pastrychef's testing machine - HP Elite 8300 SFF - i7-3770 - GT 630

[g00glethis1]

Maybe try copying the script and kext from the dmg file to the same directory on your drive before running the install script. Not sure if that's the issue, but it's worth trying.

Thanks tanker. Unfortunately, I already tried that thinking that it was a mounting issue and that did not work.

 

[g00glethis1]

Just used an app called Kext Wizard, it seemed to do the trick.

 

[g00glethis1]

View attachment 206756​

Components

HP Elite 8300 SFF
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7RB4CU1488


Already Owned

Crucial Ballistic Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148544

Zotac GeForce GT 630 2GB DDR 3 Zone Edition
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500346

Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 Plus
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAAHH4839661

Broadcom BCM94360CS with PCI-e Adaptor
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0144KU1EG/?tag=tonymacx86com-20


Comments

I made the mistake of roaming this forum and stumbling upon this thread: HP 8300 Elite w/ Intel i5-3570 Quad Core $222.75 at Newegg | tonymacx86.com

I did all that I could to resist purchasing yet another computer especially since I really had no need for it. However, due to the absolutely horrible summer we are having here in NYC, I found myself staying in the comfortable confines of home a lot recently, to avoid the oppressive heat and humidity, and enjoying my air conditioning... So, I started browsing Ebay and managed to find an HP Elite 8300 SFF with i7 3770 for $200 and couldn't resist...


Installation

1. Bios Settings
Storage

SATA Emulation > AHCI​

Security

System Security

Virtualization Technology Directed I/O (VTd) > Disabled​

Advanced

Onboard Devices

Serial Port A > Disabled
Parallel Port > Disabled​

Device Options

Turbo > Enabled
Integrated Video > Disabled
Multi-Processor > Enabled
Hyperthreading > Enabled​

2. Make your UniBeast USB Flash Drive. UniBeast: Install OS X El Capitan on Any Supported Intel-based PC | tonymacx86.com
3. Install OS X.
4. Run MultiBeast with following parameters:
View attachment 208186
5. Mount your EFI folder and copy the ssdt.aml file at the bottom of this post to /EFI/ACPI/patched/. (Note: The ssdt.aml file I have included here is for i7-3770. If your CPU is different, you will need to create your own using Piker-Alpha's ssdtPRGen.sh utility. GitHub - Piker-Alpha/ssdtPRGen.sh: Script to generate a SSDT for Power Management )
6. Download and install the HDMIAudio-1.1.dmg found at the end of this post. (Note: Apologies to the original author. I don't know who wrote this and can not give proper credit.)
7. Launch Terminal and enter the following:

sudo pmset -a autopoweroff 0

8. (Optional) Install Nvidia web drivers and use Clover Configurator to set "nvda_drv=1"
9. Done.


What works
Sleep/Wake
App Store
Gigabit Ethernet
USB 3
HDMI Audio
Quartz Extreme/Core Image

What doesn't work
I haven't encountered anything not working yet. I will update once I come across something.

Untested
Messages
Continuity/Handoff
Wifi/Bluetooth
(Will update soon. Received the computer less than 12 hours ago and haven't had time to test everything yet.)


Epilogue
This was truly an extremely easy system to hackintosh. I was able to boot in to El Capitan within half an hour of plugging the computer's power cord. As a challenge, I didn't even bother to look for any guides or read about anyone else's successful installs. I just jumped in head first and got everything working. I chose to use the iMac13,1 or iMac13,2 system definitions because I felt the hardware most closely resembled those systems.

When time permits, I will try to do a reinstall with the built-in Intel HD 4000 graphics and document it here.

I will use my Kill-A-Watt clone to measure power consumption in the coming days and report back with my findings. Depending on the results, I may use this as a replacement for my very old 2009 Mac mini.

For someone looking for a good performing OS X system on a tight budget, this HP Elite 8300 is extremely tough to beat.

Ambient temp: ~25C
Idle temp: ~38C
Full load temp: ~67C

Power consumption:
Sleep: 2.4W
Idle: ~31W
Browsing: ~35-52W
Full load: ~72W


View attachment 206765

Just wanted to give a shoutout @pastrychef @trs96 @Jwats06 @Lonelytanker & the rest of the community for all the help & answering all my annoying questions !!! I'm very excited about this build & how powerful it is for the minimal amount that I had to invest into it. I think it's safe to say, with everyone's help in the community, I now have a better, faster, more economical replacement for my Mac mini that has all of the features & expandability that I have desired over my previous overpriced apple hardware. I'm still in the process of post-installation & plan on posting a noob-friendly guide after the break to contribute to the community.

After the break I'll go more into detail in implementing Wake-On-Lan (Which went Very Successful) , DIY Fusion Drive (still deliberating & testing whether I'll keep this or not, because of RAID 0 reliability & failure rate).

Right about now, I have finally fixed the over/under scan with my 2008 Samsung 52' LCD TV. I'm in the process to implement HiDPI to fix squinting at the screen from 8 feet back. Deliberating whether I should try using terminal commands or software (switchresx, etc..) to accomplish the desired and result. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to approach this....?

 

[pastrychef]

Right about now, I have finally fixed the over/under scan with my 2008 Samsung 52' LCD TV. I'm in the process to implement HiDPI to fix squinting at the screen from 8 feet back. Deliberating whether I should try using terminal commands or software (switchresx, etc..) to accomplish the desired and result. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to approach this....?

I have never needed to apply any fix for HiDPI resolutions. Just open the Displays system preference, hold the Option key and click on the Scaled button.

 

[g00glethis1]

Cool, i think is what I'm trying to accomplish? :

Image

• g00glethis1
• Nov 8, 2016

 

[pastrychef]

Hold Option and click Scaled.

 

[blanktape]

First time posting, thanks to this very informative thread by pastrychef! I look forward to building my first hackintosh as my hp elite 8300 sff is on the way.

Unfortunately i purchased an asus gtx 950 mini low power gpu off ebay and thought that it would fit but later realized that it is not low profile and our sff pci-e only output 35 watt max. (never browse ebay before sleep!)

Since this gpu doesnt require external power and only consume 75w max. i am thinking is it possible to use a pci-e riser which supply power, hook it up to 2nd sata power and make it work. like this one.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HGQ0MYU/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

or maybe use fps booster 5.25" GPU power supply to supply additional power? my only concern is the pci-e x16 slot wont work.

it is also make it possible to fit the card inside the case....and possible the most power gpu you can fit in this form.

just want to throw it out here see if anyone tried it?

if it doesn't work i will probably save it later for my other build.

thanks in advance!

 

[pastrychef]

I was always told that PCI-e provides up to 75W. Six pin auxiliary power connectors provide up to 75W. Eight pin auxiliary power connectors provide up to 150W.

Looking at the specs of the Asus GTX 950 mini, GTX950-M-2GD5 | Graphics Cards | ASUS USA, I see that it requires up to 150W. The 230W power supply of the Elite 8300 SFF probably won't be powerful enough to power this card under heavy load.


A 5.25" GPU power supply could provide more than enough power but you would still be faced with the issue that the video card is too tall to close cover.

I've never used one of those riser extension cables, but even if it works, you would have to find a place to mount it internally while still maintaining access to the display connectors like HDMI and DisplayPort while making sure nothing gets shorted inside the case. In my opinion, far more trouble than it's worth.

For these reasons, I think that a GTX 750 Ti low profile would offer the cleanest solution. The GTX 750 Ti is rated at 60W TPD which means no additional power is needed and low profile would fit in the case. The only down side of using a GTX 750 Ti would be that it will block the adjacent PCI-e slot since they are dual slot.

If more powerful graphics cards are needed, the mini tower versions of the Elite 8300 are recommended because they allow installation of full height graphics cards and come with a 320W power supply.

 

[Alex66]

I am interested in one of these to use as a headless music server, even the lower powered versions would have enough grunt for the job. Will one of these boot with out a screen attached? though given that it will be on the side of the room with the TV I could use the TV as a screen just would rather not. I can control it ultimately through either my Hack or an old iPod Touch the Spdif will be taken care of with a USB convertor. The cost of these used seems to be great and the specs are absolutely fine, people do the same with Mac Minis, but give one of these is a multitude of times cheaper than one plus it will take a 3.5" HD that the mini does not.

 

[pastrychef]

I just tried booting mine up without any monitor connected. It booted up fine.

I should note that I do have a discrete graphics card installed.