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OS X On the MSI Wind
Ruler of Planets writes "PlanetX64 has just published an article on loading OS X on an MSI Wind, effectively creating a machine that is smaller and lighter than a Macbook Air. The exercise was done solely for academic purposes and doing so voids all kinds of warranties, but hey, now you can slip a Mac into a lab coat pocket!"
I read and saw the videos about triple booting with MSI wind back in August. He's got a video there and a bunch of hard to grab OS X drivers. If you are going to purchase a MSI wind, please note the issues with the non synaptics trackpads in some circumstances.
You will need an extra stick of RAM, DVD drive, and WLAN card as well. This hack will get you up to OS X 10.5.4. The hackint0sh community is usually a point release or two behind.
The planetx64 version also has problems with the internal mic, the microphone port and the headset port.
I've got some of the pages in cache.
1. Connect your external USB dvd drive to the MSI wind while the computer is off.
2. Turn on the dvd drive and eject the tray. Place the MSI Leopard disk in the drive and close the tray.
3. Turn on the MSI wind. After the MSI logo screen, you will be prompted for 5 seconds at the darwin screen. Just tap the space bar within the 5 seconds provided in order to boot from the disk. You will see the installation commence.
4. The process will take around 5 minutes before you get to the main OSX installation GUI screen. On your way there, you will see a blue screen with the spinning multicolored beach ball as your mouse representation.
5. Shortly thereafter you will arrive at the language selection screen. Select English and click next.
6. You will arrive at the Welcome screen for the install. At this point you need to stop and blow away your drive partitions to start fresh. Drag your mouse to the top edge of the screen, and click on âoeUtilitiesâ.
7. Then go down and select âoeDisk Utilityâ.
8. Click on your main drive in the left side.
9. Select âoePartitionâ on the right side.
10. In âoeVolume Schemeâ, select âoe1 partitionâ.
11. Assign your disk a name. Then Click on âoeApplyâ. It will take a few seconds to process the disk.
12. Click on âoeQuit Disk Utilityâ from the menu.
13. It will take you back to the main installer âoeWelcomeâ page. Click on âoeContinueâ.
14. Click to accept the licensing agreement.
15. Select your drive destination which you just partitioned.
16. Very Important to STOP on the next screen titled âoeInstall Summaryâ. In the lower left hand corner there is a âoeCustomizeâ button. Click it.
17. Go into Patches, then Kernel, and Uncheck it.
18. Click on done, and you will be taken back to the âoeInstall Summaryâ page and click on âoeInstallâ.
19. Sit back and have a cup of coffee while the machine goes thru the whole install process. Don't be alarmed if it loooks like no activity is going on. If you don't see the dvd drive light going, you will notice the HD light on the MSI blinking while installation happens in the background.
20. Once it is finished and reboots, unplug the dvd usb cable.
21. This time when the âoeDarwinâ boot screen comes up, don't click space bar. The grey Apple logo screen should come up upon booting. If all went well, core animation and sound were installed, and you should see the welcome intro movie playing smoothly. That's it, you are home free.
Pros
Power management/Sleep work normally for the most part. The only difference from actual Apple hardware, is that you need to tap the power button to wake from sleep, as opposed to screen lid, mouse movement or space tap. Fans work properly, same as on a macbook. They kick in on heavy CPU usage and high temps. However, I must say, the device keeps very cool most of the time. Other pluses include Portability & Price. The 6 cell battery gets you around 5 hours of usage.
Working perfectly:
* Core image
* Core animation
* Core audio
* Video Out & Graphics in general
* Wired Ethernet
* Webcam
* Internal Speakers
* USB
* SD Card Slot
* Sleep
* Bluetooth
* Wifi
* TouchPad
* Function Keys
Cons
Not able do perform Major OS point upgrades. There is no support for this. Warranty becomes Void. You are totally on your own. Web Cam, Wifi & Bluetooth, need to be activated via the function keys before the OS will see them (very PC like). The trackpad feels a little clunky, however I prefer a small mouse (wired or bluetooth). If you try to save a few dollars by going with the 3 cell battery, you will only get 2 hours of usage.
Not working:
* Internal Microphone
* Microphone port
* Headset port
I wonder what the world would look like if Apple would sell software as well.
