Spares Box HTPC POC Build - GA-B85M-DS3H-A - i3-4330 - GeForce GT640 - 10.11.4

[P1LGRIM]

Spares Box HTPC POC Build - GA-B85M-DS3H-A - i3-4330
GeForce GT640 - 10.11.4​

Qx 2000 External

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 28, 2016

Components

Case : Aerocool Qx-2000 Gaming Cube Case - Amazon
Motherboard : Gigabyte B85M-DS3H-A - Rev 1.0 - BIOS F2 - Amazon
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-4330 3.5 GHz - Amazon
Memory : 2 x 2GB
Graphics : Gainward GeForce GT640 1024 MB - Amazon
SSD : SanDisk SSD PLUS 240GB - Amazon
PSU : Corsair CS450M - Amazon
Card reader : Sabrent CR-USNT - Amazon
SATA racks : x 2 - Amazon
Hard disk : Western Digital 1TB - Amazon
Audio : Logitech S150 USB speakers - Amazon


Comments

I was recently searching through my spares box(es) for a part for one of my builds when it occurred to me that there were probably more than enough spares available to enable me to create another machine.

I didn’t have a spare case so I purchased an Aerocool Qx-2000 ‘cube’ case because it looked different and interesting but more importantly, because it was inexpensive.

The motherboard was one of those bargains that you have to buy because it is so reasonably priced but then I never got around to actually using it.

The i3-4330 processor was redundant from my ThinkServer when I upgraded it to a Xeon E3-1245V3.

The GT640 graphics card was also used in my ThinkServer for a while before I replaced it with a GT740.

The 4GB of RAM came from another build that I later swapped out for 16GB.

The SSD was a Black Friday buy that although I didn’t need it at the time, I knew it would come in useful one day.

The PSU was intended for another build but turned out to be borderline for the requirements and so one with a bigger output was used instead.

The Sabrent card reader was installed for a while in another machine but I found that I wasn’t using it so I removed it. I installed it in this build because there was a FDD bay in the case and it gives me another USB port on the front. Incidentally, these card readers are stupidly expensive in the UK. I bought mine from the USA via eBay and even after paying the shipping charges it worked out much more reasonable.

There are also two 5.25” drive bays on the front panel and into these I added two SATA racks.
I use these in all of my builds so there are usually a few in the spares box.

I have several pairs of Logitech S150 USB speakers which have the distinct advantage that they have native support which means that you plug them in and they work without any additional configuration.

This build was started purely for my own amusement with no intended purpose as I already have way too many computers. At some point during the construction process I came across an article about a Mac based HTPC (Home Theatre Personal Computer).
I have my iTunes and an Apple TV and I only own around three DVDs as I usually just watch a film once (So many films and so little time), so I have never felt the urge to have a dedicated HTPC.
Therefore although it was questionable if I would fully use it, I decided that this build would serve as a test platform for the concept with a view to miniaturising the process if the results proved favourable.

Installation Notes

Preparation

BIOS Settings

First I checked with the Gigabyte website to see that the motherboard BIOS was the latest version (F2).

It is good practise to start with Optimized Defaults then tweak from there.
These are the only required changes to the default settings:

M.I.T. - Advanced Memory Settings - Extreme Memory Profile - Profile1
BIOS Features - Intel Virtualisation Technology - Disabled
Peripherals - XHCI - Auto (not Smart Auto)
Peripherals - Audio Controller - Enabled
Peripherals - Intel Processor Graphics - Disabled
Peripherals - EHCI Handoff - Enabled
Peripherals - SATA Configuration - Hot Plug - Enabled for ports connected to SATA racks
Peripherals - Super IO configuration - Serial Port A - Disabled
Peripherals - Super IO configuration - Parallel Port - Disabled
Save & Exit

UniBeast

Installation Guide

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

I followed the guide : http://www.tonymacx86.com/el-capita...-el-capitan-any-supported-intel-based-pc.html
I used a 16GB SSD in an external USB case but the procedure is the same as for a USB flash drive.

