First project

Hi everyone

I've been using Windows from back when Win 3.11 was hot and new and installed with a heap of diskettes, and switched to a 13" Macbook Pro with Snow Leopard about 4 years ago. I've been using OSX since but had to keep up with Windows for work. I've switched my main machine to a 15" Retina MBP a while back which is running Yosemite now and the only thing I do on my PC now is updating Windows or very occasionally running a (steam) game on it... I have nearly no professional use for Windows anymore but bought a new one about 2 years ago. I'd like to convert this machine, which is still quite speedy, to run OSX 10.10 and dual boot to my current Windows 7 Ultimate installation.

I configured the PC, as such:

Asus P8Z77-V PRO DDR3 Socket 1155 Intel Z77 (Amazon)
Intel Core Core i5 2550K 32nm 6MB LGA 1150 (Amazon)
Corsair H60 Closed circuit water cooler (Amazon)
Corsair-CML8GX3M2A1600C9 (16GB of it) (Amazon)
Sapphire HD-6870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-E (Amazon)
Corsair CSSD-P128GBP-BK 128GB Performance Pro series SA (SSD) (Newegg)
WD10EARX 1000GB 64MB SATA600 Caviar Green (HDD) (Amazon)
Corsair TX550M Enthusiast series modular power supply (Amazon)
NZXT-H2 midi tower with 2 80mm fans in the front and one 120mm exit fan from the Corsair cooler. (Newegg)
Samsung 850 EVO 120GB SSD (added for OSX)

I currently run Windows 7 from the SSD and use the HDD for data storage (Photo's and Video mainly).

I am an amateur photographer and am experimenting with video. Right now it is a plain hassle to have to access Windows NTFS disk from a mac so I store most files on a external 1TB thunderbolt/USB3.0 drive and don't bother with the internal HDD storage space of the PC. It would be nice to be able to use the 1TB internal drive as a local de-duplication of the external drive I currently use to do my editing on. This way I could use my MBP, or the machine that I intend to convert to OSX with the same Adobe Lightroom library. I haven't decided on video-editing software yet but could go for Final Cut Pro if I get the PC converted to run OSX, which I prefer...

I can call in help from a friend who is experienced in hackintosh conversions but would like to do as much as possible on my own. I thought to check in on the compatibility of my current hardware to start.

I have a spare Mac keyboard and a generic Logitech USB mouse. I will need Wifi to work as cable is no option in my current location and would prefer it if Bluetooth would work so I can get a trackpad to work...

Any advice to get this going would be appreciated!

UPDATE on 17/12/2014:

I've done some extra research and found out I can get one of these recommended Samsung 840 EVO 250GB drives (Amazon) in my local hardware supply shop. I would like to install OSX 10.10.1 on one of these.

There seem to be other people here on the forums who have used similar hardware, like @duseans (thread) who used the same motherboard and a graphic card with the same chipset, though from another manufacturer. And also @KasperFauerby who used the same i5-2550K processor without on-chip graphics card as I intend to use (thread).

I wonder if the WD Caviar Green 1TB drive will work as a secondary drive (not to be booted from), as I've read it will generate a Boot0 error. I hope this only restricts me to use the drive as data disk? Any knowledgeable comments would be welcome.

Forgot to mention the power supply, so added it above.
Added links to Amazon / NewEgg

Do any of these specs spell doom to a first-time conversion project?

UPDATE on March 3 of 2015
I've bought a new Samsung 850 EVO 120GB SSD and installed it. While I was at it, I updated the bios of the motherboard to the newest version and removed the on-board Wifi card on my motherboard after I read it stops the OSX installation process in this blog. I've ordered a TP-Link Wifi adapter which will normally arrive tomorrow to get me back on wifi.

The first few times I tried to install OSX the process failed. I looked it up and found out I could try out the command PCIRootUID=0 to solve that. Problem is I only had a Belgian keyboard and it took me about 20' trying out combinations to get a '=' character out of the keyboard. It did not solve the issue.

