snow leopard on Dell xps 410

i need help trying to install snow leopard on my dell xps 410. i am relatively new to the scene, and im not sure if i am supposed to downgrade my bios or what not. i downloaded iboot, and made some configurations in my bios (turning raid off) and setting my boot priority to the cd drive. upon loading, i get something like unable to boot, press f1 to retry or f2 for system settings. if anyone has experience with this please help me! thanks. i am running a dell xps 410, intel e6320 core 2 duo @ 1.86 GHz, 3 GB of ram, Nvidia 8600 GT, and a WD 500GB HD.

jaycruz817 said:

i need help trying to install snow leopard on my dell xps 410. i am relatively new to the scene, and im not sure if i am supposed to downgrade my bios or what not. i downloaded iboot, and made some configurations in my bios (turning raid off) and setting my boot priority to the cd drive. upon loading, i get something like unable to boot, press f1 to retry or f2 for system settings. if anyone has experience with this please help me! thanks. i am running a dell xps 410, intel e6320 core 2 duo @ 1.86 GHz, 3 GB of ram, Nvidia 8600 GT, and a WD 500GB HD.

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jaycruz817

Ok first you should look at your iBoot CD - as your CPU is older you may want to make two versions of this utility - one the iBoot LEGACY and the other the current iBoot 3.3.x ( iBoot for IVY BRIDGE does not apply here)

Once these are made - place them on the Media Drive of a working Windows system and examine the contents of these CD ( we don't use DVD disks to make these CD's) please use blank CD's.

Using Windows Explorer - examine the CD - what we are looking for is a text file - if you see a text file then they are ok. Test files have the extension of .txt:
If you see a file that has an extension with a .ZIP or .ISO then they are made incorrectly and will not work.

The iBoot CD should boot up to a screen w/ a Red Apple on the top center. - See this iBoot and Multibeast - TonyMacx86 guide
http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2010/04/iboot-multibeast-install-mac-os-x-on.html

As that link points out you should find three things in your BIOS - that being AHCI - HPT ( High Precision Event Timer ) and S3 ( power managment setting)

Some BIOS have HPT enabled by default ( new motherboards) and others BIOS's have it disable or enable and in 32 or 64 bit mode - we would like to be enabled and in 64.

Suggest you search the forums for Del XPS 410 and also Google
I have used the phrase "Dell XPS 410 + Hackintosh" and had several hits - these are links that you should read to get a clearer idea of whats what. Also you may want to see if your MB has the latest Dell BIOS version installed and if not upgrade it.

If you do get to the iBoot boot screen and you have a Retail Copy of OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard. Follow the Guide and see what happens -

thanks for the quick reply! i did everything you told me and was able to get into iboot. i tried both copies (3.3.0 worked best), and when i swapped the discs to my retail copy of snow leopard i got to the white screen with the apple logo and the spinning wheel. after a few seconds upon loading, i get a circle with a slash in the middle. i tried to repeat the process again, but still no go. any idea what the cause might be?

jaycruz817 said:

thanks for the quick reply! i did everything you told me and was able to get into iboot. i tried both copies (3.3.0 worked best), and when i swapped the discs to my retail copy of snow leopard i got to the white screen with the apple logo and the spinning wheel. after a few seconds upon loading, i get a circle with a slash in the middle. i tried to repeat the process again, but still no go. any idea what the cause might be?

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jaycruz817

As your system is not a Sandy Bridge CPU (your CPU is one of the 1st gen CPU's) you do not need to use update helper (this is mentioned in other links).

Did you use any of the command line prompts duing the initial starup of the OSX as per the install doc.

If so which ones did you use -- if not I suggest you try these. ( you may need to use these for the first couple reboots.)

"-v -f acpi=off PCIRootUID=1 GraphicsEnabler=No"

what should happen is a lot of text scrolls by the screen and then you should get the Apple GUI install screen where you prep your HD to be partitioned
You should read and understand these links...
iBoot and Multibeast - TonyMacx86 guide
http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2010/04/iboot-multibeast-install-mac-os-x-on.html

Simplest Mac OS X Installation Guide - for 10.6.x
http://www.tonymacx86.com/43-simplest-mac-os-x-installation-guide.html

If you can take pictures of the screen and post into the next post that is always helpful.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HELP! i figured out that all i had to do was downgrade my bios and im installing snow leopard as i type. youre the man Totenkopf4!

jaycruz817 said:

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HELP! i figured out that all i had to do was downgrade my bios and im installing snow leopard as i type. youre the man Totenkopf4!

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jaycruz817

congratulations - it was all you: We (I) only assisted in the operation,

I luv it when an operation is a success and the patient doesn't die....

ok.. so i ran into a problem. installed multibeast, and what not, but i cant boot w/o iboot. any ideas?

jaycruz817 said:

ok.. so i ran into a problem. installed multibeast, and what not, but i cant boot w/o iboot. any ideas?

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jaycruz

Are you dual booting this - have windows installed if so same drive w split partition or separate drive

Did you get the combo update installed yet:

the preferred one is the 10.6.8 but the one I like is the 10.6.7

if so before reboot you need to run MultiBeast for your system and select only the options you need.
Selecting to many can create problems. When You select the check item box - a small window get filled in w a lot of text about that this function does.

I would select the Bootloaders and install chimera then or also select the box SYSTEM UTILITIES this is most important.

Allow it to complete and then reboot - us the BIOS option to select you drive to boot from or make changes in the BIOS for that function.

This is a Guide that Tm and MacMac wrote gives some info on MB
http://howtohackintosh.wordpress.com/guides/ibootmultibeastinstallmacosxonanyintelbased-pc/

this is the first one that I used ...and will work w your hardware.
http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2010/04/iboot-multibeast-install-mac-os-x-on.html

I dont know but did you see the videos on MB
http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2010/06/multibeast-20.html

A lot of users make videos on their success and You Tube is a great source - also Google.
Such as this
http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/to...imension-9200xps-410-easy-retail-dvd-install/