Can you install Mac OS X on a formatted HDD?

a legacy reborn

Well-known member
Just wondering if you can as I want to install Mac OS X then Win7 instead of Win7 -> Mac OS X as it would seem easier to just use bootcamp. Keep in mind this is a non-apple PC with the following specs(roughly):

Intel® Core™ i7-3930K Six-Core 3.20 GHz
8GB RAM @ 1600MHz
AMD Radeon HD 6670 1GB x2
120GB SSD 550MB/s read 500MB/s write
1TB HDD 7200RPM

I think that should be most of the important specs for installing Mac OS X. So, does anyone know if it is possible? If so, can you explain? Also please note that I have the USB Thumb Drive version of Mac OS X Lion.
 
And also MBR Patch for Lion is available, so patch the USB so that you can install the Lion without formatting entire HDD.
 
I have successfully installed SL earlier & now upgraded to Lion. All works well :D

Maybe it's my hardware.... I can't even got most "hackentosh" DVD's to fully boot. I got 1 copy to boot into the purple background with my mouse spinning forever, but that was it.

Maybe you can see this and tell me what of these 3 would be an issue?
 

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AMD Hackintoshing is very tough. Though few people have tried & installed it successfully :)

Check your compatibility here for SL - http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/HCL_10.6.7 & Lion - http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/HCL_10.7.2

If
-CPU
-MoBo
-Graphic Card
-Network
-Audio

are compatible then you can get most of the things working with right Kexts[Mac alternative of Windows Device Drivers]. If they are compatible then reply here I will be very glad to help you installing :)

Thank you so much for the reply and the very generous and kind offer. Looking at the list, I believe I have everything correct, except I don't think my motherboard is listed and that could be the issue. I have the Nivida GT 430 video, but it's made by Galaxy and not Gigabyte

Maybe that matter or maybe not. I think my motherboard maybe the issue. At least this points me in the right dirrection. Thanks for the information though. This maybe helpful for me for future use.
 
Go ahead & install ! Installing Lion is bit easier if you or somebody you know already have a Mac. You have boot with -v kernel flag [verbose mode].

If you were able to make it to apple logo spinning, then most probably it's a kernel panic. When you boot in verbose mode, which shows exact error. Based on that error I can guide you further :)
 
It should be possible, unless there's something wrong with the HDD :)

Try it out and you'll see ;)
Do you mean that it would be possible to just plug-in USB, install, *some magical word* and it works?

Just so everyone knows, I do have a Win7 Disc but I want to install Mac OS X first then Win7 so that I don't have to go through the headache that it is to dual boot the two Operating Systems through Win7.
 
Do you mean that it would be possible to just plug-in USB, install, *some magical word* and it works?

Just so everyone knows, I do have a Win7 Disc but I want to install Mac OS X first then Win7 so that I don't have to go through the headache that it is to dual boot the two Operating Systems through Win7.

I found a good tutorial earlier on how to do it but can't find it :(
I'm sure you'll find one that you like and can follow on the web (google) :)
 
I found a good tutorial earlier on how to do it but can't find it :(
I'm sure you'll find one that you like and can follow on the web (google) :)
Sadly Google has been little help but right now I am testing out a personal method that I thought might work on my laptop...*crosses fingers*
 
While the raw hardware to create a faux Macintosh is the cheapest way to go, when you factor in your time in making it work, maybe it won't be so cheap after all. That depends on what value you place on your time, of course, and how much free time is available just to play around with this stuff.

Just a thought.
 
@legacy - Tonymac tutorials are the best ones.

For Snow Leopard - http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2010/04/iboot-multibeast-install-mac-os-x-on.html

For Lion - http://tonymacx86.blogspot.com/2011/10/unibeast-install-mac-os-x-lion-using.html

Actually you can install Windows now & later Mac there won't be any problem in dual boot. Just make sure that either you partition entire HDD to GUID OR patch the installation with "MBR Patch" so you can install it on MBR partitioned HDD. Advantage of latter is one can install Mac on MBR without formatting entire HDD since all are partitioned default to MBR.

As your machine is new, format the entire HDD to GUID uisng Mac installtion disc. Then install Windows, you can worry about Mac later :)
 
Well my method failed and yes I know about tonymac, it is just extremely time consuming and almost not worth it...I'll give it a shot but no promises.
 
It's kind of a crazy question because vmware produces a lot of products..but yes I have paid for certain vmware products...they do have free ones that for all intensive purposes could be used to do the same thing essentially but if you have a need for something with more options I would openly say every one of the products of theirs that I have tried was absolutely phenomenal all things considered.

