Preamble:
Well, I love Macs. I have an iPhone, I have an iPod, and I even have a subscription to Mac Life magazine. Then it finally dawned on me that I don't have a Mac. Well, I didn't have $1000 to spend on the newest model Mac so I went around looking for the cheapest Mac. And I found the Dell Mini 9. I really loved it, so I managed to find one in person... and man is it small. The small keyboard and screen was too much for me. So I looked on. Next up, the Dell Mini 10v... good sized laptop, nice screen, decent specs... I'll take it! $330 later I picked up a brand new Dell Mini 10v in black with bluetooth and 2GB of RAM.

The Plan:
I'll admit it, I didn't have one. After reading around I thought it was install and go, but after further consideration, it was never that simple. I don't even own my own Mac, but I managed to get a good friend of mine to help out. I borrowed an 8GB flashdrive from a friend (man I love my friends) and went ahead getting my retail disc onto it. Once I was done, I debated between DellEFI 1.2a5 or NetbookBootMaker. In the end, I trusted the netbook app, and if your only going to read this far, I'll tell you that it worked flawlessly (used version 0.8.1). After I got the boot key, I just saw myself walking through the install process.

The Install:
1. As you very well read above, I got my USB key ready, I plugged it into my Mini, and said "Goodbye XP!" in a evil voice.
2. I did click F2 to get into the BIOS but didn't need to change much. I do have bluetooth, so I turned it off for the time being, thinking I could enable it later.
3. Ran the installer, and partition it based off this: Volume Scheme is "1 Partition", Named it "OSXMINI9" only because I was afraid that he might have copyed a file from DellEFI1.2a5 that only recognized that hard drive, Format is "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)", and you need to click "Options..." to change it to "GUID Partition Table".
4. I customized the install removing the Language Translations, Additional Fonts, and Printer Drivers. And clicked start! The install took just 20 minutes...

5. After the install finished there was no errors, so I went ahead and restarted the laptop.
6. I clicked F2 on startup and changed these BIOS settings: 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.

7. The machine rebooted and went into the fancy GUI and booted from the hard drive. It was nice to see the Apple logo with the spinning disc... Instead of a "Welcome to Leopard" intro video, it brought me straight to the desktop! I later discovered that my username is "Administrator" and my password is "" (yes, thats nothing)
8.Once I got logged it, it took me only a second to realize how horrible the trackpad is (fix, below)
9. I had tried many ways to update to 10.5.7, but just decided to do it through software update. So I clicked the apple logo, clicked software update, unchecked every other update that needed to be done, and let the Combo update run.

10. Upon restart I was going to boot into safe mode. To do so, when the machine turned on and the progress bar was sliding away, I clicked the minus key (-) and typed in "-x" And down in the bottom left corner, I could see where it said "Boot: -x" So I clicked enter and I hit the Apple Logo spinning thing for about 5 minutes... then a black screen.
11. Nothing... I was afraid the update had killed it.
12. I held down the power key long enough for it turn on again. I continued trying to boot into safe mode. And after about 3 minutes of the spinning apple thing, I saw the login that said "Safe Boot" and I simply hit enter, cause I hadn't set a password.
13. I then went into my Utilities folder and ran NetbookInstaller 0.8.1. Once it opened, I selected the destination drive (my HDD) and clicked in what I wanted. (seen in the photo below)

14. Once it was done (took less than a minute) I restarted the computer regularly and went ahead fixing various items.

Fix WiFi Issue:
1. Open Network in the System Preferences
2. Remove everything
3. Reboot
4. Open Network again
5. Add AirPort (and all the other connections you'd want, like Ethernet)

Fix Speakers, Mic, etc:
1. Go to: /System/Library/Extensions and delete AppleHDA.kext (and AppleHDA.kext.orig folder if it exists)
2. Download the KEXT package from:

Get Microphone and Audio In working on your Hackintosh!

3. Get KEXT Helper and unzip

http://web.mac.com/v1.42ghz/Kext_Hel...elper%20b7.zip

3. Open the Thireus .zip and you now have to choose one of the following (_r8 worked well on my 10v):

• 0.2.2_r8_Thireus_release_light (lower volume)
• 0.2.2_r8_Thireus_patched_extreme (higher volume)

I choose extreme... and its really not that loud.

4. To install the KEXT, drag the VoodooHDA.kext ON TOP of KEXT Helper (it's a droplet app). Enter your admin password (you were in an Admin account, right?)
5. Reboot, now you have speaker, headphones and mic inputs working. Adjust in the Apple Sound System Preference.

