MacBook Air :: Forcing To Boot X86_64 Kernel In 10.6.2 Via EFI Modifications
Nov 16, 2009
I've been testing this method for awhile to determine if it was possible to boot the x86_64 kernel on the Macbook Air via any process. It looks like it is. References here and here show it is possible to force boot the x86_64 kernel if you have a 64bit EFI firmware. To test your EFI firmware you can use the following: (Source).
Type the following into Terminal:
ioreg -l -p IODeviceTree | grep firmware-abi
If your Mac shows "firmware-abi" = EFI64 then you can proceed. If you see EFI32 then you're out of luck for this particular method.
The rest of the process is detailed at the links included above. I will rewrite this part when I have the method fully working, but for now I haven't been successful.
There are several relevant parts such as:
Quote:
Model (with 64-bit EFI) Byte Position in boot64.efi Old Value New Value
Mac mini(Eary 2009)　0�266DB 0�00 0�80
MacBook Air(Late 2008)　0�266FB 0�00 0�80
iMac(early 2008) 0�2671B 0�08 0�80
included in the comments at this page, but so far I'm stuck.
Update 1:
As an alternate method I attempted to use lipo to modify the mach_kernel to only contain the x86_64 kernel information. A reboot confirms this didn't work so well.
Interesting notes so far from the EFI modification tests:
1) bless --info works fine on 10.6.0, but gives a Can't access "efi-boot-device" NVRAM variable on 10.6.2.
2) You can still modify which efi file is used for boot in 10.6.2 (I fouled one up in a hex editor and rebooted to see if it would fail just to test it), but the bless binary will not show the information the system is configured with.
3) The information at both links above for modifying the boot.efi doesn't seem to work in 10.6.0. It already wasn't working in 10.6.2, but there were some comments about it working in previous versions of Snow Leopard so I went back to an unpatched vanilla install from my install media (used Disk Utility to format the drive before installation) to test it.
Thread Notes:
1) Yes, I am aware that Leopard and Snow Leopard are fully capable of running 64bit programs using the i386 kernel. This is just an experiment for fun.
2) No, I do not have any reason to do this and I know the Macbook Air runs fine with the i386 kernel including every feature of the x86_64 kernel.
3) Yes, I know the Macbook Air only contains 2GB of ram so there is no reason to run the x86_64 kernel.
Starting up from any boot disk will give me a kernel panic forcing me to hard restart.
Background:
After many freezes I ran disk utility and I get:
Checking Catalog file. Invalid index key The volume Macintosh HD needs to be repaired.
Error: The underlying task reported failure on exit
1 HFS volume checked Volume needs repair
So I use my wife's Imac startup disk to boot it in order to repair but I get the dreadfull death screen (I know how to press the C) I'm thinking maybe it's because her disk if for her Intel proc so I go and buy a copy of disk warrior 4, and same problem.
Yesterday my screen (30" Apple Cinema) started showing symptoms of graphics card failure, jagged lines across the screen. I rebooted my Mac Pro and it was gone. Then it happened again an hour later, this time the machine didn't boot, I get the Apple logo, and then it hangs up and the screen is shifted to left (I get apple logo on left side of the monitor instead of the middle) and jagged lines all over.
So the first thing I tested was using Target Disk Mode, it works. I can access my Mac Pro's internal HD's by TDM from my MacBook Pro. Then I tested single user mode, it does boot, I can't read what's written since the screen is shifted to left, but if I type (without seeing) reboot and hit enter, it reboots. So I assume the single user mode is working.
What else can I try to 100% make sure it's my graphics card that failed and everything else is ok with Mac Pro? I already ordered a graphics card replacement but I wouldn't like to be surprised if the Mac Pro still doesn't boot when the card arrives. It won't boot from Apple Startup DVD either. Same thing happens, gray logo then kernel panic with jagged lines all across the shifted screen.
Yesterday my screen (30" Apple Cinema) started showing symptoms of graphics card failure, jagged lines across the screen. I rebooted my Mac Pro and it was gone. Then it happened again an hour later, this time the machine didn't boot, I get the Apple logo, and then it hangs up and the screen is shifted to left (I get apple logo on left side of the monitor instead of the middle) and jagged lines all over.
