macOS boot.efi developer's thread

[Pike R. Alpha]

Thanks @clawfinger. This is 2015 so we ought to have automated nightly builds. And now it's here. Better late than never

Warning: Apple seeded OS X 10.11.2 (Beta) and that will overwrite boot.efi

 

[clawfinger]

Edit: Should we start a new thread for boot.efi v3.1 (much of the older versions where broken)?

I think this might be a good idea. Along those lines, I have a 'createLegacyInstaller' script ready to go along with step-by-step instructions on how to do a clean install including what to look for in Installer Log to ensure everything went smoothly. If someone would like to try them first, just let me know and I can PM them as I'd rather not post them here until I get the go-ahead.

The only thing that has had me holding back from publishing these sooner is an issue with getting the system to boot after the installation completes:

With my friends mac, even with alternative bootable system, usb and recovery drives, the system refused to boot from anything but the new system drive that it blessed with -setboot at the end of the install (which is couldn't because of the 64-bit bootloaders). Even removing the new System Drive did not remedy the situation.

At that point we had no chime, no fan ramp, just evidence that it was receiving power. I got worried that maybe there was an SMC update for the Mac Pro 3,1 included with 10.11.1. We tried PRAM zap, SMC reset, even pulling the CMOS battery. To be honest, we're really not sure what finally got it booting again.

Edit: Okay, I talked to my friend. He recalls that the core issue was that the bootable Yosemite drive he had in there had somehow lost it's bootability during the install and we hadn't yet tried booting from USB. Once we did everything was fine. Also, the chime was muted by the installation (OSInstaller[000]: Boot chime muted).

 

[PeterHolbrook]

I had no intention of stealing your thunder regarding the builds, but when I realized you guys were having to do this via a VM within OS X, I figured there had to be a better way.

Well, no thunder stolen in reality. It's not as if I won't get paid anymore. Having the commits semiautomatically compiled is convenient for everyone, particularly me.

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

I keep getting/reading reports of people with broken thumb drives after using createinstallmedia. Myself included. I somehow burned six flash drives. The program (createinstallmedia) ran and finished without any notable errors, and some of the flash drives worked for some time, but after a while... POOF. They won't even get recognised anymore. The LED on the flash drives is off and stays off. Thanks Apple.

Edit: Speaking about getting paid. I need to go work on others projects. Projects that generate cash for my new hardware, because this project doesn't appear to be attractive enough for people to donate – can't even purchase a cheap SSD from the donations – so I have no other option, but I promise to come back when my new storage has arrived (no room left to even upgrade OS X).

 

[PeterHolbrook]

I keep getting/reading reports of people with broken thumb drives after using createinstallmedia. Myself included. I somehow burned six flash drives. The program (createinstallmedia) ran and finished without any notable errors, and some of the flash drives worked for some time, but after a while... POOF. They won't even get recognised anymore. The LED on the flash drives is off and stays off. Thanks Apple.

The "legacy" installer has always worked for me, and it remains indefinitely usable after installation. As a matter of fact, now that we are in El Capitan, the installer Terminal (at least with version 2.0 of your boot.efi) has ALL THE RIGHTS and you can alter anything on the live El Capitan disk/partition even with SIP on. That is far more convenient than having to go to the Recovery HD, disabling SIP, doing whatever needs to be done from the live El Capitan disk, going to the Recovery HD again, enabling SIP and then booting into El Capitan once more. The way I've done it a couple of times just requires booting to the "legacy" Installer, doing whatever needs to be done from its Terminal and rebooting into the live El Capitan disk. Done.

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

I also like the idea of having a spare partition with the El Capitan installer on it. USB thumb drives, as fast as they are today, are nowhere near the speed of SSD's. And yeah. SIP is great and what now, but having to reboot to get your stuff done sucks.

I know of a hack to change the SIP settings from the command line, but that would also open a backdoor for malware and trojans, and thus we better not publishing how that is done.

