[General Info Thread] Hackintosh

[farchord]

(Note: I asked on Twitter beforehand if this subject was allowed, and it was accepted by Linus, so I am posting it here.)

So, you have played with Windows, and you started playing with Linux.... You'd like to try Apple computers, but can't justify paying thousands of dollars just to test a new system. I might have the solution for you.

First, this will only work on Intel-based systems, preferably Core series CPUs (Core2 and Core i series). There are ways of making it work on other CPU architectures, but they require additional steps. As I have no experience in that, I will not explain it.

So the first thing you need is a copy of MacOSX. I won't start explaining where it is acceptable to get it from, if you are here you probably already know about how to legally get software.

Some people might ask about OSX distros, which are essentially all prepared copies of OSX to install on ordinary PCs with several utilities. That is up to you, although most forums will frown on distros.

A good guide to building your own OSX disk can be found here: http://lifehacker.com/5841604/the-always-up+to+date-guide-to-building-a-hackintosh

 

As the guide notes, you need to have rather... popular hardware items to be able to make your hackintosh work. If possible, the item has to be > 6 months old. For example, ATi's 7990s just came out. It probably won't work. Also, Crossfire/SLI setups do not work (Some might but they require some serious editing).

 

On-board sound cards work, but you really have to search extensively for the proper driver (or also called 'kext').

 

So basically, if you have any questions on getting this running, feel free to ask! I'll post some screenshots after I'm done with this thread.

[farchord]

Well darn, just reinstalled the OS not long ago and made the mistake of creating a case sensitive partition. That was a mistake! XD Nothing wants to install! XD

 

I'll fix that, and send some screenshots.

[tito]

Hackintosh actually works with some AMD systems with full support, but of course its not officially supported.

 

 

 

Well darn, just reinstalled the OS not long ago and made the mistake of creating a case sensitive partition. That was a mistake! XD Nothing wants to install! XD

 

I'll fix that, and send some screenshots.

 

Thats a pain in the butt, I did the same thing when I had my Hackintosh, boy I was mad at that thing!!

[t0wer]

 

Some people might ask about OSX distros, which are essentially all prepared copies of OSX to install on ordinary PCs with several utilities. That is up to you, although most forums will frown on distros.

 

 

It's the easiest way to make a hackintosh without access to a macintosh. unless you have access to a snow leopard retail CD.

 

iAtkos was pretty darn easy to work with, and had my hackintosh up in a few hours.

[Blade of Grass]

Can you help me? This is a repost of a thread I made on tonymac86 for a fried.

"

Hello,

I've been trying to help a friend install ML on his PC (running Windows 8), and it doesn't seem to want to finish installing.

The system specs are:

i5-3570 (non k)

Gigabyte H77-DS3H

8GB of Corsair Vengeance Ram

GTX 650

TP-Link WDN4800 WiFi card

In the system, OSX and Windows 8 are going to be sharing a drive (two partitions).

The problem that he's getting is when running unibeast, it runs normally for the first part, but then it goes through this:

BootCacherControl: Unable to open /var/db/BootCacher.playlist:2 No such file or directory

NTFS-fs warning $LogFile is not clean. Will not be able to (restore?) read-write. Mount in Windows.

NTFS-fs warning Windows is hibernating. Will not be able to (restore?) read-write. Run chckdisk

NVDAGK100HAL loaded and registered.

Previous Shutdown Cause: -128

And then it goes to the white screen with the beach ball.

Sorry, I'm getting the errors off of a photo that was sent to me, so I might make some errors.

We've tried running with GraphicsEnabler=no, but no luck.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this, or any idea whats causing this?

Thanks in advance for the help,

-Chase"

[farchord]

Can you help me? This is a repost of a thread I made on tonymac86 for a fried.

"

Hello,

I've been trying to help a friend install ML on his PC (running Windows 8), and it doesn't seem to want to finish installing.

The system specs are:

i5-3570 (non k)

Gigabyte H77-DS3H

8GB of Corsair Vengeance Ram

GTX 650

TP-Link WDN4800 WiFi card

In the system, OSX and Windows 8 are going to be sharing a drive (two partitions).

The problem that he's getting is when running unibeast, it runs normally for the first part, but then it goes through this:

BootCacherControl: Unable to open /var/db/BootCacher.playlist:2 No such file or directory

NTFS-fs warning $LogFile is not clean. Will not be able to (restore?) read-write. Mount in Windows.

NTFS-fs warning Windows is hibernating. Will not be able to (restore?) read-write. Run chckdisk

NVDAGK100HAL loaded and registered.

Previous Shutdown Cause: -128

And then it goes to the white screen with the beach ball.

Sorry, I'm getting the errors off of a photo that was sent to me, so I might make some errors.

