Anyone here running a stable high end hackintosh?

[fxit_man]

Nope. How about installing OS X on a old spare drive? This way you can test things out without screwing with your existing setup(s).

I've got a spare drive to set it up on so I can use that then. Just thought maybe when i switched it back to RAID after installing OS X it wouldn't boot for some reason..

Hmm I need a Dual Layer DVD as well. Gonna buy a few tomorrow so i can give this thing a shot..

Really confusing stuff though..

I'm hoping I can just use that iBoot ATI - 3 which works with 58xx cards, then boot my Snow Leopard using that.. But what about my motherboard? Where does that come in? Will that iBoot ATI support it or do I have to do something else..

Cos I see there's this guide for my motherboard as well - http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=222761 but apparently that doesn't support the 5870... So i'm confused...

Hmm gonna have to play around and do a lot of reading it seems! No noob guides either because of the vast amount of component differentiations in each persons system.

Would really appreciate help from anyone here to clear up a few things for me.

Thanks

 

[ponder]

Hmm I need a Dual Layer DVD as well. Gonna buy a few tomorrow so i can give this thing a shot..

You can extract the .iso from the .dmg file. You could then try booting that .iso in a virtual machine (with iboot) and then use the diskutility in OS X to write the image to a 8GB flash stick. Never tried this though.

Also wrt to your motherboard see:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2067&p=27853&hilit=P6X58D#p27853
http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2349&start=10
http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2349&p=18941&hilit=P6X58D#p18941

 

[Synaesthesia]

You can extract the .iso from the .dmg file. You could then try booting that .iso in a virtual machine (with iboot) and then use the diskutility in OS X to write the image to a 8GB flash stick. Never tried this though.

I recommend this technique. Use Disk Utility on a Mac to format the flash and put the disk image on it. It works really well since you can put the bootloader and custom kexts on the flash as well. It also boots lightning quick compared to the DVD.

 

[fxit_man]

I recommend this technique. Use Disk Utility on a Mac to format the flash and put the disk image on it. It works really well since you can put the bootloader and custom kexts on the flash as well. It also boots lightning quick compared to the DVD.

Thanks i'll do that. Any more info please? Does that flash need to be formatted as Mac OS Journaled etc etc.

And then do i just dump the .dmg on it or restore it to the flash using disk utility?

Thanks

 

[Synaesthesia]

Yeah. Format to Mac OS X (journaled). I also make it a GUID disk while I'm at it (as opposed to MBR), as that's more how Macs work. I don't know if it's necessary, but it works.

Basically there are 3 steps for me:
1. Restore Snow Leopard DVD onto 8gb Flash.
2. Install Chameleon bootloader. (either manually with terminal, or with an installer).
3. Install Kexts, and little extras, maybe a patched DSDT. Voila.

There are of course tons of variations on the theme. It really depends on the route you're taking. I used MyHack installer for a while, it worked brilliantly. Although the last install I performed I did by following instructions on a guide just for my specific motherboard. (I think that's what you guys are doing with the P55 blog thing.

 

[Synaesthesia]

Oh, and you have to switch to AHCI, which means Windows doesn't work. That sucks, I found a way to enable AHCI, in Windows XP. It might be possible for Windows 7 as well. I can look for that, if you're not lus to reinstall Windows.

The alternative is to switch the toggle in BIOS every time you want to boot one or the other.

Anyway, good luck!!

 

[fxit_man]

Oh, and you have to switch to AHCI, which means Windows doesn't work. That sucks, I found a way to enable AHCI, in Windows XP. It might be possible for Windows 7 as well. I can look for that, if you're not lus to reinstall Windows.

The alternative is to switch the toggle in BIOS every time you want to boot one or the other.

Anyway, good luck!!

Thanks for the instructions above. Going to go the USB route tomorrow.

I noticed that W7 doesn't boot when on ACHI when I was messing around earlier Also found the AHCI enabler for Windows 7 though, but wouldn't the BIOS have to be in RAID anyways since my Windows 7 is installed in RAID0?

Just to summaries and attempt clear things up a bit;

I'm going to:
1) Restore Snow Leopard onto my 8GB Flash

2) Then use iBoot ATI (which apparently supports my Radeon 5870) to try and boot the USB and install OS X.

3) Then maybe work on getting Chameleon installed in order to install Kexts etc. for my gfx and that. (or do i do this before?)

4) Then try and use EasyBCD to add OS X into the Windows 7 Bootloader so i can dual boot (instead of manually changing the boot sequence each time I want to boot into OSX)

Damn this is one of the most confusing things ever.. will give it a shot tomorrow though and report back here!

