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Hackintoshing with Snow Leopard

27 October 2009 6,203 views 33 Comments
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I’ve been intrigued by Snow Leopard (OSX 10.6) ever since it came out. Sure, many people hail it as the king of bugfixes (just like what Windows 7 is to Vista), but it does sport some pretty nifty features beneath that facade which are unseen.

Anyhow, in keeping with the times, we needed a new Mac-based machine in the office and I decided to get grimy and build one with Snow Leopard AND Windows. Yup, dual-booting it’s called. Over the weekend, I encountered numerous grey screens of death, hung computers and problems of every kind – I just could not believe how others said this motherboard was the easiest to install on. After awhile, I decided to return it to the store and get another unit, JUST IN CASE the motherboard had problems (which HARDLY ever happens, right?). Whaddya know… the install was flawless after I swapped it!

I haven’t got oodles of tips and tricks to share, but here are some of the things I did to get it going.

  1. If you haven’t heard of the all-time-awesome-kickass-Lifehacker-Snow-Leopard-install, then you simply must. It’s a prerequisite to building a hackintosh. Read here.
  2. Do as Lifehacker tells you – go prepare your thumbdrive with the install files, then come back here.
  3. Also, go procure your hardware – for BEST-est results, do get the Gigabyte EP45-UD3L, EP45-UD3R or EP45-UD3P motherboards. They allow you to pretty much get the retail Snow Leopard working out of the box. Any current NVIDIA graphics card will do. I got the 9400GT which has HDMI, DVI and VGA ports. As for the processor, any Core2Duo/Core2Quad ones are fine. I used a Q9400 Intel Quad Core CPU.
  4. Set your BIOS settings – this is important for the system to run optimally. The only settings you really need to modify are in “Integrated Peripherals” – set the ICH SATA Control Mode to AHCI [default is IDE] and Onboard SATA/IDE Ctrl Mode to AHCI [default is IDE].
  5. Now, proceed to boot with the thumbdrive – you have to configure your BIOS boot options to select the thumbdrive.
  6. Everything else is pretty dead easy (from going to Tools-Disk Utility and partitioning the hard drive), to installing the OS.
  7. Complete the installation process and when the machine reboots, let the thumbdrive boot again. On the OS selection screen, select the internal hard drive you installed it to. (The reason you do this is because the bootloader isn’t installed on the internal drive yet – don’t worry if you don’t understand this gibberish!).
  8. Now, download the file mentioned in Lifehacker (EP45UD3P Snow Leopard.pkg zip) and run it, but install it on the internal drive.
  9. That’s it really! If you’d like to run Software Update to upgrade to 10.6.1, you may do so (that’s the latest version as of today) – nothing adverse will happen.

If you’d like to dual boot between the Mac OS and Windows, here’s a spanner that gets thrown in.

  1. After booting into the installation (Step 5 above), go to Tools-Disk Utility and create 2 partitions. (Practical tip: make them slightly different sizes so you can identify them easily later in your Windows install). On one partition, set it to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and on the second, set it to FAT32. Do click on Options and set the Partition Map scheme to GUID.
  2. After the partitioning and formatting is done, close the window and return to the installer. You can resume with Step 7 above.
  3. After you’re done with the Mac OS installation, pop in your Windows DVD and change the boot sequence in BIOS. I’m using Vista (*puke*) as I’ve got a legit licence for it. Let the DVD boot up.
  4. Click on Repair your computer link, then click Next and select Command Prompt.
  5. At the black screen, type diskpart [enter].
  6. Then type select disk 0 [enter].
  7. Type list partition [enter].
  8. You will see a list of your partitions with numbers on the side. You need to select the one you intend to install Windows on.
  9. Type select partition xx [enter] (where xx is the number you identified in Step 8).
  10. Type active [enter].
  11. Return to the Windows installer and continue to install Windows on the designated partition.
  12. When you’re done, Windows will boot by default (hey, where’s my Mac installation?).
  13. Don’t worry, you just need to download a program called EasyBCD that will easily tweak the Windows boot manager. Download it here.Hackintosh PC - Setting up EasyBCD
  14. Run it and go to Add/Remove Entries. Select the Mac tab.
  15. Select Generic x86 PC and give it a name you like – Mac OS works well. Click Save.

There you have it… A Mac and a PC cohabitating on the same hard drive. How sweet is that…? Here’s the bootloader screen that gives you the option to select your OS.

Hackintosh and PC dual boot screen

Here’s my setup before I put it into a “nicer” casing. 2 friends commented that a hackintosh is function without form – I totally agree, and think that Hackintoshes are like Frankenstein – an ugly brute with force. Macs are the princess with elegance but less power.

