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Geek blog for all things hackintosh, dslr video plus tweaking, hacking and modding your gear and gadgets.

19Jun/120

AMD Radeon 6970 GPU working in Lion, Intel HD4000 and other Kext Updates for Hackintoshing

netkas reported success in getting a AMD Radeon 6970 working in his hackintosh using Mac OSX 10.7 Lion. Besides that news the Nvidia Geforce gtx6xx among Intel HD4000 drivers are also working, as well as USB 3.0 kexts for Z77 based mainboards.

This is all due to the MBP 2012 release adding some drivers (kexts); but the 11G15 Mac OSX Lion 10.7.5 beta update also adds those drivers, so chose whatever way you want to get your 6970 up and running.

We can recommend the Radeon XFX HD 6970 2GB GPU for use with hackintosh. If you are unsure or want some customac built, there are some recommended people setting up hackintoshes in europe.

12Feb/120

osxfuse: successor to macfuse brings NTFS and lots of file systems to Mac OS X

Since I wanted to use write-support for Windows NTFS drives on Apple Mac OS X, I was researching on alternatives and possibilities. I knew about the macfuse FUSE Project (File System in Userspace), but since it was not maintained anymore - what would one do?

Meet FUSEOSX (FUSE for OS X), the successor to MacFuse.

FUSE for OS X allows you to extend OS X's native file handling capabilities via third-party file systems. OSXFUSE is a successor to MacFUSE, which has been used as a software building block by dozens of products, but is no longer being maintained.

FUSE for OS X allows you to extend OS X's native file handling capabilities via third-party file systems. OSXFUSE is a successor to MacFUSE, which has been used as a software building block by dozens of products, but is no longer being maintained.

As a user, installing the "FUSE for OS X" software package will let you use any third-party file system written atop "FUSE for OS X" or MacFUSE, if you choose to install the MacFUSE compatibility layer. As a developer, you can use the OSXFUSE SDK to write numerous types of new file systems as regular user space programs.

The most used extensions are SSHFS and NTFS-3G for Mac OS X, but there are lots of them out there.

6Feb/126

Sandy Bridge-E Intel 2011 Socket confirmed working with Hackintosh

[Update] Intel Socket 2011 does not only support Sandy Bridge-E, but also the upcoming Ivy Bridge-E Chipset, as outlined by one of our commenters. That makes the Socket-2011 Mainboards a perfect choice for a hackintosh system.

Many of us are waiting for an update to the Sandy Bridge (E) Chipset to the upcoming Intel Ivy Bridge (along with the release of new Apple Hardware), that would allow running the new Intel Chipset with Hackintoshed customac systems.

But what about Sandy Bridge-E?
Ivy Bridge will be Quad-Core. If you want more threads and cores, go for SB-E. Sandy Bridge-E as well as Ivy Bridge will have PCIe 3.0. SB-E has 40 PCIe lanes (compared to 16 lanes in Sandy Bridge) as well as 1600MHz memory speed (quad-channel memory) which should be around 33% faster in theory.

There are confirmed builds that can run Mac OSX 10.7 (Lion) as well as 10.6 (Snow Leopard) with the Intel Sandy Bridge-E (SB-E) X79 Chipset. Integrated Graphics are not supported, but who needs them anyway, since the AMD 6990 GPU or the upcoming 7990
Here is a list of the confirmed mainboards:

ASUS Asustek P9X79 Mainboard Socket S2011 hackintosh chimera

Asus P9X79 Deluxe (user: vonmolk)
$370 in the US, €299 in Europe

Pro: good build quality (compared to other versions of that board)
Cons: none. The Asus Rampage IV has even better build quality.

Gigabyte GA-X79-UD7 Mainboard Socket 2011 (ATX, DDR3 Speicher, SATA III, USB 3.0) Intel Hackintosh chimera

Gigabyte GA-X79-UD7 (user: machacks)
€297 in Europe, ??? in the USA

Pro: Awesome board! (nanofunk recommendation). Gigabyte has a longer history of hackintosh-capable boards, so get one of those.
Cons: none, really. Overclocking features could be better.

