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The Merged Hackintosh Thread

What describes you?

  • No way would I build a hackintosh

    Votes: 349 23.0%

  • I'd consider it if Apple doesn't provide a new Mini or headless iMac in the next three months

    Votes: 185 12.2%

  • I'm considering it right now

    Votes: 578 38.2%

  • I already built one

    Votes: 403 26.6%
  • Total voters
    1,515
Hi. i have already built a hackintosh desktop, but right now, I really want a netbook. I am very short for money right now, so I need something cheap. I really want the EEE900a because it is incredibly cheap and powerful enough for what I need. What do you think about this? I know most people use the MSI wind or mini 9, but the wind costs too much, and I would never even consider a Dell. I googled it, and surprisingly found almost nothing. A few claims, but thats about it. So if anyone has done this, could you please help me out? I plan on buying the refurb 4 GB model and putting an SD card or a larger SSD. Will it boot from SD or will I have to upgrade the SSD in it? also I'm not really sure about the speed of SDs so what about that? thanks.
 
localoid said:
That guide is kinda old. It was written for Tiger 10.4.*
Click to expand...
The installer didnt change much between Tiger and Leo, so the guide should still be relevant. I dont have a big enough usb drive to try myself.
Cave Man said:
I think the Lenovo S10 is the best netbook option ATM, unless you must have ethernet (wifi works).
Click to expand...

I hear many good things about the Mini 9. Never used one myself though...
 
Is it really hard to get a Hackintosh up and running? I might be picking up a desktop and I'm interested in installing OS X on it. I wanna dual boot Windows and OS X though. Here are the parts I'm currently looking at:

Intel Q8200 Core 2 Quad
Asus P5Q SE Plus
G.Skill DDR2 1066 4gb
WD Caviar Black 640gb
GeForce GTS 250 1gb
 
Hi all again! I'm bumping this thread, because I didn't want to open another similar :).

As you might have read above about 1 month ago I installed Hackintosh Tiger on my PC. Well 3 weeks ago I managed to install Leopard on the same PC :). Ever since Leopard is my only OS on the laptop ;).

Yesterday I installed Win7 RC... and oh boy... I was sooo not diggin it. I am so used to Expose and the show desktop (the pointing to the corners of the screen and making kewl stuff), that I really missed it.

The interesting thing is that I've been using MacOSX for less than a month and it changed me so much! That much that my next PC will be a genuine Mac (and by PC I mean personal computer)...

There I sad it now I am a 100% switcher!

Apple thank the x86 community for the Hackingtosh! You will get about $2000 in a few months from me!
 
I setup my hackintosh the other day, very similiar to the OP specs.. same mb at least.. 9600gt video though.

I used the iPC 10.5.6 distro, downloaded the iso, burned it and installed with no issues really, other than sound which took a reboot to fix. So this is considered a hackintosh right? The term hackintosh is just a pc running mac os correct?

Loving it, I put it on my HTPC in the living room, not gunna use windows 7 there anymore.. will stick with os x for my htpc needs :) For now I will keep Vista 64 on my main PC though.
 
Looking into Hackintosh, couple spec questions

I'm looking into creating a Hackintosh computer. I currently have a Black MacBook, but I'm looking for more power for less money than the Mac Pro and iMac.
I have been looking at the OSx86 project wiki, and found some parts that I think would work well for me.
Here is what I have so far:

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775
EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3

I'm not worried about finding RAM and a hard drive, those shouldn't be issues for me. But I'm wondering if you guys think it will work well in a hackintosh computer. I am planning on purchasing a retail copy of Leopard, so this isn't going to involve pirated software. I would also like to use bootcamp with Windows 7 when its out.

So, besides the parts I have above, what else will I need? Will those parts work together? Should I just go with a windows system and skip the hackintosh stuff altogether?
I don't think I need a Network card or an audio card, because those are in the board. (or am I wrong?) I guess I'll need an optical drive, but I'm not sure where to start with that. I want to read/write CD's and DVD's. Will any drive work, or will there be compatibility issues?

I just want to be 99.9% sure this is going to work before I start in on this project, because this is a lot of money for me and I don't want to waste it.
 
