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Editor’s note: This is the latest installment in Gadget Lab’s continuing netbook hacking contest,
which pits Mac-loving, cafe-dwelling, penny-pinching nerds Charlie
Sorrel and Brian Chen against each other to see who can come up with
the geekiest netbook mods.
Charlie Sorrel should add his Hackintosh netbook (*cough* Crapintosh) to his list of useless gadgets to toss in the trash!
I’m slightly behind in our netbook modding contest in terms of software
hacking, but I managed to get my MSI Wind running the latest
version of Mac OS X (10.5.5) — something Sorrel didn’t even know was
possible!
Many thought when they hacked their netbooks to run OS
X that they’d be stuck on an older version of the operating system
(10.5.4) for eternity, but a quick workaround on the MSI Wind forums helped me evade obsolescence. Here are the steps I followed:
Step 1
I downloaded and unzipped the Wind Kext files (necessary to fix OS X after inevitably ruining it with a software update).
Step 2
Then, I ran OS X’s Software Update utility to download all the latest Apple software.
Step 3
After finishing the download, I rebooted my netbook.
Step 4
OS X was pretty messed up after starting back up — looked squashed,
Airport stopped functioning, etc. Scary, yes, but no worries: I opened
the Windkexts folder and ran the Kext Helper application.
Step 5
I dragged the three kext files (AppleIntelGMA950, LaptopDisplay and AppleIntegratedFramebuffer) into Kext Helper. Then I punched in my administrative password and clicked Easy Install.
Step 6
The app installed the kexts and a window told me to reboot. But do NOT reboot yet! Go to your Utilities folder and run the Disk Utility app. Then click Repair Disk Permissions. Once that’s done, reboot.
OS X will load again and work fine — just as it did before. Hurrah.
Buh buh bam! What now, Sorrel? Minor "mod" to my netbook, I know: But
I’m saving up big plans for when I have more free time over the weekend. (Hint: A soldering iron is involved.
Gasp.) Meanwhile, dear Gadget Lab readers, feel
free to vote for me and my almighty, exponentially superior MSI Wind in Gadget Lab’s netbook hacking contest.
See also:
- Gadget Lab Hackintosh: Now With Added Sound Output
- Battle of the Winds: Gadget Lab’s Netbook Hacking Contest, Round One
- Gadget Lab Catches a Second MSI Wind
- Cheap, Easy-to-Mod NetBooks Are a Hacker’s Paradise
- Run Mac OS X on an Eee PC
- OS X Running on Lenovo Netbook
- Tiny Notes Net Big Gains: The Netbook Revolution
- It Lives! Gadget Lab’s Netbook Running OS X Leopard
Screenshots: Wired.com
