How to Build Your Own Hackintosh
Posted 06/09/09 at 11:30:00 AM by Roberto Baldwin
Comments
Print
Email
4. Installing and Configuring OS X
If all goes to plan, you should see a startup screen. It’s different from the usual OS X startup screen. Don’t worry, that’s the EFI-X startup screen. As long as it doesn’t hang, you’re doing fine. While installing, if your SATA drive is formatted FAT, you’re going to have to reformat it to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Don’t worry, the OS X installer is pretty much idiot-proof; it will warn you if the drive is formatted incorrectly. If it is formatted FAT, select Options, and a drop-down menu will appear with Mac OS Extended (Journaled) already selected. Click Erase. Be careful not to nuke your Windows.
You’ll get a green arrow on your hard drive signifying it’s ready for OS X. You will also be warned that your data will be erased on that drive. Make sure you don’t have anything on that drive you’ll need later, like your vast database of Caprica Six images or your banking information. Click Continue.
Now take a deep breath. You’re about to do something that’s a little crazy. Click Install on the next screen, and away we go. You have about 30 to 45 minutes while the installer does its magic, so go grab a bite to eat or wash your hands to get all that icky OS X install pixie dust off of them.
After you’ve installed OS X, you have to fill out the Apple setup/registration form. Whatever name you choose at this point will be the name of your user account on your Mac. Entering “Amanda Huginkis” will definitely come back to haunt you here. You’ll also be prompted for a password and information regarding your network. OS X takes all the information you enter to configure your computer’s settings. Even the registration page information will be used to identify you in the OS X Address Book app. Just do what Mac users have been doing forever: once the setup asks for you to actually register, choose the Register Later option. Steve already knows too much about us.
Your desktop will now shine brightly with the glimmer of the Leopard desktop image. Take it in. It’s OK, no one is going to hurt you. Leopard is your friend.
5. Updating OS X
Now, the moment of truth—updating OS X on your Hackintosh. Remember, Hackintoshes with patched kernels are unable to be updated. It’s their Kryptonite. But the EFI-X allows you to update your Hackintosh because it’s fooling OS X into believing it’s a legit Mac. We recommend applying all the updates available, as there are some significant fixes between 10.5 and 10.5.6. You can apply updates by choosing the Apple Menu in the upper-left corner of the menu bar. Choose Software Update. A window will pop up with the available updates Apple thinks you need. Click Install.
OS X Leopard downloads updates and then asks to be restarted so it can install updates without interruption from applications and processes. When you click Restart, the computer will display a light-blue screen and will begin the installation process. Don’t worry, this is normal. The machine will restart once it’s finished installing. You may have to do this a few times to get all the updates available.
Now that your Hackintosh is updated to the most recent Apple goodness, it’s time to check out the specs of your new machine. Go to the Apple in the top-left of the menu bar and select About This Mac in the drop-down. You’ll see the processor and the amount of RAM in your rig. For even more information, click More Info.... The System Profiler will give you all the information you need about your machine. If your machine is giving you any problems, this is a good place to see which startup items are causing issues or to make sure your USB Device Tree is recognizing a device. Most peripherals are plug-and-play with OS X, but not all. A quick Internet search will usually find the drivers you need. Just like with a PC, but with an added touch of smugness.
The Care and Feeding of Your Hackintosh
Now that you’ve entered the strange and exciting new world of OS X, here are a few tips to a happy OS X experience
Disk Utility
If your machine is acting wonky, check out the Disk Utility, found in Applications > Utilities. From there you can repair disk
permissions and repair disks that have are having issues. If you’re curious about how you defrag within OS X, not to worry—OS X defrags drives overnight.
Installing Apps
Many applications are just drag-and-drop. Yes, it sounds crazy, but all you have to do is drop the app into the Applications folder and, bam, it’s installed.
Right Click
There’s a rumor out there that OS X doesn’t have right-click capability. But actually, OS X has had the ability to use a two-button mouse since its inception. Just plug in your favorite two-button mouse and carry on.
Terminal
OS X is a Unix-based system. If you feel like messing around with the innards of OS X, go to Applications > Utilities, where you’ll find the Terminal app. Brush up on your Unix commands and start tinkering.
