1a.

Create your Yosemite Zone USB drive

Follow this step if you’re setting up Niresh on a Mac or existing Hackintosh.
Plug your USB drive into Mac OS X, and open Disk Utility (located in
Applications->Utilities in your main hard drive). Select your USB drive in
the sidebar of Disk Utility and erase the drive, with the “Format” set to
“MS-DOS (FAT)”. You can rename the drive any way you want.

Next, make sure that your Yosemite Zone disk image file is in the same
folder as “Restore Yosemite.pkg”. If “Restore Yosemite.pkg” is still in a ZIP
file, double-click that file to unzip it.

Double click on “Restore Yosemite.pkg” to start the app. By default, the

app will be aimed at your computer’s main hard drive (mine is named
“Super Panda” in the screenshot below). You do not want this– instead,
click through the installer until you reach the page with the “Change Install
Location” button.

From here, change the install location of the app to your USB drive (mine is
named “Macaroni” in the screenshot below).

Press the enter/return key. The app will ask for your system password.
After you enter your password, it will begin writing the Yosemite Zone disk
image onto the USB drive. This will probably take 20-40 minutes, though it
may take longer, depending on the speed of your USB drive. Once it
finishes, your USB drive will contain a fully bootable version of the OS X
Yosemite installer.

NOTE: “Restore Yosemite.pkg” is very glitchy. If you can’t find the “Change
Install Location” button on the first time that you run the app, restart your
computer and re-run the app.
Set up the parts of your PC

hese procedures are necessary for a hassle-free installation:

•Unplug all USB-connected devices from your computer before you

begin the setup (except your keyboard and mouse). A faulty external
USB hard drive can cause your Hackintosh bootloader to give you
EBIOS errors on startup.

•Open up your computer and unplug any extra internal hard drives
that your computer has, besides the hard drive that you’re installing
OS X on. (Just unplug the hard drive SATA cables from your
motherboard.)

•If possible, connect your monitor to the DVI port of your computer’s
graphics. The Mac OS X installer sometimes has problems with HDMI
and VGA.

Set up your motherboard’s BIOS

To access BIOS/UEFI Setup, press and hold Delete on a USB Keyboard while
the system is booting up.

•Load Optimized Defaults.

•Set USB drive to the highest boot priority.

•If your CPU supports VT-d, disable it.

•If your system has CFG-Lock, disable it.

•If your system has Secure Boot Mode, disable it.

•If your system has OS Type, set it to Other OS.

•Save and exit.

Once that’s done, plug in your Unibeast USB drive in your computer, and
then restart your computer.
Boot into Yosemite Zone

Restart your Hackintosh, and plug in your Yosemite Zone USB drive. If
things go well, your computer will boot from the USB drive instead of
booting from your normal hard disk. You will then be able to view the
Yosemite Zone menu.

If you do not manage to reach the Yosemite Zone menu, check your
motherboard’s BIOS settings to make sure that the changes you made in
Step 3 were properly applied. If they were, but you still cannot boot from
the Yosemite Zone USB drive, unplug your USB drive, and go back to Step
1. Reformat your USB drive with Disk Utility and try again. If all else fails,
try using a different USB drive for Yosemite Zone.

At the Yosemite Zone menu, press the enter key (or return key) to start the
OS X Yosemite installer. The installer screen will take several minutes to
load. If you are trying to install OS X Yosemite on a computer using an
AMD processor, you’ll have to type the boot flag“/amd”, “/amd32”,
“/amd64”, or “/amdfx (without quotation marks)– which flag you need
depends on your specific processor, so test one flag a time.

In the worst case scenarios, instead of loading the Mac OS X installer, you
may end up at a dark gray screen that tells you to restart your computer
(a kernel panic), or you may end up with a small crossed-out sign (a
loading error). If you get a kernel panic/loading error (or if the Mac OS X
installer simply won’t start within 10 minutes), you’ll need to enter some
boot flags. To enter boot flags, manually restart your computer by pressing
your computer’s power button. Then, once you’ve booted back into the
Yosemite Zone menu, try typing any necessary boot flags before pressing
the enter/return key. Check out our list of common boot flags and our
guide to fixing boot problems with the verbose mode for reference.
-v
The mother of all boot flags. Entering -v into the bootloader turns on verbose mode, which is absolutely critical
for fixing any Hackintosh issue. Verbose mode displays every single process that takes place during your
bootup of Mac OS X. It can be rather intimidating, as it will display hundreds of lines of commands during the
bootup process. However, if your Hackintosh isn't booting, then verbose mode should freeze at the exact point
where the bootup process is tripping up. Take a photo of what verbose mode says when the bootup freezes.

