The Merged Hackintosh Thread

[DoFoT9]

Way ahead of you on that. BTW, you shouldn't end sentences with prepositions Mr. Know-It-All.

aahh give him a break hes just trying to make his opinion clear.

btw its the internet no1 gives a damn about sentence structure.

1. The strange thing is: Why doesn't that show up in the benchmarks?



2. When I built my hackintosh about 8 months ago I had a problem with safari crashing fairly often, but otherwise the machine was rock solid. As it turned out, Safari eventually became more stable, so it was probably due to bugs in Safari or the OS that got fixed along the way. I'm running the newest kernel and all updates. The machine is rock solid, and I have the impression that's more the rule than the exception.

3. I wouldn't use the hackintosh in a business (where downtime is expensive), but as a home machine it just works

1. thats a good question, maybe you need to look at number crunching comparision???

2. my machine freezes randomly!! it will freeze on startup, it even froze when formatting the disk so i could install. it seems to be generally stable but i wouldnt trust it as far as i could throw it

3. only just

 

[Sesshi]

As "clever" as all this is, you *CANNOT* avoid the fact that a REAL Mac is a REAL Mac, and what you are building are just mere imiations - fakes - counterfeits, and they will only EVER slightly approximate a Mac

In regard to 'quality piece of hardware', of course as some of you know I have objections to that - Apples are built for superficial plausibility for people who don't really use or understand their machines - especially, it seems, California-based tech journalists - and which are 'upsold' in any case.

I got into Hackintosh because of the inadequacy of Apple hardware. Running OS X on functionally superior, better engineered (for work, as opposed to pretty) machines seemed like a good idea when our Pros were dropping like flies and the Macbook Pros were proving themselves woefully unsuitable for actual 'Pro' (assuming you aren't someone who draws pictures for a living) use. it wasn't done for cost reasons - we were hackintoshing on Dell Precisions and HP xw's.

We put quite a lot of money into it, including hiring someone to look specifically into it but unfortunately - this being the Tiger era - we never really got to the stage where I considered hackintosh stable or generally everyday-usable enough for our purposes. Now, it may be different but we eventually went the route of rebuilding the Pros that were being heavily used, turning them basically into Dell Precisions. For the Macbook Pros we didn't really have an answer, until recently when we rolled out the Windows version of the front-end software used on the laptops, and could junk all the MBP's in favour of HP w-series mobile workstations - which would be, if they had it, truly deserving of the 'Pro' moniker.

 

[DoFoT9]

ok i have a question/problem

how can i use a dual monitor setup, i am running a CRT off my 8500GT 512mb via VGA, i have another identical CRT plugged into the built in integrated graphics slot on the mobo. is there anyway of being able to detect the graphics on the mobo?? kidna stuck haha

 

[nomar383]

ok i have a question/problem

how can i use a dual monitor setup, i am running a CRT off my 8500GT 512mb via VGA, i have another identical CRT plugged into the built in integrated graphics slot on the mobo. is there anyway of being able to detect the graphics on the mobo?? kidna stuck haha

A lot of modern graphics cards include two outputs for video. But I don't think you can combine mobo graphics with a graphics card. My mobo makes me choose which one to use.

 

[DoFoT9]

A lot of modern graphics cards include two outputs for video. But I don't think you can combine mobo graphics with a graphics card. My mobo makes me choose which one to use.

yup i know that. my GT has 1x VGA and 1X DVI

i only have 2 CRT monitors which are both VGA, yes i do have my mac DVI-VGA converter, but then i would be changing ports everytime i restart back into windows (for whatever reason that may be).

another crappy point, my PC is lodged, quite literally, into my desk (the cables only just make it) so i cant pull it out anymore haha. im pretty stupid dontchya think!?!

another problem...i cannot change resolutions without the screen going completely blue and not turning back on. i have to reinstall everything again...this is just form me changing resolutions!! how lovely..

 

[unlokia]

Yeah, maybe we shouldn't talk about Fusion, Parallels or Samba, eh?

Love the way you intentionally missed my point.

Anyhow - I've wasted quite enough of my time on this thread. Seems like the majority of you will defend osx86 til the end, no matter WHAT the cost, even if it defies common sense and logic to prove your points. If you wanna use OS X illegally without support, then who am I to argue?. If this were a thread about piracy, it would have been closed by now; I see NO difference tbh. All the best, living in make believe land!

