Hackintosh 10.5.5 Retail Rig - Starting at $305

[swilso]

Originally posted by: scootermaster
Two issues:

1). If the computer has been put to sleep, it "crashes" when it's shut down (after being woken up). No IDE drives installed, and I think the new IDE kext installed. If I knew how to uninstall it, I'd check and see if the same thing happens without it.

2). I installed the kext for the logitech BT dongle, and I held down the button on the dongle to put it in BT mode (apparently it defaults to RF or something). Leopard detects it fine, and the mouse will pair, but the keyboard will not. It will be detected, but when it comes time to enter in the passcode, it doesn't really work and then it times out. Any idea what's up with that?

Bonus item: The fan on my e7200 seems to be faulty. It starts and then stops sometimes (creating a lovely beep from my PC speaker) and then starts agsain and stops again. Once it finally gets going, it's fine, but sometimes it take a couple of reboots. So a). any bright ideas how to fix that and b). If not, what do I need/what sort of fan should I get to replace it. If I'm going to get an aftermarket fan, I might as well overclock a bit. But I don't really have to. Quietness and [hopefully] cost are more important. I'd rather not have to get another fan but i obviously need something working on my CPU (send it back to intel? It was a Frys return, and it's far past the 15 days they give for CPU returns).

Have you tried to disable smart fan control in BIOS? by disabling that the CPU fan will be on full speed constantly, if smart fan is enabled it will adjust the RPM by how hot the computer is, maybe on boot it thinks it doesn't need to be on because it is cold? I run my e7300 without smartfan control and it runs fine and keeps it nice and cool at usually 3~5 degrees Celsius above ambient temp (on idle).
I don't game so I dont see the point in an aftermarket HSF i just wanted to overclock to make the system snappier and fast raw power for loading apps etc. the e7200/e7300 seem like good little budget chips. Mine is currently on 3.2ghz @ 1.175V and stable (tested in x64 vista under orthos)

@ Kaido

With fusion to detect your windows drive, what version OS of windows did you have? I couldn't get fusion to load up my x64 Vista OS. So I have two physical OS (x64 vista and osx) + XP in virtual with fusion (for when I want windows whilst in osx, although I use the paragon plug in to file share between NTFS and HSF+)

 

[leglez]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: leglez
Tried a fresh install with the new method (LeoSoup) and after I install 10.5.5 it boots fine. But then once I install all the minor updates I get the same mDNSResponder error. I have found a good 4 or 5 threads over at insanelymac. All of them say it is something with the graphics card. One something was wrong with natit, one something wrong with EFI Strings, and then there were a few others. I also tried to use my PCI Ethernet card and same error.

I'll give you a newer copy of my files, which works on my rig. The kexts aren't completed and there are some quirks still, but it worked on my machine just fine. It's either the older kext package you're using or your video card.

Thanks Kaido I sent you a PM. If it was my video card would that mean I would need to get a new one?

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: randomlinh
hrm.. anyone know if you dual boot.. if parallels or fusion can see it? that would definitely be nice. Or alternatively, does bootcamp work fine? heh

Boot Camp doesn't work, this is Pinnocio man - it's not a real Mac

I know Fusion can see it, don't use Parallels anymore. Heard its slow tho.

hey, everything else looks like it's going well, it was a long shot =P

If I do dual boot drive wise, can drive 1 boot OS X, and drive 2 be partition in half, one to boot Vista, one to use as storage for OS X (Mac Ext Journaled)?

Not even sure I'll do that or stick w/ just virtual machines. Ideally, VM's that can handle Vista's Aero, heh

 

[antol111]

Originally posted by: Zaap
I think this is directly related to using the VGA-adapter in single-head mode on port 1, which on the 8600GT I think likes to default to DVI only, with port 2 for analog DVI or adapted VGA. I noticed flaky weirdness on my eVGA 8600GT when trying to use a VGA adapter on port 1; no issues with it on port 2. Unless you're having any other specific issues, I think it's just the way this card is- it's actually a newer card than the 8800GT and probably has some architecture-based quirks when used with Hackintosh.

What's displayed in System Profiler-Graphics/Displays?

On my system with the eVGA 8600GT, when using dual monitors, only works for Hackintosh if DVI(D) is on port 1, VGA adapter on port 2. Everything works flawlessly like that. Dual DVI(D) in OSX: only port 1 outputs if a monitor is attached via DVI (D) to port 2. This is definitely an issue with the 8600 as I've had dual DVI-D monitors on the 8800GT without issue.

Zaap,

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking it was something to do with the card itself. Are all the 8600 GT like this (no matter the company who made the card)? I wish I had done some more research and bought something more compatible.... oh well.

Is the GeForce 8400 series more compatible? I don't need too much power, I just need to have dual dvi working.