Thanks for the tips!

 

[fxit_man]

OK so I got OS X installed, havent tweaked it yet, but its installed..

BUT... Now my Windows 7 isn't booting.. Think the MBR is messed.. Tried repairing it with the DVD but it says it doesnt support my Windows version (and its the same CD i used to install Windows with!)

I have (had) Win 7 installed in RAID0, and I installed OS X on a Single hard drive....

Trying to install Win 7 again now.

 

[ponder]

OK so I got OS X installed, havent tweaked it yet, but its installed..

BUT... Now my Windows 7 isn't booting.. Think the MBR is messed.. Tried repairing it with the DVD but it says it doesnt support my Windows version (and its the same CD i used to install Windows with!)

I have (had) Win 7 installed in RAID0, and I installed OS X on a Single hard drive....

Trying to install Win 7 again now.

Eish, you are supposed to have chameleon on your mbr which will allow you to dualboot.

 

[fxit_man]

Eish, you are supposed to have chameleon on your mbr which will allow you to dualboot.

Hmm can I install OS X with the boot CD, and then install chameleon or a bootloader for OS X after?

 

[ponder]

Hmm can I install OS X with the boot CD, and then install chameleon or a bootloader for OS X after?

That's exactly what iBoot+Multibeast does. It will howerver install the chameleon boot loader to the mbr of the drive you intalled it OS X on. This way you can use your bios boot selector to select the drive you want to boot.

I have no idea what chameleon will do with a raid setup if installed on your other windows dive.

 

[fxit_man]

thanks

well i ditched the RAID and i'm going for AHCI now for both installations.. lost my data in the process but whatever! now i HAVE to get this working.. didnt lose my data for nothing..

people did warn me about RAID0... lol

 

[Synaesthesia]

Best of luck still, I know how tough this can be.

 

[ponder]

Are you going to install both on the same drive or separate drives?

 

[fxit_man]

Best of luck still, I know how tough this can be.

Thanks mate. I need it!

What I'm doing now:
- set bios to AHCI
- reinstalled windows on one hard drive this time
- unplug win7 hard drive to preserve bootloader
- install osx again on a different separate hard drive using iBoot ATi for 5870
- then try and get bootloader for OSX working (gonna try myHack probably, otherwise multibeast still not sure)
- then will replug win 7 hard drive in and hope it still boots!

Then hopefully I can boot into Mac/Windows by just changing the boot sequence for hard drives (f8 on my machine). I still plan on primarily using Windows 7, so this would be great for the times that I feel like booting into OSX

Will report back.

@ponder: separate hdd's both AHCI

 

[ponder]

- then try and get bootloader for OSX working (gonna try myHack probably, otherwise multibeast still not sure)

Multibeast will install the chameleon bootloader by selecting a single menu option.

Your method you described works fine, exact same method I followed on my previous install. Multibooting different partitions (win7, osx, linux) off the same drive is a little more tricky.

 

[fxit_man]

Multibeast will install the chameleon bootloader by selecting a single menu option.

Your method you described works fine, exact same method I followed on my previous install. Multibooting different partitions (win7, osx, linux) off the same drive is a little more tricky.

Cool I was under the impression myHack did the same. Will give it a shot.

Sounds promising but let me not speak too soon!

 

[ponder]

fxit_man, very quite on your side. Did you come right or did you break the pc in frustration?

 

[fxit_man]

fxit_man, very quite on your side. Did you come right or did you break the pc in frustration?

lol i dont know what i've gotten myself into man... you don't understand....
been working on it the whole of yesterday and today...seem to be getting somewhere in that i installed OS X and kexts etc.

but LAN isnt working (yukon 88E8056) and i'm not sure what else..

due to my graphics card, i can only use this iboot ATI CD to boot, otherwise It turns my monitor off (no signal).. so i'm tryina find a way to copy that boot cd to my boot sector somehow..

not so stable on my machine though... i guess if you want a stable-ish one you have to get identical components to a mac or at least mac supported components..

missions i tell you ... missions... can drive a person insane!

 

[ponder]

but LAN isnt working (yukon 88E8056) and i'm not sure what else..

due to my graphics card, i can only use this iboot ATI CD to boot, otherwise It turns my monitor off (no signal).. so i'm tryina find a way to copy that boot cd to my boot sector somehow..

For your LAN google "yukon 88E8056 kext", the first few links should sort you out.

Are you using Multibeast?