This is the original guide that was posted on MyDellMini. Because of the absurd length and lack of flexibility, I eventually decided to make my own site. This is here mainly for archival reasons, and also for any information that may not have been converted to a newer format, such as the Windows-only method. This will all be serialized eventually.

Table of Contents
Section 1: IntroductionSection 2: The GuideSection 3: Additional Links
Section 4: Change Log

If anyone would like to help out with this guide, here are a few suggestions:
1) I need help with the DVD install section. I've never done it that way.
2) I'm looking for a method to update an older installation DVD with new combo updates (also known as “slipstreaming” in the Windows world.)
3) Some of my methods are somewhat experimental, especially the Windows and Mac-only installation methods. I have yet to get a Ubuntu (Linux) guide, so if anyone has succeeded with that let me know.
4) I hate TransMac right now. It's giving a lot of people problems. Anyone who can point me to another program that can image HFS DVDs better would be appreciated.

New! Section 1: Introduction
Welcome to the DellEFI guide! I am not the author of the software involved, but after seeing some of the old guides withering away in age I decided to make an up-to-date guide for the current generation. Feel free to ask questions as replies to this guide, it makes it very hard to answer questions if you start a completely new post. Also, if you have any tips or new information for the guide, feel free to post it in a reply or as a personal message. Just please note that I will not answer any questions regarding illegal software, including downloaded or copied DVD images, OEM discs, or "slipstreamed" torrents. So on with the guide!

I) Mac OS X on the Dell Mini
The process for installing Mac OS X Leopard on the Mini has been so finely tuned that the typical user won't usually notice any major differences. Hardware such as audio, video, and wireless networking are all enabled and working great. The Dell Mini is probably the most OS X-Compatible non-Apple hardware available right now. And how do we achieve all of this? Through two pieces of software: DellEFI and DellMiniBoot.

II)DellEFI
DellEFI is the latest generation of EFI emulation for the Dell Mini. As a bit of history, DellEFI is based off the older Type11 software, named for and created by forum user Type11. Since Type11 moved on to other projects after selling his Mini a few months ago, bmaltais took over the project with a new EFI method and renamed it DellEFI. Since those humble beginnings bmaltais has been joined by meklort and the project has taken off, to the point that it is almost completely different from the old code Type11 started. Just recently they finished the final release of version 1.1.

Included in the application is the boot code, kernel extensions (drivers), and other tweaks and fixes that make the Mac OS X experience not only usable but enjoyable. However, in order to use this package we first have to install Mac OS X, so that's where DellMiniBoot comes in.

III)DellMiniBoot
DellMiniBoot is bootloader that allows you boot into the Mac OS X Installer. The BIOS on most PCs, including the Dell Mini, can't recognize the unique format of the Mac OS X Installation DVD, so this software assists the Mini in loading the Installer. Currently an even newer software called DellEFIUSBLoader is being developed to replace this in conjunction with DellEFI 1.2.

DellEFI and DellMiniBoot both serve separate purposes. It will help both you and me if you familiarize yourself with the difference, especially when asking questions.

Section 2: The Guide

Part A: Installing Mac OS X Using Two USB Drives

Requirements:
Dell Mini 9
Retail Mac OS X Install DVD (any version from 10.5.0 to 10.5.6)
Two USB Drives:
-One that is 8 GB or more
-A second that is at least 32 MB, 64 MB is preferred.
(Either of these can be an SD or any other memory card, but you'll have to use a USB card reader for the smaller one. The internal slot will not work for bootup. More notes later.)
A Mac (Intel preferred, not sure about PPC) (This can also be a Dell Mini that already has Mac OS installed)
Windows PC (Can be a Dell Mini before installation as long as it has Windows)
And the following software:
Syslinux
A DellMiniBoot ISO AND DellEFI application:
DellMiniBoot123v8.01 (for 10.5.5 DVDs and below)
DellMiniBoot123v8.02b1 (for 10.5.6 DVDs and above)
DellEFI 1.07.1 Download this for both versions, even though 8.02b1 is supposed to have this already.

1) Insert the retail Mac OS X DVD into your Mac, and plug the larger USB drive in. Open Disk Utiltiy in the Applications/Utilities folder. Format the USB drive with the Mac OS Extended format (doesn't matter if it is Journaled) and when it is finished click the Restore tab. Drag the USB Drive to the Destination field, and drag the DVD to the Source field. Click the restore button, confirm your decision, and then wait for it to finish. This typically takes half an hour, maybe more.

2) If you haven't already, download the appropriate DellMiniBoot ISO.

3) Unzip and open the ISO by double clicking it. Now, copy all of the files from the disk image in Finder to a regular FAT (Windows) formatted USB thumb drive (not the one you are copying the DVD to) that has at least 64 MB free. Eject this USB drive and the ISO from the system.

4) On your Windows PC, download Syslinux. Unzip it to your C: drive. Plug in the USB drive, and type “cmd” either in the search box in the Start menu on Vista and Windows 7 or the “Run...” command on XP. Navigate to the new directory you just extracted, usually:
Code:
cd C:\syslinux-3.63\win32
Then type:
Code:
syslinux.exe -ma <your USB drive letter>
On mine it looks like:
Code:
syslinux.exe -ma E:
It should take a few seconds and then return to a blank prompt. This is normal, you are done with this step.

5) If your DVD is done copying, eject the larger USB drive from the Mac. If there is anything on your Mini that you need to keep or if you want to image your current operating system, back it up now. This install will erase everything, and there will likely be no recovery option available after this. Once you have saved all important files, you will be ready to install OS X on your Dell Mini.

