How to Install OS X Leopard on a PC - iATKOS v1.0i Tutorial
Posted on February 15th, 2008 in Apple, Computers | 
(5 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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(5 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...A few days ago I installed OS X Leopard on two different PC’s, a Compaq laptop and a SuperMicro Dual Quad-Core Xeon powerhouse with 8GB ram. Both machines run OS X Leopard perfectly and the installation process was just as straightforward and easy as installing OS X on a Mac, only a few extra steps!
So how did I install OS X Leopard on my PC? Simple: iATKOS v1.0i
Do a quick search using your favorite torrent search portal for “iATKOS v1.0i” , download it, burn to DVD, pop that puppy into your test computer’s DVD drive and reboot**. During the install process there are a few extra steps so I will list what you need to do below:
# When the Welcome screen pops up click Continue
1. At the Terms & Conditions screen do not click Agree yet, click Utilities on the Apple bar at the top of your screen and then select Disk Utility from the drop down menu (Utilities > Disk Utility).
2. Select your hard drive’s partition on the left hand side then select the Erase tab on the right.
3. Now click the Erase button on the bottom right and click Erase again on the pop-up. When this is complete close the Disk Utility.
4. Now go back up to the Apple menu bar and select Utilities > Darwin_Boot
5. Type Y (yes) to continue, 1 for your HDD number (if your using the main HDD), and 1 again for the partition number OS X will be installed on (if your installing on a different partition enter that partition number instead of 1).
6. Type Y (yes) to install boot efi and type Y (yes) again to confirm. Once it this process in complete it will display [process completed] and you can now exit out of Darwin_boot.
7. Please read the Terms & Conditions for iATKOS v1.0i and click Agree (if you agree).
8. Now your ready to install OS X Leopard on your PC, just follow the on screen guide and your good to go!
Best of luck!
** I will not be held liable for any damage that results from this tutorial. If you attempt to install OS X Leopard (iATKOS v1.0i) onto your computer it is at your own risk.
UPDATE (June 19th, 2008): For your questions and/or comments go to the Peter-V Forum and post here: How to Install OS X Leopard on a PC - iATKOS v1.0i Tutorial - Forum Style
Tags: Compaq, Dual Quad-Core, hack, iATKOS v1.0i, Install, Leopard OS X, OS X, PC, SuperMicro, Tutorial, walkthrough, Xeon
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52 Responses
I didn’t do your Tutorial, but i’m thinking to do it just got couple of questions.
i have a Dell Precision Workstation, P4 3.4Ghz 1 MB Cache and 512 Ram, i’ll upgrade it tomorrow to 2.5 GB DDR II. and 80 GB hardisk, fully formmated, i’m not even using it its parked next to my homemade pc.
yet, i gave up on every article and tutorial to do the iATKOS, i’m a windows guy since 1996, and believe me, when it comes to windows, its hard to beat me and as you know when you come to this new world, everything seem strange although some words seem familiar, with a friend help who uses mac since he was born, i went though the setup, just to find my self getting system error. i can’t even recall what it came in the screen i’ve tried to install it in all ways, i’ve changed the hardisk to Jearuols something like that, still didn’t work, installed drivers, nothing seem to work, is there another way, is it with P4? cause i’ve read somewhere in uphuck forums that it worked with P4.
Mike,
I ran into an issue much like yours one of my Dell Precisions. I am wondering if we had the same issue; when you booted using the iATKOS disc did it show a white screen with a gray Apple logo? If so did it then show a white box over the gray Apple with a line through a circle?
That is the one of many errors I have seen and to be honest I am not certain what it means, probably an incompatible drive or other piece of hardware. Also make sure your HDD is SATA, not IDE.
The other issues I have personally run into are incompatible video cards and incompatible motherboards. Remember, OS X Leopard was built for a specific motherboard, CPU, memory, HDD, etc. If your wanting to use iATKOS or Kalyway then I suggest you make sure the PC you plan on installing is close to, if not exact with what is in an iMac.
If you Google compatible computers for OSx86 you’ll come across lists of computers that have successfully run Leopard OS X.
Let me know what your able to drum up and if you can get past that error message or error icon. Good luck!
