The Hackintosh Thread

[purbeast0]

well i ended up trying one last thing last night and got the wireless usb dongle working.

turns out the company has 2 kinds of dongles that are the same model number but have different chipsets. the one included with the dongle was for ralink, so that is what i was googling all night trying to figure out.

i ended up just trying the realtek drivers from their website for the hell of it cause nothing else worked, and what do you know, it worked no problem.

so basically they packaged the wrong drivers in with the dongle.

on a side note, what is probably the cheapest i could build a desktop hackintosh that would support dual monitors and be decent for devving iOS apps and basically browsing the net? no gaming or anything like that. also one that will be an easy OSX install not a PITA like some of them can be.

that may be a better solution than trying to figure out a docking station or something.

anyone know much about the Dell Optiplex being okay for hackintosh? they have a buncha models in the dell outlet on sale right now with a coupon and saw a decent one for like $400. it's the 7010 model, but was wondering if there are any other models people know of that would be sufficient for my needs that may be cheaper.

 

[Zaap]

^talk to mosslack. He's the undisputed king of budget Hackintoshes.

 

[mosslack]

on a side note, what is probably the cheapest i could build a desktop hackintosh that would support dual monitors and be decent for devving iOS apps and basically browsing the net? no gaming or anything like that. also one that will be an easy OSX install not a PITA like some of them can be.

that may be a better solution than trying to figure out a docking station or something.

anyone know much about the Dell Optiplex being okay for hackintosh? they have a buncha models in the dell outlet on sale right now with a coupon and saw a decent one for like $400. it's the 7010 model, but was wondering if there are any other models people know of that would be sufficient for my needs that may be cheaper.

For more info the 7010, check this out:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/mountain-lion-desktop-guides/86806-moutain-lion-dell-optiplex-7010-a.html

For other desktop models, a quick Google of the model number plus the word hackintosh or osx86 will bring up some good info on any perspective system.

Generally any PC running a core 2 duo or better with a PCIe slot for a proper video card is a good prospect. Most supported video cards will support 2 monitors if the proper outputs are supplied (DVI, HDMI, VGA). The inexpensive GeForce 210 in my HP DC7700 has all 3 outputs, but only any 2 are usable at the same time.

Here is the guide I wrote for the DC7700 or DC7800 to run Lion or Mountain Lion so you can see the steps involved:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mp9g9oFPXLQhBbofosDocTuRGzBwTxN0EHznCaOdI2s/edit?pli=1

HTH

 

[purbeast0]

For more info the 7010, check this out:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/mountain-lion-desktop-guides/86806-moutain-lion-dell-optiplex-7010-a.html

For other desktop models, a quick Google of the model number plus the word hackintosh or osx86 will bring up some good info on any perspective system.

Generally any PC running a core 2 duo or better with a PCIe slot for a proper video card is a good prospect. Most supported video cards will support 2 monitors if the proper outputs are supplied (DVI, HDMI, VGA). The inexpensive GeForce 210 in my HP DC7700 has all 3 outputs, but only any 2 are usable at the same time.

Here is the guide I wrote for the DC7700 or DC7800 to run Lion or Mountain Lion so you can see the steps involved:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mp9g9oFPXLQhBbofosDocTuRGzBwTxN0EHznCaOdI2s/edit?pli=1

HTH

yeah i saw that link earlier when i googled, but the process didn't seem as simple as it was to do it on my inspiron, so i was wondering if there was anything else suggested in that range or cheaper.

i'm not even sure if those have dual output to be honest heh, but it was just me looking real quick earlier.

do you have any suggestions as to the cheapest way to get a somewhat decent hackintosh that can do dual-monitor display and be decent for ios development and just normal web browsing?

 

[mosslack]

I don't do any IOS development so I really don't know how much horsepower you need for that, but my little cheap HP DC7700 and DC7800 will surf the web with the best of them. Dual monitor just depends on what video card you use, both of mine have dual monitor support.

These 2 systems are the cheapest ones I've found so far, but as neither have AHCI, a special kext is required to allow OS X to recognize the internal SATA hard drives. Not a big deal, but something to be aware of.

I would say most P35 (or higher) based systems avoid this pitfall, but always do your research before buying to make sure AHCI is supported on the system you are considering.

The Hackintosh Compatibility List is a good place to look for systems of all kinds that have been hacked, along with what it took to get the OS installed. There is an HCL for each version of the OS you may want to run, you can start looking here:

http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

As I said before, just Google with any specific model number and the word hackintosh or osx86 and you should come up with the information you need. HTH

 

[destrekor]

I just want to confirm I'm approaching this right:

I want to keep my OS X install clean and vanilla. So, I have a USB drive I'm dedicating to the Boot OS X task.

