MSI P6N SLI + Kalyway 10.5.2 = SUCCESS (GUIDE)

[auDiBLe_aGeNT]

I'm writing this in hopes of saving somebody out there a bit of trouble. I have been wanting to make a Hackintosh for some time now and finally got around to it.

 

First, a little information about my target PC. It is a computer I bought off of my former employer. It was running Vista Ultimate 64 bit. Knowing ahead of time that I was about to butcher my PC, I made a complete backup of the hard drive and stored it on an external drive. The detailed specs are as follows:

 

MOBO: MSI P6N SLI

BIOS: Version 2.6 (downgraded to 2.2 for this install)

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600

RAM: 8 GB (4x2GB Sticks) A Data DDR2 800 (downgraded to 4GB for this install)

DVD-RW: IDE LG (don't remember model #)

HDD: 2x300 GB SATA Drives setup in a RAID 0 Stripe (Stripe destroyed for this install)

Graphics card: EVGA 7800 GTX

 

The following links were what gave me enough information to do the job:

 

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSx86 (Nooby info)

2) http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=127677 (VERY USEFUL)

3) http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/HCL_10.5.2#MSI (VERY USEFUL)

4) http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...aded&start=

5) http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...;hl=msi+p6n+sli (gave me some hints)

6) http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...;hl=msi+p6n+sli (Useful when setting up BIOS)

7) http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...c=95789&st) (USB Patch)

 

Before moving onto the steps for installation, please note that I had or knew of the following issues:

 

1) Onboard LAN adapter does not work.

2) I was unable to sucessfully use more than 4 GB of ram.

3) Supposedly, a patch must be applied for high speed USB devices to work properly. I'm not sure how this problem manifests itself because I seemed to have no problems with my devices. Nevertheless, I applied the patch.

4) Supposedly SLI does not work, but I haven't tried yet.

5) I've read that SATA DVD drives might give you trouble, but I can't speak to that personally.

 

Having done my homework and feeling confident, I began surgery. Here is my step by step guide for the MSI P6N SLI + Kalyway 10.5.2 release.

 

INSTALL STEPS:

 

1) Download and burn to DVD, a copy of Kalyway 10.5.2 (bittorrent it).

2) Downgrade BIOS to version 2.2. This is the version that the OSX86 project (see link #3 above) claims works best.

3) Following the BIOS downgrade, RAID will default back to disabled. FYI, I left it this way.

4) Configure the BIOS using the following (found in link #6 above):

• HPET: Enabled
  
• NoExecute: Enabled (recommended, but possibly not required)
  
• Limit Max CPUID to 3: DISABLED, otherwise the DVD won't boot.
  
• Onboard LAN: Disabled (known to cause strange problems for some people during setup, can be re-enabled after installation)
  
• Onboard IEEE1394: Enabled (again, to avoid setup problems)
  

5) Before installing MacOS, prepare the hard drive. I was unable to get the MacOS Disk Utility to erase my target hard drive which was part of a RAID strip. Instead, I used my Windows XP Installation disk to delete all partitions on the drive.

6) Boot up using the Kalyway 10.5.2 DVD.

7) Load up the Utilities -> Disk Utility and format it with Mac OS Extended. I chose the Journaled option.

8) Exit the disk utility, begin the install, and read/agree to the terms of software license agreement.

9) Select the hard drive (the one you just prepared for install), and click Continue.

10) ATTENTION: Click customize BEFORE clicking install. Set it up with the following.

11) Additional_Fonts: Left as default.

12) (optional) Language Translations: I unchecked all Language translations.

13) Kernel: Select kernel_92_nforce ONLY. Make sure the vanilla kernel is unchecked. I don't know if any others work.

14) Graphics_Drivers: Find the one that best suits your card. Mine is an EVGA 7800 GTX 512, so I chose NVinject-512.

15) Audio_Drivers: I didn't change anything hear, but I'm guessing you only need the Realtek Sgmatel ... option for the MSI P6N SLI.

16) Network_Drivers: I left everything as default with one exception. Knowing that the OnBoard LAN adapter would likely not work, I planned on using my WUSB54G Wireless Device. So I selected the RT2500 driver.

17) Mobo_Chipsets: Left as default.

18) Thirds_Applications: Left as default. (Select whatever apps you want to add).

19) Patches: Link #3 of the references section above said no patches were necessary. So unselected all of the patches.

20) AMD_1052_Patches: Link #3 of the references section above said no patches were necessary. So unselected all of the patches.

21) Click Done, then click Install. (At this point the install will verify the consistency of the DVD [takes a couple minutes]).

22) Hopefully the install completes successfully. Pull the DVD out before the computer reboots.

 

After the post-install reboot, MacOS it will walk you through creating an account and setting some preferences. Once that's done, the OS should be functional. I, however, was not done yet.

 

I needed internet access, but the OnBoard LAN adapter doesn't work. I planned ahead of time to use my Linksys WUSB54G v4 wireless device knowing that it works with a slight tweak to the kext. I had done this once before on my girlfriend's PowerBook. I successfully accomplished this with the help of this link:

 

http://forum.insanelymac.com/lofiversion/i...php/t18035.html

 

Even though my USB devices seemed to be working just fine, I applied the USB patch anyway (reference link #7 above).

 

Hopefully I saved somebody some trouble! Good luck!

[DGNeo]

Just wondering where you managed to find the BIOS version 2.2? I searched all over MSI's website for it, and the latest version I found was 1.7.

[The Sauce]

Just wondering where you managed to find the BIOS version 2.2? I searched all over MSI's website for it, and the latest version I found was 1.7.

 

Bump! I'd like to know where this bios is also. I had a successful Kaly install, but now, it seems that despite nothing really changing other than nforcelan.kext, my system randomly locks up and the usb causes system freezes. Can anyone help with this issue?? PLEASE!!!

[Gilventure]

Bump! I'd like to know where this bios is also. I had a successful Kaly install, but now, it seems that despite nothing really changing other than nforcelan.kext, my system randomly locks up and the usb causes system freezes. Can anyone help with this issue?? PLEASE!!!

[K1ngV1per]

He's using just P6N SLI...you guys look like you're using P6N SLI Platinum The equivalent bios for that motherboard is version 1.3.

[auDiBLe_aGeNT]

He's using just P6N SLI...you guys look like you're using P6N SLI Platinum The equivalent bios for that motherboard is version 1.3.

 

He's correct, this was for the NON-platinum P6N SLI.

 

Unfortunately, I ended up bricking this motherboard. I was attempting to identify exactly which BIOS versions worked when in the middle of one of my flashes my power supply crapped out on me.

 

This led me to purchase a more compatible motherboard. Along with the new motherboard, I have found that the iDeneb releases have worked much better for me personally. Speaking of which, the latest iDeneb v1.4 with MacOS 10.5.6 is available from your favorite BT source.

 

So to those of you with the MSI P6N's (platinum or not) still wishing to get OSx86 working, I suggest biting the bullet on one of the following:

 

#1) Try the install guide above. The worst case scenario is that it doesn't work (you backed up your old data right?).

#2) Give the iDeneb release a shot.

#3) Try various combinations of BIOS versions / settings (make sure you understand the risks).

#4) Pay the $ to get a MOBO that is known to work. The one I went with is: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128357

 

Good luck guys!