 

[nomar383]

yup i know that. my GT has 1x VGA and 1X DVI

i only have 2 CRT monitors which are both VGA, yes i do have my mac DVI-VGA converter, but then i would be changing ports everytime i restart back into windows (for whatever reason that may be).

another crappy point, my PC is lodged, quite literally, into my desk (the cables only just make it) so i cant pull it out anymore haha. im pretty stupid dontchya think!?!

another problem...i cannot change resolutions without the screen going completely blue and not turning back on. i have to reinstall everything again...this is just form me changing resolutions!! how lovely..

I have a 7200GS that I use a DVI-VGA converter with. Two VGA monitors work fine with Windows and OS X.

 

[DoFoT9]

I have a 7200GS that I use a DVI-VGA converter with. Two VGA monitors work fine with Windows and OS X.

either im doing something wrong or my card is retarted..

i will have to pull it out and try a few thousand things.. did your recognise the DVI-VGA automatically?? as in there were no fusses or problems??

 

[nomar383]

either im doing something wrong or my card is retarted..

i will have to pull it out and try a few thousand things.. did your recognise the DVI-VGA automatically?? as in there were no fusses or problems??

Plugged both monitors in, powered em up, and hit "detect displays" in Display preferences. Do you have the correct drivers installed?

 

[DoFoT9]

Plugged both monitors in, powered em up, and hit "detect displays" in Display preferences. Do you have the correct drivers installed?

i have the drivers that came with the video card, maybe i will check for updates on the nvidia website and try again.

 

[richard.mac]

what do you peeps think of the home built "Hackintosh Pro" that i researched? although no one would probably ever buy it as the Mac Pro is the obvious choice, i was just try to get a point across that Hackintosh users build their own Macs because they dont want/need all the beastly power of the Mac Pro.

 

[nomar383]

i have the drivers that came with the video card, maybe i will check for updates on the nvidia website and try again.

For the OS X side, you won't find the right drivers on the Nvidia site. You will have to google for "<your card> osx86"

 

[DoFoT9]

For the OS X side, you won't find the right drivers on the Nvidia site. You will have to google for "<your card> osx86"

have already tried that and couldnt find anything without signing up to the forums for insanelymac.com

i have used EFI Studio and havent noticed any changes... im currently running off the basic drivers

 

[nomar383]

have already tried that and couldnt find anything without signing up to the forums for insanelymac.com

i have used EFI Studio and havent noticed any changes... im currently running off the basic drivers

Look into "NVinject", they have special drivers for your card.

 

[DoFoT9]

Look into "NVinject", they have special drivers for your card.

i have installed the 512mb files when i installed the OS, i thought that would have been equivilant to installing it from nvinject..

 

[Cave Man]

Love the way you intentionally missed my point.

No, it's you who doesn't get it.

Anyhow - I've wasted quite enough of my time on this thread.

You've already said that, but here your are again. I guess that also makes you a liar.

Seems like the majority of you will defend osx86 til the end, no matter WHAT the cost,...

You mean, no matter what the savings.

If you wanna use OS X illegally...

What the fsk makes you think we're using OS X illegally?

without support,

I've been to Apple Care. I've been to see a "Genius". Believe me, I'm much more competent than either. It's not my fault that you don't know what you're talking about.

then who am I to argue?.

We're still hoping you'll go away and keep your promise this time.

If this were a thread about piracy, it would have been closed by now; I see NO difference tbh.

Again, how can you justify your assertion that this is about piracy? Have you even read the EULA?

All the best, living in make believe land!

I'm glad you're happy with whatever Mac you have. For me, the one machine I needed wasn't made by Apple, thus I built it. I'm enjoying it in reality. Go back under your rock, please.

 

[nomar383]

i have installed the 512mb files when i installed the OS, i thought that would have been equivilant to installing it from nvinject..

Get the NVinject and install it manually. I actually had to install it again after a system update in one case.

 

[Donar]

Hackintosh users dont need all that power and want 1x CPU, desktop grade components, flexibility for cooling and a good cheap video card which all-in-all costs a lot less.

