NETMAC... ER HACKINTOSH... ER NETMACBOOK. YEAH |
Dec 17, 2008, 5:20pm
 I was really disappointed about a year ago now when Apple announced their new MacBook Air. I think everyone was expecting Apple to introduce an ultralight yet full featured sub-notebook or even lead the way on "netbooks", something Asus did around the same time with their Eee PC lineup.
While some may love the super slim folded height of the MacBook Air, it's not a subnotebook or ultraportable - it's still difficult to use on many economy seats in airplanes, and it's still big, even if it only weighs 3lbs.
I've been using ultralight subnotebooks for years. my first was a Thinkpad X21, then a Sony Vaio T-250 (I still have it- and it's still a fast little dvd-rom installed 3lb notebook!). Then I went to the Fujitsu machines - the P series. I had a P1200, then a P2000 (didn't like), then currently a P1620 which is a full tablet PC with swivel touchscreen. It's nice and fairly powerful, but too bloody small!
What I didn't have was an ultraportable Mac. I didn't want to pay the $2,000 for the MacBook Air (up here, taxes in), and didn't like it's limited functionality - one USB, lack of ports, etc.
Then I heard about successful hacks on a new range of notebooks, including the MSi Wind. i read about them for a month. I bought one for Beata for her Birthday (to replace my aforementioned Thinkpad X21, which she was using, but suffering from the ageyness of it). The Wind is around $450 or less, has a nice 10" screen (8.9" is too small - my Fujitsu has that one, and I've seen the Acer One with that screen res, and it was too small for me), has an LED backlit screen, good upgrade options (spare slot for another gb of memory, easy to change HD and wifi cards) and most importantly for me, a big community around it, hacking away. Some hacks include supercharging the track pad, installing no brainer SSD hard drives, improving the wifi, going to N, and more.
Most importantly? It was supposedly one of the easier Atom-chip based computers to install Apple's OS/X operating system on. And most things work. So I took the leap, bought the top of the line model (U100-279US) which has wifi b/g/n, 160gb drive, bluetooth, 6 cell battery for 5-6 hours use, better trackpad, and more; and I proceeded to hack it with a spare license of OS/X 10.5 that I had with no computer to throw it onto (until now).
It took a few tries. I wanted a dual boot machine, leaving my Windows partition alive and kicking, as well as my recovery partition should I want to completely reinstall everything. I created a 4gb USB stick "install" of the OS/X, which in itself was a challenge - about 3 hours' work, including making it bootable. Following all the online discussions and instructions were hard, because people assume you know what a kext is, or a chmod, or fdisk. I didn't.
The first try went really wrong. After installing, i had a black screen with boot0; done_ and nothing else. I thought I lost my windows partition too, but after downloading a program called partedmagic and installing it (and making it bootable) on another USB stick, I was able to get Windows back. I repartitioned the intended Mac drive (I split my 160gb drive into two partitions - C: (windows) and D: (Mac OSX), set it active, and tried again.
Second time - success. By the time I was done, I had a fully dual booting machine (it uses Apple's Darwin boot loader to let you pick which OS you want each time you power on the computer), with a rockin' Apple operating system. I was able to install all updates for 10.5.4, but am afraid to upgrade it to 10.5.5 or even the just fresh 10.5.6. Screen works. Function keys work. my built in web cam sorta works (works in gmail video chat, iChat - haven't tested skype yet). Speakers work. I did a hack to make a formely not working part work - the headphone jack (it's a hack - but I built a one-click script to switch between speakers and headphones).
Even my wifi card - a new one that most MSi Winds don't have - works, but in a cludgy way.
I'd say overall that about 98% of it works. Here's what doesn't:
- Trackpad works, but no gestures or two finger scrolling. - Built in mic or line in don't work. I can however use a Bluetooth headset to use in iChat or Google Video chat - Speakers work, headphone jack doesn't work except for a hack I did, not an elegant one, but i can switch back and forth. - Some function keys don't work. - Sleep sorta works - but not quite. I think it has to do with the wifi card's program that is running. If it's not running, sleep mode works fine.
It's also surprisingly fast on this computer, even with only 1gb of memory (adding another GB next week).
All in all, it's pretty cool - I have OS/X running on a $450, 10.2" screen, 2.6lb (with 6cell battery) computer. I even feel good that it's a full blown legal copy (that of course breaks Apple's EULA, but who cares - they can't tell me what device I can run this on).
Now, I have to borrow a USB DVD drive so I can install my family licenses of iLife and iWork, and I'll be set. Meanwhile, here's some pictures of the process and the software running.
