- Joined
- Sep 21, 2010
- Messages
- 13,414
- Motherboard
- HP 17" 17-by3053cl
- CPU
- i5-1035G1
- Graphics
- Intel UHD Graphics, 1920x1080
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
Stork's HTTP: GA-P55M-UD2 - i5-760 - 430GT HDMI
Apple OS X Lion
Mac Apps Store | Lion USB Thumb Drive
Silverstone GD06B HTPC Case
Amazon | Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163179
Zotac GeForce GT430 Fanless Graphics Card ZT-40601-20L
Amazon | Newegg
Scythe Shuriken Rev. B SCSK-1100 CPU Cooler
Amazon | Newegg
Seasonic S12II 380W ATX12V Power Supply
Amazon | Newegg
Samsung F4 EcoGreen 2TB HD204UI
Amazon | Newegg
Already Owned:
Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 LGA 1156 mATX Intel Motherboard (out of production)
Google Product Search
Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHzLGA 1156 95W
Amazon | Newegg
G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2GB F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
Amazon | Newegg
OCZ Vertex 2 60GB SSD OCZSSD2-2VTX60G
Amazon | Newegg
LG Black 10X Internal Blu-ray Disc Combo Model UH10LS20 LightScribe Support
Amazon | Newegg
Dynex 2-Port FireWire 800 & 1-Port 400 PCIe DX-PCI2PF
eBay Search for DX-PCI2PF | Another eBay Search | OWC Search
Apple iSight Firewire Webcam (out of production)
eBay Search
Apple OS X Lion
Mac Apps Store | Lion USB Thumb Drive
Silverstone GD06B HTPC Case
Amazon | Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163179
Zotac GeForce GT430 Fanless Graphics Card ZT-40601-20L
Amazon | Newegg
Scythe Shuriken Rev. B SCSK-1100 CPU Cooler
Amazon | Newegg
Seasonic S12II 380W ATX12V Power Supply
Amazon | Newegg
Samsung F4 EcoGreen 2TB HD204UI
Amazon | Newegg
Already Owned:
Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 LGA 1156 mATX Intel Motherboard (out of production)
Google Product Search
Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHzLGA 1156 95W
Amazon | Newegg
G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2GB F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
Amazon | Newegg
OCZ Vertex 2 60GB SSD OCZSSD2-2VTX60G
Amazon | Newegg
LG Black 10X Internal Blu-ray Disc Combo Model UH10LS20 LightScribe Support
Amazon | Newegg
Dynex 2-Port FireWire 800 & 1-Port 400 PCIe DX-PCI2PF
eBay Search for DX-PCI2PF | Another eBay Search | OWC Search
Apple iSight Firewire Webcam (out of production)
eBay Search
Comments:
Overview
I am a long time Apple user - from my 1st Apple ][c, which I used to complete my MBA in the early 1980s, to my current MacBook Pro. I also have a Mac Mini HTPC which inspired me to create a HacHTPC. However, the Mac Mini stands out like a sore thumb in my audio tower because all the other AV components (AVR, DirecTV DVR and Blu-ray player) are black and the Mac Mini is beige. So, I wanted a HTPC that blended in with my other audio components. Consequently, it all came together when I found the Silverstone GD06 which is about the same size as my Sony AVR. (See So Many Ugly Cases Part II - HTPC Cases.)
But, it's my experience with my Mac Mini HTPC, running Plex as the media center software, that makes this HTPC work like a charm. The HTPC components all work together running Lion flawlessly. This is important because I require sleep/wake-up to work in both the manual and scheduled modes. However, more on the applications and procedures are detailed in the HTPC forum thread.
The Components
The Silverstone GD06 case is ideal because it looks like it belongs in an Audio/Visual (A/V) tower/cabinet/rack. Here's a view of the HTPC Silverstone GD06B case in the HDTV stand while testing. (I know, I know...cable management will be next on the list.)
The GD06B has a lot going for it besides fitting in with A/V components (see reviews at TweakNews, HardwareSecrets and TweakTown):
- - very good case cooling characteristics (three 120mm silent fans with filters);
- lockable front panel downward folding door revealing Reset button (bottom right), front USB 2 & headphone connections (bottom center), hot swap hard drive bays (left top), and optical drive (right top).
