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Tmonster

macrumors newbie
Dec 17, 2015
10
0
You mention both a PC and a cruddy Mac. Which one are you trying to install onto? (I'm guessing probably not the Mac since you say there is no HDD in it!).

These installers are typically formatted with Journaled HFS+ file systems, out of the box PC's with standard BIOS or EFI won't have HFS+ drivers and therefore won't recognise the disk as formatted. When you say "boot up my PC" did you mean PC or did you mean the Mac Pro? If you meant the PC then you need the Hackintosh forums, not this one. This forum is for owners of the first 2 generations of Intel-based Mac Pros (and some of the early Intel-based MacBooks), the common feature being that these models of Macs have 32-bit EFI implementations in firmware (later models switched to 64-bit EFI implementations in firmware. Apple is now only supporting the 64-bit EFI models with their OS releases).

Try looking for Chameleon and/or rEFIt/Clover if you are targeting a PC.

Sorry for my what i have now realised is a confusing post, here's what i did and what im trying to do.
Computers I Used for the setup

iMac to create pikafy
Mac Pro 1 1 as the target pc to install

I used your pikafy3.1 v5 zip and followed your great instructions :D (the rest where very confusing) to succesfuly create a usb drive. (I did this on my iMac)
I unplugged the usb drive and plugged it into my Mac Pro 1 1 (With one blank HDD, and the specs mentioned in my post before), powered it on, held down alt at the apropriate time, and got a black screen with "no boot device found."

And that is where I am currently stuck.
 

rthpjm

macrumors 6502a
Jan 31, 2011
720
309
U.K.
Sorry for my what i have now realised is a confusing post, here's what i did and what im trying to do.
Computers I Used for the setup

iMac to create pikafy
Mac Pro 1 1 as the target pc to install

I used your pikafy3.1 v5 zip and followed your great instructions :D (the rest where very confusing) to succesfuly create a usb drive. (I did this on my iMac)
I unplugged the usb drive and plugged it into my Mac Pro 1 1 (With one blank HDD, and the specs mentioned in my post before), powered it on, held down alt at the apropriate time, and got a black screen with "no boot device found."

And that is where I am currently stuck.

Is it a flash-drive or a HDD in an external case?
 

rthpjm

macrumors 6502a
Jan 31, 2011
720
309
U.K.
Flash Drive

If you still have access to your iMac, connect the USB flash drive to the iMac, and open the Disk Utility (from /Applications/Utilities). You should find the flash drive listed on the left side, select the flash drive (the one above the volume), you should see the Partition Map listed, is it "GUID partition Map"?

If it is, then I have some suggestions for you:
  1. Eject the flash drive from the iMac, re-attach to the Mac Pro, but this time use a different USB port, try again with the Mac Pro. If it still does not work
  2. Re-attach to the iMac, use the pikify3.1 createpikeinstallmedia command again, this time pay close attention to the terminal output as the script runs through. Ensure that no errors occur. Eject from the iMac, re-attach to the Mac Pro, try again. If that doesn't work
  3. Reboot the Mac Pro, as soon as you hear the chime press and hold Apple Alt P R (four keys) hold them until you hear a second chime. This will reset the Parameter RAM (PRAM). After the second chime if you are quick you could hold the Alt key to go into the boot picker...
 

Tmonster

macrumors newbie
Dec 17, 2015
10
0
Redoing install for pikify as #1 suggestion didnt work, is there a "Finished" thing at the end of the terminal, or is it just done?
Thanks for all the help.
 

rthpjm

macrumors 6502a
Jan 31, 2011
720
309
U.K.
Redoing install for pikify as #1 suggestion didnt work, is there a "Finished" thing at the end of the terminal, or is it just done?
Thanks for all the help.

To be honest, I did not include much error checking, it is possible for an error to occur and the script will continue to run until the end. It might "appear" to have completed successfully, but there may have been an error during creation.
 

