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APFS ROM Patcher

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The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.

Which unsupported Mac have you successfully patched the ROM to add native APFS support?

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    25
reukiodo

reukiodo

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 22, 2013
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Since @dosdude1 released the APFS ROM Patcher utility, has anyone used it to successfully enable APFS in their unsupported Mac's ROM? Has anyone been adventurous enough to try and fail? I've searched and searched and it is hard to find success and fail stories and I hope there could be a central thread for everyone to find more information about this.

This is a wikipost, so feel free to edit to to be more user-friendly.
 
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I would love to try this - but only with on a Mac system that was in line to be recycled.

Playing with the ROM is like playing with petrol and matches...
 
Hi!
I just upgraded the cpu in an old 2007 iMac (7.1) and updated the os to Catalina using dosdude1’s patcher.
I already used this rom patch with my Mac Pro 3,1 and wondered if I could do the same with this machine. This machine is being used by my sister daily so I can’t brick it. That’s why I wanted to ask here before I try anything. I checked and the chipset is intel.
Thanks in advance!
 
You need to make a backup of the rom (in case something goes wrong) and if there are multiple possible chips visually identify which chip is in your Mac. If you don’t have the programmer hardware to flash the old rom back if something goes wrong then don’t risk it on a machine you can’t afford to break.
 
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mdgm said:
You need to make a backup of the rom (in case something goes wrong) and if there are multiple possible chips visually identify which chip is in your Mac. If you don’t have the programmer hardware to flash the old rom back if something goes wrong then don’t risk it on a machine you can’t afford to break.
Click to expand...
Just downloaded the APFS ROM patch from Dosdude1 website, but it needs a password to open it
do you know what the password is.
 
mdgm said:
You need to make a backup of the rom (in case something goes wrong) and if there are multiple possible chips visually identify which chip is in your Mac. If you don’t have the programmer hardware to flash the old rom back if something goes wrong then don’t risk it on a machine you can’t afford to break.
Click to expand...

Do you have any reference with steps on how to make a backup of the ROM, along with steps on how to restore in case something does go wrong?

My cMP3,1 shows Intel chipset for my internal drive bays, but I'm using an OWC Accelsior S PCI card/SSD drive for my boot drive which shows up under "Generic AHCI Controller", so I'm reluctant to try the ROM Patcher.

Mac_Pro_chipset-2.png


I haven't had any luck with Mojave Patcher's APFS patch (tried it twice), but I always end up with the "boot file not found, exiting..." startup error. I had to reformat my boot drive back to HFS+ and restore from Time Machine. I did this twice 🤦‍♂️

So I'm thinking my only other option is to try the APFS ROM Patcher, otherwise maybe I'll just stick with HFS+

One thing I haven't seen documented clearly is the order of steps required to go from HFS+ to APFS on a cMP3,1. For example, I'm assuming I'd need to run the APFS ROM Patcher tool first, BEFORE I convert my boot drive from HFS+ to APFS, otherwise I wouldn't be able to boot and run the APFS ROM patcher. Is this a correct assumption?

I might be crazy enough to try this conversion one more time (third time's the charm?), and I'd be more willing to try it if there were clearer steps documented along with a way to reverse (backing up the ROM, restoring the ROM, etc).

Again my boot drive was recently restored to HFS+ and is running Mojave (via Mojave Patcher). If I were to try the APFS ROM Patcher, what would be the correct order of steps to follow? Something like the following?

  1. Back up current boot ROM using xxxxxxx (is there a tool that does this?)
  2. Download and run dosdude1's APFS ROM Patcher
  3. Assuming the computer boots up and isn't bricked, boot back into the Mojave Patcher USB drive
  4. Open Disk Utility and unmount the boot drive "Macintosh HD"
  5. With "Macintosh HD" selected, from the edit menu in Disk Utility select "Convert to APFS"
  6. Reboot and things should magically work? Or do I need to manually create a Preboot apfs partition?
If the APFS ROM Patcher winds up bricking my cMP3,1, how then do I restore the backed up ROM?

Thanks in advance!
 
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brian.tully said:
Do you have any reference with steps on how to make a backup of the ROM, along with steps on how to restore in case something does go wrong?

My cMP3,1 shows Intel chipset for my internal drive bays, but I'm using an OWC Accelsior S PCI card/SSD drive for my boot drive which shows up under "Generic AHCI Controller", so I'm reluctant to try the ROM Patcher.
Click to expand...
You only have to worry about the chipset that is inside your computer, it won't mess with the firmware of your pci card.
brian.tully said:
I haven't had any luck with Mojave Patcher's APFS patch (tried it twice), but I always end up with the "boot file not found, exiting..." startup error. I had to reformat my boot drive back to HFS+ and restore from Time Machine. I did this twice 🤦‍♂️

So I'm thinking my only other option is to try the APFS ROM Patcher, otherwise maybe I'll just stick with HFS+

One thing I haven't seen documented clearly is the order of steps required to go from HFS+ to APFS on a cMP3,1. For example, I'm assuming I'd need to run the APFS ROM Patcher tool first, BEFORE I convert my boot drive from HFS+ to APFS, otherwise I wouldn't be able to boot and run the APFS ROM patcher. Is this a correct assumption?
Click to expand...
Run the rom patch like described in this video:
And then just convert your volume and it should be recognized in the boot manager and will just boot right up.
I also recommend you remove the apfs patch (the one installed with the mojave patcher) from your efi partition, because you won't be needing this anymore and it will just make booting slower.
brian.tully said:
I might be crazy enough to try this conversion one more time (third time's the charm?), and I'd be more willing to try it if there were clearer steps documented along with a way to reverse (backing up the ROM, restoring the ROM, etc).

