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Build a Perfect Mac for less than $250


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Hey,

 

I just ordered the Intel D945GCLF, the rest of the parts i already had at home. It should be arriving in about 1 week and I am very excited.

 

I'm installing using the Kalyway 10.5.2 DVD and was wondering about the installation. Which options should I use in 'Customize.' I'm not sure... but looking at the original post, do I only have to do the Time Machine Fix and not check anything else (No graphic, audio, mobo, etc. drivers?) Please be specific as I am probably the biggest Noob on these forums for not knowing! :)

 

Thanks so Much

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Well in the time that ive been waiting for someone to reply to my post, and never receiving a reply, i ended up figuring it out myself. So toledoj, here's how you do this:

 

Install exactly as the first post says to do, its not too hard to follow those instructions. Just check the Time Machine Fix and thats it.

 

Then it reboots, you are stuck at 1024x768. Go here, download the pkg file and install it: http://forums.msiwind.net/mac/new-gma950-d...port-t3990.html

 

It's fully automatic install and you can ignore the whole thing about it saying the drivers are for 10.5.5. Reboot, and you are all set. You can then install all updates from Software Update, EXCEPT the system update to 10.5.6. Right now you're stuck at 10.5.2.

 

 

...But speaking about 10.5.5, it sure would be awesome if one of the people who got this system running would tell us how they got it to install seeing as how the files no longer exist on biketown's website...

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...But speaking about 10.5.5, it sure would be awesome if one of the people who got this system running would tell us how they got it to install seeing as how the files no longer exist on biketown's website...

 

I'm running 10.5.6 retail, no mouse artifacts, full audio/video/etc... Details are in this thread:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...t&p=1095431

 

Patrick

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I have some issues, I thought I had bad ram memory because my setup was slugish at times when opening several webpages at a time, or watching youtube HD videos. I have a 90 watt picopsu and 80watt AC adapter, could it be low power the cause?

 

Also, I reinstalled from scratch and I get kernel panics when opening dmg files, and I cannot boot with an usb flash memory connected.

 

I'll post my findings later :)

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I have some issues, I thought I had bad ram memory because my setup was slugish at times when opening several webpages at a time, or watching youtube HD videos. I have a 90 watt picopsu and 80watt AC adapter, could it be low power the cause?

 

Also, I reinstalled from scratch and I get kernel panics when opening dmg files, and I cannot boot with an usb flash memory connected.

 

I'll post my findings later :(

 

 

This is an Intel Atom CPU on a GMA950. It is a VERY slow CPU, from what I read its roughly equivalent to a single core 800mhz Pentium M chip. Remember, clock speed means nothing anymore. You can't expect it to play 720p video under any condition or any OS. You also can't really expect it to be that fast of a machine, because it simply isn't a fast machine.

 

Also you shouldn't use YouTube as a test for 720p playback. YouTube HD is played through Adobe Flash, meaning your CPU is decoding every single frame. None of this decoding is offloaded to the VPU as nearly every other format of 720p video playback does. For comparison, a desktop I have with a Sempron LE-1150 and an nVidia 6100 integrated can't even come close to playing youtube HD. And that machine is a night and day performance improvement over the Atom machine. Even my C2D 2.5gHz laptop stutters when playing YouTube HD in full screen.

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Pardon me, but my experience doesn't jibe with yours at all. I have built half a dozen of these D945GCLF "Mac Atom" systems, some with 2GB-RAM and some with only 1GB-RAM, and all of them can play 720p video just fine in Quicktime, VLC, iTunes, and yes, YouTube. If you have problems with 720p material on your system based on the Intel D945GCLF or D945GCLF2 Atom motherboards, your OS installation is probably not what it should be in terms of the proper kexts added and/or removed during the OSX86 tweaking. Don't blame the Atom CPU or the GMA950 GPU, these parts are more than up to delivering perfectly fine 720p video playback.

 

And if you are also seeing stuttering 720p on your C2D 2.5GHz, something is seriously wrong with that system as well. That processor doesn't break a sweat with 1080p video, much less 720p. Go back and check your OS installation again.