***If you do notice, if you close the lid then come back, sound doesn't work, second fix below***

6. Delete the AppleHDA and IOAudioFamily kexts in /Extra/Mini10vExt and copying in the VoodooHDA.
7. Once you do that, you will need to exit the kext white list in /Extra/UpdateExtra.app/Contents/Resources/kext_whitelist and remove AppleHDA from the list.
8.Finally, run UpdateExtra (the extensions update thing), press the update button and wait a while (it'll become unresponsive). Once that's done, you can reboot and VooDooHDA should be used now. And with that sound will work you come back from sleep mode.

***Now if you notice, once you go into sleep and come out, sound will work, but it is scratchy! Third fix below***

9. Download and install SleepWatcher: Download here (install both packages)
10. Open up the Terminal app (in utilities) And type the following:
11.

cd /etc

12.

sudo vi rc.wakeup

and enter your OSX password
13. Hold the Shift Button and press GG (this will bring you to the bottom of the file)
14. Quickly, press the Esc and "I" button (it should show --insert--)
15. Copy and paste the following to the end of the file:

/sbin/kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/VoodooHDA.kext>>/var/log/system.log
/sbin/kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/VoodooHDA.kext>>/var/log/system.log
/sbin/kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/VoodooHDA.kext>>/var/log/system.log
/sbin/kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/VoodooHDA.kext>>/var/log/system.log
sleep 3
/sbin/kextload /System/Library/Extensions/VoodooHDA.kext>>/var/log/system.log
/sbin/kextload /System/Library/Extensions/VoodooHDA.kext>>/var/log/system.log
/sbin/kextload /System/Library/Extensions/VoodooHDA.kext>>/var/log/system.log
/sbin/kextload /System/Library/Extensions/VoodooHDA.kext>>/var/log/system.log

16. Press Esc twice and the --insert-- should be removed
17. Now press Shift :
18. Type wq
19. Press enter
20.Type in "exit"
21. Back in your Terminal window, type in "logout" to log our of your sudo session.

Why does this work? Glad you asked... see, when you go to sleep, it somehow causes the VooDooHDA.kext in your extensions folder to act all screwy, so the fix it to reload it, so using that program, we can have your Mac automatically perform command line commands once you open your laptop lid up again. And what we have listed is to unload the sound .kext and reload it up. But we put it there multipul times because the sound .kext (VooDooHDA.kext) doesn't always want to listen.

Fix Trackpad!!:
1. If there was one thing I hate the most, it would be the trackpad on this baby. Well thanks to melkort and his custom touchpad driver, its become much more manageable.
2. Download it here: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/963163/Touchpad_17.dmg
3. Be sure you have any other version uninstalled before you install v17. And yes, I know 18 is out, but I just preferred 17... I'll wait for 19.
4. Once installed, there will be a new setting in System Preferences. If your wondering what mine is it is listed below.



5. Experiment! Everyone likes there own settings and those listed above are mine! I like it because the scroll sensitivity is perfect, the scroll rate is good, I can left and right click without jumpyiness, double tap to hold works better than using two hands, and tap to click works perfectly.

Fix Screen Size on Some Apps:
1. Some apps are too big to display on the screen so they get cut off...
2. Run terminal
3. Type in "defaults write -g AppleDisplayScaleFactor 0.8" without quotes. This will shrink every app you open next.
4. Type in "defaults write -g AppleDisplayScaleFactor 1.0" without quotes when your ready to go back to normal, and always do this before you shutdown or else it will look really weird next time you power up.
5. If your lazy, make an automator app for both of them and just stick them on your desktop for easy reach.


System Installs/ Updates:

• Ran updater, and updated everything.
• Installed iLife and iWork 09, both working flawlessly.
• Got Stacks icon overlays (makes stacks easier to identify)
• Make dock much smaller with magnification to fit all icons.
• Installed QuikSilver... little complicated, but worth it.
• Renamed hard drive "OSXMINI10V"
• Installed Mozy(if you want to help yourself and me get even more free storage... install it yourself) And Mozy is free online backup solution if your wondering.
• Setup Synergy between PC and new Mini 10v in order to share one keyboard and mouse
• Set up time machine, working perfectly.
• Got AboutThisMac.pkg from Mechdrews site to fix "Unknown Processor" in about this Mac section.

