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FEBRUARY 14, 2012

How to install Mac OS X Lion without installingSnow Leopard first

Last week, we explained how to install Mac OS X Lion with the standard Unibeast method. However, to follow the

Unibeast method, you have to install Mac OS X Snow Leopard on your Hackintosh before install ing Lion. If you're

install ing Mac OS X on your PC for the first time, and you just want to jump straight to Lion without the

inconvenience of install ing Snow Leopard, you could use a distro instead. Distros are pirated copies of Mac OS X

that have been modified to work with a PC. If you don't have any qualms with the legal issues regarding distros,

they're actually a very convenient way to set up a Hackintosh.

NOTE: This guide is essentially a combination of my guides on install ing Mac OS X Snow Leopard, install ing Mac

OS X Lion, and install ing Lion in a virtual machine. The process of install ing a distro is very similar to the standard

methods of install ing Mac OS X.

Requirements:A compatible computer: Not every computer will work with Mac OS X, even with modified versions ofOS X. Be sure to read the Hackintosh compatibil ity guide very carefully, to check whether or not yourcomputer qualifies. Mac OS X Lion has several new hardware requirements, compared to SnowLeopard. For instance, Lion is a 64-bit operating system, meaning that old 32-bit processors like IntelPentium no longer work. Additionally, AMD processors do no work with Lion because there is no legacykernel.

iAtkos L2: This is a popular distro of Mac OS X Lion. I won't go into details, but you can download itfrom just about any bittorrent website by using a bittorrent client (it's about 4 GB in size). The standardmethod for install ing Mac OS X Lion requires you to modify a retail copy of Mac OS X Lion withUnibeast, but iAtkos already does all of this for you. You will need to burn iAtkos onto a DVD, and bootyour computer from that DVD to install Mac OS X. To burn DVDs, you need an empty DVD disc and aDVD/Bluray burner (just about every DVD/Bluray drive nowadays can act as a burner, too).

Multibeast Lion Edition (Free): Multibeast is a collection of kext fi les that your Hackintosh will need torun properly, after the initial installation. Download it onto a USB drive, along with the combo update.You need to register an account on tonymacx86.com to download Multibeast. Be sure to download theLion edition, not the Snow Leopard edition.

A DSDT file for your motherboard (Free): DSDT files are configuration fi les that customize Mac OS X to

work with your specific motherboard. If your motherboard has a DSDT fi le available in the DSDT

section of tonymacx86.com, download it onto a USB drive along with the Combo Update and

Multibeast. Make sure that your motherboard has the right BIOS version, or the DSDT fi le won't work. For

example, a DSDT fi le for version F4 won't work if your motherboard has version F1.

You can check your motherboard's BIOS version straight from the BIOS itself, or you can check with

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CPU-Z (if you already have Windows installed). Read this to learn how to update your BIOS version.

1. Settings up the parts of your computerOpen up your Hackintosh, and make sure that the SATA cables for your hard drive and your DVD/Bluray drive are

plugged into the 3GB/s SATA ports on your motherboard, not the 6GB/s SATA ports (these should be labeled on

the motherboard). On Gigabyte motherboards, the 3GB/s ports are blue while the 6 GB/s ports are white. The 6

GB/s SATA ports simply don't work well with OS X.

NOTE: If your computer is more than 2 years old, it probably won't have any 6GB/s SATA ports.

Unplug all USB-connected devices from your computer before you begin the setup (except your keyboard and

mouse). A faulty external USB hard drive can cause your Hackintosh bootloader to give you EBIOS errors on

startup.

Also, unplug any extra internal hard drives that your computer has, besides the hard drive that you're install ing OS

X on. (Just unplug the hard drive SATA cables from your motherboard.)

P.S. If you already have Windows installed on another internal hard drive in your computer, you will have to enable

AHCI for Windows before install ing Mac OS X. Otherwise, Windows won't boot afterwards. Also, after install ing Mac

OS X, you should also sync your clock on Windows with Mac OS X.

2. Setting up your motherboard's BIOSThe BIOS is basically a settings page for your motherboard. To enter the BIOS on my own computer's Gigabyte

P67A-D3-B3 motherboard, I have to press the delete key when it boots (before the operating system starts). Different

manufacturers set different keys for opening the BIOS.

