Hackintosh Build - Quad Core

[ainsleyclark]

Hey there,

I was introduced to the whole of hacks by my friend about 6 months ago and have installed Leo4All v1 on my HP Pavilion DV6000. Its running fine on my external hard drive but my graphics card is not supported so I'm getting a really low screen res (especially annoying on a 22" screen).

Anyway I have decided to build my first hack and my first computer (I have a friend helping!) and I was just wondering if you guys could take a look to see what you think. I'm concerned about the graphics card because this is pretty much the main thing I want working (2 screens working at full screen res).

Anyway here is my list:

 

Motherboard: Asus P5E Deluxe

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Quad Core CPU 2.83GHz L2 Cache 12MB 1333MHz LGA775

Hard Drive x2: Western Digital 500GB hard disk drive Caviar SE16 SATA II 300 7200rpm 16Mm

Case: Gigabyte Posideion 310

CD Drive x2: LG 22x DVD±RW LS Black Bare SATA with Software GH22LS50.AUAU

Memory x3: Geil memory 2GB Ultra DDR2 PC6400 800MHz RAM (4-4-4-12) + Aluminium Heatspreader

Graphics: Asus nVIDIA GeForce 7300GT 256MB DDR2 PCIe VGA DVI HDTV Graphic Card OR

256MB / 512MB Asus GeForce 7200GS PCI Express TV Out DVI Card

PSU: Win Power PSU 750W 2x SATA cable dual 8cm fan silent20 +4 pin PCI-E connector

Wireless: ASUS WIRELESS LAN 54MBPS PCI WL-138G V2

 

I'm a bit sketchy on the PSU, so if anybody could confirm it would be a good choice to use in this build I would be very appreciative. I'm planning to dual boot Windows Home Premium x64 Bit and install OSX with Kalyway 10.5.2. As far as I can see these parts are compatible (after spending hours staring at the wiki) and the Mobo would work out of the box without any BIOS modding. I'm also fairly worried about the connectivity between the parts (eg PSU to mobo etc..) If you can think of any other graphics card that are cheap but will 100% work dual screen please let me know

 

Any help or thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thankyou..

[broken]

I don't have any experience with that Asus motherboard, but any reason in particular that you aren't targeting a retail install of OS X?

 

 

As far as most of us are concerned, those hacked up Kalyway and Leo4All versions of OS X are something to avoid. They served their purpose at the time, but with the advent of retail installs using a simple Boot 132 disc, they are no longer needed and could/will be a potential for software and compatibility troubles down the road.

 

 

If you already had a machine to use, and wanted to use OS X, then sure, they are ok. But I am of the opinion that you are doing yourself a dis-service buying new hardware and install anything but retail on it.

 

 

 

I am not sure of the availability of Gigabyte motherboards in the UK, but for a full size ATX board, the GA-EP45-UD3P has been king around here for quite some time. Its very well supported and easy to do a retail install on. Plus it overclocks like a champ. On the mATX side, the Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L is also well supported and an easy install. I have used both boards and currently use the ES2L (as I wanted a smaller mATX quad core box) so I can speak positively of both.

 

 

 

Seriously, go with a retail install and choose hardware that will allow for it. You will be much happier with the end results.

[ainsleyclark]

Thanks for the reply

I had a few questions if you didn't mind answering..

Why would installing something like Kalyway or Lepoard wouldn't be as good as a Retail Boot (what are the advantages of a retail install)

Is the instillation the same as the other distros?

I have always been a fan of Asus boards but if you think that a Gigabyte would be better I will have a think .

Is there a list of compatible hardware for a retail boot? Or is that the HCL Wiki?

Thanks for your help

[broken]

Why would installing something like Kalyway or Lepoard wouldn't be as good as a Retail Boot (what are the advantages of a retail install)

Is the instillation the same as the other distros?

I have always been a fan of Asus boards but if you think that a Gigabyte would be better I will have a think .

Is there a list of compatible hardware for a retail boot? Or is that the HCL Wiki?

Thanks for your help

 

 

The retail installs use the stock Apple OS X kernel. The distro ones (Leo4All and etc) use altered kernels. There is a good chance with them updating breaks them and software problems with applications.

