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  #1  
Old 06-24-2012, 12:14 PM
Dism Dism is offline
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Default Why yes, this is the successful Hackintosh build thread!

It has come to my attention that there are a number of us here running a Hackintosh of some variation successfully with Pro Tools.

Since Apple loves to drop support for older peripherals and protocols quite regularly for the sake of progress, there is some incentive to build a computer with exactly what you need, such as old PCIx slots and FireWire ports, and still be able to run OSX.

With current skepticism for Apple's commitment to the Pro community, I expect we may see more and more people building their own OSX machines. So, why not have a thread celebrating our successful builds, and helping out those who are interested in making their own?


Before we get started, we'll go over a few ground rules:

Since we don't want any heat, nor to break the TOS of this forum, I would like to reiterate that any discussion of illegal acquisition of software is prohibited. OSX costs $30, and is quite readily available through the AppStore and in stores as a pre-compiled USB key for around $60. Buy OSX, be legit.

Let's also remember that these builds are not officially qualified by Apple or Avid, so anything you do is at your own risk. We are here to to help each other with successful setups, but don't expect Avid to chime in if you're having trouble.



I would also like to iterate that we are not here to discuss the legality or ethics of installing OSX on a 3rd party system. In no court in Canada or the US will you be convicted for installing OSX on a 3rd party system. In the case of Psystar vs. Apple, it was not that they were installing OSX, it was that they were installing OSX on their own systems and selling them for profit. As long as you are building a system for your own use you are not breaking any laws.

Please do not respond to this thread if you are here to debate the morality of installing OSX. This thread will continue under the assumption that it is perfectly legal to install OSX on your own custom build until otherwise noted or proven.



Now, installing OSX on a PC is relatively straightforward, but you will need access to a Mac to create the installers you need. It doesn't take long, and you just need a USB drive with 8GB or more.

For great tutorials on how to get OSX going on custom parts, as well as lists of compatible components, I strongly suggest checking out TonyMac's blog here: http://tonymacx86.blogspot.ca/2011/1...ion-using.html

All the tools you need can also be found there. You'll have to sign up for access to all the files you need, but it's worth the minute or two it takes. Trust me.

If someone has another set of good tutorials they've used, let me know and I'll update this post.


Alright, on to the good stuff!

Let's try to be helpful and consistent, but not take up too much screen real estate. A SANDRA report is not necessary, but if you want to post one, please use an image host, and post it as a screenshot or another external link. Otherwise, just list the main components you're using, along with Pro Tools version, and hardware. If you're using HD, let us know which cards you are using, PCIe or PCIx, etc. Feel free to leave a DVerb test score and/or Geekbench scores as well.

I'll get this party started!


Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 Socket 1155 Intel Z68 Chipset

Intel Core i7-2700K Quad-Core OC' to 4.21GHz

Zalman CNPS10X Quiet CPU Cooler

Corsair Vengeance Low Profile Blue 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz CL9 1.5V DIMM

Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 6850 1GB GDDR5

Syba Low Profile PCI-Express 1394b/1394a (2B1A) Card, TI Chipset

2x OCZ Vertex 3 2.5" 120GB SATA3 6GB/s Solid State Drive

2x Western Digital 3.5" Caviar Black 500GB SATAII 7200RPM Hard Disk Drive



Brand new install of OSX 10.7.4 and PT 10.2. Focusrite Saffire 56 in the FW card. Everything runs smooooooooth.

Current (AAX)DVerb score: 515
Current Geekbench Score: 13691


The only thing I ask of Avid here is, can we get a sticky?
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"Svetlana" v1 - 4.2GHz i7, 16GB RAM, OSX 10.7.4
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_C U R R E N T-D V E R B-S C O R E:515
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  #2  
Old 06-24-2012, 01:59 PM
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Shan Shan is offline
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Default Re: Why yes, this is the successful Hackintosh build thread!

Isn't the main resource thread for those builds here? Good job on the build by the way. You now have a BIOS that you can optimize specifically for Pro Tools. This has my vote for a sticky for these builds. The future of the Mac Pro is shady and who's going to invest in a 2+ year old Mac Pro by Apple that's promoted as "new" with a "maybe" rumored future product line.

Shane
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Michael Wagener 25th July 2005, 02:59 PM

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  #3  
Old 06-24-2012, 02:15 PM
Dism Dism is offline
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Default Re: Why yes, this is the successful Hackintosh build thread!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shan View Post
Isn't the main resource thread for those builds here? Good job on the build by the way. You now have a BIOS that you can optimize specifically for Pro Tools. I also vote a sticky for these builds. The future of the Mac Pro is shady and who's going to invest in a 2+ year old Mac Pro by Apple that's promoted as "new" with a "maybe" rumored future product line.

Shane
Oooh, there is another thread. Though it seems a bit counter productive to be under the Windows section.

Also, it seems to be more about keeping PCIx cards alive. Though, I certainly understand the appeal.

Either way, whether it's this one or that one, there definitely should be a Hackintosh sticky thread.

Avid?
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"Svetlana" v1 - 4.2GHz i7, 16GB RAM, OSX 10.7.4
Liquid Saffire 56 - PT10.2 - BFD2, VCC, Duende Native, Play 3.0

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  #4  
Old 06-24-2012, 04:11 PM
getz76 getz76 is offline
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Default Re: Why yes, this is the successful Hackintosh build thread!

