Hello everyone

[leo7854 0]

Hello everyone 

It's good to be on board after many years of being just a simple lurker. 

I'm new to the whole Hackintosh thing, but I've been an Apple user for nearly 15 years. But I also have been a regular Windows user as well.

Anyways, I would like to finally setup my laptops with some Apple in them, other than Windows 10. But I really don't know where to start.

Currently, I saw that there are no discussions about the 2 Sony laptops I have. So i'm posting the specs, here, hoping that someone can suggest me which version of OS can I install, what do I need, etcetera.

 

Sony Vaio VPC-EC3M1E/BJ

• Chipset: Intel HM55
• RAM: 8GB DDR3
• CPU: Intel Core i5-460M @2.53 GHz, Arrandale
• Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 1024MB GDDR3
• LAN: Marvell Yukon 88E8059 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
• Wireless: Atheros AR9285 b/g/n + Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
• Audio: Realtek ALC269
• Ports: 1 x ExpressCard 34mm, 4 x USB 2.0, 1 x VGA, 1 x HDMI, 1 x eSata, 1 x Headphone/Microphone
• Card Reader: SD-Card Slot (SDHC-/SDXC, Duo/Pro-HG Duo)

Sony Vaio VPC-F21Z1E

• Chipset: Intel HM65
• RAM: 8GB DDR3 PC3-10600
• CPU: Intel Core i7-2630QM @2.00GHz, Sandy Bridge
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M 1024 MB
• LAN: Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
• Wifi: Atheros AR9287 b/g/n + Bluetooth 3.0
• Audio: Realtek ALC275
• Ports: 1 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0/3.1, 1 x Firewire, 1 x VGA, 1 x HDMI, 1 x Headphone/Microphone
• SD (SDHC, SDXC)MS PRO-HG, MagicGate)

 

I know from the wiki pages that these 2 laptops have been tested with Snow Leopard (10.6.8) and Mountain Lion (10.8.5) successfully. And I wouldn't mind using those 2 OSes again. But, if there is a possibility to install something more recent, in the likes of Sierra, El Capitan or Mojave, it will be wonderful.

[Hervé 2,042]

macOS High Sierra will be the last version to support those laptops due to GPUs. That's where the buck stops.

[leo7854 0]

Many thanks for let me know.

High Sierra seem like the best option for the 2nd Sony Vaio F21 I have, coupled with Windows 10.

I still have the old discs of Final Cut Studio 3 that I bought many years ago, along with my last MBP that died 2 years ago.

Might install Vanilla Snow Leopard on the other Sony with the AMD GPU.

 

So, what do I need to boot the USB drive with the installer? Also kexts, anything that might need in order to have everything up and running fine, special options, etcetera?

I'm still very new to all of this, so bear with me, please. I never even used Linux at all. So I might need some help from someone with installing everything.

Thanks

[razor7 13]

The OpenCore Install Guide have tips for old hardware. It will take a few hours to read and apply changes but after all you will learn a lot and maybe you get OSx on that laptop...

 

https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Install-Guide/prerequisites.html

[leo7854 0]

Thank you for this.

I could only find some install info on OSx86 for my 2 Sony VAIOs for Snow Leopard and Mountain Lion, but not for any new version of MacOS.

I will definitely give this one a look, even though I might probably need some help getting things running as i'm fairly new to the Hackintosh scene.

[Hervé 2,042]

Don't waste your time with old versions such as Snow Leopard or Mountain Lion. First of all, you'll probably find little people to help you and you'd then find out that basic software such as Web browsers to be totally obsolete and hardly useable. Those old OS X versions are museum pieces now.

 

Go straight for High Sierra with the knowledge that you may encounter graphics gremlins with the nVidia model as Fermi was quite buggy after El Capitan and very much so in High Sierra. If it's possible at all, you'd probably find it a lot better to disable the dGPU and run solely on the HD3000 iGPU.

 

Good luck.