Acer Aspire S3/S5 Ultrabook Master Thread

[Hwthrn]

Thread re-named to : "Acer Aspire S3/S5 Ultrabook 10.8 [Master Thread]"

In this thread, please discuss Acer's S3 and S5 Ultrabooks
Please be sure to NOTE YOUR MODEL along with any questions (OR SUCCESSES!!) you have.

I assigned "reference letters" to each model, and plan to add more models later.

A) S3-391 with i3-2367M (1.4GHz) Sandy Bridge CPU
intel HD 3000 Graphics
4GB DDR3/USB 3.0/Bluetooth 4.0/Standard SATA Hard Disk

B) S3-391 with i5-2467M (1.6GHz/Turbo 2.3GHz) Sandy Bridge CPU
intel HD 3000 Graphics
4GB DDR3/USB 3.0/Bluetooth 4.0/Standard SATA Hard Disk

C) S3-951 with i5-2467M (1.6GHz/Turbo 2.3GHz) Sandy Bridge CPU
intel HD 3000 Graphics
4GB DDR3/USB 2.0 (slightly older than USB 3.0 model above)/Bluetooth 4.0/Standard SATA Hard Disk

D) S3-951 with i7-2637M (1.7GHz/Turbo 2.8GHz) Sandy Bridge CPU
intel HD 3000 Graphics
4GB DDR3/USB 2.0/Bluetooth 4.0/Standard SATA Hard Disk

I) S3-391 with i5-3317u (1.7GHz/Turbo 2.6GHz) *Ivy Bridge CPU*
intel HD 4000 Graphics
4GB DDR3/USB 3.0/Bluetooth 4.0/Standard SATA Hard Disk
[NEW, SUMMER 2012]

R) S5-391 with i5-3317u (1.7GHz/Turbo 2.6GHz) *Ivy Bridge CPU*
intel HD 4000 Graphics
4GB DDR3/USB 3.0/Thunderbolt/Bluetooth 4.0/128GB SSD

S) S5-391 with i5-3317u (1.7GHz/Turbo 2.6GHz) *Ivy Bridge CPU*
intel HD 4000 Graphics
4GB DDR3/USB 3.0/Thunderbolt/Bluetooth 4.0/256GB SSD

T) S5-391 with i7-3517u (1.9GHz/Turbo 3.0GHz) *Ivy Bridge CPU*
intel HD 4000 Graphics
4GB DDR3/USB 3.0/Thunderbolt/Bluetooth 4.0/256GB SSD

***Let's get together and make this a MBAir alternative!

 

[Hwthrn]

Re: Your reference "D" success!

Glad to hear that, Jeff!
I had really bad luck with my first try (reference "I" - Ivy bridge 1.7) but I did get into Mountain Lion.
I'm ready to try again with Unibeast 1.5.1, so I will post the results after the weekend.

 

[Hwthrn]

Ivy Bridge Acer S3 - Installing ML (dual boot w/Win7) and where I'm stuck!

My system:
(Reference 'I')
S3-391 with i5-3317u (1.7GHz/Turbo 2.6GHz) *Ivy Bridge CPU*
intel HD 4000 Graphics
4GB DDR3/USB 3.0/Bluetooth 4.0/Standard SATA Hard Disk
[NEW, SUMMER 2012]

Previously, I stated "THIS MACHINE HAS only TWO USB3 (Native Ivy Bridge) ports, so installing from USB will lock up every time."
but I've EDITED THIS POST because that was not true. IT ONLY REQUIRES The Unibeast 1.5.2 LEGACY USB (and LAPTOP) options to be checked, so I rewrote my steps below!

This is NOT a GUIDE [yet] but a good start with a simple workflow, considering I wasted two weeks with dodgy installs.

NOTES: I tried to keep the MBR partition 'as is', but after using Acer eRecovery to make a "APPS AND DRIVERS" DVD (3+ GB) and also creating 4 Recovery DVDs for possible future use, I felt very comfortable wiping the second disk clean.
Here's what I did:

1. Using another Mac system, purchase Mountain and create a Unibeast 1.5.2+ installer on an 8GB SD card (or equivalent USB stick).
All my previous "no USB after installation" problems were finally corrected with the "Legacy USB" and "Laptop" options chosen.

2. Boot from a supported card reader if using an SD card (because the notebook's reader won't allow booting) and immediately enter DISK UTILITY

3. (for dual boot Win 7/OS X...) Partition the disk as Two Partitions, #1 (top) as HFS Journaled and #2 as FAT32 so that Windows installer can see it and reformat it. [I partitioned my 500G as 400OSX/100Win]. Select "GUID partition type" before partitioning!!! (Goodbye eRecovery partition, but as long as you have an installable Windows 7 + Acer's APP/DRIVER DVD, you'll be okay later)

4. Don't proceed to installing OS X yet, just reboot and install Win 7 in that second partition! SECOND!!!! (this simply follows TonyMac's dual boot recommendations, which you can find elsewhere in the forums)

5. After Win 7 is installed (and you use the Driver DVD you created from Acer to install at least Wi-Fi), boot from your SD and install Mountain Lion in the FIRST PARTITION. No Boot Options necessary for my Aspire S3 Ivy Bridge!