Keyboard Shortcuts
If you’re using a Windows keyboard with OS X, you’ll use the Windows key (the one with the Windows logo) instead of the Ctrl key as the basis for your keyboard shortcuts. For example, Windows+S to save. All the most common functions such as copy, cut, paste, new, print, etc., use the same letter as in Windows (C, X, V, N, P, respectively). If you have a Mac keyboard lying around, you’ll be using the Cmd key for keyboard shortcuts.
System Preferences
It’s the OS X version of the Control Panel in Windows. In System Preferences you’ll find Networking, Security, Accounts, and other preferences for OS X. When in doubt, you can use the search field in the upper-left corner to find what you’re looking for.
EFI-X is a Scam
Submitted by JohnMD1022 on Fri, 11/13/2009 - 11:15am
It turns out to be all phony. $10 worth of hardware coupled with unauhtorized use and sale of Open Source software.
Here's the lowdown:
http://tinyurl.com/lh7mem
Core 2 Quad
Submitted by TheViper on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 8:05am
Has anyone built a Hackintosh using a Core 2 Quad Processor? If so, are there any "glitches" or certain things to look for on the install of the software?
Thumb drive
Submitted by cretony38 on Fri, 09/25/2009 - 9:48am
and 8 gig thumb drive will work for booting from a targeted disk for this install. So if I build a Hackintosh can I run it with parrellels and boot from XP Win7 and OSX?
AMD
Submitted by gendoikari1 on Sat, 08/22/2009 - 12:40pm
I think you can put OSX on an AMD rig, but not with vanilla OSX. You have to download a modified installer (the only name I remember is iDeneb), and run that instead the OSX install disc. An added bonus is that the EFI-X dongle thing is not needed if you use the modified installer.
Submitted by gendoikari1 on Sat, 08/22/2009 - 12:46pm
And also, the Apple Tax is evident when my Alienware Aurora costs the same as a stock Mac Pro, yet manages to kick its ass (except RAM).
Mine:
Phenom II x4 925@2.8 GHz
NVidia GeForce GTX 295
750 GB HDD
4GB DDR2-800
$2500
Mac Pro:
Intel Xeon @2.66 GHz
NVidia GeForce GT 120 (I believe a GeForce 9500)
640 GB HDD
3GB DDR3-1066
$2500
Tri-Boot w/Linux
Submitted by boarder428 on Sat, 08/22/2009 - 7:33am
These Hackintoshes are interesting, I've been thinking about building one for a while but still researching. Building your own pc is a very exciting and fun hobby in my opinion! Currently all my pc's dual boot with some version of windows and Linux. Learning multiple os's is fun and I think it's time to give Leopard a try. I was wondering what the install order would be to tri-boot W7, Leopard, and Ubuntu since installing Ubuntu changes boot loader to "Grub"! Can grub boot Leopard as well? Of course Windows is always first but which would be second in the line up Leopard or Ubuntu?
Second off, I don't quite understand the efi dongle thing, as "nate5532 - Hack Mack" states you don't need the dongle. I thought the dongle was necessary for hardware communication? If I read his post correctly he's just installing the os's on seperate HD's and choosing which drive to boot to thru the Bios?
Anybody have any Input on this?
Submitted by azkoncept6 on Fri, 07/24/2009 - 6:22pm
Now if only maxPC can write an article on hackintoshing a netbook... Imagine that!
Submitted by fuzz_64 on Sun, 07/19/2009 - 5:34pm
It's a very interesting concept but would Apple try to sue users who have OSX on a regular PC since the OS is licensed for Mac computers only?
It's kinda like how Apple is now blocking Palm Pre's from using iTunes to sync since they are not ipods.
Submitted by Grim_Reaper on Sat, 06/27/2009 - 1:33pm
I have successfully installed OSX86 on various PC desktop and laptop makes, models, and configurations including Uno SSE2, SSE3 and Duo Intel processorized ones. One nice thing about converting a PC into a Hackintosh/Frankenmac is that, for equivalent hardware, the PC runs the MacOS and compatible software faster than a real Mac. Some are more OSX and Mac software compatible than others due to the motherboard and other hardware they use. Drivers are a big problem and they usually get broken with each iteration of the MacOS. When a Hackintosh/Frankenmac is running well with the desired software, it is wise to leave it alone and be happy that it does what you want with little or no problems and not update to the newest MacOS iteration. Most people aren't able to get a Hackintosh/Frankenmac working because they're consumers, not creators, and should buy a Mac, even a used one, which runs the Mac software needed such as Final Cut Express or Pro, or similar software which has no PC equivalent.
