Techie Musings

Build your own Core i7 Hackintosh with an Intel DP55WB motherboard

The following are step-by-step instructions for building a PC based on an Intel DP55WB motherboard that runs Mac OS, otherwise known as a Hackintosh.

While this is a complete set of step-by-step instructions, all the information was gleaned from tonymacx86’s P55 Hackintosh Blog, the forums there and the InsanelyMac forums. If you have questions or problems with the instructions below, one of those links will be much more beneficial to you than contacting me.

Parts

For the build, the following components are used:

Motherboard	Intel DP55WB LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX motherboard	$99.99
CPU	Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core CPU	$279.99
RAM	2 x OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-pin DD3 1066 SDRAM	$195.98
Video Card	EVGA nVidia GeForce GT 240 1GB 128-bit GDDR3 PCIe video card	$84.99
Optical Drive	ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM	$22.99
Hard drive	3 x Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200rpm SATA 3.0Gb/s drives	$209.97
Case	Cooler Master Elite 335	$49.99
Power Supply	Antec BP550 Plus 550W PSU	$64.99
Card Reader	Rosewill RCR-IC001 40-in-1 USB 2.0 3.5” Internal Card Reader with USB port	$14.99
Bluetooth Adaptor	IOGEAR GBU241	$12.84
Mouse	Apple Magic Mouse	$69.00
Keyboard	Apple Wireless Keyboard	$69.00
Operating System	Apple Mac Box Set	$169.00

Apart from the Apple stuff above, all the items are from NewEgg. The total comes to about $1350 before any rebates. This is for a Core i7-860 system with 8GB RAM, 1TB system drive and 2TB RAID 0 array. A 27” monitor is about $350, so for $1800 you’re getting something similar to the custom build iMac that sells for about $2450. However, you’re also getting expansion and a built-in card reader.

Build

If you’ve put together a computer before, there are no surprises here – the build is very straightforward. The only thing you might want to do is to add a 120mm fan inside the front of the case to cool the hard drives.

If this is the first time you are building a computer, there’s a good guide here. It is really very straightforward. If you can change a light switch, you can do this.

Software Installation

Assuming the build went correctly and you can power on and get to the BIOS screen, you’re ready to do the software installation.

You will need the following to install Mac OS:

• Mac OS Snow Leopard installation disk (in parts list)
• iBoot Supported disk (burn an image from this article)
• DVD containing Mac OS 10.6.4 Combo Update and MultiBeast 2.0.2.
• AppleHDA.kext from Mac OS 10.6.2 from here.
• Wired USB keyboard and mouse (something like this is great)

Also, you will need to do the initial installation with 4GB of RAM rather than 8GB.

BIOS Settings

The current BIOS is WBIBX10J.86A from the Intel site here. Follow Intel’s instructions for updating should you need to do so.

Set all BIOS settings to default except for:

• Boot from CD first
• SATA mode to AHCI

Pre-OS Installation

Boot with the iBoot Supported disk in the drive.

Once you get to the screen with drive icons, eject the iBoot disk and insert the Snow Leopard disk and press F5 to refresh.

When you see “Mac OS X Install DVD” as one of the selections, select it using the cursor keys and type –x to select a safe mode boot. Press Enter to boot.

It will take several minutes before you see the Mac OS Apple logo and spinning wheel to indicate that Mac OS X is booting. During this time, the DVD will be accessed.

Mac OS X Installation

Once Mac OS X loads, you will be prompted to select the installation language and then you’ll see the “Install Mac OS” screen. Here, you must select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.

In Disk Utility, select the hard drive you will install Mac OS to. Choose Partition and set the Volume Scheme to 1. Name the Volume (say Hackintosh HD) and check that the Format is Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Now press the Options button and set the Partition Scheme to GUID Partition Table. OK out of all of that and once Disk Utility has done its thing, you can exit out of it.

Go through the installation, which will take about 30 minutes before rebooting.

The reboot will fail because the Mac OS X installation disk is in the drive. Eject it (you may need to press eject immediately after powering the machine on), and put the iBoot disk in. Reboot and this time select the hard drive (e.g. Hackintosh HD) and type –x for a safe boot.

