[SOLVED] How do I builld a Mac

[chuckemonster]

Hello,
I have built my own computers and installed the upgrades. Since the hardware is basically the same and same manufacturers I thought i sould build a Mac. Therefore, My question is; What is if any trick to installing or obtaining an OME snow leopard OS. What I have read so far state that there are some that are up grades and I may need to istall an alder program then up grade and I have read about needing a mac to install the OS. Does any one know what the whole story is?

 

[danraies]

You can buy a copy of Snow Leopard plenty of places for like $40. In theory osx can run on many systems with Intel CPUs. However, the problem is the drivers. Apple doesn't write drivers for any components except its own and hardware manufacturers don't write drivers for osx, either. Several people have been reasonably successful in writing their own drivers and putting them out there, but only for a very small selection of hardware.

It is possible to build your own mac (the search keyword is "hackintosh") but it will be a long road. (Several websites claim it is easy, but it is not.) Before you buy your parts you will need to do a lot of research into parts that have established drivers that have been tried and tested which means that parts like motherboards and video cards will probably be slightly outdated. You should also be prepared to edit drivers manually.

Not to discourage you because it is possible to build a home-built mac, but be aware that it's pretty difficult.

 

[DelroyMonjo]

You start with a case
922-6783 Enclosure - PowerMac G5 Late 2005 A1177
$439.00
Side access panel is another $100.
Power button kit is $64
But I guess you really mean a Hackintosh.
Google it, plenty of guides there.

 

[geekapproved]

Get a bag of garbage and plop it in front of a cheesy overpriced monitor.

There you have it, a Mac.

 

[dsolom3]

Hello,
I have built my own computers and installed the upgrades. Since the hardware is basically the same and same manufacturers I thought i sould build a Mac. Therefore, My question is; What is if any trick to installing or obtaining an OME snow leopard OS. What I have read so far state that there are some that are up grades and I may need to istall an alder program then up grade and I have read about needing a mac to install the OS. Does any one know what the whole story is?

Why would you want to do that? To promptly chuck the build into the trash can realizing how useless it is?

On the other hand, you can get most linux distributions to look exactly like a Mac (not sure why you want to do that either though, the UI sux big time), with the added benefit of security, upgrade-ability, hardware support, and openness never seen in crApple world. Oh, I almost forgot about all the legal implications of actually having a Mac, and building a Hackintosh. If you want to get away from MS Windows, Mac is not the right answer. Been there.

 

[chuckemonster]

Best answer selected by chuckemonster.

 

[chuckemonster]

You can buy a copy of Snow Leopard plenty of places for like $40. In theory osx can run on many systems with Intel CPUs. However, the problem is the drivers. Apple doesn't write drivers for any components except its own and hardware manufacturers don't write drivers for osx, either. Several people have been reasonably successful in writing their own drivers and putting them out there, but only for a very small selection of hardware.

It is possible to build your own mac (the search keyword is "hackintosh") but it will be a long road. (Several websites claim it is easy, but it is not.) Before you buy your parts you will need to do a lot of research into parts that have established drivers that have been tried and tested which means that parts like motherboards and video cards will probably be slightly outdated. You should also be prepared to edit drivers manually.

Not to discourage you because it is possible to build a home-built mac, but be aware that it's pretty difficult.

At least you have given me an honest answer. some of these other do not know other than the OS there is no difference except the price. I have seen the hackentosh site and even wrote in to apple telling them I wanted to do it as a Honors project at school but no response from them so i thought I would need to hack at it and thought of here for good advice and Ideas. I had not thought of the drivers and their down loads I would imagine why i was told you need a mac to build a mac for the M A C address to get the drivers from apple.
I wonder if i could get one from a dead one and use it. Thanks again I am in no rush I just thought it would be interest type of a challenge.

 

[danraies]

yeah, it's not going to be the epitome of functionality because of the hurdles and limitation, but it would be a fun project if you have the time and can afford it.

One last thing, though...I'm not sure you understand what a MAC address is. It has nothing to do with apple - MAC stands for Media Access Control and every computer has a MAC address regardless of the operating system. It's confusing, I know.