How It All Started …
A few months back, I had a work-provided, shiny 15″ Macbook Pro. We went everywhere together… long moonlit walks. surfing the web in a dark cafe, with a cliche candle dripping scented wax all over an old Chianti bottle… bike rides in the country with baguettes and brie … the sound of its fan so soothing …
And then that job ended, they laid off everyone in sight, and snatched back our Macbooks with cold corporate fingers. Bastards.
It sucked, and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. We all loved our MacBooks. https://softsecurity.mystrikingly.com/blog/split-sphere-mac-os. Even Mr P, a diehard Windows fan, broke down and cried like a little girl. There are fingernail scratch marks on what was 'His' Macbook Air from the effects of all the prying.
Now, as it happens, I love diving into little tech projects. So while I could not dash out and buy my own MacBook, I was able to research cheap less expensive alternatives to getting the Mac laptop fix I crave. I did just that, and perhaps my newfound joy of putting together a dual booting (Mountain Lion and Windows 7) machine for ~$500 will inspire you. It could also make you toss your hands up in the air, head to the nearest Apple Store, and do it the easy way. I wont pout.
The game is set in 1930's Spain, with a Civil War with fictional details. It tells the story of Daniel, a Prussian World War I veteran who settled down in Spain to live as a farmer after the great conflict, but whose attempt to flee from violence failed when the war broke out in Spain. But it's also a nice hack and involves security cameras: two things we're obsessed with. It's a screensaver for Mac OS X which taps into the worldwide Axis security camera network. An Amazon Best Book of January 2018: The Immortalists doesn't seem like a second novel: it has all the unexpected brilliance of a debut hit, combined with the assured style and long-sighted wisdom you'd expect from an older, more experienced writer. But author Chloe Benjamin is – astonishingly - only 28 years old, and her ambitious and deeply moving novel sets a high standard for. All are running the Mac OS. In JK's office, Joe watches in amazement as JK boots up an Intel PC and up on the screen comes the familiar 'Welcome to Macintosh'. Joe pauses, silent for a moment.
To keep this post from getting insanely long, I'm going to point at some sources of information that really helped me get through the process. I didn't write down every single step.
The Hardware
I bought an HP ProBook 4530s from Amazon. When I purchased it in mid-September 2012, it was $488.95. I saw the price drop to $450ish. Now I see it for $518! It could be that the supply is drying up, as it's been discontinued. Mine was this one: 2.30 GHz Intel Core i3-2350M, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB Hard Drive, DVD+/-RW SuperMulti Drive, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.
Some of my thinking about getting this specific model came from:
Even though the 4530s is pretty well suited to running Mac OS, there are some hoops to jump through, and I ended up getting USB Dongles for Bluetooth and Wifi (as opposed to ordering a card and opening it up).
This is not a One Beer Project. You may even be tempted to switch to something stronger in mid-stream. I don't recommend that. Save that for the end 🙂
Here's list of some hardware bits that were helpful for my project. You don't need everything here! I basically wanted to clone the laptop disk, add more memory, and go the route of having reusable usb dongles for bluetooth and wifi.
- Added 4gb of memory, to bring it up to 8gb of ram. I prefer using Crucial.com. The spec for this one is: CT51264BF1339J -4GB DDR3 – 1333 SODIMM 1.35V 204 PIN
- Got a Wifi dongle, because I didn't feel like replacing the internal Wifi card to one that works with Mountain Lion: Edimax EW-7811Un 150 Mbps Wireless 11n Nano Size USB Adapter with EZmax Setup Wizard
- Already had this Bluetooth dongle for another machine, and was happy to find that it works for the HP: Medialink USB Bluetooth Adapter – Version 4.0 (Newest Bluetooth Version Available) Class 2 Smart Ready Adapter w/ Low Energy Technology – Windows 7 32/64 Compatible
- Wanted to clone the disk as it came with the laptop, before doing anything! I got a Seagate Expansion 500 GB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive STBX500100
- I did my Mountain Lion install off an USB key. I recommend this one: Patriot Xporter XT Rage 16 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (PEF16GRUSB)
Backup Your Laptop First
Stop! Don't Go Into Cowboy Mode! Don't get all Cavalier on this!
