
ThinkPad X220 MacOS High Sierra Installation - walterbell
http://x220.mcdonnelltech.com/
======
qume
I used MacOS for years and loved it. But now have been on linux (on both Mac
and a X220) exclusively for a few years and I'm honestly confused as to why a
developer in this community would even think of not running Linux full time.

I have seen people here address this before, but it's always like a list
someone from Lebanon would write after moving Costa Rica - never really that
things are wrong on the other side of the fence, just that it's different.
Stick it out a bit and the pain of those differences melt away.

If I had to shift to MacOS now it would be far far more painful than the shift
from Mac to Linux.

~~~
kitsunesoba
No distributions with truly great out of the box defaults, too much time tied
up in configuration, too few Linux app developers with a user-oriented mindset
and obsession with getting all the details right. Also, just generally death
by a thousand cuts with ridiculous numbers of small annoyances.

With a Mac I can have it set up to my liking and be working in little more
than an hour. Under Linux (and to a lesser extent Windows) it’s a multi day
project.

~~~
sandGorgon
That is incorrect. I really urge you to try Fedora 28 today (you can
liveboot).

I have had Mac users use my laptop for a little while and love the usability.
Everything simply works. I use Skype Web and Zoom to do videoconferencing
...and obviously all the Slack-like tools work great.

And you have the choice to buy spectacular developer focused hardware like XPS
or ThinkPad laptops.

~~~
free652
I am using linux/unix for 25+ years, but the desktop just never works for me.
I'd echo its just death by a thousand cuts.

The usual suspects: fonts, video drivers, sounds drivers, various USB devices
supports, sleep/wake issues.

And lack of basic apps, like a good multitabbed SSH/RDP terminal.

~~~
SmellyGeekBoy
I honestly can't believe what I'm reading here. Is it still 1999 where you
live!?

~~~
Bizarro
I started using Linux around '97ish and agree with the parent too. The problem
for me wasn't investing the time in tweaking a new installation, but apt-get
dist upgrade (whatever it's called these days) would eventually break my
system...in very bad ways.

~~~
sandGorgon
I hear this a lot. And mostly from Ubuntu victims. I have not reinstalled my
Fedora XPS 13 laptop for over 4 years. I have clean upgraded 3 times.

Fedora is spectacular and has been spectacular for many years now. The driver
support is brilliant. It was one of the first distros to have absolutely
seamless integration with RAID mode NVME (which was something the XPS set it
to).

I will be very surprised if you have to "tweak" your laptop. Everything that
you have in OSX is already there - including nightmode, etc... the works.

And here's the cool part - customizing Fedora is a browser extension away!
[http://extensions.gnome.org/](http://extensions.gnome.org/)

~~~
vetinari
Breaking upgrades are not distro-specific, but mostly user specific.

It usually breaks for users, who do not respect package manager and what it
does, break their installation with misc convenience scripts and tweaks run as
root, and then wonder, what went wrong.

------
ridruejo
Cached version here
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:5quDiFp...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:5quDiFptFSsJ:x220.mcdonnelltech.com/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

------
userbinator
10 years ago I dualbooted OS X 10.4 and Windows on a Thinkpad X60, and I
remember searching for (and in some cases, even writing) drivers was the most
difficult part. These days, if you need macOS for whatever reason and don't
have a Mac, it's probably easiest to use a VM --- VirtualBox can boot,
install, and run an unmodified High Sierra with only a few minor configuration
changes to the VM's "hardware" to make it more Mac-like.

~~~
alfiedotwtf
> with only a few minor configuration changes to the VM's "hardware" to make
> it more Mac-like.

Any link to do this? I've tried a number of times and still didn't work :/

~~~
userbinator
[https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/309654-run-
vanilla-o...](https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/309654-run-vanilla-os-x-
el-capitan-sierra-high-sierra-or-mojave-in-virtualbox-5xx-on-a-windows-host/)

I believe SMCDeviceKey and the product names/serial numbers are the critical
part. The OS doesn't mind the rest of the virtual hardware.

~~~
alfiedotwtf
Wow. Cool, thanks!

