Good news #1: Optical audio DOES work on the ES2L!!!
You need that optical audio adapter plate ($16 shipped on eBay). It has both Coaxial and SPDIF, both of which work (I tested). All you have to do is plug it into the SPDIF pins right on the motherboard and set the audio output to Digital Out. This is GREAT because the ES2L doesn't have onboard digital audio jacks, so for less than $20 with shipping you can get it!
Originally posted by: DrAwkward
I tried this, installing the bracket and cable from the eBay supplier. I do get audio out through the SPDIF, but I do not get full audio control - no volume up or down, etc. Do I need to change any of my installed software to get full use of the SPDIF?
Using an E2SL which is working very well under 10.5.7.
DrA
Bzzt. Terrible choice for Hackintosh- this board is NOT OSX compatible.Originally posted by: timswim78
So far, I have picked out these parts, and I still need a video card.
- ASRock G31M-S LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard Open Box $29.99
Originally posted by: Zaap
Bzzt. Terrible choice for Hackintosh- this board is NOT OSX compatible.Originally posted by: timswim78
So far, I have picked out these parts, and I still need a video card.
- ASRock G31M-S LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard Open Box $29.99
I recently did a build with two of these.- believe me, I tried to get OSX to install any manner possible: retail or distro. No-go. This board won't even boot from a distro like iPC (a clear sign that it's pretty hopeless) and nada from Boot-132 either. (I didn't buy these boards for Hackintoshes, so it didn't matter- I just test everything I get my hands on for OSX-compatibility for community reference).
Don't assume all boards are the same just because they use the same chipset. They aren't. Because ASRock uses a highly custom BIOS to support things like thier Instant-Boot, it's completely foreign to OSX and fouls install attempts.
It's a really bad idea to pick parts like the mobo willy-nilly for a Hackintosh. Don't try to cheap out. (Buying open box is a really bad idea too- I've returned parts that are flawed and that I KNOW don't work, and see newegg put them back on sale the next day to some poor chump as open box. It's not worth buying what people have returned -a good chance as faulty- just to "save" $20 or so. Watch for a ZOTAC NF610I-E-E that's faulty as all hell to go 'open box' any day now. Really it's one thing I dislike about newegg that they do this.)
Stick with the Gigabyte G31 board. It works great, and is beautifully stable. MANY of the other G31 boards are NOT the same quality, and not easily Hackintoshable, if at all. (The ECS G31T-M is a good example- they don't natively work with OSX, yet they can be made to work with a hacked BIOS. Even with the hacked BIOS, they aren't all that stable running OSX. It amazes me that people jump through hoops to use this board to "save" themselves all of $15 or so vs. the Gigabyte G31-ES2L that works nearly flawlessly OOB.)
Originally posted by: Kaido
Ahah, finally figured out how to use Plex Media Server! Using this, you can stream your iTunes library from any computer to any other computer running Plex, including Cover Art!
1. Install Plex Media Center on each computer you want to stream multimedia from:
Currently Plex Media Server is embedded in the Plex installation, so you have to install Plex on each Mac, then go into Preferences > System > Media Server and set it to "Always Running", then you can quit Plex. This adds the Plex Media Server (PMS) app to your list of login items, so whenever you boot up your Mac, PMS will always start running in the background to make your iTunes content available to all the other computers on your network.
Currently there is no stand-alone Media Server available, so you have to install Plex. There are apparently plans to make it stand-alone in the future, however. That will be nice! Also, there is no Windows client. However, you CAN stream any DRM-laced content from iTunes, as long as the DRM account is activated on your streaming computer. So if you buy a song or video on iTunes that has DRM and want to play it on a different computer in Plex, just authorize it in iTunes first, then you'll be fine. That's a REALLY nice feature!
2. Create a Static IP on each computer you are streaming from:
Since we're going to be adding a hard-coded link in Plex, you should setup your computer with a Static IP. If you're not familiar with what that means, basically you get a randomly-assigned IP address from the DHCP server in your router whenever you boot up your computer - in other words, your computer's IP address will randomly change unless you hard-code it. Since we always want to be able to stream music from that computer, we have to change the IP to Static so it won't change. Go into your computer's System Preferences > Network > (active network adapter) and then select "Using DHCP with manual address" next to "Configure". I use numbers between 50 and 100 on my network (DHCP on my router is 192.168.1.100+).
