Hackintosh 10.5.5 Retail Rig - Starting at $305

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Sophie424

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: sjwaste
Are there any technical difficulties/drawbacks by going MBR over GUID?

You can't resize the partition once you've created it with MBR. If you use GUID, you can re-partition any time you want.

Is there always, or sometimes, data loss when you do this?

There is no data loss when re-sizing a GUID partition. It won't let you re-size the partition if there isn't enough space to re-size it.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: BrianP

Originally posted by: Kaido
ANOTHER major breakthrough tonight! I'll announce it tomorrow...let's just say, if you already have a Mac to start with, life just got a whole lot easier

Does a Macbook count or only desktop macs?

Why wouldn't a MacBook count? I highly doubt that whatever Kaido is talking about is going to require more than 6GB RAM

1. Plug in a SATA drive to any Mac (USB enclosures work fine if you don't have a SATA jack)
2. Install retail Leopard to said drive via new tool, right from the desktop
3. Install drivers using my software kit
4. Plug SATA drive into your Hackintosh, setup Leopard, download updates, be happy

 

[BrianP]

Originally posted by: Kaido

1. Plug in a SATA drive to any Mac (USB enclosures work fine if you don't have a SATA jack)
2. Install retail Leopard to said drive via new tool, right from the desktop
3. Install drivers using my software kit
4. Plug SATA drive into your Hackintosh, setup Leopard, download updates, be happy

I've been meaning to pick up one of those dock style SATA enclosures for a while now, this looks like a good excuse.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[swilso]

Assuming you have a 'hackintosh' running already, you can just use that install to complete the installation onto another separate HDD rather than using a mac, correct? Then until everything is peachy I would have the first HDD for backup.

I only have macbooks and my external HDD reader is for IDE - otherwise I would have to install onto external IDE from macbook - boot from USB IDE on hackintosh - then superduper clone it to an onboard sata then install chameleon - then boot from the sata hdd.

Does the new method use those terminal commands to run the leopard setup from the DVD or iso image without having to restart/boot from the disc?

 

[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!

 

[swilso]

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!

If you want room for overclocking that CPU you will need faster RAM. That CPU already runs at 1333FSB. To overclock successfully I am pretty sure you will need more than 800mhz ram.
However if you go with the q6600 I am pretty sure 800 ram should be fine, the q6600 has a slower FSB.

You might want to get two HDD, maybe rather than a 1TB get 2x500gb - for ease you need to have both OS (osx and vista/XP) on completely separate physical drives (not just on separate partitions on the 1 HDD). I run 2x500gb and both are partitioned 80:420 - the 80 is my OS and the 420 is my storage + i have a little 120gb sata for backing up osx.

As for the mobo it is a different chipset if you get P45 - have to see what kaido says about support but i did a little search and found nothing. So I would assume staying with a (E)P35-DS3L 1.0 or 2.0 would be a safe bet.
And thegraphics unless you want to be switching PCI cards around stick with one (the mobo only has one slot for PCIe). I guess get the best one you can afford that is compatible with osx too. I think the 9800gtx is fine.

There is a wireless card kaido mentioned further back in this thread that is suppose to be fine for osx, although I use an Asus PCI WL-138G V2 that I got new for $20AUD so if your american thats like ~$12 just have to make sure it is the V2, there are other wl-138g models that won't work - the only down side with that card is without aiming the antenna at my router I get shockingly bad speeds, when I aim the antenna at my router it is fine.

hope that helps.

 

[MBony]

Ok, here are a few issues I am currently having. One, my onboard sound is a little muddled, i have to turn it up more than normal to hear audio. Next, when changing between resolutions, my screen goes blue and becomes unresponsive. A hard reboot and I am back up and using the new resolution. Is this normal? Oh, and I got an Antec P180B case with 2 usb ports as well as the Sabrent media reader and I can't get either to work in OSX, the ports on the back on the mobo work, but not the ones up front. Ideas?

 

[swilso]

accidently posted twice - ignore this one

 

[mosslack]

Wow, went to bed last night and all was right with the world, got up this AM, went to work, came home and now the world has changed! Hopefully for the better? , zup Kaido, something new afoat?