Submitted by Gutter96 on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 2:01pm
As an owner of an EFI-X rig. I will say this. My machine is FASTER than a Mac with similar specs, easier to upgrade than a Mac & cost WAY less than a similar equipped Mac. Apple won't "brick" these units because they don't care. They are still selling you a copy of OS X. Plus the install base for this device is for people who like to tinker with hardware, not every Tom, Dick & Harry on the block. Most people just buy an Apple Mac because they want the warm, fuzzy feeling of Justin Long's Kool-Aid going down their throats. They are either too lazy, or too stupid to learn how to use Windows properly. I currently run OS X and Vista on my EFI-X rig, and I really like being able to choose my OS without having to pay the "Mac Tax". Oh, and another thing. To they guy who said "just buy a low end Mac for $699 or a nice new Mac laptop for $999", show me where to buy a dual core, Intel Mac running Leopard with descrete graphics, 4GB RAM & a 22" LCD for that price... Just food for thought.
or just point them further
Submitted by nekollx on Mon, 06/15/2009 - 2:06pm
or just point them further down thsi blog where i speck out a IMac and Mac Pro Tower with comparible specs and show the apple tax is nite black text.
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
Submitted by Comb0Breaker on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 11:25am
Not all PC manufactures are cheaper than the Apple models. A few months ago there was an article here on how Lenovo was the first "real" PC manufacture to ship the new Intel Xenon processors, but they Lenovo are pricy. a 2.66Ghz D20 is more than the Apple MacPro base model.
hackintosh
Submitted by ujx385 on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 5:09am
Ok guys by my math this rig is aproching 900 bucks. Why not just but a low end mac for 600 or a nifty bottom of the line mac laptop for 999.
Submitted by nekollx on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 8:23am
Read down, i posted the specks for Apple of a simerally specked Imac and Mac Pro Tower.
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
Submitted by Stinky Fartface on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 1:14pm
$235 seems a lot to risk on a device that could potentially be broken with a firmware update. What assurance is there that the EFIX cannot be bricked by Apple?
Submitted by nekollx on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 1:24pm
To be faira firmare update could brick that $250 video card, that $100 HDD or the $240 CPU chip.
Theirs always the risk of a firmware brick.
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
run OX on a PC ?????
Submitted by ween23 on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 12:06pm
i dont care about macs. i dont know if any PC geeks will ever bild one. EFI-X dongle is $235.. i would use it to up grad to a better Video card.
Submitted by majorsuave on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 11:19am
I might be interested in acquiring a Mac PC without OS X installed. I could then use the good looking hardware to run Win XP and Linux as dual boot system.
I see no reason at all to install OS X on an otherwise perfectly fine PC. I rather have choice when it comes to third party apps and parts.
And then there`s games.
Submitted by k11k on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 10:07am
With the price of the parts provided, its a lost cause. I just built a medium powered PC/MAC that does what?, NOTHING. Atleast with PC it can still play games. Why not try and give us a way to truly build a low cost MAC, oh wait its called LINUX.
Submitted by nate5532 on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 12:26pm
Low cost mac? Get a dell mini 10 laptop for $400 new. 100% osx compatible out of the box. see http://www.osx86project.org/ and look for a guide.
Submitted by nekollx on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 10:29am
Just did a quick check for a comparable iMac (will do the pro tower next)
20 inch iMac (smalest one you can get new right now)
2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB memory
320GB hard drive
8x double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
$1,199.00
edit: add a addition 175 to upgrade fro ma 320 GB hd to a 1 TB drive.
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
Submitted by nekollx on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 10:40am
pro tower
One 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (i7)
3GB (3x1GB)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512MB
One 18x SuperDrive
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s x2
no dispaly
no wifi
$2,899.00
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
Submitted by nate5532 on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 9:13am
A few things about this article
I built a hack-mac over a year ago and for $700 I had components that rivaled the $2500 mac pro. Overall, installation went smoothy. I used a kernal patches and such instead of a retail copy (which is on my list of things to buy, it is well worth the $$). I just wanted to test it before I dropped the coin on the software. Dual boot with windows was a pain in my ass, but it works. Install windows first, it is a partition hog. I reccomend using 2 hard drives. The EFI-X thing is cool, but only if you are rich or not computer savvy. I don't have a fancy dual boot interface come up when I boot, I just hit F12 and select the drive of the OS I want to load.
