Thinkpads Forum

http://www.psystar.com/rebel_efi

Rebel EFI application

Psystar has decided to take Open Computing to its next level. Psystar's next step in helping to provide open computing for all will be to begin distributing our Rebel EFI software that will allow users to operating systems of their choosing, including OS X, on their computers.

IMHO, it's wise not to invest in this product until the pending litigation against Psystar (by Apple) is resolved. The trial date has been set for January 11th, 2010 in San Francisco.

You could take the opposite view, get it while you can.

I tried their Rebel EFI "preview" version and it crashed horribly after it asked for my OSX CD. The boot loader is pretty much Chameleon v2 RC3 or prior. There is something in my T60p that won't jive with Rebel EFI's bootloader and OSX. My best guess is it seems to be crashing around the memory initialization stage. The Vanilla OSX DVD (both Leopard and Snow Leopard) refuse to install using Rebel EFI.

Even if I did agree with taking public boot loaders and repacking for profit, they didn't convince me that their bootloader is anything magical. I'll be waiting on the iPC, iATKOS AND KALYWAY guys to get us something more usable

Unfortunately, the main problem with OS X on non-Apple machines is drivers. There's no real advantage to Psystar's solution over a standard hacked OS X distro. (iatkos, iDeneb, SnowOSX etc.), because you're still going to have to out driver hunting once you get the OS installed. In short, save your money.

OS X is great, on a Mac.

mfbernstein wrote:Unfortunately, the main problem with OS X on non-Apple machines is drivers. There's no real advantage to Psystar's solution over a standard hacked OS X distro. (iatkos, iDeneb, SnowOSX etc.), because you're still going to have to out driver hunting once you get the OS installed. In short, save your money.

Ah.. they only made a bootloader? I thought they had built some thing with driver support.

If you read their FAQ/website, driver support is mentioned. I have no idea whether or not it is 'good' driver support ...

asiafish wrote:OS X is great, on a Mac.

I find this ironic as my T60p running OSX has crashed less than my wife's MacBook. Not to mention we've had to replace her DVD drive and CPU fan.

Paying premium $$ for poor workmanship isn't my bag. Paying premium $$ for decent workmanship and proven quality and then paying some more decent $$ for a solid operating system. I like that. But I digress. The Apple model differs from the MS model and I can't fault them with that, when in fact, they are making loads of dough.

I tried Psystar Rebel but the [censored] thing is no different than my own Chameleon on USB
These guys must be kidding if they want to sell this as a product and rip off people from their $50 bucks ???!?!?
Yep, this is pretty much Chameleon bundled ... these guys should be ashamed...

asiafish wrote:OS X is great, on a Mac.

That's the market economy telling you that. It's easier on a Mac not greater. MacBook Pro's are useless for Final Cut. Your only option for a scratch disk is an external...yuck! They fail, they corrupt data and they have a slower response time than an internal. Sure an eSATA port would help but Apple doesn't offer one! Apple tells you that the best option for a scratch disk is a secondary internal drive; a hardware solution that Apple has NEVER offered for mobile workstations. Additionally the most expensive MacBook Pro has the same starting price as the MacPro workstation (2,499.00!!!!!) but the MacBook Pro doesn't provide even ONE additional hard drive bay. It's a 17" beast and it costs the same as the Quad Core MacPro mega-monster that I bought. Something's wrong there. There's also something wrong with the fact that my T61 edits HD footage faster with Final Cut Pro than a MacBook Pro does. Apple software+Apple mobile hardware=second to worst choice for HD editing . Apple software+Lenovo hardware=best choice for HD editing. What's wrong with this picture? Shouldn't Apple be best with the hardware they make? They aren't best it's just easier to install on the hardware they make. Once you get it working on the ThinkPad it hits it out of the park! No joke!

Amen to Mac desktops. They are top notch. My MacPro runs great and I feel fine paying for legit hardware and software. Their mobile line needs to clean up their act though! The consumer end is fine but for filmmakers and other artists it really needs to see an improvement. I'm NOT shelling out $2,499.00 for a computer that sucks at HD editing.

P.S. I paid $350 for my ThinkPad and it rocks Final Cut's world. Saved more than $2,000.00 and got a better set up for HD editing.

pple software+Lenovo hardware=best choice for HD editing. What's wrong with this picture?

Agreed. I have been experiencing OSX for less than 6 months now... feels pretty solid, indeed.
On the other hand, my experience with Thinkpads dates from 1999 ! These are all time best ever laptop computers ! They are for work, period.

Today I am kinda of happy (well, really, very happy) because last night I was finally able to tinker down the installation of Snow Leo on my T60... after 4 hours of sleep I got up and also nailed the video and now I have a happy bootable T60 with SL (still no sound, but hey ! I've been trying to get it right for 2 months or, since the SL came out for retail )
BTW, used Chameleon RC3, r658 plus some kexts, etc... sometime I'll write everything down and post it.

Yeah, I am borderlining elation, I daresay

-Alex
(pardon previous expletive.. had no idea how sensitive it would sound)

akkadian wrote:
That's the market economy telling you that. It's easier on a Mac not greater. MacBook Pro's are useless for Final Cut. Your only option for a scratch disk is an external...yuck! They fail, they corrupt data and they have a slower response time than an internal. Sure an eSATA port would help but Apple doesn't offer one! Apple tells you that the best option for a scratch disk is a secondary internal drive; a hardware solution that Apple has NEVER offered for mobile workstations. Additionally the most expensive MacBook Pro has the same starting price as the MacPro workstation (2,499.00!!!!!) but the MacBook Pro doesn't provide even ONE additional hard drive bay. It's a 17" beast and it costs the same as the Quad Core MacPro mega-monster that I bought. Something's wrong there. There's also something wrong with the fact that my T61 edits HD footage faster with Final Cut Pro than a MacBook Pro does. Apple software+Apple mobile hardware=second to worst choice for HD editing . Apple software+Lenovo hardware=best choice for HD editing. What's wrong with this picture? Shouldn't Apple be best with the hardware they make? They aren't best it's just easier to install on the hardware they make. Once you get it working on the ThinkPad it hits it out of the park! No joke!

Amen to Mac desktops. They are top notch. My MacPro runs great and I feel fine paying for legit hardware and software. Their mobile line needs to clean up their act though! The consumer end is fine but for filmmakers and other artists it really needs to see an improvement. I'm NOT shelling out $2,499.00 for a computer that sucks at HD editing.

P.S. I paid $350 for my ThinkPad and it rocks Final Cut's world. Saved more than $2,000.00 and got a better set up for HD editing.

LOL! Wow! .. Can you share your T61 Install story / guide / success with us?