Long time Mac user first time Hackintosh maker/User

[marky_91]

Hey!

I've finally decided to build a Hackintosh! I've got a 13" Macbook air (2nd Gen.) and in my household there's also a 21.5" iMac (current Gen.) another Macbook air and last gens. Macbook pro 17"
So I'd like to think I'd know a little something about Macs I currently have a Dell Vostro 200... ;-/ Very old 2008 I think - well only the Motherboard and processor are from this PC everything else has been updated and upgraded (even the case)

I've decided to build a Mac than buy one... A) because I want a tower PC to expand and upgrade B) because I'm a poor student


I've chosen, and already bought/using some of the upgraded components for the new Hackintosh I'll order the rest maybe tonight (28th April 2010) but there's two bank holidays and no mail on Sunday in the U.K so it won't be until late next week (the first week of May) I get the system up and running


So here's what I have and what I'm getting. I've done quite a lot of research but this is my first time posting so I'm hoping all this should work - If not can anyone suggest something better


What I have;
Apple Wired Keyboard + Wireless Magic Mouse
19" Dell Monitor (DVI)
Belkin Wireless N #f5d8053 - How do I make this work with Mac?
Bluetooth USB Dongle (But I know it works in Mac)
DVD Burner HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GSA-H73N - Dell Standard
Windows Vista 500GB Seagate Barracuda
Commodore C-kin PC Case
AXLE Extreme AX-P650L PSU 650W
XFX HD5770 Graphics card


Here's what I'm buying;
LiteOn IHOS104-37 Blu-Ray player (For windows only)
1TB Samsung Spinpoint HDD
4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Classic DDR3 RAM - Might replace this for cheap-o budget ones? Because I'm not doing any overclocking etc.
Asus P7H55-M/USB3, Intel H55 Motherboard\
Intel Core i3 540 (3.2Ghz) Clarkdale




All of that will come to about £300 with taxes. I don't really want to spend more than this, but if anybody knows better components for the same money I would interested

Last but not least, I need some luck being wished xD
I haven't decided how I'm going to install yet. I believe I'll use iBoot I've given it a quick go on my Dell PC, but I want this HDD to still have Windows on, I created a partion but OSx Didn't recognize it :S So I'll wait until next week. It might be better to install once I have all the hardware anyway?

p.s. anyway to get my WiFi card working? I have a Belkin N1 Cable Router, but it's far away from my PC so wires aren't an option
Thanks'
looking forward to the feedback

 

[Stork]

My first Mac was a SE/30. My first Apple was a IIC. Welcome to the club. I'm a retiree. So, we're kinda in the same era. The Hackintosh was the first PeeCee I built and that was last September. I can barely spell Intel. However, I know how to use the systems.

Now for your system. First, see the guides in my signature block, especially Tony's recommended builds and the iBoot-MultiBeast guide. Your success is based upon your components compatibility.

• - DVD player - get a Sony for <$25 USD. Apple supports Sony and Pioneer since they use them;
  - Check your graphics card compatibility in the Wiki.

Rest looks like it would work. Follow the install guide; print it out and check off the steps.

C U 'round the forum.

 

[jpa]

see my list built in my signature

 

[marky_91]

Thanks for the replies!

Umm...about the DVD drive, I'm not sure what mine is, but I've given iOS a quick testing upto the install screen... I may even do it all the way later on an old HDD... try getting some of the stuff working.
Because I know I have NO patience... and the guide says you need it
So that mean's my CD/DVD drive works in Mac? Right?

I've been reading tons on here already today Think I've found the drivers for my WiFi card so downloaded those onto USB along with a load of other stuff

& What exactaly are you trying to say

So, we're kinda in the same era.

I wasn't even born When the IIC came out

Checked everything... but thinking about changing the motherboard because some of them sound work OTB and I'm lazy but I don't think I could get the same spec. i.e USB 3 from another brand for the same price... so I'll probs stick with it

see my list built in my signature

Hey I see something about SSD in there which is one thing I wanna know MORE about. You have one? You're getting one? Sizes etc.

My iMac's SO SLOW compared to my MacAir... but I really couldn't spend £99 on 64GB of SSD
I'm buying 1TB of HDD for £40...

I'd consider buying maybe 8GB or something small for the iOS only (My macbook air loads in a few seconds flat )
Or one of those hybird SSD/HDD's with maybe 8GB of SSD and 100GB of HDD and it put's your most used files onto the SSD


Thanks!

 

[marky_91]

Hey! Finally all up and running... lot's and lot's of trial and error

Upon reflection it is EASY... but I understand why more people would buy a Mac than go through this process

I've just installed iWork and iLife (...Well I already had iLife, thank-you apple for not needing serial codes) But to open it, I get a message saying use the software update


I'm wondering if I can use the software update or not... I'd of said Yes... until I had to upgrade from 10.6.3 which was on my retail disk to 10.6.7 with a separate download



- I used iBoot and EasyBeast, everything seems to be working I still need to use a bootloader as at the moment I have to insert the disk iBoot disk everytime
Thanks' for the help so far

 

[Stork]

Read Tony's install guide (see signature block) to see that you've got everything squared away. However, here's the quick way since you're at 10.6.3 (I assume from your previous post).

1. Download the 10.6.7 Combo Update since it has the complete update stuff you need.

2. Repair permissions using Disk Utility (Applications>Utilities folder).

3. Run the 10.6.7 Combo Update - do not restart after running the Combo.

4. Now run MultiBeast as you did before - remember to check System Utilities. (Always a good idea to take a screen snapshot of your MultiBeast configuration and/or write down everything you select. It helps with debugging.)

5. Now reboot. This should bring you back into 10.6.7.

6. Repair permissions using Disk Utility. (If you're a long time Mac guy, this should be 2nd nature to you by now.)

7. Now do the rest of the updates that the Software Update utility says you need.

8. Repair permissions using Disk Utility.

You should be golden. I've use the above method ever since I built my Hackintosh w/o any issues.

When updating, be sure to let the early adapters have at it first. Then, you can benefit from their mistakes. This advise is what I followed even with my Macs. Update comes out, I wait a couple of days, checking Macintouch.com and other sites daily, then updating with above approach.

When I updated from 10.6.6 to 10.6.7, I used the Software Update download instead of the Combo Update because Tony, et al, reported that it updated OK, no need for the combo. Check out the 10.6.7 Official Thread for insights. viewtopic.php?f=68&t=15699

 

[marky_91]

Hey! Great thanks

Had my computer running Mac for a week now, Every-things going great... Only a couple of little things that annoy me namely my DVD players

- My DVD Rewriter works fine, but it will generally not recognise the disk for ages if I open it using the button rather than the eject DVD button either on the keyboard or my taskbar.

- My Blu-Ray drive recognises all DVD etc. shows the icon's on the desk top but simply won't play from them

=) But I knew to have some problems with these because I didn't buy ones that were stated to work with Mac

All my USB ports work, my Motherboard has USB3 also. I don't get the USB3 speeds as expected, I haven't tested it out with anything to see if it will still charge faster

The USB ports work on the front of my case - haven't tested the firewire cable
The Mic in and stereo out work on the front of my case also


So other than the DVD's drives everythings working great!! So thanks everyone on here who posted replies =) and TonyMac for the iBoot etc. (Y) I prefer having Mac on my desk top SO much more



p.s. my Graphics card is an XFX 5770 HD, my computer recognises it as an ATI 5770 which Mac's use so NOTHING was needed to be done to make it work great
I can play The Sims 3 on here faster than my iMac with graphics on full! =)