6) With the Mini off, insert the boot USB drive (the smaller one) into the left side of your Mini, and the larger drive into the right side. Turn the Mini on and hold “2” (the number two) on your keyboard. This will enter setup. Make sure that “USB Legacy Mode” is enabled, and “USB Wake from Sleep” is disabled. You can either change the boot order here to have it automatically boot from USB, or simply press “0” (number zero”) at boot to select the USB option for booting. Save and exit.

7) Boot into the USB drive. This may not work initially, since it can be hard for it to detect which one to boot from. If this is the case, simply unplug the larger USB drive, try again, power off when it gets done booting to the DellEFI menu, reset and start again with both USB drives inserted.

If you get an error that says something about com.apple.boot plist not found, don't worry, it happens nearly everytime. This is NOT a problem with your install.

8) At the DellEFI boot prompt, press “Esc” (Escape) and then type either “81” or “82” to bring up the USB drive with the DVD files on it. Press enter. You are now in the Mac OS X Leopard Installer.

9) Install as usual. (If your SSD does not appear in the drive list, open Utilities > Disk Utility and partition your drive with Mac OS Extended (Journaled) then press "Options..." and select GUID. Apply and then exit.) Depending on your SSD drive size (or even USB, if you want to run it externally and you've formatted it to Mac OS Extended (Journaled)) you may need to remove some of the default options. Don't worry, this will not mess up OS X, and once you remove some unneeded programs after install you can then install stuff like printer drivers. But if you're fortunate enough to have a large drive you can just let it all install. Restart at the end of install. If your install did not finish, see Part E.

10) Remove the larger flash drive before the Mini gets past the Dell boot logo. (It may help to simply turn off the Mini before it reboots so you have more time.) Once the computer has rebooted you will need to boot from USB again. You will need to press "ESC" and enter either 81 or 82 to select your internal drive. Go through the first time setup process.

11) Depending on your install disc version:

a) If you have the 10.5.6 disc and you used the latest beta of the DellEFI ISO, the setup should just be like on a real Mac, with webcam and WiFi support working for the registration. Also on the 10.5.6 disc you will see the intro video but the sound drivers are not yet functioning, so silence is normal.

b) For users who do not have a 10.5.6 disc: Finish the information setup (it's not able to connect to the internet yet, so registration will fail. It's okay.) It is crucial that you install the 10.5.6 Combo update next. You will need to download this from Apple: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macos...mboupdate.html
You may want to download this beforehand if your Mini is your primary computer since you probably won't have wireless networking at this point. This can be downloaded on a flash drive or burned to a CD/DVD. Install and then reboot first before continuing. Without it you will not be able to continue properly, the system just won't work right!

12) You should see your desktop, with the DellEFI thumbdrive. Open it, and open the “DellMini9Utils” folder. In here are two apps. First open “AboutThisMac.pkg” and it will change the System Profiler so it will display the correct information. Now ignore the DellEFI included here, since it seems that many users are having issues with these versions. Download the latest stable DellEFI app from the links above and then run it. For a first-timer, use the default settings (“Easy Installation”). Click the “Install” button and away you go. You can either reboot when it prompts you too or select “No” to continue setting up your system as needed. I usually use this time to delete apps I don't use and for other space-saving techniques. If you did select "No" then a simple reboot will do the same trick once you're finished. Just make sure that to give it time, since it will usually update after the restart process has begun.

13) You can now remove your thumbdrives. The OS will boot straight from the SSD. Have fun with your new Mac!

New! Part A: Typical Mac OS X Install
(Windows + Mac)

Requirements:
Retail Mac OS X Leopard Install DVD
Windows and Mac computers
USB Drives (These can be flash or HDD based):Software as noted, download links in Section 3.

On the Mac:
1) Insert the retail Mac OS X Installation DVD into the DVD drive, and plug your USB drives in. Open Disk Utility (Applications/Utilities), select Partition and format the larger USB drive as Mac OS Extended (it does not matter whether it is Journaled or not.) Click on the Restore tab, drag the icon for the partition on the larger USB drive to the Destination field, and drag the DVD to the Source field. Click Restore, confirm the operation. This usually takes around thirty minutes, depending on drive speeds and the cleanliness of you disc.

2) While you are waiting, make sure that you have downloaded all of the necessary files, listed above. Unzip these files (if necessary) and mount any disk images. First, mount the DellMiniBoot ISO by double-clicking it. Once the disk image drive appears in your Finder, copy all of the contents to you smaller USB drive. You may now Eject the ISO and the smaller drive. (You can do this by right-clicking [control click on one-button mice] on the drives and selecting Eject.)

On the Windows PC:
3) Plug in the smaller USB drive. Download Syslinux and extract it to your C: drive. Make sure that there is a directory on your C: drive called syslinux-3.63 and another within it called win32. Now open the Start menu. On Windows XP select "Run..." then type in "cmd and press enter, or on Windows Vista and 7 simply type "cmd" in the search box. (For Vista and 7 users, you may need to right-click on the Command Prompt program above and select "Run as Administrator".) We will now need to run some commands in the Command Prompt:
Code:
cd C:\syslinux-3.63\win32
Then:
Code:
syslinux.exe -ma <you USB drive letter>
In my case it looked like this:
Code:
syslinux.exe -ma E:
It should take a few seconds and return to a blank prompt. This is normal, and this step is complete. You may now close the Command Prompt and remove your USB drive.
(If you have space available, it may be worthwhile to copy over the newest DellEFI to this smaller drive, it will save you time later.)

