Installing Mac OS X Leopard on Custom Computer?

Question

I have built many computer to run with XP and Vista. A customer of mine asked me if it was possible to build a computer and install Mac OS X Leopard on it. I have no doubt that I can build the computer (Western Digital HDD, Intel 2.8Ghz processor, 4GB Ram, Nvidea 750i Mobo) but I am not sure if a retail copy of Leopard will install or not? Also not sure about drivers. Does the system install disk have the drivers or do I need to find the drivers for each component?

Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

You have to be selective about the processor type. Best bet is Intel Core 2 Duo. Also, if the board is one of the new types that use EFI instead of BIOS, all the better. MSI is making some. EFI can be emulated, if you feel stuck with old-style PC BIOS MB. A Leopard retail DVD has drivers for any of the video cards /chipsets used by Apple from about 2006 until now as well as Firewire 400 / 800, USB 2.0, gigabit ethernet, and the audio chipsets used by Apple. There is nothing for video or audio that doesn't match what Apple sells. As you know, sometimes that is critical, sometimes not. Search online for "OSX86" and "hackintosh". Ignore the endless discussions about making Tiger work. Leopard is another story. Bear in mind that what works for one hardware configuration may not work for you.



The Apple install DVD isn't typically used right out of the box for an X86 PC. Typically, a custom-burned install DVD must be built. A new process called "boot-132" is able to use the stock Apple Leopard install DVD with a little help from other files. It appears to be little more than a disc switching slight of hand. See the first link below.



I can't imagine why you would spend the time to do this. It will probably take you several hours of study and more hours of preparation before you can get a working hackintosh. For a one-of-a-kind system for yourself, it will go unnoticed, but if you think you will start and assembly line process of turning out Mac clones, read about Psystar and the legal issues they are facing.



If your customer really needs /wants to use OS X, he should buy a slightly used Mac Pro or PowerMac G5 (no Snow Leopard for the G5, and no Windows dual boot for the G5 without Kju, second link below). That will keep him happy without having to run back to you for a reinstall of updated versions later (Software Update doesn't work with hackintoshes) or for reinstall after some problem comes up. A quad core 2.5GHz G5 will be faster than a Core Duo 2.8GHz PC.

Answer 2

First, you are correct that you need a full Retail copy of Leopard (or Snow Leopard) - it won't work with a Restore disk and most of the "patched" or otherwise modified copies online will only work on specific hardware with specific bootloaders (in addition to being pirated). A buddy and I made a Hackintosh from scratch using the i7 quad and an un-modified copy of OS X. It worked.....mostly. There were some issues with perfials, a few sound card tweaks we had to do, and even now we get a kernel panic about 70% of the time after a reboot so we have to keep it on and in sleep mode all the time. It's awesome and the whole deal was about $1500 (and it's basically a $5000 MacPro with an i7 processor, which Apple doesn't offer) but it's an on-going project and you have to have a lot of knowledge in both system building and OS X to get it to work well, and to deal with issues that come up. Overall it was a fun project but not something I'd do as my primary computer. He's actually thinking of loading Win7 and selling it to buy a new 27" iMac. We used the RebelEFI bootloader but there are other bootloaders that are pretty easy to use.Just do a little research on the custom build Hackintoshs and decide what bootloader version best fits your needs. Now, I DID install Leopard on my Dell Mini 9 with no problems what so ever. That little HackBook is killer and runs 100% all the time. I haven't had to do any special tweaks since the first install. I used the NetBookInstaller EFI bootloader and it was smooth sailing. I think I'm going to try with Snow Leopard soon, but it's a slick little beast. Just do your homework, be ready for things that don't work like they are supposed to, and set aside a lot more time that you think you'll need for the build and install.

Answer 3

search google for osx86 project. your questions will be answered there.