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One problem that still remains with installing Mac OS X on a non-Apple branded computer is the license agreement that is bundled with Mac OS X. The user that is installing Mac OS X must agree to the license before installing the operating system. According to the license the software can only be installed on a "Single Apple-labeled computer" at a time.
One problem that still remains with installing Mac OS X on a non-Apple branded computer is the license agreement that is bundled with Mac OS X. The user that is installing Mac OS X must agree to the license before installing the operating system. According to the license the software can only be installed on a "Single Apple-labeled computer" at a time.

The following term is is meant to prevent OS X being used on non-apple hardware, but it may in fact be wasted effort in your [[state]], depending on the operation of legislation, precendents and governmental regulation at the time . )




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Revision as of 00:58, 2 January 2008

OSx86 running on a Hackintosh
Mac transition to
Intel processors
Intel mobile processor

OSx86 is a collaborative hacking project to run the Mac OS X computer operating system on non-Apple personal computers with x86 architecture processors. The effort started soon after the June 2005 Worldwide Developers Conference announcement that Apple would be transferring their personal computers from PowerPC to Intel microprocessors.

OSx86 is a portmanteau of OS X and x86. A computer built to run this type of Mac OS X is sometimes known as a Hackintosh, which is a recycled term originally denoting the modified Lisa 2/10 running Mac System.

The Developer Transition Kit

Initial efforts revolved around leaked copies of the Development DVD that was released by Apple as part of the Developer Transition Kit that Apple made available to developers for $999. The first patches centered around circumventing the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) that was included on the motherboard of the Developer Transition Kits. The TPM was required by the Rosetta technology that allowed software compiled for the PowerPC architecture to run on Intel-based architecture. Removing this requirement allowed Mac OS X to be installed on non-Apple computers. Rosetta also required microprocessors that included SSE3 instructions. Patches were released to the community that emulated these instructions with SSE2 equivalents and allowed the installation on machines without SSE3 support (with a performance penalty).

In October 2005 Apple released a 10.4.3 update to developers that required NX bit microprocessor support.[1] Patches were released to circumvent this. [2]

Mac OS X v10.4.4 released on Intel Macs

On January 10 2006, Apple released Mac OS X 10.4.4 with the first Intel-based Macintoshes. These machines used Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) platform firmware instead of legacy BIOS found in most x86 platforms. On February 14, 2006 an initial "crack" of Mac OS X v10.4.4 was released on the Internet by someone using the name Maxxuss. [3] Within hours, however, Apple released the 10.4.5 update[4], which was patched again by Maxxuss in less than two weeks. [5] On April 3 2006 Apple released their 10.4.6 update[6] and again patches were released within two weeks that allowed users to install most of this update on non-Apple computers, although this did not include the updated kernel in 10.4.6. These patches were released by a person using the name SemjaZa and compiled by a person using the name JaS. In June, once again JaS released the 10.4.7 Mac OS X update for non-Apple computers, again, using the 10.4.4 kernel.

Up to the release of the 10.4.8 update, all OSx86 patches used the 10.4.4 kernel with the rest of the operating system at version 10.4.8. However, the newer frameworks relied on the newer kernels and this led to users of 10.4.8 encountering many problems. Apple also started making more use of SSE3 instructions on their hardware making it even more difficult for users on SSE2 platforms to get a full system running.

Mac OS X v10.4.8 XNU kernel patched

Two programmers, calling themselves Mifki/Vitaliy and Semthex, released new kernels by starting with the open source XNU tree and applying the patches necessary to run the kernel on non-apple hardware. Mifki's goal was to release the kernel with as few patches as possible, that will be able to run on close-to-Apple hardware. Semthex's goal was to make his kernel more compatible with legacy hardware, missing some of the crucial features.