I also used an early version of VMplayer a long time ago on I think it was a dual core with 2 gb of ram and it was ok with xp running an instance of xp..you need memory and fast drives to really be able to enjoy virtualization of things like osx or windows 7 with all the bells and whistles. Having a dedicated drive for virtual machines is not a bad idea either.

If your looking for an endorsement, I would say yes...absolutely don't worry about investing money into their products if you can afford it but you are the next buyer not me so test out what they allow you to and make that decision for yourself.

http://www.vmware.com/products/

The price range is from free - over $10,000 pending what you are looking at...but to be honest a lot of what they do have isn't able to be fully utilized or afforded by your average person...they do a lot of stuff that is for arrays of equipment worth the cost of your average house give or take an addition.

Workstation is not free as you can see on the list but you can try OSX with vmware player which for playing around or working with one vm at a time ...it's all you really need... I have the hard drive space to offload whole intact operating systems for specific purposes so I do so using workstation to load and use multiple OS's simultaneously from HDDs which I swap as I need specific operating system setups available pending my tasks at hand and it keeps things organized and easier to find for me personally. If you have the money for workstation grab it...but by all means try player first and see if you even like it before doing that.

These are free, you just have to register at the site to get the license and download access to their products.
vmware.com said:
What can I do with VMware Player?
Use VMware Player to create, run, evaluate, and share software running in virtual machines:
  • Create: Use VMware Player to create virtual machines with the latest 32-bit and 64-bit Windows and Linux operating systems. With Easy Install it’s easier than installing them directly on your PC.
  • Run: VMware Player can be used by anyone to run virtual machines on a Windows or Linux PC. VMware Player makes it quick and easy to take advantage of the security, flexibility, and portability of virtual machines.
  • Evaluate: VMware Player is ideal for safely evaluating software distributed as a virtual appliance. Virtual appliances are pre-built, pre-configured and ready-to-run enterprise software applications packaged along with an operating system in a virtual machine. With VMware Player, anyone can quickly and easily experience the benefits of preconfigured products without any installation or configuration hassles. Run over 900 virtual appliances from leading software vendors available from the VMware Solution Exchange.
  • Share: VMware Player can be used by anyone to run a virtual machine shared by a colleague or friend. For example, customer support and development teams can share a customer scenario encapsulated within a virtual machine.



Note that you will have to create a blank virtual disc and copy some files into it in order to install from an osx disc, unless you find something out that I couldn't...but either way..once the virtual disc is prepared OSX works nicely as a vm and once you get the virtual disc prepared you can keep a copy of it backed up and just paste up a copy of it into your virtual machines folder and load that vm by whatever you renamed the copy to and then install your Apple os from there.
 
It's kind of a crazy question because vmware produces a lot of products..but yes I have paid for certain vmware products...they do have free ones that for all intensive purposes could be used to do the same thing essentially but if you have a need for something with more options I would openly say every one of the products of theirs that I have tried was absolutely phenomenal all things considered.

I also used an early version of VMplayer a long time ago on I think it was a dual core with 2 gb of ram and it was ok with xp running an instance of xp..you need memory and fast drives to really be able to enjoy virtualization of things like osx or windows 7 with all the bells and whistles. Having a dedicated drive for virtual machines is not a bad idea either.

If your looking for an endorsement, I would say yes...absolutely don't worry about investing money into their products if you can afford it but you are the next buyer not me so test out what they allow you to and make that decision for yourself.

http://www.vmware.com/products/

The price range is from free - over $10,000 pending what you are looking at...but to be honest a lot of what they do have isn't able to be fully utilized or afforded by your average person...they do a lot of stuff that is for arrays of equipment worth the cost of your average house give or take an addition.

Workstation is not free as you can see on the list but you can try OSX with vmware player which for playing around or working with one vm at a time ...it's all you really need... I have the hard drive space to offload whole intact operating systems for specific purposes so I do so using workstation to load and use multiple OS's simultaneously from HDDs which I swap as I need specific operating system setups available pending my tasks at hand and it keeps things organized and easier to find for me personally. If you have the money for workstation grab it...but by all means try player first and see if you even like it before doing that.

These are free, you just have to register at the site to get the license and download access to their products.



Note that you will have to create a blank virtual disc and copy some files into it in order to install from an osx disc, unless you find something out that I couldn't...but either way..once the virtual disc is prepared OSX works nicely as a vm and once you get the virtual disc prepared you can keep a copy of it backed up and just paste up a copy of it into your virtual machines folder and load that vm by whatever you renamed the copy to and then install your Apple os from there.
Until I get this working I have installed a Win7 theme that looks like Mac OS X.
 
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