Last week I wrote about how excited I was to build a Hackintosh, and all the reasons that I’d want to do it. Right now, I am sitting here, and writing this post from the custom mac; using Desk.
It’s not completely there yet. I assumed it would be a hassle free install, since I opted for all the compatible parts (see the parts I picked). Instead I am having teething issues, and a lot of them. On the flip side, I’ve learned tons of new stuff about Mac OS X, and what goes behind the scenes. I’ve learned more about recent motherboards, cpus, the processes that are required to keep the machine running, and processes which have caused a ton of headaches while building this machine.
I’ve reached a point where I think the machine is stable enough, but may need another clean install of Yosemite 10.10.4. This may be because I am using a third party SSD. Apple, until Yosemite 10.10.3, made sure that third party SSDs would not be fully compatible with OS X.
TRIM and OS X
SSDs work together with the OS, to use something known as TRIM . Simply put, it’s a command that the OS issues, to let the SSD know which blocks of data are deleted, and can be overwritten. Apple, until 10.10.4, only enabled TRIM for SSDs by Apple, in rare cases a select few third party SSDs, or SSDs that have SandForce controllers .
With the 10.10.4 update Yosemite is TRIM half-compatible with use of the trimforce command . I say half-compatible because using this command requires that you unlock kext signing, which is a new “feature” that checks all the kexts, A.K.A drivers, in the system for alterations by third parties. Essentially enabling TRIM would unlock you to install any kind of kexts, or drivers. It’s a global value change. The internet seems to be divided on the issue.
Build Issues: TRIM, and Hackintosh Running Yosemite 10.10.4
Coming back to the point, when setting up the hackintosh on the first boot after a fresh install, you’ve to install some patched, and custom kexts. Which is fine, but you’ve to also install kexts that were patched for enabling TRIM on third party SSDs, incase you’re using an SSD for OS X. The particular issues I am facing may be related to those patched kexts that enable TRIM on third party SSDs. So, to test the theory out I may have to remove those kexts, if that works then I may have to do a clean install, my fifth one to date with the new system.
This entire week will go in figuring out the cause(s) behind these issues, and solving them. It’s been a ride so far with hunting down similar issues followed by checking to see what works, and what doesn’t. It’s definitely something that takes a lot of time, but it’s worth it for all that it teaches you. An I cannot be proud enough looking at that the machine - my first assembly in years! It’s been fun!
Photos, and more information coming soon in the next couple of posts.