So the first thing I tested was using Target Disk Mode, it works. I can access my Mac Pro's internal HD's by TDM from my MacBook Pro. Then I tested single user mode, it does boot, I can't read what's written since the screen is shifted to left, but if I type (without seeing) reboot and hit enter, it reboots. So I assume the single user mode is working.
What else can I try to 100% make sure it's my graphics card that failed and everything else is ok with Mac Pro? I already ordered a graphics card replacement but I wouldn't like to be surprised if the Mac Pro still doesn't boot when the card arrives.
P.S. It won't boot from Apple Startup DVD either. Same thing happens, gray logo then kernel panic with jagged lines all across the shifted screen.
I have been trying to boot into 64-bit kernel in Snow Leopard on my Late 2008 Aluminum MacBook (2.4 GHz), but it is not working. It is running the 64-bit EFI firmware and is updated to 10.6.1.
On bootup, my computer shows this: [URL] and won't start. If I try to boot from an OSX startup CD, it flashes between that, the ordinary apple, and circle with a bar through it, but won't move beyond that. So I then power up holding Command + S and I get this: [URL]. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I want my computer back!
I got a friend and they are owner of an old MacBook pro aluminum 15 inch with intel core 2 duo.But now the problem. It doesn't boot anymore and you will see this:And then The circkel thing (I don't know the name in English haha) stops and I see the message that I have to re-boot the mac again. I tried serveral things. I tried to boot up the OSX cd but it doesn't work. Safe mode doesn't work. Nothing works. Does anybody know what the problem is?
I have a 2-yr old MBP 3,1 (the first Santa Rosa line) which has recently hit a slew of problems (bad fan, new display, new hdd, new logic board) over the last 3 months. I thought all was fixed then yesterday it suddenly dies, starts kernel panicking on boot, and I can't even boot from an installer disk. I took it in to the Genius Bar today and the guy puts a stick of their RAM in and it seems to work +/- ok. He won't do any more until I put the original RAM back in (upgraded to 4 gigs a year ago). I take the laptop home, and it magically starts working. I grab a couple backups and it starts kernel panicking again so I grab my original RAM and put it in. Now it's still kernel panicking and I'm effectively completely locked out of my MacBook Pro (the RAM worked fine in my wife's 3-year-old MacBook which takes memory of the same specs).
I've had my macbook pro repaired a few weeks ago (new battery and keyboard).. Ever since then every time I boot it its superslow ... + with high activity on kernel_task.. When I close the lid and open it after 5 seconds again the problem is gone.
my name is SPC Sanders. I am a forward observer currently deployed to Afghanistan. I've owned a Macbook Pro for a couple of years.
About three weeks ago, I made the stupid mistake of attempting to run iOSX so I could dual boot with Windows 7 (all stuff I acquired while I was home on midtour leave.) The install seemed to be ok, however, I noticed immediately I could not make any changes to settings as my administrator password was no longer working. (Administrator is my only account on this laptop.)
At fear of losing my operability, I simply did not power down for that whole time. However, I recently moved bases, and alas, the time came to power down.
Upon bootup, I get a constant spinning wheel. I left this on for a couple of hours just to be sure, then realized it was a lost cause. I tried booting in safe mode, and I got some kernel panic. It says a bunch of stuff about debugger calling the panic, bla bla bla, but the thing that caught my eze was Mac OS version not set yet.
After booting in safe mode, getting that error, and powering off, my laptop will boot into a grezish blueish lightblueish (alternating) type of screen, which sometimes has the spinning wheel, sometimes not. Again, nothing.
I understand I will probably need my OS disc to fix this, but I didn't bring it with me. Am I SOL?
I just bought a 17'' lamp-style G4 iMac with a dead logic board for the screen, with the intent of doing some fun modifications, just because I have some spare time. There are 2 things I would like to ask you all about. If you reply (and all constructive or humorous replies are much appreciated!), keep in mind that I am fairly knowledgeable about electronics and am good at soldering/wiring. Anything I don't know how to do, I have friends that are professional electrical engineers (my day job is working on the ATLAS experiment for the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva).