You can then post that photo on a Hackintosh forum to look for help, or check out our guide to reading verbose

mode in order to figure out what the problem is on your own.

-x
Turns on safe mode. Mac OS X in safe mode ignores all kext files and boot settings except those which are
absolutely necessary to booting the system. Safe mode is useful if you're trying to run the Mac OS X installer on

a PC that's not fully compatible with Mac OS X. Also, if you accidentally installed a kext file that's messing up
your Hackintosh, booting into safe mode may work around the problem. In safe mode, you can then remove the
offending kext from /Extra/Extensions in your main hard drive (if you're running Mac OS X Snow Leopard), or
/System/Library/Extensions (if you're running Mac OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks).

-F
If you've entered some extra boot flags into org.Chameleon.boot.plist, but they're messing up your Hackintosh's
bootloader, enter the -F boot flag to ignore them.

-f
Ignores kext caches during bootup on Mac OS X Snow Leopard. If you did not install a kext properly (usually

because you forgot to run System Utilities in Multibeast after installing a new kext), your kext cache will be
damaged, and Mac OS X might become unbootable unless you use this boot flag. The kext cache was replaced
by the kernel cache in Mac OS X Lion, so theoretically, the -f boot flag should no longer work; however, this
boot flag can still help some Hackintoshes boot (for reasons unknown).

UseKernelCache=Yes
Mac OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks can use the kernel cache to install kexts, allowing Mac OS X to
boot faster. However, the kernel cache is turned off by default, and you have to enable it by using the boot flag
"UseKernelCache=Yes" (without quotation marks). Installing Easybeast, UserDSDT, or "DSDT Free Installation"

with Multibeast will automatically turn the kernel cache on for you. If Mac OS X is booting extremely slowly on
your Hackintosh, the kernel cache might be malfunctioning. In addition, some laptops have trouble with the
kernel cache feature. In these cases, you can turn the cache off with "UseKernelCache=No" (without quotation
marks). Turning off the kernel cache is equivalent to using the "-f" bootflag in Snow Leopard.
PCIRootUID=1
Some Hackintoshes will only boot when their "PCI Root ID" is set to 0. This usually happens with Hackintoshes
that use a AMD Radeon graphics card. Other times, a Hackintosh will only boot when its "PCI Root ID" is set to
1. In some cases, the boot flag "PCIRootUID=1" will also fix Mac App Store verification errors.

GraphicsEnabler=No
This turns Graphics Enabler off/on (you can set "No" to "Yes"). Graphics Enabler is a feature that helps Mac OS
X work better with certain graphics cards. These days, Unibeast turns off Graphics Enabler by default, since
graphics cards from NVIDIA's 600 and 700 series no longer require GraphicsEnabler to work with Mac OS X.
However, most other graphics cards still require Graphics Enabler to be turned on-- on these graphics
cards, turning the feature off will break DVD Player, as well as Geekbench, most games, most video editors,

and certain other apps.

IGPEnabler=Yes
This turns IGP Enabler on/off (you can set "Yes" to "No"). IGP Enabler is a feature similar to Graphics Enabler
that helps Mac OS X work better with your integrated graphics. While Graphics Enabler will already do this
normally, if you need to turn off Graphics Enabler for some reason but want to keep your integrated graphics
working, use this boot flag. Specifically, this boot flag can be useful if you want to use an NVIDIA 600 or 700
series card in conjunction with your integrated graphics (e.g. when running AirPlay Mirroring).