This article is inaccurate about one thing tho. AMD chips are well capable of running OSX with the right software, please refer to www.osx86project.org/ - they include wiki's of what hardware is compatible. A little research can save you headaches and $$ in the long run. It is not, however, compatible with a retail install to my knowledge.
Also on osx86's wiki, there are a couple of laptops (the dell mini 10 comes to mind) that the hardware is 100% compatible with osx, making the install a snap, and they start at $400! Not much more money than the EFI-X, lol. Another option is to purchase a preinstalled desktop box starting at $599 at http://store.psystar.com/featured/open3-osx.html.
Happy Hacking!!!
Whats the Co$t?
Submitted by ericmckenna on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 5:14am
Since it's unlikely that someone would only need to buy the dongle, Whats the final cost of the components?
I come up with about $900
Submitted by horzo on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 7:37am
I come up with about $900 assuming 2GB RAM and using some slightly different (but compatible) components than suggested here. In other words, it would be cheaper to buy a Mac Mini if all you wanted was a cheap OS X box to play around with.
This method just gives you much better hardware for less than Apple would charge.
Submitted by randall-stross on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 4:56am
Great article. I always wanted to build my own mac...
Randall Stross
http://enhilex.com
Submitted by gxc90 on Fri, 06/12/2009 - 7:59am
I was wondering if there is a spec sheet for the "Hackintosh" PC using AMD processors (Athlon x2, Athlon II x2, Phenom, Phenom II). and if this USB device is available in Canada?
Submitted by nekollx on Fri, 06/12/2009 - 8:07am
READ T?HE FUCKING ARTICLE
Appel is run on intel, the X chip has a list of compatible hardware.
How hard is it for you to grasp "no you cant make a hackitosh with amd" unles you want to go the old "i can't patch" route
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
$$$$
Submitted by Tclynch on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 1:56am
Wow, let me know where your buying your Macs as everywhere I look they're WAY overpriced.
Submitted by arkweld on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 9:00am
but you know what else is?
Almost every gaming system reviewed by MPC or put out by Voodoo, Alienware etc.
$8000 for a BFG gaming rig? Who the hell buys that stuff? Any gamer who uses a PC should be building his own machine.
At least when you buy a Mac you are getting custom hardware. Most "gaming" PCs use off-the-shelf parts and cases that have just been painted a better color.
Submitted by fuzz_64 on Sun, 07/19/2009 - 5:43pm
Ummmm.. FYI I pulled the RAM and hard drive out of a Macbook and used it in a clients Lenovo laptop.. there's nothing custom about it except the motherboard.
Submitted by mesiah on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 8:15pm
lmao custom hardware. Just because apple designed their own cases you call that custom hardware? Take a look inside. Its the same crap that everyone else puts in their machines. We arent in the days of motorola processors anymore. It's all Intel and nvidia under the hood of that expensive mac. Its no more custom than an HP or a dell.
I dunno, ever since Apple
Submitted by Khaled on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 1:08am
I dunno, ever since Apple switched to intel I don't see the "price difference" between Macs and PCs.
When I bought my T7400 based macbook pro over 2 years ago I went online and compared it to similarly specced windows-based notebooks (notice SIMILARLY SPEC not comparing a pentium dual core to core 2 duo, a T7000 to T9000 etc so those MS laptop hunters ad are just fooling the consumers) when I compared the MBP to similar machines by ASUS and SONY I actually found that the MacBook Pro cost the same and sometimes less!
Now it's been 2 years and I never needed to format this machine to "speed it up" in fact with every mac osx update (including a full OS upgrade) it got improved (software improvements of course, software update actually improve it).
The price argument is false (assuming you are comparing brand new machines of course) since 2007.
Excellent guide by the way, I might get me one of those chips because I don't want a Mac Pro Xeon machine
Submitted by horzo on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 6:46am
Uhhmmm... no.
Submitted by foamcup on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 5:23am
Nobody has to format a machine to 'speed it up'. All those people who format and re-install once a month are idiots. My mom has been running the same XP install for 7 years and it runs fine.
Submitted by DOOMHAMMA on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 3:29am
Your data is 2 years old and you are not a market analyst. Congratulations on irrelevancy.
Excellent article anyway, even here the price problem exists in the do-it-yourself mac. As you have to drop $235 on a device that makes it all happen.
