Dell Mini 10v Installation via USB and Mac

This guide will walk you through the process of installing Mac OS X 10.6 on your Dell Mini 10v (1011). Other models may install similarly (like the Dell Mini 9, 1010 and 1012) but due to the wide range of OS X-capable netbooks available this guide will focus on the best available so far, the 10v.

These instructions are only for installing 10.6 Snow Leopard. (10.5 instructions here.)

If you would like to learn more about this guide view the commentary.

Minimum Requirements

On the Mac

  1. Insert the Mac OS X Install DVD and USB drive.
  2. Open Disk Utility (Applications/Utilities).
  3. Click on USB drive icon that states the capacity of the drive (i.e. 7.1 Gb, 7.6 GB, etc.)
  4. Open the Partition tab.
  5. Set:
    • Volume Scheme: 1 Partition
    • Name: OSXDVD
    • Format: Mac OS Extended
  6. Click Apply.
  7. Click Partition.
  8. When Partition is finished, open the Restore tab.
  9. Drag "Mac OS X Install DVD" from the left pane into the Source field in the right pane.
  10. Drag OSXDVD from the left pane into the Destination field in the right pane.
  11. Click Restore, then click Restore in the popup window.
  12. Enter your password, and then wait anywhere between 25 minutes to 2 hours for it to finish.
  13. When restoration is finished, close Disk Utility and eject the DVD.
  14. Open the NetbookBootMaker application. If a warning prompt shows up asking, "Are you sure you want to open it?" click Open.
  15. For USB Partition, select OSXDVD.
  16. Press "Prepare Boot Drive".
  17. Enter your password, then click OK. It can take several minutes to complete, so be patient.
  18. On the popup window that says done, click OK, then exit the NetbookBootMaker app.
  19. Eject the USB drive.
On the Netbook
  1. With the netbook off, insert the USB drive into an available port.
  2. Press the power button. When the Dell logo appears, press F2 to enter the BIOS setup. Go to the Adanced tab and change the following settings as necessary:
    • USB BIOS Legacy Support: Enabled
    • USB Wake Support: Disabled
    • Bluetooth: Disabled
    Go to the Exit tab and press Enter on Exit Saving Changes. Press Enter again to confirm, the computer will reboot.
  3. At the Dell logo press F12, this is a one-time boot selector. Select USB Device and press Enter.
  4. A grey screen will appear. Depending on your current setup, it may give you the option to select a boot drive; select OSXDVD if necessary.
  5. The Apple logo, then a spinning wheel, will appear. (If the spinning wheel does not appear after two minutes, try power cycling the netbook and try again.)
  6. Once loaded, select your language and press Continue.
  7. Press Continue on the Welcome screen, then press Agree on the next screen.
  8. Go to Menu Bar > Utilities > Disk Utility....
  9. Select the icon for the internal drive.
  10. Go to the Partition tab. Configure:
    • Volume Scheme: 1 Partition
    • Name: <Any name without a space in it.>
    • Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    • Options...: GUID Partition Table, press OK.

    Press Apply, then Partition. When it is finished, close Disk Utility.
  11. Select your newly-formatted drive as the installation destination.
  12. Press the Customize button, deselect any feature(s) you do not need to save space:
    • Additional Fonts - These are only needed for specific languages with special characters.
    • Language Translations - These are to translate the OS into different languages.
    • Printer Support - Totally pointless, since Snow Leopard will automatically look for the latest driver on the Internet when you connect a printer.
    • X11 - You need this if you are going to use certain software (i.e. GIMP, FreeNX, CrossOver.)
    • Rosetta - Rosetta allows you to run applications that were only designed to work on PowerPC-baed Macs (pre-10.4), it's small so it won't hurt to install just in case.
    • QuickTime 7 - Useful if you need to watch QuickTime movies that are encoded in older formats.
  13. Press OK, then press Install. Installation can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours.
  14. The machine should automatically restart when installation is finished. (If your Installer is almost to the end and says it has failed, it probably actually finished, just try to continue on with the guide.)

Update to 10.6.4

  1. When the netbook reboots, disconnect your flash drive. Let it boot from your internal drive this time.
  2. The Apple logo, then a spinning wheel, will appear.
  3. The first-time setup video should play, this lasts about a minute. An account creation process should begin shortly thereafter. Fill in any information you want (you don't need to register) to complete the setup.
    (If instead you get an error message that says, "The Mac OS X Setup Assistant cannot be used with this monitor," you can still setup your account in System Preferences. This usually happens on netbooks with resolutions less than 1024x600.)
  4. Browse your USB drive (it should appear on the desktop) and open the NetbookInstaller 0.8.4RC1fix application. Make sure the following settings are enabled:
    • Install Chameleon 2 NBI bootloader
    • Install Dell Mini 10v Extensions
    • Regenerate a system specific DSDT.aml file
    Press Install, enter your password and close the app once it notifies you it has suceeded. You may need to enter you password a few more times before it finishes.
    This step will become redundant in the next release, but for now it is necessary.)
  5. Go to Software Update (accessible from the Apple icon in the Menu Bar) and let it search for a while. You need to select the 10.6.4 update.
    (If that does not work correctly you should use the Combo Update package.)
  6. Let it download for a while (it's big!) Press any agree button and Install buttons necessary. You will probably be warned that a Restart is necessary, that is just fine.
  7. There may be a long delay during the installation process, don't worry. (Sometimes an install will hold at "three minutes remaining" for up to an hour.) After installation is finished, press the Restart button (if necessary.)

Your netbook should now be updated and able to run Mac OS X normally. You can eject and remove the USB drive now. The first few startups after install may take longer than average, that is just fine. You should also adjust your BIOS settings accordingly, i.e. enabling Bluetooth if your netbook has it.

News about NetbookInstaller can be found on Meklort's Blog and on the NetbookInstaller Google Code page. Please check the MyDellMini forum for more information on updates and troubleshooting.

Make sure to check the Tips section for more post-install or troubleshooting help.

mechdrew - Mac USB 10v - Version 3.40a