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

[gio64]

I'm not sure if it is what you're looking for, but you can remove the Chameleon boot prompt message by adding:

<key>Quiet Boot</key>
<string>Yes</string>

to your org.chameleon.Boot.plist file (default setting is 'No')

Additionally, if you just wanted to make it shorter, you can do:

<key>Timeout</key>
<string>5</string>

(where '5' is the number of seconds - I've heard reports that the minimum is 1, and 0 doesn't work)

Hope this helps.

Thanks for this again. I'll have a look, but tomorrow. I agree, going silent would probably not be a good idea. I was just wondering if there was a way to recall it at startup or something. I'll give the themes a shot perhaps, but I need to rest on my success for the rest of the evening.

----------

I'm not sure if it is what you're looking for, but you can remove the Chameleon boot prompt message by adding:

<key>Quiet Boot</key>
<string>Yes</string>

to your org.chameleon.Boot.plist file (default setting is 'No')

Additionally, if you just wanted to make it shorter, you can do:

<key>Timeout</key>
<string>5</string>

(where '5' is the number of seconds - I've heard reports that the minimum is 1, and 0 doesn't work)

Hope this helps.

Thank you, I'll look into this tomorrow. Enough messing around for the day, lol..

 

[gpatpandp]

Those little idiosyncrasies indeed...

While little idiosyncrasies like that might be the difference...it really shouldn't matter. If I were to want to install and boot with Clover again, adding a partition within terminal works every time so I doubt it.

Low and behold...it did matter. Starting from "scratch" just as you suggested might be the difference does indeed make all the difference. Fact: Chameleon without doubt boots on a hfs+/GUID partition. Well done !

 

[Hennesie2000]

Low and behold...it did matter. Starting from "scratch" just as you suggested might be the difference does indeed make all the difference. Fact: Chameleon without doubt boots on a hfs+/GUID partition. Well done !

Thank you! I told you I wasn't crazy lol.

 

[tripmusic]

Sounds like your SMBios file is all mixed up. Either use the chameleon wizard to make one or google for the right values. That will correct everything in about this Mac. The apple logo boot screen may not be fixable if your card doesn't have the right VESA mode but you can try by adjusting the resolution settings in the org.chameleon.Boot.plist file.

Thanks. Yeah I played around with Chameleon Wizard a bit more... starting to see what it really does now. I fixed most of the above issues that I was having. It's now showing the correct machine in about me, but I still can't seem to change my gfx card model from 4800 to 4870. Any ideas? Also, some themes that I downloaded don't show up in the selectable themes list

 

[Hennesie2000]

Thanks. Yeah I played around with Chameleon Wizard a bit more... starting to see what it really does now. I fixed most of the above issues that I was having. It's now showing the correct machine in about me, but I still can't seem to change my gfx card model from 4800 to 4870. Any ideas? Also, some themes that I downloaded don't show up in the selectable themes list

Do you have GraphicsEnabler set to yes?

 

[tripmusic]

Do you have GraphicsEnabler set to yes?

I did have it set to yes and it was still showing 4800 last night. Then I think I unchecked it. Now I re-checked it and it shows 4870! Crazy. Thanks man for the help. Any idea about the missing themes?

 

[Hennesie2000]

I did have it set to yes and it was still showing 4800 last night. Then I think I unchecked it. Now I re-checked it and it shows 4870! Crazy. Thanks man for the help. Any idea about the missing themes?

The only themeing I have done is just using the Chameleon Wizard. Never had any problems with it. The Wizard downloads them and activates them.

 

[tripmusic]

The only themeing I have done is just using the Chameleon Wizard. Never had any problems with it. The Wizard downloads them and activates them.

Yeah that's what I used, but for some reason when I downloaded and installed certain themes, they wouldn't show up in the pop-up list when choosing one to apply. No worries... I'll dig around.

 

[wwanthony]

Boy….I really don't get it. I have tried everything and can't get it to work.

I was getting boot0 errors at one point and did the boot1h fix and have never been able to boot into chameleon since.

