Table of Contents ​

Before You Begin

STEP 1: Download OS X El Capitan

STEP 2: Create a Bootable USB Drive with UniBeast

STEP 3: Recommended BIOS Settings

STEP 4: Install OS X El Capitan

a. In the top menu bar choose Utilities, and open Disk Utility

b. Highlight your target drive for the El Capitan installation in left column.

c. Click Erase button

d. For Name: type El Capitan (You can rename it later)

e. For Format: choose OS X Extended (Journaled)

f. For Scheme: choose GUID Partition Map

g. Click Erase

h. Close Disk Utility

​

STEP 5: Post Installation with MultiBeast

STEP 6: Alternate Post-Installation

Troubleshooting and Optimizations:

Alternate NVIDIA Graphics Drivers

Clover Bootloader Credits

The following guide is a complete walkthrough for updating to or installing a fresh version of OS X El Capitan. It requires no experience and all of the basic installation and post-installation tools are available on tonymacx86.com.1. Register here at tonymacx86! If you don't have a user account, create one 2. Get our latestandtools from the downloads section.3. Purchase a 16GB or larger USB drive.4. Do a full backup of your system . We strongly recommend performing a full backup of your existing system using Carbon Copy Cloner. By doing this, you can always go back to your working installation.UniBeast is a tool that creates a bootable installer out of your downloaded version of OS X. In order to start fresh, you'll need access to a functional computer running Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or later. This is a requirement, as you need access to the Mac App Store to download OS X and create the installation drive. To start from scratch, booting the 10.6 Snow Leopard Retail DVD directly, check out iBoot + MultiBeast For the first time tonymacx86.com is recommending Clover as your default bootloader. If you have followed updates until OS X Yosemite using Chimera, check out Clover Basics and Switching Advice Existing Clover users may do a direct update to OS X El Capitan by simply running the Install OS X El Capitan app as normal Mac users would. Follow these steps: Direct Update to OS X El Capitan using Clover The full operating system is a free download for anyone who has purchased Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Lion, or Mountain Lion or has a Mac preloaded with OS X Mavericks or Yosemite. Download the Application from the Mac App Store using your Apple ID on any Mac or functional computer running Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later.1. Open2. Log in with your Apple ID3. DownloadThe Applicationwill appear in /Applications.Take a deep breath and take your time- this is pretty simple, but it's easy to miss things if you rush. Follow each step to the letter.1. Insert the USB drive2. Open /3. Highlight the USB drive in left column4. Click on thetab5. Clickand choose6. Click7. Choose8. Undertype(You can rename it later)9. Underchoose10. Clickthen11. Download and run12. Click13. At Destination Select, chooseand click14. Atscreen chooseand click15. Atscreen chooseoris recommended for 7/8/9+ Series CustoMac desktops and all UEFI capable systems.is recommended for 5/6 Series CustoMac desktops and all BIOS based systems.16. (Optional) Atscreen choose the appropriate graphics option for your system and click17. Verify installation options, then click, enter password and clickUniBeast will now create the bootable USB drive. The process will only take about 10 minutes, depending on system and drive speed. Do not unplug or stop during this time.18. Dragto your completed USB drive.Clover Note: UniBeast delivers basic bootloader support based on our testing on recommended CustoMac systems. For further bootloader customization, download and run the official Clover package . Advanced users may also compile Clover by downloading the full source.If you're installing on a recommended CustoMac desktop with AMI UEFI BIOS, the options are simple. For other systems make sure to set your BIOS to Optimized Defaults, and your hard drive to AHCI mode. Here are standard AMI UEFI BIOS settings for Gigabyte AMI UEFI BIOS ASUS AMI UEFI BIOS , and MSI AMI UEFI BIOS 1. To access BIOS/UEFI Setup, press and holdon a USB Keyboard while the system is booting up2. Load3. If your CPU supports, disable it4. If your system has, disable it5. If your system has, disable it6. Set OS Type to7. If your system has, disable it8. Set XHCI Handoff to9. If you have a 6 series or x58 system with AWARD BIOS, disable10. Save and exit.You're almost done! All you need to do is boot from the USB drive and install! For best results, insert the USB in a USB 2.0 port.1. Turn on the computer2. Press the hotkey to choose boot device (usually F12, F11, F10, or F3. Choose4. At Clover boot screen, choose5. When you arrive at the Installer, choose language.6. For a new installation of OS X, you MUST erase and format the destination drive according to the following steps before continuing.7. When the installer asks you where to install, choose, or your existing install.8. Upon completion, the system will automatically restart.MultiBeast is an all-in-one post-installation tool designed to enable boot from hard drive, and install support for Audio, Network, and Graphics. The installation is complete, but the drive isn't bootable yet. Boot from the USB again, this time choosing El Capitan.1. Turn