The Hackintosh 101 Thread

[volcs0]

Am just starting to put together the order for my first build. I'd like to build a high-end machine (around $900-$1000) to replace our Dual G5, which has been our workhorse for the past six years.

1. Among the DS3L motherboard, does it matter which one to get? I'd like to follow Kaido's guide - so can I get any motherboard that is designated as DS3L?

2. The Q6600 is no longer available at Newegg. How do I choose among the other Core 2 Quad offerings?

3. Likewise, the GeForce 8800 is no longer available at Newegg. How to choose a different one?

Overall, I'd like to go for the "most compatible" set of hardware. That being said, I'd like to achieve a high level of performance. This machine will be used for a lot of video editing, compression, etc.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: volcs0
Am just starting to put together the order for my first build. I'd like to build a high-end machine (around $900-$1000) to replace our Dual G5, which has been our workhorse for the past six years.

1. Among the DS3L motherboard, does it matter which one to get? I'd like to follow Kaido's guide - so can I get any motherboard that is designated as DS3L?

2. The Q6600 is no longer available at Newegg. How do I choose among the other Core 2 Quad offerings?

3. Likewise, the GeForce 8800 is no longer available at Newegg. How to choose a different one?

Overall, I'd like to go for the "most compatible" set of hardware. That being said, I'd like to achieve a high level of performance. This machine will be used for a lot of video editing, compression, etc.

Thanks for the advice.

1. You can get these:

(1) Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Rev 1.0
(2) Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Rev 2.0
(3) Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L

2. The Q6600 is still available:

Q6600 with Retail Cooler

Q6600 (bare chip)

There are plenty of other good quad-core chips available, but the Q6600 is cheap (sub-$200) and overclocks well (both of mine go to 3.0ghz with good cooling easily). If you want a higher overclock (like in the 3.6 - 3.8ghz range), you may want a newer 45nm chip. The Q9550 is $310 right now and is good for 3.2 - 4.0ghz:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115041


3. The 9800GTX driver is now included as an EFI String. Here's one for $189:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814500039

I am also testing out the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P board. It's basically the same as the DS3L boards, but it has a newer ICH10R southbridge, supports up to 16gb RAM, has 8 SATA ports, 8 USB ports, onboard Firewire, 2 PCIe 16x ports (1 @ 16x, 1 @ 8x electrically), 3 PCIe 1x ports, and 2 PCI ports. It's $99 after rebate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128358

I have a working plugin for it already, just needs some more testing to make sure everything is kosher. As far as hard drives go, I totally recommend the Samsung F1 1TB 7200rpm drives:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...Tpk=samsung%20f1%201tb

They're fast (100 MB/s), cheap ($95 shipped), silent, and run fairly cool. So here's a sample rig you could put together for around $1,000:


$1,000 Sample Rig:

Antec Sonata III Case with 500w PSU & 120mm Fan ($130)
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P ($120)
Q9550 CPU ($310)
Kingston 2GB DDR2-800 ($21 x 4 = $84)
Zotac 512mb 9800GTX ($190)
Samsung F1 1TB Hard Drive ($95)
Lite-On SATA 20x DL DVD Burner with Lightscribe ($26)
65-in-1 Internal 3.5" Card Reader with Front USB Port ($14)

That comes up to about $970, or $980 including shipping for me. You'll also need a copy of Leopard: ($110)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16832110040

And you'll probably want some spare hard drives, so add in $95 each for those. You can take $100 off the price by going with the Q6600 instead of the Q9550. You can take another $100 off the price by going with an ATI 3870, which is "the" card to get if you're planning on working with Motion:

http://pcwizcomputer.com/weaksauce12/?p=60

It's available on Newegg for only $105, or $90 AR:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102719

There's instructions for getting driver support for that card here:

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=94090

 

[volcs0]

Originally posted by: Kaido
Tons of useful information - see above

Wow. Thanks for all the tips. I've purchased most items - Q6600 OEM, the UD3P, the arctic cooler.

I got a 650W PSU - I hope that is adequate. Should I get a 1000W?

The Zotac 512mb 9800GTX is no longer available at Newegg.

But - there are a ton of other 9800GTX's there - some with rebates that expire tonight/tomorrow.

Does is matter which one - MSI, PNY, etc.? Should I consider a different card?

Oh, some (many?) will hate it, but I bought a monster case!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811133021

Thanks again for the help. I'm really excited about this.