The front panel's accessible hard drive bays are a large selling point for this case for several reasons. First, I can have the 2TB media drive removable to travel to another HTPC system in the house or elsewhere. Second, I can insert another drive to clone either the SSD or media drive. Third, a friend can bring their media driver (SATA) over to my house; I can plug his drive into the lower drive bay; and we can watch/listen to his media. Finally, I can upgrade to a large drive in the future by easily cloning the original hard drive to the new drive by plugging the new drive into the lower bay, all without removing the drives from a case. Sure beats having to take apart the case for hard drive backups and upgrades.
Finally, I don't plan to use a keyboard or mouse. I'll use my MacBook Pro and Apple's built in Screen Sharing app to control the HacHTPC from my easy chair. However, controlling the HacHTPC using just Screen Sharing presents a problem for manually waking the HacHTPC up from sleep. Consequently, I found a portable, black USB keyboard number pad, which sits on top of the Silverstone case, to use to tap a key to wake the HacHTPC from sleep.
The HacHTPC is connected to my home network by wired Ethernet to a D-Link wired, 5 port, 1GB switch; it sits behind the Panasonic 55" Plasma HDTV and links the HacHTPC, Blu-ray player, DirecTV receiver, 1st generation Apple TV and HDTV to my home network. The Wake-On-LAN utility doesn't work on wireless without some heavy lifting (changing the wireless access points ports).
One of these days, I'll assemble the Apple IR sensor mod. Then, I can use an Apple Remote to control the Plex media center app. See these two Apple IR sensor mod guides:
http://photos.pottebaum.com/2009/IR/
http://www.tonymacx86.com/customization/8180-apple-ir-usb-header.html
Upgrading to Mavericks
This system is basically my 1st Hackintosh, which I built in September 2010, in a HTPC case with a different graphics card for HDMI w/audio. So, I'll refer the curious reader to that thread on how my 1st Hackintosh all came together with Snow Leopard (10.6.8) and Lion. However, no special incantation was used to get Snow Leopard installed and running on the P55M/i5 system. I just followed the tonymacx86 iBoot+MultiBeast installation guide outlined here. Installing Mavericks is so simple and fool-proof if the tonymac guide (see Guides menu at the top of the page) is followed step-by-step. I copied the guide into a word processor, printed it and checked off each step to insure nothing was skipped or omitted.
To upgrade from Lion to Mavericks, I first deleted FakeSMC, AppleHDA and serveral other older kexts. I also delete my /Extra folder. If you doing a fresh install of Mavericks, you won't have to deal with this goat-rope. After I removed these older kext, the installation over Lion was easy.
The tonymacx86 guides and software (UniBeast and MultiBeast for Mavericks) make running Mavericks so easy that you probably could argue that this doesn't seem like a "hack" to you.
Mavericks MultiBeast Configuration
Select the Quick Start Option
Select the UserDSDT and then select the DSDT.aml From The Attachment
The Defualt Items from UserDSDT
Select the ALC88B Audio Driver for Using with a DSDT
Select the Realtek Ethernet Driver (Lnx2Mac's version)
Select the Build to See the Full MultiBeast Configuration, Save It and Install
Select the Quick Start Option
Select the UserDSDT and then select the DSDT.aml From The Attachment
The Defualt Items from UserDSDT
Select the ALC88B Audio Driver for Using with a DSDT
Select the Realtek Ethernet Driver (Lnx2Mac's version)
Select the Build to See the Full MultiBeast Configuration, Save It and Install
For more information about the above selections, see the MultiBeast Features document that comes in the MultiBeast zip file and/or at MultiBeast.com.
One last thing I want to share with you. Mavericks is on a OCZ Vetex 2 60GB SSD. When I build this system, SSDs were/are expensive little devils, and I could not afford a larger SSD. So, I decided to move my User folder with all my iPhoto pictures and iTunes music, movies and TV shows, to the 2TB hard drive. However, I keep an Admin account on the SSD in case the large hard drive fails or to install software. BTW, it's best to use the Admin account to update the OS, for running MultiBeast and/or installing DSDT and kexts since some of the helper programs require kexts on the desktop of the OS drive.
I used this method to move my User folder to the hard drive: How to Move the Home Folder in OS X – and Why. There are several other ways to move Users accounts off the OS drive, one by Lnx2Mac, and several other methods are here and here. However, my account is the only user account on the HacHTPC (except for the Admin user) and contains all the A/V media. (The HacHTPC boots into this account - only adults in the household so I don't have to worry about unauthorized, little users messing with it. )
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