[How To] Detailed guide to installing Mac OS X x86

[Xeijin]

Note: I really, really, really, really don't recommend you follow this guide unless you are a VERY competent Computer user and actually understand the risks involved here. You will be installing ANOTHER OPERATING SYSTEM on your computer, your DATA IS POTENTIALLY AT RISK, You can POTENTIALLY SCREW UP YOUR MBR AND BOOT RECORD (though this can be fixed). Again, I CANT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY OF THIS my instructions have worked on 3 different computers now.

 

Yet Another Note: Mac isn't going to work all nice the first time it boots, chances are, your sound, network, pretty much everything aint gona be workin' because mac was designed to run only on specific hardware. Some problems can be fixed, some cannot, some do not have these problems. I suggest you check out InsanelyMac.com and see if you can find a fix for your own hardware

 

Sorry to be such a drag. Read on, if you haven't been scared off...

 

Introduction

 

What is a Hackintosh?

 

A Hackintosh is basically a regular PC that has a modified copy of the Mac OS operating system installed. For the more informed among you, it is not generally possible to install Apple's Mac OS on any non-apple hardware.

 

What's so different now then?

 

Apple recently made a controversial move to the x86 Platform, this has inevitably led Apple to adopt the x86 architechture, upon which modern PCs run.

 

Prior to this move, all versions of Mac OS were designed to run on a processor jointly developed by Apple, IBM and Motorola (known collectively as AIM) the 'PowerPC' or 'PPC' for short. This is the processor you'll find in iBooks, PowerBooks etc. This processor was significantly different from the x86 Intels or AMDs and therefore operating systems between platforms were not inter-compatible.

 

The resulting move also meant that Apple would need to port the desirable Mac OS X (pronounced Mack Oh-Ess Ten) to the x86 architecture. Thus meaning that PC users now had the whole world of Mac and those oh-so-sexy Aqua graphics open to them.

 

Hang On, Apple have moved to Intel, what about us l33t AMD h4xx0rz?

 

Well, certain other 'AMD h4xx0rz' with intelligence far beyond mine, have modified the x86 developer copy of Apple's Mac OS X Tiger, meaning that it can be successfully run on AMD CPUs.

 

What does that all mean then?

 

Well, if it wasn't clear from my explanation, you can use a 'Mac' on your 'PC'.

 

Getting Started

 

Hardware/Software Requirements

 

Since the x86 version of OS X was designed to run on very specific hardware (made by apple) it requires pretty specific hardware. However, it has been known to work successfully with a wide range of setups, so you have a very good chance (I'd say 80%) of actually booting into Mac and seeing all the aqua goodness.

 

A Word of Advice: When going Mac, its generally better to have an Intel processor, although OS X x86 can run on AMD processors, with Intel you will have an easier time of it.

 

The bare minimum Hardware requirements are:

 

An Intel/AMD Processor with *AT LEAST* SSE2 (SSE3 is greatly preferable).

 

RAM (A recommended minimum of 512).

 

IDE Hard Drive (SATA Hard Drives work with a _very small_ amount of setups).

 

Motherboard

 

Graphics Card (if your motherboard does not support integrated graphics).

 

Monitor

 

USB Mouse

 

USB Keyboard

 

The hardware requirements are not too bad, since most people on this board have pretty powerful rigs you should all have at least SSE2, which is probably the most important requirement. One thing that alot of you might not have lying around is an IDE HardDrive, this is an essential requirement as very few setups have SATA controllers recognised by OS X. Hardcore overclockerst most likely have one or two of these lying around from an old rig, but for those new to the game you probably have those super fast SATA ones. You can install OS X on a 10GB sata, but I would reccommend you get a 50GB one for programs etc.