UniBeast selections :
UEFI Boot Mode
No Optional Graphics Configuration required for Geforce GT 640

When UniBeast finished I created a UTILITIES folder on the USB installer to which I added the following :
MultiBeast - FakeSMC.kext - Clover - Clover Configurator - iMessageDebug - simpleMLB - DPCIManager

I installed by following the guide up to the end of STEP 4.

Post Installation

Here I deviated from the guide.
I copied the UTILITIES folder from the USB installer drive to the desktop.

Clover

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

From the UTILITIES folder I installed Clover with these settings.

From the UTILITIES folder I copied Clover Configurator to the /Applications folder.
From the UTILITIES folder I copied FakeSMC.kext to EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other

MultiBeast

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

From the UTILITIES folder I ran MultiBeast and selected just :
Drivers - Network - Realtek - RealtekRTL8111 v2.1.0d1. Build - Install etc.

Shutdown and then removed the USB installer

Power on - Press Del to enter BIOS
BIOS Features - Storage Boot Option Control - UEFI Only
BIOS Features - Boot Option Priorities - Boot Option #1 - UEFI Partition of Hard drive / SSD.
Save & Exit

At this point the Basic build is up and running.

---

_
The config.plist and iMessage

The one thing that seems to cause the most people problems is configuring for iMessage when actually it is a pretty straightforward (if somewhat lengthy) procedure :

DPCIManager

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

The first thing to do is to open DPCIManager and check that your Ethernet interface is active, set to en0 and BuiltIn. While you have DPCIManager open it’s a good idea to ‘Repair Perms’ and ‘Rebuild Cache’.
When complete quit DPCIManager.

The edits listed below are to the config.plist created during the UniBeast install process.

From the /Applications folder run Clover Configurator
Mount the EFI partition
File - Open - EFI/CLOVER/config.plist

Config 01 Acpi

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

Acpi - Deselect all of the fixes

Config 02 Boot

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

Boot - Select darkwake=0 - Slide=0 - dart=0 - XMPDetection=Yes

Cpu - No Action required
Devices - No Action required
Disable Drivers - No Action required

Config 04 Gui

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

Gui - Select Language and Theme

Graphics - No Action required

Disk Icons

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

Config 05 Patch

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

Kernel and Kext Patches - KextsToPatch - Click +
Name = AppleAHCIPort Find = 45787465726E616C Replace = 496E7465726E616C Comment = External icons patch

Config 06 Rt Variables

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

Rt Variables - ROM = UseMacAddr0 MLB = Delete BooterConfig = 0x28 CsrActiveConfig = 0x67

Config 07 Magic Wand

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

SMBIOS - Click the Magic Wand tool

Config 08 iMac

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

Click the iMac picture

Config 09 Dropdown

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

Select iMac 14,2 from the dropdown list

Config 10 Shake

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

Click the Shake buttons several times to generate a serial number - Click OK.

Check the serial number on everymac.com

EveryMac 01

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

Paste the serial number into the box and click Lookup

EveryMac 02

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

Prove that you are not a robot.

EveryMac 03

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

If you see this response your serial number is invalid - Go back to the magic wand and generate another one.

EveryMac 04

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

If you see this response it means that you have generated a valid serial number and it is ok to proceed to the next stage.

CheckCoverage 01

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

Paste the serial number onto the Apple Check Coverage page and pass the test.

CheckCoverage 02

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

If you see this response it means that you have entered a serial number that is already registered in the Apple database. Return to the magic wand tool and generate another one.

CheckCoverage 03

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

If you see this response and your serial number has passed validation on everymac.com then all is ok.

Quit Safari

uuidgen

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

Open a Terminal window and type uuidgen several times to generate some random UUIDs.

Config 11 Numbers

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

Copy one of your random UUID numbers from the Terminal window and paste it into the SmUUID box in Clover Configurator. Select Trust in the nearby box.

