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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Hackintosh

My first Hackintosh I built in 2005 as a test when I was thinking about shooting a film on Andromeda. As simple as making sure the hardware matched or came close to the original Intel spec as possible. Now its really simple to build these systems. Why do it? Everything I own is hacked in some way. From my car, to my cameras. For computers, its a no brainer for me. I'm obsessive about building them and spend countless hours testing, benchmarking, overclocking, managing heat vs noise, and comparing stability vs speed. While doing this certainly isn't for everyone, I'm glad there is the freedom now to run the Mac OS on custom computers.
 
If you want a fully functioning Mac with all drivers and functionality supported, then a hackintosh is not for you. If you're running a business, a hackintosh is probably not for you. If you're not particularly tech-savvy, a hackintosh is probably not for you.

Some people build hackintoshes to save money on a Mac. Others do it to "stick it to the man." Still others do it for the challenge, or because they have $200 lying around for OSX and want to play around with another operating system. Others do it to have an OSX partition on their otherwise primarily Windows system (running MacDrive), enabling very quick cross-platform work.

Is it perfect? No. Is it for everyone? No. Is it doable with a reasonable amount of homework? Absolutely. Is it worth it? Depends on your situation.
 
I am not happy with Apple's Hardware, plain and simple. Like I said before If you understand how Mac OSX works, this kind of thing is a piece of Cake. I use the Hardware that works best, That's why Its reliable. I dont go installing it on some random computer or big Server and then wonder why it doesn't work... Duh...

The Main reasons to run this are within Customization, But this all comes at a Price... Being knowledgeable enough to build your own computers and troubleshoot them. When I buy hardware, I usually spend a Day and a 1/2 installing and building, then creating an image to automatically restore an OS <--- in the event something actually happens. Installing this is not as hard as it used to be, and is no longer outside the realm of Building a PC or setting up a computer in general. But you still have to be tech-savvy, I always say if you can read your motherboard manual and build the computer this is a piece of cake,

Here are my reasons,

•ANY operating system,
•Rackmount,
•GPU freedom,
•Watercooling,
•Expandability,
•Simple upgrades (instead of a whole new computer)
•Cheaper Quality Parts,
•Motherboards that match your needs,
•Legacy Hardware, (if you need it, I dont really)
•Bios control,
•Overclocking
•Stability in Harsh conditions
•5 year Hardware warranty on most items, (Especially Motherboards, I use ASUS)
•Apple sucks at Hardware, (They want an Arm and a Leg to repair something they get a 5 year warranty on from intel...)

To me, there IS no difference other than the Gucci case and the Apple Logo on the side.

And I'm with you all, THIS IS NOT FOR EVERYONE...
 
Alex Carr said:
Vanilla installs have been working since Leopard.

If you can stick a disc in, and then read your motherboard manual, then yes you can install this.
Click to expand...

Leopard hasn't been out for three years. So of course it's not cake walk. Nor is the concept of using EXACT hardware to build a system.

The only thing I can agree with you on the idea of a "hackintosh" is that it's not for everyone and I would never ever recommend it to any professional environment.
 
Noah Kadner said:
Yeah this is insanity for a RED system- you're paying 17,500 for the camera body alone and you're looking to save a couple grand getting a Mac with no warranty, no tech support and mountain of potential conflicts and bugs to go with it. Why?

Noah
Click to expand...
because a lot of guys already spent a goooood part in the 17500 cake.. a lot of others do not offer commer$ial work just ArT..
is it so hard to figure? :long sigh:
 
Sure if you love to tinker, want to save some money, and are not afraid of having no Applecare tech support- then hackintosh might be for you. Frankly I don't see anyone in a work for hire production environment going for this.

What do you tell the client when it craps the bed? Well it's a hackintosh and we saved some money..... er... oops. Please hire us for your next show.
 
Joseph Ward said:
I meant software related.
Click to expand...

Must not be talking about FCP. I've had to flush the settings and fix FCP installs more than any editor I've ever used.
 