Submitted by nekollx on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 9:15am
Actually the Mac Pro tower is a rip off as well, 2 GB of ram from Apple is more then a Netbook! but go to say MacGurus or Newegg and its half that. Wich is still twice the PC component.
Wish i had this article a year ago, could have saved the company a bundle for our office mac.
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
Submitted by nekollx on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 10:05am
Ten grand for a 2x3 ghz intela quad xeon, 8 gb of ram, and 3 HDDs? Somehow i don't think Dell is Quite that bad.
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
Submitted by nekollx on Thu, 06/11/2009 - 4:25pm
Dell Precision T3500:
Dell Precision T3500, CMT, Standard Power Supply T3500 1 [224-4422] 1Operating System:
Genuine Windows Vista® Business Bonus 64 -Windows XP Professional downgrade XP6VBDP 1 [310-9161][468-1225] 11Energy Efficiency Option:
No Energy Star NOESTAR 1 [330-3201] 25Processor:
Quad Core Intel® Xeon® W3540 2.93GHz, 8M L3, 4.8GT/s Turbo W3540 1 [317-0126] 2chassis configuration:
Mini-Tower Chassis Configuration MT 1 [311-7463] 15Memory:
6GB, 1066MHz, DDR3 SDRAM, ECC (3 DIMMS) 6G3E663 1 [317-0110] 3Hardware Support Services:
3 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 3 Year NBD On-Site Service Q3YOS 1 [992-9102][993-3200][993-9038][993-9047] 29Graphics:
256MB NVIDIA® Quadro® NVS 295, DUAL MON, 2 DP NVS295 1 [320-7899] 6Graphics Cables:
1 DisplayPort to DVI (Single Link) Adapter DVIS 1 [330-4085] 26Hard Drive Configuration:
C2 All SATA drives, No RAID for 3 Hard Drive SATA3 1 [341-8995] 9Hard Drive Controller:
Integrated Intel chipset SATA 3.0Gb/s controller NSASCTL 1 [341-9289] 24Boot Hard Drive:
300GB SATA, 10K RPM Hard Drive with 16MB DataBurst Cache™ 300S102 1 [341-8836] 82nd Hard Drive:
500GB SATA 3Gb/s with NCQ and 16MB DataBurst Cache™ 500GSA 1 [341-8581] 233rd Hard Drive:
500GB SATA 3Gb/s with NCQ and 16MB DataBurst Cache™ 500STA 1 [341-8581] 54CD-ROM, DVD and Read-Write Devices:
16X DVD-ROM with Cyberlink Power DVD™ DVD16 1 [313-7458][420-9179] 16Monitor:
No Monitor NMN 1 [320-3316] 5Floppy Drive and Media Card Reader Options:
No Floppy Drive and No Media Card Reader NFD 1 [341-5255] 10Resource DVD:
No Resource DVD NORCD 1 [330-4024] 27Shipping Packaging Options:
Shipping Material for System SHIP 1 [330-3209] 40Speakers:
No Speaker option NSPKR 1 [313-2663] 18Keyboard:
Dell QuietKey Keyboard QUSB 1 [330-3203] 4Mouse:
Dell USB 2 Button Optical Mouse USBO 1 [330-3945] 12Documentation:
Documentation, English, with 125V Power Cord DOCENG 1 [330-3156][330-3157] 21$3,090
When we got the compariable Mac early 2008 it cost roughly twice that.
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
Must Read Articles
Feature
Review
Feature
Feature
Feature
This Month's Issue
FEATURE How to Get FREE Programs, Services, Software & MoreFEATURE Digital Photo Printer RoundupHOW TOBuild a 3D CameraFEATUREDIY Arcade PCWHITE PAPERHow TRIM Works
Technology News
Computer Cooling Fans
Computer Cases
PC Game Controllers
PC Games
Computer Hardware
Headphones
MP3 Players
Stream Video
Computer Mouse
Monitors
Motherboards
NAS Storage
Networking
Laptop Computers
DVD Burner
Digital Cameras
Portable Storage
Computer Accessories
Smartphone
Antivirus Software
Sound Cards
Speakers
Computer Systems
Thumb Drives
Video Cameras
Video Card Reviews
Water Cooling
Gadgets
- Keyboards
© 2009 Future US, Inc. All Rights Reserved.