Hackintosh on netbook Acer Aspire One D250

So, long time no posts.
Here's to re-starting my blogging habits. Been away for personal and family reasons.

On to the post!
Want to install Mac OS X Snow Leopard on your AOD250? Everything from the webcam to the wifi to the hardware accelerated graphics work! here's how.
--Disclaimer: This is for educational purposes only and you MUST* own an OSX DVD from Apple--
*Only for legal reasons, not in this tutorial.

You'll need:
- iATKOS S3 v2 DVD (google "iATKOS S3 version2 torrent")
- OSX 10.6.5 combo update. Download it here.
- Kext Helper b7. Download it here.
- An Acer AOD250 (duh!)
- Patience
- Favourite snacks and soda
- 4 hours time

How:
If you have an USB external DVD drive, I'll assume you'll use it for simplicity's sake. Otherwise, armed with an 8GB pen drive, follow this instructions.

1) Make sure, in your BIOS, you are using AHCI SATA mode and your first boot device is the USB device with your iATKOS installation.
2) Boot from the iATKOS DVD and leave it until it gets to the installation welcome screen. Go eat snacks.
3) Go to Utility and "Disk Utility" and format your harddrive (or partition) using Mac OSX (Journaled)
4) Close the Disk Utility and follow the installer until you reach where you have to select the partition to install OSX.
5) Select "Customize" (the button on the left)
6) From this screen, select the following packages, and ONLY THE FOLLOWING PACKAGES:


Bootloader
+Asere BLN v1.1.9

Bootloader options
+32-bit boot
+Ethernet
+Legacy boot logo
+Graphics enabler

Patches
+Extra / directory
+Fake SMC
+Disabler
+EvoReboot

RTC
+RTC

Modified Kernels
+Atom Kernel

Drivers
Main Hardware
SATA/IDE
+AHCI Sata
+Jmicron ATA (even if you don't have this hardware, it avoids a very long waiting loop on startup. Trust me)

Sound
+Voodoo HDA

PS/2
+Voodoo PS/2

CPU Power Management
+Voodoo P-state
+Voodoo Power

Laptop hardware
+Battery
+Card reader
+TSC Sync
+ACPI Thermal (32bit)

NTFS-3G
+MacFuse Core
+NTFS-3G

VGA
Intel
+EFI String
+Natit /32-bit)

GMA 950
+GMA 950 27AE

Network
Wireless
+Atheros


7) Start the install. Go sleep, eat, take a shower, party and come back in an hour.
8) When it's done installing, it'll reboot automatically. It'll take a very long time and the flying-thru-space welcome video won't show. Only sound will come on a light-blue screen while it loads. Just wait patiently until you are prompted to recognise the keyboard.
9) Follow the instructions to select the keyboard type and language, configure your user account and picture (you'll see that your webcam is working already) and when you're prompted to configure WiFi, just skip it. Your WiFi isn't working just yet.

If you did everything as the steps above, congrats! You should be looking at your desktop. We now need to update the OS to 10.6.5 (10.6.8 should also work, but I haven't tried it. .5 is good enough)

10) First let's backup our working video and USB drivers.Copy all the files in the list below to a safe location on the netbook's hard drive, from /System/Library/Extensions/
*AppleIntelGMA950.kext
*AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer.kext
*IOUSBFamily.kext
*IOUSBMassStorageClass.kext

11) Start the 10.6.5 combo update and leave it until it's done. Restart as prompted.
12) When restarting, some people suggest you start using the -f flag to avoid the error screen. It doesn't matter, really. You'll most probably get -besides a very slow boot- an error message telling you to turn off your computer. Do so.
13) Start your computer again and after the very slow boot, you'll be back in OSX with crappy graphics and no USB ports working.... but your WiFi is working!
14) Using kext helper b7, install back all the drivers you backed up. Open kext helper and drag all 4 kexts to the white box on kexthelper, type in your password and select easy install. Wait.
15) You may have to force-quit kexthelper to exit the application. Select the top-left apple and "Force quit" and select the kexthelper to do so.
16) Reboot and wait. Quite a while actually. This will be a very, very slow boot.
17) Back on OSX, reboot one last time without doing anything and just to check the actual, real booting speed. Should be around a minute with 1GB of RAM.
18) DONE! In under 20 steps, even!

Everything (i mean, EVERYTHING) should work perfectly for the exception of  the LAN port. I haven't even given time towards this nuisance since I've evolved past UTP cables. I'm pretty sure the drivers (kexts) are out there, just look them up. *UPDATE* Here are the LAN drivers (L1C).

Enjoy your MacBook nano!

(obligatory crappy pic)

Getting rid of Windows viruses using a (Linux) Live CD

This is a very simple guide on how to fix your Windows partition if you can't access it due to virii (or because a virus is blocking you from browsing antivirus websites or updating your definitions).
It might also happen that the virus (for example TDSS) installs itself as a rootkit in the hard drive's boot sector. I've seen this in a few friends' PCs. If this is the case, it might be VERY difficult to get rid of the virus while running windows from that particular computer.

The solution? Running a Live CD of another OS to wipe your hard drive clean of virii.

