Run Leopard (Mac OS 10.5) on a Dell Mini 9
I’m a huge fan of ultra portables! They are small, light and just powerful enough to do what you need to get done. Sure I run Windows (in VMware), but for me the Mac OS better fits my lifestyle, but if you are looking for an ultra portable you are going to have to look beyond Cupertino.
So, when I got the Dell mini 9 all I wanted to do was put Leopard on it. With a little bit of tinkering and some help from a good blogging buddy Kevin Tofel I was able to painlessly install 10.5.4 on the little guy.
Kevin advised me that the chipset and processor of the Dell mini is so similar to the MSI Wind that a special slipstreamed version of 10.5 customized for the MSI Wind would be perfect (and painless) to get the little guy up and running.
The steps to Leopard-ize the mini are actually quite simple and easy to follow. After you download the slipstreamed ISO and burn the 3.2GB ISO to a DVD you boot up the Dell mini off a external DVD drive (Press 0 (Zero) at the BIOS screen) and installed Leopard as usual.
Once you complete the install all components except the wireless, ethernet, and sound worked. After some searching on the Dell forums I found two files that enabled the disabled Broadcom wireless adaptor and audio chipset, which you can find here.
Unzip the archive from the previous step and open Terminal in Leopard on the Dell mini. Type in sudo and drag the bcm43xx_enabler.sh icon to the Terminal window. Press the Enter key, type in your admin password on the keyboard and follow the instructions. (For those who don’t like to read - basically press Enter four times and restart).
When that is done, restart the computer and run the ALC268_Installer1 application (That was included in the archive) to enable sound chipset on the mini.
After you restart again and you have a fully functioning Mac OS enabled Dell mini 9.
UPDATE: I have had success updating to 10.5.5. Just use software update to download the update and reapply the patches. Proceed with caution on the update, milage may vary.
84 Comments, Comment or Trackback
NetOperator Wibby
Huh, interesting. Leopard OS custom-tailored for PCs, that’s pretty slick.
Oct 2nd, 2008
creeping lord
forgive my ignorance! I am running tiger and seriously looking into this. However with this altered version of leopard, is it the full version available for download? For instance I don’t need a leopard disc? Or failing that can I do it as above but with me tiger discs?
Oct 2nd, 2008
Ian
Nice. I’ve been thinking about getting some of these, and this would make a nice little side project. Awesome work Dan.
Oct 2nd, 2008
Doka
A) Is this legal?
B) Will it still search and execute updates?
Oct 2nd, 2008
currious
How long did it take to install?
How does it run?
-boot time?
-menus
-operation functions
How big is the install, how much space did it take up on your HD?
How long does the battery last for with full time wi-fi use?
Any other information is welcome.
Thanks.
Oct 2nd, 2008
Eugenia
You mention how you made wireless and sound work, but what about ethernet? How did you make that work? Or you didn’t?
Oct 2nd, 2008
Dave Zatz
Sweet - how’s it performing and you’re confirming that WiFi chip is fully functional? I needs me a mini notebook. I thought I needed the Wind, but maybe this is simpler.
Oct 2nd, 2008
Dan
With the modified KTEXTS in the archive the WiFi works. The ethernet worked out of the box…. I had a bad cable, WHOOPS!
Boot time is 24 seconds, the install is 7GB.
Oct 2nd, 2008
macfan
how fast does it run?
it runs leopard faster than winbugs?
what is the configuration of your dell? ram? hd? processor?
thanks.
Oct 2nd, 2008
bloggersmosaic
love the idea…about legal or n’t…i think its legal !
Oct 2nd, 2008
Alex
What size SSD did your mini have? Also, did you just boot the slipstreamed iso from a USB drive? And that was it? No kext mod or bios changes?
Oct 2nd, 2008
todd
what about sleep, bluetooth, webcam, keyboard function buttons, ie everything?
Oct 2nd, 2008
Dan
16GB SSD… 1.6 GHZ processor… 1GB Ram
Oct 2nd, 2008
Otter
100% working? All ports, headphone jack, etc?
Oct 2nd, 2008
Iraê
For the folks asking any sort of basic to advanced questions on doing this, se this site:
http://osx86project.org/
Particularly the Wiki pages. The forums are most for advanced tricks and troubleshooting.
