Tag Archives: 10.5.7

[MacOS] Is EFI-X illegally using 3rd Party Program Code?

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About a year ago a company called ASEM released a device called EFI-X. This device has been claimed to be capable of booting several Microsoft Windows versions and Mac OS X Leopard.

Legal concerns

From the beginning there were question regarding the legal status of the device. But ASEM claimed the device is legal, although it circumvents Apple’s binary protection using Apple’s copyrighted secret operating system keys (OSK1 and OSK2).

Technical issues

Anyway EFI-X devices had some issues. Many forums reported about problems with Bonjour and sharing in general. In the meantime articles from the official EFI-X support forums have been suddenly disappeared. Customers reporting issues or solutions and workaround to severe bugs have been banned from EFI-X support forums – our own help article to recover almost lost data was removed aswell and one of our members has been officially banned from their forums (the reason was this article in october 2008).

Examining EFI-X in deep

Now some frustrated customers who are on the other hand technologically very familiar have examined the EFI-X device in deep. One of the main points AsereBln found: in contrast to what EFI-X is stating: “Our approach is entirely different, (..) all our code and development is our own only” – they seem to be using program code that has been developed by the OSX86 community though. They seem to be using “Disabler.kext“. Moreover another user (RezRov) found out the EFI-X Windows update software seems to be violating the LGPL as it incorporates a modified USB device library (libusb-win32).

Use of possibly unlicensed 3rd party program code, possibly illegal use of Apple security keys, and customer support below grade for a 170€ (250US$) commercial product that seems to be the summary about a year after product launch.

Lessons learnt

We suppose end users should be aware of this possible hassle. Only an original Apple Mac is really hassle free and 100% compatible to a Mac. But if you are technologically interested and have the time and motivation search the OSX86 communities for setups. The OSX86 forums are full of knowledge and willing to help. But remember a PC won’t ever be 100% compatible to a real Mac.

[MacOS] System Freeze with 10.5.7 and VMware Fusion

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Abstract

You are running the latest version of “VMware Fusion” (get trial version here) on an original Apple Mac or on a HackMac. During installation of Windows XP or Vista (32 bit) the system crashs with a kernel panic or a complete freeze.

Workaround

Apple’s Mac OS X 10.5.7 update causes some irritation to the 3D acceleration engine VMware Fusion uses. Before installing Windows disable Accelerate 3D Graphics:

vmware3doff.png

Applies to

macosxhints.com report this bug applies to AMD ATI based graphic adapters only.

However in our lab a HackMac with a Gigabyte nVidia GeForce 7600 GT (using Netkas‘ Natit.kext) also crashed again and again during an installation of a german Windows XP Professional with a complete freeze.

Console.app reports:

  • kernel[0]: vmnet: VNetUserIfFree: freeing userIf at 0x7507300.

The memory position may differ to yours.

[MacOS] Yet another Still Waiting for Root Device

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Long time no see to this old friend called “Still waiting for root device”. But with 10.5.7 the time had come again. As some of the tipps we compiled below helped us there is no warranty that it will help you. As the reasons for this funky brother are too indifferent.

Used Hardware

  • Gigabyte GA EP35 DS3
  • Gigabyte nVidia GeForce 7600 GT 256MB (Device ID 0x0391)
  • HP w2207 TFT (w/ integrated USB hub)
  • Buffalo AirStation WLI2-PCI-G54S (recognized as Third Party Wireless Card)

What you may try

  • Unplug external USB drives and devices
  • Unplug other internal drives
  • Instead of Rebooting: Shutdown and wait a couple of secs before manually turning your HackMac on again
  • Enable AHCI in BIOS for your drives (in case you see drive icons in orange, apply kexts included with the binaries’ release of Chameleon 2)
  • Try to boot into Safe Mode with -x (see more Darwin flags here) and
    Repair Permissions from within the Disk Utility.app
  • Remove the Extensions.mkext and rebuild it (cf. OSX86Project)
    myMek: rm /System/Library/Extensions.mkext
    myMek: kextcache -k /System/Library/Extensions/
    myMek: kextcache -L -N -e

About our test environment

This is based on the approach to install from the original unmodified retail DVD. Buy it, please. And also go and buy a MacBook (Pro) aswell, you will need it anyway as your HackMac will need special treatments once in a while. A HackMac can never be intended for productive environment. Don’t forget this. No matter what a clone manufacturer or a USB dongle merchant says.

Anyway as we are quite conservative with running systems we don’t feel we need to change to often ways. That’s why we’re still using our own EPOS I. (download here) approach, which is based on Munky’s (more info here) findings.

Good Luck! And don’t forget to buy a Mac :-)