Hi,

Apologies if this is the wrong place to post. I am keen to purchase a Fit PC2 as an "always on" system for my second home (I work overseas) and as a general machine (doesn't need to be too high spec), and ideally I would want to run OSX on it. Can you advise:

1) Is the hardward of this machine compatible with OSX and

2) If so, how would I go about setting up OSX on it? If you can oint me to a step by step "how to" guide, that would be great!



The outline spec can be found at the website:

http://compulab.co.il/fitpc2/html/fitpc2-datasheet.htm

Thanks,



J

what kind of processor does it have? how much does it cost? whats your budget?

I'd look to buy in the US, where a full spec model (with Win XP - I need to run a couple of legacy XP programmes) is $399

Spec is:

CPU
Intel Atom Z530 1.6GHz / Z510 1.1GHz

Chipset
Intel US15W SCH

Memory
1GB DDR2-533 on-board

Storage
160Gb 2.5" SATA HDD

miniSD socket

Display and Graphics
Intel GMA500 graphics acceleration
Full hardware video acceleration of H.264, MPEG2, VC1, and WMV9
DVI Digital output up to 1920 x 1080 through HDMI connector

Audio
High definition 2.0
Line-out, line-in, mic

Networking
1000 BaseT Ethernet
802.11g WLAN
USB
6 USB 2.0 High Speed ports

IR
Programmable consumer IR receiver

Software
BIOS
Phoenix BIOS
Bootable from HDD, USB thumb drive, USB CDROM, USB hard disk, over network

Operating Systems
Windows XP Home SP3
Ubuntu Linux 8.04
Other operating systems can be installed by user

Mechanical and Environmental
Case
100% aluminum
Die cast body

Dimensions
101 x 115 x 27 mm 4" x 4.5" x 1.05"

Weight
370 grams / 13 ounces - including hard disk
Operating Temperature
0 - 45 deg C with hard disk
0 - 70 deg C without a hard disk

Power
12V single supply

Power Consumption
6W at low CPU load
<7W at 1080p H.264 playback
8W at full CPU load
<1W at standby
Retrieved from "http://fit-pc2.com/wiki/index.php?title=Fit-PC2_Specifications"

My budget would be similar to cost, if possible. Of most interest is something with minimal footprint & ideally very low power draw.

Cheers

J

I did a quick google search on your machine, seams that no one has tried it, but from the specs it is very compatible, however since I'm guessing you've never build a hackintosh, I estimate 7 to 8 months for you to figure everything out before its at 100% functional. I recommend taking the path most traveled, buy an Acer Aspire One they run between 250 and 350, i would look on tigerdirect.com for one, conversion to Hackintosh is simple, u can easily find a how to in this forum

Your graphics card will not work, get gma 950 or gma 1300 or get an nvidia graphics card enabled laptop.

Can you elaborate? Previous poster inferred it might be ok. Any thoughts as to the possibility of changing the graphics card? Looking at the specs of a couple of GMA xxx kitted machines, their power consumption is still a lot higher than I would have liked.


J

intel GMA XXXX is an onboard/integrated graphics solution, so unremovable.
Support is iffy, really it has to be the same/very similar to the GMA graphics that shipped in a real Mac to have drivers.

Even then, I'm unsure on how well integrated GMA graphics + single core Intel Atom would handle 1080p playback. I know the Atom has no chance whatsoever by itself, and would need hardware graphics acceleration to come close to playing 1080p content. Checking if you can get hardware 1080p decoding support from intel GMA graphics under OSX would be a good start.

it is possible that a system with onboard GMA graphics would also have a PCI-E slot to accept a dedicated graphics card (which would allow you to disable the unsupported GMA graphics) but what with buying a small form factor machine that seems iffy.

I'll admit I'm not an expert on HTPCs, but for any hackintosh the crucial parts are the motherboard & graphics card.

mobo compatibility is needed to have working onboard audio, ethernet and IIRC sleep/shutdown/etc...

honestly, you want more concrete compatibility than "previous poster inferred it might be ok"

not to be rude or anything... but with 3 posts here you don't seem like you have enough experience to be the very first person trying to get OSX running on a particular set of hardware, the tinkerers here have spent many hours fiddling with drivers, modified kernels, etc... to get new hardware running, your best bet is to pick from known compatible parts, or a pre-built system people have had success with previously

Agreed if HTPC is your goal application any integrated graphics option is sure to disappoint, when I built my Acer Aspire One on board GMA 950 is adiquit but is limited its a 8mb intergrated graphics and even with QE/CI enable shared memory is bumped up to 64 mb, when connection to an external monitor video fuildness degrades, I recommend finding something with the Nvidia ION, its basically and I quote "Full 1080p HD video with true-fidelity 7.1 audio".