Anyone Install Snow Leopard On W520? I am having trouble..

[thinkpad916]

I have a w510 and installed snow leopard..but on my New W520..I cannot seem to install snow leopard.

The Install goes fine, but after finishing install I boot with Empire EFI Cd..just keeps restarting.

Just want to see if the community has a solution or someone who has successfully installed Leopard or Lion and boot into the Osx GUI..

Summary: Snow leopard Install Works but cannot boot into OSX..just reboots every time..

[JKK]

Did you try installing with NetbookInstaller (last one!) or MyHack? Now LION's out, you can try with MyHack, great tool, i want a W520 too so i'm interested!

[thinkpad916]

Blah..I tried nearly everything..I gave up. Unless I get some help..

[adidasprince]

If installer worked, it means W520 can work with it.

Restarting usually caused by (in probability order):
- In-compatible mach_kernel
- In-compatible bootloader
- In-compatible DSDT, fakesmc, SMBIOS, etc. (mainly causes KP)

It's more helpful if you can describe the "just reboots every time" more specific.

[nicewhiteshoes]

I just picked up a W520 also and will be trying to give it a go...

thinkpad916 .. did you install with retail 10.6.3 CD ?

[nightalon]

I succeeded doing a triple-boot. It's tricky.

Here's how:

*Turn on Discrete Graphics in your BIOS (no Optimus, no auto-detect) and also Legacy BIOS only (these new v2.0 EFIs are not compatible with Apple's v1.1 EFIs)
*Use the latest version of TonyMacx86's iBoot to boot the Retail Snow Leopard 10.6.3 DVD (please pay for this)
*Boot with the arguments: -v "GraphicsEnabler"="No" after booting up from the iBoot CD using F12 to select the proper boot device (please note that kernel panics do sometimes occur at this point; keep trying until it works; I disabled TPM, WiMAX and unused boot devices in case that helps)
*Install Snow Leopard on a new partition on a GPT-formatted disk
*Use the 10.6.7 Combo Update after booting into your new install
*Install MultiBeast without DSDT; USB 3.0, GraphicsEnabler=No, new boot-loader, SMBIOS=MacPro3,1, FakeSMC, NullCPUPowermanagement, e1000, VoodooPS2
*Use an Auto-DSDT generator to give you a DSDT.aml file (use the "generic" profile) and drop it in root (the / directory at the root of your boot partition)
*Follow the Lion update instructions via 8 GB partition on tonymacx86.com using xMove
*Install Windows 7 on another partition that you designated as "MS-DOS Format" in Disk Utility (you will still have an EFI/GPT/MBR hybrid setup at this point) Note that it must be in the first 3 partitions on the disk
*Load Windows 7 from iBoot
*Install EasyBCD and use the MBR (yes, I know the setup still has some EFI/GPT components in it, but this was what worked for me) option to add MacOS to your Windows bootloader
*Load the Lion installer partition from iBoot, and then from the MBR OS X boot option you created with EasyBCD in the Windows Bootloader
*Install Lion over your Snow Leopard install
*Again use the iBoot->EasyBCD-modified-Win7-bootloader->Chimera-bootloader to get into your new Lion install
*Change GraphicsEnabler=Yes in your com.boot.Apple.plist in your Extra directory
*Delete the extra Installer partition via Disk Utility
*Install a MacBookPro-based SMBIOS.plist config with MultiBeast
*Boot into Ubuntu 11.04 on a LiveCD(/DVD) (You can optionally install Ubuntu at this point, but make sure to install the bootloader to the partition only, and not the whole disk)
*Delete the first EFI partition with fdisk (you can leave it present in the GPT records...it won't hurt anybody there)
*Optional: create a 4th, storage partition and use mkntfs to format it NTFS, which is read/writable in all 3 OSes
*Use fdisk to mark your Windows partition as NTFS (type 7) again, and set it active/primary/bootable, if necessary
*Congrats! Your disk is now bootable, and you can access Windows and MacOS from the Windows Bootloader. (Feel free to add GRUB2 via EasyBCD if you installed Linux as well.) You may need to format your new Storage partition from Windows if Windows doesn't recognize it. This will not destroy your configuration. You may also need to reinstall the Linux GRUB2 bootloader, since it will now be configured to boot from the wrong partition. Do this with a grub-update /dev/sda* from the Ubuntu LiveCD/DVD where * is your Linux partition. grub-install failed for me.

