[Guide & Software] Complete Intel Bad Axe 2 Walkthrough with Software

[weaksauce12]

I need another beta tester who has a non-KR Bad Axe 2 board, please PM me if you're willing to test software. You'll need a hard drive that you don't mind overwriting for testing the next build. Thanks!

[mesasone]

IDE does indeed work WeakSauce, at least the it work's with the DVD burner I purchased. Haven't tried any hard drives.

 

I ended up installing an ATI 2600xt, it works with the package from the netkas IRC channel. Just had to boot into safe mode(-x at prompt) to install it. I heard support for the 2600xt is being added in 10.5.2, along with a bunch of nvidia chipsets as well, so we may soon be able to eliminate the need for a package at all.

 

Also, what's wrong with your audio, aside from the mic not working? I haven't tested extensively, however I my monitor speakers connected for basic O/S sounds and watching viral videos, etc... they seem to be working fine. So, unless you're talking about surround sound, you shouldn't need a usb card for basic speakers/headphones. Also as you mentioned, mute doesn't seem to work, however when I press the mute button on my keyboard, OS X recognizes it and the volume overlay pops up... so it should be a simple fix. I just have no idea where to look for that.

 

Now that I have everything up and running, I'm going to try to do a retail install using the information from the various threads on this forum. I'll try to keep track of which files are added/removed/changed in hopes that we can possibly create a modified patcher for the retail disk to get as close to stock as possible. I looked at the BrazilMac script, and the terminal language/commands in it are a little dense for me. Perhaps somebody else will be able to shed some light on them.

[weaksauce12]

IDE does indeed work WeakSauce, at least the it work's with the DVD burner I purchased. Haven't tried any hard drives.

 

I ended up installing an ATI 2600xt, it works with the package from the netkas IRC channel. Just had to boot into safe mode(-x at prompt) to install it. I heard support for the 2600xt is being added in 10.5.2, along with a bunch of nvidia chipsets as well, so we may soon be able to eliminate the need for a package at all.

 

Also, what's wrong with your audio, aside from the mic not working? I haven't tested extensively, however I my monitor speakers connected for basic O/S sounds and watching viral videos, etc... they seem to be working fine. So, unless you're talking about surround sound, you shouldn't need a usb card for basic speakers/headphones. Also as you mentioned, mute doesn't seem to work, however when I press the mute button on my keyboard, OS X recognizes it and the volume overlay pops up... so it should be a simple fix. I just have no idea where to look for that.

 

Now that I have everything up and running, I'm going to try to do a retail install using the information from the various threads on this forum. I'll try to keep track of which files are added/removed/changed in hopes that we can possibly create a modified patcher for the retail disk to get as close to stock as possible. I looked at the BrazilMac script, and the terminal language/commands in it are a little dense for me. Perhaps somebody else will be able to shed some light on them.

 

Thanks for the update! I'm working on a single-disc method too, but no ETA. For now the next release is just a guide update for the current EFI 5.2 setup. It's stable, it works life is good!

 

Since only stereo output is working and nothing more, I'm labeling the Sound as not-working or experimental. I too have nowhere else to go, but Mute and Mic Input are important to many people. It will stay in the guide, but in an Appendix or something.

 

Nice work on the ATi cards! I hope that 10.5.2 doesn't kill our project, lol. Anyway, I'm just updating and testing stuff for the next week, little tweaks here, little tweaks there.

[MagicalMaxwell]

...5.1 seems to work fine; or at least, my receiver recognized it as an AC3 audio stream.

 

I presume you're using the STAC9274D chipset.

 

Is there a way to determine whether the board is sporting the STAC9271D or STAC9274D prior to purchase?

[funstuie]

I am getting nowhere at the moment. I can't install at the moment as I keep getting "The installer could not validate the contents of the 'BSD' package." I have redone the disc last night but that one this morning doesn't even boot.

