Hackintosh 10.5.5 Retail Rig - Starting at $305

[Jack Flash]

I am ENDLESSLY getting the Circle with Slash through it despite typing in -f EVERY time I boot.

 

[Zaap]

Jack Flash, how about a bit more info please?

OSX installs perfectly on the hardware you have- so make sure you're following the instructions mosslack sent you to the letter.

From my own experience with that board and others, what you're describing sounds like you may not have the right AHCI settings in the BIOS. As I recall, on the UD3P board, there are two BIOS entries where it needs to be set, so double-check that it's right.

 

[mshan]

Can anyone make a Bluetooth suggestion? I want to add it to my setup for keyboard and mouse. What is the word on buying a USB bluetooth or a PCIe?

I bought a Cirago BTA-3210 and it was recognized natively by OS X.

This looks like same product, but I don't know if it has same chip in it: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...X:IT&item=170291007701

 

[Eastwind]

Mshan- Nice find, if it works. I bought a D-link for $20 off Newegg. I found that the Chinese have discovered Ebay and we are (mostly) benefiting from it.

I'll keep that in mind for the next build.

 

[Eastwind]

So, I am not off to a great start. Still going slowly and carefully, but I am stuck. I have booted the BootCD and swapped out for Leopard (using a retail 10.5 DVD). I enter ''9f", enter, loading Darwin X86 and then the computer reboots. We all know what happens next.. (Boot failure...). I have tried several times, I have tried -v booting but I don't get any reporting. The screen says Starting Darwin and then reboots.

I have poured over Kaido's Leopard Soup and rechecked the BIOS, but no luck. The CD-ROM and HD are on the SATA0 and SATA1.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[mosslack]

Originally posted by: Eastwind
So, I am not off to a great start. Still going slowly and carefully, but I am stuck. I have booted the BootCD and swapped out for Leopard (using a retail 10.5 DVD). I enter ''9f", enter, loading Darwin X86 and then the computer reboots. We all know what happens next.. (Boot failure...). I have tried several times, I have tried -v booting but I don't get any reporting. The screen says Starting Darwin and then reboots.

I have poured over Kaido's Leopard Soup and rechecked the BIOS, but no luck. The CD-ROM and HD are on the SATA0 and SATA1.

Anyone have any ideas?

Just curious, is 9f the default which is presented after starting with the boot 132 CD? I've noticed this has changed sometimes depending on the mobo. If another value is presented as the default you might try it if you haven't already. I believe this happened to me with the MSI Wind barebones PC and the bios had to be set to default values before it would boot the Leo retail DVD. HTH

 

[DownAndOut]

Is the preferred/recommended/easiest to get up and running/most compatible motherboard and cpu still the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L and Intel Q6600 2.4ghz Quad-Core CPU as listed on the first page of this thread for the monster workstation rig? I am looking to run Plex (hopefully 1080p), rip/encode movies (my own, purchased of course) and maybe download a few legal torrents all as a media center pc connected to a high def tv.

 

[Eastwind]

Moss,

9f is what comes up, I tried 9e, but entering the wrong one does nothing but bring the boot prompt back up. I have been trying for hours.. I am now making a custom ISO to boot and install. This is really frustrating. I expected to have issues, but not this soon and so confusing.

DownAndOut-

That is what I am making. Or trying to. I make it with the mATx and an E5200. The quad is nice, but more than you need for Plex.


Edit:
Ok. Now I made a 10.5.5 custom DVD and its gets 1-2 seconds farther. It looks like the install is going to happen as I get a light grey screen with the dark grey apple and then instant freeze requiring a hard reset. <big sigh>

 

[Zaap]

Originally posted by: DownAndOut
Is the preferred/recommended/easiest to get up and running/most compatible motherboard and cpu still the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L and Intel Q6600 2.4ghz Quad-Core CPU as listed on the first page of this thread for the monster workstation rig? I am looking to run Plex (hopefully 1080p), rip/encode movies (my own, purchased of course) and maybe download a few legal torrents all as a media center pc connected to a high def tv.

You certainly wouldn't go wrong with a P35-DS3L for what you want to do, and yes, I'd say it's one of the 'easiest' to get up and running, thanks in no small part to Kaido's excellent documentation of it. For what you're describing, a P35 would perform very well.

 

[scootermaster]

poop?

Edit: Yay! I'm unbanned! Anyway, I need, I think, a full wipe and reinstall. Seems like so many fixes have come out since I first installed. Heck, I'm still using DSDT, whatever that is. Just waiting for the new thread.

Also, as far as bugs are concerned, I'm having a heck of a time with eSATA, sleep, Time Machine and all that good stuff. I'm wondering if it's a hardware thing (the mobo didn't come with a bracket, so I bought one on amazon, maybe the enclosure is incompatible? Something else?). But it doesn't exactly seem like hot-swapping is supported or anything like that, which is too bad. I've got this lovely enclosure, but I'm tempted to just throw the drive in the case.

