this procedure i assume that you have installed OSX86 first on a virgin computer and now you want to add Vista partition to it. (if you just want the procedure skipping, installing and fixing vista then jump to step 16)

1. Create a new partition that Vista will be Installed on using your favorite partition creation software (like Partition Manager, Partition Magic, GParted, etc.)


2. Install Vista as you normally do, just make sure you install it to the new created partition, identify it by its order number (first, second or third...) and by its size.


3. after vista is installed and working as you want it to (yea right), now its time to restore OSX partition to be bootable (so HFS+ Error will not appear), insert the Leopard/Tiger DVD and boot into single user from it (see here how)


4. mount your file system write : /sbin/mount -uw /


5. get into fdisk write: fdisk -e /dev/rdiskX (where X is the number of OSX HD starting from 0)


6. display the partitions table write: print or p for short


7. next make your OSX partition bootable (should be of type HFS+) write:
flag X (where X stands for your OSX partition number mine here is 2)
then write:
update or u press enter
write or w press enter
quit or q press enter
and reboot


8. you should be able to see the darwin boot loader and boot into OSX, if you get a blinking cursor, or HFS+ Error repeat the procedure.


9. now when you try to boot back to windows from the darwin menu you get error saying windows is missing winload.exe or corrupted.


10. repeat the procedure in steps 3 to 7 with one difference: flag the windows partition instead of the OSX like this:


11. now its time to fix vista partition, insert the Vista DVD and boot from it


12. in the next screen press next


13. press the link in the bottom "Repair your computer"


14. from the "system recovery options" dialog press "Repair and restart"


15. if it didn't help then you need a more advanced option, you can check this wonderful article on that issue.

16. next we add OSX86 Leopard to vista BootLoader menu from the vista start menu write cmd and right click it from the findings and choose "run as administrator"


17. at the dos box write: bcdedit /copy {current} /d Leopard this will cause the windows boot entry to be copied using the name leopard, it will reply with the GUID of the created partition entry, we will soon use it


18. you may see your entries by writing: bcdedit /enum active, it will reply with all entries like this:


19. next we set the new created leopard GUID to the OSX boot file write: bcdedit /set {YOUR_CREATED_GUID} PATH \chain0


20. lastly we copy the OSX boot file chain0 from the leopard DVD it is found in the root of the DVD to c:\ of Vista (in case you can't find it on your DVD download it here)


21. reboot, you should see the vista boot screen with Leopard entry that leads to booting OSX

you can find reference and information about bcdedit command line here.
tell me about problems that may occure and inconsistencies so i will update the post, i will also add more multi boot methods in next posts.

Enjoy.

Apple Mac vs Microsoft Windows History

I have read some articles on windows and mac history just to try and figure out if it was allways that good on the mac side and i was just MS windows adict without the ability to try other stuff, well guess what...

here is a very good and representative image that display the history quickly (thanks to lirent.net):



and here is an in depth article with screenshots (thanks to WillyHoops blog).
this is yet another good screenshot comparison of Mac OSX vs MS Windows.

Enjoy (your history).

Google Analytics (23.04.08)

Changed Poll, added Google Analytics data

hi,

sorry i havn't written any thing in the last few weeks, i am on a vecation (it is passover in israel), i am having a quality time with the kids and wife, and with the computer (just not for blogging, gaming with BF 2142 mostely),

there are some people out there with LG laptop like mine,
that asked me if i have writen a keyboard driver,

i was wondering how many of you really need it,
if there is a real need then i will start porting the linux driver code and start a support section for it, so i started a poll/vote for that, please let me know if you are one of those people.

so what is going to happend with windows vs mac poll you ask (no? you didn't ask? really?), well i have decided that every month i will publish my google analytics report for browsers and OS, i did not find an automatic way to do this so i am capturing the screen and pasting into a post.
(google analitycs made a "share my data" option but didn't expose it for free use with API of some sort)
here is the last position of that pole:


hopeing it will serve someone,
Enjoy.

