Can't get beyond Mojave 14.0 on unsupported MBP 4,1

[mikew67]

Gentle folks:
Have been a regular user of the work of DOSDUDE1 and others in support of running current versions of macOS on older unsupported Macs, specifically on my MacBook Pro 4,1 (early 2008). Have upgraded my macOS version through Sierra --> High Sierra --> Mojave 14.0, the last shortly after its release using the then current macOS Mojave Patcher. All wonderful.

But I've had a devil of a time getting beyond 14.0 to any of the higher 14.x versions. Need to get to 14.4 so I can run the Xcode beta released last week at WWDC (with lots of cool stuff for iOS, SwiftUI, in particular.)

1. Wondered why I wasn't getting notices of 14.1,... updates. Aha, my SSD is partitioned with HFS Extended, not APFS. Engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the OS to convert to APFS, finally succeeding, but still not able to do an upgrade. All of this ground to a halt when I discovered: Time Machine restores are unsupported on my hardware for APFS images. When I attempted to restore an image, TM refused, saying it didn't support restores of APFS backups to my unsupported hardware. Did the backups just fine; just wouldn't do a restore. Had to go back to a pre-APFS conversion backup to restore my SSD. So it looks like the Patcher team needs to develop patches for TM, as well as the OS in order for pre-APFS EFI machines to be supported.
2. OK, went back to HFS Extended on my SSD. Maybe I just need to live with the more complicated 14.x upgrade process and the new Xcode beta doesn't care about APFS, just the macOS version. (BTW, I was doing an upgrade-the-system-in-place install, rather than a clean-disk-install.) However, another round of hand-to-hand combat ensued. With repeated attempts, could never do a 14.5 install. Now, even the Patched Installer for 14.5 won't boot. Everything works OK until its booting, get the white-background grey-Apple-logo screen with the progress bar, which fills the first half relatively fast and then more and more slowly. And when it gets to 100%, nothing. Just hangs. Thought I might be skimping on partition size for the installer; increased it to 16GB; no change.
3. Tried to search in the forum here to see if others encountered the same issue. Was unsuccessful in finding my specific issue. Hence this posting.

Any advice on how I can proceed?

1. Do I need to do a clean-disk install? (Am I hanging on a bad, old kext in my system. Have seen kext issues on my system before -- from random device installs for embedded system development.)
2. Do I need to go incrementally through the dot installs, 14.0 --> 14.1 -->...?
3. Any other suggestions? I'm at a standstill.

TIA,

Mike

 

[TimothyR734]

would check to see if this method will work Alternative Installation:
More advanced users may consider using @0403979's macOS Patcher Tool, which is a command line-based tool that provides the same hardware support as @dosdude1's Mojave Patcher Tool, while also adding support for MacBook4,1 systems. To install Mojave using this patch, just follow the instructions on the guide found here.

 

[0403979]

would check to see if this method will work Alternative Installation:
More advanced users may consider using @0403979's macOS Patcher Tool, which is a command line-based tool that provides the same hardware support as @dosdude1's Mojave Patcher Tool, while also adding support for MacBook4,1 systems. To install Mojave using this patch, just follow the instructions on the guide found here.

In relation to this: Download the 10.14.4 combo update, download macOS Patcher, run macOS Patcher and go through the options to patch the 10.14.4 combo update package, install the combo update package on your Mac.

 

[mikew67]

would check to see if this method will work Alternative Installation:
More advanced users may consider using @0403979's macOS Patcher Tool, which is a command line-based tool that provides the same hardware support as @dosdude1's Mojave Patcher Tool, while also adding support for MacBook4,1 systems. To install Mojave using this patch, just follow the instructions on the guide found here.

TimothyR734,
Thanks for the quick reply and suggestion. Tried out 0403979's script tool with a Mojave 10.14.5 image (downloaded with dosdude1's GUI app, Tool/Download... menu item). The script reported a couple errors:

sudo ./macOS\ Patcher.sh
...
> Patching installer package.
cp: /Volumes/Patched macOS Installer/System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg: No such file or directory
Could not open package for expansion: /Volumes/Patched macOS Installer/tmp/OSInstall.mpkg
sed: /Volumes/Patched macOS Installer/tmp/OSInstall/Distribution: No such file or directory
sed: /Volumes/Patched macOS Installer/tmp/OSInstall/Distribution: No such file or directory
sed: /Volumes/Patched macOS Installer/tmp/OSInstall/Distribution: No such file or directory
+ Patched installer package.
...
> Repairing permissions.
chown: /Volumes/Patched macOS Installer/System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg: Not a directory
+ Repaired permissions.
+ Removed temporary files.
/ Thank you for using macOS Patcher.​

And the resulting image wouldn't boot, reporting a related error: (see attached image)

Will try Julian's suggestion posted below.

