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Install Mac OS X Leopard on a G4 800mhz Quicksilver

July 29, 2008 in 800mhz, 867mhz, DMG, Leopard, OSX, QuickSilver, g4, hack, mac, macintosh, open firmware, openfirmware, os x, software | 10 comments

If you have an old G4 sitting around that’s at the 800mhz mark, you probably should try installing Leopard, because most people agree it actually runs FASTER than Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. Weird, huh? I guess they’ve optimized the code pretty well.
However, when you try to install the operating system, you are warned that Leopard cannot be installed on your G4. There are a few reasons for this:
1) Leopard requires 512MB of RAM – you have RAM, right?
2) Leopard requires over 867mhz processor

We can fix number 1 by simply getting more RAM. I find Craigslist to be of great use here. Number two is a bit more difficult as G4 processor upgrades are ridiculously expensive once you consider the cost of a Mac Mini, and also requires a bit of tech savvy under the hood as you’d be swapping CPUs.
Not to worry, though. Here’s a way to convince OpenFirmware that your CPU is 867mhz, and allow the installer to boot, install, and get you off and running:
Boot into Open Firmware, I have covered this extensively here:
Once in OpenFirmware, issue the following commands (for single CPU):
dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@0
d# 867000000 encode-int " clock-frequency" property
boot cd:,\\:tbxi
For dual CPU:
dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@0
d# 867000000 encode-int " clock-frequency" property
dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@1
d# 867000000 encode-int " clock-frequency" property
boot cd:,\\:tbxi
Note that all we are doing is over-writing the CPU clock-frequency (speed) property for each CPU installed, at boot time.
Also, if you need to boot another device, try:
printenv boot-device
This will return a list of boot devices to use when booting the installer. I used this in order to boot a Firewire device that had had a disc image (DMG) restored to it, making things a bit easy and faster.

Good luck!

How do I install .kext files?

July 12, 2008 in Hackintosh, IOATA, IOATAFamily.kext, Kext, Leopard, OSX, Tiger, apple, driver, hack, mac, macintosh, os x, software | 2 comments

I hear this a lot, and I myself have also gone looking for it…

So without  further ado, here is the script that will install kext files for you – be warned – you’ll need to know how to get the kext file in the first place, as well as the filename.

Easy right?

Let’s get started.

Open the Terminal application by going to Applications / Utilities / Terminal.app – you will see it in the Utilities folder – it looks like a command prompt.

Once terminal has launched, type in the following command:

sudo -s

Enter the root or first user password that you inputted during the setup process.

This tells it to run any other commands after this one as the root or superuser account, allowing you to edit files you normally would not have permission to edit.

Here’s an example using IOATAFamily.kext, a popular ATA driver. You’ll want to replace this by your own driver name. Also, you’ll want to make sure the file is unzipped, and sitting on your desktop. Oh one more thing, you’ll want to edit YOURUSERNAME with… your username :)

mv /Users/(YOUR USERNAME)/Desktop/IOATAFamily.kext /System/Library/Extensions
chmod -R 755 /System/Library/Extensions/IOATAFamily.kext
sudo chown -R root:wheel /System/Library/Extensions/IOATAFamily.kext
cd /System/Library/Extensions
rm -rf Extensions.mkext
rm -rf Extensions.kextcache

Hope that helps!

Leopard Server on Leopard with VMware Fusion 2.0!

June 12, 2008 in 10.5, Fusion 2.0, Leopard, OSX, VMTN, VMWare, apple, mac, macintosh, server, software, virtualization | No comments

VMware has just announced support for their 61st OS supported by Fusion 2.0 – Mac OS X Server 10.5 (Leopard). This is great news for those looking to test things like the new Active Directory wizards, calendar server and enterprise blogging that come with the new version of the server. Not to mention that because it’s supported by Fusion 2.0, you can do it on your laptop.

Check out the full blog post on Fusion 2.0 Leopard Server support at the VMware VMTN blog site here.

Parallels Server Beta 2 Download

March 5, 2008 in 64bit, Download, Parallels, linux, mac, server, software, virtual machines, virtualization, windows | No comments

You can now register to download Parallels Server Beta 2!

From the announcement:

Key Features (Parallels Server Beta 2)

Hardware-optimized hypervisor-based virtualization solution.

Installable on host servers running Linux, Mac OS X and Windows, including the Windows Server 2008.

Bare metal version for non-OS server installation.

x64 (64-bit) and x86 (32-bit) host and guest OS support, including any combination of more than 50 different guest OSes in secure, high-performing VMs.

4-way guest SMP and multi-core support.

Integrated toolset includes Parallels Tools, VM backup and Parallels Transporter (the P2V migration tool).

Parallels Management Console, an easy-to-use, multi-server management tool is included.

Support for Intel VT-d hardware acceleration extension for hardware resource dedication to VMs.

Intel VT-x and AMD-V hardware-assisted acceleration support.

Open APIs and SDK for extensible management.

Command line interface (CLI) and scripting.

VMware Fusion 1.1.1 Maps Command Keys to Windows Control Keys

January 29, 2008 in VMWare, Video, apple, command, control, fusion, mac, paste, software, unity | No comments

From the official announcement:

The VMware Fusion Team is happy to announce that VMware Fusion 1.1.1 is now available, addressing 15 issues reported by our customers.

VMware Fusion 1.1.1, a free update for current VMware Fusion customers and available in all the languages Fusion currently ships in, also adds a nifty new feature to transparently remap keyboard shortcuts when going back and forth between applications in the virtual machine and the Mac, regardless of what view the virtual machine is in.

For example, VMware Fusion now remaps Command –X from the keyboard to Ctrl-X in the virtual machine whether in Full Screen, Single Window or Unity. The same remapping happens for Command-Z/-C/-V/-P/-A/-F. Previously, VMware Fusion only did this remapping in Unity mode.

What this means to users, is that when copying something from the Mac side to paste into the virtual machine, and vice versa, you no longer have to remember “Is it Ctrl-V, or Command-V to paste here? Which machine am I interacting with?”

The effect is a more integrated blending of the two operating systems, so your Mac and Windows work together seamlessly, where the user only has to remember one set of keyboard shortcuts!

Keyboard remapping can be turned on and off in the VMware Fusion > Preferences dialog.

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