Create a Chameleon USB Rescue Drive Using MultiBeast

Posted by tonymacx86 on Wednesday, February 16, 2011
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It's always a good idea to keep a copy of iBoot on hand in case things go wrong with your install. You can easily boot from it and then choose your system drive.  But what happens when you don't have access to an optical drive?  Things can get complicated. Here's a guide that will help you install Chameleon and other necessary files on any USB flash drive.

PLEASE NOTE: USB Rescue drives will NOT boot the Mac OS X Retail DVD.  You will need an optical drive to do an installation using iBoot + MultiBeast.

YOU WILL NEED
  • A blank USB drive of any size- even an old 512mb one will work!
  • A computer running Mac OS X
  • MultiBeast
  • Your motherboard-specific DSDT from the DSDT Database
STEP 1: FORMAT THE USB DRIVE
  1. Boot into your existing Mac OS X Installation.
  2. Insert your USB drive.
  3. Open Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility
  4. Highlight your USB drive in the left column.
  5. Click the Partition Tab.
  6. Click Volume Scheme- choose 1 Partition
  7. Click Options…
  8. Select GUID Partition Table. Click OK.
  9. In the Name: field type: USB Rescue
  10. In Format: field select Mac OS Extended (Case Sensitive, Journaled)
  11. Click Apply, then click Partition.
STEP 2: DOWNLOAD YOUR MOTHERBOARD'S DSDT
  1. Visit the DSDT Database
  2. Download your motherboard's DSDT, and place the .aml file on the Desktop
STEP 3: RUN MULTIBEAST ON THE USB DRIVE
  1. Open MultiBeast
  2. In Select a Destination screen, choose USB Rescue (If you don't get this option,  press Continue, then select Change Install Location...)
  3. Select UserDSDT
  4. Click Continue, then Install
There you have it!  A Chameleon USB Rescue drive!  If you ever need to boot from it, go to your computer's boot menu at startup (F12 on Gigabyte boards) and choose the USB drive. When you get to the Chameleon boot screen, choose your system drive. If you have any issues booting your hard drive, you can always use -s to enter single-user mode to modify and repair disk, -x to enter safe mode, or -v for verbose mode.

 -tonymacx86 & MacMan
For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

Building a CustoMac: Three Updated LGA 1156 Builds for OS X

Posted by tonymacx86 on Thursday, February 10, 2011
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By request, here are three updated builds, based on the original CustoMac post from June 2010.  These builds are our most current 1156 recommendations for fully compatible budget builds running Mac OS X as the primary operating system.  

All three builds include:
  • Gigabyte LGA 1156 Motherboard
  • Intel Core i-series Quad-Core CPU
  • 4GB or 8GB of RAM, expandable up to 16GB
  • 1 TB Hard Drive
  • CD/DVD Burner
  • Case and Power Supply
  • Mac OS X Snow Leopard Retail DVD
We've included all components besides monitor, as any standard monitor will do.  You can use these recommendations as a jumping off point for further customization, or as a shopping list.  Prices reflect those as of February 2011, and do not include shipping or tax. 

Budget Power Build 1
Core i5-760 / Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H / GeForce GT 240 / 4GB DDR3 RAM
$683.88

Motherboard:  GA-H55M-UD2H $94.99


Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint 1 TB $62.99

CD/DVD Burner: Sony Optiarc Black $36.95

Power Supply: Antec 550W Continuous Power $64.99

Operating System: Mac OS X Snow Leopard $29.00

Budget Power Build 2
Core i7-870 / Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H / Radeon HD 5770 / 4GB DDR3 RAM
$991.23


Motherboard:  GA-H55M-UD2H $94.99



Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint 1 TB $62.99

CD/DVD Burner: Sony Optiarc Black $36.95

CPU Cooler: Scythe Mugen 2 $47.35

Power Supply: Corsair 650HX Modular 650W $119.99

Operating System: Mac OS X Snow Leopard $29.00

Budget Power Build 3
Core i7-870 / Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 / Radeon HD 5870 / 8GB DDR3 RAM
 $1211.41

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 $130.22

Graphics: Diamond ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB $234.99

Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint 1 TB $62.95
CD/DVD Burner: Sony Optiarc Black $36.95

CPU Cooler: Scythe Mugen 2 $47.35
Case: Antec 900 $99.99

Power Supply: Corsair 650HX Modular 650W $119.99

Operating System: Mac OS X Snow Leopard $29.00

Optional Accessories
NOTE: Only MODEL NO: ACB10us v1.0 will wake from sleep.

Oh, and don't forget, if you end up buying anything, click through one of the links above, or in the sidebar.  That way, you'll be supporting the site, as well as getting the best prices.  Thanks in advance!   

For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

MultiBeast 3.2 Update

Posted by tonymacx86 on Tuesday, February 01, 2011
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Today MultiBeast was updated to version 3.2.  The big change is in the Network section- we've added Lnx2Mac's RealtekRTL81xx package!  The latest version is now available at tonymacx86.com/downloads.

Please do not upload or redistribute MultiBeast to any other sites. 
  

Full list of changes:
  • Replaced Realtek Gigabit Ethernet with Lnx2Mac's RealtekRTL81xx Ethernet. NOTE: When chosen it will launch Lnx2Mac's installer at the end of the Multibeast install.
  • Replaced Intel 82566 Family Gigabit Ethernet with hnak's AppleIntelE1000e Ethernet. This is a port of the e1000.sourceforge.net Intel Wired Ethernet for Linux driver.
  • Added Chameleon 2.0 RC5 - Sandy Bridge.  This is valv's branch of Chameleon 2.0 RC5 that adds initial support for Sandy Bridge CPUs.
  • Changed description for NVEnabler to relect that it's only used for older NVIDIA graphics cards.
  • Removed ATY_Init Uakari
  • Removed ATY_Init Vervet
  • Removed AppleRTL8169Ethernet
  • Removed RealtekR1000SL
If this utility has helped you, please consider a contribution to support further MultiBeast development.  Thanks in advance, and enjoy!

-tonymacx86 & MacMan

For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!