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Stork's HTPC Old School P55M-UD2 But Cool HTPC

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Stork

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Joined
Sep 21, 2010
Messages
13,417
Motherboard
HP 17" 17-by3053cl
CPU
i5-1035G1
Graphics
Intel UHD Graphics, 1920x1080
Mac
  1. MacBook Pro
  2. Mac mini
  3. Mac Pro
Classic Mac
  1. Power Mac
  2. PowerBook
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
Stork's HTTP: GA-P55M-UD2 - i5-760 - 430GT HDMI

gd06bfrontviewweb-jpg.271624


Apple OS X Lion
Mac Apps Store | Lion USB Thumb Drive

Silverstone GD06B HTPC Case
Amazon | Newegg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163179

Zotac GeForce GT430 Fanless Graphics Card ZT-40601-20L
Amazon | Newegg

Scythe Shuriken Rev. B SCSK-1100 CPU Cooler
Amazon | Newegg

Seasonic S12II 380W ATX12V Power Supply
Amazon | Newegg

Samsung F4 EcoGreen 2TB HD204UI
Amazon | Newegg


Already Owned:

Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 LGA 1156 mATX Intel Motherboard (out of production)
Google Product Search

Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHzLGA 1156 95W
Amazon | Newegg

G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2GB F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
Amazon | Newegg

OCZ Vertex 2 60GB SSD OCZSSD2-2VTX60G
Amazon | Newegg

LG Black 10X Internal Blu-ray Disc Combo Model UH10LS20 LightScribe Support
Amazon | Newegg

Dynex 2-Port FireWire 800 & 1-Port 400 PCIe DX-PCI2PF
eBay Search for DX-PCI2PF | Another eBay Search | OWC Search

Apple iSight Firewire Webcam (out of production)
eBay Search

Comments:

Overview
I am a long time Apple user - from my 1st Apple ][c, which I used to complete my MBA in the early 1980s, to my current MacBook Pro. I also have a Mac Mini HTPC which inspired me to create a HacHTPC. However, the Mac Mini stands out like a sore thumb in my audio tower because all the other AV components (AVR, DirecTV DVR and Blu-ray player) are black and the Mac Mini is beige. So, I wanted a HTPC that blended in with my other audio components. Consequently, it all came together when I found the Silverstone GD06 which is about the same size as my Sony AVR. (See So Many Ugly Cases Part II - HTPC Cases.)

But, it's my experience with my Mac Mini HTPC, running Plex as the media center software, that makes this HTPC work like a charm. The HTPC components all work together running Lion flawlessly. This is important because I require sleep/wake-up to work in both the manual and scheduled modes. However, more on the applications and procedures are detailed in the HTPC forum thread.

The Components

The Silverstone GD06 case is ideal because it looks like it belongs in an Audio/Visual (A/V) tower/cabinet/rack. Here's a view of the HTPC Silverstone GD06B case in the HDTV stand while testing. (I know, I know...cable management will be next on the list.)
HTPCinstand-1.JPG

The GD06B has a lot going for it besides fitting in with A/V components (see reviews at TweakNews, HardwareSecrets and TweakTown):
  • - very good case cooling characteristics (three 120mm silent fans with filters);
    - lockable front panel downward folding door revealing Reset button (bottom right), front USB 2 & headphone connections (bottom center), hot swap hard drive bays (left top), and optical drive (right top).
GD06BFrontCoverDownweb.JPG
GD06BHowSwapBays.JPG

The front panel's accessible hard drive bays are a large selling point for this case for several reasons. First, I can have the 2TB media drive removable to travel to another HTPC system in the house or elsewhere. Second, I can insert another drive to clone either the SSD or media drive. Third, a friend can bring their media driver (SATA) over to my house; I can plug his drive into the lower drive bay; and we can watch/listen to his media. Finally, I can upgrade to a large drive in the future by easily cloning the original hard drive to the new drive by plugging the new drive into the lower bay, all without removing the drives from a case. Sure beats having to take apart the case for hard drive backups and upgrades.
ZotacGeForceGT430web256.JPG
The other item worth describing is the Zotac GeForce GT430 fanless graphics card. This card was recommended to me by tonymacx86, who used it on his 1st CustoMac Mini, based upon a H55M system. The Zotac 430 works OOB with HDMI video with GraphicsEnabler=Yes. To get HDMI audio, I've been using a modified AppleHDA.kext, which I got from tonymacx86, and his modified DSDT. (I don't know if the following AppleHDA.kext will work with any other graphics card.) Install the AppleHDA.kext with KextBeast. I've attached the tonymacx86's DSDT, /Extra folder and AppleHDA.kext in a zip file for the GA-P55M-UD2 and Zotac GT430. (Note: I do not have the knowledge to help you with any other combination. I recommend you review the work toleda has done in the HDMI Audio, DSDT and SSDT forum sections.)

Finally, I don't plan to use a keyboard or mouse. I'll use my MacBook Pro and Apple's built in Screen Sharing app to control the HacHTPC from my easy chair. However, controlling the HacHTPC using just Screen Sharing presents a problem for manually waking the HacHTPC up from sleep. Consequently, I found a portable, black USB keyboard number pad, which sits on top of the Silverstone case, to use to tap a key to wake the HacHTPC from sleep.

The HacHTPC is connected to my home network by wired Ethernet to a D-Link wired, 5 port, 1GB switch; it sits behind the Panasonic 55" Plasma HDTV and links the HacHTPC, Blu-ray player, DirecTV receiver, 1st generation Apple TV and HDTV to my home network. The Wake-On-LAN utility doesn't work on wireless without some heavy lifting (changing the wireless access points ports).

