Jump to content

Build a Perfect Mac for less than $250

MrFlooD

By MrFlooD,
in Tutorials (The Genius Bar)

 Share
780 posts in this topic

Recommended Posts

urgonah8me
urgonah8me
Posted
Posted

starting my build in aprox 3 days. Main goal is to get the entire thing a full working hackintosh inside an xbox 360 case

Intel D945GCLF

1gb ram

40gb 2.5 IDE HDD

Pci asus wifi card (mentioned earlier in the thread)

Pico PSU with a 12v powerbrick

Slim laptop IDE DVD burner drive.

 

(basicaly im using mostly parts I have lieing around the house.. well the ram,hdd and laptop drive anyway and laptop powerbrick)

 

Im starting to look into the case now. Guys will I have tp glue the copper screw holders to the case? so that when I screw the board down it wont short circuit?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
maccompaq
maccompaq
Posted
Posted

MrFlooD, I have now constructed my Intel Atom computer more or less as you described. I used a large tower: Antec Sonata III 500. It has a 500 watt power supply. Everything is connected but the front panel indicators and controls which is notated on the motherboard Quick Reference card as number 4. The front panel connector looks like a 10 pin plug in. Pin 1 & 3 for HD LED, Pin 2 & 4 for Power LED, Pin 5 & 7 for Reset, Pin 6 & 8 for On/Off, Pin 9 is No Connection and there is no pin at position 10. The computer case has wires with 2 pin connectors coming from the front panel labeled the same as mentioned above. The only problem I see is that the Power LED pin has a 3 pin connector with only 2 wires, a black and a green connected to the outside plug-ins with the middle plug in blank. I am at a loss to understand how the Power LED will work under the circumstances. Any ideas?

 

This is a minor hold up in my project, not one that would prevent me from continuing.

 

Did you change the BIOS before loading the Kalaway 10.5.2 Install DVD? Since I only plan to run Leopard, it would probably be better to format as GUID I suspect.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
diogan
diogan
Posted
Posted
Is your hard drive plugged into the SATA port or the PATA port? If it's PATA then that might be the reason. That was my problem a couple years ago whenever I would get this error.

 

This is woefully off-topic, but Powerslave is awesome!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ryudo423
ryudo423
Posted
Posted

hey everyone....ive been reading this thread and it seems like this is a great build.. ive been a windows user all my life and have never built a computer but have always wanted to and due to the price i am very very tempted to make this exact build with the wireless card mentioned earlier...so if i were to buy this would usb devices work immediately or would i have to install some sort of drivers...also i was wonderin if a webcam would work with it for photobooth??

Link to comment
Share on other sites
n7myr
n7myr
Posted
Posted

I just built this system this week

it took about 30 minutes to put it all together and then about 45 minutes to install the OS

the usb will be up and working right away, I do not know what to tell you about the web cam as I do not have one

 

there is a speaker that came with my mother board but there is no place to plug it in, so I do not get the beep on post

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bibendum
bibendum
Posted
Posted
if i were to buy this would usb devices work immediately or would i have to install some sort of drivers...also i was wonderin if a webcam would work with it for photobooth??

 

Whether the USB device will work depends on the device.

 

Any UVC webcam should work... (UVC is Vista standard)...

 

Patrick

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TeddyTed2T
TeddyTed2T
Posted
Posted
I have compiled this tutorial so anyone can have a perfect Mac for under $250.

 

 

 

Step 1: Hardware

 

The only crucial component is the Motherboard. Feel free to mix and match other components to your liking.

 

 

 

$69.99 (TigerDirect.com)

 

Intel D945GCLF Motherboard/Includes 1.6Ghz Intel Atom CPU - Onboard Sound, Video, Lan, USB, SATA, IDE, Sleep, Reboot, Shutdown all work out of the box.

 

 

 

$39.99 (NewEgg.com)

 

Coolermaster Elite 340 Black MATX

 

 

 

$29.99 (TigerDirect.com)

 

Ultra LS350 Lifetime Series 350W Power Supply

 

 

 

$20.99 (NewEgg.com)

 

Corsair 1024MB PC5400 DDR2 667MHz Memory

 

 

 

$39.99 (NewEgg.com)

 

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 80GB Hard Drive

 

 

 

$23.99 (NewEgg.com)

 

Lite-On DH-20A4P-04 SuperAllwrite OEM DVD Burner

 

 

 

Grand Total: $224.94 + Shipping

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2: Software

 

 

 

1) Kalaway 10.5.2 Install DVD

 

 

 

- Use the OSX disk utility to partition and format the drive. Be sure to format as MBR

 

- Close Disk Utility and select the newly partitioned drive to install on.

