Build a Perfect Mac for less than $250

[Chris_F]

Ok, I'm having problems.

 

I was using the EFI partition booter and everything was working fine.

 

I had the following in my EFI Extensions folder:

 

ACPIPS2Nub.kext

ApplePS2Controller.kext

dsmos.kext

IntelCPUPMDisabler.kext

SMBIOSEnabler.kext

 

all from the original boot-132 cd.

 

Then I had the following in my installation Extensions folder:

 

AppleIntelGMA950.kext (this and below for graphics fix)

AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer.kext

AppleACPIPlatform.kext (for restart fix)

 

Everything worked fine like that, but I wanted it to be completely vanilla with all fixes in my EFI extensions folder. I reinstalled and this time put all the kexts into the EFI partition. Everything works fine except for the graphics fix. The first time it worked perfectly, I had every resolution available in my preferences up to 1920x1200 and it recognized my monitor model under color. This time there is still only an option for 1024x768, and nothing else. I used a Boot.plist file in my EFI folder to set Darwin to 1920x1200, but it boots up at 1600x1200 instead and 1600x1200 is the only option in preferences.

 

Why is it acting different, I don't understand why it wouldn't behave exactly as before. What can I do to correct it?

 

For reference my system is a Intel D945GCLF2 with intel Atom processor. Running Leopard 10.5.4 vanilla installed from a retail disk using boot-132.

[jWin]

Firstly thank you everyone for the information and knowledge. I have completed my "under 250$" Hackintosh which will be a Christmas gift to my mother who has been a Macintosh user for a long long time.

 

The parts I used were all purchased at Newegg.com, and here is the list

 

Intel BOXD945GCLF2 Atom 330

PNY Optima 2GB DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (had free shipping)

Samsung 250GB SATAII Hard Drive

Apex MI-100 Case (beautiful case!!)

Samsung SH-S203B SATA DVD-Writer

 

I also added a slot fan I had laying around and will likely pickup a 3.5" card reader.

 

I used Kalyway 10.5.2 and successfully upgraded to 10.5.5 using the "Bike Town" 3-step method. I had USB mounting issues with 10.5.2 which was fixed in 10.5.5. I lost Audio in 10.5.5 but fixed it with a patch on the forums. Everything seems to work great including sleep and reboot. It runs really quick and smooth for the price! And now for pics...the front looks scratchy because of the plastic film, but its really a clear mirror finish.

 

[sircastor]

Well, I've had a mixed bag with trying to get my hackintosh up and working. I can get the board to boot the DVD everytime (Kalyway), but seeing the hard drive has been a mixed bag. I got it to install once, but after 10.5.3 the reboot came up and I had no hard drive again. I guess it's a hardware issue on the harddrive side. I'm looking at getting a new drive (SATA) to see if I have better luck with that.

 

I read the earlier post about someone who fried their board by removing the fan on the Northbridge. I'm thinking about removing my fan and blowing across it with an 80mm fan. The 80mm produces quite a lot of airflow and is MUCH quieter than the mounted fan. Anyone know if this would be a problem?

[golfer2004nh]

Great thread, also a great little computer. I built a D945GCLF2 setup. Atom 330, 2gb ram, 500gb HD, works awesome. Runs adobe photoshop at useable speeds, not super fast, but for doing some small photo editing, works awesome.

 

Updated to 10.5.5 using the method posted earlier with the pre and post install packages. Worked great. Used the settings posted in this thread.

 

One thing that is driving me nuts is it does not correctly register the processor. I tried the package listed in this thread that works for single core atoms, but my dual core is showing up as a 4ghz intel core duo. hahah, can't really complain that it shows up way faster, but I would rather have the 1.6 Dual Core Atom listed :-)

 

Thanks for all the information in this thread!!!!

[pluggulp]

Ok, I'm having problems.

 

I was using the EFI partition booter and everything was working fine.

 

I had the following in my EFI Extensions folder:

 

ACPIPS2Nub.kext

ApplePS2Controller.kext

dsmos.kext

IntelCPUPMDisabler.kext

SMBIOSEnabler.kext

 

all from the original boot-132 cd.

