Boot mac os from disk. Instructions for booting the Mac OS system in special modes, such as safe or external disk mode

Mac computers with the macOS operating system on board are the standard of reliability and performance, but even despite this, no one is immune from force majeure circumstances, due to which the operating system may not load or freeze at startup. In this material we will talk about typical malfunctions and ways to eliminate them.

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Mac not booting or freezing during macOS startup can be due to three main reasons:

problem related to a technical component (SSD, HDD, RAM, processor, maternal memory, controller and so on);
new equipment (needs to be disabled). The reason could even be a regular USB flash drive or USB key;
software related problem.

If the process of launching and loading macOS has begun, but freezes at certain stages, then you need to go through all the points below in order in the given algorithm of actions.

1. Disconnect all devices connected to your Mac and try restarting your computer

We talked about how to force restart any Mac computer.

2. Boot macOS in Safe Boot or Verbose mode

Safe Boot or simply “Safe Mode” allows you to run macOS with limited checks and functionality. That is, only the minimum that allows the system to function is launched. We perform all actions from a switched off Mac. To turn it off, just hold down the power button for 2-3 seconds.

MacOS in mode Safe Boot starts a little slower (if it starts at all), so don't rush to the next step until you're sure this doesn't work. To start your Mac in safe mode Safe Boot, just turn on the computer while holding down the key ⇧Shift.

There is also an analogue of the Safe Boot mode - Verbose mode. The difference is that the latter allows you to display all the detailed information about the loaded processes, software and drivers. To start your Mac in Verbose mode, start your Mac while holding down the keys Shift + Command + V (⇧ + ⌘ + V).

If the Mac starts in Safe Boot or Verbose mode, you need to click on the  menu and reboot the machine in normal mode. A successful download means we are lucky.

If the Mac does not boot, then smoothly move on to the next step.

3. We resort to the help of Disk Utility

Our instructions are designed to first weed out the most common and easy-to-fix causes of Mac failure. At this stage, we need to make sure whether the cause of the problem is a malfunctioning hard drive or SSD, and a standard tool in the form of Disk Utility will help us with this.

Shut down your Mac from any frozen state. Launch Disk Utility performed by turning on the Mac with the keys held down Command + R (⌘ + R). Here you will be in recovery mode.

In the list that appears " macOS utilities » select the item « Disk Utility" and click the button " Continue».

In Disk Utility, select the hard drive on the left side menu and start the verification mode by clicking on the " First aid"at the top of the window.

After the check is completed, if any malfunctions are detected, the utility will immediately offer to fix them or will fix them automatically. After this, restart your Mac. If it doesn’t help, then proceed to the next step.

4. How to save data from a Mac that won't load macOS

If you don't care about the data stored on your hard drive, then feel free to skip this step and move on to the next step.

If you don't use the most useful function Time Machine, then before reinstalling macOS you need to take care of transferring data from the disk. Developers from Cupertino have come up with a special Mode external drive(), with which you can access data stored on your Mac's hard drive so that you can copy it to another Mac. The disadvantage of this method is obvious - the need for presence second Mac and Thunderbolt cable.

To activate External Disk Mode you must:

1 . Connect both Macs using a Thunderbolt cable.

2 . Turn off the problem Mac and turn on the working Mac.

3 . Start a broken Mac with a button held down T and hold it until the Thunderbolt icon appears on the display on a blue background, which indicates that the Mac has successfully launched in external drive mode.

On a working computer, Finder should have an external hard drive, from which we will copy important data. After completing the procedure, safely remove the disk and turn off the computer by long pressing the power button.

On Mac computers, you have many options for running not only Windows, but also several other operating systems.

Immediately after the first Intel-based Macs were released, rumors began to circulate that they were capable of running Windows applications without additional modification. Some people have speculated that Windows will now become new classics, and Mac OS X and Windows applications will now coexist, running on the same computer. Those who held this point of view were not unconditionally right, but their ideas turned out to be prophetic. Soon after the introduction of Intel-based Macs, two leading virtualization software products, VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop, implemented a “transparent” emulation mode, in which programs written for Mac OS X and Windows could special problems work within the same desktop.

However, there is another way to run Windows on a Mac, and you've no doubt heard about it. Utility Boot Camp Configures hard disk space so that Windows can be installed on the freed partition, creating a dual-boot system where the user can choose which operating system to boot. A peaceful solution, yes, but does this approach really mean coexistence?

Virtualization software uses your computer's resources (hardware devices, CPU time, memory, disk space) and masks them. This software copes with this task so well that the operating system considers this allocated set of resources to be a separate computer. This means that a copy of Windows running under an emulator (such as VMware or Parallels) treats the "virtual machine" as a standard PC - i.e. a combination of PC BIOS, CPU, memory, hard drive and other peripheral devices. The operating system starts and works perfectly, without even suspecting that all this hardware is virtual, not real.

Boot Camp or virtualization?

All users who want to install and run Windows on a Mac have two options to choose from. If you need to run Mac and Windows programs simultaneously, your best bet is to use emulation software - either Parallels or VMware. Both products cost approximately $79 (those looking to save money can search online for better deals, such as solutions from discount vendors). Here we note that it is quite difficult to give preference to one of the mentioned products over the other, since both products are excellent.

However, with this approach, you will still need to purchase a license-free copy of Windows, which costs about $200. If you purchased a computer that came with a Windows distribution, then most likely this distribution will be “tied” to this computer, so, in all likelihood, you will not be able to use this copy of Windows under VMware or Parallels.

If you are planning to install Linux, then I recommend choosing a VMware emulator as it provides better support this operating system. For example, at the time of this writing, the Parallels emulator does not allow data exchange between Linux and Mac OS X, such as copying to and pasting from the clipboard. At the same time, the VMware emulator provided such an opportunity.

