it's my island

Dell Mini 10v Hackintosh Review

// January 12th, 2010 // 7 Comments » // On the Radar, Reviews

With the end of the year fast approaching I needed a new laptop but with the lifecycle of the Macbook Pro’s near their limit and the possibility of some new technology so close to the horizon I decided to save a little money and build a hackintosh with a Dell Mini 10v.

Research Required

This wasn’t undertaken lightly. Even though I have a long background in technology I don’t have a lot of time to spend tinkering. All I needed was another time sink.

It all begins with netbook selection. There are a number of netbooks out there, some work well, others not so well. BoingBoing has a matrix up (last updated July 09) of compatibilities of Netbooks.

Luckily there is a lot of community out there trying to make this possible.

• Gizmodo’s How-to Hackintosh (getting dusty but got me started)
• My Dell Mini, forum community.
• Mechdrew, the guides and drivers (from meklort) you need.

In a Nutshell

With those three sites you can do this in less than 4 hours (being very literate) on a Dell Mini 10v.

1. Install Snowleopard OSX onto USB Key (>=8gb) with NetbookBootMaker
2. Downgrade Bios A06 to A05
3. Reboot Mini onto USB Key
4. Install Snowleopard 10.6 onto Mini
5. Finalize Install with NetbookInstaller
6. Upgrade to 10.6.2
7. Enjoy!

None of this would be possible without the spare time of dedicated individuals who want to see this happen. Hopefully someday Apple will allow others to run OSX without needing the Lexus machinery underneath.

Trials, No Errors

Experiences vary but for myself I have had nothing but pleasant ones. USB, Camera, Touchpad, Bluetooth,  Audio, all work as they should.

The first thing I setup was Dropbox and with their new local-lan sync all my files we’re ready to use in about 20m. I don’t think I’ve ever setup a computer this fast.

Without the extended battery you’re looking at less than 2 hours of work time. Being that my stints go longer than that I went ahead and got the extended battery and writing blog articles and general surfing give about 5h of time.

Going beyond the basics of iWork, OpenOffice, etc I’ve installed photo processing applications Lightroom and Aperture. The computer wasn’t built for them but they do an admirable job and get the process of processing pictures well underway.  Using such processor intensive applications however will suck the power out of your battery at a pretty alarming rate.

Personalizing Your NetBook

The machine is no longer as advertised, it’s mine, and what better way to showcase that than by getting your own skin for it.  Again in the forums there was talk of a number of different skin providers but the designer in me wanted my own creation so I went with UniqueSkins. For a little over $14 I got one of the advanced 3M re-applicable decals and it is so sharp.

The Downside

For what it’s worthy I don’t have much of a con list yet, I haven’t hit my head enough. The trackpad is probably the only thing I am having trouble using from MBP & iBook (now Macbook) experiences. While it works and seemingly without issue, I can’t seem to adapt yet to it’s style. There are a few nice bluetooth enabled mice I’m looking at but the need hasn’t driven me that far yet.  I’ll probably end up using my wireless Wacom tablet as an intermediary.

The Upside

This unit replaces my kick around iBook G4. It’s got a better processor, 1/3rd of the weight, and more HDD than I had for a cost of about $400. This little machine will carry most of what you have to do on an average day well and get you ready to be back at your larger machine efficiently. I even find myself using vnc/screen sharing to it to write things like this article.  Then whenever I pick it up I’m already where I need to be.  That’s pretty cool.

Even though this machine is more or less tiding me over until the next generations come out I think I’ll have use of this machine for many years to come as it’s too easy and able.

Continued Espresso Work

// March 7th, 2006 // 3 Comments » // In my Kitchen, On the Radar

I keep thinking of the book [Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060958324/sr=8-2/qid=1141778747/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-5463207-1573560?%5Fencoding=UTF8) as I work on this project. Everything people create is a form of communication. They tell you what they think of the state of things. They let you know what they think of you and maybe some of themself. Sometimes you can see that there is appreciation, others you can tell when they don’t care. Of course the message gets confused along the way so all you really pull back with is generalities and some meta concepts. Fun stuff none the less to think upon next time you go peering into your every day objects whether it’s a book passage or an engine.

