tonymacx86 Blog

This Page Has Moved. Register at tonymacx86.com Today!

2013-02-26T10:53:00.000-05:00

This blog is now a permanent archive of our previous content. We're doing all of our new writing at tonymacx86.com. Register today! -tonymacx86 & MacMan

Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide 2012

2012-08-02T09:59:00.000-04:00

It's an amazing time once again to build a computer. Intel's "Ivy Bridge" CPUs alongside with the latest motherboards are the fastest and most compatible consumer components we've ever tested. There is native support for Thunderbolt, NVIDIA GeForce 6xx "Kepler" graphics cards, and Ivy Bridge in OS X Mountain Lion 10.8. On the pro front, Apple hasn't updated their Mac Pro since 2010, but

UniBeast 1.5 Update

2012-07-25T16:28:00.000-04:00

UniBeast has been updated to 1.5 for Lion and OS X Mountain Lion. We've broken UniBeast out into two versions based on operating system. UniBeast - Lion is the functional equivalent of previous versions of UniBeast. UniBeast - Mountain Lion is the new version that supports 10.8 only. We also have published a preview of our new installation guide. The method is almost identical to the Lion

Yay! The New Site is Alive! Re-Activate Your Account Today!

2012-07-23T04:26:00.000-04:00

After a year of development, the day is finally here- we've updated the entire website. It's a brand new tonymacx86.com designed by our team and powered by vBulletin. There are a ton of amazing new user features we'll be rolling out gradually, literally too many to list. The site has been completely redesigned! As part of the re-activation process, all users are required to reset

New and Improved tonymacx86.com - Launching This Sunday!

2012-07-21T14:54:00.001-04:00

Off and on over the past year or so, we've been collaborating, designing, testing and setting up a new more modern website and forum. We're happy to announce that the resulting new tonymacx86.com will be launching this Sunday! We will be importing all current forums, posts, and users and shouldn't be going offline at all during the transition. However, the existing forum will be read-only

Chimera 1.11 Update: Ivy Bridge HD 4000 Graphics

2012-07-20T14:29:00.001-04:00

Today MacMan updated Chimera to version 1.11. We've fixed the experimental Ivy Bridge HD 4000 graphics card support. Using the available HD 4000 drivers can be difficult, but we anticipate that updated Mac OS X 10.7.5 or 10.8 graphics drivers will make things much simpler. This is a GraphicsEnabler fix, and NO additional changes should be needed for HD 4000 support. This new version will

Get Ready for OS X Mountain Lion

2012-07-12T10:26:00.001-04:00

This week Apple released a GM (Golden Master) Seed of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion to Mac developers. Current rumors have the official launch date on or about July 25th. We thought we'd run down a list of recommended tasks so you can be ready once it's available. Could be any day now! Necessary for Mountain Lion Update Apple has provided a concise rundown of how to update to Mountain Lion

MultiBeast 4.6 Update

2012-06-25T11:01:00.001-04:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 4.6 for Lion and is now available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. In this version we've included a patched AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement for Ivy Bridge CPUs from the MacBook Pro 2012 Update. This will enable full power management on non-Gigabyte 7-Series Socket 1155 motherboards and eliminates the need for NullCPUPowerManagment.kext. Next up

UniBeast 1.4 Update

2012-06-22T09:39:00.004-04:00

Today UniBeast has been updated to 1.4. The latest version is available for download at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute UniBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes: Updated Chimera to v1.10.0 Added Atheros Ethernet Support - maolj's AtherosL1cEthernet.kext Removed AppleRTL8139Ethernet.kext (32-bit only) Added patched AppleACPIPlatform.kext by

New CustoMac Buyer's Guide 2012 Coming Soon

2012-06-19T12:33:00.002-04:00

Since the introduction of Ivy Bridge Macs last week, we've been getting lots of requests to update our CustoMac Recommended Builds and Buyer's Guide. Have no fear- it's coming soon! We're holding off on recommending specific Ivy Bridge rigs until the support is truly native and in the general release of the operating system. This will make things much easier for everyone- especially first

BridgeHelper 5.0: Native Ivy Bridge Kernel & Power Management, USB 3.0, and Intel HD 4000

2012-06-14T11:27:00.001-04:00

This week Apple refreshed Mac laptops with Intel's new Ivy Bridge CPUs. Support isn't native yet, however much of the functionality is now available to us via an official MacBook Pro (Mid 2012) Software Update. The process of manually extracting kernels and drivers isn't for everyone, so we put together a new BridgeHelper installer to do all of the heavy lifting. Simply install BridgeHelper

Chimera 1.10 Update: Ivy Bridge HD 4000 Onboard Graphics Support

2012-06-14T10:21:00.001-04:00

Today MacMan updated Chimera to version 1.10. We've added initial Ivy Bridge HD 4000 graphics card support and many new NVIDIA 6xx devices. This new version will be included in the next MultiBeast release. Chimera v1.10 Changes: Added GraphicsEnabler device ID injection for Ivy Bridge Intel HD 4000 Onboard Graphics Added GraphicsEnabler detection code for 50 additional NVIDIA

Apple Reveals 2012 Mac Laptops: How This Helps Us

2012-06-11T15:28:00.001-04:00

Today at WWDC, Apple unveiled it's next generation MacBook Pro with it's 2880x1800 resolution "Retina" display. They also bumped all of the current MacBook Air and Pro models to Intel's new Ivy Bridge CPUs. This news is not only exciting for people in need of a new Mac, but also for speculative custom computer builders. The changes represent some of the most ever in one day, and will

DSDT Database Update: Gigabyte X58 Motherboards

2012-06-06T10:37:00.000-04:00

We've done another round of DSDT Database updates, this time for Gigabyte X58 motherboards. The following DSDTs have been extracted from BIOS, edited using the using minimal edits, and added to the DSDT Database. Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R-1.6 FK (for 1.6 or 1.7) Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 F13 Gigabyte GA-G1.Assassin F3 Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R-2.0 FH Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD9 F6 NOTE: All DSDTs are

DSDT Database Update: Gigabyte H67 Motherboards

2012-05-30T10:26:00.002-04:00

We're happy to announce another major update for Gigabyte Socket 1155 motherboards is in progress. As part of these updated DSDTs MacMan has included enhanced USB fixes, eliminating USB wake from sleep issues. These new devices fully implement the Rate Matching Hub definitions and Apple specific parameters. For this round, the following DSDTs have been extracted from BIOS, edited using the

DSDT Database Update: Gigabyte Z68 Motherboards

2012-05-29T09:55:00.000-04:00

We're happy to announce another major update for Gigabyte Socket 1155 motherboards is in progress. As part of these updated DSDTs MacMan has included enhanced USB fixes, eliminating USB wake from sleep issues. These new devices fully implement the Rate Matching Hub definitions and Apple specific parameters. For the first round, the following DSDTs have been extracted from BIOS, edited using

Update Your Mac OS X Lion App to 10.7.4 [QuickTip]

2012-05-24T11:00:00.001-04:00

The original installation media for Mac OS X Snow Leopard was a 10.6 DVD. The DVD was only updated once to version 10.6.3. In order to provide more frequent updates to users, Apple is now slipstreaming the latest version of Lion directly into the download. Upon fresh installation, no updating is necessary! If you purchased Lion from the App Store prior to May 9th, 2012, you most likely have

UniBeast 1.3 Update

2012-05-22T10:37:00.002-04:00

Today UniBeast has been updated to 1.3. The latest version is available for download at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute UniBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes: Updated Chimera to v1.9.2 Updated FakeSMC.kext to 4.2 If this utility has helped you, please consider a contribution to support further UniBeast development. Thanks in

SSDT Editing Guide and Subforum

2012-05-22T09:22:00.001-04:00

A few days ago, we released a new MultiBeast featuring SSDT files for Sandy Bridge CPUs. To assist with further SSDT editing and customizing, MacMan has written a guide at his blog called Customizing SSDT: Power Management Optimization on 10.7.4. The guide documents what you need to know about the SSDT so you can optimize your Socket 1155 CPU for an overclock greater then the 4.2 GHz

SR Tools: Kext Management, Undo, & Version Control

2012-05-21T14:22:00.001-04:00

One of our moderators StingRay, usually found in the chat, has started to put together a Mac OS X Toolkit called SR Tools. The first item to be available is Kext Tools which allows installs and most importantly undo and rollback. We're excited to announce it's ready for public use. Download SRTools What is it? Well thats easy, it's a kernel extensions (kext) installer and manager with the

BridgeHelper 4.0 - Enhanced 10.7.4 Kernel for Ivy Bridge CPUs

2012-05-18T15:16:00.000-04:00

As part of Apple's commitment to Open Source, they make the current Mac OS X kernel source available about a week after releases at opensource.apple.com. As there are no Ivy Bridge Macs yet, MacMan has added support for Ivy Bridge CPUs to xnu-1699.26.8 (AKA the 11.4.0 Darwin kernel shipped in OS X 10.7.4) and we're happy to announce it's release. BridgeHelper 4.0 will replace your 10.7.4

10.7.4 Power Management and Sandy Bridge CPUs

2012-05-17T10:02:00.001-04:00

It's been a week since the 10.7.4 update, and an issue has cropped up with Core i5 and i7 Sandy Bridge CPUs. As part of this release, Apple updated the power management drivers. These new drivers are effecting performance, as some CPUs are stuck at a 16x multiplier, thus limiting them to a maximum clock speed of 1.6 GHz. When we discovered the issue, we released a temporary workaround on the

MultiBeast 4.5 Update

2012-05-17T08:13:00.001-04:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 4.5 for Lion. The latest version of MultiBeast is now available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. What's new in MultiBeast 4.5: Added Customization -> Boot Options -> SSDT Added Core i5 to Customization -> Boot Options -> SSDT Added

Mac OS X 10.7.4 Update

2012-05-09T16:55:00.001-04:00

Today Apple released Mac OS X 10.7.4 the fourth major update to Mac OS X Lion. To eliminate any potential issues, we generally recommend to update any supported systems using the standalone Combo installer, and not the built-in Software Update. Download the Mac OS X 10.7.4 Combo Update Be sure to back up any important data, and if possible clone your hard drive before applying the

MultiBeast 4.4 Update

2012-05-09T14:58:00.000-04:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 4.4 for Lion. The latest version of MultiBeast is now available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. What's new in MultiBeast 4.4: Added toleda's patched AppleHDA's to Drivers & Bootloaders -> Kexts & Enablers -> Audio -> Realtek ALC8xx ->

Intel's New Ivy Bridge Socket 1155 CPUs and 7-Series Motherboards Now Available

2012-04-29T10:23:00.001-04:00

This past week Intel unveiled and released it's new Ivy Bridge CPUs. These CPUs are compatible with any of the available Socket 1155 motherboards- including Sandy Bridge ones! So users with existing Sandy Bridge compatible H61, H67 and Z68 motherboards have the option to upgrade to new Ivy Bridge CPUs. Ivy Bridge feature improvements over Sandy Bridge include: Tri-gate transistor

BridgeHelper 3.0 - Enhanced 10.7.3 Kernel for Ivy Bridge CPUs

2012-04-26T09:43:00.002-04:00

This week, Intel announced and released it's next generation of Socket 1155 CPUs, codenamed Ivy Bridge. As part of Apple's commitment to Open Source, they make the kernel source available via opensource.apple.com. MacMan has added support for these new CPUs to xnu-1699.24.23 (AKA the 11.3.0 Darwin kernel shipped in OS X 10.7.3) and we're happy to announce it's release. BridgeHelper 3.0 will

UniBeast 1.2 Update

2012-04-04T11:48:00.001-04:00

Today UniBeast has been updated to 1.2. The latest version is available for download at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute UniBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes: Updated Chimera to v1.9.1 If this utility has helped you, please consider a contribution to support further UniBeast development. Thanks in advance, and enjoy!

rBoot 1.2 Update

2012-03-30T13:02:00.001-04:00

Today rBoot, the boot CD for both Snow Leopard and Lion has been updated to 1.2. The standard version, and a laptop edition (rBoot LE) are now available for download at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute rBoot to any other sites. Full list of changes: Updated bootloader to Chimera v1.9.1 If this utility has helped you, please consider a

iBoot 3.3 Update

2012-03-30T12:08:00.000-04:00

iBoot has been updated to 3.3. As always, this boot CD facilitates the direct retail installation of Mac OS X 10.6.x Snow Leopard via iBoot + MultiBeast. Pick up the latest version at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Updated bootloader to Chimera v1.9.1 For 10.6.x Snow Leopard only Please do not upload or redistribute iBoot to any other sites. If this utility has helped you, please

Chimera 1.9 Update: Multiple NVIDIA Cards, Ivy Bridge and GTX 680 Support

2012-03-27T10:39:00.001-04:00

Today MacMan updated Chimera to version 1.9. The most exciting change is the addition of a new bit of GraphicsEnabler code from the Chameleon team to enable multiple NVIDIA graphics cards without any extra DSDT edits necessary! He's also added support for Intel's soon to be released Ivy Bridge CPUs and GraphicsEnabler detection for NVIDIA's new GeForce GTX 680. This new version will be

Exclusive: Intel's Unreleased Ivy Bridge Core i7-3770K Running Mac OS X Lion

2012-03-23T13:30:00.001-04:00

Well it's official- Mac OS X Lion runs great on Intel's upcoming Ivy Bridge platform. Here's a few screenshots of the Core i7-3770K running at stock 3.5GHz on a Z77 motherboard submitted to us via an anonymous tip: Because there are no Macs yet with Ivy Bridge, the tipster had to use a modified kernel to boot. We can't wait to test out these chips to see what else they can

Optimizing NVIDIA GeForce 4xx and 5xx Graphics Cards for Mac OS X Lion Using OpenCL and CUDA

2012-03-19T11:27:00.002-04:00

Many graphics and video professionals prefer using NVIDIA graphics cards. OpenCL (Open Computing Language) was initially created by Apple to provide applications access to the computing power of the graphics card as well as the CPU. This can dramatically increase the general performance of high-end applications at the OS level, and has become an industry standard. Apple has supported

MultiBeast 4.3 Update

2012-03-12T11:03:00.000-04:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 4.3 for Lion. We've added a new Combo OpenCL Enabler, which when combined with Chimera 1.8 will enable full QE/CI and OpenCL for all NVIDIA GeForce 4xx and 5xx graphics cards. Two more big additions are the flAked SpeedStepper for UEFI power management fixes, and maolj's Atheros ethernet driver. The latest version of MultiBeast is now available

Chimera 1.8 Update: OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Support

2012-02-24T11:10:00.001-05:00

Today MacMan updated Chimera to version 1.8. For Mac OS X developers, OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion support has been added. This version will be included in the next MultiBeast release. Chimera v1.8.0 Changes: Added OS X Mountain Lion boot support, based on cparm's patch. Added support for additional ATI video cards. Added additional default ATI video card configurations. Fixed

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

2012-02-17T12:50:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we were all a bit shocked by Apple's announcement of it's next operating system OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. Everyone's super excited about it, and registered Apple Developers ($99/yr) now have full access to the OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview 1. Initial reports are that the download and installation procedure is just as easy for Mountain Lion as it was for Lion. Our policy

MultiBeast Overview Video

2012-02-08T11:46:00.000-05:00

Here's a nice video intro to MultiBeast: The Ultimate Post-Installation Utility. Produced and narrated by StingRay. Related Posts: All tonymacx86 Video tonymacx86 Wiki: MultiBeast MultiBeast Forum Building a Sandy Bridge CustoMac: Buyer's Guide For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

UniBeast 1.1 Update

2012-02-04T10:47:00.001-05:00

Today UniBeast has been updated to 1.1. After a bit of testing, we've optimized this utility for use with the newly updated 10.7.3 Mac OS X Lion App. The latest version is available for download at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute UniBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes: Updated Chimera to v1.7.0 USB Fix for 10.7.3 If this utility

rBoot 1.1 Update

2012-02-03T12:15:00.001-05:00

Today rBoot, the boot CD for both Snow Leopard and Lion has been updated to 1.1. The standard version, and a laptop edition (rBoot LE) are now available for download at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute rBoot to any other sites. Full list of changes: Updated Chimera to v1.7.0 USB Fix for 10.7.3 If this utility has helped you, please consider a

Update Your Mac OS X Lion App to 10.7.3 [QuickTip]

2012-02-02T11:08:00.002-05:00

Mac OS X 10.7.3 Update

2012-02-01T16:29:00.001-05:00

Today Apple released Mac OS X 10.7.3 the 3rd major update to Mac OS X Lion. To eliminate any potential issues, we generally recommend to update any supported systems using the standalone Combo installer, and not the built-in Software Update. Download the Mac OS X 10.7.3 Combo Update Be sure to back up any important data, and if possible clone your hard drive before applying the update.

Hackintosh Basics: Kernel Panics & Boot Flags

2012-01-28T13:56:00.001-05:00

Our friend StingRay has been hard at work illustrating the basics of Hackintoshing through a series of helpful learning videos. These next two focus on troubleshooting your system. The first explains some of the causes and solutions to certain system crashes, or kernel panics. The other is an introduction to the uses of bootloader flags. Produced and narrated by StingRay. Related

Hackintosh Under the Hood: Post-Installation System Overview

2012-01-26T12:14:00.001-05:00

Here's a great introduction to a working Mac OS X installation on PC hardware. The video explains the function and location of the Chameleon/Chimera boot file, /Extra folder, DSDT, .plist files, and .kext files. Produced and narrated by one of our mods, StingRay. Related Posts: All tonymacx86 Video UniBeast: Install Mac OS X Lion Using an All-In-One Bootable USB Drive Building a Sandy

tonymacx86 Public Service Announcement: Dual Booting

2012-01-13T10:56:00.000-05:00

Music and animation by Adamsmasher. Enjoy! Related Posts: tonymacx86 Public Service Announcements: Entire Series Dual Boot Windows 7 and Mac OS X UniBeast: Install Mac OS X Lion Using an All-In-One Bootable USB Drive Building a Sandy Bridge CustoMac: Buyer's Guide For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

New Optimized Audio Drivers for Onboard Realtek ALC 889 and ALC 892

2012-01-11T13:57:00.001-05:00

Toleda has released two new patched AppleHDA audio drivers designed to optimize any motherboard with the Realtek ALC 889 or Realtek ALC 892 audio codecs. This is the best and most complete support that we've ever seen. The new one-kext solution supports most Mac OS X Lion analog and digital audio capabilities. It is designed to be an alternate or replacement for the combination of both AppleHDA

DSDT Database Update - Gigabyte Sandy Bridge Socket 1155

2012-01-01T11:14:00.000-05:00

MacMan just completed another round of DSDT Database updates, using the latest Gigabyte Socket 1155 motherboard BIOSes. Here's a list of the 106 DSDTs recently updated: Gigabyte GA-H61-S3 F3 Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2-B3 F8 Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H-USB3 F1 Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2H-USB3 F2 Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2P-B3 F6 Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2P-B3 F8 Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2P-B3 F9 Gigabyte GA-H61M-DS2 F2 Gigabyte

Happy New Year 2012!

2011-12-31T15:37:00.004-05:00

MultiBeast 4.2 Update

2011-12-14T11:51:00.000-05:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 4.2 for Lion. The latest version is now available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes: Added TRIM Enabler to Drivers & Bootloaders > Kexts & Enablers > Disk Added AppleRTC Patch for CMOS

Chimera 1.7 Update

2011-12-13T11:38:00.000-05:00

Today MacMan updated Chimera to version 1.7. This version will be included in the next MultiBeast release. Chimera v1.7.0 Changes: Added support for additional ATI video cards. Added support for additional NVIDIA video cards. Added additional cards to NVIDIA memory detection workaround. Added change to allow overriding ATI Null frame buffer. Back ported the following

tonymacx86 Public Service Announcement: Kernelcache

2011-12-08T10:47:00.000-05:00

Music and animation by Adamsmasher. Enjoy! Related Posts: tonymacx86 Wiki: Kernel cache tonymacx86 Public Service Announcements: Entire Series UniBeast: Install Mac OS X Lion Using an All-In-One Bootable USB Drive Building a Sandy Bridge CustoMac: Buyer's Guide For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

Hackintoshing a Sandy Bridge Laptop: HP Probook 4530s

2011-12-06T13:05:00.000-05:00

People who know me know that I always recommend Apple laptops. I am convinced that they are the best laptops on the planet and worth every penny. However, a few weeks back, I picked up the HP Probook 4530s to review and monkey around with. This particular model has gathered a lot of steam on the forum, and considering the price ($475) and relative compatibility it seemed like a cool little

UniBeast Demo: Mac OS X Lion Retail Installation Video

2011-12-05T11:20:00.000-05:00

Check out this full video demo by Beelzebozo demonstrating the UniBeast method for installing Mac OS X Lion. Related Posts: UniBeast.com UniBeast: Install Mac OS X Lion Using an All-In-One Bootable USB Drive tonymacx86 Forum: UniBeast Video Thread Building a Sandy Bridge CustoMac: Buyer's Guide For discussions on this and other topics, register today at

Building a Sandy Bridge CustoMac: Buyer's Guide

2011-11-18T10:05:00.000-05:00

Building a custom computer for Mac OS X can be a very rewarding experience, When you choose compatible hardware, the results can be astonishing. Based on our research, all of the components listed in this guide are compatible with Mac OS X. Included are bare bones builds and individual items through which you can design your own custom rig. All builds are fully compatible with UniBeast, have

tonymacx86 Public Service Announcement: UniBeast

2011-11-12T09:59:00.001-05:00

Music and animation by Adamsmasher. Enjoy! Related Posts: UniBeast.com tonymacx86 Public Service Announcements: Entire Series UniBeast: Install Mac OS X Lion Using an All-In-One Bootable USB Drive For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

MultiBeast 4.1 Update

2011-11-08T10:00:00.002-05:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 4.1 for Lion. The latest version is now available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes: Updated EasyBeast description to include all org.chameleon.Boot.plist options used, all file names and

UniBeast: Install Mac OS X Lion Using an All-In-One Bootable USB Drive

2011-10-30T21:02:00.000-04:00

Introducing UniBeast- our new tool to create a bootable USB drive from your Mac App Store purchased copy of Install Mac OS X Lion or Apple Store purchased Mac OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive. This all-in-one bootable USB drive can also be used as a rescue boot drive for system recovery. UniBeast + MultiBeast is the easiest method to do a clean install of Mac OS X Lion or update any Snow Leopard

Chimera 1.6 Update

2011-10-29T12:32:00.002-04:00

Today MacMan updated Chimera to version 1.6. Chimera v1.6.0 Changes: Based on Chameleon 2.0 r1394 Back-ported new FaceTime fix with RAID 0 support from Chameleon 2.1svn r1649 Enhanced verbose messages from ati.c Added support for additional AMD graphics cards 0x68A1, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 0x68B8, ATI Radeon HD 5770 0x68C0, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 0x68C1, ATI

Forum News: Golden Threads Section Added

2011-10-26T10:56:00.000-04:00

In our ongoing quest to organize the volumes of information collected in the tonymacx86 Forum, we've opened a brand new area called Golden Threads. The articles collected here represent the very best of our community, and are a great source of information for those with and without experience. Hope you enjoy! If you think there are any golden threads we missed, let us know in the comments.

Update Your Retail Mac OS X Lion App to 10.7.2 [QuickTip]

2011-10-19T10:17:00.000-04:00

Mac OS X 10.7.2 Update

2011-10-12T13:15:00.000-04:00

Today Apple released Mac OS X 10.7.2 the 2nd major update to Mac OS X Lion. This is the first time all Macs are running the same build of Mac OS X Lion, Build 11C74. It is an extremely important update, rolling in iCloud integration, and is recommended for all users. To update for any supported configuration, do not use Software Update. We recommend that all users update systems using the

Demystifying HDMI Audio in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

2011-10-11T11:27:00.001-04:00

HDMI Audio + Video can be enabled on Mac OS X Lion for most graphics card and motherboard configurations without much hassle using the replacement audio driver VoodooHDA. Using the supplied AppleHDA.kext for HDMI audio is something of a challenge, but provides numerous benefits including native Mac OS X support, high quality digital surround audio and overall system integration. Since Lion's

iBoot 3.2 Update

2011-10-10T09:32:00.002-04:00

iBoot has been updated to 3.2. As always, this boot CD facilitates the direct retail installation of Mac OS X 10.6.x Snow Leopard via iBoot + MultiBeast. Pick up the latest version at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Updated bootloader to Chimera v1.5.4 Updated Lnx2Mac's Realtek RTL81xx Ethernet Driver to v0.0.90 For 10.6.x Snow Leopard only Please do not upload or redistribute iBoot to any other sites

Steve Jobs: 1955-2011

2011-10-05T20:54:00.000-04:00

Lnx2Mac Releases New RTL81xx Beta Realtek Network Driver

2011-09-28T10:07:00.000-04:00

At long last! Lnx2Mac has released a new public beta version of his Realtek RTL81xx ethernet driver. It now supports every single Gigabyte 1156/1155/1366 motherboard that uses a Realtek ethernet controller! Read all of the details and download the official installer on Lnx2Mac's Blog. For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

Change the Mission Control Background in Lion [QuickTip]

2011-09-20T10:19:00.002-04:00

I don't usually recommend messing about with system files and images, but here's an easy and safe tweak for Lion. You know that grey fabric background of Mission Control? You can change it to whatever you like! The image file is inside /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app, at /Contents/Resources/defaultdesktop.png. It is 256x256 pixels, and displays in tiled format. This gives the

xMove 1.1 Update: Installation With the Retail OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive

2011-09-19T10:55:00.000-04:00

Since the 10.7 Lion USB Thumb Drive became available, we've been inundated with requests for a method of using it for direct Lion installation. To this end, we've made a special new version of xMove. xMove now has 2 options- one for the traditional App Store method, and a new option that allows the USB Thumb Drive to be used to create the Installer partition. xMove Guide for USB Thumb Drive

rBoot: Rescue CD for Snow Leopard, Lion, and xMove

2011-09-17T13:00:00.001-04:00

Introducing rBoot, the boot CD that works with Snow Leopard and Lion! It will even boot xMove created installer partitions. Available for download at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Features: No kernel included - boots both 10.6.x Snow Leopard and 10.7.x Lion installations. Boots xMove-created 10.7 Lion Installer- will NOT boot the 10.7 Lion USB Thumb Drive PCI Root graphics fix for Gigabyte

DSDT Database: Gigabyte Socket 1155 Updates

2011-09-15T10:38:00.000-04:00

MacMan's done a major update to the DSDT Database, adding verified edits for the latest BIOS versions of Gigabyte Socket 1155 motherboards. Here's a list of the Gigabyte motherboard DSDTs and BIOS versions recently updated:Gigabyte GA-H61-S3-F1 Gigabyte GA-H61-S3-F2 Gigabyte GA-H61M-D2-B3-F7 Gigabyte GA-H61M-DS2-F1 Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2-B3-F2 Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2H-F1 Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2H-F2

Building a Sandy Bridge CustoMac: CustoMac Mini 2011

2011-09-14T11:00:00.001-04:00

We're super excited about the new support for onboard Intel HD 3000 graphics in Lion introduced in Chimera 1.5! This means is that it's now possible to build a smoking fast Mini-ITX rig without the need for a power hungry, and expensive graphics card! It even has working HDMI Audio! The CustoMac Mini 2011 prospective build is fully compatible with both the iBoot and xMove methods and has a

HDMI Audio Solutions: Intel HD 3000 Graphics

2011-09-13T12:25:00.001-04:00

We've recently figured out how to enable HDMI Audio on the Sandy Bridge Intel HD 3000 onboard graphics controller! This is a rather advanced procedure, and requires editing both your DSDT and the audio kexts. If you have a GA-H67N-USB3-B3 and want to test, or aren't up for the challenge, we've included pre-edited files at the end of this article. Requirements:Mac OS X 10.7.x Lion Gigabyte Socket

MultiBeast 4.0: Lion Edition

2011-09-12T12:20:00.002-04:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 4.0, specifically for Lion. MultiBeast 4.0: Lion Edition is ONLY for 10.7.x. For 10.6.x, use MultiBeast 3.9: Snow Leopard Edition. The latest versions are now available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes: Added Extension Migration Tool which copies the contents of /Extra/

Chimera 1.5.4 Update: FaceTime Fix

2011-09-08T10:16:00.002-04:00

Today MacMan updated Chimera to version 1.5.4 with a FaceTime fix for OS X Lion. Chimera v1.5.4 Changes: Based on Chameleon 2.0 revision 1394 FaceTime Fix for OS X Lion 10.7.x - Credit to olegpronin New boot flag required for RAID 0 boot only - SkipFTFix=Yes Disables the FaceTime Fix code that is currently incompatible with RAID 0. Thanks to Lnx2Mac for the idea. Added

Chimera 1.5 Update: Sandy Bridge HD 3000 Onboard Graphics Support

2011-08-24T10:10:00.003-04:00

Today MacMan updated Chimera to version 1.5.0. Chimera v1.5 Changes:Intel HD 3000 Onboard Graphics now supported with full acceleration via GraphicsEnabler! No DSDT edits or kext edits necessary Multiple connectors available with MacBookPro8,x or MacMini5,x smbios.plist. /Extra/com.apple.Boot.plist is now depreciated /Extra/org.chameleon.Boot.plist MUST be used Chimera installer

OS X Lion USB Thumb Drives Start Arriving

2011-08-18T13:45:00.007-04:00

Announced and on sale this past Tuesday, Apple's new OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive has shipped, and is beginning to be delivered. It is OS X Lion 10.7 Build 11A511s, and almost identical to the InstallESD.dmg inside the Lion App. Simple DVD/USB creation instructions for this were published back in June by TUAW. Until now, a clean 10.7 install required the $29 Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard DVD then the

Mac OS X 10.7.1 Update

2011-08-16T16:38:00.005-04:00

Today Apple released Mac OS X 10.7.1 the 1st major update to Mac OS X Lion. To update for any supported CPU, we recommend that you download the entire standalone installer. Download the Mac OS X 10.7.1 Update Be sure to back up any important data, and if possible clone your hard drive before applying the update. Testing is underway. Report your results in the forum here. What we know about

OS X Lion Installation USB Drive Now Available

2011-08-16T11:45:00.004-04:00

Today Apple released OS X Lion as a standalone installation USB drive. It's available online for $69. This marks the first time Apple has released Lion as a full offline installation of 10.7 that is not tied to any Mac App Store account. Earlier this month, Apple put out a free Lion Recovery Assistant tool, allowing Mac users to create an official USB Recovery drive, however it still requires

Increasing Disk Performance: SATA 6Gb/s PCI Express Cards Confirmed Working in OS X

2011-08-12T16:05:00.009-04:00

We've confirmed that standard SATA 6Gb/s PCI Express Card adapters using the ASMedia ASM1061 (Asmedia 1061 SATA Host Controller) are working natively in OS X (10.6.8 and 10.7). So if your motherboard only has SATA 3Gb/s ports, you can now expand your system with faster 6Gb/s internal ports! Special thanks to notshy for the testing and info! This year marked the first widespread distribution of

xMove Demo - OS X Lion Retail Installation Video

2011-08-03T23:14:00.002-04:00

Related Posts: xMove + MultiBeast: Install OS X 10.7 LionFor discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

New Graphics Support Discovered in OS X Lion: Sandy Bridge Intel Onboard, NVIDIA GeForce 5xx

2011-07-29T11:20:00.003-04:00

Now that the cat is out of the bag, we can reveal some information about diverse new support for graphics in OS X Lion. The following graphics solutions have been reported as working. Please do not view this post as buying advice- all of this is experimental, and may or may not be stable. Sandy Bridge Intel Onboard GraphicsWhile Intel's 2nd Generation Sandy Bridge onboard graphics solutions

xMove + MultiBeast: Install OS X 10.7 Lion on any Supported Intel Core 2 or Core i based PC

2011-07-20T11:11:00.008-04:00

Any OSx86 installation guide can seem daunting at first glance, especially when trying to remember cryptic terminal commands and sorting through volumes of misinformation on the web. This guide requires no coding, terminal work, or Mac experience of any kind. Because Apple is only distributing OS X Lion through the Mac App Store, we had to rethink our retail installation method. What follows is

Get Ready for OS X Lion: Update to 10.6.8 on a Socket 1155 Sandy Bridge System

2011-07-18T12:19:00.001-04:00

Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.8 was Apple's first release that includes universal kernel support for Sandy Bridge systems. Performing a Combo Update on these rigs can cause system crashes and general instability. We've created this simple guide that will allow any Socket 1155 Sandy Bridge system to update cleanly to 10.6.8 and be ready for Lion. 1. Install and configure system using iBoot +

MultiBeast 3.8 Update

2011-07-11T15:21:00.001-04:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 3.8. The latest version is now available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes:Added to Customization -> Boot Options -> Generate CPU States. Adds GenerateCStates=Yes and GeneratePStates=Yes to /Extra/com.apple.boot.plist. Added ATI 48xx Patch for 10.6.8 from netkas Added to

Get Ready for OS X Lion

2011-07-08T16:25:00.003-04:00

It's July, and OS X Lion is almost here! We thought we'd run down a preparation list of recommended tasks so you can be ready once it's available. Necessary for Lion UpdateApple has provided a concise rundown of how to update to Lion on Day 1 here. The requirements are the same for CustoMacs. To proceed with a retail installation, you absolutely need the following.Intel Core 2 or above, 64 bit

iBoot 3.1 Update

2011-06-30T11:16:00.002-04:00

iBoot has been updated to 3.1. Pick up the latest version at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Added 10.8.0 Kernel from Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Universal 1155/1156/1366 CPU support for 10.6.x Updated bootloader to Chimera v1.4.1 r877 Please do not upload or redistribute iBoot to any other sites. If this utility has helped you, please consider a contribution to support further iBoot development.

Building a Sandy Bridge CustoMac: Recommended Builds for OS X

2011-06-26T18:33:00.010-04:00

Last week Mac OS X was updated to version 10.6.8, with native kernel support for Sandy Bridge. It's now a snap to get these systems up and running with a retail Mac OS X Snow Leopard installation. At long last here are recommendations for fully compatible Socket 1155 builds running Mac OS X as the primary operating system. All builds are fully compatible with the default iBoot + MultiBeast

Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update

2011-06-23T16:00:00.023-04:00

Today Apple released Mac OS X 10.6.8 the 8th (and final?) major update to Mac OS X Snow Leopard. To update for any supported CPU, we recommend that you download the entire standalone Combo installer here. Download the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Combo Update Be sure to back up any important data, and if possible clone your hard drive before applying the update. Testing is underway. Report your results in the

Demystifying Mac OS X HDMI Audio

2011-06-20T18:08:00.000-04:00

HDMI Audio + Video can be enabled on Mac OS X for most graphics card and motherboard configurations without much hassle using the replacement audio driver VoodooHDA. Using the supplied AppleHDA.kext for HDMI audio is something of a challenge, but provides numerous benefits including native Mac OS X support, high quality digital surround audio and overall system integration. Over the past few

DSDT Database Update: Gigabyte Socket 1155 - H61/H67/P67/Z68 Verified Edits

2011-06-04T15:00:00.002-04:00

We've done a major update to the DSDT Database, adding hand edited, verified DSDTs for all Gigabyte Socket 1155 motherboards. To clarify, based on weeks of testing with these motherboards, we've done only bare minimal edits to help enable sleep, Turbo/Speedstep/Power Management (without NullCPU), and audio using AppleHDA Rollback & ALC8xxHDA (without HDAEnablers). Here's a list of the new DSDTs

MultiBeast 3.7 Update

2011-05-26T16:25:00.000-04:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 3.7. The latest version is now available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes:Upgraded Chimera to v1.4.1 r877 Upgraded Chameleon 2.0 RC5 - Prerelease to trunk r877 Replaced IntelThermal with IntelCPUMonitor in FakeSMC Plugins. Removed Chameleon 2.0 RC5 - ATI Experimental;

Chimera 1.4.1 Update

2011-05-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

Today, Chimera has been updated to version 1.4.1. iBoot has been updated to 3.0.4, including this version. Until MultiBeast is updated, we've created a standalone installer for Chimera, available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Chimera v1.4.1 Changes:Based on Chameleon 2.0 RC5 trunk r877 Fixed 32x multiplier BIOS limitation on Gigabyte Sandy Bridge Motherboards Fixed reboot loop with vanilla kernel

tonymacx86 Public Service Announcement: Chimera

2011-05-18T22:10:00.005-04:00

Music and animation by Adamsmasher. Enjoy! For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

Chimera 1.3 Update

2011-05-09T14:25:00.001-04:00

Today Chimera has been updated to version 1.3. iBoot and MultiBeast have been updated to include this version, and are available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Chimera v1.3 Changes:Based on Chameleon 2.0 RC5 trunk r760 Added UseKernelCache=Yes|No to BootHelp Added basic support for AMD 6400 / 6500 / 6600 cards (Chimera 1.2) Additional smbios default edits (Chimera 1.2) Chimera 1.3 is recommended

MultiBeast 3.6 Update

2011-05-09T14:13:00.000-04:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 3.6. The latest version is now available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes:Upgraded Chimera to v1.3.0 r760 Added ATI 1.6.34.13 to Graphics. This is the latest complete ATI drivers from the Mac OS X 10.6.7 Update for iMac (early 2011) that provides Radeon HD 6000 support.

Chimera Now An Official Chameleon Branch - Source Available!

2011-05-03T21:05:00.000-04:00

Chimera has been officially accepted by the Chameleon team as a branch, and the source is now available for download. You can find it at: http://forge.voodooprojects.org/p/chameleon/source/tree/HEAD/branches/Chimera For bug reporting, feature requests, and general feedback please use the Chimera forum first before opening an issue at voodooprojects. -tonymacx86 & MacManFor discussions on this

Apple Releases New Sandy Bridge iMacs [Updated]

2011-05-03T11:00:00.039-04:00

Today, Apple released new iMac models, the first Mac "desktop" models containing Intel's Sandy Bridge platform. All systems also come with Thunderbolt ports, IPS displays, and a choice of ATI 6xxx cards. iMac 21.5" Intel Core i5-2400S iMac 21.5" Intel Core i5-2500S iMac 21.5" Intel Core i7-2600S (built to order) iMac 27" Intel Core i5-2500S iMac 27" Intel Core i5-2400 iMac 27" Intel Core i7-2600

Chimera 1.1 Update

2011-05-02T11:04:00.002-04:00

Today Chimera has been updated to version 1.1. iBoot and MultiBeast have been updated to include this version, and are available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Chimera v1.1 Changes:Based on Chameleon 2.0 RC5 trunk r753 Fixed LGA 775 reboot loop Added Xeon CPU detection and reporting code Fixed DMI Table Overflow on Sandy Bridge Thanks to forum user AndyStubbs Added AMD 6xxx support to

Chimera: Unified Chameleon Bootloader

2011-04-27T14:24:00.002-04:00

Chameleon is an open-source project with numerous development teams working in parallel creating various branches containing new and exciting features. The source code is organized using the Subversion version control system (SVN). SVN repositories are comprised of a trunk and branches. The Chameleon team keeps the trunk as the 'stable' version, whereas side-line or experimental development

MultiBeast 3.5 Update

2011-04-27T14:23:00.004-04:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 3.5. The latest version is now available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes:Added Chimera v1.0.0 r750 bootloader. This is MacMan's branch of Chameleon that merges Kabyl's ATI code and some of valv's Sandy Bridge code. Changed EasyBeast and UserDSDT to use the Chimera

iBoot 3.0 Update

2011-04-27T14:22:00.004-04:00

Today, iBoot has been updated to 3.0. Pick up the latest version at tonymacx86.com/downloads.Added 10.7.3 Kernel for native Sandy Bridge support Updated bootloader to Chimera v1.1.0 Added iBoot Theme by Complx Please do not upload or redistribute iBoot to any other sites. If this utility has helped you, please consider a contribution to support further iBoot development. Thanks in advance,

Sandy Bridge Desktop CPUs and Motherboards [Updated]

2011-04-26T09:34:00.005-04:00

It's certainly been a long road for Intel in a short time with the new Sandy Bridge Socket 1155 motherboards. Due to an early mistake in chipset design, every single motherboard produced by the manufacturers was recalled. Luckily over the past month, the manufacturers have released fixed models. Below is a list of all updated Gigabyte (B3) and ASUS (Rev. 3.0) motherboards, and links to our

DSDT Database Update: ASUS Socket 1156 H55/P55 Verified Edits

2011-04-18T12:47:00.000-04:00

We've done a major update to the DSDT Database, adding hand edited, verified DSDTs for all ASUS Socket 1156 motherboards. We've supplied only the bare minimal edits, as most of these motherboards will function well without DSDTs. Special thanks to Beelzebozo for spearheading this effort! Here's a list of the 28 new DSDTs we've just added:ASUS Maximus III Extreme - BIOS 1204 ASUS Maximus III

DSDT-Free and UserDSDT Solutions for ASUS Socket 1156 H55/P55 Motherboards

2011-04-17T18:13:00.003-04:00

I've always been a Gigabyte fan. When looking at last year's ASUS specs for 1156, standard Realtek ALC HDEF audio made Gigabyte the best choice. However, we recently picked up the ASUS P7H55-M LE. We figured it would be an important board to test, as many people buy ASUS, and would like them better supported. I was astounded that when booting without a DSDT, most of everything just worked! No

Apple to Allow Mac OS X Lion on Generic PC Hardware [April Fools]

2011-04-01T11:06:00.004-04:00

Apple announced today a stunning move to open up OS X to run on generic PC desktops. Founder and CEO Steve Jobs in a statement announced, "We have decided that we simply cannot produce a product that meets our standards and be priced between an iMac and Mac Pro. Our top engineers have researched this and determined that the tonymacx86.com solution of iBoot and MultiBeast is the finest solution

Improve Font Smoothing in Mac OS X [QuickTip]

2011-03-28T12:45:00.000-04:00

This may be old news for some, but those new to Mac OS X will find it extremely useful. In Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, Apple removed the ability for the user to adjust font smoothing via System Preferences. For a flat panel monitor, some may prefer to view with the anti-aliasing turned up or down. This simple tweak can reduce eye strain, and improve the rendering of fonts on larger non-Apple

MultiBeast 3.4 Update

2011-03-23T20:45:00.009-04:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 3.4. The latest version is now available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes:Added ATI 1.6.32.12 Drivers to Graphics. These are all of the updated ATI drivers from the Mac OS X 10.6.7 Update for early 2011 MacBook Pro (Sandy Bridge). This option will backup the currently

Native Graphics Acceleration for Radeon HD 5xxx and 6xxx in 10.6.7

2011-03-22T15:35:00.003-04:00

We have confirmed that Apple has included native graphics acceleration for some Radeon HD 5xxx and 6xxx cards in the Mac OS X 10.6.7 Update for early 2011 MacBook Pro (Sandy Bridge). This means full QE/CI without Chameleon's GraphicsEnabler or any enabler kexts such as ATY_init. The following graphics cards appear to be natively supported: ATI Radeon HD 5630 Device ID 0x68D8 ATI Radeon HD 5630

Mac OS X 10.6.7 Update for early 2011 MacBook Pro (Sandy Bridge)

2011-03-21T17:00:00.019-04:00

In addition to providing a universal 10.6.7 Update, Apple has also today provided a standalone 10.6.7 update "for early 2011 MacBook Pros". Since these models use the Socket 1155 Sandy Bridge chipset, this update includes support for Sandy Bridge CPUs in Mac OS X. It also initiates Radeon HD 6xxx support for a limited number of cards. Download the Mac OS X 10.6.7 Update for early 2011 MacBook Pro

Mac OS X 10.6.7 Update

2011-03-21T16:00:00.009-04:00

Today Apple released Mac OS X 10.6.7 the 7th major update to Mac OS X Snow Leopard. To update for any supported CPU, simply run Software Update, or download the standalone installer from Apple. Download the Mac OS X 10.6.7 Combo Update Be sure to back up any important data, and if possible clone your hard drive before applying the update. Testing is underway. Report your results in the forum

How To Get iBoot Functionality From MultiBeast

2011-03-15T13:16:00.004-04:00

One of the top questions on the forum these days seems to be how to get the functionality of iBoot when booting from the hard drive. For novices, it seems like the process ends after the Combo Update. But iBoot was designed as an installation tool only- not as a permanent solution for post-installation. It is NOT a boot crutch. By using it as such, you are limiting the functionality and

MultiBeast 3.3 Update

2011-03-03T17:48:00.002-05:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 3.3. The latest version is now available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes:Replaced ElliottForceLegacyRTC with LegacyAppleRTC in EasyBeast Updated Chameleon 2.0 RC5 - ATI Experimental to r748 Fixed HDAEnabler for ALC888 as it was 32-bit only, unlike the rest which were

iBoot 2.7 Update

2011-03-01T18:00:00.002-05:00

Today, iBoot has been updated to 2.7. Grab the latest version at tonymacx86.com/downloads.Updated bootloader to Chameleon 2.0 RC5 r748 ATI Experimental (Kabyl Branch). To clarify, this version works with both NVIDIA and ATI cards. Replaced Intel82566MM.kext with AppleIntelE1000e.kext. Replaced ElliottForceLegacyRTC.kext with LegacyAppleRTC.kext for compatibility with Intel boards. Please do

Create a Chameleon USB Rescue Drive Using MultiBeast

2011-02-16T10:03:00.001-05:00

It's always a good idea to keep a copy of iBoot on hand in case things go wrong with your install. You can easily boot from it and then choose your system drive. But what happens when you don't have access to an optical drive? Things can get complicated. Here's a guide that will help you install Chameleon and other necessary files on any USB flash drive. PLEASE NOTE: USB Rescue drives will NOT

Building a CustoMac: Three Updated LGA 1156 Builds for OS X

2011-02-10T12:26:00.006-05:00

By request, here are three updated builds, based on the original CustoMac post from June 2010. These builds are our most current 1156 recommendations for fully compatible budget builds running Mac OS X as the primary operating system. All three builds include:Gigabyte LGA 1156 Motherboard Intel Core i-series Quad-Core CPU 4GB or 8GB of RAM, expandable up to 16GB 1 TB Hard Drive CD/DVD Burner

MultiBeast 3.2 Update

2011-02-01T21:40:00.004-05:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 3.2. The big change is in the Network section- we've added Lnx2Mac's RealtekRTL81xx package! The latest version is now available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes: Replaced Realtek Gigabit Ethernet with Lnx2Mac's RealtekRTL81xx Ethernet. NOTE: When chosen it will

tonymacx86 Public Service Announcement: Kernels

2011-01-30T16:25:00.002-05:00

Music and animation by Adamsmasher. Enjoy! For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

Sandy Bridge Desktop CPUs and Motherboards

2011-01-26T16:30:00.007-05:00

UPDATE: Mac OS X 10.6.7 Update for early 2011 MacBook Pros delivers native support for Sandy Bridge CPUs. The motherboards listed here are unavailable due to the Sandy Bridge recall. Earlier this month, Intel officially announced it's new Sandy Bridge LGA 1155 CPUs and chipsets. While we've installed and configured Mac OS X Snow Leopard successfully on these components, unfortunately they are

tonymacx86 Public Service Announcement: iBoot + MultiBeast

2011-01-22T11:16:00.001-05:00

Music and animation by Adamsmasher. Enjoy! For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

MultiBeast 3.1 Update

2011-01-18T20:31:00.002-05:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 3.1. The latest version is now available at tonymacx86.com/downloads. Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes:Added ATI 48xx Patch for 10.6.6 Updated Chameleon 2.0 RC5 - Prerelease (trunk) to r699 Updated Chameleon 2.0 RC5 - ATI Experimental (Kabyl branch) to r700 Replaced fakesmc 2.5.0 with FakeSMC 3.1.0.

iBoot 2.6 Update

2011-01-16T00:50:00.003-05:00

Today, iBoot is updated to 2.6. Grab the latest version at tonymacx86.com/downloads. GraphicsEnabler=Yes only. We've removed all kext based graphics enablers. Chameleon 2.0 RC5 r700 - ATI Experimental by Kabyl (branch) with support for both NVIDIA 4xx and ATI 5xxx cards. If you can't get to installation, type -x PCIRootUID=1. tonymacx86 Classic theme optimized for standard or widescreen

Mac OS X 10.6.6 Update

2011-01-06T08:51:00.016-05:00

Today Apple released Mac OS X 10.6.6 the 6th major update to Mac OS X Snow Leopard. To update for any supported CPU, simply run Software Update, or download the standalone installer from Apple. Download the Mac OS X 10.6.6 Combo Update Be sure to back up any important data, and if possible clone your hard drive before applying the update. Testing is underway. Report your results in the forum

Sandy Bridge Overclocked on Mac OS X

2011-01-05T13:07:00.003-05:00

NOTE: These results may be affected by unsupported CPU and chipset. For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

Intel's New Sandy Bridge and Mac OS X

2011-01-03T15:15:00.013-05:00

UPDATE: Mac OS X 10.6.7 Update for early 2011 MacBook Pros delivers native support for Sandy Bridge CPUs. Today Intel lifted the Non-Disclosure Agreement on it's new Sandy Bridge LGA 1155 next generation performance chipset and CPUs. The good news is, we've already successfully installed Mac OS X Snow Leopard! The bad news is, until Apple uses these CPUs, it's a bit of a science experiment, as

New Unified Realtek Onboard Audio Solution: ALC8xxHDA

2010-12-28T23:01:00.001-05:00

Introducing MacMan's ALC8xxHDA.kext, a single combined LegacyHDA replacement for Realtek ALC888, ALC887/888b, ALC889, ALC885/889a, and ALC892 high-definition audio codecs. In order to initiate audio, this driver must be combined with a DSDT from the DSDT Database or HDAEnabler. For any codecs other than the native ALC885/889a, AppleHDA Rollback must also be used. All options now available in

MultiBeast 3.0 Update

2010-12-28T23:00:00.005-05:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 3.0. We've made quite a few structural changes, including enabling all choices, so no options are greyed out. The downside to this is you can now choose to install everything within a category. Only check the top level choice and the specific sub-choice options. Checking the category, or root option will most likely corrupt your installation by

Building a CustoMac: CustoMac Mini

2010-12-09T00:40:00.013-05:00

It used to be that any tiny system was too underpowered to be a real workstation. Mini-ITX systems with Atom processors and integrated graphics are no good for gaming or HD, let alone having enough horsepower to run professional applications. Over the past year, many manufacturers have put out Socket 1156 (Intel Core-i3/i5/i7 compatible) Mini-ITX motherboards, completely changing the

MultiBeast 2.6 Update

2010-12-05T21:50:00.002-05:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 2.6. The major change in this release is Chameleon 2.0 RC5 Prerelease r651. This new version provides more comprehensive NVIDIA 4xx "Fermi" GraphicsEnabler support. We have also decided to use the latest RC5 as the default bootloader for EasyBeast and UserDSDT going forward. Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. Full list

Fully Compatible NVIDIA Graphics Cards for Mac OS X

2010-11-28T11:38:00.015-05:00

One of the most important components in a custom build is the graphics card. If you're building a CustoMac, it's an especially tricky decision. Not only do you have to worry about what will be a good performer for the cost, but you also have to be informed what is fully supported, and what is not. Below we've listed a few fully compatible NVIDIA graphics cards for Mac OS X. Each gives a

MultiBeast 2.5 Update

2010-11-22T20:20:00.003-05:00

This past weekend MultiBeast was updated to version 2.5 as part of the NVIDIA "Fermi" drivers update. Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes: Updated Chameleon 2.0 RC5 - Prerelease to RC5 r643 for Fermi based card support Added Chameleon 2.0 RC5 - ATI Experimental by Kabyl in Advanced Options -> Chameleon Added ATI 48xx Patch for 10.6.5 to

Updated NVIDIA Drivers for Mac OS X: Install Guide and iBoot-GE

2010-11-20T13:36:00.010-05:00

This week, NVIDIA released drivers for their line of "Fermi" cards for Mac OS X. Besides supporting their new flagship Quadro 4000, these drivers support the GeForce GT 430, GTS 450, GTX 460, GTX 465, GTX 470, GTX 480. They also show increased OpenGL, Quartz Graphics, and User Interface performance for NVIDIA 2xx cards. To use the new drivers on any system, we made an alternate installer,

Minimal DSDT Edits for Gigabyte Socket 1366 Motherboards

2010-11-17T14:41:00.000-05:00

MacMan has posted a new DSDT editing guide for Gigabyte Socket 1366 Motherboards. Since I posted Minimal DSDT Edits for Gigabyte Socket 1156 Motherboards I picked up a Gigabyte X58A-UD3R Rev 2.0 motherboard as part of the post tonymacx86 and I did for the CustoMac Pro 2010 project on his blog.I started researching and testing what edits from my Socket 1156 post were or weren't needed on this

Mac OS X 10.6.5 Update

2010-11-10T16:24:00.044-05:00

Today Apple released Mac OS X 10.6.5 the 5th major update to Mac OS X Snow Leopard. To update for any supported CPU, simply run Software Update, or download the standalone installer from Apple. Download the Mac OS X 10.6.5 Combo Update Be sure to back up any important data, and if possible clone your hard drive before applying the update. Testing is underway. Report your results in the forum

MultiBeast 2.4.0 Update

2010-11-10T12:26:00.005-05:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 2.4.0. We've added Core i3 options to smbios,plist, Chameleon RC5 Prerelease, USB 3.0 support, as well as a few other additions, fixes and features. Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. Full list of changes: Added Core i3 smbios.plist for iMac and Mac Pro Added Chameleon 2.0 RC5 r594 Prerelease Added Chameleon RC5 Default

USB 3.0 Now Supported in Mac OS X

2010-11-04T17:16:00.011-04:00

USB 3.0 is now supported in Mac OS X! LaCie released drivers today for their new line of USB 3,0 PCI-E and ExpressCard controllers. Download the drivers here. The device identifies as USB Super-Speed Bus in System Profiler and IORegistryExplorer. USB 2.0 devices are confirmed working on these USB 3.0 ports. We haven't had a chance to test USB 3.0 devices. Our initial testing was done on

iBoot 2.5 - Unified Graphics Support

2010-10-27T00:45:00.002-04:00

Today, iBoot has received a major update. No longer will there be multiple versions of iBoot, but one unified version for any supported Intel CPU with either ATI or NVIDIA graphics. The new version is a permanent replacement for all previous versions of iBoot, including iBoot-NVIDIA, iBoot-ATI, iBoot-ATI-5xxx, and iBoot-Supported. Download iBoot We've rolled in the latest pre-release

HDMI Audio + Video Solutions

2010-10-19T13:05:00.007-04:00

It's now possible to get HDMI digital audio + video outputs working on your custom build. The trick is to get a supported graphics card. Here are a few methods to enable HDMI audio + video using an NVIDIA GT 220 or GT 240 graphics card with a Gigabyte motherboard. NOTE: Since the NVIDIA GT 220 or GT 240 has its own audio chip, you may lose audio functionality with your current onboard

Move Background Windows in Mac OS X [QuickTip]

2010-10-12T19:41:00.001-04:00

One of the things I love about Mac OS X is that you can learn new features even after using it for years. Here's a tip I picked up via the Mac Life Podcast recently. If you've got a messy desktop, you can get to a window's content and still keep the focus on the top window. Just hold down the Command key and move the window with your pointer- it will not overlap the top window. Great for

tonymacx86.com Redesign

2010-09-30T17:00:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone- we just got finished updating the front page for tonymacx86.com! Our focus was to attempt to pull together all of the sites to have one coherent landing page. Along with a full list of Resources, the new portal integrates a Blog RSS Feed, News, and improved Search. Forum users can also access Login, Friends, Subscriptions, Bookmarks, Posts, and Control Panel. We're hoping

Customize Icons in Mac OS X [QuickTip]

2010-09-28T12:54:00.003-04:00

Sick of those stock icons in Mac OS X? Here's a quick tip to re-badge and customize any drive or folder in OS X. I have a few familiar custom icons that I use, and have gotten very used to. My OS X experience just isn't complete without em! Highlight the icon or folder you want to use for your custom icon. Type command-C or right-click and choose Copy. Right-click on any hard drive or folder,

MultiBeast 2.3.0 Update

2010-09-25T18:14:00.001-04:00

Today MultiBeast was updated to version 2.3.0. The main new feature is an improved UserDSDT which no longer requires a name change to work. Any .aml file placed on the desktop will be installed correctly to /Extra as DSDT.aml. Full list of changes: Modified UserDSDT to use any file ending in .aml instead of only DSDT.aml Upgraded the official Realtek RTL8169 driver to the latest version, 2.0.5

Lnx2Mac's Realtek Ethernet Driver - Public Beta Now Available

2010-09-20T17:02:00.002-04:00

For the past few weeks, Lnx2Mac has been developing a new Realtek ethernet driver for Mac OS X. His goal was to create a driver that provides support for the latest motherboards that use the Realtek RTL8111E controller. This new driver is called RealtekRTL81xx.kext and supports the following ethernet controllers:RTL8168, RTL8168B, RTL8168C RTL8111, RTL8111B, RTL8111C, RTL8111CP, RTL8111D(L),

KextBeast: Simple Kext Installer

2010-08-19T17:43:00.002-04:00

Introducing KextBeast! MacMan and I made this quick little package to help us test various drivers, and we thought it would help you all as well. It's a simple installer for any .kext, .plugin, or .bundle files. It will also do multiple files at once and rebuild caches. Download KextBeast For now, it only works for files that are meant to be installed in /System/Library/Extensions, such

DSDT Database Redesigned

2010-08-09T18:03:00.000-04:00

We've completely redesigned the DSDT Database and it's now hosted on the tonymacx86 Forum. As part of the improvements we've opened it up to all manufacturers of socket 1156 and 1366 motherboards. In addition to improving usability, we will now list current and previous DSDT versions. We will continue to collect and edit with minimal edits all Gigabyte H55 / P55 / X58 DSDTs here: DSDT Database

tonymacx86 Public Service Announcement: Audio

2010-08-09T10:34:00.001-04:00

Music and animation by Adamsmasher. Enjoy! For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

Building a CustoMac: CustoMac Pro 2010

2010-08-02T00:59:00.006-04:00

Apple recently released details of the upcoming Mac Pro Mid 2010 refresh, and we thought it might be interesting to do a speculative build based on some of the same or equivalent parts. So here are the details on how you can build this CustoMac. As always, CustoMac builds are compatible with iBoot + MultiBeast and designed to run Mac OS X as the primary operating system. CustoMac Pro 2010

MultiBeast 2.1.0 Update

2010-07-23T17:13:00.006-04:00

Today MultiBeast is updated to version 2.1.0. This update is recommended for all users. We've tested and retested all options to make sure this is the best MultiBeast yet. And we've added a few nice new features: PCI Root ID fix for GraphicsEnabler ATI 5xxx beta Drivers Realtek R8169 Official 32-bit drivers VoodooHDA 0.2.1, 0.2.2, 0.2.56 and 0.2.61 Added to ATI 4800 Patch every ATI 48xx

tonymacx86 Public Service Announcement: Software Update

2010-07-23T11:18:00.001-04:00

Music and animation by Adamsmasher. Enjoy! For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

tonymacx86 Public Service Announcement: Kexts

2010-07-19T14:53:00.002-04:00

Music and animation by Adamsmasher. Enjoy! For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

tonymacx86 Public Service Announcement: DSDT

2010-07-07T00:07:00.002-04:00

The first in a series of tonymacx86 Public Service Announcements. Music and animation by Adamsmasher. Enjoy! For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

tonymacx86 Blog

2010-07-05T23:10:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone- just a quickie note to let you know why I've renamed the blog to just tonymacx86 Blog. When I started back in November, the primary focus was P55 boards, and how to gain full capability with those specific systems and CPUs. But now iBoot + MultiBeast has opened the tonymacx86 Community up to more diverse systems, and it just didn't seem to fit anymore. In other news, as of July

Building a CustoMac: Three Complete PC Builds for OS X

2010-06-24T23:23:00.050-04:00

Building a desktop computer from parts for Windows or Linux is easy, as most drivers are out there, and perhaps even built into the operating system itself. Piecing together a Hackintosh, or "CustoMac" is quite a different beast altogether. In addition to determining if your prospective components work together, you also need to know whether the hardware is even supported by Apple's standard

Mac OS X 10.6.4 Update

2010-06-15T16:48:00.027-04:00

Today Apple released Mac OS X 10.6.4, the 4th major update to Mac OS X Snow Leopard. To update, simply run Software Update or download the 10.6.4 Combo Update from Apple. Download the Mac OS X 10.6.4 Combo Update If you're going to test it out, backup any data, and if possible clone your hard drive before testing this update. Post your results in the forum! What we know about 10.6.4 so far

Introducing the tonymacx86 Wiki!

2010-06-14T15:01:00.004-04:00

Introducing the tonymacx86 Wiki! A fully user-editable site where people can find and document what hardware works specifically with iBoot + MultiBeast. We're looking for contributors to make this site a valuable resource- it's only going to grow with your help! Go ahead and add your confirmed desktops, laptops, graphics cards to the pages linked to the front, or create a new page!

New Minimal DSDT Edits for Gigabyte Socket 1156 Motherboards

2010-06-09T11:19:00.003-04:00

We know that using a DSDT is the best way to create a vanilla Hackintosh build. The problem is that there have been numerous articles and forum posts on editing that are based on old versions of Gigabyte BIOS extracts. Many of them are retreads of the same information, and are more complex than necessary. Since we provide pre-edited DSDT's in our database, MacMan wanted to figure out what

Multibeast 2.0

2010-06-04T21:19:00.006-04:00

Today, Multibeast 2.0 is released. There are many new features and improvements that will make the new version more efficient and easier to use than ever before. Some of the many improvements include the 10.3.1 Supported Kernel for most Core i3/i5/i7s, USB 2.0 support for non-DSDT users, and more predefined smbios hardware description options. In addition, audio compatibility has been greatly

iBoot 2.0 - Updated with Enhanced USB Support

2010-05-31T01:10:00.008-04:00

NOTE: iBoot is now a permanent replacement for iBoot NVIDIA, iBoot ATI, and iBoot Supported. Since Apple released Mac OS X Snow Leopard version 10.6.3, USB issues have plagued the Hackintosh community. Non-functional peripherals have made installation a major issue for many systems. There are two popular work arounds. The first is to use a system-specific pre-edited DSDT.aml to enable the USB

iBoot Supported - with Vanilla Kernel for all i3/i5/i7s

2010-05-20T00:49:00.019-04:00

NOTE: iBoot is now a permanent replacement for iBoot NVIDIA, iBoot ATI, and iBoot Supported. The iBoot + MultiBeast installation method has been out for a bit over a month and it's been really great to hear your success stories. I've created an updated iBoot with few new features called iBoot Supported. As of MacBook Pro Software Update 1.3, and Apple's release of the Core i5 and i7 MacBook

iBoot + MultiBeast: Install Mac OS X on any Intel-based PC

2010-04-12T20:30:00.075-04:00

Any OSx86 installation guide can seem daunting at first glance, especially when trying to remember cryptic terminal commands and sorting through volumes of misinformation on the web. This guide requires no coding, terminal work, or Mac experience of any kind. You will not need access to a Mac. In fact, it's easier and faster for me to install Snow Leopard with fully working components on my

10.6.3: The Aftermath

2010-04-06T16:21:00.004-04:00

EDIT: 10.6.3 is now recommended- just make sure you are aware of the issues and solutions. So it's been over a week since Apple's release of Mac OS X 10.6.3. Results have been mixed. Some have reported success and no apparent difficulties, while others have had to reinstall from scratch. Right now 10.6.2 is the safe choice. We already know what it takes to get it working, and everything

Mac OS X 10.6.3 Update

2010-03-29T12:53:00.071-04:00

Today Apple released 10.6.3, the 3rd major update to Mac OS X Snow Leopard. To update from 10.6.2, simply run Software Update or download the 10.6.3 Delta Update from Apple. Download the Mac OS X 10.6.3 Delta Update If you're doing a fresh install, you can download the 10.6.3 Combo Update from Apple, which bundles the 10.6.1 and 10.6.2 updates, making it possible to go straight from 10.6 to

JMicron ATA Support

2010-03-25T12:38:00.009-04:00

Are you trying to build a Hackintosh on the cheap? Do you have an old IDE CD/DVD drive or hard drive from your Pentium II rig collecting dust in the closet? Does your motherboard use the JMicron or GSATA IDE controller? MacMan and I have got the answer for you. Introducing JMicron36xATA.kext, a 32/64-bit driver for the JMicron 361, 363, 365, 366, 368 and Gigabyte GSATA IDE controllers so you

JMicron SATA Support

2010-03-25T12:20:00.009-04:00

Are you tired of seeing this in System Profiler? MacMan was, so that’s why he created JMicron36xeSATA.kext and JMicron36xSATA.kext. Now in System Profiler you will see this if you use JMicron36xeSATA.kext: Or this if you use JMicron36xSATA.kext: So what’s the difference other than the name display? When using JMicron36xSATA.kext all drives connected to the JMicron controllers will be

tonymacx86 Chat & MultiBeast Screencast

2010-03-18T21:35:00.008-04:00

Ever have that quick question and you don't want to wait for a quick answer? I've opened up tonymacx86 Chat for registered members of the forum! I'm hoping this will become a place where issues can be solved quickly. Perhaps if your questions were answered in the forum or elsewhere, you'll donate a bit of time there to help others. Note: you'll need to re-register for the chat section of the

tonymacx86 Table Of Contents

2010-02-23T09:35:00.011-05:00

Ok, so you've installed Snow Leopard. What can you do next to further tweak your system? I tried to pull together some of my most relevant posts in a sort of Table Of Contents. This is not meant to be an order of operations, although you can use it like that. The posts below represent how we got to where we are now step by step. A good read for anyone new to the world of OSx86. I'll try to

MultiBeast - The Ultimate Post-Installation Utility

2010-02-12T14:37:00.023-05:00

Introducing my latest creation... MultiBeast is an all-in-one post-installation tool designed to enable boot from hard drive, and install support for Audio, Network, and Graphics. It contains two different complete post-installation solutions: EasyBeast and UserDSDT. In addition it includes System Utilities to rebuild caches and repair permissions and a collection of drivers, boot loaders, boot

PC-EFI 10.6 Released: P55 Supported By Default

2010-02-04T15:11:00.007-05:00

Today, netkas released PC-EFI 10.6. It is based on Chameleon RC3. According to his post:New in this release:* Support for desktop Radeons 4300/4500/4600 in GraphicsEnabler* Added system-id fix, system doesn’t forget your keyboard settings anymore* Added fix for lynnfield cpusI put together an unofficial installer package using netkas' source. Just run it and reboot! You can also use this on a

Chameleon RC5 Prerelease Installer Package

2010-02-03T13:51:00.026-05:00

EDIT: Latest Chameleon 2.0 RC5 version in MultiBeast. As Chameleon 2.0 development continues, new updates are being pushed out almost every day. Among other code corrections and bug fixes, the latest versions have eliminated the need for Restart and PlatformUUID kexts. Realistically, if you're unfamiliar with the Terminal, compiling the latest source or installing Chameleon manually may not be

Intel Core i3/i5 Dual-Core Processors and Mac OS X

2010-01-30T15:29:00.019-05:00

EDIT: As of the release of Apple's new MacBook Pros, i3/i5/i7 notebook processors are supported! Just use the new 10.3.1 Darwin Vanilla kernel. It's available through the MacBook Pro Software Update. Check out this thread for details on installation. Intel's new Dual-Core Core i3 and Core i5 processors are currently (as of 10.6.2) not supported natively by Mac OS X. Furthermore, recent looks

Advanced DSDT Fixes: nVidia Graphics

2010-01-25T12:46:00.025-05:00

I've been receiving a lot of requests to do a step by step guide on how to enable graphics by DSDT injection. As stated in my post Enable Full Graphics Card Acceleration, there are many ways to enable graphics on your Hackintosh. This guide will allow you to directly inject information via your DSDT, therefore eliminating the use of methods such as Enabler kexts, or EFI Strings.NOTE TO ATI

Updated ALC 888b DSDT for GA-P55M-UD2

2010-01-23T22:16:00.009-05:00

Just a quick post to let GA-P55M-UD2 owners know that I've changed the HDEF section of code in the default tonymacx86-DSDT-FIXES.zip DSDT.aml so that you no longer have to use the old AppleHDA.kext! I've modified the ALC 888b code in the DSDT for the P55M-UD2 so that the LegacyHDA_888b.kext now works with the vanilla 10.6.2 AppleHDA!You must update to the latest GA-P55M-UD2 bios for this to

Tweaking Your System: Get Rid of Restart Kexts & New Chameleon RC4 Development

2010-01-15T10:08:00.014-05:00

Chameleon 2.0 RC4 open source development has been fast and furious over the past couple of weeks. I've hardly been able to keep track of all of the fixes being developed, but I thought I'd report another leap forward.With new tweaks to the codebase of the Chameleon 2.0 RC4 bootloader, you can now remove any restart kexts such as OpenHaltRestart.kext or EvOReboot.kext from your /Extra/Extensions

tonymacx86 Forum!

2010-01-12T16:22:00.008-05:00

Over the past 2 months, I've been trying my best to support all of your efforts with installing OS X on your new P55 PCs. I'm happy for your input, but I've been a bit overwhelmed with the questions! My blog comments have become a bit hard to follow, and to that end, I've set up a new forum! I'm pretty sure that this format will work better for supporting the community.tonymacx86 Forum is a full

Tweaking Your System: Install Chameleon, DSDT, & Extras to EFI Partition

2010-01-08T19:04:00.027-05:00

You may or may not be aware of it, but you have a 200 megabyte partition on the root of your drive. It's the OS X EFI partition, which normally holds information specific to Apple Hardware such as bios, etc… For Hackintosh users, however, it has no use whatsoever. It can therefore be re-purposed to hold Chameleon, and any extra files such as DSDT, /Extra/Extensions folder, com.apple.boot.plist

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T12:07:00.003-05:00

Thanks for making the first month and a half of this blog a great success and a lot of fun! I'm so glad to help everyone out as much as I can. It's been fun to figure out solutions for some trickier issues, and to hear about your successes and trials installing and tweaking your Hackintoshes.I'm happy to announce that the GA-P55-UD3L, the final missing Gigabyte DSDT has been edited and uploaded

Tweaking Your System: Get Rid of PlatformUUID.kext

2009-12-16T18:26:00.008-05:00

After establishing a working system with all components functioning, some advanced users begin to try to make their Hackintosh as 'Vanilla' as possible. This quest, an attempt to get the hard drive clean of all edited kexts is an ongoing one, especially for the new P55 boards. Besides the warm fuzzy feeling of having a cleaner more Mac-like experience, there are advantages to doing this.

Enable Full Graphics Card Acceleration: ATI and nVidia

2009-12-13T14:33:00.017-05:00

When installing and tweaking your Hackintosh, one the first things to do is enablie the full power of your graphics card. Apple's OS X uses Quartz Extreme and Core Image (QE/CI) technologies as foundations in the operating system, which if aren't enabled, leave the user with graphics artifacts, mouse tearing, inability to change resolutions, and bad refresh rates. You may have graphics at boot

Chameleon 2.0 RC4 Released: P55 Supported by Default

2009-12-11T10:57:00.009-05:00

Today, the Chameleon team released Chameleon 2.0 RC4. This is the 4th major update of the Chameleon 2.0 bootloader. The major news for us is that the Nehalem patch has now been made standard, meaning that all P55 Core i5 and Core i7 users can use Chameleon 2.0 RC4's boot file without modifications. Until now, P55 users had to patch their boot file or the system would run about 1.5x too fast.You

Great OSx86 Community Software

2009-12-09T15:09:00.018-05:00

There are a ton of great pieces of software that have been developed by the OSx86 community. Some are GUIs for simple Terminal commands, and others are 1 function scripts. The following list includes some my favorite free tools.Kext UtilityDeveloper:cVaDInstalls kexts one at a time, and does 'full service' Extensions.mkext creation. The best feature of Kext Utility is its interface to create

Install OS X Snow Leopard Directly from Retail DVD Using Chameleon Boot CD for P55 Motherboards

2009-12-08T14:37:00.062-05:00

NOTE: This guide is not current anymore: iBoot + MultiBeast is the recommended method for installation. Using Chameleon's cdboot functionality, it's now possible to install OS X Snow Leopard using the actual OS X Snow Leopard Retail DVD! You won't need access to a working install of Mac OS X. All you need is a Chameleon Boot CD- and a SATA CD/DVD drive. The method couldn't be simpler. STEP 1

Enable High Definition Audio on P55 Motherboards

2009-12-06T13:25:00.028-05:00

Enabling High Definition Audio (HDEF) on your Hackintosh can be accomplished a number of different ways. My personal preference is to modify DSDT.aml with hardware-specific information, and install a LegacyHDA.kext in /Extra/Extensions. You must replace all references of AZAL in your DSDT with HDEF, then insert code that references your specific ins and outs.Alternately, a solution that works for

DSDT Database for P55 Motherboards

2009-12-04T13:10:00.189-05:00

NOTE: The DSDT Database has been redesigned, expanded and relocated to tonymacx86.com/dsdt For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

Advanced DSDT Fixes: Enable Native Intel SpeedStep on P55 Motherboards

2009-12-04T11:43:00.014-05:00

NOTE: This guide is somewhat outdated- in order to enable SpeedStep for Core i5 750 and Core i7 860, all you need to do is use iMac11,1 smbios.plist. It's available in Multibeast. By adding correct SSDT.aml code to your DSDT, you can enable the native Intel SpeedStep technology of your CPU in Mac OS X. According to Wikipedia, "SpeedStep is a trademark for a series of dynamic frequency

Advanced DSDT Fixes: Enable Sleep on P55 Motherboards

2009-12-03T01:58:00.025-05:00

This guide assumes you have done the previously posted DSDT guide, Create and Modify Your DSDT.amlIf you have managed to extract and edit your own DSDT already, and have applied DGTP and CMOS Reset fixes, then you're ready for this guide. If you properly edit your DSDT to make these changes, you can:Enable Sleep without the use of SleepEnabler.kext Remove IOAHCIBlockStorageInjector.kext &

Chameleon Documentation

2009-11-28T12:43:00.005-05:00

I can't say enough great things about the Chameleon bootloader. One thing that I had some trouble finding at first was any documentation to accompany it. A lot of valuable information is supplied in the Doc folder if you download the source code of Chameleon RC3. Mostly it tells users how to set boot flags and advanced startup options to enable different functionality.You can use these

Enable the Apple Boot Screen

2009-11-28T12:23:00.010-05:00

By default, the installation guides on this site put the -v (verbose) boot flag into your com.apple.boot.plist that is located in /Exra. The reason I did this is so that you can watch as the system boots and debug. If you are done with tinkering with kexts, and have your system running 100%, you may want your Hackintosh to look more like a real Mac starting up. Simply drag your

Dual Boot Windows 7 and OS X Snow Leopard Using Chameleon

2009-11-26T14:07:00.031-05:00

Using Chameleon as your bootloader, you can boot an infinite amount of operating systems on your PC. It's simple to use a separate hard drive for each operating system. Install multiple operating systems on separate hard drives. Go to CMOS Setup Utility and choose Advanced BIOS Features. Select Hard Disk Boot Priority. Move your Chameleon OS X hard drive to top of list. Boot into Chameleon and

Create a Chameleon Boot USB Drive

2009-11-26T09:37:00.010-05:00

A good thing to have if you're updating or changing your Hackintosh is a Chameleon boot USB drive. It is a USB drive or key that has nothing on it but the Chameleon bootloader- therefore it can be a cheap 512mb or 1gb drive! You can always boot directly from it in case your install or update doesn't work.Boot into your existing OS X Installation. Insert your USB drive. Open Applications/

How To Install Chameleon Manually From Terminal

2009-11-21T12:17:00.009-05:00

There are various pkg installers to install Chameleon to your boot drive through a GUI. You may find it necessary to replace your Chameleon with a new version. Usually, if you have previously installed Chameleon 2.0, all you must do is replace the boot file. But if you want to replace the entire thing, or if installing for the first time, there are a few simple Terminal commands you must

OSx86 Help Desk

2009-11-20T13:01:00.007-05:00

Hey everyone-Just thought I'd create a post where you can come with your questions about anything OSx86 related. Post specific issues, install problems, screenshots, etc... I'll try my best to help you out any way I can!The OSx86 Help Desk- working to answer your questions- for free, for fun, for you!;)EDIT: The OSx86 Help Desk is now moved to the forum! For discussions on this and other

Alternate Guide #1 – OS X Snow Leopard Install using Retail DVD

2009-11-20T11:27:00.032-05:00

NOTE: This guide is not current anymore: iBoot + MultiBeast is the recommended method for installation. Here is a second guide to install OS X on your computer using the Snow Leopard Retail DVD. It is more generic, and not system-specific, meaning you can use this guide for any PC that can run the Vanilla 10.6.2 kernel. It also loads the system directly without using any booted installer.

Create and Modify Your DSDT.aml

2009-11-20T10:16:00.007-05:00

NOTE: As of the latest bios revisions by Gigabyte, the CMOS reset is now fixed. (2010-05) Using a DSDT (Differentiated System Description Table) is a necessity for running Snow Leopard on P55 boards. In the simplest of terms, it is a file that you place at the root of your system to tell OS X how to locate and enable features of your computer without checking your BIOS. For further details

PC EFI v10.5 Compiled for P55- ATI Users Rejoice!

2009-11-17T17:34:00.012-05:00

Hey all-I just did a bit of research, and managed to compile netkas' PC EFI v10.5 to work with P55 boards. It was rather easy- it was 1 line of code changed in the freq_detect.c file.I just updated tonymacx86-snowleopard.zip with the boot file.This solves the 'system running too fast' issue, that was previously solved by a modified i5boot. PC EFI 10.5 is the latest and greatest Chameleon

OS X Snow Leopard Install using Retail DVD For P55 Motherboards and Intel Core i5 and i7

2009-11-17T06:30:00.062-05:00

NOTE: This guide is not current anymore: iBoot + MultiBeast is the recommended method for installation. The following is not meant to be a definitive method for installing OS X on PC hardware. There are many methods, but this one allows you to install OS X on your P55 computer build using the Snow Leopard retail DVD. Also, it works every time, unlike other methods I have tried. I tailored

tonymacx86 Search Engine now Live!

2009-11-15T23:47:00.009-05:00

Have you ever spent hours googling for something and not find what you are looking for? I have. Especially with Hackintosh stuff. Check out the new tonymacx86 Search Engine- now live in the sidebar. It just returns the very best OSx86 Hackintosh information from the best related sites, forums, and blogs. Try it out! Search for your specific graphics card, USB audio interface, or anything

Geekbench Results - 7192

2009-11-15T13:00:00.002-05:00

Geekbench measures various benchmark scores to rate your machine's speed against others. It's a free download! But the 64-bit benchmarks cost a small fee. Also seems as if the 64-bit version makes the score go up- sometimes significantly. Notice that it doesn't say 'Hackintosh' but my new smbios.plist now spoofs Geekbench into thinking it's one of the new iMacs! Here's a link to my Geekbench

10.6.2 Guide Coming Soon!

2009-11-15T03:51:00.003-05:00

I'll be putting up a guide for installing 10.6.2 on P55 boards very soon with lots of pix and info. For fun I edited my smbios.plist to show the new iMac11,1 check it out:It's not finished, and there are some gaps to fill in, but I included this smbios.plist in the latest filepack.For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

P55 Hackintosh Blog

2009-11-14T13:43:00.002-05:00

Hey all- tonymacx86 here-I've decided to start a blog here to have a 'base of operations' for P55 boards, kexts, links, etc... I'm hoping to develop it further into a website full of useful stuff for all you P55 owning Hackintoshers.Here's to a great start!For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!