More Psystar news for you. We now know that the Florida-based company will have to pay Apple $2.68 million in damages over its little Hackintosh business. (That’s a partial settlement, not court-mandated or anything.) Go ahead and go to its Web site: everything is out of stock!

Of course, Psystar said it will appeal the decision handed to it that said it violated the DMCA when it installed Mac OS X on PCs.

The beauty of the settlement is that while Psystar has said, yeah, it’ll cough up the $2.68 million, it won’t do so until everything has been figured out. All appeals, all complaints, all everything.

Needless to say, this story ain’t dead yet.

Speaking of Hackintosh…

And after running into quite a Windows 7 nightmare yesterday trying to get my video card to scale properly on my new monitor, there’s no way in hell I’m going to run Windows 7 full-time when I finish building this PC. I’d rather sit here all day and get a Hackintosh up and running than deal with the Windows Device Manager ever again. (Maybe I’ll be a huge nerd and triple boot between Mac, Windows, and Linux?)

All I want to do is play Empire: Total War and Team Fortress 2 with more than 15 frames per second. Is that a crime?

Some more Psystar news for y’all. You’ll recall that the renegade company was more or less shut down last week, slapped with an injunction and expected to pay Apple an awful lot of money. Put all of that aside for a minute, for there’s new news: Apple and Psystar have struck a deal! The deal, which ends a 17-month-long legal battle, means Psystar will stop selling computers pre-loaded with Mac OS X. This ends our long, national nightmare.

So here’s what happens: Psystar has to pay Apple a boatload of money; Psystar will stop selling PCs pre-loaded with Mac OS X; and Psystar may be allowed to keep selling Rebel EFI, which lets users instal Mac OS X on their generic PC. That’s pretty much it.

Or, in a single sentence, Psystar won’t be allowed to sell PCs with Mac OS X pre-loaded, but may be allowed to sell the $50 Rebel EFI, software that lets people instal Mac OS X on regular PCs.

Or, rather than paying for Rebel EFI, you can OSx86 your PC, which I may well do when I get around to building my PC in the coming weeks. I’m either running Linux or Mac on the PC. I’ll be damned if I have to run Windows 24/7!

I suppose that these projections, which we may safely call optimistic, are based on geometric growth (unwarranted) from one year’s figures (essentially invent) and failed to take into account the patent illegality of their entire enterprise. Needless to say, these numbers were not met. Psystar sold a fraction of a fraction of what it promised investors, so even if it were to escape total destruction by Apple’s hands, it would simply be dismembered by its mysterious creditors.

I would have welcomed a Psystar laptop, the planned hardware which was to make up the bulk of their fantasy sales, since our own Psystar desktop worked perfectly well. For all I know, Biggs is still using it. I’m writing this on my MacBook Pro, but I know that I as well as many people I know would welcome a cheap, yet non-hackintosh, OS X laptop.

Oh well. This story held our interest because, deep within, we felt it betokened the inevitable confrontation between Apple lovers and the sternly limited Jobsian world they’ve come to live in. You can be sure that this isn’t the last we’ll hear from clone-makers, which seem, like domestic weeds, to continue to sprout in the areas you thought were clear and cultivated. In fact, the wild but unpredictable growth of dandelions like Psystar, PearC, and Power Computing (remember them?) will continue because, let’s be honest, if you could pay less for your Mac, you would. That’s called a market — and damn the EULAs.

Here are some of yesterday’s stories on CrunchGear:

Awards: Best of Black Friday
USB eye-warmer
Mobile “Human Assist Guidance Robot”
Psystar, she is dead

Apple has been fighting for a permanent injunction against Psystar, preventing the company from selling Hackintoshen and their Rebel EFI software. The company has been accused of “trafficking in circumvention devices.”

AppleInisder reports that Pystar has less than $50,000 in assets and that Apple noted “Even if Psystar could pay damages, the harm to Apple’s brand, reputation and goodwill is unquantifiable.”

