
Open source tutorial for Hackintosh installation - huangyz0918
https://github.com/huangyz0918/Hackintosh-Installer-University
======
shortformblog
I just built a Hackintosh on what perhaps might be the closest modern
equivalent to an old-style MacBook Pro not made by Apple, the HP Spectre x360,
and while the process of getting it up and running requires some technical
knowledge, it was something I was able to do, start to finish, in less than a
week. (Even the touchscreen works!)

I've used Macs for 15 years, and I wanted to keep using Macs, but I had a real
problem with the fact that Apple has let its upgrade cycle become so lax, has
fostered a lack of upgradability, and hasn't done enough to support an
ecosystem of creatives that have been very passionate about their products
over the years. That speaks to a company not listening to customer needs—one
that is trying to translate a mobile business model to desktop users. It
speaks to a company that walked away from its users, not the other way around.

If Apple's not going to make its machines more upgradeable, it should at
least, for the love of God, upgrade its processor architectures without having
to have a keynote every single time. They do so few keynotes in 2018 that it's
messing up their ability to release products.

~~~
wilsonnb
So because you think that Apple isn't listening to your needs, you can take
the OS that they created and use it however you want to?

I am honestly surprised at how many people in this thread don't seem to care
about Apple's right to decide how people use the software that they licensed
from Apple.

~~~
shortformblog
This site is called Hacker News, right? Certainly, taking a piece of hardware
I own and making it do something it was not designed to do properly fits the
description of "hacking," right?

I appreciate Apple's value as a company as much as the next guy, but this was
not a decision made lightly. If they want $100 from me over the right to run
their OS on my computer (as I believe they used to charge during the PowerPC
days), fine. But their failure to give consumers the option, in this and so
many other cases, highlights a big frustration longtime users have with the
company nowadays.

I'm sure Apple knows about the Hackintosh community, and I'm sure they follow
it. I also know they have done little to stop it. As a user, I want them to
care about my needs as much as they do about their bottom line. They used to.

~~~
wilsonnb
I understand that people are usually driven to build a hackintosh out of
frustration with Apple's hardware offerings.

That doesn't change the fact that it's against their licensing agreement.
Anyone who wants to be able to sell their software in the future (or write
software for a company that sells software) should care about that and have
good reasons for violating it if they choose to do so. Many people in this
thread seem to accept that it's a morally okay thing to do without thinking
about it at all.

The site may be called Hacker News but it's full of mainstream software
developers, many of whom work for companies like Apple. It's also (as far as I
know) always been more focused on the startup scene than the hacking scene.
You would think that people who's goal is to build their own business would
care about this sort of thing.

~~~
shortformblog
I'm not a software developer, I'm a technology enthusiast.

~~~
xkcd-sucks
a "disgruntled customer"

------
blauditore
The fact that Apple actively takes measures to prevent MacOS from running on
foreign hardware (including virtual machines) really annoys me. If I want to
publish a cross-platform app for iOS, I literally have to buy a device just
for compiling and uploading the archive. That's not the case for any other
mobile platform I've ever seen.

This is even more ironic considering the good reputation of being open that
Apple has for some people, and tries to promote through marketing.

~~~
userbinator
_The fact that Apple actively takes measures to prevent MacOS from running on
foreign hardware (including virtual machines) really annoys me_

I tried a Hackintosh VM in VirtualBox recently, just to play around, and it
was surprisingly easy. AFAIK all that distinguishes "non-Apple" from Apple
hardware is an "SMCDeviceKey", a short identifier in the BIOS, and a few other
(mostly cosmetic) version strings. With a VM, all you need to do is set those
and boot from an ISO --- there are instructions around to create one from the
appstore package. No modification of the OS itself was needed; it thinks it's
running on a real Mac.

~~~
AlexeyBrin
> I tried a Hackintosh VM in VirtualBox recently, just to play around, and it
> was surprisingly easy.

I'm sure people (I) will appreciate some links. Thanks.