 

I am doing the memtest now as I have nothing else to do. I am going to try find someone who has an intel mac with tiger. Maybe my PPC mac is the problem.

[lindmar]

Do you think anyone has any ideas why I cant get my old g4 mdd bootable drive to be recognized in the hackintosh? It recognizes regular ata/ide drives no problem

 

It wont even start in the old MDD so I imagine when I unhooked the drive bay to take out another drive, it messed up the bootable drive..

 

I really need to get some files of the 300GIG PATA Drive...

[lindmar]

I am getting nowhere at the moment. I can't install at the moment as I keep getting "The installer could not validate the contents of the 'BSD' package." I have redone the disc last night but that one this morning doesn't even boot.

 

I am doing the memtest now as I have nothing else to do. I am going to try find someone who has an intel mac with tiger. Maybe my PPC mac is the problem.

 

 

That could be the issue. I used my parents intel macbook running tiger to make the DMG and export to a firewire drive (they dont have a superdrive) I then hooked up the firewire to my leopard macbook with superdrive and burned the disc.

 

Other than that it was pretty seemless.

[weaksauce12]

Finally got EFI 8 working, works like a champ!

 

Still looking for a beta tester with a non-KR motherboard...

[The Baron]

Great news on the EFI 8 front. Cheers for all your work weaksauce12, I'll keep an eye out.

[Chimp]

I presume you're using the STAC9274D chipset.

 

Is there a way to determine whether the board is sporting the STAC9271D or STAC9274D prior to purchase?

 

No idea - my mobo manual specified the audio chipset as STAC9274D. If you can open the box I suppose you could look at the manual, but other than that I think you're SOL.

[weaksauce12]

No idea - my mobo manual specified the audio chipset as STAC9274D. If you can open the box I suppose you could look at the manual, but other than that I think you're SOL.

 

What is the exact part number of your motherboard?

 

When you boot up with the second SATA controller enabled, what is the BIOS number for the Marvell controller?

[theotherone]

Just a short note: I am testing the new ZFS-Filesystem with my hacintosh. Installation is easy, restart worked fine without any problems. I will test this with 2 spare disks and will see how it interacts with the rest of the system. If it works well then i am thinking about using 1 fast Raptor as Startup- and Systemdisk and a bunch of disks in a ZFS-created raid (without Hardware-controllers) to have a fast , safe and easyly expandable Storage-Solution...

 

As nice as it is that i can start from a raid, i think it would be more safe and "natural" to go another route. But maybe this zfs-thing may also to much cutting-edgedness to be safe enough & fast too...

 

Will see

[weaksauce12]

Just a short note: I am testing the new ZFS-Filesystem with my hacintosh. Installation is easy, restart worked fine without any problems. I will test this with 2 spare disks and will see how it interacts with the rest of the system. If it works well then i am thinking about using 1 fast Raptor as Startup- and Systemdisk and a bunch of disks in a ZFS-created raid (without Hardware-controllers) to have a fast , safe and easyly expandable Storage-Solution...

 

As nice as it is that i can start from a raid, i think it would be more safe and "natural" to go another route. But maybe this zfs-thing may also to much cutting-edgedness to be safe enough & fast too...

 

Will see

 

Wow I had no idea that project existed...I'm a huge, huge fan of ZFS and would LOVE to see it implemented in our systems! Especially for RAID sets...it would make expansion easy as pie!

[Nano07]

Finally got EFI 8 working, works like a champ!

 

Still looking for a beta tester with a non-KR motherboard...

 

 

Wow! :-D

 

Great to hear that!!!

 

I will be receiving all the hardware on Mon-Tue so I'd like to go with EFI 8 if I can. Can you give me some hints on how should I go, or you think it's better to stick to you original guide?

 

I have downloaded iAtkos v1.0i already.

 

Thanks for your help mate! :-)

[weaksauce12]

Wow! :-D

 

Great to hear that!!!

