Shuttle XH61 Lion

I built another XH61 for Lion testing, used the i3-2125 with the HD 3000 graphics.  I installed 8GB of memory and used a Seagate 500GB HDD.

I created the UniBeast USB installation drive per the instructions here.

Creating the USB drive and the Lion install went smoothly, this was a fresh installation.

Downloaded MultiBeast 4.3.0 and Chimera 1.80 standalone and copied to another USB drive.
First choices in MultiBeast are:  “EasyBeast” and then under “System Definitions”, chose the “Mac Mini”.

EasyBeast will include the bootloader Chimera 1.80 to enable booting from the hard drive, plus the rest of the files needed.

The “Mac Mini” option will enable the ports for the HD 3000 graphics, so you can use the VGA or HDMI ports.

Here is where the 1st problem starts, when booting from the hard drive, I got the “boot0 error” and why I downloaded the Chimera 1.80 standalone.  To fix the boot0 error, I had to copy the “boot1h” file from the standalone Chimera to a USB drive.  Here is the link with the instructions on how to do the rest of this.

When you install EasyBeast which includes the code to enable the graphics.  “GraphicsEnabler=Yes”.  So when you boot from the hard drive you will have to disable the graphics enabler.  On the “boot” line type in “GraphicsEnabler=No”.
Once it has booted up, go to /Extra and edit the “64-bit org.Chameleon.boot.plist” file.  Find the line that reads GraphicsEnabler, the 2nd line “Yes” and change it to “No”, then close the file.

Once you do this, it will boot from the hard drive, then you can open MultiBeast again and install the Lan driver.  I used the LnxMac Lan driver.  This worked fine.

The next driver I installed was for the Audio.  I tried the Realtek ALC8xx with the ALC8xxHDA, AppleHDA Rollback and Non-DSDT HDA Enabler.  Under the Non-DSDT HDA Enabler, I checked the ALC887/888b option.  Make sure that is the only one checked.  This driver did not work, “No Devices Found” in the “Sound and Midi” setup.  It does show correctly in the System Info.  There must be something that I just haven’t found yet, that is blocking the sound.  I will keep working on it though.

I did try the VoodooHDA 0.2.7.3 driver but, it made the system unbootable.  I will try the older versions to see if I can get the sound working with it.

After I got everything fixed and working, I installed the 10.7.3 combo update.

So far, everything works except the Audio.

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Shuttle XH61 Hackintosh with Snow Leopard

NEW! The Shuttle XH61 has an “Overclocking” option in the BIOS.
Unfortunately it doesn’t apply to this model, but Shuttle is adding “overclocking” options to the BIOS.

Shuttle XH61 build components I used:

Intel Core i3-2120 3.30ghz
4GB DDR3 1333 Memory (recommended amount to install Mac OSX) Add more when install is completed
Toshiba 500GB SATA II hard drive 2.5″
DVD RW Slim drive

Start the computer and get into the BIOS (hit the F1 key for setup)
Adjust the date and time
Make sure the SATA configuration is in ACHI mode (it was set to that by default)
Make your boot priority to boot from the DVD drive first (if you’re using a retail DVD)

Installing Mac OSX Snow Leopard:
iBoot
Bridge Helper (for Sandy Bridge processor)
MultiBeast 3.10.1
Mac OSX 10.6.3 Retail disk
Upgrade combo 10.6.8

Insert iBoot disk and start the computer
When you get to the screen that shows the iBoot logo
remove the iBoot and insert the the Mac Retail disk, then press F5
This starts the install process
When you see the Mac Install DVD, press enter
Language screen comes up, select your language
When you get to the install screen, select Utilities/Disk Utility
Partition your hard drive to GUID Partition Table (this is default setting)
Format the hard drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Name it “Snow Leopard” or what ever you want
Close Disk Utility
When the installer asks where to install, choose Snow Leopard (or what ever you named it)
Next choose “Customize” at the bottom and uncheck the options (can be added later)
When the installation is complete, restart the computer
Put iBoot back in the DVD drive, to reboot
When you get to the boot selection screen, choose your new Snow Leopard installation, press enter
Go through the setup screens till you get to the Mac desktop screen

Now we need to install the Bridgehelper, MultiBeast and the 10.6.8 Combo upgrade
I have these on a USB flash drive and copied to the desktop

Do the Bridgehelper first (no reboot required)
Then install MultiBeast and check off the options:
EasyBeast
System Utilities
-Drivers and Bootloaders
-Kext and Enablers
Audio
Realtek ALC887 driver (works)
-Disk
IOAHCIBlockstorageInjector
3rd Party SATA
-Graphics
I didn’t check anything off
-Miscellaneous
ElliottForceLegacyRTC
EvOreboot
FakeSMC (required)
-FakeSMC Plugins
Motherboard
-Network
LnxMac’s RealtekRTL 81xx (works)
-Bootloaders
Chimera
-Customizations
Boot Options
Instant Menu
-OSX86 Software
Kext Helper
Kext Utility
Show All Files

Now a reboot is required
You should now be able to boot from the hard drive, if all goes well
Now you can install the 10.6.8 Upgrade Combo (if using a processor with the HD3000 graphics)
Reboot again

Here are the problems I did have:

The processor I used has the Intel HD2000 graphics, which is not support by Mac yet. The graphics worked fine as long as I stayed with Mac version 10.6.3
Solution: Use a processor with the Intel HD3000 graphics, that is supported with the Mac OS X Lion.

