Gateway M6843 HackBook Pro

UPDATE!

It appears there is a fix for the pesky keyboard error which ended up being the reason why I sold this machine. Now I really wish I hadn’t since it lays waste to my current Dell Inspiron 1525. Read the comments below for more information. I’ve included Danny’s screenshot — looks sweet, thanks!

Danny said,

August 21, 2008 @ 11:24 PM

well the keyboard error has been fixed

Matt said,

August 22, 2008 @ 3:56 PM

Keep up the work man. I own one of these notebooks as well (just bought two days ago) and the first thing the hit my mind was making a hackbook. Unfortunately I’m about to start school again and don’t have time to figure out all the little things like you mention. So, for the time being, I’m using Vista too. It’s really not that bad if you spend a couple minutes disabling all the annoying stuff - but it’s still always gonna be Vista. Other reviews I’ve read state that this model runs Ubuntu out of the box with very little workarounds required, so if you can’t get OSX to work how you want this is still an option.

Danny said,

August 22, 2008 @ 7:10 PM

Well I actually have everything except wireless and the front jacks to work and the Multimedia keys. But the touch-sensitive volume control works. I am also working on my sleeping problem

Richard said,

August 22, 2008 @ 7:15 PM

There are now some drivers available that fixed my original keyboard issue — the reason I didn’t continue with this laptop. The Gateway above is a lot more powerful than my current HackBook Pro (Dell Inspiron 1525) and if more people can get this puppy going, I’ll consider anyone offering to submit a detailed tutorial on their Gateway M6843 (Or any new Gateway) adventure to throw it on my main page and on this article.

Got most of it working? Let me know — and send pictures!

Danny said,

August 23, 2008 @ 10:43 AM

I used the Kalyway 10.5.2 DVD [just like the Dell 1525]

To get CI/QE, I just used the kalyway 10.5.3 update [also like Dell 1525].

I have sound working, speakers and headphone jack [mic not tested]
The touch-sensitive volume works too. I am currently trying to find a way to use the multimedia keys
Webcam is recognized but doesn’t seem to work

USb ports work

Danny said,

August 23, 2008 @ 10:44 AM

I used the Kalyway 10.5.2 DVD [just like the Dell 1525]

To get CI/QE, I just used the kalyway 10.5.3 update [also like Dell 1525].

I have sound working, speakers and headphone jack [mic not tested]
The touch-sensitive volume works too. I am currently trying to find a way to use the multimedia keys
Webcam is recognized but doesn’t seem to work

USB ports work
pictures are here http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii226/Danny4327/

Matt said,

August 23, 2008 @ 5:49 PM

If you don’t mind me asking, how did you fix the keyboard error? Did you have to modify the installation DVD or were you able to do it post install?

Richard said,

August 23, 2008 @ 7:52 PM

No modification during installation to the best of my knowledge from anyone reporting getting the keyboard working on this model.

It’s a third party kext/patch that can be applied post-installation. Search Google for it and you’ll find out more. I’d love for someone to post a link to the fix here!

AND SCREENSHOTS!

Thanks

Matt said,

August 24, 2008 @ 1:52 AM

I’ve had no trouble getting 10.5.2 desktop up and running. It seems like the Sleep trick might not be necessary with this model? Anyway, I didn’t do it and the desktop loaded fine. However, when I try to update the kernel to 10.5.3 on reboot the computer doesn’t make it past the gray apple logo. I picked the vanilla kernel. Erased and reinstalled 10.5.2.

With the default customization settings for Kalyway ethernet worked on first install.
No wireless, battery info, sounds, camera, keyboard.

I’m going to try some more things out and maybe have some pics up later tonight.

To be honest, I know nothing about this and am relying heavily on the 1525 guide as well as google and insanelymac. Still, maybe there’s something I can do to help out. I’ll just keep working on it.

Matt said,

August 24, 2008 @ 12:21 PM

Don’t know if this helps you guys, but here’s a screenshot of my 10.5.2 install.
P.S. What is CI/QE?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29854145@N04/2792540751/

Matt said,

August 24, 2008 @ 12:53 PM

Sorry for multi-post. Keyboard driver is post 47 here:
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=114578&st=40&start=40

Works perfect. Haven’t gotten audio yet, but will post a link when i find a working one.

Danny said,

August 24, 2008 @ 3:36 PM

CI/QE is core image and quartz extreme, some applications require it

Matt said,

August 24, 2008 @ 7:19 PM

Ah thanks.
I know you have this already but here’s audio in case anybody else is looking:
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=77926&st=280&p=710055&#entry710055

Richard said,

August 25, 2008 @ 10:49 AM

Danny
I used the Kalyway 10.5.2 DVD [just like the Dell 1525]

To get CI/QE, I just used the kalyway 10.5.3 update [also like Dell 1525].

I have sound working, speakers and headphone jack [mic not tested]
The touch-sensitive volume works too. I am currently trying to find a way to use the multimedia keys
Webcam is recognized but doesn�t seem to work

USB ports work
pictures are here http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii226/Danny4327/

I really wish I would’ve seen this keyboard fix earlier. Since the original article, I have gotten rid of that Gateway but wish I hadn’t because it kicks the pants off of my current Dell HackBook.

