Building a hackintosh... lessons learned so far...

[Wayne]

Hi guys,

Been away as of late. Kinda concentrating on building a Hackintosh to (hopefully) replace my current iMac 27" i7/3.4 machine.

Last week, I jumped on tonymacx86.com, assembled a list of known good parts, then ran down to MicroCenter (see microcenter.com) which seems like the East Coast's equivalent to Fry's Electronics.. Kind of a store where you can pretty much find everything to build anything -- kinda like a modernized Radio Shack really...

... and they will price match anyone, including Amazon (yay!)

Anyway, bought;

• Gigabyte Z97N-Wifi motherboard (Mini ITX)
• Intel 4790k i7 processor running at 4.0 gigahertz
  
• 16 gigabytes of RAM
• 500 gigabyte SSD drive
• Gigabyte NVidia 970 Overclocking video card
• Cooler Master Hyper T2 cooler (I wanted the bigger 212 cooler but it won't fit in the case)
• 750 watt modular power supply.
• Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX case to put it all in.
• 27" Asus MX27AQ Monitor (2560 x 1440 resolution)

After a lot of pulled hair, I had it assembled and up and running.

Created a USB stick, then installed Unibeast on it in order to install Apple OS X El Capitan (v 10.11.1)...

I've had it up and running, all totaled, for about a day. A friend of mine took it over the weekend to try to get Bluetooth 4.0 and Wifi running, but there is a conflict somewhere which completely munges the installation. Needless to say, I'm quickly becoming an expert on installing and reinstalling the operating system...

What I've found is this;

• It SCREAMS... Running the 64-bit geekbench benchmarks on my current iMac gets about 12000 or so. This hackintosh gets around 17300 or so.. Granted, it's 3 years newer and a newer/faster i7 processor, but I would have thought a great amount of speed would be eaten up by the emulation process. It's not. *Really*...
  
  
• You HAVE to like d*cking around with hardware and software. When you buy a real Mac, it works, no futzing required. With the Hackintosh, there's a learning curve in getting everything stable. It takes a single errant "learning experience" (read: option flip) to get to the "start over from scratch" point, which really, really sucks...
  
  
• If I can finish squashing bugs, I really, really see the potential, plus I like the idea of having two gigantic high-res monitors as well, but getting across that finish line is simultaneously enthralling and infuriating...

Pictures to come...

 

[JoBBo]

27" Asus MX27AQ Monitor (2560 x 1440 resolution)

I am slightly surprised you did not go for a 4K monitor. High-PPI displays still work a bit nicer with MacOS than they do with Windows. It is a really selling point in my opinion.

A friend of mine took it over the weekend to try to get Bluetooth 4.0 and Wifi running, but there is a conflict somewhere which completely munges the installation.

I remember I had to buy 3 different Bluetooth dongles until I found one which worked perfectly (same chip as used by Apple).

Needless to say, I'm quickly becoming an expert on installing and reinstalling the operating system...

I have learned to always keep a working backup of MacOS on an external USB harddisk. When you accidently render your system unable to boot during the inital set up phase, it often just takes a reboot and some very minor changes to fix it.

It SCREAMS... Running the 64-bit geekbench benchmarks on my current iMac gets about 12000 or so. This hackintosh gets around 17300 or so.. Granted, it's 3 years newer and a newer/faster i7 processor, but I would have thought a great amount of speed would be eaten up by the emulation process. It's not. *Really*...

Well, there really is no "emulation" to speak of. On desktop computers, Apple provides a lot of drivers themselves and any missing parts are usually filled in from the *BSD or Linux worlds.

You HAVE to like d*cking around with hardware and software. When you buy a real Mac, it works, no futzing required. With the Hackintosh, there's a learning curve in getting everything stable. It takes a single errant "learning experience" (read: option flip) to get to the "start over from scratch" point, which really, really sucks...

Major software updates are definitely a hassle. El Capitan has been available for a while now and I have not bothered to install it yet.

I think the biggest limitation is that there is really no good choice to run MacOS on a non-Apple laptop. Even if you manage to run MacOS reasonably well, the battery life is going to be atrocious by modern standards.

