Feek's adventures with OS X

Feek · 30-03-2008, 14:39

It's a strange coincidence but a couple of days after Will posted this thread I was building a spare Dell Latitude D620 at work and the boss happened to mention that particular laptop is quite hot for the Hackintosh install of OS X. We've talked about this before, he knows I played around with OS X in a VM a while ago. He has a couple of Macs and so does another guy in our department. Unlike the other guy who is a clear Mac fanboy, the boss isn't like that, he likes and uses Apples but doesn't ram it down peoples throats.

He found a good instruction guide for getting OS X onto the Dell and we started the downloads going - Sadly they didn't progress very quickly at work so that evening I started them going at home and burned them onto disk for the next day.

It's been quite a busy week at work, I've been the only techy in so my OS X building time has been regularly interrupted by 'proper' work, but no matter, I persevered and although it really wasn't as simple as suggested by the guides after three days I ended up with this:

A fully working, fully patched OS X installation on a Dell laptop. A Macindell

I got to that stage on Friday afternoon, but it wasn't enough. Sitting and playing with a clean installation of any OS is boring, one needs to use it properly to experience what it's like. The boss said I could bring it home for the weekend but that's not what I wanted to do, I knew he wanted to dump some OS X applications on it, and besides I'd done some research and found out that the motherboard in my home PC is very compatible with OS X, it only needs a few bios tweaks to ensure everything works.

So onto Friday evening.

I unplugged my hard drives, leaving only a spare one connected and booted from the OS X disk I have.

An hour or so later I had this.

And when I click on More Info... I get this.

It went on like a dream and patched to the current version with no problems at all. I did a Software Update and it's all updated, no issues.

So that was Friday evening. I've been using it all day yesterday and what do I think?

I like it. I'm not sure how much I like it, but it seems very smooth and very simple, perhaps too simple. It's difficult to explain but I like to know what's going on in the background and I feel as though I don't know. I've not learned anything from the installation at home but I learned a lot when I was building the Dell at work. We worked out that over those three days I've probably installed OS X more times than our two Mac users combined!

But everything works and it works well. Installing applications is a breeze.

1) Drag icon from here to here.

OK, done that, where's step 2) ?

There isn't one. That's it.

Working out some of the keyboard shortcuts is proving interesting. I've just about got used to using windows-c and windows-v for copying and pasting (the windows key is the equivalent of the apple key) although with it being in the wrong place on the keyboard I'm sure that when I'm back at work tomorrow I'll be messing things up!

I've got NeoOffice installed instead of MS Office, that works, I've got Firefox in and running just like I'm used to it, I've got an installation of Eve working using CrossOver Games and I've got a messenger program running (Adium). Time Machine is working and doing backups and both my printers work.

I'm not really sure why I'm doing it except for "because I can"! I shall continue to report.

Burble · 30-03-2008, 14:51

I'm yet to try NeoOffice on the Macbook, I was about to download it when I realised I had Office 2008 for the Mac in my monthly MS Select Agreement update pack so I shoved that on instead.

I find that I switch between cmd+c and ctrl+v without a problem. Tomorrow I'm going to try the Time Machine out and see if it will restore OS X as well as Apple say it will. I've got a bigger hard drive for the Macbook so will see if I can restore from the Time Capsule after booting from the insallation DVD. I bought myself a 500Gb Time Capsule as I needed an access point that didn't give mahoosive packet loss when using the Macbook.

Will · 30-03-2008, 14:55

Oh cool! I tried to install the Kalway 10.5.1 version of osx on my laptop, it worked fine, but I have no wireless, not ethernet and no sound - so whilst it works, it's not that useful yet!

Any instructions on how you did it?

Feek · 30-03-2008, 15:07

I installed Office 2008 yesterday but it was a hookey copy that didn't require any registration and whenever I tried to maximise Excel, it crashed the OS so I took it off and installed NeoOffice instead. That's great except when I loaded a .xlsx file it lost all the formulas which is a bit awkward so I resaved the file from Excel as an Office 2003 file and NeoOffice has loaded it OK.

Will, they were the problems I had with my Dell build - I found a utility called D620_sound which sorted the sound and ended up using an external Belkin USB wireless card to get a network connection.

There's a Kalyway 10.5.2 upgrade combo image kicking around, install that and have a look at InsanelyMac, they're very good for hackintosh stuff.

leowyatt · 30-03-2008, 15:20

Glad to hear things are going well Feek, if anyone needs a USB wireless adapter that works with Leopard, let me know as I attached one to the iBook yesterday and it works a treat

Burble · 30-03-2008, 17:23

I don't know if it is always the case, but the official version of Office 2008 that I'm using didn't need a product key, activation or registration when I installed it.