Hope someone had the time to update the Wiki on the HCL (hardware compatibility list).
Oct 2nd, 2008
noboidesbusiness
Does the video card support Core Imaging & Quartz Extreme? (CI & QE in About this mac) if you go to System Profiler in the video card section this will tell you what’s happening
Oct 2nd, 2008
Alex
Any chance of a video? I’d like to see how smooth it runs with expose, spaces & dashboard if possible…
Oct 2nd, 2008
wako
Does two finger scrolling work? if it does im totally getting one!
Oct 2nd, 2008
CRod
Yep, if two finger scrolling works AND the webcam somehow works as well, this is a killer machine. With all the options (1.3MP webcam, bluetooth, 1GB/16GB SSD) it goes for $577 on the Canadian website (yes, we Canadians probably pay more for it). But still at that price it is a bargain in case it does run Leopard with all the stuff mentioned above working.
Could you please confirm/check if the scrolling/webcam/bluetooth/video acceleration all work?
Thanks and great work!
Oct 2nd, 2008
Dan
@wako No sorry two finger scrolling doesn’t work.
Oct 2nd, 2008
Anthony
@ NOBOIDESBUSINESS:
Yes both Quartz Extreme AND Core Image are supported… This machine runs Leopard blazingly fast. It feels a lot snappier than my 2.0Ghz MacBook, but that could just be because it is a fresh install though….
Oct 2nd, 2008
TUAWSteve
You are my total hero, Dan. I was busy burning Kalyway DVDs and getting ready to spend the weekend pulling my hair out loading my new Dell Mini 9 (1GB, 16GB SSDD), and now my life’s going to be a lot easier. Should our paths ever cross, I owe you a beer.
TUAWSteve
Oct 2nd, 2008
Doc
–I would also like to know if the headphone jack works???
–What about the web cam???
Took me some time to get it to work running Leo on my vaio!
great post DAN:)
Oct 2nd, 2008
Doc
Does the SD card slot work with LEO???
DAN we all want a video, PLEASE post one:)
Oct 2nd, 2008
Shawn.i
What’s the battery life like on it? I’ve been considering the Dell Mini 9, and having Leopard with good battery life would definitely push my over.
Oct 3rd, 2008
kornel
#1 question: does sleep work?
Oct 3rd, 2008
Adam
Dan, can this be installed on a separate partition to allow dual boot with Windows or Ubuntu?
Oct 3rd, 2008
techtech
Dan, a quick question, did u have to customize the install or just a plain vanilla install after partition etc. a quick vnailla attempt from failed earlier, was just looking for any advice… thanks
Oct 3rd, 2008
Andrew
Curious to know how well Keynote performs on it. If anyone has/wants to try, please post your opinion!
Oct 3rd, 2008
Shaun
Could I install this on a Dell XPS M1730? I have (2) 320GB HDD. One runnning Vista and one running Ubuntu. I would really like to try the Mac OS programs though. It also seems like the only way you can install programs on Ubuntu is with source code, which I know nothing about.
Oct 3rd, 2008
Bryan
Thanks Dan, I will defiantly try this. When I do I will find out for myself if the bluetooth & webcam work.
Oct 3rd, 2008
Dave Zatz
Yeah, the webcam one is a good question - that work?
Oct 3rd, 2008
dan
Yup… The webcam works…
The laptop averages about 3 hours with web surfing. Everything works great, I’ve had some problems of unit crashing after sleep but thats not a big issue to me.
Oct 3rd, 2008
Dan
You need the special ISO from PB
Oct 3rd, 2008
glenn
I may just get my self a mini just so that I can run osx on it. It’d be perfect for laying in bed browsing the internet.
Oct 3rd, 2008
techtech
awesome Dan. works like a charm - bluetooth, camera, wifi .. sweet works and feels like a small macbook basically.. not much of speed issue either..
i do have problems with USB, do you happen to have issues with USB too?
apart from that great article and thanks…
Oct 3rd, 2008
currious
Dan Thanks for the answers.
Unfortunately, I have the 8gb ssd so I guess I’ll have or upgrade (there is a 32 gb ssd available for $99 but I think I’ll wait till I can get 64).