 

[Wayne]

It's all a bit of a learning experience for me, and as I tried to suggest, it's got me completely wound up in trying to get it work (about like SocialEngine did here) but at the same time, I'm still not convinced it could actually replace my current iMac desktop completely.

Should know more if I can get 5ghz wifi, 4.0 Bluetooth, and resolve the crashing issue which I believe is either BIOS or a preferences thing. More to do...

 

[Wayne]

I remember I had to buy 3 different Bluetooth dongles until I found one which worked perfectly (same chip as used by Apple).

Which one did you end up with?

I am slightly surprised you did not go for a 4K monitor. High-PPI displays still work a bit nicer with MacOS than they do with Windows. It is a really selling point in my opinion.

For the same price as my 2K monitor, I could have bought a 4K monitor, BUT... At the time, I thought of several factors including whether or not the graphics card (beefy as it may be) could drive two 4K monitors, and secondly, that 1440p is a native resolution for the Mac.

Not saying I chose wisely, but I would have had to see the 4Kmonitor in use on this particular machine to know if I screwed up, and honestly, I'm not really sure that I WANT to know I screwed up...

The 27" MX27AQ (ASUS) is -- by all accounts -- a beautiful picture though... At $400 each, I'm just hoping to get a second one to turn this machine into a workstation before they are retired for a new model..

Having now loaded the OS 7 or 8 (bajillion?) times, at this point, I'll consider it a success if I can use it for two solid weeks without either a panic, crash, or scratch/redo of the OS...

Wayne

 

[Robert]

Be interesting to see how you get on with this, Wayne. I gave up on my Hackintosh as too much hassle a few years ago but would perhaps consider revisiting it if your experience goes relatively smoothly.

 

[JoBBo]

Which one did you end up with?

GMYLE Nano Bluetooth: Amazon Link

Any adapter with a Broadcom BCM20702 chip should work seamlessly (no driver installation, working sleep mode).

That said, since you are looking for a wi-fi card as well, you might want to look into PCI-E cards with the Broadcom BCM94360CD / BCM94331CD combo chip set. These are original Apple Macbook AIr mini-PCI-E cards paired with a PCI-E adapter and antennas. Again, no driver issues. But this will cost at least 50 USD.

Having now loaded the OS 7 or 8 (bajillion?) times, at this point, I'll consider it a success if I can use it for two solid weeks without either a panic, crash, or scratch/redo of the OS...

I would be surprised if you could not manage to do so.

 

[JoBBo]

Be interesting to see how you get on with this, Wayne. I gave up on my Hackintosh as too much hassle a few years ago but would perhaps consider revisiting it if your experience goes relatively smoothly.

Things have gotten a lot easier over the past few years. If you stick to recommended hardware components, you can have a near-perfect experience with (almost?) everything working out of the box. However, if you are not willing to spend any money on new components, it can get extremely time-consuming and hairy, as I assume you have found out yourself.

 

[Wayne]

Be interesting to see how you get on with this, Wayne. I gave up on my Hackintosh as too much hassle a few years ago but would perhaps consider revisiting it if your experience goes relatively smoothly.

To be honest, if *I* can figure out how to load the OS from a Unibeast USB stick, anyone can... Remember, traditionally I *loathe* messing with PCs and pieceparts. I get too stressed really over trying to have to force things to work. I just wanted a two-monitor solution, and -- short of $5000 for a Mac Pro and two monitors, Apple doesn't really provide one that's even on the same level as the iMac I have now.

True, I could have simply plugged in an external thunderbolt monitor into my existing iMac, but again... Thunderbolt monitor == $1000 and doesn't match the aesthetics of the existing iMac...

The only part I'm having trouble with is the recommended card (Azureware 123 internal card), but right now, I use neither bluetooth nor wifi for this box, so I'd honestly rather simply leave it be than have to reload it all over again...

Wayne

 

[Robert]

Things have gotten a lot easier over the past few years. If you stick to recommended hardware components, you can have a near-perfect experience with (almost?) everything working out of the box.

That definitely sounds better than it used to be.
My set up was a good few years ago now, on a stock, off-the-shelf Dell Inspiron (I think?) which was listed as supported at that time but I still had a lot of grief getting it to work, which it eventually did but only lasted a few months before I stupidly accepted a software update prompt.

