My Spin on tonymacx86 Build: Sandy Bridge CustoMac Mini 2011

[BoomR]

REDUX - BoomR's Sandy Bridge CustoMac Mini 2011

REDUX: BoomR's Core i3-2105 - GA-H61N-USB3 - 8GB RAM - On-board H3000 graphics

Mac OS X version 10.7.2 Lion Retail - purchased/downloaded from App Store
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/os-x-lio ... t=12&ls=1#

GIGABYTE GA-H61N-USB3 LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128526

Intel Core i3-2105 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 Model BX80623I32105
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115090&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=4902415&SID=

Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F120GB3A-BK 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233206

CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX8GX3M2A1333C9
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145315

Wesena, ITX2-S (Silver) - 100% Aluminum, Mini HTPC chassis
http://www.amazon.com/Wesena-ITX2-S-Silver-Aluminum-chassis/dp/B0058HP3VG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1343096506&sr=8-2&keywords=wesena+itx2

Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Model AD-7690H-01
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118051

GELID Solutions Slim Silence i-Plus (CC-SSilence-iplus) 75mm Ball Bearing CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835426028

City Net ITP15080B Pico Power Supply 150W Power Kit Pico PSU
FRYS.com*|*City Net

Already Owned

Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Keyboard-Numeric-MB110LL-VERSION/dp/B005DLDTAE/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1324951533&sr=1-1

Apple Wired Mouse
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MB112LL-B-Wired-Mouse/dp/B002TLTH7K

Comments:
The build is virtually identical to that suggested HERE: http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2011/09/ ... tomac.html (but used the alternate Mini mobo option here - tonymacx86 Blog: CustoMac ) My variations on the theme were the ASUS optical drive and the Sony card reader (both purchased at Fry's). The reason I went with the Sony card reader is due to one wise user's comments regarding the speed/reliability of USB flash drive vs. SDHC card. I chose to install the card reader (attached to the extra USB mobo header) so I could make my UniBeast Lion installer using a Class 10 SDHC card. I must say the install was SMOKIN' FAST, as was my boot/reboot time during the install/config process.

I followed the instructions TO THE "T" here: http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2011/10/ ... using.html -- including the MultiBeast settings as shown in the screen grab. Oh - there was 1 variation to the settings as shown in the screen grab: Under "Customization" I selected the Mac Mini option. The install of everything was FLAWLESS!! Team tonymacx86 ROCKS!!

FYI, this build is intended for use as a media player/renderer, connected to the 42" Samsung 720p HDTV in the master bedroom. Primary app running on this build is Plex Media Center (Plex - A Complete Media Solution), and intended to stream (via GigE) my personal library of BDs that I own & that I've ripped to MP4 & stored (as a safety backup) on my NetGear ReadyNAS NV+ 4-bay NAS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... _-22122010). I'll be running several plug-ins from inside Plex Media Center, including Hulu, Netflix, and the TiVO plug-in that lets me stream stuff saved to my TiVO Premiere XL in the family room to this machine. I can also pop out the card from my new Sony a65 DSLR and watch any videos or stills saved on the card, too!

More photos

Here's the Wesena case with all the components present. With the cover off, you see the optical drive tray covering most of the components:

Rear view showing backplane & pico power supply's connector:

Optical drive tray out showing remainder of the components & cabling:

Another shot of the mobo & components. This is a better shot showing the pico power supply & the SSD (at the top of the image):

Edit Log:

7/23/2012 - I decided to ditch the clunky looking case & go with something much smaller/compact, and that looked more like a proper Mini. That meant changing to a slim-line DVD multi-format drive (as well as a SSD). It also meant I had to look into a low-profile CPU cooler. I used the GELID Solutions Slim Silence i-Plus in my Cube 2.0 build, so went with that winner again.

12/26/2011 - [RESOLVED using iOS Plex app] The final puzzle piece missing is to figure out how to get an IR transceiver so that I can use my Apple Remote to control Plex Media Center. But in the meantime, there is an iOS app that lets me use either my iPhone or iPad 2 to control the Media Center, so no real biggie. If anyone has some good suggestions on how to get IR on this machine, I'm all ears! USB? Maybe this? http://usbgear.com/computer_cable_detai ... &catid=139

12/26/2011 - [RESOLVED] I think I need to do some additional reading now on the "fine tuning" of my system. I'm getting a few on-screen artifacts/pixelization & other odds & ends. I'm wondering if I need to allocate additional RAM in the Bios to the GPU...??

 

[Stork]

Check in my Zorro build description for setup of the HD 3000. I rarely get an pesky artifact.

 

[BoomR]

Check in my Zorro build description for setup of the HD 3000. I rarely get an pesky artifact.

Just checked & made the 2 BIOS tweaks that seemed to deal with video/graphics:
1. On-chip frame rate = 480MB + 2MB... (I had previously up'd mine from the default & set to 386MB)
2. No full-screen logo

You had another tweak to XMP Profile set to Profile 1, but my mobo BIOS does not show that option.

Keep fingers crossed that this does the trick - and thanks VERY MUCH!!
--B

 

[kaizoogi]

My build is the exact specks for the Sandy Bridge CustoMac Mini 2011 but with only one variation is the Core i5 2500K. I've followed this guide: http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2011/10/ ... using.html
but when just can't seem to get to the installer. I've tried all the flags.. but I can't get passed the grey screen with the spinning wheel and the little cross-out symbol above the apple. Please help.... BoomR!

