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Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Hackintosh on Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R / GA-G41MT-ES2L / GA-G41M-ES2L

Here is a Tutorial on how to install MAC OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard on Gigabyte motherboards with Intel X58, P45/43/41 & G45/43/41 Chipset.

Note this tutorial IS valid for most Gigabyte motherboards with these chipsets ( P45 - P43 - G45 - G41- G43 and X58 )

Although not tested on P43/G45 it will work on many Core 2 Duo, Core i7 ( LGA1366 ) setups,

This tutorial is based on GA-G41MT-ES2L motherboard ( All revisions )

UPDATE 1 : This method was tested on a Gigabyte X58A-UD3R with a Core i7 920 and nVidia 9800 GTX graphics card. User reports 100% compatibility without any issuesat every step.

Motherboard Specifications:


Here are the main components that we are trying to get to work on this motherboard

VGA -Will use a external graphics card on the PCI-Express slot -nVidia 8600 GT -working 100%

AUDIO - Realtek ALC888B / 887 Codec - working 100%

ETHERNET - Realtek 8111C/D(L) - working 100%

South Bridge - ICH 7 - Working 100%

It advised to use a 320Gb SATA 2 hard drive as this tutorial will show you how to Dual boot Windows 7 and Snow Leopard from the same hard drive as well as the use of Time Machine

Configuration:

CPU                         - Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 2.66 Ghz @ 3.19 Ghz
Motherboard            - Gigabyte GA-G41MT-ES2L with DDR3 Support
Memory                   - 4 Gb DDR 3 1333MHZ - Kingston ( 2 Gb x 2 )
Graphics                   - nVidia OEM 8600GT - 256MB Video RAM
Hard Drive               - Segate 500 GB - 7200 RPM - ST3500418AS
Optical Drive           - PIONEER DVD-RW  DVR-218L
Case                          - Cooler Master RC-360 with 350W power supply

I will discuss this tutorial in 4 parts

Part 1 :The Preperation

Note: This is a guide for installing Snow Leopard not the old Leopard

If you want to use the older version on OSX which is 10.5 aka Leopard get the iDeneb 1.4 ( 10.5.6) from the usual places

I will guide you in few parts to keep things simple

PART 1 : Preperation

Step 1 : Goggle for Empire EFI. ( Empire EFI is better ! )

Step 2: It should be available in a ISO format. Down load it and slow burn ( 12x ) to a dvd. Yes this is the boot loader that is going to enable us to install MAC OSX on your PC hardware.

Step 3: Go to any Apple of Apple Reseller and buy Snow Leopard Retail DVD ( Costs about $29 ) OR Go ask one of your friends or neigbours and burrow one ( NOTE : The dvd which is shipped with any Mac, iMac, Mac book is not compatible - You need the retail version )

Step 4: After you get your hand on the boot loader and the Apple Retail Snow Leopard, you need to change few things in your Motherboard BIOS. IF you have a spare SATA hard drive handy plug it in and disconnect your Windows boot hard drive to minimize accidental formatting.

Step 5: Go to your motherboard BIOS set up and change the storage type from SATA/ IDE to AHCI ( Advance Host Controller Interface ) . Please note when connecting SATA cables to motherboard, it should be connected to your Intel South bridge disk controller. NOT the Marvell chip.

Note : Gigabyte GA-G41MT-ES2L ships with AHCI enabled by default. Make sure you upgrade your BIOS on windows as they bring more stability and functionality.

***** ( If unsure please refer Motherboard User manual )

Step 6: ATI graphic cards are known to give errors during installation ( from prior experience with most boot loaders ) It is advised to get your hands on a cheap nVidia graphics card. Any 8000 or 9000 series card will do ( cheack ebay for a cheap second hand 8400GS or 8600 GT) IF cannot dont worry but be prepared to greet with Kernel panics during the process

Step 7 : Use the Empire EFI boot DVD / CD and enter it in to your DVD rom drive. Make sure that in BIOS you have set the FIRST boot priority for DVD/CD then Hard Drive

Restart your computer and on reboot the CD should start loading Empire EFI on to your RAM, this might take a minute or two.

- Should look like the photo on the right hand side





PART 2 : INSTALLATION


Step 1:

Now eject the Empire EFI CD/DVD from your DVD drive and enter the APPLE Snow Leopard Retail DVD in DVDdrive.

Step 2:

Wait for 30 seconds and press F5 on your keyboard.

Step 3:

Now you should be able to see the MAC OSX intallation option screen. Press TAB KEY and you should see a screen similar to this

Choose the appropriate one which indicates the MAC OSX installation disc by using UP DOWN arrow keys.

Step 4:

Now just type "-x -v" without the quotations and press enter. (a single space between -x and -v )

Note : -x is the Safe Mode , while booting in safe mode you might be able to get in to th3e MAC OSX installation screen after about 5 - 15 minutes

Note 2 :-v is Verbose mode. It shows every process in a text form. This is helpfull if your installer gets stuck and you need to report this to the guys on the forums for help !

Note 3 : If you do not get to the boot screen in 30 minutes repeat Part 2 few times.

