- Joined
- Sep 4, 2013
- Messages
- 6
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- Asrock Z97 Extreme 6
- CPU
- i7-4790K
- Graphics
- RX 5700 XT
- Mac
[SUCCESS] Successful El Capitan Install on Gigabyte Z97-HD3 (Inside A Power Mac G5)
January 14, 1016:
My first hackintosh build. a fairly successful build using El Capitan. I'm not the most computer savy person, but here's what I did to get it working properly enough for me.
SPECS:
CPU: Intel i5-4690K (with ENERMAX Liqmax II 120s. CPU overclocked at 4.5ghz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97-HD3 (bios version F9)
GPU: Asus GTX-960 Strix 4GB
RAM: Ballistix Sport 2x4GB (8GB Total) DDR3-1600Mhz
Case: Corsair 200R (Updated to Power Mac G5 Case)
PSU: 600W 80+
SSDs: 500GB Samsung Evo (Windows) / 250GB SanDisk (Mac)
Bluetooth 4.0 USB Dongle / and Mac compatible USB WIFI Dongle
UPDATED 01/26/2016: TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Dual Band Wireless N900 PCI Express (works out of the box)
FIREWIRE 400/800 PCI Card: (for my audio interface)
I also have a 2012 Macbook Pro for creating bootable USB thumbdrive (16GB)
my procedure:
(On my Macbook Pro):
I downloaded the El Capitan installation app from the App store which is version 10.11.2 at the time of this install.
I downloaded and used the current version of Unibeast 6.1.1 to create the bootable thumbdrive (which uses Clover bootloader. I also downloaded Multibeast 8.0.1 for El Capitan and saved it onto the same USB thumbdrive.
(Computer for hackintosh):
With the computer completely off, I removed my graphics card, and 1 stick of ram. I had ONLY 1 SSD drive connected. I also suggest installing MAC OSX before installing Windows. As I learned it the hard way.
I just had my keyboard and mouse in 2 usb 2.0 ports in the back, and I also kept the Bluetooth and WIFI dongles connected in 2 usb 3.0 ports in the back. I connected a monitor via HDMI to the motherboard i/o.
Bios settings: I basically just selected default settings in bios. and saved.
INSTALLATION:
Turned on my computer, pressing F12 to get to the bootmenu, and selected the appropriate USB thrumbdrive UEFI partition. It loaded the Clover bootloader, and in options, under "Boot Args" i entered "maxmem=4096" after "dart=0". I didn't have an issues booting directly from the USB thumbdrive into the El Capitan install.
I formatted the SSD via Disk Utility to Mac Extended Journaled, then proceeded with the install. (took about 13 minutes).
Installation completed.
POST INSTALL:
after installation completed, I booted computer on the USB thumbdrive again taking me to the Clover bootloader. In Clover options, "Boot Args" I again entered "maxmem=4096" after "dart=0". It booted fine with no issues to the welcome screen.
Went through the welcome screen prompts, then to the desktop.
After that, I installed Multibeast for El Capitan, selecting the following in each section:
Drivers:
MISC
- FakeSMC v.6.18.1394
- FakeSMC Plugins v.6.18.1394
AUDIO
Reaktek ALCxxx
- ALC1150
Bootloaders:
- Clover v2.3k r3320 UEFI Boot Mode
and that's it.
After Multibeast finished installing, I removed the USB Thumbdrive, and I rebooted.
I hit F12 on the keyboard to get to the bootmenu, and selected the appropriate UEFI partition to get me to the Clover Bootloader that I just installed on the Mac SSD.
I then selected the Mac OSX hard drive and booted back into El Capitan's desktop.
I then installed the WIFI Dongle by way of CD that it came with, so I was able to get onto the internet. (I did not try the Ethernet)
rebooted once again.
AUDIO:
Then coming back to the desktop again, checked if I had sound, which I did not. I tried to install again, but it did not work. I then did some research, and found out that this worked for me:
Downloaded Multibeast 7.5.0 for Yosemite.
Right-clicked Multibeast.app, Show Package Contents.
then went to Contents>Resources>VoodooHDA-v2.8.7pkg
and I proceeded to install. I then rebooted again. and found my audio works. all ports (front and back).
Graphics Card:
I downloaded the NVIDIA Web Driver for Mac via their website. Installed and turned off computer.
I then put my graphics card back into the computer, as well as the other stick of ram. And connected the monitor via HDMI to the graphics card.
Turned on computer and went through the Clover bootloader again, this time not adding anything.
I selected the Mac OSX hard drive to boot. and came back to El capitan desktop. (you should see the nvidia icon on the menu bar with 'nvidia web driver' selected).