On the Dell Mini:
4) Once your Mac has finished copying the DVD to the larger driver, you may eject both the disc and the drive. This would be a perfect time to make sure that there is nothing left on your Dell Mini that you need or to back up any further files. This install process will erase everything on your drive. Turn your Mini on, enter the Setup menu by pressing "2" (two) during boot, and make sure that "USB Legacy Support" is on and that "USB Wake from Sleep" is off. If you like you can set the boot order so that it tries to boot from USB drives first, but I prefer to leave this off. Save and exit.

5) Insert your USB drives, the smaller one first and the larger one second. This is important because the boot order is typically determined by the order in which the drives are attached. Unless you reconfigured the boot order, you will need to press "0" (zero) during boot to bring up the boot selection screen. Boot from the USB Storage. You should see some text about loading initrd.img, and when that is done you may see an error about com.apple.boot not loading correctly, this is absolutely normal so ignore it. Press "Esc" (Escape) when you get to the boot prompt and then type in either 80, 81, or 82 to find the drive with the DVD files on it. Press Enter, and you will now proceed with the Mac OS X Installer. For those fortunate enough to have a 10.5.6 disc, this should have a normal aspect ratio. If you have an older one, it will look stretched.

6) Select your language. Before you go much further, you will want to open Disk Utility (Utilities in the Menu Bar, and then Disk Utility) and partition your. So first select your SSD in the pane on the left (not a volume on the SSD, the actual SSD drive icon) and then select the Partition tab. Set the format of the partition as Mac OS Extended (Journaled), give it a name, and then select "Options..." and set it to GUID. (You can also do this to another USB drive if you feel like installing to an external drive.) Once you are done you should exit Disk Utility and continue on with the install process. Depending on the size of the install drive you may need to deselect some of the options, such as additional languages and printer drivers. You can do this by clicking the Customize button. (If you still don't have enough room after deselecting everything, then see Part H.)

7) Installation can take as little as thirty minutes, but this varies. Sometimes the installation works perfectly and it tells you so, sometimes it tells you that installation failed even though it did the whole process. Either way you should restart, this is simply a quirk in the process. The restart can take a few minutes, so give it some time. If it hangs on a blank screen try pressing "Esc" and then if that doesn't help simply hold down the power button until it turns off, and then turn the Mini back on. You may want to remove the larger USB drive for convenience. Boot back into the smaller flash drive, but this time you will want to use it to boot into the SSD, again using either 81 or 82.

8) For those with 10.5.6, this should be fairly painless. The drivers on the DellMiniBoot v8.02b1 enable nearly everything except sound to work on first boot. For the lesser versions, it won't be as pretty but it will be functional. Go through the first-time setup process. If you experience the looping bug during the migration screen, simply reboot with the "-x" flag at the boot prompt. Once the setup is finished, you should see the Desktop and Dock.
*For those with 10.5.5 or earlier, you MUST download and install the 10.5.6 Combo Update. I recommend that you download this beforehand to a flash drive since I can't guarantee that you will have internet capabilities on first boot. You may need to make room on your drive to fit it, see the tips section for this. Do this before proceeding any further!

9) Now install the AboutThisMac.pkg, then proceed to run DellEFI. Do not run these from the smaller flash drive, since there have been corruption issues and DellEFI in these ISOs is outdated. Unless you have some reason to, use the default settings by selecting "Easy Installation" and then clicking Install. Confirm your decision and the press Restart when it is finished. This may take another few minutes, but it should restart eventually. You can now remove the USB drive(s) and start from the SSD. You are done, at least with the installation. Congratulations!

B) Installing Mac OS X Using One USB Drive (Mac & Windows required)
Be sure to read the whole guide, especially Parts A and E, before asking any questions. Thank you.

Okay, we're going to follow the instructions in Part A with a few adjustments.
Things you will need:
1) Same as Part A, except-
2) Only one USB drive, at least 8 GB.

1) Before you do anything else, insert the USB drive into your Mac. Open Disk Utility, select your USB Drive (not the partition itself) and click on the “Partition” tab. You will need to make two partitions on the drive:

a) The first partition is going to be 50 MB, FAT (MS-DOS) format, and named, well, whatever the heck you want. It doesn't really matter. I personally call it “DELLEFI” just to make it easier. Since the box originally starts off in GB mode, you will need to enter “.05” and once it has switched to MB reenter 50.

b) The second partition takes up the remaining space. It will need to be in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format. Again, you can name it whatever you want, I personally used “MacBoot”.

*Although the names above will be used to reference the partitions, you can just replace them if you decided to use a different naming scheme.

c) The last thing you need to do for this is to press the “Options...” button and select “Master Boot Record” then press “OK”. Click “Apply” and then “Partition”.

2) Now follow the guide in Part A, except now you will select the MacBoot partition only for imaging the DVD, and you will need to wait for that to finish before you can copy the DellEFI software and use syslinux on the DELLEFI partition.

3)Also, once you begin booting from the USB drive the MacBoot partition will be in the list already, so no need to type 81 or 82. Otherwise there shouldn't be any differences.

New! Part B: Single USB Mac OS X Install
(Windows + Mac)

Change in Requirements:
One USB Drive - 8 GB or larger

We will be following Part A (New! Section), with some changes to steps 1-3:
On the Mac:
1) Insert the retail Mac OS X Installation DVD into the DVD drive, and plug your USB drive in. Open Disk Utility (Applications/Utilities) and select Partition. You need to change the Volume Scheme to 2 volumes. Format the first volume as MS-DOS at 40 MB and format second volume as Mac OS Extended (it does not matter whether it is Journaled or not.) Select "Options..." and select Master Boot Record (MBR), then click Apply and confirm the operation. Click on the Restore tab, drag the icon for the partition on the larger USB volume to the Destination field, and drag the DVD to the Source field. Click Restore, confirm the operation. This usually takes around thirty minutes, depending on drive speeds and the cleanliness of you disc.