I am trying to figure out what installer will work better - iATKOS or Kalyway. Has anyone had any issues with either or any success?
I love the idea of having Leopard on my Dell but am a little hesitant on which path to go down as I have never done anything like this before. I do have a Dell Dimension 510 which is compatible with Leopard since they do use it in iMacs.
By the way I want to thank you Peter for all your great posts. your really making the transition away from Windows easy for me and even easier to start my own in-home web server using BSD (I think I will go with FreeBSD over OpenBSD).
Cheers.
Well, to be honest, everything looked just perfect, i could’ve just let my DVD-Drive Run all night to enjoy the colors of the macintosh system.
As i boot[ed] the DVD pressing the F12 button, within’ seconds a message came asking me wether to put commands or just leave it to run, on the first time, i pressed a button and it asked me either to write a command or type “-v” i typed that suddenly i moved to this grey background, with “burned grey” Apple logo and the colorful mouse, that made my day i swear, so nothing seems to jump up, with time it moved or switched i can’t recall i did that progress at 5 a.m. and for 3 times, anyway, wen the blue background came, it asked me to agree, well i did, after that it took me to where i should choose my HDD (SATA) but i couldn’t find it, i went to utilities and called a friend, just in case he told me to make the HDD as something with a (J)? i did then i saw my HD, i named it Mike J HD, it checked the DVD and everything is alright, then whole installation has finished. restart the system, so excited, the system run with a message: system error and couple more words, maybe one of them called boot not sure.
for the second time, i erased the HDD using a Zero option? nothing worked, third time tried with all the drivers, its just the same, nothing changed same message, i thought at least it would work but i won’t get connected or it’ll ran slow just i didn’t expect to not boot at all.
installation progress looked just like a normal mac, you don’t get that using Windows.
Tell me if gotta change something specific and it could work, i could put money on it, change it from P4 to dual Core? no problem at all, although the motherboard is so clean and new, but i’d give it up for a mac.
so one more thing, is it just boot and install or there is some codes/commands i have to type?
One more thing, How could i know if my system has SSE2 or SSE3 cause my friend was just suggestion to do a Kalyway, i called him asking about that after seeing Mark’s post and it seems to run way smoother than iATKOS.
Hey i was wondering if you have to do a clean install of leopard. Can i just make a partition on a single harddrive and use that space. Or do i have to backup my whole computer and after leopard done installing, reinstall vista.
You can install Leopard on a separate partition of your HDD instead of using the entire drive but I highly recommend against it. I would not install iATKOS or Kalyway on a live, production machine or hard drive. If you really want to play around I highly recommend installing it on a separate hard drive that you can partition and format to mac extended (journaled).
Mac OS X Leopard is extremely stable but the stability is reliant on specified hardware and firmware. Hundreds if not thousands of people have installed Leopard on their PC without one issue but the chance of losing data is still high, much higher than installing OS X on a Mac or Windows on a PC.
I only recommend installing OSx86 Leopard on a hard drive that your okay with messing up. In one instance I installed Leopard using iATKOS and when I tried re-partitioning and formating it back to FAT32 or NTFS (to re-install Windows XP), I couldn’t. The hard drive is jacked and I am still trying to fix it (1 week later).
Thankfully I have a few SATA drives laying around and I can spare loosing one or two but for someone that only has 1 hard drive I wouldn’t do it.
Mike,
The format won’t get you anywhere and neither will adding all the drivers. If you don’t see an exact driver for what you have then please don’t choose it. As for wiping the drive clean and trying again you’ll need to run the disk utility, repartition it, then format it at default (zero I think).
As for booting into the OSx86 Leopard install you shouldn’t need to hit F12. Just boot by pressing enter and start the install process. With all the different installs I’ve done I have never had to do any further configuration once installed. So you shouldn’t worry about any custom commands or whatnot.
The install process shouldn’t take more than an hour and definitely not 3 hours plus.
Now for your SSE2 or SSE3 question; you should just be able to see this information in your BIOS settings. Just go through every option to see if it gives you any information about either. None of my computers showed me any option to set or change SSE2 or SSE3. If your’s does than I recommend following the instructions regarding your specific hardware.