In said USB disk (told Chimera to install to it), I have an /Extra folder, and I have a System/Library/Extensions folder. In that /Extra folder, there is no Extensions folder (so, no /Extra/Extensions).
On USB, is one more important than the other? Everything in USB/S/L/E/, should all that be in USB/Extra/Extensions instead?

I might not have enough kexts or have configured things well enough, because as of yet I cannot boot to my OSX installation using this Chimera-configured bootdisk. I tried, but got a kernel panic.

I don't know if I need DSDTs first (Asus P8Z68 Deluxe, older version as opposed to GEN3)., if I haven't dug into certain kexts when I should be, or what.

I see one kext is not anywhere on the USB bootloader, AHCIPortInjector.kext, which I had to both place there and tweak so that it could see my hard disks (set to SATA:RAID, which IS technically AHCI as well - plus, OS X is sharing an SSD with Windows Server 2012).

I just copied that over to the USB bootloader, but a) I don't know if I need to do more (rather type this and check when I get back home versus test without time to type), and b) I don't know if I'm even putting it in the right spot (USB: /S/L/E)

 

[Kaido]

I just want to confirm I'm approaching this right:

I want to keep my OS X install clean and vanilla. So, I have a USB drive I'm dedicating to the Boot OS X task.

In said USB disk (told Chimera to install to it), I have an /Extra folder, and I have a System/Library/Extensions folder. In that /Extra folder, there is no Extensions folder (so, no /Extra/Extensions).
On USB, is one more important than the other? Everything in USB/S/L/E/, should all that be in USB/Extra/Extensions instead?

I might not have enough kexts or have configured things well enough, because as of yet I cannot boot to my OSX installation using this Chimera-configured bootdisk. I tried, but got a kernel panic.

I don't know if I need DSDTs first (Asus P8Z68 Deluxe, older version as opposed to GEN3)., if I haven't dug into certain kexts when I should be, or what.

I see one kext is not anywhere on the USB bootloader, AHCIPortInjector.kext, which I had to both place there and tweak so that it could see my hard disks (set to SATA:RAID, which IS technically AHCI as well - plus, OS X is sharing an SSD with Windows Server 2012).

I just copied that over to the USB bootloader, but a) I don't know if I need to do more (rather type this and check when I get back home versus test without time to type), and b) I don't know if I'm even putting it in the right spot (USB: /S/L/E)

I think Tonymac's installer puts some stuff in SLE, but you should also have an EE folder as well for the SMBIOS Plist, the Boot Plist, etc. at minimum, not to mention any kexts that don't require SLE loading.

I'll be putting my B75M-D3P together this weekend and will post the steps for my USB boot method in detail when I'm all set on it. Hopefully that will help a bit.

 

[destrekor]

I think Tonymac's installer puts some stuff in SLE, but you should also have an EE folder as well for the SMBIOS Plist, the Boot Plist, etc. at minimum, not to mention any kexts that don't require SLE loading.

I'll be putting my B75M-D3P together this weekend and will post the steps for my USB boot method in detail when I'm all set on it. Hopefully that will help a bit.

I'm sitting in the jury waiting room and can't remember the text exactly...


Will a kernel panic spit out text pointing to the exact kext? I think it said something about the apple intel power blahblahblah. Which I recognize as one that's in SLE on the USB drive.
I think there is some plist files in Extras but no extensions folder as I mentioned.

 

[Kaido]

I'm sitting in the jury waiting room and can't remember the text exactly...


Will a kernel panic spit out text pointing to the exact kext? I think it said something about the apple intel power blahblahblah. Which I recognize as one that's in SLE on the USB drive.
I think there is some plist files in Extras but no extensions folder as I mentioned.

Usually you have the power management killer kext in EE, so that's what you're probably running into. I'll zip up my EE for you if you're back tonight.

Also good luck, I just had mine - sat for 8 straight hours without getting called :biggrin:

 

[jnporter099]

Nice! I did an Acer 4830t a few months ago with an i7-2670QM upgrade (quad chip, was surprised it worked!), that thing was insane! Plus 16 gigs of RAM and the dual-drive mod, so nice to have an SSD + storage. I wasn't crazy about the screen resolution, but it wasn't bad.

