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[Guide] Installing 10.9 Mavericks on older Macs. -HackerWayne

Mjsais said:
can I reuse my current smbios.plist and org.chameleon.boot.plist files?
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Yes, you can. In addition, contrary to the advice you've received from another forum member, you do NOT need to change the GraphicsEnabler key in org.chameleon.Boot.plist. "Yes" is fine, at least for a Mac Pro 1,1 with an ATI Radeon HD 5770. It's fine both for running the installer partition and Mavericks itself.

EDIT: By the way, you DON'T have to change the ID of your default partition even for launching the Mavericks install partition. It's always better to leave the full name of the OS X partition (which means the volume from which it runs, such as "Macintosh HD"). So, don't write anything like "Installer" in org. chameleon.Boot.plist. Simply "Macintosh HD", "Mavericks", "Tom" or whatever (without the quotation marks). When you need to launch the installer, simply hit any key (such as Option) when Chameleon has started booting; you'll be presented a menu. Choose "Installer" (or whatever you named your Mavericks installer partition). When it does its thing, the computer will automatically boot, guess what, to the newly installed Mavericks volume. And that's all there is to it.
 
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The Installer starts and then I hit a snag. Here is the log file that pops up. Any thoughts?
 

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PeterHolbrook said:
One more thing: If you want Messages to work, you need to look for "FileNVRAM.dylib" and place it in /Extra/modules in your Chameleon boot partition ("BOOT"). You also need to create a file named "nvram.uuid.plist" with relevant information that you can get booting into Snow Leopard or Lion, and then placing that file in /Extra of your Chameleon partition ("BOOT"). That should be all.
Click to expand...

If you use the Chameleon Wizard there is a Modules tab and it will download and install the FileNVRAM.dylib for you. No need to go searching the interwebs for it.
 
PeterHolbrook said:
Yes, you can. In addition, contrary to the advice you've received from another forum member, you do NOT need to change the GraphicsEnabler key in org.chameleon.Boot.plist. "Yes" is fine, at least for a Mac Pro 1,1 with an ATI Radeon HD 5770. It's fine both for running the installer partition and Mavericks itself.

EDIT: By the way, you DON'T have to change the ID of your default partition even for launching the Mavericks install partition. It's always better to leave the full name of the OS X partition (which means the volume from which it runs, such as "Macintosh HD"). So, don't write anything like "Installer" in org. chameleon.Boot.plist. Simply "Macintosh HD", "Mavericks", "Tom" or whatever (without the quotation marks). When you need to launch the installer, simply hit any key (such as Option) when Chameleon has started booting; you'll be presented a menu. Choose "Installer" (or whatever you named your Mavericks installer partition). When it does its thing, the computer will automatically boot, guess what, to the newly installed Mavericks volume. And that's all there is to it.
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What does setting the Graphics Enabler do?
 
PeterHolbrook said:
According to some, copying mach_kernel to the root of the Maverichs installer partition (i.e., "Installer") isn't necessary, but I tend not to believe such claims.
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So, competent people, who have installed Mavericks without doing so, and reported back that this step is no longer necessary are lying? Otherwise, what evidence do you have for this baseless belief? Didn't you just say this to someone else?:

So, no matter what you may have seen or failed to see, you completely misunderstand what you see. Once again, stop spreading absurd information, and don't give advice about what you so blatantly are ignorant of.
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Thoughtsponge said:
What does setting the Graphics Enabler do?
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GraphicsEnabler makes it so some graphics cards work. Mainly those that are plain non flashed PC cards. For example I have a MSi GTX 570 with GraphicsEnabler set to "No" I get a kernel panic during the boot of Mavericks. With it set to "Yes" everything works just fine.
 
Peter and others,
Thanks for the help. I'll keep you all inform once I give it a try.
Regards
 
Hennesie2000 said:
GraphicsEnabler makes it so some graphics cards work. Mainly those that are plain non flashed PC cards. For example I have a MSi GTX 570 with GraphicsEnabler set to "No" I get a kernel panic during the boot of Mavericks. With it set to "Yes" everything works just fine.
Click to expand...

That might explain why my monitor seems to go into sleep mode after the Apple logo appears.
 
Hennesie2000 said:
You have a very similar card to mine... not having that enabled is most likely the reason.
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Crap... Now I need to figure out how to get back to a point where I can edit the file. I don't suppose it's possible from the bootloader?

Update: Looks like I can actually add it from the bootloader screen. Giving it a shot now...

Update 2: That worked! I'm now running Mavericks on my Mac Pro! My hat is off to all of you guinea pigs that came before me.

I'm curious, will I have to do anything extra when system updates are released or am I good to go?
 