Again please take my advice on using a hard drive that you can spare to lose and if that drive has data make sure you back it up.
Well, when i tried to follow your tutorial last night, i was just surprised, that couldn’t find “Darwin_Boot” like nowhere, i was shocked! i went to check your blog from my E61i and i was just surprised again, there is nothing under disk utility, i went to youtube, it it seems it was in every system except mine, i clicked on terminal but it didn’t ask me nothing and all the videos showed that you have to pass by Darwin_Boot which i didn’t see, except for the Kalyway, which didn’t show that. it was stright install.
As for the data, i lost 40 GB , just to use my full 80 GB to run leopard, to me i’d give up a lot just to use leopard, i can’t stan one more windows day as you can see.
One more thing, would it be a problem if i marked all the drivers? ’cause i have a Wireless USB stick. and i just see something about Wireless patch.
Thanks again for your time, i really appreciate it.
Mike James,
Are you using the latest release of iATKOS? You should be using v1.0 I think. As for the drivers you only want to select what you have and nothing else. I tried selecting all drivers and it really messes everything up, trust me. If you don’t see the exact driver for your specific piece of hardware I suggest ignoring it and moving on.
I’m right there with you on not wanting to use Windows anymore, Leopard or Ubuntu is the only way to go in my opinion.
So for the first time i didnt get an error, but all what i got is a blinking cursor, im using the only partition and i named it leopard without spces since i heard it may effect the installtion.
i choosed OSx86 since i couldnt find anything related to SSE2 or SSE3 on my BIOS. So it restarted and like i said im getting “the scree of death”.
any tips on that Peter?
hi… my installation stops at the grey screen with the apple in the middle.. what can i do?? someone told me about bios config.. can you explain this? thanks..
I finally figured out what the issue was with one of my laptops and not being able to re-install Microsoft Windows XP. I will be writing up the solution shortly. This is good news for you guys who are a little scared to test OSx86 Leopard on your machine.
BTW here is a good resource for OSx86 Leopard using iATKOS or Kalyway: http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showforum=136
Last night when i tried to install XP Pro back in my Dell, it refuses, that didn’t scare me much, i just booted a Eraser CD, i made with Webroot Windows Washer, didn’t even needed to do Zero, just a quick with a few seconds, booted XP, format with NTFS, it took approx. 30 minutes, had to google the drivers. everything was finished in 3 hours.
so i all you need is to use an eraser cd, it’ll fix your HDD.
[...] you read the comments from “How to Install OS X Leopard on a PC - iATKOS v1.0i Tutorial” you’ll see the issues I had when I tried to install Microsoft Windows XP after [...]
Windows Install Error Solution
Will it work in a VM other than Parallels? Also, for others reading this thread later, this requires it’s own seperate disk of OSX right? I mean, iATKOS doesn’t have OSX on the DVD does it? Or should I really go surf the torrent wave?
But I’m curious about the VM
Cole.Brand
This already has OS X on the DVD - OS X Leopard. No need for the OS DVD.
Hey guys please help me ….
My system specs… P4 HT 3.0 Ghz, 1 GB DDR1 RAM, Intel 865 GVHZ motherboard.
I have downloaded iAtkos and burned it on 10X. This DVD doesnt showing 2.4 Gb of data on it….it is just showing 544 kb ..
When i boot from this dvd it ask to press any key or F8
when i just press any key…it show me a white background and an apple logo… it also give a error message that you need to shut down your computer..
On the other side when i pressed F8 it ask to enter -v when i pressed -v it show me full page of message…like … “com.apple.com one side only……”… and system just frezzes …..
Can anyone plz help me …. thanks in advance…….
i’ve got the iatkos version running but the intro movie (with “welcome” in all the different languages”) is extremely slow
is that normal and to be expected or did i do something wrong?
Hi, I downloaded and burned the iatkos to a dvd, now I am having problems partitioning my hard drive for vista … so is it possible to use an external (200gbs) hard drive to use this, if so - can anyone tell me how to do this since it connects through a usb cable ! ?
PS - i am using a hp dv6000 laptop
John,
Please see this post: Hard Drive Partition Solution
Hi,
I tried installing iATKOS 1.0i and i can’t get through the bootup. I tried -v after hitting F8 so i can see whats going on within verbose mode and I get an error which halts the whole install. The error is,
(ERROR: Firewire unable to determine security-mode; defaulting to full-secure.) Then it does nothing at this point.
