[Guide & Software] A Recipe for Delicious Leopard Soup - Now with Vanilla Flavor!

[dci693]

well, the only thing i was really worried about was that itunes asks you to "authorize" the computer you're on. I'm just curious as to what kind of information this "authorization" process sends. Would it just be my ip or the mac address of the comp or all the little details of what i'm running. Without authorizing, i can't play the music i recently purchased.

The authorization concerns your iTMS (iTunes Music Store) account. When you purchase music from iTunes, you are allowed to play those songs on up to 5 different computers, each of which must be registered with your email address. If you authorize one computer, then you'll be left with 4 other potential authorizations on other computers. (This is not really all that restrictive, given that few of us regularly use 5 computers.) Anyway, it's a mechanism to keep track of who should be allowed to play back (and burn to CD/DVD) music purchased from the iTMS. It's not to keep track of your computer information (though I can't say for sure they don't collect any of that info as well -you'll have to check the license agreement).

 

Given that you can use iTunes on Windows PCs as well as Macs, I can't really see why Apple would care that you're running a Hackintosh. They still make money from you whether you're running Windows or OSX.

[seanmcgpa]

Weak,

 

Thanks for the info about software raid / link. My backup "hack" has 4 750 GB drives, and I was able to create a bootable raid array with *3* drives in Stripe 0 for ~ 2TB.

 

I'd love to somehow incorporate the 4th drive to give me 2.7GB, unsure how I can do that easily - any ideas? I don't need speed as much as space - JBOD would be fine. Unsure if I can do this, though.

 

Thanks again and cheers,

[weaksauce12]

Newegg has a great deal on a very nice video card, the fanless 256mb Zotac 7300GT for only $30:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814500033

 

It's actually $26.99 and there's also a $10 mail-in rebate that brings it down to $16.99, with free 3-day shipping. I tested a 1080p MKV movie using Plex and it played flawlessly! 5-star reviews on Newegg, both a DVI and a VGA port, feels solid (not cheap), and works great with the Vanilla option in NVinstaller v.52. It is also SLI capable and has HDCP for those of you hooking up to HD sets under Windows. The card is 128-bit, 400mhz core, 8 pipline, and uses GDDR2-667mhz VRAM. It is Dual-Link DVI capable and can run resolutions up to 2560x1600, so you could run a 30" LCD if you wanted to! The rebate runs until the end of the month and says one per household, although if you order two on the same invoice they'll honor it as an SLI rig. Crazy good deal even at $30!

[dci693]

Newegg has a great deal on a very nice video card, the fanless 256mb Zotac 7300GT for only $30:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814500033

 

It's actually $26.99 and there's also a $10 mail-in rebate that brings it down to $16.99, with free 3-day shipping. I tested a 1080p MKV movie using Plex and it played flawlessly! 5-star reviews on Newegg, both a DVI and a VGA port, feels solid (not cheap), and works great with the Vanilla option in NVinstaller v.52. It is also SLI capable and has HDCP for those of you hooking up to HD sets under Windows. The card is 128-bit, 400mhz core, 8 pipline, and uses GDDR2-667mhz VRAM. It is Dual-Link DVI capable and can run resolutions up to 2560x1600, so you could run a 30" LCD if you wanted to! The rebate runs until the end of the month and says one per household, although if you order two on the same invoice they'll honor it as an SLI rig. Crazy good deal even at $30!

Hey weaksauce12, I've been thinking about building an HTPC with an Antec NSK2480 case I had lying around (yeah, I've got lots of computer parts). Thinking about using this card. Believe it or not, I have an old TV that will only take S-Video (or eek! composite video). Anyway, did you by any chance test the S-Vid out on this card? Seems like getting the S-Vid out working on cards under OSX86 is hit-or-miss. Thanks.

[weaksauce12]

Weak,

 

Thanks for the info about software raid / link. My backup "hack" has 4 750 GB drives, and I was able to create a bootable raid array with *3* drives in Stripe 0 for ~ 2TB.

 

I'd love to somehow incorporate the 4th drive to give me 2.7GB, unsure how I can do that easily - any ideas? I don't need speed as much as space - JBOD would be fine. Unsure if I can do this, though.

