Installing Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3 On EP121 Tablet

The purpose of this tutorial is to show you how to install Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3 on an EP121 tablet! I accomplished this by having a Mac computer as well as a legit copy of Lion from the Mac App Store. I'm sure there are other ways you can get around this tutorial without a Mac or copy of Lion that's from the App store, but for the purposes of this tutorial I'm going by this method. Hopefully this tutorial will open the door for other EP121 owners to attempt/explore ways of fixing the currently problems that haven't been addressed/fixed with the EP121 on OS X. If you find any fixes or have any suggestions please feel free to post them in the comment section at the bottom of this article.

Current State

Working

• Audio
• Battery Indicator
• Buttons: Power/Sleep
• SD & MMC Card Reader
• Touch UI
• USB Ports
• Webcam
• Wi-FI

Not Working

• Bluetooth
• Buttons: Home, Keyboard, Orientation, Volume)
• Display Drivers (currently stuck at 1024x768x32, no QE/CI)
• Microphone
• Mini HDMI (untested, assuming it doesn't work)

Pre-requisites

• EP121
• Mac Computer
• USB Keyboard
• 8 GB Thumb/USB Drive
• Mac OS X Lion installation from the Mac App Store
• Bundles of files for this tutorial.

Tutorial

Step #1 -- Show hidden files on your computer.

• Open the Terminal application (Applications > Utilities > Terminal)
  
• In the terminal window type the following:
  
  • defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
  • killall Finder

Step #2 -- Extract "BaseSystem.dmg"

• Open /Applications
• Right-click on "Install Mac OS X Lion" and click "Show Package Contents"
• In the new folder window that has opened navigate to: Contents > Shared Support
• There will be a file named "InstallESD.dmg", mount this file by double-clicking it.
• Now open up Mac's terminal application (Applications > Utilities > Terminal)
• In the new folder window that has opened "BaseSystem.dmg" will reside.
• Drag the file to your desktop and mount it by double-clicking it.

Step #3 -- Restoring "BaseSystem.dmg" to USB Drive

• Open the Disk Utility application (Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility)
• Select "Mac OS X Base System" on the left hand side of the window.
• Next select the "Restore" tab.
• Drag your USB Drive on the left hand side over to the Destination textbox. (Make sure the drive is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and the Master Boot Record)
• Click "Restore"

Step #4 -- Preparing USB Drive

• After the restore has completed navigate on the USB drive to /System/Library/Extensions
• In this folder delete all kext files starting with AppleIntelHD
• Also while in this folder copy "drivers/FakeSMC.kext" from the included archived into this folder.

• Switch back over the Terminal application.
• 
  In the terminal type the following (remember to use your USB volume's location):
  
  • sudo chmod -R 755 /Volumes/USB_DRIVE/System/Library/Extensions/FakeSMC.kext
  • sudo chmod root:wheel /Volumes/USB_DRIVE/System/Library/Extensions/FakeSMC.kext
  • sudo touch /Volumes/USB_DRIVE/System/Library/Extensions

• Now navigate back to the root of the USB drive and goto /System/Installation
• There should be a shortcut file here named "Packages", delete it.
• Now keep the USB finder window open, and open a new finder window.
• Back on Step #2 we mounted the "InstallESD.dmg" file.
• The name of this mount should be called "Mac OS X Install ESD"
• In the new finder window navigate to this mount, and copy the "Packages" folder over to /System/Installation on the USB drive.

• After "Packages" has finished copying navigate to back to the root of "Mac OS X Install ESD"
• In this folder will be a file named "mach_kernel"
• Drag/copy "mach_kernel" to the root of your USB drive.

• Launch "apps/Chameleon RC5" from the archive included in this tutorial and install Chameleon to your USB drive.
• After this has completed drag all files in the "apps/Chameleon RC5 r755" folder into the root of your USB drive. (Yes, overwrite any existing files)

Step #5 -- Boot Into Mac OS X Lion's Installation

• Plug your USB drive into your EP121 tablet, and power your tablet on.
• You should be prompted to select your startup volume.
• Make sure "Mac OS X Base System" is selected, and hit enter.