We've tried running with GraphicsEnabler=no, but no luck.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this, or any idea whats causing this?

Thanks in advance for the help,

-Chase"

 

The fact that it gets to the beachball (i.e. it loads your video card, or a very basic mode of it at least) most likely means its not a kext issue.... But if it doesn't come to the actual OSX setup screen, it might be due to the install you are using.

[Neso]

Can you help me? This is a repost of a thread I made on tonymac86 for a fried.

"

Hello,

I've been trying to help a friend install ML on his PC (running Windows 8), and it doesn't seem to want to finish installing.

The system specs are:

i5-3570 (non k)

Gigabyte H77-DS3H

8GB of Corsair Vengeance Ram

GTX 650

TP-Link WDN4800 WiFi card

In the system, OSX and Windows 8 are going to be sharing a drive (two partitions).

The problem that he's getting is when running unibeast, it runs normally for the first part, but then it goes through this:

BootCacherControl: Unable to open /var/db/BootCacher.playlist:2 No such file or directory

NTFS-fs warning $LogFile is not clean. Will not be able to (restore?) read-write. Mount in Windows.

NTFS-fs warning Windows is hibernating. Will not be able to (restore?) read-write. Run chckdisk

NVDAGK100HAL loaded and registered.

Previous Shutdown Cause: -128

And then it goes to the white screen with the beach ball.

Sorry, I'm getting the errors off of a photo that was sent to me, so I might make some errors.

We've tried running with GraphicsEnabler=no, but no luck.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this, or any idea whats causing this?

Thanks in advance for the help,

-Chase"

 

Can you boot with just verbose and make a screenshot/picture when it hangs?

[farchord]

It's the easiest way to make a hackintosh without access to a macintosh. unless you have access to a snow leopard retail CD.

 

iAtkos was pretty darn easy to work with, and had my hackintosh up in a few hours.

 

 

I completely agree with you, but here's the thing.

 

About a week ago, I installed the Niresh12345 (sp?) distro. IT worked, but as I said, I did a mistake on the install. So considering I was reinstalling anyway, I decided to do it the clean way.

 

1- I got me a copy of Mountain Lion (Legit).

 

2- Used myHack http://myhack.sojugarden.com/

 

3- MyHack built a USB dongle with the OSX disk and made a very basic install disk. I already knew what kexts to use, so that was of no worry to me.

 

4- Rebooted, formatted and installed OSX.

 

5- Used Multibeast http://tonymacx86.blogspot.ca/2010/02/multibeast-ultimate-post-installation.html to install the driver for my NIC card (I recommend using the 10.7 official realtek driver if you have a realtek based adapter)

 

6- Rebooted, downloaded Kexthelper and Chameleon Wizard. Extracted DSDT, setup the SMbios, rebooted.

 

7- At that point, I installed 1 kext (Aside from the ones installed by myHack to disable some system components that could make it crash). Video is working with full QE/CI, and full graphics acceleration. My MSI 560ti OC'd is fully recognized.

 

8- Installed the VoodooHDA kext I needed for the sound. Already had it from past installations.

 

I now have a fully working installation. I updated to 10.8.3 without a single problem, and everything is just working awesomely. I'd like to note, it feels much more.... 'Fluid' than my previous install with the distro.

 

I'll post some screenshots later.

[farchord]

Well with work and all the other stuff getting in the way I didn't get time to work on this. I also mistakenly wiped my MBR and almost lost my data drive.... hey, you learn by testing! XD

[farchord]

Yay! Recovered the partition successfully without having to reinstall again! Love Active Partition Manager.

 

Here's a screenshot as promised, WoW is running at Ultra settings at 30fps

 

 

A screenshot of the system infos:

 

[benzaminwatson]

Below mentioned links are some simple and accurate results of my search while finding answer for your query.

http://speedup-mac.blogspot.in/2013/02/how-to-create-mountain-lion-hackintosh.html

http://lifehacker.com/the-always-up-to-date-guide-to-building-a-hackintosh-o-5841604

http://www.hackintosh.com/

[anticoralian]

Those of you with any of the i3/i5/i7 CPU's wanting to try Mac Os X, but not wanting to have to install it to a separate partition, I suggest running it in VMware Workstation/Player.

 

By default, OS X is unsupported, but since Workstation/Player share a codebase with VMware Fusion (the Mac version of Workstation, which supports OS X VMs), you can enable OS X support with this patch (http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/268531-workstation-89-player-45-and-fusion-45-mac-os-x-unlocker/)

 

I personally use it, as my mother has a Mac, and it's handy to fire up a VM to try explain what menus to click through to get what she wants (Bless her, she's not exactly computer-savvy!)