 

- Select Customize and go to Patches. Now select Time Machine Fix

 

- Start instillation and relax

 

- When instillation is finished, resolution will be locked at 1024x768. We will fix this in a later step.

 

 

 

 

 

2) Kalaway 10.5.3 Combo Update

 

 

 

- First install the 10.5.3 update included in the package. DO NOT RESTART when finished

 

 

 

- Second install the 10.5.3 Kernel update included in the package. leave everything defult, which means both boxes unchecked. You can now safely restart

 

 

 

3) Apple Software Update 10.5.4

 

- You can now use the built in apple software update to bump up to Leopard 10.5.4. You can also install any other updates listed. This step assumes you followed my instructions and are still using the vanilla Kernel.

 

 

 

4) Graphics Fix

 

 

 

- I would like to thank "Charles vdg" for posting this fix in the InsanelyMac forums. Download the GMA 950 Kext package bellow and install the two included .Kext files. You can use Kexthelper if you are not comfortable installing manually.

 

 

Link to GMA 950 Kext Package

 

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=29965

 

 

Link to KextHelper

 

http://www.cheetha.net/Kext_Helper/Software.html

 

 

- After a quick restart you should now have full resolution and graphic support.

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3: Miscellaneous

 

 

 

This section is for small fixes that may or may not affect you.

 

 

 

1) Networking

 

 

 

Problem:

 

Losing Network after waking up from sleep mode

 

 

 

Fix:

 

Change network setting to DHCP Manual and assign a manual IP address. This should resolve the problem

 

 

 

2) Audio

 

 

Problem:

 

Microphone input does not work

 

 

Fix:

 

No fix currently

 

 

 

3) Restart

 

 

Problem:

 

After upgrading to Leopard 10.5.4, the computer hangs when restarting

 

 

Fix:

 

No fix currently

 

 

 

 

I hope this tutorial is able to help anyone looking to build an affordable Mac. Please feel free to contribute with new found problems or solutions.

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

 

 

 

Is there any fix for the PC hanging on restart yet??? It's annoying, I may just go back to 10.5.3.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
AK2007
AK2007
Posted
Posted
hey everyone....ive been reading this thread and it seems like this is a great build.. ive been a windows user all my life and have never built a computer but have always wanted to and due to the price i am very very tempted to make this exact build with the wireless card mentioned earlier...so if i were to buy this would usb devices work immediately or would i have to install some sort of drivers...also i was wonderin if a webcam would work with it for photobooth??

 

I have an iSight and use it with a NEC based firewire card. I replaced a mac mini with this. You can either pick up an iSight from ebay or google on how you hook up a usb cam on a mac. This has nothing to do whether you are running a hackintosh or not just a general mac/Leopard/CAM question. so there is plenty of info on it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
klp45
klp45
Posted
Posted

I have tried to follow the guide many times, and I keep getting "Could not verify Essentials". Can anyone shed any light on this?

I have a d945gclf, with 2gb, 160gb sata, and sata dvd.

 

I am wondering if I should be changing something in the BIOS, or if I should be selecting or un-selecting any other Item/s in the customize install menu other than the Time machine fix.

 

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TeddyTed2T
TeddyTed2T
Posted
Posted
I have tried to follow the guide many times, and I keep getting "Could not verify Essentials". Can anyone shed any light on this?

I have a d945gclf, with 2gb, 160gb sata, and sata dvd.

 

I am wondering if I should be changing something in the BIOS, or if I should be selecting or un-selecting any other Item/s in the customize install menu other than the Time machine fix.

 

Thanks

 

Are you using Kalyway 10.5.2?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
V3RT1G0
V3RT1G0
Posted
Posted

hi, im looking into buying one of these tonight but before i order i wanted to know if the 2 cases im deciding between , the two are:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811154090

 

and

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811154089

 

would either of these work? another thing that scares me is the power supply, they are both external (will they overheat, if left running all the time?) and they are only 60W, would that be enough? people say yes and some people say it didnt work, so im just looking for more of an insight in buying.

 

i would like to get this by tonight so help is appreciated, im excited! lol (and im also new to building computers, i have taken one apart before but other than that, that is all my experience)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
maccompaq
maccompaq
Posted
Posted

I am typing this from my new Hackintosh, just finished yesterday, and does it work great. It recognizes the PS2 keyboard and mouse. Some builds require a USB keyboard and mouse.

