The Hackintosh Thread

[purbeast0]

so i made a bootable backup last night with superduper! and used multibeast to make the partition have it's own bootloader too. booted it up and it's fine. i'm making a time machine backup right now as well on another partition.

i think after this is done i'm gonna see if i can get the latest mountain lion on here.

anyone have any suggestions on how to go about doing that? are the iatkos discs the best to try and use? i plan on purchasing mountain lion even if i download some version that is hacked to work with hackintoshes. is purchasing the disc at the store better than through their app store? or it's no different?

 

[purbeast0]

so i'm trying to purchase mountain lion from the app store, but it's saying that mountain lion is not compatible with this computer and it will not let me actually purchase it. my research shows that this computer should run it fine and that it's 64bit (i'm pretty sure it is).

anyone have any idea how i can get it? i wanted to dl it from the app store and make the unibeast usb installation thing and give it a go tomorrow.

 

[AkumaX]

so i'm trying to purchase mountain lion from the app store, but it's saying that mountain lion is not compatible with this computer and it will not let me actually purchase it. my research shows that this computer should run it fine and that it's 64bit (i'm pretty sure it is).

anyone have any idea how i can get it? i wanted to dl it from the app store and make the unibeast usb installation thing and give it a go tomorrow.

you can't go from snow leopard to mountain lion (10.6.8 -> 10.8.x)

you actually have to download/"purchase" lion... then you'd go from 10.6.8->10.7->10.8...

 

[destrekor]

so i'm trying to purchase mountain lion from the app store, but it's saying that mountain lion is not compatible with this computer and it will not let me actually purchase it. my research shows that this computer should run it fine and that it's 64bit (i'm pretty sure it is).

anyone have any idea how i can get it? i wanted to dl it from the app store and make the unibeast usb installation thing and give it a go tomorrow.

Are you attempting to download from within Windows?

You have to get it from an OS X install. I downloaded it through an iATKOS VM.

 

[purbeast0]

you can't go from snow leopard to mountain lion (10.6.8 -> 10.8.x)

you actually have to download/"purchase" lion... then you'd go from 10.6.8->10.7->10.8...

hmmm are you sure about that? from a lot of the research i've done it has mentioned nothing of that.

even on the unibeast tutorial here...

http://www.tonymacx86.com/61-unibeast-install-os-x-mountain-lion-any-supported-intel-based-pc.html

it says all you need is a mac with at least 10.6.6 running, but that is just to get the mountain lion from the app store.

 

[purbeast0]

Are you attempting to download from within Windows?

You have to get it from an OS X install. I downloaded it through an iATKOS VM.

i couldn't download it from a 10.6.8 installation. i just picked up a 16gb flash drive at staples (btw they are $9 for the kingston ones that are $10.xx on amazon, great deal) and am going to try and make the boot usb drive from someone's laptop here at work today.

 

[mosslack]

i just picked up a 16gb flash drive at staples (btw they are $9 for the kingston ones that are $10.xx on amazon, great deal).

Thanks for this, I just reserved one at my local Staples.

As already suggested, you can use VirtualBox to create a VM and use iAtKos L2 as the OS to download ML from the App store. Just be sure to save it to an area other than the VM drive so it will be easier to get to. Make a copy of it saved to an alternate location also for safe keeping.

 

[purbeast0]

Thanks for this, I just reserved one at my local Staples.

As already suggested, you can use VirtualBox to create a VM and use iAtKos L2 as the OS to download ML from the App store. Just be sure to save it to an area other than the VM drive so it will be easier to get to. Make a copy of it saved to an alternate location also for safe keeping.

im gonna try tonight to see if i can edit the smbios.plist to make my laptop able to download it. i tried a few last night. 1/2 the time i got a panic starting up and had to delete it, the other 1/2 it simply did not let me download it still.

does anyone know though, if i am getting the error about downloading it, if i can download the mountain lion app file, put it on a usb, and then drop it into my applications folder, if it will actually drop in there? apparently it HAS to be in there in order for the unibeast installer thing to make a bootable usb.

i was going to download it on a coworkers laptop today at work but didn't because i wouldn't be able to make the usb stick on his laptop since he's busy all day. but he did say i could just download it and copy it to usb if i wanted to.