ISSUES:
This wasn't as entirely successful as stated above. I definitely ran into a few issues by trial and error.
iMessage:
Some of iClouds (and Apple ID) features work. Syncing contacts, calendar, safari, App Store, etc. but iMessage/Facetime isn't one of them. I tried to fix iMessage by using the guide here on TonyMac, and watching a couple youtube videos, but it didn't work. In fact, it messed everything up, and I was not able to boot into Mac at all. Luckily, I made a back up of the Config.plist before messing around with it via Clover Configurator. So, was able to boot back into El Capitan and replace the config.plist with the original. I decided not to mess it up anymore, and just do without imessage.
In fact, I don't think I would mess around with any of SMBIOS settings. That's just me, and not knowing how certain things work.
UPDATE 01/26/2016:
I managed to get imessage, facetime, and maps to work properly. I followed a different guide on the internet. I can write down the steps if you need clarification.
Audio:
I was stuck on the "no-audio" issue for days. I wasn't able to get audio to work directly from my motherboard's i/o. I was able to get audio through my graphics card via HDMI, using a patch, but for me that wouldn't do. I needed audio from the motherboard. I tried almost all patches, and other ALC installs with no success. Honestly, I just took and chance with the Voodoo install, and low and behold it worked, (with a sigh of relief).
UPDATE 1/23/2016:
I've since then installed a Firewire 400/800 PCI card into the machine, so I can use my MOTU 828 MK2 Audio interface. I've had no issues with firewire and audio interface. I just installed the MOTU drivers from their website.
Graphics/Monitor:
I initially installed El Capitan using a LED TV as my monitor via HDMI with a resolution of 1366x768. Everything worked fine. but when I tried to switch to a different monitor after, (a resolution of 1440x900), it would show the Apple logo and progress bar while booting, but then it would just be a blank screen. So I kept using the computer with the LED TV. So you may want to go through the whole process using a monitor that you'll be using for the entirety of the hackintosh.
UPDATE 01/15/2016:
I was able to connect the 1440x900 monitor with no issues. For some reason it just booted correctly. but now in the display system preferences, it's showing 2 displays connected: 1 is the monitor connected via HDMI, and the other says VGA. but only one monitor is connected. I'd like to run a dual monitor setup on the machine using the hardware I have: Asus GTX 960, and 2 monitors at 1440x900.
I'm actually having some trouble with dual monitors when booting up the machine in general. Both will be blank screens, with no bios startup splash screen. I'm able to have dual monitors in Windows 10, when having 1 monitor connected to the graphics card, and the other monitor connected the motherboard's VGA connector. I'm not able to have 2 monitors connected to graphics card. I have not tried the displayports on the graphics card, but the DVI connection doesn't work either.
UPDATE 01/23/2016:
I'm no longer having issues with any bootloops caused by the Nvidia web driver. I ended up buying a new monitor, and using the DVI connection on the GTX 960 instead of the HDMI port. It hasn't caused any issues booting up or no bootloops. It also fixed the issue with the "phantom vga display" connected, it no longer shows. I ended up disabling the Intel Integrated Graphics option in my Bios as well. I would recommend using either the DVI or Displayport connections on your graphics card to avoid any problems. I am now running dual displays off one graphics card with no issues.
Misc:
I do have some random issues here and there, which include:
- The computer doesn't restart or shut down properly when selected. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
- Sometimes booting up, it will just restart. It doesn't happen often, but maybe 1 in 30 boots.
If you have any fixes to those issues, i'm all ears.
well hopefully, if you have any questions, maybe I can answer them. good luck. and thanks for reading.
UPDATE 04/06/2016:
This is an update to the hackintosh. I since then, have transplanted all my components into a Power Mac G5 Case. I was able to score a free one off a friend. It was in fairly decent condition, but one of the front bottom legs was bent pretty bad, so i had to bend it back into shape. Since I got the shell for free, I wanted to keep most of my costs down. So i opted to create my own motherboard tray (made out of acrylic with installed standoffs), and my own backplate and I/O area (made with thin aluminum sheet metal). Even though I have a full ATX motherboard, I kept the existing PCI mounts because I was only using the PCIe slots on my motherboard anyway, and not the bottom PCI slots. I pretty much measured everything to my specifications, and used a dremel to cut the back. Since I was using thin aluminum as my back plate, I just used a utility knife to score the cuts until it was easy enough to break off. Since I was using the original PCI mounts, they go back into the case a little, so lining up the motherboard's I/O flush with the case would be impossible. So i didn't install the I/O shield, and just cut the area for the motherboard's I/O.
