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I am very new to this so I am just posting a summary of what I did to get my OSx86 install to work. I've searched many posts and so many have helped me this is the least I could do and I hope it helps somebody. One of my friends finally persuaded me to buy a desktop although I had no use for one in the past. Once I saw his hackintosh I was pretty convinced I should invest.

 

I was searching for several weeks on this forum before I decided what motherboard to buy because I had already decided I wanted the C2D E6600. I've seen many people using the Asus P5 boards, and Pentium D users have even been able to use Intel boards. In my case I needed one with onboard video (I am waiting for DirectX 10 to arrive before I purchase my next graphics card), onboard lan, and onboard sound.

 

Let me first note this is the JaS 10.4.8 Install DVD and that I had to plug my keyboard in as PS2 instead of USB for the install.

 

I had a problem first installing because I would get there error "System config file /com.apple.Boot.plist/ not found". After some research I realized Mac doesn't seem to like my IDE DVD-ROM drive that I was using to boot the OSX install off of. To get around this, for some reason, I just used the command -v at the boot menu to see where the boot was failing and it never failed so after all I was able to use my IDE drive, which I though was going to be the problem.

 

After the install, it would get to the screen loading Darwin x86 and restart. To fix this problem I went into BIOS and enabled CPUID, for some reason it was disabled, and enabled No Memory Protection. I am not entirely sure which one solved the problem since I did them both at the same time but I read that in one of the posts because most things are disabled in the BIOS under the CPU configuration.

 

Finally getting it to boot into a GUI I had no sound or LAN which I had expected so to fix these I used the ALC888 package along with the Azalia download from this forum:

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...0&hl=alc888

 

To fix the LAN I used the NeoPheus easy installer at http://www.installers.dl.am/ under the RTL1xxx.

 

Everything works great and runs amazingly fast (4MB cache was definately worth the money). I hope this helps.

 

Quick Parts List:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600

ASRock Conroe945G-DVI

WD 160GB SATA HD

2x 1GB DDR2 667 Geil

Lite-on 16x DVD-ROM

TDK CD-RW

Everything works great and runs amazingly fast (4MB cache was definately worth the money). I hope this helps.

 

I've been fiddling with OSx86 for a year or so in a compaq laptop which was almost unsupported (no audio, ide or QE/CI -ati mainboard- ), and now i'm trying to build a fully compatible machine. I've been looking for a mainboard that suit all my needs (full 5.1 audio, working PATA, socket 775, etc) and this ASRock Conroe seems the perfect choice!

 

Your post almost convinced me, nearly everything seems to work out of the box, but having only 1 regular ATA100 port, would it be possible to install OS X considering both my dvd+hd(it's not SATA) will be plugged into that port?

 

I've read having both the hard disk and dvd on the same port could cause some trouble during the installation...

Edited by caracols

This thread should be moved to the ASROCK Conroe - http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=24637

 

You will have no issues with the two drives on the IDE port. I have this board FULLY loaded with drives... (see below) I have built systems with every configuration imagined... even mixed SATA/IDE HD's. Never even a glitch. That said... I have not tried the latest 10.4.8 with the ppf patch.... sooo... but considering it is a JaS product, my money says that it goes perfectly.

It's a good board to start (I did that), but I think power-users should look for something with 975x chipset and a graphics card. I mean you could be getting 1000mhz more out of your cpu

 

945 is plenty fast, and if you want a decently quiet machine overclocking can only do so much for your speed. I could be running at 3.2G but not completely stable unless I up the airflow about 5x. 2.7G is not too bad for the next year. e6600 p5ld2.

caracols :

I'm not sure if you'd have problems using the two drives on the ATA100 during the install but I am running 2 optical drives on it right now and OS X recognizes both.

 

Shimms:

Yes, however, I am only scoring a 105 on xBench while my friends machine (Pentium D 930) scores a 100. Either xBench is not testing everything that the C2D is capable of or I need a newer kernel. Currently I'm running the mifki kernel.

