I am typing this on a 9 - inch , 3G - equipped , almost - pocketable calculator , running the best consumer atomic number 76 money can presently purchase . It be around $ 400 . Do you want one too ? Here’show toget yours .
There are a lot of netbooks on which you may install and runOS X , but if you ’re aware of thehandy comparison chartthose lads at Boing Boing Gadgets have compiled , you ’ll recognize that theMini 9is about as idealistic a platform as you ’ll find for a Hackintosh ultraportable : Everything from wi - fi , sound and the function keys down to the optional integrated mobile broadband wit and the SD add-in reader are supported and exploit as they should . No computer hardware compromise at all . It ’s awesome .
Generally , there are two ways to approach a Hackintosh install : Using a “ slipstreamed ” OS disco biscuit installer image that ’s been modified to set up on non - Apple computer hardware , or using a $ 129 factory - saucy retail OS Adam install disc in tandem with a peculiar bootloader that does the necessary tweaking to let the install pass . The former can be promiscuous enough , but it ’s pretty much illegal since it hold in a pirated OS X install phonograph record , and on top of that you ’ll run into all kinds of problem should you ever want to kick upstairs your OS or package via Software Update .
By using a retail oculus sinister ex magnetic disk , you abide mostly out of pirate waters , and ensure that once everything ’s up and running , you ’ll be as confining as is possible to hold an literal Mac . Here we ’re doing that , using a method referred to as the “ Type11 ” install , cooked up by a fellow of the same handgrip and his workfellow over on theMyDellMini forums , a fantastic resourcefulness .
Even though we ’re using a standard retail - purchase copy of OS X , the disclaimer : Apple does not like Hackintoshing . It rape the OS XTC EULA , and likely wo n’t make the Dell ethnic music too happy either , should you need to return your hacked Mini 9 for servicing . So , as always , go at your own endangerment .
https://gizmodo.com/the-netbook-hackintosh-video-apple-made-wired-take-down-5131264
On a personal note let me separate you , it ’s worth it . The Mini 9 is a beautiful atomic number 76 X machine . So let ’s get started .
What You ’ll want
•Dell Mini 9With 16 GB SSD or higher ( 8 GB SSDs will techincally work , but it will take some fiddling not covered by this scout )
• Retail copy of OS X 10.5.x ( NOT an OEM copy that comes with a new Mac )
• A USB jiffy drive 8 GB or high-pitched
• An external USB DVD drive
• The “ Type11 ” Bootloader : DellMiniBoot123v8.01.iso.zip ( download link in this forum place )
• Blank CD to burn bootloader image ( I in reality used version 8.0 of Type11 on my atomic number 48 - if your boot cognitive operation with 8.01 is different than what ’s spelled out in this scout , youcan download 8.0 here . Both should act . )
• Windows personal computer for preparing the flash drive ( if DVD campaign works fine , this is optional )
Preparing Your Boot Loader
The easiest way to employ both the Type11 bootloader ( burn to a bootable candela ) and your OS X set up DVD is via the international USB videodisc effort . The catch is , some drives are mysteriously not compatible with installing OS X on the Mini 9 . Mine was one of those campaign — the bootloader CD would work without a hitch , but it would perish on the OS Adam establish disk every time . Thankfully , it ’s also possible to run both the bootloader and the OS disco biscuit install disk off of a USB flash drive . I ’m go to spell out out my method acting here , which really admit both approaches , but essay an outside DVD cause first , and if yours is compatible , your life history will be a little easier than mine was . On the other hired hand , if you do n’t have an international drive , you may give the USB flash drive method acting a guessing .
The worldwide approaching here it to boot from the Type11 bootloader , which allows you install , track down and update OS X ; once you ’re up to 10.5.6 , you may install a entourage of Mini 9 specific driver so you do n’t have to rely on the bootloader anymore .
1 . Unzip the DellMiniBoot123v8.01.iso and burn it to a standard candle with Disk Utility or a similar Windows tool ( do n’t just drag the ISO data file to a disk ) . tonic that disk into your external videodisc drive , connect it to your Mini 9 and power it on , then press 0 ( zero ) at startup to bring up the list of bootable gimmick .