 

I will be receiving all the hardware on Mon-Tue so I'd like to go with EFI 8 if I can. Can you give me some hints on how should I go, or you think it's better to stick to you original guide?

 

I have downloaded iAtkos v1.0i already.

 

Thanks for your help mate! :-)

 

Stick to my original guide right now. I will release rev 2 for EFI 5.2 when my eBay hardware arrives, and hopefully release rev 3 with EFI 8 by next month. EFI 8 is still buggy in some ways, actually, but another hacker is guiding me through the fixes, so I'm confident it will eventually be a very good solution.

[Dense]

deleted post, way off track

[Nano07]

Stick to my original guide right now. I will release rev 2 for EFI 5.2 when my eBay hardware arrives, and hopefully release rev 3 with EFI 8 by next month. EFI 8 is still buggy in some ways, actually, but another hacker is guiding me through the fixes, so I'm confident it will eventually be a very good solution.

 

 

Ok. Will let you know how I go. :-) THANKS!

[weaksauce12]

Would anyone be interested in a video guide including hardware, once the script is cleaned up some?

[R32Drew]

Would anyone be interested in a video guide including hardware, once the script is cleaned up some?

Sounds good to me. Definately interested.

[weaksauce12]

Got a couple things from eBay today - the Bluetooth adapter and Wifi adapters:

 

The Wifi adapter doesn't work, period - the light doesn't even come on. I think it's broken.

 

The Bluetooth adapter, on the other hand, works great - recognized immediately. Works fine with my Apple Aluminum Bluetooth Keyboard. However, it is not recognized at boot with the latest BIOS (2809). I cannot access the BIOS with the keyboard, nor can I do anything at the Darwin menu that loads up briefly before booting into OS X. So just as a heads-up, you'll need to keep a wired keyboard in order to access pre-boot systems.

 

Just waiting on the sound card now...

[lindmar]

Got a couple things from eBay today - the Bluetooth adapter and Wifi adapters:

 

The Wifi adapter doesn't work, period - the light doesn't even come on. I think it's broken.

 

The Bluetooth adapter, on the other hand, works great - recognized immediately. Works fine with my Apple Aluminum Bluetooth Keyboard. However, it is not recognized at boot with the latest BIOS (2809). I cannot access the BIOS with the keyboard, nor can I do anything at the Darwin menu that loads up briefly before booting into OS X. So just as a heads-up, you'll need to keep a wired keyboard in order to access pre-boot systems.

 

Just waiting on the sound card now...

 

Im tempted to build a second machine but also the concern 10.5.2 might cause some major headaches...

This is good news. I've got two sound adapters coming.

 

Which wifi adapter did you buy?

I've got a usb 2.0 card I'll try later today.

[weaksauce12]

Im tempted to build a second machine but also the concern 10.5.2 might cause some major headaches...

This is good news. I've got two sound adapters coming.

 

Which wifi adapter did you buy?

I've got a usb 2.0 card I'll try later today.

 

One called "RokAir" off eBay for about $33 shipped. It doesn't work and the seller is no longer registered on eBay So much for the seller having a 40,000+ feedback history lol.

 

The Bluetooth adapter doesn't seem to want to wake up after the computer is woken up from sleep.

 

Also, the USB PCI card seems to have the same problem. Doing further testing now...

[weaksauce12]

I am working on a compatible parts database as well as compiling a list of problems to fix. I have sent PM's requesting hardware and software information to all of the Bad Axe 2 users in this thread. If my Inbox says full, just try again in an hour - I'll be archiving the information and deleting the PMs to make room for more, so don't worry!