The only other question I have is regarding battery life.. any ideas?
Oct 3rd, 2008
Dan
No issues with USB whatsoever
Oct 3rd, 2008
Miguel
Can this be done to an Acer One?
Oct 3rd, 2008
jack
i think it would be really great to know if the headphone jack worked. that is a major issue with the aspire one and every other subnotebook that has osx hacked onto it. if the headphone jack works (since wireless works fine) then i think we’ve found the one subnotebook to rule them all. :P
Oct 3rd, 2008
Nik
It’ll work with the 8GB. Just install then knock off the extras you don’t need. You’ll free up another gig at least - just like on the XP install.
I’m running it on the 8GB - no probs.
Oct 3rd, 2008
mark rushworth
hmm… any way this install can boot off usb?
Oct 3rd, 2008
Nik
Install before cleaning house is 6.5 GB. Down to 5.2 after cleaning the crap out.
Oct 3rd, 2008
Lawrence Duhart
Will BUY & TRY
Oct 3rd, 2008
Island
I’ve been trying for months to install OS X on my XT but it will not recognize or find the HDD. Any help PLEASE !!
Oct 3rd, 2008
tony
hey dan, do you know if ichat works with the dell cam?
Oct 3rd, 2008
shorshe
Does external VGA work? If yes mirror mod only or can you extend your monitor?
Oct 3rd, 2008
Ian
I’ll go for it. Just send me the netbook.
:)
Oct 3rd, 2008
Island reply
I AM WONDERING THE SAME THING!!!!!
Oct 3rd, 2008
DoodlyDood
Well, installs grand. Upgrading to 10.5.5 causes the video the drop in resolution and no keyboard. Problems with usb, too. Anyone else?
Oct 3rd, 2008
Franco
Dan the MAN!!
Sweet work! I just ordered on on eBay!
THANKS!!! :)
Oct 3rd, 2008
Ryan
Is it possible to install Windows also and choose between XP or Leopard when booting up?
Oct 3rd, 2008
Jason Seifer
Thanks a lot for this, this is very interesting. I’d use something like this for presentations on the road — does keynote run ok on it with complicated transitions? Also curious about the VGA out.
Oct 3rd, 2008
Max
Nice job Dan,
Can you confirm if the the headphone jack works?
Thanks
Oct 3rd, 2008
Ross
Dan please help!
1. Do the USBs work?
2. Does the headphone jack work?
3. Is there a way to install from USB pen instead of external DVD drive?
Thanks mate.
Oct 3rd, 2008
Rutu
does this only work with the Dell Mini or can i use with any other Windows??? and can i install on my Mac too???
Oct 3rd, 2008
bingo
does iphone sdk work ? iphone connectivity ok ?
i would be willing to buy one just for iphone development, since i do not have any osx machines…
Oct 3rd, 2008
Gunn
Nice, now I’m planning to pack three OS’s into my Mini - M$ Win, Ubuntu and this nice Mac OS.
Oct 3rd, 2008
Tim
Is there anyway to do this with a USB drive? I have lots of them but no external DVD usb drives…..
And what application do you use to burn the ISO?
Sorry for the newbi questions but I am an newbi.
Oct 3rd, 2008
someone
THIS IS NOT LEGAL!
Oct 4th, 2008
Colin
I got the files and all but it keeps saying “BaseSystem” didn’t validate!?! What do I do?
Oct 4th, 2008
Rck
Dan, ever thought off offering an installation service to us folks too dumb to get this done ourselves? If so email me.
I went to PB and clicked on the download button and got a MSIWindosx86-1.iso.4307757.TPB.torrent file. I am assuming i need BitTorrent software to open it but by doing that and downloading am i opening up myself to those ridculous lawsuits brought on by the RIAA?
Oct 4th, 2008
Nik
Fix for sleep mode. I have it running on my mini but it crashes when it comes back from sleep. any ideas?
Oct 4th, 2008
bog
I’m having issues with USB as well, no working ports.
