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Linksys WUSB600N v2 on a Hackintosh

I recently just put a cheap, but also great hackintosh system together while also dual-booting with Windows 7. It is my first hackintosh, however, not my first Mac.

This post will explain how to get the Linksys WUSB600N v2 to work with your Hackintosh build. There is just 1 minor problem that exists with this wireless usb device, and that you will have to replug it in each and everytime you either restart/boot or awake from sleep. Otherwise, I’ve had absolutely no other issues and no disconnects or slow speeds.

Real quick, here is my build specs for the hackintosh running Snow Leopard 10.6.6:
GIGABYTE GA-H55M-S2V Motherboard
Intel Core i3-550 Clarkdale 3.2GHz Processor
XFX nVidia GT240 1GB DDR5 Graphics Card
G.SKILL 4GB DDR3 Dual Channel Memory
Samsung Spinpoint F4 HD322GJ/U 320GB Hard Drive

Now you will first need to install the Mac drivers for an Ralink RT2870, which is what is inside of the Linksys WUSB600N v1 and v2 (version 2). You can grab those from downloading them at Ralink’s website.

Now as of this post, I am using driver version 3.0.3.0. These work great, I’ve heard of success with earlier drivers as well though I never tried those nor did I ever obtain links to them. If you are having any issues with later drivers after 3.0.3.0 then please contact me, I will be able to provide you with driver version 3.0.3.0 if you are unable to find them.

Once you have these installed, restart OS X.

Once you have restarted OS X, open Terminal. Follow and type the following commands correctly and then press the enter key after each line listed below.

cd /System/Library/Extensions

chmod -R 755 RT2870USBWirelessDriver.kext

chown -R 0:0 RT2870USBWirelessDriver.kext

cd

cd /System/Library/Extensions/RT2870USBWirelessDriver.kext/contents/

sudo nano info.plist

At this point, you will be asked your administrative password, type it in and continue the following:
Look for the following line below, you will find it faster by using the page down shortcut ctrl+v.

Linksys – RT2870 – 2

Then right under this key, find this line (integer)

<integer>113<integer>

Then change the value of 113 to 121.

<integer>121<integer>

That will be the only line you need to edit and touch in this. Now press the following keys to save what you just did.

ctrl + o

Make sure to use the exact same file name, info.plist, as it will already say. Then ctrl+x to exit out.
There are just 2 more fine steps and you will be able to use a wireless connection!

cd

sudo touch /System/Library/Extensions

Now restart your computer, as I said earlier, you will more than likely have to unplug and plug back in the Linksys WUSB600N device as well as each time you restart/boot or awake from sleep.

You will use Ralink’s Wireless Utility to connect to your network. Save a profile so you do not have to constantly keep typing your security key as well. You may close Wireless Utility once you are connected, you do not need to leave it open.

Special Thanks go out to aldeem over at InsanelyMac for most of this guide, and then myself for the rest of it and additional information.

How to get ALC888b audio working on Gigabyte H55M-S2V

The hardest part of my hackintosh build was to get the audio working. It was probably the most annoying and tedious process I had to do, and hope to never do again. You can find my specs below, but this is how to get audio working on your Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2V motherboard, with an ALC888b audio chip or another motherboard that has ALC888b.

If you have not read any of my other posts related to my hackintosh build, then these are my specs:

  • GIGABYTE GA-H55M-S2V Motherboard
  • Intel Core i3-550 Clarkdale 3.2GHz Processor
  • XFX nVidia GT240 1GB DDR5 Graphics Card
  • G.SKILL 4GB DDR3 Dual Channel Memory
  • Samsung Spinpoint F4 HD322GJ/U 320GB Hard Drive

Before proceeding, I take no responsibility if you end up messing up your hackintosh setup. So proceed with caution, this is the process I did to get it working with my exact setup and more specifically, Gigabyte motherboard.

You might want to either search around more if you have this same ALC888b audio chip, or if you do but it is not the same motherboard, it will still likely work but you could also search around either tonymacx86 or insanelymac forums for a solution to that exact motherboard, if there is one. Otherwise, use this as a reference in order to help yourself out into getting it working out on your own. Good luck!