I discovered many hours ago, that chameleon would not install properly on a Raid0. So I went to a single 2TB install.

I am trying to do the supported MacBook Pro method (Hennesie2000). I tried a single partition (with cham installed in the same partition as Mavericks) and the double partition (cham in 2GB part, Mavericks with the rest) methods with no success.

Steps:

1. Partition 2TB HD on supported Macbook Pro = 2GB for Cham + rest for 10.8. Guid.
2. Install public version of 10.9 on 2TD HD.
3. Install HD into Mac Pro1,1: 2,1 ROM upgrade, 5355s, HD5770, 16RAM
4. Install Cham on 2GB partition, edit SMbios, org.chameleon.Boot.plist
5. Upgrade Cham via wizard
6. Bless Cham partition

Reboot. What I am doing wrong? I did make a mistake on bless the partition containing Mavericks.

EDIT: Not matter what I select in the Option Key menu….I end up in Lion. Five options appear in the menu:

1 Maverick install
2 Lion install
3 EFI Install
4 Maverick Recovery
5 Lion Recovery

 

[Treksdot]

Boy….I really don't get it. I have tried everything and can't get it to work.

I was getting boot0 errors at one point and did the boot1h fix and have never been able to boot into chameleon since.

I discovered many hours ago, that chameleon would not install properly on a Raid0. So I went to a single 2TB install.

I am trying to do the supported MacBook Pro method (Hennesie2000). I tried a single partition (with cham installed in the same partition as Mavericks) and the double partition (cham in 2GB part, Mavericks with the rest) methods with no success.

Steps:

1. Partition 2TB HD on supported Macbook Pro = 2GB for Cham + rest for 10.8. Guid.
2. Install public version of 10.9 on 2TD HD.
3. Install HD into Mac Pro1,1: 2,1 ROM upgrade, 5355s, HD5770, 16RAM
4. Install Cham on 2GB partition, edit SMbios, org.chameleon.Boot.plist
5. Upgrade Cham via wizard
6. Bless Cham partition

Reboot. What I am doing wrong? I did make a mistake on bless the partition containing Mavericks.

EDIT: Not matter what I select in the Option Key menu….I end up in Lion. Five options appear in the menu:

1 Maverick install
2 Lion install
3 EFI Install
4 Maverick Recovery
5 Lion Recovery

Check the Chameleon install log to see if it threw any errors during setup. (You'll find it in the same directory as boot/Extras.) Most likely it says something about the boot0 stage loader already being present. It's good practice to install Chameleon before anything else when working with a fresh drive. You can also set its partition size the minimum allowed by DU which is 1GB. Are you blessing the Cham partition from a pre-Mountain Lion OS?

 

[tripmusic]

Boy….I really don't get it. I have tried everything and can't get it to work.

I was getting boot0 errors at one point and did the boot1h fix and have never been able to boot into chameleon since.

I discovered many hours ago, that chameleon would not install properly on a Raid0. So I went to a single 2TB install.

I am trying to do the supported MacBook Pro method (Hennesie2000). I tried a single partition (with cham installed in the same partition as Mavericks) and the double partition (cham in 2GB part, Mavericks with the rest) methods with no success.

Steps:

1. Partition 2TB HD on supported Macbook Pro = 2GB for Cham + rest for 10.8. Guid.
2. Install public version of 10.9 on 2TD HD.
3. Install HD into Mac Pro1,1: 2,1 ROM upgrade, 5355s, HD5770, 16RAM
4. Install Cham on 2GB partition, edit SMbios, org.chameleon.Boot.plist
5. Upgrade Cham via wizard
6. Bless Cham partition

Reboot. What I am doing wrong? I did make a mistake on bless the partition containing Mavericks.

