Building a new rig with older parts. Questions about OS and WIFI.

[intromission]

Hey All,

It's been a while since I've been on.

Successfully built a Snow Leopard hackintosh for audio work back in 2013 that is still going strong, as well as a functioning Snow Leopard Probook 4530s in 2014, which I later upgraded to Lion in 2016/17 and added the correct WIFI card to-Also going strong. I plan to do the higher resolution screen replacement if/when the current one fades out.

Back in 2014 I had purchased some parts to build an HTPC custom mac mini, but a move to a house, as well as a new job took me way off track and it was never built.

Recently decided to use the parts to have a desktop for internet browsing as well as digital drawing on an XP-PEN Deco Pro tablet (Wacom clone.)
Those are the only things it needs to be able to do. The thing about the Xp-PEN is the drivers are designed for OSX 10.10-11.0. Ideally, I can put something as modern as possible together, given the older hardware. Looking for suggestions.

I just put everything together last night and because I'm certain approaches and hardware have changed a lot since 2013, I began reading up on the site. One thing I was not aware of was that the WIFI didn't work right out of the box with my chosen motherboard (GA-H97N-WIFI). After seeing a couple of builds, particularly Stork's "Hector" build, seems the best way to get WIFI working is using a Broadcom BCM94360CD/ BCM4360CD and a generic PCI-E adapter. Is that still the case because they don't seem readily available or are kind of a crapshoot as to whether you are getting a used part. Would something like this work instead? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082X8MBMD/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Here are all the parts I've used:

CPU-Intel I3-4160

MB:Gigabyte GA-H97N WIFI

RAM: Crucial Ballistix 8GB

PSU: Corsair CXM 430W Bronze

Samsung EVO 860 SSD 500GB

Arctic 120mm Case fan

Silverstone SG13 ITX case

Open to suggestions on how to proceed. Best OS installation process to go with (need at least Yosemite for XP-PEN) and simplest WIFI solution.

Thank you!

 

[trs96]

Would something like this work instead?

Yes the YOUBO wifi adapter works with a hackintosh. It's a good choice.

Best OS installation process to go with (need at least Yosemite for XP-PEN) and simplest WIFI solution.

The oldest macOS version I would install is High Sierra. You can use either Clover or OpenCore as the bootloader. Just know that the HD4400 graphics are not natively supported and you'll have to research that issue before the install. The basic HS guide which uses Unibeast and Multibeast will work with your hardware. Will require some config.plist edits for your integrated graphics. https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...ierra-on-any-supported-intel-based-pc.235474/

 

[intromission]

Yes the YOUBO wifi adapter works with a hackintosh. It's a good choice.

The oldest macOS version I would install is High Sierra. You can use either Clover or OpenCore as the bootloader. Just know that the HD4400 graphics are not natively supported and you'll have to research that issue before the install. The basic HS guide which uses Unibeast and Multibeast will work with your hardware. Will require some config.plist edits for your integrated graphics. https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...ierra-on-any-supported-intel-based-pc.235474/

Thank you, so I would need an additional graphics card for High Sierra?

 

[trs96]

Thank you, so I would need an additional graphics card for High Sierra?

If your wifi card uses the only PCIe slot where would you install it ? The YOUBO would require the x16 slot. You can use the HD4400 but it's not natively supported as HD4600 is. Requires some .plist edits to get full gfx acceleration.

 

[intromission]

If your wifi card uses the only PCIe slot where would you install it ? The YOUBO would require the x16 slot. You can use the HD4400 but it's not natively supported as HD4600 is. Requires some .plist edits to get full gfx acceleration.

Ahhhhh, good point. Gotcha, I will have to do some reading in the High Sierra section. Ordering the YOUBO now. Thanks again.

 

[intromission]

If your wifi card uses the only PCIe slot where would you install it ? The YOUBO would require the x16 slot. You can use the HD4400 but it's not natively supported as HD4600 is. Requires some .plist edits to get full gfx acceleration.

So FakePCIID is what I should be looking at, yeah>?

 

[trs96]

You'll need to add this to your config.plist.

iGPU: device properties (PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x2,0x0)

Fake Device ID 12040000

aapl, ig-platformID 0300220D

Search the site for guides how to get HD4400 on the desktop to work.

 

[intromission]

You'll need to add this to your config.plist.

iGPU: device properties (PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x2,0x0)

Fake Device ID 12040000

aapl, ig-platformID 0300220D

Search the site for guides how to get HD4400 on the desktop to work.

Hey trs96,

So I'm just circling back with some updates and a couple of new questions.
I'm a teacher in a school district that is working in a hybrid model + I have some remote students as well so I have not been able to give this as much attention as I would have liked, and it's working well enough that I wasn't concerned, but I would like to button up the last few remaining issues.

1.The YOUBO WiFi card worked just fine out of the box. Webcam and graphic drawing tablet work great.
2. I ended up having to use RehabMan-Fake PCII to fix a no audio situation, but I still don't have audio at the front panel. Not sure if that's related to my mobo or something else.
3. I was getting some weird tearing effects on start up, and my dock was not transparent. To get the HD4400 working I used Whatever Green and Lilu and that seemed to have solved it.
4. I'm seeing issues with Facetime and was led to a post that showed the workaround, but I have not tried it because I'm still not to clear on how to use Clover. The above fixes for audio and video were implemented with multibeast/kextbeast. https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/an-idiots-guide-to-imessage.196827/
5. When loading Clover, I feel like I'm seeing too many drive partitions. Why? It seems to affect loading as I will see the apple logo and bar fill up most of the way, then pause, then the monitor blinks dark, then turns on again and finishes loading.
6. The last issue, probably the most serious one, is if I leave for a bit the computer will sometimes restart and the error message seems to imply it's a kernel panic. It never seems to load the screen saver. I should probably start with that.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[Going Bald]

Since you have purchased all your parts and are now working on post installation issues you should start a thread in the High Sierra Desktop support forum.

3 icons are normal for just installed system.
Boot FireVault Prebooter from Preboot (to install FireeVault encryption)
Boot Prebooter from Preboot (also used with FireVault)
Boot High Sierra from (your Mac OS disk name)

You can use Clover Configurator app to hide the prebooter icons if you want.