 

Check out the Hardware Compatibility List for OS x86 it shows you what works and what dosent with each piece of hardware, also a useful tool to inform you when buying a PC that works with OS (stay tuned for a FAQ on that soon)

 

Minimum Software requirements:

 

Modified Mac OS X x86 Tiger DVD/ISO (Goatsecx, JaS, HotISO, Myzar)

 

This is what many of you may have trouble getting hold of, note IT IS ILLEGAL TO DOWNLOAD THIS FILE, UNLESS YOU HAVE LEGALLY BOUGHT A _SEPERATE_ COPY OF MAC OS X INTENDED FOR THIS PURPOSE and even then, we're not sure as its probably illegal to modify apple's software. Note that having a mac with a legal copy of OS X is not enough, you need a seperate license for the PC installation. The names in brackets are some of the most popular distributions, I myself used the 'Goatsecx' distribution (yes I know its a funny name )

 

Torrents are usually the place to get this, but that my friends is as much as I can tell you...

 

Recommended Software:

 

Ultimate Boot CD

 

This can absolutely save your life, it has a load of really useful tools for when you screw up your drives and they dont boot or whatever, I dont have this more than a few centimetres away from me and as a general rule its good for ANY OS installation, a truly excellent tool. If either of your drives fail to boot simply boot from the CD then hit F8 or F9 to boot from the first or second drive respectively, even if the MBR/Boot Record is damaged!! Best of all, its FREE!

 

That should be all you need to get OS X x86 up and running on your PC.

 

Preparing your Computer for OS X

 

Although OS X has been ported from PPC to x86 there are still major differences between the operating systems of the two platforms. The biggest of these is the hard drive partitioning. Windows uses either FAT32 or NTFS as its filesystem. OS X however, uses HFS+.

 

Now normally you would just use Windows built in partitioning tools during setup to format and split the drive up according to your needs. Although similar tools are available during the Mac OS X setup, the main problem here is getting Mac to actually _see_ your drives.

 

The first thing I would recommend doing is BACKUP ALL IMPORTANT DATA this isnt just the normal warning which I'm sure most of you brush off, I really mean it. We will be partitioning the hard drive in rather non-standard methods, if ever there has been potential to screw up your data, it's now. So I really do mean, backup important stuff. Your Counter-Strike Wallpaper collection, your list of headshots, your favourite buddy icons EVERYTHING IMPORTANT.

 

Next you'll want to know for sure what version of SSE your cpu supports, as overclockers i expect most of you know, but if you don't simply download CPU-Z and open it up, in the list under your processor name you should see what your CPU supports. if it says SSE2,SSE3 then you support SSE3 if it only has SSE2 then its only SSE2 for you! (Note things will be quite a bit slower with SSE2).

 

Once that's done, you'll need to decide which hard drive to install OS X on. As I said before, you should be doing this on an IDE Drive.

 

Please note: these instructions are for those setting up OS X on a _seperate_ IDE Hard Drive, it is possible to set it up as another partition on a drive shared with windows, but I have not done this therefore I cannot provide instruction. I will try and write something about it later.

 

For most of you though, I would really recommend using a seperate 40GB IDE Hard Drive (they're pretty cheap nowadays).

 

Now for the potentially dangerous part ... preparing the hard drive for OS X.

 

Preparing the Hard Drive for OS X

 

1. Make sure the Hard Drive has been wiped clean (just format it).

 

2. Give the Hard Drive a Label (In My Computer, Right Click > Rename). This is so we can easily distinguish it from any other hard drives on your computer. Make sure any partitioning software, like PartitionMagic or Acronis Disk Director is closed.

 

3. Open up Control Panel, switch to the Classic View on the menu on the left (if you aren't already in classic view) and double click on 'Administrative Tools' then double click on 'Computer Management' when it appears.

 

4. In the Computer Management window, Click the '+' next to Storage in the left-hand pane and click on 'Disk Management'.

 

5. You will now see a list of all the drives on your computer. Find the one which matches the label you gave it in Step 2. Note which Disk number it has (e.g. Disk 1 etc.) then close the Computer Management Window. (Be ABSOLUTELY SURE you have the right one, otherwise you could end up wiping the wrong disk!)

 

6. Now Click on Start > Run and type 'DiskPart' into the dropdown box then click 'OK'.

 

7. An MS-DOS Prompt should appear with 'DISKPART>'.

 

8. Type in

select disk x

(where 'x' is the number of the disk, you noted down in step 5) and hit return. You will receive confirmation that the disk has been selected.