Go through the installation screens, though I suggest that you do not opt to transfer information from another Mac at this time.

Once all of this is complete, you’ll get a login screen with Safe Boot in red under the Mac OS X banner. This is because we booted with the –x switch.

Making it all work

When logged in, you will notice that neither sound nor USB work. We now need to install the Mac OS 10.6.4 update, and since there’s no USB this is where you will use the DVD that you burned.

Eject iBoot and insert the update DVD. Copy over MultiBeast to the desktop and install the Mac OS X update. Restart the computer and boot with the iBoot disk again and the –x switch.

Once you login, start MuliBeast and choose the following installation options:

· EasyBeast -> EasyBeast for Supported CPU

· System Utilities

· Advanced Options -> Kexts -> Audio -> HDAEnabler -> ALC888

· Advanced Options -> Kexts -> Audio -> LegacyHDA -> ALC888

· Advanced Options -> Kexts -> Network -> Intel82566MM

· Advanced Options -> smbios.plist -> iMac11,1 -> Core i7

· Advanced Options -> OSx86 Software -> Kext Utility

Once the installer has finished (the last phase takes several minutes), eject the iBoot disk and restart the computer.

Your computer should boot Mac OS from the hard drive without requiring safe mode.

At this point, USB and networking are functional, but audio is not.

Now, open the Applications folder and retrieve the AppleHDA.kext file from a Mac OS 10.6.2 insllation. Drag the kext onto Kext Utility in the Applications folder and let it do its thing.

Restart the computer and you should have working audio output.

Now run Software Update and download the various updates, shut the system down and insert remaining memory.

Turn the power on and you should have a working Hackintosh running Mac OS 10.6.4 with 8GB RAM.

Note that Sleep mode does not work and you should disable it.

This is what will be in your /Extra/Extensions folder:

· EvOreboot.kext

· fakesmc.kext

· Intel82566MM.kext

· IONetworkingFamily.kext

· IOUSBFamily.kext

· JMicron36xATA.kext

· JMicron36xSATA.kext

· Legacy888HDA.kext

· LegacyAppleRTC.kext

· NullCPUPowerManagement.kext

This is what has changed in your /System/Library/Extensions folder:

· HDAEnabler.kext (new)

· AppleHDA.kext (from 10.6.2)

Setting Up RAID

I use the two additional drives as a striped RAID array (RAID 0) for video editing. You can set this up in Disk Utility simply by selecting the RAID tab and dragging over the two unused drives.

Dual Booting Mac OS X/Windows 7

The way I have done this is to dedicate a new drive to Windows 7. Unplug all the other drives, plug in the drive that will contain Windows 7 and install Windows 7 to it.

Once Windows 7 is installed and happy, reconnect the other drives and go into the BIOS to ensure that the drive containing Mac OS X boots first. Now when you boot, you can hold down the Alt (Option) key to select which OS to boot.

Thoughts on the Apple iPad

The now unveiled Apple iPad is more interesting for what it isn’t than for what it is and is another demonstration of Apple’s ability to excel at positioning.

· It isn’t a phone

· It isn’t a computer

It is this odd device that sits between a phone and a computer, with characteristics of both but without cannibalizing sales of either.

· It doesn’t have a phone radio (only WiFi and on some models 3G data).

· It doesn’t have a camera

· It doesn’t have a keyboard (though there’s an accessory one)

· It doesn’t run the same OS as the computer

What it does do is to safeguard Apple’s existing revenue streams (both hardware and AppStore), create new ones (new product, eBook store) and augment existing ones (more likely to watch TV and movies on this device, thereby augmenting iTunes Store sales)

· It has an AppStore model so it is completely closed to anything that isn’t blessed by Apple

· Its pricing protects Apple’s all important hardware revenue and uses memory capacity as the sole differentiator between models.

· At first glance, it seems relatively inexpensive (starting at $499) but ascends to a stratospheric $849 for something that is a glorified iPod touch.

· It signals the demise of the iPhone exclusivity with AT&T by being an unlocked 3G device.

· It throws a grenade into the netbook market.

· It throws another grenade into the eReader market (Kindle and Nook) and probably kills the Sony Reader.

