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[Guide & Software] Complete Intel Bad Axe 2 Walkthrough with Software


weaksauce12
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Please use this updated guide by Team Scream: 12-June-2008

 

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...p;p=653520&

 

I haven't made any progress with the boot code despite months of effort, so unless someone else can fix it I don't see my version of the guide going anywhere. Which isn't a bad thing; Team Scream has written up a great guide based on Kalyway which allows you to install the newer updates plus have EFIv8, so I am now recommending his guide pending any further developments on my end.

 

Project Status:

 

Suspended due to boot code problems with my implementation; please use Team Scream's updated guide above! ;)

 

Old status:

 

1. EFI v8 Guide is in the works! No ETA yet, still bug fixing (no SuperDuper on EFI v5.2, previous guide update dumped for that reason!)

2. EFI v8 + 10.5.2 + Latest Updates + Networking String + IDE Mode + ACPI S1 + Netkas 9.2 Kernel + SMBIOS 27 = Good Success

3. 10.5.2 works with Netkas' instructions: http://netkas.org/?p=50

 

Updates:

 

UUID fix for EFI v8 users (installs strings instead of the IONetworkingFamily kext & fixes UUID error #35 for SuperDuper cloning)

Nice EFI v8 Guide using Kalyway 10.5.1 (thanks Team Scream!)

Added support for Marvell (thanks Guedes Jr. & apoo!)

BIOS 2809 (recommended)

How to edit About This Mac to display the proper CPU speed

Updated IONetworkingFamily.kext (works on all BA2 revisions, thanks bibendum!)

Flickr group - post your system pics!

 

Features:

 

1. Support for Dual-core and Quad-core Intel processors

2. Support for up to 8 gigs of RAM

3. 4 onboard SATA ports

4. 16x PCI Express video card slot

5. Two extra PCI Express slots (4x & 1x)

6. 1 onboard IDE port (support for 2 PATA devices)

 

Requirements:

 

1. Case, Power Supply, Case Fans

2. Processor, Heatsink/Fan, Thermal Paste

3. Memory

4. Hard Drive

5. DVD Drive

6. Video Card

7. Sound Card (PCI, PCIe, Firewire, or USB)

8. Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers

 

Limitations:

 

1. Sound is experimental (only Volume Control, no Mute/Mic). Suggestion: Griffin iMic USB sound card works great ($30).

2. Marvell SATA/RAID controller is not working (4 ports usuable, not 8). Suggestion: SI3132-based cards work great as an inexpensive SATA/RAID controllers.

3. Single Video Card: You can only run one (1) Video Card. You cannot run two (2) or more Video cards. This is true of all Hackintoshes. That means a maximum of two (2) monitors (2 ports on a single video card).

4. SuperDuper: SuperDuper does not work on EFI 5.2 because of the UUID #35 Error. This can be fixed in EFI v8 by using a string to replace the IONetworkingfamily kext.

 

Download Package here, about 20 megs:

 

* Format your USB stick to HFS+, NOT MS-DOS

* Use a Dual-Core or Quad-Core SSE3 CPU for best results

* Build on a Intel Mac running Tiger for best results (PPC has not been tested)

* There is an error on page 2 - switch "Video Card" and "Processor" under "Primary Hardware"

* Skip installing NVinject using the Terminal if you are using a different video card

 

http://rapidshare.com/files/76213608/ba2_pack.zip.html

 

Package Contains:

 

1. 5-page Intel Bad Axe 2 Guide (DOC & PDF formats)

2. Software (dsmos & AppleSMBIOS kexts, PC EFI 5.2, Time Machine fix, NVinject 1.5 for Leopard)

 

Details:

 

This guide is designed to give newbies and veterans alike a solid system for pumping out a stable Leopard computer based on the Intel Bad Axe 2 motherboard. It includes all of the necessary Bad Axe 2-specific software required to install Leopard and information about where to get the rest of the stuff (hardware and software-wise). This is a guide based off of Onetrack's awesome Perfect Leopard Install guide and is tailored specifically to the Intel Bad Axe 2 motherboard. It contains a step-by-step guide with checklists. I recommend printing it and grabbing a highlighter to follow along. In addition to the software included in the package, you will need to download the Kalyway 'Format and Make Bootable' disc and the BrazilMac patching system (more details in the guide).

