[SOLVED, I GUESS] New Install with SSD Problems

[Bryan]

EDITED ON 6/21/11:

I'm getting hung up at "Waiting for DSMOS" and can't get past it. Everything below was before I realized exactly where it was stopping, but the non-strike-through background may be important.

ORIGINAL POST:

Hey all, could use some help with this problem.

I currently have a very stable install on a machine with the specs listed below. Everything works perfectly. I originally installed when 10.6.3 was the newest version, which was probably a little over a year ago. I don't remember which version of Multibeast that was, but I used the EasyBeast install method and found some other kexts to get my graphics card working well.

I wanted to upgrade to an SSD drive, so I've been attempting to reinstall with the same system. I decided I would use a DSDT for this since they are readily available for my motherboard and it seems to be the preferred way to install. However, after running the 10.6.7 combo update and running Multibeast to install the DSDT and sound, OS X will not start up. If I start up normally, the system hangs with an infinite spinning wheel on the opening screen, and if I start in safe mode (which I generally need to do because of graphics card problems until the proper kexts are installed) I get a rectangular block of gray in the upper right hand corner, and the OS never loads. (Waiting for DSMOS hang)

Can't figure out what's going on here. My inclination is to revert to using EasyBeast again, but before I try another install I'd like to get an idea of what is going wrong. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. (Latest try is with EasyBeast, makes no difference)

 

[RTK]

Re: New Install with SSD Problems

Have you considered cloning your working system to the SSD and then running MultiBeast on the SSD to make it bootable?

 

[Bryan]

Re: New Install with SSD Problems

That would be a great idea but my SSD is pretty small, only 60 GB. I have SuperDuper, though, maybe I could do a selective clone without a lot of the big files.

 

[RTK]

Re: New Install with SSD Problems

Duh...Sorry, I forgot that there would likely be a major size difference going from HD to SSD.

Not sure about the selective part as I have never tried that.

 

[Bryan]

Re: New Install with SSD Problems

So, I tried to reinstall tonight and used EasyBeast to set everything up, rather than the DSDT. Same problem - it hangs while starting up both on normal and safe boot.

As a result, I copied my Extra\ folder from my working HDD install to the SSD. After rebooting I thought progress had been made because I got past the spinning wheel, but the screen remained gray. So then I went back into my working system and copied the System\Library\Extensions folder from the HDD to the SSD. Now I seemingly have the same problem as initially - hanging on the spinning wheel during startup.

I honestly have no idea what is going on here. Since the contents of those folders are identical, I should have all the necessary files in place, right? The only thing that has changed, then, is the presence of the SSD. Is there something different we need to do with those?

 

[Bryan]

Re: New Install with SSD Problems

I figured it would help if I got the verbose mode readings, so here is where it hangs. I hope this might help someone give me a clue....

 

[Bryan]

Re: New Install with SSD Problems

So it sounds like these "Waiting for DSMOS" issues often relate to the FakeSMC kext. But I can't understand why it would be a problem on my system with the SSD but not the HDD. Really stumped here and not sure how to get this working.

 

[Bryan]

Re: New Install with SSD Problems

Because I can boot, albeit in safe mode, before running Multibeast, I have been thinking about what changes in the system after running Multibeast and experimenting accordingly. However, I am no expert so I probably haven't explored all avenues yet. Here are various steps I have tried to get the system past "Waiting for DSMOS". None of them have worked, and because I can't boot to the SSD I have been making changes to the drive from within my working install.

1) Tried booting with -s and -x at the same time
2) Tried deleting "Don't Steal Mac OS X.kext" and replaced it with fakesmc.kext
3) Tried entirely deleting the entire Extra\Extensions folder
4) Tried setting GraphicsEnabler=No

These may have slightly changed the output on verbose mode, but I keep getting hung up at "Waiting for DSMOS".

I am considering cloning my HDD to my SSD, which I can figure out a way to do so that it will fit, but I am not at all convinced it will work.

 

[Going Bald]

Re: New Install with SSD Problems

Because I can boot, albeit in safe mode, before running Multibeast, I have been thinking about what changes in the system after running Multibeast and experimenting accordingly. However, I am no expert so I probably haven't explored all avenues yet. Here are various steps I have tried to get the system past "Waiting for DSMOS". None of them have worked, and because I can't boot to the SSD I have been making changes to the drive from within my working install.

1) Tried booting with -s and -x at the same time
2) Tried deleting "Don't Steal Mac OS X.kext" and replaced it with fakesmc.kext
3) Tried entirely deleting the entire Extra\Extensions folder
4) Tried setting GraphicsEnabler=No

These may have slightly changed the output on verbose mode, but I keep getting hung up at "Waiting for DSMOS".

I am considering cloning my HDD to my SSD, which I can figure out a way to do so that it will fit, but I am not at all convinced it will work.

I suspect it's your 4850. It disappeared from the AppleATI support with the 10.6.(6?) update. Try booting with iBoot and run MultiBeast to add the 48xx patch:4850 patch.png

 

[Bryan]

Re: New Install with SSD Problems

Thanks very much for your reply. Since my HDD install works, however, on 10.6.7, why do you suppose the same set of kexts wouldn't work on the SSD for the graphics?

It may be irrelevant, though, because I have to report a type of success. I did a limited clone of my HDD to the SSD and it boots and appears to work without a problem. I have absolutely no idea why I can boot this way, but not by doing a fresh install.