  If you get stuck try the following parameters when booting: -v GraphicsEnabler=No

• You should now be booting into the Mac OS X Lion installation screen.
• At the top of the screen should be a "Utilities" menu, click it and launch "Disk Utility"
• Format you drive to "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" and set the options for the partition to be "GUID Partition Table".
• The default partition named for Mac OS is "Macintosh HD", so let's assume that you're going to name it that.
• After the process of formatting has completed quit/close out "Disk Utility"

• You now be back at the Mac OS X Installation screen.
  
• Following through the steps and let the installation Complete.

  If it appears that the installation has frozen, it hasn't. Simply flick the power button and the screen will update. It looks like the screen falls asleep and stops updating the UI.

Step #6 -- Post-installation, not quite done yet...

• After the installation has completed your computer will automatically reboot and you will be prompted to select your startup volume again.
• For the second time, choose "Mac OS X Base System", we want to get back to the installation process again.
• When the installation loads up goto the "Utilities" menu and select "Terminal".

• At the Terminal window we now need to copy FakeSMC.kext from our USB drive over to our hard drive.
• In the terminal type the following (remember to use your USB volume's location):
• cp -R /Volumes/USB_DRIVE/System/Library/Extensions/FakeSMC.kext
/Volumes/HARD_DRIVE/System/Library/Extensions/FakeSMC.kext
• chmod -R 755 /Volumes/HARD_DRIVE/System/Library/Extensions/FakeSMC.kext
• chmod root:wheel /Volumes/HARD_DRIVE/System/Library/Extensions/FakeSMC.kext
• touch /Volumes/HARD_DRIVE/System/Library/Extensions

After this is completed you can now reboot your computer again.

Step #7 -- Booting Mac OS X Lion for the first time!

• When your computer boots up you will be prompted to select your startup volume again.
• Your hard drive should show up in this list (you can use your keyboard or volume buttons on the tablet to navigate).
• Select your hard drive and hit enter.

  If you get stuck at the Apple boot screen try these parameters: -v GraphicsEnabler=No

• Mac OS X should prompt you to setup your computer, go ahead and finish the setup.
• After you've completed the setup launch "apps/Kext Helper b7" and add "IO80211Family.kext" enter your password then click "EASY INSTALL". After installing reboot.

• After booting back into your desktop launch "apps/MultiBeast 4.3.1" and checkoff "Bootloaders" and complete the installation.
• Open "apps/Kext Helper b7" and add "VoodooHDA.kext", "VoodooBattery.kext" and "AppleACPIPlatform.kext", enter your password and click "EASY INSTALL".
• Next launch "VoodooHDA.prefPane". (You will see a couple of errors, simply dismiss them.)
• Next launch "VoodooHDA SSE2 Enabler" and dismiss the message it leaves.
• Next launch "VoodooLoader Installer" and enter your password.
• Delete /System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext
• You can now remove your USB drive and reboot!

As stated before this tutorial is a work in progress. There are still things that need to be fixed and worked on this get this tablet fully working and compatible with Mac OS X. Hopefully this tutorial will open the doors to other users attempting to fix the current issues that need to be addresses. If you found this tutorial helpful please drop a comment, like this on facebook, +1 it on google, or tweet it on twitter to help spread the word.

Extended Credit

• tonymacx86.com
• insanelymac.com
• kexts.com

How to Lose 10 Pounds in a Week

Okay so I get this all the time, how can I lose 10 pounds and how can I lose it fast. For most people, this can be done easily within a week because their already overweight, if you're currently a fitness freak, then this may work for you, if it's out of the norm of your current diet.

So if you got this far, I'm going to assume your overweight, and by overweight I don't mean dramatically obese, I'm talking about above average, which happens to be the vast majority in the United States. I'm going to give you an example of things I would eat throughout the week below, but I want you to try to understand what's going on before you go ahead and try this.