 

[mosslack]

im gonna try tonight to see if i can edit the smbios.plist to make my laptop able to download it. i tried a few last night. 1/2 the time i got a panic starting up and had to delete it, the other 1/2 it simply did not let me download it still.

does anyone know though, if i am getting the error about downloading it, if i can download the mountain lion app file, put it on a usb, and then drop it into my applications folder, if it will actually drop in there? apparently it HAS to be in there in order for the unibeast installer thing to make a bootable usb.

i was going to download it on a coworkers laptop today at work but didn't because i wouldn't be able to make the usb stick on his laptop since he's busy all day. but he did say i could just download it and copy it to usb if i wanted to.

I've moved the installer app file all over the place with no problem. I keep a master backup of all the versions of both Lion and ML in folder on my server for safe keeping. BTW, I have both the Lion (10.7.3) and ML (10.8.3) in my Applications folder at the same time and so far I haven't had any problems creating an installer flash drive using UniBeast.

BTW, if you dare use myHack, it doesn't care where the installer app resides. It will scan your system to find it and let you choose from those it finds. I vastly prefer myHack over UniBeast, but given the update problems I've had on a couple of different systems, I can't totally recommend it.

 

[mosslack]

Okay, I have my new Kingston 16 Gb flash drive from Staples. Now I have a question. Since the drive is big enough to accommodate both Lion and ML installers, using 2 partitions, has anyone tried this and does it work?

If it does, I would like to try the same procedure for the myHack versions of the Lion and ML installers on a Sandisk 16 Gb flash drive.

 

[purbeast0]

Okay, I have my new Kingston 16 Gb flash drive from Staples. Now I have a question. Since the drive is big enough to accommodate both Lion and ML installers, using 2 partitions, has anyone tried this and does it work?

If it does, I would like to try the same procedure for the myHack versions of the Lion and ML installers on a Sandisk 16 Gb flash drive.

i don't think it does. i was trying to do this last night on my 640gb usb drive. it already has 3 partitions on it with empty space. i couldn't change it to a master boot partition for an unallocated spot on the drive. you could only do that when you got off of the "current" setting and changed it to 1 partition.

now if you were to format the whole thing with 2 partitions maybe you could. but if you already had a partition on it and tried to use the other partition, that is what did not work for me last night.

as far as you moving the L and ML app files around, did you download them on that machine? the reason i ask is because right now my system won't even let me dl it, and when i go to move it into my app directory, i wonder if it will say it's not compatible with my computer.

i know when i dl'ed xcode 4.5, then tried to install it, it wouldn't even let me open it. i can't remember if i tried to just drop it in the application folder though or not. perhaps i can try that tonight too.

 

[mosslack]

As a matter of fact, I downloaded it on another system b/c I cannot get into my App store account on the system I originally downloaded it from. You can log in and download the same app as many times as you want AFAIK.

FYI, I have both Lion and ML UniBeast installers on that same 16 Gb Kingston flash drive. I haven't tried it out yet, but it should work. I hope.

EDIT: Oops, made a mistake. Used the GUID partition scheme and the system I'm trying to test it on doesn't support USB devices using that partition scheme. Going back and using MBR this time.

 

[purbeast0]

so i think i MIGHT know why i can't download this from the app store.

i ran the macwelt mountaion lion tester application, and my vram is showing 4mb there, and that is the only "red" option it shows. when i go to my system information it shows 64mb shared vram.

anyone have any clue where this macwelt mountain lion tester is getting this 4mb number from? i'm thinking that apple is also seeing that, and it's the reason it won't let me grab the update.

i've spoofed it to think i'm running a different mac, and i see that it shows the spoofed version on this application, as well as the spoofed osx version, so the spoof is definitely working. i think it just has to do with the vram now though.

any ideas?