 

9. Type in

select partition 1

and hit return. You will receive confirmation that partition 1 has been selected.

 

10. Type in

delete partition

you will receive confirmation that the partition has been deleted.

 

11. Type

select disk x

('x' is the same as in Step 5)

 

12. Now Type in:

create partition primary id=af

Disk Part will confirm that it has created the partition.

 

13. Now type

exit

and the DOS prompt will close, your all set to install Mac OS X!

 

Installing Mac OS X

 

Now there are Two ways of doing this:

 

1. Natively by Booting the DVD

2. Via. VMWare using Windows XP

 

The first method requires you have nothing apart from the ISO burned to a DVD and a DVD Drive that can boot from DVD Discs.

 

The second method requires that you have the ISO and a registered copy of VMWare. This is good for people who have not got access to a DVD Burner. The VMWare method also lets you get past alot of hardware problems which may cause OS X not to boot, and fix them.

 

Either way *should* work, VMWare is the more useful as it will let you get past hardware problems and straight into OS X where you can fix said problems. But either way, both methods will leave you with a natively bootable copy of OS X installed on your harddrive.

 

If you are not using the VMWare method, put the DVD in your drive, and set your BIOS to boot from it, then proceed to Step 8.

 

1. Mount the DVD ISO (using Daemon Tools or Alcohol or Nero InCD).

 

2. Start VMWare, click on 'New Virtual Machine'.

 

3. Choose 'Other' and then in the next screen choose 'New - Workstation 5'. Then in the next screen Click on the 'Other' radio button and choose 'Other' from the dropdown box. In the next screen give the virtual machine a name (I called mine 'OS X') then click next. Choose 'One' as number of processors, in the next screen type '512' into the box and click next. Choose 'Do Not use a Network Connection' and click next. Choose BusLogic and hit next. Click 'Use a Physical Disk' and click ok on the warning, select the drive according to the number you got from the Disk Management window, then click 'Use individual partitions' then click next. On the final screen leave the name as it is and click 'Finish'.

 

4. Once you get into the main VMWare window, click on 'Edit virtual machine settings', click on Hard Disk in the window that pops up then click the 'Advanced..' button on the right hand side.

 

5. Leave the dropdown box as it is, but make sure that the 'Independent' Checkbox is selected and choose 'Persistant'. Then click on OK, to return to Virtual Machine settings screen.

 

6. Now this time click on 'CD-ROM' then click on the 'Use Physical Drive' radio button and choose the drive where the OS X DVD is mounted.

 

7. Now, its time to start the virtual machine up. Get back to the main VMWare window and click on the 'Start this Virtual Machine' button. The screen will turn black and you'll see the VMWare BIOS logo, at this point click on the logo and tap the 'Escape' key on your keyboard to bring up the boot menu for the virtual Machine. Select 'Boot From CD-ROM' using your keyboard and hit the return key, VMWare will now boot the mounted ISO.

 

8. You will see the 'Darwin' bootloader, wait for the timeout then the bootloader will begin loading OS X setup.

 

9. The grey apple screen will appear with a circular logo indicating the loading procedure. If you are using VMWare, you may receive a pop-up telling you something about a DMA command, just click OK and proceed as normal.

 

10. After the preliminary files have been loaded, you should get into the OS X setup wizard, and your first glimpse of some Aqua Action!! As with most OS installations, click on continue, read the EULA and then hit on agree if your happy with it click continue.

 

11. You will now be presented with Setup asking you to choose a drive on which to install, except ... there are no drives! "Hey I thought we just formatted them?!?!" I hear you cry, well no actually we were just setting them up so Mac could see them, "But they're not there ... mac can't see them ..." that because they are not formatted yet! Yes I know its confusing, all you need to do is Navigate to Utilities > Disk Utilities at the top (see screenshot)

 

 

12. Once the disk utility loads choose your hard drive (it should be the only one available) and click on 'Erase' at the top of the window. When the erase tab loads up set Volume Format as 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' and give the volume a name (I called mine 'Macintosh HD) See Screenshot.