 

Basically with a retail install you boot off a Boot 132 disc and then pop in an original OS X dvd and install just like a real Mac. Then typically you would install a couple kext files for like your audio/video/network and then thats about it. There might be some others to install depending on hardware, but its a vastly closer install to a real Mac.

[ainsleyclark]

Again thanks for the reply..

The retail installs use the stock Apple OS X kernel. The distro ones (Leo4All and etc) use altered kernels. There is a good chance with them updating breaks them and software problems with applications.

I see so using the retail is sturdier.

Basically with a retail install you boot off a Boot 132 disc and then pop in an original OS X dvd and install just like a real Mac.

What is a 132 disc? (sorry bit of a newbie)

Is there any really simple guides of installing a retail version of OSX on a GA-EP45-UD3, or any guides for Asus Boards.

Im curious to know why Asus boards are harder to install on, do you know why?

Also, shall I be using the HCL Wiki to decide what Im getting for retail or is it completely different?

Thankyou..

[broken]

Again thanks for the reply..

 

I see so using the retail is sturdier.

 

What is a 132 disc? (sorry bit of a newbie)

Is there any really simple guides of installing a retail version of OSX on a GA-EP45-UD3, or any guides for Asus Boards.

Im curious to know why Asus boards are harder to install on, do you know why?

Also, shall I be using the HCL Wiki to decide what Im getting for retail or is it completely different?

Thankyou..

 

 

Some details on the Boot-132 disc:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSx86#Boot-132

 

 

Look over the HCL for hardware that mentions retail install.

[Firestorm88]

I'd recommend these guides to installing on a GA-EP45-UD3:

http://leopardsoup.pbworks.com

http://auzigog.com/2008/12/23/hackintosh-20/

[RikusHaven]

I've been interested in getting Mac OS X to run ever since, I tried it back way when on my HP Pavilion Laptop, which failed miserably as my chipset wasn't supported I believe.

 

Now, I'm a huge fan of ASUS and EVGA boards, but ever since I got my new build which was a EVGA 750i FTW board, it has been a nightmare to get Mac OSX on it, and I finally saved up enough money for a new board and a new harddrive, and ASUS was my first choice but using the search option showed that a lot of work was required for a lot of the ASUS boards in my price range, but eventually, I settled on the GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P as it was a brand that I heard was good and affordable on gaming forums and this specific model was well supported in a retail install via Boot-132, so I decided to save myself the hassle and bought it, now I just need to go buy Mac OS X Retail Tomorrow, and I'll be set, sure I will need to change a few .kexts and whatnot, but I won't need to go crazy and remedies for whatever ASUS board I would have chosen, such as flashing my BIOS, etc, etc. So it all comes down to how much time you want to spend to get it running. I would say get this board, unless you want to go through a bit of hell to get it running.

[ainsleyclark]

So I have opted for the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P, because of its overwhelming compatibility for OSX. However I'm still stuck on what Graphics Card to buy, I have had a look around but I want dual screen at the native screen res, at a cheap price Can you recommend me anything?

Also would someone be able to confirm the list above to make sure everything is compatible? If that's ok of course.

Thanks for your help

[broken]

So I have opted for the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P, because of its overwhelming compatibility for OSX. However I'm still stuck on what Graphics Card to buy, I have had a look around but I want dual screen at the native screen res, at a cheap price Can you recommend me anything?

 

Perhaps an Nvidia 9400GT or 9500GT. These both have been reported as having correct working dual displays. Plus you should be able to get them in dual DVI versions (if thats of benefit to you).

 

 

Also would someone be able to confirm the list above to make sure everything is compatible? If that's ok of course.

Thanks for your help

 

 

I can't attest to that wireless card, but the rest of it, now that you are using the Gigabyte board, looks pretty good. Except that power supply. That seems extremely cheap for 750 watts. More than likely its over rated and only capable of half that.

 

I would spend a few more £'s and get something a little nicer. Such as a Corsair unit:

 

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/...PSU-400W-CX400W

 

The Corsair is a clean 400 real world watts of power with a 30 amps on the ever important 12 volt rail and its 80 plus rated as well. That means it will pull less juice from the AC wall jack and run cooler as well.

[ainsleyclark]

Awesome, I have changed the PSU based on your opinion, I do see what you mean by the other one.