 

[cgates]

I had been following the updates on the Leopardsoup wiki, but it's been locked for the last couple of weeks. Is that going to be opened up again?
Thanks

 

[Eastwind]

Yes, it will be when Kaido is done. I think the end of the month is when he had planned to be done.

 

[Kaido]

Yup, Spring Break is next week and I also get a few days off from work, so I'll be wrapping things up

 

[Eastwind]

Kaido,

I am pulling my hair out and I don't want to be bald...

I can't even get to the point where I can install Leopard. I have the BootCD, then all is well until Darwn starts. That causes the computer to reboot. A few dozen retries and I made an install DVD from a new Macbook. That froze at about the same point. I did a -v as saw the kernel panic. Just before it was the appleacpiplatform.kext saying it had dual dependencies and then the panic. After that the traceback seemed to point to com.apple.driver.Apple EFIRuntime(1.2.0)

Any thoughts?

 

[mosslack]

Originally posted by: Eastwind
Moss,

9f is what comes up, I tried 9e, but entering the wrong one does nothing but bring the boot prompt back up. I have been trying for hours.. I am now making a custom ISO to boot and install. This is really frustrating. I expected to have issues, but not this soon and so confusing.

Edit:
Ok. Now I made a 10.5.5 custom DVD and its gets 1-2 seconds farther. It looks like the install is going to happen as I get a light grey screen with the dark grey apple and then instant freeze requiring a hard reset. <big sigh>

I see you've turned into a crab so this IS really bad. IIRC you said some others had hacked this board previously, how are they doing it? I would read that thread completely and see if you can follow their lead. Otherwise you are in uncharted territory on this one. Obviously if you cannot install Leopard from the retail DVD then you either have to find out why or try something else like Kalyway or others. Are you using a customized version of the boot 132 CD or just the same generic one we've been using for the DS3L and UD3P? Making a custom boot CD might be a place to start if you have not done so already. HTH

 

[Eastwind]

You caught that? That was what someone called me. Crabby. I can't explain this project and the frustration this causes. She'd just say, "huh?" if I tried.

I have been re-reading threads and many people have this board running! I used the generic DS3L boot 132 and that seems fine. I did make a 10.5.5 boot DVD with Chameleon. Maybe I should change that up on a new custom boot DVD.. I am going to reread the thread on ISM and see where that puts me.

The custom 10.5.5 kernel panics after "starting Darwin" and just before the kernel panic it said appleacpiplatform.kext had dual dependencies... and then the panic. After that the traceback seemed to point to com.apple.driver.Apple EFIRuntime(1.2.0) . I posted a screen photo of the panic on ISM.

As a last resort I ordered an external USB case with SATA to remove the HD, install on the external and put it back in. Hopefully that works. But it will be next week before that arrives!

Thanks mosslack!


Edit:
And there it is in front of me..4 pages in...Never mind kids...move along..shows over..nothing to see here..

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Eastwind
Kaido,

I am pulling my hair out and I don't want to be bald...

I can't even get to the point where I can install Leopard. I have the BootCD, then all is well until Darwn starts. That causes the computer to reboot. A few dozen retries and I made an install DVD from a new Macbook. That froze at about the same point. I did a -v as saw the kernel panic. Just before it was the appleacpiplatform.kext saying it had dual dependencies and then the panic. After that the traceback seemed to point to com.apple.driver.Apple EFIRuntime(1.2.0)

Any thoughts?

I think I have next Tuesday off...we should do a forum-wide IRC chat for anyone who needs project help. What do you guys think? If Zaap and mosslack can make it, I'll sign up

 

[Eastwind]

I'll sign up! I am trying something promising, but who knows?! I may be on the ledge in 30 minutes...

 

[eltrkbrd]

I'm considering picking up a XFX GTS 250 512MB card for $120 Shipped new with no rebates to deal with.

This is for an i7 920 build using the GA-EX58-UD5 motherboard with a retail install of OS X 10.5.6.

What do you think would be involved with editing the EFI Strings to try and get this card to work stable with Opengl, QE/CI, Shutdown/Sleep, Dual DVI Mirrored/Extended Desktop? I'm a osx86 newb and have been researching the forums for about a month and just pulled the trigger yesterday on purchasing all the hardware for this setup.

I heard that I need to use the drivers for 10.5.7 to get the GTS 250 to work and that there is a difference in the Frame Buffer. What is involved with that? Do I have to flash the BIOS? Not much comes up searching forums or google.

Is it true the new iMacs may be using the GTS 250?

Of course I can just go with the 9800 GTX+ but it seems there are some deals popping up right now on the GTS 250s and since they are almost identical, do you see any reasons why this may not work with this setup?

I'm also looking at the Radeon 4870s but they are about >$50 more and seem to run a lot hotter. Is it possible that the 9800 GTX+/GTS 250 runs cooler, quieter, and is more stable on a hackintosh for production work with apps like CS4/FCP (no gaming).

I also plan on triple booting with Windows 7 & Linux so a mature chipset with great driver support is a plus.

Any help would be appreciated...