 

 

13. Disk Utility will format the drive, once the loading bar disappears close disk utility and setup should now reappear, along with your newly selectable drive. Click on it then continue to the next screen.

 

14. Now this screen is where you'll need to use a bit of common sense, first of all you'll want to click 'Customize' in the left hand corner and you'll be presented with a list of optional extras to install. Now things like updates you should leave as they have probably been modified by the ISO distributor to work with x86. However there are things you may or may not need.

 

If you plan to use English as the only language then deselect all of the language options, otherwise choose the language(s) you want and deselect the others.

 

With Printer Drivers, select the company which makes your printer (note works with only USB printers) deselect the others or deselect all if your printer is not mentioned.

 

Another important update is the SSE3/2 one, depending on your distribution you will see once of these, as previously mentioned before choose the one that applies to your CPU. I.e. if your CPU hass SSE3 the *ONLY* select SSE3 _not_ SSE2. The same goes for SSE2 CPUs *ONLY* SSE2 I can't stress this enough.

 

You will also see a few other miscellaneous looking updates, this is where you'll need to pick and choose. If you see any of your hardware listed in these then go ahead and select them. The problem with OS X x86 is that since it was meant to run on things like MacBooks it only has very specific drivers. If you have an option for '10.4.3 USB Kexts' I suggest you select it as 9/10 it works for most people.

 

15. Once that's all done and you've selected updates that correspond to your hardware, proceed with the installation, sit back and relax. For some people this takes a mammoth amount of time (hours) for others (like me) it took about 15 mins.

 

16. Once the installation process completes, your computer should restart and you should boot into the welcome wizard of OS X!! If you've had no problems up until now then your generally pretty safe, if you've had any problems then see the end of the guide.

 

17. Follow the on-screen instructions picking the necessary options, when it comes to creating a .mac account simply proceed with all field blank.

 

18. Once the wizard finishes you will boot into the Mac OS desktop, congratulations! Enjoy your Mac!! VMWare users shutdown mac and read on, native booters also read on.

 

Dual Booting

 

Now, I'm pretty sure many of you still want to use Windows XP after all Mac is just a little affair your having right?? XP is your one, true love. Some of you may have been horrified upon rebooting your computer, your booting straight into mac with no mention of windows...fear not. Now I'll tell you how to get Windows and Mac to 'play nicely'.

 

First of all, for those of you using VMWare skip to Step 5, for those of you who installed from the DVD skip read on.

 

1. Re-boot your computer but boot from the DVD not from the hard drive.

 

2. When the Mac OS setup loads, choose Utilities > Startup Disk from the top.

 

3. A window will appear displaying several drives, including your Windows XP drive. Click on your Windows XP Drive, then click on Restart...

 

4. The computer will now reboot, this time dont boot from CD, instead let it boot from hard drive and Windows XP should begin to load.

 

5. Note: cbmkgd informs me that the chain0 file detailed below, can be found on the root of the OSX Install DVD, you can then just copy this file straight to the root of the C: Drive (where boot.ini is located) and proceed directly to Step 10. Otherwise continue reading to see how to create this file.

 

In Windows, Copy the following to your clipboard (highlight and press CTRL + C)

 