Again my boot drive was recently restored to HFS+ and is running Mojave (via Mojave Patcher). If I were to try the APFS ROM Patcher, what would be the correct order of steps to follow? Something like the following?

  1. Back up current boot ROM using xxxxxxx (is there a tool that does this?)
Click to expand...
The rom patcher automatically backs up the rom to the main directory of the boot drive. I recommend you copy this in some other place just in case. (external hard drive for example or a usb drive)
brian.tully said:
  1. Download and run dosdude1's APFS ROM Patcher
  2. Assuming the computer boots up and isn't bricked, boot back into the Mojave Patcher USB drive
  3. Open Disk Utility and unmount the boot drive "Macintosh HD"
  4. With "Macintosh HD" selected, from the edit menu in Disk Utility select "Convert to APFS"
  5. Reboot and things should magically work? Or do I need to manually create a Preboot apfs partition?
Click to expand...
It will just magically work, thanks to dosdude1's (and others) amazing work.

If the rom patch completes succesfully, your mac now natively supports apfs, so you don't need any more patches or anything.
If you ever wan't to upgrade to catalina (or another os) you have to select the "disable apfs booter" option in the menu bar when creating the install usb.
 
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Thanks a bunch @Rob1n - I really appreciate it. Besides all the APFS workarounds, I finally came to the conclusion that my maxed out cMP3,1 just isn't cutting it with some CPU-hungry virtual instruments I'm using. So I've decided to invest in a souped up Mac Pro 5,1 that will tide me over for a couple of years or until I can afford an M1 based Mac Pro. I just need to find one on eBay that checks all the right boxes and doesn't require a second mortgage ;)
 
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brian.tully said:
Thanks a bunch @Rob1n - I really appreciate it. Besides all the APFS workarounds, I finally came to the conclusion that my maxed out cMP3,1 just isn't cutting it with some CPU-hungry virtual instruments I'm using. So I've decided to invest in a souped up Mac Pro 5,1 that will tide me over for a couple of years or until I can afford an M1 based Mac Pro. I just need to find one on eBay that checks all the right boxes and doesn't require a second mortgage ;)
Click to expand...
I use a 3,1 too. I am gonna patch it rn..
 
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reukiodo said:
What is the technical reason nVidia chipsets can't support APFS?
Click to expand...
Who said that? They do support APFS(look no further than MacBook6,1 and MacBook/MacBookPro7,1.
APFS ROM patcher has issues with nVidia chipsets because they have multiple definitions. Intel chipsets I suppose more cut and dry.
 
avz said:
Who said that? They do support APFS(look no further than MacBook6,1 and MacBook/MacBookPro7,1.
APFS ROM patcher has issues with nVidia chipsets because they have multiple definitions. Intel chipsets I suppose more cut and dry.
Click to expand...
I suppose I should rephrase and ask if there is any progress on getting APFS into nVidia 9400M or 320M based Macs?
 
reukiodo said:
I suppose I should rephrase and ask if there is any progress on getting APFS into nVidia 9400M or 320M based Macs?
Click to expand...
As I said some 9400M and all 320M Macs do support APFS natively.

As far as the APFS Patcher goes there will never be any progress: it works as it is but it comes with a certain risk.
Perhaps my personal experience will help: I have two logic boards(MacBook5,1) 2GHz and 2.4GHz, I successfully patched the 2GHz board, the 2.4GHz board came up with multiple ROM definitions and I decided against patching it to avoid problems(I am using it with HFS+ /Mojave 10.14.3).
 
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Do the ROMtool and APFS patcher working differently?
What I did on my imac 24" early 2009:
- Format the SSD to APFS on another machine
- Put it back in the iMac early 2009
- Install Catalina from the USB instaler created by Dosdude1 patcher.

The machine has been working smoothly since last year, but booting is a little slow, with some verboses displayed at the begining.

When I cloned the OS to another SSD, and booted on my iMac 27" late 2009 (which support APFS natively), the verboses disappeared and the booting was faster, even though I booted from external USB enclosure.
 
reukiodo said:
What is the technical reason nVidia chipsets can't support APFS?
Click to expand...
The Macs in question were made well in advance to the advent of APFS. The patcher makes a guess at which chip is to be patched. Opening the Mac and reading the EEPROM p/n is the only way to make certain of the selection. I managed to brick a Mini3,1 wih this tool. OCLP v.0.1.5 circumvents the patcher and APFS patches in general.
 
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I tried to install the APFS ROM PATCHER on my iMac 9.1 (nvidia), when I came back, restart gave the famous 9 beeps, I sent it to technical assistance to do the reflash, catalina was working fine, I regretted it, and I don't even know if they will succeed tidy up, I've been afflicted since last Wednesday!
 
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