One of these days, I'll assemble the Apple IR sensor mod. Then, I can use an Apple Remote to control the Plex media center app. See these two Apple IR sensor mod guides:
http://photos.pottebaum.com/2009/IR/
http://www.tonymacx86.com/customization/8180-apple-ir-usb-header.html


Upgrading to Mavericks

This system is basically my 1st Hackintosh, which I built in September 2010, in a HTPC case with a different graphics card for HDMI w/audio. So, I'll refer the curious reader to that thread on how my 1st Hackintosh all came together with Snow Leopard (10.6.8) and Lion. However, no special incantation was used to get Snow Leopard installed and running on the P55M/i5 system. I just followed the tonymacx86 iBoot+MultiBeast installation guide outlined here. Installing Mavericks is so simple and fool-proof if the tonymac guide (see Guides menu at the top of the page) is followed step-by-step. I copied the guide into a word processor, printed it and checked off each step to insure nothing was skipped or omitted. :thumbup:

To upgrade from Lion to Mavericks, I first deleted FakeSMC, AppleHDA and serveral other older kexts. I also delete my /Extra folder. If you doing a fresh install of Mavericks, you won't have to deal with this goat-rope. After I removed these older kext, the installation over Lion was easy.

The tonymacx86 guides and software (UniBeast and MultiBeast for Mavericks) make running Mavericks so easy that you probably could argue that this doesn't seem like a "hack" to you. :eek: :clap:

Mavericks MultiBeast Configuration

Select the Quick Start Option
70619-mb-6-1.png


Select the UserDSDT and then select the DSDT.aml From The Attachment
91373-mb-mavs-1.png


The Defualt Items from UserDSDT
70622-mb-6-4.png


Select the ALC88B Audio Driver for Using with a DSDT
91374-mb-mavs-2.png


Select the Realtek Ethernet Driver (Lnx2Mac's version)
91375-mb-mavs-3.png


Select the Build to See the Full MultiBeast Configuration, Save It and Install
91376-mb-mavs-4.png

For more information about the above selections, see the MultiBeast Features document that comes in the MultiBeast zip file and/or at MultiBeast.com.


One last thing I want to share with you. Mavericks is on a OCZ Vetex 2 60GB SSD. When I build this system, SSDs were/are expensive little devils, and I could not afford a larger SSD. So, I decided to move my User folder with all my iPhoto pictures and iTunes music, movies and TV shows, to the 2TB hard drive. However, I keep an Admin account on the SSD in case the large hard drive fails or to install software. BTW, it's best to use the Admin account to update the OS, for running MultiBeast and/or installing DSDT and kexts since some of the helper programs require kexts on the desktop of the OS drive.

I used this method to move my User folder to the hard drive: How to Move the Home Folder in OS X – and Why. There are several other ways to move Users accounts off the OS drive, one by Lnx2Mac, and several other methods are here and here. However, my account is the only user account on the HacHTPC (except for the Admin user) and contains all the A/V media. (The HacHTPC boots into this account - only adults in the household so I don't have to worry about unauthorized, little users messing with it. :lol: )
 

Attachments

  • AppleHDA-DSDT-P55M-UD2-GT-430.zip
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Last edited:
Sorry don't like it. Doesn't look good and it's not fast enough for a HTPC. If I were you I would keep the MacMini and sell all the stuff.
I know someone you is interested .... ;)

No I just can say :clap: That's exactly the same I also want to set up. Looking forward in your guide. :thumbup:
 
This is exactly the thread I was looking for.

Love the look of the case with the other black HT components.

Looking forward to your full report when finished!
 
Hi,
I wanted to buy a new case for my hack which doesn't have much room for a decent cooler. I saw the Shuriken cooler you are using, but the 1156 motherboard wasn't listed for it. How did you fit it? Thanks.
 
Really, it fit fine. As a matter of fact, on Newegg's site it states that it is compatible on "Intel LGA1366 / LGA1156 / LGA1155 / LGA775 / Socket478 processors."
 
@Stork

Which components you've chosen under Multibeast for this rig?
Want to know because I've quiet the same rig (exept the drives).

Do you face certain "black-outs" of the grafic card? My 24" monitor is connected via HDMI and sometimes the screen disappears for a couple of seconds (its going black). After that I still can work again without any issues. This happens only once per working session independent of the time. And not to a certain time (e.g. after 5 minutes or so). Suddenly the screen is going black and after a couple of seconds it's back again.
 
IIRC, it's the same one I used for the original system: viewtopic.php?f=54&t=8282&start=0 Note: the MB config shown there is for SL, not Lion, but it's similar to the SL config. Close enough to call it a wash.

I have not suffered any black outs. The Zotac GT430 uses HDMI only with a special patched Apple kext which tonymacx86 gave me.
 
Thanks for the info.
HDMI works OOB with HDMI (rboot + Lion). Haven't tested HDMI-Audio yet because my Dell monitor doesn't have speakers.
I'm using quite the same options under MultiBeast but it would be great if you could post the kext here. Just for testing.

Thanks again
 
hrmmm GT 430, the case look good
 
If you go with the HD 3000, you'll probably have to mod your DSDT and use the modified AppleHDA to have HDMI audio...maybe, dunno. However, I'd try it first. BTW, a Z68 is over kill for a HacHTPC. See tonymacx86's CustoMac Mini build.
viewtopic.php?f=168&t=33412&p=209913#p209913

WRT the Zotac GT430, only a few of us have it, and it only worked with the HDMI output in Snow Leopard. So, it's not generally recommended card for desktop Hacks.
 
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