Friday, 2. July 2010
With reference to my previous post, you can now simply install and then use “wget http://idarkside.com/minibuntu.sh” and then “sudo sh minibuntu.sh” to install 
I will keep that file up to date should any changes be needed.
Friday, 2. July 2010
I have always been a fan of Linux and Ubuntu is really pushing forward in many aspects. One thing that always interested me was making a minimalistic install cd/dvd. I dont really like the netbook install cd and looked for other ways to accomplish what I want and require. Rather than performing a default install and stripping it down I wanted to build from a minimal install upwards. This script is based on a list of packages required to install the desktop then I used remastersys to create a live cd / install cd from the installation, works a treat and is easily changed to your own needs. Of course the added advantage is that its always up to date at the time of creation (I do mine on a vmware machine). Lets get on with it!
1 – Download the netinst cd from here: /netboot/mini.iso
2 – Create an Ubuntu vmware machine and install or do a real install of the downloaded iso
3 – Use the following script, I copied it to my home dir, how you get it there is up to your own personal preference. Save it as “minibuntu.sh”:
#!/bin/bash
echo “# Adding Repositories”
sleep 5
sudo sh -c ‘echo “deb http://www.geekconnection.org/remastersys/repository karmic/” >> /etc/apt/sources.list’
echo “# Updating Repositories”
sleep 5
sudo apt-get update
echo “# Installing Packages”
sleep 5
sudo apt-get -y install gnome-core gdm network-manager-gnome indicator-applet-session gdm human-theme x11-xserver-utils tangerine-icon-theme gnome-themes-ubuntu ubuntu-artwork jockey-gtk gnome-screensaver gnome-utils gcalctool tsclient ssh firefox
echo “# Installing Remastersys”
sleep 5
sudo apt-get -y –force-yes install remastersys
echo “# Removing Packages”
sleep 5
sudo apt-get -y remove –purge gwibber
echo “# Cleaning Up”
sleep 5
sudo remastersys clean
sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get autoclean
echo “# Creating iso”
sleep 5
sudo remastersys dist
echo “# Iso created in /home/remastersys/remastersys/customdist.iso”
read -p “# Press ENTER to reboot now to see how she is!” done
sudo reboot
4 – Run the following command “sudo sh minibuntu.sh” and sit back and wait, once its done it will prompt you to reboot to the desktop.
5 – Copy / burn / play with your new up to date minimalistic Ubuntu install
Sunday, 27. June 2010
I updated all my hacks to 10.6.4 over the last couple of days and had no issues with any of them. I dont use any sleep enablers so I didnt even need to remove any kexts! I simply installed, rebooted and they were all good to go!
Monday, 7. June 2010
Added Everything Search Engine to Windows applications, find any file instantly by simple keystrokes.
Thursday, 3. June 2010
Added MakeMKV to Windows applications. What a great application (currently in beta).
Thursday, 13. May 2010
Further to my previous post, I can confirm that sleep is working by “default”. I have not had to edit DSDT at all yet, which rocks. No BIOS reset issue either which I thought I would have to fix.
Everything just seems to work since I have got rid of that ATI HD4850, so much pain has been solved with so little effort (although obviously I had to buy the card).
Sunday, 25. April 2010
Today I had a problem that appeared out of nowhere! I could delete files but they were deleted immediately and not moved to the trash, strange….
I checked that the .Trash directory was present in my home dir, as expected it was. I had no permissions to remove it from the command line, which I tried so I could then recreate the directory with the correct permissions for my user. I showed hidden files and folders and noticed the red (no permissions) icon on .Trash in my home dir. Once that was seen I knew what was up!
1. Show hidden files and directories then right click .Trash in your home directory and select “Get info”
2. You will most likely see that OS X says that you have custom permissions. Click the padlock, enter your password and then click + to add a user and select yourself.
3. Change your permissions to read and write.
4. Click the padlock again to lock your edit and hide hidden files and directories again.
5. Empty the trash and be happy!
Clearly a permission error caused by some random event yet disk utility could not fix it by repairing permissions. All very strange but easily fixed.
Monday, 12. April 2010
Firstly, I gave up getting my ATI HD 4850 working, you can read more about my new card here. I bought an Nvidia card, half of the M7720 machines shipped with Nvidia cards also. At best, with my old ATI card, I could achieve full screen resolution and also full acceleration but the screen buffers caused me real headaches and constant jittering (bouncing up and down) in non 3d applications (i.e. – the desktop). I went Nvidia and all was well once I purchased the BFG Nvidia Geforce 250 GTS 1GB DDR3!
Installing Snow Leopard 10.6 – Retail
1. I used an 8GB pendrive and using Disk Utility, restored an image of my retail Snow Leopard DVD to it, I then installed myHack to the pendrive. When installing myHack to the pendrive I chose all options except the Chocolate Kernel. You can find myHack here.
2. Boot from your USB pendrive and install! Yes! Its that easy! You should have full graphics acceleration at this point since its provided by the “Graphics Enabler” option from myHack.
3. Once the install has finished and reboots, again boot from your pendrive. This time choose your install drive from the Chameleon bootloader and boot to your install. Add user account information etc and you are now at the desktop. Open the pendrive in finder and run myHack again from within Snow Leopard (it copied itself to your pendrive when you installed it to it). Choose all options other than the Chocolate Kernel. Reboot again and this time boot direct from your hard drive (you can remove the pendrive at this point).
4. The onboard ethernet requires a kext which you can download and install with kexthelper from here.
5. The last thing to do is to enable your audio. This can be done with kexthelper using the kext found here.
Notes
I got the machine working fully before updating to 10.6.3 so I could test and see if it would break the install in any way, it didn’t! Different graphics cards may require different methods, I only specifically talk about the one I purchased. Most Nvidia cards 6***+ are fairly simple though and can either use the same method as above or OSX86Tools to simply add the EFI strings needed. Please comment if you require assistance!
I have not investigated sleep or anything else which may require DSDT hacks but I can assure you that the machine now runs a Snow Leopard I can use without issue and I can finally enjoy it!
If you use OSX then BUY IT!
Monday, 12. April 2010
I finally gave up with the ATI HD 4850 in Snow Leopard, none of the fixes or hacks I found would work for this card in my M7720 machine. I went out, got the BFG Nvidia GeForce GTS 250 1GB DDR3 and was up and running Snow Leopard with full screen resolution and full acceleration within an hour. After all the struggling I had with the old card I just wish I had done this months ago! The card I bought is detailed here.
Guide for Snow Leopard on the M7720 with Nvidia cards will be written this evening.
Saturday, 3. April 2010
I love OS X and I still do not really have a personal opinion of Apple, but this I find quite amusing.