For the front I/O and power button, I soldered new atx wires (i bought off ebay) to the original power switch and LED. Then connected those to power and LED jumpers on my motherboard. I also bought a USB 3.0 female cable to 20pin motherboard header off ebay and hot glued that to the original front USB, and Firewire area. (I had to dremel the firewire port a little bigger to fit a standard USB cable).
I removed most of the pre existing standoffs, and filed down anything to make the side flat. I dry fitted everything before installing, mostly the motherboard. I cut the top shelf in half and kept the original drive bay, which i put where the optical drive was originally. To cut the shelf I had to remove it, which requires you to remove all the case screws around the case, and you can either shimmy the shelf out, or completely remove the outer casing from the inner casing. Let's just say it was a bitch, but doable.
I bought 2 Enermax 140mm quiet fans to intake air from the front. I didn't want to mount them directly to the front because I don't want to drill holes, and have ugly screws in the front of the case. So I made a rail system for the fans to be mounted on, and it press fits into the case with some rubber matting on the ends.
And since then, I have installed an Enermax Liquid Cooler. I wanted the build in general to be fairly quiet. It's around 15db while idle and around 24db under heavy load. (I breathe louder than the computer). With a CPU temp around 30C idle, and around 64C under heavy load. I have 2 front Enermax fans intaking air in the front. and 1 Enermax fan exhausting air in the back, which is also in a push configuration on the radiator.
Also please excuse the wires. Since I don't have a modular power supply, and the case itself doesn't have any cable management areas, it just kinda has to lay on the bottom.
If you have any questions, I'll try to answer to the best of my ability. This is all a learning project, as it is to most of you. thanks again.
UPDATE 4/12/2016:
I replaced the back and motherboard tray to the Mac Pro case. I was able to score a really cheap ATX case which I cut to my specs. It was originally black so I sanded most of the paint off the back keeping some black areas where I didn't bother to sand. But now I have access too all my PCIe and PCI slots and now the motherboard I/O area is flush the back, and I can use the I/O shield. And since it's steel, it's a lot more sturdier than the aluminum sheet metal I was previously using. I may clean up the back a little more so it looks cleaner. Since the back plate only supports "square" 120mm fans, I had to swap out the existing radiator exhaust fan, and I used the 2 Enermax fans that came with my CPU cooler. It's now in a push/pull configuration, on the lowest fan speed. It does not impact noise or performance.
January 14, 1016:
My first hackintosh build. a fairly successful build using El Capitan. I'm not the most computer savy person, but here's what I did to get it working properly enough for me.
SPECS:
CPU: Intel i5-4690K (with ENERMAX Liqmax II 120s. CPU overclocked at 4.5ghz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z97-HD3 (bios version F9)
GPU: Asus GTX-960 Strix 4GB
RAM: Ballistix Sport 2x4GB (8GB Total) DDR3-1600Mhz
Case: Corsair 200R (Updated to Power Mac G5 Case)
PSU: 600W 80+
SSDs: 500GB Samsung Evo (Windows) / 250GB SanDisk (Mac)
Bluetooth 4.0 USB Dongle / and Mac compatible USB WIFI Dongle
UPDATED 01/26/2016: TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Dual Band Wireless N900 PCI Express (works out of the box)
FIREWIRE 400/800 PCI Card: (for my audio interface)
I also have a 2012 Macbook Pro for creating bootable USB thumbdrive (16GB)
my procedure:
(On my Macbook Pro):
I downloaded the El Capitan installation app from the App store which is version 10.11.2 at the time of this install.
I downloaded and used the current version of Unibeast 6.1.1 to create the bootable thumbdrive (which uses Clover bootloader. I also downloaded Multibeast 8.0.1 for El Capitan and saved it onto the same USB thumbdrive.
(Computer for hackintosh):
With the computer completely off, I removed my graphics card, and 1 stick of ram. I had ONLY 1 SSD drive connected. I also suggest installing MAC OSX before installing Windows. As I learned it the hard way.
I just had my keyboard and mouse in 2 usb 2.0 ports in the back, and I also kept the Bluetooth and WIFI dongles connected in 2 usb 3.0 ports in the back. I connected a monitor via HDMI to the motherboard i/o.
Bios settings: I basically just selected default settings in bios. and saved.
INSTALLATION:
Turned on my computer, pressing F12 to get to the bootmenu, and selected the appropriate USB thrumbdrive UEFI partition. It loaded the Clover bootloader, and in options, under "Boot Args" i entered "maxmem=4096" after "dart=0". I didn't have an issues booting directly from the USB thumbdrive into the El Capitan install.
