Gargloit Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 Greetings to all. OK, I have tried so damned hard to get a Hackintosh running without any success. This is my last hope. I have legitimately acquired a Mac boot drive from, unsurprisingly, a Mac, It has El Capitan installed (10.11.5). Can this be utilisted to set up a Hackintosh on the following machine? (Apologies for my ignorance but I'm struggling badly.) Summary Operating System Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1 CPU Intel Core i3 2100 @ 3.10GHz 46 °C Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology RAM 8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24) Motherboard Intel Corporation DH61DL (CPU 1) 30 °C Graphics Generic Non-PnP Monitor (1024x768@60Hz) 511MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 610 (ZOTAC International) 32 °C Storage 465GB Western Digital WDC WD5000BPVX-00JC3T0 ATA Device (SATA) 28 °C 931GB Western Digital WDC WD1002FBYS-02A6B0 ATA Device (SATA) 33 °C 232GB TOSHIBA MK2553GSX ATA Device (SATA) 28 °C Optical Drives No optical disk drives detected Audio High Definition Audio Device Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/326789-an-old-fart-desperately-trying/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gargloit Posted September 3, 2017 Author Share Posted September 3, 2017 Ops! A Mac drive, i.e. a hard drive taken from a mac. Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I have a hard drive from a Mac, as described, but no Mac. I have read all I can and appear to be missing some essentials, not because they aren't there, but because maybe I'm a bit thick, who knows. I can dig around in PCs pretty well, but this Hackintosh thing is stumping me. I think that there will be, at some future date, a sudden realisation, but that isn't yet. But, a step forward at least is that you appear to confirm my PC is compatible, so all I have to do is keep reading, unless some kind individual can give me a starter. Thanks Again. Edit, I do have a Mac Mini but it stops at 10.7.5 and wont have anything else. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/326789-an-old-fart-desperately-trying/#findComment-2489515 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neubie2 Posted September 3, 2017 Share Posted September 3, 2017 I recommend to do as suggested...REASERCH. I built my Hak last year, but spent many many hours reading/researching the process to have a successful installation. This was a real learning process for me, one that is thoroughly enjoying. As the saying goes...you get out of something what you put into it. Good Luck, and I know you can do it. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/326789-an-old-fart-desperately-trying/#findComment-2489524 Share on other sites More sharing options...
VirusX Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 You will need 1) the *.dmg image of macOS 2) find a way to get that image on a USB thumb drive (AFAIK there's a tool to do that from windows but I have never tried it myself. It is easier from a mac installation). 3) install Clover bootloader on that USB installer. You will at least "FakeSMC.kext" in the kexts folder. 4) boot from that USB installer and see how far you get. 5) post error messages here. If that's all too cryptic, do some more reading (what is Clover, what files do I need, etc) and watch some Youtube videos of people installing macOS with Clover on a hackintosh. good luck Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/326789-an-old-fart-desperately-trying/#findComment-2489621 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gargloit Posted September 4, 2017 Author Share Posted September 4, 2017 I'm afraid you can't just take a Mac HDD with OS X/macOS on it, fit it into your PC and expect it to boot. If it worked that way, that'd be easy and all those Hackintosh forums wouldn't exist... If you have an older Mac mini + an image or installation package of Lion, you can use that to build a Lion USB installer with myHack app (Google for it). You could start with installing Lion on your PC to begin with (Lion fully supports Sandy Bridge platforms and vice-versa) and then use that as an interim system to download Sierra off the AppStore, then build your Sierra USB installer and install Sierra. You'd learn a few things along the way. Many thanks for your help. I have managed to install 10.8 using your app and after some small befuddlement it is now running OK for the most part, and has successfully been updated to 10.8.5 via the App Store. I realise that the Apple hard drives wouldn't boot without a deal of fiddling, but I thought it might be worth a mention as being a resource. You have saved a small proportion of the little sanity I have left, and most likely also the small desktop I am using for the Hackintosh. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/326789-an-old-fart-desperately-trying/#findComment-2489681 Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronxteck Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 yes you should be able to use an existing Mac hard drive to boot but it would need a boot loader and the proper kext and fixes to work on your machine installed to it. but the os would also have to have support for your hardware. so lets say your trying to install the latest os on a machine with incompatible hardware like a pentium 4 machine then it would not work. I have done it a few times. it also works the other way. you can drop your hack hard drive into a real Mac and boot it but with the same exception.... hardware/ model/ OS compatibility. I use clover boot loader on my hack and I can attach a Mac HDD to my ESATA port select it from clover and boot it. most of the time I have to do it is for data recovery but it is possible. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/326789-an-old-fart-desperately-trying/#findComment-2489852 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gargloit Posted September 5, 2017 Author Share Posted September 5, 2017 Thanks to those who have helped. The Mountain Lion installation seems to be working just about fine. The sound was a bit of a problem, but I have it now, albeit of {censored} quality but I think I might be able to work on that a bit. Also, the LAN connection to my internet seems only to work when the cable is plugged in after the machine has booted. No big deal as I have persuaded the wireless adapter to work. MS Office is now installed and running fine, finding the printer on the network. etc. I did try to install Mavericks using the Myhack app but the installation falls over, going into text mode which gives me no clues I can understand, whether straight or in verbose mode. Never mind, I'll work on it. Interestingly, the AppStore won't allow me to download Sierra as it tells me in big red letters that my device is not recognised. This even after I have logged in with my Apple ID (God! How I hate myself for succumbing to their blackmail, especially for no good reason!) All that's left to do now is to work out why the hell I bothered Thanks again. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/326789-an-old-fart-desperately-trying/#findComment-2489939 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gargloit Posted September 6, 2017 Author Share Posted September 6, 2017 Well, myhack has cost me a solid day on Mountain Lion and another, finishing at 5am this morning getting Mavericks 10.9.1 installed on my Hackintosh. It didn't end too well as the upgrade to 10.9.5 ended up losing video and consequential black screen. I'll work on that but in the meantime a bigger thank you to all. P.S. If anyone can give me a good reason for doing this other than I hate Steve Jobs marginally more than I hate Bill Gates, I'd be yet more grateful. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/326789-an-old-fart-desperately-trying/#findComment-2490434 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigamaxx Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 Well, myhack has cost me a solid day on Mountain Lion and another, finishing at 5am this morning getting Mavericks 10.9.1 installed on my Hackintosh. It didn't end too well as the upgrade to 10.9.5 ended up losing video and consequential black screen. I'll work on that but in the meantime a bigger thank you to all. P.S. If anyone can give me a good reason for doing this other than I hate Steve Jobs marginally more than I hate Bill Gates, I'd be yet more grateful. It's a calling, can you hear it yet? Yosemite, El Capitan, the Sierras all want you. Are you man enough? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/326789-an-old-fart-desperately-trying/#findComment-2490593 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gargloit Posted September 6, 2017 Author Share Posted September 6, 2017 The masochism continues. It seems I have a choice of Mavericks 10.9.1 (the image I have) working apparently pretty much perfectly, or 10.9.5 with {censored} graphics. When I install the upgrade I get a black screen (no signal), The only way I can bet past it is by using nv_disable=1. Then it cracks on happily but like I say, graphics are rubbish. Any hints would be gratefully received. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/326789-an-old-fart-desperately-trying/#findComment-2490706 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigamaxx Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 The masochism continues. It seems I have a choice of Mavericks 10.9.1 (the image I have) working apparently pretty much perfectly, or 10.9.5 with {censored} graphics. When I install the upgrade I get a black screen (no signal), The only way I can bet past it is by using nv_disable=1. Then it cracks on happily but like I say, graphics are rubbish. Any hints would be gratefully received. Have you tried using the clover boot screen menu? Use your cursor arrows to scroll to "options" tab. This is a great tool to test configuration changes. The changes you make only apply to a single boot it defaults back to your original on the next boot. Have you tried not using nv_disable=1 for boot argument and then in graphics setting try inject Nvidia = true or check the box? I use that for Clover and my Nvidia GT210. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/326789-an-old-fart-desperately-trying/#findComment-2490730 Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymack Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Maybe webdrivers would help? https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/nvidia-web-drivers-for-10-9-x-mavericks-found.123974/ Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/326789-an-old-fart-desperately-trying/#findComment-2490731 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gargloit Posted September 7, 2017 Author Share Posted September 7, 2017 Both the above have been tried without success. This is even worse than not installing at all because it's so nearly there. Just to make things worse, it seems that this problem is not uncommon on upgrades but fixes, when discovered seem not to work on mine. Ever onwards, it seems. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/326789-an-old-fart-desperately-trying/#findComment-2490895 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gargloit Posted September 9, 2017 Author Share Posted September 9, 2017 More information that is a great help, thanks again. I'll try a different video card and see how that goes. I'll also try the kexts suggested. I've thought about trying Sierra but I'm having a few problems getting a disk image. I'll work on that. I'm not sure that my particular computer would be up to the task hardware wise though as it's a bit primitive now by modern standards. As this is a fun project (Fun? I've lost three whole days of my life on Mavericks alone!) the machine will have to do for now. It's be great if I can get Sierra running though. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/326789-an-old-fart-desperately-trying/#findComment-2491787 Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymack Posted September 9, 2017 Share Posted September 9, 2017 I too am an old fart from England. Building a Hackintosh would be no fun if it worked OOB with hand picked highly compatible components. The struggle to make what you already had work is where the fun comes in. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/326789-an-old-fart-desperately-trying/#findComment-2492026 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gargloit Posted September 9, 2017 Author Share Posted September 9, 2017 Well, some good news! The two main problems I had were appalling sound and not being able to get decent graphics after upgrading from 10.9.1. Fixed! Maybe cheating a little, but two of the easiest fixes imaginable. The sound was fixed with a £3-00 USB audio adapter from the bay. No drivers needed, just plug it in and instant spot on sound. The Hackintosh install hard drive 10.9.5 would boot to black screen, i.e. no video unless I used the nv-disable-1 command. A £5-00 HDMI to VGA adapter, again from the bay, plugged into the otherwise not working Nvidia card and it now boots to 10.9.5 directly, with full graphics working fine. It might not be the full software triumph, but it's good for me. No doubt I'll have a few other bits and pieced to try and get into shape, although about the only one left is trying to get the USB3 working. I'll report back as and when. Thanks again to all who have helped. Next stop, Sierra. Maybe. If the hardware will handle it. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/326789-an-old-fart-desperately-trying/#findComment-2492204 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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