Observations after the first day:
1. Pretty good battery life, pushes around 2 and half hours
2. Still hate the trackpad
3. Keyboard is great
4. GUI after Dell BIOS screen has horrible font
5. If I ever get around to running NetbookInstaller again, I'll disable "Enable Hibernation" cause it doesn't work
6. Waking from sleep gave me problems, but disabling Legacy USB support will let the 10v wake from sleep, but after it sleeps, it won't restart, but seems to shut down with power light still on. Confusing I know.
7. Bluetooth works out of the box, as I've already paired my iPhone with it and use the bluetooth texter widget from dashboard.
8. Looking at the "Eject Disc" icon in the top is worthless considering when you press it, it says "No Drives"
9. Can be a little laggy when multitasking (was using Pages, iPhoto, and a few tabs in Safari)
10. Just realized how I never could have lived with a 16GB SSD. It may be fast, but in day one, my 110GB (120 really, but it only lets me use 110) only has 75GB remaining (the iPhone 3.0 SDK is 6GB! I'll probably end up deleting soon...)
11. Webcam actually works somewhat well! Had some fun in Photobooth and was surprised because it didn't look half bad!

Observations after the first week:
1. Connect 22" widescreen TV via VGA (which screwed up a lot of stuff)
2. Tried to mirror displays, screwed it up, had to run NetbookInstaller again.
3. Photobooth no longer detects webcam.
4. All my iWork applications just display as blank.
5. Slideshow mode in iPhone doesn't work
6. The spinny Apple presentation mode does not work.
***Most of what is listed above as doesn't work, DID work at one point, I just did something to screw it all up.***

------> Observations after 2 weeks and re-install <----------
1. Photobooth is working
2. iWork is working.
3. iLife apps won't update via Software Updater (have to do it manually)
4. Front Row works.
5. Battery, when plugged in always shows 100%, and shows time as "Charged" or "Not Charged"

I'm probably gonna play around with it for another week than reinstall Leopard to "start fresh", I'm just seeing whats working right now and whats not.


And thats it! I really loved all the guides posted around here... really walked me through the process. I will admit, I based my thread here off of MacG's so thanks, and big ups to melkort and bmaltais... your tools and software is amazing.

If you liked this, please help me by joining Mozy! Its free online backup storage, and if you sign-up through me, we both get extra, free storage! Click here.

Question and comment are welcome. Also, I know there's nothing up there yet, but I'm going to try and show updates/ enhancements I do to my new Mac over at my own site: Ace Of Tech I will still post over here, but I'd like to get some exposure over there. And to noobs... I know this isn't much of a walk though, but I will be writing a complete walk through that should be up in a few weeks available on the site above. You could probably find a couple of good guides here, but hopefully you'll enjoy mine too (when I get around to writing it!) Cheers!

[drumma92]

Awesome guide! I'll be using this when I get my mini 10v! (soon hopefully!)

How much RAM is installed on your Mini? I have seen the somewhat involved process of upgrading the RAM, and I'm not sure if it is worth the hassle...

Thanks - great guide that is easy to follow + pictures!

[ItWasLuck3]

Originally Posted by drumma92

Awesome guide! I'll be using this when I get my mini 10v! (soon hopefully!)

How much RAM is installed on your Mini? I have seen the somewhat involved process of upgrading the RAM, and I'm not sure if it is worth the hassle...

Thanks - great guide that is easy to follow + pictures!

Glad you liked it! And to answer your question... my Mini has 2GB of RAM in it. I didn't do the procedure... as I bought my Mini off eBay with it already pre-installed. So I can't really tell you if doing all that is worth it, but I can tell you that with a 1.6GHz processor, the more RAM, the less lagginess your going to have.

[CaCohen0509]

I installed Mac OS X on my 10v, but the sound was always either on or off (although i dont know if i did it right, ima follow your guide.) but the headhpone jack never worked. did you yours work. i was fed up with it so i just put windows 7 but your guide looked different from what i did(i did netbookinstaller 8.1 too)

[919]

Just a heads up..

DellEFI boot did not work for me. Kernel panic abounds.. Mine was a fresh out of the box 1011.

Tried the DellMiniBoot bootloader and it worked great although you have to tab through the setup menus because the buttons are off the screen. As I've done it a couple hundred times, I could tab and space bar through it easily.

The key as the author stated is NetbookInstaller or in my case DellEFI2a1. It corrects all of the critical items that are machine specific.

I did not have any issues with wireless, bluetooth or display after that.

I downloaded the 10.5.7 update from Apple and simply booted -x to re run DellEFI again to correct any problems that the update might have applied.