Both VMware and Parallels allow you to transparently copy data between Windows and Mac OS X applications, so if you're only going to run Windows, either product is a great choice. If you don't need to run Windows and Mac OS X applications at the same time, and don't mind restarting your computer every time you need to switch to the other operating system, you can use the Boot Camp utility included with Mac OS to start Windows X Leopard. In addition, Boot Camp can be used with any of the discussed virtualization packages. Both VMware and Parallels can boot from your Windows partition. So if you need to run your Windows applications while still running Mac OS X, you can do so at any time. If you need to start Windows with maximum speed, you can reboot your Windows computer and run your Mac OS X applications from the emulator.

Boot Camp is a good choice for gamers and those users who need high speed work with 3D graphics. Since Parallels and VMware support 3D acceleration for some popular games and applications, they are also suitable for this purpose. However, if you have a Mac with integrated graphics, then highest speed will provide Boot Camp. MacBook computers and Mac mini have slower integrated Intel graphics, while iMac, Mac Pro and MacBook Pro are equipped with powerful NVIDIA and AMD graphics adapters. Systems with integrated graphics are slow or don't support most modern games, so Boot Camp can help you save some money on resources.

Installing Windows using Boot Camp

To install Windows using Boot Camp, you usually need to open Finder window, go to the /Applications/Utilities folder, and then launch the Boot Camp Assistant program. After this, you will be prompted to insert a bootable Windows distribution disk (only Windows XP/Vista is supported) and restart your computer. After the reboot, Windows Setup will launch. I suggest that you take on a slightly more active, but also a slightly more challenging role in this task, which will ultimately make your life much easier.

Operating systems from Windows family by default they “prefer” to be installed on partitions formatted for file NTFS system(Windows NT File System). Windows XP can also be installed on a partition formatted with the older FAT32 file system, but this installation option is less reliable and is more susceptible to file system corruption. Concerning Windows Vista, then by default it doesn't even provide an option to install it on a FAT32 partition.

Therefore, in order to achieve best results, you should immediately tell Windows Installer to format the Boot Camp partition with the NTFS file system. Unfortunately, on at this stage The problem immediately arises: Mac OS X does not support writing to NTFS partitions, which it treats as write-protected partitions. As for Windows itself, without installing additional software, it does not “see” Mac OS X partitions at all. Thus, if you want to install Windows on an NTFS partition, you will not be able to directly copy files from the Windows partition to the Mac OS X partition and back. It is for this reason that I recommend creating three sections:

Your original Mac OS X partition (some of the space from this partition will be used for the Windows partition).
FAT32 partition, several GB in size, designed for exchanging files between Mac OS X and Windows.
Another FAT32 partition with a large amount of free space is for installation (later, when you actually install Windows, you will instruct the Windows installer to format this partition as NTFS).

The only problem is that if you do this, you won't be able to use the Boot Camp Assistant app because it only works with the drive that has a single Mac OS X partition. However, the Boot Camp Assistant app isn't very helpful to us and necessary. All you need is an Intel Mac, a distribution disk with Mac OS X Leopard, and a distribution CD or DVD with a copy of Windows. You will also need to launch the Terminal application and use it to prepare the disk.

We're going to take some of the free space from the Mac OS X partition and allocate it to create a Windows partition. Therefore, immediately after you open the Terminal application, you will need to estimate how much free space you have at your disposal and repartition your disk. There is inherent risk in this operation, so do not attempt it before you have created a full backup and are confident that it is secure. The diskutil command does everything you need, but first I recommend using its list option to view information about how your hard drive is currently organized. For example, this command allows you to find out that partition 2 on disk 0 is dedicated to Mac OS X (listing below).

1234567//View information about the current hard disk organization $ diskutil list /dev/disk0 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme *298.1 Gi disk0 1: EFI 200.0 Mi disk0s1 2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 297.8 Gi disk0s2

Next, you should use the resizeVolume option to reallocate the disk space. In this case, you need to decide how much disk space Mac OS X should be left to decide how much space to allocate to the service partition for file sharing (let's call it Data), and how much space should be allocated to the Windows installation. The following command allocates 220 GB for Mac OS X, 12 GB for general data, and the rest for the Windows installation:

12$ sudo diskutil resizeVolume disk0s2 220g “MS-DOS FAT32” Data 12g “MS-DOS FAT32” Windows 0b

If this command returns an error message, use the resizeVolume diskname limits option, which will indicate how much disk space can be taken from Mac OS X. It is possible that you will either have to free up some disk space or settle for smaller sizes Windows partition (which, however, should be sufficient to install this operating system). An example of the output of this command is shown in the listing below.

1234567//Example output of the diskutil command with the option resizeVolume diskname limits $ diskutil resizeVolume disk0s2 limits For device disk0s2 Macintosh HD: Current size: 319723962263 bytes Minimum size: 139510571008 bytes Maximum size: 319723962263 bytes

You may have to free up the required amount of disk space, or you may have to settle for less disk space that will be available to Windows. After completing this operation, run the diskutil command again to check the results (listing below).

123456789//Results of disk space reallocation to prepare for Windows installation $ diskutil list /dev/disk0 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme *298.1 Gi disk0 1: EFI 200.0 Mi disk0s1 2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 219.9 Gi disk0s2 3: Microsoft Basic Data Data 12.0 Gi disk0s3 4: Microsoft Basic Data 65.9 Gi disk0s4

So now there are three partitions on your drive: your old Mac OS X partition (now with less disk space), plus two new partitions formatted as FAT32. Now you can insert the Windows distribution disk into the drive, turn off the computer, and then turn it on again by simultaneously pressing Option key/Alt and holding it in this position. Pressing the key will cause a list of drives (internal hard drives and CD/DVD media inserted into the drive) from which loading is possible.

To begin installing Windows, select boot from distribution media. Install Windows on a partition created for this purpose (you can determine which partition is intended for installing Windows by its size). When Windows Setup prompts you to select a file system, select the NTFS option. When you install Windows Vista, you will be warned that Vista cannot be installed on a FAT32 partition. Once you receive this notification, click the Drive Options (Advanced) link to reformat the target partition.