I tried -v -x and found out the install stopped on a USB3 malfunction. I plugged the stick in an USB 2.0 port and the installation completed flawlessly.

Then I moved on to the Multibeast with these settings I've copied from the blog linked above:

Quick Start > DSDT Free (I left all pre-selected options as-is. Below are additional selections that I made.)
Drivers > Audio > Realtek > Without DSDT > ALC892
Drivers > Disk > 3rd Party SATA
Drivers > Graphics > Intel Graphics Patch for Mixed Configurations
Drivers > Misc > Fake SMC
Drivers > Misc > Fake SMC Plugins
Drivers > Misc > Fake SMC HWMonitor App
Drivers > Misc > NullCPUPowerManagement (I don’t want my machine to go to sleep)
Drivers > Misc > USB 3.0 – Universal
Drivers > Network > Intel – hank’s AppleIntelE1000e
Customize > 1080p Display Mode
Build > Install

I got the OS working. It shows up as a Early 2008 Mac Pro with the right processor, all RAM and the discrete Graphics Card. It does not show the exact type, rather AMD Radeon HD 6xxx 1024MB.

I got wired internet working but no sound yet. Tomorrow, I'm going to try and get sound out of the machine and will hopefully have the Wifi card installed and up and running...

I use a 2TB WD Green drive as storage on my hackintosh. As long as your not trying to boot from it, I can't imagine that it would throw an error. Set the data drive up in disk utility after you boot up and you should be good to go.

Thanks for the reply BThresher! One question down.

I have most of my research done now, but am struggling with one part still: Wifi and BT connectivity.

I see the general recommended hardware section references a GMYLE (or IOGEAR) BT 4.0 Dongle and a TP-Link PCIe card for Wifi, yet in this thread on getting continuity to work in OSX 10.10, people use other wireless hardware because the TP Link does not allow continuity to work and the GMYLE does, but with heavy modding using Clover. While continuity is not super important to me at this time, I'd rather buy the best possible wireless upgrade if I am going to spend money anyway to get basic wireless and BT for a trackpad to work. I do use airdrop a lot, and need that to work.

Given the fact that I need to buy wireless hardware anyway, what is recommended right now?

Thanks for the advice...

Update:
Seems BT 4.0 dongle's work now and without heavy customization!

Next update:

The system runs fine!

I used the newest ASUS provided bios version 2104 before I started.

I had tot use a USB2.0 port to be able to complete the Yosemite install. Using a USB3.0 port would work initially but would stop on 'can't access root device' later in the installation.

I ran Multibeast a few times. Initially the sound would not work. Ran Multibeast again with following settings:

Quick Start > DSDT Free (I left all pre-selected options as-is. Below are additional selections that I made.)
Drivers > Audio > Realtek > ALC892
Drivers > Audio > Realtek > Optional 5.1 sound
Drivers > Disk > 3rd Party SATA
Drivers > Graphics > Intel Graphics Patch for Mixed Configurations
Drivers > Misc > Fake SMC
Drivers > Misc > Fake SMC Plugins
Drivers > Misc > Fake SMC HWMonitor App
Drivers > Misc > NullCPUPowerManagement
Drivers > Misc > USB 3.0 – Universal
Drivers > Network > Intel – AppleIntelE1000e 3.0
Customize > 1080p Display Mode
Build > Install

After this I had to select the 'internal speakers' in system preferences to get the sound to work. The quality seems to be a bit less than under windows but still fine...

The TP-Link Wifi adapter was delayed, so I couldn't test that. Ethernet worked immediately and I've routed a temporary cable to the machine until the WiFi adapter arrives. I've reformatted the 1TB sata disk in HFS+ Journaled and it works well. I tried my printer and it was recognised as well. I even tried a game and it worked fine. The machines is very snappy, in Geekbench 3 I even get a better score compared to my newer 15" rMBP from 2012. I love it.

