Recently my hackintosh suffered from a boot error; that due to electricity being a problem here. Enough of a problem to finally convince me to invest in a UPS. Not what this post is about though.
boot0 error
This was the screen that constantly kept surfacing, every time I booted up. On reading, and researching this issue (I wasn’t aware of it), it was found that this is a common error for a hackintosh. One of the main reasons for this error to surface is that OS X has an issue when writing the boot helper code into “Advanced Format” drives. And, because of this they require a workaround to function. So, I have to assume that an upgrade was going on, or something was being written to the disk when there was a power failure, and somehow that ended up affecting the boot loader / boot helper.
There are solutions available, incase you don’t want to re-install or upgrade. Most of these require you to have your UniBeast boot drive handy.
However, I decided to start fresh since I hadn’t upgraded from Yosemite to El Capitan, yet.
Upgrading The Hackintosh to El Capitan
It’s really as straight forward as described here. Much, much more stable thanks to Chimera/Chameleon being replaced by Clover. Unlike Chimera/Chameleon, where I did have to unplug all the HDDs except for the boot drive, unplug all the display cards (I have 3) except for one, Clover doesn’t need me to do all that.
UniBeast, by default, comes with Clover, and uses a generic DSDT; it works right out of the box for Gigabyte’s H97M-D3H. Unless you want to do a more advanced job at installing OS X. Which, I honestly think is not needed.
This hackintosh just got more stable, thanks to Clover & El Capitan.
Post Installation
Just like the installation process, the post install process is pretty straight forward using MultiBeast. Most of the settings remain the same as the previous version of OSX that was used with Yosemite. Some don’t need to be used at all.
MultiBeast Setup With El Capitan
Once I installed El Capitan, there was an upgrade out. I was delighted to know, I could just upgrade using the App Store. Another thing to note is that FaceTime, iMessage, Continuity, etc. work right out of the box, unlike my experience with Yosemite.
Verdict & Opinion
If you haven’t upgraded from Yosemite to El Capitan, and are TonyMacX86’s “method” of making a hackintosh, then do switch over. It’s a breeze really(remember to backup/clone first).
The only downside for me was the re-installation process, with respect to the apps that I use, did take some time. I am also of the opinion, now that I’ve had the chance to play with Clover a bit, that Clover as a boot loader is a better choice than Chimera/Chameleon when it comes to El Capitan.
Another point to note (as far as I know of), is that Chimera/Chameleon/Chameleon has to be booted as a legacy BIOS disk. Clover can boot OS X with UEFI enabled.
Oh, and I don’t really have to set all those boot-flags I had to with Chimera/Chameleon. That’s definitely a plus too.
But just in case, here’s a guide if you would still like to Install / Upgrade to El Capitan with Chameleon
Geekbench Score
There’s a slight uptick in the geekbench scores, since the upgrade to El Capitan & Clover.
Geekbench Scores