Thanks

 

[Eastwind]

Ok, so here is what happened with my E7AUM install. I have some more ideas left, maybe someone can make suggestions, maybe this might help someone else.

BootCD w/Retail - Rebooted immediately.
Custom 10.5.5- Kernel Panic

Then I read a thread where someone used an external USB drive. I have several small ones. I setup a 30GB with 2 15GB partitions. I installed a restore of 10.5.5 install CD on one and then installed 10.5.5 on the other. I am leaving some details out, only because I'm beat. I did have to use the OSinstall.mpkg to get 10.5.5 to install and I replaced that on the installer side of the 30gb HD too.

Then I used UInstaller and that got me farther. I hit a kernel panic due to an AppleIntelCPU kext that needs to be removed. Then after removing that I rebooted and got another kernel panic. This time over the NVEthernet. I did get a persistent error using UInstaller about the EFI Ethernet (Time Machine Fix) and I suspect this is the cause of the kernel panic the last time. I have been unsuccessful to remedy this and since it is late, I am going to try again tomorrow.

Just as I was ending things for the evening, I also learned that my DSDT is for a quad core and I have a dual. So that will be a problem, if it isn't being one already. I do have the correct DSDT file, but I can't figure out a manual install, nor can I get Uinstaller to acknowledge that it is in the correct folder. It's been a long day...

 

[mosslack]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: Eastwind
Kaido,

I am pulling my hair out and I don't want to be bald...

I can't even get to the point where I can install Leopard. I have the BootCD, then all is well until Darwn starts. That causes the computer to reboot. A few dozen retries and I made an install DVD from a new Macbook. That froze at about the same point. I did a -v as saw the kernel panic. Just before it was the appleacpiplatform.kext saying it had dual dependencies and then the panic. After that the traceback seemed to point to com.apple.driver.Apple EFIRuntime(1.2.0)

Any thoughts?

I think I have next Tuesday off...we should do a forum-wide IRC chat for anyone who needs project help. What do you guys think? If Zaap and mosslack can make it, I'll sign up

Unfortunately I have to work during the day, but I can join in when I get home if it's still going. I'll relay this to Peter as I'm sure he could help and would be willing as he is retired.

 

[mosslack]

Originally posted by: Eastwind
Ok, so here is what happened with my E7AUM install. I have some more ideas left, maybe someone can make suggestions, maybe this might help someone else.

BootCD w/Retail - Rebooted immediately.
Custom 10.5.5- Kernel Panic

Then I read a thread where someone used an external USB drive. I have several small ones. I setup a 30GB with 2 15GB partitions. I installed a restore of 10.5.5 install CD on one and then installed 10.5.5 on the other. I am leaving some details out, only because I'm beat. I did have to use the OSinstall.mpkg to get 10.5.5 to install and I replaced that on the installer side of the 30gb HD too.

Then I used UInstaller and that got me farther. I hit a kernel panic due to an AppleIntelCPU kext that needs to be removed. Then after removing that I rebooted and got another kernel panic. This time over the NVEthernet. I did get a persistent error using UInstaller about the EFI Ethernet (Time Machine Fix) and I suspect this is the cause of the kernel panic the last time. I have been unsuccessful to remedy this and since it is late, I am going to try again tomorrow.

Just as I was ending things for the evening, I also learned that my DSDT is for a quad core and I have a dual. So that will be a problem, if it isn't being one already. I do have the correct DSDT file, but I can't figure out a manual install, nor can I get Uinstaller to acknowledge that it is in the correct folder. It's been a long day...

The DSDT file is best eliminated as it is NOT needed. I don't believe it will hurt anything if included, but to my way of thinking it is just more clutter to add to the confusion so best be rid of it.

My thoughts are this, since most problems are video related why not use a known good video card just to see if it will work? Just a cheapo 7200GS or some such. If you can get a good install this way you are one step closer, at least and know where the problem lies. If it doesn't work you can eliminate video as the problem and move on. Divide and conquer as it were. HTH

 

[Eastwind]

I don't know the time zones involved, I'm on the left coast. By the way did I mention that I am running my first hackintosh build?



Moss- Thanks! I just got it running. I reinstalled the OS to not confuse things and eventually got it running.

I'm going to explain what I did a bit better later.

 

[eltrkbrd]

Eastwind,

What mobo + vid card did you go with for your build? Are you running vanilla 10.5.6 kernel with Retail install/boot 132?

What is the IRC network and # going to be for the anandtech hackintosh meetup?.

All my equipment should be here by around midweek (i7 920 + GA-EX58-UD5 + XFX GTS 250 512MB + OS X 10.5.6 Retail DVD)

If this comes together, I'll see everyone there...

 

[mosslack]

Originally posted by: Eastwind
I don't know the time zones involved, I'm on the left coast. By the way did I mention that I am running my first hackintosh build?



Moss- Thanks! I just got it running. I reinstalled the OS to not confuse things and eventually got it running.

I'm going to explain what I did a bit better later.

That's great news! And we all look forward to knowing how you did it.