2 . Choose CD / DVD from the tilt , which will add you into the bootloader . pick out the first choice , “ establish Retail OS XTC 10.5 ” which will bring you to a bidding prompt that says “ boot : ”
3 . Take out the bootloader disk and pop in your retail operating system X install DVD , keeping the personal computer running . ( you’re able to power your external drive off and then on again to check that everything ’s kosher . ) Press Escape at the boot : quick to bring up the drive options . The Type11 installer uses jinx codification to prefer which twist you ’re booting from , which you’re able to delegate at any time from the iron boot prompting by pressing escape : come in “ 9f ” for the external DVD drive or “ 80 ” for the primary internal SSD . Here we ’re boot from the international compact disk drive , so press escapism , Type “ 9f ” then jam enter .
4 . At this point , the OS 10 installer will either load or it wo n’t . If it does , groovy . you may skip to step 12 . If not , you ’ll take to do what I did , and transpose everything to a USB ostentation effort to install that way .
train a USB Stick rather Of / In Addition To a Boot CD
This is found ona tutorial find on the MyDellMini forums by “ bmaltais”—bigup to him .
5 . Open up Disk Utility and partition your USB drive ( 8 GB or larger ) into two partition : one 200 MB FAT32 ( MS - DOS ) segmentation named “ TYPE11 ” and one with the difference of the spare place format as Mac OS disco biscuit Extended ( Journaled ) address OSXDVD .
6 . Move to a Windows PC ( I bonk , I know ) , plug in your USB reefer and downloadSyslinux - this is a service program that will make the FAT32 divider of your USB stick bootable . With the Windows Command Prompt , cd over to the “ win32 ” subdirectory of the Syslinux directory you downloaded and typewrite the pursual , where “ farad : ” is the drive letter of the alphabet for the TYPE11 partition on your USB peg :
syslinux -ma F :
You wo n’t get any verification , but if you receive no error subject matter , you ’re dependable : This copies a unmarried Indian file named ldlinux.sys ( invisible in Windows ) to the USB drive to make it bootable . pop out it out and go back to your Mac if that ’s what you ’re using .
7 . Now , unzip the Type11 ISO ( rather of sting it to a disk ) and copy the whole directory structure to the TYPE11 divider . Do NOT overwrite the “ ldlinux.sys ” when it require — you desire to keep the one you copy over with Syslinux .
8 . To fill up the other partition , insert your OS tenner set up videodisk and , in Disk Utility , select it and pick out “ New Image . ” lay aside it to the OSXDVD partition of your USB drive as “ live.dmg ” with “ compressed ” as the type and encoding coiffe to “ none . ” This ’ll take about a half hour to rip the videodisc to an range , which should weigh in at around 6.4 GB give or take .
9 . After that ’s done , go to Terminal and re-create your mach kernel file to the OSXDVD sectionalization by type this :
sudo cp /mach_kernel /Volumes / OSXDVD
10 . And finally , downloadthis zip file , uncompress it and copy the System and Library brochure inside to your OSXDVD division . This is the last bit of conjuration needed to make your Mini 9 call back it ’s working with an actual OS tenner install DVD .
11 . On your Mini 9 , re-start it and enter the BIOS frame-up by pressing “ 2”—and make trusted legacy documentation for USB gimmick is enabled . Now , reboot and pick out the boot choice list by tapping 0 at inauguration and choose USB Storage . Select the OSXDVD partition to boot from and press Enter . This should load up up the conversant Apple and the OS X installer window .
put in OS X
While you ’re instal and doing initial constellation of OS X , everything will be all warp to 800×600 rather than your Mini ’s native 1024×600 Ra . Do n’t worry , this will be fixed shortly enough .
12 . The first thing you need to do is format your SSD . Bring up Disk Utility in the installer select it at the highest level potential . Go to “ Partition ” and make it a single Mac OS X Extended ( Journaled ) partition . Before hitting Apply , go to Options and select GUID Partition Table . Then shoot apply .
13 . Now , go back to the Installer , and install OS X to the SSD you just partitioned . You will definitely require to choose to customize your install to save SSD distance — I would ditch all the pressman driver and language pack you do n’t need to keep space . If you install with the default options though , do n’t worry — all can be removed by and by . The install will take about an time of day , so go fix yourself a drink . You may come back to an Install alert message at the very conclusion ( I did n’t ) , but if you do , do n’t worry . It ’s normal .
14 . Once OS X is installed , it ’s still not quick for exercise right off the drive . On your first reboot , make certain you reboot back into the Type11 bootloader on your CD or flash driveway , as your new OS 10 partition is still not bootable without it .