 

[PeterHolbrook]

Pike, I've just rebooted my Mac Pro 1,1 using version 3.1 of boot.efi, which works fine on the legacy Installer, the Recovery HD and the live El Capitan disk. The only thing significant I can report is that the App Store won't start downloading a copy of El Capitan. There's a perpetual spinning wheel indicating it's downloading, but it isn't. As I've mentioned a couple of times, this might be due to the fact that my Installer was created staring with the installer app downloaded on one of my sons' supported Mac, so this might involve a clash in Apple IDs.

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

Pike, I've just rebooted my Mac Pro 1,1 using version 3.1 of boot.efi, which works fine on the legacy Installer, the Recovery HD and the live El Capitan disk. The only thing significant I can report is that the App Store won't start downloading a copy of El Capitan. There's a perpetual spinning wheel indicating it's downloading, but it isn't. As I've mentioned a couple of times, this might be due to the fact that my Installer was created staring with the installer app downloaded on one of my sons' supported Mac, so this might involve a clash in Apple IDs.

Do you have another account on your computer? If not, add one and see if that allows you download it from the App Store.

 

[PeterHolbrook]

Do you have another account on your computer? If not, add one and see if that allows you download it from the App Store.

OK. I'll try that this evening.

Edit: I was able to log into an alternative account much earlier than I thought. Same thing. In this case, it asked for my AppleID and password. I entered them and the wheel began spinning. After five minutes, nothing had started downloading, so I logged out of that account.

 

[readyfordustoff]

OK. I'll try that this evening.

Edit: I was able to log into an alternative account much earlier than I thought. Same thing. In this case, it asked for my AppleID and password. I entered them and the wheel began spinning. After five minutes, nothing had started downloading, so I logged out of that account.

I installed what I believe to be v3.1 of the boot.efi (grey screen) last night. No problems to report. This is the version downloaded from the http://piker-alpha.github.io/macosxbootloader/ site. There is no version number assigned to the file so I am presuming that this is the latest release available.

Attempting to download the the El Capitan installer from the App Store caused the same behavior as you reported... spinning indicator in upper left corner of window but no download activity status.

I quit the App Store application, then unmounted two of my mounted hard disk drives with known copies of El Capitan installers stored on them. I then re-launched the App Store application. I then was successful to begin the download process... download status bar appears in "Purchased" tab of App Store.

I hope this helps.

 

[PeterHolbrook]

I quit the App Store application, then unmounted two of my mounted hard disk drives with known copies of El Capitan installers stored on them. I then re-launched the App Store application. I then was successful to begin the download process... download status bar appears in "Purchased" tab of App Store.

I hope this helps.

Thanks. One or two weeks ago, someone reported something similar to what you are saying. In my case, my "legacy" Installer occupies an 8GB partition of one of the internal disks of my Mac Pro. I have just unmounted it, as I did back then. Same behaviour, i.e., perpetual spinning wheel and no download.

 

[splifingate]

Thanks. One or two weeks ago, someone reported something similar to what you are saying. In my case, my "legacy" Installer occupies an 8GB partition of one of the internal disks of my Mac Pro. I have just unmounted it, as I did back then. Same behaviour, i.e., perpetual spinning wheel and no download.

Finally got-around to trying to get the download to work, and I was (finally) successful.

[this is in Yosemite ver. 10.10.5 (14F1021) with latest commit]

I did a search through 'This Mac' via Finder for "Install OS X El Capitan.app", and un-mounted every partition that had a copy (there were seven). and

Went to the App Store > Purchased, and the 'DOWNLOAD' bttn was dark, and active.

Selection of said bttn started the download, and (25 minutes later), the Install OS X El Capitan dialogue appeared, and the 'Install OS X El Capitan.app' now resides in /Applications, and the 'DOWNLOAD' bttn is shaded, and inactive.