Hey Kaido, I have a 4830T laying around that I'd like to Hack if it isn't too very technical. I've successfully built a couple Customacs using Tonymac guides and tools, but I'm really not into major Kext editing and such.

Do you remember the procedure for the 4830T? Maybe you could give me some quick advice? Thanks

 

[destrekor]

Usually you have the power management killer kext in EE, so that's what you're probably running into. I'll zip up my EE for you if you're back tonight.

Also good luck, I just had mine - sat for 8 straight hours without getting called :biggrin:

I missed this somehow, then didn't see the thread get bumped anymore in my subscription list.

I ended up sitting on a jury for two days. Convicted a crack dealer and got $40 for the effort, on top of what work would have paid me for the days anyhow. :awe:


I digress.
Yeah, I've added SSDT's (following a guide, there is an SSDT and an SSDT-1 for my P8Z68 Deluxe, it was said to put both in Extras).
There is no EE folder, so I'll have to add that, and place the AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement kext in EE then?

It was patched, which following said guide is sufficient to negate the need to patch my BIOS.
I only fear the idea that my OC is screwing everything up, but at the least I should be able to boot, yes? I might have screwy or missing P-states, but would that prevent boot?

I'll give it a try tonight. I couldn't find where in the SSDT's I needed to modify for specific CPU frequencies... but again, not even sure if that'll be an issue, and I doubt the issue would be there...

 

[purbeast0]

went to submit an app tonight that i built for ios on my 10.6.8 hackintosh, and my version of xcode doesn't have iphone 5 support, so it was rejected. so i tried to get the latest version of xcode and it requires 10.7.4 or higher.

anyone have any idea if there is anyway to get 10.7.4 or higher on an inspiron 1545? i'm going to do some research tomorrow but i'm too tired now and pissed that i can't submit my app since i'm all done with it. will check back tomorrow!

 

[vailr]

any idea if there is anyway to get 10.7.4 or higher on an inspiron 1545?

OSX 10.7 & later require a 64-bit CPU.
What CPU does your Inspiron 1545 have?

 

[purbeast0]

OSX 10.7 & later require a 64-bit CPU.
What CPU does your Inspiron 1545 have?

ah okay i'm not sure what cpu it has. i will have to check when i get home.

i think i'm going to just look for an old mac mini and use that for devving. i can just use my hackintosh around the house.

 

[Kaido]

went to submit an app tonight that i built for ios on my 10.6.8 hackintosh, and my version of xcode doesn't have iphone 5 support, so it was rejected. so i tried to get the latest version of xcode and it requires 10.7.4 or higher.

anyone have any idea if there is anyway to get 10.7.4 or higher on an inspiron 1545? i'm going to do some research tomorrow but i'm too tired now and pissed that i can't submit my app since i'm all done with it. will check back tomorrow!

Starting point:

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/281614-appleyukon2-troubles-on-a-dell-inspiron-1545/

 

[purbeast0]

welp looks like i won't have to worry because i've worked my way around it!

figured out how to get xcode 4.2 on snow leopard 10.6.8 (which was a PITA by itself due to some bug with 10.6.8) and then how to get ios 6.1 sdk working with 4.2.

after tweaking my app to look native on iphone 5 and taking some screen shots, it's finally been submitted and waiting review lol.

 

[mosslack]

For the second time now, I have used myHack to install Lion (10.7.3) on a system (Foxconn G31MXP-K), and I am unable to apply any OS update. I've tried 10.7.4 and 10.7.5 combo updates as well as using software update.

In each case the update will proceed normally until near the end of the process when the system has a KP (You need to restart message appears on the desktop). The filesystem is then corrupted and a re-install is necessary.

Previously I had a similar experience with the HP DC7800 when I used myHack. The difference was it was Mountain Lion and even though the update said it failed, the system did restart and reported 10.8.3 installed. In both cases, using UniBeast for the initial install allowed the system to be updated normally.

I really like the myHack installer, but if this happens on a regular basis, I can't see making it my installer of choice. I've posted on the myHack forum for answers, but so far none have been forthcoming.

If anyone has any information on this I wish you would share it.

 

[zingaro100]

bought a G5 for almost $5k. It's still running but am "topped" out on what I can run. I'm still debating - the G5 was the first system I didn't build myself. Always graciously asked for help then. Some of my concerns are peripherals - I uses FW400 for audio I/O - so that will be an issue. Everybody is waiting for new MacPro. Dunno why (new) Apple has to rush that way... they're making too much on "i Products... to greatly justify new MacPro. I still think they will build one though... and the pro market will support it. What about the Apple Pro Software? Final Cut...Logic Audio... will it stay around?

