Cerastez

I am pretty sure that 10.6.8 is about all a GX620 can do unless you put in a video card. Did you try this tutorial? http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/275293-guide-1068-on-a-dell-optiplex-gx620/?hl=%20gx620

This is a MAC address fix that will apply the fix automatically on start up http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/275174-applescript-to-set-your-mac-address-on-startup/

Try the whole process again. When you are finished installing 10.6.3, create a new profile...see the quoted post below. Run Disk Utility to repair permissions once you have created a new profile. Best of luck!

I didn't keep the GX280 for very long so I can't say now if mine had sleep problems. It sounds like you are trying the right sort of kexts. You could also try DSDT Editor.

Try this tutorial for all things GX620 http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/275293-guide-1068-on-a-dell-optiplex-gx620/?hl=%20gx620

Agreed, use this guide http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/275293-guide-1068-on-a-dell-optiplex-gx620/?hl=%20gx620

After looking at the picture, I have no doubt that you have the right heat sink. I have never tried to move the guts of a computer into another case, so I'm not sure how that would work out. The only real issue that I can see is overheating. As long as there is airflow into and out of those black plastic shrouds, I would think it would be okay. I have gotten to be a big fan of Dell. Their manuals are generally very good but more than that, Dells just seem made for hackintoshing. I once hackintoshed two computers that both had the same motherboard, one was a Dell and one was an HP. The Dell was a piece of cake, but the HP was so difficult. I had to try installing a couple of times before it stuck and then everything was buggy and weird. HP's are awful to hackintosh. There was a rumor way back when that Dell was going to start selling computers with the Apple OS preinstalled. It never happened of course, but I do sometimes wonder if Dell doesn't design their computers so that they can take the Apple OS.

I also have an Inspiron 6000 that has run 10.5.8 beautifully for 2 years. I have also tried to install 10.6.3 with no success. It seems as though the issue occurs when the hard drive is being unmounted, either when I am erasing the hard drive or beginning the system installation. Like the first poster said, everything starts out fine. I can get the installation disk to begin the installation process but once it gets to the unmounting step, the blue progress bar churns away but nothing further happens. Any idea about how I can get past unmount?

The USFF GX280 that I have did come with a copper heatsink and I did re-use it. From your description of copper tubes, I would say that you have the heatsink that will work. And I think that you are right, the fan that comes with the processor you bought won't be something that can be installed. This is the Dell manual, page 212 has instructions on replacing the processor.

I did watch a few youtube videos before I installed the new CPU, but it did turn out to be quite easy. A quick search and I am sure you will find a good video. You will need to order a tube of thermal paste. One thing I read was that the faster CPU required a copper heat sink. Two of the three GX620 that I have came with a copper heat sink. One had an aluminum heat sink. I did replace it when I upgraded the CPU. I didn't try it out so I can not say for sure that the aluminum one would have over heated. It has been awhile since I did it, but I think that the fins on the heatsink are aluminum an it is just the pad that contacts the CPU that is copper. Did you use a kext to fix your video or DSDT? I have a mini-tower, a desktop and a USFF. All of them are at bios version A11, a Pentium D CPU, GMA 950 graphics and SATA hard drives.

I used TextEdit to edit the info.plist file. This is the section of the fie that I changed. It has a list of NIC IDs and I just coped what they had. <array> <string>pci106b,8</string> <string>pci106b,9</string> <string>pci106b,85</string> <string>pci14e4,16a6</string> <string>pci14e4,166a</string> <string>pci14e4,1677</string> <string>pci14e4,1648</string> <string>pci14e4,165d</string> <string>pci14e4,1696</string> <string>pci14e4,165e</string> <string>pci14e4,169d</string> <string>pci14e4,167d</string> </array> This is the kext that I used if you want to look inside at its plist or try it out: AppleBCM5751Ethernet.kext Everything that you described with the MAC address being all zeros in some places is exactly how mine appears too. The applescript that I use does fix it but it needs to be fixed again every time I restart. Is that what yours does? Restarting un-does your fix? I did upgrade my CPUs to dual cores and I highly recommend it. The CPU's are cheap, easy to install and make a huge difference in speed and performance.

My router won't connect to my GX620 unless it has a non-zero MAC address, so for me it was something important to fix. I never did have your problem with a "No Network' error. It was more than a year ago since I did my installs, but I I do remember trying many AppleBCM5751Ethernet.kext's. There are several versions floating around out there and no way to tell them apart. I also edited the info.plist of the kext to include <string>pci14e4,1677</string> I didn't check all three GX620's but the one I'm sitting at has this NIC Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5751 Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express [14e4:1677] (rev 01) I have not tried installing Lion or Mountain Lion. It is something that I am hoping to find the time to do sometime soon.

You can use this applescript to set your MAC address on startup. I have used this guide on three GX620's and have had no problem with the internet.

I also had a difficult time installing on a AMD Athlon™ 64 X2. I was installing on a Dell Optiplex 740, different board but same processor. Anyway the only boot CD that I was able to get to work was the Empire EFI V.1085 (Experimental for AMD Phenom and Athlon X2 , X3 , X4 and for Intel Core i3/Pentium D/Pentiu m 4 6xx series). That and a retail 10.6.3 install disk.

I don't know about other people but cost is a real concern for me. Just a few years ago I could buy a used PC for under $100 and it would have good enough specs to be a fast hackintosh. I was much more active on the board when I could pick up a cheap PC and try to hackintosh it. I didn't mind failing occasionally because I could always try another cheap old computer. I would have to spend around $300 today to buy a used PC that would run Mountain Lion. That kind of takes the sport right out of it. I am encouraged that some of the new kernals will work on older machines.