 

This is an Intel Atom CPU on a GMA950. It is a VERY slow CPU, from what I read its roughly equivalent to a single core 800mhz Pentium M chip. Remember, clock speed means nothing anymore. You can't expect it to play 720p video under any condition or any OS. You also can't really expect it to be that fast of a machine, because it simply isn't a fast machine.

 

Also you shouldn't use YouTube as a test for 720p playback. YouTube HD is played through Adobe Flash, meaning your CPU is decoding every single frame. None of this decoding is offloaded to the VPU as nearly every other format of 720p video playback does. For comparison, a desktop I have with a Sempron LE-1150 and an nVidia 6100 integrated can't even come close to playing youtube HD. And that machine is a night and day performance improvement over the Atom machine. Even my C2D 2.5gHz laptop stutters when playing YouTube HD in full screen.

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Does anyone happen to know what the difference is between the GCLF2 and the GCLF? I tried iSynapse's driver pack on a 10.5.0 retail install and it made my computer unbootable. I'll be trying the other pack that someone else posted higher up, but my impression was that the only difference between the boards was the CPU.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I've been working on reinstalling my D945GCLF using the driver pack conlan made (based on iSynapse's D945GCLF2 version) with a 10.5.6 retail DVD with the ultimate goal of booting Chameleon 2.0RC1 using Munky's method in the EFI partition. So yeah, I'm combining about three different things here.

 

The boot132.iso in the D945GCLF driver pack works well enough to install the 10.5.6 retail DVD. Once installed, I follow Munky's steps to reformat the EFI partition, then I switch to the Chameleon 2.0RC1 install instructions. I've managed to follow instructions well enough that the system can boot from the HDD and I no longer need the boot132 CD.

 

The next step was to install the graphics and other kexts that are specific to the D945GCLF, included in the driver pack. I copied the various graphics .kexts, .bundles, .plugins etc. from the driver pack to /Volumes/EFI/Extra/Extensions. I made a modification to Munky's update.sh because the Extensions path is slightly different with Chameleon 2.0RC1. I then ran update.sh to build the kextcache.

 

But I'm still stuck in 1024x768. I believe I am missing some essential knowledge about installing kexts to a location other than /System/Library/Extensions.

 

Any suggestions? If I can get everything working I'm going to write a thoroughly detailed tutorial.

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I found a dsdt.aml for the D945GCLF in another thread, tried it, and that gave me all graphics resolutions. I don't know why the dsdt.aml that I had generated using osx86tools was different.

 

The ethernet driver included with the conlan/iSynapse driver pack consists of an installer that I don't want to run because I need whatever it installs to go into the EFI Extras folder instead of the usual place. Meanwhile, I'm using a PCI wireless-G card, made by ASUS I think (don't have the machine in front of me atm), which worked out of the box, otherwise it wouldn't have networking.

 

Onboard audio isn't working either, but I have a USB headset which works out of the box as well.

 

Sleep, shutdown, and restart seem to work fine. At this point, ethernet and audio are all that are lacking.

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  • 2 months later...

Have any of you guys had problems with Fan noise?

 

I pulled out the board from my wife's cube because it was making a horrible racket. Loud, awful vibration. The fan seems to have worked itself against the heatsink in such a way that it vibrates pretty horribly when it's running, although it's not all the time, just occasionally. Right now, for instance, it's just fine, making the normal amount of sound.

 

Just curious if anyone else has run into it. I've read that the fan they chose was not top of the line, and for a little cash, you can get a better one, however, the Heatsink appears to be the problem for me. Even tightly screwed in, the fan makes noise.

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  • 1 month later...
The fan on this board is really hit or miss. If its too loud replace it with an aftermarket fan.

Anyone try this board with Snow Leopard yet? I'm curious to see if the new update helps the speed on this board.

 

Tried my EEE 1000h, works awesome. Dont use 64 bit, its unnecessary garbage.

 

use -x32

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  • 2 weeks later...
Anyone try this board with Snow Leopard yet? I'm curious to see if the new update helps the speed on this board.