Follow the Blue Rabbit

I love Windows Live Writer for blog editing. But if I'm in Mac OS, firing up VMware just to run it seems like overkill. I used to use ecto as a blog editor but not only has it not kept up, it never really worked well for images.
Enter Blogo, featuring ease of use and a minimalist UI, it might fit the bill. It supports a large number of blog services out of the box and adds microblogging support for Twitter, and anything that is on ping.fm.
For those who like a full screen approach to editing their blog, Blogo's full screen editor almost delivers the goods. You're edit window is the middle third of the screen, but the pleasing grey background removes most distractions.

Boot Camp 2.1

There's a little known (at least to me) Boot Camp update. My Leopard retail DVD contains Boot Camp 2.0. Boot Camp 2.1 can be downloaded from the Apple site. Those of you with more recent Macs including last generation MacBook Pros with the different keyboard layout may find drivers that help (my colleague has one of these and the Boot Camp 2.0 drivers didn't do it for his keyboard. Boot Camp 2.1 to the rescue.)

Griffin Technology Navigate

This looks nifty: remote, display and FM radio for the iPhone/iPod Touch. Griffin Technology: Navigate

How to defeat version checking in BootCamp.msi

Here’s a quick set of instructions for disabling the version checking in BootCamp.msi. This is what I did in order to make the patched BootCamp.msi referenced in this post.

The reason you may need to make these changes yourself is that chances are that the BootCamp.msi supplied with newer Macs is different to the one that I have available and previously patched.

Windows 7 on a Mac (again)

At the end of October, I posted about running Windows 7 natively on an Intel-based Mac and installing the Boot Camp drivers. Numerous commenters found that what I described did not work for them. Since my system was working, I haven’t had to reinstall the Boot Camp drivers, but with the availability of a new build of Windows 7 and the reinstallation that it requires, I’ve had to repeat the Boot Camp installation.

First of all, the method described in my October post continues to work for me. Perhaps I didn’t describe it in enough detail, so I’ll try again. Before I get started, don’t expect support or responses from me about this. It works on my MacBook Pro (version 3,1) with Windows 7 Build 7000 and Boot Camp drivers from the Leopard installation disk. If it doesn’t work for you, I can’t help. I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t have time. Sorry.

Running Windows 7 PDC Build on a Mac with Boot Camp

  

Update 30-Dec-2008: There have been a lot of comments saying that this doesn't work, but there have equally been comments saying that it does work. Other than saying that "it works for me", which isn't very helpful, here's what I did to modify the BootCamp.msi. Download an MSI editor like InstEd to edit the MSI file. Look in the tables and find references to VersionNT. Version 501 refers to XP. Version 600 refers to Vista. Replace references to VersionNT=600 with VersionNT>=600. This will tell the installer to install Vista drivers and reg keys for Vista and above. For comparison, the version of Windows 7 that I'm running (PDC Build 6801) shows up as 610.

If you're trying to run the build of Windows 7 given out at PDC on your Mac using Boot Camp, you will need to install the Boot Camp drivers just as you would do with Windows XP or Vista. However, the Boot Camp installer checks the OS version string and will fail.

While you can install the drivers individually, you will not get everything. The most obvious missing pieces are keyboard hotkey support and the on screen display. To fix this, I tweaked BootCamp.msi so that it will install Vista drivers for Vista and above (i.e. Win7). This is what you need to do:

    Install Windows 7 on your Mac from the installation media. Do this by holding Option down during boot and selecting the optical drive as the boot device.
    Once Windows 7 is installed, copy the Boot Camp directory from the Leopard installation DVD to a folder on your Windows 7 install. Note that to eject the DVD, you will need to go to Computer, right click on your optical drive and select Eject.

    Download the patched BootCamp.msi from here and copy it over the original that is located in Boot Camp\Drivers\Apple.
    Run setup.exe located in Boot Camp and all the drivers should install correctly.

 

On my MacBook Pro, I noticed that audio was non-functional and the RealTek driver supplied with the Boot Camp drivers did not work. I was able to get a later driver from the RealTek site to work. You can download it here (get the "Vista Driver(32/64 bits) Driver".)

