Update: Due to issues with Chameleon RC4 when upgrading Snow Leopard, this guide has been reverted back to Chameleon RC3.
**Post updated with Chameleon RC4 files**
The most widely used and probably the best bootloader out for OSX86 systems, Chameleon, is out with yet another update. This latest version ditches that ugly, white text and black background junk from Chameleon 1 and upgrades to 100% sexy. But not only sexy was added to the latest version. Now, you will see a logo for the OS you select to boot from which only increases the sexy. Plus, non-bootable partitions are no longer displayed and Snow Leopard support has been added. Additionally, you have the option to hide partitions. RC4 mostly boasts behind the scenes updates, with the exception of the new hidden partition option. You can see the official release notes here. To be honest, I’m still waiting for a final release as Chameleon is in its 4th Release Candidate!!!
So now that you know about the update, go ahead and download the file and then follow the instructions below. Pay close attention as these instructions have changed from previous versions of Chameleon.
1. Make sure the untarred folder is on your desktop.
2. Open Terminal and type “diskutil list” w/o the quotes
3. Find the partition with OS X installed on it and remember its identifier ie. rdisk0s1
4. Type cd /Users/YOURUSERNAME/Desktop/Chameleon-2.0-RC3-r658-bin/i386 but replacing YOURUSERNAME with, you guessed it, your username.
5. Copy and paste the following commands into terminal but replacing DISK_IDENTIFIER with the code you were supposed to remember before (Don’t forget the r in the front of the disk identifier)
sudo fdisk -f boot0 -u -y /dev/rdisk0
sudo dd if=boot1h of=/dev/rDISK_IDENTIFIER
sudo cp boot /
6. Reboot
***For those of you that had any custom settings in com.apple.boot.plist – this file will remain untouched so any boot flags or other stuff you may have added will still be used at boot***
If you found this guide useful then feel free to make a donation by clicking the link at the end of the Authors Mini-Biography. Any amount truly does help.
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June 27th, 2010 at 6:42 am
Thanks for your guidance and inspiration (google helps a litte too).
Here’s what I did, as I could not determine what audio driver my mobo used. No MS Win on my htpc, so, googled, and found:
http://osx86.net/f57/guide-alc889a-with-analog-5-1-surround-t3746/page20.html
Thankfully, I had installed iPC (updated to 10.5.8) with Ultimate Edition 2.6 Gamers Edition, 64-Bit (souped up Ubuntu 10.4). Downloaded required software, followed directions, voila I have ALC1200 working GREAT!!!
As for backing up, I forgot all about Carbon Copy Cloner and Super Duper. Backed up my iPC installation with Super Duper to a separate partition.
Only real issue left to tackle is installing Chameleon 2.0 RC4 onto my EFI Partition. This will be hardest to do.
Finally, after I SUCCEED in the EFI Chameleon Project, I will install a theme from the Theme Park Thread over at voodooprojects:
http://forum.voodooprojects.org/index.php/board,7.0.html
June 25th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Just reinstalled with nvidia geforce 1028MB option (do not recall exact name of option). It is great, have 1920*1080 recognized on my 46″ Samsung LCD TV.
As for audio driver set, this is an EVGA nForce 780i motherboard, that uses the nforce drivers. Went to EVGA website to see if they have a downloadable audio driver. They do, but it is only for Windows. I have linux and now iPC OS X 10.5.8. The name of the windows driver is audio_realtek.zip. No info in manual, nor in forums on EVGA website for further specs as to version of realtek driver (I know that it has “HD” audio as I used to use Win XP Pro SP3 all the time).
Also, can I add audio to the existing installation or do I have to start over again from scratch?
Used Time Machine to back up to a clone drive disk0s3 from my Mac OS X drive which is disk0s2. Will I be able to reinstall this installation from Time Machine (other drive) if things get messed up again following the guide for changing Chameleon? I had no issues with OS X 10.5.8 until I followed the guide while using Chameleon 2.0 RC4.
Thanks for all guidance you can offer.
June 26th, 2010 at 12:59 am
You can find Realtek audio drivers at insanelymac. If by adding audio drivers you mean from the iPC DVD then yes, you can. Just uncheck everything from the Install options and then check what drivers you would like to install. It’s important that you do not reinstall the OS (the 6GB item you can install).
For backup, do not use Time Machine; It doesn’t always play nice on hackintoshes. Instead, follow my backup guide.
Also, remember that Chameleon isn’t actually a part of the OS; it’s simply a bootloader. Even if Chameleon doesn’t install properly and won’t boot your drive, you can still boot it using Chameleon from another drive, Boot-132 CD, etc. This is a huge misconception with Windows, and now apparently with OS X as well. Even if the Operating System is unable to boot, your data still remains on the drive.
June 24th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Just got a kernel panic after following your guide. Do not know why.
Do you have an updated guide for Chameleon 2.0 RC4?
Next time I create the clone of my iPC installation before playing with changing Chameleon.
June 24th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
For your issues, in order-
Audio- What Audio chipset do you have?
Processor Speed- Find and edit an SMBios.plist and place it in /Extra/, though the reported speed doesn’t actually affect your real speed. It’s purely cosmetic.
Kernel Panic- Chameleon won’t cause a Kernel Panic, it’s impossible. If Chameleon is having a problem, it won’t boot at all. Boot with -v and see what’s really going on.
Chameleon RC4- For RC4, download the RC4 file and change step 4 thus that you are now CD’ing into the RC4 folder. The rest of the guide can be followed verbatim; step 4 is the only step that must be changed. Also, make sure that in the second command of step 5 you include the “r” in the disk identifier (rdisk0s1 as opposed to disk0s1).
June 24th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
Installed iPC 10.5.6 Universal wit PPF 5. Afterward, ran all software updates successfully, to 10.5.8.
I have no sound, have to fix this option. Any advice?
Also, it shows all 8 GB of my RAM, but says my processor is 200 Mhz. On iPC right now. I have an Intel E8400 3.0 Ghz CPU. Any thoughts on why it says 200 Mhz for CPU Speed? Is there a simple fix.
Early 1.? version of Chameleon installed. Will play with 2.0 RC4 this weekend. Then will back up installation to a Clone drive (same size partition).
June 23rd, 2010 at 9:05 am
Burnt iPC iso to a DVD but had no time to play. Busy through end of week, as I have a major hearing on Friday. If I get time on the weekend, I will most definitely give this a go.
Is there a way of making this thread into a printable version? I would like to print it out and keep it with me as a guide when I attempt to install iPC and chameleon.
Thanks.
June 23rd, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Actually, there is. WordPress, the CMS this site runs, works wonderfully with the new Reader feature in Safari 5. Just visit the page you want to print in Safari 5 and click the Reader button in the url bar. This will activate the new reader feature. To print, click the printer icon at the bottom of the window.