The Toshiba hard drive I used for some reason wouldn’t install the Chimera, so couldn’t boot from the hard drive. It did boot fine using the iBoot disk.
Solution: Had to manually fix the boot drive and install Chimera.

Conclusion:

The Shuttle XH61 works great with the right component selections.
CPU with the HD3000 graphics (for Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion)
Different Brand hard drive (Toshiba was the only Brand I had in 2.5″, so couldn’t try another Brand)

Shuttle XH61 Small Form Factor PC

I am about to embark on building a Hackintosh on the XH61 model. For those that don’t know about this model, here are the specs:

3.5 L Chassis
Processor: Intel 65W LGA 1155 CPU (i3, i5 or i7)
Chipset: Intel H61
Memory: 2 x 240-pin DDR3 DIMM slots (8GB per DIMM, Max 16GB) Dual Channel DDR3 1333 MHZ
VGA: DirectX 10 support, HDMI 1.4 and D-Sub dual Display
Audio: Realtek ALC887 High Def Audio
Ethernet: Realtek 8111E 1GB/s
USB: 6 x USB 2.0
Expansion Bay: 1 x 2.5″ Hard drive and 1 x Slim ODD bay
90W power adapter

Shuttle XH61

This model has on-board video only, specs depending on the Clarksdale CPU you chose. Also no built-in WiFi, so an external WiFi adapter will be needed.

I will let you know my progress and how to do it.

If you’re interested in purchasing one, visit our website for only $179.99.

Shuttle SH67H3/7 Asmedia USB 3.0 fix

There is a firmware update for the Asmedia USB 3.0 that can be installed on the H3.

The update only works with Mac OS X Lion and must be installed through Windows. I did test it on Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and it definitely does not work. So, I’ll be upgrading to Lion very shortly.

You can use the NEC/Renesas USB 3.0 driver in Multibeast.

Here is the download link for the firmware update.

Macbuntu links

Here are the links I used to create a Live Distribution of Macbuntu and install it.

To create a flash drive installation go to the Pendrivelinux website. Just follow all the instructions there, it was very easy.

This gives you the ability to run Macbuntu or what ever distribution you want on your PC to see how you like it before you install it on the hard drive.

I installed this on a Shuttle X50V2 model and amazingly it had all the drivers I needed for that model.
If you decide you want to install on the hard drive, there is an icon on the desktop that you can use to install it. The only thing you do have to do on the Shuttle X50V2 model is go into the BIOS and change the WiFi and Webcam to “always on” to get them to work. The setting for these are under the “Power Management” tab. Then I did have to download and install a Webcam software.

I’m going to try this on the Shuttle SH67H3 model to see how well it works on it. There are linux drivers for the Asmedia USB 3.0 chip and I’m sure the RealTek sound driver is there also.

I’ll post the results when I’m finished.

Need a Productivity Suite on your Hackintosh?

If you use your Hackintosh for work or business, you can install a FREE Productivity Suite that is compatible with MS Office. Some of you might already know about it, it’s called “OpenOffice Productivity Suite”. There is a version for all platforms including Mac OSx. It includes word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, database and a few other useful apps. You can save your files in .doc, .xls, .ppt, etc. formats to make it compatible with MS Office. It will also open files created in MS Office.

You can download it from here.

How to Flash the BIOS on a Shuttle Barebones SH67H3

Flashing the BIOS in the SH67H3:

Download the BIOS update v.114(newest at this posting), its an “EXE” file. Just double click that file, follow the on screen instructions and it automatically updates and reboots, done deal.

Announcement from Shuttle Computers, Inc.

We received an announcement from Shuttle Computers, Inc. that they have upgraded their Warranty from a 1 year to a 3 year Warranty with Lifetime Support effective 8/1/11 on select new models. These models include X50 V2, SX58H7 Pro, SH67H3, XG41, XS35 V2 and XS35GT V2.

Shuttle is introducing Tablets at Computex 2011

Shuttle is showing some Android tablet PC prototypes at the Computex show this week.
They are also going to use Google Chrome OS for a Thin-Client option. Now, that would be interesting on a Tablet, no one is doing that yet.

They are offering up a variety of sizes from 10.1″ N10, 9″ N09, 8″ V08 and a 7″.
The 9″ & 10″ models are based on NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 CPU and 1GB Ram, while the 8″ model will be based on the Cortex A8 CPU and 512MB of Ram and has anti-shock and anti-vibration properties for the education market.

Stay tuned for more info from Computex.

Shuttle SH67H3 BIOS update for Intel’s VTx

Shuttle has updated the BIOS from v. 105 to v. 106, with a few changes.

One that I know of off hand, was support for Intel’s VTx, which is Intel’s Virtualization Technology. The new BIOS update now supports this, you can download it from here.