1) I have a perfect, working iMac G4 that has served me well for many years in the same lamp style with a 15'' monitor. Is it possible to gut the 15'' and put it in the 17''? The fit of the components doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to work and be more or less as functional as the current machine. I might be able to build some spacers or something if the fit is not perfect.
2) What do you think the chances are of me stuffing the innards of a Mac Mini inside the 15'' or 17'' chassis? My main concern is the screen connection. I might be able to jury-rig something so that the wires coming from the neck go to a DVI or whatever port is on the Mac Mini to do it that way, I wonder if there isn't a better solution?
Have at it. If I go through with this, I plan to post pictures and a step-by-step account of the process.
and to the people who will undoubtedly bring up copyright/legal infringements. this will not be for sale.
I'm setting up a shared volume which several people (Mac and PC users) will access. I'd love it if certain people could be notified by email when a folder on that volume is modified, like so:
Main Folder subfolder 1 <-- notify (URL) when modified subfolder 2 <-- notify (URL) when modified subfolder 3 <-- notify (URL), (URL) when modified
Does anyone know of software that has such functionality ? The shared volume will be an smb: share.
I use Macs in a publishing business and have done so since 1986. I have read entries here where one user wants to buy/configure equipment that will last five years or be able to last longer than considered typical. I have read the replies indicating that is not possible, too much change and evolution, buy every 2-3 years, and all that. Since 1986 I have had these models: Mac Plus, IIci, 8600, and most recently a G4 1.25 Ghz MDD. I am writing this post on the G4. It is about eight years old. Look at the number of models I list and do the math. Those are the only machines I have had since 1986. I don't believe I could get this kind of service from an iMac or laptop. Note: The 8600 is still my scanning station, run as required.
What I learn is the computer does what it could do initially as well as it ever could. The problems eventually emerging are multiple. Increasing potential for hardware failure, inability to run newer software as operating systems fall behind, and today, an inability to run the most current browsers due to OS falling behind. I want capability to run newer versions of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, and some CAD or solid modeling software. The G4 is doing what it did initially just as well as it ever did. It just can't move forward...........................
The picture worth a thousand words is at the bottom of this post.Looking for Airport configuration advice as I modify my home network. Everything is at latest firmware versions. 1. Broadband Source - Comcast Cable. 2. Broadband Modem - Motorola SB5101, configured and working as router. ISP doesn't allow it to bridge.3. Two Airport Extreme's... early "n" MA073LL/A and brand new MB763LL/A.4. One Express, need it for Airtunes.5. HP printer with Ethernet.6. USB hard drive.7. Six g clients, three n clients as shown.8. No coverage constraints (small house, thin walls).9. One Airport Extreme, the HD, the printer and the Express must be in a certain location.10. Incoming cable, cable modem, one Airport Extreme must be 25' away from #9.
I've seen something about com.apple.boot.plist, but I need a little more further information. After type: Code: ioreg -p IODeviceTree -w0 -l | grep firmware-abi I receive the following from terminal:
Code: || "firmware-abi" = <"EFI64"> Looks that I am able to run 64-bit kernel. My computer is a white macbook early 2008. Core 2 Duo T8300 2.4GHz.
My MacBook Pro early 2011 13" freezes, requiring a hard restart when the CPU temperature stays in the 195 F (as measured by iStat nano) range for more than a few minutes. The fans run appropriately. I am running 16 GB of RAM, most of which is not being used during these 'hot' episodes (according to Activity Monitor). Typically they happen when Mail is trying to connect to iCloud and can't seem to do it. Then the spinning beach ball. Can't force quit or restart from the Apple menu. I'm using 10.7.4 on a dual core i7, 2.7 GHz unit.
Info:MacBook Pro (13-inch Early 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.4), Speck clam shell translucent case
Macbook Air was purchased in June. Worked fine the first few months, but has been freezing progressively more often, forcing a shut down. Cursor active but clicking does nothing. Today it has allowed not functionality and froze upon booting up. It isn't used much beyond checking email and surfing the internet. Also, is it true that MacBooks have a one year warranty?