Oct 4th, 2008
naz
can i do this i my dell e520
Oct 4th, 2008
runningwithscissors
If you need sleep you could try installing the Voodoo 9.5 Kernel Beta 1 http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=129295&st=0&#entry916414
Oct 4th, 2008
Jon
Try to push power button to wake-up.
when updating to 10.5.5, re-install GMA950 packadge (from MSIwind.net)
Oct 4th, 2008
mike
after update to 10.5.5 osx screen resolution is only 800×600 and no bluetooth any fixes for this please! thanks for all the instructions and drivers btw
Oct 4th, 2008
Chris C
I got it working fne on my Mini the thing with the usb ports is FSR its not plug and play probably due to the emulator for efi. reboot after plugging in a usb device and it is good
Head phones work just have to toggle in the system prefs
Oct 4th, 2008
altazor
wow. i’ll wet oen of these and i’m installing leopard, but can i install it froma usb drive?
Oct 4th, 2008
akvamme
i started this, but ran into a problem… after running thru the setup, i get a hfs+ partition error. i can boot into osx no problem, if i boot from the dvd by not pressing “any key”.
anyone else have this problem? i’m so pumped about this working, but it’s just not quite there for me.
help?
Oct 5th, 2008
josh
Regarding problems booting from USB:
I had this issue with flash and dvdrom USB drives. I just took the latest bios update from Dell and I have no issue booting from USB anymore. It’s version A01 released 10/2/08.
Oct 5th, 2008
Jim
I’m so doing this.
Oct 5th, 2008
jon
As to USB, go to bios and disable the usb emulator.
Oct 5th, 2008
Wex
forgive the stupid question — but is it easy to reload XP if there’s an issue?
Oct 5th, 2008
S
Webcam?
Headphone jack?
Performance?
Oct 5th, 2008
techtechtech
A couple of things
1. USB: Still having problems with USB ports.I tried to change the BIOS settings, but didn’t see an option to change USB Emulation, i saw something about Legacy USB and disabled it but that didn’t help.
2. Bootcamp: I would like to keep a copy of win, just in case on it as well. is Bootcamp possible?
3. Sleep: So far sleep doesn’t work, someone suggested Voodoo above. Can anyone confirm if it works fine?
4. Shutdown: On battery, when I shutdown my computer, the screen goes black but the power light is still on (suggesting i guess that it didn’t completely shutdown). Any tips on it.
Apart from this, everything looks great. Thanks a bunch.
Oct 5th, 2008
JCS
The only thing that doesn’t work on my is the memory card slot? Anyone got that working?
Webcam and headphone works. Performance is faster than XP.
Oct 6th, 2008
techfreak
hi,..
looks good…
not very familar with osx. is tehre olso the possibility to run the os in another language as in english (i.e. german ???)
thx
Oct 6th, 2008
techtechtech
JCS, i am still having problems with USB in addition to memory cards. Can u share any tips on how to get USB working?
Oct 6th, 2008
mike
Anyone have bluetooth working? If so instructions please, I also dont have the card-reader that would be great if someone knows how to fix. Are there any irc channels or fourms for the mini? Thanks for all the great instructions and info it totally made it easy and possible for noobs. Again thanks to all!
Oct 6th, 2008
runningwithscissors
@ TECHTECHTECH
I dont have a mini 9 but I have got the voodoo kernel on my PC and sleep and shutdown does work.
You can test the kernel without replacing your vanilla kernel.
Download the kernel renaming it just voodoo, placing it on the root of your drive and finally rebooting and typing “voodoo -v” without quotes.
Let me know if sleep works this is the only thing stopping by from buying a Mini 9.
Oct 6th, 2008
JeffEd
Hey guys, I haven’t been able to find where else people are discussing this. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
If not I started a board for it over are InsanelyMac.
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=129825
Somebody please let me know. I want to find out what is/isn’t working.
Oct 6th, 2008
jack
thanks so much for the person that finally answered about the headphone jack working. for those worried about xp:
you can still dualboot just fine, but it won’t be happening with bootcamp. there are lots of guides on how to dualboot osx86. just follow any of those guides and you should be fine. i haven’t done it on the dell mini 9, but i have quadbooted a machine i built with osx tiger, leopard, xp, and ubuntu. so i know it can be done.
and for the people that want to switch back to xp:
there will be no problem switching back, everything is software based so don’t be worried about messing anything up. you’ll just need an xp install disc and the drivers and you’ll be good to go.
Oct 6th, 2008
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