Apple will never sell software sans hardware. They've got a control obsession. Their greatest strength & weakness as a company.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
And how, exactly, would this change "the world"? Just because you have your head so far up Steve Jobs's arse that you can see the light doesn't mean the world in any way revolves around Apple's business plans. It's just you.
And re "the microsoft tax on new hardware": it doesn't exist. You can buy MSI Wind without Windows. You can buy whichever component you want without giving a cent to Microsoft. Perhaps you're confusing it with the Apple tax, the extra money you have to pay for an Apple approved version of graphics cards and some sound cards.
This is not the first and only OS X installation attempt on a UMPC. There is a short survey of installation guides for MAC OS X on (small) laptops and notebooks provided by TuxMobil. There are guides for the ASUS Eee PC 701, the OQO e2, the Lenovo ThinkPad X61 and others. More submissions are welcome though.
I thought about that a while back.
Suppose they did it this way...
1. published a list of exactly what hardware they supported, ie. a restricted driver model not the windows model of anybody can create anything they want and sell it for windows.
2. allowed OEMs to choose that supported hardware and display a "Apple Ready" sticker
3. allowed home builder to choose from that list and be "Apple Ready"
4. then anybody could buy and install Apple OS - if during boot up it detected unsupported hardare it would either refuse to install or warn the user that some hardware would not be support
I would expect them to release a free tool that would allow you to confirm if your platform was supported.
If this was done then OEMs could sell apple OS PCs, you'd see PC with "ready for windows" and "apple ready" label you'd know you could dual boot.
But let's face it, this is pure fantasy. Apple restrict the OS because they want money from the HW and they want to enforce a beautiful uniform image for their equipment. They very last thing they was is an ugly square chinese box proclaiming to be an apple.
And here's another site using Vibrant's in-text ads, with the "disable" tab turned off.
Vibrant's in-text ads are the most annoying online advertising scheme since X-10. But bad as they are you used to be able to turn them off... now increasingly often the "disable" tab doesn't show up when you try to do that. Sites that use this technology should not be supported by Slashdot eyeballs any more than spammers should. And just because you can use adblock to hide them doesn't excuse this abusive advertising trick... ignoring it because adblock works is like ignoring spam because you have a good spam filter: we know where that leads.
I can't see Apple being well pleased with this. They have a reputation to sustain!
In any case, OS X on netbooks is old hat. You can put it on an original Eee, for instance.
OS X really does work fine on general hardware. If your hardware is something Apple has a driver for. So, a bit like Linux without anything like as broad a support base, then.
(I personally prefer FreeBSD, but Linux supports my laptop immaculately.)
http://rocknerd.co.uk
Yeah, or even a phone!
Oh, wait...
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
As this combination of hardware and software will inevitably be called WindeX.
Rich And Stupid is not so bad as Working For Rich And Stupid.
I think I must have misunderstood the summary. In what way does installing a piece of piece of software onto something "create a machine smaller and lighter than the MacBook Air"?
Also, does installing software on a machine really void the warranty? If you reload the original OS from recovery disks before sending it back, how would the manufacturer even know?
It's strange, /. summaries are usually so clear and well-written.
Their margins would be arguably higher, as selling software carries little additional cost versus hardware sales. Each additional unit is more-or-less pure profit.
I'm not convinced that it would be an instant end to the microsoft tax, but at least it would be another alternative. Neither option is free.
Two points:
1) revenue would take a big hit if people switches from Apple branded hw to others
2) shipping fewer units would mean higher unit costs and lower margins on those products
3) support costs would go up as Apple would have to ensure it worked on a variety oh hardware combos with products they currently do not support but are cmmon such as WiFi cards from various manufacturers, or
4) they cut a deal with say Dell and HP but then they will need to significantly drop prices and stop update the build everytime an internal component changes
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
Macbook Air is a concept machine designed to fit a specific lifestyle and usage style.
If you have a "Mac Pro" or high end iMac running on top of line ISP line with 811.11N network installed at home and live in industrial city with top of line 3G coverage, you will buy and like Macbook Air.
See the Apple Japan store top 10 sellers if you don't believe me.
While speaking about Japan, Casio watches now even come with "atomic time sync" and they are cheaper than $200. Does it make Rolex a failure as it can only display time and date for $3000?
If I had my 10 mod points I would have wanted to give you them all.