Be careful! If you choose the wrong target hard section disk, you will destroy your copy of Mac OS X!

The Boot Camp utility does one thing that is missing from the manual configuration procedure discussed: it configures your Mac to run by default when you turn it on. Windows boot(This setting can be changed later). Because this manual procedure does not do this, and the Windows installation process reboots your computer several times, if you leave your computer while Windows is installing, you may return to find it booted back into Mac OS X. To complete the installation Windows, turn off your computer, and then turn it on again while holding down the Option/Alt key. When the list of boot partitions appears on the screen, select the Windows partition (this time you should select the partition on which you are installing, and not the distribution CD/DVD).

When running Mac OS X, you can set the option to make Windows boot by default by going to the Startup Disk panel in the System Preferences window. The same result can be achieved using the Boot Camp utility in Windows. You can also display the boot options menu by pressing and holding the Option/Alt key when you turn on the computer. As mentioned, this may be necessary at this stage because the Windows installation must reboot the computer several times: at least once after installing the Boot Camp drivers and a couple more times after installing various drivers and Windows updates. After Windows installation is complete, you can use the Boot Camp utility again (its icon will be available in the system area Windows notifications) and reconfigure the system so that Mac OS X boots by default.

Once Windows installation is complete, you will be able to boot the system in its original (pristine) configuration. Insert the distribution DVD with Mac OS X Leopard into the drive (if the key does not work, click on the Start button and launch the application through the drop-down menu Windows Explorer, find the DVD/CD drive, right-click and select Eject from the menu that opens. The Boot Camp driver and the corresponding utility will launch - this is necessary so that the Windows operating system can work correctly on your Mac.

Installing Windows on a virtual machine

Although I've already mentioned that both VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop are excellent products, you still have to make a choice in favor of one of these programs. I do not recommend installing both products on your computer at the same time. I tried this once, and when both programs were launched simultaneously, the system began to become unstable (kernel panic errors). Therefore, it is best to still prefer one of these products, guided by the following considerations.

If you plan to run Linux under an emulator, choose VMware. In all other cases, the choice is not important - you can either make it randomly(for example, just take and throw a coin), or
rely on the recommendations of those of your friends and colleagues who have experience with emulators. Both VMware and Parallels offer demo versions of their products, so you can try them out one by one to see which one you like best (just don't do both at the same time to avoid system instability).

Using VMware or Parallels with Boot Camp

If you're already using Boot Camp, you can instruct VMware or Parallels to use the Boot Camp partition to run Windows. To do this you will need to do a little preliminary VMware setup or Parallels, since from the standpoint Windows virtual the machine and your Macintosh computer are two different computers with slightly different hardware configurations. As a result, they will be identified differently when activating Windows XP and Vista.

Fortunately, both Parallels and VMware include code that runs in the background and solves most of these problems for you. If you use VMware or Parallels to download an activated copy of Windows, then most likely this copy will require running the Windows Activation process again. But once you do initial setup activation process, you can use Parallels or VMware to access your Boot Camp partition and run the same copy of Windows running Mac OS X. When you need to switch to running Windows directly on your Mac hardware, you can shut down the virtual machine you're running. Boot Camp is running, restart the Mac while holding down the Option/Alt key and select the operating system Windows system from the boot menu. To boot from a Boot Camp partition running VMware, start VMware and find the entry for Boot Camp in the list of virtual machines, as shown in Figure. 8.5.

The VMware emulator should recognize your Boot Camp partition automatically (if it doesn't, contact the VMware website for technical support). To run Windows in the emulator environment, simply select the Boot Camp Partition option and click the Run button. VMware will make some changes to the Boot Camp partition configuration, which you will be asked to confirm by entering your password. In a few minutes, the virtual machine will start from your Boot Camp partition. In order for the virtual machine to function properly, you will need to install an add-on called VMware Tools (this add-on performs all the operations required to work comfortably in Windows in the background), after which you can use Windows the way you like - like in an emulator environment , and on the “native” hardware.

Parallels works in almost the same way, with the exception that this emulator cannot automatically detect and configure the Boot Camp partition. Instead, you will need to create a new virtual machine and select the Custom option (Figure 8.6). Specify the version of Windows that you want to run in the Boot Camp environment, select the amount of memory allocated to it, and when the window with the option to select a boot disk appears on the screen, select the Use Boot Camp option. After this, you will need to complete a few more configuration steps, after which Parallels will boot Windows, prompt you for a one-time configuration, and reboot the virtual machine.

Creating a virtual machine from scratch

In addition to the boot methods already described, you can create a new virtual machine that does not use either the Boot Camp partition or any other partition physical hard disk. In both Parallels and VMware, when creating a new virtual machine, you can create a virtual hard disk by specifying its location (the default value can be left unchanged, if desired, the virtual hard disk can be moved later).

A virtual hard disk is a multi-GB file containing a complete copy of the operating system. Positive side virtual hard disks is that it is very easy for you to back up virtual machines. However, this approach has its drawbacks - the images created are huge, and if you use the Time Machine application, the backups created virtual disks(hourly, daily, weekly) will very quickly fill the entire disk allocated for Time Machine. If you don't have a lot of free space on your Time Machine disk, you should exclude virtual disk images from the files that need to be backed up. You can do this through the system's preferred settings - open Time Machine, go to the Options tab and in the Not Back Up field, specify the path to the directory in which the images of your virtual machines are stored.

To create a new virtual machine, launch Parallels Workstation or VMware Fusion, select File → New from the menu, and then follow the on-screen instructions. To install Windows, you will need a distribution CD or DVD and a product key. Both Parallels and VMware Fusion can make your life a lot easier by allowing you to enter your login name, password, and product key before you even begin installing Windows. Thanks to this, the entire installation procedure can be carried out almost completely automatically. Once the Windows operating system is installed and running, try using VMware Unity (Figure 8.7) or Parallels Coherence modes. These modes allow you to integrate Mac and Windows desktops, thus providing virtually transparent virtualization.