Tmonster

macrumors newbie
Dec 17, 2015
10
0
To be honest, I did not include much error checking, it is possible for an error to occur and the script will continue to run until the end. It might "appear" to have completed successfully, but there may have been an error during creation.
I was wondering how i would know when it is done creating the usb installer, the first time i did it i took it out after terminal allowed me to type more commands, but will it say anything after Copying Installer Files To Disk......
 

rthpjm

macrumors 6502a
Jan 31, 2011
720
309
U.K.
Redoing install for pikify as #1 suggestion didnt work, is there a "Finished" thing at the end of the terminal, or is it just done?
Thanks for all the help.

Are you using the whole flash drive? (It is not partitioned?)
Did you confirm that the flash drive is formatted with GUID Partition scheme (GPT)?
 

Tmonster

macrumors newbie
Dec 17, 2015
10
0
Are you using the whole flash drive? (It is not partitioned?)
Did you confirm that the flash drive is formatted with GUID Partition scheme (GPT)?
The drive is partitioned like this-

Partition Name - Untitled
Format- Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Size- 30.67GB
Partition Map Scheme- GUID Partition Table
_________________________________________

32gb USB 3.0 Drive with one partition

Then I use the tool and get the same thing except the name changes to Install OS X El Capitan
 

rthpjm

macrumors 6502a
Jan 31, 2011
720
309
U.K.
I was wondering how i would know when it is done creating the usb installer, the first time i did it i took it out after terminal allowed me to type more commands, but will it say anything after Copying Installer Files To Disk......

Yes there is a lot more processing to do, and it will take a long time over USB to complete.

It sounds like you may have taken the flash drive out too early!

The last entry will clear the screen and print
######### DONE PIKIFYING ###########

You will also see the command prompt return.

Be patient!
 

Tmonster

macrumors newbie
Dec 17, 2015
10
0
Update-
I screwed up the drive the first time ( Oopsy ) turns out since my iMac is old and Slow it takes a while, just got to a new screen on terminal

Preparing Image Engine...
Etc Etc etc

Thanks for your help :D
Sorry for wasting your time.

Oh and you should add wait till
######### DONE PIKIFYING ###########
To your instructions if u have time.
 

rthpjm

macrumors 6502a
Jan 31, 2011
720
309
U.K.
Update-
I screwed up the drive the first time ( Oopsy ) turns out since my iMac is old and Slow it takes a while, just got to a new screen on terminal

Preparing Image Engine...
Etc Etc etc

Thanks for your help :D
Sorry for wasting your time.

No problem. I'm going to get some sleep. Post to let me know how you get on this time...
 

Tmonster

macrumors newbie
Dec 17, 2015
10
0
No problem. I'm going to get some sleep. Post to let me know how you get on this time...
Reset PRAM using ALT APPLE P AND R AND now i here the chimes :D thought the speaker was unplugged, but anyways i no longer get the error message, just a black screen, even with vga adapter. but i now here chimes yay. So now i just have a black screen.
 

djeeyore25

macrumors 6502
Dec 23, 2014
426
1,573
New York City
I just installed the latest El Capitan beta (10.11.3) on my Mac Pro 1,1 and didn't have to replace the boot files. This is the first time it hasn't had me do so, at least since Yosemite. I'm guessing this version is just a partial update.
 

wolf1734

macrumors regular
Nov 9, 2014
147
17
France
Hello rtmpjm

I come towards you because I does not how include to make the key usb of installation of El Capitan thus if I can have more detail I thank you for it
 

macguyincali

macrumors member
Jul 10, 2004
46
8
Some of the guys that were working with Pike split off into a new thread to concentrate on just the development and testing of Pike's frequent changes, "the developer thread". As these things go, the volunteers that were testing Pike's changes found that they needed to frequently wipe and re-install, me included, so I developed a bundle of scripts and items to ease the install of a new El Capitan. My innovation (if you want to call it that) was to find a way to patch the fresh install with Pike's efi files during the install. I called my bundle of scripts and items 'pikify3.1.zip'.