 

[mosslack]

so i think i MIGHT know why i can't download this from the app store.

i ran the macwelt mountaion lion tester application, and my vram is showing 4mb there, and that is the only "red" option it shows. when i go to my system information it shows 64mb shared vram.

anyone have any clue where this macwelt mountain lion tester is getting this 4mb number from? i'm thinking that apple is also seeing that, and it's the reason it won't let me grab the update.

i've spoofed it to think i'm running a different mac, and i see that it shows the spoofed version on this application, as well as the spoofed osx version, so the spoof is definitely working. i think it just has to do with the vram now though.

any ideas?

Not sure about that, I've downloaded it on my MSI system with it's 3 video cards and 6 monitors and I don't believe there are any true Macs like that out there, but I may be wrong.

I still think running Lion in a VM is your best bet.

 

[mosslack]

Okay, I have my new Kingston 16 Gb flash drive from Staples. Now I have a question. Since the drive is big enough to accommodate both Lion and ML installers, using 2 partitions, has anyone tried this and does it work?

If it does, I would like to try the same procedure for the myHack versions of the Lion and ML installers on a Sandisk 16 Gb flash drive.

FYI, I have both Lion and ML UniBeast installers on that same 16 Gb Kingston flash drive. I haven't tried it out yet, but it should work. I hope.

EDIT: Oops, made a mistake. Used the GUID partition scheme and the system I'm trying to test it on doesn't support USB devices using that partition scheme. Going back and using MBR this time.

I was successful in this attempt. I now have both the Lion and ML UniBeast installers on the same 16 Gb flash drive, each in it's own partition. The test install went just fine for both Lion and ML, so this is $9 well spent!

 

[purbeast0]

pretty much stuck at this point. after hours of googling i finally figured out what caused my vram to be reporting wrong. it was my IOGraphicsFamily and IOVND-something kext from the 10.6.8 upgrade that caused it to happen. i downgraded to the previous version, and now the mountaion lion tester reports correct vram.

HOWEVER ... i still cannot download from the store, getting the same error when trying to get mountain lion. i have tried using smbios.plist files to spoof the os into thinking i have a different mac, and have had no luck with that either.

tomorrow im hopefully gonna be able to dl the installation file from a coworker at work.

 

[purbeast0]

well i just purchased it on my coworkers laptop and copying the installer over to a usb right now. hopefully tonight i can at least try to get an install going. i am planning on it failing and not going smoothly, and i'll have to figure out why, but i'll be making some progress at least.

i do have a clone of my stable 10.6.8 install on a usb drive just in case i totally botch something though.

 

[mosslack]

well i just purchased it on my coworkers laptop and copying the installer over to a usb right now. hopefully tonight i can at least try to get an install going. i am planning on it failing and not going smoothly, and i'll have to figure out why, but i'll be making some progress at least.

i do have a clone of my stable 10.6.8 install on a usb drive just in case i totally botch something though.

Always best to have a backup. Good luck.

 

[jnporter099]

Hey Kaido, I asked you about your Acer 4830T hack a page or so back. I wondered if you might have a DSDT for this notebook or some relevant kexts, etc. I want to hack mine but didn't want to reinvent the wheel, if somebody had already made it work. Could ya help a brother out? Thanks

 

[Kaido]

Hey Kaido, I asked you about your Acer 4830T hack a page or so back. I wondered if you might have a DSDT for this notebook or some relevant kexts, etc. I want to hack mine but didn't want to reinvent the wheel, if somebody had already made it work. Could ya help a brother out? Thanks

I don't have the 4830T anymore, but I did install 10.8 Mountain Lion successfully on it. It was pretty stupid fast with the Core i7 upgrade: (quad i7-2670QM)

http://telly.com/M0AAD

I went with a Dell DW1515 (eBay, $10 shipped) for a replacement compatible Wifi chip, along with 16 gigs of RAM and also replaced the optical drive with a 2nd hard drive. I used this adapter: (eBay, $10 shipped)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290706349109

Tip on splash screen customization:

http://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Anno...formation-About-Custom-Splash-Screen-Requests