 

This guide is based off the PC EFI 5.2 system. Version 5.2 lacks GPT/GUID and strings support, but it is very stable. The current release does not have support for full onboard Audio (lack of available driver) and does not support the second set of SATA controllers (the 4 Marvell ports). You have your choice of video cards; the system includes (and installs) NVinject 1.5 to start out with (great for 7000-series cards like the 7900GT) and also has Macdotnub's G80 installer (as a separate package) if you require that. You can also install whatever else you have drivers for (ATI, Quadro, etc.). I am running this on my "Hack Pro" system, which consists of the following:

 

-Cooler Master 690 case (lots of airflow)

-520w Corsair power supply (extra power for overclocking)

-Intel Bad Axe 2 motherboard

-Intel 2.4ghz Quad-Core Q6600 processor (overclocked to 3.0ghz)

-Scythe Infinity 120mm CPU Heatsink/Fan with Arctic Silver 5

-8 gigs of Transcend DDR2-800 RAM (4 x 2gb sticks)

-PCIe SI3132 2-port SATA RAID controller

-3 x 500gb drives (2 x 500gb in RAID 0, 1 x 500gb for backup)

-Lite-on SATA DVD burner with Lightscribe

-768mb 8800GTX modded into a Quadro FX 5600 (also tested with PNY 7300GT, eVGA 7900GT, XFX 8800GTS)

 

Tally-ho!

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Awesome guide Weaksauce12

 

Very detailed - this will help all the badaxe owners for sure.

 

Maybe add in if there is any difference between the normal Badaxe2 and the Badaxe2KR edition (i think the KR has support for crossfire, but not entirely sure)

 

anyways.. kudos, we need this stickied or joined onto mine.. Sabr - wanna do it?

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Hi,

 

Nice jobs! really is vary good guide for user of D975XBX2. but, i use vanilla smbios in my install, the only err is speed CPU showing 4Ghz.

 

Now, is one friend know one live XP CD/DVD with come MS netframeworks 2.0 installed, please PM !

 

No chances for make MIC works? and mute sound?

 

thx!

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So super stable?

Everything works?!!?

 

Yes, everything but Microphone Input due to the Sound Driver. However, that is easily fixed by using a $6 USB Sound Card from eBay or by using a USB microphone. That means:

 

-Time Machine works

-Apple Update works

-CI/QE works (provided you have a compatible video card)

-Sleep/wake works

-Leopard is stable

 

This is as good as a $5,000 Mac Pro :unsure:

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From Apple...

 

One 16x SuperDrive

Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - U.S. English

750GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s

Accessory kit

Two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon

Mac OS X - U.S. English

8GB (8 x 1GB)

750GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s

ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB (2 x dual-link DVI)

 

$7,892.00

 

If I could build yours for 2k and I knew stability wouldnt be an issue, I'd go for it.

It just seems to good to be true. So I'm thinking I should start small first...

 

Have you done any benchmarking against loaded Quad MacPro's

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Just priced this out at NCIX.com for Canadians.

 

Pricing came to $1,692.04 before taxes..

 

Add Keyboard/Mouse/Wi-Fi/Monitor!

 

Too pricey for me! But would love to try!

 

You don't have to spend $1692.04 to get a good machine...aside from a hard drive, you can build a Quad-Core machine with 4 gigs of ram for $700 aside from hard drive costs. Afaik Newegg doesn't ship to Canada, but see if you can find equivalent parts over at NCIX:

 

Rosewill case with 300-watt power supply - $30

Intel Bad Axe 2 - $175

Intel 2.4ghz Quad Q6600 processor - $280

4GB Transcend DDR2-800 (2x2GB) - $41 x 2 = $82

20x DVD burner with Lightscribe - $38

256mb 7300GT video card - $70

 

That's $675 USD (before taxes & shipping) for a 2.4ghz Quad machine with 4 gigs of ram, a fast DVD burner, and a 7300GT 100% compatible video card. All you need is to add a hard drive or two - you can easily build a crazy-fast machine for under a grand :wacko:

 

If I could build yours for 2k and I knew stability wouldnt be an issue, I'd go for it.

It just seems to good to be true. So I'm thinking I should start small first...

 

Have you done any benchmarking against loaded Quad MacPro's

 

I am working on a second machine that I will make a guide for, based on the $50 Gigabyte motherboard. The only limitation is that it can only take 2 gigs of ram, but audio is 100% support (6 channel even!).

 

Yes, I have done some benchmarking against Mac Pros. Unfortunately I cannot post the results since Xbench seems to be down. When Xbench is back online I will do some comparisons for you.

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Thanks for posting the sub-100 setup.

