just a quick teaser

[username]

and it's people like you who like to waste their time on responses like these that reminds me why i choose not to spend hours on a fully-blown out detailed installation and patch guide. thanks, but try again.

I'm sorry. I should be more trusting

----------------------
Sent from my Toaster

[DekuSquirrel]

Well, I installed Leopard on my Philishave HQ-5426. Since it doesn't contain a video card, harddisk, Intel instruction set, or RAM it was a bit of a challenge. You're probably all curious about how I managed to install a consumer OS on a pocket shaver, but - sorry - this is just a teaser. I don't have the energy right now to explain how I did it.

Where do you put the CD?

[John Square]

[DISCLAIMER] If you decide to try doing an OSX install on the HP2133 there are a few legal issues you may want to make yourself aware of, and I would suggest you try to play nicely by the rules of your country. I am in no way encouraging people to try this out, or to break a law or EULA. Apple have very good lawyers.[/DISCLAIMER]

This isn't a walkthrough, guide or FAQ for attempting to install OSX on the Mini- this is just a set of my thoughts following a bit of a coffee-break net session. Someone who has done a OSX install on non-Apple hardware before may find this useful, if a bit stating-the-obvious in places. If you have never done an OSX install on non Apple hardware, you may want to have a browse around the web (why not start with wikipedia's article on OSX86?), to familiarise yourself with some of the technical issues involved generally, before reading on and thinking about the specific challenges for the HP2133.

First off: There's a guide to installing Leopard on the OQO2 (Google is your friend) that takes you through what you need to get Leopard working in a basic state on this hardware. As the OQO 2 uses the same processor as the 2133 you should be ok to get OSX working by following the instructions there (a hint from myself- if you can bear to start off with a blank HDD, and are comfortable repairing a boot record that *may* occur on some installs, that'd be the easiest way forward).

From reading the comments in this thread, I think that some folks are just bunging a retail OSX disk in a USB drive and hoping for the best. This will not work and you will have to download a version of os x that plays nicely on generic hardware (someone's already mentioned an appropriate site for this kind of info, but again GIYF).

The bits that traditionally cause problems for installing OSX on non-apple hardware are as follows for the HP2133

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. Chrome9 HC IGP (rev 01)
02:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11a/b/g (rev 02)
07:03.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5788 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 03)
80:01.0 Audio device: VIA Technologies, Inc. VIA High Definition Audio Controller (rev 10)

The big issue here is the Chrome9 graphics chip. There is no apple-friendly driver so you'll end up running a plain VESA mode- no hardware accelleration, and thus missing a lot of the eye-candy- which is of course what OS X does well.

I understand that this is not a problem on one of the plasticky netbooks (the Wind appears to do OSX well). Having said that- the big problem for OSX on generic hardware is that the VESA driver won't push a resolution higher than 1024X768, but as we know, that's not so much of an issue on the 2133. It's up to you in other words- I think that the original poster was having issues with this too. If he's cracked the graphics problem, then all of a sudden the HP is looking like a very nice platform for Leopard.

You'll have to alter the kext (Apple-ese for driver) for the wired lan, but there are guides to doing this (GIYF: you may want to use the exact name for the LAN chipset when you search)

The wireless appears to be supported by several linux builds, and I found at least one reference to the chip being shipped in apple's own hardware, so it should either work straight away, or google will give a guide. As a general rule for OSX on generic hardware: if someone has got a component working in linux, someone else will have it working on OSX

The last bit is the VIA sound chip: Google tells me that there is at least one person who got sound out of this chip set before by using the Azalea kext, so maybe this isn't an issue.

Before I go any further, I should point out that I've not tried to stick OSX on my HP 2133: this is just the result of a bit of digging using Google, and the Ubuntu reference page for the 2133 for some detailled hardware descriptions, and many installs of modified OSX distributions on many different hardware platforms. From my experience building other laptops, I think Leopard would run a tad sluggishly on the HP, and you'd be likely to find that the PCI Express slot wouldn't work (which would kill my 3g card, a Dell-branded Novatel XU870).

I also am the prowd owner of a 24"imac and a macbook, and must point out that OSX really only runs well on Apple's own hardware, unless you buy and build with proven to work apple components.In sticking OSX on a non-Apple laptop, you often lose the neat connection between the OS and the underlying hardware that makes Apple's kit (IMO) a pleasure to use.

If anyone takes these pointers up and installs a copy, I'd be interested in your experiences.

Good luck!

[daniel.azy]

great post!

like the oqo install, the video driver is really limiting the 2133's performance with leopard.

if you don't mind the kext editing to make the broken bits work, a less than optimal resolution (less than 1280 x 720) then i think leopard would be of interest!

[username]

John, thanks for your very level-headed and informative post.

i'm aware of the OQO install, and have tried following his instructions: they didn't work for my 2133, with several kernels, booting with several flags (yes, resolution included)

In fact, with the exception of boostedboogie here i haven't heard of anyone getting it to work. There's no sign of a successful install from anyone on InsanelyMac, for example, where one might except such news.

I have also seen boostedboogie's blog, and there is no sign of any struggle during the installation, which is a bit super-human. He does seem to have needlessly removed the internal harddisk for some reason - I'm not sure how that gets around the video issue.

Hopefully someone will figure out a way to install to this machine, but my hunch it'll require a good deal of time and effort.

[antdavison]

maybe he removed the HD, mounted in his eeePC, did the osx86 installation there, and retuned the HD to his HP

[antdavison]

maybe he removed the HD, mounted in his eeePC, did the osx86 installation there, and retuned the HD to his HP

[username]

maybe he removed the HD, mounted in his eeePC, did the osx86 installation there, and retuned the HD to his HP

Yes. On the other hand it would accomplish exactly the same thing to image an OSx86 machine's drive and boot sector - and then dupe it onto the 2133. No disassembly required.

I'd be mighty surprised if the 2133 booted even to a blue screen in either scenario though.

[username]

maybe he removed the HD, mounted in his eeePC, did the osx86 installation there, and retuned the HD to his HP

Yes. On the other hand it would accomplish exactly the same thing to image an OSx86 machine's drive and boot sector - and then dupe it onto the 2133. No disassembly required.

I'd be mighty surprised if the 2133 booted even to a blue screen in either scenario though.

[daniel.azy]

i believe that the 2133 would be able to be usable with leopard, judging from the viability of the oqo which has the same processor.

i'm set to make this my pet project after my finals are done in a couple of weeks! will keep u guys updated and revert on jon's reference to get leopard up and running.