------
Elect2
For anyone looking for PC guide: [https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/unibeast-
install-macos-hi...](https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/unibeast-install-
macos-high-sierra-on-any-supported-intel-based-pc.235474/)

I recently build one and it's super easy. My build: z370m + i5 8400 + 240g ssd
+ 16g ddr4. Benchmark is near 2018 MacBook Pro 15-inch.

Total cost: $550

------
nikolay
I love when minor version breaks almost all basic Homebrew packages on macOS.
I really wonder why would anybody who claims to be a developer run macOS for
work! You can buy even a better looking and spec'd HP for a fraction of the
MacBook price, run Linux on it, and be happy. Even Windows 10 now is a better
develope platform! The arrogance of Apple is not something we should put up
with anyway!

~~~
SmellyGeekBoy
I'm a full time Linux user and a big fan but come on - claiming that minor
updates don't randomly break things is pretty dishonest. It's true for all 3
major OSes.

~~~
bhaak
Sure, it can happen on all systems. But Homebrew is not a good package
manager.

How about major breakage because of the installation of a new program? Like
having installed programs that uses readline in version 6 and installing a
program that needs readline in version 7?

Homebrew will happily upgrade readline to version 7 and install the new
program but thus silently breaking the programs using readline with version 6.

Edit: Every program and library involved has been installed with Homebrew.

~~~
nikolay
It's not Homebrew that breaks but Apple for not caring about backward-
compatibility. But honestly, Homebrew is a joke of a package manager, which,
unfortunately, is the best on macOS.

~~~
bhaak
This time it's not Apple's fault.

Every program and library involved has been installed with Homebrew.

~~~
nikolay
It actually is. Apple should embrace Homebrew or at least offer an
alternative.

~~~
bhaak
Apple's alternative is using DMG.

I'm the first to blame Apple for various stuff but you can't blame Apple for
using OSX in a way that Apple hasn't intended and isn't supporting.

If you're not happy with the pre-installed unixy stuff you are (still) free to
add your own.

Which Homebrew allows you to do in a very Apple way. That is, works mostly as
intended and almost OOTB but if you are a power user you will soon run into
various problems.

------
jhack
As someone who still loves macOS but is getting really turned off by the
rising costs of owning a Macbook and design compromises you have to put up
with, I really hope solutions like these continue to develop and grow.

If I could slap macOS on a Matebook X Pro, I'd switch tomorrow.

~~~
stormbeta
Agreed. It's not even the cost I take issue with, it's the design compromises.
I want a professional device Apple, not a toy fashion product.

I like macOS, but Apple's making it incredibly difficult to take their product
line seriously lately.

------
benguild
“If you encrypt your boot drive with FileVault it will be necessary to connect
a USB keyboard when booting to input your password. An EFI driver for the
built-in X220 keyboard is not yet available.”

Stuff like this is why Hackintoshes are sadly still super frustrating.

~~~
adonig
See it positive. At least it's possible to encrypt the filesystem now.

------
exabrial
Judging by how hard this site is slammed... Apple should take note. A bunch of
people love their software but the death grip and lack of choices in their
hardware is the biggest thing we dislike

~~~
wild_preference
Apple should take note because a cPanel+Wordpress shared-hosted blog had
downtime?

------
dev_dull
[https://web.archive.org/web/20180804023219/http://x220.mcdon...](https://web.archive.org/web/20180804023219/http://x220.mcdonnelltech.com/)

------
rahimnathwani
The ThinkPad X220 is a great machine, but I'd avoid the cheaper version with
the TN screen. The IPS version is so much better. But, in any case, if you're
used to retina screens (from mobile/tablet devices), then the 1366x768
resolution of the X220 or the MacBook Air might feel cramped or blocky.