Note 4 : If you see a jagged screen of grey and white or some other colour, it is most probably due to your graphics card being ATI ( this can be fixed after the installation but DOES NOT HELP during the installation process ) I do recommend you alt east lend a nVidia card from a friend or buy a cheap one

Step 5 :

Ones you get to the installer screen choose you language and press next.

Step 6 :
Now follow the pictures for how to Re-format your computer for OSX installation
 then
select GUID partion type and create 3 partions 
If Disk is 320 GB
1st partion for Windows / Boot Camp - 60Gb
2nd Partion for Snow Leopard - 130 Gb
3rd partition for Time Macnine and other backups - 130 Gb

This is just an example, you can add/ edit/ delete drives and drive sizes according to your needs

Close disk utility to get back to installation screen

Note : Before pressing the install button press customize on the bottom left hand corner. Do unselect all the languages , language translation & all printers. Do select Rosetta, X11 and Quick Time 7.

Press done and press Install.

The process should take about 15-40 mins depending on your system configuration.


Note : Once you see this screen it will say install success or install failed. It does not matter. Restart the machine now

Part 3 : Getting the cat to walk

Step 1 :
While restarting eject the Snow Leopard DVD and reinsert the Empire EFI CD
Step 2: 
After it loads you should see a boot screen similar to the screen on the right.

Choose the appropriate hard drive which you installed MAC OSX and press enter.

Step 3:
At this point two things should happen.

1st the Good thing - You should see the Introduction Welcome Video ( most probably without sound ) and then you should arrive at the installation screen. From here its just setting up your computer just as setting up any other computer for the first time.

enter your name and your region details and you Snow Leopard will setup your localization setting automatically. Then you should be GREETED to your home screen at a resolution of 1024*786.

IF YOU HAVE COME THIS FAR CONSIDER ITS 80% DONE

now for those unlucky ones who does not see any Welcome screen after 10 minutes. Shut down your computer and on reboot choose the Snow Leopard boot drive and PRESS TAB
and type  "-x -v" without the quotation marks. Press enter
now you should see lines of codes on your screen and if you get to the welcome screen eventually then pat you back and congratulate your self.

all others who has a stuck boot disk or looking at this screen below ( kernel panik )


do a quick email to czoyse@gmail.com with your motherboard details and your system specifications and I might try to help you out. It will be helpful if you can record the screen for me as I have done above with a camera or a camera phone and attach it along with the email.

 Step 4.1 : Intalling Kexts ( Drivers for MAC )

You will need the below applications 
1.
- Google and download  " Kext Utility "

- Visit Kexts.com to download driver for your ATI or nVidia graphics card. Alternatively send me a quick email with your graphic card model, make and ram information and i might able to send you the drives
 - Note - Do visit kexts.com if you really want to use the inbuilt intel graphics
2. If you have a installation package double click on it and install it, or if you have a kext which looks like a white LEGO block drag it to the Kext Utility and Kext Utility will start installing the kext ( driver for mac ) for you


Now restart your MAC and your display should be working at your monitors optimal resolution.

Step 4.2 : Graphics

Before we fix audio, download the lates 10.6 combo update from apple. Here is the link ... t the moment its 10.6.3 ....  

Restart

Step 4.3 : Audio

Now that you have got the latest OS update its time to get the audio to work.

I am still working on getting the appropriate links to download, for the time being email me czoyse@gmail.com and I will attach and send you the both HDAEnabler.kext and VoodooHDA.Kext which will make your audio work.

Step 4.4 : Installing EFI for non - CD boot..

Hmmm. Now its time to boot in to SnowLeo without the CD

In your Empire EFI cd go browsing and you will find a folder names " Post-installation " 

Do click on the folder and you will find myHack installer. 
Install it with the following options enabled.


Restart your computer 

Step 4.5 : After restarting you might notice that you Ethernet isnt working any more, follow this link 




http://www.kexts.com/view/133-realtek_r1000_%28realtek_8168-8111%29_64_bit!.html and download the kext and use Kext Utility to install it.

Reboot and now you have a working HACKINTOSH !!




PART 4 : WINDOWS DUAL BOOTING & 
TIME MACHINE

Now that you got a working Snow Leopard installation make sure to go to apple.com or a apple store and buy iLife and iWork to utilize the maximum out of your MAC.


Setting up Time Machine:

To foolproof your MAC it is important to keep regular backups of your MAC and TimeMachine does a great job doing that.

From my prior experience I had, my 6 month old hackintosh crash on me and i feared for the worst. but for my relief after i quickly got Snow Leopard up in to the welcome page it identified my Time Machine partition and restored my MAC back to its original state. To this date I am still using that recovered MAC thanks to TIME MACHINE.

So this is how to get it started.

1. Click on System Preferences and click Time Machine

2. Select Disk options and choose the "Time Machine" partition which we created before.

3. Accept all the warnings and other prompts and now you should be able to see your Time Machine partition like this
The system will start doing automatic backups for every hour, and you would be able to browse trough your time machine after the first few backups have been completed.

Here is a cool video on how to use Time Machine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BOwL8MuE_Y

Windows Dual Booting :