If you are installing Windows Vista, I suggest not entering your product key during installation. The fact is that the Vista installer allows you to install the OS without entering a product key (you can simply leave the corresponding field empty), but still requires activation after the grace trial period has expired. The upside to this approach is that it prevents you from accidentally activating Windows before you're actually ready to do so. If you want to install Windows for quick testing or for the purpose of evaluating this software, then there is absolutely no need to waste your precious activation attempts for this. If you plan to install Windows just for evaluation, take a closer look at Microsoft TechNet Plus - an annual subscription costs $349 and includes the bonus of full versions of all Microsoft operating systems, licensed specifically for evaluation purposes.

Crossover Mac

There is another option available to you that does not require a copy of Windows. Crossover Mac is a software package based on the open source software WINE (http://www.winehq.com). The project name WINE is short for "WINE is Not an Emulator" - a clever recursive acronym that really indicates what WINE really is. Unlike VMware and Parallels, which are a combination of virtualization (abstracting the physical devices of your Mac) and emulation (using software components that mimic the behavior of physical devices), WINE does neither. In contrast, WINE is described as a clone of the software components that make up Windows.

Windows consists of a set of executable programs (exe files), dynamically loaded libraries (dll files), and other software components. WINE duplicates the functionality of most components included in Windows. Since WINE is not a complete duplicate (in fact, a second implementation of Windows that performs all the functions of the original), Crossover Mac does not provide the same software compatibility Windows software, like VMware, Boot Camp and Parallels. But under Crossover Mac all programs work very quickly - almost as fast as with Boot installation Camp. This is achieved by eliminating the "middleman" between Windows applications and your Mac's hardware.

For example, if some code 3D games instructs Windows to draw the polygon, this operation takes several steps. When performing similar tasks, Crossover performs essentially the same operations as Windows, but without the additional overhead of hardware emulation or virtualization. In fact, this is Windows “ported” to Mac (although this porting is not complete).

Modern Macs consist of the same components as personal computers. Then why can't Mac OS run on a PC? In fact, Apple operating systems can be installed on most modern computers, and it’s not as difficult as it seems

We remind you that this material is provided for informational purposes only. If you are going to reproduce the steps described below, we strongly advise you to carefully read the article to the end at least once. The editors of 3DNews do not bear any responsibility for any possible consequences.

Introduction

"Hackintosh" is an ironic name for Mac OS X, not installed on Apple computer, but on a regular PC. This phenomenon became possible when the Cupertino company began migrating its machines from the PowerPC platform to x86 in 2005, and Macs began to be equipped with the same processors and Intel chipsets that are used in personal computers. Since its initial modest victories, the so-called OSx86 project has grown from a hobby of a few enthusiasts into a mass movement with a growing user base. Today, when Apple officially released new version its operating system, Lion, it’s time to tell everyone about Hackintosh who doesn’t have a Mac, but has an interest in Mac OS X and a desire to experiment.

The first questions a person asks when he sees a Mac operating system on a PC: “Is it difficult to install?” and “Is everything working fine?” The answer to both is no. Installation has now been simplified to the extreme, so you can play with Mac OS X on almost any modern computer, but full functionality is not available to everyone - for a fair share of users, hardware graphics acceleration will either not work, or the network, sound, or something else will fail. Hackintoshes also have big problems with sleep mode. All these difficulties can be overcome, but you will probably have to spend a few sleepless nights. In general, the situation completely copies what happened with desktop Linux distributions a few years ago. However, this is a very flattering comparison both for the hacker community and for Apple itself: given that no one has ever prepared Mac OS X to work with non-native hardware, everything could have been much worse. Yes, some hardware will never run under Mac OS, others will require dancing with a tambourine and a hare's foot. But at the same time, a huge fleet of components either works out of the box or starts after simple manipulations. And software for Mac OS in all cases installs and works exactly the same as on a real Mac. It turns out that he’s not so scary, this Hackintosh.

For those who are concerned about the legal side of the phenomenon: of course, Mac OS X can only be legally installed on an Apple-branded computer, and any other options violate the license agreement. It is also prohibited to modify OS components, not to mention using pirated distributions from “torrents”. However, Apple does not persecute the OSx86 community in any way (although it is suing companies that make money from Hackintoshes), and the means of protection against unauthorized use are in their infancy, and ways to overcome them have long been found. Mac OS X doesn't even require you to enter a license key or activation. After all, hackintosh people advertise this OS for free and secretly dream of buying a real Mac. And the most devoted red-eyed experimenters, who fundamentally prefer Hackintosh, are still lost as potential buyers.

If there is no difference, then why pay more? Or is there?

So, if a small crime doesn’t bother you, and technical difficulties only cause healthy excitement, let’s try installing Mac OS X on a PC together. In this article we will describe two simple ways installation of the previous one, but still popular version OS, Snow Leopard (10.6), and one way for the new one, Lion (10.7). There is no point in installing Leopard (10.5), much less Tiger (10.4). If you like the result, then these instructions will become the starting point for mastering Hackintosh yourself. The last section provides links to popular OSx86 community resources where you can learn from other users' experiences and find solutions to specific problems.

Preparing Hackintosh

Actually, why can’t Mac OS X just work on a PC and how to overcome these obstacles? Reason number one is that in Macs, not the good old BIOS, but EFI is used as a layer between the OS and hardware firmware, and in order for Mac OS to start, EFI is emulated at the level of a special “hacker” bootloader (by the way , we owe this achievement to a Russian hacker under the nickname Netkas). The most popular and rapidly developing loader today is Chameleon and its derivatives, for example Chimera.