Otherwise, it works great and I'm getting 4 to 5 hours on a charge and it seems to be getting stronger.

It really pisses off my neighbor who just spent $1200 on a new MacBook to check his e-mail.. I kinda like that.

[ItWasLuck3]

Originally Posted by 919

The key as the author stated is NetbookInstaller or in my case DellEFI2a1. It corrects all of the critical items that are machine specific.

Glad I could help you guys out testing this new solution. As you mentioned... using NetbookInstaller, or even the beta of DellEFI has the added capabilities to identify your system (9, 10v, etc) and offer settings that can correct errors in the machine before you even have to encouter them.

To date, I have recieved a total of one error in regards to hardware: the display. But this is an issue is which I have no control over... And if your wondering, I tried to install Abobe Photoshop CS4 and it told me the minimum screen size has to be 1024x768, to my 10v's 1024x524. There might be a hack to trick the program but thats another story.

[thegooch49]

Hi, I did this method, and have issues with Audio. I get it working, then if I sleep it, it's gone. I see your instructions here:

6. Delete the AppleHDA and IOAudioFamily kexts in /Extra/Mini10vExt and copying in the VoodooHDA.
7. Once you do that, you will need to exit the kext white list in /Extra/UpdateExtra.app/Contents/Resources/kext_whitelist and remove AppleHDA from the list.
8.Finally, run UpdateExtra (the extensions update thing), press the update button and wait a while (it'll become unresponsive). Once that's done, you can reboot and VooDooHDA should be used now. And with that sound will work you come back from sleep mode.

This works and fixes audio after sleep. But it breaks airport. I can no longer see my airport card anymore. Any ideas?

[ItWasLuck3]

Originally Posted by thegooch49

Hi, I did this method, and have issues with Audio. I get it working, then if I sleep it, it's gone. I see your instructions here:

6. Delete the AppleHDA and IOAudioFamily kexts in /Extra/Mini10vExt and copying in the VoodooHDA.
7. Once you do that, you will need to exit the kext white list in /Extra/UpdateExtra.app/Contents/Resources/kext_whitelist and remove AppleHDA from the list.
8.Finally, run UpdateExtra (the extensions update thing), press the update button and wait a while (it'll become unresponsive). Once that's done, you can reboot and VooDooHDA should be used now. And with that sound will work you come back from sleep mode.

This works and fixes audio after sleep. But it breaks airport. I can no longer see my airport card anymore. Any ideas?

I know where your mistake was... when you followed step 6, and deleted both files, you deleted "IO80211Family.kext" on accident. I guess I forgot to mention that "IOAudioFamily.kext" is NOT always there. If its not, then forget about it... Hopefully you still have that "IO80211Fanily.kext" in your Trash, if so, just restore it to that folder, run UpdateExtra again, and restart your computer. Then, it should work again.

If not, go back to the KEXT Helper you have and drag the "IO80211Family.kext" over it and install it that way as opposed to just dragging it in, this will officially install it into the folder and reboot and you should be good to go.

[thegooch49]

Originally Posted by ItWasLuck3

I know where your mistake was... when you followed step 6, and deleted both files, you deleted "IO80211Family.kext" on accident. I guess I forgot to mention that "IOAudioFamily.kext" is NOT always there. If its not, then forget about it... Hopefully you still have that "IO80211Fanily.kext" in your Trash, if so, just restore it to that folder, run UpdateExtra again, and restart your computer. Then, it should work again.

If not, go back to the KEXT Helper you have and drag the "IO80211Family.kext" over it and install it that way as opposed to just dragging it in, this will officially install it into the folder and reboot and you should be good to go.

Thanks for the reply. That wasn't it. I definately didn't delete 80211. I have tried this by just deleting appleHDA without touching the IO, then clearing the HDA line and writing kext_whitelist. This kills airport, and I can't figure out why. I can re-run netbook installer, and wifi is back, but audio is broken again. I can't seem to get them both working.

The only thing I can think of is BIOS. I'm running A02. Maybe I'll try an update there, I'm getting desperate!

[ItWasLuck3]

Hmm... you got me pretty stumped. When you say airport card do you mean the internal WiFi or an actual portable internet card (like WWAN)

The only thing I can think of is you accidentally edited out the file in the kext whitelist... And I'll tell you something about my machine... I never actually deleted the file from the whitelist (I couldn't edit the document, something about permissions) and I have no problems.

Any other details you might be able to provide?