There are plenty of places on the internets to find this information hosted by entities that do not have a reason to stay in Apple's good graces. Why would Avid actively endorse this? A blind eye is the most that would be advisable.
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  #5  
Old 06-24-2012, 04:58 PM
CME CME is offline
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Default

I'll second a sticky request. And with that add.

Gigabyte X58A-UD3R
Intel i7 930
Nvidia graphics card
12GB Ram (6x2GB)
Samsung 830 64GB SSD
2TB HDD
1000w PSU
OSX 10.6.8
Pro Tools 10.2

I put this together a couple of months ago for well under $1000. I bought most of it used. Guess people are moving on to the new socket 2011 rigs.

Next up, install windows so I can try some mild OC'ing. Also looking for a 6-core CPU. Deals keep getting better and better.

Also I don't remember the exact specs. I'll edit my post ASAP for more detail. If I was doing it again I found a dual socket 2011 Xeon board the looks promising. And two quad core Xeon e5's that aren't too expensive. :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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  #6  
Old 06-24-2012, 05:09 PM
Dism Dism is offline
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Default Re: Why yes, this is the successful Hackintosh build thread!

Quote:
Originally Posted by getz76 View Post
There are plenty of places on the internets to find this information hosted by entities that do not have a reason to stay in Apple's good graces. Why would Avid actively endorse this? A blind eye is the most that would be advisable.
I agree, and why I encourage going to sites that aren't about abusing Apple. TonyMac's improvements aren't really "hacks" in the traditional sense. All they really do is add drivers and extensions so that OSX recognizes the parts you're using. Certainly more modding than anything else. They also only support official purchases of OSX.

Perhaps by showing Apple we still want to buy OSX but use it on our own systems, they may warm up to the idea. What they should do is release a "developer" build, for say $75, that just has open hardware extensions.
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"Svetlana" v1 - 4.2GHz i7, 16GB RAM, OSX 10.7.4
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_C U R R E N T-D V E R B-S C O R E:515
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  #7  
Old 06-24-2012, 05:21 PM
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Shan Shan is offline
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Default Re: Why yes, this is the successful Hackintosh build thread!

Quote:
Originally Posted by getz76 View Post
Why would Avid actively endorse this?
Too continue to sell Pro Tools hardware.

Before we get into a, "but they cant qualify these systems" debate, I'll remind all that there's not one custom PC build sticky with Avid qualified systems either. The PC's have all been "user qualified" for the past 12 years. Those PC build stickies are responsible for selling more Pro Tools rigs than any of their top sales people could ever do.

Shane
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Michael Wagener 25th July 2005, 02:59 PM

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  #8  
Old 06-24-2012, 05:31 PM
Dism Dism is offline
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Default Re: Why yes, this is the successful Hackintosh build thread!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shan View Post
Too continue to sell Pro Tools hardware.

Before we get into a,"but they cant qualify these systems" debate, I'll remind all that there's not one custom PC build sticky with Avid qualified systems either. The PC's have all been "user qualified" for the past 12 years. Those PC build stickies are responsible for selling more Pro Tools rigs than any of their top sales people could ever do.

Shane
Bingo.

Avid's best help is the community that supports itself. That i7 thread is nearly 500 pages long, and is one of main reasons why Windows users even have support. If it weren't for crafty PC builders, all we'd have is a list of crappy Dells, and pricey Macs.
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"Svetlana" v1 - 4.2GHz i7, 16GB RAM, OSX 10.7.4
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_C U R R E N T-D V E R B-S C O R E:515
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  #9  
Old 06-24-2012, 05:41 PM
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dave911 dave911 is offline
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Default Re: Why yes, this is the successful Hackintosh build thread!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shan View Post
Too continue to sell Pro Tools hardware.

Before we get into a,"but they cant qualify these systems" debate, I'll remind all that there's not one custom PC build sticky with Avid qualified systems either. The PC's have all been "user qualified" for the past 12 years. Those PC build stickies are responsible for selling more Pro Tools rigs than any of their top sales people could ever do.

Shane
Be fair, Avid's working hard on this.
They just qualified a bunch of Pentium III systems
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  #10  
Old 06-24-2012, 06:28 PM
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Shan Shan is offline
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Default Re: Why yes, this is the successful Hackintosh build thread!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dism View Post
Bingo.

Avid's best help is the community that supports itself. That i7 thread is nearly 500 pages long, and is one of main reasons why Windows users even have support. If it weren't for crafty PC builders, all we'd have is a list of crappy Dells, and pricey Macs.
It goes way beyond the i7 sticky though, as there's also:...and even the current non-stickies:The Pro Tools hardware/software sales generated from those threads alone are responsible for a lot of revenue the past 12 years. It's in their best interest to acknowledge custom builds and make the information easy to find via a sticky, instead of a user sifting through thousands of scattered threads and posts. Keep in mind folks that a sticky does not mean, "Avid approved & endorsed", as there's just no way they could qualify all those systems.

As a side note, the originator of the sticky usually puts in quit a few years of updating and maintaining the sticky. It's a lot of work just for that alone. Even when you retire from it, it still goes on as people hunt you down via email.

Shane
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Michael Wagener 25th July 2005, 02:59 PM

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