[Guide] i7 930 MSI X58 Pro-E 6GB Corsair DDR3 Snow Leopard 10.6.3

[cellfanatic]

Due to the recent deals at Frys and other online retailers on the i7 930 Combo I decided to put together a guide that will help fellow owners get OS X 10.6.3 up and running on their new build. Full credit to this guide goes to Saphiresurf http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=215753

 

Here's a breakdown of my current configuration:

 

i7 930 CPU

MSI X58 Pro-E Motherboard (USB 2.0 Verison)

Corsair 6GB DDR3 1600MHz memory (CMX6GX3M3C1600C7)

XFX GeForce 8600GTS 256MB

Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB HDD

Sata DVD Burner (GH30N)

Apple Magic Mouse

Apple Wired Keyboard

D-Link USB to Bluetooth adapter (DBT-120)

 

I was previously using a Dell Studio 540 Q8200 running Snow Leopard prior to upgrading the motherboard/cpu/ram above.

 

Notes: I made no changes to the Bios other than setting the correct memory timings since the RAM was not running at the 1600MHz by default. I left all of my devices plugged into the computer during the installation, but you will need a USB mouse/keyboard to complete the installation -- Bluetooth does not work until you are inside OS X. I have my main hard drive connected to the SATA 1 port and my DVD/CD drive connected on SATA 2.

 

Step 1: Download this zip file - http://www.mediafire.com/?yxmyxyyiyzy

 

Step 2: Burn the LegacyBootCD.iso and boot the computer from the DVD/CD drive. You can also burn the remaining files to a second disc to make things easier later in the setup or you can re-download the zip file once you are in OS X to complete Steps 7 and beyond in this guide.

 

Step 3: Once you reach the boot loader insert your Snow Leopard Retail DVD, wait a few moments and press F5 then use the following parameters "-v cpus=1 busratio=20". If you are confused about the parameters just start typing on your keyboard and you'll see what you type at the bottom of the screen.

 

Step 4: After a series of screens of black and white text you will reach the OS X setup screen. Continue/Agree until you are presented with the location to install OSX. At this point click Utilities / Disk Utilities. Select your Hard Drive on the left side of the screen (not the partition) -- On the right side of the screen click the Partition Tab. Under Volume Scheme select 1 Partition, give it a name and choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) for the format. Click apply and wait for the disk to be unmounted and partitioned. When complete you can close this window and it will return to the Screen to select destination for OS X. Click your hard drive and choose Continue.

 

Step 5: Wait about 30 minutes for OS X to complete the installation. At the end of the installation it will tell you that OS X was successfully installed and tell you that your computer will restart in 15 seconds. At this time open your DVD/CD drive and insert the LegacyBootCD. Let the computer restart on it's own or restart manually.

 

Step 6: You will once again reach the Boot Loader screen. Use the same parameters as we did before "-v cpus=1 busratio=20". After a few minutes the computer will start the welcome to OS X screen and have you complete the initial setup of entering your Apple ID / Mobile Me / etc. At this point your wired internet connection is working.

 

Step 7: If you didn't burn the files in the zip to a disc, download http://www.mediafire.com/?yxmyxyyiyzy again. Inside the Zip file is Kext Helper b7, open it. Then go into the kext folder and drag the contents into Kext Helper, enter your password, and click Easy Install. When it completes DO NOT REBOOT.

 

Step 8: Open the Legacy Boot CD, go into extra / post-install and run the MyHackInstaller. This will take about 5 minutes to complete, do not end the installer even if it seems like it is taking a bit longer than it should. DO NOT REBOOT.

 

Step 9: Return to the contents of the zip file and open the VoodooHDA_pref folder. Inside run voodoohelper, when its done close the window. Next run VoodooHDA.prefane -- this will add the Voodoo settings to the System Preferences options (don't worry if it gives you some errors, that's normal). Now open the Kext Helper b7 once again and drag the VoodooHDA.kext file. Enter your password and choose Easy Install (if you closed it earlier).

 

Step 10: You can now Reboot the machine

 

Step 11: After rebooting you should have working sound, video, networking, bluetooth, dvd/cd drive. When you are notified of available software updates you can install them. This will leave you with a fully functional version of 10.6.3 and you ready to go.

 

Step 12 (optional): This step is important if you are unable to install software because your About Mac screen shows an unknown processor *example: Silverlight will not install*. To fix this you will need to do the following steps

 

Step 13: You will need to download the new boot from http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?tmmdtzmgzly

 

Step 14: Once downloaded open terminal and enter the following command "sudo mv /boot /boot_backup". This will backup the existing boot. You can now drag the boot you downloaded from the link above in the root of your Mac hard drive *just drag it onto your drive in finder*.