One of the major reasons people are overweight is sugar. Yes, sugar. We all love sugar, and just about everything contains it. Your favorite drink, food, it gives just about everything that flavor. Well if you want to drop the weight, you need to drop the sugar. It's not hard, it just makes your meals boring and leaves you feeling less satisfied.

Next thing is Carbs (which sugar happens to be), you need to cut this out. Now this isn't the Atkin's diet, you don't need to cut out carbs completely, but your daily carb intake should be about 20-30 grams. I've had this discussion many times with people, and I've come to the conclusion that the average person is taking in anywhere from 80-200 grams of a carbs a day! Sounds insane? If you're not on a diet, mark down what you eat on a daily basis, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Note that downing your carbs quickly like this, you're going to feel a little weak the first few days and this is normal because your body uses carbs for fuel, but if you really want to drop the 10 pounds without starving yourself this is how you can do it. Keep in mind that starving yourself is not the answer, it's not good for your body, and anyone who recommends it, is an idiot.

So here goes the list of what you can eat and drink throughout the week to lose those ten pounds:

Drinks:

• Water
• Diet Snapple
• Diet Coke
• Diet Pepsi
• Diet Anything (that contains close to no carbs)

Foods:

• Grilled Chicken Breast
• Grilled Pork
• Tuna
• Salmon
• Flounder
• Beef (Ex: Hotdogs)
• Sausage
• Eggs

Absolutely Not:

• Ice Cream
• Yogurt (though healthy in most cases, will not accomplish what we're trying to do here.)
• Salad (the reason I listed salad, is because nobody eats plain salad, and dressing is a NO!)
• Bagels
• Bread
• Ketchup
• Milk
• Juice (Ex: Orange Juice, Apple Juice)

Okay to cover one last thing, the foods that I just listed that you can eat are fine, but you are not to mix them with any kind of sauce. Yes, you heard me, your jaw dropped, I know. It sucks, there's not much flavor, but flavor in most cases is bad because it contains sugar. So eat that grilled chicken breast plain, with nothing on it, same goes for the pork, sausage, etc.

What I tend to do is eat the same thing all day long. For example on Monday, I'll get up and drink a protein shake (I don't recommend this for losing weight, I drink this to maintain muscle), then around lunch time I'll get a grilled chicken breast, plain, nothing on it. Usually I don't finish it, so I'll eat it throughout the day, and I'll eat as much as I want of it whenever I want throughout the day. This is fine, over eating any of the foods I listed is fine, stuff your face, you'll still lose the weight.

You don't have to conform yourself to only eating just chicken breast throughout the day, feel free to mix it in with any of the other foods listed. Do this for seven days, and I promise you will lose ten pounds. I, myself have done this, and had three other people try it as well, and it worked for all of us. Now of course in life there are no guarantee's, but if you strictly stick to this diet and don't cheat, you should see results and you should see them fast.

You don't have to stop after seven days, you can keep going with this routine, and I'm sure if you're that dedicated into losing the weight, you'll find other foods that I haven't listed which are low carb that you can add on to this list as well.

Good luck!

Microsoft Excel 2010 Bug Trims Leading 0's

Today I found myself writing a script which would export Microsoft Excel files for internet orders. After grinding away conforming to Microsoft's Excel sourcing format, I come to find out when I actually opened the excel file with Microsoft Excel, that numbers such as zip codes that contained leading zero's, no longer had the leading zero's! After double checking the source, the leading zero's were clearly present and all I could do was throw my hands up in the air and thank Microsoft.

A simple solution to this problem would be adding quotes around the numbers, even though it's not ideal, if a human is looking at the file they will be smart enough to realize a zip code does not contain quotations. Vice-versa if a computer is reading the file, it will see the leading zeros because the source actually contains the leading zeros, and the bug seems to be a front-end UI issue.