Since it is now well used and tested, I'll cross post here. The latest version pikify3.1.v5.zip will build install media with all the fixes in (but not including my Boot64 update protector, nor the equivalent pikeyosfix derivative CapitanPikeFix - see the next post). This version also excludes the boot.efi files from SIP-control (meaning SIP is running and protecting everything else, just not the boot.efi files).

So with pikify3.1 you will build an installer onto media, typically a USB memory stick, or a small disk partition.
You will then boot off the installer, to run the installation process. Once the installer finishes, you will have a working copy of El Capitan with no further need for changes. You can then choose to install the updated version of pikeyosfix now called CapitanPikeFix, or my Boot64 (both do pretty much the same thing), to allow you to run the Apple updates from either the App Store or from the DMG downloads.

READ ALL THE CAVEATS - memory, backup, fresh install, migration assistant, etc...

Use this if you have not yet installed El Capitan - this is the installer (starting point)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ORIGINAL POST WAS AT POST #807 of the 'boot.efi developer's thread'

============= Edit =====================

It appears that MacPro1,1 and 2,1 need a lot of memory to achieve a successful install by this method. Others have kindly tested with varying configurations of RAM. See the later posts in the developers thread and my post at #855

A minimum of 12GB seems to be required...

============ end edit ====================

Hi @Inspector42, I'm glad you were able to use my script. I like your rsync idea!

Here is a new script and accompanying files. This one is based around Apple's createinstallmedia script.

The unique feature of this script is that it builds an installer which will pre-patch the resulting El Capitan volume. What this means is that the installer can be run, and then the reboot will work without any further modification. You have a working installation of El Capitan directly from the installer.

Download the zip file.
Unzip it.
You should have a folder named pikify3.1 (possibly with the version number pikify3.1.v2 etc)
In that folder should be a number of files, the script is createpikeinstallmedia

Pre-requisites:
  • As per Peter's guide, you will need a volume that can be overwritten by the installer
    • This could be a USB memory stick
    • A small disk partition from one of your hard drives (not the disk that you intend to use for El Capitan)
      • You need to be able to boot from this volume
  • The installer volume needs to be at least 8GB
  • Your copy of 'Install OS X El Capitan.app' should be located in your /Applications folder
Usage:
  • Open a terminal window
  • Change directory to the pikify3.1 folder from the zip file
  • You need to run the script as the root user
    • sudo -s
    • [your password]
    • ./createpikeinstallmedia /Volumes/[InstallerVolumeName]
  • or
    • sudo ./createpikeinstallmedia /Volumes/[InstallerVolumeName]
    • [your password]
Once the script competes you should have an installer volume named 'Install OS X El Capitan'
  • Reboot your machine
  • Hold the ALT key down immediately after the startup chime to enter the boot chooser
  • Choose the Install OS X El Capitan volume
    • For those people with graphics cards that don't show the boot screens
      • Get to the boot chooser as above then press the right-arrow key once, followed by the return/enter key). If you have just your main disk and the installer volume this should work. If you have more than just those two, experiment pressing the arrow key more than once until you find the installer volume!
      • OR, consider getting hold of a DVI-vga adaptor. You should be able to find one of your DVI ports that will send out a VGA signal (to a VGA connected monitor) and show you the boot screen.
Your machine should boot into the Installer, run the installer
You may need to click the Reboot button at the end of the install (for some reason, the 10 second countdown doesn't seem to automatically start)

Your machine should reboot into the new El Capitan Installation and begin the OS X setup procedure.

I have only tested this script as a clean install onto an erased destination disk. I don't know if it will work for an upgrade. I have successfully updated a Yosemite clean install to El Capitan.
If you are upgrading I would suggest a clean install of El Capitan onto a spare disk, then use the Apple Migration Assistant to migrate your previous system and user files.
If you are brave and want to try an in-place upgrade, make sure you backup your current system first...

Detail:

I created an additional package (pikify.pkg) which handles the post-install modification of the boot.efi files on the destination volume. The script puts pikify.pkg into the InstallESD.dmg, along with OSInstall.collection.
OSInstall.collection overrides the default behaviour of the Installer Assistant, it calls the default OSInstall.mpkg and appends pikify.pkg to the install chain.