 

Then I had the following in my installation Extensions folder:

 

AppleIntelGMA950.kext (this and below for graphics fix)

AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer.kext

AppleACPIPlatform.kext (for restart fix)

 

Everything worked fine like that, but I wanted it to be completely vanilla with all fixes in my EFI extensions folder. I reinstalled and this time put all the kexts into the EFI partition. Everything works fine except for the graphics fix. The first time it worked perfectly, I had every resolution available in my preferences up to 1920x1200 and it recognized my monitor model under color. This time there is still only an option for 1024x768, and nothing else. I used a Boot.plist file in my EFI folder to set Darwin to 1920x1200, but it boots up at 1600x1200 instead and 1600x1200 is the only option in preferences.

 

Why is it acting different, I don't understand why it wouldn't behave exactly as before. What can I do to correct it?

 

For reference my system is a Intel D945GCLF2 with intel Atom processor. Running Leopard 10.5.4 vanilla installed from a retail disk using boot-132.

 

 

I used the same boot-132 CD to install using a Leopard 10.5.0 install disk. Then I went to 10.5.5 using Software update.

Several comments:

 

1. if you use the AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer.kext mentioned somewhere earlier in the thread ... (forgot the name of the poster and don't have the time to look) you don't need (and you should not) replace AppleIntelGMA950.kext. The modified AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer.kext works with the original Leopard AppleIntelGMA950.kext (I believe that most people who installed using Kalyway either have mouse tearing or use the Tiger kexts which seem to work fine).

 

2. Don't use AppleACPIPlatform to fix the restart issues. Use OpenHaltRestart.kext from the Psystar website (see nathun's comment a few posts back)

 

3. ACPIPS2Nub.kext, ApplePS2Controller.kext .... if you have a USB keyboard get rid of these two .kexts. You won't need them and they did cause weird problems when waking up from "sleep" mode on my machine (basically the PS2Controller.kexts started generating keypresses by itself, even though there was no PS2 keyboard attached).

 

4. If you want full support for the onboard ethernet (i.e. Gbit rather than 100 MBit and more reliable Appletalk) get the RealtekR1000.kext from the Psystar website. Caveat: this one will break wake sleep mode if you use DHCP ... workaround: assign a fixed IP address. I don't mind having only 100Mbit but I do need DHCP ...so I didn't keep RealtekR1000.kext after I had tried it.

 

Make sure you check out Munky's guide to install the boot-132 kexts in an unused partition of your harddrive once you're done.

[haroldc]

1. if you use the AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer.kext mentioned somewhere earlier in the thread ... (forgot the name of the poster and don't have the time to look) you don't need (and you should not) replace AppleIntelGMA950.kext. The modified AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer.kext works with the original Leopard AppleIntelGMA950.kext (I believe that most people who installed using Kalyway either have mouse tearing or use the Tiger kexts which seem to work fine).

 

Thank you for this tip

But it still doesn't work for me.

When I put the AppleIntegratedFrameBuffer.kext (the old one) in my boot132, it doesn't load it. It loads the new one. (which normally doesn't load when when my boot132 folder doesn't contain the AppleIntegratedFrameBuffer.kext)

I added the lines on the info.plist. Tried with "Root" and "Console" instead of "Safe Boot".

[pluggulp]

Thank you for this tip

But it still doesn't work for me.

When I put the AppleIntegratedFrameBuffer.kext (the old one) in my boot132, it doesn't load it. It loads the new one. (which normally doesn't load when when my boot132 folder doesn't contain the AppleIntegratedFrameBuffer.kext)

I added the lines on the info.plist. Tried with "Root" and "Console" instead of "Safe Boot".

 

 

just to make sure:

 

- put Slinger2G's AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer.kext in your boot132 Extensions folder http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...mp;#entry912531

 

- leave the AppleIntelGMA950.kext and the AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer on your root partition untouched (after installing from the retail DVD). If you have messed around with these, try to replace them with the original Leopard ones (you may want to get them from a real Mac just to be sure).

 

 

 

On a different subject: Audio: I just found the following thread here:

 

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...mp;#entry912531

 

This might be a good one to monitor/participate in if you want to get full audio support eventually (the dual-coreAtom board has the ALC662)

[kopo]

where do you enter these settings. I did the post combo update and it just said complete...

 

Looks good. I'm gonna test it. I'm running 10.5.4 right now so I'm gonna have to pop back in the Kalyway 10.5.2 disc and downgrade then try to install 10.5.5. I'll post back with my result in about an hour.