Edit:

For instance:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814133246

 

[Zaap]

First off, there are plenty of 8800GT cards available on newegg that will work just fine. Stick with brands like eVGA, XFX, PNY, Zotak and MSI and it's hard to go wrong with just about anything 8800GT(_).

As for 9800GTX cards, I personally never like to recommend anything I haven't used myself, but I'm pretty sure the PNY card you linked to will work fine.

I know for certain this eVGA 9800GTX 512 works great.

 

[Kaido]

9400m Netbooks coming:

http://gizmodo.com/5105392/nvi...to-make-them-suck-less

 

[Kaido]

Holy buckets:

http://pcwizcomputer.com/ipcosx86/?page_id=96

:shocked:

 

[Kaido]

New Snow Leopard info:

http://pcwizcomputer.com/weaksauce12/?p=717

 

[KeypoX]

Whats some good/best backup solutions for a hack? I dont have external hard drive so i guess boot camp not gonna work.

I basically want to backup/image this working 10.5.6 install on my laptop, with all kexts and settings. I would to use boot camp but i guess i need to get external case, cause i got extra hd.

Another thing i want to know is how to back up kexts and stuff so if i try installing a kext that doesnt worked and forks the install, how can i revive it?

I tried backing them up using http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=89260

But that didnt work because i install some video thing, screwed up install and restoring them didnt fix it.

Great news on snow i can't wait. I guess it is running on a hack?

Netkas released some new Snow Leopard info:

* ATI 4800-series now supported (4870×2, whoohoo!)
* Core i7 Processor support

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: KeypoX
Whats some good/best backup solutions for a hack? I dont have external hard drive so i guess boot camp not gonna work.

I basically want to backup/image this working 10.5.6 install on my laptop, with all kexts and settings. I would to use boot camp but i guess i need to get external case, cause i got extra hd.

Another thing i want to know is how to back up kexts and stuff so if i try installing a kext that doesnt worked and forks the install, how can i revive it?

I tried backing them up using http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=89260

If you have an extra hard drive, buy a USB enclosure and put it inside. Then you can access it as an external backup drive. If you want to make an image of your working 10.5.6 install, I would recommend SuperDuper. Basically, do a fresh format on the external drive, then use SuperDuper to clone your entire 10.5.6 install to it. Next you have to make it bootable. You can either use the PC EFI v9 bootloader in Uinstaller or just download the standalone bootloader here:

http://pcwizcomputer.com/weaksauce12/?p=309

Make sure you select your external drive when installing! So to recap:

1. Format the USB drive
2. Use SuperDuper to clone from your internal to your external drive
3. Install the "PC EFI v9 Chameleon" bootloader to the external drive to make it bootable

 

[Tyranicus]

Well, I'd been running off an old Kalyway 10.5.1 install updated through 10.5.5 through various means for quite some time, and I decided that it would probably be easier to reformat and install iPC 10.5.6 than to try to find a way to update. Everything is working great with iPC. I was even able to get Netflix streaming to work using the IONetworkingFamily patch. I was never able to get it to work on my Kalyway setup.The only slightly annoying thing is that About This Mac says I have a 4GHz CPU and System Profiler will not show me overall hardware or RAM information, saying only "There was an error while gathering this information." Is this something I should be worried about, and is there an easy fix?

 

[intogamer]

any speculation on the next gen Snow Leopard running on modified kernel? efi chip?

or the kernel will be redesigned for 64bit.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Tyranicus
Well, I'd been running off an old Kalyway 10.5.1 install updated through 10.5.5 through various means for quite some time, and I decided that it would probably be easier to reformat and install iPC 10.5.6 than to try to find a way to update. Everything is working great with iPC. I was even able to get Netflix streaming to work using the IONetworkingFamily patch. I was never able to get it to work on my Kalyway setup.The only slightly annoying thing is that About This Mac says I have a 4GHz CPU and System Profiler will not show me overall hardware or RAM information, saying only "There was an error while gathering this information." Is this something I should be worried about, and is there an easy fix?

Easy fix:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ljnjatwa5bd/ATMmod.zip

If it crashes the first time you apply it, just run it again (10.5.6 makes it crash on first run for me).

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: intogamer
any speculation on the next gen Snow Leopard running on modified kernel? efi chip?

or the kernel will be redesigned for 64bit.

The developer releases run on Hackintoshes, but I've heard they're a bit glitchy. Pre-release software, guess that's how it goes. Don't know the details other than they do work on PC hardware.

