Creating a Snow Leopard Install USB key

Summary:

A work in progress

Creating a Snow Leopard Install USB key

Diamondsw 1251236433|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Hello all,

I've been working on creating a Snow Leopard installer on a USB key, so that I don't have to muck about with Boot-132 CD/DVD swapping, or waiting for distros to emerge.

What I'm trying to accomplish:

1. Boot the Mac OS X installer from USB
2. All hardware - especially networking - available, especially for Time Machine restores
3. Able to install onto an MBR-formatted disk

The basics of my machine:

1. Eee 901, 2GB memory, 64GB SSD formatted MBR with Windows XP, Windows 7, and Mac OS X 10.5.8.
2. DSDT.aml created with DSDT Patcher or somesuch a long time ago
3. Stock ASUS BIOS 2103

So far, it's not going so well - all I have is the first one. Here's what I've done - perhaps someone can point out where I went wrong:

1. Formatted an 8GB USB key as GUID partition table, with two HFS+ partitions. The first is 200MB for Chameleon and /Extra, while the second is the remaining space for the OS X install DVD content.
2. Using Disk Utility's restore feature, copied the DVD to the second partition. Given how slow my USB key is, this took about 4 hours (!).
3. Installed Chameleon to the USB key. I like doing this by hand, so I used fdisk and dd. As I couldn't recall which partition boot1h and boot should go on (does it go where the OS is, or where /Extra is?), I put it on both the Chameleon and DVD partitions - it can't hurt. :)
4. Copied over a known-good 10A421 /Extra folder. Made a variety of updates for FakeSMC.kext and related issues. It's a shame that with FakeSMC.kext, we're back to needing Disabler.kext, OpenHaltRestart.kext.
5. Modified OSInstall.mkpg to allow for installing to MBR - in theory.

(Really interested in helping? Here's an image of the Chameleon partition as well as a copy of the modified OSInstall.mpkg.)

Here's my kernel extension list:

_FakeSMC.kext
Replacement for AppleDecrypt on 10A432.

_AppleACPIPS2Nub.kext
_ApplePS2Controller.kext
Keyboard and trackpad support. I don't use Voodoo as it screws up the backquote/tilde key - and I need that on the CLI.

_AppleIntelPIIXATA.kext
I believe this is needed for OS X to access the internal SSD's on the Eee.

_AppleIntelGMA950.kext
_AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer.kext
Patched from the original Snow Leopard versions.
_Natit.kext
Required (to the best of my knowledge) for the graphics drivers above to function. Honestly not sure what it does, other than it's needed.

_AttansicL1eEthernet.kext
Wired Ethernet support.

_BroadcomUSBBluetoothHCIController.kext
Allows me to turn on and off the internal Bluetooth without rebooting to the BIOS. Otherwise, Bluetooth works out of the box.

_Disabler.kext
Disables Intel power management extensions that tend to crash if loaded.
_OpenHaltRestart.kext
Allows proper poweroff at shutdown.

_UUID.kext
Installed along the way to help fix Time Machine and System Profiler issues; I could probably remove it, but haven't tried.

_VoodooBattery.kext
_VoodooPower.kext
_AppleSMBIOS.kext
Works perfectly for battery and power management in Leopard, but as noted seems to have some issues under Snow Leopard. AppleSMBIOS and matching smbios.plist for proper battery reporting (as reported by dadaz in the 10.5.8 thread).

_VoodooHDA.kext
Modified with a "correct" version string so it would load properly.

The following are all included as dependencies, I believe for the video, sound, and wired ethernet drivers:
IOACPIFamily.kext (Video)
IOGraphicsFamily.kext (Video)
IONDRVSupport.kext (Video)
IOPCIFamily.kext (Video, Ethernet)
IONetworkingFamily.kext (Ethernet)
IOAudioFamily.kext (Audio)
OSvKernDSPLib.kext (Audio)

And here's how I modified the OSInstall.mkpg to allow MBR installs:
See below for how to enable installation on MBR disks - the method has changed from previous releases.

When the system boots, the installer comes up with language selection, license agreement, etc. However, I ran into the following problems:
# At the disk selection screen, any partition on an MBR disk has a yellow exclamation point on it, with the text:

To install on this disk, open Disk Utility by choosing Utilities > Disk Utility, and repartition this disk using "GUID Partition Table." Important: you will lose all data on this disk by repartitioning it.

1. The airport item on the menubar is a gray, empty airport item. Opening it yields "Airport: Not configured".
2. Network Utility shows both the Airport and the Ethernet card MAC addresses, but neither function.

last edited on 1251922424|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover by Diamondsw + show more

Re: Creating a Snow Leopard Install USB key

Don Quijote 1251268858|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

I don't know how exactly it works (I don't use MBR as I only have Mac on my netbook and I don't have nothing against GUID). But did you tried, in the step you arrived when you saw the partitions with yellow exclamations mark) to format one of them to HFS+ choosing in Options to be a MBR partition?
For the AirPort, launch "Open Network Preferences" to configure it, select Airport, click on Advanced, and in the AirPort tab click + sign to add a new WiFi connection.

---

Asus 1000H - Intel Atom N270 1.60 GHZ + 2 GB SODIMM DDR2 Apacer + 80 GB HDD Seagate SATA
Mac OS X SL 10.6 10A432
VoodooHDA 0.2.1 64bit + PC EFI V10.2 beta + FakeSMC + SleepEnabler 64bit for SL

Re: Creating a Snow Leopard Install USB key

Diamondsw 1251270016|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Afraid not - MBR is the format for the partition map, or how the disk keeps track of the partitions themselves. So to change the partition map from MBR to GUID requires reformatting the entire disk, including all partitions therein.

Also, there is no "Open Network Preferences" in the installer. Network Utility yes, but there's no way to configure anything from there.

last edited on 1251270039|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover by Diamondsw + show more

Re: Creating a Snow Leopard Install USB key

Diamondsw 1251275531|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Aha. Thanks to the folks on irc://irc.osx86.hu/#snowleopard , I found the solution to the MBR problem. Turns out the old mpkg trick does not work on 10A432 (and probably for any future Snow Leopard install discs). Instead, a patched OSInstall framework is required. The file needed can be downloaded here, and needs to be placed at "/Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD/System//Library/PrivateFrameworks/Install.framework/Frameworks/OSInstall.framework/Versions/A/OSInstall". Make sure it's executable, and you're off to the MBR races.

Re: Creating a Snow Leopard Install USB key

dadaz 1251317585|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Thanks I will try that as soon as Chameleon RC3 (? next release nearly 28 august) is out.

Re: Creating a Snow Leopard Install USB key

smsgator 1257090055|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Forgive me for asking a stupid question, as I'm an OSX newbie, but is there a source somewhere that details how exactly to place that file at "/Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD/System//Library/PrivateFrameworks/Install.framework/Frameworks/OSInstall.framework/Versions/A/OSInstall" and make sure it's executable?

I have the Snow Leopard retail DVD, an external DVD drive, plenty of USB sticks, and a system that can boot into OSX on a GUID partitioned drive (but not the way I want it to). I basically want to get around the restriction Snow Leopard not allowing installation on a MBR partitioned drive.

Re: Creating a Snow Leopard Install USB key

therebelmc 1253658163|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

So has this install USB key been completed?

Is there an image of it I can download and write to my USB key?

Thanks, M.

Re: Creating a Snow Leopard Install USB key

Diamondsw 1253982778|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Yes, I was using it when I posted this. And the partition you need is posted above - all of the instructions and files are there. No, I am not giving you the Snow Leopard DVD.