(Another) Mac Pro Late 2013 Replica

The Hackintrash: a $500 Mac Pro Replica by trashcan86

Background: I'm currently a 7th grade student at the Meadowbrook School of Weston, in Massachusetts. Along with two other friends, I started plans to build a computer for the school to use. When the Hack is done, it will be used to control our school's laser cutter. This thread will keep track of our progress. Once our Hack is done, I will post a guide on how to build one of these things.

We originally wanted to use a Pentium G3258 but after researching it, we realized that it wouldn't work with OS X. What good would a Mac Pro replica be without OS X?

Specs of our build:

Processor: Intel Core i3-4150 @ 3.50 GHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA 1150
Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce GT 740 Superclocked 2 GB Single Slot (02G-P4-2742-KR)
RAM: 4 GB 1600MHz G-SKILL DDR3
Hard Drive: Seagate 1 TB 7200 RPM HDD

Extras include:
AzureWave CE123H WiFi Card
PCI-E Riser Cable
2x Cooler Master Silent 140mm case fans
Intel Stock CPU Cooler

What's done:
Installed CPU (10/09/2014)
Attached GPU (10/09/2014)
Installed RAM (10/09/2014)
Hooked up PSU (10/16/2014)
Ran BIOS test boot (10/16/2014)
Installed HDD (10/23/2014)
Installed Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS Trusty Tahr (10/23/2014 EDIT 10/30/2014 wiped HDD to install OS X Yosemite)
Installed OS X 10.10.0 Yosemite (10/30/2014)
Fixed boot0 error when booting from HDD (10/30/2014)
Installed Windows 10 Technical Preview build 9841 (11/13/2014)
Replaced factory Intel WiFi card with AzureWave CE123H (12/04/2014)
Trimmed case fans to fit in case (12/04/2014)
Ordered 3D Print of bottom of case with @JuanLobo's STL (12/11/2014)

The to-do list :
Make "rails" for mounting motherboard, GPU, and HDD (estimated TBA)
Mount GPU on rails and attach it with a riser cable (estimated TBA)
Mount HDD on rails (estimated TBA)
Mount motherboard on rails (estimated TBA)
Mount case fan on top of rails (estimated TBA)
Attach base plate to PSU (estimated TBA)
Attach rails to base plate (estimated TBA)
Cut holes in case for fans and I/O ports (estimated TBA)
Attach 3D printed case bottom to build (estimated TBA)
Mount trash can over build on rails (estimated TBA)
Install Kubuntu 14.10 Plasma5 (estimated TBA)
Update Windows 10 Technical Preview to latest build 9879 (estimated TBA)
Install Yosemite drivers for AzureWave CE123H (estimated TBA)

MAJOR STRATEGY UPDATE 12/08/2014 at 8:24 PM EST: We're going to prioritize the actual build over the software stuff. The fun part starts this Thursday, 12/11.

Latest update 12/11/2014 at 8:29 PM ESTWe just ordered the bottom part of the case from a guy on 3D Hubs who'll do it for us for $33! (@JuanLobo got this printed at ShapeWays for $160 lol)

OK first pics, sorry for late posting.

System (GPU not attached yet)



HDD:


PSU:


Ubuntu installer (OS X Yosemite coming next Thursday)


Our system with GPU attached:



Accessing ESPN from Ubuntu:



OS X Yosemite will come next Thursday. Hope we don't have to format the Ubuntu drive lol

Get ready for OS X Yosemite! Coming tomorrow, 30 October.

Yosemite installed!!! Although we had to wipe Ubuntu, we have a mostly working Hackintosh!

Booting into the installer (3d printing spools in the background):


Installer. We tried to install together with Ubuntu, but it just couldn't format.


Install finished, but we haven't run Multibeast yet, as you can tell from the not-yet-translucent dock.


We could boot with the USB, but when we tried using the hard drive, we got a boot0 error, so we booted into the installer to fix it. But we got a kernel panic when we tried to select the language. After a restart, we were able to apply the terminal fix. We switched to a monitor instead of using a clunky (and 1024x768) projector.


Yosemite desktop, after MultiBeast install (notice that the translucency effects are working again):


Running Geekbench, but the internet didn't work so we couldn't get our bench result


Yosemite notification center:


Up next week: swapping out the WiFi card (currently an Intel 7260AC) to one that actually will work with OS X (an AzureWave CE123H), and installing Windows 10 Technical Preview.

Note, our external HDD issues (where Unibeast did not recognize an install drive) were resolved by using a USB stick, so make sure you don't use an external HDD for Unibeast.

Keep it up!

Waiting for it to be "Trashed".

Installation of the Windows Technical Preview coming Thursday, time to see how well it plays with Yosemite and GPT...

Haven't replied in over a week! We successfully installed Windows 10 Technical Preview (build 9841) without reformatting anything (only adding partitions), so everything went well. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my phone, so no photos. That is all. Next Thursday, we will be switching our WiFi card for an AzureWave CE123H, and installing Linux Mint 17 "Qiana" KDE edition (which I just installed on my laptop)!

Nice work trashcan86 Wish I would have had fun projects like that back in grade school.
Back then the internet didn't even exist yet so it would have been rather difficult to find
the info on how to do this. 3D printers Don't think we even had 2D back then.


I'd suggest you go with a small 2.5 inch laptop HDD as JuanLobo used a 2.5 inch SSD.
Sure is tough having to work with such a restricted budget isn't it ?

Looking forward to see how you can cram all this into the cylinder, should be interesting.

What PSU do you actually have in use?

I've seen the Silverstone 450w SFX model used by most who have attempted one of these builds.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008VQ2Y4K/
They make one of the better power supplies for HTPC cases that will also work well.
Opting for the short set of cables makes it much easier to manage them in this kind of build.

About the best deal on it now is $59.99 plus shipping from Directron selling on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B003H4QPDC/

You could also get by with the 300W version if using a low power gfx card like the GT740.
http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Tek-Factor-Supply-ST30SF/dp/B00FA4KP8S/

One of the PicoPsu 160XT models would work if you'll be using just integrated HD4600 graphics.
http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Box-picoPSU-160-XT-Power-Mini-ITX-Supply/dp/B005TWE6B8/