Jump to content

Mac Mini-esque build... what am I missing


mizznfizz
 Share

30 posts in this topic

Recommended Posts

Copying this over from the other major forum as things seem pretty dead over there. Didn't see a dedicated "builds" forum here so hope this is the right spot. People on other social media recommended coming here. 

Alright, so the build has commenced, just waiting on the power supply (ended up not realizing that I bought the compatible power brick for the HDPlex 400w and then bought the PicoPsu 160, so that is going back and HDPlex is on its way) and monitor to get here.

Found a smoking deal on an Acer-K272HUL-Dbmidpx 27" IPS display through Newegg ($216 shipped to my door) that has gotten great reviews, be careful when looking for this as the EBmidpx (different model) looks the exact same but is a TN Panel and comes up in many of the searches.

 

Anyways, here is specs for final build...

- Mobo - ASRock Z370m-itx/ac [$120 amazon]

- RAM - Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 8gb [$49 amazon]

- WiFi/BT - Lenovo Broadcom BCM94352Z [$13 ebay]

- SSD - Samsung EVO860 1tb [$128 amazon]

- CPU - Intel Core i5 8400 [$185 newegg]

- Cooler - Noctua L9i [$40 amazon]

- Case - Wesena ITX4 v3 [$97 perfect home theater]

- PSU - HDPlex 400w [$95 hdplex]

- PSU Brick - Dell PA-9E 240w [$37 ebay]

- Monitor - Acer K272HUL 27" IPS [$216 newegg]

Total: $883 (shipping included in prices, most were free shipping)

 

This build will be mainly for your everyday computing needs, paying bills, watching YouTube videos and the occasional light photo editing session (have other expensive hobbies now so photography has fallen to the wayside). This is coming from a mid-2011 iMac 21.5" base model that is slowly dying (getting graphical artifacts on a constant basis now and the occasional sudden reboot). The iMac is no longer compatible with any new Mac OS upgrades (no Mojave) so I figured she had a good life over the last 8yrs and it was time to pick-up something new. Since I was fairly unimpressed with the specs for the money with regards to the new Mac Mini's I figured this would be a good chance for me to do a hackintosh.

 

Install will be a Vanilla High Sierra build, since that is the only version I have access to on my iMac. From my research I have downloaded the following kexts for install.

- Broadcom Fix (both the firmware repo and firmware patch)

- IntelMausiEthernet

- WhateverGreen

- Lilu

I am using the two following builds on the other forum as my baseline as they are very similar builds to mine.

Suneys Mini Cube from the other forum and the Tiny But Might build from the same forum. 

 

With that said, I plan to use Morgonaut's guide from YouTube to build the hackintosh up (hopefully next weekend). Once everything is running stable in High Sierra I will hopefully be able to update to Mojave without any major issues and then keep moving forward with life. So, am I forgetting anything?

Edited by mizznfizz
adding tags
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please see my signature for rules. Posting links to that forum isn’t a good idea.

 

As for your build, looks good but you will also need FakeSMC.kext or VirtualSMC.kext. This is a must have kext.

What audio codec does it have?

Lilu + AppleALC for audio plus the appropriate layout.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks @savageAUS I removed the links. It is ok to link to YouTube videos? I did see the reference you were talking about but understood it differently.

I will definitely download the FakeSMC as that is the one the referenced builds use.

As for the Audio codec, it uses the RealTEK ALC892. Which one would I need for that.. Here is link to spec sheet for the board

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, millusions said:

since you have an imac.

1.carbon copy the hard disk to USB drive

2. install clover to backup disk

3. install kexts, edit config.plist

4. applealc.kexts with lilu will do your sound

5. boot your hack on the PC

6. find tune kexts and config.plist/smbios

 

your hack is ready, with all your data and apps

Thanks for the info but I have no way to CC the drive as I don't have a connector or external enclosure that will allow that. Plus this thing has been upgraded so many times I would rather to a clean and fresh install. Can I get all the apps and whatnot, no settings, from doing a timemachine backup or will that be just as difficult?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, millusions said:

organise a usb drive, you will save yourself a lot of time in the long run.

when you do a hack it helps a lot to have a carbon copy.

i cant comment on time machine, i've never used it

Yeah that is what I am trying to do and be a little proactive however I am not quite understanding where some of these files go. From the stuff that I have read most talk about putting .kext files in the "other" folder within clover. Then there are those that talk about manually putting the file in the L/E/ folder. For instance, RehabMans FakeSMC file does not have a .kext file that I can seem to find on his github repository. Pretty sure that I need to do a bit more reading on this to understand where to put these particular files. 

Looks like from the one of those other builds this should be all I need to get everything functioning....