 

Step 15: Downoad the SMBIOS.plist. http://prasys.co.cc/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/SMBios.plist *When you save this .plist make sure not to append the file otherwise OS X will try to turn it into a .text file or add .text to the end of the filename*

 

Step 16: Open the SMBios.plist file and erase the contents, replace it with the following:

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<plist version="1.0">

<dict>

<key>SMfamily</key>

<string>iMac</string>

<key>SMmanufacturer</key>

<string>Apple Inc.</string>

<key>SMproductname</key>

<string>iMac11,1</string>

<key>SMmemtype</key>

<string>24</string>

<key>SMmemspeed</key>

<string>1600</string>

<key>SMcputype</key>

<string>1793</string>

</dict>

</plist>

 

Step 17: Save the file and move it to your Extra folder *if you don't know where that is just hit the spotlight magnifying glass icon in the top right of your screen and type Extra*. When you move the file to your Extra folder it will ask for permission and force you to enter your system password.

 

Step 18: Reboot your machine. You will now have the proper About Mac information and you are good to go with your i7 930 in OS X 10.6.3.

 

Special thanks to Prasys' Blog, InsanleyMac Forums and anyone else I failed to mention. Hope you like your new i7 Hackintosh.

[solidus23]

I cannot get into the OS X installer with the given boot options. I get to a black screen. I am using an ATI 4850, which could be the cause. Is there any way to get around this? Thanks.

[cellfanatic]

I cannot get into the OS X installer with the given boot options. I get to a black screen. I am using an ATI 4850, which could be the cause. Is there any way to get around this? Thanks.

 

I'm not familiar with the ATI setup -- Geforce 9800 series and GTS 250 work out of the box as do older 8000 series cards. Once OS X is installed getting the 4850 to work shouldn't be that hard, but I believe a special bootloader is needed for ATI cards like [url=&quot;http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/&quot;]#####[/url] ATI.

 

Personally I'd save the hassel and grab a cheap Geforce card.

 

OSX 10.6.4 upgrade worked fine with the setup above

[semola88]

Will this solution work with this hardware configuration?

 

CPU: Intel i7 930 2,8Ghz

MB: GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel

RAM: 6x2GB CORSAIR 1333Mhz DDR3 XMS3 PC 10666

HD: 2x WD Caviar Black 1TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache SATA

HD: WD Raptor 150GB 10.000RPM SATA

PS: Corsair CMPSU 850HXEU 850W

CASE: Antec Sonata Elite

CPUC: Noctua NH-D14

VIDEO: 2xGTS250 1GB each

DVD/B-R: BD-RW LG BH10LS30 SATA

LAN: TP-Link TL-WN951N

[thrasherx]

Does anyone have sleep or firewire working on this board?

 

When I enable the firewire, it takes forever to boot.

 

With sleep enabled (using sleepenabler.kext), the computer reboots when I wake it up.

 

I've searched everywhere, and tried several combinations.

 

Thanks in advance.

[gap2dc]

I have this same setup (except 9800 GT graphics) and can't boot with the LegacybootCD disc. I get "CD-ROM Boot Priority... Boot Ready", then a _ prompt.

 

What does this mean, and what do I need to do?

 

Thanks,

 

GP

[Boltown]

Thanks for the Guide!!!

Does your e-sata port works?

I´ve only 4 internal Sata ports working.

[Saphiresurf]

Good guide!

[Zpecter]

Hello, I have the same motherboard and almost the same hardware and I'm following this steps, but I have a problem. I have an HFS partition but when I select it for installing, the installer ask me to delete all partitions and make them again with the partition utilities.

 

What can I do?

 

Thanks in advance.

[cellfanatic]

Just wanted to give everyone a little update -- yesterday I tried to install the 10.6.5 software update and I had a kernel panic.

 

Below is what I was presented with following the update (on the restart).

 

Basically I believe the problem lies in assigning the details of the chip and mac id (i7 / iMac 11,1).

 

I tried a fresh install, using the method, but I did not complete the optional steps in my guide. After that I was successfully able to run 10.6.5.

 

I'd imagine that if you never did the optional part of the guide for the correct processor and mac id to show, then you should be fine on the update

 

I actually recorded a video following the update process just to document it in case it failed, and low and behold it did

 

[Zpecter]

Hello, is there any way to install the sound without using the voodooHDA??

 

Thanks.