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Thoughtsponge said:
Crap... Now I need to figure out how to get back to a point where I can edit the file. I don't suppose it's possible from the bootloader?

Update: Looks like I can actually add it from the bootloader screen. Giving it a shot now...

Update 2: That worked! I'm now running Mavericks on my Mac Pro! My hat is off to all of you guinea pigs that came before me.

I'm curious, will I have to do anything extra when system updates are released or am I good to go?
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You might need to setup your SMBios to mimic a Mac Pro 3,1 for the updates. Will have to wait an see when 10.9.1 comes out.
 
Thoughtsponge said:
I'm curious, will I have to do anything extra when system updates are released or am I good to go?
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I think it's very much a "wait and see" situation at the moment. If you decide to install updates immediately they're available, I'd strongly recommend backing up your installation with a tool like Carbon Copy Cloner, unless it's been widely reported that the updates are safe. I don't forsee there being any serious problems, but you can never be sure.
 
Hennesie2000 said:
You might need to setup your SMBios to mimic a Mac Pro 3,1 for the updates. Will have to wait an see when 10.9.1 comes out.
Click to expand...

One last thing and I'll be golden. What is the command line needed to force recognition of my 3ghz Xeons? Right now they are being recognized as Core 2 Duos.
 
Thoughtsponge said:
One last thing and I'll be golden. What is the command line needed to force recognition of my 3ghz Xeons? Right now they are being recognized as Core 2 Duos.
Click to expand...

Modify your SMBios.plist and add the following:

Code: 
	<key>SMcputype</key>
	<string>1281</string>
	 <key>SMmaximalclock</key>
	 <string>3000</string>

From what I've read it's mainly cosmetic but opening ATM and seeing Core 2 Duo listed annoyed me.
 
Peter, I updated chameleon and that's working. I'm now preparing my installer partition, but I can't find the mach_kernel in order to copy it to the installer partition.
 
Mjsais said:
Peter, I updated chameleon and that's working. I'm now preparing my installer partition, but I can't find the mach_kernel in order to copy it to the installer partition.
Click to expand...

Are you using batmanofzurenarh's guide? If so, download the bundled package he has listed under the 'WHAT DO I NEED?' section.
 
That was it, I was looking in the wrong place. Now, would I encounter problems if I do an upgrade to my ML and not a clean install in a new volume?
 
Mjsais said:
That was it, I was looking in the wrong place. Now, would I encounter problems if I do an upgrade to my ML and not a clean install in a new volume?
Click to expand...

Some users have reported success while others counsel installing from scratch so as not to bring any cruft over from ML. The choice is entirely up to you my friend. Read the guide fully and then go from there.
 
I'm taking a break for tonight. The installer partition is ready, but I'm to tired tonight to deal with potential problems. Thanks to all for your help, I'll keep you posted.
 
Snowshiro said:
So, competent people, who have installed Mavericks without doing so, and reported back that this step is no longer necessary are lying? Otherwise, what evidence do you have for this baseless belief? Didn't you just say this to someone else?:
Click to expand...

Guess what? I've never had any trouble installing ML or Mavericks on Mac Pro 1,1. I don't care if alleged experts are lying or not. As I said, I don't like surprises. I know how to install Mavericks on a Mac Pro 1,1, and I don't need the advice of alleged experts, lying or not. Do you have a problem with that?

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Mjsais said:
Peter, I updated chameleon and that's working. I'm now preparing my installer partition, but I can't find the mach_kernel in order to copy it to the installer partition.
Click to expand...

All the relevant information is in Jabbawok's blog. Look for the chain "mach_kernel" and you'll see where inquirers found it. You'll need a recent version of Pacifist to extract it and copy it to "Installers".
 
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RV-ABZ said:
Indeed! Too many people here kept hoping (dreaming?) an elusive MVPF would keep their old legacy Mac up there but sooner or later you have to wake up… As far as MacPros 1,1 are concerned, the 64bit Chameleon boot solution is far better than the MLPF/MVPF method which is somehow bugged and limited in the sense that it cannot support some functionalities (iMessage, FaceTime, etc.).

MLPF was great in the sense that it extended ML to 32bit Macs, but MVPF is hardly worth the effort knowing that it'll only be of use to those iMacs and MacBooks based on the ATI X1600. Not a lot of models, but there you are, owners of such systems will be pleased I guess.

Now that Wayne has published his update, owners of GMA950 and X3100 systems will finally put to rest their recurring questions about Mavericks.
Click to expand...

He said that GMA950 won't be supported but X3100 is working with bugs.
He, maybe can make the X3100, that a lot of people have, to work properly or not.
 
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