 

Thanks again and cheers,

 

One of two ways. Either get a spare hard drive or get an 8-gig USB memory stick. I've successfully installed and booted Leopard from my 8gb USB flash drive, although it's REALLY slow. But, this way you could setup Software RAID with all 4 of your 750gb drives, clone the flash drive Leopard install over and do the magic Software RAID dance, and have a working 4-drive RAID system. Plus you'd have a really great memory stick to use afterwards! I have this one:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820220263

 

Works fine, just slow for booting Leopard (duh). The other option is you spend $10 more and just get a spare hard drive, which is incredibly useful for a variety of things. For $39 you can get a 40gb or 80gb drive, but for $42 you can get a 160gb drive. I have a spare drive I use for testing installs, testing software before using it on my main drive, etc. It comes in really handy. So either way would work, and you'd either end up with a nice, big flash drive or a spare tester drive!

 

Hey weaksauce12, I've been thinking about building an HTPC with an Antec NSK2480 case I had lying around (yeah, I've got lots of computer parts). Thinking about using this card. Believe it or not, I have an old TV that will only take S-Video (or eek! composite video). Anyway, did you by any chance test the S-Vid out on this card? Seems like getting the S-Vid out working on cards under OSX86 is hit-or-miss. Thanks.

 

I'll try S-video out this weekend, but don't hold your breath. I haven't come across a card that has working S-video yet, which is a major bummer for going to my SD set! I'm currently using my HTPC as double-duty Vista/Leopard. Plex is pretty dang nice, although it's only in the Release Candidate stage right now, so it still has some minor bugs and missing features (like, the latest update stopped reading my DVD ISOs! grrr! but now 1080p playback is flawless haha). Some quickie Hackintosh HTPC suggestions:

 

-Plex is great as a front end

-Our default Kalyway install has Front Row installed

-I was reading something about installing the new AppleTV software on Mac (dunno if I got that mixed up with Front Row 2.0 or not earlier)

-Tons of remotes work (Wiimote, default Apple remote, Keyspan Front Row remote, etc.)

-Slim Aluminum Apple Bluetooth keyboard is great for HTPC use

-Logitech has a great CHEAP keyboard with a BUILT-IN TRACKPAD and uses RF (instead of line-of sight IR). There's a nice video review comparing it to the new Apple keyboard here:

(I actually recommend the Logitech, it fits nicer on your laptop and you don't need a separate mouse, even though laser mice work fine on weird surfaces it's still not fun to use one on your leg or the arm of your chair or couch)

-SwitchResX can do custom resolutions like 1366x768 if you have a plasma or LCD (DisplayX also has some fun stuff)

-The ASUS P5K-VM is supposed to be a pretty compatible MicroATX board; I have a few MicroATX boards that are compatible now (Gigabyte, Biostar) but they are getting harder to find.

 

I've been sketching out a Hackintosh HTPC guide, that's the basics of it...pretty much if you have an SD set, go with an Xbox, if you have an HD set, go with a Hackintosh (HD XBMC via Plex). Lots of input options to go with and pretty dang stable. For a great combo setup, as soon as Plex is out of beta I'm going to be recommending either a Plex Hackintosh/Tivo HD combo or Vista Media Center to those who want a pretty serious home theater system. Unfortunately Vista is a mess...consumers can't buy their own CableCards, so you're limited to OTA HD stuff or downloading torrents or rips off newsgroups for HD content, which is lame since you have an HTPC with TUNERS in it! Plus PowerDVD is a mess, they had a big issue with only 2.1 output instead of 5.1 output for HD and now I think their latest version doesn't even support HD-DVD discs, so all those movies I bought for my 360 can only be played through the HD-DVD attachment or via a dedicated HD-DVD player. Super lame and super messy. I hope Apple starts supporting Blu-ray and stuff soon, or that Plex gets some hacked functionality built in...Newegg has a Blu-ray/HD-DVD combo drive for computers available for just $170. At least on Vista you can use AnyDVD HD if you have a non-HDCP system. Anyway, I'm rambling. I'll let you know about S-video this weekend

[dci693]

I'll try S-video out this weekend, but don't hold your breath. I haven't come across a card that has working S-video yet, which is a major bummer for going to my SD set!

Was afraid of that!

 

-Plex is great as a front end

-Our default Kalyway install has Front Row installed

-I was reading something about installing the new AppleTV software on Mac (dunno if I got that mixed up with Front Row 2.0 or not earlier)

-Tons of remotes work (Wiimote, default Apple remote, Keyspan Front Row remote, etc.)

How did you get the default Apple remote working? What IR receiver did you use? I have the Keyspan Front Row remote and it's not bad.

[weaksauce12]

How did you get the default Apple remote working? What IR receiver did you use? I have the Keyspan Front Row remote and it's not bad.

 

I actually use the Keyspan FR remote with my laptop and the Wiimote with my desktop. Stella has the Apple Remote working. He uses a Dell Media Center IR Receiver along with the Apple Remote. It's like $15 on eBay for the receiver. Here's an auction for one:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-DELL-Microsoft-WIN...t=1218684044242

 

You can probably use other receivers like the official MS Media Center receiver (or so I'd imagine). I believe he said that he uses Remote Buddy to hook things up (input commands and whatnot). Some additional info on remote hardware is available on the IOSpirit website:

 

http://www.iospirit.com/index.php?mode=vie...ff29ecb5f61f2d2

 

I'm personally not a real big fan of the Apple Remote, it's a tad too small for my hands and I don't like IR devices; I prefer RF (or even BT) because of the line-of-sight issue (I like having a nice, clean desk with all the receivers tucked away underneath, hehe). Also I believe you can program the Logitech Harmony series with the IR receiver, so if you really wanted to integrated it with your Home Theater setup, it should be pretty easy!

[dci693]

I actually use the Keyspan FR remote with my laptop and the Wiimote with my desktop. Stella has the Apple Remote working. He uses a Dell Media Center IR Receiver along with the Apple Remote. It's like $15 on eBay for the receiver. Here's an auction for one:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-DELL-Microsoft-WIN...t=1218684044242

 

You can probably use other receivers like the official MS Media Center receiver (or so I'd imagine). I believe he said that he uses Remote Buddy to hook things up (input commands and whatnot). Some additional info on remote hardware is available on the IOSpirit website:

 

http://www.iospirit.com/index.php?mode=vie...ff29ecb5f61f2d2

 

I'm personally not a real big fan of the Apple Remote, it's a tad too small for my hands and I don't like IR devices; I prefer RF (or even BT) because of the line-of-sight issue (I like having a nice, clean desk with all the receivers tucked away underneath, hehe). Also I believe you can program the Logitech Harmony series with the IR receiver, so if you really wanted to integrated it with your Home Theater setup, it should be pretty easy!

Interesting. My buddy gave me a spare Apple remote, so I was just interested to see if I could get it working. I have some cheapo $5 USB to IR receiver, but it doesn't work with the remote. I do have a Logitech Harmony 550, and it would be very nice to have it all working.

 

LOL. It seems we've drifted off the topic of this thread, though. Sorry everyone! Back to your regularly scheduled GA-P35-DS3L thread!

[seanmcgpa]

One of two ways. Either get a spare hard drive or get an 8-gig USB memory stick. I've successfully installed and booted Leopard from my 8gb USB flash drive, although it's REALLY slow. But, this way you could setup Software RAID with all 4 of your 750gb drives, clone the flash drive Leopard install over and do the magic Software RAID dance, and have a working 4-drive RAID system.

 

Ohh, good idea - never dawned on me to try a USB drive.

 

I'm in the process of using CCC to copy my Leopard boot drive to a 16GB USB drive I have, we'll see how it goes

 

Thanks for the advice!

[durkbusta]

I used the guide to install 10.5.4 and everything worked awesome until i installed the in step 5 named Various Kexts:

Now my machine wont start up after installing these. I just get the apple logo with the little error logo. Does someone know what i could do to fix this ? My machine specs: DSL3, F7 Bios, q6600, 4GB DDR2, Asus 8500GT, ASUS 138g wifi which all seemed to work fine ... I tried a sweex bluetooth dongle seemed to be working aswell. Last thing i did was: Using the kexthelper install those 5 kexts (and i put in the ethernet kext as well ). After it didnt boot i disabled my network and removed the bluetooth dongle but this didnt help. Does someone have any idea how i can solve this ? Or do i need to start from scratch again ?

 

thanks

[steveoa3d]

I used the guide to install 10.5.4 and everything worked awesome until i installed the in step 5 named Various Kexts:

Now my machine wont start up after installing these. I just get the apple logo with the little error logo. Does someone know what i could do to fix this ? My machine specs: DSL3, F7 Bios, q6600, 4GB DDR2, Asus 8500GT, ASUS 138g wifi which all seemed to work fine ... I tried a sweex bluetooth dongle seemed to be working aswell. Last thing i did was: Using the kexthelper install those 5 kexts (and i put in the ethernet kext as well ). After it didnt boot i disabled my network and removed the bluetooth dongle but this didnt help. Does someone have any idea how i can solve this ? Or do i need to start from scratch again ?

 

thanks

 

I had the same problem from same kext numerous times and ended up reinstalling. There is a way to get to the command line remove the kext's I have heard but I can't find the exact process. Might try to search for it here ?

 

I'm running with none of those kexts installed...

 

Sorry to be no help, but it's not just you...

[dci693]

I had the same problem from same kext numerous times and ended up reinstalling. There is a way to get to the command line remove the kext's I have heard but I can't find the exact process. Might try to search for it here ?

 

I'm running with none of those kexts installed...

 

Sorry to be no help, but it's not just you...

I forget exactly too, but it's not difficult. Boot up and choose -x as your startup option, then follow the directions to enable writing to the boot drive, then go delete the bad kexts and the kext cache file, then reboot.

[steveoa3d]

I forget exactly too, but it's not difficult. Boot up and choose -x as your startup option, then follow the directions to enable writing to the boot drive, then go delete the bad kexts and the kext cache file, then reboot.

 

Cool so it can be done ! Now I just need to figure out where all the kext and kext cache is at ! Anyone runs across a step by step for this please post as the terminal is not my friend =)

[seanmcgpa]

Update : I was able to clone my Leopard install (EP35, 10.5.4) onto a USB drive. After some tinkering (finding the USB drive's UUID and adding a boot-uuid= to com.apple.Boot.plist) I was successfully able to boot Leopard from the USB drive! Woot!

 

Using Aquamac's guide, I then was able to setup a 2.TB raid-0 array using 4 of my internal hds. To make it bootable, I added the Raid's UUID to com.apple.Boot.plist and then used the rest of his guide here with these modifications:

 

fdisk -f boot0 -u -y /dev/rdisk0

fdisk -f boot0 -u -y /dev/rdisk1

fdisk -f boot0 -u -y /dev/rdisk2

fdisk -f boot0 -u -y /dev/rdisk3

dd if=boot1h of=/dev/rdisk0s3

dd if=boot1h of=/dev/rdisk1s3

dd if=boot1h of=/dev/rdisk2s3

dd if=boot1h of=/dev/rdisk3s3

 

diskutil mount disk0s3

cp boot /Volumes/Boot\ OSX

diskutil unmount disk0s3

diskutil mount disk1s3

cp boot /Volumes/Boot\ OSX

diskutil unmount disk1s3

diskutil mount disk2s3

cp boot /Volumes/Boot\ OSX

diskutil unmount disk2s3

diskutil mount disk3s3

cp boot /Volumes/Boot\ OSX

diskutil unmount disk3s3

 

Reboot, and viola - a 2.8TB bootable software raid drive in leopard! Thanks for all your suggestions and advice, guys!

[kevin l]

Can I format the HDD as MBR and not GUID? This is because I want to dual boot with Vista. Will everything works if I do that?

 

Thanks,

[weaksauce12]

Can I format the HDD as MBR and not GUID? This is because I want to dual boot with Vista. Will everything works if I do that?

 

Thanks,

 

Yes, you can format as MBR no problem...but...Vista supports GUID, so you should be fine. MBR is really only for dual-booting with XP.

 

Reboot, and viola - a 2.8TB bootable software raid drive in leopard! Thanks for all your suggestions and advice, guys!

 

Bwahahaha, success! Although booting off USB is slow, it's pretty neat that you can fit a whole operating system (and have it work!) on a little drive the size of your finger

 

Interesting. My buddy gave me a spare Apple remote, so I was just interested to see if I could get it working. I have some cheapo $5 USB to IR receiver, but it doesn't work with the remote. I do have a Logitech Harmony 550, and it would be very nice to have it all working.

 

LOL. It seems we've drifted off the topic of this thread, though. Sorry everyone! Back to your regularly scheduled GA-P35-DS3L thread!

 

Hey, it's related, I don't mind at all The only reason I wanted the EP35 separated was to clear up my own confusion about board revision issues lol. But it looks like the F5 BIOS does the trick...you work fast man!

 

I used the guide to install 10.5.4 and everything worked awesome until i installed the in step 5 named Various Kexts:

Now my machine wont start up after installing these. I just get the apple logo with the little error logo. Does someone know what i could do to fix this ? My machine specs: DSL3, F7 Bios, q6600, 4GB DDR2, Asus 8500GT, ASUS 138g wifi which all seemed to work fine ... I tried a sweex bluetooth dongle seemed to be working aswell. Last thing i did was: Using the kexthelper install those 5 kexts (and i put in the ethernet kext as well ). After it didnt boot i disabled my network and removed the bluetooth dongle but this didnt help. Does someone have any idea how i can solve this ? Or do i need to start from scratch again ?

 

thanks

 

So your Sweex Bluetooth worked out of the box? Did you actually try pairing a keyboard and typing on it? Because the keyboards will pair, but not actually work (it's like the default Bluetooth kexts only work 90% lol).

 

Also...I'm starting to notice a trend...users with 4 gigs of RAM have major issues with the updated kexts (I suspect the Bluetooth kexts)...hmm...

 

I had the same problem from same kext numerous times and ended up reinstalling. There is a way to get to the command line remove the kext's I have heard but I can't find the exact process. Might try to search for it here ?

 

I'm running with none of those kexts installed...

 

Sorry to be no help, but it's not just you...

 

Sure, I just use the Kalyway DVD to do that. Just boot up and open up Terminal, then kill off your kexts (/System/Library/Extensions/). Do you have a backup of the original kexts perchance? Otherwise if you're running a bare install, just do a fresh install. Here's the command for Terminal tho:

 

rm -rf /Volumes/[Volume name]/System/Library/Extensions/Kextname.kext/

 

So it looks like users with 4 gigs of RAM are having problems. Let me know when you have some free time, I'd like to run through some installation options with you!

[Johnny V]

Cool so it can be done ! Now I just need to figure out where all the kext and kext cache is at ! Anyone runs across a step by step for this please post as the terminal is not my friend =)

 

This thread might have what you need.

 

With that I'd recommend having a second Leopard install either on a hard drive for speed or a usb thumb drive to launch and drag out the offending kext and other files.

 

When I set up Macs for client's I always install a second operating system named "Emergency System". It's faster to boot off that and run maintenance and recovery programs than run off a bootable DVD. Also if the main hd has problems the client can at least boot with the "Emergency System" and get up and running in no time.

[lindmar]

Lots of issues for me here

 

1) Still have garbled text on wake from sleep. Ordered new video card. This was the same issue for my bad axe setup

2) System crashes everytime I try to unzip a big file. 500-1gb or more. Crashes EVERY TIME.

3) VMWare will no longer boot? Not sure why. XP Hangs even in safe mode. Was working.

4) System has crashed at least 10-15 times today.

Not sure what to think here.

 

Continually chatting with weaksauce and hoping a new video card will solve some issues.

[Johnny V]

Lots of issues for me here

 

1) Still have garbled text on wake from sleep. Ordered new video card. This was the same issue for my bad axe setup

2) System crashes everytime I try to unzip a big file. 500-1gb or more. Crashes EVERY TIME.

3) VMWare will no longer boot? Not sure why. XP Hangs even in safe mode. Was working.

4) System has crashed at least 10-15 times today.

Not sure what to think here.

 

Continually chatting with weaksauce and hoping a new video card will solve some issues.

 

Could be a bad ram issue.

 

Pull out all ram but one stick and unzip that big file... if it crashes try another ram stick. Make sure the ram stick is in it's proper slot.

 

Also you could run memtest overnight.

[yochino]

Could be a bad ram issue.

 

Pull out all ram but one stick and unzip that big file... if it crashes try another ram stick. Make sure the ram stick is in it's proper slot.

 

Also you could run memtest overnight.

 

i second the ram idea.

[lindmar]

Could be a bad ram issue.

 

Pull out all ram but one stick and unzip that big file... if it crashes try another ram stick. Make sure the ram stick is in it's proper slot.

 

Also you could run memtest overnight.

 

 

You mean just seated properly when you say proper slot?

 

Well the plot thickens for me.

I opened my case and pulled out two things of ram.

I rebooted and tried unzipped. Crashed again.

 

Then I tried unplugging a 300GB IDE drive. While doing this I noticed that one of my other drives (500GB SATA) cable was not in all the way (keep in mind I've been using the drive during the crashing)

 

Anyways, now running about an hour without a crash and I unzipped the file fine.

 

So now to figure out if it was the IDE drive or the half cable or the ram.

[Johnny V]

You mean just seated properly when you say proper slot?

.....

 

No, not seated properly, but that should be checked also.

 

There's a default slot that if you only have one or two ram sticks they should go in that slot(s) first. If ram is installed in pairs it's usually installed in the same colored slot. Not the slot right next to each other.

 

Hope the bad hd connection fix does the trick!

[dci693]

No, not seated properly, but that should be checked also.

 

There's a default slot that if you only have one or two ram sticks they should go in that slot(s) first. If ram is installed in pairs it's usually installed in the same colored slot. Not the slot right next to each other.

 

The manual doesn't give instructions when installing a single stick (or 3 sticks for that matter). I would assume that a single stick should go into the DDRII1 slot (the one closest to the CPU).

[weaksauce12]

The manual doesn't give instructions when installing a single stick (or 3 sticks for that matter). I would assume that a single stick should go into the DDRII1 slot (the one closest to the CPU).

 

I just pop it into the one closest to the CPU, works great!

 

You mean just seated properly when you say proper slot?

 

Well the plot thickens for me.

I opened my case and pulled out two things of ram.

I rebooted and tried unzipped. Crashed again.

 

Then I tried unplugging a 300GB IDE drive. While doing this I noticed that one of my other drives (500GB SATA) cable was not in all the way (keep in mind I've been using the drive during the crashing)

 

Anyways, now running about an hour without a crash and I unzipped the file fine.

 

So now to figure out if it was the IDE drive or the half cable or the ram.

 

Let us know if it's the IDE drive or just the IDE cable. If it's the IDE drive, it's either the driver or a bad drive. I'm wondering if IDE support is spotty or not; I'll test out a 2gb ZIP file on my 200gb IDE and let you know what happens.

 

I'll also be taking my system down to 4gb to see if the kexts conflict with that amount of RAM. 4gb of RAM, for some reason, has been known to cause problems on other systems, so maybe it does on ours as well...

[cosio55]

Weeksauce you r the man lol....... now i have a super machine for under 900 dollars i checkes out how much would my rig cost me in a macbook pro, and it would be more than 3000 dollars, thank you very much for this, also for your soon replies, keep up the good work!!!!!. I allready installed all adobe programs (flash,dreamweaver,illustrator,flash.........), i also installed parallels and it works flawlesly, and the best of all is my final cut studio 2!!!!! btw this system:

 

cpu: quad core q6600

gpu: geforce 8600gt e-vga

my case is the one in newegg that looks just like a mac (it looks and feels really cheap but i really prefer looks rather thank performance)

ram: 2*2GB 4 total

22 inch. display

the fan and the power came with the case and that is all of it just that and you have a hell of a stable system running good Hackintosh.

 

 

 

PD Sorry for my english im mexican .,

 

MAC GIRL: DE que parte de Mexico eres?