Make XP look like Mac

Have you ever wanted to make your XP (or Vista) look like a mac?
this post will explain how to dress XP up so it will look and partially behave (not really) like a mac.

the reason i wanted to do that is: i wanted to enjoy the beauty of mac on my XP at work, unfortunately i couldn't convinced my boss that Mac is the correct platform for development :-)

Change the Boot Screen
so first things first, lets change the first screen we see when we launch the XP/vista the boot screen. in order to do that we need to download the application that replace it, and the Apple boot screen:

1. Stardock BootSkin
2. Apple Boot Screen for XP

the result of the boot screen looks like this:

Granted its not a mac with the round circle but its better then XP boot screen.

Change Logon Screen
next thing you would like to change is the Logon Screen, this also done using Stardock utility, note that this is a Tiger logon screen, but i guess you can create easily a leopard logon screen, you can download it here:

1. Stardock LogonStudio (for XP or Vista)
2. Mac Tiger Logon screen

Here is how it looks on my XP:


Change Explorer to Finder (overall look and feel)
next part i wanted Explorer to look like Finder, and start menu bar like leopard menu bar, there are several ways to achieve that, the most popular is Windows Blinds again a Stardock product, but fortunately there is also a free option called FlyAKiteOSX (this one is actually taking care of everything logon screen, logoff screen, explorer, start menu etc. but as Tiger)

1. FlyAKiteOSX home page (you got to see this site)
2. Stardock WindowsBlinds (change the visual style of Windows XP)
3. A Full Leopard Visual Style for WindowsBlinds
4. Mac OSX Tiger Skin for WindowsBlinds
5. and another skin of Tiger for WindowsBlinds (better one IMHO)

Here is the WindowsBlinds Configuration Window: (at the bottom you see the available visual style and a preview in the middle)

After you download the skin, you can import it using the "Add Visual Styles" button on the left, and after choosing the style press "Apply my changed" button on the left.

Install Apple Applications
next you would like to do (even if you will not change anything) you got to download the apple Safari browser and iTunes music player, beside making it more apple like OS these are very good (free) products that apple released for the Windows environments, they are not as good as on the mac (far from it) but still windows boring UI get some Mac injection of beauty. also if you would like to have a program like iPhoto then you should download Google's Picasa (if you haven't already)

1. Apple Safari
2. Apple iTunes
3. Apple QuickTime
4. Google Picasa
   

Change Icons and Wallpaper
the obvious part is the leopard or tiger wallpaper that will complement the windows rigged OS, and a set of icons to replace "My Computer", folder, Control Panel etc. icons. if you are using FlyAKiteOSX that will make a complete makeover to your windows and you will not need any thing else (for a tiger look and feel), but if you have decided to try to achieve the full leopard look and feel then you will need Stardock IconPackager that will allow you to change every icon on windows.

1. Stardock IconPackager
2. Leopard Wallpapers
3. Leopard Icons pack (press the Download link from the upper menu)
4. Another Leopard Icon Pack (better one)

Sorry but didn't made screenshots for this part.

Install Leopard 3d Dock
Last but certainly not least, the Dock, what Leopard Mock up can be complete without a shiny sexy 3D dock. also here there is an option from Stardock named ObjectDock, but i think that the free RKLauncher is by far more beautiful and if you get the iVista version (yea, yea get that one) of RKLauncher you get the Grid and Fan Stacks like.

1. Stardock ObjectDock (nice, have a free version and a leopard 3D look as well but no stacks)
2. RKLauncher (O' Natural)
3. RKLauncher iVista version (get this one! in order to download press the image, and there is a video displaying the Dock behavior)

here are my screenshots Dock:


Fan (note the Drawers icons):


Grid stack (the stack background is transparent just like in leopard):


Add Expose and Spaces
lastly we need to add some behavior and to invest a little in the feel and not just in the look,
there are two more additions i used: one is the Expose like for windows and the other is the Spaces like for windows.
now this one was a little hard to choose since there are a lot of them, but i will not include all of them, but here are some i tried:
Expose:

• http://www.oxygen-inc.com/premium/InsaniSoft/iEx.htm
• http://onlinetoolsteam.com/WindowsExposer/Download.asp
• http://www.otakusoftware.com/topdesk/index.html (the one i chose)
• http://www.reflexvision.net/
• http://www.anthasoft.com/anthabounce-windows-tools.php

Spaces:

• http://www.codeplex.com/vdm/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=6819
• http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/
• http://www.free-soft.ro/desktop/desktop.html
• http://www.dexpot.de/ (the one i chose)
• http://update.docs.kr/entry/Download-Summary-en (3D Cube)
• http://www.otakusoftware.com/deskspace/index.html (3D Cube)

Add Dashboard
download and install one of the many dashboard like applications, there is the Google Desktop that displays the gadgates on a SideBar and you can drag the gadgates out of the sidebar to anywhere on the screen (and auto hide the SideBar). but it will not allow you to hide them all and display all on demand using a hotkey, only from the tray icon or sidebar

this is where the Yahoo! Widgets come in to the game, it displays the widgets in a SideBar (optioanl) that shrinks down when idle, and can be removed or auto hide, the widgets also display on the desktop and can be right cliced->hide and revealed when moving to "Heads Up" mode, you can right click the side bar or tray icon and select "Heads Up" or you can use the HotKey associated with This mode. this mode show all the hidden widgets at once and darken the screen just like in OSX (no kinky animation but stil...), just dont forget to choose "" from options so the blue background will disappear and replaced with the darker glass. (see the screenshots and movie at the end of this post). another cool faeture is that it can put widgets in 3 modes:

1. normal like any other window
2. always on top (always show the window in the foreground on top of other windows)
3. always in the back (as if it lives on the desktop)

Dashboard:

• Yahoo! Widgets (First press "get started" and then you can run it in "Heads Up" mode
• Google Desktop + Gadgaets download page
• DesktopX (another good dashboard like application)

another application i suggest to use is "TransBar" which allows you to make the XP bar transparent, this way you can edit your wallpaper to display the OSX bar and when clicking on the apple - the start menu appear (tacky i know)

and here are some screenshots of the end results:













Enjoy.

Shift+Delete to Permanent delete (Without Trash)

Are you tired of doing "Empty Trash" immediately after delete?
did you ever wanted to look in the trash and remove directly a file or two? without empting the whole trash can?
this is one feature that Apple over-looked, but windows switchers miss.

well miss no more, i have written an AppleScript (PermDelete) that allows the deletion of a file or several files or folder/s immidiately without going through the Trash.

I used "Spark" which is a cool free utility that runs a demon that allows you to keep keyboard shortcuts and bind them to AppleScript, Applications, Documents etc. once you click that combination anywhere in leopard (or Tiger), the demon traps it, and execute the appropriate operation you tolled it to, in our case Shift+Delete (not backspace) to execute the PermDelete AppleScript.

How will it Work?
while in Finder you can select files and folders and press Shift+Delete (not backspace) and a dialog will appear asking are you sure you want to delete this? if you press "OK" then the selected files and folders are deleted forever without a possibility to undelete or going to the trash to find them, if you press "Cancel" the script aborts and the deletion is canceled.

another benefit you get from this is that you can goto the trash and remove single or multiple items from the Trash without the need to empty the whole trash, just by selecting and pressing Shift+Delete (not backspace).

What is Apple Script?
AppleScript is Mac plugin script language, it is the VB for mac, it allows interaction with every application there is, activate features of that Application, control parts of the OS, even after an application has launched it can be manipulated, given instructions just as if you used its API or a user pressed on the menus and buttons, i will cover AppleScript in the comming posts on Dev4Mac.

What Do i need for the Task?

1. Download this Script (i wrote it, use it freely)
2. Download Spark utility

How to Install?
Install Spark Utility (very straight forward, mount the DMG, copy to Utilities or Applications)
execute Spark
add the PermDelete script to the AppleScript HotKey Group like this:
from the Option drop down menu on the upper left corner choose "AppleScript".


next choose your keyboard shortcut (i used Shift+Delete)


write some meaningful name to this shortcut, and choose "File" tab and select the previously downloaded permDelete script


lastly press the start button on the bottom of the screen so the Spark Demon can start working


that's it, try it.
you should get this dialog any time you try to permanently delete a file


one thing to remember: if you want this feature to be available from now on, you need the Spark demon running at all time, make it load at startup (if you stated so in the first run, or you can add it to your startup items look howto here). also if you alter the script then you should restart the demon from the application so changes will take effect, just run it again and from the screen press stop and start on the bottom button.

Enjoy.