There are really only three things that you have to change in the BIOS. However, install ing OSX is incredibly prone

to error, so it's best just to reset all of your BIOS settings to their factory defaults before doing anything. On

Gigabyte motherboards, you can reset your BIOS settings to their default by selecting "Load Optimized Defaults"

on the main page of the BIOS. Once your BIOS is running on its defaults, you need to change these three settings:

Boot Dev ice - Change the boot device of your computer so that "CDROM" is first. You need to do this for the iAtkos

DVD to work.

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HPET - Change this to 64-bit.

SATA Control Mode (your BIOS might call this a different name) - This will probably already be set to "SATA",

"IDE", or "RAID". Change it to "AHCI". Mac OS X only works with AHCI.

Keep in mind that the BIOS on most motherboards do not support using a mouse, so you'l l probably have to

navigate through the BIOS with the arrow keys on your keyboard. Press "Enter" to change a selected option in the

BIOS. On my Gigabyte motherboard, I have to press F10 to save my changes.

3. Burn iAtkos onto a DVD discBurn iAtkos onto a DVD disc. You will be booting your Hackintosh from this iAtkos DVD, in order to install Mac OS X

Lion.

On Windows 7, burning capabilities are built-in to the operating system-- just insert an empty DVD into your

DVD/Bluray drive, right-click on the downloaded iAtkos fi le (it should either be an ISO fi le), and burn it. If you're

using Windows XP or Vista, you will need to use a program such as ImgBurn.

Depending on the speed of your DVD burner, this can take up to few hours. Personally, I recommend that everybody

use ImgBurn, instead of the default Windows 7 burner; in the past, I've found ImgBurn to be far more reliable.

4. Boot into iAtkosInsert the iAtkos DVD into the DVD drive of your PC, and reboot your PC. If things go well, your computer will boot

into the iAtkos boot screen.

If you do not manage to reach the iAtkos boot screen, check your motherboard's BIOS settings to make sure that the

changes you made in Step 2 were properly applied. If they were, try burning iAtkos onto a different DVD (if you

used the built-in Windows 7 burning tool to burn the DVD the first time, try using ImgBurn instead).

Normally, after you continue past the iAtkos boot screen, the installation screen will be loaded within a few minutes

(5-10 minutes for me).

In the worst case scenarios, instead of loading the Mac OS X installer, you may end up at a dark gray screen that

tells you to restart your computer (a kernel panic), or you may end up with a small crossed-out sign (a loading

error). If you get a kernel panic/loading error (or if the Mac OS X installer simply won't start within 30 minutes),

you'l l need to enter some boot flags.

To enter boot flags, manually restart your computer by pressing your computer's power button. Then, once you've

booted back into the iAtkos menu, try typing any necessary boot flags before pressing the enter/return key. Check

out this l ist of common boot flags for reference ( PCIRootUID=0 and -x are two popular boot flags).

5. Install LionOnce you've entered the Mac OS X Lion installer, you will come up to a page that asks you for a "destination" for

your Mac install. Oh no, the page is blank! We'll have to fix that. To do this, start up Disk Util ity (located under the

Util ities menu in the top bar).

You need to use Disk Util ity to erase your hard drive so that OS X can install itself on it. In the sidebar of Disk Util ity,

choose your computer's hard drive and erase it by using the "Erase" tab (the Format should be set to "Mac OS

Extended (Journaled)". If you want, you can then partition the hard disk by using Disk Util ity's Partition tab (OS X

cannot boot from a partition that's larger than 1 TB in size, so if you have a 2 TB hard drive, you will have to

partition it).

On the installation page for Mac OSX, the hard disk/disk partition should now be showing up. Select it and

continue to the Install Summary page.

Click the "Customize" button on the bottom left. This is where using a distro becomes really useful: iAtkos allows

you to install extra Hackintosh drivers and kexts, straight from the Mac OS X Lion installer. The "Customize" page

essentially does the same thing as Multibeast, though the layout (and some of the names of the options) are

different.

However, choosing the right options from this page can be really tricky, so unless you're absolutely certain about

which drivers and kexts you need to install for your computer, I don't recommend install ing too much stuff from

here. For most computers, the default selection should be enough. You can figure out the rest in Step 6, where

you'l l actually set up your Hackintosh with Multibeast.

The only extra option that you'l l probably have to choose from the Customize page is "IOPCIFamily" (located

under "Patches"). This fixes a common boot issue with Lion; it's installed by default in iAtkos L2, but you'l l have to

choose it yourself in iAtkos L1.

Once that's done with, install Mac OS X Lion. This will take at least 20 minutes.