You recall that I had an external USB drive in my list earlier on? Go grab EaseUS Disk Copy Home Edition 2.3.1 – it's free. You will want to create a bootable CD or USB key to run it. It can completely clone drives (partitions and all).
So, yes, if you are following along, make a backup of the HP. Don't make me come over there! (looks over top of glasses with raised eyebrow).
I'll give you another reason to back up your machine: we're going to clobber the internal disk, and in the case of the HP laptop, I needed to get to some of their driver software later on (and they dont provide a DVD of Windows 7 with their laptops. it's all on the internal disk)
Backed up? Ok then, yeeehaw, Buckaroo! Let's fling some bits around…
The Mountain Lion Acquisition Problem
So here is a little detour which may make you smirk at my ancient Mac hardware, or break out in a case of the 'wows'. I think it's going to be more of a smirkfest.
I have an old Intel iMac from 2006. It is a 32 bit machine, and Mountain Lion (Mac OS 10.8) wont run on it. To rub salt into the wound, the App Store wouldn't even let me purchase it from that machine. All I needed was the downloaded installer for Mountain Lion to use elsewhere. You cant buy ML from Apple on a DVD or USB key.
So, what I needed was a Mac running a 64 bit OS, so that I could run App Store, in order to buy and download the Mountain Lion installer …
… simple, huh?
Just to be clear, if you have access to a recent 64 bit Mac that can download Mountain Lion, you will not have to jump through the silly hoop I am about to mention.
As it turns out, my HP came with Windows 7 in 64 bit mode, and I do know how to install VirtualBox. I own the Snow Leopard (Mac OS 10.6) install DVD, so I was able to create a virtual machine running Mac, under Windows. Here are some tips on how to do that: How to install a Snow Leopard Hackintosh in Virtualbox [Windows]
There are other articles out there that mention downloading pre-hacked versions of Mac OSX. Stay Far Away! Get your own legal copy and follow the steps. Mountain Lion is only $19.99. Cough it up!
Once I had Snow Leopard running as a virtual machine (under Windows 7, on the HP), there was only one thing I wanted to do with it … get the install image of Mountain Lion and get on with it. You basically want to copy the Installer that is put in /Applications/Install Mac OS X Mountain Lion.app
Installing Mountain Lion On An HP 4530s
Ok, here we go… the big show! And what am I going to do? I'm going to punt and point to Guides! Much Braver People than I have thoroughly explored and documented the process. I am merely your Tour Guide.
The basic steps are going to be:
- creating a bootable USB key with the Mountain Lion Installer and other utilities on it (I was able to use my old iMac to go through that process)
- booting the HP from the key, and formatting the disk with the Disk Utility (from the Installer)
- doing the actual OS install
- running the HP Probook Installer to enable various hardware components
There is one main link I have for guiding you: Guide to Installing Mountain Lion on HP Probook
I think that one is pretty thorough for walking one through the process. In my case, I used Disk Utility (off the bootable USB key) to change the internal HP disk to GUID format, with two evenly split partitions. The second partition is for my Windows 7 install (which I will cover in the second part of this writeup). I made the second partition FAT format, just for reference. A later Windows 7 install will overwrite that as NTFS.
In the process, you will want to have some things on hand. You will need to register with tonymacx86.com to download them:
- UniBeast – to make a bootable USB key
Gee, Is That All? (Summary for now)
Heh, looking back over this, it would seem like a minefield of obstacles to get Mountain Lion going on a Laptop. In some ways, sure, it can be. It is worth it for me! For about 1/3rd the cost of a decent Macbook Pro, I have a very functional Mac (and Windows 7) Laptop. It is one those projects where, if you've done some software or hardware mods in the past, then It Is All Possible. And Worth Doing.
Legal Stuff
Someone is bound to ask. wait, is this Legal? Hey, I proudly bought all of my Apple Software, and will purchase more via App Store while running Mountain Lion. I can also point to some additional opinion:
- Are Hackintosh Computers Legal? (Lockergnome)
- Hackintosh, Is It Legal? (PCWorld)
My sense is that Apple has a lot of sense about this. The more they get Mac OS out there, the more software they will sell. I cant afford a shiny Macbook Pro from them at the moment, but I can sure afford some of their apps. I see it as a win-win! Their software license also specifically covers running the OS as a virtual machine, which is great.
