'Nother Netbook Note - Neofelis Nano

(A note about the title - I like to alliterate. Since Apple, Mac, OS X, MacBook, iWhatever, Leopard, and even Lisa do not start with the letter "n" - I used the only big-cat-related "n" word I could find. Neofelis is the genus that contains two species, the Clouded Leopard and the Bornean Clouded Leopard. So, basically I'm talking about putting Mac OS X on my MSI Wind netbook.)

Here it is, folks, my Mac-powered MSI Wind. *Updated - See note at bottom

Ain't she a beaut? Okay, so it looks just like every other MSI Wind U100 black out there (well, the ones with a Canadian International keyboard). But it's running OS X!

Î ® 733† h@XÓR! w0ot¡ Witness my madd  hakksing skillz and ph33r!

Yeah, okay, so anyone who can download ISOs, burn DVDs, read internet forums, and follow instructions can do it. I am not elite. (Yeah, that's really how you spell elite.)

Basic run down of what I've done. More details later... maybe... if I find more time.

• Bought an MSI Wind U100-422CA ($349.99 shipped from zipzoomfly.com)
  
• Bought 1 GB RAM DDR2 ($10.99 shipped from newegg.com)
• Bought a DVD±RW USB drive from ebay (Around $50 shipped from ebay.com)
• Installed the RAM
• Downloaded and burned a file called msiwindosx86.iso from the webbernetz
• Reinstalled MS Windows XP Home (using the Genuine restore disc that came with my MSI Wind)
  • (You don't have to do this - I just screwed up and had to start over - but the good news it, it gets rid of some of the pointless "trialware" that ships on the Wind)
• Used the Ultimate Boot CD and gparted to repartition my hard drive.
• (I couldn't get it to resize my Windows drive, so it was another good thing that I reinstalled Windows, because I put it on a 30GB partition to start with. I think it shipped with Windows on a 40GB partition.)
• I made 4 partitions - 30GB for XP, 5GB (in fat32) for a (not-yet-done) Linux install, 20 GB (in fat32) for media sharing between the OSes, and 99GB (which I reformatted later into "Mac OS Extended" with the OS X install disc) for Mac OS X.
  
• Installed the slipstreamed Mac OS X
• Found (using another computer) the drivers for my WiFi card.
• Used a Time Machine Backup from my MacBook to install all my apps and setting.

Just a note. I bought the U100-422CA because it had the bigger hard drive, bigger battery, BlueTooth, and WiFi N. That last bit is a problem. The much-touted "official OS X Wireless drivers" for the MSI Wind are not official, (not from Apple or MSI anyway), and they don't work for all models of the Wind.

Basically, if the Wind only has 802.11b/g you're fine with those drivers. But if you go all out and get the 802.11n like I did, then you have to do some more digging. Unless, of course, you are reading this. Then I can tell you the drivers are here... but they suck. (Use the 3rd one down, the "PCI/mPCI/CB (RT2860/RT2790)" ones. Not sure how long the direct link will work.)

It doesn't work like an Airport card, at all. It's not built into the System Proferences in anything close to a "Mac-like" way. You have to run a seperate app to connect to any WiFi point, at least anyone that requires a password. Don't misunderstand, you don't have to leave it running, but you do have to run it to establish a connection. And it's horrible to use. It makes very little sense, and I have no idea how to save the settings. There's not even a way to click "okay" "done" "apply" or "quit". You have to go up into the menu and quit from there. And you don't know if your settings are saved or not. It's horrid... but it works. And the settings apparently don't last if you reboot your MacSI Wind or your iWind or your MacWind or your WindMac or your iNetbook or your MacBook Nano or whatever you want to call it.

What's left? Well, it's running software update right now. Not sure how smart that was, I'll let you know. I still need to install Linux, although for the life of me, I can't think of why, other than then I can say "I've got a triple boot netbook!!!" I might try Windows 7 Beta, but I'm iffy on that, too. Since I have 4 partitions, I could possibly do both, so who knows.