Gavin Greenwalt said:
Must not be talking about FCP. I've had to flush the settings and fix FCP installs more than any editor I've ever used.
Click to expand...

That sucks. So maybe I should use some other Nonlinear Editing Software for Apple OS. Was the problem with updates or something else?
 
??

??

Kholi said:
Leopard hasn't been out for three years. So of course it's not cake walk. Nor is the concept of using EXACT hardware to build a system.
Click to expand...

Tiger was running on PC's in 2005 three months before January 14th 2006, when Apple started selling the first Macbook Pro. Vanilla installs were popping up in March+April 2008. How much different do you actually think Tiger and Leopard are??

I dont want exact hardware anyway, Thats the whole point!
 
Joseph Ward said:
That sucks. So maybe I should use some other Nonlinear Editing Software for Apple OS. Was the problem with updates or something else?
Click to expand...

You can give them all a run for their money. But as I like to say:

Maya regularly crashes on OSX, Windows and Linux as does 3ds max and XSI. :)

FCP was more crashy for me than Avid MC or Premiere but it's been more than a year so my specific issues may have been corrected.

It doesn't really matter what platform or software you run it's probably going to be crashy and buggy. It's just a question of which bugs and which crashes.
 
Noah Kadner said:
Sure if you love to tinker, want to save some money, and are not afraid of having no Applecare tech support- then hackintosh might be for you. Frankly I don't see anyone in a work for hire production environment going for this.

What do you tell the client when it craps the bed? Well it's a hackintosh and we saved some money..... er... oops. Please hire us for your next show.
Click to expand...
ehehehehe well pointed.. the only difference is that the gang as any artists gang is used to sell the own shows loooooooool how me loves that word!! the show ehehehehe where are we now?? jannard's show.. sorry boss.. couldn't resist :smilielol5:
 
Alex Carr said:
•Apple sucks at Hardware, (They want an Arm and a Leg to repair something they get a 5 year warranty on from intel...)
Click to expand...


So you mean the warranty and repair services on the hardware, not the actual hardware? Becausse Apple doesn't build or assemble any of their own hardware, it's all OEM or off-the-shelf stuff from other manufactures, and is usually assembled by a third-party; they just charge more for it.
 
I'm wondering what happened to this post:
Posted by: (name withheld to protect the innocent)
On: 07-28-2009 02:38 PM

hello,
here in europe pearc.de is THE source of hardware that runs osx (preinstalled, 2 years warranty). look at https://www.pearc.de/professional-line.html
that one comes with intel core i7 which is, lets say, slightly faster than 'nethalem'. in germany it's legal to order and posess.
cheerio!
Click to expand...
That's some EXTREMELY interesting (and valuable) information. I have a friend lamenting the fact that if he buys a Mac Pro he can only have 3 PCIe slots (one is automatically taken up by a video card). If you want multiple monitors or a dual-slot vid card, there goes another. Sound card? There's another. RAID? There's the fourth. Anything else? Too bad, you're out of slots!

Ridiculous.

Also, a Mac OSX system utilizing i7? That's extremely interesting.
 
The author of that post deleted it himself... But one nitpick about his statement regarding i7 and Nehalem... They're the same thing. "Nehalem" is the development name for the i7-based Xeon CPUs currently on the market. The desktop Core i7 CPUs are "Bloomfield" and "Bloomfield Extreme".

As for pre-built Hackintosh systems. They're not "illegal". But they violate the EULA that Apple sets forth for their Mac OS software. Apple has gone after a couple clone system providers, like Psystar, but in the end I don't think it's in Apple's best interest to do so, and I'm guessing they don't think so either. Otherwise they would be all over it, even in Germany, where their EULA is recognized by the German courts and IP / Trademark laws.

To reflect the sentiments of others in this thread, I wouldn't consider using a "hackintosh" system in a pro environment. And hardware selection is limited, when assembling such a system, we're restricted to using hardware that has appropriate drivers for OSX.
 
& that thread deleted today??
surely it was not the author himself
 
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