 

[BoomR]

Hmmm...I'm not sure what to tell you. As I mentioned in my post, I followed the instructions step by step exactly as shown here:
http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2011/10/ ... using.html

Also, make sure you you go to this link & follow the instructions EXACTLY for the proper BIOS settings for your motherboard:
http://lnx2mac.blogspot.com/2010/07/opt ... ation.html

Other things I would try: Get yourself another/new/different USB drive, re-download UniBeast and run UniBeast again. Make sure that when UniBeast is building your install USB drive, that you're not doing anything else on that machine.

I discovered one of the things that was causing me kernel panic problems with my 2nd build was the "build" of my initial UniBeast installer. Also, I had downloaded the DSDT file on my MacBook Pro, then copied it to my UniBeast USB drive for my hack build. Evidently somewhere in the process my DSDT file on the USB drive got corrupted. When I actually did as the UniBeast directions instructed & downloaded the file from my hackintosh build to the desktop, THEN it started to work.

The audio on my machine works fine - make sure that you look very carefully at the screen grab on the UniBeast install forum page. Make sure you've selected the correct codec AND the "rollback" file. I have not tried the HDMI output as I'm using a DVI connection from my mini to my HDTV.

I guess the reason that there's not an "alternate" build set of instructions is because there's probably not a lot of significant differences between the 2 mobo's to warrant a whole 2nd discussion thread.

I would also browse the forum here: Board index » The Build » Lion Installation » 10.7 Support I recall seeing a few threads that deal with getting the gray Apple logo/screen with the little "x" above the Apple. I know others here have already posted help on this topic. (since I didn't need help with that issue, I didn't really pay much attention to the problem & solution).

Good luck!!

 

[BoomR]

PS...check out this thread & see if it gives you any help, too:

viewtopic.php?f=264&t=39721&start=0

 

[kaizoogi]

Thanks! For you Quick reply.

It turns out that with this Mobo if you connected Via onboard DVI or HDMI it will not boot and shall return an "memory allocation deadbeef error"

I've hooked my custoMacMini (Alternate Mobo GA-H61N-USB3 Rev. 1.0.0 F2 ....all other specks exactly as the CustoMac Mini 2011 build => http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2011/09/ ... tomac.html)
to my Samsung HD TV 1080p Via onboard HDMI and it is now booting just fine, (with minor artifacts)

Q- With this Alternate Mobo board GA-H61N-USB3 Rev. 1.0.0 F2 how do I get sleep and wake from sleep to work? (was it suppose to work with the F2 DSDT) could not find any comments regarding sleep and wake for this board and DSDT.

Q- I've notice that MacMan has updated the DSDT database with this mobo to include F3 bios and F2 bios with HDMI Audio but the link is Dead. DSDT/Database/DSDT-GA-H61N-USB3-F2-HDMI.aml

Q- Could someone with this board GA-H61N-USB3 Rev. 1.0.0 F2 Shed some light on Sleep and HDMI Audio as well as any resources on how they got it to work?

(My apologizes if I'm posting in these questions in the wrong thread. Q- should these question should be posted in a new thread for people that are Building the CustoMac Mini 2011 but had to buy the alternate MOBO like me and are facing these same questions) Thank you.

 

[BoomR]

Looks like you are using the same motherboard that I used in my CustoMac Mini build here in this post. To be honest, after assembling all the hardware components in the case, I connected my 21" ViewSonic LCD monitor to my CustoMini using DVI. I had ZERO problems getting that to work. So I'm not sure what to tell you as to why you are having that problem when using DVI (and frankly, why you are having success with HDMI - that's contrary to most of the recommendations that I've read here).

Did you go in & check your bios settings against the link that I posted in my reply? I seem to recall others providing advice when building NOT to use HDMI, but either DVI or VGA when you first try & run UniBeast & configure your system. Also, make sure you have enough memory allocated to GPU in the bios - select the MAX you can set. Plus, make sure to check the setting re: "Init Display" - make sure it's not set to look for a PCI graphics card & that it looks for onboard graphics first.

As for the other questions you have, you're right... I think maybe at this point it's best if you post requests for additional assistance at: Board index » The Build » Lion Installation » 10.7 Support (link below):
viewforum.php?f=169

There are quite a few posts there regarding wake from sleep, audio, and audio-over-HDMI issues - just do a search of that area of the forum.

 

[kaizoogi]

Thanks for all the Helpful advice BoomR. All of the issues i was having.. i thought lied with the improper creation of the UniBeast USB. (I used a class 4 SD card 16gb partition with 2 8gb partitions really fast install.) I was getting the "memory allocation deadbeef error" because i was connecting VIA DVI to a Dell 2309w monitor that had a native resolution above 1920x1080... Turns out the motherboard doesn't like monitors with resolution higher the the 1920x1080.

Long story short... it works! (Ditched the monitor and hooked it up to a HDTV via HDMI.)

Have you tried the new F2 HDMI Auido DSDT for our board? I'm going to try it now and report back with results.

 

[BoomR]

Have you tried the new F2 HDMI Auido DSDT for our board? ( i'm going to try it now and report back with results.

Nope...have not. I'm actually getting up the courage to update the BIOS and replace DSDT on my main Hack build I'm glad that you got your problem sorted out!!

BTW, I'm glad that I used a 16GB memory stick. For some reason, my UniBeast install build was well over 8GB. Had I used an 8GB stick, I think I would have run into problems, too!!

Cheers!
--B