EDIT: Not matter what I select in the Option Key menu….I end up in Lion. Five options appear in the menu:

1 Maverick install
2 Lion install
3 EFI Install
4 Maverick Recovery
5 Lion Recovery

Maybe it's your sudo bless line? I initially tried Batman's line and it didn't work for me. I used MacEfiRom's bless line on the Netkas forum and it worked. I believe you do not need to copy the Mach-Kernel file over to the boot loader. Try messing with the default partition in the org.chameleon.plist. I think I set mine at 1,2

 

[wwanthony]

Check the Chameleon install log to see if it threw any errors during setup. (You'll find it in the same directory as boot/Extras.) Most likely it says something about the boot0 stage loader already being present. It's good practice to install Chameleon before anything else when working with a fresh drive. You can also set its partition size the minimum allowed by DU which is 1GB. Are you blessing the Cham partition from a pre-Mountain Lion OS?

Yea. I installed Cham in Lion 10.7.5. I could take the drive back to the supported MacPro where I installed Mavs if that will make a difference. Really nothing of note in the log.txt file related to boot:

Written boot0 to /dev/disk1.
Written boot1h to /dev/rdisk1s2.
Written boot to /Volumes/Cboot on /dev/disk1s2.

Thx for the reply.

 

[Treksdot]

Yea. I installed Cham in Lion 10.7.5. I could take the drive back to the supported MacPro where I installed Mavs if that will make a difference. Really nothing of note in the log.txt file related to boot:

Written boot0 to /dev/disk1.
Written boot1h to /dev/rdisk1s2.
Written boot to /Volumes/Cboot on /dev/disk1s2.

Thx for the reply.

Be mindful of the fact that Chameleon Wizard sometimes backs up and replaces your plist files when updating so if you edited them to suit your needs before hand, put them back. I noticed you listed EFI Install as an option at the boot selector screen, are you sure it wasn't EFI Boot? EFI Boot is the one you select to have Chameleon boot Mavericks. If you properly blessed your Chameleon install then this should load at boot automatically. Tell me the name of your Chameleon partition and I'll paste the bless command you should be using.

 

[wwanthony]

Working.....fast and smooth. It was one of two things:

1. I had a typo in the .plist file. I had Mqvericks instead of Mavericks for the OS partition.

2. I also redid the bless based on the comments above.

I think it was both were problems.

Thanks. This is great.

 

[Hennesie2000]

Just for reference here is what I do and it works every time. This is to install Mavericks on a clean HDD using only the Mac Pro. Do not hold option on reboot.

1. While booted in Lion partition the new hard drive with 3 partitions. 1GB, 8GB, and the remainder. You can name them what ever you want but whatever you name the 1GB might chage the terminal command in step 5.
2. Install Chameleon on the 1GB partition. I use v2.2 rev2247 or higher.
3. Place the extra folder into the root of the Chameleon partition. Make sure your SMBios file is setup for a 3,1 Mac Pro or newer. You can use the one from the bundle on batmans guide.
4. Follow the steps for creating a USB thumb drive Mavericks installer and put the installer on to the 8GB partition.
5. Bless the Chameleon partition:
sudo bless -folder /Volumes/Startup -file /Volumes/Startup/boot -setBoot -legacy
6. Reboot
7. At the chameleon boot menu choose the installer
8. Proceed with installing Mavericks onto the remaining partition.
9. Once the installer is finished reboot and choose the new Mavericks install at the Chameleon menu.
10. Continue setting up Mavericks.
11. Set the Mavericks partition to be the default partition in the org.chameleon.Boot.plist.

Enjoy!

 

[Oculos]

Working.....fast and smooth. It was one of two things:

1. I had a typo in the .plist file. I had Mqvericks instead of Mavericks for the OS partition.

2. I also redid the bless based on the comments above.

I think it was both were problems.

Thanks. This is great.

Your setup is very similar to mine, except that I had an MBR-partitioned HD.
Somehow, in my install, Chameleon will only boot from systems in the drive where it is installed. I can't get it to boot from Mavericks when it's installed in another 2TB HD. And I keep getting EBIOS read errors. Did you get them?

 

[Hennesie2000]

Your setup is very similar to mine, except that I had an MBR-partitioned HD.
Somehow, in my install, Chameleon will only boot from systems in the drive where it is installed. I can't get it to boot from Mavericks when it's installed in another 2TB HD. And I keep getting EBIOS read errors. Did you get them?