Oh well. You can always do this.

Apple contends that Psystar has violated its distribution right by offering and selling Mac OS X on Psystar computers to the public. Psystar admits that it has distributed Mac OS X (Chung Exh. 17 at 4).

But Psystar responds that its conduct is protected by the Section 109 first-sale doctrine. Section 109 provides that “the owner of a particular copy or phonorecord lawfully made under this title, or any person authorized by such owner, is entitled, without the authority of the copyright owner, to sell or otherwise dispose of the possession of that copy or phonorecord.” 17 U.S.C. 109. This provision is a limitation on the distribution right. It applies only to an owner of a copy.

Groklaw puts it best when it writes:

I know. They’ll say, but, but, but … what if they hadn’t used the master and just used each copy, then would it work? Sons, why do you think Psystar used the master copy? Because it’s a business, and in a business, efficiency is money. That’s why businesses set themselves up, to make money. The whole world is not with you on a holy war to destroy EULAs and the GPL. Even this rinkydink business wanted to make money. Theoreticals belong on message boards, not in business and definitely not in courtrooms, and even on message boards, everyone told you for years that this wouldn’t work out if someone tried it. It’s been tried. It didn’t work out.

Shine on, you crazy Psystar diamonds. I guess I’ll never get support for the janky Hackintosh we bought.

Thanks, Alex

Well, it turns out this hive of industry is actually just two dudes, Robert Pedraza and his brother Rudy. Yes, the company that has been making Apple cry for the past year consists of the kids you knew down the street who were really good at computers.

The Miami New Times did a great piece on the pair proving that local media is still the best way to tell a story. The brothers, it seems, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees and dealt with what the New Times calls:

mega-abuse from hostile Mac bloggers who have called them hucksters, frauds, and credit card thieves. As a kind of threat, street-level photos of their homes were posted on some blogs.

Now, interestingly, this sort of grassroots vigilantism – and this article – is a sort of cleansing agent for Psystar. Whereas before we were convinced that Psystar was a shady Asian cabal intent on tearing down the fabrics of our freedom now we know that the company is a couple of dudes.

Their wild-eyed hubris is charming in this era of snark. For example, they’re willing to take on Apple until their dying breath and Rudy exclaims: “We’re all in, baby. Go big or get the hell out.” That’s right: Ayn Rand via Swingers.

The rest of the story is a bit sadder and fits the standard arc of the relentless businessman. They were hard workers and helped their dad run his boat-maintenance business. Robert took apart a remote control, a common trope in this sort of story, and then their dad was arrested for coke dealing. Then you’ve got the early precociousness:

Odio remembers Rudy hanging out with a group of smart kids, doing well in class, and even volunteering to design Coral Park’s website for free. He also worked long hours after school designing computer systems for businesses around Miami. Rudy declines to name them, but Odio confirms he pulled in serious cash even as a 16-year-old. “He was making tons of money in high school as a computer consultant, probably more than I do today,” she says, laughing.

While I’m sure Psystar’s battle won’t end well, it’s nice to see a little humanity behind Pystar’s Sherman-esque tactics. These guys just wanted to make computers and someone stopped them because they wanted to do something differently. No matter how convoluted a web they weave, there’s something to be said for that kind of bluster.

Here’s Louis’ take:

I saw your article about the success you’ve had. I’d like to share my experience to date.

I’m running a G31M-ES2L and an 8800GT. It’s an original PsyStar machine with an upgraded video card.

I purchased the app yesterday. Followed install instructions posted .
The SL install reports a failure but I could boot to the desktop in SL with the Rebel EFI CD. (The instructions have since been revised to reflect this).

Note: I also had to use a PS2 kbd in order to select the HD option when booting from the PsyStar CD (USB doesn’t work for me until I get to the desktop).
Went through the normal OS registration info that comes up after install.

