Help setting up a AMD based Hackintosh

[JackHollister]

So I am new here, I have been hovering over this forum for a while and decided to join to ask for help upon the creation of a amd based hackintosh, to be used as a Music Editing station, im new to the hackintosh scene and willing to learn new stuff.

Here are the parts I have ready to be put together:

 

Motherboard: mcp61sm-am OR Asus m2n-e Sli(no onboard gpu) (whichever works best)

CPU: AMD Athlon x2 3Ghz

RAM: 1.5GB DDR2

GPU: 8600gt/9400gt/7300gt/6100 onboard nvidia (Need help choosing the best one for this job)

PSU: 500W

HDD: 160GB Sata

WIFI: tp-link tl-wn353g OR Belkin Wireless G Plus Mimo Usb Network Adapter

 

How would I go about getting OSX86 working on this? and installing the drivers needed to get the hardware working? Also will I be able to get garageband working on the hackintosh? What .iso am I going to need to download to have it working on AMD based CPU?

 

Sorry for all the newbie questions if there is anything wrong with this post then I will change it.

 

Thanks,

[Lanceomni]

So I am new here, I have been hovering over this forum for a while and decided to join to ask for help upon the creation of a amd based hackintosh, to be used as a Music Editing station, im new to the hackintosh scene and willing to learn new stuff.

Here are the parts I have ready to be put together:

 

Motherboard: mcp61sm-am OR Asus m2n-e Sli(no onboard gpu) (whichever works best)

CPU: AMD Athlon x2 3Ghz

RAM: 1.5GB DDR2

GPU: 8600gt/9400gt/7300gt/6100 onboard nvidia (Need help choosing the best one for this job)

PSU: 500W

HDD: 160GB Sata

WIFI: tp-link tl-wn353g OR Belkin Wireless G Plus Mimo Usb Network Adapter

 

How would I go about getting OSX86 working on this? and installing the drivers needed to get the hardware working? Also will I be able to get garageband working on the hackintosh? What .iso am I going to need to download to have it working on AMD based CPU?

 

Sorry for all the newbie questions if there is anything wrong with this post then I will change it.

 

Thanks,

 

The M2N-E SLI is very close to my M2N-SLI Deluxe. You would most likely have a better chance using it and putting in a 6000 series or greater video card.

 

I am currently working on a guide for doing a retail install on my M2N-SLI Deluxe motherboard. It should be posted this week, I will PM you when its up.

 

*For now Ill explain the issues that need to be addressed in order to run OSX on an AMD machine. Please don't get overwhelmed, It is really not as complicated. I just think it is easier to get a rounded idea of where the community has come from and the issues that were solved. Please keep in mind this is not a "cheap mac" its a project and a hobby.

 

CPU - Certain OSX applications will do a check on your CPUID and if its not Intel it will not run. In the past we would have to manually patch applications and new update. This was a pain in the ass. Some smart people got together and designed a new mach_kernel called Voodoo XNU kernel. Apart of a long list of handy features is the ability to do the patching on the fly. This makes using OSX on AMD a great deal more convenient. So we will add the Voodoo Kernel to the list of items needed.

 

Chipset - The M2N-E SLI using the nForce 500 SLI northbridge and most likely something close to the MCP55 southbridge. Personally I have been able to get all of my SATA and IDE ports working along with firewire and lan. With your motherboard being so similar id say you would stand a good chance getting most of your motherboard supported too. Since Apple does not have any Nvidia nForce drivers we will have to add one. AppleNForceATA.kext in my signature is what I have been using and I am currently trying to see if there has been any newer versions released. So add that as item two on the list

 

Graphics - Getting 6000 series or greater Nvidia PCI Express cards running seems to be pretty easy. There are several ways you will see people getting them up and running. 1. A Kext (driver injector) such as NVinject or NVkush. 2. EFI String which does basically the same thing but does not require a Kext to be installed which is the way I have my 7600GT card working. Even without these injectors you will generally get VESA graphics without any type of hardware acceleration. So you would be able to load up OSX but certain applications would not run and video would not be too hot.

 

LAN & Audio - Your lan should work using nForceLAN.kext and im not sure which audio chipset is on that board as they change them up a lot. These two are not as important as a USB sound card or PCI Lan card can be had on the cheap.

 

Types of installs

1. Retail EFI "Preboot"

This is the preferred method and though it takes a little bit more work it pays off in the long run as far as stability is concerned with the added plus of installing from an actual Retail Install disk or restored image though a special process. You know whats being installed.

 

EFI Partition

Before this method was introduced updates were a pain in the ass. Basically you would spend all this time getting your drivers and patches rounded up and then Apple would release an update in which if you did not go about it in a very special way would screw your install up.

In short there is a hidden 200mb partition that Apple does not utilize and so by placing all of your patches and drivers here, you can for the most part run Apple Update worry free without borking your install.

 

2. Distros "Prepatched"

These are a dime a dozen. Basically people take a retail install disk and repackage it with a wide range fixes for different machines. The downfall is that:

- You have to trust the person who repackaged it and everyone who has had their hands on it since.

- It is piracy

- You generally do not get a good understanding as to what has been done to the install so if there were any issues it makes it a little harder to fix.

- Updates will require a great deal of added care.

The benefit is usually ease of install. These make it easy to try OSX on hardware if you are not sure that everything works. Your hardware should not cause a great deal of problems so you are good ether way.

 

This should give you some places to start reading up on terms related to OSX86. Ill drop you a line when my guide is up.

[JackHollister]

Ah thanks for all that info, I will look out for that guide, I will use the m2n-e mobo then, the onboard sound is some c-media type (I googled up and it pointed to this thread; http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...aded&start= ) I want to get the sound working as a music editing system cant be complete with out the sound, hopefully I can get it all working then give it to my bro as a birthday gift as hes always wanted a mac for his editing.