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  #1  
Old 12-28-2008, 03:05 PM
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McMadd McMadd is offline
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My Journey to OS-X on AMD (still traveling...)

I like OS-X.
About two years ago I bought my first Mac, a shiny white MacBook.
After a few days of getting used to it I was sold completely and understood less and less on how I ever got by using only Windows for all those years.
Apart from a few job related things and very stubborn habits I never seriously touched XP again.

Later, when I switched jobs I got a MacBook from my new company and I decided to give my old one to my wife.
Now here's the problem. I like working on all sorts of stuff and testing out new (read downloaded) programs and of course I don't feel comfortable doing that on my company laptop.
Buying another MacBook is not an option and stealing my old one back from my wife wouldn't do the marriage any good.
The desktop PC I got is too old (AMD 2100+) and my budget is limited.

Last week I came across a nice deal for a new machine within my budget and without too much checking if OSX86 would even work on it, I got it delivered just before X-mas. I soon found out the specs (see my signature) are not ideal but hey, I like a challenge.

My dream machine would be having OSX86 running stable enough to do some nice multitracking in Logic Express.

My attempts so far:
I figured if I wanted to get this running I probably needed a very recent distro and according to the "InsanelyMac" pages that would be the "iDeneb v1.3 10.5.5" so that's what I got. I was very happy to see the install DVD boot up all the way, seemingly recognizing my SATA devices and without selecting any patches or drivers I let it install.
Unfortunately, when the install finished after 30 minutes it went into an instant reboot loop with an error message that was hard to read and didn't ring a bell. I tried several statup options but they made no difference at all. ("-v, -s, -x, rd=disk..., etc in all sorts of combo's")

I started wading the InsanelyMac forums and soon found out those forums are waaayyy to big and flooded with questions without answers.
The only helpful thing I found there was somebody mentioning that AMD users might have more luck at "InfiniteMac" and tadaaa, here I am.

Second try:
I read a lot of posts about the "Kalyway 10.5.2 Intel Amd" being a nice solid base so I downloaded that and gave it a try.
This distro didn't even boot from the DVD, throwing the dreaded "Still waiting for root device".
I figured that since my first attempt with a newer distro did not have this problem, this route might even be harder.

In the meantime I read about all the disadvantages there are with SATA drives (which is most likely why the Kalyway wouldn't even run) but still not ready to throw in an IDE disk.

Third attempt:
Then I saw the announcement on the forum about the "iPC Public Beta" release and figured, let's try that one before calling in the cavalry.
What I liked most about this distro is that the readme actually gave some info I could work with.
I booted the DVD, selected the Voodoo kernel (and my audio codec) and again 30 minutes later it was ready to reboot.

Now this time (booting with "-v -f -x") it actually started loading stuff from my SATA HD! Lots of interesting info scrolled by but then it ended in the all known "Still waiting for root device". But because it did start loading from my HD I figured that this was finally something I could work with.

I started searching again and found out that using Google is actually better than using the search functions on the fora (maybe more on that later) and came across a mentioning of the "AppleNForceATA" kext in combination with my Nforce4 chipset. Reinstalled iPC, this time selecting the Voodoo kernel, the AppleNForceATA driver, again my audio codec and waited another 30 minutes...
The post-install-auto-reboot puts it in a kernel panic but I found out earlier that that might be because the kext's aren't set up properly, resetted the machine, gave it the "-v -f -x" options and yes!.... there was the keyboard selection wizard. After filling in the forms I was presented with my very own OSX86 desktop running in safe mode on my brand new AMD machine. I rebooted it and was even happier to find out it started up in normal mode, without any boot options and showing a speaker icon indicating it did find some audio device.

Happy, happy, joy, joy, w00t, w00t, etc.... \o/

And now the real fun starts....

These are the problems I still have:
- As soon as I install a kext for either Ethernet or Graphics the machine won't boot up.
- Disks in the SATA DVD are not recognized (installing from there went fine). I attached an external USB DVD writer which works fine for now.
- Until now I kept re-installing with different options but I found the magic single user mode (-s) and am able to find my way on the prompt. Where can I find the kext files on the DVD that are shown in the installer?
- Looking at my hardware, any tips or success stories I can try?

I'll keep on trying and reading and trying and will post my findings here but in the meantime maybe some of the pro's or other users can shed some light on my issues.

Cheers!