The second reason: Mac OS X has a kext (from kernel extension, remember this term) called Dont Steal Mac OS X. It is required to decrypt the applications that make up what looks like an operating system to the user (Dock, Finder, loginwindow, SystemUIServer and others), based on keys from the SMC chip, which is only available on real Macs. Well, if “there are no legs, then there are no cartoons.” The FakeSMC kext comes to the rescue, which successfully emulates an SMC Device, for which, again, thanks to Netkas. A special bootloader and FakeSMC.kext are all that is needed to boot Mac OS X, if the hardware of the computer is not very different from real Macs.

And this is precisely the third reason. There are no drivers for unsupported hardware under Mac OS X, or there are built-in drivers, but the system cannot use them because it does not recognize hardware with unfamiliar identifiers.

The hardware requirements for Hackintoshes are the same - you need a processor that supports SSE2 instructions, best of all - Intel Core 2 Duo and older. AMD users will have to replace the OS kernel with a “hacked” version, and as a result there will be problems updating the system with Apple servers. The same applies to netbooks on the Atom platform. Support for AHCI mode on the part of the SATA controller is highly desirable. To install Mac OS X Lion you need 2 GB of RAM, for Snow Leopard one is enough. The first rule for selecting hardware: the more the computer resembles real Macs, the fewer problems. Second rule: the newest and most advanced devices may not work no matter how hard you try, because... hardware support depends primarily on the Mac OS itself (heavy hardware drivers are not written for Hackintosh), and Apple is in no hurry. The site wiki.osx86project.org, which contains HLC (Hardware Compatibility Lists) for different versions Mac OS X.

For installation, it is best to use a separate drive with SATA interface, and turn off the Windows disk, to be safe. If you are not afraid to conduct experiments on one HDD with a working operating system, then you will have to create on it new section using some disk utility (10 GB is enough for pure Mac OS X). Just keep in mind that during the installation process, the Hackintosh bootloader will be written to the HDD, and then you will only be able to get into Windows through it. There is no threat to your existing data, but a backup won’t hurt either. The disk must be connected to the southbridge port motherboard, the SATA controller in the BIOS must be set to AHCI mode. It is recommended to remove overclocking, remove all expansion cards except the graphics adapter in the top PCI-E slot, disable peripherals other than the keyboard and mouse, reduce the amount of RAM to 4 GB (if more is installed). If the installation with minimal functionality is successful, then all this can be returned step by step. Too many conditions? Then you can practice on cats, that is, in a virtual machine. There are even ready-made images for various hypervisors on the Internet, although using them will not bring you experience in creating Hackintosh.

We warn readers: although Hackintosh is a completely harmless entertainment that will not break your computer and is unlikely to spoil any data, all manipulations described in the article are done at your own peril and risk. In addition, you need to be familiar with the computer and know what the bootloader, OS kernel and hard drive partitioning scheme are. Well, when you master Hackintosh perfectly, do not agree under any circumstances if your friends ask you to install it on your PC, otherwise you, as an honest person, will have to get married in order to keep this miracle working.

Installing Snow Leopard from iATKOS 10.6.3 v2

The simplest and most universal option is Mac installation OS X with a special image modified distribution. Since the release of Snow Leopard, such hacker builds have given way to a more elegant solution - installation from a copy of a proprietary disk using a separate boot CD, and this is described below. But users of CPUs from AMD or Intel Atom cannot do without assembly, because... the original Mac OS X kernel (which our English-speaking friends call the vanilla kernel) only supports Intel processors with Core architecture and older, and the build allows you to immediately select the “patched” version during the installation process. And after you have entered the world of Hackintosh through assembly and gained some knowledge, you can create a clean installation, the components of which you have complete control over.

iATKOS 10.6.3 v2 is one of the latest builds released, and despite the rather old version of the OS (Snow Leopard has already been updated to 10.6.8), all the “hacker” software on it is quite modern. After downloading the image (we won’t tell you where from), write it to a disc. Boot from the iATKOS disk and wait until the “hacker” bootloader works and the OS starts.

This process takes several minutes, but if it suddenly takes longer than reasonable limits or displays an error message, it means that something went wrong.

In this case, you need to boot from the DVD again, but on the bootloader screen with the green chameleon, press F8, highlight the optical drive, enter “–x” from the keyboard and press Enter. This is the so-called safe mode, but if you have no luck with it, then you need to boot with the “–v” argument, which will allow you to observe the boot log. At the moment where the process is stuck or the phrase Kernel Panic appears, you can take a photo of the screen and then, in a calm environment, try to understand what is happening, using thematic sites, Google and advice from experienced “hackers”.

The appearance of a window with a choice of language indicates that the download was successful and your system is able to run Mac OS X. We recommend, if possible, choosing the Shakespeare language, since most instructions and problem analyzes on the Internet are written in it.

Scroll through the pages of the installer until the disk selection window appears.

Open in menu Utilities section and run Disk Utility. If you have given a blank disk to Hackintosh, then using this program you need to “partition” it (the Partition tab). To install on a partition adjacent to Windows, the partition is simply formatted in the HFS+ file system (Erase tab). For reliability, it is better to choose the HFS+ Journaled option, and most users will not need the Case Sensitive option.

Once the HDD is prepared for installation, you can close Disk Utility and specify the partition in the installer window. And now the important point is the choice of drivers and settings that allow Mac OS X to fully work on your hardware. The list is opened by the Customize button. All users are advised to look into the Bootloader thread and select the Chameleon v2 RC5 option instead of the default option. Owners of AMD and Intel Atom processors must select a modified kernel in the Patches, Modified Kernels section.

You should not select any “drivers” for the graphics adapter in the Drivers, VGA section. It is better to check the box next to the Graphics Enabler option in the Bootloader Options section - in this case, the bootloader itself will try to activate hardware acceleration. Be that as it may, the OS almost always boots in 2D mode, and if the Graphics Enabler method does not work, then you can try your luck with separate “drivers”. By the way, these are not drivers, but only injectors that allow drivers built into Mac OS X to work with unfamiliar video cards, which is why they are put in quotes.