darkwake=0
The DarkWake feature in Mac OS X Lion, Mountain Lion, and Mavericks allows you to wake up certain parts of
your Mac from sleep, while leaving other parts in sleep mode. Unfortunately, this feature often messes up sleep
on Hackintoshes. Enter this bootflag to turn it off (enter darkwake=1 to turn it on, if turning it off doesn't do the
trick). Additionally, if your verbose bootup is freezing at a bunch of commands that mention "SleepEnabler.kext",
entering darkwake=0 should be able to temporarily turn SleepEnabler.kext off. (Once you boot into OS X, be
sure to remove SleepEnabler.kext completely by deleting it from either /Extra/Extensions or
/System/Library/Extensions in your hard drive.)

npci=0x2000
npci=0x3000
If your verbose mode bootup of Mac OS X Lion or Mountain is freezing at [PCI Configuration Begin], enter the
npci=0x3000 boot flag to fix it. This flag is applied by default when you install Easybeast, UserDSDT, or "DSDT
Free Installation" with Multibeast. The boot flag npci=0x2000 does the same thing, except that it usually only
works for Lion.

dart=0
Disables the VT-d virtualization technology built into certain Intel processors. For Hackintoshes, VT-d is pretty
useless; virtually no Mac OS X applications use it (virtualization apps like Virtualbox tend to use the alternative
VT-x technology instead), and certain Hackintosh motherboards have been known to crash in Mac OS X when
VT-d is enabled.

cpus=1
Limits Mac OS X to using one core of your CPU. This boot flag is often necessary to launch the Mac OS X
Snow Leopard installation DVD on a Hackintosh with an unsupported processor (ahem, AMD processors). In
OS X Mountain Lion and Mavericks, you may also have to use this boot flag if your computer uses a high-end
Intel processor on LGA 2011.

busratio=20
The 20 is replaced with your CPU's bus ratio. This boot flag is usually used when you're installing Mac OS X
Snow Leopard on a processor that's not supported (once again, AMD processors). Snow Leopard supports
more processors than it used to, so this boot flag isn't as common as before. You can find a list of busratios for
2010-model Intel processors here. You can also find your busratio manually.

arch=i386
Forces Mac OS X to boot into 32-bit mode. Sometimes, your CPU or graphics card won't be fully supported in
OS X unless you boot into 32-bit mode. Unlike in Windows, booting the 32-bit kernel for Mac OS X does not
limit your total amount of RAM to 4 GB, and you can still run 64-bit applications. However, single applications
cannot use up more than 4 GB of RAM, so this is a disadvantage if you do professional video editing, or
something else that takes up a lot of RAM.

arch=x86_64
Allows Mac OS X to boot into 64-bit mode. Mac OS X Snow Leopard (and all versions beyond it) will boot into
64-bit mode by default. Nowadays, this boot flag is mainly used on AMD Hackintoshes, where choosing
between 32-bit mode and 64-bit mode is actually important.

-legacy
Forces the "userland" of Mac OS X to boot into 32-bit mode. Mac OS X is divided into two parts: the "kernel",
where OS X communicates with your computer's hardware, and the "userland", where everything else runs.
Boot flags like "arch=i386" and "arch=x86_64" affect the kernel, but when running Mac OS X Lion with certain
modified kernels, AMD Hackintoshesoften need a 32-bit userland in addition to a 32-bit kernel. In this case, you
need to use "-legacy" at the same time as "arch=i386" (both without quotation marks).

-force64
Forces the "userland" of Mac OS X to boot into 64-bit mode. Mac OS X is divided into two parts: the "kernel",
where OS X communicates with your computer's hardware, and the "userland", where everything else runs.
Boot flags like "arch=i386" and "arch=x86_64" affect the kernel, but when running Mac OS X Snow

Leopard, AMD Hackintoshes often need a 32-bit kernel and a 64-bit userland. In this case, you need to use "-
force64" at the same time as "arch=i386" (both without quotation marks).