I appreciate any help you have to offer me.
Regards,
Dan
update on my problem. I used IATKOS 1.0i R2 and it boots up just fine now. It just bypasses that error.
ok um am really interesting in this from since this bin out but i ever have problems with this my only question tho is really, wat program did n e of u guys used to burn this iso file kause am using magiciso but everytime it says its done burning theres nun written on the disk i really dont kno but honestly i would love if atleast one of u guys help me out here
I have a acer aspire 1414 LMI intel pentium m 1.3 1G 40G of disk it can runs IATKOS 1.0i R2?
It boot but stop with te logo and don’t move.
Hi,
First of all, sorry for my bad english (I’m Danish)
My leopard is installed on my computer after your guide, step by step and i have only done what you said.
But when i try to boot up my “new mac” i would not, there is just coming a black screen. My computer has, Intel Duo Core and all the specs. that it need.
Can you explain my problem? :)
Kevin,
I totally understand your problem along with everyone else’s problems but I don’t have the answered. I have installed iATKOS of several computers for my friends and colleagues and some work fine, some don’t.
The main problem right now is there are only a handful of developers working on the iATKOS distros which limits the compatibility with many desktops and laptops.
The only thing I could suggest is to have you visit the OSx86 Project Forum and see if you can find a solution there. I would love to take the time to help each and everyone of your compatibility issues but the problem is I am probably going to waste more time for you versus visiting the OSx86 Project Forum - there are dozens of pro’s there more qualified to answer troubleshooting issues.
Sorry your having issues and I hope this helps - if not let me know and I’ll try to help you find a better source for reference to your specific problem.
Good luck and thanks for stopping by!
The DVD boot procedure ended up with “Still waiting for root device”
Last real message is “IOATAController device blocking bus”
My test-hardware: Gigabyte mainboard: GA-81945GMH-RH with SATA disk and SATA DVD player.
hi there…
have xp in c: with d: partition,and have a drive f: in wich instaled IATKOS 1.0i R2.how do i boot from it?
if leave the dvd in,takes me to the install again!
if take the dvd out,it starts xp!
if boot from that drive get error dh0 or something…
in disk utilities don’t have a darwin boot!
startup disk just shows a network volume…
…and always end up in the start install or f8.
-v or enter or wathever…always goes to the install again,
and in the top,boot options…just see iatkos!
tried kaliway,flat image and now IATKOS 1.0i R2…
even with system profiler i do see files,
not many aplications thow!!!nor startup items?!
any help?
intel celeron 2.4,supports sse2 and sse3,ati radeon 9200
thanks anyway
got it now…
used fdisk to activate it but couldn’t write!
so,found out that needed to update my stdp(or similar)driver ‘coz my
old version could keep it from mounting mac drives!
booted but after apple logo and spining disk,would just turn black
and the screen seemed to shut down!!!
reinstalled iatkos1.oir2 and now when boots
get an error message saying have to turn off the pc !
no luck
Hi, when i get to the prepare to install leopard screen, it just freezes up. i get past the grey screen with the apple logo. i need help
thanks
hey guys i need help i downloaded kalyway and tryed to burn it to a DVD, it did not install im downloading a torrent of iatko v1.0 so i hope it will work please tell wht im doing wrong!
how do i install iATKOS V1 on to an external usb hardrive and get it to boot thanks
helo… i using a compaq presario v3000 series. i’m using the iatkos v1.0 and i’d followed all the necessary steps including hitting yes during the efi, after that, i click on agree at the terms and conditions.
after that, theres a popup to select destination of installation and theres no partition that can be selected.
please help me with this prob.
thank you very much.
1 question ! How can i istall Leo from usb drive!! I know that is not a simple operation so if it’s possible could u give me a link to some tutorials or something else…
Hi..
I’ve downloaded the: iATKOS v1.0i (from torrent: iATKOS v1.0ir2.iso), and was trying to install Leopard on a different machines, and no luck so far. My ‘MAC’ does not want to boot :(
in most of cases it says: cannot find ‘com.apple.Boot.plist’ or sth similar.
