Getting ready to dip my toes into the realm of the Hackintosh

[EnderBeta]

I already have most of the parts I'll need. I'm basing it around a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 processor I retired from my gaming machine when I built a new gaming machine.

My LGA 775 motherboard I have on hand right now is an ASUS P5N-D with a force chip. I was reading up on it and it seemed difficult at best to get it up and running and being a novice I decided I should try using another motherboard. I found a Asus P5Q-E motherboard on eBay for a reasonable amount and I have a page book marked where someone got this motherboard to run El Capitan.

I have two PNY GeForce GTX 560 TI cards to use. I realize at this point that I can't use SLI but I'm hoping maybe I can use the second to help in video encoding just to try my hand at making a dual card encoding based system. I realize performance will be lacking but think of this as a test bed to see if it is worth investing money in modern hardware to accomplish the same goal. I have heard that graphics cards can be troublesome so I'm hoping that these cards or at least one of them will work.

I have the power supply, DDR2 and a Cooler Master V8 GTS on hand. I also have a Corsair Carbide 400C case on it's way for the build as well. The last piece of the puzzle is a SSD drive. Once all the parts in the mail arrive I'll go to Best Buy and grab a 480GB SSD to use as the system drive.

I'll be sure to take photos and share my progress on this project in case anyone is interested or can lend an ounce of advice if I run into any issues.

 

[Draeconis]

Your experience with this hardware and a modern version of macOS may not be representative of modern hardware, which quite a lot of people spend time on ensuring everything works. YMMV

 

[EnderBeta]

Your experience with this hardware and a modern version of macOS may not be representative of modern hardware, which quite a lot of people spend time on ensuring everything works. YMMV

I understand that it might not be the fastest. I also understand the legacy bios settings are not needed in modern systems.

Mostly what I'm looking for is a success in getting it to run. I'm hoping following one persons sucess will get mine up and running too.

In terms of speed I know the Q9650 ran Windows 8.1 Pro perfectly fine once paired with a SATA3 SSD even if it was only operating at SATA2 speeds.

This machine's task will be to replace my Mac Mini as the home iTunes media server to free up the Mac Mini for its future role of being the RV iTunes media server.

 

[pastrychef]

My experience with hacking older systems is very, very limited... When I tried, I followed a guide that made everything quite simple. However, I know that if I had do it from scratch without the assistance of a guide, it would have been far more difficult. I think it was wise to go with a motherboard that's documented.

Newer systems with UEFI seem much, much easier to hack.

 

[EnderBeta]

My Asus P5Q-E board arrived today. You can't see it in these but I will be using my Q9650 Core 2 Quad 3.0GHz processor in this build. Unfortunately I failed to realize that it didn't come with an IO shield so I placed an order for one today.

The case should be arriving tomorrow.

Here are a couple of photos of me testing fitting the Cooler master V8 GTS. No thermal grease has been applied yet and the cooler is not secured into place but that is essentially going to fit so I can reuse the cooler just like I was hoping.

 

[ActionableMango]

Man, you need to take that motherboard to the doctor. It's got some kind of huge growth coming out of it!

 

[EnderBeta]

Man, you need to take that motherboard to the doctor. It's got some kind of huge growth coming out of it!

They say as computers age the heat sinks never stop growing.

 

[Unami]

wow, you practically have to overclock with that cooler.

good luck with your build - i once built a hackintosh with an asus-board where i had to reflash the firmware from a different board to get it running. sounds harder than it was, and ran fine afterwards. although, i've been using gigabyte boards ever since.

be aware, that you might get problems with the 560ti - mine tends to freeze the system (the so-called fermi-freeze) unless i have an app called "freezefix" running in the background that keeps the gpu busy. (just google "freezefix app hackintosh")

 

[EnderBeta]

wow, you practically have to overclock with that cooler.

good luck with your build - i once built a hackintosh with an asus-board where i had to reflash the firmware from a different board to get it running. sounds harder than it was, and ran fine afterwards. although, i've been using gigabyte boards ever since.

be aware, that you might get problems with the 560ti - mine tends to freeze the system (the so-called fermi-freeze) unless i have an app called "freezefix" running in the background that keeps the gpu busy. (just google "freezefix app hackintosh")

Which graphics card would you recommend? Since this is not intended to be a gaming or video editing build I don't need anything overly powerful in it.