Code:
CPU : AMD Athlon64 X2 5600+ Dual-Core 2.9GHz
MB  : ASRock AliveNF6G-GLAN
Mem : 4Gb (2x 2GB, PC-6400 DDR-II 800MHz)
Chip: nForce 430
GFX : Integr. NVIDIAŽ GeForce 6150SE, 256MB shared
LAN : Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s, Giga PHY Realtek RTL8211B
Snd : ALC662 Audio Codec
HD  : SATA 7200RPM 250GB
DVD : SATA 22x DVD rewriter

Running iPC Public release.
Shared mem. GFX will probably never work. Replacement is underway.
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  #2  
Old 12-28-2008, 09:36 PM
LawlessPPC's Avatar
LawlessPPC LawlessPPC is offline
 
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for your ethernet go to realtek they have their own mac drivers that should work no problem. The best option for graphics card is to turn of shared memory in the bios as this will stop it from booting even in safe mode when you have installed the right drivers. For the sata dvd drive you need an improved kext for your chipset or try using sata or ahci or ide mode in the bios.Also i notice you have 4gb of memory to run this stable you will need the latest nforce chipset kext its on insanelymac in the drivers section otherwise you will keep getting random panics.

Hope this helps

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  #3  
Old 12-28-2008, 11:40 PM
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McMadd McMadd is offline
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This is excellent information! It will keep me busy tomorrow night for sure...

I notice you have a SoundBlaster Live in your configuration. I thought I read in several places that Creative and OSX86 do not play at all or is this an USB version?
I have an older SB live with an extra digital I/O backpanel and it would be great if I could that working too in this config.

But first the basics ...

Code:
CPU : AMD Athlon64 X2 5600+ Dual-Core 2.9GHz
MB  : ASRock AliveNF6G-GLAN
Mem : 4Gb (2x 2GB, PC-6400 DDR-II 800MHz)
Chip: nForce 430
GFX : Integr. NVIDIAŽ GeForce 6150SE, 256MB shared
LAN : Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s, Giga PHY Realtek RTL8211B
Snd : ALC662 Audio Codec
HD  : SATA 7200RPM 250GB
DVD : SATA 22x DVD rewriter

Running iPC Public release.
Shared mem. GFX will probably never work. Replacement is underway.
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  #4  
Old 12-29-2008, 12:39 AM
LawlessPPC's Avatar
LawlessPPC LawlessPPC is offline
 
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Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 506
if its not a live value it should work is it the em10k chip if so then there should be no probs and gives 5.1 but only in vlc as quicktime doesnt seem to handle 5.1 divx etc

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  #5  
Old 12-29-2008, 12:45 AM
natewill18 natewill18 is offline
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so you plan on making music in logic express with onboard audio ?

i have an AMD SB700 and an AMD 780G Northbridge chipset
cpu: AMD phenom 9600 (sse2,sse3)
audio :realtek alc888 (but want to use MAudio FW solo, mobile pre, etc)
ethernet: Realtek 8111C

do you think any of your iages could work with my system.

Ive been looking around and the "LawlessPPC-Leo-10.5.4-Phenom&AMD" image it looks like a good fit for amd users
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  #6  
Old 12-29-2008, 01:48 AM
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lanceomni lanceomni is offline
 
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Location: Florida, US
Posts: 521
I find it is a good idea to install only the bare minimum unless you are 100% sure that the item you are selecting will work. Once you boot into OSX you can fix them one by one. This lets you get a feel for what needs to be fixed and why.

Boot Options - You probably have already read about these but Ill describe a few

-v Verbose Mode
-s Single User Mode Command Line Only
-x Safe Mode
-f Load Kexts from the Extensions Folder instead of the cache file
-F Ignores com.apple.boot.plist
maxmem=2048 Limits the memory that OSX uses. Measured in MB. Using 4GB can cause issues as Lawless mentioned. You can add maxmem to your com.apple.boot.plist to limit your memory until you have fixed the problem. Generally the symptoms are a complete system freeze.

There are a tons of others but this should get you started. If you need to repeatedly enter things at boot you can add it to com.apple.boot.plist which is located in Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/. The syntax goes something like this.
Code:
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>PUT BOOT FLAGS HERE USING SINGLE SPACE BETWEEN</string>
For example:
Code:
<key>Kernel Flags</key>
<string>-v -legacy maxmem=2048</string>
Installing Kexts
You can use kext helper but its also good to know how to manually install kexts. I have found that installers dont aways get it right. Even when installing osx from the install disk.