Both kernels allowed most of the updated kexts/frameworks to work, making properly configured white-box PCs operate more like genuine Apple computers. While Mifki has only updated his kernel once, Semthex updates it regularly and has added AMD, VMWare and SSE2-support in his newest version. Semthex released his hacked kernel source code on his webpage. On December 24, 2006 he also released the latest patches for the SSE3 kernel as a diff file for his original source tree as a Christmas present to the community. Special attention should be given to the SSE2 emulation which Semthex developed together with Rufus. This emulation is the first really complete emulation of all SSE3 instructions in the OSx86 history. The old SSE2 emulation was incomplete - only emulating 3 of the available SSE3 instructions - and slow compared to the new emulator. This effort enabled even SSE2 OSx86 users to run iTunes 7 or high-end 3D applications on their computers.

In the early days of 10.4.8, an Intel-SSE3 only install DVD was released by JaS, which includes Vitaliy's and Semthex's kernel. A few weeks later, someone calling themselves tubgirl released an AMD-SSE3 install DVD. With Semthex's successful completion of the SSE2 Kernel, JaS released a SSE2-SSE3 universal DVD and announced his retirement from the scene after seven successful DVD releases.

In March 2007 the OSx86 community made some significant progress with the development of a Live DVD. The Live DVD allows booting to a working system with Mac OS X v10.4.8. Several movies appeared on the web demonstrating this.[7]

A the end of March 2007, the InsanelyMac websites were sold to a UK based company called Fubra Limited.[8] Some people objected to the "commercialization" of the website, including kernel hacker Semthex and other developers, which was followed by a major split of the community.[9]

Mac OS X v10.4.9 Uphuck Install DVD

In early May 2007, a new install DVD released by OSx86 helper uphuck allowed users of this software to deploy on their systems a version of Mac OS X that included various extra software applications, drivers, and kernel fixes.[10] There is even an official thread dedicated to this build on the OSx86 Project Forum as noted. There are two major releases: version 1.2 and version 1.3 as of June 2007, which have both gained popularity over previous OSx86 hackers' attempts to create their own OSx86 distributions. On July 17th 2007, v1.4i had begun to surface. A few days later on July 30th 2007, v1.4a had also appeared which provided support for AMD CPUs. As of 21st August 2007 1.4i r3 has been released which caters only for Intel CPUs and is a fraction of the size of a normal OSx86 DVD release, however it still remains on a base version of Mac OS X v10.4.9. Update patches have been released as Post-Installation files.

Mac OS X v10.5

The Leopard 10.5 builds (9A466, 9A499, 9A527, 9A559, 9A581, 9B13, 9B18) were successfully installed onto PCs. The only known prepatched DVDs however, like JaS or Goatsecx, are the Kalyway 9a527 and ToH RC2 (9A581) DVDs. However, the more commonly used do-it-yourself patches are also available on torrent sites. Apparently these patches were created by a hacker by the name "The Mad Hatter," but the kernels were made by Lorem (9A466), SynthetiX (9A499, 9A527 and 9A559) and ToH (9A581, 9B13 and 9B18). There are even guides already on the internet for how to use these patches.

Uphuck and the osx86.turk team has announced "Codename: iATKOS", a project of releases that will include the official release of Mac OS X Leopard. The team will start releasing iATKOS after the EFI-hack integration is done. It is rumoured that iATKOS might supersede Uphuck 1.4 in order to allow more room of Leopard development as it is a major release and that most users will want to run. In addition to iATKOS, the Kalyway team has made another 10.5.1 Leopard installer DVD image available.

On release day, the team hacked the final version of Leopard to install on PCs.

One DVD patching process by BrazilMac has become increasingly popular for its ease of use and there is even a DVD-less installer that has been made from a BrazilMac installed image. Also, within hours an AMD/Intel SSE2/3 Kernel Patcher which removes the HPET requirement from an original untouched mach_kernel was released.

Although this leads to a successful installation, many users are still having problems getting Leopard to work completely. It is because of this that users have recommended restoring the patched DVD to a spare partition, make it bootable with a few Terminal commands, and booting the installer from the partition. This means a faster load-up of the Installer, a faster installation process, and if there are problems, they can be fixed by just replacing files without wasting DVDs. By experimenting with the installation, one who wishes to run Leopard may succeed. It is recommended as well to have Tiger on a separate partition to do all the fixing.

