14 DAY TRIAL // An InsanelyMac forum member has developed a replacement kernel for installation on Atom-equipped hackintosh netbooks, TUAW reports. Going by the screen name of teateam, the guy offers a download and urges fellow forum members to test his patch. Most of those running OS X Snow Leopard on hacked laptops say the patch is a go. However, there are still some risks involved with running it, let alone using Mac OS X on a non-Apple-branded machine.
“The bad news began when it was reported that beta builds of 10.6.2 had no support for the Atom Processor; a commonly used processor in netbooks,” one of the latest posts (signed blkhockeypro19) at InsanelyMac reads. “The problem originates in a revision to the kernel in 10.6.2,” the author explains to those who may not be in the loop.
“The changes Apple made to the latest mach_kernel removes support for this processor, leaving updated netbooks in a useless state. Fortunately, insanelymac user ‘teateam’ patched the new kernel just two days after Apple rolled out the update [...] Many users are reporting success with this patch, so if you're an Atom user looking to update to 10.6.2, give it a try, and let’s not forget to give ‘teateam’ a round of applause for saving all our hackintosh netbooks!”
Hacker teateam also posted instructions regarding the procedure for installing the new kernel, in response to a poster who hadn’t had success. In his reply, the Russian developer tells zombolo to 1. Download zip to Desktop; 2. Unzip by double click; 3. Open Terminal.app; 4. sudo -s; 5. Enter your root password; 6. cd /; 7. mv mach_kernel mach_kernel_1062; 8. cp ~/Desktop/mach_kernel /; 9. chown 0:0 mach_kernel; 10. Reboot.
Needless to point out, Softpedia does not condone hacking on any level, as long as it comes into conflict with Apple’s policies, but those who do enjoy the benefits of running Mac OS X on cheap notebooks are welcome to share their thoughts in the comments.