In addition, disk utilities don’t have mentioned, Darwin_Boot option in it! What is wrong, why I cannot find it, to set it pu correctly??
Thanks for your help.
Martin.
Hello! When I’m going to create a partition at Disk Utility my hdd doesn’t appear. What should I do?
Hi! I have a problem when installing, because my disk is disk0s5. Now when i get to the darwin_boot, and when i press 5 at the “partition number”, “5″ doesn’t appear. Now what happens is that darwin_boot installs on disk0s only. Any help? Thanks.
hey it took maybe 15 tries and a day of school i slept through but it was well worth it :)
i do have one HUGE problem:
my wifi DOESNT WORK
i have one room with hardwire in it and its small and crappy
i want wifi!!!!
here are my full laptop specs (hp dvv6226us)
Product Number RP297UA#ABA
Microprocessor 1.60 GHz Intel® Pentium® Dual Core processor T2060
Microprocessor Cache 1MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB
Memory 1024MB DDR2 (2 Dimm)
Video Graphics Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Video Memory Up to 256MB (shared)
Hard Drive 120GB 5400RPM (SATA)
Multimedia Drive Super Multi 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support
Display 15.4″ WXGA High-Definition BrightView Widescreen (1280 x 800) Display
Fax/Modem High speed 56k modem
Network Card Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
Wireless Connectivity 802.11b/g WLAN
Multimedia Features HP Imprint Finish & Integrated Microphone
Sound Altec Lansing
Keyboard 101-key compatible
2 Quick Launch Buttons (HP Quick Play Music and DVD)
Pointing Device Touch Pad with On/Off button and dedicated vertical scroll Up/Down pad
PC Card Slots
1 ExpressCard/54 Slot (also supports ExpressCard/34)
External Ports
5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, or xD Picture cards
3 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0
2 Headphone out - 1 w/SPDIF Digital Audio & 1 stereo
1 microphone-in
1 VGA (15-pin)
1 TV-Out (S-video)
1 RJ-11 (modem)
1 RJ -45 (LAN)
1 notebook expansion port 3
1 IEEE 1394 Firewire (4-pin)
1 Consumer IR
Dimensions 14.05″ (L) X 10.12″ (W) X 1″ (min H)/1.69″ (max H)
Weight 6.14lbs
Security
Kensington® MicroSaver lock slot
Power-on password
Accepts 3rd party security lock devices
Power
65W AC Adapter
6-Cell Lithium-Ion battery
please reply asap!
sry hp dv6226us*
hey guys, when i get to the os x installer i came to realise THERE IS NO DISK UTILITIES under the UTILITIES menu.
there’s only a “restore from time mashine backup” or something like that. THATS ALL there is there!
WHY IS THIS??
does anyone know what did i mess up??
i’ve downloaded the iatkosv1 torrent, not the one with rc1 or rc2, but there simply is NO DISK UTILITIES, so i cant go any further with the installation.
HEEEEEELP!! :(
after reboot, all i get is the gray background with apple logo at the centre after pressing enter. can anyone help me out? thanks in advance :)
ok so i have typed -v and waiting for the result, will comment back after a while
i’ve stuck at:
ERROR: FireWire cannot determine security-mode; defaulting to all-secure
Jettisoning kernel linker.
How eh?
now the screen only shows
WARNING: AppleUSBAudio has detected that clock_get_uptime () value changed radically from previous value
is there something wrong?
Alright guys, I should have done this long ago. For your questions and/or comments go to the Peter-V Forum and post here: How to Install OS X Leopard on a PC - iATKOS v1.0i Tutorial - Forum Style
thanks peter. but can’t you just answer here. hehe. but i’ll go to the forum right away! :)
I thoroughly thank you for this awesome article. It’s really an irony because I was looking into installing Leopard as a dual boot on this laptop…
I already installed the v1.oi.zip runs perfectly, i have a dv6675ep with 2.20 GHz and 2 GB of ram and nvidia 8400 GS 128.
Do I need to burn it to DVD (-R) on slow speed ?
“Do I need to burn it to DVD (-R) on slow speed ?”
No JSM, burn it normal.