Mike

 

[0403979]

TimothyR734,
Thanks for the quick reply and suggestion. Tried out 0403979's script tool with a Mojave 10.14.5 image (downloaded with dosdude1's GUI app, Tool/Download... menu item). The script reported a couple errors:

sudo ./macOS\ Patcher.sh
...
> Patching installer package.
cp: /Volumes/Patched macOS Installer/System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg: No such file or directory
Could not open package for expansion: /Volumes/Patched macOS Installer/tmp/OSInstall.mpkg
sed: /Volumes/Patched macOS Installer/tmp/OSInstall/Distribution: No such file or directory
sed: /Volumes/Patched macOS Installer/tmp/OSInstall/Distribution: No such file or directory
sed: /Volumes/Patched macOS Installer/tmp/OSInstall/Distribution: No such file or directory
+ Patched installer package.
...
> Repairing permissions.
chown: /Volumes/Patched macOS Installer/System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg: Not a directory
+ Repaired permissions.
+ Removed temporary files.
/ Thank you for using macOS Patcher.​

And the resulting image wouldn't boot, reporting a related error: (see attached image)

Will try Julian's suggestion posted below.

Mike

Weird how that part would mess up. I wonder if any of the other packages are missing. Check the /System/Installation/Packages folder on your installer drive.

 

[mikew67]

Thanks, Julian, for the suggestions and followup. However, applying your patcher to 10.14.4 combo update appears to fail. Here's the log. What now?
Thanks,
Mike

MacBook-Pro-2:macos-patcher-master mwirth$ sudo ./macOS\ Patcher.sh

Password:

+ Checked system environment.

+ Root permissions check passed.

+ Resources check passed.

/ What operation would you like to run?

/ Input an operation number.

/ 1 - Patch installer

/ 2 - Patch update

/ 2

/ What update would you like to use?

/ Input an update path.

/ ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4.pkg

> Expanding update package.

+ Expanded update package.

> Patching update package.

sed: ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution: No such file or directory

sed: ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution: No such file or directory

sed: ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution: No such file or directory

sed: ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution: No such file or directory

+ Patched update package.

> Preparing update package.

+ Prepared update package.

+ Removed temporary files.

/ Thank you for using macOS Patcher.​

[doublepost=1560702820][/doublepost]

Weird how that part would mess up. I wonder if any of the other packages are missing. Check the /System/Installation/Packages folder on your installer drive.

In reply to your question, the /System/Installation/Packages folder was 0 bytes, i.e., empty. Wonder why???

Mike

 

[0403979]

Thanks, Julian, for the suggestions and followup. However, applying your patcher to 10.14.4 combo update appears to fail. Here's the log. What now?
Thanks,
Mike

MacBook-Pro-2:macos-patcher-master mwirth$ sudo ./macOS\ Patcher.sh

Password:

+ Checked system environment.

+ Root permissions check passed.

+ Resources check passed.

/ What operation would you like to run?

/ Input an operation number.

/ 1 - Patch installer

/ 2 - Patch update

/ 2

/ What update would you like to use?

/ Input an update path.

/ ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4.pkg

> Expanding update package.

+ Expanded update package.

> Patching update package.

sed: ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution: No such file or directory

sed: ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution: No such file or directory

sed: ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution: No such file or directory

sed: ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution: No such file or directory

+ Patched update package.

> Preparing update package.

+ Prepared update package.

+ Removed temporary files.

/ Thank you for using macOS Patcher.​

[doublepost=1560702820][/doublepost]

In reply to your question, the /System/Installation/Packages folder was 0 bytes, i.e., empty. Wonder why???

Mike

Did you run the patcher from Mojave when you patched the package?

 

[mikew67]

Did you run the patcher from Mojave when you patched the package?

Yes, indeed. 10.14.0. If it makes any difference, on an HFS Extended SSD.
[doublepost=1560706692][/doublepost]Just downloaded Pacifist to examine the contents of the combined installer pkg. Noted that "Distribution" was indeed present -- in the Resource fork.

 

[0403979]

Yes, indeed. 10.14.0. If it makes any difference, on an HFS Extended SSD.
[doublepost=1560706692][/doublepost]Just downloaded Pacifist to examine the contents of the combined installer pkg. Noted that "Distribution" was indeed present -- in the Resource fork.

Maybe run the script with -v and send me the output.

 

[mikew67]

Maybe run the script with -v and send me the output.