 

Your second machine, is that similar to onetracks machine? Which I can get all components for about $750

 

Yes, same board only cheaper parts - 7300GT instead of 7950GT and 2.0ghz C2D instead of the 2.4ghz model. I'll post links to the parts when I'm done building it and get it working 100%.

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Its so hard to find parts in Canada..... but I found almost everything you listed above..

 

But based on the list you gave above..

 

Looking at...

 

INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q6600 2.4 GHz 1066MHz - L2 8 MB ( 2 x 4MB) $279.99

Intel BLKD975XBX2KR Core 2 Duo/ 975X/ DDR2/ IEEE1394/ A&2GbE/ ATX Motherboard ($212)

LITEON 20X20 BLACK SATA DVD RW DUAL RAM, LIGHTSCRIBE, BULK ($33.50)

PNY VERTO GEFORCE 7300 GT PCI-E 256MB DDR2 DVI+VGA+HDTV/S VIDEO CARD ($97)

Transcend 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-800 CL5 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit ($97 bucks)

 

Thats $718 plus a case/ps still needed.

 

Will any ATX case and PS do?

 

How would this far up to OneTracks machine was he has said is essentially faster than the iMac core2 duo stock..

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Its so hard to find parts in Canada..... but I found almost everything you listed above..

 

But based on the list you gave above..

 

Looking at...

 

INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q6600 2.4 GHz 1066MHz - L2 8 MB ( 2 x 4MB) $279.99

Intel BLKD975XBX2KR Core 2 Duo/ 975X/ DDR2/ IEEE1394/ A&2GbE/ ATX Motherboard ($212)

LITEON 20X20 BLACK SATA DVD RW DUAL RAM, LIGHTSCRIBE, BULK ($33.50)

PNY VERTO GEFORCE 7300 GT PCI-E 256MB DDR2 DVI+VGA+HDTV/S VIDEO CARD ($97)

Transcend 4GB 2X2GB DDR2-800 CL5 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit ($97 bucks)

 

Thats $718 plus a case/ps still needed.

 

Will any ATX case and PS do?

 

How would this far up to OneTracks machine was he has said is essentially faster than the iMac core2 duo stock..

 

Yes, just get an ATX case and a quality power supply. I'd recommend at least 500 watts.

 

It would be more powerful than Onetrack's machine. The Gigabyte board can only support dual-core processors and a maximum of 2 gigs of ram. The Intel Bad Axe 2 board supports quad-core processors and a maximum of 8 gigs of ram. Essentially it can be twice as powerful.

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3 Questions:

 

1) Is there any reason to turn ACPI off, doesn't this affect the SATA speeds? (I'don't really know what I'm talking about, but everything I've read on here seemed to suggest ACPI was a necessity)

 

2) What kind of read-outs are you getting with system profiler?

 

3) Any information about CS3 and FCP performance? Does PS3 recognize memory? FCP like IO networking? etc

 

Thanks so much for the guide, had been putting off the upgrade!

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I just hooked up my wife's 24" Dell and it works fine as a secondary display. So currently I am running two DVI 24" 1920x1200 LCDs from the 8800 GTS. Works great! Too bad she won't let me keep hers ;)

 

Thanks. If you get the chance, please let us know if you can also get duals working with the 7300. I never managed to do so on an older Hackintosh running 10.4.

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Thanks. If you get the chance, please let us know if you can also get duals working with the 7300. I never managed to do so on an older Hackintosh running 10.4.

 

I tried booting it up a few times with an 8800GTS and a 7900GT, but it froze at the white Apple boot screen. No luck!

 

I suspect it might have something to do with them being different cards. I have a 7300GT...I will try going back to NVinject later and booting the 7900GT + 7300GT, that may work since they are the same "series" of cards.

 

 

3 Questions:1) Is there any reason to turn ACPI off, doesn't this affect the SATA speeds? (I'don't really know what I'm talking about, but everything I've read on here seemed to suggest ACPI was a necessity)2) What kind of read-outs are you getting with system profiler?3) Any information about CS3 and FCP performance? Does PS3 recognize memory? FCP like IO networking? etcThanks so much for the guide, had been putting off the upgrade!

 

1) Not that I know of, but your drives will appear as removable drives (the orange icons) if you don't. It's purely for cosmetic purposes.If you want them to look normal, you'll either have to set them as "IDE" or change the icon set yourself. I haven't run any disk tests, but I don't see any speed difference in daily usage. I'll put "hard drive testing" on my to-do list. Oh and System Profiler sees the drives as SATA (not IDE) regardless.