However, if you are not willing to spend any money on new components, it can get extremely time-consuming and hairy, as I assume you have found out yourself.

Indeed I did and I'm at that stage in my life now where if it means spending hundreds of pounds then I'd probably just cave in and buy a real Mac. (Which I will probably have to do in the next couple of months.)

 

[Wayne]

Indeed I did and I'm at that stage in my life now where if it means spending hundreds of pounds then I'd probably just cave in and buy a real Mac. (Which I will probably have to do in the next couple of months.)

Honestly, I would have preferred a real Mac, outside of the experience of building this thing, but... The only 4ghz model they have is an iMac, which costs multiple thousands and still doesn't address my basic desire to have a multiple monitor workstation capable of gaming.

I think Apple is missing a potential market there, but I'd welcome something like a Quad-core i7 Mac Mini with 16gb of RAM and an SSD, even if the case had to be larger to permit it.

 

[Robert]

I'd welcome something like a Quad-core i7 Mac Mini with 16gb of RAM and an SSD, even if the case had to be larger to permit it.

Now that you mention it, I'm sure I could find room for one of those too, regardless of case size.

 

[JoBBo]

The only part I'm having trouble with is the recommended card (Azureware 123 internal card), but right now, I use neither bluetooth nor wifi for this box, so I'd honestly rather simply leave it be than have to reload it all over again...

Recommended by whom? Anything that is not marked as "OOB" on the OSX86 Wiki and requires custom kext files or patches is risky in the sense that it may work with the current OS version but may very well not play well with future versions. On the other hand, if something is supported by Apple's standard drivers, it will usually stay supported for many years to come.

 

[JoBBo]

That definitely sounds better than it used to be.
My set up was a good few years ago now, on a stock, off-the-shelf Dell Inspiron (I think?) which was listed as supported at that time but I still had a lot of grief getting it to work, which it eventually did but only lasted a few months before I stupidly accepted a software update prompt.

As I wrote earlier, laptops are a real problem. Essentially, MacOS can only be made to run well on non-Apple desktop machines (without losing a lot of battery life, etc.).

Apart from full-blown OS upgrades (i.e. going from Yosemite to El Capitan), I have absolutely no issues installing OS updates. As far as desktop machines are concerned, the only serious technical issue I am aware of would be getting HDMI audio to work which can be a serious hassle still depending on which GPU you use. This is unlikely to change in the near future or ever, apparently. Of course, there is the option to use a 3.5mm audio cable and plug that in your TV in addition to an HDMI cable...

Indeed I did and I'm at that stage in my life now where if it means spending hundreds of pounds then I'd probably just cave in and buy a real Mac. (Which I will probably have to do in the next couple of months.)

Well, a lot of people upgrade their desktop computer every few years anyway. Either they buy a brand new one or upgrade most components. If you are about to do so anyway, you do not have to spend much more (if at all) to get a system that is highly compatible with MacOS and would allow you to run Windows and MacOS side by side.

 

[Wayne]

Anything that is not marked as "OOB" on the OSX86 Wiki and requires custom

Which Wiki would that be? The only site I know of is tonymacx86.com, and they don't have any such listings.

 

[Robert]

Well, a lot of people upgrade their desktop computer every few years anyway.

Yup, I'm one of those people.

Either they buy a brand new one or upgrade most components.

Last time around I bought a second hand Macbook Pro because it had an SSD in it for the same price as a new one with spinning steel.
It's getting a bit long in the tooth now but even when I get a new one I will be keeping this one as 10.7.5 still works with my audio equipment - anything more recent doesn't.

If you are about to do so anyway, you do not have to spend much more (if at all) to get a system that is highly compatible with MacOS and would allow you to run Windows and MacOS side by side.

Well, I can already run Windows on this and used to do so regularly as I needed it for work.

I don't think I'll be buying this side of Christmas so when the time comes I may well end up getting a decent desktop.
I've been considering investing in a machine capable of coping with Oculus VR so could perhaps kill two birds with one stone.
Then again, I might just get another laptop.