3. Add the IP link to Plex:
Open Plex, go into Music, Add Source, then click on <None> (not the Browse/Add/Remove buttons on the right side) and type in one of the following:
Music: plex://192.168.1.112/music/iTunes
Videos: plex://192.168.1.112/video/iTunes
iPhoto: plex://192.168.1.112/photos/iPhoto
Aperture: plex://192.168.1.112/photos/Aperture
Replace the IP address with the IP address of the computer running Plex Media Server, or with "localhost" for your own computer. Music works fine, although I haven't gotten Video to connect yet, and I haven't tried iPhoto or Aperture since I don't use them.
Tip: Authorize your iTunes account on the computer you are streaming to
So that's pretty much it - make sure each computer with your music has (1) Plex Media Server running, and (2) a Static IP, and then setup the Plex link on your streaming box, along with any iTunes authorizations needed for DRM-protected content. I wish it was better documented, it'd be really nice to figure out how to stream iTunes videos properly...
Originally posted by: mdrace
Hello all,
Amazing effort on the soupkit and the guides Kaido! You are passionate about this stuff.
Well, I finally bought the hardware, a UD3P, a quadcore processor, 8 GB, and a 7200 as you suggest. Just put it together and I want to share the experience.
The mb rev is 1.6 When I attempted to dl and install the firmware I got an ID error. After several attempts I decided to give the magic boot disc a chance. (the firmware rev is FA, according the manual) The installation went smooth. I updated to 10.5.7 and rebooted. Still good. I installed the soupkit, Now it boots into the gray screen and after a few seconds a not permitted symbol appears above the apple logo. I thought I messed up a setting and thought to just reformat and reinstall. I get that symbol even on the Leopard DVD on boot up. I unplugged then HD, same thing. What did I do to this thing? Can I reset this mobo and start over?
Thanks for your help everyone.
Originally posted by: mdrace
Sorry to be a bother, between the excitement of finally taking on this project and my 4 year old 'helping me' I missed a couple BIOS items. I am a real noob also. Been in a mac environment the past 15 years and haven't touched a PC box since. I will admit this was as exciting as a kid in a candy store. I did run memtest and it passed, but after I re-read Kaido's guide, I reformatted and installed Leopard as directed. It runs great now. Thank you for all you do. I never imagined tackling this project with such ease.
I have a question though. I have an MSI N9800GT video card. It is not on your list of working cards. Will it affect anything if I plug it in and try it? Im currently running the fanless 7200 from your guide.
Originally posted by: KeypoX
when is snow leopard coming out? When i google it it says Q1 09, March 09, June 1 09 ....
Originally posted by: Kaido
Originally posted by: KeypoX
when is snow leopard coming out? When i google it it says Q1 09, March 09, June 1 09 ....
http://www.apple.com/macosx/
"Coming September 2009 with every new Mac. Upgrade from Mac OS X Leopard for just $29."
Originally posted by: KeypoX
lol the first link in google... i didnt expect it to have a release date.
So we can expect a guide shortly after . Your guides are becoming famous.
Originally posted by: Jack Flash
Safari 4.0.2 safe to install? I always worry when a restart is required.
There was exactly the same problem with earlier versions of PC_EFI, Gigabyte boards, and Leopard 10.5.xOriginally posted by: Kaido
There is only one bug in Snow Leopard: for pretty much any non-MSI board, shutting down or restarting causes a CMOS Checksum Error, which wipes the BIOS clean. It's super-annoying because you have to reset your ENTIRE BIOS every time you shutdown or reboot - including overclocking settings, as well as settings required to boot to OS X. So, if the developers can find a fix, yeah I'll update, but for now...well, we've got a few months
Originally posted by: mosslack
Kaido, on the ES2L, is the PATA port supported? I believe this might have been mentioned but I can't locate it at the moment. My new 2U server case arrived today and I'm thinking about using the ES2L there as I really have no other use for it. That would allow me to run Leopard and basically recreate my old DA file server. Then I could use the 1U server I bought as my redundant backup. Reason I ask is because I have 2 new 500 Gb WD PATA HD's with no home and this would give them a job and a home!
Originally posted by: fyleow
There must be some seekrit organization where Snow Leopard testing on OS X86 happens since the insanelymac forums are dead quiet. Must be the NDA I guess
Originally posted by: Zaap
There was exactly the same problem with earlier versions of PC_EFI, Gigabyte boards, and Leopard 10.5.xOriginally posted by: Kaido
There is only one bug in Snow Leopard: for pretty much any non-MSI board, shutting down or restarting causes a CMOS Checksum Error, which wipes the BIOS clean. It's super-annoying because you have to reset your ENTIRE BIOS every time you shutdown or reboot - including overclocking settings, as well as settings required to boot to OS X. So, if the developers can find a fix, yeah I'll update, but for now...well, we've got a few months
I'll wager that netkas and other OSx86 geniuses will work it out in no time.