Here you go:

MacBook-Pro-2:macos-patcher-master mwirth$ date

Sun Jun 16 10:41:33 PDT 2019

MacBook-Pro-2:macos-patcher-master mwirth$ sudo ./macOS\ Patcher.sh -v

Password:

+ [[ -v == *\-\m\o\d\e\r\n\-\p\r\e\l\i\n\k\e\d\k\e\r\n\e\l* ]]

+ Path_Variables

+ script_path='./macOS Patcher.sh'

+ directory_path=.

+ resources_path=./resources

+ Check_Environment

+ echo '\033[38;5;113m> Checking system environment.\033[0m'

> Checking system environment.

+ '[' -d '/Install *.app' ']'

+ '[' '!' -d '/Install *.app' ']'

+ environment=system

+ Checked system environment.

+ Check_Root

+ echo '\033[38;5;113m> Checking for root permissions.\033[0m'

> Checking for root permissions.

+ [[ system == \i\n\s\t\a\l\l\e\r ]]

++ whoami

+ [[ root == \r\o\o\t ]]

+ [[ system == \s\y\s\t\e\m ]]

+ root_check=passed

+ Root permissions check passed.

++ whoami

+ [[ ! root == \r\o\o\t ]]

+ Check_Resources

+ echo '\033[38;5;113m> Checking for resources.\033[0m'

> Checking for resources.

+ [[ -d ./resources ]]

+ resources_check=passed

+ Resources check passed.

+ [[ ! -d ./resources ]]

+ [[ -d ./resources/prelinkedkernel-modern ]]

+ Input_Operation

+ echo '\033[38;5;75m/ What operation would you like to run?\033[0m'

/ What operation would you like to run?

+ echo '\033[38;5;75m/ Input an operation number.\033[0m'

/ Input an operation number.

+ echo '\033[38;5;75m/ 1 - Patch installer\033[0m'

/ 1 - Patch installer

+ echo '\033[38;5;75m/ 2 - Patch update\033[0m'

/ 2 - Patch update

+ Input_On

+ stty echo

+ read -e -p '/ ' operation

/ 2

+ Input_Off

+ stty -echo

+ [[ 2 == \1 ]]

+ [[ 2 == \2 ]]

+ Input_Package

+ echo '\033[38;5;75m/ What update would you like to use?\033[0m'

/ What update would you like to use?

+ echo '\033[38;5;75m/ Input an update path.\033[0m'

/ Input an update path.

+ Input_On

+ stty echo

+ read -e -p '/ ' package_path

/ ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4.pkg

+ Input_Off

+ stty -echo

+ package_folder='~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4'

+ Patch_Package

+ echo '\033[38;5;113m> Expanding update package.\033[0m'

> Expanding update package.

+ pkgutil --expand '~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4.pkg' '~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4'

Could not open package for expansion: ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4.pkg

+ Expanded update package.

+ echo '\033[38;5;113m> Patching update package.\033[0m'

> Patching update package.

+ sed -i '' 's|<pkg-ref id="com\.apple\.pkg\.FirmwareUpdate" auth="Root" packageIdentifier="com\.apple\.pkg\.FirmwareUpdate">#FirmwareUpdate\.pkg<\/pkg-ref>||' '~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution'

sed: ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution: No such file or directory

+ sed -i '' 's/my.target.filesystem &amp;&amp; my.target.filesystem.type == '\''hfs'\''/1 == 0/' '~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution'

sed: ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution: No such file or directory

+ sed -i '' 's/cpuFeatures\[i\] == "VMM"/1 == 1/' '~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution'

sed: ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution: No such file or directory

+ sed -i '' 's/nonSupportedModels.indexOf(currentModel)&gt;= 0/1 == 0/' '~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution'

sed: ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution: No such file or directory

+ sed -i '' 's/boardIds.indexOf(boardId)== -1/1 == 0/' '~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution'

sed: ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4/Distribution: No such file or directory

+ Patched update package.

+ echo '\033[38;5;113m> Preparing update package.\033[0m'

> Preparing update package.

+ pkgutil --flatten '~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4' '~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4.pkg'

Could not open package for creation: ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4.pkg

+ Prepared update package.

+ echo '\033[38;5;113m> Removing temporary files.\033[0m'

> Removing temporary files.

+ Output_Off rm -R '~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4'

+ [[ 1 == \1 ]]

+ rm -R '~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4'

rm: ~/Downloads/macOSUpdCombo10.14.4: No such file or directory

+ Removed temporary files.