My first suggestion would be going full open-source and fully functional OS. So, Ubuntu (probably THE most hardware-friendly OS out there) and ClamAV with the latest definitions (that could be updated while running the live OS). You can download the latest Ubuntu CD and then boot it, download ClamAV and then run it, but I'll give you simpler solutions.

Step 1) Download the ClamAV live CD This is a very useful set of tools that include a Windows password removal tool and testdisk.
Step 2) If you're planning on booting from a usb-stick (pen drive) and not from a CD, get UNetbootin too.
Step 3) Put in the Live CD or pen drive and boot it! ClamAV is a very good antivirus at removing infections without deleting files.

If that din't solve it, you can try running the Kaspersky Rescue CD (also works with UNetbootin) which is old, but very good nonetheless.

An honorable mention goes to "Trinity Rescue Kit" that also has lots of tools and antivirus applications to fix your virus-ridden PC.

I've been away for awhile...

I've been visiting everyone's blogs but haven't had the time to comment everyone or to write a new post myself, I've been a bit busy with work. Here's a current WIP:

  It's a Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni. Still needs all the lights, exhausts, mirrors and a lot of small details. This is taking longer than usual, but it's a quite complicated car. And probably one of the most detailed I've worked in a while.

Tomorrow I'll post a cool and easy tutorial on how to disinfect Windows viruses using a live linux CD!

Hackintosh (a.k.a. OSX86)

What is it? It's a "special" version of OSX you can install on almost any (relatevely new) PC.
This is a really easy video that explains most of the steps in order to get a running version of OSX on your PC!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jLlClH8jJ4

A couple of suggestions:
-I've had more luck with iAtkos for new, SSE3+ CPUs.
-Don't try dual booting with Windows right away. If you can, try it on a separate HD before deciding if it works well enough to keep it.
-Does it really work? Yes and no. If you get most of your hardware working, it's only the beginning. With some PCs it might work exactly like a Mac, with other you'll need some tweaking, others are hopeless.

Good luck!




Legal notice: You should only do this if you own a Macintosh

Relax, enjoy

It's a nice saturday evening and I felt like relaxing. I found somewhere the best background music / sounds combination you can find.

Step 1: open this link http://www.rainymood.com/
Step 2: now this one: http://www.endlessvideo.com/watch?v=fsD1zoI7NYo
Finally, this: http://endlessvideo.com/watch?v=HMnrl0tmd3k

All you need now is a good cigar and a glass of brandy to be the classiest in the block.

(for greater effect, leave the fireplace window in full screen)

Virtual Machines

Today I want to talk about Virtual Machines, or VMs.
Wikipedia tells us that a VM is a "completely isolated operating system installation within your normal operating system".

In layman terms, it means you can have whatever operating system run as a program within watever operating system you might have. So you can run OSX on your Windows 7 or Windows XP on your Linux.

Technology has also made it possible for VMs to run on the background and when you execute a program installed on that VM (let's say you have a Mac, and 3ds max installed on your Windows 7 VM), it'll only launch 3ds max on its own window, without you noticing that there's a whole operating system behind. You can treat then 3ds max as a normal window and even dock it.

It's useful if you don't want to multiboot (I'll do a nice article on running Mac OSX natively on PCs one day) and must run software designed for other OSs.

Try the VMware for free!
For Mac OSX (install any OS on the VM): VMware Fusion
For Windows 7 (any OS, instructions to install OSX) : VMware Workstation
For Linux (almost any OS): VirtualBox

I'll post some more renders later this week, I've been working on some...

Overclocking guide: Part 2

Let's get started!
The first step is to enter your BIOS.  To do this, boot up your computer and while it begins to post hit the Delete key (it might be F1, F10, F12 or ESC too, try them)
The best way to start overclocking is by increasing your FSB by 10mhz at a time and running Orthos or SuperPi (both stability testing programs) and monitor temps, and increasing voltage when needed. The idea is that when you get an error or can not POST, you should up the vCore (CPU voltage), restart, boot up and run Orthos again.
For now, we'll focus on your RAM.
We are going to set the RAM to 1:1. As a result, the RAM will be running synchronous to the FSB. This might sound a little confusing but hang in with us for a while.
DDR is Double Data Rate, so when you look at the RAM divider settings in the BIOS, you will see that if the CPU frequency (the FSB) is set to 266MHz, the RAM will be set to 533MHz. This is what is known as 1:1.
Whatever the FSB, just double it to give you the RAM 1:1 value. So, 400 FSB would equal 800MHz RAM and so on.
When you're done with the RAM, do a 10% overclock on your FSB to jumpstart. So if it's set to 266, set it to about 290mhz. For now, leave the vCore to auto.