As for what was displayed in System Profiler-Graphics/Displays... I know that CI/QE was on and that it showed up as an NVIDIA card with the correct amount of RAM.

Thanks again,
Bogdan

 

[albert1028]

Here are my specs:

P35-DS3L V2
Intel Q6600
Memory: Transcend 2GB DDR2-800
Video: eVGA 8600GT 256MB

The installation went well for leopard.

I installed the Memory Fix kext and than rebooted.

I copied the DS3L DSDT to the root. I installed the audio driver. I than installed 10.5.5 600MB upgrade and chameleon as well as opened up OSX86Tools. Installed all the kexts in the folder except the memory fix. I also went to the "ADD EFI Strings/Boot Flag" and clicked on GFX Strings, and hit "import string to the boot editor" and than filled out the rest of the Boot Editor than clicked "Apply chanes to com.apple.Boot.plist" and did the same thing for the ethernet strings.

When i reboot, it halts during the apple bootup, where there is only the gray apple symbol and the progress circular status thing. I'm not sure what went wrong. I read that eVGA 8600GT cards are finnicky.

I need help.

Thanks.

 

[leglez]

albert1028 try to boot with -v and post the last few lines it gives you here.

 

[albert1028]

Originally posted by: leglez
albert1028 try to boot with -v and post the last few lines it gives you here.

Thanks for your quick reply. You mean while in the boot loader boot my hard drive (which is 80) and add "-v", so 80 -v?

Thanks.

 

[Kaido]

Status Update:

1. New app is completed (super easy installation if you already have a Mac)
2. Adding PC EFI v9 Chameleon features to the 1-Click installer (extensions.mkext support)
3. 90% finished the guide

Installation will now be one of 2 ways:

1. Leopard DVD
2. Hard Drive installation from an existing Mac

The Leopard DVD installation simply requires a blank disc (CD or DVD) that acts as the bootloader temporarily for the installation. After installation, you'll install a bootloader to the hard drive. Pretty easy. The Hard Drive installation is even easier, no discs required - you simply plug in a SATA drive to your existing Mac and install everything to it right from your desktop. You can plug in the SATA drive internally or use an enclosure (USB or Firewire is fine). Once you're done with the software setup (typically about 15 minutes on a bare drive), you simply plug it into your Hackintosh and boot it up, setup Leopard like usually, and download updates.

I also have a special Netbook method coming out, such as for the MSI Wind. It requires an 8gb+ USB stick (or USB hard drive) and...that's it

 

[leglez]

Awesome I am excited for the netbook method. I was just looking at purchasing an MSI Wind.

 

[frabjousdey]

I think I've resolved my EVGA 8800GT Akimbo problems. Wanted to drop a note here for any future hack builders with the same problems.

If you're being dumped to a blank screen, or if QE/CI don't seem to be enabled (and your system freezes up when it tries to use them), it's possible that the kext caches are getting corrupted for some reason. I followed these instructions to erase and rebuild them on every shutdown/reboot.

 

[mosslack]

Originally posted by: Zaap

<SNIP>
Given that "what can go wrong often does" the possible pitfalls and potential boot errors with multiple drives are few. With a single disk, they're many.

Excellent mini tutorial on dual booting OS X and Windows. As for separate drives, I have gone one step further using a Combox to keep my 3 OS drives totally separate. I also have a fourth drive which is used for data (fat32). This fourth drive is not hooked up to the Combox and it powered and mapped into the system at all times for use with whatever OS drive is being used at the time. Works very well, but I do have to power down to switch drives which is the only bad part.

 

[SignorPapageorgio]

I am excited to see this guide!!

 

[mosslack]

Originally posted by: swilso

Originally posted by: scootermaster
Two issues:

1). If the computer has been put to sleep, it "crashes" when it's shut down (after being woken up). No IDE drives installed, and I think the new IDE kext installed. If I knew how to uninstall it, I'd check and see if the same thing happens without it.

2). I installed the kext for the logitech BT dongle, and I held down the button on the dongle to put it in BT mode (apparently it defaults to RF or something). Leopard detects it fine, and the mouse will pair, but the keyboard will not. It will be detected, but when it comes time to enter in the passcode, it doesn't really work and then it times out. Any idea what's up with that?

Bonus item: The fan on my e7200 seems to be faulty. It starts and then stops sometimes (creating a lovely beep from my PC speaker) and then starts agsain and stops again. Once it finally gets going, it's fine, but sometimes it take a couple of reboots. So a). any bright ideas how to fix that and b). If not, what do I need/what sort of fan should I get to replace it. If I'm going to get an aftermarket fan, I might as well overclock a bit. But I don't really have to. Quietness and [hopefully] cost are more important. I'd rather not have to get another fan but i obviously need something working on my CPU (send it back to intel? It was a Frys return, and it's far past the 15 days they give for CPU returns).