In effect I'm running the exact same installation as an unmodified Apple install with the addition of my pikify.pkg.

Because the default behaviour has been overridden, there are a few differences:
  • An unmodified Apple installer will open with the /System/Installation/CDIS/OS X Utilities.app
    • The modified installer goes straight into the Installer
  • An unmodified Apple installer will automatically reboot 10 seconds after the installation completes
    • The modified installer doesn't, you will have to click the Reboot button
I've included both versions (black and grey) of Pike's 3.1 boot.efi file. If you want to change the colour, overwrite the boot.efi file in the pikify3.1 folder with the coloured version of your choice. The zip file unpacks with the grey version in place.

Enjoy...

======================== UPDATE ================================

The original Apple BaseSystem.dmg appears to be missing a number of fonts. This causes the installer log file to fill up with thousands of unnecessary lines complaining about the missing fonts. I've updated the installer creation script to fix the missing fonts. It just makes the log file smaller and easier to read and follow.

See pikify3.1.v2.zip in the attachments...

==================== ANOTHER UPDATE =============================

I figured out how to set up El Capitan so that we can make it survive an Apple update. See my post at post #1391

I've modified the pikify3.1 set so that those changes are automatically applied.

I'll leave v2 here in case anyone is paranoid, and doesn't want the slight lowering of SIP's security blanket!

==================== Version 5 ===================================

V5 includes some mods to the SIP exclusion paths file

Hi... apologies in advance if I'm oblivious. First, thanks to Pike and whomever else took the time to figure this out. You guys are a credit to the mac community. So... I've followed the instructions above on my Mac Pro 2,1 with 24GB of memory and an ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics card. The Mac Pro was previously upgraded to Mavericks using SFOTT's installer. It works like a charm and has given the old machine a new lease on life.

After I create the installer disk (on a thumb drive), I try to reboot into that disk and it doesn't allow me to select it as a startup disk (either by pressing Option while starting up or by selecting it in preferences). In addition, I tried to run the Install El Capitan just to see what would happen and it said it wouldn't allow me to install on this computer (not compatible). Is there something I'm doing wrong?

Thanks in advance for any advice. I know there is something I'm not doing right, but can't figure it out.

macguyincali
 

hwojtek

macrumors 68020
Jan 26, 2008
2,274
1,277
Poznan, Poland
Has anyone else upgraded their processors?
Lots of people including myself.
Does it make much difference?
Astonishing. See this for example (top and second from bottom), I know it's just a benchmark, real-ife feeling is night & day different. Switched from dual-core 2 GHz 5130's to quad-core 2.66 GHz x5535's.
Do you need to upgrade the firmware?
Yes, if you want your new processors to be recognized correctly.
 
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macguyincali

macrumors member
Jul 10, 2004
46
8
Hi... apologies in advance if I'm oblivious. First, thanks to Pike and whomever else took the time to figure this out. You guys are a credit to the mac community. So... I've followed the instructions above on my Mac Pro 2,1 with 24GB of memory and an ATI Radeon HD 5870 graphics card. The Mac Pro was previously upgraded to Mavericks using SFOTT's installer. It works like a charm and has given the old machine a new lease on life.

After I create the installer disk (on a thumb drive), I try to reboot into that disk and it doesn't allow me to select it as a startup disk (either by pressing Option while starting up or by selecting it in preferences). In addition, I tried to run the Install El Capitan just to see what would happen and it said it wouldn't allow me to install on this computer (not compatible). Is there something I'm doing wrong?