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What's on my iPhone?

You didn't ask but I thought I'd share anyway - after all, what would blogging be without gratuitous detail about stuff that perhaps only interests me?

Ever since I got my iPhone, I've become an AppStore Whore, downloading pretty much anything that looks interesting. So here's a tour of what's on my iPhone (red box indicates installed apps). All of these are free with one exception.

 

Facebook	The two greatest phenomena combined: Facebook + iPhone. Unstoppable? Great little app that gets the status of all your FB friends in one place (a la Twitter), lets you edit your profile, see your FB contacts like the iPhone Contacts app, chat with online contacts and check your FB inbox.
TypePad	Blogging app for blogs hosted on TypePad. Auto updates Twitter and includes the ability to add or take photos.
SmugShot	Upload pictures to your SmugMug account and browse your on-line SmugMug albums. Includes GPS data.
AirMe	Photo uploader for Flickr and AirMe
Bubbles	Tap the screen, create a bubble. Drag across the screen, create a bunch of bubbles. Tap a bubble, watch and hear it pop. Simple-minded fun for all ages.
Twitterrific	Twitter client. Browse tweets and post your own. Location aware of course. Also has a premium version that costs $9.99 with additional functionality.
NetNewsWire	RSS reader that syncs with NewsGator. Nice, but doesn't really store locally, so you need network connectivity to read anything other than headlines.
Mobile News	Surprisingly impressive "electronic newspaper" from the Associated Press. Downloads stories so can be used offline. The future of newspapers?
Shazam	Name that tune! An awesome app that tells you what music you're hearing and let's you buy it on ITMS. Incredibly accurate even for more obscure tunes.
Pandora	The internet music streaming service from the Music Genome Project. Streams well over 3G. Seamlessly handed off from WiFi to 3G for me yesterday.
Exposure	View your Flickr galleries, other Flickr users and see pictures taken near your current location. Premium version available for $9.99.
Evernote	iPhone client for Evernote shared note system. Think "post it notes in the sky". Other clients include web, Mac and Windows.
BookSearch	Looking at a book in a bookstore? Type in its ISBN, title or author and see how much cheaper it is online.
Absolute Fitness	Costs $14.95. Meal and exercise tracking app. See my separate write-up here.
YPmobile	Location aware Yellow Pages. Also shows local events.
Bloomberg	A very complete financial data application. Slick UI.
Zenbe	To do list app that also syncs to a web site.
Loopt	A somewhat controversial location-aware social networking app. Controversial because it allegedly spams people via SMS, though it perhaps this is now fixed (I haven't been spamming my contacts so they tell me.) Cool because it updates Facebook and Twitter.
WritingPad	A novel way of entering text, which is unfortunately limited to taking notes in WritingPad. You can email these notes, though.
NYTimes	New York times newspaper reader.
Pocket Express	News, sport, weather, financial and entertainment news all in one place. To be augmented with movies, travel and horoscopes.
midomi	If you can hum it, say or type the title, or record it playing somewhere, midomi will identify the song, let you buy it on ITMS and watch videos of it on YouTube. A winner if it is as accurate as Shazam!

 

What's on your iPhone?

My first iPhone app purchase: Absolute Fitness

Not for me those $5 apps or games. Nope, ever since I started my new fitness programme (20/20 Lifestyles) I've been looking for a good mobile meal tracker. $15 later through the iPhone AppStore, I ended up with Absolute Fitness.
So far so good. It seems to have most of what I want though it's food database is lacking for branded stuff.
Desired future features include a web interface for tracking and better data entry through a real computer and the ability to export the data.

There now follow some pictures of the app.

Main food and exercise log screen

Drill down into specific foods. Nutrition information is shown for the exact quantity specified rather than serving size

Daily summary showing that I'm over my carb allowance. These daily allowances can be autocalculated based on your weight, height, age and sex, or manually entered if you are following a specific diet.

Tapping on the a line item on the daily summary screen shows you a ranked list of foods contributing to that item - in this case carbs.

Adding a custom food type

Selecting a pre-defined food type

Lists of different exercises, or define a custom one

Another way of entering a food or exercise is to search for it

iPhone