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 With the OSx86 (OSX Tiger for Intel chipsets) leak, hundreds of people have been attempting to install OSx86 on their home computers. Some are having great luck, while others are finding that their hardware is not compatible, and it just wont install. In the following article I will discuss how to build a Intel based computer that comes very closely to meeting the specs of the OSx86 Development machines. We will discuss exactly WHAT hardware you want, WHERE to find the software, and HOW to install it. Meaning that with a little magic, this complete walkthrough will have you installing OSx86 on a $200 Intel machine using the OSX install disc, and have everything work great!
First off we need to pull together everything we will need. We will need some specific hardware (list coming in a bit) along with some specific software. This is where it gets tricky. Officially, OSx86 has not been released. As you may have heard, Apple has decided to move to intel architecture, which means that their base OS along with OSX applications will need to be ported to work on this new intel based chipset. On Tuesday April 19th 2005, a developer copy of OSX Tiger for Intel based chipsets was leaked to the major torrent sites. At the time there was not much you could do with this image, but since then there has been a lot of poking and hacking done on it, allowing us to install it.
There are several methods to install OSx86, but we will be discussing the best method (IMHO), using the Base Image (leaked DVD) along with adding some patches to make it bootable. There are other methods such as using VMWare, and DD'ing a disc image onto your hard drive, but I will not be discussing those as they are not as stable in my opinion. ------Please Make sure to DIGG This Article!------
Before I get into the meat of this, let me first say that downloading and using the leaked DVD is illegal. This version of OSX is aimed only at developers, and should only be used on official development machines. We will be discussing the hardware and techniques needed to duplicate this just to share the knowledge. Most of this information has been obtained from some excellent sources such as the OSx86 Project Wiki and win2osx.net forums. These places are just a FEW that have a wealth of information, if you have any problems or questions I would suggest starting there.
I suggest you purchase the required hardware, and then prepare the software while you wait for shipping. That way you can have all the bugs worked out before-hand. The hardware we will discuss below is just a suggestion, as it has been hand picked in order to be as close to the development machines as possible with staying close to our $200 budget. You of course can use other equipment that you may have laying around (case/ram) for example -- and of course you could upgrade components as you see fit. For example, it would be pretty sweet to build this into a Apple G5 Case (Make sure to see the update at bottom of article for special savings!) that is available from Allmac.com. Before you buy anything however, make sure it is on the Hardware Compatibility List on the OSx86 Project Wiki site.
Here are the base requirements:
- CPU: (SSE3 Compatible, With some hacking you can get SSE2 processors to work):
- Motherboard chipsets: This is still debated, but the consensus is that Intel chipsets work the best.
- Video: Basic VGA/SVGA works on most chipsets, however for accelerated graphics you will need the Intel GMA900 onboard graphics chip (the motherboard selected below uses this chipset)
$200 OSx86 Mac Parts List:
* CPU price was after $50 MIR. Apparently this deal might be over. I am currently looking for a replacement, if you know of a good deal on these, please let me know. However you should be able to find this processor for around this price using froogle.
I chose this hardware as best as I could using one vendor to save on shipping. (My favorite retailers geeks.com & Newegg.com) The case is from Geeks.com as it was the cheapest case I could find that included a Power supply. You can probably find a good deal on a case by visiting my local mom & pop computer store, that way you don't have to pay for shipping. The processor is being obtained through a TigerDirect deal. Before you go out and purchase exactly what I have linked to, I suggest you read the article on Getting the best deal online to possibly find these components cheaper. While we wait for our hardware to arrive, we need to obtain and prepare the software side...
Obtaining the software
We will need the following:
The disc image of the Leaked developer DVD. You can find this file on your favorite Torrent site usually marked as Apple.OS.X.x86.Developer.Kit.Install.DVD-pheNIX: (or deadmoo) . (hint: google for torrent and pheNIX)
The torrent should include either:
- Marklar-Tiger.dmg with MD5: 6671b06db57db94bebffdd2cffc2c78e and the filesize is: 2,618,664,581 bytes
-or-
- Marklar-Tiger.iso* with MD5 of: e78fe52e30a1f8c5b29d4b7932a16c5e and the filesize is: 4,293,001,216 bytes
(*If you find the Marklar-Tiger.iso image with the correct MD5, you can skip the following step)
It is absolutely ESSENTIAL that you are working with one of the following files, and have verified the MD5 hash. If you are are windows user, I suggest you use fastsum to check MD5 hashes. Now let me explain what we are dealing with. You will notice that the first file is a .dmg. A .dmg is a Apple format "Disc Image" that we will need to convert to .ISO before we do anything. Download UltraISO (a utility that we will use to convert .dmg to .iso)
Once you have UltraISO installed, go to tools - convert. . Locate the .dmg file and choose ISO as the format, click Convert and wait a few minutes (typically) for the conversion to be done. UltraISO will alert you when it's finished, so click Return and close UltraISO. Now we need to verify the checksum of that .iso file you just created (yes more checksums). Using Fastsum (or any other MD5 Hasher) verify that your new file's (Marklar-Tiger.iso) MD5 matches the one above (e78fe52........) Again, it is IMPERITIVE that it does. If it doesn't, please start over! You will save yourself a lot of time.
Once you have the Marklar-Tiger.iso with the correct MD5, you will need to do some patching in-order for it to boot properly. You will need to download Generic_OSx86_Install_DVD_Patcher_Release1.rar. (please read the Readme included) This file contains a PPF Patcher that corrects some sections in the ISO allowing it to boot and install properly. Unpack everything, and run the PPF-O-Matic, pointing it to your Marklar-Tiger.iso file, along with the Marklar-Tiger-patch-release1.ppf and yup you guessed it -- PATCH IT.
The md5 for your patched Marklar-Tiger.iso file should now be:
9a5270e693b2148ba685638f05ea76c2 and the filesize remains the same at: 4,293,001,216 bytes
(I would like to note that you CAN download already patched DVD ISO images, however unless they match this exact MD5, you have no idea what you are working with... That is why I prefer to do it myself)
Using your favorite burning software, burn the patched Marklar-Tiger.iso to a blank DVD. Now that your DVD is ready, skip work and wait to ambush your UPS man.
(click next below to continue)
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