Oh, since it's not a Mac, the Boot Camp feature doesn't work. I think it's a part of the hacked ISO, but what happens is, when you turn on the Netbook, if you do nothing, it will go into Mac OS X. but there's some text that comes up before the familiar gray apple screen and it asks if you want to choose which partition to boot from. If you hit any key, a list of the partitions shows up, and you can select which one to boot from. It's kind of funny because it calls the other partitions "Foreign OSes" or something like that. Anyway, just thought you might want to know how to switch. And VMWare recognizes the Windows install as a "Boot Camp partition" but it I got error messages and it wouldn't start. Apparently it couldn't mount the drive while booting.

*Update about Software Update!

Okay, I figured as much - don't run Software Update without being ready for it. It screws everything up. It can be fixed, and you can be up-to-date (10.5.6), but it takes preparation and work and a USB keyboard and mouse, (which are buried in my basement somewhere at the moment...) See this blog post for more info.

My phone call from OWC

If you don't know who OWC is, then you probably aren't a Mac user, or at least you are a new Mac user. OWC stands for Other World Computing, and they are one of the best known, best loved, and longest standing third-party supporters of Apple hardware.

A couple of days ago, I was browsing their site, and I had a few questions. So I filled out a form, banged out a few lines of questions - bullet point style - and pressed send. I expected an automated response, and, maybe, at best an email with quickly copypasta'd answers.

Instead, this afternoon my phone rings. The caller ID says "Other World Computing".

"What's this?" I think to myself. "Is someone using Spoofcard on me? Did I accidentally order something at 3 am I don't remember buying?"

Well, it turns out it was, in fact, Other World Computing calling me up to answer the questions I sent in, and any others I might have had. In a world of email, instant messaging, TXTing, live support chat, and microblogging - an actual phone call seems almost as antique and nostalgic as a house call. (For those of you who don't remember when the years started with a 1, that is when a doctor would actually come to your home to help a sick person - it is not in reference to a telephone that is plugged into your wall. Those still exist, too, btw.)

I told the caller, (whose name I really wish I had written down), that OWC definitely has some "above and beyond" / "second mile" kind of customer service, if they are willing to imperil themselves by dialing up some nut bag who asked a slew of questions about their product.

Well, I didn't say all that. I just said that I was impressed by their customer service, or something like that. In the age when user reviews are king, but mostly negative, I wanted to give OWC a hearty pat on the back for making the extra effort of calling a form filler.

BTW, my questions and their answers were as follows:

Q1. Are you offering upgrades to the CPUs on Intel Macs?
A1. Stay Tuned, especially closer to MacWorld

Q2. Do you offer GPS add ons to MacBooks - ala the ModBook [which they are the American distributors for, but not the makers of)?
A2. No, installing such a device should be done by a professional, and, regardless would void your warranty. With the Modbook, the Apple warranty is already voided, but Axiotron [makers of the ModBook] provides an included 1 year warranty and offers an additional 2 years of protection.

Q3. What about colors for the ModBook?
A3. We don't make them, just sell them. [Although I contacted Axiotron, also by webform, and received an answer back that they are in talks with ColorwarePC to provide custom colors - and I was again hinted at to keep my eyes open as we get closer to MacWorld.)

Q4. Monitor upgrades for Notebooks?
A4. No, sorry.

Q5. Can I have a free unlocked iPhone?
A5. Sure! What's your mailing address!

OK, that last part didn't happen. But it would have been nice, huh?

I highly recommend OWC. If you want to upgrade anything on your Mac - more memory, bigger hard drive, anything at all - check them out first! There quality is top notch, their tech support is impressive, they have a ton of information on their site - like high-def Quicktime videos step-by-step of how to install RAM in your MacBook, and benchmarks for various Mac with incremental steps of RAM. (Can you tell what I was shopping for?)

And if you haven't heard of or checked out the ModBook - you owe it to yourself to at least look!

Two Words - Mac Tablet!

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