2) While you are waiting, make sure that you have downloaded all of the necessary files, listed above. Unzip these files (if necessary) and mount any disk images. First, mount the DellMiniBoot ISO by double-clicking it. Once the DVD has finished copying, copy all of the contents (except the DellMini9Utils folder) to the smaller volume of your USB drive. You may now Eject the ISO and the USB drive. (You can do this by right-clicking [control click on one-button mice] on the drives and selecting Eject.)
(It may be worthwhile to copy the new DellEFI to the USB drive before ejecting, but it is up to you.)

On the Windows PC:
3) Plug in the USB drive. Download Syslinux and extract it to your C: drive. Make sure that there is a directory on your C: drive called syslinux-3.63 and another within it called win32. Now open the Start menu. On Windows XP select "Run..." then type in "cmd and press enter, or on Windows Vista and 7 simply type "cmd" in the search box. (For Vista and 7 users, you may need to right-click on the Command Prompt program above and select "Run as Administrator".) We will now need to run some commands in the Command Prompt:
Code:
cd C:\syslinux-3.63\win32
Then:
Code:
syslinux.exe -ma <you USB drive letter>
In my case it looked like this:
Code:
syslinux.exe -ma E:
It should take a few seconds and return to a blank prompt. This is normal, and this step is complete. You may now close the Command Prompt and remove your USB drive.

Now continue on with the install as usual, but keep in mind that both volumes are now on one drive, so adapt the guide accordingly.

C) Backup & Restoration of a Mac OS X Installation
Be sure to read the whole guide, especially Parts A and E, before asking any questions. Thank you.

Things you will need:
1) Functioning Dell Mini with Mac OS already installed.
2a) USB drive (to be safe, as large or larger than your SSD), or -
2b) If you are only backing up, a computer or NAS (Network Attached Storage) device that is accessible in Finder and has as much space available as your Mac partition can be used for this method.

Note: I typically image my drive using the Leopard DVD software by booting into the Boot132 DellEFI ISO. This is safer and more practical in my opinion. To each his own...

1) Open Disk Utility. This will be in the Applications > Utilities. Make sure you have your backup device ready; either the USB drive plugged in or your network resource is on and accessible.

2) Select you Mac OS X partition, then click “New Image”. Name the image appropriately. Save it to your backup device either using the drop-down menu or press the down arrow to browse through the drives and folders. Next you'll want to select either “read/write” or “compressed” as your image format. The difference is that you'll be able to edit your files in the read/write image just by mounting it on any Mac OS computer, but the compressed image will cut down the space needed dramatically. Determine your needs beforehand; if this is simply a backup, either one will do.

3) Now make sure that the image is actually saved! I have had experience in the past where I've wiped my SSD without checking first only to be surprised that I can't find my disk image! Simply disconnect the drive and reconnect. If using the DVD to do this, whatever you do, DO NOT MOUNT THE IMAGE AND THEN TURN OFF THE MACHINE! This is the only reason I can find that my images have disappeared.

*Note: You can also use Time Machine to regularly back up your Mini at different stages. Once you have selected your backup disk and it will do it automatically for you. You will simply need to select Time Machine from the Utilities menu on the Install DVD to restore it back. I do not consider this as safe of a backup, but it is apparently a fairly accurate backup solution. If you backup through Time Machine to a network resource, I highly doubt that you will be able to access it from the Install DVD. Any experience with this matter would be appreciated.

4) Now you can do whatever you want. Need Windows XP for a trip and don't want to mess with dual-booting? Do it, and restore later. Want to see if that pesky error still happens with a fresh installation? Check it out! Doing a little testing for bmaltais's new DellEFI methods?

5) Now to restore. You will need to be booted into the DVD, no matter what. I mean by this that either you will need the actual DVD in an external drive or have it copied to a flash drive like me. Open Disk Utility by booting the DVD (follow directions in Part A if you can't remember how to do this) and then selecting Utilities > Disk Utility. Select the actual SSD drive, not the partition. Click on the “Partition” tab, create a new partition, name it to whatever you had before, and use the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format and click Apply.

6) Click on the restore tab. You will drag your clean partition to the “Destination” box. Click “Image...” to find the disk image you created in the backup. This will need to be on a USB disk, since the WiFi does not work in setup and even on a LAN connection you will not be able to view your network resources. (If anyone knows of a Terminal process to access network resources feel free to comment below.)

7) Click “Restore” and confirm it, then wait until it has completed the process. You will need to use the DellEFI disk to boot into your restore partition since the boot code is not restored, but it is as simple as running the DellEFI app again and selecting “Reinstall PCEFIV9 Bootloader”. You should be good to go from here!

This method also works for upgrading SSDs or for installing to/from flash drives.

Part D: Installing with an External DVD Drive
Be sure to read the whole guide, especially Parts A and E, before asking any questions. Thank you.

I don't know much about this, I have never done it personally. But flimflan was kind enough to write this basic guide for me. jaws70 helped correct a step, and I have edited a little for clarity.