First you will need to download this file.

Then copy the “GigabyteALC888b.kext” from the downloaded zip file, Gigabyte_ALC888b.zip, above to /Extra/Extensions. Afterwards copy HDAEnabler.kext and place it on your desktop and install it using Applications you can download such as KextBeast or Kext Helper.

Once you are finished with that, you will need to manually delete “AppleHDA.kext” from /System/Library/Extensions/.

Now run “MultiBeast” with just specifically the only following options you select.

  • System Utilities
  • Audio: Realtek ALC8xx + AppleHDA Rollback

Make sure not to select the “ALC88xHDA.kext option. Just select the AppleHDA Rollback (to replace the AppleHDA.kext you deleted above with an older version) and System Utilities (to fix permissions and rebuild your kext caches).

Finally just restart your computer and your audio should be working again.

Why I didn’t get the Nexus S

I was really considering getting the Nexus S, even though I just bought the Samsung Vibrant back on its release date on July 15th, 2010. I usually don’t upgrade phones very often, I take very good care of them and only upgrade to phones I actually love and will use for a long time.

I really wanted the Nexus S but only prior to learning all about it and what it does not have which is really upsetting. One great point was that it was running 2.3 and that updates will come straight from Google themselves and I won’t have to deal with Samsung any longer. I have put up with them all this time, I constantly flash unofficial (or if ever, official) updates of rom updates to my Vibrant too, so it is not like I am running an outdated version of Android such as JL6-2.1. I am currently running the unofficial stock Froyo JK6-2.2.

Here are the reasons why I won’t be getting the Nexus S, and why keeping any Samsung Galaxy S phone (Vibrant in my case) is better:

  • No 720p recording — It IS a hardware limitation, it is not software. You won’t ever be getting it.
  • No Gorilla Glass — Why not have it? I take excellent care of my phones and their screens, however, mistakes happen, I love to know that I would have a great protective screen to protect me from most accidents (even if they are not mine).
  • No microSD card slot — I still have yet to exceed or need more than my 16GB + 2GB sdcard in my Vibrant, however, knowing I can always add more space and switch the sdcard is a plus with the Vibrant, the same cannot be said about the Nexus S.

Now the Nexus S also has the following over what most Galaxy S phones, including the Vibrant, do not have:

  • Front Facing Camera (FFC) — This is not a big deal to me, it would be awesome to have but it is not going to make me switch seeing as the top 3 above, concern me more.
  • NFC chip — I likely would only use this 1 time just to play with it and see how cool it is. However, not many places do this anyways plus I would likely either forget about it or just opt to not use it this way.
  • Flash — I wish prior to getting the Vibrant that it had flash, especially coming from a camera in the past that had it, but not my last camera, the G1. But seeing how great the night mode is on the Vibrant camera, and how rarely I take pictures at night, this is not a big deal even if it would be nice to have.

Froyo coming to Vibrant and Captivate mid-October

Normally I would not write on such a story that Froyo is actually finally even coming to the Vibrant but this is just one of those times where if you put all of the Samsung news, Facebook updates and official tweets together, that you just think that this is actually true and finally going to arrive for us Vibrant users on T-Mobile.

Now, before I finally get to this story that will make you further believe it, you may already know or not that 2.2 Froyo was leaked for the Captivate. However, you cannot flash this or other versions on the Vibrant, even if the Vibrant barely different than the Captivate. I recommend waiting for the official build, even if leaked before OTA over custom roms unless others have made aware that are safe to flash and no issues reported.

Before I get to the story, this is what one of the Official Samsung Twitter accounts tweeted:

T-Mobile & Samsung hear your questions about timing of Vibrant update. Look for more info on OTA next week. Thank you for your patience.

Scott Young from TalkAndroid made a post today stating that he had bumped into someone from Samsung and after a while of talking he finally asked when Froyo was coming to the Galaxy S. He stated “mid-October” for the Vibrant and Captivate. Though he pointed out that it will take a little longer for the Epic 4G and Fascinate to get Froyo because they have CDMA. On another note, 2.2 was leaked for the Captivate as I stated above if you didn’t know.

