Official CustoMac Mini 2011 Guide and Notes (in progress)

[TreeMan2011]

Sorry for possibly duplicate question, I think I checked first (!) - how do I enable the black line out? I tried all my output options (Audio MIDI Setup), but only one worked (green out). What am I missing here?

System Preferences | Sound | Output | Line Out

I am unable to make any changes there, what am I doing wrong?

Are you setting it to Line Out as opposed to some other selection, and is the volume turned up? The black jack works on mine when Line Out is selected.

 

[GinoDivx]

System Preferences | Sound | Output | Line Out[/quote]

I am unable to make any changes there, what am I doing wrong?[/quote]

Are you setting it to Line Out as opposed to some other selection, and is the volume turned up? The black jack works on mine when Line Out is selected.[/quote]

For me, black jack doesn't work no matter what I select - I have Built-in speakers, two line outs, and one digital out.

 

[TreeMan2011]

Hi.

This thread is getting very very long! Impossible for me to read it all...
Maybe it is the time to create anew one with all the updated information? Or something like that?

Can someone confirm that you can actually build this hackintosh and make it work perfectly? Without graphics or sound problem? Running OsX Lion 10.7.2.

I really want to be sure before spending $500+

Thanks.

I can confirm that you will NOT be able to get it to run "perfectly." You will have a computer that is fast, and less expensive than the equivalent Apple product, but you are going to encounter annoyances and issues. Most of us have had video artifacts (I suspect those who say they haven't don't try to play YouTube videos much, because certain formats of YouTube videos seem to trigger them even if you have pretty much expunged them otherwise) and sound issues of one kind or another. Some are blaming this on the Customac Mini Tuneup Kit (and actually, I'd love to know if there is a way to CLEANLY uninstall that once it's been installed, just to run some tests) but I installed that to get sound to work.

What I didn't realize at the time is that apparently the Customac Mini Tuneup Kit enables HDMI audio (which I really don't need at the moment) but disables the internal microphone jacks on the computer. So you can't use a microphone, and that really screws up trying to use any type of VoIP or audio/video chat software. I really appreciate the effort that toleda has put into that and I hope he'll be able to fix it so that the microphone jacks on the computer itself work again, and also I hope he'll consider posting instructions for disabling at least the parts that could mess up the video and audio, if not total uninstall instructions. That way we could test and see if any other solutions would work better (possibly there is a way to enable onboard audio in MultiBeast?).

There actually is a hardware workaround to the "no microphone" issue — on a previous Apple product (an original Mac Mini) I had used a Griffin iMic USB audio interface which has both microphone and line out jacks. With the CustoMac Mini the microphone input works but the out jack does NOT seem to work. I don't know why the out jack doesn't work (and whether not installing the Customac Mini Tuneup Kit would have made any difference) but it doesn't. So right now I am getting audio output through the black "line" jack and microphone input through the iMic, but one should not have to buy an iMic device to get a usable microphone.

So I guess it depend on what's important to you and how much effort you are willing to spend on working around problems (and probably also on whether there will be a Customac Mini Tuneup Kit v4 that concentrates on fixing audio and video issues) but if you will not be satisfied by anything that does not work "perfectly" I'd pass on this for now.

 

[TreeMan2011]

Sorry for possibly duplicate question, I think I checked first (!) - how do I enable the black line out? I tried all my output options (Audio MIDI Setup), but only one worked (green out). What am I missing here?

System Preferences | Sound | Output | Line Out

I am unable to make any changes there, what am I doing wrong?

Are you setting it to Line Out as opposed to some other selection, and is the volume turned up? The black jack works on mine when Line Out is selected.

For me, black jack doesn't work no matter what I select - I have Built-in speakers, two line outs, and one digital out.

No idea then. I will note that if you switch outputs, you may have to stop and restart your current audio output before it will "take." For example, if you are playing an mp3 file and you change the output to Line Out while it is playing, it probably won't work until you stop the output and then restart it. I discovered this while trying to test the iMic output (which isn't working), as mentioned in my previous message.

 

[scockman]

Okay, I have been lurking around here long enough. I had built and tried to built 2 previous CustoMac base in Core i3 1st generation in the past as a hobby - something to do. One was successful and the other was a flop. I had thought that maybe my OSX DVD was corrupt. But with my latest attempt at this CustoMac Mini 2011, I found that it still worked.

Now I am thinking of seriously getting into these builds. I am a long time Windows guy and I am pretty handing at building those type of systems. But from what I have seen with version 8 coming out I am not liking what I am seeing. So I may take the leap and jump to CustoMacs, but I am a real noob when comes to these builds. Hardware is a no brainer, but installing the OS that is a whole different animal. So lets get down to it.