I have an iMac that I bought in October 2007. All of a sudden, when I try to boot up my computer, I get a kernel panic. Can't get any further than the kernel panic even though I keep on re-booting.
I am a network adminstrator (for a windows network ) but personnally an Apple User. I am savy with linux and unix enough to get around etc, so my knowledge is broad and indepth.I have never had issues with my own Macs in the past 5 years, but my friends MacBook has an interesting issue.She told me that the computer was doing updates, and she didnt want to wait for it to finish and just shut it off in the middle of some OSX updates.
I moved over to an IMac from windows about 2 years ago and have never had any issues, until now. Whenever I boot my IMac I get a 'kernel panic' message (grey screen with 'you need to restart your computer in 4 languages). I cannot boot from my Mac HD, nor from a bootable superduper backup external HD, nor from my orginal SL or Leopard disk. All go into the kernel panic. I can however boot from my bootcamp Windows Vista partition. Tried booting into safe mode also does not work and gives the kernel panic screen. I have run both the standard and extended hardware tests and both have no errors. I booted in single user mode (that still works)and done a fcsk and unmount and both are without errors. Also done RAM flash. In single user modei can not find a PanicReporter directory or panic log. Cannot even install a fresh SL copy as my DVD wont boot either.
Recently my 2-year old iMac (20inch (2Ghz, 320GB, 4GB RAM, OSX Leopard) has been crashing every day. The way to temporally "fix" the kernel panic is to restart the machine and boot into the instal disc, and run the disk utility (repair permissions, then repair disk). If I do not run the disk utility daily, the computer will begin crashing again over and over. Below you'll find the the crash data (which is always the same):
Interval Since Last Panic Report: 0 sec Panics Since Last Report: 1 Anonymous UUID: A60F4F7D-F369-40E4-96F1-F2810273F105 BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kextd
Mac OS version: 9L31a
Kernel version: Darwin Kernel Version 9.8.0: Wed Jul 15 16:55:01 PDT 2009; root:xnu-1228.15.4~1/RELEASE_I386 System model name: iMac7,1 (Mac-F4238CC8) System uptime in nanoseconds: 15150601001 unloaded kexts: (none)
I honesty don't know what to do to stop the crashing (other than runing disk utility every day). This is never happened before now.
Recently my iMac 24" was randomly shutting off, finder unresponsive, applications could not launch, and startup would take upwards of 4 minutes. Thought it was most definitely a harddrive issue because when I would option-boot (had windows 7 on another partition) no bootable drives would appear and upon trying to boot the install CD I would get a Kernel Error. I ended up getting a brand new 1.5 TB this afternoon and installed it in the iMac a few hours ago. Now when booting the computer I get the HDD with a question mark as I should since there is not data on the drive... Problem begins when I try and boot from CD, where I'm getting a Kernel error. Spinning circle for about 3-4 minutes after selecting CD from the option-boot or when booting while holding down C. Here are the logs from my Verbose mode boot, I have nowhere for the logs to save so i had to take hi-res pics, sorry.
[URL]
System Specs are as follows. Aluminum 24" iMac running OS X and Windows 7 (both with all updates) 2 gigs of ram geforce 8800 i think.... Memory should be fine, i have two 1 gig sticks, and I've tried booting the computer with each of them installed separately. Also have tried resetting nvram, pram, etc... ALL the usual recommended steps so you can skip those suggestions.
Yesterday I was helping someone getting to know their MacBook Pro (early 2008, Intel core 2 duo 2.4GHz, Mac OS X 10.5.2). I installed Perian and Flip4Mac and Firefox 3.6. I also checked for updates because she's on a very old version. I tried downloading the updates, but because we had a very bad internet connection I stopped the download quite early on and told her to do it at home. However after I left she tried to shut down the computer but it hanged. She manually shut it down using the power button. When she tried to turn it on again she got a kernel panic message saying she should reboot. This however didn't work.
