Using the framework that I have laid out, updating should be relatively easy. There is no Sleep Enabler to cause kernel panics. There are no additional kernel packs to install (unless you are using AMD) and so based on this minimalist framework, the update process should be smooth.
If you are on an Acer Aspire One, you will have to update incrementally to 10.6.8. This means that you can’t skip over updates because doing so will cause a lot of damage to your kexts.
If you, are running an Asus P5KPL-CM, you will have no choice but to install a second Mac partition and install the 10.6.8 combo update to the desired partition from another which I will refer to as Zigzag Updating in this post.
On another machine, the procedure might be different. If you are running an AMD system, you will need to update quoops as you update incrementally.
Download:There are two methods that you can use. You can update incrementally or by using the Combo Update. If the Combo Update fails, reinstall Mac OS X and update incrementally. If this fails, reinstall Mac OS X, install a second partition and update your primary partition from your secondary.
Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update
Zigzag Updating
For those who need to do the update from the secondary partition, here is how it works.
You install a Partition A with 30GB (bare minimum) and install a Partition B with the desired amount of space to 10.6.3 using the previous tutorials.
Then, you boot into Partition A, run the update and Change the Install Location and choose Partition B. Then you Restart.
At the Boot loader, Boot into Partition B and then fix whatever kexts that you have to using another article in the series.
Then Reboot Back into A to install the next updates to Partition B and repeat this process until you reach 10.6.8.
Restoring Graphics in 10.6.8
If you update and boot into a Blue Screen – which has happened to me when I updated to 10.6.8 with an NVidia GeForce 8400 Graphics card, you will need to reboot into your boot loader and type nv_disable=1 before hitting enter. This will disable the graphics card such that you can update the graphics card.You will then need the NVidia updater for an NVidea card, which from my experience will give you conflicts and tell you that you don’t have one of their graphics cards. To bypass this, I removed the condition from one of their files to bypass this necessity.
If you have an NVidia Graphics card, download and install this package.
Download:If the update alone doesn’t work, you may also need to use EFI Studio and add the string as outlined in this post.
NVIDEA Updater
If you are on an Acer Aspire One D250, you will need to reinstall the graphics by following the instructions in the "Restoring Graphics in 10.6.7" section as outlined in this post. If you get a blue screen or run into problems, try booting with GraphicsEnabler=yes or nv_disable=1. Note that nv_disable=1 isn't consistent on the Aspire One and is more suited with systems with NVidea Graphics cards.
Restoring Other Lost Functionality
You may also need to fix broken kexts, which can easily be done by following the steps in this post.Updating is machine specific and may require different methods based on the machine. The method that I have outlined here is general and if you followed my previous posts in the series, you shouldn’t have a problem.
Mac OS X on your Computer Series
| Previous | Next |
About Author
24 Blogger:
hello, my name is steven . I'm kind of new to hacintosh and this is the first one I have found that has my motherboard and isn't 3 years old. I need some help and direction pls. Thanks for the great guide.
@AnonymousSteven, what exactly do you need direction on? Have you installed Mac OS X up to this point using the earlier part of the series?
@JulianHi Julian, thanks for your time. I have installed 10.6.3 iAtkos edition. I have also in the past used the retail dvd and tried to patch it. I dont have DSDT for this system and I get so totally lost trying to use DSDTSE even with the you tube tutorials. Although it seems like a fine program for someone who is good at using it. What are the bare minimum extentions I need to have installed? and I have yet to find a driver for my XFX GeForce 9400gt 1gb. Once again thanks for your time. ~ Steven.
@JulianI would also like to add that the ndivia patcher you posted does not like my system and will not unzip. I have downloaded it several times to make sure it was not just a bad download. any suggestions? Thanks ~ Steven
@AnonymousIt could be a bad upload on my part. I do all my posts in Windows since I use Windows Live writer which I can't get on Mac OS X. I uploaded the file from Windows (probably was a bad idea as Windows recognizes the whole thing as a folder!) I will re-upload it and post the new link. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
@AnonymousThe link and file have been updated. Let me know if it works.
@AnonymousWell, since you have 10.6.3 installed as per the beginning of the tutorial, you can just use the 10.6.8 combo update and follow the steps as outlined above. What step did you get stuck at?
@Julian
Hi Julian, Ill try that nvidia update tonight after I reinstall 10.6.3. I was unable to install the combo update 10.6.8 from another 10.6.3 partition. I could only install from the booted up partition. Also, my mouse stops working after I reboot. I am going to try to repair permissions before rebooting this time and see if that helps. as far as DSDT goes. How terribly important is that? and should I just use a patch to bypass a custom DSDT for this MB? I have tried the DSDTSE several times and keep getting lost as to exactly what I may need to patch for that MB. Ill update tonight as I just got home from work and let you know what I was able to accomplish. Thanks again always for your time.
@AnonymousI have never used a DSDT. Try being minimalist. It is possible that some of the features that you selected are unnecessary and cause conflict with others - especially during update. Like for my Asus P5KPL-CM, I only chose network, power management and PS2 and the sound that was auto-selected.
I installed Lion today (tutorial will be ready as soon as the videos are done) and learned that after a clean install of a new OS, the only things that Mac OS X didn't support was sound and network. You do need this step though. There is another way, but I will only look at it a bit later.
Try avoiding the DSDT and see what happens. At worst case, use multibeast and see if easybeast will apply. You should generally install iAtkos and then go to 10.6.8 and then fix everything - as stated in the tutorial.