Requirements changes:
No USB flash drives needed. You cannot install from the DVD after booting from the DellMiniBoot flash drive - you must boot from the DellMiniBoot CD. (Um, actually I don't think this is true, I will need to investigate this. I think you can use a DellMiniBoot USB, you just need to type "9f" instead of "80".)
An external DVD drive is needed
No need for a Mac or Windows PC, other than some way to burn the DellMiniBoot ISO to a CD
No need for Syslinux download (its already on the ISO)

Follow the instructions in Part A of the guide with the following changes:
Skip step 1.
Skip step 3 - burn the ISO to a CD (using any computer/OS) instead. This means opening the ISO with a burning program, NOT burning the ISO file onto a CD.
Skip step 4
Step 6: Connect your external DVD drive. Insert the DellMiniBoot ISO in the DVD drive. Follow the rest of step 6 from A, holding 2 to boot into Setup to verify BIOS settings, and then holding 0 to get the boot menu, and choose CD/DVD ROM
Skip step 7
Step 8: Swap out the boot CD for the retail OSX disc. Press ESC, then make sure the external DVD is your selection (external DVD is 9f) then press enter . Now wait! It may seem like nothing is happening. I didnt get any acknowledgement that anything was happening, not even an activity light on the DVD drive, for at least a minute. I thought it had failed, and then suddenly saw the Apple logo.
Step 10: Boot from the DellMiniBoot CD again. Press ESC and enter 80,81,or 82 to boot from your SSD this time to continue the setup.
Step 12: The same, except you wont see the DellEFI thumbdrive, you'll access DellMini9Utils from your DellMiniBoot CD instead.
Step 13: You can now remove your DellMiniBoot CD from the drive, or remove the DVD drive entirely. Boot straight from your SSD.

New! Part D: External DVD Drive Installation
The advantage to this method is that it is OS independent, but it does install slower. I have never actually performed an install with an external DVD drive, but some forum members have been very kind to help me out with this. A huge thanks to flimflan and jaws70 for some help with this!

Changed Requirements:
No more USB storage devices (flash/HDD)
An external DVD drive
CD-R

1) Instead of imaging the DVD files, we're going to just burn the DellMiniBoot ISO directly to a CD. You can do this with Disk Utility, CDBurnerXP, or your favorite burning software. Open the ISO with you burning software, do not burn it as a file, that just won't work.

2) Connect the external DVD drive to the Mini, insert the DellMiniBoot CD and then boot up using the DVD drive. Instead of booting into a USB disk, we will eject the DellMiniBoot CD, put in the Mac OS X Leopard DVD, then boot with drive number 9f. You may need to unplug the USB cord, power down and the power up the DVD drive and reinsert the USB cable to get it to work properly. It may take a while for the drive to recognize the disc, so be patient.

3) Install as normal, and use the CD to boot into the SSD once installation is done. Follow the typical instructions for all other parts. Once the DellEFI app is run you can remove the DVD drive.

Part E: Troubleshooting & Tips
Be sure to read the whole guide, especially Parts A and H, before asking any questions. Thank you.

So you've got yourself a pretty little Mini Mac, but now it's throwing a tantrum. While it will be impossible to list everything here, here are a few tips to get you started.

1) If your Mini won't get past the bootloader or the Apple screen, try typing "-x" at the boot prompt. For those that disabled the quick boot in the DellEFI you'll have a handy three second timer to let you know when to do it. "-f" is helpful too. Finally, "platform=x86pc" or (not both) "platform=acpi" are compatibility modes and might help. Since you're probably already having problems, it won't hurt to test these out.
If you have quick boot enabled, simply boot from either a CD or USB Drive with the DellMiniBoot software on it.
Either way, it will look similar to this (but you can choose which options to use):
Code:
boot: -x -f
*For reference, -x is for Safe Mode and -f is for Force Boot (which doesn't load the extension caches and forces the caches to be rebuilt.) If you would like to check for multiple errors in your boot process, use "-v" for Verbose (Text) Mode.

2) Check you BIOS. Some things, like Bluetooth and WiFi, can be disabled in BIOS, and therefore won't work in Mac. Also make sure that "USB Wake from Sleep" is disabled (always) and you may also need to disable "USB Legacy Support" if problems persist.

3) Try booting from the DVD or USB boot drive. With the latest versions they include the kexts in the bootloader, allowing you to boot with proper driver support. This is especially helpful if your DellEFI install crashed or if you did some funny partitioning post-install.

4) Did your Installer get all the way to the end and then fail? Chances are that it is actually installed. This problem is normally fixed in the DellEFI, but sometimes this little bug slips through. You would normally restart at this point anyway, so just continue on with the guide as if it has "succeeded."

5) You just got done with the setup and you're trying to run DellEFI as your last step. But alas! It gives you a MAC error, and asks you if you're sure that you are on a Dell Mini. Well, of course you are! Just click yes. This is simply a security measure because too many people were running this on their real Macs, making them inoperable. But you'll be just fine.

6) If you need to change some settings with the drivers or boot setup that DellEFI put in place, simply run the DellEFI app again. Check the appropriate boxes and click install. This may or may not require a reboot.

7) Did you remember to update your install to 10.5.6 before running DellEFI? Find the combo updater here. You may need to make some space if you have a smaller SSD.

8) A special note about DellEFI 1.1 beta: The 1.1b versions contains a lot of advance options under the hood, so you may not see any apparent advantages, except for real-time power consumption calculations. They are highly experimental, and not yet stable. If you don't feel like you want to use it, you should still use 1.07.1 until 1.1 goes final. If you do decide to use it, make sure your BIOS is updated to A04 and follow [urlhttp://www.mydellmini.com/forum/dellefi-1-1-beta-2-t4409.html]this post[/url] if you have issues. (A04 is basically necessary for it to function properly.)