Hackintosh case

Now, write a comment and let me know if you’ve had success. Please don’t ask questions such as, “will this XYZ motherboard work?” – this short tutorial is solely for the EP45-UD3R and similar variants. If you want it to work, get this motherboard. I’ll try to put a video together when I work on the next installation of this setup, but it may take awhile…

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33 Comments »

  • Noah said:

    It can’t be that simple… I’m building one this week, and I will be following your tips. I’ve got an EX58-UD4P, which I hope works as well as yours did…

    # 5 November 2009 at 6:26 am
  • TheBackpackr (author) said:

    I wish you every success, Noah! Do update me on how it goes. It is pretty simple with the EP45-UD3R board.

    I’ve got another 2 units to build, and I will TRY to get a video squeezed in.

    # 7 November 2009 at 12:18 am
  • Axoth said:

    I am having a bit of trouble selecting the drivers for my install, my Ethernet driver doesn’t show up,
    should i use the AC97 Audio for my Soundmax Digital Audio?
    and the NVinject 0.2.1 128MB for my GeForce 6600GT?
    (all this is on my Asus A85 X motherboard with AMD)

    Please help me I am a bit new to hackintosh =)

    # 8 November 2009 at 4:36 am
  • TheBackpackr (author) said:

    Sorry @Axoth, as mentioned, I can only answer questions related to the motherboard I used. I haven’t had experience with the Asus A85 X – go search online for help, someone else may have done it.

    # 11 November 2009 at 10:58 am
  • Noah said:

    well, unfortunately, it didn’t work for me. I tried doing it on an external drive and it just froze my POST screen up when I had my drive connected via USB. Couldn’t get into my BIOS or anything :-/

    # 11 November 2009 at 11:00 am
  • Axoth said:

    hello once again,

    I installed Windows 7 into a partition on my hard drive first then install iatkos v7 into the second partition, how would I achieve this?

    I have also search online for the the AC97 sound driver but I ask you, is it compatible with my Soundmax digital audio card? No hope for online searching for me….

    # 11 November 2009 at 2:57 pm
  • Jeff said:

    hey man, I stumbled on your site looking for the best way to dual boot, and your guide got me working 100% clear and concise instructions- thanks a lot! Dual boot OSX 10.6.2 and Windows 7 64!

    # 14 November 2009 at 6:07 pm
  • Alex said:

    I’ve read that the UD3L has no available patches for sound, since it has a different chipset. Did you have to use any patches at all or kexts when using the UD3R, it was as simple as setting bios options, and installing snow leopard, then when it rebooted everything worked?

    # 27 November 2009 at 10:23 am
  • Kokanee said:

    Thanks. Worked like a charm!

    >K<

    # 1 December 2009 at 9:01 am
  • TheBackpackr (author) said:

    I did not have to use any patches whatsoever with the UD3R. Everything from ethernet to sound to video just worked like a charm. If anyone is serious about building a hackintosh, I’d say go get the right hardware, you will save hours upon hours (and frustration) of time.

    # 1 December 2009 at 11:58 am
  • Alex said:

    Thanks for the guide! I used the EP45-UD3R, Q9400, EVGA 9500GT, and everything worked great. The only issues I’m having is with Time Machine, it won’t start backing up no matter what. There is also something wrong with Bonjour I think. In iTunes, I can’t access any other iTunes libraries on my network, and I can’t connect my iPod touch with the remote app to iTunes because it doesn’t popup in the device list. If anyone has a solution to these problems, let me know!

    # 14 December 2009 at 2:29 am
  • Snake222 said:

    Does this method only work for intel CPUs? Can anyone confirm that it does not work with AMD?

    Thanks!

    # 22 December 2009 at 1:52 am
  • Alex said:

    @Snake222 The CPU doesn’t matter as much as the motherboard does. You need to use the EP45-UD3R or EP45-UD3P with this guide, as they have the same chipsets, and only accept socket 775 Intel CPUs.
    So no, AMD CPUs/motherboard will not work with this guide.

    # 25 December 2009 at 2:45 am
  • ben said:

    but the windows partition is not ntfs… can you do win7 on ntfs and osX on HFS+… that’s what im trying to do… and failing…

    # 13 January 2010 at 10:48 am
  • TheBackpackr (author) said:

    The Windows partition has to be NTFS in order for it to work. You can have HFS+ and NTFS cohabitating on the same physical drive.

