- Joined
- Nov 13, 2018
- Messages
- 2
- Motherboard
- Asus TUF H370-Pro Gaming (WiFi)
- CPU
- i7-8700K
- Graphics
- UHD 630
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
Hi, all.
I'm working on my first Hackintosh and am still working through the learning process and have had a mix of success/failure.
I'm re-using old stuff and bought new stuff for the build:
New Stuff:
ASUS TUF H370-Pro Gaming (WiFi)
i7-8700K
Arctic Freezer Extreme Rev. 2 Twin-Tower Heatsink CPU Cooler
Ballistic Spot LT 32GB (2 x 16GB) 2400MHz
Old Stuff:
Antec NSK mid-tower with 3 external 5.25" drive bays and removable, internal 3.5in drive rack.
650W power supply (brand TBD)
WD Black 750GB SATA hard drive for testing/development.
Once I've got a configuration that works I will replace the boot drive with a NVME SSD and add a NVIDIA video card. This saves me about the $400 or so for these parts now while I figure out how to get the basic system up and running.
Build Experience:
My initial build following the Installation Guide for High Sierra did not work. I could get all the way to installing macOS but after restarting and booting from the hard drive the boot process would hang. I never got to the point where I could do the initial OS setup (i.e. create user account and so on). I started tinkering and watching YouTube videos.
I was able to find a YouTube video by user Lazy Tech where he provided EFI folders for pre-installation (i.e., the USB installer's EFI volume folder) and post-installation (i.e., for the installed system's EFI volume). The pre-install and post-install EFI folders both worked and I was able to install macOS, set it up, and get to the desktop. I did NOT run MultiBeast since I had a configured EFI folder with a mix of KEXTs that "worked." As a result, no KEXTs were installed into /Library/Extensions. This installation would boot up reliably with both Ethernet, audio, and all the USB3 ports working but without graphics acceleration via UHD 630 (i.e. "About this Mac" reports 7MB of VRAM). I was using the VGA output to drive a 1920x1080 display. I could access the Hackintosh from my other Macs via VNC (screen sharing) as well as AFP-based file sharing (did not test SMB connections but I suspect these would work too).
This was a partial success but, obviously, lack of graphics acceleration was a problem.
As a precaution and for some flexibility in experimenting, I partitioned the boot drive into three volumes (Boot, Aux, and Scratch). Boot held the macOS system I installed. I used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone Boot to Aux (the macOS on Aux volume is the one I used for further testing which I could replace by re-cloning Boot if something blew up). I put various apps and data on the Scratch volume so wouldn't have to depend on a USB drive to transfer needed utilities (e.g. Clover Confgurator, different EFI folders, etc.).
After cloning Boot onto Aux (the EFI folder in the EFI volume being the fully-populated Lazy Tech version), I booted from Aux and ran MultiBeast to produce a "proper" installation per the Installation Guide. I then replaced the Lazy Tech EFI folder in the EFI volume with the EFI folder that UniBeast prepares it. This initially looked like it didn't work because after the boot process (lots of verbose output followed by a brief appearance of the Apple logo and the progress bar) the monitor would turn-off but the system would remain on.
The first time this happened I assumed it had crashed. The second time it happened I happened to browse the Network browser on my Mac and saw my Hackintosh was available and I could VNC into it and even connect via AFP to upload files. The system worked: Ethernet, audio, and the graphic accelerator was working (1536MB reported) but no USB3. The caveat was that I could only see these results by VNCing into the Hackintosh as the monitor was off due to lack of signal.
I got the same results connecting via HDMI—Hackintosh boots, monitor shuts off but system can be accessed via VNC.
TL;DR
Scenario 1:
I can boot into my Boot volume with the EFI volume equipped with the Lazy Tech EFI folder (so: fully-populated KEXTs folder in the EFI volume but no added KEXTs in /Library/Extensions). This gives me a system where Ethernet, audio, and USB3 all work but no graphics acceleration. The attached VGA display works. The system is accessible via VNC, AFP, etc. from my other Macs.
Scenario 2:
I can boot into my Aux volume with the EFT volume equipped with a Unibeast-installed EFI folder (so: minimal KEXTs folder in the EFI volume and MultiBeast installed KEXTs in /Library/Extensions). This gives me a system where Ethernet, audio, and graphics acceleration (1536MB reported) works but no USB3 and the attached VGA or HDMI display turns off after the boot finishes. The system is accessible via VNC, AFP, etc. from my other Macs and, crucially, I can only "see" the desktop via a VNC connection since the attached display is off.