The machine is basically crippled without an activation code for the Rebel EFI application ( it installs the kexts etc needed to properly recognize your HW) and Psystar is behind on sending them out (Just spoke with a very nice support person).

So, all in all, things proceeded as they should have up to that point.

Received the authentication code today and authenticated the app.

However, the app errored out with my account info in the next step.

Apparently you can’t get phone support for this app. I spoke with a tech who noted I had to send an email for support. He was very nice but couldn’t help.

I rebooted and tried the authentication code a second time and the app won’t even accept it. It simply errors out now.

REBEL EFI doesn’t appear to be ready for prime time yet, IMO.

Who wants to wait days for support for something that’s supposed to simplify a process?

FTR I do own Apple HW and this is mostly a fun/tinkering machine for secondary use.

Now, I found the Psystar software easier to use than Chameleon, but the same systems that previously rejected OS X using Chameleon, did the same with Psystar. One is an Core 2 Solo U3500 1.4GHz with a ATI Radeon HD 4330 GPU. This computer will not get past the gray screen with a spinning beach ball in the top left, which means the graphics card probably isn’t compatable according to the updated Rebel EFI FAQ page. The other is an Z520 Atom 1.33GHz netbook with an Intel GMA950 GPU. This guy won’t get past the Apple logo. I had the same results using Chameleon a few weeks ago.

John managed to install OS X using the Rebel EFI bootloader on an HP Touchsmart computer yesterday. I’ve not had any luck so far though. In fact, we got an email a few minutes ago stating that while someone managed to install OS X and purchase the software, the activation key will not work, rendering the machine almost useless. Psystar’s phone tech support just told him to email the company but so far nothing has been resolved.

The Psystar Rebel EFI might be a terrific piece of software, but it doesn’t seem ready for retail consumption yet. In the mean time, let me point you towards the rich development community behind the OSX86 project and Chameleon. Chances are that if they say your hardware isn’t compatible and their solutions won’t work, Psystar’s Rebel EFI installer probably won’t either.

UPDATE – Video after the jump.

The video is arguably pretty boring but it’s essentially proof of life.

First, download the software. MIRROR Burn the ISO to a CD ROM, boot it in the CD ROM drive, and select verbose in the set-up so you can watch it run. Just let it churn away and assume that it’s crashed if it takes longer than an hour to enter into the OS X install screen. We’ll report back on how our new Hackintosh(ii) run as we try this trick on multiple machines.

Here are the instructions again:

1. Download the Rebel EFI file, available here.
2. Burn the file to a CD.
3. Insert the Rebel EFI disc into your CD drive.
4. Start or restart your computer.
5. As computer boots up select, Boot Options or Boot Menu Key
**Boot Options or Boot Menu Key differ by motherboard manufacturer.
6. Select CD ROM
7. After CD loads press enter to run the CD
8. When prompted, Eject the CD and it will ask for the Snow Leopard DVD
9. Insert the Snow Leopard DVD
10. Select Main Language
11. Click Continue, if you want to continue with the installation of Snow Leopard.
12. Click Agree, if you agree.
13. Select the disk that you want to install Snow Leopard on.
a. If no disk shows, Click on Utilities on the tool bar, then select Disk Utilities.
b. On the left you should see your hard drive.
c. If not, a disk is not connected or cannot be read by your computer.
d. After selecting your hard drive click on Partition.
e. Under Volume Scheme, click current and select 1 partition.
f. Under Volume Information, name your hard drive.
g. Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
h. At the bottom of the window Click on the Options Button.
i. Select the GUID Partition Table
j. Click OK
k. Click Apply
l. Click Partition
m. Quit Disk Utilities
14. Select the disk that you want to install Snow Leopard on.
15. Click Install.
16. When Installation completes. restart the computer
17. As the computer starts up, insert the Rebel EFI CD
18. As computer boots up select Boot Options or Boot Menu Key
**Boot Options or Boot Menu Key differ by motherboard manufacturer.
19. Select CD ROM
20. Once CD loads you will see both the Hard Disk and the Rebel EFI CD
21. Use the arrow keys to highlight the Hard Drive
22. Press Enter to boot Hard drive.
23. Launch the Rebel EFI application from the CD.
24. Follow the on-screen authentication procedure.
25. Click Continue
26. Select your Keyboard
27. Click Continue
28. Select, Do not transfer my information now.
29. Click Continue
30. If, you have and Apple ID enter it now
31. If not, Click Continue
32. Enter your Registration Information
33. Click Continue
34. Create your Account Information
35. Click Continue
36. Select Time Zone
37. Click Continue
38. Click Done

