Snow Leopard Hackintosh

I have now up and running a virtually 100% stable, bump-free experience with my new Snow Leopard hackintosh. Thanks to the methods outlined in the Lifehacker tutorial, I was able to get a machine together that has, as of yet, experienced virtually ZERO problems or instability. I’ve even left it running through the night and into the next day with no shutdowns and Time Machine backing up all the while, and yet there isn’t a single problem to speak of.

Here’s the video showing the system in action:

Quick Hackintosh Tutorial online…

I received a lot of feedback from my four-part Hackintosh Tutorial series. One of the main complaints I got was the length of the tutorial, as many felt it could have been done in a fraction of the time.

Well, here it is, clocking in at just under 6:00 minutes. Enjoy!

New Hackintosh up and running…

After much trial and error, I got my new EP45-UD3P motherboard running Mac OS X. It seems to run even better than the previous P5K-V motherboard, always shutting down properly and suffering from 0 kernel panics or software crashes thus far.

Dual monitor Hackintosh

I even have my ATI Radeon HD 4850 running in dual monitor mode, extending the desktop onto the second monitor. It works great and I absolutely love it. I’ve already done a very quick edit of an HD video using the system, and had it run for hours on end. The result? Not a single issue whatsoever. One or two messages popped up in the Console, sure, but it had absolutely no effect on my computing experience.

Now I’m waiting on my nVIDIA 9800GTX+ to arrive, which is apparently easier to get working properly with Snow Leopard. When that comes, I plan to install Snow Leopard on my main drive and leave this Leopard installation as a backup.

“Is a Hackintosh right for me?”

I’ve been receiving a lot of feedback lately from people who are complaining about Hackintoshes, or claiming that they are basically worthless and dysfunctional. In light of this, I want to type up briefly some reasons to avoid or embrace the idea of your very own Hackintosh.

A Hackintosh is definitely *NOT* for you if any of the following is true:

1)  You aren’t very computer savvy.

A Hackintosh can be a pretty big undertaking. Even some of the simpler installs require some computing that the average joe can’t handle. If you basically just use your machine like a black box to browse the internet, check e-mail and type up documents, then chances are a Hackintosh will leave you out in the cold before you even get started. Save yourself the hassle and pass on the whole idea, or take up computers as a hobby.

2)  You can’t stand it when things don’t work perfectly.

From installation onward, a Hackintosh can be an experience wrought with confusion, frustration, and painstaking trial and error. After you get one up and running there is usually minimal difficulty, but things can creep up, especially with new updates. Although many people experience virtually flawless operation with their Macs, do note the use of the term “virtually.”

3)  You crave the most authentic Apple experience.

A Hackintosh can give you a pretty authentic Apple experience, just so long as you keep the computer turned on all the time and hide the tower. Remember, it’s still an ugly PC on the outside, and it still boots up with the black screen and BIOS information pouring out. Additionally, some peripherals made just for Macs might have some trouble working on your Hackintosh, particularly things you put inside of it (cards).

A Hackintosh might just be your thing if any of the following is true:

1)  You love tinkering with computers.

If you enjoy messing around with computers and being an electronic Mr. Fix-It, then you will love putting together a Hackintosh. It’s an enjoyably frustrating experience, and the true joy is when it boots up from start to finish without your help.

2)  You really want a Mac with power, but can’t afford one.

Some people might say, “Just buy an iMac.” Well, unfortunately for us HD video editors, the iMacs fall short for a variety of reasons while the Mac Pros are generally out of the common man’s price range. An iMac lacks more than a single Firewire port and has no eSATA connectors, meaning that you are limited to a single hard drive:  the internal one. That is not acceptable for HD video editing. Additionally, as demands increase as new power-hungry codecs are developed, you can’t upgrade your machine. With a Hackintosh, you can stay up-to-date cheaply and at your own pace, and you can choose to have as many HDDs as your motherboard can support, even going the route of a PCI-to-SATA card (as I did with my old motherboard).

3)  You just enjoy a challenge.

Putting a Hackintosh together can be a very long and difficult process of fighting with this and battling with that. When you finally do get it to work, it’s an awesome feeling and a true reward. Go for it!

