[jamesbarnhill]

There you go, it's all updated. I really hope this works for you! Thanks for your patience. ~James

[jpmac]

Thanks a lot for this. It mostly worked! My problem is that my 10v refuses to boot up from the USB drive after using Netbook Maker on it. Also, I still need to the use the small USB to boot up into SL. Any suggestions? Should I just keep making fresh SL USBs until one works? I've found they are rather sensitive. I copy the SL DVD onto the large USB and apply NMB using the Mac OS.

What if we don't reinstall 10.6.3 the second time round? Apart from having to use the NBI USB to boot up it seems to be working okay (apart from the sound of course, but I'll fix that later).



PS. When you install the SL for the first time and it skips the set-up process due to "monitor incompatibility" you can still create a password for yourself in System Preferences->Accounts. Just leave the old password field empty and enter your new password twice. I spent ages trying to guess the Admin password! If you don't have a password you can't use NBM on the USB.

[jamesbarnhill]

Originally Posted by jpmac

Thanks a lot for this. It mostly worked! My problem is that my 10v refuses to boot up from the USB drive after using Netbook Maker on it. Also, I still need to the use the small USB to boot up into SL. Any suggestions? Should I just keep making fresh SL USBs until one works? I've found they are rather sensitive. I copy the SL DVD onto the large USB and apply NMB using the Mac OS.

What if we don't reinstall 10.6.3 the second time round? Apart from having to use the NBI USB to boot up it seems to be working okay (apart from the sound of course, but I'll fix that later).



PS. When you install the SL for the first time and it skips the set-up process due to "monitor incompatibility" you can still create a password for yourself in System Preferences->Accounts. Just leave the old password field empty and enter your new password twice. I spent ages trying to guess the Admin password! If you don't have a password you can't use NBM on the USB.

Hello, jpmac, did you use Disk Utility to copy the OS X install disk?
If not, you should try that, just plug in an external DVD, then restore it to your large flash drive. After, run NBM to it.

Yes, you will have to reinstall the second time; the first install doesn't work with NBI 084RC1, you'll get a kernel panic after you install it.

Using the first install, you don't have any boot loader on your SSD, thus you'll have to use your external to boot into it (that is also why the OS X installation fails, because it can't find the bootable SSD).

The second install does setup a boot loader; which is another reason why you'll need to re-install.

I assume you are using NBM 084 RC1? (Sorry, just making sure, )

~James

[jpmac]

Yes, I'm using the latest version. Unfortunately no access to an external DVD. I copied SL using the terminal in Ubuntu on another machine which does have a DVD drive.

I had to go back to the start. Now I can't do the isyslinux.exe -d \boot\syslinux -ma X: . I just get the Access Denied error. Is this related to having administrative access? I had it first time around but seem to have lost it this time.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[madm]

Thanks jamesbarnhill! It finally worked with some modifications to your procedure.

Short recap, might not be 100% correct. I still don't have sound.

Requires:
Dell mini 10v.
Ubuntu (or windows).
10.6.3 dvd.
10.6.0 patched kernel.
NBI_084RC1.img.
>9G >100M flash device (I used 16g usb dongle and 4g sd card).

Procedure (pseudo commands):
dd NBI_084RC1.img to small flash (ubuntu).
dd 10.6.3.img to big flash (ubuntu).
mv (big flash) mach_kernel mach_kernel1063 (ubuntu)
cp (big flash) mach_kernel_1020_patched mach_kernel (ubuntu)
Insert flash devices in mini 10v.
Boot from small flash, kernel from big flash (10v).
Install OSX (HFS+ case-sensitive journaling).
mv (harddrive) mach_kernel mach_kernel.old (10v).
cp (harddrive) mach_kernel_1020 mach_kernel (10v).
Boot from small flash, kernel from hd (10v).
Download and run NBI 0.8.4RC1 (10v).
mv (harddrive) mach_kernel mach_kernel1060 (10v).
cp (harddrive) mach_kernel1063 mach_kernel (10v).
Boot from harddrive.

Other:
I did not replace the kernel before the last step "Boot from harddrive" and had to mount the harddrive in ubuntu and move the kernel there. Ubuntu does not support journaled HFS+ write yet but this can be forced with:
mount -o remount,rw,force /media/osx

[jamesbarnhill]

Originally Posted by jpmac

Yes, I'm using the latest version. Unfortunately no access to an external DVD. I copied SL using the terminal in Ubuntu on another machine which does have a DVD drive.