In Clover Configurator select File - Save
Quit Clover Configurator.

Restart

From your /Applications folder run Clover Configurator,
Mount the EFI partition.
Select File - Open - EFI/CLOVER/config.plist
Once your config.plist file has loaded into Clover Configurator :

Open a Terminal window
Open the UTILITIES folder in finder
Drag simpleMLB.sh from Finder onto the Terminal window, click inside the Terminal window and press Return

Config 12 Board Serial Number

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 29, 2016

Copy the generated number into Clover Configurator - SMBIOS - Board Serial Number.

In Clover Configurator select File - Save

Quit Clover Configurator and Terminal.

Restart

Open the UTILITIES folder and run iMessageDebug.
Press y and Return to save a copy called iMessageDebug.txt to your UTILITIES folder.

Restart

Open the UTILITIES folder and run iMessageDebug.
Compare the output with the saved copy in the UTILITIES folder.
If the two copies are the same you may go ahead and set up iMessage.
It has been noted that the data may change on the last line of the output in iMessageDebug, this appears to be ok though.

---

Power Management

I followed the guide : http://www.tonymacx86.com/ssdt/177456-quick-guide-generate-ssdt-cpu-power-management.html.
Monitor with the Intel Power Gadget.
You can also use the Monity widget from the app store to monitor your system.

---

Resources

http://www.tonymacx86.com/el-capita...-el-capitan-any-supported-intel-based-pc.html
http://www.tonymacx86.com/ssdt/177456-quick-guide-generate-ssdt-cpu-power-management.html
http://www.tonymacx86.com/general-help/110471-how-fix-imessage.html
Clover Wiki

 

[P1LGRIM]

Spares Box HTPC Build - GA-B85M-DS3H-A - i3-4330 - GeForce GT640 - 10.11.4

Configuring the HTPC

---

It should be noted that I live in the UK and some of the methods listed below may not be applicable to other regions.

Storage
I decided to keep all of the media on a separate Western Digital 1TB hard disk
(imaginatively named 'Media') installed temporarily into one of the two SATA hot plug racks.
As I have no intention of using the media with any other operating systems I formatted it OS X Extended Journaled.

iTunes
In the interests of maintaining compatibility I wanted to add an iTunes library to this build.
I set up iTunes and added a couple of albums to populate the library and then moved it to the Media drive using iTunes preferences.

TV - Live and recording
I have owned the USB Pctv Nanostick 73e for some time and like it a lot. It was supplied with the Elgato EyeTV Lite software but I subsequently upgraded to the paid EyeTV 3 app.
The default location for the EyeTV folder is username/Documents/EyeTV Archive,
I moved it to the Media drive by using the EyeTV preferences.

EyeTV app

• P1LGRIM
• Mar 30, 2016

With the EyeTV app I can stream live or recorded TV to my iPad or iPhone.

Using EyeConnect (functionality included in my Samsung TV) I can view programs that have been recorded with EyeTV.

EyeTV saves recorded TV in the format filename.eyetv, these files must be transcoded if you intend to view them in most other applications (VLC can display them without modification). Fortunately this is easily accomplished with the excellent free HandBrake application.

Once you have your transcoded recorded TV file you can trim any unwanted segments from the beginning and end or remove ads with another free application called VideoBlend.
The resulting file can then be reprocessed with HandBrake into whichever final format you require.

Plex
Opened https://plex.tv and created a free account.
Downloaded and installed Plex Media Server.
Then it is mostly a matter of linking the Plex Libraries to the file locations in the iTunes library.
When set up like this anything added to iTunes is automatically added to the Plex Libraries.
I particularly like the interface of the BBC iPlayer downloaded via Channels.
I also installed the iTunes Movie Trailers channel and was pleased to see that it does not suffer from the DRM issues prevalent in some builds..
Once set up I can view Plex on my Samsung TV with the app installed via the TV's Smarthub.