What do you think of this for the Gphx Card?

http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=610624

[noNix]

That graphics card should work fine. I am a little puzzled as to why you are going for such anemic graphics cards, and then splurging on a quad core processor ? The 9400 is the minimum card recomended by Apple for hardware acceleration of H.264 video.

[ainsleyclark]

I see what you mean, what do you mean by H.264?

I have taken your advice on board and have seen these:

Nvidia 9500GT EVGA 1GB

Nvidia 9600GT Sparkle EVGA 1GB

Could anyone shed some light on these cards?

Thanks for all your help guys..

[ainsleyclark]

I have opted for this one:

Gigabyte 9500GT 512MB

As in the HCL it says this:

GeForce 9500GT 512MB Gigabyte Used NVdarwin.kext - inserted Device ID 0064010 QE/CL Supported All resolutions Yes What does he mean by inserting a device ID?

And if im doing a retail install how will I inject NVdarwin.kext?

Thanks for the help.

[broken]

I have opted for this one:

Gigabyte 9500GT 512MB

As in the HCL it says this:

GeForce 9500GT 512MB Gigabyte Used NVdarwin.kext - inserted Device ID 0064010 QE/CL Supported All resolutions Yes What does he mean by inserting a device ID?

And if im doing a retail install how will I inject NVdarwin.kext?

Thanks for the help.

 

 

 

 

Theres a couple different ways to accomplish this.

 

 

Since this is your first time out with this, I would personally do this:

 

 

Follow weaksauce12's guide to installing OS X and updating to either 10.5.7 or 10.5.8 and installing kext/drivers.

 

After that, install netkas's ATY_INIT. Its an excellent efi injector that will help OS X work with your video card. I used it at one time with my 9400 and 9500 GT and it works great. Makes it dead easy to get up and running with accelerated video. Its more or less install and then reboot.

 

 

Another way involves either booting into Windows (if you are dual booting) or a bootable dos usb thumb drive and run nvflash to dump your video cards bios to an image. Then you boot into OS X and run NVCAP Maker to get the NVCAP string. Then you take that string (its a series of numbers) and create an efi string in OSx86 Tools that can then be added into the com.apple.Boot.plist file.

 

 

Also, you can save the efi string info to a .hex file in OSx86 Tools and then when you are in UInstaller following the weaksauce 12 guide, you can add the .hex file and Time Machine efi fix to create a single efi string that encompasses both (this is what I do now).

 

 

 

 

Needless to say, for a first timer at this, just use the aty_init injector. All you do is install the package (after getting your system all updated and such) and reboot. Then your video will be accelerated and working great.

 

That video card looks fine providing high end gaming isn't on your agenda. Though the price looks rather high on it. I am not sure what computer stores you have available to you, but thats nearly US $80 and over here we can get 9500GTs for $50 or so. Might want to shop around a bit and see if you can save yourself a few £'s.

[ainsleyclark]

Awesome broken

Thanks so much for the advice. I think I will go for the instillation method, if not I will cry and then try to do the other method!

High end gaming isnt on the agenda, but would it cope with games such as Call of Duty? I tried running that on my laptop and the graphics memory was to low! How embarrassing...

 

I have another question about Chameleon.

Is chameleon simply a way of making the boot look really pretty? Or is it something more. As I am planning to dual boot Windows 7 with OSX, I would love to make it look pretty!

The image is below:

 

 

Thankyou for all your answers, I will provide a link of blogging my build and installing OSX.

[broken]

High end gaming isnt on the agenda, but would it cope with games such as Call of Duty? I tried running that on my laptop and the graphics memory was to low! How embarrassing...

 

It would probably work ok for games like that. Though if thats really important to you, you might want to look at a 9600GT or 9800GT just to be safe.

 

 

I have another question about Chameleon.

Is chameleon simply a way of making the boot look really pretty? Or is it something more. As I am planning to dual boot Windows 7 with OSX, I would love to make it look pretty!

 

Chameleon is an efi bootloader. Since our hack machines lack efi (modern replacement for the bios), Chameleon handles the boot sequence handoff between the bios to the operating system. Without it, you wouldn't be able to directly boot into OS X unless you used one of those EFI-X boot modules or something like the Boot-132 cd.

 

 

And yes, the newer versions of Chameleon can be made to look pretty like in your picture.

[ainsleyclark]

Please visit the thread I have just created for the build:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=182293

 

Thanks for all the help guys