N CHAIN0
E100 fa 31 c0 8e d0 bc f0 ff fb 8e c0 8e d8 be 00 7c
E110 bf 00 e0 fc b9 00 01 f2 a5 ea 1e e0 00 00 66 31
E120 c0 66 a3 91 e1 a2 95 e1 b4 41 bb aa 55 cd 13 72
E130 0e 81 fb 55 aa 75 08 f6 c1 01 0f 95 06 95 e1 b0
E140 01 31 db 8e c3 bb 00 10 89 de c7 04 00 00 c7 44
E150 02 01 00 66 c7 44 08 00 00 00 00 e8 b2 00 72 08
E160 bf be 11 b4 00 e8 0f 00 fe c2 f6 c2 04 74 af be
E170 7b e1 e8 f6 00 eb fe 51 56 81 7d 40 55 aa 0f 85
E180 8b 00 89 fe b9 04 00 80 7c 04 ab 74 0f 80 7c 04
E190 a8 74 09 80 7c 04 af 74 03 e9 2b 00 b0 01 bb 00
E1a0 00 8e c3 bb 00 7c e8 67 00 72 1c 81 bf fe 01 55
E1b0 aa 0f 85 58 00 66 8b 44 08 66 03 06 91 e1 66 89
E1c0 44 08 ea 00 7c 00 00 81 c6 10 00 e2 ba 89 fe b9
E1d0 04 00 8a 44 04 3c 05 74 11 3c 0f 74 0d 3c 85 74
E1e0 09 81 c6 10 00 e2 eb e9 23 00 b0 01 31 db 8e c3
E1f0 bb 00 12 e8 1a 00 72 e9 08 e4 75 09 66 8b 6c 08
E200 66 89 2e 91 e1 fe c4 bf be 13 e8 6a ff 5e 59 c3
E210 51 f6 06 95 e1 01 74 0a b9 05 00 e8 24 00 73 0c
E220 e2 f9 b9 05 00 e8 06 00 73 02 e2 f9 59 c3 60 8a
E230 74 01 8b 4c 02 b4 02 cd 13 73 05 31 c0 cd 13 f9
E240 61 c3 60 89 e5 1e 1e 66 8b 0e 91 e1 66 03 4c 08
E250 66 51 06 53 30 e4 50 68 10 00 89 e6 b4 42 cd 13
E260 73 05 31 c0 cd 13 f9 89 ec 61 c3 bb 01 00 fc ac
E270 3c 00 74 06 b4 0e cd 10 eb f5 c3 0a 0d 43 68 61
E280 69 6e 20 62 6f 6f 74 69 6e 67 20 65 72 72 6f 72
E290 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
E2f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa
RCX
200
W
Q

 

Don't worry I know it looks hideous just bare with me.

 

6. Navigate to Start > Run and type in

cmd

then hit enter.

 

7. When the command prompt appears type in

cd c:

hit return, then

cd \

hit return, then

debug.exe

and hit return again, debug.exe should now appear in the title bar of the Command Prompt window and the 'C:\>' will have disappeared.

 

8. Now click the little Program Icon in the top left hand corner of the Command Prompt window and a menu should appear. Click on Edit then choose Paste from the corresponding menu which appears (see screenshot).

 

 

9. Now all of that nasty looking code you copied from before should paste into the window line by line once it finishes close the command prompt.

 

10. Now open up My Computer and double click on your windows drive (C:\) to open it up. You should be able to see a file called 'boot.ini' (its got a notepad icon with some orange gears on it) if you can't see it then you may need to unhide system files. To do this navigate to Tools > Folder Options (in the C:\ Drive window) and click on the 'View' tab in the window that pops up. Make sure the 'Show Hidden Files and Folders' radio button is selected, then find the 'Hide Protected Operating System Files' checkbox and uncheck it, you will receive some warning prompts click OK to proceed through them then close the window. Now double click 'boot.ini' and it'll open up in notepad.

 

11. There will be some text already in this file, DO NOT TOUCH ANY OF IT!! it could cause windows not to boot! Instead Click on the next available line after all the stuff thats there and copy and paste this there:

c:\CHAIN0="Apple Mac OS X x86"

. Close boot.ini and save changes.

 

12. Now reboot your computer, you will be shown a menu asking you to choose which operating system to boot! So now you can continue your flirtatious affair with mac or trudge back home to Windows

 

That's pretty much it folks, hope you enjoy mac!

 

Troubleshooting

 

I Can't boot back into windows, even after following your instructions, HELP!!

 

Remember the Ultimate Boot CD I told you about?? I hope you burned a copy! Hit F8 or F9 when you boot from it to boot either your first or second drive (you'll have to experiment to find which is which) this should let you bypass any boot errors. Then you can try and continue to make the Boot Menu. If the boot menu dosent work for you, you can set the active partition as Windows using your favourite partitioning software or using 'DiskPart'. Simply type

select disk 0

then

select partition 1

then finally

set active

that should make it so XP boots first, then you can get onto the insanely mac forums and figure out a way to get them workin together...