I just built what was supposed to be a Hackintosh using that motherboard. Unfortunately, I failed, my issue appears to lie in the processor(used a dual core pentium for some dumb reason) or the graphics card. I made a thread regarding my issue: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=157976&st=0&p=1109194&#entry1109194.

I ended up giving up though, it's my family computer, and I never use it, and they're content with XP anyways.

Go check out www.insanelymac.com, there's a plethora of information over there, and there are many people that have built similar machines to your prospected machine.
 
ddeadserious said:
I just built what was supposed to be a Hackintosh using that motherboard. Unfortunately, I failed, my issue appears to lie in the processor(used a dual core pentium for some dumb reason) or the graphics card. I made a thread regarding my issue: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=157976&st=0&p=1109194&#entry1109194.

I ended up giving up though, it's my family computer, and I never use it, and they're content with XP anyways.

Go check out www.insanelymac.com, there's a plethora of information over there, and there are many people that have built similar machines to your prospected machine.
Click to expand...
Thats odd. I actually had Leo running on an old P4 tower with everything but audio (stupid AC97) working great.


macbookairman said:
I'm looking into creating a Hackintosh computer. I currently have a Black MacBook, but I'm looking for more power for less money than the Mac Pro and iMac.
I have been looking at the OSx86 project wiki, and found some parts that I think would work well for me.
Here is what I have so far:

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775
EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3

I'm not worried about finding RAM and a hard drive, those shouldn't be issues for me. But I'm wondering if you guys think it will work well in a hackintosh computer. I am planning on purchasing a retail copy of Leopard, so this isn't going to involve pirated software. I would also like to use bootcamp with Windows 7 when its out.

So, besides the parts I have above, what else will I need? Will those parts work together? Should I just go with a windows system and skip the hackintosh stuff altogether?
I don't think I need a Network card or an audio card, because those are in the board. (or am I wrong?) I guess I'll need an optical drive, but I'm not sure where to start with that. I want to read/write CD's and DVD's. Will any drive work, or will there be compatibility issues?

I just want to be 99.9% sure this is going to work before I start in on this project, because this is a lot of money for me and I don't want to waste it.
Click to expand...

Read this regarding your motherboard. It seems like an easy setup.

Your video may or may not work on the first boot, but you can install nvKush or EFI strings to get it working. I can explain that more if you need it :D

The Q6600 is a beast of a cpu. My current comp has a Q9300 which is nice, but doesnt overclock as well. Not that i care, i dont overclock anyway.

Onboard audio will work with the driver included in the thread i linked to.

Network supposedly works with this driver.

You may need to put the ethernet driver and KextHelper (google it, im lazy) on a usb drive so you can get that going. KextHelper just moves the driver into the right folder and fixes permissions.

You cant use Bootcamp per se, but you can still dual boot windows. Just partition (i actually find its much safer to use two different HDDs for this so the two dont fight over the MBR) and install one OS to each just like you normally would on a fresh build, no bootcamp required. Depending on what one you want to boot from first you may need to do some bootloader editing, but its really really easy.
 
Hi. I have a hackintosh with a p5ld2-vm mobo with GMA 950 gfx, but I want to add my radeon x1300 pro, except it can't get past the blue screen. Does anyone have the right kext for it? thanks.
 
DivineEvil said:
Hi all again! I'm bumping this thread, because I didn't want to open another similar :).

As you might have read above about 1 month ago I installed Hackintosh Tiger on my PC. Well 3 weeks ago I managed to install Leopard on the same PC :). Ever since Leopard is my only OS on the laptop ;).

Yesterday I installed Win7 RC... and oh boy... I was sooo not diggin it. I am so used to Expose and the show desktop (the pointing to the corners of the screen and making kewl stuff), that I really missed it.

The interesting thing is that I've been using MacOSX for less than a month and it changed me so much! That much that my next PC will be a genuine Mac (and by PC I mean personal computer)...

There I sad it now I am a 100% switcher!

Apple thank the x86 community for the Hackingtosh! You will get about $2000 in a few months from me!
Click to expand...