Select the appropriate package for your network card in the Drivers, Network section - there is a good collection there. For a laptop, the contents of the Drivers, Laptop Hardware section will be useful. You can take some driver for CPU power-saving functions from the Drivers, Main Hardware, CPU Power Management section. The “native” kernel extension called AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext, which carries this function, is prudently blocked in the assembly, because it is only suitable for Intel processors, and even then not for all, and in case of errors it does not allow the system to boot.

Do not check Sleep Enabler in the Patches section - if you need sleep mode, then after updating the OS this extension will still have to be replaced.

The Language Translations section came to iATKOS from the official distribution and contains OS interface localization packages, including Russian.

It is advisable to write down a list of the options that you have chosen, in case the newly installed OS does not start and you have to look for the culprit. Once your selection is made, you can click OK and then Install. Go!

At the end of the installation, the computer will reboot. You can remove the iATKOS disk and boot from the hard drive that we've loaded Mac OS X onto. While the Chameleon bootloader is counting down the seconds until the OS starts up by default, you can press any key and see a list of partitions from which you can boot. If at first there was already Windows on the hard drive, then it starts from the service partition called System Reserved, or directly from your root partition, if the service partition is missing for some reason.

But we can't wait to see Mac OS, right? In this case, we just wait, and if the options were selected correctly during installation, a registration window will appear on the screen, and if the Graphics Enabler option worked, a welcome video will also be shown.

What to do if the operating system gets stuck at the loading stage or displays an error message? The first tip in this case is to boot up and view the log. To do this, you need to stop the bootloader while it counts down the time until the OS starts, select the partition with it, enter the “–v” argument and press Enter. Based on the messages on the screen, you can find the component causing the failure. You can then try to boot into safe mode with the "-x" argument, and if this succeeds, then it is likely that the problem is some kext - a driver or device injector that you checked in the Customize menu of the installation disk, and it needs to be replaced. How to work with kexts is described in a special section of the article.

Installing Snow Leopard from a proprietary distribution

A “Hackintosh” can also be created using the “native” image of Snow Leopard, which you can even buy to ease your conscience. At the same time, all the software that makes Mac OS X compatible with PC is recorded on a separate disk. But this method is only suitable for owners of Intel CPUs, because both the distribution disk and the copy of the OS that will be installed from it use the original kernel without AMD support. In addition, the unmodified Snow Leopard installer will not allow you to roll the system onto a hard drive partitioned using MBR, and only supports the GUID partitioning scheme. Therefore, the disk with the MBR will have to be repartitioned.

If Windows is already installed there and you are not ready to say goodbye to the most popular operating system forever, then there is a non-obvious solution: with using Disk Utility first partitions the disk with a GUID, creates its own partition for “windows” and installs Windows, and then installs Snow Leopard on the second partition. The key word here is Disk Utility. This program, which, as you already know, also runs from the Mac OS X installation disk, creates a hybrid partition with synchronized GUID and MBR. And the MBR is required to install Windows.

So, first we need an iBoot boot disk image and a MultiBeast driver package - the latest versions of both are posted on the website www.tonymacx86.com/viewforum.php?f=125 (registration is required to download). We burn the iBoot ISO image to a disc and boot from it. When a window appears asking you to select a partition to boot, you need to replace iBoot in the drive with the “native” distribution with Mac OS X, press F5, highlight the DVD and press Enter.

The further procedure is completely similar to what is written about assembling iATKOS, only in the Customize menu there are no “left-handed” drivers, but only standard Snow Leopard packages - interface localizations, fonts, etc.

But once the installation is complete, you won’t be able to boot directly from the hard drive, because... the copy of the OS is pristine and no different from what is on real Macs. Therefore, you need to boot from the iBoot disk again and select the partition with Snow Leopad.

If an error occurs, you already know what to do: boot with the “-v” argument and run diagnostics, then try to start the OS in safe mode with the “-x” argument. The tonymacx86 site also recommends the PCIRootUID=1 argument, which can be combined with "-x" and "-v".

If Mac OS X showed a registration window, then it’s time to accustom it to the PC. You need to launch MultiBeast from the archive that we downloaded in advance, and scroll through all the installer pages right down to the component selection menu. Here all users must check the EasyBeast Install item - which specifies the installation minimum set kexts. To enable support for specific hardware, you should look at the individual branches of the list and select the necessary extensions. At the end of the procedure, the computer will reboot and you can safely boot from the HDD.

In addition to kexts, the Chimera bootloader will be installed on the disk, and if Windows was previously installed, it is loaded by selecting the appropriate partition.

Installing Lion

Here's the tastiest thing - the latest version of Mac OS X. So far only Intel users can appreciate it. At the time of writing, Apple has not yet released the source code for the Lion kernel, which means there are no modified kernels. But most kexts written for Snow Leopard work with Lion.

To install Lion, we will need a working Snow Leopard version no lower than 10.6.6, a free partition on a 5 GB hard drive to accommodate the installer files, the Lion distribution (available for $29.99 in the App Store and you know where for free), xMove utility and the already familiar MultiBeast package.

The Install Mac OS X Lion program is launched directly from the running operating system, and as the partition for installation you need to select exactly the one from which Snow Leopard is running, which will not affect the OS in any way. Once the files are copied, you can agree to reboot and log back into Snow Leopard.

Now it's up to the xMove utility. Having launched it, you need to mark the empty partition that we prepared in advance for Lion, and xMove will transfer the unpacked files there Install program Mac OS X Lion. If Snow Leopard is installed using the iBoot + MultiBeast method, then just boot from the hard drive and select the partition with “Lion” in the Chimera bootloader menu. If iATKOS or another solution was used for installation, but the bootloader and kexts are also not the latest, then you will have to boot from the iBoot disk. The further procedure completely repeats the process of installing Snow Leopard from a proprietary distribution. Moreover, as a target, you can select a partition with an already running Mac OS X, and then it will be updated painlessly.