6. You will need to continue to use the USB reader to reboot into OS X (but not Windows) until you Install Chimera, but the good news is that OS X now works with USB - I was able to use my $10 Wi-Fi with 10.7 drivers to access the net and my other Tools, either located on SD cards or the Windows partition.

7. NOW, THE BEST WAY TO INSTALL CHIMERA AS SMOOTH AS IT BOOTS FROM USB.... Hmmm.. Recommendations, Please!!!


-Hwthrn

 

[JamesHuston]

Which drive did you install on?

Hi there,

If I get your model correctly, it should be the same as mine, which is (I), and it has 2 drives - one 20gb SSD and another HDD. Just wondering which drive you installed ML and/or Windows on? I suppose if you do so on the SDD it will boot faster etc., but just checking how your boot times are on ML after installing?

I have one existing Hackintosh, and would like to turn my S3 into a MBA+

Regards,
James

 

[Hwthrn]

The 20GB SSD:

@James: The SSD is unbootable, so for now I left it untouched. May I can try to CarbonCopyClone my system to The SSD later, but I'm still working on step 7 (above), working on strange problems with bootloading, caching, permissions, and drivers for the next few days!!!

-hwthrn

 

[Sr_JL]

SSD is bootable. In fact, I have ML installed on it. Just install ML in that partition, and select the SSD in the chamaleon bootloader. I´m talking about the chinese method.

 

[Hwthrn]

SSD disk0: Sorry, you're correct (The system will boot).
I've made a copy (with Carbon Copy Cloner) and it works fine with a bootloader on Disk 1.

However, this Ivy Bridge S3-391 (HM77 Express chipset) is tough for me to set up.
I can't use the "Chinese Version" kexts or DSDT.
All of the Sandy Bridge users seem to be all quickly set up (with the exception of gestures and the card reader) with a simple Wi-Fi card swap.

 

[Hwthrn]

Setting Up The HD4000 in S3 Ivy Bridge (tip)

[This post has been edited because it didn't work so well]

GOT IT ALL WORKING IN THE NEXT POST.....

-Hwthrn

 

[Hwthrn]

HD4000 on Ivy Bridge S3 - SUCCESS!!!!!!!!

Got Native 1366x768 (no more black screen or 1024x768 without acceleration), got 384MB for graphics, plug-in and perfect HDMI (tested my 1920x1200 DELL). Finally, I was able to Expert calibrate it and get rid of my bluish-tinted screen!

Machine info: Acer Aspire S3-391 (Reference "I") i5-3317u CPU

Add this to the bottom of Chameleon Wizard's boot.plist section (I'm using Chimera 1.11):
7f0000000100000001000000730000000200000002010c00d041030a000000000101060000027fff04002c0000004100410050004c002c00690067002d0070006c006100740066006f0072006d002d006900640000000800000003006601140000006800640061002d0067006600780000000d0000006f6e626f6172642d31

This is the code for HD4000 Platform ID "3"

Or you can drop it into your org.chameleon.Boot.plist yourself, but don't forget to repair permissions.
It will look like this. Notice there are no special flags or garbage switches in my boot.plist!!! *It doesn't even need GraphicsEnabler*

<dict>
<key>Boot Banner</key>
<string>no</string>
<key>Instant Menu</key>
<string>yes</string>
<key>device-properties</key>
<string>7f0000000100000001000000730000000200000002010c00d041030a000000000101060000027fff04002c0000004100410050004c002c00690067002d0070006c006100740066006f0072006d002d006900640000000800000003006601140000006800640061002d0067006600780000000d0000006f6e626f6172642d31</string>
</dict>

CHEERS, AND HAPPY TESTING!!!!!!!! PLEASE PASS THIS INFO TO OTHER ULTRABOOK STRUGGLERS WITH IVY BRIDGE HD4000's!!! They may need a different set of 'device properties' and should have VNC (screen sharing) set up to gain access of a garbled-display machine (See "10.8 How to Enable HD4000" if you have a different laptop: http://www.tonymacx86.com/mountain-lion-desktop-support/61216-10-8-how-enable-hd4000.html)
-Hwthrn

P.S. Here's a photo...

 

[nhart12]

Acer Aspire S3/S5 Ultrabook Master Forum

Hey looks like you guys got everything fully functional. I'm having a hard time getting any support with my zenbook prime ux31a and since we have similar hardware i thought Id ask here. I can't seem to boot into the installation using the latest unibeast it seems to hang at 1 of three places depending on the boot flag. But mostly at either PCI configuration end or couldn't alloc class "AppleHdaController".. help please!