New Player - Low Profile Intel DH61AG mini-ITX - G4 Cube

[spence4]

Thanks Neil. I didn't notice the PXCHD kext in there. Are you able to use the USB 3 ports on the back of the mobo? I'm guessing you are not too concerned about that as I noticed earlier that you added the USB hub to the top of your cube. Final question. As using your kexts got my audio up and running, maybe it would work with my airport as well. You don't happen to have an Apple branded BCM94321 do you?

 

[neilhart]

spence4- The PXCHD has never worked for me on any machine so I will not add it to this one (again). The built in USB3 support in ML does not see the USB3 on this motherboard in stock form. I have a USB3 external hard drive that is discovered in ML on the rMBP but not on this motherboard. It is no big thing to me for my use.

And support for your BroadCom radio should be in the IO80211Family.kext v 5.0 that is part of ML. This kext contains the AppleAirPortBrcm43224.kext and the AirPortBrcm4331.kext. My system loads the ...43224 kext. And my records indicate that my card is a Broadcom BCM94322MC.

I hope that this helps.

neil

 

[tommy_mac]

Looking to do a DH61AG of a different color after a member here turned me on to Intel's All-in-One chassis. The package is frankly sorta gorgeous IMO:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/23376

I wonder what y'all think about the feasibility of it, and in particular whether I might be able to "get there" all the way to Mountain Lion starting with just my Snow Leopard 10.6.3 retail disc. I have an i7-2600S for my DH61AG but dunno if Snow Leopard knows about such things. Also, this chassis includes a 21.5" 1920x1200 panel with LVDS interface. What are my chances of getting LVDS to work?

Oops I found one member already trying to get this to work, tho it looks like he might be long gone. So I'd still appreciate any feedback on the above, thanks.

http://www.tonymacx86.com/graphics/48452-intel-dh61ag-w-lvds.html

 

[neilhart]

Looking to do a DH61AG of a different color after a member here turned me on to Intel's All-in-One chassis. The package is frankly sorta gorgeous IMO:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/23376

I wonder what y'all think about the feasibility of it, and in particular whether I might be able to "get there" all the way to Mountain Lion starting with just my Snow Leopard 10.6.3 retail disc. I have an i7-2600S for my DH61AG but dunno if Snow Leopard knows about such things. Also, this chassis includes a 21.5" 1920x1200 panel with LVDS interface. What are my chances of getting LVDS to work?

Oops I found one member already trying to get this to work, tho it looks like he might be long gone. So I'd still appreciate any feedback on the above, thanks.

http://www.tonymacx86.com/graphics/48452-intel-dh61ag-w-lvds.html

I think that this is a very interesting Intel offering and well documented. Intel supports it with their low profile cpu cooler. Double check the CPU that you choose to insure you get one that supports HD3000 (the i7-2600S supports HD2000). Lion and ML run on this motherboard very well. I would live on the Intel web site and mine all of the info that you can before investing.

neil

 

[tommy_mac]

I think that this is a very interesting Intel offering and well documented. Intel supports it with their low profile cpu cooler. Double check the CPU that you choose to insure you get one that supports HD3000 (the i7-2600S supports HD2000). Lion and ML run on this motherboard very well. I would live on the Intel web site and mine all of the info that you can before investing.

Neil thanks, can I press you please on "why" HD3000 and not just HD2000 (a reqmt of the Mac OS?)--reason is the i7-2600S is a 65W CPU and the HD3000 version is 95W thus I'm told "out-of-spec" for the DH61AG.

Also do I have a prayer of loading Snow Leopard to this thing? :?

 

[neilhart]

tommymac - OS X (10.6.x, 10.7.x and 10.8.x) does not support HD2000 on board graphics.

And I recommend that you download the Intel recommended CPU listing for the DH61AG and step through the listing and look up the CPU specs on the Intel web site. I chose the i3-2125 for the HD3000 support. There are two things working here, low power because of the on board PSU and the CPU graphics support.

There is the new Ivy Bridge i3 due this week that should support HD4000 and may run on this motherboard.

And it is not clear from the little research that I have done, just how the video is supported on the 'loop' kit.

Once you add up all of the component costs, you might want to re-think this project and go for a high end late model iMac (new or used).

neil

 

[tommy_mac]

tommymac - OS X (10.6.x, 10.7.x and 10.8.x) does not support HD2000 on board graphics.

Ouch; well that's a problem then, isn't it.

I've pushed on this because I already have the board and the processor and the memory and Snow Leopard 10.6.3 and an SSD sitting-around doing nothing and, well, the Loop chassis is just $250 bucks and so I'd not be that far away $ wise. I think the thing even comes with a power brick.

But if the i7-2600S doesn't cut it that doubles my out-of-pocket cost at least. Guess I will need to study-up on 65W processors.

Thank you Neil your expertise is invaluable!

EDIT: For others peeking-in, and maybe this info is earlier in the thread, here are the CPUs I found that have HD3000 graphics and are on the approved DH61AG list:

i3-2105
i3-2125
i5-2405S
i7-3770S

Oops this last is HD4000, I assume that would work too...

 

[tommy_mac]

No the http://ark.intel.com/products/52211 indicates that it supports HD Graphics 2000. OS X does not support HD 2000.

I read somewhere that Snow Leopard *should* (might?) work with HD2000 graphics but only in low-res mode, whatever that is. Might be worth a try for me...

 

[lapin252]

For information I have replace a core I3 2125 with a core I3 3225 I flash the bios to 039 and I have test all is ok.

 

[tommy_mac]

1024x768 with no acceleration. May as well not bother.

But you see, I don't care about that. I have a conundrum: I have a DH61AG and and i7-2600S CPU (with HD2000) and Snow Leopard Retail DVD 10.6.3. I also have a line on an i7-3770S, but AFAICT this latter (with HD4000) won't likely run Snow Leopard.

So to get to Mountain Lion, running on my DH61AG, with i7-3770S, I first have to make a USB stick with Mountain Lion on it, and so to do that I'll try installing my Retail DVD to the DH61AG with i7-2600S installed, then update to, what, SL 10.6.8, so I can further buy-and-download Mountain Lion, and then finally make an installation USB stick that will work with a DH61AG with i7-3770S.

If I'm able to pull this off I may not impress anyone else, but I certainly will impress myself!!!

My only experience to-date with Hackintosh-ing is to install Snow Leopard to VirtualBox, which is pretty cool (and was quite easy) but I can't seem to get USB working thus I can't use it to buy Mountain Lion and make a USB stick.