~~~
StudentStuff
Note that these screens are fairly upgradeable, its not that challenging or
expensive to swap a higher resolution IPS panel into a Thinkpad, even on the
newer models.

~~~
Retr0spectrum
Anything higher resolution requires a hardware mod which taps into the docking
connector. The internal display interface cannot support higher resolutions.

------
untangle
After scanning the cached article, I'd say that the content is quite good but
not unique. Since the site is slammed, interested hackers can peruse these
sites for insight:

(1) [https://www.tonymacx86.com/](https://www.tonymacx86.com/) (has hw
suggestions) (2)
[https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/](https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/) (3)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/hackintosh/comments/68p1e2/rambling...](https://www.reddit.com/r/hackintosh/comments/68p1e2/ramblings_of_a_hackintosher_a_sorta_brief_vanilla/)
(old but lauded)

The space has made rapid progress in the last few years.

------
youseecomrade
Isn't a "little" insecure having to rely on random kext and random internet
files to run your base system? Or are they always open source or something? I
know very little about MacOS

~~~
ryanlol
It's not that different from running any software from the internet.

~~~
youseecomrade
"[..] They (kexts) run at the OS's highest privilege level; ring-0."

~~~
ryanlol
Why would that significantly increase risk?

~~~
youseecomrade
> It's not that different from running any software from the internet.

I don't run "any" software as root or with even more privileges, so _I_ would
classify random kexts from the web as a highly critical threat. Of course you
could be victim of an exploit even without willingly granting privileges but
that's not really relevant.

------
shortformblog
Great guide, even with the hosting issues. I've read a lot of guides on this
topic, and this is probably one of the best, because it's written in a way
that is accessible for someone that isn't super-technical.

The instructions can get hard to follow on common Hack sites, just because
they're so detailed. So kudos to the well-written set here.

------
stanislavb
Obviously there's demand for that... "The website is temporarily unable to
service your request as it exceeded resource limit. Please try again later."

------
daniel_iversen
As a geek I’m always excitedly reading these and I’ve done a couple of
hackontosh laptop conversions over the years just for the hell of it, but in
my limited opinion (and mind you I always converted older laptops) there’s not
much that i think would come close to the perfection that is the Apple
hardware and software combination - it’s somehow just such wonderful devices
and despite me really wanting a more unique and cool (maybe small and tablet
based) MacOS device, i don’t think I’ll ever truly move away from Apple
hardware. Do others feel the same?

~~~
mangix
From a hardware point of view, I don't get it. There's this laughable failure
where macOS lacks drivers for the keyboard and touchpad:
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=geGmC1xI4zo](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=geGmC1xI4zo)

MacBooks also seem to be configured to spin the fan up at 81 degrees C, which
is a ridiculous temperature to do so.

I get that their software is probably second to none, but they have major
issues on the hardware side.

~~~
daniel_iversen
Mmm. I’m not sure I’ve ever noticed those particular things. The Mac
experience just feels like amazing craftsmanship somehow. Could it be that
because they sometimes push the envelope a bit in terms of design or
technology that in every generation of macs there are 1-2 items/areas that
could be better?

~~~
microcolonel
I'm convinced that the only way you could think this is if your use case for
the Mac is basically entirely browsing the web, and even for that the OS is
typically broken in one or more unbelievable ways. I remember that for three
point releases in a row (a couple years ago when I had to use macOS for iOS
builds, which were at that point not reliable enough to automate), Exposé was
severely broken in a different way for each consecutive release. Then there
was that issue where you could log in as root by pressing return enough times,
and that time when they literally showed volume passwords in plain text in the
hint field. Over the last 5-8 years, I've seen OS X become noticeably slower
in almost every way, such that hardware upgrades don't seem to do anything but
keep up. On top of that, the new Macs are severely affected by thermal
throttling, even during intermittent/reasonably idle use, and virtually none
of the use cases they cite for them in the marketing wank actually turn out to
be viable on the hardware.

iOS has seen a similar trajectory, with ever worsening performance, and
bizarre bugs (betraying the kind of software design, namely no design at all,
it takes to publish mistakes like this on such a regular basis) like the
recent full system crash when you type the word "Taiwan".