RehabMan's FakeSMC kexts
IntelMausiEthernet for Ethernet
Lilu.kext + AppleALC + CodecCommander for sound
USBInjectAll + XHCI-200 series injector in /L/E to get USB to work on initial boot
Rehabman's FakePCIID + FakePCIID_Broadcom_Wifi kexts
RehabMan's Broadcom Kexts (BcrmFirmwareRepo, BcrmPatchRAM2)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the help guys... @millusions Yeah have always loved Noctua stuff, and damn is that thing big. Could barely fit the ram stick in that slot as it's heatsink was rubbing against the heatsink. So threw it into the other slot and hoping that there will be no issues with that. If I ever decide to add another 8gb stick I may be screwed.

 

@savageaus any particular reason you like the virtualsmc.kext over the FakeSMC?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@millusionsSo you are saying purchase one of those external adapters and go through the install process for that drive on my iMac as though I were replacing that drive. Then once done installing as a "true iMac" go through the process of using clover, installing kexts, etc? Basically, dual booting with the soon-to-be hackintosh drive as though it were an actual mac drive?!Remember I am currently running a mid-2011 iMac base model that is no longer able to upgrade/update to Mojave. This is my first foray into the world of hackintosh's so still a little new to stuff like this, though I have built plenty of windows machines in the past. 

 

And if I am reading what you are saying correctly, it basically bypasses the need for all the kexts and other changes to be able to do the initial install. Is that correct?

Edited by mizznfizz
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, millusions said:

yea.

 

i find it a lot easier to do it like that.

 

the mojave thing could be a deal breaker, you decide :)

Meh... mojave ain't that big a deal for me. I could technically run down to the wife's salon and download the installer for Mojave from there. But was also going to see about using one of my time machine backups for the install (just do documents, etc., not settings from the backup) but I still need to do some research on that. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Discrete gfx card recommendation (AMD only please)

 

Other thing that I wanted to add was that I may end up adding a discrete graphics card down the road (really really liking what I am seeing from the previous of Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen). Since I am in a mini-itx case (wesena ITX4 v3) I can take a low profile graphics card but the thing is that it really needs to be fairly thin, can't be much bigger than the single-slot size. Originally I was looking at grabbing something like a Radeon Pro WX2100/3100 but was wondering if you guys had any other recommendations. If/When Pantheon comes out that would pretty much be the only game that would be played on the machine. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, millusions said:

nah. forget time machine if it's documents/apps.

 

network them, copy over network.

 

as for discrete graphics. well, all i can say that i tried gaming on High Sierra, really would prefer to game on OSx, the windows interface is just so pathetic and annoying, but in the end gave up.

sure Diablo III runs very smooth, but that will run smooth on anything.  Basically my GTX 980Ti works like a 780 ti at best on Mac OSX in games, gaming graphics in windows are not just slightly better it's like night and day.

 

 

LOL... probably should have clarified at that point the system will then be given an m.2 SSD drive for a dedicated windows install that would be strictly used for gaming... no bootcamp garbage as I never had luck with that or VMfusion, etc.... More than likely when Pantheon comes out it will not be dual system compatible. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, millusions said:

ah ok.

why Radeon Pro? it looks {censored}house

64 bit?

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/radeon-pro-wx-2100.c2979

 

 

No mainly because of size concerns. I will take a pic tonight that will better explain. Can fit pretty much a full length card in the case but needs to be "low profile" and fairly narrow. Most everything I see on the Nvidia side of things ends up being considered "single-slot" only because it doesn't have an a fan intake/exhaust that takes up the second port. Would rather put something like and RX460/560 in there but most I can find are too wide (back of pcb to front of fan). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is what I am talking about with the GPU...

The 1cm (10mm) mark is about dead middle of the PCI-E slot.. So I have about 23mm from the middle of the PCI-E slot to end of case and really that is not accurate as the way the top attaches to the full case there is about a 10mm block that is on the inside. 

32871056398_5c50c6b9e8_z.jpg

 

Then this came in the mail tonight..!

32871633198_dbfd081c49_z.jpg

46022228714_e4a2363402_z.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yup that build was actually the one that turned me on to the Wesena case. Found out that Wesena is the US name for Streacom cases. I may have to change out to a large room case down the road if I do decide to do some gaming just so that I can actually handle a semi decent card. Only other slim profile ones I have found were older Radeon series cards like the HD 7k or HD 8k. There are apparently some R7 hard that are like that but they become harder to find with the newer gen cards. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unfortunately, yeah. Take a look above in the original photos and look at the last two. FEom what I have been seeing about Pantheon they are still at least a year out in development since they are still in pre-alpha. By then I will probably have the time/money to upgrade the case to allow for a full size card. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, millusions said:

http://www.galax.com/en/graphics-card/10-series/galax-geforcer-gtx-1070-katana.html

 

should be able to find a cheap one nowdays

 

i have a 1070 in my Xbox Killa build, it's a beast (for now)

Yeah I have seen that card mentioned in other builds similar to mine but think that it may be too tall. This case really limits what it can accept with how wide and how tall the card is, length is just fine for standard card lengths, its just everything else about the card that is difficult apparently!! LOL

Thanks for all the help @millusions

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alright well she is running.... somewhat. Still have a couple issues that I am trying to work through..

