Jump to content

[GUIDE] Lion on AMD Athlon X2 and Biostar A780L Motherboard


Chris Etheridge
 Share

1 post in this topic

Recommended Posts

I have successfully installed lion 10.7.2 onto my AMD machine. A machine that is HIGHLY unsupported and has a motherboard that basically no one else has. Everything works perfectly. I want to give back to all those that helped me, and generally helped my community, so here is a guide that hopefully a few of you will use.

This is when using 2 separate disks per operating system. So if you are wanting to dual boot on ONE hard drive, DON'T follow this.

This guide also shows you how to install it entirely WITHOUT a spare Mac machine.

What you are going to need:

 

iAtkos L2 install DMG (google)

A 4.7Gb DVD
A windows machine 
TransMac (HERE)
A 8GB flash drive (explained later)
Bronzovka's Kernel - I forgot which one I used so I uploaded it (HERE)
PowerISO (or any equivalent ISO burner that can burn DMG)
Additional installation things like Voodoo and network (HERE)


Let's start:

 

Firstly we need to prepare our installation disc.

Launch TransMac (as administrator), and then click 'Open -> Open Disc Image'. Open the iAtkos L2 DMG you have downloaded. 

 

Right click on the image and click 'expand'. A dialog box will pop up asking you where to put it - put it on the desktop for easier access.

That will take a bit of time to complete. Once completed, open that image with TransMac, the same way you did with the original DMG. Now we are going to add our kernel.

Right click in the space of your expanded image, and click 'Copy Here'. Navigate to your mach_kernel and paste it there. Overwrite it.

Now open up PowerISO (as administrator), and insert a blank disk. Use DVD-R, its the safest bet. Then click burn, and select disk image. Select the image that you expanded (so NOT the iAtkos L2 one). Let it burn. It doesn't matter what speed really (I did mine on the top speed and it was fine)

Our media is finished!

Next (Optional):

 

This is my recovery option. Due to having 1000 problems with Macintosh before, I created a 'recovery' flash drive. This basically had every patched kernel there is, a few kexts that I knew were sometimes faulty in the installer and a fresh copy of the installer (copied out with TransMac). This saved my skin after I updated to 10.7.5. You don't NEED to do it, but rather be safe than sorry, right?

Install:

 

Restart your Windows machine (do a full restart, don't hit the button). Go into your BIOS and make sure the following is done:

Chipset -> Northbridge Configuration -> SATA Mode -> AHCI
Boot -> Boot device priority -> (your dvd drive)

Now save changes and exit.

Boot:

 

Once you pass the AHCI initialization and the 'post' screen start hitting F8 furiously. You will be greeted with the iAtkos L2 boot screen.

Make sure the disk is highlighted (use your arrow keys to navigate), and type in the following flags:
 

-v USBLegacyOff=Yes npci=0x2000

These worked for me and my motherboard, they may be different. If they don't work play around with them a bit.

Once the disk has been loaded its gonna take about 10 minutes to load everything. It will 'seem' like its hanging on "...IO.Bluetooth..." but it really isn't. Just give it time. A lot of time. Go play with your dog or cat while you wait.

 

If all is okay you will enter the installer (WOOOO!)

Install:

In the menu bar of the installer select Utilities -> Disk Utility. Let it load up. Select the hard drive you want to install (be careful not to select your Windows hard drive), and then erase it or partition it. I created a 20Gb partition called 'SAFETY' and a 140Gb hard drive called 'MAC'. SAFETY hard drive is used for, well, safety. I install any new updates and kexts on my safety hard drive before I apply them to my main.

Once that is done quit the utility and continue with the installer.

You may customize but I honestly left it how it was. Hit install and go have some ice tea.

 

Once the install is complete DON'T DON'T DON'T restart. I always hastily restarted and forgot about my kernel. Go to Utilities -> Terminal. Type in the following: 
 

cp /mach_kernel /Volumes/Mac

Mac was the name of my Mac hard drive, change it with whatever you called it.

 

First boot:

 

Now we can boot properly. Go back into your bios and set the boot device to your Mac hard drive. Save changes and exit.

Once you have gone past the 'post' screen hit F8 furiously as before. You will once again be greeted by iAtkos (what a nice fellow). Select the mac hard drive this time and type in the EXACT same flags you used for your installation.

If everything is okay you should boot up fine! Follow the first-time set up and see how beautiful your little Mac looks.

Changes:

 

We now need to make a few changes to make our startups a little more easy. In finder search for 'champlist'. Load it up. It will bug you about the internet if there is none, just dismiss it. Select configurations. At the bottom click the bar where it shows the directory of the boot.plist. Make sure it is set to your hard drive and NOT the disk. Tick the following:

-v (verbose mode)
npci=0x2000

Also hit 'Edit as text' and type in the following after the last <string><key> combination.
 

<string>USBLegacyOff</string>
<key>Yes</string>

Now you can click save. It will ask you for your password. Enter it and you're done. (This will remove the need to have to hit F8 furiously every time you boot. I also include -v [its not pretty], but its good to see that everything is loading properly).

You will also need to install VoodooHDA to get audio working. Install it. 

You also need to install RTGMac to get the ethernet port working as well. 

Success! Your Macintosh should be working 100% perfectly now.

Optional - Update:

 

Lots of applications will not work unless you have 10.7.4 / 5 installed. So it is in your best interest to do so. Download the massive update and lets get to it.

Firstly, download THIS kernel. It is bronzvoka's 10.7.5 kernel. 

Mount the update DMG and start it. Once it is complete DON'T DON'T DON'T restart. Copy the kernel you just downloaded to the root of your Mac drive. Also make sure it is named mach_kernel and not anything else.

Reboot and everything should work just fine.

There you have it. A fully working Macintosh install. This will be stable enough to use as your main machine. I am a web developer and am now using Macintosh to develop rather than my Windows. It is far better. My specs, just for reference:

AMD Athlon II 3.3Ghz

BIOSTAR A780L
ATI Radeon HD5770
4Gb DDR2 RAM

Feel free to post any problems you may have. I will be happy to help!

Goodluck!


 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...