Just installed iPC OSx86 10.5.6 which seemed to install fine but on the first reboot I get the no hard drive found message and then it boots from the dvd again.

I am not sure what format or partition structure I should use for the hard drive?

System Specs if they help :

Motherboard : MSI P35 Neo2
CPU : Intel E2180 (Not Overclocked)
Memory : 2gb Patriot
1 x Liteon LH-20A1S
1 x Pioneer DVR-215
Hard Drive I'm Installing to : Samsung 80gb SATA HD080HJ/P
Graphics : ATI 4850
Sound : ALC 880

Should the hard drive be formatted as MAC Extended (Journaled), FAT etc? And does anyone know what options if any I should choose from the install customize screen or should I just go with all the defaults?

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks.

Saul

If you are asking about format options - you cannot have installed the MAC OS - it needs to go on a Journaled drive and in the installation it will show the ACCEPTABLE drive you are installing to, or it will not install. If you are asking these questions - you need to do some research first. See the link at the bottom of this post.

After a successful install . . .

You need to boot with -s. If it loads that to a command line, you've got likely kext problems. Then try -x -v so you can see where it stops, slows, issues errors or hangs. If you get in that way to a desktop you've got probably video kext problems. these can be LOTS of different problems depending on whose distribution you installed and how old it is. Get the newest one - right now which is 10.5.6. IPC has some issues with laptop keyboards not working after install - IDeneb seems to go better.

NO ONE can help you right now. You do not say what is wrong, you do not say what you did that does not work and you offer no clues as to your level of expertise as to EXACTLY where you are stumped. You just scream "please help me".

If you go to a Medical Doctor and just scream "please help me" and will give no symptoms or clues as to what is going on - even a Doctor cannot help you but begin guessing - and guess what - they get paid to do so - no one here is being paid by you, and still the doctor could end up killing you rather than saving you because you did not tell a critic piece of information - like a severe allergy or something like that which could kill you in his efforts to help you. Computers - especially the OS's of computers are NO DIFFERENT.

You do not say what is going on. No one is a mind reader here and were not sitting in front of your machine.

Usually a Kext is likely probably not loading or blocking something - or the kernel panics. that means dies the horrible crash like a aircraft pilot would it the pilot panic'ed in an emergency situation and did not know what to do.

The kexts are vendor and device ID specific - so if the kext does not have the right vendor and model ID referenced in the kext file - it will fail - or pass up the device anyway.

You have to figure this out yourself - it is YOUR machine. They are all different as to what is in the unit from the manufacturer, and even if using common device components - the vendor and device ID may be different that what the kext might have in it.

If you have Windows still on the same machine - and it is working - you can do kext editing from inside windows by installing some helper tools to look into the HPS drive. Use Windows Text Editor Download and Download Ext2Fsd 0.46 - An open source Ext2 File System Driver for Windows - Softpedia and Catacombae - HFSExplorer (HFS Explorer) to see and get at the Mac files in Windows; OR you can BUY Macdrive. If you are having dual boot problems try installing EasyBCD from inside Windows to boot between the two. Its free.

This above will only work if you have been smart enough to do a dual boot machine where Windows is on another partition or permanent drive in the same computer. If Windows will not boot use a Vista repair disk or the XP disk to repair the boot sector - then install EasyBCD through Windows and it will see the MAC partition to let you set it up on the boot manager. Google how to get one if you do not have them.

You can see the vendor and device ID in Windows, and the kext will have a name and you can find the vendor and device ID in the text of the kext info.plist. You can edit this from the windows side with the editor above - and use no other - they will not work.

After you get in through safe mode, you can run "diskutils repairpermissions /" (without the quotes) and to fix the changes you made from the Windows side.

You come in single user with the -s command at the prompt. Do what it says to mount the volume and then

You do a "sudo -s" first (no quotes)
cd /System/Library
chmod -R 755 Extensions /
touch Extensions /
diskutil repairpermissions /

There are other ways to do this and much more from the -s boot option (single user mode) but it is really getting UNIX specific as to the commands, and if you are there and know nothing anyway - you should probably pay someone, buy a real MAC or just give up - OR get ready for a real extensive learning curve and research on the web.

You need to do some research on how the MAC OS works. Match your kext families with the missing parts of the OS not loading - change the vendor and device ID's and one at a time - you'll get them working and the boot errors will go away.

If you have/had IPC 10.5.6 ppf4 or ppf5 you would likely have most of the kexts - but they might not have the right vendor ID and device ID for the unit you are trying to install on. it works for both CPUs Intel or AMD. IDeneb 10.5.6. might go more successfully.

Once installed, you need to boot in safe mode from the Darwin prompt with the -x option. Use -v also so you can see what it is loading and if it does stop in safe mode and where. Then you can try -v -f on another boot to see if it will make it all the way

The MacOS is at it's core - UNIX - you cannot just lump a question in something and throw it here that is non-descriptive as to tell anyone not at your PC what is TRULY going on, even though I am a UNIX engineer.

No one can help you if they cannot tell what is really going on - and if you are not ready to learn some UNIX - give up now.

If you install the right kexts (Kernel EXTensionS) with the right vendor id's applicable the system will load them as it finds the hardware during the boot process.

Read the clues of the boot process yourself and do some research as to what they mean and then if you have a specific question you cannot find on the Internet or in the forums - that someone can identify - post that.

Of course you can always BUY a real MAC, and then holler "please help me" all you want to Apple Computer Support, and at some point they will tell you the same thing.

If you install the right kexts (Kernel EXTensionS) with the right vendor id's applicable the system will load them as it finds the hardware during the boot process.

Read the clues of the boot process yourself and do some research as to what they mean and then if you have a specific question you cannot find on the Internet or in the forums - that someone can identify - post that.

Visit the Main Page - OSx86 for the best source of simple question info