Introducing myself to the myHack community

[SamAllen]

Hi Everyone,

 

My user name is SamAllen and I am originally from Louisville, Kentucky and currently reside in Southeast Michigan. My interest in computers started with my first job out of college, when I needed more processing capacity for production planning, and migrated from DOS 3.3/Windows 3.1 (yes, a long, long time ago!) to SCO Unix Open Desktop and Informix Wingz spreadsheet. It was like getting out of a Model T and into a new Ferrari. My workstation was a i486 33mHz with 8MB RAM...those were the days. Early exposure to the efficiency and power of Unix sparked my current interest in OS X, as well as Linux.

 

Our tech at home consists of two Macs, three iPhones, two Apple TV's, an HP laptop I re-purposed for Ubuntu 12.04, and my Hackintosh. I built my Sandy Bridge-based Hackintosh in late 2011. I've migrated from Lion to Mountain Lion, added an SSD and set up a Fusion Drive, and recently wired up an Apple A1181 bluetooth module to get my magic mouse and apple keyboard fully functional waking from sleep. BTW, the genuine Apple bluetooth module is the best upgrade ever, and there are several great guides on the web that show how to do it!

 

My interest in Hackintoshing is driven by four things:

 

First, we have some Apple stuff and an investment in the Apple Ecosystem in music and apps. Adding more Linux machines to the mix would work OK, but would be a pain. And, of course, “I don't do windows†except for my employer-owner laptop.

 

Second, I really like the power and flexibility of OS X and Unix. Linux is good, but OS X suits my needs better in terms of user interface, apps, relaibility and power. Gnome 3 and Unity are fine for my laptop-turned-internet appliance to surf the web and check email, but I don't want to use it all the time.

 

Third, I love to tinker, problem-solve stuff back to life, and learn new tricks. I'm not afraid to break out the soldering iron and make a wiring harness for my USB module.

 

Fourth, I wanted a system with lots of power (i7 2600k and ATI6870 GPU), expandability (lots of slots and drive bays) and upgradeability (Z77 and Ivy Bridge someday). With Apple moving toward sealed units with less repairability or upgradeability, a Hackintosh was the way to go for me.

 

I've got my Hackintosh running great – sound, graphics, wake from sleep, internet are all working well. I finally have Messages working with my Fusion Drive setup, and that was a major accomplishment this week. So, naturally, I am probably going to break it again by upgrading my Z68 board to Gigabyte's new UEFI bios, but I'm trying to resist the urge! In the interest of full disclosure, I built my system using tonycrapX86 tools, Chameleon Wizard, Carbon Copy Cloner, Pacifist and some other tools, and my trusty OS X terminal command reference manual (don't leave home without it). Learned a lot and had fun so far on that other forum. I'd like to be a member of this forum so that I can interact with a well-informed user community.

 

My skill level is admittedly low. I'm fine working in terminal, installing stuff, setting up my home network, keeping my wife's MacBook Pro running, and generally messing around. I am not a programmer and I have not learned to compile code and other hardcore tasks...yet! I've used Windows since 3.0, various flavors of Linux for about four years, and OS X for about three years.

 

I hope to help other members by sharing my experiences and solutions.

[Conti]