Lab46 Wiki

Who's to say it is impractical, unethical or impossible(besides Apple of course)? we're computer people right? We use tools to accomplish our goals and sometimes we need to re-appropriate those tools…Personally I have had the need for new Mac Mini or MacBook Pro…but alas I lack the funds for I am but a humble community college student. I have other computers…I own them, don't it? shouldn't I have a say to what software runs on the hardware I own? (In all actuality no, but I'm sure you've indulged into the world of unethical computing as well…) At my office sits an Acer Nettop with a 1.66GHz Pinetrail atom chip, Nvidia 1st gen ION graphics, 3GB of DDR2 memory and a 160GB HDD at 5400RPM. Those specifications should surly be sufficient for web development on Snow Leopard.

1. A retail copy of Snow Leopard(Seriously, this is the only way I can justify this project).
2. A copy of Psystar EFI rebel, Psystar has gone out of business…but I still possess a copy of their software. Perhaps you can find it with a Google query?
3. Access to KEXT databases (Google is your friend. These are kernel modules(or kernel extensions), they are a lot like drivers for proprietary hardware not native to Darwin.
4. A KEXT module loader(because being a script kiddie rocks! Right..? ha). If you're up for a challenge and would like to load the kext's yourself, this is something I will go over…but I will be using program to inject my kext files.
5. chameleon EFI boot loader(google is your friend)
6. Be able to realize the power of your creative mind…for you may then bend the raw potential of computing to your will!

• A better understanding of how apple markets their software. Apple is a hardware company in my opinion, this means you buy the apple hardware and their software is an exclusive bonus. Apple claims their software will run on only their hardware, why? Should the best of unix be reserved for only one hardware vendor?
• An understanding of the importance of Kernel extensions or KEXT files. Assuming you're hardware will not run using generic KEXTs it will be crucial to be able to look up your hardware id's and find the appropriate KEXT.
• making use of limited resources to manage a more complex system. This is important because administrators need to think outside the box to find solutions to abstract problems, perhaps you require a machine with extremely specific hardware to run Mac OS X for a scientific research project?

Step one. -If your BIOS supports EFI instances make sure to enable it. It is a good idea to reformat your hard drive to HFS+ before booting. To do this you will need another macintosh to reformat the volume. Open disk utility, select your disk and erase it.

Step two. -Return your hard drive to your machine and make sure everything is a go for boot up.

Step three. -boot into EFI rebel and select “Install mac OS X” EFI rebel will now spoof darwin into thinking it is running on a real apple branded logic board. Psystars EFI rebel is a lot like the open source Chameleon software, EFI rebel is no longer available for direct download but there are ways to get it. Once EFI rebel initializes it will ask you to insert your *retail copy* of Snow Leopard. (please use a retail copy it's only $30 and it's the right thing to do).

Step four. -Mac OS X will now boot! Once you've entered the installer feel free to set your own installation specifications and proceed with the installation, this should take roughly 45 minutes. *Don't be alarmed when the installation fail!* this will happen indefinitely…simply reboot your system using EFI rebel and your basic installation on Mac OS X should be fine.

Step five -you now have a pseudo complete installation of Mac OS X…now we need KEXTs! kernel extensions are like software modules that allow your hardware and software to communicate. I am going to use a KEXT injector to automatically insert my specific systems KEXT files. If you're looking for a more hands on approach you can load the KEXTs manually by inserting them into their proper place in your /Library folder *Do this at your own risk* (it's great to understand the technology, if fact you should…but in some cases it's better to just get core functions working properly). The OSX86 project might point you in the right direction when your looking for your KEXTs.

Step five. -Only update if necessary, for instance…if you're using an Intel Atom processor you should not update past 10.6.1 unless you find a patch…that's up to you.

Step six. -Enjoy your new Hackintosh! You have come one step closer toward digital enlightenment! :)