Dell Mini 10 - Hackintosh Mac os 10.6.2
My daughter has been asking for a laptop for awhile now. There was no way that I was going to let her use Windoze. Her school and home only use Macs. Also, there was no way I’d pay $1K for the cheapest MacBook. I did the next best thing… I hackintoshed a Dell Mini 10v. I bought this nice Dell netbook http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dncwfa1&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&kc=laptop-inspiron-10, for under $250 delivered, on Black Friday (current price $299).
I had about three weeks till her birthday, to research and complete the process. I watched numerous YouTube videos (ie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNRlOAXnlbA), and did a lot of googling.
The article from Gizmodo http://gizmodo.com/5389166/how-to-hackintosh-a-dell-mini-10v-into-the-ultimate-snow-leopard-netbook, was the one that I followed, with some tweaks. The invaluable MyDellMini site (forum & guides): http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/articles.php
and one more link, it’s a little outdated, but will give you an idea which netbook to hack. http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/12/17/osx-netbook-compatib.html
Once I received the Dell 10v, I started it up just to make sure all was working properly. I have to admit for an inexpensive laptop, I was impressed with the performance. All worked fine with the XP os that came preinstalled. The only thing I noticed was the Trackpad took some getting use to. The unit I bought was the base model, with no upgrades. This included the Black (color options $40 more) model, 1.6 Atom processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB HD, 3 Cell Battery, no Bluetooth.
Next onto the Mac 10.6 Snow Leopard install and upgrade…
1. On a Mac, create a Bootable USB Jump drive (8GB) from a Retail version of Snow Leopard. Easy to do. It does take awhile to create this.
2. Add the magic to this USB Jump drive to trick the Dell Mini to Boot from this drive. Using NetbookMaker 0.8.3 RC4, from mechdrew http://osx.mechdrew.com/downloads/ run the installer and choose the newly created Mac USB Boot Jump drive. This USB drive is ready to be used in the Dell Mini. Can’t thank mechdrew enough for his efforts!
3. Downgrade BIOS, to A05, mine was shipped with A06.
4. mechdrew has a guide to go to A04, but you need a PC and another small USB jump drive. BTW, I did have this done using the new Dell Mini to create this USB drive, but stumbled on to this link, where no USB drive is needed, and it went to A05 version of the BIOS. Thanks adster! http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/dell-mini-10-guides/16181-downgrade-your-mini-10v-bios-a05-without-usb-drive-using-windows.html
5. On Dell Mini, change Boot order, so USB is first. Turn on Dell holding F2. Insert Mac os USB Jump drive (8 GB) into Dell mini.
6. Boot to Mac USB drive, Partition HD, Tools Menu/Disk Utilities, Mac Journaled, Options GUID
7. Install 10.6, Customize - I removed other Languages, and some print drivers, but included X11, and QT7, and Rosetta.
8. When you get to registration window, Command/Quit (Alt/Q on the Dell mini keyboard) and Skip (registration), continue setting up Account.
9. Done with basic Snow Leopard install. Out of the box, most everything worked great! The only big issue I had was waking the computer from sleep. I had to hold the Power button down to restart. Will fix later. Camera and Sound worked fine. Quickly tested some apps. Safari seemed quick browsing sites. Tested Hulu and YouTube, videos played fine. iTunes worked good, even Visualizer looked good.
10. Changed some basic Mac System prefs. to my liking. I only mention this because the NetbookMaker 0.8.3 RC4 has a Trackpad option that shows up in “Other” under System prefs. Has 2 Finger scrolling! Makes the Trackpad better in the Mac OS then in XP.
11. I tested this 10.6.0 version for a day, but had to get the Sleep from wake issue fixed and upgrade to 10.6.2.
12. Bootable Backup of what I did so far. I used CCC: Carbon Copy Cloner to an external USB HD that I had available.
13. Upgrade to 10.6.2, simply used “Software Update” from the Apple Menu. before updating I ran NBI 0.8.3 RC4 from another small USB Jump drive.
