Making a bootable CD or DVD for Dell mini

[DaviDC.]

I don't know what the problem is, but I'm having a hell of a time creating a bootable CD for the Dell mini. With the seemingly dozens of disks I've burned, the only one that is actually bootable is MSIWindozx86, which is what I used to install Leopard (10.5.4).

I've downloaded the most recent DellMiniBoot123v7.1.iso but can't burn a bootable copy. I've burned just the ISO as well as extracted the files & burned them. I've done this with Toast on the Mac & Nero & CDBurnerXP on XP.

I've read so many tutorials on this subject & tried various Windows bootable CD tools but nothing works. I'm not even sure now how I got the MSIWindozx86 to work. I've tried both flavors of CD (+R & -R) as well as both types of DVD.

Something this simple shouldn't be whipping my butt like this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[incognegro]

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?

http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

http://pcwizcomputer.com/ipcosx86/?page_id=96

[Panopticon]

I've done this with Toast on the Mac
Don't use Toast. Use Disk Utility or Burn http://burn-osx.sourceforge.net/

Under Burn, I just choose 'Copy', drag the ISO file to the drop area & click on burn



Ready to burn:



hope that helps

[ztirffritz]

With Ubuntu you just right click on the ISO file and select burn to CD/DVD from the contextual menu.

[TheCaber]

Thanks for this; I got a Mini 9 for my wife and promised to put OS X on it (or Ubuntu) as a replacement for XP. Now I have to locate an external combo drive...

The MyDellMini link has been updated again: http://mydellmini.com/forum/howto-instal...t1106.html
apparently:
v7.1 is for 10.5.6
v6.1 is for 10.5.5

[Panopticon]

Now I have to locate an external combo drive...

How about a Samsung USB2 DVD Lightscribe burner for $30 + Shipping
http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1,632692

Samsung SE-S204N 20X DVD Writer...
appears to still be In-Stock @ $29.99: https://www.nowdirect.com/exec/partInfo/...04N%2FAMBN&categoryid=

{I'm waiting on UPS to deliver mine any day now!}

edit: The GeIL 2GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM 800 (PC2 6400) from Newegg is confirmed working in my Mini 9.

[DaviDC.]

The next one I tried using Toast 7 worked!

I started the install process again using the Type11 method with DellMiniBoot123v7.1. Swapping the burned disk for the Leopard DVD was scary & I got a lot of error warnings on the screen but it continued on after unplugging the drive & reconnecting.

I reformatted the drive as a GUID partition, which I hadn't done with the MSIWindozx86 install. It seemed to stall with 36 minutes remaining but I left it alone. An hour later I was convinced it was frozen so I shut it down & restarted the install process.

Since I was on a roll with the disk burning, I went ahead made a DellMiniBoot123v6 & a CD of the 10.5.5 Combo updater. v7.1 is to be used with 10.5.6, which I also have & burned to CD.

I'll post a progress report later.

[DaviDC.]

I gave up after 3 attempts. It always froze at some point (36 minutes remaining, 48 minutes, & 51 minutes). I pushed the power button on the last one & it resumed. At the end it said Installation Failed (just like the instructions said it would) so I proceeded but never got past the 123 CD.

I got out the MSIWindozx86 disk & reinstalled from that. Oh well.

[Bill in NC]

Can't boot from a thumb drive? (seems popular for the MSI Wind installs)

[DaviDC.]

After everything was up & running & the necessary patches applied, I was delighted to find that the USB ports worked properly for the 1st time. Before, the USB device had to be plugged in when the computer started in order to be recognized.

I repaired permissions & restarted & now no USB. Bummer. This has got to be fixable!