    # 13 January 2010 at 12:56 pm
  • Dima said:

    Hey, I made a netbook hackintosh out of a lenovo s10, the motherboard I am unsure of but its an intel Atom processor, my question being, can this process work for my netbook or are the specs way too differnt?

    # 26 January 2010 at 11:00 am
  • Alex said:

    @Dima This guide is for use with a desktop PC with the specs shown. There are many other guides available though to get OSX working on various netbooks. I suggest looking for one of those with your model.

    # 26 January 2010 at 1:03 pm
  • JaimeS said:

    This guide was simple and awesome! Everything works perfect, thanks a lot for posting this. Just one question, is there any way to drag and drop files between the 2 OS’s since when I’m using OS X I can see the Windows partition on my desktop, thanks for the help.

    # 31 January 2010 at 6:53 am
  • Alex said:

    @JamieS Not really. It’s weird the way they see each other, I stopped messing with windows because one time it saw OS X as unpartitioned space and it deleted everything that was on my OS X partition. I would recommend using a flash drive or external hard drive if you wish to transfer files. You also stated that everything works perfect? Does Time Machine work for you?

    # 31 January 2010 at 11:46 pm
  • JaimeS said:

    @Alex
    Yes, I was already running the hackintosh described in the lifehacker guide for about a month before stumbling onto this dual-boot guide so I backed everything up with time machine and formatted my drive into two partitions as described here.

    # 1 February 2010 at 7:26 am
  • Alex said:

    @JamieS
    Oh, so you’re using the UD3P?
    I have the UD3R and I really want to use Time Machine but when I tell it to backup it just doesn’t start.

    # 1 February 2010 at 7:29 am
  • Alex said:

    @TheBackpackr
    Does Time Machine work with you on your setup?

    # 1 February 2010 at 8:07 am
  • TheBackpackr (author) said:

    Yup, everything works. And I’m using the UD3R as I need firewire.

    # 1 February 2010 at 10:39 am
  • Alex said:

    Here’s a screenie of the issue I’m having http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt1pGWQ5bGw
    Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    # 1 February 2010 at 11:12 am
  • Joe said:

    @ Alex: I have the same exact problem Alex! I tried everything but it always schedule the backup for another time but never backs anything up. Please help.

    # 3 February 2010 at 2:32 am
  • Rondale said:

    just got a question I’ve hit a slight speed bump in the installation process it goes fine until the restart and I have to press the arrow key to bring up the menu it isnt responding so it goes straight back to the beginning of the install please help

    # 13 February 2010 at 1:18 pm
  • edduay said:

    hi! i been trying to do all sorts but no luck still got stuck the apple logo(gray)…i’m using 9400GT asus GPU, ASUS p5QL pro, i will try to buy the UD3 later. but if you can help me with this one. pls do! i’ got the retail of both snow and 10.5 leo got the kalaway and efi still the same…they say it works well with P5 motherboard but i dont know whats wrong! pls help!

    # 18 February 2010 at 5:12 am
  • Dave said:

    I just built with a GA-EP45-UD3P, Q8300, GeForce 7300 LE Graphics Card and Intel EtherExpress Pro/100+.
    The procedure went flawlessly except OSX wouldn’t recognize the ethernet card, although it worked on a previous hackintosh. I enabled one of the motherboard LAN ports which OSX saw fine. It is dual booting with Windows 7.
    Time Machine does not work.
    Thanks for the procedure.

    # 18 February 2010 at 3:27 pm
  • Dave said:

    Found fix for Time Machine.
    Was getting Unable to get UUID messages in log.
    This link has code to be added to the NetworkInterfaces.plist

    http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,83.0.html

    Just cut and paste the code into the plist. Had to give myself write permission to save.
    I then rebooted (not sure if necessary) and Time Machine was happy to backup.
    Not sure what Network Interfaces has to do with backing up, but it works.

    # 20 February 2010 at 3:03 am
  • Alex said:

    @Dave
    Thank you so much! The fix for Time Machine worked!!!

    # 20 February 2010 at 11:31 am
  • Alex said:

    @Rondale
    You need to enter the BIOS and under Integrated Peripherals, Enable USB Keyboard Support. Let it restart and you should be able to use your keyboard now.

    # 20 February 2010 at 11:35 am
  • Rondale said:

    Thanks alot alex everythings working as they should now

    # 23 February 2010 at 12:11 am
  • Joe said:

    @ Dave and Alex

    I am still having the Time Machine problem even after editing the networkpreferences.plist. What am I doing wrong?

    # 10 March 2010 at 1:24 pm

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