Deletion of the .app from /Applications darkens--and enables--the 'DOWNLOAD' bttn in App Store

Whew…I've un-mounted/deleted every link to the installer.app's many-a-time…it's been two years since I've had a successful outcome (always had to use a VM to get the latest).

Good Stuff, Pike.

I still have yet to try this in the latest El Cap install...

[edit]

Yup; works in 10.11.1, also.

[/edit]

 

[splifingate]

I keep getting/reading reports of people with broken thumb drives after using createinstallmedia. Myself included. I somehow burned six flash drives. The program (createinstallmedia) ran and finished without any notable errors, and some of the flash drives worked for some time, but after a while... POOF. They won't even get recognised anymore. The LED on the flash drives is off and stays off. Thanks Apple.

Edit: Speaking about getting paid. I need to go work on others projects. Projects that generate cash for my new hardware, because this project doesn't appear to be attractive enough for people to donate – can't even purchase a cheap SSD from the donations – so I have no other option, but I promise to come back when my new storage has arrived (no room left to even upgrade OS X).

Given the choice, what SSD would you buy?

btw, thank you for your effort, time and work on all these things--I appreciate it.

Regards, splifingate

 

[PeterHolbrook]

[this is in Yosemite ver. 10.10.5 (14F1021) with latest commit]

Do you suppose that its being the latest commit influenced the result? Do you think version 3.1 would have worked the same for you?

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

Given the choice, what SSD would you buy?

btw, thank you for your effort, time and work on all these things--I appreciate it.

Regards, splifingate

Thanks. I would love to own one of these:

But I will probably end up getting a normal Samsung Pro SSD instead.

 

[splifingate]

Do you suppose that its being the latest commit influenced the result? Do you think version 3.1 would have worked the same for you?

Lost clarity on writing that last one . . .

Should have wrote "commit 2961e70e", which is effectively the latest (only whitespace changes, since, afaict).

I'm sure things would have probably worked with builds prior, at least when the fake board-id was properly set.

I can test an earlier build, later.

btw, have a look @ /private/var/log/commerce.log to see the transactions as they've happened (MAS leaves lots of breadcrumbs <s>)

 

[PeterHolbrook]

btw, have a look @ /private/var/log/commerce.log to see the transactions as they've happened (MAS leaves lots of breadcrumbs <s>)

Thank you very much! That was really interesting. One of the entries in previous days is as follows:

Oct 20 11:18:31 MacPro storeassetd[365]: SoftwareMap: Preferring (on boot volume) app version /Users/PJH/Desktop/Programs/OS X Installers/Install OS X El Capitan.app at 1.7.28 over version /Volumes/Install OS X El Capitan/Install OS X El Capitan.app at 1.7.28

As you can see, it appears OS X keeps track (via Spotlight?) of where viable installers are located. In my case, the culprit seems to be in /Users/PJH/Desktop/Programs/OS X Installers/, which I didn't suppose the App Store would search in.

Seeing that, I've just renamed the relevant file and unmounted my installer and tried again, but it didn't work. Some of the generated entries on the log are as follows:


Oct 29 12:17:56 MacPro storedownloadd[777]: Installation check returns non-fatal error Error Domain=PKDistributionError Code=103 "OS X v10.11.1 is already installed on this computer. Use the Updates page to install the 10.11 update or if you would like to download the full OS X installer click Continue." UserInfo={NSLocalizedRecoveryOptions=(

Ignore

), message=OS X v10.11.1 is already installed on this computer. Use the Updates page to install the 10.11 update or if you would like to download the full OS X installer click Continue., type=Warn, NSLocalizedDescription=OS X v10.11.1 is already installed on this computer. Use the Updates page to install the 10.11 update or if you would like to download the full OS X installer click Continue.}

Oct 29 12:17:56 MacPro storedownloadd[777]: PKDistributionController: Performing disk space check with 2877254975488 bytes available on disk, 0 bytes alreay downloaded and 6492599296 required bytes (installSize=6986752 + fileSize=6171039744 + paddedSize=314572800)