ASUS RAMPAGE IV EXTREME - LGA2011 - X79 - 8x DIMM - PCIe 3.0 Motherboards Hackintosh chimera

* ASUS Rampage IV Extreme (user: nfsking2)
$415 in the US, €369 in Europe

Pro: awesome build quality, extreme overclocking support.
Cons: expensive.

The MSI X79 Big Bang XPower II is suspected to work as well (once it becomes available). Theoretically, most of the X79 boards should work, we just have to wait and see what early birds (early adopters) are coming up with. Keep up the great work, ppl! (and don't forget to share your experiences in the comments below)

22Dec/112

kernel[0]: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero – A never-ending story about Adobe failing to get their Flash Player and Adobe Air Plugin to work on Mac OSX in a “normal” way.

kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero
kernel[0]: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero

With Mac OSX Lion 10.7.0, a message was repeatedly showing up in the Console.app, so the logfiles would grow in size - sometimes around 100 MB per minute. This is especially bad for SSD owners. While the issue was reported over 6 Months ago, and Flash Player 11 solved the amount of errors in the console, still the message appears and slows down OSX 10.7 systems.

At least the release of Adobe's Flash Player 11 solved the system freezes - but the Log message still is filling the kernel.log, so any debugging or search for errors is quite hard with that amount of data to read through.

If you are experiencing the same issues, please write your concerns to the Adobe Forums in the existing thread and alternatively also in the Apple Discussion Thread.

Nanofunk reported about this issue in july 2011, and we got over 60.000 unique visits to this post - so this is not a rare case, this is a serious bug with Adobe Flash and Adobe Air. We will post any updates to the situation to this blog, make sure to bookmark our feed.

See also:
* macrumors forum about kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero
* nanofunk: Mac OSX Lion 10.7 System Freezes: kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero (console message)

 

[Update] I posted to the Adobe Bugbase with a bug description. Hope they will respond now.

16Aug/110

Apple Releases OS X 10.7.1 with Fixes for Video in Safari, Audio Out, Wi-Fi and More

Apple released Mac OSX Lion 10.7.1 updates today, with the following release notes:

The 10.7.1 update is recommended for all users running OS X Lion and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability and compatibility of your Mac, including fixes that:

- Address an issue that may cause the system to become unresponsive when playing a video in Safari
- Resolve an issue that may cause system audio to stop working when using HDMI or optical audio out
- Improve the reliability of Wi-Fi connections
- Resolve an issue that prevents transfer of your data, settings, and compatible applications to a new Mac running OS X Lion

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4764.

There is not much fixed, at least not for the reported issues such as SSD TRIM support for non-apple SSDs and the well known flash issues.
Still, Seems more stable. There is a seperate update for 10.7.1 Server and another update specific to the latest MacBook Air and Mac mini models, adding a few additional fixes. (via macrumors)

7Aug/111

Should I use Trim Enabler on Lion for the OCZ Vertex (3)? No! (Benchmarks inside)

We recently blogged, after purchasing two OCZ Vertex SATA3 Drives (240GB) and inserting them with an Optibay setting (2 Drives in one MacBook Pro; see our previous post: 2011 Macbook Pro and SATA III 6Gbps, Optibay: two HD drives – setup explained).

We also blogged that enabling TRIM is a good thing, although it seems that it seems to be not necessary on Sandforce based chipsets.

Since we still were experiencing freezes and Sandballs on our Mac OSX Lion 10.7 SSD Setup that were actually not related to TRIM, also the system did not feel as snappy anymore.

Conclusion: don't use TRIM on OSX Lion 10.7, if you are using a Sandforce based SSD. Revert to the original driver and not only the Beachballs will go away, but also the system feels snappy again. See the below Benchmarks for real-life results (since AJA System Test does not work on internal drives, we can recommend using XBENCH to verify the figures for you).

XBENCH Screenshot with TRIM Enabled (using TRIM Enabler for OSX 10.7 Lion)
Screen Shot 2011 08 07 at 16 00 30

Screenshot of XBENCH without TRIM Enabler (Restored to original setting)

Screen Shot 2011 08 07 at 16 06 39

UPDATE: Grant Pannell (digitaldj.net) reports on how to restore to the original settings.