Amen brother!
I also built a Hack which runs pretty much perfectly. I thought, hey I've just saved myself a shed load of money here ! All those mac buyers are suckers! LOL
Then I needed a new laptop. After looking and looking at Dells, HP's, even Acer at one point(!) to hack, the draw of a MBP was just too strong. And after trying to compare similar tech and build quality (top end Dells and Sony's), the MBP was actually not looking too bad a proposition.
I've done with hacking. It's great to have done it, but sometimes you actually need to get on with what a computer is for, and not try "fix" something bad by shoehorning something good into it :p
So, yes, Apple do have the OSx86 community to thank in our two cases atleast.
Long may they prosper!

(That's not to say I'm won't be looking forward to hacking a little netbook in the future :eek::D)
 
anybody had any experience with a third party firewire400 card? i had one lying around and chucked it into my hack. it will only read my first daisy chained HD from a cold boot - if i try to plug it in when its booted up it wont recognise it.

the third device (dual bay HDs) arent recognised at all...

my chain goes single pay HD, DVD burner, dual bay HD.

any ideas?? is there any firmware i might have to install? google just gives back laptop problems
 
I have a pci FW400 card that works well enough. I only have one FW hdd, so i cant test daisy chaining and whatnot, but my hdd functions quite well.
What card did you install?
___


I have a Dell XPS 420 that i dont really use. It runs osx quite well (and fast), but im just not sure i want it sitting around collecting dust. I might want to sell it or trade it for a laptop of some sort (preferably something that runs osx, like an xps laptop or an ideapad). Anyone care to add any thoughts?
Specs as follows (everything works except items with **, which i will explain):

Q9300 Core2Quad (2.5ghz)
4gb DDR2
ATI 3870 512mb (dont know the manufacturer, it doesnt have any stickers on it)
500gb 7200rpm sata hdd
Card reader/blue-tooth built in
Hauppauge tv tuner card (hvr1250 probably, i can check)**
Integrated 5.1 channel audio *
It has a little lcd screen on top that you can use to disply vista/7 gadgets
DVD-RW sata drive
Firewire 400, eSATA, and usb 2.0 (idk if FW or eSATA works, i can test the FW though, but not the eSATA)
Linksys 300n wifi card (shows up as Airport card with proper driver)

**The TV tuner may or may not work in osx, i never even tried, but i doubt it does.
*The integrated audio supposedly works with a linux dump of the driver, but i never bothered trying. If anyone is interested i'll try it out, i've been meaning to anyway.

iPC runs like a dream on this machine. Ethernet quits working after you sleep/wake, and this can be fixed, but i just installed the wifi kext instead because it seemed easier. ATI 3xxx drivers from the iPC work perfectly, card reader and blue-tooth work ootb, the mini lcd powers on in osx but its not recognized (it shows up in windows as a usb device, so maybe there is hope).

On the windows side (windows 7 x64) it runs games very nicely (the only reason i use windows on it). Mirrors Edge runs at 1400x900 with the highest setting and 8xAA and probably keeps its framerate at a higher res, but 1400x900 is good enough for me. Crysis runs with settings on Very High/High at 1400x900 at about 35fps. COD4 runs like butter on a hot skillet. I also have a WMC remote/IR dongle for use with Windows Media Center. I cant get the remote to work in OSX, but i really didnt try too hard. I only took the remote out of its box just to try it with osx, it still has the plastic sheet covering the IR emitter.

Its a pretty fast machine, i just dont use it too much any more. It has a warranty until Sept of this year. Anyone care to add any thoughts?
 
