Very close to giving up

[ultraflynn]

I'm really close to giving up running OS X. I bought what I thought would be the easiest hardware platform to install on and I've now spent 3 days just smashing my head against silly problems and making almost no progress.

I can install Snow Leopard, but any restart results in a a boot hang. I upgrade to the latest version of Snow Leopard and get the same. Mac App Store doesn't work so I can't upgrade to Mavericks.

I need to take a step back from this because I'm running out of ideas. I have good, recommended, brand new hardware and I really didn't think that this process would be anything like this painful.

 

[datrandkidz]

I understand your situation, but without including your build or detailing the specific issue that you're facing, it's extremely hard to diagnose this issue.

 

[ultraflynn]

Thanks. I'll list the spec later and and describe what I've done so far.

Do you know of a step by step guide to installing Maverick from scratch on a Haswell build?

 

[ultraflynn]

Here's the hardware spec:

• Intel i7-4770K
• Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD4H
• Kingston 120GB SSD V300
• Corsair Air 540 Case
• Corsair CX750M PSU
• G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) 2133GHz

Apart from the memory everything else has (or was) on the recommended hardware list from tonymacx86.

I've done multiple installations of SL using the iBoot Haswell image. Installation goes fine. Rebooting afterwards doesn't work (using iBoot). Upgrading to 10.6.8 and rebooting doesn't work (using iBoot). I can't access the Mac App Store, I get a nasty crash so I cannot download the Mavericks upgrade.

It's frustrating because every time it goes wrong and I reboot I have no choice other than to completely re-install SL.

I've trashed around a lot and made loads of mistakes by not reading the instructions but I think I've got my head around what I need to do. The stumbling point at the moment is not being able to get to the Mac App Store.

 

[WonkeyDonkey]

Here's the hardware spec:

• Intel i7-4770K
• Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD4H
• Kingston 120GB SSD V300
• Corsair Air 540 Case
• Corsair CX750M PSU
• G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) 2133GHz

Apart from the memory everything else has (or was) on the recommended hardware list from tonymacx86.

I've done multiple installations of SL using the iBoot Haswell image. Installation goes fine. Rebooting afterwards doesn't work (using iBoot). Upgrading to 10.6.8 and rebooting doesn't work (using iBoot). I can't access the Mac App Store, I get a nasty crash so I cannot download the Mavericks upgrade.

It's frustrating because every time it goes wrong and I reboot I have no choice other than to completely re-install SL.

I've trashed around a lot and made loads of mistakes by not reading the instructions but I think I've got my head around what I need to do. The stumbling point at the moment is not being able to get to the Mac App Store.

What exactly happens when you reboot at the part where you want to run the 10.6.8 update ?

That seems to be your sticking point.

You need to post details of which flags you use when booting the iBoot disk first time round, which you used second time round, and when you boot it up, use the '-v' boot flag to start it in verbose mode. When it stops, take a clear legible pic of what is on the screen and post it here.

Also, what graphics card, if any, are you using ?

 

[Going Bald]

H
I've done multiple installations of SL using the iBoot Haswell image. Installation goes fine. Rebooting afterwards doesn't work (using iBoot). Upgrading to 10.6.8 and rebooting doesn't work (using iBoot). I can't access the Mac App Store, I get a nasty crash so I cannot download the Mavericks upgrade.

Using iBoot or iBoot Haswell? iBoot will not work on Haswell hardware.

 

[ultraflynn]

What exactly happens when you reboot at the part where you want to run the 10.6.8 update ?

That seems to be your sticking point.

You need to post details of which flags you use when booting the iBoot disk first time round, which you used second time round, and when you boot it up, use the '-v' boot flag to start it in verbose mode. When it stops, take a clear legible pic of what is on the screen and post it here.

Also, what graphics card, if any, are you using ?

Sorry, forgot the graphics card, it's an EVGA GTX 760 OC.

I'm not using any flags on either iBoot boot. And -v is of little use because the console quickly flashes up with some lines and then just goes black. Text is on the screen for under a second.

Here's the sequence:

1. Boot up using iBoot Haswell
2. Remove disk and insert ML disk
3. Boot from ML disk.
4. Install the OS.
5. Remove ML disk and boot up using iBoot Haswell.
6. Choose my new ML install to boot from.
7. Up she comes, nice video. Lovely.
8. Download and install 10.6.8. Completes successfully.

At this point I've made some mistakes (like using ML MultiBeast which didn't do me any good) but pretty much everything that I do from here results in a boot failure.

I believe what I should be doing next after downloading and installing 10.6.8 is to use the Mac App Store to get Mavericks, then prepare a Unibeast USB, fresh install with Mavericks and then post installation with MultiBeast.

Problem is that I cannot get to the Mac App Store. If I can fix that I can move forward.

- - - Updated - - -

Using iBoot or iBoot Haswell? iBoot will not work on Haswell hardware.

iBoot Haswell.

 

[defbref]

Here's the sequence:

1. Boot up using iBoot Haswell
2. Remove disk and insert ML disk
3. Boot from ML disk.
4. Install the OS.
5. Remove ML disk and boot up using iBoot Haswell.
6. Choose my new ML install to boot from.
7. Up she comes, nice video. Lovely.
8. Download and install 10.6.8. Completes successfully.

So at this point:

9. Access MAS and download mavericks
10. Create unibeast usb
11. Reboot using unibeast usb and install mavericks.

The other thing to try is remove your gpu and use internal graphics instead.

 

[ultraflynn]

So at this point:

9. Access MAS and download mavericks
10. Create unibeast usb
11. Reboot using unibeast usb and install mavericks.

The other thing to try is remove your gpu and use internal graphics instead.

I agree. That was my plan. MAS is unavailable though. I get a nasty message. I'll screenshot it next time I rebuild but that a lengthy process.

I've just booted the system from iBoot and then selected my Snow Leopard disk using -v as the option and got the following output:

 

[ultraflynn]

From the look of the output I posted earlier the issue appears to be with PCI set up so I went with the suggestion to move to integrated graphics.

Switching to IGFX, enabling Intel GPU and moving the HDMI cable from the GTX 760 to the motherboard allowed OS X to boot. -v option showed lots of healthy output.