Multibooting OSX and XP

[WiZE]

ok im new to the hacking scene and stuff and i cant make out heads or tails from any of the tutorials ive seen yet on how to put osx and xp under the same roof (so to speak)

 

specs

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MB - Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2H

CPU - AMD Phenom X3 8650

RAM - 2x 2 Gigs Apacer DDR2 800

GPU - ATi Radeon HD 4830 (the Club3D one)

HDD - a 150 gig IDE drive nothing more specific and a 500 gig WD Caviar Green SATA II

 

so id like to find out what im supposed to download and stuff and if my pc can even run it, plus a little insight to tweaking the BIOS, also it would be nice if i could keep my current XP otherwise i'd have a buttload of stuff to move.

 

dont know a thing about multibooting and mac hacking so please try to keep it simple.

 

thanks in advance.

[josephien]

to be safe use a second hard disk to install osx to

eventually remove cable from xp harddrive to be sure to don't mess up

[WiZE]

to be safe use a second hard disk to install osx to

eventually remove cable from xp harddrive to be sure to don't mess up

 

ive no idea what u just said but okay

[srs5694]

With all due respect, WiZE, it sounds like you're in over your head. Keep reading. If necessary, read some basic stuff about OS multi-booting and OS X generally. A trip to your local library should get you a couple of books on these topics, or at least on OS X. (I know of only one book devoted to multi-booting; I wrote it, and it's ten years out of date. There are lots of books on OS X, though.) There are also lots of Web sites on these topics. Try to find articles and tutorials on whatever topics are giving you troubles.

 

You might want to cut your teeth on something a little less challenging than OS X. Linux and FreeBSD are both good possibilities with lots of documentation. There are several problems with OS X on PC hardware that make it very hard. Some of these problems are technical -- Apple designed OS X to run on its own limited set of hardware, so getting it to run on other hardware poses technical challenges. Other problems relate to documentation. Web forums, by their very nature, are a poor way for newbies to learn how to do something. There's too much back-and-forth, too many posts from well-meaning but ill-informed people, and too little big-picture organization. What's really needed is a book, or at least a book-sized tutorial Web site by competent author(s). Unfortunately, that's not likely to happen -- the market's too small, and I imagine most potential authors and publishers would be scared off by the possibility of a lawsuit from Apple. Certainly I wouldn't consider writing such a book unless I had a guarantee from Apple that they wouldn't sue me.

[WiZE]

With all due respect, WiZE, it sounds like you're in over your head. Keep reading. If necessary, read some basic stuff about OS multi-booting and OS X generally. A trip to your local library should get you a couple of books on these topics, or at least on OS X. (I know of only one book devoted to multi-booting; I wrote it, and it's ten years out of date. There are lots of books on OS X, though.) There are also lots of Web sites on these topics. Try to find articles and tutorials on whatever topics are giving you troubles.

 

You might want to cut your teeth on something a little less challenging than OS X. Linux and FreeBSD are both good possibilities with lots of documentation. There are several problems with OS X on PC hardware that make it very hard. Some of these problems are technical -- Apple designed OS X to run on its own limited set of hardware, so getting it to run on other hardware poses technical challenges. Other problems relate to documentation. Web forums, by their very nature, are a poor way for newbies to learn how to do something. There's too much back-and-forth, too many posts from well-meaning but ill-informed people, and too little big-picture organization. What's really needed is a book, or at least a book-sized tutorial Web site by competent author(s). Unfortunately, that's not likely to happen -- the market's too small, and I imagine most potential authors and publishers would be scared off by the possibility of a lawsuit from Apple. Certainly I wouldn't consider writing such a book unless I had a guarantee from Apple that they wouldn't sue me.

 

well with all due respect to you rod, but i think i can handle it ive spent over a decade behind computers and i know my way around i just never had the necsessity to use anything other than windows and more than 1 OS but i do now and mac is the only way to go around, i produce electronic music and i need mac now coz xp just doesnt cut it, and even if i fail i can always try again i just need advice on what i should get to get it to multiboot with mac and installing it i can deal with the incompatability issues after that.

 

btw no offence or anything but u shouldve checked the topic of the thread a bit longer, discouragment wont get any1 anywhere ill try it even if i dont know what im doing and besides even if i burn my pc to a crisp what do u care lol i just want some simplified advice coz most everywhere ive looked ppl overcomplicate the explaining, just like reading a book (which for me is not a smart thing to do) i learn alot faster with brief simple terms and practice

[srs5694]

WiZE, you want "simplified" advice and procedures. I'm saying that it doesn't exist. There are two reasons for this: The software (in the form of OSx86-specific stuff like drivers for non-Apple hardware) just isn't in a mature enough state, and probably never will be; and the documentation is disorganized and hard to parse. In theory, both deficits could be remedied. In practice, chances are neither of them will be. Both the software and the documentation problems are inherently complex. If you demand "simplified" instructions in this situation, you'll probably end up being disappointed. That's not meant to be discouraging, although you can interpret it as such if you wish. It is realistic, though.

 

As it stands, installing OS X on PC hardware is a task for people who either already possess a great deal of specialized knowledge or who are willing to take the time to learn. I didn't mean to insult you by saying you were in over your head, but your statement that you didn't understand the tutorials you read, or even josephien's reply, are clear indications that you're not in the first group. Thus, if you expect to install OS X, you'll have to study these basics. I suggested a trip to the library as a way to gain this knowledge. Unfortunately, there is no "simplified" path to this knowledge.

 

That said, if you're very very lucky, you'll find a tutorial that'll help you get OS X up and running quickly, but that'll be as much a matter of chance as anything else -- a procedure or product that works for one computer inevitably fails for another. I personally am not familiar enough with your hardware to offer any advice on that score, except to point out that an AMD CPU will limit your options -- the stock Apple kernels don't work with AMD CPUs, so you'll need to find a distribution or procedure that enables you to swap in another kernel that does work with AMD CPUs. Distributions like Kalyway and iPC do this, but they don't guarantee success.

 

If you really need to get OS X up and running quickly, the best advice I can offer is to buy a real Macintosh. I realize you probably don't want to hear this, and it may not be a practical option. Those are your choices, though: Try randomly and hope for the best with the knowledge that it'll probably fail, invest time in further reading on the topic, or invest money in a real Mac.