Oct 29 12:17:56 MacPro storedownloadd[777]: CheckPreflightOperation: verified preflight success=1, error=Error Domain=PKDistributionError Code=103 "OS X v10.11.1 is already installed on this computer. Use the Updates page to install the 10.11 update or if you would like to download the full OS X installer click Continue." UserInfo={NSLocalizedRecoveryOptions=(

Ignore

), message=OS X v10.11.1 is already installed on this computer. Use the Updates page to install the 10.11 update or if you would like to download the full OS X installer click Continue., type=Warn, NSLocalizedDescription=OS X v10.11.1 is already installed on this computer. Use the Updates page to install the 10.11 update or if you would like to download the full OS X installer click Continue.}, distController=<PKDistributionController: 0x7fdf4954d9f0>

Oct 29 12:17:56 MacPro storedownloadd[777]: CheckPreflightOperation: Error found checking preflight - Error Domain=PKDistributionError Code=103 "OS X v10.11.1 is already installed on this computer. Use the Updates page to install the 10.11 update or if you would like to download the full OS X installer click Continue." UserInfo={NSLocalizedRecoveryOptions=(

Ignore

), message=OS X v10.11.1 is already installed on this computer. Use the Updates page to install the 10.11 update or if you would like to download the full OS X installer click Continue., type=Warn, NSLocalizedDescription=OS X v10.11.1 is already installed on this computer. Use the Updates page to install the 10.11 update or if you would like to download the full OS X installer click Continue.}

Et cetera

It would appear than when I tell it to go ahead and download anyway, the generated entries begin with


Oct 29 12:17:58 MacPro com.apple.WebKit.WebContent[5839]: FRJSInterface: Page requested a buy

Oct 29 12:17:58 MacPro com.apple.WebKit.WebContent[5839]: FRJSInterface: Forming purchase object of type software

Oct 29 12:17:58 MacPro com.apple.WebKit.WebContent[5839]: FRJSInterface: JS called buy for updates, handling as app updates via CKUpdateController for purchases (

"<SSPurchase: 0x7fa447874fe0 - itemIdentifier=1018109117, buyParams=productType=C&price=0&salableAdamId=1018109117&pricingParameters=SWUPD&appExtVrsId=813895899&origPage=Software-ES-Apple-OS%20X%20El%20Capitan-1018109117&origPageCh=Software%20Pages&origPageLocation=Buy&origPage2=Genre-ES-Desktop%20Applications-29562&origPageCh2=Desktop%20Apps-main, isUpdate=YES, accountIdentifier=1092836708, purchaseType=2>"

) that mapped to updates (

)

These blank entries, however, look suspicious to me:


Oct 29 12:17:58 MacPro storeassetd[446]: UpdateOperation: osUpdatedToInstallNow returned qualified updates: (

)

Oct 29 12:17:58 MacPro storeassetd[446]: UpdateOperation: appUpdatesToStageOrInstallNow returned qualified updates: (

)

Oct 29 12:17:58 MacPro storeassetd[446]: UpdateOperation: Starting app update purchases for (

)

Oct 29 12:17:58 MacPro storeassetd[446]: UpdateOperation: App updates to be installed/staged is (

)

Oct 29 12:17:58 MacPro com.apple.CommerceKit.TransactionService[671]: SSPurchase: purchasesGroupedByAccountIdentifierWithPurchases is returning

Oct 29 12:17:58 MacPro storeassetd[446]: UpdateOperation: Starting app update downloads for (

)

Oct 29 12:17:58 MacPro storeassetd[446]: UpdateOperation: There are no app updates that can be downloaded and/or installed at this time


Oct 29 12:17:58 MacPro storeassetd[446]: UpdateController: _availableUpdatesDidChange removing all updates available notifications because the badge count is 0