Thanks.

 

[pastrychef]

Cards like GT 630, 640, 730, 740. Are good if you don't need lots of GPU power. They don't use much power, run pretty cool, and are pretty inexpensive.

 

[Unami]

Which graphics card would you recommend? Since this is not intended to be a gaming or video editing build I don't need anything overly powerful in it.

Thanks.

can't really recommend one, i'm still running the 560ti, which works fine with the freezefix app loading at startup. but have a look at tonymacx' buyer's guide:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/buyersguide/march/2017#Graphics_Cards

 

[EnderBeta]

can't really recommend one, i'm still running the 560ti, which works fine with the freezefix. but have a look at tonymacx' buyer's guide:
https://www.tonymacx86.com/buyersguide/march/2017#Graphics_Cards

What was the freeze fix? Do you have a link?

 

[Unami]

it's just a small app that does something that keeps your gpu from freezing up. i'll send you a personal message with a dropbox-link and if you experience any freezes, just start that app or put it in your startup items.

another trick that worked was having a video running (e.g. in vlc) in the background.

 

[EnderBeta]

Here are the two graphics cards I intend to use. I realize SLI isn't a thing for macOS but if anyone knows please let me know if I need to use the SLI bridge to make use of the second card for things that use the CUDA cores.



This is the Core 2 Quad Q9650.


Here is the board and cooler test fitting into the case.


With the case door shut.


I'm just waiting on the IO shield now.

 

[pastrychef]

Here are the two graphics cards I intend to use. I realize SLI isn't a thing for macOS but if anyone knows please let me know if I need to use the SLI bridge to make use of the second card for things that use the CUDA cores.

As far as I know, no, an SLI bridge is not needed to make use of CUDA on both GPUs in macOS.

 

[EnderBeta]

The IO shield arrived today. Later tonight after I get off of work I'm going to assemble the machine.

 

[belvdr]

As far as I know, no, an SLI bridge is not needed to make use of CUDA on both GPUs in macOS.

It's not required in Linux. I had a few Tesla K80s and the CUDA drivers automagically used all cores across all cards, unless specifically directed at one card.

 

[EnderBeta]

It's not required in Linux. I had a few Tesla K80s and the CUDA drivers automagically used all cores across all cards, unless specifically directed at one card.

So it seems unanimous that I don't have to worry about putting a bridge in. I have a few but I have no intention of installing Windows on this machine so I won't bother.

I have the power cables for the PSU routed behind the back of the motherboard trey. I still have to zip tie the cables into place to keep them from shifting around. I also have to get all the rest of the case and fan cables squared away.

This motherboard doesn't have USB3 but the case does. If anyone has any suggestions for a PCIe card that includes internal ports that will work with macOS please let me know. In the meantime I will look into it tonight.


[doublepost=1490216887][/doublepost]I found this card on Amazon.

Does anyone know if this would work with a Hackintosh?

https://www.amazon.com/Mailiya-Expa...-3-fkmr2&keywords=pie+internal+USB3+card&th=1

 

[pastrychef]

I found this card on Amazon.

Does anyone know if this would work with a Hackintosh?

https://www.amazon.com/Mailiya-Expansion-Superspeed-Connector-Desktops/dp/B01LZWC7TL/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1490216761&sr=8-3-fkmr2&keywords=pie+internal+USB3+card&th=1

There's no native support for that USB 3 controller in macOS. You may (or may not) be able to make it work with a generic USB driver, but I suggest getting an FL1100 based card. FL1100 has native macOS support.

This one should work:
Amazon.com: [Cord-free Power Supply] Inateck 2-Port PCI-E USB 3.0 Express Card, Mini PCI-E USB 3.0 Hub Controller Adapter with Internal USB 3.0 20-PIN Connector - Expand Another Two USB 3.0 Ports - No Additional Power Connection Needed: Computers & Accessories

 

[EnderBeta]

There's no native support for that USB 3 controller in macOS. You may (or may not) be able to make it work with a generic USB driver, but I suggest getting an FL1100 based card. FL1100 has native macOS support.