You can almost hear Steve Jobs flipping out right now. Psystar, notable for its efforts to sell generic PCs with Mac OS X pre-loaded, has just released something called Rebel EFI. It’s software that allows you to install Mac OS X on generic PCs without having to Hackintosh said PC. (Hackintoshing isn’t for the weak of heart!)

How does it work? I have no idea, but Matt (or someone, it’s chaos here today) is buying it right now and should have something up in a bit. (I don’t have any PCs here, I’m afraid.)

Nearest I can tell, you download and burn the ISO, it performs some sort of voodoo, then you insert the Mac OS X DVD and install like normal.

So if you’re even remotely interested in this I’d say to download it right now because Apple’s lawyers will be all over this within a matter of seconds. You can count on that.

Update: Psystar’s site is down but here are the installation instructions if you managed to grab the trial version in time. Anyone get it to work yet?

1. Download the Rebel EFI file, available here.
2. Burn the file to a CD.
3. Insert the Rebel EFI disc into your CD drive.
4. Start or restart your computer.
5. As computer boots up select, Boot Options or Boot Menu Key
**Boot Options or Boot Menu Key differ by motherboard manufacturer.
6. Select CD ROM
7. After CD loads press enter to run the CD
8. When prompted, Eject the CD and it will ask for the Snow Leopard DVD
9. Insert the Snow Leopard DVD
10. Select Main Language
11. Click Continue, if you want to continue with the installation of Snow Leopard.
12. Click Agree, if you agree.
13. Select the disk that you want to install Snow Leopard on.
a. If no disk shows, Click on Utilities on the tool bar, then select Disk Utilities.
b. On the left you should see your hard drive.
c. If not, a disk is not connected or cannot be read by your computer.
d. After selecting your hard drive click on Partition.
e. Under Volume Scheme, click current and select 1 partition.
f. Under Volume Information, name your hard drive.
g. Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
h. At the bottom of the window Click on the Options Button.
i. Select the GUID Partition Table
j. Click OK
k. Click Apply
l. Click Partition
m. Quit Disk Utilities
14. Select the disk that you want to install Snow Leopard on.
15. Click Install.
16. When Installation completes. restart the computer
17. As the computer starts up, insert the Rebel EFI CD
18. As computer boots up select Boot Options or Boot Menu Key
**Boot Options or Boot Menu Key differ by motherboard manufacturer.
19. Select CD ROM
20. Once CD loads you will see both the Hard Disk and the Rebel EFI CD
21. Use the arrow keys to highlight the Hard Drive
22. Press Enter to boot Hard drive.
23. Launch the Rebel EFI application from the CD.
24. Follow the on-screen authentication procedure.
25. Click Continue
26. Select your Keyboard
27. Click Continue
28. Select, Do not transfer my information now.
29. Click Continue
30. If, you have and Apple ID enter it now
31. If not, Click Continue
32. Enter your Registration Information
33. Click Continue
34. Create your Account Information
35. Click Continue
36. Select Time Zone
37. Click Continue
38. Click Done

This Apple-Psystar business sure is hotting up! Both Apple and Psystar have asked for summary judgments based on what they believe to be What’s Going On. Such an action would avoid a pesky trial, which would necessarily costs both companies a whole lot of money.