 

[antol111]

Originally posted by: MBony
Ok, here are a few issues I am currently having. One, my onboard sound is a little muddled, i have to turn it up more than normal to hear audio. Next, when changing between resolutions, my screen goes blue and becomes unresponsive. A hard reboot and I am back up and using the new resolution. Is this normal? Oh, and I got an Antec P180B case with 2 usb ports as well as the Sabrent media reader and I can't get either to work in OSX, the ports on the back on the mobo work, but not the ones up front. Ideas?

I kind of have the same problem with my Zotac 8600 GT 512mb card. It has dual dvi (though i am using a dvi to vga adaptor). During the initial installation I had the monitor plugged into DVI port A. Everything went good and after completing all the post installation steps I went to change resolution and I got a blank light blue screen. Restarting didn't fix it. I had to boot into safe mode using -x. I switched the monitor over to the other DVI port and it works correctly when switching resolutions. Any ideas?

How are dual video outputs handled in hackintoshes? Should they display identically (cloned display).


Do I need to do anything else with kexts/strings/etc to get the 8600 working 100%?

 

[mosslack]

Another quick question, when confronted with multiple partitions, some bootable, some not, how does the darwin bootloader decide which one is the default? The reason I ask is because I would like it to default to a certain partition, but of course be able to change with a press of the any key.

 

[mosslack]

Anyone doing any experimenting with the Wind PC <http://www.newegg.com/Product/...m=N82E16856167032>? Mine will be here tomorrow, but I have a friend in CA who got his today and is trying to Hack it. I have a Hack install on my GA-945GCMX-S2 which is a similar board, so it should be a pretty easy Hack.

Edit: Sorry about the bad link, this one should work

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16856167032

 

[Sophie424]

Originally posted by: Kaido
There is no data loss when re-sizing a GUID partition. It won't let you re-size the partition if there isn't enough space to re-size it.

Very cool!

Is it possible to install standard 32-bit XP onto a GUID partition? Possible to boot off such a partition? (This is just for backup purposes, not for my primary Hackintosh disk).

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: swilso
Assuming you have a 'hackintosh' running already, you can just use that install to complete the installation onto another separate HDD rather than using a mac, correct? Then until everything is peachy I would have the first HDD for backup.

I only have macbooks and my external HDD reader is for IDE - otherwise I would have to install onto external IDE from macbook - boot from USB IDE on hackintosh - then superduper clone it to an onboard sata then install chameleon - then boot from the sata hdd.

Does the new method use those terminal commands to run the leopard setup from the DVD or iso image without having to restart/boot from the disc?

Uses a special app I don't like Terminal commands

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: mosslack
Wow, went to bed last night and all was right with the world, got up this AM, went to work, came home and now the world has changed! Hopefully for the better? , zup Kaido, something new afoat?

+ new bootloader
+ new installer for Mac (easier/faster)
+ new Wind installation method

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Sophie424

Originally posted by: Kaido
There is no data loss when re-sizing a GUID partition. It won't let you re-size the partition if there isn't enough space to re-size it.

Very cool!

Is it possible to install standard 32-bit XP onto a GUID partition? Possible to boot off such a partition? (This is just for backup purposes, not for my primary Hackintosh disk).

XP only supports MBR. Easiest way = 2 drives.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: Sophie424

Originally posted by: Kaido
There is no data loss when re-sizing a GUID partition. It won't let you re-size the partition if there isn't enough space to re-size it.

Very cool!

Is it possible to install standard 32-bit XP onto a GUID partition? Possible to boot off such a partition? (This is just for backup purposes, not for my primary Hackintosh disk).

XP only supports MBR. Easiest way = 2 drives.

So in my Hack (which is still not a hack, still missing my Leopard retail disk) I could have Vista and OS X on the same drive? How would I choose which one to boot to? The way it is currently going to be set up is OS X on my 160GB all to itself, Vista has a 50GB partition on my 250GB drive, and the 500GB will be shared storage space between the two (just need to decide on a file system, it can't be FAT32 since I have files larger than 4GB on there)

If I could put both my OSes on my 250 or 160 though that would be fantastic as it would be easier than having to remember the change the boot drive if I wanted to game in Vista.