 

[secretanchitman]

im trying to install the iatkos5i onto a dell vostro 1500 (1.4Ghz, 2GB, 160GB HD (its in ATA mode not AHCI), intel integrated gpu) and so far, i managed to get into osx (after a lot of failed attempts), but every time it boots up and after the apple logo/blue screen comes, the screen just goes completely black.

http://thinkclay.com/technology/my-hackintosh - that guy used the iatkos4i on his vostro 1500 and apparently its good to go, minus his upgraded intel wifi (the laptop im using has the standard dell 1390, which works perfectly in osx - no additional drivers needed). i would assume that the iatkos5i would be the same, but it isnt.

ive selected:

-Bootloader
-- PC EFI V9
-x86 Patches
-- Decrypters
--- Apple decrypter
- SMSBIOS
-- SMSBIOS Enablers (the laptop one and the other 2)
- Disabler.kext
- VGA
-- Intel X3100
--- EFI strings for Intel
-System
-- SATA/IDE
--- Intel AHCI SATA
-Laptop battery
-Network
-- Broadcom 440x
-and the ps/2 drivers so i can get the mouse and keyboard working without using external usb ones.

now im able to get into osx after the initial install, but my screen goes black after the boot up. maybe i installed the wrong drivers? i know the vostro has the mobile intel 965 express graphics (is that X3100 or GMA 950? not sure), so i wasnt sure what to pick. after an unknown period of time (i left it at the black screen overnight), i saw the mac registration logo, and i went into osx just fine. everything was working except sound, FN keys, and the eject button (but osx had put an eject button on the top near the clock).

the problem is about the initial boot up. it takes so long after the mac icon/spinning icon has finished and it just sits there at a black screen until it finally comes to the osx login. should i go with the iatkos4i or keep trying with the iatkos5i?

 

[Tyranicus]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: Tyranicus
Well, I'd been running off an old Kalyway 10.5.1 install updated through 10.5.5 through various means for quite some time, and I decided that it would probably be easier to reformat and install iPC 10.5.6 than to try to find a way to update. Everything is working great with iPC. I was even able to get Netflix streaming to work using the IONetworkingFamily patch. I was never able to get it to work on my Kalyway setup.The only slightly annoying thing is that About This Mac says I have a 4GHz CPU and System Profiler will not show me overall hardware or RAM information, saying only "There was an error while gathering this information." Is this something I should be worried about, and is there an easy fix?

Easy fix:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ljnjatwa5bd/ATMmod.zip

If it crashes the first time you apply it, just run it again (10.5.6 makes it crash on first run for me).

OK. That worked just fine. Is there a fix for System Profiler too, or am I stuck without detailed hardware info in OS X?

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Tyranicus
OK. That worked just fine. Is there a fix for System Profiler too, or am I stuck without detailed hardware info in OS X?

Yup, you just need the AppleSMBIOSEFI driver. It MUST be installed to SLE, not inside an Extensions.mkext package. I've zipped it up here along with Kext Helper, just install & reboot: (works on the DS3L & UD3P, at least)

http://www.mediafire.com/file/tunudmzyjyi/SMBIOS.zip

 

[dbk]

http://www.insanelymac.com/for...ach&type=post&id=38262
i'm getting this error while trying to install osx86
i have 1 hd and 1 dvd drive (both ide).

I heard there's a way to create a bootable usb drive so that i can at least start the installer from the dvd...

thanks in advance

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: dbk
http://www.insanelymac.com/for...ach&type=post&id=38262
i'm getting this error while trying to install osx86
i have 1 hd and 1 dvd drive (both ide).

I heard there's a way to create a bootable usb drive so that i can at least start the installer from the dvd...

thanks in advance

Disk I/O error - switch to SATA drives.

Details on your hardware setup - motherboard, etc.? You can perhaps try the Jmicron kext, but keep in mind IDE is buggy in Hackintoshes.

 

[dbk]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: dbk
http://www.insanelymac.com/for...ach&type=post&id=38262
i'm getting this error while trying to install osx86
i have 1 hd and 1 dvd drive (both ide).

I heard there's a way to create a bootable usb drive so that i can at least start the installer from the dvd...

thanks in advance

Disk I/O error - switch to SATA drives.