I'm yet to have it crash on me yet, let along take the OS down with it. When I first got out of hospital I was using the Macbook to do a bit of work because my D810 had flat batteries and the charger was at home. One of the things I had to do was manipulate a 45Mb xlsx file and I was very pleasantly surprised how well it worked in 2008.

Feek · 30-03-2008, 17:28

I'm really struggling with keyboard mappings though with a standard keyboard plugged in.

windows-c and windows-v for example are the copy/paste combo, but does the windows key relate to the apple key, or command, or option, or what?

Does anyone know exactly what each of the keys relates to what?

Specifically ctrl, windows (start), Alt and possibly AltGr?

Feek · 30-03-2008, 18:11

Another thing I'm having a hard time with and that's fonts - This was always an issue whenever I played with linux and I'm seeing the same thing.

The bold text there seems far too strong for my liking, it's over bold and just looks chunky and horrible.

Pete - Loving skitch

randal · 30-03-2008, 18:11

The keyboard mapping thing is driving me nuts too, I've mapped Ctrl to the Apple key which seems to solve a lot of the problems but still isn't perfect.

There's a decent amount of info in here:

http://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2..._a_british.php

There's some keyboard maps that might work for you, didn't have a lot of luck with them in Kalyway 10.5.2 unfortunately.

My biggest problem at the moment is hacking the AppleVIAATA.kext Info.plist so I can get my Silicon Image SATA controller working for boot, as I have to disable the RAID in the BIOS and switch to AHCI on the Intel SATA controller. Kicking myself for installing XP on a RAID set now...

All in all though, I'm very impressed with OSX. It's nice to be able to use it without shelling out monumental amounts of cash on Apple hardware. I'm pretty much using OSX for web, mail, photos/videos and downloads now and just gaming on XP. Shame it has to be done illegally, Steve Jobs and Co could so easily release a compatible version of OSX now it's all on Intel hardware. Hey ho.

Mark · 30-03-2008, 18:17

I got one of those mapping working with my Mac some time ago. The only problem I found was that it tended to 'forget' the mapping every so often and I had to go reset it.

As for the whole Command/Option/Apple thing, this site seems to answer that one...

http://www.myfirstmac.com/index.php/...oard-shortcuts

30-03-2008, 14:39	#1
Feek ex SAS Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: JO01ou Posts: 10,062	Feek's adventures with OS X It's a strange coincidence but a couple of days after Will posted this thread I was building a spare Dell Latitude D620 at work and the boss happened to mention that particular laptop is quite hot for the Hackintosh install of OS X. We've talked about this before, he knows I played around with OS X in a VM a while ago. He has a couple of Macs and so does another guy in our department. Unlike the other guy who is a clear Mac fanboy, the boss isn't like that, he likes and uses Apples but doesn't ram it down peoples throats. He found a good instruction guide for getting OS X onto the Dell and we started the downloads going - Sadly they didn't progress very quickly at work so that evening I started them going at home and burned them onto disk for the next day. It's been quite a busy week at work, I've been the only techy in so my OS X building time has been regularly interrupted by 'proper' work, but no matter, I persevered and although it really wasn't as simple as suggested by the guides after three days I ended up with this: A fully working, fully patched OS X installation on a Dell laptop. A Macindell I got to that stage on Friday afternoon, but it wasn't enough. Sitting and playing with a clean installation of any OS is boring, one needs to use it properly to experience what it's like. The boss said I could bring it home for the weekend but that's not what I wanted to do, I knew he wanted to dump some OS X applications on it, and besides I'd done some research and found out that the motherboard in my home PC is very compatible with OS X, it only needs a few bios tweaks to ensure everything works. So onto Friday evening. I unplugged my hard drives, leaving only a spare one connected and booted from the OS X disk I have. An hour or so later I had this. And when I click on More Info... I get this. It went on like a dream and patched to the current version with no problems at all. I did a Software Update and it's all updated, no issues. So that was Friday evening. I've been using it all day yesterday and what do I think? I like it. I'm not sure how much I like it, but it seems very smooth and very simple, perhaps too simple. It's difficult to explain but I like to know what's going on in the background and I feel as though I don't know. I've not learned anything from the installation at home but I learned a lot when I was building the Dell at work. We worked out that over those three days I've probably installed OS X more times than our two Mac users combined! But everything works and it works well. Installing applications is a breeze. 1) Drag icon from here to here. OK, done that, where's step 2) ? There isn't one. That's it. Working out some of the keyboard shortcuts is proving interesting. I've just about got used to using windows-c and windows-v for copying and pasting (the windows key is the equivalent of the apple key) although with it being in the wrong place on the keyboard I'm sure that when I'm back at work tomorrow I'll be messing things up! I've got NeoOffice installed instead of MS Office, that works, I've got Firefox in and running just like I'm used to it, I've got an installation of Eve working using CrossOver Games and I've got a messenger program running (Adium). Time Machine is working and doing backups and both my printers work. I'm not really sure why I'm doing it except for "because I can"! I shall continue to report. __________________