⁃ Remember the USB I created to downgrade the BIOS to A04 that I didn’t use? I formatted this USB, Mac Journaled, GUID and loaded NBI 0.8.3 RC4, and NBI 0.8.2
⁃ Run NBI 0.8.3 RC4 from the USB drive, choose the name of your HD on the Dell Mini
⁃ “Software Update” from the Apple Menu. There were 3 updates for me. 10.6.2 Combo, ARD, Wireless update.
⁃ Computer will reboot, successfully updated to 10.6.2
14. Fix Wake from Sleep by: browndogfred on the MDM forums http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/dell-mini-10v-mac-os-x-discussion/14171-sleep-problem-dell-mini-10v-wont-wake-up-3.html
⁃ Go to BIOS, advanced tab, set USB legacy support to disabled.
⁃ Download and run NetBookInstaller 0.8.2. (this was already on my USB drive)
⁃ Download and run NetBookInstaller 0.8.3 RC4 (this was already on my USB drive)
⁃ Open a command terminal and enter the following commands:
⁃ sudo pmset lidwake 0
⁃ sudo pmset hibernatemode 3
⁃ REBOOT….This worked, but I noticed a loud popping or cracking sound after waking the computer. I’m sure it can be fixed, but doesn’t bother me too much. Wake from sleeps works if you shut the cover or manually put the computer to sleep from the Apple Menu. FYI, this machine goes to Sleep very fast.
15. After I did some more testing and liked what I saw, I started to load up some basic Apps. I download and installed:
⁃ NeoOffice - the free alternative to MS Office.
⁃ Acrobat Reader - additional PDF viewer, incase Preview doesn’t view the PDF correctly.
⁃ LogMeIn - incase I have to control her computer if I’m outside of our network.
⁃ AOL Radio 2.0beta - great free Radio Player
⁃ Chicken of the VNC - for admin purposes, Mac Screen Sharing is probably fine, if you are in a Mac only environment.
⁃ iPhoto (is the only iLife app I installed) Install worked fine from a .dmg of the DVD.
16. Created 2nd Account - type: Managed
17. Tested 2nd Account, also created Printers (Automatically found correct drivers for existing Printers in the house)
18. Create new iTunes Account, without using a credit card. She’s too young for a credit card, but iTunes allows you to create a new account by using a Gift Card. Migrated her songs in iTunes using Home Sharing Feature in iTunes 9. Worked great, easy to recreate custom playlists.
19. Set up Mail account.
20. Tested Front Row, and was shocked to see how well it plays full length Movies over g- wireless. Basically, acts as another Apple TV. All content: Photos, Music, Movies, Podcast, and TV shows that are shared on the master media computer, can easily be streamed to this netbook. There is a little stall in the beginning, but once it loads it plays fine.
21. Tested Headphone jack, confirmed working
22. SD Card reader, confirmed working
23. iChat, confirmed working
24. VGA external display, still needs to be tested.
Overall, I’m very impressed with the whole process and the way the new Dell Mini 10v and Snow Leopard perform. There are some minor issues, like some Application windows being too big for the small screen and the display looks like it has a blue cast (was fixed with a different profile), but these insignificant issues can be overlooked for price. Since Apple doesn’t offer a cheap laptop, this seems to be the best option for my daughter. She will only be doing homework, email, and some web browsing. If this is all you expect of the Dell, then you will be happy with the hardware. If you think about it, it’s a little less then an iPod Touch 32 GB! I so impressed with the entire process and the Dell 10v, that I would consider getting one for myself, with of course, some upgrades (2 GB RAM, Windows7 for Dual Boot, and Bluetooth). It would be a great little laptop for travel or to simply use on the couch. I wouldn’t recommend as your only Mac computer, but makes for a great addition. Or, maybe I’ll wait till Apple comes out with their Tablet?