9) I have not had any problems with this, but it may be helpful for others: If your hardware is acting funny, try disabling the "USB Legacy Mode" setting in the BIOS. You'll have to reenable it if you ever need to boot from a USB drive again, but apparently this can fix a few problems. Also don't worry if your Mini occasionally freezes at boot on the Apple screen, this appears to be a common, if somewhat annoying, problem, but it usually doesn't happen very frequently.

10) Some people (including myself) have had trouble getting past the first-time setup, particularly the part where it asks if you want to transfer settings from another Mac; it will sometimes go in a loop and keep sending you back to the language select screen. To fix this, boot again from your DellMiniBoot CD or USB drive and, after selecting (but not booting from) the appropriate installation drive (usually 80, 81 or 82) typing in "-x". This will enter safe mode, and it should fix the problem. This is a fairly normal issue, no need to worry about your installation. This also seems to not affect users of the v8.02b1 ISO.

11) Not all flash media/HDD are created equally. You may have a very slow install process, or your drive may not be bootable. Check with any available flash/HDD media you have available, since a lot of problems can be traced back to a corrupt drive. Also, make sure that if your drive came preinstalled with U3 software that it is uninstalled, not merely deleted. This has been a common issue for a lot of people, including myself.

12) Updates from Apple are very easy to install lately. I so far have not had any problems with the OS updates. However, some do have problems such as intermittent WiFi after installing these updates. Your best chance is to check the forums first to see if anyone is having issues after installing the updates. Another key ingredient is to make sure you reinstall DellEFI after these updates to repatch some drivers to work properly. As for major updates, such as the forthcoming 10.5.7, please wait until it is confirmed that it will not break your Mini before installing. And as for Snow Leopard (10.6.0) no one knows. We'll find out when it is released.

Part F: Installing Mac OS X Using Two USB Drives (Mac only)
Be sure to read the whole guide, especially Parts A and E, before asking any questions. Thank you.

So you have a Mac and you love it so much that you want to turn your Dell Mini into a Mac as well. Big problem, though: you ordered a Linux model, and are not too good with it (come on, Mac is so much better, you know it.) The library computers don't allow you to run any commands for syslinux, and your friends are obsessively compulsive when it comes to using fancy command prompts. And your also a purist, and don't feel like degrading your Mac with a Boot Camp or virtualized Windows installation. I think that just about covers everything, but if you have a more depressing situation I'm sure everyone would love to know.

Lucky for you, I've taken my precious time to craft a solution just for you. The gist of it is that you will be making your flash drive exactly like one I made, syslinux and all. It will boot, I've tested it. No WIndows needed anymore. This method will only work with the two USB method, but the good news is that the second USB drive only needs to be 32 MB or more.

We will be replacing steps 2 through 4 of Part A. So let's get on with the show!

2) While you are waiting, download the DellMiniBoot image (make sure to get the right version):
DellMiniBoot for 10.5.6 ONLY.
DellMiniBoot for 10.5.5 and older.

Plug in your flash drive and open Disk Utility. Right-click (or Ctrl-Click for one button mice users) on the flash drive, click Unmount (not Eject!) and then select "Information." Note the Disk Identifier information and then close Disk Utility. *The Disk Identifier is supposed to be for the whole flash drive, not for a specific partition. For example, if yours looks similar to "disk1" then it is okay, if it looks like "disk1s1" you need to drop the "s1" part. Be smart and readjust accordingly to whatever disk number you have. (Thanks to shmoo@shmoo.com for this one.)

3) Unzip the file to your hard drive (not in any folder, straight to the hard drive, this will make it easier.) This may involve opening the zip file and then dragging the image file to the hard drive from wherever you downloaded it.

4) Open the Terminal, either by going to Applications/Utilities, or by searching for it in Spotlight in the menu bar. Now type in the following:
Code:
sudo dd if=/Volumes/<your hard drive's name>/dellefi.img of=/dev/<disk identifier>
Here's what it looks like on my Mac with only one drive plugged into the USB ports:
Code:
sudo dd if=/Volumes/"Macintosh HD"/dellefi.img of=/dev/disk1
It is important to note that if your hard drive has a space in the name, it must be surrounded by quotes, as shown in my example. Let the command run, it may take some time depending on your flash drive's speed. You will know that it is done when it gives you back control of the prompt and it gives you a reading of bytes written and whatnot.

Part G: Installing Mac OS X Using Two USB Drives (Windows only)
Be sure to read the whole guide, especially Parts A and E, before asking any questions. Thank you.

A lot of people have been waiting for this. You can now install using only Windows software! You will need this if you don't have a Mac or don't have an external DVD drive.

You will not need a Mac, but you will need a new piece of software:
TransMac
This is commercial (paid) software, but you can do a 15 day trial, which is all you need. But if you like it and want to use it more, please purchase the software. This site, nor I, am affiliated with the developer, but it is the right thing to do.

Follow Part A, with the following exceptions (replace the respective numbers):

1) Install TransMac and then run the program. Insert the DVD into you drive and the larger USB drive into an available port. Right-click on your DVD, select "Save Image of Disk" and save it to a folder on your hard drive. Wait for this to finish. Next, right-click on your flash drive, highlight "Format Disk" and select "Format with Disk Image". Select the DVD image you just created, "Open", and then click "Yes". Wait for this to finish, this will probably take at least half an hour.

2) If you haven't already, download the appropriate DellMiniBoot ISO.