EFI emulation

In early November 2007, a group of hackers led by respected community member Netkas made, using an already modified boot-132 source root from David Elliot, or dfe, [1] a method [2] to emulate an EFI environment using a specially modified darwin bootloader [3]. In practical terms, it means that regular PCs meeting a minimum set of hardware requirements can now be "seen" as real Macintosh Computers by the OS, allowing the use of unmodified, "stock" Apple kernels and thus giving a more transparent and reliable operation. Several methods to give real world usage to this innovative solution have raised all around the net. An explanation of this achievement along with an usage guide is provided by DigitMemo.com [4] website:

The Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) is a specification that defines a software interface between an operating system and platform firmware.

EFI is intended as a significantly improved replacement of the old legacy BIOS firmware interface historically used by all IBM PC compatible PCs. But as of today, most PCs running Microsoft Windows still rely on BIOS, while Intel based Macs, since the day one, are using EFI. Despite the technical advantage, this is more like an artificial barrier to prevent normal PCs running OS X.

Ironically, Microsoft Windows support BIOS only, and Apple makes Boot camp to fill the gap. The EFI patch works in a similar approach: it emulates EFI data for normal BIOS-based PCs and let OS X treat them as genuine EFI-based Macs.

The EFI emulation is a long dream in OSX86 community, but prior to this, thanks the Apple’s open source Darwin Project and those Hackintosh gurus, we can still enjoy OS X on normal PCs, with patched kernels/kernel modules which just bypass EFI. Now with the EFI patch, the hackintosh can boot off "vanilla" (unmodified) OS X kernel and use vanilla kexts, which gives a more clean room and great peace of mind for future system updates.

Licensing

One problem that still remains with installing Mac OS X on a non-Apple branded computer is the license agreement that is bundled with Mac OS X. The user that is installing Mac OS X must agree to the license before installing the operating system. According to the license the software can only be installed on a "Single Apple-labeled computer" at a time.

The following term is is meant to prevent OS X being used on non-apple hardware, but it may in fact be wasted effort in your state, depending on the operation of legislation, precendents and governmental regulation at the time . )


2. Permitted License Uses and Restrictions.
A. This License allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-labeled computer at a time. This License does not allow the Apple Software to exist on more than one computer at a time, and you may not make the Apple Software available over a network where it could be used by multiple computers at the same time. You may make one copy of the Apple Software (excluding the Boot ROM code) in machine-readable form for backup purposes only; provided that the backup copy must include all copyright or other proprietary notices contained on the original.[11]

References

  1. ^ sHARD>> (October 16 2005). "Apple Seeds 10.4.3 Intel to Developers". OSx86 Money Project. Retrieved 2006-05-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  2. ^ Jonathan Black (October 30 2005). "Hacked OSx86 Updated to 10.4.3". OSx86 $$$ Project. Retrieved 2006-05-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  3. ^ Jonathan Black (February 14 2006). "OSx86 10.4.4 Security Broken. (Guess Who Done It?)". OSx86 Project. Retrieved 2006-05-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  4. ^ Apple Computer (February 14 2006). "Mac OS X Update 10.4.5". Apple Computer. Retrieved 2006-05-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  5. ^ sHARD>> (February 23 2006). "Apple Releases 10.4.5". OSx86 Project. Retrieved 2006-05-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  6. ^ Apple Computer (April 3 2006). "Mac OS X 10.4.6 for Intel". Apple Computer. Retrieved 2006-05-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  7. ^ "Mac OS X LiveDVD". OSx86 Project. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  8. ^ Brendan McLoughlin (March 29, 2007). "Fubra announces InsanelyMac acquisition". Fubra Blog. Retrieved 2007-04-12.
  9. ^ Semthex (March 26, 2007). "OSx86 Project sold-out - InsanelyMac sale, my 2 ct". Semthex.com - Blog. Retrieved 2007-04-12.
  10. ^ OSx86Forum (June 1, 2007). "OSx86 Official Uphuck DVD Thread". OSx86Project - Forum. Retrieved 2007-06-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Apple (October 24, 2007). "Apple Mac OS X License Agreement". Apple - Legal. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
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