Oct 29 12:17:58 MacPro storeassetd[446]: UpdateOperation: Message tracing com.apple.MacAppStore.autoupdate.operation_run - {

"app_updates_available" = "";

"app_updates_available_count" = 0;

"app_updates_to_install" = "";

"app_updates_to_install_count" = 0;

"app_updates_to_install_later" = "";

"app_updates_to_install_later_count" = 0;

"darkwake_thermal_emergency_count" = 0;

"elapsed_time" = 0;

"is_time_to_autoupdate_and_notify" = no;

"is_time_to_stage" = no;

"now_is_later" = no;

"os_updates_available" = "";

"os_updates_available_count" = 0;

"os_updates_to_install" = "";

"os_updates_to_install_count" = 0;

"os_updates_to_install_later" = "";

"os_updates_to_install_later_count" = 0;

"os_updates_to_install_on_restart" = "";

result = pass;

"user_initiated" = yes;

"will_restart" = no;

}

And, finally,


Oct 29 12:17:58 MacPro com.apple.WebKit.WebContent[5839]: CKUpdateController: AssetService startAppUpdates:andOSUpdates:withReplyBlock replied with success=1 error=(null)

Oct 29 12:17:58 MacPro storeassetd[446]: UpdateOperation: Released BackgroundTask power assertion (returned 0)

Any ideas?

 

[splifingate]

Thank you very much! That was really interesting. One of the entries in previous days is as follows:

Oct 20 11:18:31 MacPro storeassetd[365]: SoftwareMap: Preferring (on boot volume) app version /Users/PJH/Desktop/Programs/OS X Installers/Install OS X El Capitan.app at 1.7.28 over version /Volumes/Install OS X El Capitan/Install OS X El Capitan.app at 1.7.28

As you can see, it appears OS X keeps track (via Spotlight?) of where viable installers are located. In my case, the culprit seems to be in /Users/PJH/Desktop/Programs/OS X Installers/, which I didn't suppose the App Store would search in.

Seeing that, I've just renamed the relevant file and unmounted my installer and tried again, but it didn't work. Some of the generated entries on the log are as follows:

--8<------

Any ideas?

I would suggest backing/deleting, not renaming...OSX can see-through those things

Ither than that, a re-boot could help.

 

[PeterHolbrook]

I would suggest backing/deleting, not renaming...OSX can see-through those things

Bingo! Just deleting the offending app installer (in a remote folder, no less) did the trick. It's downloading on the very first attempt! Many thanks!

 

[splifingate]

Bingo! Just deleting the offending app installer (in a remote folder, no less) did the trick. It's downloading on the very first attempt! Many thanks!

Cool-beans, Peter!

Things get so seemingly-complicated, at times, for me, it is so, so easy to overlook the easiest solutions.

So, it would seem another, lingering mystery has seen the light of day (thanks for re-minding/re-motivating us, @readyfordustoff)....

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

Bingo! Just deleting the offending app installer (in a remote folder, no less) did the trick. It's downloading on the very first attempt! Many thanks!

This also means that the download button in the App Store was still greyed out. That is a give away for the next person

Good to hear that this issue is also resolved.

 

[PeterHolbrook]

This also means that the download button in the App Store was still greyed out. That is a give away for the next person

That might need some clarification. As far as I can see, there are two places in the App Store application where you can re-download El Capitan. The first one would be when you go to the "Featured" tab and you see "OS X El Capitan". There, it will let you press "Download", which is a button just as grey as any other application. The problem is that if you already have the installer application anywhere on your El Capitan live disk/partition, it won't download and it won't tell you anything. It will simply show a spinning wheel doing nothing. The second place where you can find a reference to your previously downloaded El Capitan is the "Purchased" tab. If you already have the installer app somewhere on your El Capitan disk, it will show a light grey button that says "Downloaded", and you won't be able to press it, unless you get rid of the previously downloaded installer app. In that case, the button will immediately (well, the App Store app might have to be restarted) change to a dark shade of grey that says "Download", and it will let you get the installer once again.