3) Unzip and open the ISO. If you do not have software to open ISO files natively, try using Virtual CloneDrive. Now, copy all of the files from the ISO to your smaller USB drive. You can now eject the ISO.

4) If you haven't already, download Syslinux. Unzip it to your C: drive. Plug in the USB drive, and type “cmd” either in the search box in the Start menu on Vista and Windows 7 or the “Run...” command on XP. Navigate to the new directory you just extracted, usually:
Code:
cd C:\syslinux-3.63\win32
Then type:
Code:
syslinux.exe -ma <your USB drive letter>
On mine it looks like:
Code:
syslinux.exe -ma E:
It should take a few seconds and then return to a blank prompt. This is normal, you are done with this step.

*Note: You may be able to perform both operations on the flash drives at the same time, but it is not recommended as it has not been tested. It will only take you a few more minutes to wait it out anyway.

5) Now remove the flash drives and continue on with Part A accordingly.

Part H: Help for 8 GB SSD Problems
Be sure to read the whole guide, especially Parts A and E, before asking any questions. Thank you.

One of the issues of using an 8 GB SSD is that OS X barely fits onto it. Usually it is within 200 MB of the limit. Also, there has to be a lot of cleanup done after install to make it possible to update to 10.5.6 for those that used an older disc.

A far more disturbing problem as of late is that it appears the 10.5.6 discs are exceeding the limit of the drive, sometimes by as little as 36 MB. There's no way to "clean up" the installation while it is happening, so the installer simply won't run.

The only solution up to now for this was to install to an external drive, clean up the install and the image it over to the SSD. I will provide a way for those without the extra drive to install directly to the SSD and save some space.

This section is not for the faint of heart. (Although, if you're here you probably already tried the other technical sections of this guide, so what are you afraid of? ) There is going to be some Terminal work, plist editing, and in some cases some disc burning. There are so many ways to do this so if you think you have a good grasp on the principle and can do something better then go right ahead and try.

Now, the principle: In the Mac OS X installation there is a customization box where you can remove certain components, such as printer drivers. In fact, we've had to eliminate all of the selectable components just to get it down to near 6 GB. But there is one field that we can't eliminate any components or, for that matter, even see what those components are. Thanks to a little google searching I found a how to modify the listing so that it will allow us to remove parts of the Essential Software group.

First off, a listing of what components are in this group and their deletability (I made that word up):
AdditionalEssentials - Not sure what this is, DO NOT REMOVE.
AdditionalSpeechVoices - Voices you will never use, REMOVE THIS.
AsianLanguagesSupport - You'll probably never use it, but DO NOT REMOVE. It will mess your system up if you do!
MediaFiles - Again, I'm not sure so DO NOT REMOVE.
MigrationAssistant - Don't need to transfer settings from another Mac? The you can REMOVE THIS.
Mail - E-mail client. It's huge, and Thunderbird is better. Or else even webmail. Therefore it is safe to REMOVE THIS.
AddressBook - Stores your addresses. Do you use this? If not, REMOVE THIS.
iCal - Calender app. Again, do you use this? If not, REMOVE THIS.
Automator - If you don't know how to use this (or know even what it is) then it is safe to REMOVE THIS.
DVDPlayer - Plays DVDs. There are better options like VLC or Mplayer, so REMOVE THIS. (On a side note, this doesn't usually install on Minis anyway.)
iTunes - Music and video store. If you don't like it then REMOVE THIS. (If you want it back you can always download a more up to date version and install that instead.)
iChat - Online instant messaging client. If you don't IM or have something better you can REMOVE THIS.
Java - You'll probably want this for apps and web browsing, so DO NOT REMOVE.
Safari - Web browser. You can download a newer version after install or use Firefox. REMOVE THIS.
OxfordDictionaries - Word definitions. There's always dictionary.com, right? REMOVE THIS.

Note: Apparently this list can differ from disc to disc. You list may not turn out exactly like this. I will work on getting a size listing so you can determine the app by its disk space requirement.

Now, I'm not saying you have to remove everything on this list marked REMOVE THIS, it's just that those are safe to not install.

Okay, so what to modify?

Method 1: The USB Drive Method
Note: Replace all Terminal commands with < > with the info detailed inside.
1) Insert the USB drive that contains the install DVD files on it into your Mac. Open Terminal, and type in:
Code:
open /volumes/<name of your USB drive>/system/installation/packages
2) Find OSInstall.mpkg (make sure it is mpkg, not just pkg!) Drag (copy) this to a new folder on your internal drive, we'll call this folder "osinstall".

3) Now in Terminal type:
Code:
cd /volumes/<your internal hard drive name>/osinstall
then
Code:
xar -x -f ./OSInstall.mpkg
A new file called Distribution should appear in the directory. Right-click on it, and select "Open with..." and then TextEdit.

4) You'll see a whole lot of code. Scroll down until you see this:
Code:
<choice 
	id="EssentialSystemSoftwareGroup"
	start_visible="true"
	start_selected="upgrade_allowed()"

>
	<pkg-ref id="com.apple.pkg.BaseSystem"/>
	<pkg-ref id="com.apple.pkg.Essentials"/>
	<pkg-ref id="com.apple.pkg.BootCamp" active="isIntel()"/>

	<pkg-ref id="com.apple.pkg.BSD"/>
	<pkg-ref id="com.apple.pkg.iPodSupport"/>
        <pkg-ref id="com.apple.pkg.PodcastCapture"/>
        <pkg-ref id="com.apple.pkg.Directory"/>

	<pkg-ref id="com.apple.pkg.JavaTools"/>
</choice>

<choice 
	id="AddressBook"
	start_visible="true"
	start_selected="upgrade_allowed()"

>
	<pkg-ref id="com.apple.pkg.AddressBook"/>
</choice>
5) Replace all of the "false" values in the entries from AddressBook to MigrationAssistant to "true". Save and exit. Now back in Terminal type:
Code:
xar -c -f OSInstall.mpkg *
6) You may want to make a spare copy of the OSInstall.mpkg file on your flash drive in case this goes wrong. You need to replace the one on the flash drive with this modified version. Simply drag it on over.