-nossse3bit
Enables SSSE3 emulation for AMD Hackintoshes. Ever since Mac OS X Lion, Mac OS X has required the
SSSE3 instruction set to run properly. However, AMD didn't add SSSE3 to their processors until 2011, meaning
that only AMD processors with a "FX" in their model number (e.g. FX-4100) natively support the instructions
needed by Mac OS X. If your computer uses an older AMD processor (i.e. anything from the Athlon or Phenom
lines), you may have to use this boot flag to enable "emulation" of the instructions instead.

mach_kernel
/System/Library/Kernels/kernel
Locates the kernel ("mach_kernel"), an important boot file for Mac OS X. If your Hackintosh's verbose mode
says that it can't find mach_kernel for some reason, entering this boot flag will help the bootloader find it. The
kernel is either found at the very base of the OS X file system, or in /System/Library/Kernels/kernel if you're
using OS X Yosemite. If you actually moved the kernel somewhere else in your hard drive, change
"mach_kernel" to wherever the kernel is located. For example, if the kernel is in the Extra folder of your main
hard drive, enter the boot flag "/Extra/mach_kernel" (without quotation marks). If your kernel is named
something different, you can change the boot flag accordingly. For example, if your kernel is named

"cheesecake" instead of "mach_kernel", enter the boot flag "cheesecake" (without quotation marks) instead.

Install Yosemite
Once you’ve entered the OS X Yosemite installer, you will come up to a
hard disk selection page. This is where you choose where you want to
install Yosemite.

If you’re installing Yosemite on a computer that has never been turned into
a Hackintosh before (i.e. doesn’t already have Snow Leopard, Lion,
Mountain Lion, or Mavericks installed), there won’t be any hard disk
options to select. We’ll have to fix that. To do this, start up Disk Utility,
which is located under the Utilities menu in the top bar.

You need to use Disk Utility to erase a hard drive partition so that OS X
Yosemite can install itself on it. In the sidebar of Disk Utility, choose the
hard drive partition where you want Yosemite installed, and erase it by
using the “Erase” tab. You can also just erase the entire hard drive (this is
the preferred solution if you don’t plan to dual-boot Windows and Mac OS
X from the same hard drive). In the screenshot below, my two hard drive
partitions are called “Cool Stuff” and “Not Cool Stuff”, while my entire hard
drive is called “21.47 GB VBOX HARDDRIVE”.

When erasing, the format should be set to “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)”.

You can also partition the hard disk by using Disk Utility’s Partition tab.

NOTE: Mac OS X cannot boot from a partition that’s larger than 1 TB in

size, so if you have a 2 TB hard drive, you will have to partition it.

On the installation page for Mac OSX, the hard disk/disk partition should
now be showing up. Select it, and then click the “Customize” button on the
bottom left. This is where using a distro becomes really useful: Yosemite
Zone allows you to install extra Hackintosh drivers and kexts, straight from
the OS X Yosemite installer. The “Customize” page essentially does the
same thing as Multibeast, though the layout (and most of the names of the
options) are different.

However, choosing the right options from this page can be really tricky, so
unless you’re absolutely certain about which drivers and kexts you need to
install for your computer, I don’t recommend installing too much stuff from
here. The default selection will enable Mac OS X to boot from the hard
drive without any assistance, and automatically enable audio and
ethernet. For most computers, that will be enough.
If your computer already has Mac OS X installed and you are simply
updating it to Yosemite, you can just uncheck all of these options. Mac OS
X treats Yosemite as just another update– there’s no need to reinstall all of
your kexts and drivers.

Once you’re done with the “Customize” page, install Yosemite. This will
take at least 30 minutes.
Boot into Mac OS X
Once the installation finishes, remove your Yosemite Zone USB drive and
restart your computer. At the boot screen, you’ll see an Apple icon for the
hard drive where you installed Yosemite. Select it (use the arrow keys on
your computer) and press “Enter”.

Yosemite will boot. Mission accomplished! Once again, if you get a kernel
panic/loading error when you try to boot your new Yosemite installation (or
if the installation simply won’t start within 10 minutes), you’ll need to
enter some boot flags. To enter boot flags, manually restart your computer
by pressing your computer’s power button. Then, once you’ve booted back
into the Yosemite Zone menu, try to type any necessary boot flags before
pressing the enter/return key. Check out our list of common boot
flags and our guide to fixing boot problems with the verbose mode for
reference.

Once Yosemite has booted successfully, click through the Mac OS X setup
screens until you reach the desktop. From here, Yosemite Zone will work its
magic, and automatically install the rest of the Hackintosh-specific kexts
and drivers from Step 5.