+ End

+ [[ 2 == \1 ]]

+ echo '\033[38;5;75m/ Thank you for using macOS Patcher.\033[0m'

/ Thank you for using macOS Patcher.

+ Input_On

+ stty echo

+ exit

MacBook-Pro-2:macos-patcher-master mwirth$ date

Sun Jun 16 10:42:46 PDT 2019

MacBook-Pro-2:macos-patcher-master mwirth$

[doublepost=1560707376][/doublepost]Julian,

BTW, I've run into problems running apps, etc., from .dmg images, so I also tried copying the pkg to the SSD and using it there. Same story (in fact, that's the transcript I sent you).

 

[0403979]

Here you go:

[doublepost=1560707376][/doublepost]Julian,

BTW, I've run into problems running apps, etc., from .dmg images, so I also tried copying the pkg to the SSD and using it there. Same story (in fact, that's the transcript I sent you).

Oh, I see the issue. You can't use the tilda (this thing ~) in the script. The full path must be used since it's running as root.

 

[mikew67]

Thanks. Will correct and retry. Stay tuned.

 

[mikew67]

Thanks. Will correct and retry. Stay tuned.

Well, partial success.

1. Your package update script now ran without error.
2. Used the patched combo update PKG to update my system from 14.0 to 14.4. It ran and reported success.
3. But the resulting system won't boot! Stuck in a repeated restart loop. Progress bar in gray screen with Apple logo gets to about 70%, pops up multi- language error msg and restarts.

What now?

 

[0403979]

Well, partial success.

1. Your package update script now ran without error.
2. Used the patched combo update PKG to update my system from 14.0 to 14.4. It ran and reported success.
3. But the resulting system won't boot! Stuck in a repeated restart loop. Progress bar in gray screen with Apple logo gets to about 70%, pops up multi- language error msg and restarts.

What now?

You have to patch it with the patcher usb stick.

 

[mikew67]

Well, partial success.

1. Your package update script now ran without error.
2. Used the patched combo update PKG to update my system from 14.0 to 14.4. It ran and reported success.
3. But the resulting system won't boot! Stuck in a repeated restart loop. Progress bar in gray screen with Apple logo gets to about 70%, pops up multi- language error msg and restarts.

What now?

You have to patch it with the patcher usb stick.

Oops! Pilot error gets me again. Sigh... Forgot to do the post-install patch. Sorry.
[doublepost=1560714140][/doublepost]OK, ran post-install patch (from a patched installer USB stick created with a 14.0 image). Now my SSD reboot gets further -- to 100% on the gray screen progress bar, by the hand there.

Next???

PS: thanks again for you diligent help here.

 

[mikew67]

Oops! Pilot error gets me again. Sigh... Forgot to do the post-install patch. Sorry.
[doublepost=1560714140][/doublepost]OK, ran post-install patch (from a patched installer USB stick created with a 14.0 image). Now my SSD reboot gets further -- to 100% on the gray screen progress bar, by the hand there.

Next???

PS: thanks again for you diligent help here.

That should be: "but hangs there"

 

[mikew67]

That should be: "but hangs there"

OK, Julian, et al,

What can I do now to diagnose and correct the boot hang at the 100% progress bar full on light-background boot screen? Is there a boot log or console log entries that I can look at?

TIA,

Mike

 

[0403979]

OK, Julian, et al,

What can I do now to diagnose and correct the boot hang at the 100% progress bar full on light-background boot screen? Is there a boot log or console log entries that I can look at?

TIA,

Mike

Use the latest version of the patcher and create a new usb.

 

[mikew67]

Use the latest version of the patcher and create a new usb.

Well, did that in one sense.

• Added an external HD, 750GB, APFS, on USB.
• Did a clean install of Mojave 14.0 on it and ran the post install patch (using the flash drive that installed my current running SSD system).
• Downloaded latest versions of your patcher and Mojave 14.5 combo update.
• Patched combo update .PKG file with your patcher, option 2.
• Ran combo update installation against system on external HD. Completed normally.
• Rebooted from 14.0 installer stick and ran post install patcher
• Rebooted from HD (which says it's now 14.5 in the Startup Disk selector panel).
• Boot scrolls through command line section, white screen with Apple logo starts, progress bar fills up to 100%, and... NOTHING. HUNG AT THIS POINT.

Only thing can do at this point is download the full system installer for 14.5 and install that vs. go the upgrade route. Right? Should I use 14.4 vs. 24.5?