It seems to me that the only way to come away with the opinion that the "Mac
experience" is polished and carefree, is to use so little of the Mac that you
have to wonder why you aren't just using a Chromebook.

~~~
daniel_iversen
Nah I don’t think so. I use lots of apps and feel like quite a “power” user;
office suite, slack, Dropbox, iTunes, terminal, text editors, of course lots
of browsers and stuff (don’t do Xcode or IDEs but do do Occasional programming
and scripting in editors), and I hate working on windows even the all-in-one
surface pros have felt way short for me compared to Macs . And Chromebooks I
feel would do the same but they do seem like a good idea (like the surface
tablets did) and I should give it a go to truly see... but I feel the Apple
products are very “special” compared to other things, and I think that’s how
many others feel too.

------
steveharman
> I'm honestly confused as to why a developer in this community would even
> think of not running Linux full time.

Xcode and Xcode click tools for developing iOS, tvOS and macOS apps?

Try that on Ubuntu. ;-)

------
AdmiralAsshat
I'm assuming this works because the Thinkpad X220 and the early Macbooks had a
very similar chipset.

Coincidentally, this is also why the first and second generation Macbooks,
along with a handful of Thinkpads, are among the few laptops that can install
Libreboot:

[https://libreboot.org/docs/hardware/](https://libreboot.org/docs/hardware/)

------
pndy
I've stopped playing with OSX86 around 10.5 release because system on my old
machine couldn't get permanently audio and graphics out of Realtek HD and ATI
Radeon x1600 back then. Kexts were nuked each time after Apple was releasing
upgrades and I just didn't wanted to fight with all that stuff. JaS 10.4
release was on the other hand always working perfectly for me.

No idea how the whole project has progressed from that point onward but I wish
Apple would release an official OSX as alternative to Windows and Linux but
that's obviously not going to happen.

Later on, I've managed to buy eMac with 800 MHz PowerPC 7445 and ATI graphics
(10.4.11 was the last version); recently I've got OS9 installed and discovered
the resources of macintoshgarden.

------
stratosmacker
We hugged it to death

[https://web.archive.org/web/20180804023219/http://x220.mcdon...](https://web.archive.org/web/20180804023219/http://x220.mcdonnelltech.com/)

------
cnasc
I'm curious to know if TrackPoint scrolling works nicely (or at all)

~~~
HackPad
It does. The TrackPoint actually works pretty well under macOS on the X220.
Not quite as smooth as it does with Windows, but definitely usable.

~~~
userbinator
When I Hackintosh'd my X60, one thing I liked about it rather more than
Windows was the pointer acceleration --- which if you search online, everyone
else seems to hate (although they might be using regular mouses, in which case
the sensation is quite different.) IMHO a TrackPoint really feels better with
acceleration than not, because it makes it more sensitive; otherwise it gets
tiring pretty quickly to shove the pointer around the screen, or you lose
pixel-precision for small movements if you set the full-screen speed high
enough to make big movements easily.

~~~
newman314
For those that hate the acceleration, one can download and install the
SteelSeries ExactMouse package, I have it set to always disable mouse accel.
Works great.

------
EamonnMR
I use OSX at work, but every time I needs to tab between two apps with
multiple windows open (ie: two terminals and two editors) I consider switching
to Linux.

------
wallstprog
One thing it seems no one has mentioned in the Linux vs. MacOS flamewar is
that Linux is ugly, while MacOS, while maybe not beautiful, is inoffensive at
worst and elegant at best.

I use Linux and Mac almost equally and for CLI apps I'm pretty happy with
either one (although Mac is a bit better), but for GUI applications I'll go
with Mac every time.

If you have to stare at something all day, the esthetics of it become
important.

------
jumperabg
I guess GoDaddy do not allow normal traffic spikes.

------
whyagaindavid
Any change requires some hardship. Look here for how to effect that change
from a designer/social activist to use linux.
[https://ar.al/2018/07/16/changes/](https://ar.al/2018/07/16/changes/)

------
Eric_WVGG
Does the trackpad response on one of these installs "feel like" a Macbook
trackpad?

------
walrus01
the hosting environment appears to have already exceeded its quota. mirror,
anyone?

~~~
wila
[http://web.archive.org/web/20180804023219/http://x220.mcdonn...](http://web.archive.org/web/20180804023219/http://x220.mcdonnelltech.com/)

