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Good News for who want to build a cheaper Leopard Hackintosh

Iceman

By Iceman,
in OSx86 10.5 (Leopard)

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don123
don123
Posted
Posted

Here are some further impressions with this board.

 

First off let me say that my first Mac was a G4 bought on eBay for $50. Slow but it got my feet wet. Then I got a Mac Mini.

My interest in OSx86 came from trying to load OSx86 o a Gateway laptop. I’ve had moderate success installing 10.5.1 variants but I've yet to get the Graphics, Audio & suspend working correctly so makes using it on a laptop fairly useless. (Plus 1024x768 on a 1280x800 panel is ugly)

 

I've always had a fondness for mini-ITX boards (I've used the original VIA 533MHz & 800MHz boards extensively) so when I came across the Atom 330 board on eBay I just had to buy one.

 

I have to say, installing iPC was a breeze. There are some minor glitches such as no suspend, or restart and I have to boot from the DVD but this is with zero effort. I'm certain that when I re-visit my install (and I will for sure) I'll sort all of these glitches out.

 

I used the OSx86 box in its current state for a couple of hours last night. The system is definitely stable. Audio playback, 720p Video, a variety of XviD and H.264 encoded videos all playback just fine. Network access, AFP, SMB transfers work well. Screen sharing works perfectly (why can’t I find a Windows VNC client that gives me that level of performance???) etc... Overall this board makes an excellent workstation.

 

And a couple of surprises too - this setup does two things better then my Mac-Mini!

 

1/ Safari has never worked right on my Mini. It is significantly slower that FF and it often fails to finish rendering web pages, even the Apple start page?? My OSx86 box seems to have a Safari browser that is fast and it renders all web pages I have visited without issue.

2/ I like paying Xplorers (Online board game - written in Java) and on my Mac Mini the right Audio channel is always garbled (Though movies, MP3s, system sounds do not suffer this issue). I assumed it was simply an Apple Java issue but to my great surprise my OSx86 box plays Xplorers with audio just fine!

 

So other than raw horse power (my Mini has a T7600) my OSx86 box seems to be “better”. How is this even possible??? LOL

 

Enough rambling...

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Atomized
Atomized
Posted
Posted
I went back through the install to document the choices I picked in the "Customize" install.. Here's what works:
  • iATKOS 5i Main System (default)
  • Bootloader - PC EFI V9 (default)
  • X86Patches
  • -- Decrypter
  • ---- Apple Decrypt (default)
  • -- SMBIOS drivers
  • ---- SMBIOS-EFI (default)
  • -- Disabler.kext (default)
  • -- ACPI
  • ---- Stock ACPI Modified (you have to choose this one)
  • Drivers
  • -- VGA
  • ---- Intel
  • ------ EFI String for Intel (select this as well)
  • -- System
  • ---- SATA
  • ------ Intel SATA (select this one)
  • ---- NTFS-3G (at some point, you'll regret it if you don't select this one)

That's it! Select those, install (make sure the drive was formatted GUID), and reboot. Make sure the DVD is removed from the drive before you try to boot, or it will kernel panic. If it does kernel panic, remove the DVD, reboot, you'll be fine.

Software update, select everything, you'll be fine.

Issues I've found.. Sleep does not work, not even monitor sleep! From what I have read, the EFI string for the GMA950 has 2 issues, sleep is one of them, the other is resolutions. It's stuck at 1024x768 normally, I was able to feed it "Graphics Mode"="1280x1024x32" in my boot string and get it up to the resolution of the monitor I have connected to it. If that doesn't work for you, you may be stuck with using the other GMA950 drivers in the installer. Those other drivers will probably fix the sleep issue too.

Surprises: Sound worked right of the box. Not too surprising actually, considering my last Atom desktop system (single core), with iATKOS 1.0ir3 had working sound OOTB as well.

System Profiler shows QE/CI working properly, even after the 10.5.6 update. System Monitor shows 4 CPU cores..

 

Of note: I only used SATA drives. I don't know if PATA will work at all.

 

I hope this helps the Newb crowd.. :)

 

Newb crowd was indeed helped :) Put my build together using the dual core atom board and following your guide works as advertised. Very easy install. Post install I have been trying to edit the boot string to fix the resolution being stuck and I cannot get the file to save. I changed the permissions in the get info screen to include my user name and and still no go. Tried launching from the terminal as SU, couldnt get that going either. Any help there would be appreciated. Managed to update to 10.5.6 with no issues. Under "about this mac", in hardware it shows one processor, two cores. Is this correct or is hyperthreading not working?

 

 

Edit: Installed Skype to test the mic input and under audio input there is option. Has anyone got audio input working?

 

 

Thanks.

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Atomized
Atomized
Posted
Posted

Thanks, I'll try a reinstall and see how that goes. My other issue is getting a wireless keyboard and mouse working. The keyboard is ps2 and the mouse is USB. Hoping the kext from the keyboard how to thread will work for me. Other than these minor issues, I am very impressed at the ease of the install and at how well this little board performs. Everything launches quickly and the system boots nearly a full minute quicker than my vista pc!