Finally, I've been buying Apple Hardware since 1997 (not only for myself, but for extended family when I was able to, way back when… ) I think they know I'm a pretty good customer 😉 Sky outbreak mac os.
Part 2 coming soon!
What's the best version of the Mac OS for your Mac? It depends on the hardware.
DR writes:
I enjoyed reading How Can I Prepare for Mac OS X?, especially about the different Macs that you've owned. I got a Macintosh (yes, just plain Macintosh) in February 1985. Upgraded to a Mac 512K, a.k.a. Fat Mac. Upgraded to a 512Ke (with 128k ROM and a double-sided disk drive!). Got a Mac Classic 4/40. Got a Quadra 605 8/160. Got a used Quadra 630 8/250. Got a Power Computing PowerBase 180 32/1.2. Got a Power Computing PowerCenter Pro 240 64/2. And what a fun ride it has been. : )
While the 'How Can I Prepare for Mac OS X?' author is looking forward to Mac OS X, my feelings toward system software, as they called it in the old days, is a bit different. Whichever Mac I've owned has been a non-networked computer. A lot of times a newer version of a Mac OS would just run a little slower and take up more hard drive space. The question I like to answer which helps me decide whether to upgrade or not is, 'What do I want to do on my Mac that I could do with the new OS that I can't do with the old OS?' If I can't find anything, then I stick with what I've got. Reason's I've upgraded in the past have been: 1) newer OS required for certain applications 2) hope that the newer OS doesn't crash as often as the older one (shades of 7.6.1 and the PowerBase 180) and 3) to get HFS+.
There are two possible computers that I may upgrade. Please tell me what you think is the best version of Mac OS to run on each and why. First, my computer. I have a Power Computing PowerCenter Pro 240 with 64 MB RAM, 2 GB hard drive, CD-ROM, Zip drive, Personal LaserWriter 300, external speakers, 56k modem, mic, and a Color QuickCam. I'm running Mac OS 8.1 and thinking about upgrading to 8.5. 'What would I want to do on my Mac that I could do with 8.5 that I can't do with the 8.1?' Also the potential hard drive problem causes me to hesitate upgrading as well.
The second computer: my sister has inherited the Macs that I didn't sell. Currently, she has a Quadra 630 with 20 MB of RAM, 250 MB hard drive, inkjet printer, external CD-ROM, and a 33.6 kbps modem. She is currently using version 7.5.5. She's not a power user. She just uses the Internet a little and uses WriteNow a little. She's had some difficulty keeping her Internet connection. This could be related to the noisy phone lines in her rural area, but different system software may help her also. What version of Mac OS do you think is best for her?
During the day, I support a network of 70-some Macs. The oldest, sold about two years ago, was a 2.5 MB Mac Plus with 20 MB GCC HyperDrive. The newest are a Power Mac G3/266 and a PowerBook G3/233. And there are probably two dozen different models between those extremes.
To maintain my sanity, I have done my best to keep as many Macs as possible on the same version of the Mac OS. With few exceptions, that means System 7.5.5. (Or 7.5.3 for a few Macs that are not compatible with 7.5.5.) I find it complete and stable. At this point, I see no reason to ever change most users to Mac OS 8 or newer. None.
The only Macs I would hesitate to run 7.5.5 on are the old 8 MHz 68000-based ones. While they can run System 7.5.5, they feel a lot more responsive with System 6.0.8.
A couple machines need Mac OS 7.6, so that's what they get. Just a few of us are using Mac OS 8.1 – some because it came with the computers, three others so we can be familiar with it (and we're now testing 8.5.1). By choice, I don't use HFS+, a choice I made before Norton Utilities 4, which has problems with HFS+. Jack & the secret door mac os.
Nice as HFS+ would be, the extra 100 MB it frees on my hard drive hasn't been worth the struggles of getting it to work correctly. Twice I've invested over half-a-day in trying to make my system work with HFS+. Both times I've reverted to HFS. I'm sure I'll go HFS+ soon, but I need to have the free time to troubleshoot any problems that may arise. (See HFS+ Nightmares and Beyond HFS+ Nightmares for the full story.)