[adrianb]

how do i edit boot.ini on Windows Vista?

[Timyang]

Did you have any luck on installing it on a 2nd partition with the same drive as windows, through VMWare? I know you said this is for on a individual IDE drive, but I'm on a laptop, and I won't have access to a DVD burner for quite a while, so I tried to install 10.4.6 JaS through VMware on my 2nd partition.

 

However VMware always gives me the error that the partition it's using is modified on reboot after OS X install is completed, and I have to remove the virtual drive then add it again for the virtual machine to function again. And after that, I can't even boot through my 2nd partition in VMWare, not to say natively through chain0.

 

Another perculiar thing is that when I try to make the os x partition active in VMware with fdisk when boot into the OS X install image, terminal tells me that the action can't be done right now, only when I reboot VMware.

For the record, I've successfully boot into a VMware install with a normal virtual disk image (instead of using actual partition), so I know at least the install disc is not corrupted...

 

Spec: P4 M 2.0GHz (SEE2), 512RAM, ATI Radeon 7500 32MB, IDE 5400rpm 40GB (two primary partitions)

[Xeijin]

how do i edit boot.ini on Windows Vista?

 

According to this article, Vista no longer uses the boot.ini file as with previous windows versions, it now uses Boot Configuration Data, open the bcdedit.exe file in your Windows/System32 folder, from there in you'll have to figure it out as I've never used vista before. Good Luck, and post here if it goes well!

 

Did you have any luck on installing it on a 2nd partition with the same drive as windows, through VMWare? I know you said this is for on a individual IDE drive, but I'm on a laptop, and I won't have access to a DVD burner for quite a while, so I tried to install 10.4.6 JaS through VMware on my 2nd partition.

 

However VMware always gives me the error that the partition it's using is modified on reboot after OS X install is completed, and I have to remove the virtual drive then add it again for the virtual machine to function again. And after that, I can't even boot through my 2nd partition in VMWare, not to say natively through chain0.

 

Another perculiar thing is that when I try to make the os x partition active in VMware with fdisk when boot into the OS X install image, terminal tells me that the action can't be done right now, only when I reboot VMware.

For the record, I've successfully boot into a VMware install with a normal virtual disk image (instead of using actual partition), so I know at least the install disc is not corrupted...

 

Spec: P4 M 2.0GHz (SEE2), 512RAM, ATI Radeon 7500 32MB, IDE 5400rpm 40GB (two primary partitions)

 

 

Unfortunately, I can't say I have though I'm sure many people on this forum have definitely tried it, a quick search might turn up something useful. As for your problem with VMWare, it seems quite strange to me. Try creating a virtual VMWare Hard Disk and install OS X on that as a test (I've done it before and it's worked perfectly for me) its not a permanent solution by any means (v. slow) but it could help diagnose if the problem is with your setup or the drive. Also, unless I'm mistaken, VMWare images are writable to hard drives, if you manage to get it working, it might be an idea to 'write' the image to the IDE Drive potentially bypassing any problems and not requiring the use of a DVD Burner.

[macdonkey]

Hi Xeijin,

 

Thanx for this guide.

But on step 8 I got this message:

 

*** Virtual machine kernel stack fault (hardware reset) ***

The virtual machine just suffered a stack fault in kernel mode. On a real computer, this

would amount to a reset of the processor. It can be caused by an incorrect configuration

of the virtual machine, a bug in the operating system, or a problem in the VMware

Workstation software. Press OK to reboot virtual machine or Cancel to shut it down.

 

I have Core 2 Duo E6300, MB Intel DP965LT, Seagate 80G IDE

JaS 10.4.7 DVD

 

what do you think, where may be mistake?

Thanx

[cbmkgd]

Just a note: In the Dual Booting section, steps 5 through 9 are less painfull when one realizes the CHAIN0 file is already found on the root of the OSX install DVD (you can verify this with a hex editor).

[Xeijin]

Just a note: In the Dual Booting section, steps 5 through 9 are less painfull when one realizes the CHAIN0 file is already found on the root of the OSX install DVD (you can verify this with a hex editor).