 

2) Everything is normal. The only odd thing is that it doesn't tell me what kind of chip it is, it just says "2.4ghz Unknown" instead of "2.4ghz Q6600". It does recognize it as being a quad core processor though. It also recognizes the full amount of ram, all the drives, and my video card (with the Macdobnub installer).

 

3) I haven't installed the CS3 suite or FCP2 yet. I'm actually going out of town this week to visit relatives for the holidays, so I'll give it a proper run-through when I get back. If there are any particular actions, images, or files you want me to test for benchmarking purposes, send me a PM.

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Geekbench scores:

 

4652 Stock @ 2.4ghz:

http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/28627

 

6011 OC'd @ 3.0ghz:

http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/28628

 

 

Some more info...

 

Mac Performance Blog: (from August)

http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/2007/08/mac...ce-august-2007/

 

9638 Mac Pro 8-core @ 3.0ghz:

http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/24782

 

9510 Q6600 @ 4.15ghz:

http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/27730

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Just for comparison:

 

http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/page/2/

 

3682 - single 2.4ghz @ 2.8ghz Core 2 Duo E6600 (Onetrack)

3910 - dual 2ghz dual-core Xeons (Mac Pro)

4652 - single 2.4ghz quad-core Core 2 Quad (weaksauce12)

5018 - dual 2.66ghz dual-core Xeons (Mac Pro)

5574 - dual 3.0ghz dual-core Xeons (Mac Pro)

6011 - single 2.4ghz @ 3.0ghz quad-core Core 2 Quad (weaksauce12)

8626 - dual 3.0ghz quad-core Xeons (Mac Pro)

 

So, my 2.4ghz Quad is faster than a dual 2ghz dual-core Xeon by 1000 points and is $3,800 less than the comparable configuration. It is only 400 points under the dual 2.66ghz dual-core Xeon. Overclocked to 3.0ghz, my Hackintosh is faster than both the dual 2.66ghz dual-core Xeons and the dual 3.0ghz dual-core Xeons. The Octo-core is about 2600 points faster than my Hackintosh.

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Dear weaksauce,

 

I followed the whole tutorial to install Leo on my XBX2. Once more, thanks a lot!

 

Everything works smoothly : graphics, audio, wake/sleep, etc ... except onboard LAN. The cable is said to be unplugged ... which is not of course!

 

That's a big problem because first, it used to work on 10.4.10 and second, I have to say LAN is quit useful :)

 

Did you have any trouble with your motherboard about that particular item? Do you think I could deal with IONetworkFamily.kext or any other kext that might not be fully compatible? I'm so close to the perfect set-up ...

 

If you have any idea ...

 

Thanks.

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Dear weaksauce,

 

I followed the whole tutorial to install Leo on my XBX2. Once more, thanks a lot!

 

Everything works smoothly : graphics, audio, wake/sleep, etc ... except onboard LAN. The cable is said to be unplugged ... which is not of course!

 

That's a big problem because first, it used to work on 10.4.10 and second, I have to say LAN is quit useful :)

 

Did you have any trouble with your motherboard about that particular item? Do you think I could deal with IONetworkFamily.kext or any other kext that might not be fully compatible? I'm so close to the perfect set-up ...

 

If you have any idea ...

 

Thanks.

 

Do you have the latest BIOS? The current one is update 1487: (I zipped it up and attached it to this post as well, see the below)

 

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Filter_Res...t&strOSs=38

 

I updated to that before installing Leopard and my LAN works 100%. I have a Gigabit network setup and it even recognizes it as a Gigabit NIC! Also I will include the BIOS in the next update of my guide.

 

If you do have the latest BIOS, boot up to the BrazilMac disc again with your USB Stick plugged in and install only the IONetworkingFamily.kext file again.

 

Open Terminal and type in the following commands:

 

cd /Volumes/PATHER/

 

cp -R IONetworkingFamily.kext /Volumes/Leopard/System/Library/Extensions/

(it will complain, just ignore it)

 

cd /Volumes/Leopard/System/Library/Extensions

 

chown root:wheel IONetworkingFamily.kext

 

chmod -R 755 IONetworkingFamily.kext

 

Now we're done with Terminal. Just for fun, open up Disk Utility and repair the permissions on your Leopard boot drive, then manually reboot.

 

Let me know if either of those two work, if not we'll keep trying until we figure it out! ;)

BX1487P.ISO.zip

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