What exactly is DSDT

Recently, I have been having problems installing 10.6.8 on my Lenovo y570. Every guide tells me to install a DSDT. I am installing OSX alongside Windows 7, and Ubuntu.

What is a DSDT? I understand it is a modification of the ACPI table This is meant to increase the scope of compatible hardware dependent on the system.

I'm just wondering exactly how it does that. Is it BIOS flashing? Is it an emulation environment linked to the OS? Is it a simple file on the partition? Or something else entirely?

Can messing with DSDT destroy my motherboard hardware/make the machine totally inoperable and unfixable?

I'm just asking these questions to try and figure out the risk/reward.

no its not bios flashing, and its perfectly safe.

the dsdt is part of the acpi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_C ... _interface
osx's implementation of acpi is incomplete.

when osx checks the dsdt on boot, it sees the pc's dsdt as wrong and refuses to boot.
the way around it is to take the dsdt from the bios, patch it in a way osx understands, and save the fixed dsdt.aml to the correct folder.

then the bootloader (chimera/chameleon) loads the osx friendly pc dsdt instead of the original on the bios.


there is (was?) a way of flashing a custom bios in order to avoid the need of using a dsdt.aml file/patching etc, but most people never do that
http://www.insanelymac.com/custom-bios- ... hout-dsdt/

So what do I do to get mine? Do I just dump it in some manner?