 

Thanks cbmkgd, I didn't know that. I'll add it to the guide, but I'll leave the chain0 method in there incase anyone can't use the file for whatever reason.

 

Hi Xeijin,

 

Thanx for this guide.

But on step 8 I got this message:

 

*** Virtual machine kernel stack fault (hardware reset) ***

The virtual machine just suffered a stack fault in kernel mode. On a real computer, this

would amount to a reset of the processor. It can be caused by an incorrect configuration

of the virtual machine, a bug in the operating system, or a problem in the VMware

Workstation software. Press OK to reboot virtual machine or Cancel to shut it down.

 

I have Core 2 Duo E6300, MB Intel DP965LT, Seagate 80G IDE

JaS 10.4.7 DVD

 

what do you think, where may be mistake?

Thanx

 

Hi Macdonkey,

 

I can't really tell what type of problem you have, as I've never had it before. Double check that you've set the virtual machine to exactly as described. If it still dosen't work, see if you can find an MD5 sum for the JaS DVD you downloaded and check that the sum matches, if it dosen't then you might have a corrupted disc. If the MD5 does match then try re-installing VMWare. If all else fails, it may be that VMWare and a piece of your hardware are incompatible for whatever reason and causing an error of some sort. In that case, the best thing to do would be to ignore the VMWare sections and install natively by booting from the DVD.

 

I don't think its a mistake in my instructions, they've worked for me on three different computers (2 Intels and one AMD). As I said, if all else fails just try installing like normal from the disc, if that dosent work then its most likely a hardware problem/conflict. In that case try searching the boards or wiki to see if anyone has had the same problem and can offer a solution.

 

// Xeijin

[martin1976]

Sorry to be such a drag. Read on, if you haven't been scared off...

Bro, this is by far the best guide I have ever seen to OS X86 installation. Fortunately, my setup worked wonderfully from the very beginning due to the fact I purchased what seems to be the most compatible hardware there is. But, like I said, excellent job and thanks!

[Harvey]

Nothing happens after its finished installing, it just restarts and does nothing. Like it doesn't go into the OS X wizard, or do i have to select to boot the hard drive? Then it says no operating system found.

 

EDIT: Please someone help me, i just tried to set it to active and do all that stuff but when i go to boot it does loads of writing and then it stops when the writing is smaller but it doesn't say anything thats gone wrong.

[martin1976]

Nothing happens after its finished installing, it just restarts and does nothing. Like it doesn't go into the OS X wizard, or do i have to select to boot the hard drive? Then it says no operating system found.

 

EDIT: Please someone help me, i just tried to set it to active and do all that stuff but when i go to boot it does loads of writing and then it stops when the writing is smaller but it doesn't say anything thats gone wrong.

First of all, let us know what kind of system are you installing on, if you are doing a native install, dual or single boot, I mean, the works. And also, try to post some pictures if you can, because I really don't get what's happening. Like I said on my post above, luckily for me, installing OS X was the most seamless experience ever. Maybe somebody else knows what he means...

[Harvey]

Right ok i am running:

My setup is:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ S939 CPU

Asrock 939 DUAL-SATA2 Motherboard

160 GB ATA HDD

80 GB IDE HDD

 

And i installed it to the 80 GB HDD, i would like to do a dual boot and i will post some pictures after i have tried to install it again.

 

Also locuras this is what happens http://img88.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf0041yp3.jpg

[Harvey]

Just to let every1 know i finally got it to work. But i am having trouble with the internet and the sound. I have a Realtek RTL8201CL built in networking card. Also i can't get my dual display to work.

[johnnytluxury]

Xeijin , just wanted to say the best guide ever. Kudos for spelling things correctly, and for noticing the details of how things can be confusing. Ive already installed the OSX a few times before I read this but Ive found a few steps I was doing that could be eliminated now that I see a different way. Thanks!

[Xeijin]

Thanks johnnytluxury, Appreciate it

 

Glad you got it sorted Harvey, I'm sure I heard something about the Realtek sound chipsets (I have one myself, which worked right off the bat) so I'd do a search if I were you

[Harvey]

@Xeijin

 

I have looked all around but i can't seem to get anything to work, when i go to change the vendor and device ids it says it can't find anything, i really need a really easy tutorial for a Realtek 850 card that is designed for that card, and it tells you exactly what to do but i can't find anything like that on here.

