Hackintosh-ing Dell Optiplex 990 (and 790)

[maxmalta]

This is in response to a PM, but I thought I'd make it public for anyone else with one of these Optiplexes.

I got my system up and running three or four months ago on 10.7.2 (with recent update through apple menu to 10.7.3). I had NO dsdt; I just installed easybeast along with hrac's intel Ethernet kext. This got everything working well, including Internet, although I lack the WoL option in the energy preferences, which is disappointing. I have it enabled in bios, but I imagine I need an updated Kext that will allow it on the Intel 82579LM Gigabit LAN.

Audio and video were no good OOB. Realtek ALC269q and AMD Radeon HD 6350, respectively.

I tried all the voodoo options for audio, but kept having KPs. Perhaps I was doing it wrong? maybe there was a conflicting Kext that should have been deleted first before installing voodoo? At any rate, I ended up buying an $8 USB audio stick (mic and speaker jacks) which was plug and play. Easy-peasy.


To start mackintosh at Dell Optiplex 790 or 7010 you need to use flag dart=0 in boot option.

For the AMD card, I didn't try my hardest to find a kext that would make it work right, since I had another card anyway. I got my Asus GeForce 210 1GB working OOB, making sure that graphics enabler was set to 'yes', so no problems there.

I did some other tweaking to get the OS to boot on a RAID volume, but I'll spare you those details since after the second RAID failure (thanks CCC for saving my bacon!) I just put the OS on a non-RAID disk. As a side note, my data disk is still on a RAID volume and I haven't had a problem.

My remaining problems, at this point, other than the lack of WoL which i already mentioned, included getting the system to sleep and wake up properly. I installed this Kext for system sleep: http://www.osx86.net/downloads.php?do=file&id=1771. Honestly I can't remember just how much that kext helped. I just know it wasn't 100% because I ended up installing 3rd party software to help the lion sleep. This issue may have been an OS issue, not a Hackintosh issue. That super-helpful software was PleaseSleep, and it's free. http://www.dragonone.com/products/macosx/pleasesleep/

Then, I did something else to the system that I neglected to write down on my Evernote Hackintosh page. It had something to do with making the system stay awake once it's awakened?? That is, before I installed or made this tweak or whatever it was, when I woke it from sleep with a single keyboard press, it would waken for three seconds and then fall back asleep, unless I continued pressing keys. This tweak cured that problem by sending inputs in the background to keep it awake after I hit a single key or mouse click to wake it up. If anybody knows what this tweak was or where it can be found, please shout it out.

I think that's about it. I hope this is helpful to someone else with a 990 or 790. Let me know if you have any more specific questions.

LONG LIVE THE HACKINTOSH!

To start hackintosh in Dell Optiplex 790 or 7010, use boot options dart=0.

 

[alinthegreat]

The only thing I had to do separate was install the realtek ac269 sound through kextbeast.

Hi , could you give me the Realtek ac269 sound kext you used ?

 

[fireheadman]

I got Mavericks working with my 790 sff.

Installed using unibeast. Used multibeast to install easybeast and Intel Ethernet.

I have a low pro Asus nvidia gt520 and that worked OOB. The only thing I had to do separate was install the realtek ac269 sound through kextbeast.


No fiddling with flags. Install was very smooth!

I have been looking to get my desktop running OSX, didn't realize a optiplex 790 was OOTB this easy!... went to best buy and picked up a PNY GeForce GT610 card (half height). Plugged it in, booted using unibeast and viola!!! Dual monitors working. Haven't rebooted for sound kexts yet, but did run kextbeast (requires reboot to complete).

I immediately looked up how to upgrade from Mavericks to Yosemite...
http://www.tonymacx86.com/yosemite-...-os-x-yosemite-using-unibeast-multibeast.html After verifying sound, I will perform this upgrade!!

Loving it so far!! Hoping to find my bluetooth usb dongle at home and connect the magic mouse and wireless keyboard.

=============
UPDATE1: running kextbeast and rebooting did not activate audio on mavericks, I needed to download multibeast and run that. I selected the easybeast profile and the realtek audio ac269 drivers, then "build". Once that was complete, I rebooted.... hoping for sound (fingers crossed).