To do:
- Install Windows 7 Ultimate again on the old SSD after I've made sure it is still working fine (seems to come online and go offline randomly, resulting in a corrupt Win 7 installation).
- Install WiFi
- Get me a BT 4.0 Dongle and Trackpad
- Figure out a good local + off-site back-up solution between machines (2008 13" MBP, 2012 15" rMBP, Hackintosh) with time machine and/or Crashplan.
- Try to overclock the Hackintosh with a reasonable amount.

Thanks a lot for all the work that has been done to make this experience such an easy and enjoyable one...

I've added WiFi with the recommended TP-Link PCIe adapter and added bluetooth 4.0 with the recommended IOGEAR adapter. Both work like a charm!

Next up: buy a trackpad, buy a new screen that makes use of the native resolution my graphics card is capable off.

For now I won't be installing Windows. I don't miss it actually...

Seems like I can't get USB 3.0 to work. Any suggestions?

The latest multibeast settings version I ran was this one:


MultiBeast Configuration - 2015-05-11 01:02:17 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Quick Start > DSDT Free
Drivers > Audio > Realtek ALCxxx > ALC892
Drivers > Audio > Realtek ALCxxx > Optional 3 Port (5.1) Audio Drivers > Disk > 3rd Party SATA
Drivers > Graphics > Intel Graphics Patch for Mixed Configurations Drivers > Misc > FakeSMC v6.14.1364
Drivers > Misc > FakeSMC v6.14.1364 Plugins
Drivers > Misc > FakeSMC v6.14.1364 HWMonitor Application Drivers > Misc > NullCPUPowerManagement
Drivers > Misc > USB 3.0 - Universal
Drivers > Network > Intel > AppleIntelE1000e v3.1.0a Bootloaders > Chimera v4.0.1
Customize > Boot Options > 1080p Display Mode Customize > Boot Options > Basic Boot Options Customize > Boot Options > Generate CPU States Customize > Boot Options > Hibernate Mode - Desktop Customize > Boot Options > Kext Dev Mode
Customize > Boot Options > Use KernelCache Customize > System Definitions > Mac Pro > Mac Pro 3,1 Customize > Themes > tonymacx86 Black

Also, the HWMonitor's icon is now a blank space between 2 other icons... Weird.

First project - monitor upgrade

This computer works so well! I am really happy with it...

The best part in my opinion is they fact that you can upgrade every part of the rig as you please... I've done a little mouse upgrade. I used to carry a Apple Magic Mouse along everywhere. I've recently bought a Logitech G302 mouse and I'don't use the Apple once since. It is a fairly cheap but well built 'gaming' mouse that is light enough to carry around and is all around awesome in performance. It works like a charm on my MBPr and on the Customac with the native Logitech Gaming Software. The 'clicks' are much lighter compared to the apple mouse, yet 'clicky' enough. It's just perfect in my opinion. I consider buying a second one so I can leave it attached to the customac and still be able to use it on my MBPr.

The next thing I want to upgrade is the monitor. I use and old 22" Samsung Syncmaster 226cw (16:10 1680x1050) screen which seems to have degraded a bit in color reproduction in the last few months. It used to be quite a decent screen when I bought it, yet is shows its age in a time where even sub 100€ monitors offer FullHD resolutions..

I've set my mind on the 25" Dell Ultrasharp U2515H WQHD monitor with 2560x1440 resolution. It's smaller brother, the Dell UltraSharp U2414H is recommended here on the forum. A user here recommends the monitor.

It would run at the max resolution my Graphics card is able to run and I don't expect wonders of it in 3D applications, although I presume it would be fine in picture editing in Lightroom and work in a browser. Since I use a Retina display macbook pro, the pixel density of my old screen bothers me and the Dell seems to be a good upgrade in pixel density given its high resolution on a relatively compact screen. The other options is going all out 4k but then I would need a much higher budget to upgrade the graphics card as well...