How to fix the iMessage login problem on your Hackintosh (with Chimera)

For the past few weeks, Hackintoshes have been unable to log into the Messages app (better known as "iMessage") on OS X Mountain Lion. Last week, we showed you how to fix these problems with Clover bootloader, an alternative to the more popular Chameleon and Chimera bootloaders for Hackintoshes. However, if you want a slightly simpler fix, you're in luck: we can now fix the problem using Chimera bootloader instead. Read past the break for details.

How to fix the iMessage login problem on your Hackintosh (with Clover)

Starting from a few weeks ago, Hackintoshes have been unable to log into the Messages app (better known as "iMessage") on OS X Mountain Lion. This is likely because Apple has changed the authentication process for iMessage. Fortunately, there is now a solution! Read past the break for details.

How to install OS X Mountain Lion on your PC with iAtkos

If you're interested in running Mac OS X, but you don't want to pay ridiculous prices for a normal Mac, then a Hackintosh just might be for you. Right now, the newest iteration of OS X is 10.8, known as Mountain Lion. In this guide, we'll show you how to install Mountain Lion on your PC with the iAtkos distro.

We've previously covered how to install Mountain Lion on a PC using tonymacx86's Unibeast tool, which requires you to have an existing Mac OS X installation. This usually means that you have to install Snow Leopard on your PC first, or find a real Mac. However, with a "distro" like iAtkos, you can jump straight to Mountain Lion. Distros are pirated copies of Mac OS X that have been modified to work with a PC. If you don't have any qualms with the legal issues regarding distros, they're actually the most convenient way to set up a Hackintosh.

How to set up a Fusion drive on a Hackintosh

Recently, Apple released the Fusion Drive, a new technology that increases hard disk performance by setting up a 128GB solid state disk and a 1TB normal hard disk to work together as a single virtual drive. By allocating most of the heavy lifting to its solid state portion, the Fusion Drive allows for much faster overall performance while still providing a lot of storage space.

Since the Fusion Drive is a proprietary technology, it's usually unavailable to PCs. However, you can still set up your own Fusion Drive on a Hackintosh. Fusion Drives are set up in an extremely similar way to RAID 0 arrays, an alternative different method for increasing hard disk performance. We've previously covered how to set up a RAID 0 array on your Hackintosh; setting up a Fusion Drive isn't really isn't much harder. Interested? Read on.

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.