Thanks anyway

Harvey

[Xeijin]

@Xeijin

 

I have looked all around but i can't seem to get anything to work, when i go to change the vendor and device ids it says it can't find anything, i really need a really easy tutorial for a Realtek 850 card that is designed for that card, and it tells you exactly what to do but i can't find anything like that on here.

Thanks anyway

Harvey

 

Sorry mate but there aren't really any easy tutorials for anything since Hackintosh's are really aimed at computer enthusiasts. Just post in the thread and keep trying, you'll figure it out soon enough!

[Harvey]

I have been searching all day for the files that the Realtek ALC850 sound card uses but i can't find them anywhere. Anyone know where i can get them?

[cbmkgd]

Have you tried the Wiki?

 

http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Audio

[mriN]

hey mate,

 

i recently installed mac osx on my amd. Now we've done everything you've said in your

guide. The only error we get is when we select Mac OSX in the boot menu, after that we get this error:

Still locating root device. We dont know what to do now, can you help us please?

 

Thnxbyebyelater

 

mriN

[Xeijin]

Hi Mate,

 

The Root device error is a common problem that alot of people have had. You could try switching the IDE drive on your cable from Slave to Master or vice versa and see if that works. Also, some people have had problems when the IDE Drive is on the same cable as a CD or DVD Drive. Try moving the drive around to see if it has any affect.

 

If there's still no joy you could try searching the forums, some people have found other fixes that work.

 

Good Luck Mate!

[Taikonauta]

Hi Everybody! I manage to install OS X on my computer, but I'm having problems with a couple of things, most importantly, the network adapter. I have an onboard Realtek RTL8201CL LAN Card. Does anyone know how to make it work? I installed the 10.4.4 version. Thanx!

[Vishwas]

 

After 7 retrys, 3 OS Crashes, resinstalling XP 2 times, :construction:I finally Got JaS ISO 10.4.7 working on my PC!!!!!!! Thaaanks to aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllll the users here who have provided awesome tutorials..and special thanks to xeijin... he has explained every bit of the installation process in an excellent manner! Cheers InsanelyMac!!!!!

[Xeijin]

Your Welcome Vishwas

 

@Taikonauta: Alot of hardware dosen't work from the first time you install OS X simply because it wasn't designed to. Sometimes they do work if another piece of apple hardware has similar drivers already available. In many cases someone has released a driver or work around to make something work, your best bet is to search the forums with the model number to see if anyone else has had the same problem and got it working. With network cards, its not a major disaster since you can check the HCL in the Wiki and simply buy a network card that works (usually no more than about £10) and have network support.

[doomspat]

Hey Xeijin,

First off, thanks for the walkthrough! Pretty simple so far- until I got to this part- I booted from the disc, formatted to "journaled," installed, and rebooted. I get the gray apple screen with the spinning black lines, but after a while, I get a "no" (circle / horizontal line) sign just above the apple, and the lines keep spinning. If this is simply an incompatibility error, I'd be more than happy to accept that and move on, but I wasn't sure if there was a specific meaning to it. After all, it isn't like I really set up the system specifically for this, I was just playing around. Any advice would be great though.

 

I'm working on a Gateway 310, all factory: Pentium 4, I want to say 256 RAM, and aside from the modem, everything's onboard.

 

For what it's worth, even seeing the os x setup screen on a pc was pretty sweet :-)

[Gandalf2003]

Nothing happens after its finished installing, it just restarts and does nothing. Like it doesn't go into the OS X wizard, or do i have to select to boot the hard drive? Then it says no operating system found.

 

EDIT: Please someone help me, i just tried to set it to active and do all that stuff but when i go to boot it does loads of writing and then it stops when the writing is smaller but it doesn't say anything thats gone wrong.

 

 

Hi Harvey,

 

I have exactely the same problem and it may be because we're using the same hardware ...

Did you finaly found any solution to make it work ?