Before the rebooted, I am completing my unibeast version for yosemite so I can perform the upgrade once audio is good to go.

=============
UPDATE2: Audio finally working.
used this link for reference: http://www.tonymacx86.com/audio/37100-easiest-audio-solution-ever.html
Essentially, had to re-run mulitbeast, select EasyBeast, Drivers-> Intel (latest version of Ethernet/E1000), Audio (did this...from quote from link)

Not sure if this solution will work for any Realtek ALC269 audio, but I did just Hackintosh a Dell Optiplex 790 and had trouble with audio as well. The fix on Lion (super easy):

Delete or move: /System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext

Use latest Multibeast to install VoodooHDA.kext (2.7.3)

After reboot, you will have a hissing sound (the static, or buzzing people have talked about). This is because the microphone ports default to passthru or input monitoring. Open /Applications/Utilities/Audio MIDI Setup, and use that to Mute the microphone inputs. I only needed to mute the front panel microphone jack and the static went away.

....rebooted, and I had audio. As a side note, I might also purchase the USB audio/mic stick for another build since this is easy!

...NOW, FINALLY..... onto the Yosemite upgrade.

============
UPDATE3: Yosemite upgrade completed. Used this article http://www.tonymacx86.com/yosemite-...-os-x-yosemite-using-unibeast-multibeast.html
Still on first boot, audio and internet still works.... But the documentation says to run Multibeast 7, so will do that and hope that everything remains intact.

NOTE: I did everything in multibeast as I did in UPDATE2 with the exception that I selected the newest VoodooHDA.kext (2.84) driver and got an error that the audio driver was improperly installed... So the saying goes [....IF It aint broke, don't fix it!!!] So after the reboot, I went back into multibeast and reinstalled the VoodooHDA.kext (2.7.3) driver.

Now I am seeing there are a couple security updates I need to apply..... Last time i did this in Mavericks, it disabled a few things, so I had to re-run multibeast again, so I imagine that will be the same case on Yosemite....

==============
UPDATE4: Yosemite upgrade completed with all latest updates from Apple. Reboot wasn't required and did not have to re-run Mulitbeast. Everything is working like a champ, just have to order the new logitech solar wireless keyboard and the multitouch logitech mouse to complete the setup. (The keyboard isn't bluetooth so it will allow interaction in chameleon).


Hope this post helps anyone having installation/upgrade troubles.

 

[captaincool]

This is extremely helpful to me. I'm going to attempt my first hackintosh install tonight on an optiplex 790 with a newly installed Nvidia GT610 video card.

 

[fireheadman]

Back again... this time reloading to install El Capitan.
1st attempt was installing without unibeast. This was successful, however I went the route of installing Yosemite, then doing an upgrade to El Capitan. When I installed the Post El Capitan pkg from the downloads section for Essential pkgs, this broke the OS and it booted into a panic everytime. I was trying to get audio to work when doing this... otherwise, if I would have never messed with the Essential pkgs, I would have been set.

2nd attempt, I came across unibeast 6.x to install El Capitan, which also uses Clover.... I like the simplicity of this method, so I have wiped the drawing board clean and starting over. Just hoping this will allow for iMessage and facetime to work..... as my Yosemite build using unibeast (chimera) disabled this.

PS... The logitech solar keyboard has been GREAT!... the logitech touch mouse was too small, so returned it for a apple magic mouse. I also picked up a USB audio adapter, which is plug and play for audio instead of messing around with voodoo drivers.

 

[greenflash]

I got Mavericks working with my 790 sff.

Installed using unibeast. Used multibeast to install easybeast and Intel Ethernet.

I have a low pro Asus nvidia gt520 and that worked OOB. The only thing I had to do separate was install the realtek ac269 sound through kextbeast.

No fiddling with flags. Install was very smooth!

Hi, here a newbie trying to deploy Yosemite to a 790sff. I followed a guide which used Unibeast, Chimera and some extra file for the 755 that should work too here.. But I've had not success. It gets stuck at AppleEthernet1000e. Should I try Mavericks instead? I was interested in your comment because I have a GT520 to drop in if the Onboard video does not work.

Do you have any more details?

Thanks a lot!