 

 

EDIT: Yup, this is probably the easiest way to get to 10.5.5. Just install Kalyway 10.5.2 as normal. Once at the desktop, install "Prepare for Combo Update.pkg" then install the OS X 10.5.5 Combo Update, then install "Post Combo Update Patches".

 

I selected the following

 

Kernel: 9.4.0 StageXNU Kernel

 

Chipset: Just Restore my Chipset Drivers

 

Video: Intel, GMA 950 and X3100, 950 Desktop

 

Audio: Just Restore Audio

 

Network: Just Restore Network

 

System Functions: Apple ACPI

 

Works like a charm. No need to update to 10.5.3, then 10.5.4 only to have to update once more to 10.5.5.

[golfer2004nh]

where do you enter these settings. I did the post combo update and it just said complete...

 

 

After the first screen of the post combo update on the left side there is a button that says customize. You need to click that and select the settings you want.

 

I also used the same settings as H8TR and it worked perfectly.

[kopo]

cool thank you, cant believe i didnt see it the first time around

After the first screen of the post combo update on the left side there is a button that says customize. You need to click that and select the settings you want.

 

I also used the same settings as H8TR and it worked perfectly.

[nathun]

As a temporary fix for my audio problem, I got one of those cheap usb audio soundcards on Ebay.  I paid $7 with free shipping and it work perfectly out of the box.  I bought it from a seller name "thepreferredstore" and it's labeled "3d sound".  I've seen several other people selling this model as well, so it seems to be pretty common. I haven't tried the mic input. 

[Killroy™]

I just wanted to share that after several installs using various distros I have found that the MSIWindowsX86.ISO was by far the easiest one. After the initial install and the GMA950 fix I just did a the Apple Software updates via the preference panel and made sure I installed the 10.5.5 update last and now absolutely everything works except for Time Machine.

 

To replace Time Machine I am using Carbon Copy Cloner with a scheduled task backup to an external USB hard drive every hour using incremental change backups only. I had to use it once to restore my hard drive and it worked great after you re-image the backup drive into a .DMG so that you can use it as a restore image.

[nathun]

Is anyone else having trouble booting the boot-132 discs?  I've been trying for days but I get checksum errors everytime.  I've tried 3 or 4 different kinds of media and a SATA and PATA drive, but still no luck....is there some trick I'm missing?  I think I have the default bios settings.  I've looked all over and it seems like this problem can be caused by a variety of things. 

[pluggulp]

Hi nathun,

 

the checksum error appears if there is something wrong with the .iso, but it does not appear to affect everyone in the same way (I wonder whether the DVD drive model makes a difference there). From what I've read I believe that the reason is that some of the tools that come with Mac OS X for creating and burning ISO images are buggy. One manifestation can be that the filenames on the iso are all uppercase, i.e. when you mount the iso image (before burning it) you will see INITRD.CONF ISOLINUX instead of initrd.conf, isolinux etc.

I noticed that with several downloaded ISO files and they gave me checksum errors. However, I also got the checksum error with one ISO that didn't have the ALL UPPERCASE problem. So there's other errors that can occur in the ISO.

But finally -after trying out several- one iso worked (but I didn't bookmark the link to it). After a few unsuccessful tries I also started to burn the images with Toast rather than with diskutil. I don't think that made a difference though.

 

I also tried out the "slimbuild" method to create my own ISO. Again, that didn't work. I reckon it is best to create a boot-132 iso on a linux system, at least that way you know that your iso tools are going to work.

 

Now, what I don't understand: There are a lot of boot-132 iso files out there that purportedly work for some people. Now, if the iso is corrupt, why would it work on one machine but not on another ? Are there some DVD drives that are more forgiving than others ?

[H8TR]

Does anyone have a method for totally getting rid of artifacts like mouse tearing and the random boxes appearing? I just realized that Photoshop CS4 runs decently on the Atom 330 with 2GB of RAM but with artifacts, it annoying to work in. Same goes with Office 2008. Practically impossible to use for me. The mouse tearing is ridiculous.

[mattrb]

Does anyone have a method for totally getting rid of artifacts like mouse tearing and the random boxes appearing? I just realized that Photoshop CS4 runs decently on the Atom 330 with 2GB of RAM but with artifacts, it annoying to work in. Same goes with Office 2008. Practically impossible to use for me. The mouse tearing is ridiculous.