That's it for this initial post. I'll follow-up with another post with config.plists and EFI folder (zip archives) attachments.
I'm working on my first Hackintosh and am still working through the learning process and have had a mix of success/failure.
I'm re-using old stuff and bought new stuff for the build:
New Stuff:
ASUS TUF H370-Pro Gaming (WiFi)
i7-8700K
Arctic Freezer Extreme Rev. 2 Twin-Tower Heatsink CPU Cooler
Ballistic Spot LT 32GB (2 x 16GB) 2400MHz
Old Stuff:
Antec NSK mid-tower with 3 external 5.25" drive bays and removable, internal 3.5in drive rack.
650W power supply (brand TBD)
WD Black 750GB SATA hard drive for testing/development.
Once I've got a configuration that works I will replace the boot drive with a NVME SSD and add a NVIDIA video card. This saves me about the $400 or so for these parts now while I figure out how to get the basic system up and running.
Build Experience:
My initial build following the Installation Guide for High Sierra did not work. I could get all the way to installing macOS but after restarting and booting from the hard drive the boot process would hang. I never got to the point where I could do the initial OS setup (i.e. create user account and so on). I started tinkering and watching YouTube videos.
I was able to find a YouTube video by user Lazy Tech where he provided EFI folders for pre-installation (i.e., the USB installer's EFI volume folder) and post-installation (i.e., for the installed system's EFI volume). The pre-install and post-install EFI folders both worked and I was able to install macOS, set it up, and get to the desktop. I did NOT run MultiBeast since I had a configured EFI folder with a mix of KEXTs that "worked." As a result, no KEXTs were installed into /Library/Extensions. This installation would boot up reliably with both Ethernet, audio, and all the USB3 ports working but without graphics acceleration via UHD 630 (i.e. "About this Mac" reports 7MB of VRAM). I was using the VGA output to drive a 1920x1080 display. I could access the Hackintosh from my other Macs via VNC (screen sharing) as well as AFP-based file sharing (did not test SMB connections but I suspect these would work too).
This was a partial success but, obviously, lack of graphics acceleration was a problem.
As a precaution and for some flexibility in experimenting, I partitioned the boot drive into three volumes (Boot, Aux, and Scratch). Boot held the macOS system I installed. I used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone Boot to Aux (the macOS on Aux volume is the one I used for further testing which I could replace by re-cloning Boot if something blew up). I put various apps and data on the Scratch volume so wouldn't have to depend on a USB drive to transfer needed utilities (e.g. Clover Confgurator, different EFI folders, etc.).
After cloning Boot onto Aux (the EFI folder in the EFI volume being the fully-populated Lazy Tech version), I booted from Aux and ran MultiBeast to produce a "proper" installation per the Installation Guide. I then replaced the Lazy Tech EFI folder in the EFI volume with the EFI folder that UniBeast prepares it. This initially looked like it didn't work because after the boot process (lots of verbose output followed by a brief appearance of the Apple logo and the progress bar) the monitor would turn-off but the system would remain on.
The first time this happened I assumed it had crashed. The second time it happened I happened to browse the Network browser on my Mac and saw my Hackintosh was available and I could VNC into it and even connect via AFP to upload files. The system worked: Ethernet, audio, and the graphic accelerator was working (1536MB reported) but no USB3. The caveat was that I could only see these results by VNCing into the Hackintosh as the monitor was off due to lack of signal.
I got the same results connecting via HDMI—Hackintosh boots, monitor shuts off but system can be accessed via VNC.
TL;DR
Scenario 1:
I can boot into my Boot volume with the EFI volume equipped with the Lazy Tech EFI folder (so: fully-populated KEXTs folder in the EFI volume but no added KEXTs in /Library/Extensions). This gives me a system where Ethernet, audio, and USB3 all work but no graphics acceleration. The attached VGA display works. The system is accessible via VNC, AFP, etc. from my other Macs.
Scenario 2:
I can boot into my Aux volume with the EFT volume equipped with a Unibeast-installed EFI folder (so: minimal KEXTs folder in the EFI volume and MultiBeast installed KEXTs in /Library/Extensions). This gives me a system where Ethernet, audio, and graphics acceleration (1536MB reported) works but no USB3 and the attached VGA or HDMI display turns off after the boot finishes. The system is accessible via VNC, AFP, etc. from my other Macs and, crucially, I can only "see" the desktop via a VNC connection since the attached display is off.
That's it for this initial post. I'll follow-up with another post with config.plists and EFI folder (zip archives) attachments.
