define:idiosyncrasy

According to good ol' reliable google.com, the word "idiosyncrasy" means:

• a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual
• Idiosyncrasy, from Greek ιδιοσυγκρασία, idiosyngkrasía, "a peculiar temperament", "habit of body" (idios "one's own" and syn-krasis "mixture") is defined as an individualizing quality or characteristic of a person or group, and is often used to express eccentricity or peculiarity.

I believe that hackintoshes can be likened to inidividuals in this sense; my MacBook Wind behaves differently from my MacBook Mini. But things don't stop at that; MacBook Mini on Leopard is a totally different creature from MacBook Mini on Snow Leopard.


Various combinations of model/make/brand, Mac OS X version, and even installation method result in considerably noticeable variances in terms of user experience, or should we say "hackintoshing experience". Even just alterations in the installation method - Vanilla, EFI, Distro (msiwindosx, iDeneb, iATKOS, Leo4All, etc.) - but with the same machine and Mac OS X version can bring up circumstances in which these so called distinctive and peculiar attribute are highlighted.


I'll focus on Leopard and Snow Leopard on my precious little MacBook Mini (a 1001TU). 1000 series owners may be lucky hardware-wise - Broadcom 4315, Marvell Yukon 2 ethernet, webcam, bluetooth, etc. - the only gripe remains to be the internal mic which still doesn't work even under the new VoodooHDA.kext. Given all that however, the Mini 1000 is fairly one neat hackintoshing machine.



That was the case in Leopard, upto 10.5.8. I couldn't complain at all cause even the Bluetooth and WiFi switch worked seamlessly. Take this little scenario:

1. I slide the switch off. LED light turns red.
2. Bluetooth is off as indicated by the icon on the menubar.
3. AirPort seems on but it really doesn't work anymore since we've turned the switch off; right click AirPort > Turn AirPort off just so the icon changes according to real status of the device.
4. I slide the switch back on. LED light goes back to blue.
5. Bluetooth may or may not change its icon on the menubar but it's working all right when you get to it from System Preferences and send a file to a BT device from there.
6. AirPort is still off but you can right click it > Turn AirPort On. 
7. AirPort is now working again.

Now compare this with the scenario in Snow Leopard, upto 10.6.1:

1. I slide the switch off. LED light turns red.
2. BT is off as indicated by the icon on the menubar.
3. AirPort seems on but it really doesn't work anymore since we've turned the switch off; right click AirPort > Turn AirPort off just so the icon changes according to real status of the device.
4. I slide the switch back on. LED light goes back to blue.
5. Bluetooth may or may not change its icon on the menubar but it's working all right when you get to it from System Preferences and send a file to a BT device from there.
6. AirPort is still off but you can right click it > Turn AirPort On. 
7. AirPort is still NOT working. I have to restart the machine.

Now it doesn't mean that I can't ever turn off WiFi if I want to use it again without restarting. It's just that I have to add a "step 0" in the list:
    0. Right click on AirPort > Turn AirPort off.

. . .and 1 - 7 in the first case happen normally.


AirPort doesn't like being taken by surprise and shut off abruptly. That's its distinctive idosyncrasy in Snow Leo.


This one component has got a spunky attitude but at least I know how to reign it in unlike my unruly Synaptics touchpad who's driving me nuts. I've been planning to send it in for check up at a nearby HP Customer Service Center not far from work but I'm worried it'll play traitor on me by miraculously restoring its normal function when comes the time I show and tell the HP technician about my predicament.


Talk about saving face ;)