Have you tried to disable smart fan control in BIOS? by disabling that the CPU fan will be on full speed constantly, if smart fan is enabled it will adjust the RPM by how hot the computer is, maybe on boot it thinks it doesn't need to be on because it is cold? I run my e7300 without smartfan control and it runs fine and keeps it nice and cool at usually 3~5 degrees Celsius above ambient temp (on idle).
I don't game so I dont see the point in an aftermarket HSF i just wanted to overclock to make the system snappier and fast raw power for loading apps etc. the e7200/e7300 seem like good little budget chips. Mine is currently on 3.2ghz @ 1.175V and stable (tested in x64 vista under orthos)

@ Kaido

With fusion to detect your windows drive, what version OS of windows did you have? I couldn't get fusion to load up my x64 Vista OS. So I have two physical OS (x64 vista and osx) + XP in virtual with fusion (for when I want windows whilst in osx, although I use the paragon plug in to file share between NTFS and HSF+)

Had this same problem on my GA-945GCMX-S2 Hack, heard the speaker beep and saw that the CPU fan was not running. Disabled the smart fan control and problem solved.

 

[Throckmorton]

Can you use an Intel DG45ID motherboard? Or any other G45 series?

 

[Josh64FX]

Anyone have problem with the USB external hard drives not waking up after putting the system in sleep?? I have time machine setup on the external hard drive and it causes issues all the itme..

 

[monteman]

Anyone have problems getting a EVGA e-GeForce 8600GT 256MB video card working?

First time I installed I didn't run EFI before I did the combo update and it frooze and on the second restart it frooze.

I wiped it clean and tried running EFI before the combo update and after restarting still get the grey screen lockup.

I tried running -f it doesn't help, still locks up on the grey loading screen. Any ideas?

 

[swilso]

Originally posted by: monteman
Anyone have problems getting a EVGA e-GeForce 8600GT 256MB video card working?

there is a couple issues people have had with 8600gt's. On the top right of the page click search topic and type 8600 or 8600gt.

 

[MBony]

Originally posted by: monteman
Anyone have problems getting a EVGA e-GeForce 8600GT 256MB video card working?

First time I installed I didn't run EFI before I did the combo update and it frooze and on the second restart it frooze.

I wiped it clean and tried running EFI before the combo update and after restarting still get the grey screen lockup.

I tried running -f it doesn't help, still locks up on the grey loading screen. Any ideas?

I had the EXACT same problem, read my last post on here on how to fix it. You must do things just a little different.

I think it might be time for a Dec. thread

or maybe a hackintosh subforum?

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Astr00
I'm about to order parts in anticipation of the guide (no pressure, Kaido ), and I just wanted to run 'em through you guys to see if everything is looking good. This rig will mostly be used for basic stuff (internet, word editing, music, videos), gaming in Windows and occasional photo editing. I'm not sure if this is overkill or not, but I'd like a stable and snappy rig for some time. I'm not entirely set on the parts I'll use, and I'm also not quite sure if everything will work fine in OSX, so I'll add questions when I'm unsure. Any help would be greatly appreciated! By the way ... This will be my first Hackintosh, but my third Mac in total (already own a 24" white iMac and a mini).

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L - Is the P35 a safer bet? If so, I'll go with that.
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500, 3.16GHz - I'm wondering whether or not to overclock it, and I'm also considering a Q6600, just can't decide. I guess either one will be just fine ... Thoughts?
Memory: Crucial BallistiX DDR2, 4x2GB PC6400 - 8GB total, might be a bit overkill
SATA HDD: Samsung F1 1TB
SATA DVD: Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7203S - I've read good things about this one, but will it play nice with OSX?
USB Soundcard: SteelSeries Siberia Soundcard, Virtual 7.1 USB - This is the cheapest USB audio device I could find in Norway, just thought I'd play it safe with USB audio as that should always be compatible, right?
USB Wireless: D-Link AirPlus G 54Mps Wireless USB Adapter - Will this work with OSX? Are there better solutions, maybe a compatible PCI card?
Video Card: Asus GeForce 9800GTX+, 512MB DDR3 - This is, as far as I can tell, the most powerful GPU (except the 9800GX2) supported in OSX? I'm just wondering if it would be a lot of work, even possible, to have a simple supported GPU (like the 7300GT) in Leopard (as I'm not doing a lot of graphics intensive stuff there) and for example an ATI 4870 for use in Windows, while gaming (on the GA-EP45-DS3L or GA-EP35-DS3L)?
Power supply: Corsair HX620W, modular cables - I've read that it's supposed to be quiet and reliable.
Case: Antec P182 - I'm hoping I'll be able to build a quiet and clutterless system (cable management) with this case, doesn't look too bad either.