Details on your hardware setup - motherboard, etc.? You can perhaps try the Jmicron kext, but keep in mind IDE is buggy in Hackintoshes.

i figured it out - the iso was corrupt

I got it installed on my parents computer (they hardly use it)

s754 a64 2800 on biostar k8vga-m (via k8m800)

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: ColdFusion718

Originally posted by: mshan
Are there any Lenovo laptops that would be easy to convert into a dualbooting hackintosh?

Take a gander at this page.

Has anyone tried a Lenovo IdeaPad S10 netbook?

I'm considering getting one (Lenovo IdeaPad S10-1208U), but I shouldn't really unless I can sell my MacBook 2.1... but I loathe the idea of giving up Mac OS X on my laptop.

 

[racolvin]

I've been Googling my eyes out and I can't find anyone that has been successful getting OS X to run on a Shuttle SX38P2-Pro. This form factor is seemingly perfect for an OSX box .. anyone see any references to getting this working?

 

[griffinol]

Kaido,

I've been trying to get things started with my try at a Hackintosh. I have some questions. I've been following your guide.

My system specs are:
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
E8400
Corsair XMS2 DHX 4 gigs
Pioneer SATA DVR216
Sony IDE DVD
BFG Nvidia 8800GT
1 200 Gig SATA HD
1 300 Gig SATA HD

I'm new at this, and have been reading all I can. From what I gather, Hackintoshes do not like IDE. Is this correct? I originally just had the IDE DVD and the Boot CD-Rom would always come up with an error that it couldn't load SysLinux on port 80? I'll update with the actual error when I get home. So I just bought a SATA DVD but have both hooked up currently. Should I remove the IDE drive completely?

Also, is it necessary to switch to AHCI? From what I gather AHCI is not that much better currently, but does Leopard require it? I have my install of Vista 64 currently not on it, and I'm not sure how to switch except blow Vista away and start a fresh install with AHCI drivers installed first. I tried setting to AHCI like your guide mentioned and Vista would not boot up.

Also another question about your guide, you mentioned red and yellow SATA cable colors. What does that signify? Currently I have the 200 Gig SATA HD on a yellow cable hooked up to SATA 0 I believe. The fartest from the bottom of the MB. SATA 1 has the new Pioneer SATA DVD on a yellow cable also.

On the secondary SATA connectors near the bottom of the MB I have the 2nd 300 Gig SATA HD hooked up to a red cable.

Basically, I'm at this step in your guide:

XI. Leopard Installation: ...
Put your Boot Drive and DVD Drive on Ports 0 and 1. These are the first two ports on the motherboard, furthest from the bottom. The order doesn't matter if you're using the Hard Drive, just for DVD installation.

Set your BIOS to boot CDROM first. Insert the Boot CD and boot up. When it gets the prompt, hit enter (note: it will flash "missing com.boot.Apple.plist" briefly, just ignore this). Now it will give you a text-based bootloader saying something like "Hard drive 1 = 80, Hard drive 2 = 81" and so on. Eject the Boot CD and put your Retail Leopard DVD in. The second line of the bootloader will say something like "9f" or "fe"; that's your boot code for the DVD drive, type that in and hit enter. Now wait for the DVD to boot up to the Leopard installer.

I was wondering if you can spot what I've done wrong. Also FYI, I have the latest Leopard 10.5.6 version I just bought. I noticed your guide is just up to 10.5.5.

Thank you

 

[abbzer0]

My PERSONAL recommendation would be to get rid of any IDE drive on your system, and use ALL SATA. Once you have that, be ABSOLUTELY SURE to disable anything related to IDE on the Bios and switch to AHCI. ;-)


MY MEMORY UPDATE: Okay, I had mentioned that I thought there might be problems with the Corsair 2x2 gig kit that I purchased? Well, memtest said the chips were both good, but anything over 2GB of memory would give me random crashed. Fast forward, I found out there was one reference that I forgot to change away from IDE support over to AHCI. I switched that, and also bumped the memory voltage from 1.8V to 1.9V. Since doing that, everything is running GREAT! This isn't necessarily a problem with Hackintosh boxes, but appears to be the fault of the JMicron chipset. Even folks in Vista are reporting this.

I wanted to share this with you all. Thanks again for your continued support & help.

 

[abbzer0]

Also, Kaido: I would now recommend this USB Card reader instead. It also includes an eSATA port on the front of it!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820816001

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: abbzer0
Also, Kaido: I would now recommend this USB Card reader instead. It also includes an eSATA port on the front of it!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820816001

Hot diggity dang, noice!