Aspire One - OSX Flavour

I’m always the same.  I get a device or gadget, and, when I’m getting used to it in the first few weeks, I always go into ‘What can I do with this?’ mode.  I’ll see what it can do, even if its things that I’d never use again.  I was happily playing around with Ubuntu on the Acer Aspire one, and actually getting very used to it and being very happy with it.  However, after using my desktop iMac for so long, I pined for something a little more mac-like.  I went hunting, initially for themes for Gnome.  However, I soon started to come across loads of stuff on the web about how people have installed Mac OS X onto theirs.

I’d read quite a bit in the past about so-called ‘Hackintoshes’.  Ever since Apple made the move to Intel x86 Hardware, those in the know (1337 Haxxorrs and the like) had been fiddling with OSX’s innards to get it to run on vanilla PC hardware.  Previously, I hadn’t really followed this up, as early reports were of nightmarish installs, and unstable environments, making it more of a hobby / experimental thing than anything.

Thing is, stuff never stands still for very long.

The stories I was now reading were much more tales of success, and how OS X on x86 PC platforms had become a reality that was no longer out of reach of the common (non-1337) user.  A project called OSX86 (http://www.osx86project.org/) has been brewing to a fine vintage quite nicely for a few years now.  This has now got to the point where several ‘Distros’ of OSX are now available (from various… ahem… locations), which can be installed on a wide range (though not exhaustively so) of PC hardware.

Although the quality (generally) of Apple hardware is very high, and the consistency good, not everyone can afford the admittedly high prices that Apple charge for you to take one of their machines home, but they still want to experiment with OSX.  In my opinion, OSX is an OS that I haven found equalled, both for speed, stability (apart from Linux and *nix-based OSs), and lovelyness in the usage stakes.

With netbooks being de rigeur at the moment, many have longed for a Mac-based version.  MacOS is the perfect Netbook OS.  However, Apple have never got closer to the Netbook form factor than the (extortionate) Macbook Air, and (oversized for this purpose) Macbooks.  This is what has prompted getting OSX86 up and running on Netbooks, particularly ones like the Acer Aspire One and the Dell Mini 9.

Now… the main issue with this is one of legality.  Apple have a EULA that, strictly-speaking, prohibits the use of OSX on anything other than Apple hardware.   Now, you can form your own opinion on this, but many believe that as long as you purchase a license, you should be ale to install the OS on whatever compatible hardware you want to.  One thing I would NOT condone is running OS X without a license.  It is a fantastic OS that has taken many years of development, and is a joy to use.  It’s WORTH THE CASH.  I am lucky enough to have a license for Leopard that I once used on my original iMac G5, but when i sold that, I restored it back to Tiger and sold it as-is.  I’ve had a spare Leopard license hanging around since then.  I repeat – if you want to use it, BUY IT. Due to the restrictions, I suggest that this is for experimental and educational use only.

Anyway!  After much faffing, scouring the net for hacks and tweaks, I got OS X up and running on my Acer Aspire One A150L.  All-in-all, it wasn’t too difficult (though took a bit of trial and error).  One of the finest resources for info on this is the InsanelyMac forums at http://www.insanelymac.com/forum.  Make sure you check it out. Tutorials a-plenty on this are available therein.

The verdict?  Well tickle me with a feather and call me Jeffrey if I wasn’t surprised…!  I must admit, I was expecting to install it, have a mess around, get frustrated and wish I hadn’t bothered with this in the first place…  I couldn’t have been more wrong!

After a few patches, everything now works!  That includes…

• The built in webcam
• Wifi (after the change outlined below)
• Mobile Broadband Dongle (and management App)
• Sound and Mic
• All graphical effects
• Keyboard layout
• Fan speed (no noisy MicroMac for me!)
• Battery indicator
• Card Reader (as long as you have it inserted on boot, and make sure you eject it before inserting another)

And if I’ve missed anything out… then its because basically, you can take more-or-less everything else as read…

Okay – let’s dampen the fires a little.  There is one thing that would be useful that Doesn’t work, and that’s sleep mode.  However, this, to me, is not actually that vital, as I don’t really use it that much.  In the end, I can easily live without it.  You CAN get hibernation working, but to be honest, I can’t be bothered, as the OS boots so damn fast anyway (about 30 secs or so…!).  Secondly, the in-built wireless (an Atheros PCI Express card) doesn’t easily or reliably work with OS X.  I changed it for an Dell 1490 Wifi card for a few quid off ebay, and OSX picked it up as an airport card with no issues at all.  There we go, that wasn’t so painful on the negatives front was it?

OS X runs like a dream on the Acer Aspire One, with it’s Intel Atom 1.6Ghz CPu and it’s 1Gb or RAM.  I don’t know how well it would run on the 8Gb SSD version – I reckon a HDD is pretty much a must, just for space’s sake.  Nothing stopping you giving it a go though, as a browse of the forums shows it has been done.

I thought, as I did a quick vid for the last post, I’d do the same for this one.  So… just to prove it, here’s a vid of the OS starting…

How good is that eh????

(Note to the noise-sensitive : for some reason you can REALLY hear the fan on this vid, especially after the OS starts. In all honesty, it’s not loud at all, and the power management seems to deal with the fan speed absolutely fine. Nothing to worry about! The condenser mic on my camcorder is waaaaaay too sensitive!)

Anyway.  I’ll sign off now, and leave you with the thought that for £250ish, you can get yourself an A150L plus a copy of Leopard, and experiment with a MicroMac of your own!

Cheers.