Clean Budget Build - Lion - Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2H - i3-2125

[shorn]

shorn's Build: GA-H61M-S2H - i3-2125 - HD 3000 - Lion​

Components

OS X Lion 10.7.2 from the Mac App Store

Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2H
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005FZWXL4

Core i3 2125 / Intel HD Graphics 3000 (embedded)
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i3-2125-3-30GHz-Processor-BX80623I32125/dp/B005L9D5X4

Generic (Micro Center) DDR3 RAM
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0353218

Antec Computer Power Supply HCG-520
http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Computer-Power-Supply-HCG-520/dp/B0047YNHI2

Antec 300 Case
http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Three-Hundred-External-Internal/dp/B000GQMHBI

Already Owned

Seagate 500gig SATA drive

Westinghouse LCM-19w4 LCD - Connected via DVI

Didn't need: An optical drive


Comments

First-time CustoMac builder. Wanted a low-cost, efficient but decent-performing machine for hosting the home iTunes library and DVRing OTA content. The release of UniBeast convinced me to give it a go.


Setup Notes:
Installed 10.7.2 with UniBeast. Followed all instructions as-given for creating installer flash drive, configuring BIOS and installing the OS.

MultiBeast details:
Used UserDSDT method per UniBeast instructions, except did not check any items under drivers and bootloaders on installation.

Audio and Network non-functional at end of this process. After trial and error found the proper KEXTs:

Audio:
VoodooHDA-2.7.2.pkg.zip
http://code.google.com/p/voodoohda/downloads/detail?name=VoodooHDA-2.7.2.pkg.zip&can=2&q=
Installed by running the package and rebooting

Network:
AtherosL1cEthernet.kext for Atheros AR8151 with device-id=ven_1969&dev_1083
http://www.osx86.net/downloads.php?do=file&id=1085
Installed using Kext Utility and rebooting

Only problem I've found so far is when system goes to sleep it will wake up on keyboard press, but keyboard and mouse aren't recognized after waking up. Have to unplug and plug back in to get them back.

 

[shorn]

Update two weeks in:
External drive connected via eSATA was working for a few days, then started dropping offline and wouldn't show up again without a reboot, so I switched to USB connection for it, which has worked since.

System shut down and wouldn't turn on about a week in. Tried swapping memory and reseating CPU before swapping the power supply. Swapped it out with a cheap Eagle Voltas 500w power supply, which has been working fine ever since.

Main monitor is connected via DVI. Just tried adding an HDMI to TV as second monitor and initially could not get OS X to see it. Display mirrored on boot, but after OS loads it was blank and unrecognized. Changed system definition from Mac Pro to Mac Mini and that made it work, as mirror or additional monitor.

Although audio and networking are working fine, I wish I'd done proper homework and bought a motherboard with realtek audio and networking.

 

[electrotech555]

Did you get sleep working? Can't wait, I just bought the same board, and am going to have a great Hackintosh. Thanks for posting this !

 

[goober296]

Nice build. I enjoy reading about someone who uses an h61 build. Nice to get the same hackintosh experience as the big boys for a fraction of the cost. Well done!!

 

[shorn]

Update 6 weeks in: To answer electrotech555, I did not try to get sleep working. I just set system to not sleep. Monitor sleeps and wakes up just fine, however. This works best for me anyway since it's a full-time media server. I don't want it to sleep.

A couple of weeks ago I borked it by trying to install a Sapphire Radeon HD6670 graphics card. I had run a benchmark and was getting better numbers than maxed-out Mac Mini, which was exciting. I got greedy thinking I could make it beat some iMacs if I added a graphics card. This is probably true, but after having to re-install because I broke it made me shy to try again. I think I missed a step with some boot switches. I've cloned the boot drive and will probably try again with the copy sometime soon.

Since then I've added three more hard drives for a total of four. The three additional drives are set up as software RAID-0 for performance (I'm writing HD in real time from Black Magic capture card). It's working really well. I also installed OS X Lion Server and am just getting started setting up local software update and Time Machine backup for other Macs at home.

So it's not exactly a clean budget build any more, getting a little Frankenstein-y.

 

[electrotech555]

Did you try the dsdt for the H61M-S2H yet?
dsdt.php

 

[electrotech555]

I have one more question, how is the audio working?

 

[lucifer0617]

Hi there
I would like to know how do you set the BIOS?
Because I got the same config as yours, but every time I tried to install Lion with UniBeast, without -v -x, i get into a light blue blank screen
with -v -x, the installation process will crash somewhere.

Here's my BIOS settings:
Quick Boot : Disabled
Boot Priority : HDD->CD ROM-> USB-HDD
Frame Buffer Size : 480MB?2MB
SATA Mode : AHCI
ACPI Type : S3
HPET Mode : 64-bit

My Component:
i3-2105
GA-H61M-S2H F5
Corsair 4GB x2
Hitachi 500GB 2.5" HDD
Lite On DVD Combo
CoolerMaster Elite 100

Thanks

 

[suniri]

Let me share my experience. I also had difficulty making audio and sleep work.

First off, please be sure to check the motherboard's version. The OP's motherboard is an old one (rev. 1.2) with Via VT2021 codec on it. Mine is rev. 1.3 with ALC889 codec.

Do not install VoodooHDA if you have rev. 1.3. It strangely works on rev. 1.3 in the first place but you will see very frequent kernel panics. I just installed a generic USB sound card bought off from eBay at $2~, which works great. Just disable the on-board audio.

Sleep is a hit-or-miss but it works only by keyboard or mouse which is hardwired directly to M/B, not to a USB hub or wirelessly. My Logitech wireless combo has never waken it up.

Installation was rather tricky. It never went through with my video card installed. Thus, I had to boot with on-board VGA (with -x option). Then, I ran MultiBeast (transferred from a USB stick) with a downloaded DSDT. After that, I installed my Zotec GeForce GT220, and, then, voila, it went through.

Ethernet did not work so I downloaded Atheros AR8151 kext and installed it with KextBeast.

I have struggled with the ACL889 for a while with every single kext combination but no success. So I installed a USB one. I disabled sleep and now everything works beautifully. Very stable so far.

 

[staticclass]

Thanks for the info and history on this. This thread has convinced me to pick up the same MB/CPU today to give it a go. Micro Center has the MB audio listed as VIA VT2021, but I'll have to see for myself once I get the board. Either way I use an M-Audio Delta 44 PCI for sound, which I've had past success with on OSx86.