Now I've tried all sorts of things. I've removed Perian and Flip4Mac manually. I did a disk verification (all was well) and a permissions verification and repair. I tried booting in safe mode (still won't boot) clearing the SMC and resetting PRAM, none of it worked. I just wanted to check here first before either taking it to an Apple store or reinstalling Mac OS X. I've read on forums about hardware failing (RAM mostly). No idea if that's the case. I tried a hardware test, but I don't have her DVDs and used my own with version 10.5.5. The Standard test said it was all ok, but the extended test seemed to hang. I could ask for her own DVDs which I will need anyway if I'm going to reinstall Mac OS X.
Some details of the kernel panic: The error code is: 0x000000010 Apart from that it says the following: Backtrace terminated-invalid frame pointer 0 Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies): com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement(76.2.0)@0x2e63c000->0x2e65afff And later on it says: Mac OS version: Not yet set.
And of course it shows some more info with lots of hex codes, I can type them out for you if you like, but I read elsewhere that the error message is usually not very useful. Would you recommend going to an Apple store to see if the RAM is faulty? Or do a reinstall of Mac OS X?
Ever since I've got this iMac on the office, I've got the occasional kernel panics. At first they seemed to redeem themselfs during runtime, but for a while now, they seem to pop up at boot. And I mean, even not getting the Apple logo and it already freezes. I seem to be having this problem only in a frequency of say... once in two months or so? Â
Today I got it again and it even occured two times in a row, third time the system booted up. I would like to know whats up, I figure this must be a hardware issue since the system doesn't even load up. I'm a bit worried about sending this machine for it's warranty, since I won't have a machine for like 3 weeks until it gets back...
Here's the kernel panic:Â Â
Interval Since Last Panic Report:Â 274968 sec Panics Since Last Report:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 2 Anonymous UUID:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 26D2C9E5-2CDA-4386-AEEC-A21012A8C927Â Â Tue Apr 24 08:06:35 2012
Forcing preview to see downloaded pdf's automatically. Safari downloads these but preview doesn't open it unless forced. My other MB air downloads them and automatically opens them in th media viewer of Safari.Â
Yes you read that right. Your brand spanking new MBP will use a 32-bit kernel as default.
You can force 64-bit kernel but some of your hardware will not be working.
So all that marketing crap about the benefits of 64-bit etc are all B.S.
I don't want a million threads about how this will not effect the running of 64 bit apps, etc. because it will. Your 64-bit app will run but it will not be able to address more than 4Gb of RAM.
There are also many more advantages to having a 64-bit kernel.
In the last few weeks my Macbook has started be begin freezing at seemingly random intervals. It is a 2008 Macbook, not a Macbook Pro or Macbook Air. At first this was only once a day, or once every other day, but it has gotten progressively worse. By today, I can't go more than 2 or 3 hours without it freezing, forcing me to manually restart the computer. The freezing is not application specific; once it freezes with one application, if I try to pull up anything on the menu bar, the menu bar proceeds to freeze. I haven't made any recent major changes to the computer, and it had been working perfectly fine before now. I'm working on scanning it in case it is a virus, but this is seeming increasingly unlikely.
I've got a Powermac G5 desktop. I recently purchased a used keyboard for it off of Ebay. The computer was working fine with just a mouse. Shortly after the keyboard was plugged in, I got a kernel panic, and had to restart. I restarted, and immediately got a message saying "you need to restart your computer", and followed by another kernel panic.
Now, I get a kernel panic and "restart your computer" message, even if the keyboard is unplugged.
I was planning to do a clean install of OS X anyway, and figured that since the computer is completely useless at this point, now would be a pretty good time to go ahead and do it. So I tried to boot from the install CD by inserting the CD and holding down the 'C' key. No result -- it doesn't show me the "boot menu", and instead proceeds as usual, to it's "Restart your computer" message and subsequent kernel panic.
So I then tried rebooting and holding down the "Option" key, and managed to get to the boot menu. I selected "Mac OS X Install Disc 1" and clicked the "--->" button ... kernel panic again.
I'm at a complete loss for what to do next. Any help with this would be much appreciated. All I want to do is reinstall OS X.
How can there be a kernel panic from the boot CD? Apple didn't make it where it tries to use the kernel from disk during install did they?
I'm coming from a Linux background, and am not at all familiar with OS X, so forgive me if I've left information out that I should have included. Please let me know if this is the case, and I'll do what I can to provide it for you.