I'm sorry I didn't provide any prices or links to the products, as I'm located in Norway and I'll be using a retailer here.

Once again, looking forward to the guide, Kaido. Keep up the good work!

I have the EP45-DS3L and it works perfectly. Sound works, everything... There are even kexts out there to make it so you don't have to enable AHCI mode in your bios.

 

[monteman]

Originally posted by: MBony

Originally posted by: monteman
Anyone have problems getting a EVGA e-GeForce 8600GT 256MB video card working?

First time I installed I didn't run EFI before I did the combo update and it frooze and on the second restart it frooze.

I wiped it clean and tried running EFI before the combo update and after restarting still get the grey screen lockup.

I tried running -f it doesn't help, still locks up on the grey loading screen. Any ideas?

I had the EXACT same problem, read my last post on here on how to fix it. You must do things just a little different.

I think it might be time for a Dec. thread

or maybe a hackintosh subforum?

Got it working Thanks for the help! This is the process to follow with the 8600GT

1. Install Leopard
2. Install the Memory Fix and reboot
3. Install 10.5.5 (don't reboot yet)
4. Install EFI Studio
5. Install OSx86Tool
6. NOW reboot

 

[MBony]

Originally posted by: monteman

Originally posted by: MBony

Originally posted by: monteman
Anyone have problems getting a EVGA e-GeForce 8600GT 256MB video card working?

First time I installed I didn't run EFI before I did the combo update and it frooze and on the second restart it frooze.

I wiped it clean and tried running EFI before the combo update and after restarting still get the grey screen lockup.

I tried running -f it doesn't help, still locks up on the grey loading screen. Any ideas?

I had the EXACT same problem, read my last post on here on how to fix it. You must do things just a little different.

I think it might be time for a Dec. thread

or maybe a hackintosh subforum?

Got it working Thanks for the help! This is the process to follow with the 8600GT

1. Install Leopard
2. Install the Memory Fix and reboot
3. Install 10.5.5 (don't reboot yet)
4. Install EFI Studio
5. Install OSx86Tool
6. NOW reboot

No problem, glad to help and welcome to Anandtech. Hope you stick around!

 

[objectivegiant]

I finally got around to installing tonight and I'm having one small bit of trouble. Maybe someone following this thread can advise me on next steps. I'm using the GA-P35-DS3L and an Asus 7300GT Silent 512mb video card. The problem is that I'm getting a black login screen with a visible mouse.

I followed this to the letter...
1. Install Leopard
2. Install the Memory Fix and reboot
3. Install 10.5.5 (don't reboot yet)
4. Install EFI Studio
5. Install OSx86Tool
6. Reboot

I've tried booting with -f but there was no change. I am able to log in when booting in safe mode. Can someone tell me where I should go from here?

 

[dlock13]

Is it possible to install OSX on this Gateway P-7811FX laptop?

 

[swilso]

Originally posted by: objectivegiant
I finally got around to installing tonight and I'm having one small bit of trouble. Maybe someone following this thread can advise me on next steps. I'm using the GA-P35-DS3L and an Asus 7300GT Silent 512mb video card. The problem is that I'm getting a black login screen with a visible mouse.

I followed this to the letter...
1. Install Leopard
2. Install the Memory Fix and reboot
3. Install 10.5.5 (don't reboot yet)
4. Install EFI Studio
5. Install OSx86Tool
6. Reboot

I've tried booting with -f but there was no change. I am able to log in when booting in safe mode. Can someone tell me where I should go from here?

I don't think your quoting from the correct guide?? The one you typed is the one the guy above you said to do to get a 8600gt working. Have you got the newest (at the moment) package with the DSDT dump ?

 

[swilso]

For objectivegiant, Did you follow the below guide? It will get you up and running osx, the new guide kaido said should be out before christmas.

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: leglez
Ah ok, so we can go straight through to the hdd method now that you posted? From reading it it looked like we had to do the usb method first and then switch to the hdd method.

You can do either. The final draft package has everything you need to do it from scratch. Basically:

1. Setup your BIOS properly
2. Burn the BootCD
3. Boot up the comptuer with the BootCD and swap out with the Leopard DVD
4. Install Leopard, run the initial setup, and get to the desktop
5. Install 10.5.5, but don't restart
6. Install the stuff in the Software folder (DSDT, Chameleon, Kexts, Taruga, EFI Studio, OSx86Tools)
7. Reboot, disable Automatic Updates, and grab any remaining updates

Pretty dang simple...

And the package is here ... http://www.mediafire.com/?shar...a335cae1508bd5622028d6