I had to go back to the start. Now I can't do the isyslinux.exe -d \boot\syslinux -ma X: . I just get the Access Denied error. Is this related to having administrative access? I had it first time around but seem to have lost it this time.

Thanks,
Jonathan

You need to run cmd.exe as administrator (right-click, run as administrator (make sure you replace 'X' with your drive number, ).

@madm -- Hmm, I didn't try to redo the kernel switch before I rebooted (after I installed NBI); maybe that's why I got the kernel error. (You could also change the last cp command to mv, that way you won't have unneeded files laying around)

I'm going to keep experimenting with this, hopefully I'll find a better/easier way.

Thanks Everyone. ~James

[jamesbarnhill]

Hello, Everyone, I just found a way to install from a 10.6.3 DVD WITHOUT touching the Mac OS beforehand; ie: the flash drive can be prepared from Linux, Windows (I think, I haven't tried this, but it should work just as well), and Leopard/Tiger, and will need only to be booted and installed. I'll update this thread tomorrow, I don't have time tonight. ~James

If you want to try it yourself before I write the tutorial (this is for linux, you can use PartedMagic, linked above in the tutorial), download and extract this: ExtraDir+Boot.zip
Copy 'Extra' and 'boot' to a flash drive with all the files from the 'Mac OS X Install DVD' written to it (not 'Boot Camp').
Then, using a terminal, go to the directory you extracted the downloaded file, and type:

sudo dd if=boot0 of=/dev/sdX bs=446 count=1

(X being your OS X Install flash drive. You can use GParted on PartedMagic to find out which drive is which).
Then type:

sudo dd if=boot1h of=/dev/sdX1

(remember to replace the X).

You now should be able to boot from the drive.

[rambu]

Hi Virus Doc,

Thank you for the great write up. I'm almost there but has been pretty frustrated with an interesting problem.

Here is my situation:
Dell Mini 9
DVD of SL 10.6.3 (no other Apple CD/DVD)
No access to any shape/form of Mac
8 GB USB Drive (big flash) and 2 GB USB Drive (small flash)

I was able to follow your instruction up to the point of being able to boot up with the NBI 0.8.4RC1 in the small USB Flash and also having the SL 10.6.3 in the big USB Flash.

I got the welcome screen and chose English as the language and then after that I got an error message saying that there might be issues on my Mac OS X CD, as if it's dirty and recommended me to clean up the disc (pointing as if something is wrong with the files in my USB). I had tried to use imgburn and other products to burn the SL 10.6.3 to ISO images several times and also tried to use dd or disk writer to the big USB flash many times.

After clicking the "OK" button on the error message, I am left behind the Mac OS X UI with disk utility, terminal, etc. However when I check into my SSD, it is empty and not even get formatted yet. I then tried to format it appropriately but there is no mach_kernel got created in my SSD.

There's no button for me to try to reinstall, one other option is for me to Quit the MacInstaller.

Do I need to run NetBookBootMaker in any of the steps here?

Thank you for any help or advise,
Rambu

[jamesbarnhill]

Originally Posted by rambu

Hi Virus Doc,

Thank you for the great write up. I'm almost there but has been pretty frustrated with an interesting problem.

Here is my situation:
Dell Mini 9
DVD of SL 10.6.3 (no other Apple CD/DVD)
No access to any shape/form of Mac
8 GB USB Drive (big flash) and 2 GB USB Drive (small flash)

I was able to follow your instruction up to the point of being able to boot up with the NBI 0.8.4RC1 in the small USB Flash and also having the SL 10.6.3 in the big USB Flash.

I got the welcome screen and chose English as the language and then after that I got an error message saying that there might be issues on my Mac OS X CD, as if it's dirty and recommended me to clean up the disc (pointing as if something is wrong with the files in my USB). I had tried to use imgburn and other products to burn the SL 10.6.3 to ISO images several times and also tried to use dd or disk writer to the big USB flash many times.

After clicking the "OK" button on the error message, I am left behind the Mac OS X UI with disk utility, terminal, etc. However when I check into my SSD, it is empty and not even get formatted yet. I then tried to format it appropriately but there is no mach_kernel got created in my SSD.