28Jul/118

Excessive Logging on Mac OSX 10.7 Lion: Repair the Keychain to solve the issues. ( deny file-read-data )

Lots of people complain about slow Mac OSX Lion performance, mostly caused by thousands of Log-Messages being written to the system log files. As Chief Tarun points out at the Apple Support Forums

I opened up the console app, and there were hundreds, if not thousands of logs just in the past 2 hours. And when I say 'get info' on Macintosh HD the used disk space is increasing every 5 to 10 seconds. This is the only concerning bug/glitch of noticed in Lion since upgrading.

I had exactly the same issue, checking my Console.app messages that told

"WebProcess(225) deny file-read-data /Users/foobert/Library/Application Support/Adobe/AIR/ELS/com.adobe.amp.4875E02D9FB21EE389F73B8D1702B320485DF8CE.1/ PrivateEncryptedDatak"

While one would think that uninstalling Adobe AIR would fix the issue, the problem resides at another point.

Solution:

1) Open "Keychain.app"
2) Go To "Keychain Access -> Keychain First Aid" to repair your Keychain.

Now the console messages disappeared and the system runs in "silent mode" again.

[Update] you console Messages might also be due to a bug in Adobe Flash and AiR, causing the messages "kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero" to appear in Console.app. You can read all about it in the nanofunk archives.

28Jul/1142

Mac OSX Lion 10.7 System Freezes: kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero (console message)

Some people experience system freezes on Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, but also on Snow Leopard: kernel: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero.
The Error is visible with Console.app ("All Messages" respectively "kernel.log")

To reproduce the issue:
1) click on "Clear Display" in Console.app
2) go to http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/ and the error will show up in the console.

The error must be Flash related. Sometimes, the whole System is unresponsive, freezing everything but the mouse. There is no official response from Adobe or from Apple, so we can only hope and wait. Please check your Console.app for this error and respond to any of the existing discussions.

Screen Shot 2011 07 28 at 11 52 25

[Update] the error message also seems to have surfaced in 10.6.4 already, as visible in the Apple Discussion Forums

[Update] installing the Adobe Flash Player 11.0 from Adobe Labs seems to at least minimize the freezes, but still the console messages appear.

[Update] i posted a poll on insanelymac to see which browsers and systems are affected. please also post your results there!

[Update] the new Beta 2 11.0.d1.98 of the flash player is out (thanks JP Hansen)

[Update] The Flash Player 11 is officially released. It seems though, that not all issues are resolved with Mac OSX Lion compatibility.

[Update 23.12.2011] more than 6 months after the issue was reported, (and we have Apple Mac OS X 10.7.2 and 10.7.3 in beta) there is still no update on this issue from Adobe. Please write your concerns to the Adobe Forums in the existing thread to have them fix the issues! Especially for SSD owners this is unacceptable!

Existing Discussions:

* Nanofunk.net discussion thread in the Adobe Flash Player Forums
* Thread in the Apple Support Communities Forum
* Thread on MacRumors Forums regarding Lion Freezes with kernel: IOSurface

[Update] I posted to the Adobe Bugbase with a bug description. Hope they will respond now. Please, support our effort by filing another report at the Adobe Bugbase!

[Update 2012-2-22] still, the ticket in Adobe Bugbase is open, although there were several patches and bugfixes to Adobe Flash Player 11.1 (11.1.102.62 as of today).

[Update] Adobe recently closed the bug report. This is very bad news, since lots of people are experiencing this issue. I cannot believe how bad the Adobe support and bugfixing guidlines are.

22Jul/113

Mac OSX 10.7 Lion updating annoyances: Scolling, Versioning and no TRIM!

While Apple's 10.7 Lion OS looks much more like GNOME like any other previous version of OSX, is comes with lots of annoyances. People using an SSD drive might have to update, since it finally supports the TRIM command, there are also lots of annoying features you might want to get rid of:

1) No TRIM support out of the box if you are using your own SSD (not Apple's)

Screen Shot 2011 07 22 at 10 36 06

This is ridicolous: TRIM only seems to work for Apple buit-in SSDs. There is a tool by groths.org that will do the trick: TRIM Enabler, which works for Lion and for Snow Leopard as well. You might want to consider enabling this feature, since TRIM will make your Solid State Drive last longer, due to less writes to the cells.

