My Hacintosh Experiment
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Selection
BIOS Settings:
Although plenty of discussion exists on successfully installing OS X on Gigabyte GA-G31-Series motherboards, I preferred the GA-41M-Combo motherboard: It supports a faster bus and memory speed (1333MHz) than the Mac Mini (1066MHz). The downside is limited overclocking capability when used with the Q9300 CPU. Unfortunately, my online research uncovered almost no discussion on a Hackintosh based on this motherboard, and I resigned myself to waiting until more information became available. Fortunately, a user at the tonymacx86 website claimed success with this motherboard literally days before I planned to purchase my hardware, but provided few specifics on the exact method (perhaps because (s)he assumed there were no "newbies" in the audience).Based on some further research, and a little trial-by-error while installing OS X, here are the exact BIOS settings I eventually used:
| BIOS Menu Item | ...set Menu Option to: | Notes |
| Load Optimized Defaults | Y (ie: Yes) |
This option must be set first, otherwise it may
reset any previously-changed settings. |
| MB Intelligent Tweaker | CPU Clock Ratio =
7X Fine CPU Clock Ratio = +0.5 |
The Intel Q9300
CPU uses a 7.5X clock ratio. Board autodetected 7X. |
| Advanced BIOS Features | First Boot Device
= CDROM Second Boot Device = Hard Disk Third Boot device = Disabled HDD SMART Capability = Disabled |
SMART Capability
is handled by OS X, as reported by Apple's Disk Utility. |
| Advanced Chipset Features | Init Display First = PEG | PEG = PCI Express
Graphics |
| Integrated Peripherals | On-Chip Primary
PCI IDE = Disabled On-Chip SATA Mode = Enhanced USB Keyboard Function = Enable USB Mouse Function = Enable |
On-Chip options
enable ACHI. USB options allow the keyboard to function during OS X install. |
| Power Management Setup | HPET Mode = 64-bit
mode ACPI Suspend Type = S1(POS) Power On By Ring = Disabled |
ACPI setting
enables Sleep in OS X. NOTE: If ACPI = S3(STR) the hackintosh will not
wake from sleep. |
Software Installation:
Initial OS X Install: tonymacx86 Method (iBoot 2.5.3 and Multibeast)
Installing the software was actually a lot easier than I thought, thanks to those smart people at tonymacx86 who've written an install process and the software packages "iBoot 2.5.3" and "Multibeast", all of which can be downloaded from their site. For Multibeast I selected the Easybeast option: I didn't find a custom DSDT file designed for the Gigabyte GA-G41M-Combo motherboard and did not want to risk using a DSDT file written for another Gigabyte board.NOTE: As of March 7, 2011, a DSDT file has been created for this motherboard (available here). I've not tried this; If you've had success using this file with your Hackintosh I would appreciate any feedback.
Despite reading the well-documented tonymacx86 process and available forums I still encountered a few problems, nearly all of my own making. These tips made the install process proceed a little more smoothly:
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Post Install: OSX86 Tools + kexts
The only method for installing OS X on a PC that's guaranteed to
provide 100% functionality is to install OSX on an Apple computer: On
non-Apple approved PC hardware (ie:
"Hackintoshes"),
additional software always needs to be installed to enable various
functions,
and even then some functions may still not be available or function
flawlessly.In my case almost everything appeared to work, including Sleep, Restart, and Shutdown. Restoring the missing functions required the installation of only three kernel extensions (aka: "kexts"). To install the kexts, I used the program "Kext Helper b7", part of the "OSX86 Tools" package installed earlier when running Multibeast. (Alternately, I could have installed the "OSX86 Tools" package at this point by simply re-running Multibeast.)
Here's a summary of the missing or sub-standard features after installing OS X, how they were restored, and remaining problems:
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Next: Performance Benchmarking...