25 Oct 08 Pather Finder 5 is full of awesome
Took the time to write an actual post about a nice little piece of software that I was recently introduced to. Check it out if you’re interested. [Link]
I know, it’s been a while since either of us have written an actual post about something we like, but I just couldn’t help myself with this gem. Path Finder 5 is out and it’s all kinds of awesome.
I’ve always found the Finder to be a little bit lacking, such as the missing ‘tabs’ functionality. Path Finder has always interested me, but I could never use it. It just didn’t integrate well enough with the operating system. That’s not so anymore. Path Finder offers functionality that replaces Finder’s desktop with it’s own more customizable desktop. Commanding Path Finder is now even more seamless and offers everything that Finder is capable of, and boasts a plethora of additional features that will satisfy even the most picky power user. [...]
08 Sep 08 Hackintosh-Macintosh Throwdown: Benchmark Results
For kicks I figured that I would post my Xbench results for both hackintoshes in comparison to a Mac Pro and MacBook Pro. I may add an iMac to the mix later on.
Xenomorph 2.5
- Motherboard: GA-EP45-DS3R
- GPU: evga GeForce 9800GTX
- Memory: Corsair 4GB XMS2 DDR2 800 (4x 1GB Modules)
- CPU: Intel E8400 Core2Duo (3Ghz)
Overall Score: 211
Details: http://www.fsandoval.net/xbench/xeno.pdf
Frankintosh
- Motherboard: GA-EP45-DS3R
- GPU: evga GeForce 8800GT
- Memory: Corsair 4GB XMS2 DDR2 800 (2x 2GB Modules)
- CPU: Intel E8400 Core2Duo (3Ghz)
Overall Score: 205
Mac Pro
- CPU: 2x Intel Dual-core Xeon (2.66GHz)
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT
- Memory: 3GB DDR2 667
Overall Score: 171
Details: http://www.fsandoval.net/xbench/macpro.pdf
MacBook Pro
- CPU: Intel Core2Duo 2.33Ghz
- GPU: ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 Pro
- Memory: 2GB DDR2 667
Overall Score: 119
Details: http://www.fsandoval.net/xbench/mbp.pdf
Tags: benchmark, hackintosh, mac, pc, project
08 Sep 08 Further Hackintosh Details
As promised, here’s a little more detail on what I used when installing Kalyway to our Hackintoshes.
- In BIOS I enabled AHCI mode for my SATA controller.
Within the installer, I used these customizations:
- Motherboard: All Checked
- Network: Realtek R1000
- Kernel: Sleep Kernel 9.2.2
- Audio: None Checked
- Wifi: None Checked
- Misc: Time Machine Fix
- Graphics: None
As for fixes performed within Mac OS X:
Upon setup and installation of Mac OS X, we had working LAN and basic video out of the box. Sound needed to be patched via the following kext files. These were obtained here: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=76404
HDAEnabler.kext.zip
Lastly, we patched the graphics with NVinject 0.2.1 (NVInstaller v.52), which we found here: http://scottdangel.com/blog/?page_id=20.
Before applying any of these fixes, I suggest using Kalyway’s 10.5.3 combo update and following the instructions. You can find it at your favorite BitTorrent tracker.
Also, before installing the kexts to /System/Library/Extensions, make sure you chown them to the root:wheel user before placing them in the extensions folder. If you try to do it from within your system extensions folder, you’ll most likely only get permission errors.
As for LAN, make sure you’re using port 2 (the bottom port) if you’re using the same board as I am. For some reason the ports are reversed when in Mac OS X, and I haven’t been able to get LAN working on the first port.
Lastly, I’d use the graphics fix (NVInstaller/NVInject fix) after applying Kalyway’s combo update, Apple’s software updates, and the rest of the fixes listed above.
Tags: hackintosh, mac, pc, project
05 Sep 08 Project: Xenomorph 2.5
I received my new motherboard and hard drives, but I spent most of the last two days trying to figure out why Windows would not install to one of my older SATA hard drives with AHCI and SATA Native Mode enabled in BIOS. It finally came down to my two 250gb SATA/150 hard drives not being compatible. Both hard drives were OEM and came with a PowerMac G5, so it’s not suprising, but I now have 500gb less capacity because of it. For now I’ll be installing Mac OS X and Windows Vista: Home Premium on their own separate Samsung F1 (SATA2/300) 500gb hard drives. Vista is already installed because I was in immediate need of it for a visio project, and I’ll be installing Mac OS X and documenting settings as promised in one of my prior comments.
Tags: hackintosh, mac, pc, project
31 Aug 08 Project: Frankintosh
My Dad and I got a wild hair to build a ‘Hackintosh’ this weekend. A Hackintosh is basically a standard PC running a patched up version of Mac OS X. Originally we had tried to accomplish this with my gaming rig, but unfortunately we were shot down due to my board having an incompatible nForce chipset. We went back to the drawing board and searched for a motherboard generally accepted as compatible. Our conclusion was Gigabyte’s GA-EP45-DS3R ATX motherboard.
The parts we selected are as follows:
- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R
- CPU: Intel E8400 3.0Ghz ‘Wolfdale’
- Memory: Corsair XMS (2×2) 4GB DDR2 800
- Video Card: EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT 512MB
- DVD Drive: Sony SATA DVD-R/RW Drive
- Hard Drive: 1x Hitachi 250GB SATA HDD
- PSU CoolerMaster 550w EPS12V
- Case: Thermaltake Armor+MX
We experimented with pretty much every pre-packaged OSx86 install DVD (Kalyway, iATKOS, JaS, Leo4All), and came to the conclusion that Kalyway was the most compatible with our hardware configuration. Using the Kalyway DVD, we chose to install the modified sleep kernel, REALTEKR100 for LAN, and unchecked everything else under LAN, Audio, and Video. Everything else was left pretty much as-is.
Upon setup and installation of Mac OS X, we had working LAN and basic video out of the box. Sound needed to be patched via the following kext files. These were obtained here: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=76404
HDAEnabler.kext.zip
Latest_889a_AppleHDA.kext.zip
Latest_11_JUN_AppleACPIPlatform.kext.zip
Lastly, we patched the graphics with NVinject 0.2.1 (NVInstaller v.52), which we found here: http://scottdangel.com/blog/?page_id=20.
Everything appears to be working, including 3D and video at 1920×1200, LAN, Sound, etc. Overall it seems more fluid than the Mac Pro (2.6Ghz Xeon) that it’s replacing.
Tags: hackintosh, mac, pc, project
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