NetbookInstaller 1: USB Installation via Mac

This is a general installation guide for all netbooks that meet the minimum requirements. Specifically, the Dell Mini 9 and 10v should work almost perfectly with this guide. These instructions will work for both 10.5 Leopard and 10.6 Snow Leopard.

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

Minimum Requirements

This guide assumes that your boot order is set to boot from the internal drive first. If you have different settings in your BIOS, adapt accordingly.

Pre-Install Checklist

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
    • Options...: Master Boot Record, then click OK.
  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. If you downloaded the Combo Update, open the update disk image and copy the package inside to your USB drive. Eject the Combo Update disk image. (If space is not available, download to another USB drive or wait until Mac OS X is installed and clear space on the drive.)
  20. Eject the USB drive.
On the Netbook
  1. With the netbook off, insert the USB drive into an available port.
  2. Turn the netbook on. Press the one-time boot key before the manufacturer logo disappears. This key is "0" (zero) on a Dell Mini 9, "F12" on a Dell Mini 10v. (more info)
  3. A grey screen with your USB drive name, icon, and a progress bar should appear. Just let the progress bar run out.
  4. 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 booting again. Otherwise, check the Troubleshooting guide.)
  5. Once loaded, select your language and press Continue. (Press Enter on your keyboard if you can't see the Continue button.)
  6. Press Continue on the Welcome screen, then press Agree on the next screen.
  7. Go to Menu Bar>Utilities>Disk Utility....
  8. Select the icon for the internal drive.
  9. 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.
  10. Press Apply, then Partition. When it is finished, close Disk Utility.
  11. Select your newly-formatted drive as the installation destination. (On 10.5 Leopard, you need to press Continue to get to the next screen.)
  12. Press the Customize button, deselect any feature(s) you do not need:
    • Additional Fonts - These are only needed for specific languages with special characters.
    • Language Translations - These are to translate the OS into different languages.
    • Printer Drivers (Printer Support on 10.6) - Usually you can find an updated driver for your printer on the Internet, but this can be helpful if you use multiple printers besides your own.
    • X11 - You need this if you are going to use GIMP or CrossOver.
    • Rosetta (10.6-only) - 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 (10.6-only) - Useful if you need to watch QuickTime movies that are encoded in older formats.
  13. Press Done (10.5) or OK (10.6), then press Install. Installation can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 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.)

Post-Install

  1. Let your netbook boot normally from the internal drive. The grey screen with your HDD/SSD name, icon, and progress bar will appear. Just let the progress bar run out.
  2. 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 booting again. Otherwise, check the Troubleshooting guide.)
  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 afterward. This usually happens on netbooks with resolutions less than 1024x600.)
Updating the OS
  1. Close any programs you may have open and save all work (if necessary).
  2. Install the OS Update:
    • 10.5 Leopard: You need to open the 10.5.8 Combo Update package on the USB drive (or wherever you have it downloaded to), DO NOT use Software Update.
    • Press Continue three times, and then press Agree.
    • Press Install, enter your password, and then press "Continue Installion.
    • 10.6 Snow Leopard: Try using Software Update (accessible from the Apple icon in the Menu Bar) first to update to 10.6.2. If that does not work correctly you should use the 10.6.2 Combo Update linked at the top of the guide.
    • Press any agree button and Install buttons necessary. You will probably be warned that a Restart is necessary, that is just fine.
    After installation is finished, press the Restart button (if necessary.)
  3. Leopard only: At the grey screen with the progress bar, press any key before the progress bar runs out. Type "-x" so that is looks like "boot: -x" in the bottom-left corner. If successful, it should boot into Mac OS X Safe Mode. Enter your password to login. Do not do this for 10.6 Snow Leopard.
    Getting a mach_kernel error after restart?
  4. Go to the Applications folder and run NetbookInstaller. Select the following settings:
    • Volume: <your internal drive>
    • Install Chameleon 2 NBI bootloader
    • Install <your model name> Extensions
    • Regenerate a system specific DSDT.aml file
    • <Any other options you would like, the above are necessary.>
  5. Press Install, enter your password and press OK.
  6. When installation is complete, press OK and restart your computer.

Your netbook should now be updated and able to run Mac OS X normally. There may be some more tweaks to drivers necessary, depending on your netbook model.

News about NetbookInstaller can be found on Meklort's Blog and on the NetbookInstaller Google Code page. Please check the MyDellMini forum (or a similar site for non-Dell netbooks) for more information on drivers and troubleshooting.

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

mechdrew NetbookInstaller 1 Version 3.20b