I have compiled this tutorial so anyone can have a perfect Mac for under $250.
Step 1: Hardware
The only crucial component is the Motherboard. Feel free to mix and match other components to your liking.
$69.99 (TigerDirect.com)
Intel D945GCLF Motherboard/Includes 1.6Ghz Intel Atom CPU - Onboard Sound, Video, Lan, USB, SATA, IDE, Sleep, Reboot, Shutdown all work out of the box.
$39.99 (NewEgg.com)
Coolermaster Elite 340 Black MATX
$29.99 (TigerDirect.com)
Ultra LS350 Lifetime Series 350W Power Supply
$20.99 (NewEgg.com)
Corsair 1024MB PC5400 DDR2 667MHz Memory
$39.99 (NewEgg.com)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 80GB Hard Drive
$23.99 (NewEgg.com)
Lite-On DH-20A4P-04 SuperAllwrite OEM DVD Burner
Grand Total: $224.94 + Shipping
Step 2: Software
1) Kalyway 10.5.2 Install DVD
- Use the OSX disk utility to partition and format the drive. Be sure to format as MBR
- Close Disk Utility and select the newly partitioned drive to install on.
- Select Customize and go to Patches. Now select Time Machine Fix
- Start instillation and relax
- When instillation is finished, resolution will be locked at 1024x768. We will fix this in a later step.
2) Kalaway 10.5.3 Combo Update **No Longer Needed - See Bellow to upgrade straight to 10.5.5
- First install the 10.5.3 update included in the package. DO NOT RESTART when finished
- Second install the 10.5.3 Kernel update included in the package. leave everything defult, which means both boxes unchecked. You can now safely restart
3) Apple Software Update 10.5.4 **No Longer Needed - See Bellow to upgrade straight to 10.5.5
- You can now use the built in apple software update to bump up to Leopard 10.5.4. You can also install any other updates listed. This step assumes you followed my instructions and are still using the vanilla Kernel.
4) Apple Software Update 10.5.5 - Using Biketown Method
- Visit http://mysticus.titanous.com/update.html and download the Pre/Post Installer Patches and Combo Update 10.5.5 directly from Apple
- Run Biketowns Pre-Installer Patch. Close when done.
- Run the official 10.5.5 Combo update you downloaded from Apple. When Finished DO NOT RESTART. Force Quit installer (Click Apple on top left and select "Force Quit")
- Run Biketowns Post-Installer Patch This can take a long time, do not worry it is normal
- Restart the Computer - After the first restart the PC will hang at the grey apple screen. This is normal. Let this run for 30 seconds and manually restart again. OSX should now boot.
5) Graphics Fix
- I would like to thank "Charles vdg" for posting this fix in the InsanelyMac forums. Download the GMA 950 Kext package bellow and install the two included .Kext files. You can use Kexthelper if you are not comfortable installing manually.
Link to GMA 950 Kext Package
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=29965
Link to KextHelper
http://www.cheetha.net/Kext_Helper/Software.html
- After a quick restart you should now have full resolution and graphic support.
Step 3: Miscellaneous
This section is for small fixes that may or may not affect you.
1) Networking
Problem:
Losing Network after waking up from sleep mode
Fix:
Change network setting to DHCP Manual and assign a manual IP address. This should resolve the problem
2) Audio
Problem:
Microphone input does not work
Fix:
No fix currently
3) Restart
Problem:
After upgrading to Leopard 10.5.4, the computer hangs when restarting
Fix:
No fix currently
I hope this tutorial is able to help anyone looking to build an affordable Mac. Please feel free to contribute with new found problems or solutions.
Cheers,
MrFlooD