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Atomized
Atomized
Posted
Posted

Reinstalled using just the GMA 950 drivers and I have all the resolutions available like you said. The driver detects my monitor now and sleep works perfectly. I managed to get a working driver for my Belkin wireless usb adapter, have it tried it again tho since I reinstalled. Don't foresee a problem there ( famous last words! :wacko: ) Basically the only thing not working is audio input, not a huge issue but would be useful to solve. My understanding is that there hasn't been a resolution to this yet, am I correct?

 

Thanks for your help Unaclocker and to the osx86 community in general.

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Atomized
Atomized
Posted
Posted
I have zero need for audio input.. No idea on that one.. Try a USB microphone? :)

 

I will go that way in the end if I don't figure it out. So later on, I ran software update for everything and when I rebooted, the resolutions were borked again, stuck at 1024*768. I reinstalled again and will run the updates one at a time. I am assuming it is the 10.5.6 update.

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Detosx
Detosx
Posted
Posted

I'm sure this must have been said dozens of times, I just need to wade through ten pages, but the GMA950 is very limiting. Is there a similar board with a minimum of a GMAX3100 for smooth HD?

 

I'm sure this must have been said dozens of times, I just need to wade through ten pages, but the GMA950 is very limiting. Is there a similar board with a minimum of a GMAX3100 for smooth HD?

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Detosx
Detosx
Posted
Posted

Sorry, I don't know why it double posted; Edit doesn't seem to be working on the board at the moment. By HD I mean 1080, something the GMA 950 can't easily handle, or at least not on my ageing Mac Mini.

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UnaClocker
UnaClocker
Posted
Posted

You're going to have to back up the video kexts before the 10.5.6 update, and then restore them afterwards (or just toss them into the /Extra/Extensions folder so that they are protected from updating.

You can put in a PCI video card, I think you can get a GeForce 8500 in PCI form.. Not sure if there's enough bandwidth on the PCI bus for 1080p though.. Maybe you can find an Atom board with PCI-e..

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814187041 Here's that URL for the better video card.

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doki@pcModz
doki@pcModz
Posted
Posted

hi, I have install 10.5.2 Kalyway All work out of the box except the mic obcourse. Here's MY setup:

 

Intel D945GCLF2

ATI HD2600Pro PCI

Hitachi 80GB SATA

TSSCorp Slim DVD/RW Drive via IDE to mini IDE converter

160WATS PSU

 

My problem is the display is limited to 1024x768. I've Check the ATI HD2600PRO during install.

I Also Tried installing the Natit and edit the ATI2600.....Kext and add my deviceID+1200 reboot the result still the same... Im thinking that those procedures is for AGP and PCIexpress. Anybody can help me installing Driver for ATI HD2600PRO PCI?

 

Thanks and Advance....

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mattrb
mattrb
Posted
Posted
Sorry, I don't know why it double posted; Edit doesn't seem to be working on the board at the moment. By HD I mean 1080, something the GMA 950 can't easily handle, or at least not on my ageing Mac Mini.

 

There are PCI cards on newegg that will give it that 1080p boost. Saw a 2400HD for 44$

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atomuk09
atomuk09
Posted
Posted

Hi guys

 

I've successfully used iAtkos5i 10.5.5 to install on my D945GCLF2 and I've updated to 10.5.6. I have three problems/questions:

 

1. When I installed iAtkos I selected GMA 950b drivers for the video because it says they are needed for installs using Software Update but yet when I booted up Mac OS X the resolution was stuck at 1024x768, am I doing something wrong?

 

2. I have a M-Audio Revolution 5.1 PCI card plugged into the PCI slot but when I go to System Profiler and PCI Cards it says "This computer does not appear to have any PCI cards installed." I've installed the Revo drivers and it says that it can't find the card. Is there anything I need to change in the BIOS perhaps or add in Customization when I install iAtkos to make it work?

 

3. If I can't get the Revo to work I have a NVIDIA 6200 PCI card I'd want to use instead. What do I select in customizaton when I install iAtkos for this card?

 

Please can you help?

 

Many thanks

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Atomized
Atomized
Posted
Posted
Hi guys

 

I've successfully used iAtkos5i 10.5.5 to install on my D945GCLF2 and I've updated to 10.5.6. I have three problems/questions:

 

1. When I installed iAtkos I selected GMA 950b drivers for the video because it says they are needed for installs using Software Update but yet when I booted up Mac OS X the resolution was stuck at 1024x768, am I doing something wrong?

 

2. I have a M-Audio Revolution 5.1 PCI card plugged into the PCI slot but when I go to System Profiler and PCI Cards it says "This computer does not appear to have any PCI cards installed." I've installed the Revo drivers and it says that it can't find the card. Is there anything I need to change in the BIOS perhaps or add in Customization when I install iAtkos to make it work?

 

3. If I can't get the Revo to work I have a NVIDIA 6200 PCI card I'd want to use instead. What do I select in customizaton when I install iAtkos for this card?

 

Please can you help?