The spinning wheel business is clearly an issue that will mislead users. Apple should implement a message box telling the user, when he/she presses the Download button from the "Featured" tab, that there can't be a download of the installer app if an older one is stored anywhere on the live disk/partition.

Another confusing issue for me was due to the fact that, with one of the previous versions of you boot.efi (possibly version 2.0; I'm not sure), the App Store wanted me to provide the password of one of my sons' Apple ID, with which the first installer I had actually used for my custom El Capitan installation had been originally downloaded on his supported machine. When I tried the same operation with version 3.1, the App Store didn't ask for that unknown password.

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

That might need some clarification. As far as I can see, there are two places in the App Store application where you can re-download El Capitan. The first one would be when you go to the "Featured" tab and you see "OS X El Capitan". There, it will let you press "Download", which is a button just as grey as any other application. The problem is that if you already have the installer application anywhere on your El Capitan live disk/partition, it won't download and it won't tell you anything. It will simply show a spinning wheel doing nothing. The second place where you can find a reference to your previously downloaded El Capitan is the "Purchased" tab. If you already have the installer app somewhere on your El Capitan disk, it will show a light grey button that says "Downloaded", and you won't be able to press it, unless you get rid of the previously downloaded installer app. In that case, the button will immediately (well, the App Store app might have to be restarted) change to a dark shade of grey that says "Download", and it will let you get the installer once again.

The spinning wheel business is clearly an issue that will mislead users. Apple should implement a message box telling the user, when he/she presses the Download button from the "Featured" tab, that there can't be a download of the installer app if an older one is stored anywhere on the live disk/partition.

Another confusing issue for me was due to the fact that, with one of the previous versions of you boot.efi (possibly version 2.0; I'm not sure), the App Store wanted me to provide the password of one of my sons' Apple ID, with which the first installer I had actually used for my custom El Capitan installation had been originally downloaded on his supported machine. When I tried the same operation with version 3.1, the App Store didn't ask for that unknown password.

Yup. Sometimes something doesn't work the usual Apple way. Then it just won't work. And without telling you anything so I agree. Apple should fix this. Hey. Why don't you file a bug report... that is if it isn't already filed?

 

[javirnat]

Yup. Sometimes something doesn't work the usual Apple way. Then it just won't work. And without telling you anything so I agree. Apple should fix this. Hey. Why don't you file a bug report... that is if it isn't already filed?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I want say to Pike R.Alpha that now I have my Mac Pro 1.1 working perfectly like a charm thanks to your boot 3.1.
I put one of my ssd on a Macbook Air (USB connection ) and installed el Capitan and after that changed the 2 boot files ( "standalone and coresuervices ) and put it again in my old Mac and everything run perfectly with El Capitan 10.11.1 (after two days working on it).
All the persons in this forum are the BEST , THANK YOU again for your genial work .
To Pike R.Alpha : me gustaría saber si has recibido las 4 ó 5 veces que te he invitado a una copa, por que de no ser así no se a quien le pueden haber ido a parar ; ya que estaría muy contento de que te pudieras comprar ese magnifico disco que tanto anhelas. Por favor contéstame . Tal vez te pueda seguir ayudando.
Tu seguidor y amigo desde Valldemossa Mallorca (Baleares Spain ) Javier Bernat . me gustaría mucho poder escribirte por mail o poder darte el mío pero no se como pasártelo pues aquí a vista de todos no me atrevo ¿me puedes decir como podríamos hacerlo? muchas gracias por adelantado .
Sorry for my very bad english.

 

[PeterHolbrook]

@javirnat: Beware of "false (English) friends". The English adjective "genial" has nothing to do with the Spanish adjective "genial". Perhaps the best translation of Spanish "genial" would be the English adjective "brilliant". You could also use a roundabout expression, such as "a work of genius". I know these things because my wife is Spanish, just like Pike's. Take care.