Apple wants Psystar to be found guilty of copyright infringement and for violating the DMCA.

Psytar wants Apple’s case thrown out because it says hasn’t violated a single thing. Its evidence? Parts of the EULA found in Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6, as well as part of a Phil Schiller deposition.

Psystar, you’ll recall, is that company that sells computers pre-loaded with Mac OS X. Apple says that doing such a thing is a violation of the rights of man and of the citizen.

If the judge doesn’t issue a summary judgement in the favor of either Apple or Psystar, then we’ll be looking at a trial, and we all know that trials are treated as circuses in this country.

Even reporting this may be making too much out of it; it’s stated that he never received any money from Psystar and didn’t even have any direct communication with them. Perhaps the firm they do work with hired him as a jackal, poring through law-books in an effort to find fresh allegations to throw at Apple. After all, every day they aren’t shut down is one more day they’re selling hot Macs.

“By tying its operating system to Apple-branded hardware, Apple restrains trade in personal computers that run Mac OS X, collects monopoly rents on its Macintoshes, and monopolizes the market for ‘premium computers,’” said Psystar’s lawsuit, filed last Wednesday. “Apple’s share of revenue in the market for premium computers — computers priced at over $1,000 — is currently 91%.”

I was actually pulling for Psystar before but now it’s clear that the company is fast on its way to being sued into oblivion. Their quixotic quests mixed with a consistent failure to deliver support – just try getting a “repair disk” from them: you have to send in what is essentially copy of your original invoice and esoteric proofs of purchase – shows that they’re not quite serious when it comes to the manufacture of quality hardware and are instead going the troll route.

Here’s the how I see it: you can I should – and can – build Hackintoshes. Presumably I should be able to sell hardware that is ready to run Leopard and you and the buyer should be able to go to the Apple Store, pick up Snow Leopard, and install it. None of this is particularly legal according to Apple’s EULA, which is fine. When installing OS X on a PC is outlawed, only outlaws install OS X on a PC.

Apple should also be able to sell whatever they want. If they want to sell laptops for $9,000, God love ‘em. PCs for $19,000? A rebadge Apple Lisa for $100,000? Premium the heck out of the market. Who cares. It’s their business. There’s nothing stopping HP from putting a $1000 price tag on some of their laptops except the stupidity of racing to the bottom with netbooks and selling hardware for $300, thereby increasing customer price sensitivity.

However Pystar wants it both ways. They want to be a big hardware player – just like Apple – and they want to be countercultural revolutionaries. Their lawsuits are self-serving in that they simply state that they, too, want a piece of that lucrative premium PC pie and that all of their illegal actions aren’t so illegal. This is like trying to rob a rich man while boasting of your own business prowess – you do one or the other but to do both negates the value of both.

Anyway, Psystar is a goner. End of story.

And you thought that Apple finally drove the front running clone maker off of a cliff. Nope. Psystar successfully navigated the bankruptcy courts and is back at its old game of annoying Apple. The ongoing lawsuit is still in play, but bankruptcy no doubt allowed the company to shed some debt and reorganize under Chapter 11 guidelines. Now the company is back and just released a new Core i7 clone.

It’s obvious that the new Open(7) system is a Mac Pro clone. It pairs an Intel Xeon CPU with up to 24GB of RAM for a fast OS X experience. Plus, Psystar has a new chassis that features three layers of sound dampening, which lends to the claim by Psystar that this is its quietest system yet. The systems start out at $1,499 and are available in both rackmount and desktop form factor.

Psystar via TUAW

The iPod Comet orbits the Earth in a biannual rotation, bringing new devices and attendant accessories into our view every Spring and Fall. The constellation is followed by a set of third-party developers and manufacturers who bolster the cloud as it swings into view and then disappear as the excitement wears off, relegating the devices to CostCos and Sam’s Clubs until the next rotation. But this season the orbit brought an anomaly: the Palm Pre, a device that is ostensibly compatible with the cloud, namely iTunes, but is definitely not of Apple’s world.