Danny said,

August 25, 2008 @ 3:03 PM

Well now the sale’s over so, the laptop’s $700 again, i had power management the first time, but i did something wrong the second time so, i might install a third time

Danny said,

August 25, 2008 @ 3:24 PM

Chances of the intel 3945abg card working are none, since i think the project has been closed. i can’t seem to get the multimedia keys to work. Well post what you have gotten to work, and not working.
Working:
Both cores
CI/QE w/ VGA out
Sound - speakers/headphones, mic seems to give feedback
Keyboard/Touchpad
USB
Ethernet.
Not working:
Multimedia keys
battery status
Wireless- getting a card from a friend
Sleep

If you have one of these fixed can you tell me how, or link me to it
Thanks

Richard said,

August 25, 2008 @ 3:28 PM

Danny
Chances of the intel 3945abg card working are none, since i think the project has been closed. i can’t seem to get the multimedia keys to work. Well post what you have gotten to work, and not working.
Working:
Both cores
CI/QE w/ VGA out
Sound - speakers/headphones, mic seems to give feedback
Keyboard/Touchpad
USB
Ethernet.
Not working:
Multimedia keys
battery status
Wireless- getting a card from a friend
Sleep

To fix the wireless issue, you should be able to buy a card that works with the AirPort fix/patch, perhaps installing it as a PCI-E or an ExpressCard? I’ve heard of people buying the popular Dell 1395 (?) wireless card and flipping their laptop over — installing it into the machine and running a wireless fix on it (Google, InsanelyMac, for more information).

Maybe this would work on the Gateway? I wish I had working Ethernet on my Dell Inspiron 1525, but instead I have wireless working (AirPort!) and won’t be messing with the wired any time soon…

Danny said,

August 25, 2008 @ 3:34 PM

well ethernet is working for me, i just made a DiY cable from a 3′ ethernet cable and some phone lines. But I’m just waiting for a friend to let me have theirs, if not i can buy a usb one from radioshack for $40

Danny said,

August 25, 2008 @ 3:54 PM

Besides I’m not too good with laptop internals, only desktops. Oh btw there’s a bluetooth button, BUT the laptop has no bluetooth. Funny right?

Richard said,

August 25, 2008 @ 3:56 PM

Danny
Besides I’m not too good with laptop internals, only desktops. Oh btw there’s a bluetooth button, BUT the laptop has no bluetooth. Funny right?

And the sales person at Best Buy told me it had bluetooth. I saw the button myself and didn’t think to check the demo Windows Vista model. We’re both fools! Damn Acer (Gateway).

Danny said,

August 25, 2008 @ 4:01 PM

When I went to BestBuy they usually have the laptop’s stored under the display’s but for some reason they had like M6846’s under the m6843. Yet, I didn’t see that model for sale.
Richard can you help me with my sleep problem? Or is it a power management/battery status that is causing the problem

Danny said,

August 25, 2008 @ 4:06 PM

Well I just found out a funny shortcut for eject, F11 and F12 continuously until it pops open.

Danny said,

August 25, 2008 @ 4:08 PM

DannyWell I just found out a funny shortcut for eject, F11 and F12 continuously until it pops open.

Nevermind its F11 F12 F11 F12 F11 F12 and then add some F10 in there

Danny said,

August 29, 2008 @ 9:14 PM

So, I’ve just bought a Netgear WG111 v2 usb adapter. Now I’ve got everything except sleep working. And I don’t think my expresscard is working

Don said,

September 22, 2008 @ 5:30 PM

I have a Gateway M-6846. I have most things working, i.e. sound, battery meter, wifi (with the help of a Netgear WG111v2 USB adapter), sleep, keyboard, trackpad and sound. My only problem is that I can’t for the life of me get the thing to shut off fully. It only does a reboot basically, and I have to hold down the power button to get it to shut off.

Has anyone found a fix for this that I haven’t found yet?

I also notice that if I have CI/QE enabled, I get strange artifacts on the screen around the top header of the windows I have opened, so I just leave it disabled. Anyone else have that problem as well?

I’m not using Kalyway, but JaS 10.5.4 with the 9.4 vanilla kernal.

But besides all that, it runs flawlessly.

Any advice would be great!

Richard said,

September 22, 2008 @ 5:34 PM

I have similar issues with my Inspiron 1525 (Kalyway).

Open Terminal and type “sudo shutdown -h now” without the quotes. Enter your user password and it should shut down cleanly. To reboot, type “sudo shutdown -r now” or “sudo reboot” — Should work for anyone having issues with reboot/shutdown on any Mac, Hackintosh, HackBook, etc.

Don said,

September 22, 2008 @ 6:08 PM

Unfortunately that didn’t work for me, just rebooted.

Richard said,

September 22, 2008 @ 6:22 PM

Strange… Are you sure you used “sudo shutdown -h now” (-h is shutdown, -r is reboot)?

Don said,

September 22, 2008 @ 6:32 PM

Positive. I even tried it again to see if I did type it in wrong, but it once again did the same thing. My alert rang like 6 times, said it was going to shutdown, and then just restarted.

Don said,

September 23, 2008 @ 10:40 AM

Looks like I figured out why my system was rebooting instead of shutting down; I checked my bios and noticed that I still had Wake on LAN enabled. I disabled it and used the terminal script and it shut down properly. Thanks for the heads up on that.

However, is there a way to make an icon to do that, or maybe a way to edit the link under the Apple menu to make that happen without going in to the terminal?

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