Requirements
- Previously working Mac
- USB drive with at least 16Gb of capacity
What doesn't work
- Waking up from sleep
- Sound
Is it stable?
Yes. I have been running this for almost 5 years now and never had any kernel panic or any major crash.
Assumptions
- This is a guide for the motherboard only. Your graphic card might also require some work, but I will not mention any of it in here.
- This guide ONLY applies to the Rev. 2.0 of this motherboard. This will not work with Rev. 1.0.
Steps
- In your previously working mac, go to the AppsStore and download OS X El Capitan.
- Open the Disk Utility app on your mac. Select your USB drive, click "Partition", select "1 partition", name it "CAPITAN", select Mac OS Expanded Journaled, click "Options" and select "GUID Partition Table" and then click apply. (you will loose all the data on the USB).
- Download and run this specific version of Unibeast. Run it, select the USB you just partitioned along with the option OS X El Capitan Legacy version and then install.
- Connect the USB drive you just created to the Asrock computer. Before you use the USB drive to install OS X, you will need first to do some configurations on your BIOS. To enter the BIOS, turn on the computer while clicking several times in the "Delete" key.
- In BIOS, set all the settings to "Performance Default", and then set "No memory execute" to enable. Also make sure you set the first boot device as the USB. Save the settings and exit.
- Wait for the computer to restart and let it boot from USB. Select the "CAPITAN" and press enter to boot into the installation.
- Be patient while it boots. Choose your language. Go" to Utilities and then choose Disk Utility. Choose the hard drive where you want to install the OS, and click "Partition", choose "1 partition". Click options and then choose "GUID Partition Table, name it "OS", choose "Mac OS Extended Journaled" and click apply.
- After the installation is finished, let the computer restart and boot from USB again. Now choose "OS" and click enter. The OS will now boot and you will face the normal OS X desktop.
- Download this version of Multibeast. Open it. Select "Quick Start" and choose "Legacy Boot Mode" option. After this just go to the "Build" section and click on the install button.
- Do not restart your computer yet! Before we set up Ethernet and audio you need to remove AppleHDA.kext file in the directory /System/Library/Extensions. To do this just right click the Finder icon bellow, choose "Go to folder" and paste the directory. This will open the folder where you can delete the file.
- Do not restart your computer yet! We are now going to set up Ethernet and audio. Download this little app called KextUtility. Download the kext for Ethernet, drag and drop it into the KextUtility app. Let it do it's thing and be patient. If you also want support for PS2 keyboard install this package.
- Restart the computer and remove the USB stick. Go into the BIOS again and set it to boot from the hard drive you installed the OS. After this, everything will be working with the exception of sleep.
Solving common problems
- Set in BIOS: ACPI HPET Table to ENABLED.
- Update BIOS to 1.60. That's the version I'm using and it works. 1.70 as also shown to work with other people, but I haven't tested.
- If after installation your computer keeps crashing with kernel panics, it is safe to assume that there is a conflict with one of the kexts installed. You can start by doing a fresh installation of OS X and install each kext one by one (with a restart in-between) in order try to diagnose the one that is causing the problem.
Credits
The tools provided here are mirrored here from the websites bellow. The kext for Ethernet was updated for compatibility with this motherboard.