~~~
funkaster
Here's one that I use: [https://github.com/AndrewDryga/vagrant-box-
osx/blob/master/R...](https://github.com/AndrewDryga/vagrant-box-
osx/blob/master/README.md)

------
auslander
My experience running a hack for 6 years:

Pro:

\- best desktop OS there is reg security and privacy

\- my hardware, BD-RE and 4TB drives, full size GeForce

\- 1/4th the price

Cons:

\- learning curve is a bitch, but done once

\- updates can be tricky, thanks to Nvidia :)

\- for IT pros / hackers only

Result is indistinguishable from real iMac, sleep and all works.

Once you'd settle your clover.config, it is mostly painless. I even have
FileVault on my volumes :))

~~~
bgorman
How can you possibly claim a proprietary operating system is better with
regards to security and privacy than Linux distros, FreeBSD and OpenBSD?

~~~
auslander
Nothing beats openbsd, lol. I was talking desktop OSes, and Linux is not one,
imho, apps wise.

------
huangyz0918
There are a lot of people have posted their configurations and successful
installation guides in GitHub, but they are hidden very deeply so that many
newbies cannot find the configuration the same with their machine. It’s a
great pity:( So I came up an idea that why not to build an index which can
collect some basic knowledge about operation system and successful Hackintosh
configurations together? Maybe we can add some systematic guides in it too.
It’s just a new repo, but I will do this step by step.

~~~
codetrotter
Since your repo is not software but only documents I would suggest that
instead of the Apache license you use the Creative Commons CC 4.0 BY license.

[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

~~~
huangyz0918
Thank you,it sounds good !

------
cup-of-tea
I remember when PearPC was made and people started to get excited about making
a Hackintosh. I didn't have a fast enough internet connexion back then to
download the required software to try it, but I heard that it was generally
not a good experience. But I certainly had dreams of running OSX on my PC
hardware.

These days I use GNU/Linux and have no desire whatsoever to try MacOS.

------
stanislavb
The more Apple is failing to deliver hardware to the high standards they used
to do, the more Hackingtosh's popularity is going to grow.

~~~
linguae
As a Mac user disappointed with Apple's current direction with its hardware
line, there are some risks with using Hackintoshes:

1\. It requires considerable more work to set up and maintain a Hackintosh
system than using Linux or *BSD, and it's completely unsupported. When I
researched this last time, there were three sore points: (a) Upgrades between
even minor point versions could sometimes mess up installations, (b) finding
compatible hardware can be difficult (especially in the case of laptops), and
(c) using Messages and iCloud on a Hackintosh could risk getting locked out of
those accounts.

2\. Installing macOS on a non-Apple product is a violation of the macOS EULA.
Because of this, a Hackintosh may be a liability in professional environments.

3\. Apple could make moves, intentional or unintentional, that could disrupt
or even end the Hackintosh ecosystem. In the early days of Hackintoshes Intel
Atom processors were supported, which resulted in people installing
Hackintoshes on netbooks such as the Dell Mini 9. This ended when Apple
stopped compiling support for Atom processors. A more serious showstopper
would occur if Apple abandons the x86-64 in its Mac lineup. Then the
Hackintosh community would be stuck with whatever is the latest version for
the x86-64 architecture.

~~~
danieldk
4\. Installing a Hackintosh often requires installing binary kexts of
questionable origins. It is beyond me why people give some random person on
the net ring-0 access.

~~~
saagarjha
People do that all the time, though, for software like drivers or network
extensions.

------
wilsonnb
I am surprise that almost no one seems to be discussing whether it's right or
wrong to be installing MacOS on non-Apple hardware.

I'm pretty sure it's against apples EULA. Shouldn't we as software developers
care about that kind of thing?

~~~
PostOnce
Oh no what will the poor _most valuable company in the world_ do if we violate
their made-up rules? It's an existential crisis, isn't it?

Why should software have a EULA and not a screwdriver or a tractor or a pair
of socks? "I bought it and I'll do what I want with it", why is software the
only thing that isn't sold?