Follow the steps I posted right above your post. Do everything in that order.

 

[kylew01]

So close...

I now have it "kind of" working. It will boot OS X 10.9, but after the Apple logo goes away, the display turns off and it seems to hang.

If it boot in safe boot, the display will still go black, but I can use another computer and screen sharing/ARD to control the computer. I do have the plist file set to the proper resolution for the monitor. The graphics card is not the stock card--it was upgraded, but that was quite some time ago.

Any suggestions or things to check for?

Thanks!

 

[Hennesie2000]

I now have it "kind of" working. It will boot OS X 10.9, but after the Apple logo goes away, the display turns off and it seems to hang.

If it boot in safe boot, the display will still go black, but I can use another computer and screen sharing/ARD to control the computer. I do have the plist file set to the proper resolution for the monitor. The graphics card is not the stock card--it was upgraded, but that was quite some time ago.

Any suggestions or things to check for?

Thanks!

When at the chameleon boot menu type GraphicsEnabler=Yes

Once booted add this to your org.chameleon.Boot.plist:

<key>GraphicsEnabler</key>
<string>Yes</string>

 

[wwanthony]

Your setup is very similar to mine, except that I had an MBR-partitioned HD.
Somehow, in my install, Chameleon will only boot from systems in the drive where it is installed. I can't get it to boot from Mavericks when it's installed in another 2TB HD. And I keep getting EBIOS read errors. Did you get them?

No I did not. I was getting the boot 0 errors.

 

[wwanthony]

A couple of more questions for the team.....

1. I updated my ROM version to a MacPro 2,1. In System Profile the Boot ROM version is MP11.xxxx (as listed in the SMbios file. Can I place my MP21.XXX Boot ROM version is the SMbios file without causing any problems.

2. Has anyone performed the SMC upgrade? Does it help the Mac Pro 1,1?

3. Can we move the Model Identifier any higher that MacPro3,1?

4. So no Airdrop and Airplay Display with this install?

I cannot believe how much better the performance is. I really would like to get this to work on a Raid0. I know Cham won't install on Raid0...but I am thinking on trying to clone it over using CCC. Thoughts?

 

[Hennesie2000]

A couple of more questions for the team.....

1. I updated my ROM version to a MacPro 2,1. In System Profile the Boot ROM version is MP11.xxxx (as listed in the SMbios file. Can I place my MP21.XXX Boot ROM version is the SMbios file without causing any problems.

2. Has anyone performed the SMC upgrade? Does it help the Mac Pro 1,1?

3. Can we move the Model Identifier any higher that MacPro3,1?

4. So no Airdrop and Airplay Display with this install?

I cannot believe how much better the performance is. I really would like to get this to work on a Raid0. I know Cham won't install on Raid0...but I am thinking on trying to clone it over using CCC. Thoughts?

Everything in the SMBios.plist is pretty much cosmetic. So yes you can change it to what ever you want. If you Boot ROM is set to the original one that shipped with the Mac Pro 1,1 then the AppStore will show that you have a firmware update available. Change it to the most recent one for the Mac Pro 1,1 or the 2,1 and the update goes away.

 

[wwanthony]

Everything in the SMBios.plist is pretty much cosmetic. So yes you can change it to what ever you want. If you Boot ROM is set to the original one that shipped with the Mac Pro 1,1 then the AppStore will show that you have a firmware update available. Change it to the most recent one for the Mac Pro 1,1 or the 2,1 and the update goes away.

Thx...

 

[geonico]

Sooooo... Still no word on MacBook Pro with ATI Radeon x1600 graphics. I know it had potential but since there is no interest it seems that MLPF is the end of the road for that machine. MVPF is a dream that might come through.... One day.

 

[kylew01]

When at the chameleon boot menu type GraphicsEnabler=Yes

Once booted add this to your org.chameleon.Boot.plist:

<key>GraphicsEnabler</key>
<string>Yes</string>

Thanks for the help!

Unfortunately, it's still not quite working... I think I'll format it and start over Something still seems to be crashing... Or maybe it's just not compatible with my graphics card and not going to work.