Thanks in advance for any advice. I know there is something I'm not doing right, but can't figure it out.

macguyincali

Further research: I've looked at the Installer Disk that was generated and found that my Board-ID is included in the installablemachines.plist file. So my machine is "installable." Wonder what is happening.
 

rthpjm

macrumors 6502a
Jan 31, 2011
720
309
U.K.
@macguyincali and @Tmonster can you mount your installer thumb drive on a working Mac OS X system, open a Terminal and type:
Code:
sudo bless --info /Volumes/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan
[your password]

post back the FinderInfo[0] and FinderInfo[1]
 

macguyincali

macrumors member
Jul 10, 2004
46
8
Thanks for the response. Been pulling my hair out on this. The result was:

finderinfo[0]: 2 => Blessed System Folder is /Volumes/Install OS X El Capitan/
finderinfo[1]: 729 => Blessed System File is /Volumes/Install OS X El Capitan/.IABootFiles/boot.efi
 

rthpjm

macrumors 6502a
Jan 31, 2011
720
309
U.K.
Thanks for the response. Been pulling my hair out on this. The result was:

finderinfo[0]: 2 => Blessed System Folder is /Volumes/Install OS X El Capitan/
finderinfo[1]: 729 => Blessed System File is /Volumes/Install OS X El Capitan/.IABootFiles/boot.efi

Okay, in a terminal can you type:
Code:
ls -l /Volumes/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan/.IABootFiles/boot.efi

the switch is minus-lowercase-ell

Your bless info is a bit weird, it should read something more like
finderinfo[0]: 713 => Blessed System Folder is /Volumes/Install OS X El Capitan/.IABootFiles

finderinfo[1]: 731 => Blessed System File is /Volumes/Install OS X El Capitan/.IABootFiles/boot.efi


Your first line is missing the .IABootFiles, was that simply a copy-paste error?
 
Last edited:

macguyincali

macrumors member
Jul 10, 2004
46
8
Okay, in a terminal can you type:
Code:
ls -l /Volumes/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan/.IABootFiles/boot.efi

the switch is minus-lowercase-ell

Your bless info is a bit weird, it should read something more like
finderinfo[0]: 713 => Blessed System Folder is /Volumes/Install OS X El Capitan/.IABootFiles

finderinfo[1]: 731 => Blessed System File is /Volumes/Install OS X El Capitan/.IABootFiles/boot.efi


Your first line is missing the .IABootFiles, was that simply a copy-paste error?

I simply copy and pasted the result from terminal. So not sure what happened there. Looking back at my Terminal, I confirm that there is nothing beyond "...El Capitan/" in the first line.

I went ahead copied and pasted the code you shared above "ls -l... etc." and the result was as follows:

-rw-r--r--@ 3 username staff 314880 Dec 18 09:07 /Volumes/Install OS X El Capitan/.IABootFiles/boot.efi

Are we starting to unravel the mystery? I'm quite confused about it all.

Thanks again for your help.

-macguyincali
 

rthpjm

macrumors 6502a
Jan 31, 2011
720
309
U.K.
I simply copy and pasted the result from terminal. So not sure what happened there. Looking back at my Terminal, I confirm that there is nothing beyond "...El Capitan/" in the first line.

I went ahead copied and pasted the code you shared above "ls -l... etc." and the result was as follows:

-rw-r--r--@ 3 username staff 314880 Dec 18 09:07 /Volumes/Install OS X El Capitan/.IABootFiles/boot.efi

Are we starting to unravel the mystery? I'm quite confused about it all.

Thanks again for your help.

-macguyincali

Maybe, like I said it is a bit weird. It definitely does not do that on my system (I even ran the createpikeinstallmedia on my machine again to confirm!)

Okay the good news:
That boot.efi file looks to be correct (the grey Pike 3.1 file, simply from the file size 314880)

The bad news is the blessing of the USB thumb drive is messed up. Try this command:
Code:
sudo bless --folder /Volumes/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan/.IABootFiles --file /Volumes/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan/.IABootFiles/boot.efi
[your password]

Double check by running the bless --info command again. Confirm the folder is now set to
/Volumes/Install OS X El Capitan/.IABootFiles
And the file is set to
/Volumes/Install OS X El Capitan/.IABootFiles/boot.efi

Then reboot, hold down the Alt key after the chime.... cross your fingers!
 
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