Why Japanese shipping companies are superior

Japanese Shipping Box

I’ve been waiting for my new motherboard from Newegg, the GA-EP45-UD3P. Yeah, it’s a mouthful. Well it showed up yesterday apparently, but no one was home. I saw that on the tracking information. I was waiting most of the day today and finally it dawned on me:  they don’t ship on Saturdays, do they? Standard shipping with both FedEx and UPS means no Saturday shipping. Well I called them up to see where I could come pick it up, and don’t you know it, they’re closed to the public on Saturdays. Wow. So now only will you not deliver my package today, but you won’t even let me come in?

It’s not like they’re closed, they are just “closed to the public.”

Now, the reason I am so unhappy about this is that I’ve grown accustomed to Japanese shipping companies for the previous three years. I received shipping 7 days a week, and yes that means Sunday. And not only that, but if I’m not home, they leave a note with a phone number and item number, and I can schedule another delivery up to 9PM, including same day.

America? Nope, I’m just left hanging with no options whatsoever. No choice but to wait until Monday for an item that was completely ready and at my door Friday afternoon. Ridiculous.

The perfect computer desk…

The title may have been misleading. I don’t have the perfect desk, not even for me. What I do have is a relatively inexpensive desk that does what I need it to do. I could always use more space, so I got a relatively large desk without going with a curved or L-desk. I’m cursed with an incredibly small bedroom, and even worse, a lot of large furniture that needs to go in it. If I push my chair back even one foot farther than usual, it’ll bump into the end of my bed.

The chair is pretty close to the bed

Well rather than simply complain about it, I decided to do something about it. What did I do? Nothing much, just tweaked it little by little to get it as best as I could. I can’t help where the desk is physically; there doesn’t appear to be a better place to put it right now. What I did do was get a small piece of cardboard to help prop up my second monitor to make it more even with the main display. They are not the same monitor nor even same resolution, but it works extremely well.

Dual monitors in action, thanks to the cardboard.

When I get some more money to spare, I’m thinking I’d like to buy two monitor desk mounts with arms, mount both to the desk, line them up above the desk and free a lot of desk space for other things. As it is now, there’s precious little room for other things.

But first thing I need to do is put the drawers in on the right side. Although I tried to put them in, I had a lot of trouble with the screws and the railing falling off. I chalk it up to bad design, but the company (Sauder) was kind enough to send me a host of extra parts free as part of the warranty, no questions asked. I didn’t mention that I hammered one of the rails out of frustration that it just wouldn’t go in right. I have to completely disassemble the right side of the desk to put the new parts in, however, and I’m not looking forward to it.

Internet speeds: my Japan one versus my current US one.

I thought I should do a comparison of my current internet connection speed here in the US versus what I had while living in Japan.

Here’s what I was getting from www.speedtest.net on my ADSL through SoftBank in Japan (only available service at my location).

As you can see, not only is the download one of the slowest possible “high-speed internet” connections imaginable, but the upload is so ridiculously low that you’d imagine it’s not possible. Well, my upload was *slow*. Imagine how long it took me to upload my HD videos! I would leave them going overnight and wake up to find that, to no one’s surprise, they were still uploading.

Now, here’s what I am currently getting with Comcast Cable:

Yes, MUCH better, right? The download speed is over 10x better, and the upload speed is, well… about 231 times better. In actuality, the upload speed was a bit faster than the reported 0.01, but not by much. The only good thing about that internet was that it was extremely reliable. At first it used to go down almost once every evening, but later it was an “always on” experience and was consistent even during long sessions of online game playing. That’s important when you are leading others in an online game, and your death would mean the death of everyone in your group.

So am I happy with my new internet service? Yes I am. Do I wish it was even faster? Of course I do! However, compared to what I had, it’s like going from dial-up to broadband all over again… in some ways.

In Memphis…

Well, I’m all finished moving to Memphis. I’ve got a lot of things still in boxes, but I’m here in one piece and the moving truck was returned in one piece as well. A lot has happened and a lot of changes are in store, but nothing I’m not used to. After all, I did pick up and move to Japan for three years, so moving a few states away is not a big deal!

Looking forward to posting more on the blog and getting more videos out!

My new video is up

My new video has been up for a few days. I am writing this now on my new iPhone, which I plan to video review in the near future. If you’re curious, I’m using the WordPress community app to write it. I highly recommend it.

The new video is actually old content you haven’t seen yet. In fact, it’s some of the outtakes from my previous hackintosh videos. Enjoy! Definitely fun for me to look back on.

My “new” car…

I was fortunate enough to have a gently used car given to me as soon as I got back from Japan. Not only that, but it’s also a model from my favorite car company, Saturn. A 2004 Saturn Ion.

Honk if you like Saturns.