Wtf is up with the special mac graphic cards for real macs when hacks run BIOS cards? If the EFI connection in the OS is so loose can't they somehow make it possible to just use regular video cards? Or just skip EFI totally since it's not like they have released lots of EFI cards anyway and the world don't seem to move on to EFI just yet anyway.
Geforce 8800 GT 512MB Mac Pro upgrade kit: $279.00
Same card for a PC on newegg: $110.99
(Not to forget it's a shitty card anyway compared to some other options, but those aren't options even on a hack since all cards isn't supported anyway. Though I guess it can't be hard for Apple to get support for HD3000- and HD4000-series if they wanted to as well.)
The mid 90s called. They have the answer to your question. But here's a reminder:
The fact you don't remember/know those two pieces of history suggest it wasn't really a stunning success.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
"OMG, I would totally buy OSX in a second and run it on my box. Why doesn't Apple become a software company? Everyone would drop MS in a second. Apple would make a lot of money on volume."
etc
etc
This is why few boards of directors come to Slashdot looking for their next CEO.
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
Why do you have so little confidence in Apple's hardware?
If, as we are often told, Apple's hardware is so much better, then there should not be a "big hit" from people switching.
I actually think it may be the other way 'round. Most of the people I see using "Macs in public" would still buy the Apple product even if it came with Windows only.
You are welcome on my lawn.
My thought is that, just maybe, Apple should consider a license of Mac OS for Virtualizations. Pick one platform... VMWare, xVM, whatever.
This would solve the "but there are a billion network cards and a billion video cards out there" argument. Inside the VM, there is only the one configuration.
Sure, it wouldn't be the world's speediest thing. But, it would get a lot of people thinking about Mac OS part-time. Some of us Linux people who have a Windows window in the corner (when absolutely necessary) would ditch it most of the time for a legit copy of Mac. If I had to run a shrink-wrap app, I'd buy the Mac version if it ran well. I'd also be more willing to develop and test for Mac.
Too cannibalistic of their hardware sales, though?
We're talking about computers here. This isn't a religion. This isn't anything life altering or anything like that. These are computers.
Where does the "Just because you have your head so far up Steve Jobs's arse" vitriol come from?
Come on...
"Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
No, WATB, they have an obsession with not going out of business. They don't have an OS monopoly and can't lock in Dell or HP into selling OS X on their machines. They can't make the $$$ on volume like Microsoft can, so they'd have to charge much more money for their operating systems - inviting rampant piracy.
Stop drinking the anti-Apple Kool Aid.
I'm an Apple pundit, but I jump at the opportunity to vent my hatred of the MacBookAir.
You're right: it's a disaster waiting to happen. A friend of mine has one and wrecked the USB port (the manner of failure being essentially irrelevant). Once the port died, the only way of getting information in or out of the machine was the wireless network interface. Digicams and DVDs became off-limits, as did 3G cellphone coverage. In short, it became a stylish paperweight.
Suddenly, my friend understood the concept of "robustness under single failure".
"Place me in the company of those who seek Truth, but deliver me from those who believe to have found it."
I dunno. I bought a Macbook Air just for the hardware alone. It boots to Windows. I don't use their OS but I really REALLY like the laptop. I'd have considered a netbook but I really wanted something with a full size keyboard and screen as well as plenty of power.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Except... hackintosh-ing invites rampant piracy.
No, because getting OS X to run on a vanilla PC has some technical hurdles, and the number of pirates goes down with each hoop that needs to be jumped through. If Apple releases a version of Leopard that installs (if not runs) on PC's without trouble, goodnight Shirley.
One thing that Apple does actually do to encourage piracy is the fact that they don't have a mid to low end tower. I'm considering doing a Hackintosh after Apple adds ZFS support, as I want a tower with four terabyte hard drives but want my total cost to be less than $1000, not start out at $2800 (base Mac Pro) before I even add the drives.
You can buy a boxed version of Leopard anywhere. Sure, their EULA forbids one from installing in anything that is not Apple hardware. Not sure how would that hold up in a court if, say, Apple sued someone who installed OS X in his MSI Wind. BTW, how is the Psystar lawsuit going on?
Where is that guy who'd die defending what I had to say when I need him?
I tried running your comment through Bablefish but even after trying all the major European languages and even Esperanto I couldn't get your post to translate into English.
Bad analogies are like waxing a monkey with a rainbow.