Note: This is only here for archival reasons. This will soon be replaced by a NetbookInstaller version.

DellEFI 4: Installing via Mac to External Drive or Runcore SSD

*This method has many advantages and disadvantages. It is much faster than installing on the Dell itself and even eliminates the prep work. However, if you do not follow the guide correctly, you may mess up your real Mac. The key is, DO NOT install DellEFI on your Mac when you are booted normally, only when you have booted into the external drive. You have been warned.*

Requirements:

On the Mac

1) Insert the retail Mac OS X Leopard Install DVD into your Mac, and turn your Mac off. Plug in your external USB drive (flash drives are obvious, a hard drive or Runcore SSD will need a USB cable to plug in) and power on the Mac. After pressing the power button, press and hold the Option key until a list of icons appear. (Depending on your DVD drive/DVD disc condition, this may take a minute.) Select the Mac OS X Install DVD and press enter.

2) When the Installer boots, select your language, press Continue, and Agree. Now click Utilities in the Menu Bar, and open Disk Utility. Select the external drive, then select the Partition tab. Volume Scheme is "1 Partition", Name it whatever you want, Format is "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)", and you need to click "Options..." to change it to "GUID Partition Table". Click OK, Apply, and confirm the decision. Once it is done formatting, close Disk Utility, select your new partition, and click Continue. I recommend no matter what your configuration is to press Customize and deselect anything you do not need, such as Language Translations, Additional Fonts, and Printer Drivers, but adjust according to your needs. Click Done, and then Install. This can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on disc quality and the speed of your external drive. When it is done, press Restart, hold the Option key again and this time select external drive to boot from.

3) Setup your account as you see fit. When it comes to the Migration Assistant, do not transfer settings. When it is all done, you should see your Desktop, with drive icons for your SSD or USB drive and the internal hard drive. Next, download either the Mac OS X 10.5.7 Combo Update (for discs that are 10.5.5 or lower) or the Mac OS X 10.5.7 incremental update (for 10.5.6 discs) and install it. Make sure that it is installing to your external drive, and Restart when finished, again using Option to select the external drive for booting.

4) Now, download DellEFI 1.2a5, unzip and run the app. You will want to select Custom Installation and select only these options (if there are any other options selected remove them):

Then, hit Install, enter your password, and let it run. When it is done, go ahead and restart but do not boot from the drive again. Instead, remove the external drive from the computer once it has begun the restart process.

On the Dell:

5) Start up your Dell Mini and press "2" (the number two) to enter Setup. Here, you will navigate to the Advanced page to change some settings. If your Mini has Bluetooth and you intend to use it, set Bluetooth to Enabled, "USB BIOS Legacy Mode" is Disabled (only if you are booting from a Runcore! You need this Enabled if you boot from a USB drive), and USB Wake Support" is Disabled. If you do not not have Bluetooth or do not intend to use it, set Bluetooth to Disabled, "USB BIOS Legacy Support" Enabled, and "USB Wake Support" Disabled. If you are using an external drive and plan on booting from it every time you have it plugged in, you may set the Boot Priority to have USB External first. Hook up the external drive to your Mini, then Save and Exit.

6) If you are booting from an external drive and did not set USB External as the default boot drive, you will need to press "0" (zero) and select it from the list during the boot sequence. Either way, you should now see a grey screen with a progress bar, and a few seconds later it will start to boot into Mac OS X. Once it has loaded, run DellEFI once more, this time selecting "Generate a system specific dsdt.aml file" and any other options you feel you would like. Reboot when it is finished, and you are done!

Install any other software and adjust any settings at this point. Treat it like any other Mac!

mechdrew DellEFI 4 Version 3.01