Unless you work with a lot of small files on a large drive, I don't see HFS+ as a compelling reason to upgrade. I'm happily using Mac OS 8.1 without it.
That said, I love the spring loaded folders, which really reduce desktop clutter. At home, I love the PPP stability – even better than FreePPP. Contextual menus are nice, but the main reason I switched at home was because I have 8.1 at work. It's much easier to work on the same version of the OS than to go back and forth.
I haven't run Mac OS 8.1 on a 68040-based Mac, but my son (who now uses my old Centris 610) did the upgrade and says it's very stable – and faster than 7.5.5 was. I've heard similar reports from others. The ability to jettison pre-68040 code allowed Apple to make 8.1 more streamlined than earlier versions that had to support the 68000 and 68020 (through 7.5.5) and 68030 (through 7.6.1).
Obsessed: The Story Of Danil Mac Os X
Update: Apple claimed they jettisoned pre-68040 code, but we have evidence from Scott Barber and the Born Again program that 68030-based Macs can run Mac OS 8.0 and 8.1. This is sort of like the way Mac OS X is 'unsupported' on some Macs, yet XPostFacto allows it to install and run. Ascii quest mac os.
I've found Mac OS 8.1 stable enough and feature-laden enough to recommend it to anyone with a Quadra or Power Mac who is willing to spend $40 for the upgrade. Second chance (itch) (pooris) mac os.
As for Mac OS 8.5, I must admit I'm a firm believer in Murphy's Law: If anything can go wrong, it will. At work, we were approved to buy three copies and test it. The rare hard drive problem, estimated to trouble less than 1% of all systems, would almost certainly choose one of those three, trash a 1.2 GB to 4 GB hard drive beyond repair, and cost one or two days of down time.
Sure, we do daily backup. But if the drive is so seriously damaged that it must be replaced, even an overnight shipment means a day without a usable computer. It's not a risk I'm prepared to take, especially since nobody seems to have pinned down the underlying cause of this problem. (Apple is collecting hard drives from the field.)
But Mac OS 8.5 was mostly a matter of when: After Apple discovered the cause of the problem and released a fix for it, we bought it and installed it on a few machines for testing purposes. I think it will be especially helpful in a networked environment (that includes using a modem to reach the Internet), since all the I/O drivers are now PowerPC native and Open Transport has been significantly upgraded.
So my vote is Mac OS 7.5.5 on pre-68040 models, 8.1 on 68040 and PowerPC machines, and either 8.1 or 8.5.1 on Power Macs and Mac clones.
Reader Feedback
Chik writes:
I had no problems installing Mac OS 8.5 on a Power Mac 6200. No hard drive corruption, etc. It was a clean clean install.
But it is so much slower than OS 8.1 that I can't recommend anyone use it. I had to disable much of the OS to get it to speed up e.g. AppleScript, file sharing, etc. Muscule noob mac os.
Also have Speed Doubler 8.x.
BV writes:
Obsessed: The Story Of Danil Mac Oscar
Regarding problems in reformatting to HFS+: I wasn't going to do it, because I didn't think it was worth backing up and initializing my hard drive to save the space.
Surfing through Macworld I found a mention of an application called Plus Maker from Alsoft ($19.95; www.alsoft.com). I downloaded it and near-instantaneously reformatted the hard drive on my PowerMac 6500/250 (OS 8.1) without initializing, without backing up (I'm a home user – what have I got to back up a 4 GB hard drive with?), without losing data or any (more) stability problems than I had before. I saved over 1 GB of space on my drive.
If this sounds like an ad, I could damn sure write them a genuine, uncompensated endorsement (schmuck that I am).
Thanks for what you're doing; I just bought Vimage's PF G3/240-225 upgrade card on your say-so, since I'm apparently running the same system you are.
We used Plus Maker on all of our Mac OS 8.1 systems at work to convert the drives to HFS+. It was a bit risky, but only because at that time neither Norton nor any other hard drive utility could work with HFS+ drives. Mine was the only drive to have problems, which may have been due to file corruption or third-party software. As of last week, I am successfully using HFS+ on my hard drive at work.
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