[MacG]

Preamble
I'm a long-time Mac user (and Fanboy) but I'm also a collector of computers and gadgets from my past. I have a very nice collection of computers and gadgets, going back to CP/M. I have 10-15 Ataris (my first computer), 20-30 Macs and Apple IIs, including a Bandai Pippin and...

Click here to read the entire tutorial

[desmodus]

I got it to work... Here is what I did (combined from various posts):

Dell Mini 10v Mac OS X install:
I started with a 10.5.0 retail DVD and A0 BIOS
1. No need to Press F2 to change firmware settings, the 10v was all ready set with the correct settings for Mac OS X install.

2. Insert the Mac OS X Leopard Install DVD into your Mac, as well as the 8 GB drive. Open Disk Utility (in the Utilities folder of Applications) and select the 8 GB drive in the list. Select the Partition tab, set the Volume Scheme as "1 Partition", name it OSXDVD, and select "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" as the Format. Click "Options...", select "Master Boot Record" and click OK then Apply, then click Partition and confirm your decision by entering your password. (This should only take a minute or two.) Now switch to the Restore tab, drag the OSXDVD partition icon from the left into the Destination field and drag the DVD volume named "Mac OS X Install DVD" to the Source field. (Do not drag the CD Drive model, that will mess things up.) Press Restore, confirm the decision by pressing Restore in the next window, enter your password, and then wait for it to finish. Depending on the drive and disc quality, this can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours.

3. Ran DellEFI Bootloader 3.3 (for 2GB models, use 3.2 for 1GB)

4. Put the DellEFI bootloaders and the OSX 10.5.7 combo update on another stick

5. Pressed F12 to boot off USB Flash Drive

6. Booting starts and the OSX install wizard will open. I selected English as main language, press Continue, and Agree. Now click Utilities in the Menu Bar, and open Disk Utility. This time we want to select your SSD drive, then select the Partition tab. (This can also be performed on an external flash/HDD drive.) Volume Scheme is "1 Partition", Name is "OSXMINI9" (all caps, no quotes), Format is "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)", and you need to click "Options..." to change it to "GUID Partition Table". Click OK, Apply, and confirm the decision. Once it is done formatting, close Disk Utility, select your new partition, and click Continue. I selected Customize and deselected all Language Translations, Additional Fonts, Printer Drivers and Xcode tools. Click Done, and then Install. This can take anywhere from 20-50 minutes.

7. Installation will most likely fail, but that's okay, it's normal. However, do not press Restart; instead, go up to Utilities and select Terminal. When the Terminal window appears, type "postinstall" (without quotes) and after a few seconds it should say, "You are now ready to reboot to a fully functional OSX Install!" Now type "reboot" and your Dell will begin the restart process. It may take a minute or two, so be patient. When your computer does reboot, enter Setup again by pressing "2" (the number two.) Navigate to the Advanced tab. If you have BlueTooth and intend to use it, turn "USB BIOS Legacy Support" is Disabled. If you do not have BlueTooth, or do not intend to use it, keep "USB BIOS Legacy Support" Enabled and set BlueTooth to Disabled. Select "Exit Saving Changes" in the Exit tab and your Dell will restart again. Let it start up as normal and it should show the grey screen again, and will ask which drive to boot from (or perhaps it will automatically boot from the SSD.)

8. You may or may not see the startup video, depending on the version of your Install DVD. Setup your account as you see fit. When it comes to the Migration Assistant, do not transfer settings. When it is all done, you should see your Desktop, with drive icons for your SSD and USB drive. If you are on 10.5.6, you could just leave it like this since all the drivers and the bootloader work just fine, but that would not be ideal since you are not up to date.

9. Now I restarted and started up in safe mode. (Hit the "-" (minus) key before the OSX progress bar disappears, and then type "-x" (no quotes.) If you look in the bottom left corner, you should see white text that says, "boot: -x"; hit enter.)

10. Now it's time for DellEFI 1.2.a5. You should have copied this to your flash drive earlier, or you could download it now, but either way run the app. If it prompts you about needing to remove or delete a file first, press No. I ran a Custom Installation with the following settings: "Reinstall Chameleon 2.0RC1-r431 Bootloader" "Install Dell Mini 9 Extensions" "Hide DellEFI files" "Remove custom dsdt.aml file" "Restore the 10.5.5 keyboard pref pane" "Disable Hibernate and remove sleep file (recommended)"
Press Install, confirm the decision, and let it run until completion. However, when it comes up with the prompt that says, "All done, ready for reboot" select No.

11. Now I ran my 10.5.7 combo update. And it finished correctly.

12. This time when it reboots, you will see a little progress bar underneath your SSD icon. Hit the "-" (minus) key before the progress bar disappears, and then type "-x" (no quotes.) If you look in the bottom left corner, you should see white text that says, "boot: -x"; hit enter. This will boot Mac OS X into Safe Mode. Once you log in back to the Desktop, run DellEFI 1.2.a5 one last time (turned off Restore the 10.5.5 keyboard, Remote CD, Disable Hibernate) Turned on: Install Chameleon, Install Dell Mini 9 Drivers, Hide DellEFI files, Generate a system specific dsdt.aml file and Fix bluetooth. Remember, everytime you're running DellEFI, you need to be in safe mode, so no kernel extensions are running.