Just because rich software dudes made up some rules doesn't mean they can make
us follow them. lol.

Isn't this place called _hacker news_ , don't hackers bend and break rules all
the time, in the pursuit of knowledge and better technology? Even the founders
of YCombinator (one of em) made the most infamous worm in computer history,
that's hardly "following the rules".

And then Apple decided you couldn't install any software on your own computer
(aka phone) unless they both approved it and you give them a 30% tithe on top
of what the author makes. Fuck 'em. Build more Hackintoshes; do whatever you
want. I'll keep on using open source since it's no-effort, free, and non-
patronizing w/r/t my software sources.

The internet only stops being the wild west when you turn in your guns and buy
a plow (that can only be used on Apple-approved sharecropping projects).

~~~
briandear
So when people violate GPL or other open source licenses, it’s ok to ignore
that too right? This is morally equivalent: one can’t expect “made up rules”
of open source to apply to anyone if “made up rules” can just be arbitrarily
ignored.

~~~
seba_dos1
GPL is about distribution, completely different kind of license than EULAs.

------
flatfilefan
Does anyone know a good virtualbox virtual machine version of a hackintosh ?

~~~
raihansaputra
VMWare Fusion can install MacOS images with a few tweaks. I don't know about
virtualbox though.

~~~
chrisper
Isn't VMWare Fusion a Mac app anyways?

~~~
Fnoord
Yes, and the only legal way to run macOS in a VM is when you run it on Mac
hardware running macOS.

~~~
raihansaputra
Yes it's not legal, same as Hackintosh.

~~~
Fnoord
What makes you think so? You're only allowed to run macOS on Mac hardware.
You're doing that if you run it in a VM.

------
fithisux
I would have been more happy if PureDarwin had taken off or a true uKernel had
incorporated Apple OSS in their code base.

For people in need of hackintosh this is a solution but why not have the real
thing or a community version (like good ol Gnu-Darwin).

It is apple to blame here, the could have taken the FOSS direction and do a
Darwin-EL (Like RHEL) for FOSS community, even with a fee. MacOS is definitely
not for me though they have done an interesting work in the kernel and this is
what I would like to try instead of BSD or Linux.

The GUI? Far from my tastes.

------
huangyz0918
Hackintosh is good but I think most people just want a macOS system, they
don't really care about how much they can learn from hackintosh
installations.(e.g., bootloader, dsdt, kexts adaptions). This repo may be more
suitable for those geeks and those who want to understand the computer OS
better. So it will focus more on the technologies and theories (if one just
want to install macOS and get no interests in hackintosh, he should turn to
tonymacx86 or some other forums)

------
op00to
For those who run Hackintoshes - do you use a custom boot loader or kext to
bypass dsmos.kext? Have you reviewed it to make sure it doesn't install
backdoors, key loggers, or introduce other undefined or unexpected behavior?

------
tannhaeuser
I'd be much more interested in a tutorial for setting up PureDarwin on generic
x86 hardware (and qemu if needed) as eg. a build and CI server for Mac
OS/Mach-O command-line and other non-GUI apps.

------
reformatt
Can hackintosh machines develop iOS apps and sign apps using XCode? I don't
think macbooks or the apple desktops are the best machines at all, but the
MacOS is too valuable to leave for Windows.

~~~
huangyz0918
Yes many Hackintosh users are iOS developer, I built my first Hackintosh in
order to develop my iPhone apps too.

------
codetrotter
If you want a low cost, relatively low effort Hackintosh, look into running
macOS on one of the lower-end ThinkPad X220 or X220 Tablet laptops that you
can buy second-hand, following this guide:

[http://x220.mcdonnelltech.com/](http://x220.mcdonnelltech.com/)

Granted, the lower-end x220 and x220 Tablet machines are nowhere near as
strong as the MBP you’d typically buy.

