Firstly – what is a Hackintosh?
It is a standard PC running Mac OS
Why do it?
Well it will save you a heap of money amongst other things (fancy a £2500 Mac Pro for £500?) – and you get to try something new…
What will I need?
Really you need an Intel based recent PC (such as Core 2 Duo/Quad or i3/i5/i7 CPU)
What else is important?
You should have a good idea of how computers work – this will require you to change some settings on your PC’s BIOS (system board software) and also risks losing your Windows installation if you haven’t got the knowledge to place the install in the right place.
Still interested? Read on…
So – before we begin you need to following:
- A copy of Unibeast and Multibeast – click the links to visit the site to download them – register and donate – it’s well worth the money!
- 8Gb or larger USB memory stick (try Ebuyer UK, Amazon or Aria) – I recommend Kingston, Crucial or the like – don’t get cheap – you end up buying twice – at the time of writing an 8Gb Kingston Stick from Ebuyer is £6.99
- Mac OS X Lion App Store Download OR
- Mac OS X Lion USB Drive
STEP 1: Purchase Mac OS X Lion
The operating system is not free. There are two ways to purchase your copy of Mac OS X Lion. The simplest way is to download the Application from the Mac App Store. Alternately, the OS X Lion USB Thumb is available online at Apple.com/UK or any Apple Store retail location. Please help support a great OS (that you obviously want to run – otherwise you wouldn’t be here!)
STEP 2: Create a Bootable USB Drive Using UniBeast (done on a Mac) – borrow one if you don’t have access to one – I wouldn’t recommend doing this in an Apple Retail Store 
Now this is pretty simple, but it’s easy to miss things if you rush through the guide. Follow each step to the exact letter.
1. Insert your USB drive (the blank one / one you want to install Lion installer too)
2. Open /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility
3. Highlight USB drive in left column
4. Click Partition tab
5. Click Current and choose 1 Partition
6. Click Options…
7. Choose Master Boot Record
8. Under Name: type USB (You can rename it later)
9. Under Format: choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
10. Click Apply then Partition
11. If using the Install Mac OS X Lion Application, it must be in /Applications folder.
12. If using the OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive, make sure it’s plugged in and mounted.
13. Download and run UniBeast
14. Click Continue, Continue, Continue, Agree
15. At Destination Select, choose USB and click Continue
16. If using the Mac App Store ”Install Mac OS X Lion” App choose that option.
17. If using the Apple Store “OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive” choose that option.
18. If using a laptop, choose Laptop Support in addition to one of the above options.
19. Click Continue
20. Enter password and click Install
The process will take about 10-25 minutes, depending on system and drive speed (a slower USB drive or system will take a long time), but will show hours. Do not unplug or stop during this time – it WILL complete – TRUST ME…
STEP 3: Install Mac OS X Lion
You’re almost done! All you need to do is boot from the USB drive and install! Your hard drive should be set in BIOS to AHCI mode. For recommended BIOS settings and screenshots, check out iBoot + MultiBeast.
1. If you have a Gigabyte motherboard press F12 to choose boot device.
2. Choose USB-HDD
3. At Chimera Boot Screen, choose USB
You may have to type extra command line flags to reach the installer.
- AMD Radeon 6670 – type PCIRootUID=0
- Unsupported graphics – type GraphicsEnabler=No
- Boot in Single-user mode – type -s
- Boot in Verbose mode – type -v
- Boot in Safe mode – type -x
4. When you arrive at the Installer, choose language.
If updating an existing Snow Leopard install, skip 5-14.
5. In the top menubar choose Utilities, and open Disk Utility
6. Highlight your target hard drive for the Lion installation in left column.
7. Click Partition tab
8. Click Current and choose 1 Partition
9. Click Options…
10. Choose GUID Partition Method
11. Under Name: type Lion (You can rename it later)
12. Under Format: choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
13. Click Apply then Partition
14. Close Disk Utility
15. When the installer asks you where to install, choose Lion, or your existing install.
16. Upon completion, restart system
16. Upon completion, restart system
The installation is complete, but the drive isn’t bootable yet. Boot from the USB again, this time choosing Lion.
17. If you have a Gigabyte motherboard, press F12 to choose boot device.
18. Choose USB-HDD
19. At Chimera Boot Screen, choose your new Lion installation.
STEP 4: Post-Installation Using MultiBeast
MultiBeast is an all-in-one post-installation tool designed to enable boot from hard drive, and install support for Audio, Network, and Graphics. In addition it includes System Utilities to repair permissions and a collection of drivers, bootloaders, config files and handy software.1. Complete Mac OS X Lion setup.
2. When you arrive at desktop, open Safari
3. Browse to tonymacx86.com and log in. If you don’t have a user account, create one!
4. Go to tonymacx86.com/downloads to download the latest MultiBeast
5. Go to the DSDT Database to download your motherboard’s DSDT
6. Open Downloads folder and move the .aml file to the Desktop
7. Open and run Multibeast’s UserDSDT
8. Restart system
MultiBeast is an all-in-one post-installation tool designed to enable boot from hard drive, and install support for Audio, Network, and Graphics. In addition it includes System Utilities to repair permissions and a collection of drivers, bootloaders, config files and handy software.1. Complete Mac OS X Lion setup.
2. When you arrive at desktop, open Safari
3. Browse to tonymacx86.com and log in. If you don’t have a user account, create one!
4. Go to tonymacx86.com/downloads to download the latest MultiBeast
5. Go to the DSDT Database to download your motherboard’s DSDT
6. Open Downloads folder and move the .aml file to the Desktop
7. Open and run Multibeast’s UserDSDT
8. Restart system
The above photo will provide general post-installation support for any recommended CustoMac build.
You may also use MultiBeast to install further drivers to enable ethernet, sound, graphics, etc… Be sure to read the documentation provided in MultiBeast Features.pdf about each option. Both UserDSDT and EasyBeast install the proper bootloader by default, so you’ll not need to check that option.
Congratulations! You now have a fully working Hackintosh…
I would recommend donating and following TonyMacX86′s blog for updates – be careful not to do major updates – for example my system is running 10.7.2 – when 10.7.3 comes out I need to be careful as it may break my Hackintosh – other users will report how their upgrades have gone and on what hardware – giving you an idea of what to expect…
None of this guide would be available without the good work of TonyMacX86 and Macman…
Be sure to visit the website for more information on running Mac OS on your own desktop PC @ http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com
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