 

[JoBBo]

Which Wiki would that be? The only site I know of is tonymacx86.com, and they don't have any such listings.

wiki.osx86project.org

They provide user reports for every single OS revision but not every OS revision receives the same amount of reports. So, it helps to really go down the list and review every OS version. The good news is that if something is reported as "working out of the box" for MacOS 10.8.0, it should still work perfectly in MacOS 10.11.1.

 

[Wayne]

They provide user reports for every single OS revision but not every OS revision receives the same amount of reports.

I noticed that. Helpful if you wanted to take a chance, but almost useless if you want to be guaranteed of something working with your revision, in my case, 10.11.1

What I really want is just -- like a PC -- to be able to plug in a card into the USB port and it go "hey, you've got wifi now"... The Azureware card I spoke of *is* on their list, but "kext patching is required" an they don't go out of their way to make that even remotely readable by non-geeky humans...

I tried making a Time Machine backup last night, but apparently it didn't work. Doesn't exactly inspire me with confidence for hooking up an external RAID unit. Then, when it was waaaaay too late to stay up and fix it, I scuttled the install again, by making a simple one-click change in the Clover Configurator.

The only thing that I don't (yet) have working that bothers me (I don't care about BlueTooth or Wifi really. Would be nice, but not required) is iMessages.

It was working when I did the first, initial install of the operating system last week, but I haven't been able to get it working with successive installs ever since. Gonna spend the entire day reading up on it

 

[Robert]

Gonna spend the entire day reading up on it

This was what eventually did for my Hack. Now entering my mid 40s I'm much more reluctant to devote entire days to things like this.

 

[Wayne]

Ok. It's been a day or two, and I remember that I owe you guys pictures, but it's been rough..

On Sunday or so, the Hackintosh started acting "weird".

By Monday, it was locked up so hard it would not post beyond the initial BIOS splash screen. Nothing I did at all would resolve it, so I gave up for the night (cursing all the way).

Tuesday, I disconnected everything outside the case, then removed the battery and shorted the CMOS (per the instructions) to reset the BIOS settings. The thought was that somehow I had bunged the BIOS so badly the motherboard couldn't even get to the point where I could flash it.

So... Yesterday morning, (Wednesday) I ordered a replacement motherboard from Amazon which should get here tomorrow.

Last night after a bit more thought, I went in, reconnected the battery and stuff, then unplugged the SSD (when it dawned on me that the BIOS wasn't screwed, the EFI partition (which is modified by Clover (OS X Installer)) was bunged, keeping it from booting...

The machine started up, complained about the BIOS settings being reset. I immediately re-flashed the BIOS, went in and set up the correct settings, and voila! Boot!

A few more settings adjustments, and I installed about 10 new and different kexts that Jennifer sent me, and yay! All is better than it has been since I started this ordeal. Wifi is working (albeit only 2.4ghz so far), Bluetooth is working, and now even Messages is working...

All in all, I built this box as an experiment, because Apple doesn't provide a solution that's both fast, and encourages dual monitor use for under $4000...

Unless you enjoy frustration, or love tinkering and learning PC crap (which I got over in the 90s), I simply can't endorse the idea of building a Hackintosh. Proverbially speaking, I'd give my left nut for a true Macintosh solution like a 6 or 12-core Mac Pro, but like most normal people, I don't have $5000 to $8000 laying around to build a home machine with.

I think Apple's missing a considerable market, but what's a geek to do?

Wayne

 

[Wayne]

One of the other things I didn't think about when I was planning to replace my current iMac with the Hackintosh is what's currently plugged in..

My current Drobo RAID array uses a Firewire 800 connection. No current 97 series motherboard (pretty much required for Hackintoshing) supports Firewire at all. There are full size ATX boards that support Thunderbolt, but that functionality has not really caught up at the OS level for the hack. There are also Firewire 800 cards for the PC, but the Mini ITX motherboard route that I chose only provides for one single card slot which is currently taken up by the Nvidia 970 video card...

In essence, before I can truly retire my real Mac (presuming I can ever get Loki stabilized, I would also need to buy a new Network or USB 3.0 enabled Drobo ($500+) and if I'm going to do that, I would want to go ahead and populate it with 5x 6 terabyte WD "Red" drives, which are currently about $250 each...

In other words, shit's getting expensive..