It had better work for everyone this time.
dylar at MyDellMini pointed me to Image Writer, which is way better than the dd command that I’ve been using in the guide forever. Plus, it shortened down the instructions quite a bit. Since the whole Windows section has changed, you’ll want to reread it through if you were having trouble before. And as always, leave a comment or send a message about how it worked.
If you’re trying to use the NBI 2 guide, wait. dylar over at MyDellMini gave me the single best recommendation I have seen from anyone in a while. It’s a program that will make the whole process a lot easier and is almost foolproof. Update: Looks like it has to wait until tomorrow. Sorry for the wait. If you think you can use it properly, you can give the software a try: http://bit.ly/Mv4Sq
Title says it all. Turns out that the previous version’s instructions (which were deleted in the last update) weren’t completely inaccurate, they just needed some additions! I can verify that the files DO work, so there is nothing wrong with the guide itself. I still need to investigate the Linux side, but everything else should be just fine.
Please make sure to follow every warning and detail, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not attempt to contact me if you are using a dowloaded/torrented/pirated/illegitimate version of Mac OS X, it wastes time for both of us and I will eventually find out since they don’t work with my guides.
I’ve never used Twitter before, but I’ve seen others’ accounts and it looks like the perfect thing to keep people updating on stuff like this whole NBI 2 fiasco. I’ll update Twitter whenever I feel like posting a note rather than a complete blog post. You can find the latest fifteen tweets and a link to the account on the right side of this page.
Yes, I do read the comments and get the e-mails. I haven’t responded because I’m trying to figure out what went wrong and why everyone is having issues with the guide. I’ve got a few leads on it (reading software instructions can do that) but nothing concrete right now. I’m doing some tests on my XP boot right now, if anyone has any ideas please leave a comment (not the contact form.)
At long last, I’m done updating the main guides. This is the quickest I have been able to update all of the guides, but that’s because I spent most of my time this evening focused solely on completing them.
The big update for the NBI 2 is a flat image based on NetbookInstaller 0.8.3 Final. I’ve also changed the Windows instructions so that all three major versions (XP, Vista, 7) use the same instructions. I found a bunch of errors throughout as well during the process. I had to remove the Windows screenshots because they were horribly inaccurate with the new instructions, I will try to upload new ones in the next few days.
So that should be it, besides adapting the updates for the MyDellMini Guides section.
Although not many people actually ask about this guide, the NBI 4 guide for installing from an Apple Mac has been updated to current software. It hadn’t been updated in a while, so it was definitely needed. One more guide to go!
As I mentioned earlier, a new NetbookCD is finally ready for use. It is based on NetbookInstaller 0.8.3 Final and will work wonderfully with 10.6.2. The guide has been exhaustively revised to remove a bunch of redundant steps and to make it more coherent.
I’m still working on the other guides, and making more corrections in NBI 1, so please check back for more updates.
In preparation for updating the NBI 2 and NBI 3 guides, I am currently uploading NetbookCD and a flat image of the Chameleon bootloader from the NetbookInstaller 0.8.3 Final release. For some reason my server is exceptionally slow at uploading (it certainly isn’t my connection) so it’s going to take a while. But I figured I would at least inform everyone that I do have those working and am updating the guides as well to correspond to the new information. The new guides should be up by tomorrow somewhere around 12 PM MST.
Sorry about that folks, it’s all better now! Use the same links as before, I’m reuploading the mirror files as I type. Everything should be fine now, I had to repair my own install with the updated file.
On Twitter: