anyone familiar with hackintosh builds?

[DigDog]

i'm looking for some advice on a build i've been working on these last 2 days.

the mobo is a Z97. i know this isn't proper supported, idk why i bought it.

i'm using a yosemite iso, and i built the usb disk with transmac.
*i no longer have access to a mac* or at least for another week, and when i do, there's practically no internet.

i've just run the usb disk, using just one boot flag: GraphicsEnabler=Yes.
(the gpu is a Nv 740)

surprisingly, the install worked, and i was able to boot into a fully functional Yosemite. ethernet works, audio doesn't (no surprise there).

now, the problem. i can't shut down the system, if i do, it goes into kernel panic and doesn't reboot anymore.

i understand that i'm missing some files to finalize the install, but i have no idea which, and how to get them.

now, although i have worked with LogicPro and ProTools, i have honestly no idea what to do with OSX. The last time i had a mac of my own it was a G3 with OS 8.1.
i even got clover and macpoison and couldn't even figure out how to run them.

i'm stuck. i'm sitting on 800 quid of hardware that needs to become an audio workstation, and have no idea what the next step is, to stabilize/finalize the build.
at this point, i'm even cool with buying a new mobo .. you live, you learn.
the cpu is a 4790k (and what a chip .. you should see the voltages on this thing. 1.19v for 4.40Ghz. i cannot wait to clock it), and i heard that some Z87 mobos have added support for it.


help ...

 

[Subyman]

I would highly recommend checking out the tonymacx86 website. You may need to run Multibeast and add different kexts to your build. They have a support forum where people post settings they use for various configurations. When I did mackintosh builds I always used the recommended motherboards and didn't have issues. If you can, you may want to return the one you have and use the recommended hardware.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Which Z97 motherboard are you using? Not all Z97s are created equal.

Clover was easier to get working. It's a bootloader - when you install it, it changes the bootloader screen. It also manages driver injection better than most other Hackintosh bootloaders.

Personally, if I were building an audio workstation, I wouldn't bother getting onboard sound working. Just get a USB audio interface and go from there. (It won't care that you're on a hackintosh.)

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I would highly recommend checking out the tonymacx86 website. You may need to run Multibeast and add different kexts to your build. They have a support forum where people post settings they use for various configurations. When I did mackintosh builds I always used the recommended motherboards and didn't have issues. If you can, you may want to return the one you have and use the recommended hardware.

Ugh, no, use Clover instead of Multibeast, and thank me later.

 

[DigDog]

i am using a Gigabyte Z97-D3H. the audio chipset is ALC 1150.

although i second the "dont care about onboard audio", i'm building this for a colleague. he's broke and can't afford a proper mac. he's got an old macbook, a proper POS, and he's the one who got me the yose iso.
so i'd like to give him a functioning build, i promised him that i would .. talk about speaking too soon ...

anyway.
i'll get clover. i assume, once i do the install, i run clover, and this allows me to install the kexts ? (which, i assume, are drivers?)

i'm ok with buying a new mobo if i have to. although i know that peopel have gotten some asus Z97 working fully with yose.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

i am using a Gigabyte Z97-D3H. the audio chipset is ALC 1150.

Oh, that's good. Here is a thread from a guy who has the same motherboard: see if he did anything specific to make the motherboard sound work.

http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-builds/160224-success-ga-z97m-d3h-i5-4690-hd4600.html

although i second the "dont care about onboard audio", i'm building this for a colleague. he's broke and can't afford a proper mac. he's got an old macbook, a proper POS, and he's the one who got me the yose iso.
so i'd like to give him a functioning build, i promised him that i would .. talk about speaking too soon ...

anyway.
i'll get clover. i assume, once i do the install, i run clover, and this allows me to install the kexts ? (which, i assume, are drivers?)

Yeah, basically. You get kexts/drivers from hackintosh sites, although Clover will include a bunch of them, probably including the ones you need.

Follow the guide here:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/yosemite-desktop-guides/144426-how-install-os-x-yosemite-using-clover.html

i'm ok with buying a new mobo if i have to. although i know that peopel have gotten some asus Z97 working fully with yose.

I got a H81 board working.

Gigabyte is usually one of the better brands to use, for various reasons.

 

[DigDog]

tnx m8, i'll run through the procedure tonight and report !

 

[DigDog]

well, i'm typing from inside Yosemite. i managed to install clover but i still can't figure out how to install kexts; can't even find the system drive. i need a bigger desk for all the accedes I'm doing.

 

[Kaido]

well, i'm typing from inside Yosemite. i managed to install clover but i still can't figure out how to install kexts; can't even find the system drive. i need a bigger desk for all the accedes I'm doing.

Congrats! The system drive is hidden from view by default. Simple way to access is to right-click the middle top of a Finder window, which will let you drill down back to the boot drive & the drives view. The first thing I do on a fresh install is drag the boot drive over to the left drives list as a shortcut, that makes access easy. As far as kext installation, you can do it manually or you can just use a simple tool, there's a ton of them available:

http://www.hackintoshosx.com/files/download/4286-kext-utility/

Note that manual installation is more than just drag & drop...there's some commands involved with giving it permissions & whatnot:

http://www.macbreaker.com/2012/01/how-to-manually-install-kexts.html

 

[vailr]

Are you on OSX 10.10.3?
What works for my Gigabyte Z87 system is: use the boot argument "kext-dev-mode=1" after any kind of OSX update. Subsequent boot-ups then don't require input of any boot argument.

 

[DigDog]

well, long story short, i did this totally the wrong way, so i started again from zero. got a new yosemite .dmg, created an install disk with unibeast (instead of transmac), and in a short time i was done.

the install is still not 100% perfect, but i'm confident it will be once i fix a thing or two.

(it really upsets me that apple tries to make OSX install as hard as possible, while microsoft tries to make windows install as easy as possible. everything in osx is designed to crash if *anything* at hardware level is different, specifically for the purpose of locking people in to their hardware)

 

[Kaido]

well, long story short, i did this totally the wrong way, so i started again from zero. got a new yosemite .dmg, created an install disk with unibeast (instead of transmac), and in a short time i was done.

the install is still not 100% perfect, but i'm confident it will be once i fix a thing or two.

(it really upsets me that apple tries to make OSX install as hard as possible, while microsoft tries to make windows install as easy as possible. everything in osx is designed to crash if *anything* at hardware level is different, specifically for the purpose of locking people in to their hardware)

1. OSX is easier to install than anything...on a real Mac. No drivers required on any real Mac, unlike Windows. Per the license, OSX is not supposed to go on any non-Apple hardware, so it's the wild west for Hackintoshes. It's the secret to their success: OSX is very stable because they control both the software AND the hardware. That's why they have such a great reputation...it's not like you can go out & buy a Mac with an Atom and 2 gigs of RAM and have crappy performance, you know?

2. You're doing it the hard way. For starters, make yourself a Master Image - this is a simple copy of a base install of OSX. Here's the basic idea: setup a "clean" install of OSX on your hard drive (create a small 60-gig or so partition) - no drivers or bootloader (use Unibeast to boot up temporarily). Clone that to a disk image (sparseimage bundle) using SuperDuper (this is basically like a hard drive ISO). Anytime you need to reinstall, rather than going through the whole install process, just boot up to the OSX installer, go into Disk Utility, and restore the sparseimage to your target boot drive...no install required, it's simply re-cloning that initial installation. Plus before you clone, you can run updates, install all of your software & tools, etc., so you don't have to do that every single time you want to refresh your system image.

Then, once you've restored the clone, expand the partition out to fill the boot drive using Disk Utility, install a bootloader so you don't have to use Unibeast to boot anymore, and install any Hackintosh drivers you need to in order to get your system working 100%. This lets you tinker in a much faster manner than going through the reinstall process every time you bork your system. Personally I like to run a vanilla system...I keep the bootloader on the USB stick, buy a natively-supported GPU/PCI NIC/USB sound card, and keep my boot drive "Mac only" - I can literally boot it up on another Mac because it's "clean", aka vanilla. It's not for everyone, but I like it because it lets me play with different hardware, drivers, and bootloaders easily, especially with the Superduper cloning system - I keep a spare small SSD for tinkering on, which I can restore my install to quickly for messing around with stuff. Makes like 100% easier!

3. It is possible to have a 100% working, super stable system - but it does require some initial work. Mine's been in action I dunno, two or three years now, never mess with it. Rock solid! Anything that fails can simply be replaced with a part from Newegg or Amazon - no trip to the Apple Store required. But it did require some research into buying compatible parts, finding reliable drivers, and so on. Once you get it nailed though, you'll have an amazing machine. I would find it difficult to ever go back to a real Mac because I like the flexibility of my Hackintosh far too much. I don't have to rely on a warranty or the Genius Bar to get me out of a jam, and I get to pick my case & put whatever parts I want inside of it.

Keep going, you'll get there! It can be a frustrating journey, but it's very rewarding to have a fast, stable Mac that you built yourself!

 

[DigDog]

well, the whole story boils down to this: 16gb of 2400, two 240gb SSDs, a 4790k, and a gorgeous Define R4 case for £851, shipped. video out through a Nv 740. ALC1150 on the mobo. overclockable.
(thats $1300)

when the project we are planning rakes in billions of dollars and we do our yearly taxes, i'll gladly pay for a brand spanking new top of the line MacPro. until then ... this is the only think we can afford.


i will take your advice re: the build. mind you, we're not going to take many liberties with this machine, it needs to run LogicPro and maybe some video editing software, thats it, nothing else, nada. Hopefully, this will makeit less crash-prone and therefore less needy or rebuilds.
(still keeping my USB handy, though)

 

[DigDog]

well, i re-did all the install several time with a brand new yosemite.dmg, and i'm getting occasional freezes, apart from that, the system works.

found out one of the SSDs i was using (from crucial) won't work with OSX unless some weird Terminal process is run after install, from a USB too.

this and more still makes me hate osx. at least Logic works ..

 

[dave_the_nerd]

well, i re-did all the install several time with a brand new yosemite.dmg, and i'm getting occasional freezes, apart from that, the system works.

found out one of the SSDs i was using (from crucial) won't work with OSX unless some weird Terminal process is run after install, from a USB too.

this and more still makes me hate osx. at least Logic works ..

There are many reasons to dislike OS X, but you don't get to dislike it because installing/running it on unsupported hardware is a little harder than you'd like. That's on you.

 

[DigDog]

well, thats not what i meant. it just seems to me that the os is designed trying to make hardware unsupported, rather than the other way around.

 

[master_shake_]

well, thats not what i meant. it just seems to me that the os is designed trying to make hardware unsupported, rather than the other way around.

their sandbox their rules i guess.

 

[jji7skyline]

They don't actively try to stop hackintoshers, but they don't actively support them either. Quite a fair stance to take in my honest opinion.

Also, once you've done a few hackintoshes it becomes quite simple. Just a few days ago I built my new computer dual booting Windows 10 preview and Yosemite, and it runs OSX almost as well as my old iMac did.

I have a similar motherboard as you actually, Gigabyte GA-Z97M-D3H. Only difference is that mine is a mATX board because I casemodded a PowerMac G5. I can answer any questions you have about Clover, since that's the bootloader I used. Unibeast method results in random freezing for this motherboard :/

 

[Zaap]

They don't actively try to stop hackintoshers, but they don't actively support them either. Quite a fair stance to take in my honest opinion.

Exactly. Apple even gives the OS away for free, since Mavericks. (Talk about more than fair). Of course they only want it run on supported hardware.

Ironically, making it free has led to making Hackintoshing slightly more complicated than it used to be. When one could just purchase a retail disk of OSX, it made things a lot easier from several standpoints. One: legally (as much as many want to insist otherwise) there was pretty much no *real* legal precedent to say one couldn't purchase a commercially available product and use it in some way the manufacturer of that product doesn't particularly like. Despite a lot of nonsense to the contrary, there was no legal way Apple was going to get a ruling of any kind saying basically "You can stop people from buying something you offer up as a commercial product and using it in a way your corporation doesn't approve of." Now, of course, *selling* products or copies based on that product is another thing entirely but just *using* the product- no way in hell.