Perhaps even an higher-end (stronger CPU, more RAM) version of the x220 or
x220 Tablet might be worth it?

Another thing about this vs MBP is battery life. Apple did a really good job
of optimizing MBP for battery life. You won’t get the same kind of battery
life on the x220 or x220 Tablet. Also, speaking of battery, when you buy
secondhand you risk getting a bad battery, so be prepared to shell out for a
replacement battery.

I bought an x220 Tablet with an i5 CPU and 8 GB of RAM second-hand and put
macOS on it. I also bought a compatible mini-PCIe WiFi card like the page I
mentioned above suggests and switched the one that was inside for that.
Switching out the WiFi card in the machine is a nice opportunity to clean the
insides of the laptop of dust anyway. ThinkPads are very easy to disassemble,
service and put back together, that is a big part of their appeal for me and
many others.

However, I’ve only booted the system and tested it a little bit to confirm it
works, because I haven’t had time to play around with it. I did have some
problems with the mouse pointer or keyboard when I tested it. That problem
might be because I haven’t yet installed the suggested BIOS.

So before you decide you decide to go with x220 or x220 Tablet, talk or read
about what others that are using it are saying about the performance and check
if anyone has experienced input problems with the keyboard and mouse and if
that is simply solved by installing that BIOS.

There are some people on /r/ThinkPad that run macOS on x220 or x220 Tablet.
Likewise, there are some posts about these computers on /r/hackintosh.

[https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/8chtpk/just_bough...](https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/8chtpk/just_bought_a_new_x220_and_installed_high_sierra/)

[https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/839544/is_bios_v1...](https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/839544/is_bios_v143_needed_for_high_sierra_on_x220/)

[https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/search?q=x220%20macOS](https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/search?q=x220%20macOS)

[https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/search?q=mcdonnelltech](https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/search?q=mcdonnelltech)

[https://www.reddit.com/r/hackintosh/search?q=x220](https://www.reddit.com/r/hackintosh/search?q=x220)

Also perhaps someone else on HN do too and would like to chime in here as
well?

~~~
thomasfl
A hackintosh running on a tablet with touch screen is actually a better mac
than the ones made by apple. I wonder for how long apple will cling on to only
producing laptops without touchscreens.

~~~
missjellyfish
I‘m using macOS on an x230t for precisely that reason. Pen works great, even
has force sensitivity and served me well in the tutor groups I‘ve held.

------
SmellyGeekBoy
I don't understand why Apple don't release macOS for non-Apple devices. Sure,
it's a huge undertaking support-wise but it's not like they don't have the
resources. I'm a full time desktop Linux user but I'd buy macOS for my laptop
in a heartbeat to get a Unix environment with proper commercial apps like
Office and Photoshop. I just don't want to pay the Apple premium for the
hardware.

~~~
jgtrosh
Do you think the untapped market of people who would buy macOS only if it
means not buying Apple hardware is a bigger incentive than what they would
lose if people who get cornered into buying Apple hardware became able to get
cheaper non-Apple hardware?

~~~
romanovcode
And then they buy shitty hardware, everything lags and they blame it on macOS.
Hello Windows problems.

------
mdekkers
Looking at the effort and cost, why don't people just buy a mac? (other then
of course the fun of actually doing this)

~~~
shams93
Once Apple moves to arm you will have no choice, hackingtosh won't have
anything but an old version of macosx. The only hardware that will be able to
run macosx in 2 years would be in house at Apple. For the same reason that
while you can build your own Android phone from parts you would never be able
to DIY an iPhone.

~~~
IntelMiner
"Once Apple moves to ARM" is still pure speculation. Steve Jobs also famously
sneered at Motorola about the day he "wont need them anymore". Look how well
that panned out with the G5

You can run Android on just about anything with minimal effort. X86, ARM, MIPS

Hell. Even the Raspberry Pi supports Android fairly well

[https://developer.android.com/things/hardware/raspberrypi?au...](https://developer.android.com/things/hardware/raspberrypi?authuser=0)