 

Just get osx86tools.

Download Link

 

Enable Quartz GL should fix this problem.

 

Also Video Drivers might not be installed. Use OSx86tools to install them

[jWin]

Streaming 720p and 1080p video from the web seems very sluggish, would adding a Geforce 5500 PCI video card be a major improvement over the onboard GMA950?

[S0L]

Streaming 720p and 1080p video from the web seems very sluggish, would adding a Geforce 5500 PCI video card be a major improvement over the onboard GMA950?

 

I tried adding a PNY PCI GeForce 6200 - got it to work with NvInject 2.1 - but I couldn't figure out how to get CI/QE to work. As a result the software video playback was pretty disappointing, HD totally out of the question - even files that work fine with the built in GMA. The picture also wasn't as nice - seemed washed out.

 

If anyone knows the magic stuff you need to do to enable the CI/QE on PCI GeForce cards I'm happy to try it again and see if it does make a big difference. I'm going to try the OSX86 tools to see if that automagically works later though!

 

One thing to note if you do try it, if you decide you want to go back to the GMA, make sure you remove the NvInject kexts first, else it stalls the boot when it doesn't detect the GeForce (forced the BIOS to the GMA - hung during boot).

 

Sol

[bibendum]

Streaming 720p and 1080p video from the web seems very sluggish, would adding a Geforce 5500 PCI video card be a major improvement over the onboard GMA950?

 

Asked and answered:

 

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?s=&...st&p=939007

 

Patrick

[H8TR]

Just get osx86tools.

Download Link

 

Enable Quartz GL should fix this problem.

 

Also Video Drivers might not be installed. Use OSx86tools to install them

Turned on Quartz GL, didn't help. Thanks anyway.

[nathun]

I finally just gave up on trying the boot-132 method (although I did finally find 1 iso that woud boot, but only when I burned it in windows). I went ahead and tried munky's method booting from the efi partion (which was my end goal anyway). Worked great. Almost doesn't seem like it should be so easy. I updated with apple system updater and so far haven't found any problems.

[jWin]

just to make sure:

 

- put Slinger2G's AppleIntelIntegratedFramebuffer.kext in your boot132 Extensions folder http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...mp;#entry912531

 

pluggulp could you post the file you talked about above, having a difficult time finding it in the linked thread, I think it was removed.

 

or does anyone else have a solution to getting resolution changes to work with boot-123 method? Most files do not seem to work in the Extra/Extensions folder even after altering the info.plist

[pluggulp]

I finally just gave up on trying the boot-132 method (although I did finally find 1 iso that woud boot, but only when I burned it in windows). I went ahead and tried munky's method booting from the efi partion (which was my end goal anyway). Worked great. Almost doesn't seem like it should be so easy. I updated with apple system updater and so far haven't found any problems.

 

Yes, munky's method for booting from the EFI partition is great. However, you need to install Leopard somehow before you can do that. For me, boot-132 was the obvious choice as it uses the same concepts as munky's method. But any other way is good too ...

I guess one way to go about it would be to put a HDD in an external USB case, plug it into a Mac, then install, prepare the HDD for Munky's method and then take it out of the external USB case and plug it into a PC.

[Sergej]

Hi!

I'm trying to install kalyway dvd in my D945GCLF2 mother board (dual core).

Installation is ok, after reboot I've to do:

-s

mount -uw /

/movevideodrivers

 

to login.

But if I install 10.5.3 combo update and kernel (without select something on kernel update), after reboot I can't login.

The pc reboot every time, automatically, also if I boot with -v option...

Someone could help me?

 

With the 10.5.2 original dvd osx runs, but only wtih 1024x768 resolution... I can try to install gma drivers without installing combo update.. Have I to install combo update? And kernel update?

 

Thanks!

Sergej

[lulin]

Just to add an easy way to install:

 

I used the iDeneb 10.5.5 DVD and chose the GMA950 and ICH extensions and the Azalia Audio in the setup. Everything works, but the mouse has flickering problems. These can be solved by replacing the AppleIntegratedFramework.kext with the one you can find 3 or 4 pages before this post. Everything else seems to work nicely.

 

CORRECTION: I forgot to add that I also had to install the ethernet driver. So maybe it's not that good a starting point after all. Still, it gets you to 10.5.5 right away, so decide what's best for you.