But now that it's free, it requires a previously existing install of OSX (presumably running on a legit Mac) and access to the App store. That makes it much harder for noobs with no Mac to get, and much more of a complete hack to acquire and install on unauthorized hardware. Basically- a lot more grey area all the way around.


Anyway- as for Hackintoshing, my thing is just Keep It Simple.

THIS is all my signature Hackintosh actually is:

That's it. It's just an SSD with OSX installed. Otherwise, it's just a PC.

The fact that it boils down to just an SSD makes me then realize it's not limited to ONE SSD. It's as many of them as I choose. Therefore, it's backed up, cloned, and there's virtually no way other than total hardware failure of something critical like the CPU that my system will ever be out of commision. Therefore- updates are no big deal. New versions of the OS are no big deal.

Once you get things working once, you can keep them working to infinity, there's no need for all the futzing around (unless one just enjoys it- I don't. ). And things will work great on the first try, so long as you choose proper hardware like Kaido says.

My sig system has been cranking away for me, rock stable- since 2012 when I built it. Even though I'd like to upgrade it, I've had no real need to.

I built a few IvyBridge systems for people, but I've since stopped building computers for people because I have so much else to do, so I'm not up on current Hackintosh methods. Possibly this summer I might do an overhaul of my sig Hack (motherboard, CPU, RAM, GPU) but honestly, I really have no need to other than curiosity.

 

[wilds]

Creating a Hackintosh can be a frustrating experience, but it is definitely a fun learning experience.

What made it easy was all the resources and kexts people have made and finding a hackintosh with similar specs to your machine to get it all working.
Desktop Hackintoshes are a breeze compared to a fully-funtioning hackintosh laptop; that can take years to make everything work perfectly.

And yes, Zaap is absolutely right, all the hard work is put into the SSD; so back up what works!
It is really nice having a backup of your Hackintosh because things can and will go wrong fast!

 

[DigDog]

you get the OS for free IF you have bought a previous version, from mountain lion on (i think; anyway, it's like that).

anyway, after yet another unstable build with unibeast i went the long way around and did a full Clover install. and i'd like to take a second to thank they person who said "use clover, thank me later".

that's it, my hackintosh is built. no issues whatsoever.
well, it doesnt shut off, it keeps restarting, but it's a known issue that i should be able to fix this week. also, i can shut it down with the power button.

no freezes, better system definition, and i did not need any boot flags. i honestly thought this would be more complicated. running from EFI partition, not FAT32.

 

[Phynaz]

well, the whole story boils down to this: 16gb of 2400, two 240gb SSDs, a 4790k, and a gorgeous Define R4 case for £851, shipped. video out through a Nv 740. ALC1150 on the mobo. overclockable.
(thats $1300)

when the project we are planning rakes in billions of dollars and we do our yearly taxes, i'll gladly pay for a brand spanking new top of the line MacPro. until then ... this is the only think we can afford.


i will take your advice re: the build. mind you, we're not going to take many liberties with this machine, it needs to run LogicPro and maybe some video editing software, thats it, nothing else, nada. Hopefully, this will makeit less crash-prone and therefore less needy or rebuilds.
(still keeping my USB handy, though)

Two weeks of your time wasn't valuable?

 

[jji7skyline]

you get the OS for free IF you have bought a previous version, from mountain lion on (i think; anyway, it's like that).

anyway, after yet another unstable build with unibeast i went the long way around and did a full Clover install. and i'd like to take a second to thank they person who said "use clover, thank me later".

that's it, my hackintosh is built. no issues whatsoever.
well, it doesnt shut off, it keeps restarting, but it's a known issue that i should be able to fix this week. also, i can shut it down with the power button.

no freezes, better system definition, and i did not need any boot flags. i honestly thought this would be more complicated. running from EFI partition, not FAT32.

Nice. I'm running on Clover too and I love the faster boots the lack of freezing on my motherboard

 

[DigDog]

well, my time isn't particularly valuable, unfortunately. partly to blame on europe having less opportunities for the willing, and partly on my bad choices in life. and i learned something by building this machine, so i'm getting my investment back and i got to play around with a osx build. i think thats payment enough, for now.