Nice summary

... So let's hear about how your Hackintosh beats the 8-core XEON...

As stated above, we probably do not need the power, but maybe want more than an iMac or mini would offer.

...or the joy of owning a quality piece of hardware.

I've choosen all parts myself, trust me they are just fine.

Whilst you are sitting there scouring Google and forums for hacked and patched drivers for your hardware, we have been getting on with our lives and USING the machines.

Find the appropriate HW and support Thread one time - bookmark it. Case closed. I set mine up patched it up to 10.5.4 and have not touched a .kext since then.

 

[DoFoT9]

Get the NVinject and install it manually. I actually had to install it again after a system update in one case.

done what you have advised (followed some guides on the nvinject site to delete cahces etc aswell) and it didnt work. when i reboot i get a "cannot read extension file nvinject.kext" blaablaa. lucky i made a backup haha!

just wondering if you could point me in the right direction.

EDIT: the backup i made doesnt wanna work now either, ahwell.. reinstall again i guess.

 

[maccompaq]

unlockia and others,

i seriously don't think that people care THAT much about benchmarks compared to current MP's and whatnot.

ill try to put it into perspective; if a person is smart enough to even attempt to build a hackintosh, they would know a little bit about components/hardware etc. they would be aware that any xeon server grade CPU would FLOG some ****** quad core core 2 duo....

my personal opinion is that people like boasting and showing what they have. i know i have talked about my hackintosh here, comparing it to various macs... its the reason why we have built it, to STAND IN as a basic mac that can do basic tasks. my hackintosh has been built as a folding machine and a ripping/torrent/video converting machine.. yes i could have done everything on winblows but osx is my niche and its where i feel most comfortable.

to the people that use their hackintosh's as their "master" machine, good on you! i wouldnt personally do it, basically because it is not stable. i have machine crashes quite constantly compared to a real mac, i have no idea why.. it just does. i do nothing more nor less than i would on my weaker, older CD MBP.

from what i understand, with some of the newer versions of osx86 and whatnot you can do software updates, which is awsome. but i dont see what the big deal is about being a few updates behind? my MBP is still on 10.5.2!!

unlockia; in reference to your

"It's cheap monetarily, but you DON'T get support/Applecare/updates or the joy of owning a quality piece of hardware."

quote...

if you can build a hackintosh and work through all the problems, you can figure out what you need to fix it if something is wrong, applecare pfft, and the updates are meh to me. the 'quality peice of hardware' your referring to is pretty much the case, because EVERYTHING else can be copied down to the tee. you can get the same CPU, same RAM, same GPU, same everything.. hell you can even get the same OS!!

so yea... thats my opinion.

Actually, I do not trust any computer without a good backup system. My Hackintosh has not crashed yet with 10.5.2. I alternate between Windows XP, my Hackintosh and my other Macs. Each is a backup to the other, so I can use any of them as my major operating machine.

I noticed that many refer to Benchmarks, and I do not belittle them. For myself, a Benchmark of 2000 or 9000 is not going to surf the web any faster, run MSOffice 2008 or iWork 2008 any faster nor make a lot of difference in my limited usage of Photoshop CS.

All of my computers are maintained by me. My laptops get very little use thus they have not needed any maintenance.

Overall, I think the Hackintosh community has been very good for Apple, because we have generated a lot of enthusiasm for OSX, thus creating a widespread interest as attributed by a lot of news coverage. Consequently, Apple has benefited from this interest by selling a lot of Macs.

 

[MacUser2525]

Love the way you intentionally missed my point.

Anyhow - I've wasted quite enough of my time on this thread. Seems like the majority of you will defend osx86 til the end, no matter WHAT the cost, even if it defies common sense and logic to prove your points. If you wanna use OS X illegally without support, then who am I to argue?. If this were a thread about piracy, it would have been closed by now; I see NO difference tbh. All the best, living in make believe land!