This is , however , where a bit of weirdness set in for me . The Type11 partitioning on my USB saucer would NOT recognize my sweet O X establish on the Mini 9 SSD . It just would not boot it . The Type11 boot CD I had made ( with translation 8.0 of Type11 ) DID realise it , however , and reboot it just fine . So bear that in mind here — even if you were n’t using an international drive before , you still might need one .
15 . So now you boot back into the Type11 CD and choose pick 1 ( “ instal Retail OS X 10.5 ” ) again , even though you ’re not install . This takes you back to the boot prompting . This time , hit Escape , and type the computer code “ 80 ” for your SSD ( as pit to “ 9f ” for the external DVD ) . wardrobe enter , and then back at the “ boot : ” prompting , eccentric “ -f ” with no quotes before hitting enter again to boot . This will load all of OS X ’s essence annex ( .kexts ) to ensure wi - fi and everything works . OS X should boot , and you ’ll go through the typical OS cristal setup unconscious process . Notice the webcam and — hopefully — networking are already work !
ONE MORE banknote : If networking is n’t working , do n’t panic . On my first boot from the SSD , wi - fi did n’t work . But after a restart and another boot from the bootloader CD ( with the “ -f ” choice ) it work fine . Throughout this process , if anything is screwy , before you panic and start google novel strategems , simply re - do the last step that failed — it ’s often that easy .
resign Up Space and Update OS X to 10.5.6
Now that you ’ve booted from the fresh install on the SSD , it ’s meter to update to 10.5.6 ( if necessary ) . After a default install , I only had a gig and modification left on my 16 GB SSD , so I had to knock down some programs I would n’t need as well as all the pressman drivers ascertain at /Library / Printers . There is an app calledMonolingualwhich can also help sort out some quad by remove unwanted language file cabinet and undress out all bequest PPC codification from your universal binaries .
16 . Once you ’ve cleared up enough space ( if necessary , you ’ll involve around 6 GB ) , go to Software Update and set up the 10.5.6 update . This will take a long - atomic number 33 metre too ( the SSD , strangely enough , seems to really be slower on tasks that take slews of read and writes ) .
17 . After it ’s done , restart , and boot into the Type11 bootloader one last prison term . This time you do n’t have to use the “ -f ” sword lily . Once you ’re boot , go to the DellMini9Utils folder on your Type11 CD or flash drive and melt down the DellEFI installer . This will load all of the Mini 9 .kexts and driver as well as a special bootloader to boot your SSD install . Choose the easy install option and just permit it do its magic .
18 . After it ’s done , you ’ll be asked to reboot one final time . You wo n’t call for to boot from the Type11 CD this clock time ; you should bring up straight off of your SSD like normal , and enter upon your refreshing raw OS ten desktop , now in gloriously correct 1024×600 resolution . Awesome !
Configs , Tweaks and Fun Stuff
You ’ll notice properly away that OS X operate fabulously on the Mini 9 . I was really amazed , and you believably will be too . Here are some things to make it even ripe :
• If you ’re especially OCD , you could pass the “ AboutThisMac.pkg ” inside the Type11 utilities folder to exchange “ unnamed C.P.U. ” in the About This Mac windowpane to the correct 1.6GHz Atom appellation .
•This is a neat trickfor arse around pesky oversized windows into shrinking themselves for your small screen .
• I have n’t had fortune with this , but youcan obviously enable some multitouch scrolling actionon the Dell ’s Synaptics touchpad by following these program line .
Conclusion
So congrats , now you have a 100 % operational OS disco biscuit netbook . I ’ve been using mine for a few day now , and it ’s quite the automobile for basic netbook action - surfing , IM , email . It connects to my share AirPort disk and streams my picture collection ( even high - def files ) utterly , and also backs up wirelessly over Time Machine . The 9 - inch screen will make even your lower - re full - screen video look fantastic — YouTube or Hulu , QuickTime trailers and video rips are a pleasure to watch . ascertain an episode of something in bed without lugging my 15 - incher in with me is really nice .
In addition , I think I may have find the perfect toilet computer . No one wants to defend Windows on the toilet . And of course it ’s amazing for travel . I ’m about to take a trip to Cairo , and I ’ll be bringing this little guy without a doubt .
Resources
Many thanks to everyone at the succeed site :
•DellMyMini Forums : Mac OS X
•DellMyMini forum : OS X : FAQ and How Tos
•OSX86 Wiki Guide
AppleDellguidesHackintoshHow ToLaptopsTutorials
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