The NS Oscar has been a fun project thus far and I have to say I’m right on schedule of where I hoped I’d be on the learning curve. Talking with good people like glepore, Jack Denver, & Dan Kehn have helped get me on the right path. The wealth of knowledge through the google groups window into [alt.coffee](http://groups.google.com/group/alt.coffee) as well as [Home-Barista](http://www.home-barista), and [Coffee Geek](http://www.coffeegeek.com) nearly broke my brain a few times trying to grok.

Gladly, the first steps have gone well. The expansion valve was not open and the machine rated around 15 bar, about 217 psi. That’s been taken down to 9.5 +/- bar. The boiler was producing first shot temperatures at 200f but then successive shots went down to around 198f. Twisting on the Sirai Pstat the machine rests at 204f, but after flushing hits right about 202f. This is around where Lydia at [CCC](http://www.counterculturecoffee) said the roasters profiled the Tuscano blend.

At this point I can touch the real espresso that Counter Culture is offering the public. The changes from my old settings to these are remarkable not in the dramatic change, but in the amount of subtle shifts all around. Sensory communication is a difficult thing to talk to people about because our words are made up from our own maps. Tuscano to me has recieved a new clarity. A certain fog of war has lifted leaving clear paths to caramel, dark chocolate, vanilla, malt. It reminds me so much of a healthy stout as a shot. Real well rounded.

At this point the machine is controllable to an extent and feeling that it has gone well adding a PID is the next order of business. Dialing in a temp through large twists of the pstat is not something you want to do regularly. This adds another curve of learning due to locations of components, electrical, a lot of things to remove/move, and more pieces to hunt for. So far I’ve got another T, spades, splitters, wirer, the [Auber](http://www.auberins.com/ PID, 25A SSR, & their RTD, as well as a head overstocked with new knowledge. Glepore is sending me a compression sleeve (thanks!), and I need to find a vac breaker. We’re not quite sure if the RTD is going to work. It might be too small. If that falls through its only time in ordering the right one from [Omega](http://www.omega.com). I also have to figure out how this is going to look in the end and will probably work with a project box & get it attached to the side of the unit. Coming together though piece by piece.

Once this is all in place I’ll log and show a realistic picture of how the HX works in the Oscar. Right now I’m just [toying](http://www.flickr.com/photos/ciordia/107926185/) around.

-a

Nuova Simonelli Work

// February 27th, 2006 // 1 Comment » // In my Kitchen, On the Radar

I’ve got to post. I keep saying tomorrow and now my [Sciral](http://www.sciral.com/consistency/) is deep in red. I don’t like being deep in red, so lets start something.

I’ve decided to modify my espresso machine and to a _light_ extent at this time my grinder.

Welcome to the innards of a Nuova Simonelli Oscar. The Sirai is a give away that this isn’t an older unit. They used to use a Matar pressurestat giving a lot of older users some serious grief. I started a post on [Home Barista](http://www.home-barista.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1237), another great resource in geeking out. Taking knowledge from HB & alt.coffee folks I’m trying to continue the evolution of ‘better’. Better is a precarious balance these days.

Better to me is:
* Refining any kinks in the machine to make it cleaner running.
* Adding a [PID](http://rcl.eng.ohio-state.edu/matlab/PID/PID.html) for thermal stability
* Adding a Vacuum Breaker so that the unit can be timed if desired/one less hassle to deal with on startup.
* Clean up the OPV valve/get the unit to do some backflow during a blind filter.
* Maybe a few more things as I travel this path..

At the end of all of this I’d like to be able to dial in any single orgin coffee and pull out the best elements. I’m dieing for a perfect blueberry harrar and I can’t find it with the current setup. If I poll PeterG at [Counter Culture Coffee](http://www.counterculturecoffee.com) for some numbers and profile I think I can find that zone.

Right now I’m just collecting my tools and my instructions. Getting to know the machine without a hood; to know what is possible. I’ll keep everyone updated with progress. Above all else this is to learn from. If you have any tips they are more than welcome!

-a