Installing and removing kexts

How to delete problematic driver, injector or add support for devices that did not start after the initial installation? The storage for kexts (kernel extensions) in Mac OS X is the /System/Library/Extensions directory, and they are loaded from a single cache at /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/Extensions.mkext, where the OS puts only the necessary extensions. But modern Hackintosh loaders (already familiar to us Chameleon and Chimera) can load additional kexts from the /Extra/Extensions directory, and from them their own small cache /Extra/Extensions.mkext is formed. MultiBeast and iATKOS use exactly this scheme, only in the latter case the /Extra directory is hidden. Showing hidden files is enabled using a command in the terminal.

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall finder

To install many kexts, just copy them to /Extra/Extensions. But some will not be able to resolve dependencies (there is no cache in /S/L/C/c/S/Extensions.mlext necessary extensions), and you will have to create a single cache in the /Extra directory of all “native” and “third-party” extensions, which the OS will not be able to remake. The following command does this:

sudo kextcache -m /Extra/Extensions.mkext - /System/Library/Extensions /Extra/Extensions

Before these files in /Extra/Extensions need to be assigned the necessary permissions. Teams:

sudo chown -R 0:0 /Extra/Extensions

sudo chmod -R 755 /Extra/Extensions

And one more nuance: even if with correct permissions The kext is not included in the cache and is not loading, you need to open it using the Show Package Contents option in context menu file and view the Info.plist file in the Contents directory. This is an xml file, and at the end, before the closing tags there should be the following entry:

OSBundleRequired

Root

Otherwise, it needs to be added or changed.

Things are a little different in Mac OS X 10.7. Lion uses a different cache format - prelinked kernel. By default, Chameleon does not read it and scans the entire contents of the /Extra/Extensions directory, which slows down loading. The only thing that can be done for now is to create a shared cache in the system directory /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup. Team:

sudo kextcache -c /System/Library/Caches/com.apple.kext.caches/Startup/kernelcache -v -t -K /mach_kernel — /System/Library/Extensions /Extra/Extensions

And in order for the bootloader to pick up kernelcache, you need to use the “UseKernelCache=Yes” argument at startup. But unlike the contents of /Extra, this file is subject to the operating system, and from time to time it will update it, forgetting, of course, about our “hacker” extensions. A solution to the problem is to move the kexts from /Extra to the /System/Library/Extensions directory and give them the necessary permissions with the commands:

sudo chown -R 0:0 /System/Library/Extensions

sudo chmod -R 755 /System/Library/Extensions

OS update

Hackintosh can be updated from the Apple server using the built-in Software Update utility. But at the same time, you need to be prepared for the fact that after the update some kexts will stop working or start causing crashes and you will have to find a replacement for them. Fortunately, developers of popular extensions quickly respond to the release of new versions of Mac OS X. In addition, after the update, you need to rebuild the kext cache by first loading the system with the “-f” argument. Users of AMD processors should make sure that the latest version of the modified kernel is available before updating the OS, or you can leave the old one.

Bootloader setup

The operation of the Chameleon bootloader or its analogues is controlled by the file com.apple.boot.plist in the /Extra folder. It can be modified manually, but there is also a special GUI utility - Lizard, which can be downloaded from darwinx86.net/software/darwinx86_software.html. It is advisable to enter the screen resolution, loading arguments (for example, the aforementioned “UseKernelCache=Yes”) into the configuration, and for owners of “non-standard” processors the name of the modified kernel file. In iATKOS this is the custom file (look, it is in the root partition of the disk). Also check Graphics Injection if this option helped you enable 3D acceleration.

The 32bit Compatibility Mode option will force the kernel to boot in 32-bit mode, which may be necessary for some kexts. At the same time, support for large RAM volumes, and applications can run in 64-bit mode regardless of the kernel. A similar command line argument is "-x32".

The list of arguments may also contain special options for individual kexts.

The program automatically opens the file /Extra/com.apple.boot.plist, and if it is missing, it will create it when you try to save changes. This is exactly what will happen with iATKOS, because... This assembly by default stores the bootloader configuration in the system file of the same name /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.boot.plist. This is not correct, so it is best to clear the system file after creating the file in /Extra, leaving only those lines that are shown in the screenshot.

Another Lizard function is to edit the /Extra/SMBIOS.plist file. It contains information about the computer model and installed hardware and helps to present the computer as some kind of Macintosh in the System Information program.

Peripherals from Apple

A question that worries many people, but they don’t want to spend money on an experiment: do Mac devices like Apple Cinema Display, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad work with Hackintosh? So, the monitor is compatible with any video card equipped with DisplayPort (DP Mini or a full-format version of the port with an adapter is suitable), and both the light sensor and brightness adjustment in System Preferences work. The mouse and touchpad require a Bluetooth USB adapter - some work right out of the box without any additional kexts, and the connection process is again no different from that on real Macs.

Free swimming

Now that you know how to change kexts and configure the bootloader, the Hackintosh configuration is completely in your hands. After the initial installation of Mac OS X, there are probably some rough edges left: something either doesn’t work or works poorly. Knowledge from web resources dedicated to OSx86 will help you bring the system to life. You can play for free on Mac by going to steam and downloading games from the free section

www.insanelymac.com is a well structured forum with a friendly audience. There is a Russian-language section;
wiki.osx86project.org - the above-mentioned encyclopedia with a database of compatible hardware;
www.hackintosh.com - site with installation guides and useful links;
www.projectosx.com - a forum similar to InsanelyMac, contains more in-depth technical information on some issues;
www.kexts.com - a database of original and third-party kexts for Mac OS X.

In most cases, OS X users are quite satisfied with the existing set of software for this system. What to do when required application designed exclusively for the more popular Windows system? There are several ways to run a Windows program on a Mac computer in OS X.

There are three such ways:

BootCamp

Boot Camp is a program included with Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard that allows you to install and use a compatible version of Microsoft Windows on an Intel-based Mac. (Apple)

Apple introduced BootCamp in 2006, after Macs switched to Intel processors. For the sake of historical justice, we note that it was possible to run Windows applications on the Macintosh before: for this, an expensive expansion card was installed on the Macintosh. For obvious reasons, this decision was not popular.