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Welcome Movie Success! Got to the Welcome Movie screen after the OS/X install |
Welcome Movie 2 Welcome Movie winds down... |
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Running Windoz, Mac Drive visible I had a copy of MacDrive for the Windoze, so I installed it on this MSi, letting me see the sibling HFS mac drive and access it in Windows. |
Booting... Powering up, going into Darwin... |
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Darwin Darwin will auto load OS/X after 5 seconds, but if you press enter first, it lets you choose which drive to boot off of. OS_Install is the Windows XP drive. |
OS/X loading Apple logo looks weird because Apple doesn't officially support 1024x600 displays. |
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OS/X on MSi Wind And here we go. With good video drivers (find them online - Intel GMA950), you get native 1024x600 support. |
Twitter on a NetMac Twitter's a bit big on a NetMac, but it all loads, all looks great! Woot - this tiny 2.6lb computer has two complete operating systems and almost everything works. |
Previous Ten Daily Rants |
Title |
Date |
Comments |
The continued fallout on auto gratuities |
5:35pm, 08/09 |
3 |
Final thougths on price gouging, auto gratuities coming soon |
12:50am, 03/04 |
1 |
The Real Reasons for Olympics Auto Gratuities |
7:20pm, 02/19 |
10 |
Vancouver Olympics - Nice Prices, Profiteer (gouger) Restaurant Listings |
12:15am, 02/18 |
9 |
More on Auto Gratuities |
6:45pm, 02/16 |
4 |
Price Gouging in Vancouver During Olympics (and Price Heroes!) |
12:20am, 02/16 |
25 |
Ideal Mac (or any pc) netbook.... |
8:05pm, 12/22 |
1 |
NetMacBook Hackintosh Update |
12:20am, 12/20 |
1 |
NetMac... er Hackintosh... er NetMacBook. Yeah |
5:20pm, 12/17 |
4 |
Balance Board Wii Game I'd like to see - Boxing! |
4:00pm, 07/26 |
0 |

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Mixelania Photos from Algonquin Park Photos from my trip to Algonquin Park this fall with my Mom and two brothers. War Stories Making Snow for the Fortress One of the worst jobs I ever had... till I got out. Webiffied Tools I Use The tools I use to build websites and lead a tech life.
iPod and iTunes Offline iMark's iTunes and iPod isn't iPlaying anything right iNow. Most Recent Songs Fiddlers Green by The Tragically Hip Around The Bend by Pearl Jam Here With Me (Rollo's Chillin' With the Family Mix) by Dido With arms open wide by Creed truffle pigs by Matthew Good Band
In the News
Burundi and Beyond - NY Times
Great article by Peter Meehan - provided some background.
St. Petersburg Times
Side mention in an article about good machines
AP Story on Espresso
Background and information provided
NY Times - Grinders Article
Especially proud of this one - got the reporter to focus on grinders
Globe and Mail
LOL - showing bad reporting, dude says I'm an American-based site!
The Olympian, WA
Talks about my love for the El Sal Siberia Pacamara
Seattle Times - Clover
Interviewed for comments on the Clover brewer
NY Times - How it Works
Background and information for various espresso machines
Time Mag Article
Just a brief mention, article about roasting beans.
NY Times
Front page article about consumers getting into specialty coffee.
Washington Monthly
Quoted reference to what I wrote in an article at CoffeeGeek.
USA Today - Barista Jam
Intereviewed for my thoughts on what the epitome of espresso is.
WSJ Article
The Wall Street Journal has interviewed me 3 times. This is the first time my name got in a story.
Reuters Interview
Interview with Reuters, Jan 2 - this is the USA Today version.
My Other Stuff
CoffeeGeek
Launched Dec 22, 2001, this is THE online community for espresso and coffee fanatics.
CoffeeKid Website
It's all new, as of March, 2002. My personal coffee obsession site.
WebMotif Services
My company's site - needs an update!
Amazon WishList
Hey, if you feel the need to buy me something, check here!
Daily Visits
enGadget
Great gadget site run by the guy who used to do Gizmodo.
Google News
This is how I get my daily news fix.
DPReview Forums`
The most active forums for digital photography online today.
Daily Zen
Need my Daily Zen fix!
Jalopnik
A blog about car stuff. Vroom Vroom.
MoCo Loco
An industrial design blog. Very cool stuff.
Friends and Family Plan
Beata Blog
Beata's got her own blog! She updates it most days.
Riddla on Flickr
Matt Riddle's flickr account, updated regularly
Irdy Photos
Irdy, my friend from Jakharta, on Flickr
Recent Acquisitions
Canon EF 24-105 f4 L Lens
The best lens I've ever owned. Super sharp and quick.
Canon 5D
A full frame dSLR, with luscious colour reproduction.
Alzo Digital Lights
Some amazing florescent cold lights for product photography
Canon Xsi dSLR
Amazing technology and image quality in a tiny package.
Canon 40D
Latest prosumer camera from Canon - a much better upgrade than the 30D
Fujitsu P1610
Great 2.2lb computer that does most of my travel / writing needs
28mm f1.8 Lens
A great lens for closeup work and full picture photography
Foodsaver Advanced
Finally got the right tools for freezing green coffee.
Canon 50mm 1.4
Most amazing lens I've ever owned. Produces stellar photos.
Canon 10-22mm
Super wide angle (full frame fisheye) zoom for my Canon 20D
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