Also, check out my article on installing broken kexts. In the Hackintosh section of the site (Link on top of site). Perhaps you only need one kext for a specific part of your MB. The article gives you all the guidelines and tools that you need.
Let me know how things go.
Upon installing the 10.6.8 combo update, I still cannot boot that installation of os x. I have tried easy beast and multi beast to no avail on the updated installation as I still have no video after installation. I have tried a minimalist approach and still I cannot find out what is not making it work.
Try repairing the disk permissions and reinstalling the bootloader. The bootloader has always been my source of problems. Find a boot loader that is compatible with your graphics card (You can use chimera - if you haven't already the install option is in multibeast). Is your graphics card nvidea? If so, try using GraphicsEnabler=No and nv_disable=1.
If your graphics card is newer, maybe an older version of Multibeast will work (like 2.2.2). Otherwise, get version 3.7.0.
hello pal, I was able to get to 10.6.8 I repaired permissions from another install after the update and made sure I installed my bootloader from the other partition. Only problem I can see now is that my video card XfX GeForce 9400gt 1gb does not have 1 gb memory. I have been researching how to adjust that and to make sure QE was working. any suggestions?
Is QE working at the moment? My only guess is to try another kext and see what the specifications of your graphics card is. Each piece of hardware is independent in installation method however some can be installed easily.
However, if you are planning to move to Lion, I would advise you not to worry too much about it because in a clean install of Lion, my GeForce 8400 was working out of the box. It was horrible in 10.6.8, I couldn't change the screen resolution or run a game for instance but that fixed itself in Lion. Note that I kept the 10.6.8 partition and just don't use it.
@julian
Same AOD250, just commenting in the right place now.
I kept having the blue screen you mentioned. I typed in nv_disable=1 and it worked! I booted into my newly updated 10.6.8 partition, with screwed up graphics, but no crash.
I am going to utilize your graphics repairs from 10.6.7 and see if that helps any. Will update later. I'm still incredibly pleased with this little baby.
@Rex413 nv_disable=1 worked in the Aspire One? Wow that's news to me because the AOD250 uses intel and not nvidia for graphics. Thanks for the update.
@julian I tried it once. It worked. It did NOT work the second time. I have been typing GraphicsEnabler=yes before booting into my main 10.6.8 partition.
As we both know, we have the Intel950 series graphics. When that actually worked, I figured the issue has to be graphics-related.
I am going to pull up the boot.plist and enter in a string so that I don't have to boot to the lader screen and manually type it every time.
If that works consistently and keeps me from crashing, I will post here.
What works: everything. But graphics are sketchy. I get a translucent status bar at the top, but no ripples at dashboard. I movie opens. I haven't made any projects yet, as I haven't loaded music or videos here yet.
I am going to try a few things and let you know what works for me to fix my graphics and keep from crashing.
@ Julian I still can't boot into my 10.6.8 partition. I am going to look around for flags before I wipe it and copy the old one over.
It's giving me the crash/restart message about 5-10 seconds after the apple boot screen?
Any ideas?
@Rex413 Your on the AOD250? If so, did you update the same way that you did 10.6.7, if you did, there shouldn't be any problems, as I didn't encounter a crash. Try rebooting again to see if it crashes and boot with -y. If none of those work, fix permissions. If that doesn't work, update using the Zigzag method in a new install.
@Rex413 Also try -s to get into single user mode and/or GraphicEnabler=no.
I went ahead and did the zig-zag. I have run into one hiccup since installing 10.6.7 this time. I installed the trackpad kexts per instruction, and when I restarted, the trackpad didn't work at all, and neither did my USB mouse. I am hoping updating to 10.6.8 will fix that. If not, is a restore to 10.6.3 my only safe option?
@julian disregard- that's sorted. Now I am on 10.6.8, and have a completely clear status bar at the top. I am about to do a fresh install of iLife 2011, so I can continue to test stuff. But I do not have the ripples on dashboard after doing the usual 10.6.7 graphics repair process with kexts verbatim.
You provide a link for EFI Studio, but I do not know how to use it. What can I do to fix this at this point?.
@Rex413Oh yeah, 10.6.8 has really screwed up graphics, I remember. I have yet to find a work around myself. If you can't get the graphics to work, settle with 10.6.7 because its the most stable it'll ever get :P Half the time I wouldn't even see the menus and control panel just looks like a blob. It's a shame though. I will try to find another kext. If you happen to find the right one, I would really appreciate if you posted it here. But, other then the graphics, 10.6.8 was a smooth install and very easy to get to in my experience.
Yeah, I started fresh, didn't change kexts or anything- just 10.6.3 to 10.6.7. Fixed graphics, battery and trackpad were not broken, so I didn't really need to do those. Then 10.6.8 completely screwed my system up. It's too bad it won't work, because I think the latest software for Snow Leopard requires 10.6.8
I think I'm just going to make a TonyMac custom mini and take it to Lion. But I still like my netbook at 10.6.7. It's stable, fast, and tiny. :)
I am going to get my main back up to 10.6.7 from a fresh install, run it up to 10.6.7, and then get my small partition to 10.6.7 also, and use it for testing kexts for 10.6.8?
I will still try to get it there. If I can just get the graphics stable- that status bar was completely translucent for the first time. I haven't had it completely clear like that except for on 10.6.8.
Anyway, I will post here if I figure something new out. :)
@Rex413 Great, thanks and you can apply the Lion tutorial to that other computer of yours which should be able to handle it.
Post a Comment