Now this is coming from me, but Samsung did promise to have 2.2 shipped out to all Galaxy S phones by the end of this year, so even if you had to wait another few weeks for you Epic 4G and Fascinate users, you won’t have to wait long as long as they fulfill their promise. I am sure they will.

Source: TalkAndroid.com

Remove Layar from Samsung Vibrant (or other devices)

I usually do not mind bloatware to begin with, and I almost never use them either anyways. But after a while, you just want a clean device after having a while to play with it. Especially a Samsung Vibrant for how great this phone is, not just the screen.

I just wanted to take the time and explain to you how you can remove Layar and other “bloatware” applications that either T-Mobile, AT&T or others provide to you with your Galaxy S phone (Vibrant, Captivate, etc) if you want them gone for good. Now you will need root to do any of this. Rooting your phone is extremely easy and safe.

There are many methods to root your phone, you can look over at the XDA forums for easy ways to do it for your device. One quick method to root is by using the One Click Lag Fix app found in the Android Market. Do not let the name fool you, and you do not need to use the lag fix to get root either. You can unroot with this app or any other app, at anytime. Though there is no reason to unless you are sending the device back to T-Mobile or your carrier.

You can remove most bloatware with Titanium Backup which is free in the Market. You could also use Root Explorer however that is not free in the Market. So if you are in this same scenario and do not want to pay for Root Explorer than this easy method will work for you. You can also back up all of these apps with Titanium Backup in case you ever decide to want to use these again and want them back.

When you are removing applications, make sure you know what exactly you are removing. I take no responsibility if you remove something you should not that could lend up to messing up your phone or bricking it.

Use Terminal Emulator if you do not already have it, if not, you can grab it from the Market. Then in Terminal you are going to type of the following:

su
rm /data/app/com.layar.apk
rm /system/app/Layar-samsung.apk

Then there you have it, you have successfully removed Layar. You can actually use this method to remove other apps as well if you are unable to uninstall them in Manage Applications in your phone or with apps such as Titanium Backup.

If you are unsure of the application name, you can use this ‘ls’ command to find it.

su
ls /data/app/
ls /system/app/

Farewell Fanvibe

Normally I would not even write a post or even announce that I am leaving some sort of site, especially some new site that has only barely even been popular nor around long. But I felt as if I really needed to write such a post.

If you have not heard of Fanvibe, which I guarantee 99.9% of you have not, then just to give you a brief information on them, they are a sport check-in service. This is exactly like how Foursquare and Gowalla are, expect you do not have to be at the game to check-in.

I have been using them for the last few months, I was excited to keep using them still too since the NFL was just starting up it’s regular season and their pre-season had been going on. Prior, I was waiting for it to start as well as the NBA season later on. But up until this past week, that will never happen again. If I had the time, I would actually start my own service as such, and do what Fanvibe did wrong as well as alienate their users. It is too bad I have no time for that at this moment.

They changed something this week that was incredibly stupid of them, which I am sure Art Chang had most to do with this change. They normally have questions during a specific game for an extra XX amount of points. Not a crazy amount, until this week, they changed it to the thousands. One of these questions even led to 9,000 points for you, if answered correctly. Now remember, you must be actively viewing this game to even catch these questions and answer them in a specific time. I did not get to participate in this, nor was there any type of announcement or notice in their (shitty, annoying) daily newsletter either.

But the reason I left because of this, is because they changed nothing else at all on the site in relation to points. If you are going to make such a changes to the points then you need to adjust the points given everywhere else as well so people that are not able to catch the change and/or participate at that time have a chance as well to play the game fairly and earn such a high amount of points too. Be it by new ways of earning points (not going to give out suggestions) or making properly picked games 1,000 points instead of 10 points to whatever you need to do.

I ended up also getting into long arguing discussions with them, what is quite sad and shows how much of a poor team they were to begin with. I do not see this website lasting long while continuing the way they are.

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