Notes:
1. I have a few strange directories in my Windows root from when I tried to repair my Windows boot-config. I'll have to delete these later via Linux since they are write-protected.
2. The reason the MacOS bootloaders such as Chimera, AnVL, and Chameleon won't be seen by your ThinkPad is that your ThinkPad's BIOS/EFI sees the EFI partition and gives up instead of trying to boot. This is to induce you to boot in EFI-only or Legacy-then-EFI mode in case you installed Windows 7 in EFI mode. Basically you are trying to boot an MBR-style bootloader on an EFI-formatted disk, so the ThinkPad EFI/BIOS freaks out. We get around this by deleting the EFI partition in fdisk in Linux (this is good, anyway, since it allows for a 4th, non-extended partition for storage, since Windows will only see 4 primary partitions, even if GPT technically allows for more).
3. Don't try to use integrated graphics in MacOS just yet. They need to be supported in the bootloader, and this community-based work is not yet complete. Quadro 1000M and 2000M drivers are built-in to Lion, so use them.
4. The TrackStick does not work with the version of VoodooPS2 in MultiBeast. I have not tried other options.
5. You may want to add in a battery indicator kext.
6. You will need to hack your BIOS if you want WIFI in MacOS; I am currently working on this. There was a hacked version of the 1.22 BIOS, but it is no longer available. (see mydigitallife forums) None of the ThinkPad WIFI cards (Realtek, Intel, etc.) are supported in MacOS; you will need a Broadcom or Atheros-based card for it to be recognized as an AirPort.
7. You will need to remember to switch your graphics in the BIOS before booting, depending on which OS you want to load

[thinkpad916]

nightalon,

You are a Genius!! Please keep us updated on the bios.

I am also looking into getting a hacked bios..I have a 2920xm CPU and I want to overclock it in windows 7 with throttle stop. My Older W510 with 920xm the TRL (Turbo Ratio Limit and TDP were adjustable) but on the Newer W520 the TRL is unlocked, but if you change it nothing happens and the TDP is locked. So you cannot do anything. So please let me know if we can get that removed also. The Newer 2920xm is a beast. Geek benches at 11600 and my order 920xm W510 Overclocked was around 7800 geekbench score. Base score without overclocking was only 6700.

[thinkpad916]

hmm did some testing a lot of stuff needs fixing. sound ain't working.. etc..

well at least it works somewhat now..lot more hassle to install then w510 was much simpler..

[nightalon]

Genius might be a little extreme.

I've been doing this for a while...here is a list of systems I've installed MacOS on:

Asus P4C800E-Deluxe w/ GF 6800GT
Asus P5E3 Premium WifiAP@Home w/ GF 9800GTX and later GF 560Ti
Gateway CX2010 (no GPU accel due to ATI GPU)
Acer AspireOne 260 (w/ 3G modem)
Toshiba Tecra M7 (w/ both NVS110M and GMA950)
Dell Precision M4400 (w/ Quadro FX770M and later FX1700M after warranty-replacement)
Lenovo Thinkpad W520

Yes, audio is an issue. With VoodooHDA I get distortion.

BIOS is still a work in progress, but since 1.22 was out there without a whitelist, I imagine someone will hack this one at some point soon(ish). I've tried a couple guides, but the BIOS structure seems a little different due to EFI.

Anyway, this is one beast of a laptop. I went for the Core i7 2620 or whatever it's called because I still get the 4 slots of RAM and I use less power. I like my battery life! The Tecra, Gateway, and Precision all had slice batteries. I may yet get one for my W520!

PS - Installing MacOS X on PCs has been both a pastime of mine and a colossal waste of time. Although it is fun to stick your thumb in Steve Jobs' eye by doing so.

[nightalon]

BIOS is still a work in progress, but since 1.22 was out there without a whitelist, I imagine someone will hack this one at some point soon(ish). I've tried a couple guides, but the BIOS structure seems a little different due to EFI.

See this post for a hacked BIOS that allows MacOS-compatible Atheros and Broadcom cards:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=98815

Note that I use a half-height AR928X that was originally a Dell Wireless 1515.

The AR9382 is available on OxfordTec for $50, but MacOS does not find networks with it. This will likely be fixed soon since the Mac Pros have a full-height 3Tx3R AR9382. The Broadcom BCM9432b or 94322 or 94321 are good options as well. See eBay for parts supply. You can get lots of different OEM and ODM-branded parts there.

There is a half-height 3Tx3R card that comes standard with this laptop, but it does not support MacOS...it is the Intel 6300. I have not tried to put a full-height card in the WWAN slot since I want a WWAN or SSD more importantly, there are very few 450 MBps-compatible routers (the main reason for 3Tx3R), and there are only 2 antennas routed for that slot, though antenna re-routing would not be impossible.


Barrett, NYC

[thinkpad916]

Nightalon,

Do you have everything work? Whats working so far?

Did you get the sound and graphic fixed?
I did some testing with Geekbench and the system is not running at Peak Performance yet with Snow Leopard..