The Pre, as you’ll remember, masquerades as an iTunes-compatible device, a feature that Apple promises will soon be remedied through software updates. To this Palm replied:

“Palm’s media sync works with the current version of iTunes,” Palm spokesperson Lynn Fox told me. “If Apple chooses to disable media sync in a future version of iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience. However, people will have options. They can stay with the iTunes version that works to sync their music on their Pre, they can transfer the music via USB, and there are other third-party applications we could consider.”

So they’re hedging their bets. Like Musavi, Palm is looking for youth support to change to an unpopular regime but if the 50,000 people who bought Pres don’t care – which they won’t – they always can build a syncing app. No big deal.

But it is a big deal. As Devin pointed out, Apple hates freedom and Apple fans support that idea of a closed system with abandon, even if it goes against many of their principles. But why? Because Apple owns its own market and when folks try to horn in, be they Psystar or Palm, they realize how precarious their position is. They diluted their brand once, during the PowerPC days, and the resulting mess nearly destroyed the company. Apple, in short, has done what every CE manufacturer has tried to do for the past two decades but, contrary to their competitors efforts, they have succeeded. They created client lock-in, a sort of smothering bear-hug that convinces customers that they aren’t being slowly choked to death.

We’re big Mactards here at CG and TC. Why? Because, in lieu of hiring an IT support team we just buy Macs. That’s partly due to hardware quality – I rarely have to repair my Mac and they hold their resale value – and partly due to Apple’s marketing. Now that they’ve grabbed us they can push all sorts of garbage down our throats (iPod Shuffle, anyone) and we’ll eat it up, taking the good with the bad. And that kind of brand loyalty costs money and effort and Apple isn’t about to let the Palm Pre ride on its good will and install base.

Third parties can pay to join in the Apple party but they can’t crash it. This we’ve discovered over and over again. Apple acts like a media company more than a hardware company. They have gathered a following and now sell access to that following by allowing manufacturers to create devices to their exacting specifications. Woe betide thee if you try to hack the system. Like a media company, Apple has great lawyers.

Psystar isn’t saying, probably because it’s got more important things to deal with (and quite a bit more debt to settle). Apple is quiet, too. Maybe it’s something shady? I’m going to say no. Probably just regular debt.

Looking and the smoking wreckage of Psystar certainly drives the point home, though: if you want a Hackintosh, do it yourself. Two of my friends have just put OS X onto sub-$400 netbooks and they love it. Contact your local geek if you’re interested.

Their site isn’t quite up yet, but they’re hoping to open online and in meatspace come June 1st. Something tells me their first customer might be an Apple lawyer. If you want to be there when it happens, head over to 2401 West Main Street in Alhambra, wherever that is — I guess near Pasadena, wherever that is.

Chances are that the Apple dream team will steamroll the company after this news. The bankrupt company probably cannot withstand the legal fees needed to stand up to Jobs & Co. any more. It’s too bad. Many anti-Apple, and even some Mac fanboys, have applauded Psystar’s bravado for standing up to Apple for so long. Ah well, as Apple squashes one clone maker, two more pop up in its place.

Maybe RussianMac is thinking that Apple’s legal team will not notice as they’re too busy with the suing Psystar. Oh, perhaps, the Mac clone maker thinks that they are legally immune being located in the wild west that is Mother Russia. Whatever the case, a full range of Mac clones, including a pro and notebook models, are now available from another maker. Interestingly enough, RussianMac may have beat Psystar to a Mac Netbook.

The MiniBook looks a lot like an EEE PC 901 and comes with the same specs of an Atom CPU, 10-inch screen and the rest. Except it runs OS X right from RussianMac. That my friends, is an OS X netbook. It’s too bad that the company ships only within Russia.

RussianMac (translated) via OSnews