Security Update 2010-001 on Hackintosh

Apple this week released Security Update 2010-001 for Leopard and Snow Leopard Systems. The Update offers fixes for CoreAudio, CUPS, Flash Player, ImageIO, ImageRAW and OpenSSL and is a recommended update for all Leopard and Snow Leopard Users. I have now had a chance to install and test the update on my main Hackintosh and can report no found issues so far, so anyone using a similar method of installation should be fine to install through Software Update.

Over the past week I have done a re-install of Snow Leopard on my main Hackintosh, following some small irritations with permissions on the original install. As usual I made a backup to another hard drive then imported my user account and applications once Snow Leopard was patched to 10.6.2. This time round I have used a Boot132 CD and Chameleon 2 RC4, so over the next week I hope to update my original Snow Leopard on Hackintosh guide and create a new one to reflect the new method.

Hackintosh – The Next Generation Part 2

Part 1 of this article detailed the hardware used for the install, so I’m now going to detail the steps involved in installing using the Boot132 method. There are some software packages that are useful to have ready to go on a flash drive to ensure they are accessible if your network is not working after a vanilla install.

• The 10.5.5 combo update if you are installing from a 10.5 retail DVD
• OSX86Tools for easy driver and EFI string setup
• Chameleon DFE for Hard Disk from this post, link at Mediafire

Hackintosh – The Next Generation Part 1

The last few days have been spent experimenting with the newest method of installing Mac OS 10.5 on non-Apple hardware. This is achieved using a boot CD called Boot132. The basic idea is that the CD starts the boot process and loads Darwin and the modified kernel extensions necessary to get Mac OS working with standard PC hardware. Once these are loaded you choose the media you wish to continue booting from, which can be the install DVD or a hard drive. Boot132 can be used on a CD or a USB flash drive, but I used the burn to CD method for simplicity.

My previous installation was from a Kalyway DVD, updated through to 10.5.5 with individual updates. This has worked for several months with a few minor issues, so there wasn’t an urgent need for a fresh install. The main reason was the ability to use software update to install the Mac OS point updates when installing using the Boot132/retail DVD method. I also hoped there would be a fix for the slow USB flash drive write speeds I have been experiencing. The theory is that the closer we can get to a standard Macintosh install, the fewer problem we experience in general use and upgrades.

Recent Hackintosh advances

It’s been a few months since I built my hackintosh, and it continues to work very well with few problems. In the months since I built it there have been some interesting advances in ease of setup, so I’m taking a look at some of these over the next few days. The ultimate goal of this is to try a fresh installation starting with boot132/chameleon and an unmodified Leopard DVD.

Another of the new tools that greatly simplifies the setup of your new install is osx86tools. The app presents an easy to use graphical interface to the actions that typically require terminal use to achieve. This includes setting permissions for the extensions folder, clearing cache’s, update prebinding, touching the extensions folder, backing up and restoring the kernel/extensions folder, Install multiple kexts to any drive, Installing PC_EFI v8 or Chameleon and adding EFI strings and modifying com.apple.Boot.plist. That’s quite a list and not even everything the program can do. One of the really impressive features is automatic analysis of your system and downloading of drivers and modified kexts to get it all working. Sounds very easy, so this will be getting a good workout when the new install is in place.