NoSmokingBandit said:
I have a pci FW400 card that works well enough. I only have one FW hdd, so i cant test daisy chaining and whatnot, but my hdd functions quite well.
What card did you install?
___
Click to expand...

thanks for your input! i dont know what brand/version it is. there is no brand on the PCI card, i got it installed in an old PC and they didnt provide a box/manual. its some cheap firewire card.. thats all i know.. so yea :-S just wanted to know if there were any drivers that could possibly help improve support.
 
foothead said:
Hi. i have already built a hackintosh desktop, but right now, I really want a netbook. I am very short for money right now, so I need something cheap. I really want the EEE900a because it is incredibly cheap and powerful enough for what I need. What do you think about this? I know most people use the MSI wind or mini 9, but the wind costs too much, and I would never even consider a Dell. I googled it, and surprisingly found almost nothing. A few claims, but thats about it. So if anyone has done this, could you please help me out? I plan on buying the refurb 4 GB model and putting an SD card or a larger SSD. Will it boot from SD or will I have to upgrade the SSD in it? also I'm not really sure about the speed of SDs so what about that? thanks.
Click to expand...
Refer to http://eeemac.blogspot.com/ and http://www.enik.ch/2009/03/osx-leopard-1056-on-the-eee-1000h/.

I have an Eee PC 1000 up and running, though I did a couple upgrades:
+ Runcore 64gb PATA mini-PCIe SSD (OS X boot volume)
+ 2GB RAM
+ bought an Apple Airport wireless card (mini-PCIe) from ebay

I upgraded the 32gb SSD for a couple reason: I had originally intended to upgrade the 8gb internal SSD, and even though a mini-PCIe SSD will fit, it required electrical tape to secure it. I wasn't comfortable with that, so I replaced the stock 32gb SSD (which I tried installing OS X on, but it was REALLY slow on there... I would get beachballs almost everytime I clicked). The 8gb SSD seemed faster and OS X ran quite well on it, but I needed more space (I needed XCode for on-the-go programming) for what I needed to run.

Upgrading the RAM was a no-brainer.

I changed out the Airport card mostly for aesthetic reasons... the 1000 has a Ralink card which is actually supported through a driver available on the Ralink site. BUT it requires a really ugly and intrusive interface to run on the dock to work. I didn't want the hassle and ugliness of the Ralink driver, so I bought a mini-PCIe card from ebay. Popped it in after my OS X installed and it was detected immediately.

The RAM, larger of the stock SSDs, and the wireless card are easy to replace on the 1000 (don't know as much about the 901). With the new drive, RAM, and airport card... OS X on my 1000 is just about flawless. I'd say it runs about as well and as smoothly as my wife's 12" PB 1.5GHz...

Practically? I haven't really taken it out for all-day use yet, but the battery meter says there's about 5.5 to 6hrs on it (depending on what's enabled and the brightness of the monitor). Only thing that doesn't work for me is the camera. I take that partially back, it worked once during one of my installation trials but hasn't since. I got the Linux Eee, and the eeeMac Journey site mentioned some problem with the cameras on the Linux versions.

Depending on your installation source, you're going to need about 6gb available.

EDIT:

Warning: When you buy a new SSD, do NOT buy the half-mini PCIe like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820609414

That drive and the other half-mini PCIe drives on Newegg (for instance) use a proprietary interface for the Mini 9. It WILL fry your Eee if you try to install with one. Instead, you can use one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820609406 but be warned also... this drive requires the new BIOS (that recognizes SATA-PCIe) and may not work with OS X. Well, at least I tried and it didn't. For reference, with the Eee 1000... the new BIOS is 0913. The older BIOS which I ended up using with the Runcore was 0803.
 
ddeadserious said:
I just built what was supposed to be a Hackintosh using that motherboard. Unfortunately, I failed, my issue appears to lie in the processor(used a dual core pentium for some dumb reason)
Click to expand...
It does not matter if you use a Core2Duo or Core2Quad. But i had "issues" with a Radeon 3850 (System did not boot) and replaced it with a Radeon 3870. If you are not sure what the problem is - try installing one .kext after the other, and not 6 at the same time. Maybe have a clone of your install on one "crap" drive you can experiment with.

Maybe try out LS8's Pack.
 
DoFoT9 said:
thanks for your input! i dont know what brand/version it is. there is no brand on the PCI card, i got it installed in an old PC and they didnt provide a box/manual. its some cheap firewire card.. thats all i know.. so yea :-S just wanted to know if there were any drivers that could possibly help improve support.
Click to expand...

Mine is just a cheap FW card, i dont know the model of it, but i can find out. I just installed it and it worked instantly when i booted up. I wish i could test the daisy chain, but i cant....
 
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