SZ series: Changing internal wireless card?

I would like to get wifi working on my Sony SZ450N/C I am looking specifically at the Dell Truemobile 1490... However, I have heard that many companies, such as HP, won't allow non-HP or non-approved wireless cards to be used in their laptops, meaning that the replacement card would not work at all. Does anyone know if the Sony BIOS allows users to swap the Mini PCI-E Intel 3954 WiFi card with another one?

 

Nevermind, I was able to answer my own question. I used the Atheros AR5BXB6 Mini-PCIe from a Thinkpad T60, and I got it fully working as a native AirPort card under OS X. Still working fully under Windows Vista as well.

 

How did you managed to get OSX to run on your Vaio SZ! I have been reading around the InsanelyMac forums that people are having problems getting their Vaio SZ to run OSX86. Please let me know if you have any kind of OSX86 installation guide for the SZ as I would like to test installing it on my new SZ when I receive it later this week.

 

Well, I didn't see a whole lot of people on InsanelyMac that had installed OSX on the SZ series. There was a small tread devoted entirely to Sony VAIO users...

However, I can verify that I have 10.4.9 running very well on my SZ450N/C. It just takes a bunch of kext modification to get everything up and running. Upon first boot, my display resolution was not correct, my built in ethernet was not recognized, and onboard sound didn't work. I have all of those working well now, and the integrated graphics has native QE/CI accelerated graphics.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.

 

It’s great to know that someone has managed to get osx86 to run on his Vaio SZ. I have the following questions for you

Which ISO release you have you used for the installation? I have already got JaS.Mac.OS.X.10.4.9.AMD.Intel.SSE2.SSE3.PPF.1.Defiant.diskutil.ich7 ISO. Will this work directly or do I need to apply specific patches?

Have you managed to get 10.4.9 to dual boot with Vista? What tools do I need to use to enable this?

What customization options have selected during the installation?

Have you managed to get the built web cam, wireless, Bluetooth, nvidia card and DVD drive to work under osx?

 

We can discuss specific releases in PM.

I have successfully gotten osx dual booting with Vista. I used chain0 to add a "Mac OS X Tiger" option in the new vista bootloader.

Customization options, I don't really remember... I just selected what seemed right upon installation.

I haven't gotten the web cam working, although it did demonstrate some peculiar behavior upon first boot up.... Wireless does not work with the integrated Intel 3945abg mini pci-express card, but it DOES work after switching it with an Atheros based card from a Thinkpad t60. Bluetooth works out of the box. Nvidia card I haven't actually tried, but I know that people who have tried do not have accelerated graphics. DVD drive works natively without any modification.

 

TriHFH, thanks for the info. Will PM you later with few pre-installation questions once I have my SZ ready for OSx86.

 

Perhaps you can post a new thread on how to do an installation of OSx86 on an SZ? I'm sure quite a few of us would be interested. =)

 

TriHFH, you mind telling me which audio codec you are using on 10.4.9 ? Thanks

 

I used the AppleHDA solution with a custom driver I found here.

 

Could you pm me which ISO release you used, and what modifications were required? Thanks a mil.

 

I'll PM you later tonight when I find some free time... but I just wanted to post saying that I'm on OS X right now using the wireless Atheros based card that I just bought off of ebay

 

TriHFH, how well is the OSx running on your SZ ? I hope that the performance is comparable or better than the Intel Macbooks. I am going to install the OSx86 on my SZ mainly for the video editing applications available on OSx, like Final Cut HD and iMovie HD.

 

It is running very well, actually. The things I don't have working currently are the built in webcam/microphone, pcmcia slot, and memory stick pro duo slot... everything else it working, although i haven't actually tested the fingerprint reader but it is recognized.

In terms of performance, I find that it performs very well. I would imagine that it performs just as well on my SZ than any other macbook w/ similar specifications. The only thing that doesn't work for me right now is the Sleep function... there apparently is a fix that works for some people but i haven't taken the time to try it out.

 

What is the model of the Atheros wireless card that you're using? Mind telling us?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Genuine-IBM-Ath...ryZ45000QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


That's the exact one I bought from the same seller. It was the exact card that I tried out of a Thinkpad T60, so I was sure that it would work. I'm sure there are cheaper solutions but I didn't want to take any chances.

 

i would be awesome if u can actually take time to image ur hard drive and put it in one of the torrents so sorry asses like me dont have to go all the trouble. we can just download the image and imprint on our sony sz...plzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

hi, just a question about the type of wireless card you installed.
i am currently looking to changed the default card for a atheros 5008 11n card.
for this i just wantd to find out if the sz supports n draft cards? did you happen to notice when doing the change did the sz have 2 or 3 internal antennas?
couldnt find much on information regarding this matter and hoping you could help.
thanks