I formatted the SSD via Disk Utility to Mac Extended Journaled, then proceeded with the install. (took about 13 minutes).
Installation completed.
POST INSTALL:
after installation completed, I booted computer on the USB thumbdrive again taking me to the Clover bootloader. In Clover options, "Boot Args" I again entered "maxmem=4096" after "dart=0". It booted fine with no issues to the welcome screen.
Went through the welcome screen prompts, then to the desktop.
After that, I installed Multibeast for El Capitan, selecting the following in each section:
Drivers:
MISC
- FakeSMC v.6.18.1394
- FakeSMC Plugins v.6.18.1394
AUDIO
Reaktek ALCxxx
- ALC1150
Bootloaders:
- Clover v2.3k r3320 UEFI Boot Mode
and that's it.
After Multibeast finished installing, I removed the USB Thumbdrive, and I rebooted.
I hit F12 on the keyboard to get to the bootmenu, and selected the appropriate UEFI partition to get me to the Clover Bootloader that I just installed on the Mac SSD.
I then selected the Mac OSX hard drive and booted back into El Capitan's desktop.
I then installed the WIFI Dongle by way of CD that it came with, so I was able to get onto the internet. (I did not try the Ethernet)
rebooted once again.
AUDIO:
Then coming back to the desktop again, checked if I had sound, which I did not. I tried to install again, but it did not work. I then did some research, and found out that this worked for me:
Downloaded Multibeast 7.5.0 for Yosemite.
Right-clicked Multibeast.app, Show Package Contents.
then went to Contents>Resources>VoodooHDA-v2.8.7pkg
and I proceeded to install. I then rebooted again. and found my audio works. all ports (front and back).
Graphics Card:
I downloaded the NVIDIA Web Driver for Mac via their website. Installed and turned off computer.
I then put my graphics card back into the computer, as well as the other stick of ram. And connected the monitor via HDMI to the graphics card.
Turned on computer and went through the Clover bootloader again, this time not adding anything.
I selected the Mac OSX hard drive to boot. and came back to El capitan desktop. (you should see the nvidia icon on the menu bar with 'nvidia web driver' selected).
ISSUES:
This wasn't as entirely successful as stated above. I definitely ran into a few issues by trial and error.
iMessage:
Some of iClouds (and Apple ID) features work. Syncing contacts, calendar, safari, App Store, etc. but iMessage/Facetime isn't one of them. I tried to fix iMessage by using the guide here on TonyMac, and watching a couple youtube videos, but it didn't work. In fact, it messed everything up, and I was not able to boot into Mac at all. Luckily, I made a back up of the Config.plist before messing around with it via Clover Configurator. So, was able to boot back into El Capitan and replace the config.plist with the original. I decided not to mess it up anymore, and just do without imessage.
In fact, I don't think I would mess around with any of SMBIOS settings. That's just me, and not knowing how certain things work.
UPDATE 01/26/2016:
I managed to get imessage, facetime, and maps to work properly. I followed a different guide on the internet. I can write down the steps if you need clarification.
Audio:
I was stuck on the "no-audio" issue for days. I wasn't able to get audio to work directly from my motherboard's i/o. I was able to get audio through my graphics card via HDMI, using a patch, but for me that wouldn't do. I needed audio from the motherboard. I tried almost all patches, and other ALC installs with no success. Honestly, I just took and chance with the Voodoo install, and low and behold it worked, (with a sigh of relief).
UPDATE 1/23/2016:
I've since then installed a Firewire 400/800 PCI card into the machine, so I can use my MOTU 828 MK2 Audio interface. I've had no issues with firewire and audio interface. I just installed the MOTU drivers from their website.
Graphics/Monitor:
I initially installed El Capitan using a LED TV as my monitor via HDMI with a resolution of 1366x768. Everything worked fine. but when I tried to switch to a different monitor after, (a resolution of 1440x900), it would show the Apple logo and progress bar while booting, but then it would just be a blank screen. So I kept using the computer with the LED TV. So you may want to go through the whole process using a monitor that you'll be using for the entirety of the hackintosh.
UPDATE 01/15/2016:
I was able to connect the 1440x900 monitor with no issues. For some reason it just booted correctly. but now in the display system preferences, it's showing 2 displays connected: 1 is the monitor connected via HDMI, and the other says VGA. but only one monitor is connected. I'd like to run a dual monitor setup on the machine using the hardware I have: Asus GTX 960, and 2 monitors at 1440x900.