 

My hard drive is partitioned MBR, half as HFS+ and half as FAT32. Now that Leopard has been installed, I am wondering if I can install Windows XP on the other partition. I know that is backwards, but just wondering. If it can't be done without a lot of hassle, I will just use my Windows boxes when I need to.

 

I loaded Adobe CS, known as Photoshop 8, a PPC application, and it runs so fast, there will be no need for me to upgrade to CS3 which is native for Intel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
klp45
klp45
Posted
Posted
Are you using Kalyway 10.5.2?

 

 

Yes, burned it with alcohol120 @ 4x

 

I just installed kaly 10.5.1 becuse 10.5.2 wasn't working for me.

once i put 10.5.1 on i continued to follow the guide and now i have 10.5.3 but no nic,sound, and resolution went back to 1024x768

 

using 10.5.2 to get sound, nic, and resolution.

 

sorry about thr typing using my oqo

Link to comment
Share on other sites
maccompaq
maccompaq
Posted
Posted
hi, im looking into buying one of these tonight but before i order i wanted to know if the 2 cases im deciding between , the two are:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811154090

 

and

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811154089

 

would either of these work? another thing that scares me is the power supply, they are both external (will they overheat, if left running all the time?) and they are only 60W, would that be enough? people say yes and some people say it didnt work, so im just looking for more of an insight in buying.

 

i would like to get this by tonight so help is appreciated, im excited! lol (and im also new to building computers, i have taken one apart before but other than that, that is all my experience)

I would be wary of a small 60 watt power supply. Another problem with the cases you have referenced is the small space inside. For $124, just buy the Antec Sonata III 500, a 500 watt power supply the is rated at a very high 80% efficiency. Sure it is large, but it is a high quality case that the two you referenced are not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ryudo423
ryudo423
Posted
Posted

hey guys im a click away from buyin this and am very anxious but befor i do i want to make sure evrything is compatible..(sry im new to this)

 

ive used evrything on the first page except for these few things...will they work??

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817163012

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16833320022

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811147067

 

i know they r cheap parts...but im on a tight budget..thanku and also will my ps/2 mouse and keyboard work or will i have to buy usb ones and i am considering getting the two gig stick...but tis like 20 bucks more...will it be a huge differnece if i get the 2 gig or will the 1 gig be able to handle a decent amount of tasks at one time?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
V3RT1G0
V3RT1G0
Posted
Posted
I would be wary of a small 60 watt power supply. Another problem with the cases you have referenced is the small space inside. For $124, just buy the Antec Sonata III 500, a 500 watt power supply the is rated at a very high 80% efficiency. Sure it is large, but it is a high quality case that the two you referenced are not.
well i plan on it being minimalistic, im 16 and my budget is around 300 or so, and i want a sort of small compact case that i can maybe just leave on my couter or sumtin and just hook up to my tv with vga, do you guys know of any cheap small cases with at least a decent power supply (anything thats enough)?

 

as for power i plan on running atom, 2gb corsair pc5300, 160 gb seagate, and maybe an asus wifi in the pci slot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TeddyTed2T
TeddyTed2T
Posted
Posted
Yes, burned it with alcohol120 @ 4x

 

I just installed kaly 10.5.1 becuse 10.5.2 wasn't working for me.

once i put 10.5.1 on i continued to follow the guide and now i have 10.5.3 but no nic,sound, and resolution went back to 1024x768

 

using 10.5.2 to get sound, nic, and resolution.

 

sorry about thr typing using my oqo

 

 

 

I loaded Kalyway 10.5.2 then once loaded, I updated to 10.5.3 and right to 10.5.4. I didnt test anything 10.5.3. Everything works with 10.5.4 except it hangs on restart. Nic works but must manually apply IP address because when you come back from sleep it does not recognize. Audio does need kext and video for all resolutions. Once done its great, so much better than Vista!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
V3RT1G0
V3RT1G0
Posted
Posted
well i plan on it being minimalistic, im 16 and my budget is around 300 or so, and i want a sort of small compact case that i can maybe just leave on my couter or sumtin and just hook up to my tv with vga, do you guys know of any cheap small cases with at least a decent power supply (anything thats enough)?

 

as for power i plan on running atom, 2gb corsair pc5300, 160 gb seagate, and maybe an asus wifi in the pci slot.

can anyone help me? sorry im just anxious to order, but would any mini itx case work or what? ive never build a PC but i have basic to more knowledge. also what amount of power would i need from a psu? would a picopsu work?
Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...