7) Now you should be able to boot from the drive as normal as described earlier in this guide. Now when you get to the Custom Installation screen, you can open the Additional Essential Software list. But alas! There are no names associated with the options, only file sizes. But you are in luck, they are still in the same order as the list at the beginning, just select the appropriate programs to remove until you can install. Continue as normal.

*Note: You can also do this with a read/write disk image before you image it to the USB drive. This is especially helpful if you will compress an image as described in Part I.

Actually, kbradford posted a fantastic method to modify the installer code during installation:
Quote:
Originally Posted by kbradford
What you do is during the OSX install, go up to Utilities and select Terminal. This gives you access to xar, and all other kinds of goodies.

I was able to copy the mpkg, extract it, make the changes you documented, xar it back up, and copy it back onto my install USB drive. The only trick was rewriting to the USB drive with OSX on it, because by default it's read-only, so you need to do a mount -u -w /dev/<the-device-name> and it will put it into write mode. Reboot after you copy the new file, and you'll now have the option to deselect required system files.
Also, caz5512 recommends being very conservative with what exactly you remove. It can be dangerous to remove too many components and may result in an unusable install. For instance, if you can, only remove the voices. Unless you know what you are doing, do not be aggressive with the applications you remove from the install process.

Method 2: Making a new DVD
Okay, you'll need a DL DVD+ or -R for this, and at least 8 GB space on your drive. You'll need to image the DVD to you hard drive as a read/write image. Follow the instructions for Method 1, only you will replace the USB drive with the mounted disk image. Once it is done simply burn the image in Disk Utility and boot as normal, following the deselection guide at the beginning of Method 1. This method must have the modifications done before installation, since their is no way to write to a DVD during install.

Part I: 8 GB USB Compressed Image
Be sure to read the whole guide, especially Parts A and E, before asking any questions. Thank you.

Some people have had issues, particularly with Windows, getting their DVD imaged to an 8 GB flash drive. The problem seems to stem from manufacturers using different memory technology that is supposed to equal 8 GB but the formatted size is otherwise. For example, I have two SanDisk Cruzer Micros that are 8 GB each, yet somehow one shows up as 7.5 GB and the other is 7.6 GB. I don't know why, they were both formatted the same and such. Anyway, sometimes the DVD image doesn't fit on the drive.

There used to be a guide by bmaltais that detailed a single USB install method, which is what I based mine off of, that used a compression technique to get it all to work. Problem is, that guide is no longer on the forum, just cached on Google. So here's my recreated guide, with new links and some tips.

Simply substitute for imaging the DVD to the USB drive. You'll also need some more software:OSXDVD (I think bmaltais wrote this.)

Compatible with Parts A, B, F, and G.

1) Insert your Mac OS X installation DVD into your Mac, and then open Disk Utility. Select the DVD, and click "New Image". Make sure the image format is set to compressed, and save it somewhere on your hard drive as "live.dmg".

2) Now, on whatever method you choose you'll need the drive or partition that would normally hold the DVD. It still needs to be formatted with Mac OS Extended, but you'll now copy the image file to the drive. Also, copy the contents of OSXDVD to the drive.

You should be good to go from there.
Okay, so scratch the whole "can't do this on Windows" thing. You need to use TransMac to make an image of the DVD, then open that image in TransMac and compress it. Copy it and the contents of the OSXDVD folder to a Mac OS Extended formatted USB drive using TransMac. I'll make this more clear later. Thanks go to masterfred for confirming that Windows works.

New! Section 3: Additional Links

Downloads:
DellMiniBoot ISO for booting and installation:DellEFO Application for bootloader and extensions installation:Syslinux - Needed for methods involving Windows
DellMiniBoot Mac-only Images:AboutThisMac - Fixes the identifier in System Profiler
Mac OS X 10.5.6 Combo Update - NECESSARY for 10.5.5 and below DVDs
MacDrive 7.2.6 - 5-day trial of Mac compatible files system drivers for Windows
TransMac 8.3 - Another Mac file system for Windows, not as intuitive
OSXDVD - Needed for a compressed image boot

Old Guides I Used (for reference):
The Original Type11 Guide
The Original Two USB Guide
The Original Single USB Guide

Other Helpful Links and Threads:
Triple-Boot Thread
Insanely Mac - Good for tips on modifying OS X
The Official DellEFI 1.1 Final Thread - Since I didn't write DellEFI, this is where you can suggest improvements and ask other questions specifically about the software.
DellEFI 1.2 Experimental Thread

New! Section 4: Change Log
4 April 2009 - Version 2.91. More typo fixes, added partitioning information to Part A.
2 April 2009 - Fixed a few typos, added links for DellEFI 1.2 and DellEFIUSBLoader.
31 March 2009 - Version 2.90, added new sections based off of scrapped guide, waiting for DellEFI 1.2 to go beta or stable. New Parts are A, B, and D, listed after the older versions. All new parts are labeled "New!" Also deleted some irrelevant information due to old edits and outdated material since I reached the post size limit.

mechdrew Old Full Version 2.91a