I'm actually having some trouble with dual monitors when booting up the machine in general. Both will be blank screens, with no bios startup splash screen. I'm able to have dual monitors in Windows 10, when having 1 monitor connected to the graphics card, and the other monitor connected the motherboard's VGA connector. I'm not able to have 2 monitors connected to graphics card. I have not tried the displayports on the graphics card, but the DVI connection doesn't work either.
UPDATE 01/23/2016:
I'm no longer having issues with any bootloops caused by the Nvidia web driver. I ended up buying a new monitor, and using the DVI connection on the GTX 960 instead of the HDMI port. It hasn't caused any issues booting up or no bootloops. It also fixed the issue with the "phantom vga display" connected, it no longer shows. I ended up disabling the Intel Integrated Graphics option in my Bios as well. I would recommend using either the DVI or Displayport connections on your graphics card to avoid any problems. I am now running dual displays off one graphics card with no issues.
Misc:
I do have some random issues here and there, which include:
- The computer doesn't restart or shut down properly when selected. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
- Sometimes booting up, it will just restart. It doesn't happen often, but maybe 1 in 30 boots.
If you have any fixes to those issues, i'm all ears.
well hopefully, if you have any questions, maybe I can answer them. good luck. and thanks for reading.
UPDATE 04/06/2016:
This is an update to the hackintosh. I since then, have transplanted all my components into a Power Mac G5 Case. I was able to score a free one off a friend. It was in fairly decent condition, but one of the front bottom legs was bent pretty bad, so i had to bend it back into shape. Since I got the shell for free, I wanted to keep most of my costs down. So i opted to create my own motherboard tray (made out of acrylic with installed standoffs), and my own backplate and I/O area (made with thin aluminum sheet metal). Even though I have a full ATX motherboard, I kept the existing PCI mounts because I was only using the PCIe slots on my motherboard anyway, and not the bottom PCI slots. I pretty much measured everything to my specifications, and used a dremel to cut the back. Since I was using thin aluminum as my back plate, I just used a utility knife to score the cuts until it was easy enough to break off. Since I was using the original PCI mounts, they go back into the case a little, so lining up the motherboard's I/O flush with the case would be impossible. So i didn't install the I/O shield, and just cut the area for the motherboard's I/O.
For the front I/O and power button, I soldered new atx wires (i bought off ebay) to the original power switch and LED. Then connected those to power and LED jumpers on my motherboard. I also bought a USB 3.0 female cable to 20pin motherboard header off ebay and hot glued that to the original front USB, and Firewire area. (I had to dremel the firewire port a little bigger to fit a standard USB cable).
I removed most of the pre existing standoffs, and filed down anything to make the side flat. I dry fitted everything before installing, mostly the motherboard. I cut the top shelf in half and kept the original drive bay, which i put where the optical drive was originally. To cut the shelf I had to remove it, which requires you to remove all the case screws around the case, and you can either shimmy the shelf out, or completely remove the outer casing from the inner casing. Let's just say it was a bitch, but doable.
I bought 2 Enermax 140mm quiet fans to intake air from the front. I didn't want to mount them directly to the front because I don't want to drill holes, and have ugly screws in the front of the case. So I made a rail system for the fans to be mounted on, and it press fits into the case with some rubber matting on the ends.
And since then, I have installed an Enermax Liquid Cooler. I wanted the build in general to be fairly quiet. It's around 15db while idle and around 24db under heavy load. (I breathe louder than the computer). With a CPU temp around 30C idle, and around 64C under heavy load. I have 2 front Enermax fans intaking air in the front. and 1 Enermax fan exhausting air in the back, which is also in a push configuration on the radiator.
Also please excuse the wires. Since I don't have a modular power supply, and the case itself doesn't have any cable management areas, it just kinda has to lay on the bottom.
If you have any questions, I'll try to answer to the best of my ability. This is all a learning project, as it is to most of you. thanks again.
UPDATE 4/12/2016:
I replaced the back and motherboard tray to the Mac Pro case. I was able to score a really cheap ATX case which I cut to my specs. It was originally black so I sanded most of the paint off the back keeping some black areas where I didn't bother to sand. But now I have access too all my PCIe and PCI slots and now the motherboard I/O area is flush the back, and I can use the I/O shield. And since it's steel, it's a lot more sturdier than the aluminum sheet metal I was previously using. I may clean up the back a little more so it looks cleaner. Since the back plate only supports "square" 120mm fans, I had to swap out the existing radiator exhaust fan, and I used the 2 Enermax fans that came with my CPU cooler. It's now in a push/pull configuration, on the lowest fan speed. It does not impact noise or performance.
Last edited:
