Episode 97 - Hackintosh Desktop Build, SATA HD Dock reccos, Customize Your Windows Login Screen! [Discussion]

[marilee]

Use PS3 and Xbox 360 Controllers For PC Games, EFi-X: Build an OS X desktop on the cheap! Fast access to old hard drives, Milo, Frew Software, Alkaline AA problems or dead camera?

Watch or download this episode now! (http://revision3.com/tekzilla/satadock)

[fee]

Very cool episode! Nice to see Colleen on there! hope she comes back soon and brings Leo with her!

[natalic]

Actually, there is a way to do it. But it is a bit more complex.

http://davieslim.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/use-ps3-controller-in-windows-wireless-bluetooth/

Thats one guide.

[homerr]

Patrick - my respect just went up for you as a fellow PC only gamer who has never owned a console.

[oldarney]

Can she stop putting make up on. It's like the second time. Im sure im not the only one who feels that way. Shes not going to a ball after all.

long episode...

[fee]

Boo to your 1st comment!


Also you being sarcastic or you really though it was too long?

[xedlos]

The EFIX basically a version of Boot132 imo a rippoff for the money its being sold. So do yourself a favor save ur money and load Boot132 on a flash drive instead

[veronicazilla]

Can she stop putting make up on. It's like the second time. Im sure im not the only one who feels that way. Shes not going to a ball after all.

long episode...

WTF are you talking about?

[veronicazilla]

WTF are you talking about?

Actually, I don't really care what you're talking about. Either way it's probably stupid.

[delumen]

Cool episode, love the long winded names of computer parts, that might be what intimidates non-tech people about computers... you know besides the buggy software/hardware, weird internet humour, and tech lingo... other than that tech is awesome! =)

[haku]

I have a couple of cheapie PS3 controllers that work directly on a PC without need of any drivers, they appear as normal Windows game controllers. Same as these (http://www.gamesbasement.co.uk/PD/365/accessories/sony-ps3/ps3-wired-controller.php).

Only watched this week's Tekzilla in the faint hope of a Systm segment, which there was none, and I don't have any hope of any more 'table scraps' appearing in future episodes.

[cryptic]

I thought it was interesting that Colleen was listed as Colleen Henry. On her TWiT network shows, she goes by Colleen Kelly.

[lesherm]

works for the odd pesky pc game without xbox360 controller support.
GTA San Andreas, is the reason I first picked it up.
It isn't very user friendly, and it isn't free, but it is darn functional.

http://www.pinnaclegameprofiler.com/

[xboxster]

For games that don't support game controllers at all, there's always ControlMK. For example, The Matrix: Path of Neo is a game that sports horrible keyboard controls. Thankfully, using ControlMK with my 360 controller makes it much more bearable.

http://www.redcl0ud.com/controlmk/index.html

This program will allow one to control ANY program using ANY gamepad. Anyone want to use Photoshop using a 360 pad?

[juicymoose]

Actually, I don't really care what you're talking about. Either way it's probably stupid.

Veronica you probably just overcharged his batteries with that hot red lipstick! lol..

Welcome back though..I much prefer you as Partick's partner on the show.

...side note...ad pop-ups on the screen were annoying more random this episode..I had to keep clicking the X constantly...end note

[windshield]

Really enjoyed this episode. Might actually be my favorite now.

[thegodfaza]

Actually there is a great windows program for remapping XBox controllers and other controllers to keyboard buttons, programs, and even mouse events. It's called Xpadder (http://xpadder.com/).

[silentspyder]

Is it so hard? Don't say something you wouldn't say to someone's face.

[mcbeav]

I love revision3 but i am a little upset to see this episode. I understand that many people want to run mac os x on their computers, but if you want to use a mac os just buy a mac and support apple. If everyone who ever wanted to run os x just ran it on their computer there would be no apple and no operating system to run.

[ryudo]

Can she stop putting make up on. It's like the second time. Im sure im not the only one who feels that way. Shes not going to a ball after all.

long episode...


Shut up.
================================================== =====

Great ep you guys and the first one I kept in quite some time.
Great to see Colleen on Tekzilla,She's awesome over at Twit.tv.

[veronicazilla]

In case you were wondering, I deleted some comments that contained completely unnecessary dickishness (and no, nothing to do with me). Let's not go there again, forum members.

[rabid_pancake]

Pinnacle Game Profiler (http://www.pinnaclegameprofiler.com/) ($19.95), Xpadder (http://xpadder.com/) ($16) and JoyToKey (http://www.electracode.com/4/joy2key/JoyToKey%20English%20Version.htm) (Free!) all allow you to map your gamepad or joystick to your keyboard and mouse for any game that doesn't support gamepads or joysticks. In games that only have directinput support (as opposed to xinput) the 360 controller's triggers are perceived as the same axis so pressing down the triggers with the same amount of force will nullify the input, Pinnacle and Xpadder are a workaround for that, allowing you to bind each trigger to their own axis. This feature is clutch for racing games, as long as the games support analog input.

[veronicazilla]

Pinnacle Game Profiler (http://www.pinnaclegameprofiler.com/) ($19.95), Xpadder (http://xpadder.com/) ($16) and JoyToKey (http://www.electracode.com/4/joy2key/JoyToKey%20English%20Version.htm) (Free!) all allow you to map your gamepad or joystick to your keyboard and mouse for any game that doesn't support gamepads or joysticks. In games that only have directinput support (as opposed to xinput) the 360 controller's triggers are perceived as the same axis so pressing down the triggers with the same amount of force will nullify the input, Pinnacle and Xpadder are workaround for that, allowing you to bind the triggers to their own axis. This feature is clutch for racing games, as long as the games support analog input.

Sweet! Good to know. We can pass those along to the viewer with the question next week, hopefully.

[guytheninja]

Cool Episode. I wonder if Apple will try to sue EFi-X out of business in the future though :rolleyes:.

[digitalkitty]

I thought it was interesting that Colleen was listed as Colleen Henry. On her TWiT network shows, she goes by Colleen Kelly.


My full name is Colleen Kelly Henry. Mother and Father both kept their names when get married. Kelly is my mother's name, Henry is my father's name. I prefer to go by Colleen Kelly, but neglected to mention that to the REV3 crew. No big deal.

[radzack]

Actually, I don't really care what you're talking about. Either way it's probably stupid.

#win


Thats interesting. You sound like a dick, but I still managed to finish reading your entire post.

Seconded, and love it.




Great episode guys. Colleen, you almost had me convinced to not pick up my new mac pro in a few weeks....almost ;)

[digitalkitty]

#win




Seconded, and love it.




Great episode guys. Colleen, you almost had me convinced to not pick up my new mac pro in a few weeks....almost ;)

Let me build you a Mac Pro.

[radzack]

Let me build you a Mac Pro.

Alright. I feel a visit to the warehouse is in order.

[digitalkitty]

Alright. I feel a visit to the warehouse is in order.

I will have Thai Red Bull waiting...

http://lawfirmblogging.com/images/redbull.jpg

[cogo]

Really enjoyed the Hackintosh segment. Please have Colleen come back and talk about more things like that.

[kzap]

Is it so hard? Don't say something you wouldn't say to someone's face.
Why?
I happen to agree I think the make-up was a bit much, that's the good thing about the Internet you can give constructive criticism you are too scared to give to someone face.
Either way Veronica is super cute but that uber-red lipstick was a bit OTT in my opinion. It would be a horrible world if everyone had to like everything or never complained if they didn't like something.
(not trying to be mean)


Also from what I've heard ALL Hackigtosh's are ILLEGAL! I could be wrong but it says in the OSX EULA that you may not install it on non-Apple branded hardware and although I'm fine with people doing it (I hate EULA's anyway) I just thought they should know.
I'm sure you could still get sued.

[radialx]

Great Episode, Colleen was awesome, Veronica cutter than ever, and Patrick I like HD Nation.

[kzap]

Great Episode, Colleen was awesome, Veronica cutter than ever, and Patrick I like HD Nation.
cutter??? She's not an emo.
Lol.
Anyway great episode and Collen was awesome Hackintosh FTW!
And I too have never own a console, too pricey and PC are cheaper to upgrade.
Also there are TONS of freeware aps to map keyboard buttons to a controller, thus making them work with any game.
I can't remember any but I remember finding loads ages ago.

Edit: I just did one simple google search and just found this http://xpadder.com/ I think that's what you want.

[oldarney]

I love revision3 but i am a little upset to see this episode. I understand that many people want to run mac os x on their computers, but if you want to use a mac os just buy a mac and support apple. If everyone who ever wanted to run os x just ran it on their computer there would be no apple and no operating system to run.

??? Apple is getting the money from the legal version of the OS. Last time i checked apple's sitting on a pot of gold being paid nearly twice as much as microsoft employees on average. Why? because apples business model involves sharing nothing and taking all. They are a hardware company that makes their own operating system, that sounds like a vertical monopoly right there. I support open source the most, open support is the second best thing. Why do they make FCP run only on the mac? some of the formats that it uses are so proprietary that no computer runs them without FCP installed (XDCAM EX on mov, JVC).
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-04/bz_apple

I think the episode was unnecessarily long. Seriously how many people are going to try the systm segment? like 0.5%. I loved the referencing to the bigger episodes and the short clips of systm like hands on. I guess without systm you have no choice but to squeeze it, or refer to Hak5.

[kzap]

I think the episode was unnecessarily long. Seriously how many people are going to try the system segment? like 0.5%. I loved the referencing to the bigger episodes and the short clips of systm like hands on. I guess without systm you have no choice but to squeeze it, or refer to Hak5.
i thought it was just right but then installing OSX on a PC (I know, I know a Mac's technically a personal computer) is something I've always been interesting.
Zebra roast FTW! Have you tried Zebra burgers? mmmm, yummy!


Okay reading though some of the comments, let me give some examples of good and bad comments because I'm not entirely sure people know what they are. Just complementing a show or person may make them feel good but it won't help improve anything. Here are some examples of good and bad comments.

Good
I don't like the new set, it looks stupid
Better
I don't like the new set, I liked the old one more, I would prefer if you changed this...
Bad
You suck! This show is gaY, and you, shouLd all die, NErdz!!!11!
Worse
It's fine
I don't think people should be bad from complaining and whining but I do think people should be band from insulting and it's a fine line. Complementing someone as well is always nice, but if you don't like something you have the right to make suggestions.

Phew long post.

[haku]

I love revision3 but i am a little upset to see this episode. I understand that many people want to run mac os x on their computers, but if you want to use a mac os just buy a mac and support apple. If everyone who ever wanted to run os x just ran it on their computer there would be no apple and no operating system to run.

Don't Apple make most of their revenue from iPods and iTunes these days? so even if everyone started pirating their OS they'd still be making money.

[kzap]

Don't Apple make most of their revenue from iPods and iTunes these days? so even if everyone started pirating their OS they'd still be making money.
True and even if you wanted to be more moral you could buy a legal copy then install a pirated version because either way installing OSX on a non-apple branded PC is ageist the law, well ageist the EULA which is legally binding, in the US anyway
I wonder if you stuck one of those apple stickers you get free with an Ipod on your PC would it count as 'apple branded'?

[oldarney]

WTF are you talking about?

Im talking about the lipstick. that vibrant red lipstick that makes her look like a three year old.

[windshield]

I love revision3 but i am a little upset to see this episode. I understand that many people want to run mac os x on their computers, but if you want to use a mac os just buy a mac and support apple. If everyone who ever wanted to run os x just ran it on their computer there would be no apple and no operating system to run.

The hackintosh segment actually made me annoyed at apple. Its shows how much apple charges for the faerie dust they sprinkle on their computers. Why would I want to support a company that does that?

[silentspyder]

I think one of Apple's big problem is they don't update the hardware enough or drop prices enough. When they're first update, the prices aren't too bad but they take so long to update and the gap between their prices and rest gets bigger and bigger as the months go on. Nevertheless, great segment on the hackintosh. It has me tempted but I'm still a little squeamish.

[horfic]

To adapt any game to a controller, you should try out xpadder.com. It allows you to bind a key to a controller button, so the game doesn't need gamecontroller support by itself.

[keith007]

Solutions for Josh.

Playstation 1/2 to usb adaptors do exist.
http://www2.elecom.co.jp/peripheral/gamepad/index.asp#page03

SNES and NES clone controllers can be bought here.
http://www2.elecom.co.jp/peripheral/gamepad/index.asp

(I go to Japan now and then so I see these often)

About button remapping. I use this program to play flash games.
http://www.geeksinasia.com/joy2key.zip


Solution for YO-Q
About batteries that go dead quickly.
I use to have a Sony P50.
It took 2 AA batteries.
It use to suck the life out of the alcaline batteries incredibly fast.
I use to get 5-8 pictures.

Id suggest give NiMH batteries a try.
I have tons of NiMH.
I use them in everything.

[rallystile]

Great show and I thought Colleen was a nice addition this week.

Does anyone have a recommended tutorial for building a Hackintosh w/o using EFi-X? Unfortunately it's not available where I live.

I have no problem paying Apple for their nice OS but would really like the option to customize my hardware environment.

[veronicazilla]

Im talking about the lipstick. that vibrant red lipstick that makes her look like a three year old.

Yup, I was right. It was stupid! And why are you talking like I'm not the one answering you?

[juicymoose]

Is it so hard? Don't say something you wouldn't say to someone's face.

+1 Absolutely

[xfuuey]

Kickass episode. :)

[masterq]

Im talking about the lipstick. that vibrant red lipstick that makes her look like a three year old.

Since when do 3-year-olds wear makeup?

And I liked the lipstick... I don't think veronica needs makeup but I thought it looked good

[epeters]

Can we stop with the snarky comments about make up and people being stupid. There is a good thread going about the legitimacy of OSX installs on non Apple hardware and I'd rather it not be ruined, or in the least interrupted.

Also, I can't believe that a host of the show is very nearly participating in a flamewar. Ban him, or ignore him. It's a mistake to answer people like that.

[masterq]

Cool Episode. I wonder if Apple will try to sue EFi-X out of business in the future though :rolleyes:.

I wonder if creating a PC with an EFi-X component already installed and selling it without OS X and allowing the buyer to install it themselves would bring some apple legal fury... could be profitable seeing how the computers would be a lot cheaper and more powerful than apple hardware.

[kzap]

Since when do 3-year-olds wear makeup?
Obviously the sort of 3 year old oldarney likes to hang out with.

[t2t2]

For controlling pc games with other controllers, there is also a rather advanced program called GlovePIE (Glove Programmable Input Emulator) (http://carl.kenner.googlepages.com/glovepie). It can get input from and then emulate many devices:

You can emulate:


the mouse (Note by me: + multiple virtual cursors)
the keyboard (on windows 2000 and XP) (& newer OS-es, the getting started guide is not very up to date...)
Multiple joysticks or gamepads (if you download and install PPJoy)
Multiple MIDI devices (if you download and install Midi Yoke or Hubi's loopback driver)
Microphone input (in theory)


You can get input from:


multiple mice
multiple keyboards
multiple joysticks or gamepads (Wiimote included)
Multiple Essential Reality P5 virtual reality gloves
multiple MIDI devices
a microphone


It does require some scripting/coding knowledge but the getting started guide & documentation should be enough to start mastering it. There is a GUI tab trying to make it easier for new users but it's not the best in my experience (didn't recognize the analog sticks).

I have used it myself to control a web-based game with a controller (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U33ohoi7nH4) so if you want to do some more advanced stuff (in my case I limited mouse movement to the area where the game is), try GlovePIE.

[davmoo]

This episode rocks all the way around.

I may have to buy one of those gizmos and build a Hackintosh. What had stopped me thus far is the pain-in-the-assedness of doing it with other methods. That thing makes it easy.

As for Apple's EULA, I doubt seriously that section would stand up in court. Unfortunately, Apple as mega deep pockets to pay attorneys with, and would make it *very* expensive for anyone else to challenge them in court. Personally, I say they can cram their EULA the same place Microsoft needs to cram theirs. If I pay for a retail copy of OSX, I'll play it on my toaster oven if I want to, Apple be damned.

And Veronica, your lipstick and your batteries looked fine.

And Patrick, I'll be sure and look for a nice rack of zebra next time I go to the store.

[veronicazilla]

Can we stop with the snarky comments about make up and people being stupid. There is a good thread going about the legitimacy of OSX installs on non Apple hardware and I'd rather it not be ruined, or in the least interrupted.

Also, I can't believe that a host of the show is very nearly participating in a flamewar. Ban him, or ignore him. It's a mistake to answer people like that.

Because sometimes it's cathartic. I don't need a lecture on how to deal with trolls, I've been handling it for quite a few years now, thank you.

[juicymoose]

Why?
I happen to agree I think the make-up was a bit much, that's the good thing about the Internet you can give constructive criticism you are too scared to give to someone face.
Either way Veronica is super cute but that uber-red lipstick was a bit OTT in my opinion. It would be a horrible world if everyone had to like everything or never complained if they didn't like something.
(not trying to be mean)


You said one word in there that is KEY....."constructive".

Constructive comments, if delivered politely and politically correct can be said online or to someones face. Just look at the problems with the comments on Youtube when people say whatever they want.

[veronicazilla]

You said one word in there that is KEY....."constructive".

Constructive comments, if delivered politely and politically correct can be said online or to someones face. Just look at the problems with the comments on Youtube when people say whatever they want.

Agreed. While I may not *like* it, I can take something said the way kzap did a lot better than "you look like a 3-year old." Which, frankly, doesn't even make any sense.

Plus, for the two people that didn't like it, I got a lot of compliments on the red lipstick... so, maybe you should just get used to it ;)

[guytheninja]

Agreed. While I may not *like* it, I can take something said the way kzap did a lot better than "you look like a 3-year old." Which, frankly, doesn't even make any sense.

Plus, for the two people that didn't like it, I got a lot of compliments on the red lipstick... so, maybe you should just get used to it ;)

Seeing that the topic of your lipstick is so wildly popular on this board (which I have to admit --- I didn't even pay attention to this when I watched the episode). Maybe you should try a different shade of lipstick for each episode, and we can have a poll along with in-depth discussion each week. :D

I don't personally understand this, but hey, it may increase Tekzilla download numbers. :D ---> might as well take advantage of the situation.

[digitalkitty]

If any of you are looking for help putting together a hackintosh build, feel free to post in here, and I can help you through the process of design and install.

[samureye]

oldarney - If you can't be nice and respectful, your stay on the forums won't be a long one.

@digitalkitty - What a great and timely segment for me. I am looking into building a gaming/video editing machine, and maybe it would make more sense to dual boot with OSX.

What's the difference with all the efi-x's? There's V1, which I think you used on the show but here I am seeing two options (http://www.expresshd.com/) while the site had more I believe.

Also, couldn't Apple just see the hardware and say "corei7 processor? Nuke it!" when updating, at some point? I mean all Apple's computers are a certain hardware config, so these deviations should be detectable when updating, no?

And, do you dual boot any Hackintosh for gaming? I'm interested in seeing on the show what exactly your Mac Pro Killer can actually run and on what settings.

[boldfire]

The Hackintosh segment was Systm-ish! It could have easily been a Systm episode, and I liked it :) Nice to see a new face as well.

I'm not sure if someone read my "HD Nation segment graphics are much better than Tekzilla's cheapo ones" opinion but they have been changed and are so much cooler looking, a nice play on the Tekzilla logo.

Building on that, perhaps for 'Systm' segments you could have the Systm logo in the Tekzilla style green border style, it would be a nice mix of old and new :) Not sure if I described that well, check out the quick sketch below:

http://i27.tinypic.com/10pq7is.jpg

Keep up the great work as usual.

[masterq]

The Hackintosh segment was Systm-ish! It could have easily been a Systm episode, and I liked it :) Nice to see a new face as well.

No, that was definitely a tekzilla segment. Taking things out of the box and plugging them in and installing software is not systm. Now if they were to use a pc power supply to charge photoflash capacitors to make a coil gun... that would be systm.

[boldfire]

No, that was definitely a tekzilla segment. Taking things out of the box and plugging them in and installing software is not systm. Now if they were to use a pc power supply to charge photoflash capacitors to make a coil gun... that would be systm.

Depends on your definition of what Systm was. I preferred the old style like you suggest ;) but the install / hacking element was also a big part, especially near the end of it's life span. This is imo a higher level than traditional tekzilla segments because it dives into BIOS and requires at least some technical know how, not just "install this program, done". To me this was definitely a Systm style segment, just not by old-school standards. Still very enjoyable :)

[jsc315]

Solutions for Josh.

Playstation 1/2 to usb adaptors do exist.
http://www2.elecom.co.jp/peripheral/gamepad/index.asp#page03

SNES and NES clone controllers can be bought here.
http://www2.elecom.co.jp/peripheral/gamepad/index.asp

(I go to Japan now and then so I see these often)

About button remapping. I use this program to play flash games.
http://www.geeksinasia.com/joy2key.zip


Solution for YO-Q
About batteries that go dead quickly.
I use to have a Sony P50.
It took 2 AA batteries.
It use to suck the life out of the alcaline batteries incredibly fast.
I use to get 5-8 pictures.

Id suggest give NiMH batteries a try.
I have tons of NiMH.
I use them in everything.

I love the SNES usb controller. Works just like the original and playing those classic games on anything else is not the same.
Oh and i forgot to mention Coleen was great on the show.

[gadget_nut]

Great show. Been thinking about doing a Hackintosh for some time but the software hacks looked "above my paygrade". I need to look around and start gathering parts.
I've wanted to give OS X a run but the ticket to ride is a bit higher than I want to spend to see if I like it.
One note though. In the show, Patrick said there would be 3 sample system builds in the show notes. The show notes also say "Here are three...". But there are only 2 samples shown.

[xarik]

Good episode, but I have some info on the console controller thing. I bought a $4 adapter new in box from amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Playstation-2-PC-USB-Gamepad-Converter/dp/B000F6BGXY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1247865971&sr=8-5) and it works absolutely perfectly. You plug the adapter into the USB port, then plug in your dualshock 2 controller (who other than Patrick doesn't own a ps2?) and the drivers will do the normal windows automatic download and it will be ready to go. I've tried it on a multitude of PC games and ps1/2 emulated games and have yet to run into a problem.

[digitalkitty]

oldarney - If you can't be nice and respectful, your stay on the forums won't be a long one.

@digitalkitty - What a great and timely segment for me. I am looking into building a gaming/video editing machine, and maybe it would make more sense to dual boot with OSX.

What's the difference with all the efi-x's? There's V1, which I think you used on the show but here I am seeing two options (http://www.expresshd.com/) while the site had more I believe.

Also, couldn't Apple just see the hardware and say "corei7 processor? Nuke it!" when updating, at some point? I mean all Apple's computers are a certain hardware config, so these deviations should be detectable when updating, no?

And, do you dual boot any Hackintosh for gaming? I'm interested in seeing on the show what exactly your Mac Pro Killer can actually run and on what settings.

One of the cool things about the EFIX is that it can decide what the computer sees it as. In theory, if Apple trys to nuke it, you can put new firmware on it to fool OSX into thinking it is something different. i suspect that this design will be much harder for them to fight back against long term than other hackintosh designs. As far as them nuking core-i7 systems, there are core-i7 Macs, so the EFIX just tell the OSX install that it is one of those systems.

You could totally make an X58 core-i7 system with SLI, that runs as a normal mac when in OSX mode, and runs as a monster multi-gpu gaming machine while in Windows. You could try a GTX 285 setup, since I know those are available for macs (though they are not on the hardware list yet) or you could do triple gtx-285s or something.

Multiple GPUs make things a bit more complicated, but I never run a system without them. if you are like 99% of the rest of the world, you could just run one really powerful supported graphics card and call it a day.

One of these hackintoshes will run games fine in Windows, and everything perfectly in OSX, and I am pretty sure that there is nothing Steve Jong-Il can do about it in Leopard. When Snow Leopard comes out... we will see.

[walinmichi]

Great episode for me since I was on the fence whether to build a hackintosh or buy a Mac. Colleen, you made it look so easy. I went to newegg and priced out your "Mac Pro Killer" and came in right on target with your pricing.

Taking you up on offer to help us build one... My goal beside general interest in OS X is doing video editing with my new 5D Mark II. Most forums and "tutorials" are based around Final Cut Studio. With this in mind, needing a system that can process high bit rate true 1080P video, is there any spec you would change? Does OS X support more than 3GB RAM? How about 10K RPM drive... I noticed even Apple.com doesn't offer that type of drive on high end Mac Pro. Does it matter what make (eVGA, Gigabyte, etc.) of GTS 250 I should get due to drivers? I noticed the Intel board is not listed on the EFI-X.com supported list... is it as easy as you show to configure with the BOXDX58SO?

Also, to not sink a ton of money in until I get it working, will it work with a 1280x1024 panel for starters... or are there certain resolution restrictions with OS X?

Excited to get started, thanks for starting the journey.

[digitalkitty]

Great episode for me since I was on the fence whether to build a hackintosh or buy a Mac. Colleen, you made it look so easy. I went to newegg and priced out your "Mac Pro Killer" and came in right on target with your pricing.

Taking you up on offer to help us build one... My goal beside general interest in OS X is doing video editing with my new 5D Mark II. Most forums and "tutorials" are based around Final Cut Studio. With this in mind, needing a system that can process high bit rate true 1080P video, is there any spec you would change? Does OS X support more than 3GB RAM? How about 10K RPM drive... I noticed even Apple.com doesn't offer that type of drive on high end Mac Pro. Does it matter what make (eVGA, Gigabyte, etc.) of GTS 250 I should get due to drivers? I noticed the Intel board is not listed on the EFI-X.com supported list... is it as easy as you show to configure with the BOXDX58SO?

Also, to not sink a ton of money in until I get it working, will it work with a 1280x1024 panel for starters... or are there certain resolution restrictions with OS X?

Excited to get started, thanks for starting the journey.

What is your budget?

[walinmichi]

Less than 2K would be ideal. Since I'm new to OS X and if it doesn't go well I figure this would be great Win 7 system as well... so dual purpose allows me to push the budget. I do have a Dell 30" connected to my older gaming rig now, prob steal that if this rocks - not sure if GTS 250 supports that panel (dual link I think).

[digitalkitty]

Less than 2K would be ideal. Since I'm new to OS X and if it doesn't go well I figure this would be great Win 7 system as well... so dual purpose allows me to push the budget. I do have a Dell 30" connected to my older gaming rig now, prob steal that if this rocks - not sure if GTS 250 supports that panel (dual link I think).

If I were you, I would get a Core i7 920 with the new Corsair H50 water cooler thats about to come out... that is super easy to install and only 70 bucks. Then overclock it from 2.66 to 3.4 ghz (easy to do with some patience). Then, I would get 3 gigs of ddr3 ram, any brand, so long as it has lifetime warranty. Get one of the Intel branded X58 motherboards, I know those work. For a video card The GTS 250 is a lower power, smaller, nicer version of the 9800 gtx, which is on the supported list, and they will support two 30 inch displays with their two DVI-D ports.

Then for your OS drive, use any single HD, Velociraptor, or SSD if you can afford it. For working on video, you will want space and speed for your work drive. There are two HighPoint RocketRAID cards that you can get working in OSX that I know of. Grab one of those and make yourself a nice array of three hard drives in RAID 0 for fast in progress editing, then use a 1tb drive, a drobo, or a nas, for storage of completed work.

An Antec P-series case would work very nice for that setup with all of those drives, and has a 120mm fan port that would be perfect for the H50 radiator and fan.

[davmoo]

Steve Jong-Il

Congratulations! You just made my list of "don't have a mouth full of tea when you read posts from this person"! :)

I gotta dry the monitor off now...

[filip007]

Amazing show and thanks for BIOS key shortcuts...i never know before how that BIOS boot list works with PgUp.

Not sure about this MAC idea and why use it, MAC is hardcore editing machine and it's not designed for regular users, you can save a lot but PRO Mac user will anyway buy a real MAC.

[digitalkitty]

WalinMichi, I priced everything out on newegg.

Core i7 920
Intel X58 Mobo
6 gigs of ddr3 ram
2 x 1tb caviar black drives in raid 0 for editing
1 x 1tb caviar black main os drive
1 x rocketraid card
1 x antec p193 case
1 x Antec tp-750 PSU

Comes out to about $1500 bucks. Add in your $240 efix and your $130 Leopard disk, and you are about there. Depending on if you pay tax or not, you can get yourself a second GTS 250 for sli.

[radzack]

I'm heavily considering applying some red lipstick on one of my next episodes...maybe numbers/discussion would go up?

Also...how can lipstick make someone look like a 3 year old? I'm curious..

[walinmichi]

Colleen, I like the concept of RAID 0 with 3 VelociRaptor 10K drives, however, from a noob point of view is this something I should actually undertake? I can afford it, but I'm afraid of being stuck in forum hell when I get stuck. Thanks so much for your feedback!

[digitalkitty]

Not sure about this MAC idea and why use it, MAC is hardcore editing machine and it's not designed for regular users, you can save a lot but PRO Mac user will anyway buy a real MAC.

Uh... no? A Macintosh is just a PC, that is blessed by his Steveness, and runs OSX. Buying a "real" mac pro would would just be for the fruity bling. A true professional should only cares about the bottom line, which is better witg a Hack Pro.

[radzack]

Uh... no? A Macintosh is just a PC, that is blessed by his Steveness, and runs OSX. Buying a "real" mac pro would would just be for the fruity bling. A true professional should only cares about the bottom line, which is better witg a Hack Pro.

Colleen you are so close to bringing me to the darkside.

[digitalkitty]

Colleen, I like the concept of RAID 0 with 3 VelociRaptor 10K drives, however, from a noob point of view is this something I should actually undertake? I can afford it, but I'm afraid of being stuck in forum hell when I get stuck. Thanks so much for your feedback!

I haven't done it, but the RocketRaid is officially supported by OSX. I suspect that the install wouldn't any different to install it in the system as a secondary drive setup than if you owned a Mac Pro. I would NOT attempt to use it as a boot drive.

[walinmichi]

Got confused with last reply... You mean use the 1TB 7.5K drive as the OSX drive... then add the RocketRaid with three 10K drives in RAID 0 as a secondary drive?

[filip007]

MAC it's only a PC that's true...

I tryed allot of iPC, iAtkos, JaS, Leo4All, Kalyway this are all hacked versions of MAC OS X, found from http://www.insanelymac.com/ and in the and i dropped this type of OS don't use it any more it's so perfect that is boring to me and running any system in dual boot or more it's a just a waste of time and space.

Linux is open market not forced by any side...

[digitalkitty]

Got confused with last reply... You mean use the 1TB 7.5K drive as the OSX drive... then add the RocketRaid with three 10K drives in RAID 0 as a secondary drive?

Correct. Thats how you would normally build an editing system anyway. Have the OS and programs on one drive, and your video editing drive separate.

[walinmichi]

ExpressHD.com shows a new version (v1.1) of the EFIX device coming soon (they are taking pre-orders). It is not clear what the 1.1 has over the 1.0. Any reason not to move forward with the 1.0 now or is waiting for 1.1 the better plan? Additionally there is an EFI-X v2.0 shown as coming soon on efi-x.com. Can anyone sort this out?

[filip007]

You just update the Efix device to newer version its only a boot flash device i think.

Buy 1.0 and upgrade your self.

Newer version adds support more devices if your device is on the list from 1.0 than i don't matters what version do you use.

[digitalkitty]

ExpressHD.com shows a new version (v1.1) of the EFIX device coming soon (they are taking pre-orders). It is not clear what the 1.1 has over the 1.0. Any reason not to move forward with the 1.0 now or is waiting for 1.1 the better plan? Additionally there is an EFI-X v2.0 shown as coming soon on efi-x.com. Can anyone sort this out?

the EFIX website has a full explanation on the changes.

[walinmichi]

WalinMichi, I priced everything out on newegg.

Core i7 920
Intel X58 Mobo
6 gigs of ddr3 ram
2 x 1tb caviar black drives in raid 0 for editing
1 x 1tb caviar black main os drive
1 x rocketraid card
1 x antec p193 case
1 x Antec tp-750 PSU

Comes out to about $1500 bucks. Add in your $240 efix and your $130 Leopard disk, and you are about there. Depending on if you pay tax or not, you can get yourself a second GTS 250 for sli.
Thanks Colleen. I was able to do the same. You are very helpful, thank you.

[walinmichi]

the EFIX website has a full explanation on the changes.
From what I can understand from the Support page, the v1.0 and v1.1 are two different products, with the 1.1 having better hardware internally. So v1.0 cannot be flahsed to be a v1.1 device (not clear if you gain same functionality). So per the expressHD the v1.1 is 30 day lead time and v1.0 is available now. Colleen did you use the 1.1 for the show?

[digitalkitty]

I used version 1, not 1.1

[madwh]

Hi, I registered here to say that this was a very good episode, I wish there was more good stuff like this on hackintoshes. I made a short clip about my gaming PC/hackintosh a while ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLOrz_z6ajg&fmt=18 (hackintosh at 8:30) It's ideneb 10.5.6 which I then updated to 10.5.7 through software update and it works perfectly with all drivers. :)

[fendee1]

Great show, and yes i don't think I would ever buy a Mac, but being a system builder this show will open up my choices a little more for future builds. I think that's what the show is about?

[oldarney]

Obviously the sort of 3 year old oldarney likes to hang out with.

Lol, nice one. Oldarney is actually an anagram of my real name.

anyways I, looked for this for quite a while here it goes.
Originally Posted by samureye View Post
oldarney - If you can't be nice and respectful, your stay on the forums won't be a long one.

Hello, samureye. I only gave constructive criticism, well within the boundaries of the eula. I stated my opinion and supported it. I'll develop here,

I said that she looked like a three year old because she was wearing makeup without an occasion. She doesn't need make up, and when she does wear make up it makes her seem desperate. I don't mind a little shade, but vibrant red lipstick is just overkill. there goes my 2 cents.

veronicazilla, I wasn't referring to you. nice name btw.

[Bret]

I love revision3 but i am a little upset to see this episode. I understand that many people want to run mac os x on their computers, but if you want to use a mac os just buy a mac and support apple. If everyone who ever wanted to run os x just ran it on their computer there would be no apple and no operating system to run.

your kinda missing the point of tekzilla.

[yo-q]

lol awesome, Thanks for addressing my issue this week. I was so shocked and had a huge smile watching it. Thanks for not making fun of my user name, "YO-Q" (Quick unnecessary background) I use it because my Name is Quincy and nick name is "Q" and all my friends always address me like" YO Q..." So I started using this few years ago, first with my xbl gamer tag then Internets.. Anyway..

Solutions for Josh.

Solution for YO-Q
About batteries that go dead quickly.
I use to have a Sony P50.
It took 2 AA batteries.
It use to suck the life out of the alcaline batteries incredibly fast.
I use to get 5-8 pictures.

Id suggest give NiMH batteries a try.
I have tons of NiMH.
I use them in everything.

thanks I will give that a shot. I just wanted to know if anyone else had a similar issue. I agree with Patrick. I could pick up a newer, better camera for $150.00 etc. but if the issue was just higher quality rechargeable batteries for 20 bucks, that would be nice. Will give it a shot. Thanks again!

[mikedemarais]

is there a way to build a legal hackintosh from a barebones laptop?? i really want a MBP equivalent hackintosh!!

[macskeeball]

veronicazilla, I wasn't referring to you. nice name btw.

If you were referring to Tekzilla cohost Veronica Belmont as the person with the vibrant red lipstick, then you were indeed referring to veronicazilla. They are one and the same.

In the unlikely event you meant someone else, you've been unclear because you've only used pronouns like "she" and "her" without actually naming the person.

[digitalkitty]

If you were referring to Tekzilla cohost Veronica Belmont as the person with the vibrant red lipstick, then you were indeed referring to veronicazilla. They are one and the same.

In the unlikely event you meant someone else, you've been unclear because you've only used pronouns like "she" and "her" without actually naming the person.

Wouldnt have been talking about me, I do not wear lipstick.

Tastes funny.

[hamtaro]

Great Episode. Colleen is very cool, she's obviously very smart and the hackintosh segment was really well put together, very informative.
The only thing I was surprised about was that you didn't talk about the end user license agreement at all. Doesn't that make it illegal to install and use Leopard in this way? I thought the EUL created a legally enforceable contract or something?

[rallystile]

MAC it's only a PC that's true...

I tryed allot of iPC, iAtkos, JaS, Leo4All, Kalyway this are all hacked versions of MAC OS X, found from http://www.insanelymac.com/ and in the and i dropped this type of OS don't use it any more it's so perfect that is boring to me and running any system in dual boot or more it's a just a waste of time and space.

Linux is open market not forced by any side...

I visited that site as well and there seems to be a lot of different methods to do it w/o EFi-X. Which one was the easiest in your opinion?

You must have done a pretty good job that it's so perfect that it got boring. :)

[samureye]

Hi, I registered here to say that this was a very good episode, I wish there was more good stuff like this on hackintoshes. I made a short clip about my gaming PC/hackintosh a while ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLOrz_z6ajg&fmt=18 (hackintosh at 8:30) It's ideneb 10.5.6 which I then updated to 10.5.7 through software update and it works perfectly with all drivers. :)


Wow, what specs you got there? Any more info? Hardware?

[davmoo]

veronicazilla, I wasn't referring to you. nice name btw.

So are you saying it was Patrick who was wearing too much lipstick?

If you really didn't intend your comments for Veronicazilla then its obvious you have no idea who that is, and that makes you look even more silly.

[fee]

veronicazilla, I wasn't referring to you. nice name btw.

Veronicazilla is Veronica!

The title of Show Host under the name and the Picture of Bearonica didnt give it away? What you think Veronica doesn't care about the shows fans? So if it wasnt Veronica you was talking about then who?

[murphy1d]

veronicazilla, I wasn't referring to you. nice name btw.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! What does he win Johnny?

"A lifetime supply of Patronizing! Now with the comfort handle!"

[davmoo]

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!

Hey, he's performing a valuable service. We have to have someone to make fun of, it makes the forum more exciting :D

[madwh]

Wow, what specs you got there? Any more info? Hardware?

E8400 at 3.8 ghz on air, evga gtx 260 896mb, 4gb ram corsair, mother board asus p5q pro, 3 hdds, 500W power supply. Took me a few days to get os x to work on my computer. The most important setting in bios was hdds on ahci mode instead of ide, that also requires reinstalling any windows installations on seperate hdds. Of course there's many other things too, like selecting the right partition scheme when installing os x (even if you have just one hdd), making it boot after install (I used easybcd from windows and a file tboot), finding a program that lets you have full access to your NTFS hdds etc Took me days to figure out everything. Luckily there was a driver for all my hardware except the video card, which I found just recently, didn't exist before.

[qualar]

Colleen

It was great to see you on the show, you obviously know your stuff.

Just wondered if you could answer me a question. Would the top system you recommend for the hackintosh be a very noisy machine? I have sort of got used to silence.

Cheers

Phil

[rebrain]

Comment on the 7:20 argument:

No guys, you will not make people angry, well, i think.

Presenting many ways to accomplish one goal is what makes the show good (in this case connecting HDDs).

I will resume the video now.


EDIT: why didn't you tell us about the Netbooks, Patrick? Would be nice to find out about the choices you made in that market.

Efi-x seems to only support the Gigabyte and some DFI motherboards, does this mean timeout for X58 ASUS MotherBoards owners?

[boldfire]

One other comment / suggestion. Maybe when dealing with UK questions you could check out ebuyer.co.uk or similar site instead of the US-only newegg.

[dcolanduno]

I 'assume' that any normal PC Keyboard will work fine with this type of Hackintosh? I was JUST about to order a new mac... so I purchased all the stuff to build the high end Hackintosh you had in the show notes.

Should be nice to finally get out of my old Mac G5 system I've been hammering on for the past 5+ years!

So, is there any problems with 'normal' PC keyboards I should be aware of?

Thanks again digitalkitty! :D

Derek Colanduno
Host/Producer - Skepticality the Official Audio Program of Skeptic Magazine
http://www.skepticality.com/


If any of you are looking for help putting together a hackintosh build, feel free to post in here, and I can help you through the process of design and install.

[stmiller]

Hey Colleen, You can update a non-efi-x hackintosh. Ever since the voodoo kernel, all hackintoshes (even AMD based) can do updates.

http://code.google.com/p/xnu-dev/

iPCosx86, iDeneb, and others all have the choice of using this kernel on install now.

Word!

Granted, still not as easy as plugging in the efi-x and popping in retail disc...

[digitalkitty]

Colleen

It was great to see you on the show, you obviously know your stuff.

Just wondered if you could answer me a question. Would the top system you recommend for the hackintosh be a very noisy machine? I have sort of got used to silence.

Cheers

Phil

Since you are building the machine out of PC components, you can make it absolutely silent if you wish, using SSDs and passive cooling.

I 'assume' that any normal PC Keyboard will work fine with this type of Hackintosh? I was JUST about to order a new mac... so I purchased all the stuff to build the high end Hackintosh you had in the show notes.

Should be nice to finally get out of my old Mac G5 system I've been hammering on for the past 5+ years!

So, is there any problems with 'normal' PC keyboards I should be aware of?

Thanks again digitalkitty! :D

Derek Colanduno
Host/Producer - Skepticality the Official Audio Program of Skeptic Magazine
http://www.skepticality.com/

USB pc keyboards work fine on Apple systems.

Hey Colleen, You can update a non-efi-x hackintosh. Ever since the voodoo kernel, all hackintoshes (even AMD based) can do updates.

http://code.google.com/p/xnu-dev/

iPCosx86, iDeneb, and others all have the choice of using this kernel on install now.

Word!

Granted, still not as easy as plugging in the efi-x and popping in retail disc...

You are correct that it is suposed to work when updating, but I have had mixed results. Good thing to point out though.


Efi-x seems to only support the Gigabyte and some DFI motherboards, does this mean timeout for X58 ASUS MotherBoards owners?

Those are just the motherboards that they have confirmed work for sure, there is no reason that similar motherboards from other brands wont work, with the same chipset and such. It is just that they haven't tested and confirmed it yet.

One other comment / suggestion. Maybe when dealing with UK questions you could check out ebuyer.co.uk or similar site instead of the US-only newegg.

I use newegg because they have a really easy to use website for finding specific parts. You don't have to buy from them, you can buy wherever you like. I understand your point, but surely you don't expect me to price everything out in dollars, euros, won, yuan, yen, australian dollars, singaporean dollars, rubles, etc. Just take the parts and buy from from your favorite local retailer.

[argopo]

Colleen,

Just saw the show, but haven't completely read this thread - do want to say though: you are awesome!

I will be building this.

[brusifur]

Xbox controller in windows.

I have definitely lost hours of my life trying to do absurd things with the xbox 360 controller and PC games. Certain games support it no problem; Bioshock, GTAIV, Crysis to name a few.

The problem is in teh additional intelligence of the controller, i.e. the 'press and hold' action or the triggers having just the right sensitivity. For these problems and more, i found Pinnacle Game Profiler. [http://www.pinnaclegameprofiler.com/] This is a program (free for 30 days) that does EXACTLY what i wanted. It has a million mapping options, and with a little customizing you can have your controller do your bidding.

A few warnings though.
1 - the joystick is NEVER going to be close to the accuracy of a mouse, so playing first person shooters is kinda painful in my opinion.
2 - with some games, the controlls will be intuitive, but teh real advantage to this software is that you can use the xbox controller for games never intended for use with it. This takes a rediculous ammount of trial and error to find your comfort zone.

The real goal in my mind was to play WoW with the xbox controlls. I have succeeded, and PvP has become a new experiance altogether. Unfortunately, the advanced targetting needed by healing classes will not find much use here. The melee classes are really where its at for xbox controller mode.

[fiercedeitylink1]

Been using OS X on PC since build 8F1111 (circa 2005). Glad to see Tekzilla finally covering it. I would definitely suggest saving the money and using Boot 132 instead of buying EFiX. If you can build your own computer, you should be able to do Boot 132.

Edit: Software Update works fine with Boot 132, it's not exclusive to EFiX. And I don't know why a tech show should be discouraging use of the terminal/command line especially when there's a myriad of tutorials available.

[forone]

I think the question about the A80 got too short shrift from the ZillaGods, i.e. buy a new camera. I gave mine to my daughter, but within its pixel and optical zoom limits, I loved it while it was mine: pocket-sized, great battery life, great image quality, full Canon Av, Tv and Manual modes that you won't get for $100. The user, like me, might have bought add-on tele and w/a lenses for it. In particular, A80 battery life was outstanding.

I also disagree about AA batteries: one of the best things about these cameras is being able to pop into any hicksville drugstore and pick up a fresh set or two and comparative economy of good AA rechargeables. I won't buy a p&s camera using proprietary batteries.

For the user with the battery problem: I'd suggest first getting some alcohol or electical contact spray and cleaning all the contacts in the battery compartment; then resetting all the camera options to "default". Then look into reinstalling the firmware via the Canon site.

If there is a substantial investment in lenses, etc. Canon repair service has been good to me and has a good reputation - essentially rebuild the camera for a quoted flat fee - I'd get their quote, since it's quite likely the repaired A80 will be better than a new camera for that money.

[kardall]

Uhm... ok:

1) I'd like her to charge my batteries
2) The Zebra blooper = win

That is all.

[krishnancc]

I enjoyed this episode of tekzilla, the efi-x segment is really cool.

[digitalkitty]

I am glad you had fun with the segment. Remember, that only the start of a custom Apple, you can totally tune it, overclock it, cool it with liquid or phase change cooling, casemod it, and go nuts.

[revision3fan]

The hackintosh maker from Miami, Psystar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psystar_Corporation), seemed to get by for what seems like an eternity considering Apple's legal department. It seems that at one time EFi-X wanted to make such systems, too.

What's interesting about this page is the manufacturer PearC (https://www.pearc.de/). From their web site FAQ:

"According to european laws Apples EULA is void, because customers can't read the End Users License Agreement not before buying and opening the product."

And does the US have this? Somewhere?

Isn't this what happened to Sony four years ago because their CD's were installing copy protection software before the user had a chance to accept the license agreement?

I'm surprised that Apple hasn't contacted Revision3 about this episode or forum since they have been VERY aggressive in challenging various web sites and companies that give instructions on how to build a hackintosh-like device.

Also:

There were stories in the 1990s of people going on their own or someone paying for them them to go to Akihabara and other stores in Japan. Is this still done? "How to bring consumer electronics back to the US - customs, electric power, etc." - sounds like a great episode title.

[davmoo]

I'm surprised that Apple hasn't contacted Revision3 about this episode or forum since they have been VERY aggressive in challenging various web sites and companies that give instructions on how to build a hackintosh-like device.

When Microsoft does something like this, the worshipers of His Holiness Lord Steve start wailing about how evil Microsoft is. But when Apple does it, the zealots don't seem to have a problem with it. Funny how that works.

And the fact that the judge did not order an immediate injunction against Psystar tells me that the judge thinks Psystar's arguments may have at least some merit, and Apple is relying on the depth of its pockets and legal department.

[filip007]

Liquid cooled MAC you make me laugh...some ultra heavy editing than!

No Crysis on MAC...

I dig out your UGM 11.0 nice job with pink water.

[computoman]

The original hackintosh was an atari st. Both the st and the mac at the time both used the motorola processor. People were using software based roms to let it work. Apple had a cow and eventually worked out where you had to have a cartridge unit plug into the st that had the legal apple roms. It was neat.

There was a software emulator for mswindows and linux called pearpc that ran the apple os. Some people claimed it was slow. last I looked it was no longer openly in developement

[oldarney]

If you were referring to Tekzilla cohost Veronica Belmont as the person with the vibrant red lipstick, then you were indeed referring to veronicazilla. They are one and the same.

In the unlikely event you meant someone else, you've been unclear because you've only used pronouns like "she" and "her" without actually naming the person.

Who would have thought that a one post wonder would make me shiver for a sec.

Veronicazilla, you are beautiful, you don't need make up. But if you like wearing make up, so be it, its your choice. I formally apologize for calling you immature. Honestly, my sense of style isn't too great, I am a programmer more than anything else. I guess what you were going for was a quick fix to make up for your outfit that day. Ok ok ill keep my opinions to my self. Without you, Tekzilla would not be what it is today. keep going.


Wouldnt have been talking about me, I do not wear lipstick.

Tastes funny.

So are you saying it was Patrick who was wearing too much lipstick?

If you really didn't intend your comments for Veronicazilla then its obvious you have no idea who that is, and that makes you look even more silly.
Veronicazilla is Veronica!

The title of Show Host under the name and the Picture of Bearonica didnt give it away? What you think Veronica doesn't care about the shows fans? So if it wasnt Veronica you was talking about then who?
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! What does he win Johnny?

"A lifetime supply of Patronizing! Now with the comfort handle!"
Hey, he's performing a valuable service. We have to have someone to make fun of, it makes the forum more exciting :D

You got me. I thought Veronicazilla was just a silly fan. can you blame me, I mean its the internet after all. I completely missed her title.

[fee]

You got me. I thought Veronicazilla was just a silly fan. can you blame me, I mean its the internet after all. I completely missed her title.


True, but remember Veronica is really a Geek so forums are her home :)

[rivernet1]

Been using OS X on PC since build 8F1111 (circa 2005). Glad to see Tekzilla finally covering it. I would definitely suggest saving the money and using Boot 132 instead of buying EFiX. If you can build your own computer, you should be able to do Boot 132.

Edit: Software Update works fine with Boot 132, it's not exclusive to EFiX. And I don't know why a tech show should be discouraging use of the terminal/command line especially when there's a myriad of tutorials available.

That's because everyone has their own way of doing things. Some people like to go the route of using a CLI, some don't. Some have the luxury of extra cash they can buy the EFI-X, some don't. It just boils down to what the end-user wants to do and how to do it.

[macskeeball]

Not sure about this MAC idea and why use it, MAC is hardcore editing machine and it's not designed for regular users, you can save a lot but PRO Mac user will anyway buy a real MAC.

It's actually Mac, not MAC. MAC is a computer networking term (Media Access Control), not an abbreviation for Macintosh.

It's true that for games and certain other types of software, Mac OS X is relatively lacking in selection. On the whole, though, Macs are definitely designed for regular users. Hackintoshes help address gaps which exist in Apple's hardware, and I enjoyed Colleen's segment.

[fiercedeitylink1]

That's because everyone has their own way of doing things. Some people like to go the route of using a CLI, some don't. Some have the luxury of extra cash they can buy the EFI-X, some don't. It just boils down to what the end-user wants to do and how to do it.
Yes, and I was sharing mine. While it doesn't completely defeat the purpose, that $240 could be better spent. Also, I believe you can do both, and in doing so, actually learn a bit about what's running under the hood. Do you have to? No. But if something goes wrong, it's always useful to have a fair understanding of what's going on.

And you can't really argue "everyone has their way own way of doing things" and then only posit one method and spread FUD about the other. If you're cost-conscious (and for those building an OSx86 machine usually are), it's worthwhile to save a bit and actually learn something.

[digitalkitty]

It's actually Mac, not MAC. MAC is a computer networking term (Media Access Control), not an abbreviation for Macintosh.

It's true that for games and certain other types of software, Mac OS X is relatively lacking in selection. On the whole, though, Macs are definitely designed for regular users. Hackintoshes help address gaps which exist in Apple's hardware, and I enjoyed Colleen's segment.

Actually i think MAC is an abbreviation for Mean Ass Cabbage.

[veronicazilla]

I guess what you were going for was a quick fix to make up for your outfit that day. Ok ok ill keep my opinions to my self. Without you, Tekzilla would not be what it is today. keep going.


*sigh*

It was almost an apology. LOL!

[computoman]

It's actually Mac, not MAC. MAC is a computer networking term (Media Access Control), not an abbreviation for Macintosh.

It's true that for games and certain other types of software, Mac OS X is relatively lacking in selection. On the whole, though, Macs are definitely designed for regular users. Hackintoshes help address gaps which exist in Apple's hardware, and I enjoyed Colleen's segment.

In the old days of bbs's all capitals meant the writer was yelling. Mac/MAC users like to yell how good they think their machine is.

[gadget_nut]

*sigh*

It was almost an apology. LOL!

No accounting for taste. With you rockin' the spaghetti straps and Collene's voice, I needed a cigarette after the show.

TMI?

[veronicazilla]

No accounting for taste. With you rockin' the spaghetti straps and Collene's voice, I needed a cigarette after the show.

TMI?

Haha! Well, don't worry, I'm sure we'll have Colleen on again whenever Leo lets her out of the TWiT cottage!

[macskeeball]

In the old days of bbs's all capitals meant the writer was yelling.
That wasn't just in the old days. That's basic netiquette that continues today.

Mac/MAC users like to yell how good they think their machine is.
In my experience, the people who write MAC when referring to the Macintosh tend to be those less acquainted with Macs. I'm of the opinion that it originally stemmed from confusion with MAC addresses (since they're also computer related) and then became more widespread as people saw others writing it that way.

[digitalkitty]

... and here I thought that my mac address was 1 infinite loop in Cupertino.

[tokenuser]

In my experience, the people who write MAC when referring to the Macintosh tend to be those less acquainted with Macs. I'm of the opinion that it originally stemmed from confusion with MAC addresses (since they're also computer related) and then became more widespread as people saw others writing it that way.I doubt that most people who refers to a Mac as a MAC would know what a MAC address was either. Doesn't bother me too much ... context is pretty clear and unambiguous.

[tokenuser]

Actually i think MAC is an abbreviation for Mean Ass Cabbage.Isn't that called kimchi??

[digitalkitty]

Isn't that called kimchi??

I see what you did there...

Well played sir.

[computoman]

when I owned apples, all my money sure went to that mac address in cupertino..

[davmoo]

It was almost an apology. LOL!

I think for the next episode you should wear the most hideous colored lipstick you can find...does lipstick come in neon blue or something like that?...and wear it just for this guy.

when I owned apples, all my money sure went to that mac address in cupertino..

I like my Apples thinly sliced, unwaxed, and preferably with some cheese and a glass of wine.

[rallystile]

I like my Apples thinly sliced, unwaxed, and preferably with some cheese and a glass of wine.

Granny Smith FTW.

[jdert]

"Multiple GPUs make things a bit more complicated, but I never run a system without them."

Yes, but what about multiple CPU's? As an editor and animator, I need the CPU and GPU power. It seems that its not cost efficient to built a dual processor Hackintosh since the motherboards required are server boards (supposedly what they use on MacPro's). I'm not sure an overclocked Core i7 could compete with the 8 core 12GB MacPro, but I'd love to run one through the ringer. In my experience, all programs other than Compressor are not using more than 3GB of RAM and hardly tap into the full potential of my processors (lets hope snow leopard changes that). Until GPU-based rendering becomes more of a reality, I need lots of processing power :)

As the editor of this show, I see the need to do another hackintosh episode in which I do all the post production for Tekzilla on a hackintosh. We'll see if this is possible for a future episode.

[digitalkitty]

"Multiple GPUs make things a bit more complicated, but I never run a system without them."

Yes, but what about multiple CPU's? As an editor and animator, I need the CPU and GPU power. It seems that its not cost efficient to built a dual processor Hackintosh since the motherboards required are server boards (supposedly what they use on MacPro's). I'm not sure an overclocked Core i7 could compete with the 8 core 12GB MacPro, but I'd love to run one through the ringer. In my experience, all programs other than Compressor are not using more than 3GB of RAM and hardly tap into the full potential of my processors (lets hope snow leopard changes that). Until GPU-based rendering becomes more of a reality, I need lots of processing power :)

As the editor of this show, I see the need to do another hackintosh episode in which I do all the post production for Tekzilla on a hackintosh. We'll see if this is possible for a future episode.

I don't know if any dual processor motherboards, like a Skull Trail setup, are on the supported list of the EFIX device. However there is no technical reason why the EFIX creators could not create drivers to support these motherboards with the device.

It may even work already, and nobody has gotten around to trying it.

Need m0ar GPGPU software nao!

[kramey]

The EFIX site says i7 support coming soon also it does not list the Intel Motherboard. Are these typos? If not where did you find the hardware for those prices?


If any of you are looking for help putting together a hackintosh build, feel free to post in here, and I can help you through the process of design and install.

[digitalkitty]

The EFIX site says i7 support coming soon also it does not list the Intel Motherboard. Are these typos? If not where did you find the hardware for those prices?

Core i7 is currently supported.

[revision3fan]

The following proves one is possessed and is probably useless but:

Is it possible to run the iPhone OS on a smart phone other than the iPhone, a "hackiphone" if you will?

Compared to the above, unlocking an iPhone would be turning the power on.

[revision3fan]

The reason Veronica's lipstick looked a little red is maybe because she looked a little pale - to me at least. If that's the case, it might be due to her traveling to Japan for a week - probably getting little sunshine during that time.

Veronica, you did an excellent job. I would need a week just to get over the jet lag.

[phatlip]

I have a question for Colleen and the Tekzilla gang. Every Hackintosh I've ever come across has a VERY VERY slow boot up time. I'm not sure if that's any different with the method you guys used. You did a fast-forward past the boot up which makes me believe it still has that same problem.

Is the boot up slow?

[murphy1d]

Question for Colleen:

I have a 17 year old niece who is excelling more and more in her Mac skills (her father makes iPhone apps).

If you had the ability to do it all over again, what would you suggest is a good path be for her to become a "UberMac" too? (I'm PC, so I can only help her so far).

[revision3fan]

I have a question for Colleen and the Tekzilla gang. Every Hackintosh I've ever come across has a VERY VERY slow boot up time. I'm not sure if that's any different with the method you guys used. You did a fast-forward past the boot up which makes me believe it still has that same problem.

Is the boot up slow?


Colleen, is a possible reason for the slow bootup the USB connection for the EFi-X? In the same vain as: If the EFi-X had a FireWire connection, would it boot faster?

[digitalkitty]

Question for Colleen:

I have a 17 year old niece who is excelling more and more in her Mac skills (her father makes iPhone apps).

If you had the ability to do it all over again, what would you suggest is a good path be for her to become a "UberMac" too? (I'm PC, so I can only help her so far).

I don't like, or use Apple computers by choice. The Hackintosh was a project to see if I could do it, not to use it... so I am not the best to ask.

My name is Colleen and I am a PC.

Colleen, is a possible reason for the slow bootup the USB connection for the EFi-X? In the same vain as: If the EFi-X had a FireWire connection, would it boot faster?

The EFIX is no slower than boot camp, maybe a bit faster. The boot time is no different than an Apple.

[phatlip]

I don't like, or use Apple computers by choice. The Hackintosh was a project to see if I could do it, not to use it... so I am not the best to ask.

My name is Colleen and I am a PC.



The EFIX is no slower than boot camp, maybe a bit faster. The boot time is no different than an Apple.

That's interesting. I figured the chip would make an improvement, but wasn't sure. Thanks for the quick response.

[macskeeball]

Question for Colleen:

I have a 17 year old niece who is excelling more and more in her Mac skills (her father makes iPhone apps).

If you had the ability to do it all over again, what would you suggest is a good path be for her to become a "UberMac" too? (I'm PC, so I can only help her so far).

I'm not Colleen, but a recent blog post of mine addressed this very question by recommending various resources for new Mac users. Perhaps your niece would find it helpful. www.paultow.com/2009/06/18/new-to-mac

[frankiethewaffle]

OK, Honestly. Is this the actual Veronica posting in here? I never knew her to be so violent and/or defensive.

Veronica, you are so little and cute, don't be angry. I have a lot of things going on and I am on about 5 different steroids. (Stuff coming out of my eyes and my lungs in only half capacity. Coughing up blood, Bad stuff. I have never been a smoker, of anything.) I am a bit emotional, like a wom.....well, anyway.

I haven't even noticed make-up. Someone is more emotional about something that doesn't matter than I am. You are cute. Let that be my legacy. You knowing you are adorable.

Just don't be angry. Don't let me leave that behind.

Stay cute.

[digitalkitty]

They dropped the price of the efix by $50 on expresshd

[veronicazilla]

OK, Honestly. Is this the actual Veronica posting in here? I never knew her to be so violent and/or defensive.

Veronica, you are so little and cute, don't be angry. I have a lot of things going on and I am on about 5 different steroids. (Stuff coming out of my eyes and my lungs in only half capacity. Coughing up blood, Bad stuff. I have never been a smoker, of anything.) I am a bit emotional, like a wom.....well, anyway.

I haven't even noticed make-up. Someone is more emotional about something that doesn't matter than I am. You are cute. Let that be my legacy. You knowing you are adorable.

Just don't be angry. Don't let me leave that behind.

Stay cute.

Aww, I'm not violent, I swear. Sometimes I just get frustrated, because this is how my brain process goes:

"Hey, I'm gonna wear some redder lipstick today! That'll be fun to try something new."

And then in response, you get essentially "stop acting like a 3-year old playing with her mother's makeup."

I should have a thicker skin (and trust me, it has developed pretty nicely over the years) but sometimes it feels good to say something back. Not constructive, no, except for the few times you convince someone out there that you're an actual human being whose feelings can be hurt by offhand comments.

I know I signed up for scrutiny when I started a career in video, but that doesn't mean I have to be silent when someone says something either, you know?

But seriously, this discussion has gone on long enough, and I'm not going to comment on it anymore. It's freaking lipstick.

And Frankie, I'm sorry you're going through a rough time. I really wish you the best, and thank you for your comments here.

V

[pianoplayer88key]

@digitalkitty re: hackintosh...

When you did the hackintosh segment, there's a couple things that either weren't mentioned, or I wasn't paying attention...

You mention checking on a particular website for what hardware to buy for getting that USB plugin dongle (I don't have the video playing right now so I forget exactly what it's called). What do you do when you already have your computer hardware built into a working computer, and want to add the Mac OS to it? In my case I built my computer in Feb 2008 (not going to post the complete parts list without request) to run Windows XP with now 4GB RAM, 1TB HDD space (multiple drives), onboard video, etc...

Also, you mention taking out all the hard drives (boot drives I believe) except the one onto which you're going to install the Mac OS before installing it. What about installing it onto the same physical drive that other OS's are already installed on, just on a separate partion? Is that doable with the method you were discussing in the segment?

disclaimer: considering that internal USB thing cost about 1/3 to 1/2 the price of my entire computer, I think it'll be a while before I actually hackintosh my PC, but I definitely do want to try Mac OS sometime hopefully soon. :)

[fiercedeitylink1]

@digitalkitty re: hackintosh...

When you did the hackintosh segment, there's a couple things that either weren't mentioned, or I wasn't paying attention...

You mention checking on a particular website for what hardware to buy for getting that USB plugin dongle (I don't have the video playing right now so I forget exactly what it's called). What do you do when you already have your computer hardware built into a working computer, and want to add the Mac OS to it? In my case I built my computer in Feb 2008 (not going to post the complete parts list without request) to run Windows XP with now 4GB RAM, 1TB HDD space (multiple drives), onboard video, etc...

Also, you mention taking out all the hard drives (boot drives I believe) except the one onto which you're going to install the Mac OS before installing it. What about installing it onto the same physical drive that other OS's are already installed on, just on a separate partion? Is that doable with the method you were discussing in the segment?

disclaimer: considering that internal USB thing cost about 1/3 to 1/2 the price of my entire computer, I think it'll be a while before I actually hackintosh my PC, but I definitely do want to try Mac OS sometime hopefully soon. :)
Check here for compatibility:
http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
http://www.insanelymac.com/osx86db/

It also wouldn't hurt to check the forums. Yes, you can install onto a separate partition. Simply repartition the drive and leave however much space you want (I suggest gparted, and just leave it as "unformatted space", Disk Utility in the OS X setup disc will pick it up and let you format it as HFS+).

If you use a Boot 132 guide and the Chameleon (http://chameleon.osx86.hu/) bootloader, it works the exact same as the EFiX mentioned in the segment.

[oldarney]

After watching the last two Tekzilla dailies, I finally understood why I am so disgusted by the red lip stick. It looks like blood, blood on lips = carnivores. I am a vegan... get the flow?

anyways, It's really disturbing, could you please wear some other lipstick or non at all? I wouldn't mind if you wore neon 70' green lipstick. Don't do it for me, do it for the animals. Research has shown that red makes people anxious and hungry, thus it is psychologically and physically sinister to wear red lip stick on tv, or the internet.

and yes that was me on the video question sent on monday, not that it matters.

[sukotsu]

It looks like blood, blood on lips = carnivores. I am a vegan

Are you for real?...

I seriously cant believe I have just read 16 pages and you are still going on about her
lipstick. Seriously what business is it of yours if she wears it or not. If you want to be
a vegan then thats your choice no-ones telling you they find it "really disturbing" it has
nothing to do with her lipstick, Ive eaten meat all my life and cant say Ive ever found
blood on my lips

At the end of the day if she wants to wear lipstick its no-ones business but hers and
she shouldnt have to put up with abuse simply because her shade was abit too much
for you. So any chance we can give this a rest and I dunno maybe talk about Tekzilla??

and if we do gotta say really enjoyed the episode!
thought the hackintosh was more than suited for Tekzilla
plus Colleens cute ;)

[pianoplayer88key]

TY 4 the info FLD1. :)
So what's the cheapest legal way I could get a Hackintosh up and running? (Obviously I'm not looking @ free, as I would purchase a legal retail copy of OS X.)

Sukotsu? 16 pages?!? I'm only on page 4. Maybe your view settings are set different? (I think mine are at 40 or 50 posts per page or something like that.)

[fiercedeitylink1]

TY 4 the info FLD1. :)
So what's the cheapest legal way I could get a Hackintosh up and running? (Obviously I'm not looking @ free, as I would purchase a legal retail copy of OS X.)

Sukotsu? 16 pages?!? I'm only on page 4. Maybe your view settings are set different? (I think mine are at 40 or 50 posts per page or something like that.)
The cheapest legal way is just $130 for Leopard assuming all of your hardware is compatible. You'd be surprised what is. I have a spare computer from 2004 (Pentium 4) and it works. Sometimes it's just trial-and-error, and you might be the first person to get your specific set of hardware working. :)

[pianoplayer88key]

Ok, so maybe I won't have to settle for a "CAT"-intosh? :D

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_1zM-vTbAb1c/SiRwc0R4H5I/AAAAAAAABew/Ei-EydKCXy4/s640/IMG_4408.JPG

[cbinc]

How is it that on the show it's said that the EFI-X device is compatible with Core i7 CPU but on the official EFI-X site 1366 sockets are listed as "coming soon"?

Also, Patrick says 3 configurations would be listed in the show notes but I only see 2.

Lastly, in the "Killer" configuration a 1TB hard drive is listed at $50; where can I get that hook up? I'd buy 4 or 5 on the spot.

[mikec]

Are you for real?...

I seriously cant believe I have just read 16 pages and you are still going on about her
lipstick. Seriously what business is it of yours if she wears it or not. If you want to be
a vegan then thats your choice no-ones telling you they find it "really disturbing" it has
nothing to do with her lipstick, Ive eaten meat all my life and cant say Ive ever found
blood on my lips

At the end of the day if she wants to wear lipstick its no-ones business but hers and
she shouldnt have to put up with abuse simply because her shade was abit too much
for you. So any chance we can give this a rest and I dunno maybe talk about Tekzilla??

and if we do gotta say really enjoyed the episode!
thought the hackintosh was more than suited for Tekzilla
plus Colleens cute ;)


Thank you. If I wrote what I was thinking a moderator probably would be editing the post and possibly banning me... ;-)

Interesting, where I work, the couple of vegetarians do not try to preach their views to us meat eaters. We don't hassle them and all live happily ever after.

[macskeeball]

Sukotsu? 16 pages?!? I'm only on page 4. Maybe your view settings are set different? (I think mine are at 40 or 50 posts per page or something like that.)
You're not using the default setting, then.

[windshield]

Ok, so maybe I won't have to settle for a "CAT"-intosh? :D


Yikes, all the fur that is permanently under that keyboard.

[davmoo]

Don't do it for me, do it for the animals.

Although I am a carnivore myself, I have no problem with vegans, and have many friends who don't want to eat meat. But after that silly-ass diatribe, for this evening's dinner I'm going to hunt down the biggest effing t-bone steak I can find, and I'm going to eat it in honor of that post. I'll try to remember to take pictures.

Edit: And in honor of Bearonica's birthday, I'll top it off with a nice glass of wine and a piece of cake :D

[revision3fan]

Question for Colleen:

I have a 17 year old niece who is excelling more and more in her Mac skills (her father makes iPhone apps).

If you had the ability to do it all over again, what would you suggest is a good path be for her to become a "UberMac" too? (I'm PC, so I can only help her so far).


Lean the Objective C language to develop for Macintosh and the iPhone. Learn both the theory of audio and video and technologies dealing with audio and video because the Macintosh is so strong in those areas. Examples are music, audio processing, photography, visual effects and digital editing.

Also, There is an iPhone development class from Stanford University on iTunes U.

[schnyder]

Colleen, do you have a detailed walkthrough available anywhere that lists the recommended steps you need to take to successfully install OSX on an EFI-x enabled PC? I'm sure there's lots of ways to screw it up, so details of how you did it, other than what you describe int he Tekzilla episode would be super awesome.

Thanks,
Schnyder

[neha]

Use PS3 and Xbox 360 Controllers For PC Games, EFi-X: Build an OS X desktop on the cheap! Fast access to old hard drives, Milo, Frew Software, Alkaline AA problems or dead camera?

Watch or download this episode now! (http://revision3.com/tekzilla/satadock)

So happy to see Colleen on Tekzilla--she did a great job. Can't wait to get our project up, it's going slowly, but going!

Also, I don't understand why V wearing red lipstick was such a big deal. She looked gorgeous as usual, and can wear whatever she wants [it's a free internet universe, people]. Keep up the great work Veronica, and I vote for some bright pink next time around :)

[digitalkitty]

Colleen, do you have a detailed walkthrough available anywhere that lists the recommended steps you need to take to successfully install OSX on an EFI-x enabled PC? I'm sure there's lots of ways to screw it up, so details of how you did it, other than what you describe int he Tekzilla episode would be super awesome.

Thanks,
Schnyder

I wrote a detailed step by step process. It is in the show notes.

So happy to see Colleen on Tekzilla--she did a great job. Can't wait to get our project up, it's going slowly, but going!

Also, I don't understand why V wearing red lipstick was such a big deal. She looked gorgeous as usual, and can wear whatever she wants [it's a free internet universe, people]. Keep up the great work Veronica, and I vote for some bright pink next time around :)

We will have fun filming v01d tomorrow, it will involve multitouch interfaces, fire cannons, and maybe even a little sonic destruction. ^_^

[lik]

wow, Patrick never owned a console? i'm shocked.

btw Veronica, you looked smokin' in that black top. ;)

[hectos]

Great Show...always learn something new...you guys make my geek stock split...thanks!

[madwh]

Veronica Belmont's red lipstick does look like blood, I'm vegetarian too so no blood signs please, but it probably wasn't intended.

[walinmichi]

WalinMichi, I priced everything out on newegg.

Core i7 920
Intel X58 Mobo
6 gigs of ddr3 ram
2 x 1tb caviar black drives in raid 0 for editing
1 x 1tb caviar black main os drive
1 x rocketraid card
1 x antec p193 case
1 x Antec tp-750 PSU

Comes out to about $1500 bucks. Add in your $240 efix and your $130 Leopard disk, and you are about there. Depending on if you pay tax or not, you can get yourself a second GTS 250 for sli.
Colleen, need your help please. I purchased the EFI-X device and the system components incl. Intel DX58SO motherboard. In review of the EFI-X forum in prep to build the system it states that OSX 10.5.7 and EFI-X firmware 3.6.11 are required to support Core i7. I was worried I wouldn't get very far so opened a ticket with ExpressHD. The response is that the Intel branded mobos are not supported, only Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P and that I'll need to send in my HDD with OSX media to get installed and updated to 10.5.7 since retail media only up to 10.5.6.

Since I have not opened anything yet, should I switch over to Gigabyte mobo or stick it out with Intel? Also have you tried OSX install on Core i7? Will I really not be able to install OSX myself?

[fiercedeitylink1]

Colleen, need your help please. I purchased the EFI-X device and the system components incl. Intel DX58SO motherboard. In review of the EFI-X forum in prep to build the system it states that OSX 10.5.7 and EFI-X firmware 3.6.11 are required to support Core i7. I was worried I wouldn't get very far so opened a ticket with ExpressHD. The response is that the Intel branded mobos are not supported, only Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P and that I'll need to send in my HDD with OSX media to get installed and updated to 10.5.7 since retail media only up to 10.5.6.

Since I have not opened anything yet, should I switch over to Gigabyte mobo or stick it out with Intel? Also have you tried OSX install on Core i7? Will I really not be able to install OSX myself?
http://i36.tinypic.com/2wgbsph.jpg
It works fine, follow this guide and return the EFiX:
http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Retail_OS_X_Install_%2810.5.7%29_on_Gigabyte_GA-EX58-UD5_%28Core_i7%29_Mobo%2C_Scripted
:)

[walinmichi]

FierceDeityLink1, the title of that article is Retail OS X Install (10.5.7) on Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 (Core i7) Mobo, Scripted. Two problems, there is no retail 10.5.7 and I don't have that mobo. So thanks for trying to help :)

[jdhore]

Veronica Belmont's red lipstick does look like blood, I'm vegetarian too so no blood signs please, but it probably wasn't intended.

I haven't logged in in quite a while, but i had to respond to this. Are you chuffing serious? Are you goddamn vegetarians so f*cking uptight that you take lipstick that's a dark shade of red thinking it looks like blood? I'd say that's goddamn insensitive of YOU to assume that a host has to take the time figuring out her makeup and clothing choices specifically not to piss anyone off.

Next thing i'm expecting to see is the clap trap from the animal rights people saying like: "The company that made that top tests products on animals, i'm offended that Veronica bought from that company. Don't wear stuff from that company again plzkthxbye."

No. Shut up and live with it. And if you can't do that, stop watching.

[fiercedeitylink1]

FierceDeityLink1, the title of that article is Retail OS X Install (10.5.7) on Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 (Core i7) Mobo, Scripted. Two problems, there is no retail 10.5.7 and I don't have that mobo. So thanks for trying to help :)
The only difference between the GA-EX58-UD5 and GA-EX58-UD4P is dual ethernet. And of course, there is no 10.5.7 so therein lies your problem. Some might say buying a license for Leopard lets you do what you want with it.

Edit: Oh, I thought you were saying you have a EX58. Nevermind. Though, people have gotten the DX58SO working perfectly with 10.5.6 and 10.5.7.

[walinmichi]

Edit: Oh, I thought you were saying you have a EX58. Nevermind. Though, people have gotten the DX58SO working perfectly with 10.5.6 and 10.5.7.

Good to hear re: DX58SO working for others. The newegg comments seem to indicate odd issues with the GA-EX58-UD4P. Still not sure what to do, seems like if I want to stick with i7 then I have to get creative. I was so hoping the EFI-X would make this as easy as Colleen showed on the episode. This is the challenge I get pushing the envelope.

[fiercedeitylink1]

Good to hear re: DX58SO working for others. The newegg comments seem to indicate odd issues with the GA-EX58-UD4P. Still not sure what to do, seems like if I want to stick with i7 then I have to get creative. I was so hoping the EFI-X would make this as easy as Colleen showed on the episode. This is the challenge I get pushing the envelope.
Well, at least you know others have gotten it working. :) Beats paying 15% restocking at Newegg IMO.

[cbinc]

Is the extra $50 really worth spending for the V1.1? Its supposed to have a better cpu and more memory.

V1 is $190
V1.1 is $240

Also, how much better is an i7 over a Core2 Quad?

[digitalkitty]

Colleen, need your help please. I purchased the EFI-X device and the system components incl. Intel DX58SO motherboard. In review of the EFI-X forum in prep to build the system it states that OSX 10.5.7 and EFI-X firmware 3.6.11 are required to support Core i7. I was worried I wouldn't get very far so opened a ticket with ExpressHD. The response is that the Intel branded mobos are not supported, only Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P and that I'll need to send in my HDD with OSX media to get installed and updated to 10.5.7 since retail media only up to 10.5.6.

Since I have not opened anything yet, should I switch over to Gigabyte mobo or stick it out with Intel? Also have you tried OSX install on Core i7? Will I really not be able to install OSX myself?

Its been done before, and with that board. Check out the EFIX forums. From my understanding thats the board that expresshd used themselves to test the Core i7 compatability.

Check out their Firmware 3.6.10 post.

http://www.expresshd.com/EFiX-Installation-Guide/CDpath4/p8/EFiX-Firmware-Update/pages.html

It says the system they used was

Firmware: EFi-X Beta
Monitors: 6 x LG (24"), EIZO 30", Apple Cinema 30"
Case: Cooler Master - Cosmos 1000
Motherboard: Intel DX58S0 (X58)
Processor: Intel Core i7 965 LGA 1366
RAM: 4GB DDR3 EFiX-Mem
Video Cards: NVidia 280 GTX, 1GB
Hard Drives: 1 TB (WD Raptor 15000 rpm)

[davmoo]

Veronica Belmont's red lipstick does look like blood, I'm vegetarian too so no blood signs please, but it probably wasn't intended.

I'll be having lunch at KFC today in your honor.

[jmdstewart]

You guys should check out this link:
http://www.rezrov.net/blog/index.php?/archives/80-Replacing-EFi-X-with-boot-132.html

and the rest of the postings in that forum/topic. The EFI-X product appears to be nothing more than a secure USB flash drive that is filled with code ripped off from the boot-132 project. Worse yet, it appears as though the product is prone to sudden death syndrome and the vendor does not support the product very well.

Hey, if y'all are interested, I can fill a USB flash drive with boot-132 system and I won't charge you 200 bucks for it :-)

[bobv13]

I felt the need to weigh in and say Great Show. In particular I liked the hackintosh and game controller segments. Saving this show off to my NAS.

Thanks

[walinmichi]

Thank you Colleen for checking into the issue for me.

My next issue is installation of OSX. Probably preemptive of me to comment since I have not tried as of yet, but was told that 10.5.7 is required to support Core i7 and retail disc is 10.5.6. Seems the work around is to install on non-Core i7, update, then move to i7. I will try to install with 10.5.6 and if unable to proceed will seek plan B.

Hardware has arrived today but waiting on OSX.

[rockyrobins]

Anyone not having luck with this? Trying the "Mac Pro" collection of hardware and I seem to be missing something. It starts to boot the little blue mac icon, then reboots the machine.

It works on an ASUS motherboard on an older machine I have, like a charm, lit right up, except for the networking.

On the new gear I have a feeling that I'm missing a bios setting, or the EFI-X needs a firmware update to work on the newer hardware, but the machine I can get it to work-the older Asus - has no network showing -Fun Fun Fun. :)

Oh, I was gonna try the firmware upgrade in XP and it wants Windows XP to be on FAT32 and all the XP installs I have are NTFS. Not too excited about installing and running XP that way. (I'm a video editor who thinks FAT32 needs to disappear permanently)

Might have to make a trip to Fry's in the morning.
Anyway, the EFI-X folks are recommending Gigabyte and DFI mobos, but I believe in Colleen, so I went with what she recommended - It's all about the chipsets, right?
Or is there a Bios setting that isn't obvious, as the bios is totally different than in the show.

[gta_bmx]

Can she stop putting make up on. It's like the second time. Im sure im not the only one who feels that way. Shes not going to a ball after all.

long episode...

It's none of your damned business what Veronica puts on. She's beautiful, with or without the makeup. They probably have a make-up person who does it, to compensate for the lighting. Why are you so obsessed with what's on her face? It's a tech show.

[dcolanduno]

Great episode, I had the itch so I jumped in and purchased the stuff and built myself one of the Hackintosh machines as highlighted in the episode.

So, I went for the smaller of the two, exact same build as referenced in the show notes.

I have a question, everything is working spot on. But, the motherboard doesn't have any built in firewire. I have a couple Firewire 400 internal PC cards, so I put one into my new Hackintosh.

Everything boots up fine, but it just doesn't see any firewire at all.

What is the best solution to get a couple firewire ports on my newly constructed Hackintosh?

Thanks!

[rockyrobins]

Well, I'm still having no luck with my intel 850 board. I even updated the bios. Fry's was out of those gigabyte boards, so I might still try that later. (or other methods?) I got a netgear ga311 for my older Asus core2duo system. It jumped on the net, and I even upgraded the firmware to the EFI-X and OSX 10.5.7. So I think I'm going to keep the EFI-X in that system and trick it out. I even bought a Mac compatible firewire800 card for it too.
I'm upset to see my old M-Audio Delta card isn't supported in intel based macs. Works fine in windows, just they never did an intel build cuz they claim it can't fit in the new mac pro slots vs G5 macs. Thought that was funny.
The only other thing I think maybe going against me with the intel 850 is that I got the EFI-X V1 and not the newer V1.1. But I thought the firmware upgrade was going to help.

That's it for me now. Time to get the asus back together and download this week's Tekzilla!

[walinmichi]

Well, I'm still having no luck with my intel 850 board. I even updated the bios. Fry's was out of those gigabyte boards, so I might still try that later. (or other methods?)

I am in the same boat, bought the 850. However, have not opened yet but bought from Newegg... so prob have no recourse for exchange to Gigabyte mobo.

I am guessing you do not have retail copy of OS X since that is not available as 10.5.7. I was going to mention your issue might be the DVD install since 10.5.7 is required to support i7 but seems you got passed that hurdle.

[rockyrobins]

Actually I installed from a real 10.5.6 retail disc. Onto the older Asus. When I got the network up, I did the software update to get 10.5.7. Then I took the drive and EFI-X out of that Asus machine and hooked it to the 850, hoping I'd get lucky. But still doesn't work. I'd definatly go with a gigabyte board. It's a shame, cuz this 850 is a nice mobo.

[cphadley]

Been awhile since posting on here! This was a great episode. I was unsure if the EFI-X worked with the X58 chipset until I saw this. My question is does anyone know if it will work on the EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR (http://is.gd/1OUHn). I have a Core i7 920 and 9800GT in the system so I know the rest of the hardware should work.

Since it is based off the X58 north and Intel ICH10R south chipsets I'm guessing it should work but if anyone has actually tried it that would be reassuring :)

[walinmichi]

Newegg permitted the return after my sob story. Kudos to Newegg for good customer support (mobo was unopened which made all the difference).

[rockyrobins]

So, I figured out that I got the EFI-X V1. It would appear that it is not core i7 compatible, but V1.1 is. The product comparisons are confusing on their site and you really have to scrounge thru their forums to find out. I think it's a language barrier somewhere in there.
The V1 worked perfectly on my old Asus p5k-e, (minus built-in audio/networking, fixable with ext USB audio, and a $25 netgear nic).
My Intel x58 mobo is now running real Hackintosh os now (no efi-x, no legit os x).
But that install was a bear, like the old DOS/win3.1/win95 days. And lots o forum reading to find out the how-to.

But if u go EFI-X, go 1.1, go by thier gigabyte reccos, and there's also supposed to be an issue with core i7 and having to go from a 10.5.7 osx first. The retail osx I got was 10.5.6, so that might make it interesting too.

[walinmichi]

I was told by EFI-X support that V1 with firmware 3.6.11 does support i7. However, like stated, you need Gigabyte mobo, specifically told GA-EX58-UD4P. I'm still in process of aquisition of hardware (per EFI-X supported hardware). It will be another two weeks before I have everything to give more feedback.

[ranza]

@digitalkitty Do you know if theres anyway of running EFI off a netbook? ive opened my lenovo s10 just to check if theres room anywhere but i dont think ill be able to fit it.

Also one comment on the Boot 132 method. Do you know anything about this one? I could get a tiny usb stick that'll fit nicely on the side so that might be a possibility.

[fiercedeitylink1]

@digitalkitty Do you know if theres anyway of running EFI off a netbook? ive opened my lenovo s10 just to check if theres room anywhere but i dont think ill be able to fit it.

Also one comment on the Boot 132 method. Do you know anything about this one? I could get a tiny usb stick that'll fit nicely on the side so that might be a possibility.
I did the Boot 132 retail method on my Lenovo S10. It runs beautifully. And EFI emulation runs off a hidden partition native to GUID, you don't need to install any physical hardware.

Edit: oh, and EFiX basically doubles the price of the S10, so don't even think about it. ;)

[boze]

Many thanks to Colleen & Patrick. I have been tossing the idea of building a Hackintosh using EFi-X for awhile now, but thanks to this episode of Tekzilla, I've already ordered parts from Newegg and my EFi-X v1 from ExpressHD and my copy of Mac OS X Leopard from Apple.com. Every question that I could have asked was covered by Colleen, and with Patrick poking and prodding at just the right times, I felt like I got more than enough information to give this a whirl.

While I don't actually "need" an OS X-based machine per se, I've always wanted to play around with the Mac OS since my older brother is a web developer and uses Apple hardware and software extensively. This episode has shown me I can do it for about $600 or so (I already have a few supported parts lying around that I can use).

In fact, I have quite a few friends who need Apple machines for their school work, and I am considering showing this to them and building them a Hackintosh instead of seeing them (or more likely, their parents) throwing away $2499 + monitor on a Mac Pro.

Thank you again Colleen & Patrick.

[fiercedeitylink1]

I gotta say, I just reinstalled OS X with Boot 132 on my desktop (EP35-DS3L, E8400 at 3.8GHz, 4850) and I still don't see the need for EFiX. I wanted to do a fresh install for Final Cut Studio 3. :D

[sarkath]

I just watched Episode #97 and I apologize if someone has already mentioned this. But to remap the buttons on the 360 controller there is a piece of software called Switchblade. http://www.switchbladepro.com/

I hope this helps.

- Justin E.

[drd-aus]

Followed the recommended specs and got all of the parts from Newegg:

GA EP45-UD3L
WD 1TB Drive (OSX)
WD 1TB Drive (Win7)
PNY 9800GT
4GB RAM GSkill
E7400
DVD burner from Samsung
Generic PCI Firewire card
Cooler Master case with 500W PS
EFIX USB
Win7RC
OSX Box Set (OSX, iLife09, iWork09)
Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse

Notes:
Build and install was very easy and I went slow to test each section as it came on line.
On-board sound and Network OK
OSX sees Firewire card
When I boot into OSX I can access the Win7 disk :) but from the Win7 side Disk Manager sees the OSX disk as an unrecognized partition on an unlabeled disk :(.

So far I am very happy as I have two machines in one spending less than $1000 versus over $2000 for a Mac and another $700 for a PC.

[oldarney]

Followed the recommended specs and got all of the parts from Newegg:

When I boot into OSX I can access the Win7 disk :) but from the Win7 side Disk Manager sees the OSX disk as an unrecognized partition on an unlabeled disk :(.


use macdrive, ":D you may want to get version seven licensed first and then copy the license from version 7, uninstall version 7 and then install version 8 and copy the version seven license :D" for more information refer to the deamons of revision 3 chromatis.

[kyderdog]

The original hackintosh was an atari st.


The Magic Sac and the Spectre 128/GCR.. Both wonderful Gagets By Dave Small.

Anyone Knows what Happened to Daved Small?

[davmoo]

Before I sink big bucks in to one of those EFI-X gizmos, I got a quick Boot132 question for those of you in here suggesting it. If I set up a Hackintosh that way, will it multiboot between OSX and Vista and Linux as easily as the EFI-X device apparently does?

[fiercedeitylink1]

Before I sink big bucks in to one of those EFI-X gizmos, I got a quick Boot132 question for those of you in here suggesting it. If I set up a Hackintosh that way, will it multiboot between OSX and Vista and Linux as easily as the EFI-X device apparently does?
Yes, it's the same exact thing, just the EFiX takes longer to gain support and is a $200 flash drive.

[jeremyno]

Hi have you got some solution how to MAC OS on notebook?

[oldarney]

Hi have you got some solution how to MAC OS on notebook?

One Word, boot123. It allows you to place an EFIX like loader on a partition so that you can boot osx without any keys. Its less documented and requires fetching of drivers, not for the novice.

[computoman]

I remember Apple getting in a furor over the Atari ST running the old Motorola 68000 code with Apple MAC roms on disk using finder 6.x and 7.x so eventually you had to use a cartridge with the original Apple roms on it to be kosher. The Atari ST was in effect the first dual boot machine hackintosh, though, it was called the jackintosh affectionately after Jack Tramiel. My boss was read the riot act by Apple when we sold the original product.

[bendedavis]

Anybody order their EFI-X from expresshd.com? It says theres a wait time up to 21 days. I ordered an EFI-X v1.1 a few days ago. Just wondering how long it's taken for others to get their EFI-X?

[jonnywb]

Anybody order their EFI-X from expresshd.com? It says theres a wait time up to 21 days. I ordered an EFI-X v1.1 a few days ago. Just wondering how long it's taken for others to get their EFI-X?

Took me about a week and I live in the UK.

[bendedavis]

Took me about a week and I live in the UK.

Did you get the v1 or v1.1?

[jonnywb]

Did you get the v1 or v1.1?

v1, don't know whether that would make any difference.

[sembazuru]

I remember Apple getting in a furor over the Atari ST running the old Motorola 68000 code with Apple MAC roms on disk using finder 6.x and 7.x so eventually you had to use a cartridge with the original Apple roms on it to be kosher. The Atari ST was in effect the first dual boot machine hackintosh, though, it was called the jackintosh affectionately after Jack Tramiel. My boss was read the riot act by Apple when we sold the original product.

I'm trying to look up what product you are talking about. If it was the Magic Sac, then Atari beat the Amiga by only 1 year for the first hackintosh. (In 1988 the Amiga got A-Max that took Mac ROMs for emulation, and my web searches seem to indicate the Magic Sac was released in 1987.)

Yes, hackintoshes as a category have a long history.

[walinmichi]

After some hardware switching, and working with others, I have been successful in getting OS X installed and running with EFiX V1.1 on Core i7 with Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P motherboard. While I was waiting on help installing OS X (since unable with 10.5.6 on Core i7) I also got Ubuntu and Windows 7 setup on separate disks and all works well.

Only real pain was the Quartz Extreme issue which was due to the EFiX V1.1 not coming with latest firmware. After update all apps worked successfully.

Now time to overclock to 4 GHz... a hackintosh is never quite done.

[bendedavis]

After some hardware switching, and working with others, I have been successful in getting OS X installed and running with EFiX V1.1 on Core i7 with Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P motherboard. While I was waiting on help installing OS X (since unable with 10.5.6 on Core i7) I also got Ubuntu and Windows 7 setup on separate disks and all works well.

Only real pain was the Quartz Extreme issue which was due to the EFiX V1.1 not coming with latest firmware. After update all apps worked successfully.

Now time to overclock to 4 GHz... a hackintosh is never quite done.

I just got my v1.1 EFI-X and I'm having issues with Quartz Extreme and can't install Logic because of it. Also, efi-x.com seems to be down since this afternoon so I am unable to update my firmware.

[rydell]

After some hardware switching, and working with others, I have been successful in getting OS X installed and running with EFiX V1.1 on Core i7 with Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P motherboard. While I was waiting on help installing OS X (since unable with 10.5.6 on Core i7) I also got Ubuntu and Windows 7 setup on separate disks and all works well.

Only real pain was the Quartz Extreme issue which was due to the EFiX V1.1 not coming with latest firmware. After update all apps worked successfully.

Now time to overclock to 4 GHz... a hackintosh is never quite done.

So I just got the same components, and bought the retail OS X 10.5.6. Not knowing that I was supposed to somehow obtain 10.5.7. Did you get 10.5.6 working with the i7 or did you have to do something else?

@digitalkitty - Do you know if OS X 10.5.6 will work with the i7 and the GA-EX58-UD4P motherboard?

Thanks for the show. Best in a while.

[davmoo]

Has anyone tried Snow Leopard with the Efi-x device?

[computoman]

The Magic Sac and the Spectre 128/GCR.. Both wonderful Gagets By Dave Small.

Anyone Knows what Happened to Daved Small?

I really did not keep up with him.

[jjohnson]

So I just got the same components, and bought the retail OS X 10.5.6. Not knowing that I was supposed to somehow obtain 10.5.7. Did you get 10.5.6 working with the i7 or did you have to do something else?

@digitalkitty - Do you know if OS X 10.5.6 will work with the i7 and the GA-EX58-UD4P motherboard?

Thanks for the show. Best in a while.

You have to first connect your hard drive to an actual mac, install 10.5.6, then install the combo updater for 10.5.7 from the apple website. After this you just connect the efix to your mother board and set the bios.

[j2bfishn]

If any of you are looking for help putting together a hackintosh build, feel free to post in here, and I can help you through the process of design and install.
I really enjoyed you on Tekzilla with the hackintosh info. My question is do you know if the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 (rev. 1.0) motherboard will work.

[nofun]

this is not a dig, but here's a good article on the efi-x scam:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/asem-efix-mac-chameleon,8617.html

[davmoo]

this is not a dig, but here's a good article on the efi-x scam:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/asem-efix-mac-chameleon,8617.html

I seriously considered buying one of the efi-x devices. But when I considered that against articles like the one you link to (its not the first), posts disappearing from the efi-x forum (never a good sign), and the fact that half the time their own web site didn't work (also never a good sign), I decided I'd forget that purchase.

Oh, add to the list of "reasons to not buy" the fact that their Engrish sucks. In informal conversation like this forum I'd never hold it against someone that they don't use good English...its not everyone's native language. My own is nowhere near perfect, and I was born here :D. But on a web site trying to sell me a $280 product I consider bad usage of *any* language to be a black mark. Its simply not professional. With what they are charging for a device that might cost them $10 to make, surely they could have found one person with a good knowledge of English and paid him a hundred dollars to proof their site and forum intro.

[digitalkitty]

Hey guys,

As many of you have noticed, there has been a lot of controversy around the EFIX device. It seems that the guts of it are simply a run of the mill flash drive, and the code is made up largely of stolen open source code.

I would like to address these two issues.

First off, I really don't care what the guts of this device are. If it is a simple USB drive or something more sophisticated, it doesn't really matter. The service the EFIX offers is an ease of installation from a software perspective. Just as I mind buying expensive software, like operating systems, the lack of material complexity means nothing when the service it provides is valuable. I am paying for the time and effort that it took for engineers to create that magic, and I gladly do so. The fact of the matter is, I purchased an EFIX device, used it as described, and it worked perfectly for what it was supposed to do.

However.

There is a good deal of mounting evidence that there is stolen code from the OSX86 community inside of the device, used without permission. I do not support these sort of activities in any way at all.

I am reserving judgement until I know more, since it is extremely easy to jump to conclusions on the internet.

On the upside of all of this, should it turn out that all that is inside of this device is a standard USB key and some modified open source EFI bootloader software... that means a truly open source solution is not far off. How would you like to be able to make your own out of a $2 thumb drive you have laying around?

I will follow thats going on, and when I feel I have a clearer understanding of whats up, I will let you guys know.

[tech-junkies]

I think the EFI-X is a waste of time :X Sorry Veronica and Patrick. iAtkos v7 and iPC have built in bootloaders called Darwin bootloader. It is alot cheaper and alot better. They have software that actually lets you update your hackintosh. It would be the same as buying both the efi-x and the OS system with actually having to buy it. If you want to support apple and their OS, just buy the family pack of snow leopard because that can do wonders later when you update the hackintosh.

-Ron

[davmoo]

First, thanks for replying to that message, and the others. Even if the device turns out to be total dreck, I still enjoyed the segment you did. I hope you'll appear on Tekzilla more.

The fact of the matter is, I purchased an EFIX device, used it as described, and it worked perfectly for what it was supposed to do.

Since this seems to be one of the big complaints, is your device still working correctly after you've used it some? I'm assuming so, since you'd probably mention if it wasn't. But I'll ask anyway. Consider it my contribution from the Department of Redundancy Department :D

How would you like to be able to make your own out of a $2 thumb drive you have laying around?

I'm sorry that there have been a lot of $280 guinea pigs, but that would be a good outcome. The current open methods, in my opinion and experience, leave a bit to be desired. I've messed with Boot132 some, and I can get Leopard to install, but when it reboots I get a gray screen with a (moveable) mouse pointer, and that's all I get. I'm going to give iATKOS a whirl this weekend and see what happens with that.

[digitalkitty]

I think the EFI-X is a waste of time :X Sorry Veronica and Patrick. iAtkos v7 and iPC have built in bootloaders called Darwin bootloader. It is alot cheaper and alot better. They have software that actually lets you update your hackintosh. It would be the same as buying both the efi-x and the OS system with actually having to buy it. If you want to support apple and their OS, just buy the family pack of snow leopard because that can do wonders later when you update the hackintosh.

-Ron

You are missing the point.

iAtkos and iPC are distrobutions that you download. The point of the segment was to show people how to make a hackintosh using a RETAIL disk.

[jonnywb]

You are missing the point.

iAtkos and iPC are distrobutions that you download. The point of the segment was to show people how to make a hackintosh using a RETAIL disk.

If you can do that I would love you forever...
I can't help but be disappointed at my purchase, afaik there was no word on v1 not supporting snow leopard until it's release... and although I could have updated to 1.1, there's no way now after finding this out.

The only reason I like to keep this thing in at the moment is because it gives me the option to update leopard. If there was such a way to build a bootloader for use with snow leopard that would let me update, that would be perfect.

[computoman]

I feel for the Apple user community. With all the Apple hacks; Apple has to keep changing things. Ultimately the true "paid" user will be hurt by all this because they have to keep.up with all the changes by draining their pocketbook. We left apple hardware after the ppc was dumped. Thank god no more iratrace.

[davmoo]

Yeah, I feel sorry for Apple too. They're making so much money that they can hardly keep it counted without people working overtime.

Thinking that Apple is having any kind of financial hardship because of the Hackintosh community is as misinformed as thinking that Microsoft is facing financial hardship because of Linux.

[tech-junkies]

You are missing the point.

iAtkos and iPC are distrobutions that you download. The point of the segment was to show people how to make a hackintosh using a RETAIL disk.

True. I just suggested that you can use those. If you would like to use a retail disk then either use the Boot 132 or if you not really worried about the price then go with the EFI-X. To be honest i think the boot 132 method isnt that hard. Its actually better than spending a 100+.

[pkdesign]

I have another take on the hackintosh question. What if I have a perfectly good running version of 10.5.8 on a real mac but want to move the whole thing to a hacked PC? What do I need to do for that to happen? Do I use EFi-X or boot 132 or something else?

[jonnywb]

I have another take on the hackintosh question. What if I have a perfectly good running version of 10.5.8 on a real mac but want to move the whole thing to a hacked PC? What do I need to do for that to happen? Do I use EFi-X or boot 132 or something else?

Afaik, you just install the EFI bootloader and plug your hdd in. it should work as long as you have supported hardware and drivers... It's just the same way as before, apart from the fact you have OSX installed already.

It's unlikely that it'l work if you don't have the supported hardware though.

[tokenuser]

Afaik, you just install the EFI bootloader and plug your hdd in. it should work as long as you have supported hardware and drivers... Quick question - does drive format matter? I know the EFI-X module (and similar) are just bootable images, but do they support the native Apple HD format (HFS+), or do they require FAT32 to recognise the drive.

I have no idea on this - just asking.

[jonnywb]

I'm pretty sure it has to be HFS+

[boldfire]

EFI-X is apparently a scam, a $10 USB device using stolen code

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/asem-efix-mac-chameleon,8617.html

[davmoo]

EFI-X is apparently a scam, a $10 USB device using stolen code

If they've used GPLed code without obeying the GPL, then they should be nailed to the wall. And likewise if the device is defective they should be punished. But selling a $10 device for a couple hundred dollars is, in itself, not illegal, immoral, or unethical (or fattening). Its called capitalism and an open market. I see similar markups in other industries almost every day.

[tokenuser]

EFI-X is apparently a scam, a $10 USB device using stolen code

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/asem-efix-mac-chameleon,8617.htmlI think that was established earlier (http://revision3.com/forums/showpost.php?p=548072&postcount=220) ;)

[boldfire]

I think that was established earlier (http://revision3.com/forums/showpost.php?p=548072&postcount=220) ;)

Touché sir! Sorry about that :cool:

[tokenuser]

Touché sir! Sorry about that :cool:Its still an interesting story though.

[jonnywb]

Yep. I stupidly decided to use this method and eventually got screwed.
I've got an efi-x v1 lying around collecting dust, and I only purchased it after this episode was released.

I suggest that if you want to install mac on your pc, to use a guide similar to this:
http://lifehacker.com/5351485/how-to-build-a-hackintosh-with-snow-leopard-start-to-finish

-It's the one I used and it's working great for me!

Just take a look at this first:
http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/HCL_10.6.0

Drivers are the main problem, but if your hardware is on the efix compatibility list, then it should work fine anyway ...afaik.

=====

It might take a little trial and error, but it's worth it.

[celticdragon]

i just got my new EFIX V1.1 and it working Awesome I love my new HACKINTOSH. as a starving Graphic artist/mac & Pc technician this work out wonderfully for me . The only with draw is the Update Firmware take time to get when a new OS come out but i did only spend half the cost of a new MAC. Thanks Tekzilla for the in sight on this Toy.. Keep up with the good work ,,

[tokenuser]

Sucker born every minute.

[hitman2]

i am getting the parts together to build the Mac Pro killer, but I can not find the Intel BOXDX58S anywhere?!?!?!