Restart (you can eject your iAtkos DVD). At the boot screen, you'l l see an icon for the hard drive where you installed

Lion. Select it (use the arrow keys on your computer) and press "Enter". Lion will boot, and you should eventually

be led to the Mac OS X setup screen. Fil l it out, then mission accomplished!

If you get a kernel panic/loading error when you try to boot your new Lion installation (or if the installation simply

won't start within 5 minutes), reinsert your iAtkos DVD into the DVD drive, and restart your computer. The iAtkos boot

screen will come up again. From the iAtkos boot screen, select the hard drive where you installed Lion, and press

"Enter".

Once again, if your Mac OS X won't even boot with the help of your iAtkos DVD, you'l l need to enter some boot

flags. To enter boot flags, manually restart your computer by pressing your computer's power button. Then, once

you've booted back into the iAtkos menu, try type any necessary boot flags before pressing the enter/return key.

Remember to check out this l ist of common boot flags for reference.

6. Post-Installation: MultibeastMultibeast is a collection of kext fi les that you'l l need to install for your Hackintoshes to have sound, internet, a high

resolution screen, and more. Different Hackintosh builds require different Multibeast setups, though most setups are

very similar. Find out what Multibeast options you need to install . If you have a Gigabyte GA-P67A-D3-B3

motherboard like me, check out my own Multibeast setup.

You probably won't have internet on your Hackintosh yet, so use another computer to download Multibeast and

copy it onto the USB drive. Then plug the drive into your Hackintosh.

If you have a DSDT fi le for your motherboard, rename it "DSDT.aml", copy it onto the desktop of Mac OS X, and

run "UserDSDT Install" in Multibeast.

Finding the right options for Multibeast may take some trial and error. Your best chance at finding the right setup is

to Google your specific motherboard or computer model. For example, if your computer has a GA-P67A-D3-B3

motherboard like mine, Google "GA-P67A-D3-B3 hackintosh". If you're lucky, somebody will have written a guide

on install ing OS X for your computer, and you can just copy their Multibeast setup.

Enabling your graphics card so that it'l l run at full resolution can be even trickier. Some graphics cards work out of

the box, without any modifications necessary, while other graphics cards (especially newer ones) can be a huge

pain. If you happen to own a Galaxy GTX 460, you can enable it with a combination of the official NVIDIA drivers,

NVEnabler, and 32-bit Apple Boot Screen.

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And that's all there is to it. If your PC is built of nothing but Hackintosh-compatible parts (known as "vanil la"), this

entire process might only take around 3-4 hours. Of course, for most of us, this process will take much longer. Good

luck Hackintoshing!

The Difference BetweenUnibeast, myHack, andKakewalk

Install Mac OS X Lion on anIvy Bridge Hackintosh

Unibeast USB drive won'tboot? Try this.

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5 comments:

Anonymous March 25, 2012 12:24 AM

Great Tutorial, thanks, I Did install iAtkos L2 on my 160 gb driv e then I bought 2Tera driv e f or my hackintosh

workstation, iAtkos L2 installed well but it was lagging and hanging applications, could it be due to hav ing 2 driv es with

same OS?

Reply

Anonymous April 27, 2012 12:57 AM

So, I too hav e a Asus CG5290. I read a bunch of dif f erent rev iews etc... I installed iAtkos L2 like Anony mous said and

used def ault installation settings af ter tweaking my bios a bit and boom... I'm running out of the box with ev ery thing but

sound. That's insane, because ev ery thing I'm reading has like massiv ely detailed steps f or installing and

troubleshooting. I'll take it when I can get it I guess!

Another A+ f or this computer :)

Reply

Anonymous June 12, 2012 10:05 PM

Do I plug in the USB I'm gonna install it on until the setup has began because I keep getting ebios errors

Reply

Shangelios June 14, 2012 5:55 PM

I hav e an Intel DP55WB motherboard, Intel i3 processor and 6gb of ram and I hav e installed Iatkos L2 ,ev ery thing

installed f ine, ev en it just takes about 6 minutes to complete the whole installation , well my problem is that when I

reboot my computer it doesn´t boot into Mac OS X Lion it goes into a lot of comand lines (I understand that it is loading

the OS) and then it comes into a black screen with an error and It can´t boot! I think is a kernel panic or something like

that , I don´t know please help me.

Reply

TheRacerMaster July 3, 2012 6:30 AM

Boot with -v. What does it hang up at?

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