 

I'm tempted to try it, but I do not have the time at the moment :)

So I second the question: Anyone tried SL on this board? What are your experiences?

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I´m using Kalys 10.5.1 for this one and I´ve also put together a hack for my mother with the G945GCLF2. Both runs really good with Kalys (formated in mbr), network works out of the box. Can only get sound out though but it´s good enough for me since I use my hack for internet and as some kind of a "mediacenter" hooked up to my 42 inch flatscreen TV.

 

In my own hack I use IDE hardrives and DVD in my moms it´s all Sata drives. Two drives in hers both Win XP and osx, boot F10 takes you to the boot order screen in bios.

 

I have´nt had any succes with retail leo but have´nt really worked so hard to get it working since kalys Leo is good enough for this little mobo.

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  • 1 month later...
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 **No Longer Needed - See Bellow to upgrade straight to 10.5.5

 

 

 

- 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 **No Longer Needed - See Bellow to upgrade straight to 10.5.5

 

- 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) Apple Software Update 10.5.5 - Using Biketown Method

 

- Visit http://mysticus.titanous.com/update.html and download the Pre/Post Installer Patches and Combo Update 10.5.5 directly from Apple

 

- Run Biketowns Pre-Installer Patch. Close when done.

 

- Run the official 10.5.5 Combo update you downloaded from Apple. When Finished DO NOT RESTART. Force Quit installer (Click Apple on top left and select "Force Quit")

 

- Run Biketowns Post-Installer Patch **This can take a long time, do not worry it is normal**

 

- Restart the Computer - After the first restart the PC will hang at the grey apple screen. This is normal. Let this run for 30 seconds and manually restart again. OSX should now boot.

 

 

 

 

5) 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,

 

THIS IS MY HARDWARE :

 

INTEL D945GCLF

1GB RAM 533

WD 80GB ATA HDD

ATA IDE DVD-RW

 

I INSTALLED Kalyway_10.5.2_DVD_Intel_Amd EFI V8 FOLLOWING THIS GUIDE, I UNCHEKED SOME OPTIONS AND CHECKED ANOTHER ONES (YOU KNOW, TIME MACHINE FIX, NETWORK AND VIDEO SUPPORT FOR THIS MOBO) AND UNCHECK A LOT OF THINGS THAT I GUESS ARE NOT IMPORTANT FOR THIS MOBO(MAYBE IM WRONG) WELL LONG STORY SHORT I FOLLOWED THE GUIDE EXCEPT FOR UNCHECKING SOME ITEMS FROM THE LIST.. I FINISHED THE INSTALLATION. THE SYSTEM BOOTED THEN I COULD TEST THE NETWORK AND THE VIDEO.. I WAS TRYING TO INSTALL THE UPDATE 10.5.5 FROM A BURNED CD AND BAM!,, A PANIC KERNEL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PROCESS.

 

THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME IT HAPPENED TO ME, IVE INSTALLED OTHER DISTROS BEFOREl-==: IDENED, IATKOS AND NOW KALYWAY WITH THE SAME RESULTS OF KERNEL PANIC WHEN OPENING DMG AND PKG FILE, I DONT KNOW WHAT IM MISSING IN THE INSTALLATION PROCESS, MAYBE I HAVE A FAULTY MOBO BECAUSE SOME OF YOU HAVE HAD SUCCESS ON INSTALLING AND GETTING EVERYHING WORKING APPARENTLY HASSLE FREE

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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 **No Longer Needed - See Bellow to upgrade straight to 10.5.5

 

 

 

- 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 **No Longer Needed - See Bellow to upgrade straight to 10.5.5

 

- 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) Apple Software Update 10.5.5 - Using Biketown Method

 

- Visit http://mysticus.titanous.com/update.html and download the Pre/Post Installer Patches and Combo Update 10.5.5 directly from Apple

 

- Run Biketowns Pre-Installer Patch. Close when done.

