- Joined
- Sep 6, 2012
- Messages
- 3
- Motherboard
- GA-H87M-D3H
- CPU
- Intel Core i5 4570
- Graphics
- Intel HD 4600
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
Thought I'd report my successful build in case it helps anyone in the future. This is a mini Hackintosh without a discrete graphics card in a very Mac Pro-esque case. If you want to use this same build, be aware you can add a graphics card if you want, there is plenty of room. I just don't think I need one anymore now that Intel HD 4600 has gotten so good.
Hardware
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-H87M-D3H mATX board
CPU: Intel Core i5 4570 Haswell
Graphics: None (just using Intel HD 4600)
Memory: G.Skill Ares 1600MhZ 2x4GB CL9 (8GB system memory)
Case: Bitfenix Prodigy M (dem 2008 Mac Pro handles)
Networking: TP-Link WDN4800
Storage: Crucial 256Gb SSD
Installation
Booting into the installer was a little tricky. It would always return a 'expected 0xdeadbeef' memory error. I eventually found a forum post for a similar board where the user had solved the issue by booting with the flags maxmem=4096 -x to boot in safe mode and (I think?) use only one stick of memory. I think this issue may be actually quite complicated, as System Report is currently telling me the memory modules are each installed in different channel slots, although I've double checked and all is correct on the motherboard, so w/e. I also disabled VT-d in the BIOS, although it did boot with this enabled, but it was hit and miss.
At this point I was able to boot with absolutely no flags, but only when VT-d was disabled in BIOS. Otherwise I needed -x safemode. In multibeast I went with DSDT-Free, ALC892 Audio, TRIM enabler, USB3.0 Universal, and Realtek RTL8111 Ethernet driver. Reboot and everything was working fine!
I'm already editing videos and rendering 3D videos just fine in Blender, and I get a solid 100fps in Counter Strike: Source.
Issues that remained after install:
Audio: audio has been a little hit and miss. At first, it would cut out after sleep, and from the beginning only one of the output ports on the back worked. The front panel audio didn't work at all. I then had the idea of cracking the case open and using the HD AUDIO front-panel connector instead of the AC'97 one, and boom I had full front panel support. It works so well that OSX detects when something is plugged in the front, and automatically mutes the plug in the back. For reference, only the green (line out) and pink (microphone) ports on the back work, as well as both front panel connectors. The others are dead as far as I can tell. I suspect manually installing the new toleda 5-port audio AppleHDA.kext will help, but I don't need surround so I'm not going to risk screwing it up. (NB: if you're interested try the audi0-alc892-93 but I don't know anything else about configuring that. If someone can give a guide on enabling surround sound for future builders that would be great). Settings->Sound reports I have a Line-In/Headphones (switches to Headphones when you plug something in the front), as well as two Line Out ports (that are dead) and an Optical port (which I can't test as I have no hardware capable receiving optical audio).
Sleep: sleep is also a little patchy. If I manually send the system to sleep it wakes up in about 5 seconds from mouse input to login screen. If it sends itself to sleep it takes as much as 15 seconds to wake up. I don't have much of a problem with this however.
Networking: the WDN4800 occasionally drops out and won't connect to the internet even though it's connected to Wifi. This could be my router but so far it hasn't bothered me much, simply turning wifi on and off again fixes the issue.
Keyboard: I've always used Windows so I have a Microsoft Sidewinder x4 keyboard. Forget about the macro buttons they will not do anything. However the volume/music controls all work. I mapped the Command key to the windows key in keyboard (hint: in System Preferences -> Keyboard enable Show Keyboard and Characters in menu bar, then use Show keyboard viewer to work out what keys are currently doing what so you can remap them. I then also used shortcuts to map Launchpad and Mission Control to numpad keys as I don't have anything that can do the swipe gestures.
Hardware
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-H87M-D3H mATX board
CPU: Intel Core i5 4570 Haswell
Graphics: None (just using Intel HD 4600)
Memory: G.Skill Ares 1600MhZ 2x4GB CL9 (8GB system memory)
Case: Bitfenix Prodigy M (dem 2008 Mac Pro handles)
Networking: TP-Link WDN4800
Storage: Crucial 256Gb SSD
Installation
Booting into the installer was a little tricky. It would always return a 'expected 0xdeadbeef' memory error. I eventually found a forum post for a similar board where the user had solved the issue by booting with the flags maxmem=4096 -x to boot in safe mode and (I think?) use only one stick of memory. I think this issue may be actually quite complicated, as System Report is currently telling me the memory modules are each installed in different channel slots, although I've double checked and all is correct on the motherboard, so w/e. I also disabled VT-d in the BIOS, although it did boot with this enabled, but it was hit and miss.
At this point I was able to boot with absolutely no flags, but only when VT-d was disabled in BIOS. Otherwise I needed -x safemode. In multibeast I went with DSDT-Free, ALC892 Audio, TRIM enabler, USB3.0 Universal, and Realtek RTL8111 Ethernet driver. Reboot and everything was working fine!
I'm already editing videos and rendering 3D videos just fine in Blender, and I get a solid 100fps in Counter Strike: Source.
Issues that remained after install:
Audio: audio has been a little hit and miss. At first, it would cut out after sleep, and from the beginning only one of the output ports on the back worked. The front panel audio didn't work at all. I then had the idea of cracking the case open and using the HD AUDIO front-panel connector instead of the AC'97 one, and boom I had full front panel support. It works so well that OSX detects when something is plugged in the front, and automatically mutes the plug in the back. For reference, only the green (line out) and pink (microphone) ports on the back work, as well as both front panel connectors. The others are dead as far as I can tell. I suspect manually installing the new toleda 5-port audio AppleHDA.kext will help, but I don't need surround so I'm not going to risk screwing it up. (NB: if you're interested try the audi0-alc892-93 but I don't know anything else about configuring that. If someone can give a guide on enabling surround sound for future builders that would be great). Settings->Sound reports I have a Line-In/Headphones (switches to Headphones when you plug something in the front), as well as two Line Out ports (that are dead) and an Optical port (which I can't test as I have no hardware capable receiving optical audio).
Sleep: sleep is also a little patchy. If I manually send the system to sleep it wakes up in about 5 seconds from mouse input to login screen. If it sends itself to sleep it takes as much as 15 seconds to wake up. I don't have much of a problem with this however.
Networking: the WDN4800 occasionally drops out and won't connect to the internet even though it's connected to Wifi. This could be my router but so far it hasn't bothered me much, simply turning wifi on and off again fixes the issue.
Keyboard: I've always used Windows so I have a Microsoft Sidewinder x4 keyboard. Forget about the macro buttons they will not do anything. However the volume/music controls all work. I mapped the Command key to the windows key in keyboard (hint: in System Preferences -> Keyboard enable Show Keyboard and Characters in menu bar, then use Show keyboard viewer to work out what keys are currently doing what so you can remap them. I then also used shortcuts to map Launchpad and Mission Control to numpad keys as I don't have anything that can do the swipe gestures.
