Installing Lion on a Dell Inspiron 1720 / 1520 [VERSION 2]

[ellnic]

I have just downloaded the latest version of Multibeast and noticed that there is a Lion specific option in version 4.1.0. Called "Extension Migration Tool"... the description is:

"Extension Migration Tool copies the contents of /Extra/Extensions to /System/Library/Extensions, deletes /Extra/Extensions and /Extra/Extension.mkext, rebuilds cache and adds UseKernelCache=Yes to /Extra/org.chameleon.Boot.plist. Only needs to be run after upgrading from Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard."

I selected this option and let it run. I will report back as soon as I have used the system for a while and we'll see if this stops some of the kp's.

 

[ellnic]

Oh well this sucks. I am no longer getting KP's because of Firefox, but now they are Dock and Window Server.

I am going to uninstall Parallels and see if that makes a difference.

On the up side, boot time is significantly reduced- as you suggested.

 

[ellnic]

Ok one more thing to report. You know I was having a problem with VoodooPowerMini not being able to get full control? I've solved it by removing the following from S/L/E:

AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext
AppleIntelCPUPowerManagementClient.kext

It seems like in some setups these 2 kexts load but do not interfere with VoodooPowerMini... (for example, in Snow Leopard this was not an issue for me) in others, they do not allow it to gain full control over the CPU. If anyone else is wondering if they are having the same issue. It can be checked by doing the following:

1. Goto Applications > Utilities > Console.app and open it.
2. In the left pane at the top click on 'All Messages'
3. In the window to the right, you will now see all system events.
4. If you see '[date and time] kernel: VoodooPowerMini: Failed to get full power management control of CPU' appearing every 5 seconds (or at all) then you have an issue with speedstep.
5. To solve, goto S/L/E and copy out the 2 above kexts to a safe location and trial a reboot and check again.

ellnic

 

[ellnic]

Np - glad that got you sorted. Btw, the trackpad kext works a treat

 

[ellnic]

Hrmm.... It seems that removing the AppleCPUPowerManagement kexts broke sleep. In fact, the sytem does not wake at all once requested to sleep and I have had to put them back and remove voodoopowermini. It may be time to take another stab at Vanilla speedstep :-/

 

[ellnic]

Ok, I think I got Vanilla speed step working.

I followed this: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index. ... pic=181631

Which is something I have tried before, but today I must have done it right.

I can confirm that speed step works because I hear the fan kick in on a lower speed when I do a geek bench test.

I also have something else weird to report. I have suspected for some time that the reading given by cool book and other utils for temperature is incorrect. I cannot believe that my laptop runs at a steady 60c. Furthermore, sometimes the figure spikes to the 70's and I am sure the laptop would auto thermal shutdown at this point - which it doesn't.

When using MSR tools in 32bit mode to check speed step was working I noticed that it gave 2 readings for temp. As you can see from the attached screenshot, the core temp lists as 42c, and there is another value after it that claims 58c (guess?). This is the reading that matches cool book yet I would have thought its far more likely that my CPU is running at 42...

EDIT: Attached my DSDT with Speed Step info in.

EDIT2: Btw, I haven't had a single kp since I moved the extensions from E/E into S/L/E and uninstalled Parallels. Personally, I suspect this to be parallels - I will move the E/E extensions back at some point and report findings. If it is parallels, then I will move to VMWare. It's not my 1st choice, but if it stops several kp's a day.......

 

[ellnic]

I still have cool book installed, but only to monitor temp. Do you think that could interfere with vanilla speed step?

When you ask if my temp is displaying correctly - I do not know. I seem to have two conflicting readings. As you can see in my previous screenshot, one reading says 42c, the other says 58c. Which is correct?

The app that I used to monitor pstates is msrtools (boot in 32 bit for this or it won't work) (http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index. ... pic=135974) and PStateChangerv1.0.3__1_.zip at that Speedstep guide I posted the link to. Bare in mind it needs the voodoopstate.v4.zip kext to work which is also attached to that post. These utils will give you your correct p-state info.

I will let you know how I get on with VMWare.

I have just noticed that coolbook isn't giving any readings on voltage... weird.

I have also attached a screen shot of what the pStateChanger app will show you..

 

[ellnic]

Some more info for you - sorry for crappy photoshopping.

As you can see, the MSR tools app appears to give 2 diff readings for temp. Which is correct? I just can't believe a CPU runs that hot while speed stepping is working!! Is it a problem with the DSDT conveying the info or??

 

[ellnic]

I found this: http://notebookequus.blogspot.com/2008/ ... table.html

The guide is not suitable for Dell DSDTs, but I believe the problem with the high temperature or at least the reading has to do with the Thermal Zone part of the DSDT. I dare not change anything though as I have no idea what I am doing with regards to the TZ part of the DSDT and it could fry the machine.

EDIT: Also got this, which may be more suitable... http://ipis-osx.wikidot.com/forum/t-153 ... emperature

I believe what we would need to do (assume the high temperatures given by coolbook and other apps are correct) is adjust the DSDT to tell the fan to kick in earlier.

 

[ellnic]

Ahh ok, that explains cool book. Ok, I will bare that in mind.

If you use force64=yes then you are booting in 64bit mode, I would think. MSR tools does not work in 64 bit mode, so remove that and use arch=i386. Then it will work (no grey window).

I would like to try i8kfan - if you could attach that would be great. It gets me wondering though, if it works when you boot with force64=yes, it may well be 64bit compatible.

To check if force64=yes is indeed causing a 64bit boot, goto Apple Menu > About This Mac > More Info > System Report to open the system profiler. In the profiler, scroll down in the left hand pane and click on Software. On the right pane you should see "64-bit Kernel and Extensions: Yes".

EDIT: Ok, I used the latest version of Multibeast to install the FaceSMC Plugins. They are:

ACPIMonitor.kext
IntelCPUMonitor.kext
SuperIOFamily.kext

You can find them by going to: Drivers & Bootloaders > Kexts & Enablers > Miscellaneous > FakeSMC Plugins > Motherboard Plugins.

With these installed, I can now use the iStat Pro widget to see CPU temp (it would not give a reading before). The reading that it gives is the same as the LOWER temp in MSR Tools. For example, right now iStat reports 57c where as Cool Book and temperature monitor report 68c. When the iStat reading reaches 60c, the fan kicks in, and it does not stop until the iStat reading is back down to about 55c. This is the behavior I would expect. Although the temperatures are still a little too high, I believe these figures are more accurate.