Well if that ain't the pot calling the kettle black as they say more than few would say the same about Mac users and your BS illegal comment is pretty pathetic. Not agreeing with an EULA which may or may not have any relevance depending on the country you live in is not against the law at most it is a supposed contract violation but even that is debatable because for a contract you need informed consent which you cannot give because you do not get to read and sign the agreement before purchasing the item. While I am on about the EULA I can tell you it will be a cold day in hell before I let Apple restrict when, where and how I run GPL software as they try to in the EULA by limiting your use to Apple labeled hardware when the GPL clearly states you can place no further restrictions when you redistribute their software. I paid for the Apple portion when I got my Leopard install disk for the GPL part I choose to exercise my rights under the GPL to use their software without restriction this includes running it on any hardware I damn well choose to do so on. Anyways enough feeding the troll for today perhaps if you come back tomorrow I will throw you a few more crumbs...

what do you peeps think of the home built "Hackintosh Pro" that i researched? although no one would probably ever buy it as the Mac Pro is the obvious choice, i was just try to get a point across that Hackintosh users build their own Macs because they dont want/need all the beastly power of the Mac Pro.

For an eight core machine the Mac Pro is close as it gets to value for money spent as long as you buy no further parts for the machine from Apple. Quad core or less there is a pile of money to be saved building your own and me being a cheap SOB that's why I built mine, I would imagine I am not alone with this idea.

 

[nomar383]

done what you have advised (followed some guides on the nvinject site to delete cahces etc aswell) and it didnt work. when i reboot i get a "cannot read extension file nvinject.kext" blaablaa. lucky i made a backup haha!

just wondering if you could point me in the right direction.

EDIT: the backup i made doesnt wanna work now either, ahwell.. reinstall again i guess.

I hate to say it, but I would reinstall and not choose any graphics options in the installer. Then add the NVinject after.

 

[maccompaq]

Love the way you intentionally missed my point.

Anyhow - I've wasted quite enough of my time on this thread. Seems like the majority of you will defend osx86 til the end, no matter WHAT the cost, even if it defies common sense and logic to prove your points.

I am glad to have you as an Apple cheerleader. Good to have you at this thread even if you are not a Hackintosh fan. I think that just shows that even those who do not support Hackintosh, have an interest in the Project.

We just want to be civil to posters here and not drive them away.

 

[DoFoT9]

I hate to say it, but I would reinstall and not choose any graphics options in the installer. Then add the NVinject after.

ok thats a very good idea!!

i have the installer "NVInstaller" which is pretty much a GUI version to install the graphics, which do you think would be the most effective way for installing it properly?

thankyou for your help, i really appreciate it!

 

[macsmurf]

Anyhow - I've wasted quite enough of my time on this thread. Seems like the majority of you will defend osx86 til the end, no matter WHAT the cost, even if it defies common sense and logic to prove your points. If you wanna use OS X illegally without support, then who am I to argue?. If this were a thread about piracy, it would have been closed by now; I see NO difference tbh. All the best, living in make believe land!

Well, I feel I have responded in a civil tone, and I don't want to be perceived as a Hackintosh defender. You should know that Apple support isn't exactly stellar outside of the US (to put it mildly) and my closest Apple Store is a couple of countries away.

I think it is unfair to call it piracy, because today it is entirely possible to install a store-bought retail OS X on at least some non-Apple hardware (such as mine) without the use of a pirated version of OS X. That is what I did.

With regards to support, I have run lots of operating systems through the years and I can't remember a situation where support got me anywhere. It is quite annoying for me to talk to support, because first I have to wait in line on the phone, then I have to spend a lot of time convincing the supporter that I already tried everything on their list and they should patch me through to the upper-level support. At this point, I may or may not get a better suggestions (once they call me back). Usually, I just google the answer instead.

The only relevant problem I can see is that I have actually found a bug in one of Apple's software components, but I can't tell Apple about it, because they would want to know the hardware I'm running before they would take it seriously.

When it comes to extended warranty, I have never really needed it, so I don't look at that as a showstopper.

There's also an economical argument. I'm not sure if you touched on it, but it goes like this: If you take all the time you used to research and tinker with OSX86 and just worked those hours instead, you could've probably afforded the Mac Pro easily. If I lived in the US that would probably be true, but in my country Apple hardware is so expensive compared to other hardware that I'm pretty sure I'm still in the black. Also, I know more about the internals of OS X than I would have learned by just buying the hardware.

...So when it comes to logic and common sense, I should really get a hackintosh, but that of course doesn't mean that everyone should.