 

Many thanks

 

Can't help you with 2 or 3 but with 1, I installed both GMA 950 drivers and was able to select all available resolutions. Note Unaclockers post about backing up your video kexts to update to 10.5.6 otherwise you'll be stuck with 1024x768 again.

 

Cheers.

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atomuk09
atomuk09
Posted
Posted
Can't help you with 2 or 3 but with 1, I installed both GMA 950 drivers and was able to select all available resolutions. Note Unaclockers post about backing up your video kexts to update to 10.5.6 otherwise you'll be stuck with 1024x768 again.

 

Cheers.

 

What are the names of the extensions? And I've solved 2 :(

 

Thanks

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Atomized
Atomized
Posted
Posted
AppleIntegratedFrameBuffer.kext

AppleIntelGMA950.kext

IOGraphicsFamily.kext

 

 

But if you switch to the nVidia 6200, you should be able to just go back to EFI strings. In my main machine, my nVidia 7300LE works PERFECTLY with EFI strings.

 

I have this one, I assume its the same:

 

AppleIntelIntegratedFrameBuffer.kext

 

I also have IOVideoFamily.kext. Is this one important too?

 

Thanks.

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Atomized
Atomized
Posted
Posted
The three kexts I listed are the ones you want to backup before going from 10.5.5 to 10.5.6, and then put back after the update is done.

 

AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer.kext is definitely what I have, no sign of AppleIntegratedFramebuffer.kext. I assume it is the same file, but want to be sure. This is located in /System/Library/Extensions/

 

Thanks.

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  • 2 weeks later...
PSG01
PSG01
Posted
Posted
Hi people,

I am here to let you know my nice experience with a recent mobo i bought.

It is the Intel D945GCLF

 

D945GCLF_sm.jpg

 

I payed it 54€ (here in Italy, i don't know how do you spend where you live...)

This mobo is a Mini-itx 17cmx17cm and has:

 

Integrated Intel® Atom 1.6ghz (HT) processor

Realtek ALC662 audio

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950

Six USB 2.0 ports

Two SATA ports

One parallel ATA IDE interface

 

I used Kalyway Leopard 10.5.2.

The installation was perfect and after reboot, the system started with sound even with QE/CI enabled (presentation video and music worked).

Everything work out of the box! Incredible!

Now i am really happy because with onle 54€ + 16€ (1gb ram) = 70€ i got a PERFECT Leopard machine!

Now i am backuping my installation with Time Machine... believe me, incredible!

I am using EyeTV with my Terratec Cinergy Hybrid T XS tv dongle, and it works like a charm! (analog even digital)

Obvious, it is not like a core2duo 2.66... but it did his job like never expected from what i hear around... in internet (people said that Atom is a bad cpu... i don't think so... now!)

 

Everyone should try this mobo... and i think the price is really not the limit!

I am entusiast!

Bye ;)

 

P.s. A thing i forgot: sleep works! Amazing... :D

I just bought this ridiculous things and lets say i was amazed when you guys talk about it.. at first 1 bought everything just as the motherboard, 160 GB SATA Hard drive, samsung SATA DVD Multi Burner, 1 GB memory and a Cube casing.! after that I downloaded Kalyway 10.5.2 Intel_AMD installer. here how it goes........ During instalation..... they say it worked OUT OF THE BOX!!!!! Thats rediculous!!!!! i followed everything you guys do, just like the Kernels, Vanilla thing, The Intel GMA950 drivers but still as it reached 9 minutes to finish, it Still hows the damn error "Migration Assistant error" ....... r u guyz serious about this this thing? Well i really hate to expect nothing from this system! I also tried the iAtkos 10.5.4 well its nice coz the whole thing finished succesfully but during startup it says press the "power button for how many seconds or press the restart". then after that same message again...... ohhh wellll watever.... im just pissed!!!! :thumbsdown_anim:   

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UnaClocker
UnaClocker
Posted
Posted
I just bought this ridiculous things and lets say i was amazed when you guys talk about it.. at first 1 bought everything just as the motherboard, 160 GB SATA Hard drive, samsung SATA DVD Multi Burner, 1 GB memory and a Cube casing.! after that I downloaded Kalyway 10.5.2 Intel_AMD installer. here how it goes........ During instalation..... they say it worked OUT OF THE BOX!!!!! Thats rediculous!!!!! i followed everything you guys do, just like the Kernels, Vanilla thing, The Intel GMA950 drivers but still as it reached 9 minutes to finish, it Still hows the damn error "Migration Assistant error" ....... r u guyz serious about this this thing? Well i really hate to expect nothing from this system! I also tried the iAtkos 10.5.4 well its nice coz the whole thing finished succesfully but during startup it says press the "power button for how many seconds or press the restart". then after that same message again...... ohhh wellll watever.... im just pissed!!!! :wacko:

Sounds like you're not very bright. Can't blame that on the hardware. First of all, I've said repeatedly to use iATKOS 5i, not 4, not Kalyway (which is more than a year old at this point). I gave a step by step set of choices to make in the iATKOS 5i installer, those only apply to that distro, that version. Nothing else. So hell yeah you are having problems, you didn't follow basic instructions that guarantee success.

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