on the computer2. Press the hotkey to choose boot device3. Choose4. At the Boot Screen, choose your newinstallation.5. Complete OS X El Capitan setup6. Open and run. If your system requires installing Clover to the root of the drive, such as Gigabyte 6 Series and X58 systems, skip to STEP 6 7. If this is a fresh installation, clickis recommended for 7/8/9+ Series CustoMac desktops and all UEFI capable systems.is recommended for 5/6 Series CustoMac desktops and all BIOS based systems.8. Choose the appropriate audio and network options for your system:9. Clickfor further options10. Clickorto back up your configuration11. ClickthenIf using a NVIDIA 'Maxwell' GeForce GTX 750, 750 Ti, 950, 960, 970, 980, 980 Ti, or TITAN X graphics card, OS X graphics drivers are not natively supported. Alternate NVIDIA drivers are required. If drivers do not initiate, addto Clover config.plist under Boot > Arguments.12. (Optional) Download and install13. RebootYay! You now have a fully updated bootable version of OS X El Capitan on your CustoMac! And a super handy USB rescue drive. It's easy to get frustrated, but don't give up! If you get stuck, there are many users with similar hardware in the tonymacx86 Forum to provide support.Thanks to all of the hard working developers, hackers, and testers all over the world without whom this guide would never have been possible.This alternate post-installation method was in place before MultiBeast was released. If you have already used MultiBeast you do not need to follow these steps. Follow this method if your system requires installing Clover to the root of the drive.1. Press the hotkey to choose boot device2. Choose3. At Clover boot screen, choose4. Complete OS X El Capitan setup5. Download El Capitan Post-Install Tools The Post-Installation.zip contains two custom Clover installers and essential kexts. This will provide boot from hard drive in place of MultiBeast. Alternately, continue booting from the USB drive.6. Run one of the custom Clover installers.(Clover_v2.3k_r3320_UEFI.pkg) is recommended for 7/8/9+ Series CustoMac desktops and all UEFI capable systems.(Clover_v2.3k_r3320_Legacy.pkg) is recommended for 5/6 Series CustoMac desktops and all BIOS based systems.(Clover_v2.3k_r3320_Legacy_Root.pkg) is for older systems that cannot boot from EFI partition. For further bootloader customization, download and run the official Clover package. For further bootloader customization, download and run the7. Runto install FakeSMC and Ethernet support.The next steps configure the system definition, configure graphics, and provide it with a unique serial number.8. Download and open9. Your config.plist should auto-mount. If not, choose10. Selecttab11. Press12. Choose a System Definition from the list. Then choose a version of the system from the dropdown. This will auto-populate your config.plist with appropriate SMBIOS information including a unique serial number. If you're unsure what to choose, Mac Pro 3,1 will work for most desktop systems.13. (Optional) If you have an existing Chimera SMBIOS located at /Extra/smbios.plist, you can choose the same system definition in Clover Configurator, then copy that serial number into your config.plist manually.14. (Optional) If you configured graphics for the UniBeast installation, opentab and selector15.and close Clover Configurator.The next optional steps configure the system's Realtek ALC onboard audio codec.16. (Optional) Download17. (Optional) Browser/Click on download file18. (Optional) Finder/Double click .command file19. (Optional) Go through steps in Terminal to install appropriate audio choicesIf using a NVIDIA 'Maxwell' GeForce GTX 750, 750 Ti, 950, 960, 970, 980, 980 Ti, or TITAN X graphics card, OS X graphics drivers are not natively supported. Alternate NVIDIA drivers are required. If drivers do not initiate, addto Clover config.plist under Boot > Arguments.20. (Optional) Download and install21. RebootAfter you've completed the guide, things such as HDMI audio and iMessage may not work automatically and universally. The list below should serve to fully optimize your system after initial setup.NVIDIA releases alternate graphics drivers separately on the web for each OS X build. These are different from the drivers Apple ships as standard, and should be considered experimental. In the past, the drivers have been known to solve OpenCL issues with certain applications, as well as providing better native GPU power management for certain devices. They also will enable 'Maxwell' cards to work with full acceleration- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750, 750 Ti, 950, 960, 970, 980, 980 Ti, and TITAN X.UniBeast contains and deliver files from the Clover EFI Bootloader project. For more information and sources used see Clover EFI bootloader . Clover v2 is open source based on different projects: Clover, rEFIt, XNU, VirtualBox. The main is EDK2 latest revision.UniBeast delivers basic bootloader support based on our testing on recommended CustoMac systems. For further bootloader customization, download and run the official Clover package . Advanced users may also compile Clover by downloading the full source.Slice, with help of Kabyl, usr-sse2, jadran, Blackosx, dmazar, STLVNUB, pcj, apianti, JrCs, pene, FrodoKenny, skoczy, ycr.ru, Oscar09, xsmile, SoThOr, rehabman…Intel, Apple, Oracle, Chameleon, rEFIt and Xom.