30-03-2008, 14:55	#3
Will BBx woz 'ere :P Join Date: Jan 1970 Posts: 2,147,487,208	Oh cool! I tried to install the Kalway 10.5.1 version of osx on my laptop, it worked fine, but I have no wireless, not ethernet and no sound - so whilst it works, it's not that useful yet! Any instructions on how you did it? __________________ *No No!*

30-03-2008, 15:07	#4
Feek ex SAS Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: JO01ou Posts: 10,062	I installed Office 2008 yesterday but it was a hookey copy that didn't require any registration and whenever I tried to maximise Excel, it crashed the OS so I took it off and installed NeoOffice instead. That's great except when I loaded a .xlsx file it lost all the formulas which is a bit awkward so I resaved the file from Excel as an Office 2003 file and NeoOffice has loaded it OK. Will, they were the problems I had with my Dell build - I found a utility called D620_sound which sorted the sound and ended up using an external Belkin USB wireless card to get a network connection. There's a Kalyway 10.5.2 upgrade combo image kicking around, install that and have a look at InsanelyMac, they're very good for hackintosh stuff. __________________

30-03-2008, 15:20	#5
leowyatt Chef extraordinaire Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Infinite Loop Posts: 11,143	Glad to hear things are going well Feek, if anyone needs a USB wireless adapter that works with Leopard, let me know as I attached one to the iBook yesterday and it works a treat __________________ "Dr Sheldon Cooper FTW!"

30-03-2008, 17:28	#7
Feek ex SAS Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: JO01ou Posts: 10,062	I'm really struggling with keyboard mappings though with a standard keyboard plugged in. windows-c and windows-v for example are the copy/paste combo, but does the windows key relate to the apple key, or command, or option, or what? Does anyone know exactly what each of the keys relates to what? Specifically ctrl, windows (start), Alt and possibly AltGr? __________________

30-03-2008, 14:51	#2
Burble Rocket Fuel Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 7,826	I'm yet to try NeoOffice on the Macbook, I was about to download it when I realised I had Office 2008 for the Mac in my monthly MS Select Agreement update pack so I shoved that on instead. I find that I switch between cmd+c and ctrl+v without a problem. Tomorrow I'm going to try the Time Machine out and see if it will restore OS X as well as Apple say it will. I've got a bigger hard drive for the Macbook so will see if I can restore from the Time Capsule after booting from the insallation DVD. I bought myself a 500Gb Time Capsule as I needed an access point that didn't give mahoosive packet loss when using the Macbook.

30-03-2008, 17:23	#6
Burble Rocket Fuel Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 7,826	I don't know if it is always the case, but the official version of Office 2008 that I'm using didn't need a product key, activation or registration when I installed it. I'm yet to have it crash on me yet, let along take the OS down with it. When I first got out of hospital I was using the Macbook to do a bit of work because my D810 had flat batteries and the charger was at home. One of the things I had to do was manipulate a 45Mb xlsx file and I was very pleasantly surprised how well it worked in 2008.

30-03-2008, 18:11	#8
Feek ex SAS Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: JO01ou Posts: 10,062	Another thing I'm having a hard time with and that's fonts - This was always an issue whenever I played with linux and I'm seeing the same thing. The bold text there seems far too strong for my liking, it's over bold and just looks chunky and horrible. Pete - Loving skitch __________________

30-03-2008, 18:11	#9
randal Nice weak cup of Earl Grey Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 22	The keyboard mapping thing is driving me nuts too, I've mapped Ctrl to the Apple key which seems to solve a lot of the problems but still isn't perfect. There's a decent amount of info in here: http://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2..._a_british.php There's some keyboard maps that might work for you, didn't have a lot of luck with them in Kalyway 10.5.2 unfortunately. My biggest problem at the moment is hacking the AppleVIAATA.kext Info.plist so I can get my Silicon Image SATA controller working for boot, as I have to disable the RAID in the BIOS and switch to AHCI on the Intel SATA controller. Kicking myself for installing XP on a RAID set now... All in all though, I'm very impressed with OSX. It's nice to be able to use it without shelling out monumental amounts of cash on Apple hardware. I'm pretty much using OSX for web, mail, photos/videos and downloads now and just gaming on XP. Shame it has to be done illegally, Steve Jobs and Co could so easily release a compatible version of OSX now it's all on Intel hardware. Hey ho. __________________ You aren't missing anything... but you are missing.

30-03-2008, 18:17	#10
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	I got one of those mapping working with my Mac some time ago. The only problem I found was that it tended to 'forget' the mapping every so often and I had to go reset it. As for the whole Command/Option/Apple thing, this site seems to answer that one... http://www.myfirstmac.com/index.php/...oard-shortcuts