Boot into Windows
Now save your settings, exit the BIOS and start windows. Download CPU-Z if you don't have it already and check your new CPU speed. Admire it and feel proud. Now let's get into some serious overclocking!
We want to have Core Temp and TAT (Intel Thermal Analysis Tool) open (or one of those two plus the temp monitoring software of your choice). The reason for using two different temperature-monitoring programs is that it increases the likelihood of getting accurate readings - and we want to be keeping a very close eye on the temperatures.
Open Orthos, select the Blend test (Blend - stress CPU and RAM) and set it going. Your temperatures will now rise as both of the CPU's cores are under heavy load. This is normal and is exactly what we want - we're trying to quickly establish if there are any temperature-related problems.
Leave Orthos running but keep a good eye out for the temperatures.
This is a relatively modest overclock so, hopefully, the temperatures will be under 65 deg C - well under, in fact.
So, restart and get back into the BIOS. Keep in mind that as you up the FSB, the motherboard will automatically up the CPU voltage (vCore) if it is set to AUTO, so it is important that you keep an eye on the temps once you are running Orthos.
Increase your FSB in 10 mhz at a time and if you can't POST, try 5 mhz increases until you can boot into Windows without errors and always do an Orthos run to check for stability.
You may find that you get to a point where it is stable but the temperatures are a bit too high for 24/7 use. In that case, it is best to keep lowering the FSB until you find a point where you are happy with the temperatures and the performance.

Tweak and tighten that memory
In this part we will be looking at tweaking voltages and tightening memory timings and generally optimising your PC now it is overclocked.
At this point, as we are going a little bit more advanced, we have to assume that you've read the other parts of the guide, have got to grips with how things work and know how to recover if you stuff up and end up with a bad overclock

Disclaimer - please read this bit, it is very important!
RAM is potentially the easiest component in a PC to kill. Applying more voltage than standard carries a high risk of damage and/or failure. All overclocking is done at your own risk.
A lot of RAM just will not overclock much, no matter how much voltage you feed it, so if things aren't working out for you in this part of the guide, leave it right there, rather than throwing more voltage at it.

Tightening up those timings
Now you have a nice, stable, fairly large overclock, we can look at tightening the RAM timings.
At this stage, be prepared for some CMOS clearing, blue screens of death and general odd behaviour from your PC - but it should be worth the hassle!
If your RAM is already running tight timings, such as 3-4-3-8, then there is no great need for you to follow this part, you can skip to the voltage-tweaking part further down.
If you have some RAM that uses Micron D9xxx chips, you will probably have more success than people that aren't. The Micron D9 chips can often do really insanely-tight timings at quite high speeds but will likely require a good slug of voltage to get there.
Some sticks are rated for up to 2.45V but, for that kind of RAM, you need active cooling - a fan that's blowing directly onto the RAM to dissipate the heat that's generated.
It's pretty simple, the higher the voltage, the hotter the sticks will get and the hotter they get, the more chance you have of getting errors or even killing the RAM outright, so you need active cooling
An 80mm or 92mm fan blowing at a moderate speed from a couple of inches away is enough to keep most D9 RAM happy, whereas a 120mm fan can have too big a dead spot to do the job as well.
There are also dedicated RAM coolers that you can buy from the likes of OCZ and Corsair and some of these work well.
As a general rule of thumb, if RAM is 2.0V or over, blow a fan on it. Better safe than sorry - keep the RAM cool.
OK, back to the timings.
Some applications benefit greatly from tightened timings, other don't, all you need to do is find a memory-hungry program that you use a lot and try tightening your timings. If you can see a benefit, then great, if not, change them back and forget about them.
Install the free, lite version of SiSoft Sandra, currently at version XII (2008). This has a very useful memory bandwidth benchmark. Run it and make a note of your current memory bandwidth.
Doing this on our testbed PC revealed that the RAM is rated for 5-5-5-12 @ 1066MHz (PC2-8500)
This will often mean that if it were to run at less than the rated 1066MHz, say at 800MHz, we could then tighten the timings without having to up the voltage (not always, but more often than not).
So, let's go into the BIOS and look at the existing settings. The FSB is 380MHz and the RAM is running at 760MHz with timings of 5-5-5-12.
Now, we happen to know that the RAM will go higher at those timings, so, in theory, can go tighter at a lower MHz. So, we'll change the timings from 5-5-5-12 to 4-4-4-12 and see what happens.

Voltage tweaking
So, your PC is rock-solid stable but there's an awful lot of hot air coming from the exhaust fan. What can you do?
Well, this section is for those of you who want to keep their overclock but would prefer to reduce the heat output just a little.
This involves little more than common sense and a process of elimination.
First, anything voltage-related that's set to Auto, simply change manually to its lowest value.
Do this one item at a time, test for stability and then do another. Otherwise, if you adjust a few things together and the system turns out to be unstable, you'd have to guess which of the changes is causing the problem.
A boost to Vcore is probably the biggest source of heat increase. But, unfortunately, when you overclock, you will generate extra heat, even if you don't add extra voltage. Nonetheless, you can try to reduce the amount of Vcore that you use.
Simply drop the Vcore to whatever you think and then test with Orthos/Prime/SP2004. If the PC fails, then more Vcore is needed, simple as that, so try upping the Vcore in single notches until stable again.
You can always back off the FSB but that kind of defeats the object of all the hard work we've just done.
There's a trade off between temperatures and performance and you're the only person who can decide what's best for you.

Happy overclocking!