13. Reboot-Turned off Legacy USB support so I can wake from sleep and plug in a USB Mouse.

[mitchell]

I had a terrible time installing with an early Leopard build (10.5.0)
But I cloned my working Mini 9's SSD and it worked perfectly.
even the Wifi.
But internal mic sounds like it's a Thomas Edison origional.

Also I put the track pad at next to fastest setting and noticed much greater usability.
the two finger trick is still necessary(and remember to remove the clicking finger first)-but at least I can navigate around the whole screen.

[autorobert]

I have a mini 10v and what to install os x i have a copy of 10.5.1.
So does anyone have a link to the most straight foward instructions.

[ItWasLuck3]

If you want to use NetbookBootMaker (alpha, but I'd recommend it, it worked for me) :netputing.com • View topic - How to install OSX with NetbookBootMaker

If you want DellEFIBootMaker 1.2a5 (Beta, more stable, and used mainly): Guide Method 1 - Single USB Drive (Mac-only) | DellEFI | mechdrew

Also, I thought I'd leave some words of advice to some people... the whole resolution thing can be a pain sometimes when you have to open terminal all the time to change back and forth... so do what I did and make an Automater script for both of them. If your really crafty, you can make hotkeys to run them, or just stick them on your desktop like me.

[the_dunner]

Thanks for the detailed write-up, this was incredibly helpful.

[snakefinger]

Des: I was having the same problems when rebooting after the 10.5.7 upgrade. Tried a bunch of times and finally booted into safemode to run the EFI again. Worked a charm and no problems since.

[Alcapowned]

First i'd just like to thank all of the users of this forum, i installed a perfectly working copy of OSX onto my mini9 without any problems... Great work mechdrew et al!

my girlfriend's mum has shown interest in getting one so im thinking of upgrading to the spacier 10v, and giving her this little'un. I wanted to check a couple of things first tho:

1. it appears that with the voodoo method the mic is working, but someone mentioned bad quality... how bad is it? is it usable or would you consider an external to be the only proper option

2. The trackpad - anyone used both the mini9 and 10v trackpads with the mechdrew fix? i'm using v18 on my mini9 and im very happy with it (2 finger scroll and all). is the 10v much worse, to the point that you would abandon it alltogether and use a mouse? will there be a point where the experience compares with the mini9 trackpad?

[clyde2801]

Originally Posted by Alcapowned

First i'd just like to thank all of the users of this forum, i installed a perfectly working copy of OSX onto my mini9 without any problems... Great work mechdrew et al!

my girlfriend's mum has shown interest in getting one so im thinking of upgrading to the spacier 10v, and giving her this little'un. I wanted to check a couple of things first tho:

1. it appears that with the voodoo method the mic is working, but someone mentioned bad quality... how bad is it? is it usable or would you consider an external to be the only proper option

2. The trackpad - anyone used both the mini9 and 10v trackpads with the mechdrew fix? i'm using v18 on my mini9 and im very happy with it (2 finger scroll and all). is the 10v much worse, to the point that you would abandon it alltogether and use a mouse? will there be a point where the experience compares with the mini9 trackpad?

I was wondering the same thing about the trackpad. I've hackintoshed a msi wind and lenovo s10, and the two main issues I've had was the keyboard (namely, the d#@ned right shift key) and the postage stamped sized, wonky trackpads. The mini 10v appears to solve the keyboard issue, but how is the trackpad in everyday use after the patches and drivers are installed? I'm intrigued about the mini 10 and want to use it as a haul around the house, take it with me to the coffeeshop system. Thanks.

[krighton]

ok..........using the 2 usb method on a 10v...got the 2gb ram installed with bluetooth so that nightmare is over...have a legal mac os x 10.5.6 image on one usb, and another one with DellMiniBoot123v8.02b1 (not sure this is the best one for 10v). Anyways got the OSX all loaded, Got into the mac desktop, internet wasn't working though, so figured may as well run the dell utilities and the .pkg and they both finished without error, rebooted and now stuck at the apple with no twirling icon showing it's loading. Got a couple errors about this should only be used with a Dell 9 (when running dell utilities), etc...but i'm guessing that's normal.

i'm sure i blew something up somewhere, and i've been trying to follow videos on youtube but they tend to leave out pretty big chunks of instructions.

Is there a comprehensive (step by step) list of instructions for loading Mac OS X 10.5.6 2 USB onto the 10v..................

thanks

[krighton]

trying to boot from usb to start over, only boots from hd now...is that common, should i just wipe the drive and start over (which is probably what i'll do...weird, my top left usb port isn't recognizing anything now, wonder what would cause that.