 

One last note, I got my motherboard for $80 from zipzoomfly.com and right now it suits my needs for OS X considering I needed the GMA950 onboard video and it was pretty cheap. I plan on buying a MacBook this summer and possibly switching this desktop back over to XP or if Vista's media center convinces me I may run that only to get some gameplay out of my machine. It should run plenty fast for some of the newer games coming out later this year but I'm sure if you had the money up front and weren't considering swapping your dekstop back over to a Windows operating system, the 975 boards and a compatible video card would be your best bet in building a hackintosh.

 

Let me know if I can answer any more questions!

UPDATE:

 

To let everyone know I am still having a few minor problems. My time does not advance when my screen saver goes on or possibly when my monitor goes to sleep. I haven't figured it out yet but I'm sure there's a fix for it. I heard it was to manually set your FSB so I did that and I will let everyone know exactly what happens.

 

Secondly, in About This Mac, under more info, It says there was an error generating this information. I am hoping there is a fix out there but I haven't looked yet.

 

Lastly. To be completely correct on my BIOS config:

In CPU Config I enabled Max CPUID Value limit and disable No-execute memory protection.

 

I also updated to the newest semthex kernel, which you can find here:

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=32827

 

My xbench result is now a 143, a significant improvement. I'm sure with dedicated graphics my score would be even higher. If I find any more issues or fixes for them I'll post them here.

Great!, thanks for the answers, i'm more than ready to purchase this fantastic-almost-100%-compatible board :)

 

Just one more question, anyone tried Cubase, Reason and similar programs? Does CoreAudio behave like it should? So far this is the only mobo, if the wiki is correct, which provides 5.1 audio onboard and even though it needs patching, every other onboard chipset can only output 2 channels+ no CoreAudio...

I am not familiar with those programs but I'll take a look. I have mine patched for only 2 channels although there is 5 audio +1 subwoofer ports on the motherboard. If you find a patch for all 5.1 channels please let me know. I may not have looked long enough, although I do not really need more than 2 channels, but I'd like to have it working if possible.

 

Last couple thoughts. Settings the FSB manually in BIOS fixed my time delay problem. I forgot to let everyone know that at first my About This Mac wasn't working, but the 10.4.4 login patch fixed that. To fix the error generating this information in the hardware section I downloaded and installed this patch:

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?aut...p;blogid=3&

 

I honestly cannot think of a single problem right now.

If you find a patch for all 5.1 channels please let me know.

In fact, the ALC888 patch you linked earlier had clear instructions on how to enable all 5 channels on some boards. I guess this Asrock we're talking about has those 3/6 ports and stuff.

 

If you have 3 outputs working you can setup 5.1 using Audio MIDI Setup found in the /Applications/Utilities/ folder. On the menu bar select "Audio>Open Aggregate Device Editor". Click on the "+" square and it will add a new aggregate device. Now select "Use" next to each output you want to add(usually the first 3) and click "done". Change Default Output to the "Aggregate Device". Now select "Aggregate Device" in the Properties For: box and click on "Configure Speakers". Click "Multichannel" and select "5.1 Surround". When your done configuring your speakers the way you want them, make sure you click "Apply" before "Done". You should now have 5.1 surround sound working.
Edited by caracols

Finally installed, 100% success, dual boot with windows xp and it needed not acronis os selector or similar.

Everything is working perfectly except for audio which is working with the Azalia installer, only 2 channel. I´m gonna try Cubase and similar tomorrow, but i suspect CoreAudio is not going to work as I expect.

  • 3 weeks later...

I am looking forward to replace my M/B, with the Asrock one.

Although i read and read as many posts i could, i haven't found anyone talking about Final Cut Studio experience with this board.

Does this board work with FCP and DVDSP ?

 

Notice that i did found many posts on the P5LD2-VM board, but none on the Asrock.

 

Waiting for a reply to proceed!

 

Regards

I wouldn't count on that.

Nobody can confirm to you that all programs will work as they do in a real Mac.

 

What i see it all depends, first from the selection of the basic and most valuable hardware components, and second from the image you will work with.

 

For example i read lately on some problems with network on the Asus board i am thinking on!

But i am sure that sooner or later something will come up to fix that too.

 

So, think what S/W you want to work with and then look on comments here!

 

P.S. Me, i know what S/W i want to work with, and i am looking for recommendations on 2 specific boards.

Regards

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