Mac OS X 10.6.2 (Snow Leopard) Won’t Kill Hackintosh Netbooks
Thank your lucky stars, hackers – even though older iterations of Mac OS X 10.6.2 had didn’t support the Intel Atom, a new seed has re-enabled support for the CPU so you can get back to laughing in Apple’s face over its refusal to make a netbook.
This news comes as Stell’s blog – which announced the problem in the first place - was updated with the following information:
“Anyways, in the latest development build Atom appears to have resurrected itself zombie style in 10C535. The Atom lives another day, but nothing is concrete until the final version of 10.6.2 is out.”
The final release still may not keep support for the Intel Atom CPU, but it unlikely that the feature will be dropped. Hackintoshes hardly cut into Apple sales if they do at all, and excluding them from all the Mac OS X fun would alienate enough people to make it worth it.
Snow Leopard Update Kills Hackintosh Netbooks
We’ve seen some pretty clever and professional Hackintosh netbooks out there, all likely a product of Apple’s unwillingness to join the netbook industry. Unfortunately for those with enough time on their hands to make one, a recent update to Leopard – OS X 10.6.2 – is undermining their hard work.
The culprit is a number of CPU-related changes that render the OS incompatible with Intel Atom CPUs. The Atom runs on the vast majority of netbooks, including the MSI Wind many hackers are fond of for this particular project.
Anyway, if you’re reading this from your Hackintosh just as your Leopard update downloads on Firefox, I suggest you wait for a full release of Leopard to see if Atom compatibility comes your way.
Via Examiner.
11.1-Inch Chinese Netbook Has Hi-Res Screen
This recent netbook is in the small but growing category of 11-inch-plus machines delivered by Chinese manufacturers. Coming in at 11.1 inches, this netbook has a 1366 x 768 display and your standard combo of a 1.6 GHz Atom, 1 GB of RAM, a 160 GB HDD, and Windows XP.
The machine has 3 USB ports as well as an SD card reader. The keyboard doesn’t seem to be as big as it could be, but the chiclet-style keys are reminiscent of certain Chinese Hackbooks.
I highly doubt this is coming to the US, but if you’re overseas you can find this baby for the equivalent of $380 USD.
Via Shanzai.
Chinese PC Maker Mass Produces Hackintosh Netbooks
We’ve seen some pretty clever Hackintosh netbooks before, but now a Chinese PC maker is actually mass-producing 8.9-inch netbooks with an Apple logo on the lid.
However, the chances of Apple being connected to the machine are just about absolutely zero. It runs an ARM CPU and either Windows CE or Linux as an OS, and sells for around $200. It’s got a Windows key on the keyboard, as well as a tiny right-Shift by the up arrow.
The netbook could get up to 7 hours of battery life through the 3-cell battery, as ARM machines run on low power.
The new netbook is yet another comical reminder of Apple’s frustrating refusal to join the netbook market. Come on Steve, we know you’re just holding out on us to keep the suspense going!
Via Shanzai.
Hackintosh Netbook Demoted To Pet Webcam
While many have extolled the virtues of Hackintosh netbooks, not everybody exalts them so. While Brian Chen of Wired likely struggled long and hard to mod his Hackintosh, he’s finally retired it (after 6 months of use) to the quiet life of a pet webcam.
Deeming the Hackintosh impractical, he decided it would be better suited to monitoring his “five-week-old kitten Cuddy” using a $5 iPhone app – iCam – allowing him to remotely access the camera feed. And while hundreds of netbookers are out there struggling to hack MSI Wind netbooks to run Mac OS X, Chen is busy spying on his cat.
Hey, if it works, it works. Now will Apple hurry up with its netbook already?
Via Wired.
No Need to Change Wi-Fi Card in MSI Wind Hackintosh Netbook
For netbook users who do not want to drop big bucks on purchasing an Apple iMac or MacBook, being able to convert a netbook to a “Hackintosh” sounds like it would be a good idea. Two netbooks that are commonly used in this process are the Dell Mini 9 and the MSI Wind.
For Dell Mini 9 owners, instructions for converting your netbook into a Hackintosh (and more specifically, one that you don’t have to worry about losing since all personal data is kept in a location other than on the local hard drive) can be found here.
For MSI Wind owners, instructions on how to install the OS X operating system on this device can be found here. There has been discussion that a new Wi-Fi card would be needed to be installed on the Wind in order for it to operate correctly, but there has actually been an update to this.
Realtek (the manufacturer of the Wi-Fi cards in MSI Wind netbooks) has released an OS X driver for its Wi-Fi module. More details on this driver and where to obtain it can be found here. There will be no more need to switch out the existing Wi-Fi card in the Wind netbook.
Via Make, JKOnTheRun, and Wired.
Images via LaptopPimp, CNet, and GadgetArena.
No Apple Netbook? No Matter, You Can Make Your Own!
Just because Apple is not coming out with a netbook does not mean that there are no substitutes for this product. With roughly $200 and a bit of time on your hands, you can make your own modified version of an Apple netbook! This netbook is ideal for travel, since it would be incapable of saving data to its local harddrive. This means that if your device is stolen, hackers cannot access your personal files and information.
So, with that said, here are the steps for constructing the “Hackintosh” netbook:
1. Buy (or obtain by other means) a Dell Mini 9. Obviously, the better the tech specs of this machine, the better its overall performance.
2. Follow Gizmodo’s instructions “How To: Hackintosh a Dell Mini 9 Into the Ultimate OS X Netbook.” (These instructions may seem harder than they actually are!) You can also search online for some tricks for decreasing the size of the Mac operating system as well, if you are worried about harddrive space.
3. Configure the netbook so that files cannot be saved locally. This can be done by following these steps:
a. Configure the netbook so that it logs into www.me.com when the device boots up.
b. Configure applications that allow the setting of a working directory to save by default to the www.me.com iDisk (Apple’sstorage service).
c. Create an Automator action (a visual Mac script) that finds files that are present on the netbook’s desktop and moves them to the iDisk when the computer goes into sleep mode or shuts down.
All this sounds easy enough, right? Well, there is a little caveat to this entire process. The system is only able to save files over a wireless Internet connection. If you dislike the idea of saving files over a wireless connection or if you think it is highly inconvenient (to locate wi-fi areas), you can just purchase a USB drive and save files to that instead.
And…voilá! You have just built yourself a “Hackintosh” netbook. Give yourself a pat on the back and start enjoying the convenience and functionality that it has to offer.
Disclaimer: Proceed to make this netbook at your own risk. No companies shall be held liable for any damages incurred during the construction of this netbook.
Via PCWorld.
