HowTo get 1366×768 resolution on Dell with Leopard

!!This method is deprecated, use patched chameleon method instead. Click here!!

As requested by many users, I’ll try to write a more detailed step-by-step guide, aimed to get the native resolution on Dell Inspiron 1545.

(For the installation of Leopard see the previous post)

The method relies on a working Linux installation, and uses a modified grub2 with video bios patch. In particular, these instructions are tested with Ubuntu 9.04 and Arch Linux, but are valid for any other recent distribution.
So, open a terminal and begin:

- Install the necessary packages to compile the code:

$ sudo apt-get install autoconf automake bison bzip2 make

- Download the already patched grub2 source from here:
http://www.divshare.com/download/7985719-5b6
- Extract the content from the archive and configure:

$ tar xjvf path/to/grub2-1_96_20081229patched_tar.bz2
$ cd grub2-1.96_20081229
$ ./configure –prefix=/usr

- If configure gives no error, you can compile with:

$ make

- Then install the package with:

$ sudo make install

- Now you have to install the new version of grub into the mbr of your hard disk, specifying your hd string (usually /dev/sda):

$ sudo grub-install /dev/sda

- The final step (on linux) is to edit the provided configuration file:

$ leafpad grub.cfg (use your favorite editor)

Go near the end of file, and change the boot entries accordingly to your installed operating systems.
You can help using the old /boot/grub/menu.lst, but keep in mind that in new grub the partition mapping starts with 1 instead of 0. For example (hd0,0) must be replaced with (hd0,1), and so on.
- Here’s an example of menu entries needed for Ubuntu 9.04, supposing it’s installed on the first partition:

menuentry “Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-15″ {
set root=(hd0,1)
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=/dev/sda1 ro vga=792
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic
}
menuentry “Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-15 (recovery)” {
set root=(hd0,1)
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=/dev/sda1 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic
}

- These lines are related to Leopard, supposing it’s installed on the third partition of the first hd:

menuentry “Leopard” {
set root=(hd0,3)
multiboot (hd0,3)/boot
}

- When you finish and are sure that is all correct, save and copy grub.cfg to /boot/grub:

$ sudo cp grub.cfg /boot/grub/

- Now reboot in Leopard and edit com.apple.Boot.plist, opening a terminal and giving the command:

$ sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist

At the end of file, before </dict></plist> tags, add this lines:

<key>Graphics Mode</key>
<string>1366x768x32</string>

- Then reboot again in Leopard and cross your fingers..