>> I believe he's referring to TPM, not EFI. My understanding of TPM is >> that it's a set of cryptographic keys that prevents software from >> running on any "untrusted" system (meaning, "unapproved" hardware).
Quite a few generic motherboard now have TPM, either on-board, or available in a plug-in slot. The prototype for the TPM is possibly a chip which was designed by Infineon. No matter, as the "poem", or the "encryption key" for MacOS, was disclosed to Mac developers long before a motherboard which actually had a TPM chip built into it became available. For otherwise MacOS X might not ever have come to life. As with the DRM employed on DVDs, it is quite easy to "guess" the key, and most DVD dripping tools, and all Hackintosh implementations are now doing so. Even the common subterfuge of constantly changing the key, across titles (DVDs) or across chapters (also, DVDs) or across modules (MacOS) has also been successfully compromised. Today, Apple is not losing much software business as the usual approach to running MacOS X on a non-Apple platform is to buy and to use a full retail "legal" instance of MacOS X. So-called "distributions" are widely frowned upon, and are generally not used. Heck, most Forums will "ban" you if you mention or offer so-called "distributions". While not ALL non-Apple hardware may be supported using so-called "vanilla" installations, a large subset of all non-Apple hardware IS supportable, and the end-users generally know which hardware is the "right" choice" [ * ] . Actually, there is only ONE non-Apple module which is absolutely essential to run, say, 10.6.7 with all System Updates on non-Apple hardware, and this module doesn't even exist within /System/Library/Extensions, so that none of Apple's Software Updates will ever bother with it. Now, even IF your non-Apple motherboard DOES have an Infineon TPM chip, it is useless as it will never be loaded with the required "seed" (indeed, it will NEVER be loaded with ANY "seed" at all). The software module is really all that is necessary. [ * ] Almost ANY Gigabyte G31, P35, G41, P45, H55, P55, H61 or P67 motherboard, and almost any nVidia 8000 series, or later, video card is a good start. Sound is another kettle of fish, but, generally, ALC888, ALC888b, ALC889, ALC889a, ALC890 or ALC892 codecs are the best supported, and even the ancient ALC262 codec, and others, is supported using Voodoo. -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