 

- Run the official 10.5.5 Combo update you downloaded from Apple. When Finished DO NOT RESTART. Force Quit installer (Click Apple on top left and select "Force Quit")

 

- Run Biketowns Post-Installer Patch **This can take a long time, do not worry it is normal**

 

- Restart the Computer - After the first restart the PC will hang at the grey apple screen. This is normal. Let this run for 30 seconds and manually restart again. OSX should now boot.

 

 

 

 

5) 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,

 

 

$60 mobo with everything working onboard..holy {censored}ake mushrooms..

 

I might save and save and follow this guide.

 

But the thing is, the HDD and RAM u posted says not found on Newegg..

 

So then I found RAM equivalent, so I'm good.

 

I looked up the HDD and saw it was SATA, I have a SATA HDD right now (Working, 320GB 7200RPM), and I was wondering if I could use that? I'm unsure because the case is mini ITX, and I was thinking things like the HDD wouldn't fit or whatever. (Oh yeah, my SATA HDD I have right now is 3.5")

 

DVD Drive, I have a Lite on iHAP422, same as the one you posted (not model number) and it is IDE, so I'm good on that too.

 

 

So basically if the HDD will work out, this was a steal..I would only have to pay $184.07, for a fully working, fast, hackintosh with barely any fixes!

 

 

Oh yeah, bootloaders. So suppose I build this (It'll take FOREVER to save money), and it works (HA), what bootloader would I need? (I won't be dual booting,I'll only have one HDD in my Hack, and that will be leopard.)

 

Thnx!

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Well it´s not so fast maby but fast enough for ordinary stuff. The g945gclf2 is dualcore so you get a bit more power with that one. I have built hackmacs based on both and personally I have one based on the g945gclf hooked up to my 42 inch flat screen tv for surfing the internet, looking at photos and stuff like that. Kalys Leo 10.5.1 works perfect you need nothing else, onboard video works ok with that version. Check out this on ebay, cheapest for readybuilt is from the US but the one from China looks pretty nice too. Depending on where you live and the cost for shipping and taxes might make it worth while to go for one of these.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Media-Center-HTPC-ATOM...3#ht_3920wt_941

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-D945GCLF2-mini-I...3#ht_2483wt_941

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  • 4 weeks later...

Haha dude, if I follow this guide, it would only be $183.84 for me!

 

Motherboard - Yeah, I'll buy it.

 

RAM - Yes, that too.

 

Case - Yuppers.

 

PSU - Yes.

 

Video Card - It has onboard, but I'm going to be installing a NVIDIA GeForce 7200GS I have, and add a EFI String with OSx86 Tools.

 

DVD Burner - I already have one, Lite-On iHAP422, it's IDE.

 

Keyboard and Mouse - Already got it, along with a monitor.

 

Sound - I got speakers.

 

LAN - Onboard.

 

 

 

So technically the only things I will be paying for are the motherboard, RAM, case, and Power Supply. Everything else is fine!

 

Thanks for the guide!

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  • 2 months later...
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 **No Longer Needed - See Bellow to upgrade straight to 10.5.5

 

 

 

- 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 **No Longer Needed - See Bellow to upgrade straight to 10.5.5

 

[/size]- 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) Apple Software Update 10.5.5 - Using Biketown Method

 

- Visit http://mysticus.titanous.com/update.html and download the Pre/Post Installer Patches and Combo Update 10.5.5 directly from Apple

 

- Run Biketowns Pre-Installer Patch. Close when done.

 

- Run the official 10.5.5 Combo update you downloaded from Apple. When Finished DO NOT RESTART. Force Quit installer (Click Apple on top left and select "Force Quit")

 

- Run Biketowns Post-Installer Patch **This can take a long time, do not worry it is normal**

 

- Restart the Computer - After the first restart the PC will hang at the grey apple screen. This is normal. Let this run for 30 seconds and manually restart again. OSX should now boot.

 

 

 

 

5) 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.

 

 

Soo sould i folow these 1, 2, 3, etc by step by step.

 

like

install this version

than updated it to that version

 

or can i just go fro the lastest version?

 

i going to make this build but i found cheap prices :)

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