Before you create additional section on your Mac's hard drive, back up your computer using Time Machine, then launch BootCamp Assistant (located in Programs - Utilities) and follow the instructions.

The solution is not ideal, but the main thing is that the Mac turns into Windows computer. This means that the Microsoft system will work at maximum speed.

Disadvantages of BootCamp:

To run Windows you need a full reboot mac. To select an operating system (OS X or Windows) during boot, press and hold the Option (Alt) key.
Partitions (logical drives) created in Windows are not visible in OS X and vice versa. Why? Windows does not understand the HFS+ file system that OS X works with, and the latter does not work with NTFS by default. With help additional utilities like Tuxera NTFS you can add NTFS compatibility (read and write) to OS X.
BootCamp installs only certain versions Windows. So, only Windows 8 with all its inconveniences.

BootCamp is suitable when there is no need to boot two operating systems at the same time and you need maximum performance. For example, it may be useful for gamers: after working in OS X, they restarted the computer and launched their favorite game in Windows.

Windows Emulator

This method is only good for running one or two Windows programs in OS X. It provides sufficient high performance and there is no need to install an additional system.

Using Wineskin and CrossOver, you can try to run software that is not compatible with OS X. Just give it a try, since this trick doesn’t always work: even if successful, problems with stability may arise.

Beginner users may encounter problems, since working with the emulator requires certain knowledge. Nothing complicated, information is easy to find on the Internet, but taking into account the fact that there are other ways, this method It cannot be called elegant.

Virtual machine

Virtual machine(VM, from English. virtual machine) is a software and/or hardware system that emulates Hardware some platform (in our case OS X) and executing programs for the target platform (Windows). (Wikipedia)

The best solution when you need two systems at the same time, or need to switch between them frequently. For example, for developers. At Windows startup the virtual machine does not require rebooting the Mac, and files from different partitions can simply be dragged and dropped from one window to another with the mouse. In addition to Windows, you can install any modern operating system in a virtual machine, with the exception of outright exotic ones.

To deploy an operating system (one or more) that is not supported by a Mac, you must install a virtual machine (program) in OS X. There are quite a few similar programs: Parallels Desktop, Vmware Fusion and Virtual Box. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, but in any case there is plenty to choose from.

Separately, I would like to mention Virtual Box from Oracle. This program has one important advantage - it is free, while competitors cost a lot of money: Parallels Desktop - from $79; Vmware Fusion - from $150. A free virtual machine has performance problems and even frequent lags are inevitable. Virtual Box is an excellent solution if you only need Windows for a couple of undemanding utilities.

After creating a virtual machine (installing the program and configuring the machine), you can begin installing the system. It is important that this can be done directly from a bootable USB flash drive connected to the virtual machine via a virtual USB port. Also, Windows can be installed from an ISO image.

Disadvantages of virtual machines:

Limited performance - Virtual machines suck up a share of the Mac's hardware power.
When you connect an external device to a Mac, it is not available in the virtual machine (it is connected in a separate menu).

What to choose?

The answer to this question depends on your needs. If you only need a single application, using BootCamp is not advisable because you need to restart your computer. In this case, it is easier to run Windows in an emulator. A virtual machine allows you to install different operating systems and easily switch between them - ideal for developers creating cross-platform applications.

Well, if you need high performance (for gamers), then BootCamp will be ideal.

P.S.: Some virtual machines are capable of running Windows installed using BootCamp.

The network is now full of copy-pastes, essentially the same article about installing MacOS X on a Hackintosh with approximately the same title. I’ll tell you how to install Mac OS X from a flash drive on a mac.

There is nothing complicated here, but not everyone is a pro, and reinstalling the system on a Mac is quite a rare thing, this is not Windows. When is this necessary? In my case, I needed to upgrade from an old version of Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) to the next Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6).

The question arises: why write about such old stuff when OS X 10.9 is on the way, but today we’ll leave the topic of novelty alone, the essence of the question doesn’t change. Disk image OS X Snow Leopard Install DVD 10.6.3 Retail I took it from the inmac.org torrent.

In general, you can install OS X Lion (10.7) and Mountain Lion(10.8). You can legally purchase OS X Mountain Lion in the App Store (issue price is only 625 rubles).
Once the download is complete, a utility will appear in the Applications folder. installing Mac OS X Mountain Lion.
Right-click on the installer and select “Show package contents.” Next, copy the OS image from the “SharedSupport” folder to any convenient location InstallESD.dmg.

Creating a bootable USB flash drive or Mac OS X disk

To burn a Mac OS X Snow Leopard image, you need DVD disc double density (6.3 Gb will not fit on a regular disc), and there was no drive for recording this stuff either. I wasn't upset. At a time when spaceships are roaming... use CDs is bad manners.

We plug a suitable flash drive into the computer and launch Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.

First of all, we format our flash drive. In the “Erase” tab, specify a new name (for example MAC_OS_X) and file system Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
We mount the image of the future system by double-clicking on the image file. In my case it's Mac.OS.X.10.6.3.Retail.dmg(or InstallESD.dmg as described above). The image will appear in the left panel Disk Utility.
Go to the “Restore” tab. From the sidebar of Disk Utility, in the “Source” field, drag (Mac OS X Install ESD). In the “Destination” field, drag the created partition on the flash drive (MAC_OS_X).
Click the “Restore” button. This process is not fast, so you will have to wait a little.

Booting Mac from USB flash drive

Boot the system by holding Alt key(aka Option) until a selection of boot options appears. Well, then all you have to do is follow the installer’s instructions.

By the way, all user data, even the desktop screensaver, remained untouched when moving from one version of Mac OS X to another. Although at the time of installation, a lonely cold ant ran down the spine when it suddenly became clear that the user did not store some of the documents on the server and did not make backup copies. So, I recommend not to be lazy and, just in case, create a backup copy of important documents in advance.