This one should work:
Amazon.com: [Cord-free Power Supply] Inateck 2-Port PCI-E USB 3.0 Express Card, Mini PCI-E USB 3.0 Hub Controller Adapter with Internal USB 3.0 20-PIN Connector - Expand Another Two USB 3.0 Ports - No Additional Power Connection Needed: Computers & Accessories

Thank you for the suggested part. I ordered one of them for the computer. The best parts I paid with bing rewards for Amazon $5 cards so it was free.

 

[EnderBeta]

I finally got most of the computer assembled. I ran into major issues installing the Cooler Master V8 GTS for several reasons.

First the case is smaller and the top filter when off doesn't open up the top of the case entirely like my Corsair Graphite 780T.

Second unlike my ASUS P5N-D the ASUS P5Q-E has heat sinks surrounding the CPU socket which really became an obstruction even to my small fingers.

I ended up taking the motherboard back out and installing the Cooler Master V8 GTS. Then while positioning the board to go back into the case I had to plug in the 12V connector from the PSU into the board because of its short length and the fact that if I didn't the top of the case and the Cooler Master V8 GTS the connector would have been impossible to get plugged in.

Once done with finger yoga I got most of the wires secured and screwed the board back into place. The remaining wires to secure are the cables intended to power the graphics cards. Since this PSU is so small I'm using separate cables to provide power to each of the six pin connectors using two IDE power connectors to the connector for the graphics cards.

If the Hackintosh works I will consider pulling this PSU and put in a modern full modular PSU. For now though this will get it done.

 

[EnderBeta]

A little more work on the machine this morning before work. All I have left to do is a little more dressing of the cables in the back to secure the remaining power cables into place.

After work today I'll finish dressing the cables and this weekend I'll start the process of bringing this machine to life with either El Capitan or maybe Sierra if I'm lucky.

 

[EnderBeta]

I installed macOS onto the machine and rebooted to clover on the usb and selected boot mac OS X from my hard drive. I got Apple logo and progress bar on the black screen. I just created my user account and booted up into it!

It looks like the machine is on it's way. I'll continue on it later tonight.

 

[EnderBeta]

I managed to get macOS to boot off the hard drive.

I have kext files mentioned in this instruction set instruction number 8 at https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...0-11-4-in-asus-p5q-e-and-p5kpl-am-epu.189434/ installed.

LAN:--http://www.tonymacx86.com/el-capitan-desktop-support/182602-no-sound-el-captain-p5q-e-mother-board.html
IONetworkingFamily.kext.zip [IONetworkingFamily.kext in S/L/E (use kext wizard or similar App to do it, don't put it manually )]
Marvell88E8056.kext.zip [Marvell88E8056.kext in EFI/CLOVER/kexts/10.11]

I updated to the latest version of Sierra, 10.12.3 using the app store.

However the graphics driver is still not installed yet and as a result it's a unaccelerated limping mode image. I tried installing the WebDriver-367.15.10.05f01.pkg but it gives me an error saying "Mac OS X version is not compatible".

I'm not sure what I need to do. If anyone has ideas on how to help that would be great. If not maybe I should make a run down to best buy and buy a graphics card that will be less finicky.

 

[EnderBeta]

I have made more progress. Audio and microphone via my Logitech G930 headphones simply by plugging in the receiver.

I have also gotten the graphics to work. I got the full 4K image out of my monitor. Like my work Mac Pro this hackintosh recognized the monitor as a 60+ inch monitor. I don't know why that is as it is just a 27" 4K monitor.

This is what I did in the Clover boot options to get the computer to use the graphics cards.

However if I discovered that these settings don't appear to save. When I reboot the computer the settings where not there. I don't know if that was simply because I went into the settings to check again or if they really didn't save. If anyone knows of how to make the settings permanent please let me know.

I have a few other items to work out as well. I'm not expecting my D-Link Wireless G PCI card to work, but I put it in the machine just in case for now. I saw there is a Bluetooth and wireless card on Amazon that TonyMac recommends that should enable the computer to do all the air play functions. I'm going to get that. In the mean time is the wireless card possible to get working.

Finally I grabbed a Logitech keyboard and mouse combo today but only the mouse is working. Does anyone have any experience getting Logitech wireless keyboards and mice working with the USB dongle? Should I return it and grab a better wired keyboard?

Lastly is there any way to make my machine register as a Mac Pro instead of a iMac?