1. Removed any related or duplicate kexts & backup kexts you are replacing. I generally back mine up to the Desktop. Doesn't really matter as long as you know where its at.
2. Copy yourkext.kext to /System/Library/Extensions
3. Entered your admin password when prompted
4. In Terminal write:
Code:
sudo chown -R root:wheel /System/Library/Extensions/yourkext.kext
sudo rm -R /System/Library/Extensions.kextcache
sudo rm -R /System/Library/Extensions.mkext
5. Restart using the boot flags:
Code:
-v -f -F
Replace "yourkext.kext" with the kext your installing.
Sometimes Extensions.kextcache is not there. This isnt an issue. What we are trying to do is make 100% for sure that the cache is recreated with the new kexts. If your still having problems you can repair disk permissions in Disk Utility or by using Terminal with the following:
Code:
sudo diskutil repairPermissions /

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  #7  
Old 12-29-2008, 02:58 AM
LawlessPPC's Avatar
LawlessPPC LawlessPPC is offline
 
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Posts: 506
@lanceomni
nice post one of the best ive seen for a while.

btw i totally agree about the kext I only ever install the chipset at time of install

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  #8  
Old 01-03-2009, 09:36 AM
McMadd's Avatar
McMadd McMadd is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by natewill18 View Post
so you plan on making music in logic express with onboard audio ?
That's what I aim for but I have serious doubts on using it with the onboard audio. I remember from my Windows days that getting good drivers with low latency for these kinds of cards is a pain so I can imagine getting this to work robust at a Hackintosh is doubtful. (unlike the real Mac audio hardware).

If it doesn't work as expected I can always get a high end external audio device, like you have already.

Quote:
Originally Posted by natewill18 View Post
do you think any of your iages could work with my system.
No idea, I'm a beginner too so I'm not the right person to say anything sensible about getting OSX86 working on your hardware. Do like I did, and many others. Read a lot, search a lot and try a lot. Then if you encounter problems that you can't fix yourself, post it on forums like this one.

Cheers.

Code:
CPU : AMD Athlon64 X2 5600+ Dual-Core 2.9GHz
MB  : ASRock AliveNF6G-GLAN
Mem : 4Gb (2x 2GB, PC-6400 DDR-II 800MHz)
Chip: nForce 430
GFX : Integr. NVIDIAŽ GeForce 6150SE, 256MB shared
LAN : Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s, Giga PHY Realtek RTL8211B
Snd : ALC662 Audio Codec
HD  : SATA 7200RPM 250GB
DVD : SATA 22x DVD rewriter

Running iPC Public release.
Shared mem. GFX will probably never work. Replacement is underway.
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  #9  
Old 01-03-2009, 09:46 AM
natewill18 natewill18 is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 31
Quote:
Originally Posted by LawlessPPC View Post
@lanceomni
nice post one of the best ive seen for a while.

btw i totally agree about the kext I only ever install the chipset at time of install
Hey Lawles I was going to use ur image, seeing as your chipset is similar to mine

(NB: 790G,SB700) and I have the Phenom 9600.

From wat i read this would be enough to not get in any reboot eerrors or any of the typical errors. Basically id be able o boot into mac and be able to install kext's afterwards.

But i ran into Ideneb's 10.5.5 image and it looks pretty good for my sstem. I just finished making my stem as I write this and I have a Ideneb DVD with all PPF updates. & im downloadin ur Lawless image.

Wat would be my best route ?
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  #10  
Old 01-03-2009, 09:49 AM
natewill18 natewill18 is offline
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Posts: 31
Quote:
Originally Posted by McMadd View Post
That's what I aim for but I have serious doubts on using it with the onboard audio. I remember from my Windows days that getting good drivers with low latency for these kinds of cards is a pain so I can imagine getting this to work robust at a Hackintosh is doubtful. (unlike the real Mac audio hardware).

If it doesn't work as expected I can always get a high end external audio device, like you have already.



No idea, I'm a beginner too so I'm not the right person to say anything sensible about getting OSX86 working on your hardware. Do like I did, and many others. Read a lot, search a lot and try a lot. Then if you encounter problems that you can't fix yourself, post it on forums like this one.

Cheers.
Im specifically buildin my new rig for music production. So i can tell you straight up, dont use onboard audio ( but i feel u already kno that).

And i feel like its a toos up between Ideneb's 10.5.5 w/PPF updates & Lawless' image
idk yet, im still waitin to pick my ram up Sat. morning.
Im really excited.


Nate
www.myspace.com/natewil



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