I currently have Vista Ultimate 64 on my system if that matters

 

[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

 

[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.

 

[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).

 

[Zaap]

Originally posted by: MBony
Ok, here are a few issues I am currently having. One, my onboard sound is a little muddled, i have to turn it up more than normal to hear audio. Next, when changing between resolutions, my screen goes blue and becomes unresponsive. A hard reboot and I am back up and using the new resolution. Is this normal? Oh, and I got an Antec P180B case with 2 usb ports as well as the Sabrent media reader and I can't get either to work in OSX, the ports on the back on the mobo work, but not the ones up front. Ideas?

Hardware stats? Something of a 'blue screen of death', a bit ironic on the Mac, eh?

Consider that on a card with dual monitor ports, the port at the top of the card is port 1 and the default if using only 1 monitor, and the port toward the bottom is port 2. Generally, it doesn't matter if things are exchanged, but it could cause weirdness with certain dual-DVI cards to use port 2 on a single-headed system.

The USB thing- are you certain your internal USB connectors are plugged into the mobo headers correctly? IE: if they're individual labeled connectors, that they correspond to the header map in the manual?

Sure you're using a good PSU? Underpowered and/or cheaply made PSUs can wreak all sorts of weirdly fun havoc on a system.

 

[Zaap]

Originally posted by: antol111
I kind of have the same problem with my Zotac 8600 GT 512mb card. It has dual dvi (though i am using a dvi to vga adaptor). During the initial installation I had the monitor plugged into DVI port A. Everything went good and after completing all the post installation steps I went to change resolution and I got a blank light blue screen. Restarting didn't fix it. I had to boot into safe mode using -x. I switched the monitor over to the other DVI port and it works correctly when switching resolutions. Any ideas?

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.

How are dual video outputs handled in hackintoshes? Should they display identically (cloned display).
Do I need to do anything else with kexts/strings/etc to get the 8600 working 100%?

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]

Originally posted by: TheStu
If I could put both my OSes on my 250 or 160 though that would be fantastic as it would be easier than having to remember the change the boot drive if I wanted to game in Vista.

I currently have Vista Ultimate 64 on my system if that matters

The quick and dirty way to dual boot from 1 drive (gleaned from many, many experimental re-installs).

Boot OSX the usual way, and use disk utility to create at least two partitions. Use MBR. Format the top partition (first) for Mac OS Journaled. Format the second as DOS. Optional: create a DOS partition to be used as a shared drive.

Quit without installing OSX. Install Windows onto the second partition (reformat to NTFS, of course).

Install OSX onto the first.

Darwin will overwrite the NTloader for Windows, but it will add the Windows install to its own boot list, and it boots Windows just fine.

Darwin always reads installs in order of partition, so it should default to the Mac install as item 1 and Windows as item 2.

If you want to keep your install of Vista 64, but need space to install OSX on the same drive, a quick and dirty method I've used is to download a Linux LiveCD (PCLinuxOS is my favorite) and use it's drive tools to resize the existing Vista partition and add a new partition to the free space for OSX. There are probably plenty of other tools that can resize an active Windows partition, but Linux LiveCDs are free and work perfectly for the task. Then you can install OSX on the added partition- Darwin will boot both OS's- however, MacOSX will the second choice.

Conversely, you can add OSX to Vista's bootloader. Install OSX first- partition 1 (MBR), install Vista- overwrites Darwin as the bootloader. Use EasyBCD or Chain 0to add OSX to Vista's bootloader.


I should add: even though it does work to boot several OS's from 1 drive (clearly unavoidable for say, a standard laptop install) I would highly recommend against it for a desktop. Using multiple hard drives for each OS is vastly superior. Think of each hard drive as a separate PC. If each is the only drive/OS in the system, the system should function perfectly without the other(s). Redundancy is always a strength with computers.

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.