1. UHD 630 internal graphics is only recognizing 14mb for some reason in High Sierra 10.13.6. Monitor is not recognized either. 

2. Bluetooth is not being recognized at all even with the Broadcom kexts installed in the other folder..

Gonna pick this up tomorrow night but so far everything went pretty smoothly. I originally messed up my Clover Bootloader so I kept getting a hang. Resolved that by taking my USB install disk, ended up finding a NEWER boot loader (as of a few days ago) and installed that on the USB as well as saved the folder (which I hadn't in the first place apparently.... d'oh!) and then went through that portion of the process again. Now it boots just fine on its own, get a quick graphical glitch when I first log in but I have a feeling that is due to issue #1. 

 

Good thing is that all my USB ports as recognized, which I figured was going to be my first issue outside of the ethernet. Been fun so far. Now just got to get everything running properly. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks @millusions haven't really tested to see if sleep works as I was putzing around on the machine last night when I was working on everything, so I never setup sleep or activated hot corners. However, this morning I did so Apple>Sleep and that seemed to work however my screen did not fully go to sleep (could still see mouse arrow too) so I would say it is partially working but have not fully tested. 

32889803278_b1c1f793d8_z.jpg

31823792267_4fe82c1a43_z.jpg

 

Have to say that once this thing gets to the Apple Logo boot screen, she screams to the password entry!

46712512542_7b74cbea07_z.jpg

 

and here is my kexts/other folder as of this morning before I left for work.

46765512521_c8921a622d_z.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So have a little bit of success tonight with the hack.... Was able to finally get wifi recognized with items from Rehabman for the FakePCIID and Broadcom_fix packages. Still working on trying to get the bluetooth portion recognized though. Figured that it would have worked when the wifi was recognized but I must have missed a step. 

 

For the video I am getting the below kernel panic when booting. 

31830232317_961870ee8b_z.jpg

Think I remember reading about a framebuffer fix for intel graphic acceleration. Time for some more digging. And yes, I have increased the iGPU memory to at least 128mb in the bios.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alright!!! So I can mark off #3 from the list... ended up going back through removing all my kext files from the Other folder as well as the ones that I had put in the /L/E folder and kinda started over from scratch.

Went through and did the sudo kextcache -i / command from the command line and cleared my cache. 

 

Confirmed after restart that NOTHING was working that previously had (e.g. wifi and ethernet).

Installed the IntelMausiEthernet.kext into the Other folder and reboots... ethernet now works

Then I started working on the sound following Morgonauts video and got it to work with the first number (1) in the Inject Audio after installing the AppleALC.kext in the kext/Other folder. So have one small success tonight so far. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alright, after hours of messing with the video to try and get things to work properly giving me full gfx acceleration I had no luck. I have not gone through the Hackintool read yet but after trying multiple other methods, even attempting to spook the platform and device IDs in Clover I had not luck.  

 

Seems crazy to me that there are a couple other threads where people are able to get these items working right away with minimal issues and I am running into so many problems, kinda makes we want to wipe my drive and start over again. 

 

So Items that are still not working

- No gfx acceleration (Intel UHD 630 is recognized but only showing 14mb of memory)

- No bluetooth (wifi portion is working fine however bluetooth hardware is not recognized)

 

Solutions (proposed)

- For video, framebuffer patching needs to occur apparently. This is referenced by the message received during verbose boot process. Hackintool [created by @headkaze] recommended by @Allan as way to appropriately fix.

- For bluetooth, seems that there is an issue with USB configuration in ACPI from reading different forums/threads. This is remedied by correctly assigning USB ports through usage of USBInjectAll.kext

 

Seems like both of these items are fairly involved with the latter requiring the creation of a custom SSDT file and injection of USB items. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Holy #$%@!! Finally got bluetooth working after going through the USB cleanup thread by @headkazewhile utilizing the Hackintool!! 

One thing that I have realized is that when inputting items into your /L/E or /S/L/E folder you definitely need to be using a KEXT installer. Had just been dragging and dropping into the respective folder.

 

For me, the following worked.

- Going through the USB Cleanup thread steps and activated all the applicable ports

- Used Hackintool to create a USBPorts.kext file, once created you drop this into EFI>Kexts>Other as this is now your proper port mapping for your system. 

- Make sure that you have Rehabman's FakePCIID and Broadcom kexts in your EFI>Kexts>Other folder to supplement

 

After all of that, a few restarts and now my bluetooth is recognized!!!

32920946458_d4320d6354_z.jpg

 

So that now leaves me with fixing the damn graphics acceleration..... time to do some more researching!!

Edited by mizznfizz
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...