I get around 11600-11800 with Geekbench in Windows 7 64Bit and In Snow Leopard I get about 8000.


http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/466192 (Windows 7 64Bit)

Thank you!

[nightalon]

Graphics are fixed with the line GraphicsEnabler=Yes as a boot argument, or add it to your com.Apple.boot.plist file in the proper format.

I have a Quadro 1000M...I haven't tested the 2000M; you may have to add the Device ID to the proper kext. Should work after that, since it is a 4** series equivalent card, not a 5** series.

As for sound, I get crappy quality audio with VoodooHDA, but I haven't tested moving all of the sliders around yet.

Lastly, your performance issues may be related to your GPU not being on. Also, I noticed GPU performance diminishes greatly when you specify a boot resolution as in "Graphics Mode"="1280x800"

Otherwise, your performance difference in MacOS may be due to power management or the fact that you are using a quad-core Extreme CPU, which may not be fully supported, though that is doubtful, since SB CPUs seem to be quite well supported at this point.

Good luck!

[gothic860]

Hey

i installed Lion on my W520 but my CPU-Benchmarks are really bad.

Windows: Cinebench 5,2
OS X: Cinebench 4,2

The CPU is always 2,2Ghz and it don't change any ideas?

[JazJon]

I succeeded doing a triple-boot. It's tricky.

Here's how:

Awesome thanks nightalon, I'm ready to give this all a try. I want a Dual Boot Windows 7 / Mac OS X Lion on TWO hard drives. (128GB in main, and 500GB in my multi bay adapter replacing DVD drive)

I just posted on the TonyMacx86 forum
http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=170&t=34392
and someone kindly pointed me to this forum/thread.

I was stuck on an error after iBoot loads and I try to boot of the Snow Leopard 10.6 DVD.

iBoot (regular)
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/143/imagebhmn.jpg/

iBoot (Legacy)
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/59/imageihl.jpg/

Do you use the regular iBoot or iBoot Legacy CD?

Now that I know to turn ON Discrete Graphics, and use Legacy BIOS, I'll give it a shot again. Hopefully someone figures out a way for things to work on the v2 EFIs.

I'm a bit worried about the crappy audio quality. My whole goal for going native hackintosh is to use iMovie. (since iMovie bombs out with a Quartz Extreme error in VMwre)

Can you confirm iMovie works ok on the W520?

[JazJon]

Awesome thanks nightalon, I'm ready to give this all a try. I want a Dual Boot Windows 7 / Mac OS X Lion on TWO hard drives. (128GB in main, and 500GB in my multi bay adapter replacing DVD drive)

I just posted on the TonyMacx86 forum
http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=170&t=34392
and someone kindly pointed me to this forum/thread.

I was stuck on an error after iBoot loads and I try to boot of the Snow Leopard 10.6 DVD.

iBoot (regular)
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/143/imagebhmn.jpg/

iBoot (Legacy)
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/59/imageihl.jpg/

Do you use the regular iBoot or iBoot Legacy CD?

Now that I know to turn ON Discrete Graphics, and use Legacy BIOS, I'll give it a shot again. Hopefully someone figures out a way for things to work on the v2 EFIs.

I'm a bit worried about the crappy audio quality. My whole goal for going native hackintosh is to use iMovie. (since iMovie bombs out with a Quartz Extreme error in VMwre)

Can you confirm iMovie works ok on the W520?

I gave it a try and no luck on my W520 so far. SAME error: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/143/imagebhmn.jpg/

I recorded a video of all my Bios settings, my attempt to boot of the iBoot CD.

See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9uc6qCTlBA

Question, where exactly do I place arguments at below? I was assuming this was something I do during the actual Snow Leopard install, but maybe it's before? I need to better understand I think. Also, I've been hitting F5 and never tried F12 before, let me give that a shot next. Also what is TPM? (is that the Trusted Protection Module HP had? I don't recall seeing TPM in the W520) I don't have WiMax, just Ultimate N. I didnt try disabling other boot devices yet. I leave my MAIN hard drive out of the system, and only

*Boot with the arguments: -v "GraphicsEnabler"="No" after booting up from the iBoot CD using F12 to select the proper boot device (please note that kernel panics do sometimes occur at this point; keep trying until it works; I disabled TPM, WiMAX and unused boot devices in case that helps)

[JKK]

Did anyone finally had a WORKING sound, even without mic?

[wolfman]

Anyway, this is one beast of a laptop. I went for the Core i7 2620 or whatever it's called because I still get the 4 slots of RAM and I use less power. I like my battery life! The Tecra, Gateway, and Precision all had slice batteries. I may yet get one for my W520!

Really? That's good to know as I thought that only the W520 quad core models came with 4 RAM slots - I didn't realize you got 4 RAM slots in a dual core model.