Hackintosh (en/us)

First, I whish to thank Tonymacx86 and Macman for their brilliant work.

UPDATE 07/23/2012
I strongly recommend that - if you have a running Mac OS X build with Lion - you use TonyMac's tutorial named UniBeast. Using this method is way much easier, saves you time, does not require to limit memory to 4Go and works period. Since I did it myself and I found nothing to add to this tutorial, there's no need to rewrite it for my current build. So click here now and follow Unibeast Tutorial immediately.

In this article I will explain how to install Mac OS X on a (specific) PC.
You'll see that you cannot install OS X on any PC. You need to have specific hardware (motherboard, graphic card, chipset, cpu).

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

Once installation is done (10.6.8), you'll be able to buy Lion Update (10.7.1) from the Apple Store.

I'll follow the genuine guide written by Tonymacx86 with a few adjustments to comply with the following hardware specifications.

HARDWARE NEEDED TO SUCCEED

In order to assemble this Customac or Hackintosh you'll need the following equipment:

• Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 rev.1 (chipset Intel Z68)
• Intel Core i7 2600K
• Ventirad Noctua NH-D14
• Sapphire Vapor X AMD Radeon HD 6870 1 Go DDR5
• 4 Go RAM Corsair Vengeance 1600 MHz
• Serial ATA HDD (less than 2 To)
• Optical drive DVD 22x LG GH22NS50
• USB Flash drive (if you need to flash your BIOS)

Comments :

Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3 rev.1

You might use other motherboard brands or models. Check your motherboard compatibility here : DSDT database @ tonymacx86.

Intel Core i7 2600K

You can keep any other CPU as long as it matches your GIGABYTE motherboard.

Noctua NH-D14

No need to buy such a huge cooler if you don't intend to overclock your CPU.
Use instead the default cooler.

Sapphire Vapor X AMD Radeon HD 6870

I picked Vapor X version of the Radeon in case I succed to overclock it as well. Tonymacx86 insists that you use a graphic card matching the manufacturer's (AMD) specs.
Note : 69xx models don't work at the moment.

Corsair Vengeance 4 Go 1600 MHz C9

Corsair Vengeance has no issues with GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3.
Attention! It is said in forums that other GIGABYTE motherboard have.
Chose your memory carefully.

To complete installation don't use more than 4 Go of memory. You can place other DIMM afterwards.

Serial ATA HDD < 2 To

The HDD should not have partitions greater than 2. In case of failure, try to plug your serial ATA Cable in another serial ATA connector. Leave only one HDD plugged in your computer case.
Note : I don't know if SSD are supported.

Serial ATA DVD

Your optical drive must use serial ATA inteface.

REQUIRED SOFTWARE

• Mac OS X Snow Leopard (v10.6.3) retail version
• iBoot
• UpdateHelper
• MultiBeast
• xMove
• Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 

Additionnaly, an Apple Store account (with money) to buy Mac OS X Lion Update.

I. PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

I believe that you are familiar with computer hardware, thus you'll be able to assemble all the hardware and make it work. This article doesn't aim at explaining how to build a PC.
In case you're in trouble, always take a look at the manufacturer's manual.

II. BIOS FLASHING

1. Check your motherboard's firmware like shown below.

We want to use the lastest firmware available in Gigabyte Motherboards Support and in Tonymacx86's DSDT Database.

At the moment it is version 5.

Tonymacx86 & MacMan update their database on a regular basis. Just be patient.

2. Unpack and Copy the firmware on your flash drive (a PC is required as it is an .exe file).

3. Reboot and plug your USB flash drive.

4. Reach the BIOS screen by pressing "DEL" on your keyboard.

5. Press F8 key to enter QFlash utility. Follow the instructions.

6. When finished, unplug the USB flash drive and reboot.

The motherboard's BIOS is now up to date.

III. BIOS SETTING

Reboot.

Reach motherboard's BIOS screen by pressing "DEL" key.

Select Load Optimized Defaults and press Y key to confirm.

In ADVANCED BIOS FEATURES :

• set FIRST BOOT DEVICE on CDROM
• set SECOND BOOT DEVICE on Hard Disk
• set THIRD BOOT DEVICE on DISABLED

In INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS :

• set PCH SATA CONTROL MODE on AHCI
• set ONBOARD SATA/IDE CONTROL MODE on AHCI

In POWER MANAGEMENT SETUP :

• set HPET MODE on 64 Bits Mode
• set ACPI Supend Type on S3(STR)

Note : this last option is not available on firmware version 5. I found it on version 4 and 6 though :(
Expect bugs if you try to set your computer in sleep mode.

Your system is ready for Mac OS X !

IV. PREREQUISITE

Copy UpdateHelper, MultiBeast, your DSDT file matching your motherboard's brand and model (get it on tonymacx86 DSDT Database) on your USB flash drive.


V. INSTALLATION

Download iBoot and burn it on CD-R.

Place iBoot in your serial ATA optical drive.

Start your computer, after a few seconds of loading you get this screen :

Your available memory is written on the top left corner.
Make sure you don't have more than 4 Go.

Switch iBoot CD with your original Mac OS X 10.6.3 Snow Leopard retail DVD.