Thanks again,

Mike

 

[mikew67]

Juiian, et al,

Did a "clean" build of the Mojave 14.5 patched installer:

• Verified that I had the latest version of your script (have a cloned repo from your GitHub master; did a pull to verify that there were no updates).
• I ran your script against the 14.5.02 version of Install macOS Mojave.app, which I had downloaded directly from the Apple site. (More on this below!)
• I used the -v option with your Install Patcher (option 1), which ran to completion, but emitted the following curious output:

...
Checksumming EFI System Partition (C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B : 4)…
...
EFI System Partition (C12A7328-F81F-: verified CRC32 $B54B659C
Checksumming disk image (Apple_HFS : 5)…
................................................................................................................
disk image (Apple_HFS : 5): checksum failed with error 5.
.........................................................................................................................................
calculated CRC32 $E04CC91A, expected CRC32 $4CED6C46
hdiutil: attach failed - Input/output error
+ echo '\033[38;5;113m> Checking installer structure.\033[0m'
...

• I then booted from the generated Patched Installer on a 64GB thumb drive and the boot failed with the following error message: <first attached file>
• The full verbose output from your script is contained in the second attachment.

• I went poking around in the Contents of the Install macOS Mojave.app file, specifically to see if I could find the missing OSInstall.mpkg file. The InstallESD.dmg file looked promising -- it's large. But when I attempted to open it, I got:
• 
• So it seems likely that I have a damaged Install macOS Mojave.app file. Agreed?

Here's what I'll do next -- unless you advise otherwise:

1. Download a new Install macOS Mojave.app file, probably the 14.4 version this time, and see if that works differently.
2. See if I can find the official checksums for these Apple files. Surprised that they're not openly listed along with the download (or does Apple expect most Mac users to not know what to do with them, and there are "enough" internal checks in the installer app?)
3. Have you ever seen this problem before? (I'm currently on a "slow" 15mbps connection. The download takes hours and is subject to interruptions!)

Any advice appreciated,

Mike
[doublepost=1560830679][/doublepost]

Juiian, et al,

Did a "clean" build of the Mojave 14.5 patched installer:

• Verified that I had the latest version of your script (have a cloned repo from your GitHub master; did a pull to verify that there were no updates).
• I ran your script against the 14.5.02 version of Install macOS Mojave.app, which I had downloaded directly from the Apple site. (More on this below!)
• I used the -v option with your Install Patcher (option 1), which ran to completion, but emitted the following curious output:

• I then booted from the generated Patched Installer on a 64GB thumb drive and the boot failed with the following error message: <first attached file>
• The full verbose output from your script is contained in the second attachment.

• I went poking around in the Contents of the Install macOS Mojave.app file, specifically to see if I could find the missing OSInstall.mpkg file. The InstallESD.dmg file looked promising -- it's large. But when I attempted to open it, I got:
• 
• So it seems likely that I have a damaged Install macOS Mojave.app file. Agreed?

Here's what I'll do next -- unless you advise otherwise:

1. Download a new Install macOS Mojave.app file, probably the 14.4 version this time, and see if that works differently.
2. See if I can find the official checksums for these Apple files. Surprised that they're not openly listed along with the download (or does Apple expect most Mac users to not know what to do with them, and there are "enough" internal checks in the installer app?)
3. Have you ever seen this problem before? (I'm currently on a "slow" 15mbps connection. The download takes hours and is subject to interruptions!)

Any advice appreciated,

Mike

Ah... and where might I find the full installer file for Mojave 14.4 now?

 

[mikew67]

Julian, et al,

Did a full "clean" build of a Patched Installer last night:

• Did a "download" of the latest (10.14.5) Apple Installer using DOSDUDE1's MacOS Mojave Patcher app (which I note, doesn't download the Apple Installer directly, but does it in pieces and constructs the Installer).
• Ran the MacOS Mojave Patcher app (since I was in it already) to produce a Patched Installer on a 64GB thumb drive.
• Rebooted from the thumb drive ==>
  • Took forever (like watching paint dry) to finish the progress bar on the light gray boot screen.
  • When it reached 100%, hung there.

Only thing left for me to try is to use your patcher script instead of DOSDUDE1's app. Should I expect a different result?

Any other suggestions?

TIA,

Mike

 

[mikew67]

OK, problem resolved. My bad; pilot error again. In spite of my best efforts(?!), I was using an obsolete version of DOSDUDE1's app to download the Mojave 10.14.5 installer. Once I got that straightened out and did the 5-hour download of the stock installer, and the following steps, I was able to install a bootable 10.14.5 on an external HD. Having verified that, did an in-place install on my SSD. Happy camper.

Thanks to Julian, etc., for all your help and forbearance with me as I worked through this tedious process. And a major thanks to you for making it possible to keep this old MBP alive

Mike

***ISSUE CLOSED***