A Failed Experience of Installing Hackintosh#
Recently, the WeChat Mini Program University Developer Competition has started again. I eagerly opened the WeChat Developer Tools that have been sitting idle in my computer for a long time. Since I didn't have a good idea at the moment, I continued to tinker with my blog mini program. I remembered a bug in the WeChat Developer Tools before, where an error occurred when generating a QR code for previewing the mini program on a phone after compiling it on a Mac, but this error didn't occur on Windows. After some investigation, I found a few lines of problematic code and resolved the issue.
I started working on adding comment moderation functionality to the mini program. After two busy days, I finally finished writing the functions and added Tencent Cloud Development Basics to my mini program. I also replaced the API for obtaining user information. The process was quite agonizing, but the sense of accomplishment after completion made me feel that the frustration of the past two days was worth it. The blog mini program update has been released and is ready for experience~
Getting back to the main topic, during the process of using Hackintosh, I found it more convenient. The optimization and aesthetics of Mac really appealed to me more than Windows. However, the screen of my laptop is too small, and in order to achieve better display effects, I scaled up the Hackintosh, which made coding quite cramped. So, I thought about buying a monitor. I looked through the BenQ monitor that I had been eyeing before. The price for a 1980*1080 resolution monitor was around 1000 yuan. Suddenly, I wanted to buy a 2k monitor. After searching around, I found the 2770qz that had been released for a long time, which was quite good. It had narrow bezels, intelligent dimming, and eye protection mode. Finally, I placed an order for one on a second-hand platform for 1500 yuan. It was a bit expensive, but the seller seemed relatively reliable. Fortunately, everything was normal after I bought it, and there were no issues.
At this point, a problem arose. My Hackintosh couldn't use the HDMI interface. I asked in a group and was told that I needed a type-c to HDMI adapter to connect an external monitor. Okay, so I spent money again to buy an adapter. While waiting for the adapter to arrive, I chatted in the group and found out that someone had already installed Big Sur (the latest 11th generation Mac system) and there was a ready-made EFI (the core boot file for Hackintosh) in the group. I was tempted, but little did I know that a frustrating experience was about to begin.
Since I had experience installing Hackintosh before, I easily made a USB installation disk and encountered mysterious problems during the installation process. In the end, I inexplicably lost the Windows boot as well :@(sweating). I couldn't find a method to fix the boot issue online, and I remembered encountering the same situation during my previous Hackintosh installation. Well, I guess I'll reinstall Windows like last time :@(frowning). But then, another problem arose.
I made a Windows installation USB using the official Windows tool, but when it came to selecting a disk during the installation process, it kept showing an error ("We couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing one"). There wasn't a clear solution online either (I have to complain again about those tutorials that randomly modify files). Using a micro PE didn't work either, and I, who had installed Windows dozens of times, started to doubt life.
Finally, I figured out the problem from a micro PE tutorial on Bilibili about installing Windows.
If you encounter an error message "We couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing one" after selecting a disk, it is because there is a conflict between the partitions of the auxiliary disk and the main disk. The solution is to delete all the partitions on the auxiliary disk, install the system, and then partition the auxiliary disk after entering the system. If you have data on the auxiliary disk and don't want to delete the partitions, then you can remove the auxiliary disk first and then install it without encountering the error.
I used the most effective method, which was to open the laptop, remove the two hard drives that were not used for installing Windows, and only keep the system drive. I entered the installation interface again, and everything went smoothly :@(thumbs up).
A Summary in the Comment Section:#
Regarding 4K alignment, if you use the partition tool provided by Microsoft, it will automatically align to 4K without needing any manual operation. When using the partition tool in PE, selecting alignment to the nearest multiple of this sector is 4K alignment. The values 2048 and 4096 are both 4K alignments, and it doesn't mean that 4096 is necessary.
When converting between MBR and GUID using the partition tool, if it prompts that a professional version is required, it means that there are partitions on your disk. To convert with the free version, you must delete all the partitions on the disk.
If you encounter an error message "We couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing one" after selecting a disk, it is because there is a conflict between the partitions of the auxiliary disk and the main disk. The solution is to delete all the partitions on the auxiliary disk, install the system, and then partition the auxiliary disk after entering the system. If you have data on the auxiliary disk and don't want to delete the partitions, then you can remove the auxiliary disk first and then install it without encountering the error.
Some people have also reported that after installing the system, they can only see one C drive. This may be due to a bug in the disk drive letter assignment. Open "My Computer", right-click "Manage", go to "Disk Management", delete all the drives after the D drive, and then create a new simple volume. Just click next without changing the capacity, and it will be displayed again.
If you encounter freezing, blue screen, errors, or can't enter PE, can't load the system, or the progress bar doesn't move during the installation process, first try remaking the PE and redownloading the installation package. If it still doesn't work, try changing the USB drive. Remember not to use low-quality USB drives that can't even be named properly. The installation process involves a lot of data changes, and a poor-quality USB drive cannot guarantee data integrity.
Several Q&A#
Why does the WeChat Mini Program compile without errors, but an error occurs when generating the preview QR code?#
Solution: Generally, this is caused by the wxss file's stylesheet code not being standardized. I have also identified a few lines of code that are normal but cause errors. This issue has been mentioned in the WeChat Developer Community. (mp://H8WTsreTFNnfFBE) Copy the link and open it in WeChat to see.
When installing Windows and selecting a disk, it prompts "We couldn't create a new partition or locate an existing one".#
Solution: If the partition format (GPT or MBR) of the corresponding hard drive is correct, it is most likely a mysterious interference between multiple hard drives in the computer. Try removing the hard drive that is not used for installing the system and try again. In general, the error should no longer occur.
How to convert a hard drive to the GPT (GUID) partition format?#
Solution: In micro PE, use Disk Guines to delete all partitions on the hard drive, save the changes, and then right-click the hard drive to convert the partition to the GPT format. Video demonstration
How to use the wx.getUserInfo() interface?#
Solution: Click here to go to the experience post on the Yanzhi Forum