Welcome!   Today I'm going to attempt to install Mac OS on my AMD Phenom system.      I've decided to blog the process, so grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy!

System Specs

Abit AN78GS Motherboard (nForce 730a)
AMD Phenom 9500+ (Quad Core) 
3GB DDR-1066 RAM
Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB
M-Audio Delta 1010LT Audio Interface (I'll be stoked if I can get this to work)
Western Digital 160GB SATA (Could be difficult to get working)
Seagate 250GB External USB Drive (This will be the OSx86 install disk) 

OSX will run on a number of hardware configurations, but people seem to have the best luck with Intel chipsets.   Installing on my Nvidia chipset could prove to be challenging.    Check out the OSx86 Project Wiki for compatible hardware.

 

Obtaining an OSX disc

I downloaded iDeneb v1.4 (OSX 10.5.6) from the interwebs...   You're on your own with this step.     To best follow along with my post, it would be wise to obtain this same release.   

 

Burning the ISO

Use your favorite app to burn the ISO to a DVD.    I used PowerISO, but any app should work.     If you don't know how to burn an ISO you probably should stop now and go buy a real Mac.

 

Installing

Seagate 250 GB External USB

Now the fun begins!    I have opted to install to my Seagate 250GB USB drive since I am doubtful that the installer will detect my SATA drive.

 

1. First, place the DVD in your drive tray and boot the OSX installer.      The booting process will vary depending on your machine.   You may need to enter BIOS to rearrange your boot order, or hit a hotkey to instruct the system to boot from DVD (see screenshot).

Boot

 

2. Next you will see the Darwin bootloader.      I suggest hitting "F8" at the prompt and selecting "-v" from the boot options.     This enables verbose messaging so you will know if there are any issues.

Darwin Bootloader

 

3. As the installer loads you will see a bunch of messages fly across the screen, and if all goes well you will be greeted by the glorious Apple loading screen!

Apple loading screen

My installation failed at first because my DVD was dirty.   I cleaned it with a t-shirt and tried again.    This time the installer loaded just fine.

 

 

4. The next few steps are simple.    Select your language, and agree to the software license.

 

5. Once you've accepted the licensing agreement you will be given the option to select your installation disk.     It is unlikely that you will have an Apple partition already, so you must enter the disk utility to prepare a drive for OSX to use.

Disk Utility

 

6. The disk utility will load and show your available drives.    As I suspected, my SATA drives are not present, but I can see both of my USB drives.    Select the drive you would like to install OSX on, and choose "Erase."     This will format the drive using Mac OS Extended (journaled) and then mount the drive for the installer.   NOTE: This will wipe your entire drive.    Please exercise caution during this step.

Select Drive

Erase

 

7.   Now close out of the disk utility, select your newly formatted drive, and click "Continue"

Destination

 

8. This next step is probably the most important.   You must select "Customize" and tweak the installation for your system.

Customize

 

9.  The iDeneb install disc provides a number of alternate kernels and drivers to accommodate a variety of hardware configurations, so feel free to experiment here.     These are the packages I installed ->

Chipset -> AppleNForceATA Test (Hopefully this will get my SATA drives working)
Kernel -> Kernel 9.5.0 Voodoo (This is the only kernel that worked with my AMD system)
Ethernet -> nForce Ethernet  (LAN)
Video -> Nvidia -> NVdarwin -> NVdarwin 320mb (for my GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB)

 

10.   Once you've selected your customizations, click next and begin the install!    Cross your fingers and hope for the best.

Installing

 

11.  Once the install is complete your system will reboot and OSX will load.       Watch the Apple intro video and pat yourself on the back.   If you've made it this far you're doing pretty damn good.   Click through the registration process and enjoy your new operating system!

OSx86 AMD

OSx86

 

Troubleshooting!

But wait, we're not done yet!    I've got a somewhat functional Hackintosh, but my SATA drives still aren't working.    I also need to track down my audio drivers.    So check back tomorrow for DAY 2 of my Hackintosh challenge!

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