Press F5 key to refresh, then you get this screen :

Press start to begin.

While the welcome screen is displayed, you can select Tools > Disk utility in the finder (it's the menu bar at the top of the screen dude!).

Select your HDD and create 1 partition. Name it like you want. It's System in the screenshot above.

Click the Options button and selection GUID Partition Table.

Select Mac OS extended (journaled) in format.

Baptize your partition and make a prayer.

Apply modifications (all data will be lost, be sure to backup before).

Quit Disk Utility and start the installation of Snow Leopard. When asked, select your newley created partition.

After 20 to 30 minutes the system reboots automatically.

Remplace Mac OS X retail DVD by iBoot CD. You shoud get this screen.

Select the System partition and press Enter.

Congratulations, Mac OS X 10.6.3 is installed but not yet optimized for your hardware.

VI. UPDATE HELPER v1.0


Plug your USB flash drive.

Execute and install UpdateHelper.app

Reboot.

VII. MULTIBEAST & MAC OS X UPDATE COMBO v1.1

Start your computer.

When OS X is loaded, plug your USB flash drive.

Copy DSDT-GA-Z68X-UD3P-B3-F5.aml on your desktop, rename it DSDT.aml

Copy MacOSXUpdCombo10.6.8.dmg also on your desktop. Mount it by double clicking.

IMPORTANT : copy MultiBeast on your desktop and execute it WITHOUT INSTALLING IT (stay on the first dialog box).

Unplug your USB flash drive.

IMPORTANT : run the Mac OS X 10.6.8 combo update but DO NOT REBOOT.

Once it is done, proceed to the next steps of installing Multibeast.

If your experience a Multibeast crash just reload it at once.

Check the following options :

• User DSDT
• System Utilities
• Drivers & Bootloaders > Kexts & Enablers > Audio > Realtek ALC8xx > ALC8xxHDA
• Drivers & Bootloaders > Kexts & Enablers > Audio > Realtek ALC8xx > AppleHDA Rollback
• Drivers & Bootloaders > Kexts & Enablers > Disk
• Drivers & Bootloaders > Kexts & Enablers > Miscellaneous > FakeSMC
• Drivers & Bootloaders > Kexts & Enablers > Miscellaneous > FakeSMC Plugins
• Drivers & Bootloaders > Kexts & Enablers > Miscellaneous > USB 3.0 - NEC/Renesas
• Drivers & Bootloaders > Kexts & Enablers > Network > Realtek Gigabit Ethernet 2.0.6
• Drivers & Bootloaders > Bootloaders > Chimera v1.4.1
• Customization > Boot Options > 64-bit Apple Boot Screen
• Customization > System Definitions > Mac Pro > MacPro 3,1
• OSx86 Software

Same options with a screenshots:

After installation, if you get a failure message, don't bother. It worked fine indeed.

Reboot.

Welcome to OS X 10.6.8.

UPDATE 06/19/2012

Bug adjustment :
If after boot (apple logo) you get a white screen, it means that you probably encountered a graphic issue.

To solve it, press a key when Chimera appears on screen.

Type in : GraphicsEnabler=No and press enter. You should be able to access Mac OS X desktop now.

In Finder, select Go to folder and type in: /Extra

Open file: org.chameleon.Boot.plist

Add this:

<key>AtiConfig</key>
<string>Duckweed</string>

In order to get something like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Kernel</key>
<string>mach_kernel</string>
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>npci=0x2000 darkwake=0</string>
<key>AtiConfig</key>
<string>Duckweed</string>
<key>GraphicsEnabler</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>Timeout</key>
<string>2</string>
<key>Legacy Logo</key>
<string>Yes</string>
<key>EthernetBuiltIn</key>
<string>Yes</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Here is the full blog post on TonyMac:
http://tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=51340

VIII. MAC OS X LION & xMOVE

Back on your mac desktop, launch App Store.

Log in to your account or create it.

Mac App Store

Download Mac OS X Lion.

Install Lion on System.

Mac OS X Lion

Restart and execute Disk Utility.

Add a partition of 8 Go formatted as Mac OS extended journaled.
Name it Installer.

Click the Partition button to apply modifications.

Download and execute xMove and chose Installer partition as destination.

xMOVE

Reboot.

Under Chimera load screen, select INSTALLER.

Real installation of Lion starts now. Once done, you'll be back on your mac desktop under version 10.7.1!

If you lost network connection or sound, execute once again multibeast like described in the previous step.

IX. GENERAL COMMENTS

A few bugs persist :

• USB 3 ports are not recognized
• 2nd DVI port doesn't work
• Mini Display Port 2 doesn't work

A few good surprises :

• Noname Bluetooth dongle is working (hence you can use Magic Trackpad, Wireless Keyboard or Magic Mouse)
• Mini Display Port 1 is working
• HDMI is working

Triple Display is possible (DVI + Mini DIsplay + HDMI).

Need to test new firmware v6 to handle correctly sleep mode.

X. RESULTATS

You can now add additionnal DIMMs.
We upgrade from 4 to 8 Go DDR3 PC1600 C9 in this example.

XI. BENCHMARK

1. Geekbench 64 bits

2. Novabench

3. Cinebench GPU + CPU

CPU TEST

GPU TEST