2) Mouse scrolling direction got reversed: how to revert

Apple decided to reverse the mouse scolling on 10.7 Lion, meaning you have to scroll your mousewheel up to actually move the on-screen content down. Here is a screenshot from System Preferences, where you can change that "feature" to the way it was before: simply uncheck the box left to "Move content in the direction of finger movement when scrolling or navigating".

Screen Shot 2011 07 22 at 10 30 53

3) Disabling the "Resume" feature

The "Resume" Feature in Mac OS X Lion restores the state of the application windows, when re-opening an application. Since I definitely do not need this feature, here is a way to turn it off: just uncheck the left box next to "Restore windows when quitting and re-opening apps" in System Preferences -> General

Screen Shot 2011 07 22 at 10 58 34

4) Disabling "Versions" feature in Mac OSX 10.7 Lion

Versions should't be a problem unless you are using Time Machine. MacRumors has a forum post on disabling that features.

5) Other (small) annoyances

Google Chrome does not get moved with an update ( Chrome vanishes with Lion 10.7 Update)

This is also very strange: the Google Chrome Browser did not get moved on my Lion update. I had to re-download Google Chrome.app. At least the Application Support files got moved, so I did not lose any browsing history or bookmarks.

Dropbox needs to be reinstalled: special Lion build

The dropbox right-click features dissappear when updating to Lion. Download the Latest Forum Build of Dropbox that is Lion compatible (1.2.16 at the time of writing this entry)

 

Other interesting reviews about Mac OSX 10.7 Lion can be found here:

* Time Magazine on OSX Lion: "With OS X Lion, Apple's Macs Enter the iPad Era"
* Engadget: "Apple OS X Lion (10.7) review"

11Jul/110

Apple to Release Updated MacBook Air and Mac Pro & Mac OSX Lion 10.7 on July, 14th

According to 9 to 5 Mac and Macrumors, the "reliable tipster 'Mr. X'" has revealed that Apple will be releasing new MacBook Air and Mac Pro models this week alongside OS X Lion. While Mr. X has not offered a specific release date, it appears that Apple may be targeting this Thursday, July 14th for the hardware launch alongside OS X Lion.

Macbook air mac pro lion 1

New hardware also means new kexts for the hackintosh community and possibly also price drops on refurbished Mac Pro systems and refurbished MacBook Air models.

10Jul/110

Install Mac OS X Lion 10.7 on PC Hackintosh

Its now possible to Install Mac OS X 10.7 Lion on your PC with the standard Hackintosh techniques. That means, everything stays the same to get your hackintosh up and running, no worries. More information on the geeknizer blog entry or alternatively, watch the video below:

Steps to install OSX Lion:
1. Get the "GM" (Golden Master) of Lion via torrent
2. Get an EFI Boot Loader
3. Get a decent 8GB USB thumb drive and install the Golden Master on there.
4. Install using iBoot.

You can get detailed information on installing Mac OSX Lion 10.7 by reading the geeknizer blog howto.

[UPDATE] tonymacx86 showed how to Install OS X 10.7 Lion on any Supported Intel Core 2 or Core i based PC with xMove + MultiBeast. Furthermore, there is a Mac OSX Lion v10.7.2-HOTiSO that should also boot from any PC. Don't forget that you need to buy Apple Mac OS X Lion from the App Store to legally use it.

2Mar/114

hackintosh: XPC Bootloader Can Boot Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

[Update 2012]: using Multibeast is the preferred way to install 10.7 Lion or 10.8 Mountain Lion
see the Nanofunk Post: Booting and Installing Mac OSX 10.7 and 10.8 Mountain Lion on Hackintosh

"lion is booting with some old xpc version" ~ Netkas

Some people are claiming to boot the recent Mac OSX 10.7 Lion with the XPC Bootloader project. More and more voices are popping up, so I am just pointing in the right direction, since "Any and all information about downloading and installing Lion, as well as any details are under Non-Disclosure Agreement from Apple.". You probably find updates on Netkas' Blog as well.

UPDATE: see a posting/ short guide on a popular board as well: Mac OS X 10.7 Lion [Beta/HowTo]

   
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