Wantint to build a hackintosh, but suck at command line stuff

[cash68]

Here's the deal. I'd like to build a relatively cheap hackintosh for my studio at school. I have a lot of parts laying around, I have a 15" Cintiq, extra keyboard, a few hard drives, a G4 powermac case, a bunch of ram from PCs and G4 systems, Optical drives, and a few power supplies.

 

So basically, I'd like to buy a motherboard and CPU. I'm just not 'geeky' enough to understand all the differences in hardware. I want something that works easily, because growing up on macs and windows, I have almost zero command line experience. Can this be done? I'm comfortable with case modding, and computer hardware, but I suck at comman line very badly. I literally need step by step instructions for that kind of thing.

 

So has anybody worked out a TROUBLE FREE hackintosh CPU/motherboard/videocard combo? It doesn't have to be blazing fast.

 

Oh, and I plan on booting into Tiger and XP occasionally for Alias/Solidworks stuff.

 

- Rob

 

 

 

This looks cheap and quick, no idea on compatibility:

 

Motherboard

Ecs Nforce 570 Slit-A Lga775 Motherboard

Category Image

 

Intel Core 2 Duo Processors

Intel Dual Core E2180 2.0ghz 800fsb

 

$118 with 1 gig of memory on pricewatch.

[nickhe]

Here's the deal. I'd like to build a relatively cheap hackintosh for my studio at school. I have a lot of parts laying around, I have a 15" Cintiq, extra keyboard, a few hard drives, a G4 powermac case, a bunch of ram from PCs and G4 systems, Optical drives, and a few power supplies.

 

So basically, I'd like to buy a motherboard and CPU. I'm just not 'geeky' enough to understand all the differences in hardware. I want something that works easily, because growing up on macs and windows, I have almost zero command line experience. Can this be done? I'm comfortable with case modding, and computer hardware, but I suck at comman line very badly. I literally need step by step instructions for that kind of thing.

 

So has anybody worked out a TROUBLE FREE hackintosh CPU/motherboard/videocard combo? It doesn't have to be blazing fast.

 

Oh, and I plan on booting into Tiger and XP occasionally for Alias/Solidworks stuff.

 

- Rob

 

 

 

This looks cheap and quick, no idea on compatibility:

 

Motherboard

Ecs Nforce 570 Slit-A Lga775 Motherboard

Category Image

 

Intel Core 2 Duo Processors

Intel Dual Core E2180 2.0ghz 800fsb

 

$118 with 1 gig of memory on pricewatch.

 

chang the motherboard from Nforce to an intel

[Zaap]

Cash68, I'd recommend the parts list in this thread:

 

If you want a mostly foolproof way of setting up the hardware, with no command line mucking around, I'd recommend Leo4Allv3 (available on the bay) and sWORDs' guide in this thread.

 

This guide assumes basic things- like you know how to get the needed Leo4All and Kalyway 10.5.3 update disk images, burn them to disk in image mode, format the harddrive, etc. (All things outlined on this forum, ad nasium).

 

No, you don't need the command line, but it helps greatly to know what cases it might be needed for (for example, on some setups to get a graphic card fully working, or to give a needed kext file the right permissions to work). Just about any problem that would require a command line, has a guide floating around, with the exact commands you need, step by step. (I certainly am no command line guru, but the rare times I've needed to use it, was no big deal.)

 

Read all the threads around here on "$XXX Hackintosh" and various builds to get an idea of what works and what doesn't. For example: Intel chipsets= good chance it'll work, but not always. nVidia chipset= good chance it won't work, but not always.

 

If you have or want to use parts not on someone's "This works!" list, then check the 10.5.2 HCL.

 

Building a Hackintosh is mostly a DIY endevor, so you should have something of a DIY mentality, or honestly, don't bother. Some things you'll have to read this and other forums, and figure out, like dual booting multiple OS's. That sort of thing is beyond the scope of a single post. (Check the Multibooting forum here).

 

Mostly, guides are set up for running Leopard. I personally have no clue about running Tiger (do you really need it?) on modern Hackintosh setups. Maybe some old-schoolers around here might.

 

Most of all, just spend some time to read this forum- most questions have already been addressed a million times by people looking to do pretty much exactly what you are.

 

 

Edit: by the way, unless you are hardcore into doing a major modification project- ditch the idea of using the older G4 case. It can be made to work, but it's a LOT of work to make a PC motherboard fit into it, and I think you'd also be limited to MicroATX boards, not ATX. Whatever PSU you use needs to be modern enough to work with new hardware, and enough wattage: IE: below 400W, maybe forget it. The RAM should be DDR2. The optical drives will probably work.

[nickhe]

many have problems with nforce a Gigabyte P35 would be better

[m16]

do you need to use microphones?

[cash68]

Cash68, I'd recommend the parts list in this thread:

 

If you want a mostly foolproof way of setting up the hardware, with no command line mucking around, I'd recommend Leo4Allv3 (available on the bay) and sWORDs' guide in this thread.

 

 

Thanks for the resources. The forum is so big I didn't know how to find a 'foolproof' version.

 

This guide assumes basic things- like you know how to get the needed Leo4All and Kalyway 10.5.3 update disk images, burn them to disk in image mode, format the harddrive, etc. (All things outlined on this forum, ad nasium).

 

Yep, I can do all that, not a problem.

 

Edit: by the way, unless you are hardcore into doing a major modification project- ditch the idea of using the older G4 case. It can be made to work, but it's a LOT of work to make a PC motherboard fit into it, and I think you'd also be limited to MicroATX boards, not ATX. Whatever PSU you use needs to be modern enough to work with new hardware, and enough wattage: IE: below 400W, maybe forget it. The RAM should be DDR2. The optical drives will probably work.

 

Meh, it won't be too bad, I don't think. It won't look factory, but it should work out alright.