 

Here is basically what I am looking for:

1. A full list of your hardware

2. Make/Model of your Video Card (be specific) and what Video Software you used (along with the revision #)

3. Any problems you have (very important!! helps me to troubleshoot!)

 

Here is a list of Bad Axe 2 users: (although I don't know if every single user has one yet)

weaksauce12

Onetrack

tman26

Guedes Jr

lindmar

alfonzotan

stepmr

zooplaboom

Twisted Raven

Kingskawn

bibendum

macstah

BeleiuR

Chimp

SamuraiDry

The Baron

davx

theotherone

mesaone

Ippel

bob99

ARL002

craigolio

minnie

Archmagination2002

bigvalboa

hakeem9

nmradar

dotsam

Georgiles

ibuyufo

funstuie

knyte2

TexAg

verendus

Sharksguts

Nano07

caustic1200

R32Drew

 

We're almost up to 40 users - awesome! I want to nail every single bug this board offers us, so please send me any problems you are having!!

 

I am writing off the Marvell controller as non-working and the Audio as "Experimental - Volume Control only". So the Bad Axe 2 is a 4-port SATA motherboard with BYOS (Sound, haha). You can add more SATA ports via a SATA controller (being tested) and Audio via a USB sound card. Other than that, the board seems to work 100% now for both D975XBX2 and D975XBX2KR owners. I'm very, very pleased with the progress we've been making and a big "THANK YOU!!" to everyone in this thread who has helped me test the guide and has contributed to it. I have some exciting things coming up for this guide, so stay tuned!

 

Revision 2 will be released as soon as my USB sound card shows up. The guide will have the IONetworkingFamily.kext fix from Patrick, a bunch of editing changes to the checklist, and a list of add-on hardware that will help you turn your computer into a real desktop. After that I am focusing on perfecting EFI 8.0 (okay, okay...I'm more of a tester, Dense is the real hero here!) and creating guides for Overclocking, Cloning, and so on.

 

Yee-haw!

[weaksauce12]

So you want your speed and processor model displayed correctly? Here's how...

 

How to edit your System Profiler:

 

Step 1: Edit the strings file

Step 2: Install the strings file

 

How to edit the strings file:

1. Download and unzip the "AboutThisMac.strings" file attached to this post

2. Open in TextEdit (right-click, "Open With", "Other...", scroll down to find TextEdit)

3. Scroll down until you find this line, then edit the text in the second set of quotes to whatever you want:

 

"ABOUT_BOX_SINGLE_PROCESSOR_FIELD_FORMAT" = "2.4 GHz Core 2 Quad";

 

4. Save the file

5. Exit TextEdit

 

How to install the strings file:

1. Open Finder

2. Navigate to System > Library > Core Services (blue folder with an "X" on it)

3. Find the loginwindow icon, right-click, show package contents (this opens a new Finder window)

4. Navigate to Contents > Resources > English.lproj (yes, this is a folder even though it has an extension)

5. Copy the "AboutThisMac.strings" file in that folder to your desktop for safe-keeping (just a backup of the original)

6. Drag-and-drop your edited "AboutThisMac.strings" folder into the English.lproj folder

7. Click "Authenticate", then "Replace", then type in your password

8. Repair Disk Permissions (click on your boot partition in Disk Utility, then click on the Repair Disk Permissions button in the middle-bottom)

 

Now open "About this Mac" and gaze in wonder and awe at a properly-reflected processor speed and name! The file included here is set for "2.4 GHz Core 2 Quad", so if you are overclocking or using a different processor you'll need to edit it accordingly. Of course you can play around with it and set it to "200mhz Pentium 2" or "450mhz G4 PowerPC", hehe.

 

Special thanks to aquamac for providing me with the file and instructions for this tutorial. You rock!

AboutThisMac.strings.zip

[tuukka H]

Hi! This is maybe a stupid question but I have one Leopard update dvd and the tutorial says that it must be retail dvd. Is there any change to make this dvd work?

 

And what about 10.5.1 retail dvd? Does it work as good with brazilmac than 10.5.0 retail?

 

Also I wonder what is the situation with other operation systems? Can I still use XP easily? I need that only in few spice softwares.. Shame that mac wont have any good GUI spice sw.. =)

 

Thanks!