If I remember right, the basic install procedure was to setup an 8-gig USB stick with Tonymac's Unibeast in Laptop Mode (iirc you select laptop support while setting up the stick) and going from there. I think it still had some quirks (USB3, no sleep, etc.) but nothing show-stopping. An SSD for a boot drive definitely helps. I believe I got sound & 2-finger scrolling working as well, although both were kind of quirky. The Unibeast software is available here, although you'll need to register for a free account to get it:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/home.php

So give the USB thing a shot & report back with what works & what doesn't. It will probably be a bit of a research project to get it up & running to where you like it. Definitely swap out the Wifi card for something compatible. Don't expect miracles, but it did work & work nicely when I had it (I needed a dedicated GPU for my video projects, which is probably the main reason I no longer have it - great laptop otherwise!).

 

[Kaido]

Okay, I have my new Kingston 16 Gb flash drive from Staples. Now I have a question. Since the drive is big enough to accommodate both Lion and ML installers, using 2 partitions, has anyone tried this and does it work?

If it does, I would like to try the same procedure for the myHack versions of the Lion and ML installers on a Sandisk 16 Gb flash drive.

I've done a lot of crazy things with USB sticks and they generally work, provided the USB stick is bootable. I believe I have done multi-install sticks before...the trick is to restore the DMG/ISO's to each partition via Disk Utility and then install the bootloader, so you have a selection option - basically no different from doing it via a hard drive.

Unibeast has worked so well for me that I bought like a 5-pack of sticks and labeled them 10.8 Desktop, 10.8 Laptop, 10.8 Stock Mac, etc. (and, uh, Windows 7...haha). I also tested keeping my master install (an up-to-date patched master image file from a 10-gig partition) on USB stick along with the Unibeast installer, so basically I could boot up on Unibeast, restore the pre-patched master from a DMG on the USB stick to the local hard drive, boot it up using the stick, and then copy over the Unibeast installer to make the drive bootable. Made fresh installs WAY easier. Although usually I just use a USB dock if I'm near my Mac and zap it over that way.

 

[mosslack]

FYI, I tested the UniBeast versions and they both work just fine. I have the myHack versions installed on another 16 Gb flash drive, but I have not tested those yet. I'm pretty sure they will work as well. Very good idea, should have done this long ago.

 

[purbeast0]

so i ran into another roadblock tonight. took me like 2 hours to get into the actual mountaion lion installer from the usb stick due to some errors i was getting, but i finally got around it and into the installer.

the problem now is that in the installer, it can't find my hard drive. all it finds, in the disk utility, is the usb drive that is plugged in. my bios settings are in the ahci mode for the sata (or whatever the correct one is). i've been searching the past hour or so and have not had any luck.

any suggestions? i'm so close to getting the installation in!

 

[purbeast0]

another question since i've been trying to figure this not detecting hdd issue all night, with no luck...

i have an external western digital usb drive that is one of those powered enclosures. so i took it apart and put my internal hdd from this hackintosh in there and tried to boot up my unibeast usb. i noticed that at the unibeast usb loading screen, it did not recognize the usb enclosure with this hdd in it. all it had was the option to boot from the usb stick, where when this hdd is inside of the computer, it has that option as well.

so i went into the ML installer and i went to the disk utility, it actually saw my hdd on the usb drive. this never happened when it was inside of the computer. however it was labeled as "WD Passport" or something, not the normal name of "Snow Leopard" that is has. i also noticed that when i tried to install without formatting it, hoping it would see my snow leopard partition and let me upgrade it, that it did not recognize it there. so i would have to format it to install to it.

i then rebooted and took out all of the usb stuff except for the hdd in the enclosure. i tried to see if the laptop would boot with just the hdd in the enclosure, and it didn't. so it wasn't seeing it as a startup disc from the usb, but it does see it as a startup when inside my computer.

so my question is, if i were to install ML with it in the usb enclosure, and it succeeded, would it be screwed up when i put the hdd back inside of the laptop, or would it work fine?

 

[purbeast0]

just realized that i have my ps3 original 60gb hard drive around the house that is a laptop sata drive. gonna try to install it with the usb external harness and see if i can get it working from inside the laptop after it installs to it, if i even get that far lol. i'll report back after i try that out.