How to set up a Hackintosh on RAID 0 in Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks

RAID 0 is a method used to increase hard disk performance, by setting up multiple hard disks to work as a single virtual disk. For instance, if you set up a RAID 0 array to combine two 50 GB hard disks into a single 100GB virtual disk, that single virtual disk will have (roughly) two times faster performance than a normal disk.

Setting up a RAID system on a Hackintosh is very tricky, but it's definitely possible. For starters, there are two basic ways to set up a RAID system: with a hardware controller, or with a software controller. The hardware method offers better performance, but the software method is far more convenient. For this guide, we will show you how to set up a software RAID 0 system on Mac OS X in a Hackintosh.

Multibeast 4.7.0 Update

Today, tonymacx86 and MacMan released version 4.7.0 of Multibeast 4, their post-installation tool for Hackintoshes running Mac OS X Lion. We have updated our comprehensive guide to Multibeast 4 to reflect this update.

Users of Mac OS X Lion rejoice-- though development of Multibeast 4 has languished since the release of Multibeast 5 for Mountain Lion, the 4.7.0 update improves Multibeast 4 dramatically. First and foremast, all of the improvements introduced by Multibeast 5 have finally been pushed to Multibeast 4. Multibeast 4.7.0 now has a greatly simplified section for audio drivers, the old "System Utilities" section has been removed (Multibeast now repairs file permissions by default), several options have been given simpler names, and many options have been updated. In addition, the "Miscellaneous" section has been split into two separate sections, though the actual distinction between these two sections is arguably murky. For full details on the update, jump past the break.

Multibeast 5.2 Update

Earlier this week, MacMan and tonymacx86 released version 5.2 of their Multibeast post-installation tool for Hackintoshes. We have updated our comprehensive guide to Multibeast to reflect this update.

The 5.2 update mostly consisted of incremental or cosmetic changes to the Multibeast menu. The only significant additions to Multibeast were a patch that enabled integrated graphics on mixed Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge computers, and the new Mac Mini (6, 1) system definition. Full details past the break.

How to edit "About This Mac" on a Hackintosh

Running either UserDSDT or Easybeast with Multibeast will automatically identify your computer as a 2008 Mac Pro, because the Mac Pro (3,1) system definition is installed by default. To recap, system definitions pretend that your Hackintosh is a real Mac, enabling a variety of model-specific features in Mac OS X. However, if you don't think that your "About This Mac" page is glamorous enough, it's actually possible to edit this system definition information.

How to set up an ASUS Hackintosh

It's always recommended that you use a Gigabyte-brand motherboard when building a Hackintosh. Compatibility-wise, they're always the easiest to work with. However, not everybody has the opportunity to use a Gigabyte motherboard. If your computer uses an ASUS motherboard, you can still turn it into a Hackintosh. There are just a few extra steps that you'll have to perform.

How to install Mac OS X Snow Leopard on an Ivy Bridge Hackintosh (experimental)

Earlier this year, Intel released Ivy Bridge, its newest generation of computer processors. As a result, a majority of new Hackintosh builds now use Ivy Bridge. However, while Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 and all versions of OS X Mountain Lion support Ivy Bridge natively, Mac OS X Snow Leopard does not. This is a major problem, since Snow Leopard is the only modern version of Mac OS X that can be installed on PCs without the help of a real Mac, existing Hackintosh, or Mac OS X virtual machine. Luckily, it turns out that there is still a way to install Snow Leopard on Ivy Bridge after all-- with the help of iBoot Ivy Bridge.

Quick Tip: Sound not working on your Hackintosh? Just buy a USB audio adapter.

Getting sound to work on your Hackintosh isn't always as easy as running Multibeast once or twice. Instead, some computer motherboards have "nonstandard" audio codecs, which don't work with the normal Realtek audio drivers included with Multibeast. In this case, your only option may to be to install VoodooHDA, the notoriously unreliable Hackintosh sound driver known for its poor sound quality (and tendency to cause kernel panics). If you don't want to use VoodooHDA, or you're simply having problems with your Hackintosh's audio in general, you might want to buy a USB audio adapter instead.

UPDATE: ASUS WL-138g V2 added to our list of Hackintosh wifi adapters

We recently updated our list of Hackintosh-compatible WiFi adapters to include the ASUS WL-138g V2. Though the WL-138g V2 is no longer available from most major retailers, it qualifies for the list because it still works out of the box with all recent versions of OS X. This addition increases the count of our list of WiFi adapters to four. If you have any more suggestions for WiFi adapters that work out of the box in Hackintoshes, please email us at info@macbreaker.com, or leave a comment on any relevant article on our website.

How to enable AirPlay Mirroring on a Hackintosh

AirPlay Mirroring is a useful feature in OS X Mountain Lion that allows you to "mirror" the display of your Mac onto your Apple TV. Unfortunately, AirPlay Mirroring rarely works with Hackintoshes by default. If you're encountering problems with AirPlay mirroring on your Hackintosh with OS X Mountain Lion, try these steps.

The Best Hackintosh Laptops of 2012 - For Mountain Lion

It's very difficult to find a laptop that can easily be turned into Hackintosh. As mentioned in our Hackintosh compatibility guide, most laptops aren't good Hackintoshes, because the compact design of laptops makes it very difficult to replace non-compatible parts.

With this in mind, I've compiled a list of Hackintosh-compatible laptops, all of which can run OS X Mountain Lion without the need to replace any hardware. As expected, many of the laptops on this list were also on our previous list for Mac OS X Lion-- after all, the hardware requirements between Lion and Mountain Lion are relatively similar. Most of the guides provided below are from tonymacx86, and have files attached to them. To view and download attached files on tonymacx86, you have to register an account on the website.