Conclusion
Whilst configuring the HTPC I came to realise that all that I really needed was a Media Centre to stream to my TV, computers and mobile devices. A little further thought and I worked out that I could probably accomplish everything on a NAS box.

I purchased a Synology DS115j NAS box, installed a Western Digital Red 4TB HDD and it does just about everything that the PC does with a much lower power overhead.

 

[wildwillow]

Spares Box HTPC Build - GA-B85M-DS3H-A - i3-4330 - GeForce GT640 - 10.11.4

Very nice P1LGRIM, not bad at all for a box of spares, its turned out really well. I've got the Elgato EveTV Free Sat connected to my Broadwell build, used to be connected to my IvyBridge system.
The Elgato EyeTV has been flawless and has saved me a fortune considering the price of the product and crazy Sky prices.

I keep contemplating in getting the Elgato EyeTV Netstream. Its similar to the EyeTV but excepts 2 LMB's instead of one which gives the ability to stream another channel to another wired/wireless device such as other Macs or iPad/iPhone in the vicinity.

Any reason as to why you didn't use the HD4600 instead of the GT640. Or as you already had it you put it to good use?

 

[P1LGRIM]

Spares Box HTPC Build - GA-B85M-DS3H-A - i3-4330 - GeForce GT640 - 10.11.4

Very nice P1LGRIM, not bad at all for a box of spares, its turned out really well. I've got the Elgato EveTV Free Sat connected to my Broadwell build, used to be connected to my IvyBridge system.
The Elgato EyeTV has been flawless and has saved me a fortune considering the price of the product and crazy Sky prices.

I keep contemplating in getting the Elgato EyeTV Netstream. Its similar to the EyeTV but excepts 2 LMB's instead of one which gives the ability to stream another channel to another wired/wireless device such as other Macs or iPad/iPhone in the vicinity.

Any reason as to why you didn't use the HD4600 instead of the GT640. Or as you already had it you put it to good use?

Thanks, I have toyed with the idea of Free Sat too but have not got any further than that presently, maybe something for the future.

I admit that I really didn't think too much about the HD4600, I already had the GT640 so I used it.
As there is only 4GB of RAM installed, using the GT640 means that the integrated graphics don't 'steal' any of it.

This was totally the wrong way to go about a build but for all that, it does seem to have worked out pretty well.

Currently I'm using it more to stream media than as a HTPC but that may change soon as I delve deeper into the available software.

 

[EddyMac]

Thank you very much for the detailed step-by-step on iMessage. I followed it today and iMessage is working fine on my system now.

 

[P1LGRIM]

Thank you very much for the detailed step-by-step on iMessage. I followed it today and iMessage is working fine on my system now.

That's good to know - I'm pleased that it worked for you.

 

[EddyMac]

That's good to know - I'm pleased that it worked for you.

If at some point in the future I want to change my system definition to iMac 17,1 will I have to go through the whole thing again?

 

[P1LGRIM]

If at some point in the future I want to change my system definition to iMac 17,1 will I have to go through the whole thing again?

Yes, All of the SMBIOS components should match the appropriate system definition.

 

[EddyMac]

Yes, All of the SMBIOS components should match the appropriate system definition.

OK thanks. I had to use MacPro 3,1 to get my GT 740 working with my board, but I'm told 3,1 doesn't take full advantage of my Skylake CPU; so at some point I may want to swap in a different card and change to iMac 17,1.

 

[UtterDisbelief]

Hi @P1LGRIM
Just wanted to say a big THANKYOU! for this guide.
You have shown me how to actually get Continuity and Handoff fully working clearly and succinctly (I have an Apple mini-PCI-e WiFi/BT card).

Like many I suppose I'd invested in the card and used Clover to configure El Capitan, but although Continuity and Handoff were said to be present and working, they weren't. Clearly it was the proper checks and SMUUID and MLB generation - and re-signing into iCloud - that were needed to correct everything.

Getting a hackintosh working properly can seem so arcane at times, but your step-by-step guide - although for specific hardware and build - has helped solve a major problem.