 

[Kaido]

bought a G5 for almost $5k. It's still running but am "topped" out on what I can run. I'm still debating - the G5 was the first system I didn't build myself. Always graciously asked for help then. Some of my concerns are peripherals - I uses FW400 for audio I/O - so that will be an issue. Everybody is waiting for new MacPro. Dunno why (new) Apple has to rush that way... they're making too much on "i Products... to greatly justify new MacPro. I still think they will build one though... and the pro market will support it. What about the Apple Pro Software? Final Cut...Logic Audio... will it stay around?

Tim Cook said there will be a new Mac Pro this year:

http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/06/12/tim_cook_confirms_updated_mac_pro_coming_in_2013

They have a chance to pull a Britney & bring it back, but they better not blow it twice...they really neglected their Pro users and a lot of them viewed FCP-X as the last straw and jumped ship to Avid or Adobe. I know some long-time Final Cut users, and I mean LONG TIME users, who bailed because of that...both from the radio silence from Apple and then a beta software release. FCP-X was pretty half-baked when it came out, and it's still not to where everyone wants it to be, so a lot of people are having issues trusting Apple in a professional video environment right now.

Not to mention Apple Color...what a complete waste of a product. An amazing $25,000 color grading tool that was never properly developed or integrated into the Final Cut Suite. Blackmagic swooped in with daVinci and completely stole their thunder there. And a lot of Pro users are turning to either Windows machines or Hackintoshes, which is sad on both counts. Apple used to be the go-to place for video pros, they used to be bragging rights...not anymore. It's sad.

I think Apple is going to try to regain the Pro market, but it's hard to rebuild a professional working relationship that you've neglected for so long and then slapped your partner in the face with a kind of crummy software release. Personally, FCP-X has grown on me quite a bit, and each update is making it better & better, but they blew it doing it the way they did. So what happens next remains to be seen...even if they do ramp things up, will their userbase come back? I think if they do an amazing enough job, they will, but they are really going to need to one-up the likes of Adobe & Avid to woo people back to the Apple fold.

/end rant

 

[vailr]

@ zingaro100:

projectQ
http://quocomputer.com/shop/z77mx-quo-aos/
Note: includes one FW400 port.

 

[purbeast0]

so i've ran into another headache ... (F U APPLE)

i am trying to work on an app that integrates facebook into it, and i got the latest sdk that is 3.5. apparently it requires xcode 4.5. and 4.5 requires lion or mountain lion.

once again i'm on snow leopard in 10.6.8.

i'm wondering if it's possible to UPGRADE to lion or mountain lion without losing anything, or if i do want to go to the newest os version, if i will have to lose everything. i'm running an inspiron 1545 and was just googling this for a while and had no luck finding out if it's possible or not.

really annoyed that apple makes all of these OS requirements to run software. making this such a headache.

 

[vailr]

@ purbeast0: OSX 10.7 & later require a 64-bit CPU.
What CPU does your Inspiron 1545 have?

 

[purbeast0]

@ purbeast0: OSX 10.7 & later require a 64-bit CPU.
What CPU does your Inspiron 1545 have?

intel core 2 duo @ 2.19GHz

i'm actually making a backup with superduper! right now so that if i do try to upgrade that i will be okay incase something goes wrong.

but if i do upgrade, will i have to format the drive and do a clean install? or can i upgrade and keep all my data and settings?

 

[vailr]

If you're talking about directly upgrading from 10.6 to 10.7 or 10.8 on "genuine" MAC hardware, + keeping data and settings: that should work "OK", although: not ideal.
But since you're talking about a hackintosh machine: that may/could first require [depending on the specific installation method] doing a clean install, then restore settings using a Time Machine backup. An external USB hard drive or USB thumb drive of sufficient size would be typical methods for making a Time Machine backup.

 

[purbeast0]

If you're talking about directly upgrading from 10.6 to 10.7 or 10.8 on "genuine" MAC hardware, + keeping data and settings: that should work "OK", although: not ideal.
But since you're talking about a hackintosh machine: that may/could first require [depending on the specific installation method] doing a clean install, then restore settings using a Time Machine backup. An external USB hard drive or USB thumb drive of sufficient size would be typical methods for making a Time Machine backup.

ah okay, so if i were to make a time machine backup, wipe everything and get 10.8 on there, then do a time machine restore, it will put all my stuff back on and have all my settings and what not on 10.8, just as it currently is in 10.6.8?