There's no button for me to try to reinstall, one other option is for me to Quit the MacInstaller.

Do I need to run NetBookBootMaker in any of the steps here?

Thank you for any help or advise,
Rambu

Hello, Rambu, try this (modified, from Mechdrew's, my edits in italics).

Windows
Minimum Requirements

PC with Windows XP, Vista, or 7 and a DVD drive.
Retail Mac OS X Leopard or Snow Leopard Install DVD, any version (What is Retail?)
Small USB Drive 64 MB or greater (HDD, SSD, flash, etc.) for the bootloader.
If using a Dell Mini 10v, an SD card will work great, the internal card reader acts like a USB device. (Sorry Mini 9 owners!)
Large USB Drive for Mac OS X Installer: 16 GB or greater.
I highly recommend the Sandisk Cruzer Micro series drives, just make sure to remove the U3 software first!
8 GB (10.5 Leopard) or 16 GB (10.6 Snow Leopard) HDD/SSD or larger, Intel GMA graphics (950 or 500) and Intel Atom processor.
RAM: 512 MB (10.5 Leopard) or 1 GB (10.6 Snow Leopard) or greater.
Software:
NBI_084RC1 dd Image (unzip this)
Image Writer for Windows
CD/DVD ISO creation utility. I highly recommend InfraRecorder (also available in a handy portable version)

Pre-Install Checklist

Meet Minimum Requirements (above), the specifics DO matter.
Download and unzip/decompress (when applicable) all listed software.
If this is your first time installing, boot into default operating system on your netbook and check that all hardware, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and camera are functional and turned on (if present).
Check your BIOS settings. (more info)
On Windows:

Unzip Image Writer to any folder on your computer. (Make sure to extract all the files in the ZIP file.)
Connect the two USB drives to your PC and insert the Mac OS X Install DVD.
Open your favorite CD/DVD recording program, and make a complete copy of the Mac OS X Install DVD to an ISO file. Save the ISO file to the C: drive as macdvd.iso.
Make absolutely certain that it copies the entire DVD, not just the 510MB or 1GB Windows part. The resulting file should be somewhere close to 7 GB.
Go to the C: drive (viewing as a folder) and select Tools > Folder Options… > View and make sure to uncheck the box that says "Hide extensions for know file types" (when this step is done you can go back and reenable this feature if you do not like the file extensions appearing after file names.) Press OK, then rename the macdvd.iso file to macdvd.img. If you get asked about if you are sure you want to change it, press Yes.
Open My Computer (or just Computer) and write down the drive letters for each respective USB drive.
Open the Image Writer program (it's called Win32DiskImager in the folder you extracted).
The small USB drive is first. Select the correct drive letter under Device, slect the NBI_084RC1 image under Image File, press Write and then Yes. The Progress indicator will help you know when it is finished.
Now select the large USB drive number, and select the macdvd.img file. Press Write and then Yes; this one will take a bit longer so wait for the progress indicator to finish..
When it is done, close Image Writer and remove the USB drives. Eject the DVD and put it away.
*Thanks to dylar for finding Image Writer and posting a link to it, it is a lot easier to use that the previous methods!*

Installation
----------------

Ok, that should work, it worked for me at least.
If not, try redoing the large flash drive. What is the brand of the drive? That can make a big difference.

[femto]

Hello jamesbarnhill,

I've been trying to get SL 10.6.3 boot on my mini 1011 (from an original 10.6.3 upgrade DVD) following OSX-mechdrew for about a week or so - and keep getting error codes when the system should show the "apple" for the very first time.. I have the impression that (although I used NBI 8.4 RC1 to boot from the "small USB-stick") the SL 10.6.3-DVD and my mini somehow don't like each other enough.. Even using different (patched) Kernels 10.2 / 10.3 didn't help til now..

So I was really happy when I found your posting saying:

Originally Posted by jamesbarnhill

Hello, Everyone, I just found a way to install from a 10.6.3 DVD WITHOUT touching the Mac OS beforehand; ie: the flash drive can be prepared from Linux, Windows (I think, I haven't tried this, but it should work just as well), and Leopard/Tiger, and will need only to be booted and installed. I'll update this thread tomorrow, I don't have time tonight. ~James

Will you write another guide explaning howto get this thing running when there is no real MAC around (and no Linux-system oder -knowledge either...:-)

Thanks you very much in advance!
Femto