I am currently using the recommended item in Tony's list:

CPU: Intel Core i3-2105 with Intel HD 3000 Graphics
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H67N-USB3-B3
RAM: CORSAIR 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3
Case + Power Supply Unit: APEX MI-008 Mini-ITX with 250w PSU
Optical Drive: Sony Optiarc AD-7260S (Had this from my previous build)
Solid State Drive: Corsair Force Series 3 120GB SATA 6Gb/s
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1 TB SATA 6Gb/s

I am using this video card from his alternative parts list - because I have never been a real fan of Intel Graphics.
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 5570 - 1 GB DDR3 HDMI/DVI-I/VGA PCI-Express Graphics Card

I followed all of the recommended steps:
Flashed to the latest F7 BIOS - the board came with F4 installed, could not boot until I disconnected all SATA ports - was getting the vertical line artifacts at bootup - that took 30 minutes looking around the forums to figure out
Load Optimized Defaults
HPET to 64-bit mode
SATA to AHCI mode

Used iBoot 3.2 was able to get 10.6.3 installed. Followed the 10.6.8 guide for Sandy Bridge to get to 10.6.8. Now here is the issue. At the last step I go to run MultiBeast 3.9.1 to to install the DSDT for this motherboard, along with System Utilities and then reboot. That is when I get a black screen, so now I do not know if the system works or not.

I have rebuilding this over and over for the last day and half. Maybe their are some additional items that I have missed in the MultiBeast that I need to apply - I do not know. I am looking for help here???

On an additional note, I do have a Lion Thumb Drive coming in tomorrow, so I may go forward and try this guide when it arrives - viewtopic.php?f=168&t=32306.

 

[toleda]

That is when I get a black screen, so now I do not know if the system works or not.

On an additional note, I do have a Lion Thumb Drive coming in tomorrow, so I may go forward and try this guide when it arrives - viewtopic.php?f=168&t=32306.

Regarding the black screen, set GraphicsEnabler=No -v at the boot prompt. You will get a VESA resolution and that should be enough to get to the next step.

 

[kapfinger]

i5-2500K. I mainly see artifacts with wine and none with Firefox (when wine isn't running), though.

With abreis's settings?

Not exactly. Similar Hardware, different PSU (be quiet! SFX Power 300W SFX12V 3.2), different Ram (G.Skill DIMM Kit 8GB PC3-10667U CL9-9-9-24).
My org.chameleon.Boot.plist differs quite a bit, I did no manual modifyig (besides the timeout) there:

<key>Kernel</key>
	<string>mach_kernel</string>
	<key>Kernel Flags</key>
	<string>arch=i386 npci=0x2000</string>
	<key>GraphicsEnabler</key>
	<string>Yes</string>
	<key>Timeout</key>
	<string>2</string>
	<key>Legacy Logo</key>
	<string>Yes</string>
	<key>EthernetBuiltIn</key>
	<string>Yes</string>

I just tried abreis' org.chameleon.Boot.plist, massive artifacts, starting at the login screen.

I suspect those who say they haven't don't try to play YouTube videos much, because certain formats of YouTube videos seem to trigger them even if you have pretty much expunged them otherwise

My Firefox history says I watched 27 youtube videos over the last two days. No artifacts at all. But as I said: when I start wine, I get fireworks (horizontal lines, small black rectangles, small squares that have more squares in them and keep changing, now and then black screen for half a second or so).


For all who still have sound issues: Have you considered using an USB sound card? They are cheep as dirt (~2€ here). No optimal solution, but if nothing else helps ...
I use them because I'm lazy. 2 cables less to plug in, if the sound card is plugged in an USB hub.


One more question: What exactly does GenerateCStates / GeneratePStates do? Do they have something to do with automatic CPU clock control / energy saving? If yes, why does that stuff work for me without these settings? (edit: when I think of it, hibernate doesn't work ^^)

 

[meowtime]

Most of us have had video artifacts (I suspect those who say they haven't don't try to play YouTube videos much, because certain formats of YouTube videos seem to trigger them even if you have pretty much expunged them otherwise) and sound issues of one kind or another. Some are blaming this on the Customac Mini Tuneup Kit (and actually, I'd love to know if there is a way to CLEANLY uninstall that once it's been installed, just to run some tests) but I installed that to get sound to work.

I have ZERO video or audio artifacts, and this system truly has been put through the ringer within the past 2 weeks. My go-to video test on a system is always the Vimeo HD channel, which plays back perfectly. Also, to be specific, these are some other formats/ sources I can confirm work for me: HD quicktimes from Apple Trailers website, HD videos from youtube, x264 HD and SD avis, mkvs, and mp4s... I'm a video editor, and am familiar with video that looks bad.

For everything that I will use it for (an htpc machine in the living room), i would say that yes, it does work "perfectly"... Although right now I don't have or need working HDMI audio out or optical audio out (although eventually I would like to get that to work). I don't even need more than one usb2.0 port, so I haven't even looked into usb3.0.

Note: I'm not using the Tuneup Kit.
Please don't take this as me "blaming" the kit... I'm just saying that it didn't work for me.

 

[toleda]

So I guess it depend on what's important to you and how much effort you are willing to spend on working around problems (and probably also on whether there will be a Customac Mini Tuneup Kit v4 that concentrates on fixing audio and video issues) but if you will not be satisfied by anything that does not work "perfectly" I'd pass on this for now.

Thank for taking the time to present this valuable feedback. A little history: The Tuneup Kit was the result of user feedback describing difficulties using the CustoMac Mini (graphics hangs, port problems, audio, etc.). I built my CMM months ago and it had lots of problems. All of those problems were associated with HD 3000 Integrated Graphics. The Tuneup Kit addresses the HD3000 problems, specifically for users that want HD3000 HDMI audio.

You do not need to install the Tuneup Kit if you are building a CustoMac Mini with discrete graphics (with or without HDMI audio) or HD3000 integrated graphics without HDMI. More on this later.

For those interested in HD3000 integrated graphics with HDMI audio installing the Tuneup Kit is beneficial. This is the only place you can get turnkey HDMI audio in our DIY world. The current HDMI audio is very close to native with the sacrifice of other audio capabilities. The reason there is not a mic is that adding a mic breaks HDMI audio. For those applications that require HDMI audio, this is low cost, reasonable (not optimal) solution.

The CustoMac Mini is very desirable for most other applications. Full 889 on board audio, single and dual slot graphics with and without HDMI/DisplayPort audio, up to i7-2600K processing power and many other options and capabilities make this platform completely customizable from the low end to the high end in cost and performance. For those interested in HDMI/DP audio with discrete graphics cards , the dsdt in the Tuneup Kit includes the required edits. To uninstall Tuneup Kit audio, simply install the MultiBeast 889 audio solution (disables HDMI audio) or an 889 edited Lion AppleHDA.kext for full on board and HDMI audio.

To summarize, the CustoMac Mini is a very flexible platform appropriate for an endless set of applications. For those interested in HDMI audio at the lowest cost, the CustoMac Mini with HD3000 graphics is the most economical with video compromises. The level of graphics performance for the CustoMac Mini can be optimized with the appropriate discrete graphics card (and power supply, cooling and case). The key to a satisfying CustoMac Mini experience is selecting an appropriate configuration.

 

[Montmac]

Hi.

This thread is getting very very long! Impossible for me to read it all...
Maybe it is the time to create anew one with all the updated information? Or something like that?

Can someone confirm that you can actually build this hackintosh and make it work perfectly? Without graphics or sound problem? Running OsX Lion 10.7.2.

I really want to be sure before spending $500+

Thanks.

I can confirm that you will NOT be able to get it to run "perfectly." You will have a computer that is fast, and less expensive than the equivalent Apple product, but you are going to encounter annoyances and issues. Most of us have had video artifacts (I suspect those who say they haven't don't try to play YouTube videos much, because certain formats of YouTube videos seem to trigger them even if you have pretty much expunged them otherwise) and sound issues of one kind or another. Some are blaming this on the Customac Mini Tuneup Kit (and actually, I'd love to know if there is a way to CLEANLY uninstall that once it's been installed, just to run some tests) but I installed that to get sound to work.

What I didn't realize at the time is that apparently the Customac Mini Tuneup Kit enables HDMI audio (which I really don't need at the moment) but disables the internal microphone jacks on the computer. So you can't use a microphone, and that really screws up trying to use any type of VoIP or audio/video chat software. I really appreciate the effort that toleda has put into that and I hope he'll be able to fix it so that the microphone jacks on the computer itself work again, and also I hope he'll consider posting instructions for disabling at least the parts that could mess up the video and audio, if not total uninstall instructions. That way we could test and see if any other solutions would work better (possibly there is a way to enable onboard audio in MultiBeast?).

There actually is a hardware workaround to the "no microphone" issue — on a previous Apple product (an original Mac Mini) I had used a Griffin iMic USB audio interface which has both microphone and line out jacks. With the CustoMac Mini the microphone input works but the out jack does NOT seem to work. I don't know why the out jack doesn't work (and whether not installing the Customac Mini Tuneup Kit would have made any difference) but it doesn't. So right now I am getting audio output through the black "line" jack and microphone input through the iMic, but one should not have to buy an iMic device to get a usable microphone.

So I guess it depend on what's important to you and how much effort you are willing to spend on working around problems (and probably also on whether there will be a Customac Mini Tuneup Kit v4 that concentrates on fixing audio and video issues) but if you will not be satisfied by anything that does not work "perfectly" I'd pass on this for now.

I am using the V3 tuneup kit. I can tell you the Logitech HD Webcam Pro C910 and the HD Webcam C615 both work OOB, audio included. Facetime, iChat and Skype all work great with these two webcams.