The Ultimate Low Cost Big Sur Hackintosh - Core i5 Dell Optiplex 3020 SFF

[Nodarkthings]

OpenCore is the future of hackintosh.

Actually, I'd say that OpenCore is the present of hackintosh while Clover is a relic from the past.

 

[trs96]

Clover is a relic from the past

Slice is trying to keep it alive, some people still use it with Ventura. I gave up on it once Big Sur was released.

 

[trs96]

Here's a configure your own Optiplex 3020 deal. Buy the above ram kit from Amazon. Get a 30 dollar 3020 on Ebay and an i5-4590 CPU on Ebay too. You've probably already got a 2.5" Sata SSD lying around you can use.

$30 + $25 + $15 = about 70 dollars (+tax) for a hackintosh build. Not a bad deal for a PC that can run Monterey really well without too much effort. Very old and slow dual core 2011/12 Mac minis sell for this much in the used market. They generally only offer 4GB of ram too. Try to run Monterey on these older Mac minis and they're slower than molasses in January.

If you do need a new 512GB Sata SSD those are low priced too. Try this Timetec 2.5" Sata SSD.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GJCZG39/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

Today a new M2 Apple Silicon Mac mini starts at $599 and only gives you 8GB of ram and a small 256GB SSD. Yes, it's going to be faster but you're still paying over $500 more than configuring a 3020 system that has double the ram and SSD storage. If you don't need Ventura and can do everything you need with Big Sur or Monterey, it's something to consider.

Upgrade the new Mac mini to 16GB/512GB and you're paying one grand plus a lot more sales tax. From about 50-100 dollars depending on the state you reside in.

 

[grochi]

Hello, thanks to your help I was able to install Monterey on my 3020SFF (i5-4570S, 12GB RAM, no dGPU).

Everything works great EXCEPT the missing option "AirPlay Display" in Display. Attached you can see the Display Option from another 3020SFF user:

This is from my settings -> Display:


As you can see the whole option on the bottom left is missing.
Do you have any idea why there is no option?

Thanks a lot!

On a side note: the first time I installed MacOS the screen turned black at some point. After digging for a while I realized that it was an issue with the deviceProperties in config.plist. After deleting the PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x2,0x0) entry it booted without any issue.
I could set up screen sharing so when adding the HD4600 to the DeviceProperties again I started the 3020SFF only to realize that Monterey started normally even if the screen stayd black.
After a while I realized that this was an issue with my screen: when trying to change the input my onscreen menu was flickering. Turning the screen off and back on again solved it.
Somehow the iGPU cannot wake up the screen or something like that.
I use a DP to HDMI Adapter, quite an expensive one in order not to get some crappy adapter.

 

[trs96]

As you can see the whole option on the bottom left is missing.
Do you have any idea why there is no option?

What is the wifi device you have installed ?

 

[grochi]

What is the wifi device you have installed ?

Its a TP-Link TL-WN823N with BrcmPatch3 (and Fix). Wifi works but actually I do not need it since I use Ethernet. But this way I can not use the internal wifi option but the third-party app.

So is Wifi needed for AirPlay Mirroring?

By the way: the issue with the Black Screen kind of returned. After not using the Mac for a while (I guess sleep started or at least the Monitor was turned off) I could not wake the monitor up again. When checking in screen sharing I can see the Mac is still running. but nothing is shown on the monitor. When trying to change settings on the monitor the monitor settings are flickering, like smtg is broken. As soon as I manage to choose another input (on DP input is my windows PC) everything is back to normal, but when choosing the input of the mac the same again: it is still black and monitor menu is flickering...
that didnt happen when I deleted the PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x2,0x0) at deviceProperties in config.plist.

 

[trs96]

So is Wifi needed for AirPlay Mirroring?

In my experience, Airplay has always worked with a natively supported Broadcom Wifi/BT card that was also used in a real Mac. When you use Realtek USB based wifi adapters without BT it's not going to work the same.

Apple TV also broadcasts its AirPlay capabilities using a Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) advertisement that contains the IP address of the Apple TV (Apple TV HD uses Bluetooth version 4 and Apple TV 4K uses Bluetooth version 5). Apple devices within close proximity of the Apple TV, generally within the same room, hear those advertisements and attempt to establish an AirPlay session over the existing network. This method doesn’t use Bonjour, nor does it require that both devices be on the same network. As long as the devices are within Bluetooth range to hear the advertisement.

the issue with the Black Screen kind of returned.

Try enabling Legacy Option ROMs in the BIOS and see if it makes any difference.

 

[trs96]

So is Wifi needed for AirPlay Mirroring?

It's one part of it. If you must have that feature working the best option would be this card:

Some more relevant info about AirPlay you should know about.

Peer-to-peer AirPlay requires the following hardware:

• Apple TV HD with tvOS 9.0 or later, or Apple TV 4K with tvOS 11.0 or later
• iPhone, iPad, and Mac computers from late 2012 or later using the latest version of their operating system

Apple TV also contains a setting that allows you to choose—or manage with a mobile device management (MDM) payload—how users connect:

• Everyone can use AirPlay: Users connect over peer-to-peer or the infrastructure network to Apple TV.
• Anyone on the same local network can use AirPlay: Only users on the same local network can AirPlay to Apple TV.
• Off: AirPlay is disabled, and users won’t be able to AirPlay to Apple TV.

 

[nielsfeels]

Thank you very much for this fantastic guide. It worked very well, I only can't get the Dell to recognize my 4K monitor. I use a displayport to displayport cable connected directly to the iGPU that works with a sub 4K monitor with no problem. However, once I plug it into my LG 4K display, the display will soon turn off as it receives no input. I can screen share to the Optiplex from another mac and it does turn on, but when I go to screen settings, it thinks it has an integrated iMac display. Any help please? I have an Optiplex 3020 MT by the way.

 

[Feartech]

Thank you very much for this fantastic guide. It worked very well, I only can't get the Dell to recognize my 4K monitor. I use a displayport to displayport cable connected directly to the iGPU that works with a sub 4K monitor with no problem. However, once I plug it into my LG 4K display, the display will soon turn off as it receives no input. I can screen share to the Optiplex from another mac and it does turn on, but when I go to screen settings, it thinks it has an integrated iMac display. Any help please? I have an Optiplex 3020 MT by the way.

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