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

[RobertJB]

Installation problem

All,

I have made some PC's into Hack's nearly all without a problem but getting my Mac Pro 2.1 sp that it will install Maveric seems to be a problem.

I follow the below standing guide.

http://batmanofzurenarh.wordpress.c...-mavericks-developer-preview-on-a-mac-pro-11/

I would say no problem.

I have formatted a external USB drive in three partitions as I would like to see if it would work prior to cleaning out my running Lion system

When I do a boot of the system with the option key down I get the StartUp Disk but it reds Boot EFI (orange USB icon)
When I click on the icon I go the the Apple grey boot screen with the apple logo.
Now it all stops the apple logo changes in a stop sign and then in a folder icon with question mark and this will keep doing it.

Power down of the MP 2.1 is the only option.

For your info I have a original 5870 graphics card original for MP.

What is it that I do wrong

thanks,

 

[Hennesie2000]

I believe that I am being misunderstood in that I did eventually get this to work. What disinterest me in applying this procedure as a permanent solution for myself is that while you (hennesie2000) have always reported this to work with absolute consistency, others including myself and even "Treksdot" describe a similar scenario where even in following the exact steps it does not work right from the get go. And while it does work eventually I am just not comfortable with the process. I also found it odd that in several previous post here (Treksdot being one) just a week ago he (and others) categorically deny even the possibility of this being a viable option and now he seems to be its biggest advocate.

For myself anyway and in reading several of viewpoints presented here, while I think its great that some have made work for them I just don't feel comfortable nor the necessity. Thanks again.

Oh I get that it was deemed not possible by many on this thread. Personally it was the only way I tried from the get go since I was doing it on a whim and didn't have a small HDD to use for the boot. I followed batmans guide for the most part and used most of his files and just deviated from the process a bit. The big difference here seems to be that you have to start fresh which is why Treksdot and others were not having success. Now that I have done it MANY times I can start with a blank HDD and have Mavericks installed an running in about 40 mins. Most of that is the 25 mins or so that Mavericks is installing.

I just walked a friend, who has basically zero terminal experience, through it over FaceTime and had it not bee for the 4k sector issue with Chameleon then he would have had it up and running in about the same amount of time.

In the end if you are more comfortable and already have a boot drive then just stick with that. For those that want a setup that doesn't require anything extra then installing everything on one GPT drive might be the best way. And, if neither of those are appealing then just wait for MPF to come out with a GUI driven automated process.

 

[gpatpandp]

I believe that I am being misunderstood in that I did eventually get this to work. What disinterest me in applying this procedure as a permanent solution for myself is that while you (hennesie2000) have always reported this to work with absolute consistency, others including myself and even "Treksdot" describe a similar scenario where even in following the exact steps it does not work right from the get go. And while it does work eventually I am just not comfortable with the process. I also found it odd that in several previous post here (Treksdot being one) just a week ago he (and others) categorically deny even the possibility of this being a viable option and now he seems to be its biggest advocate.

For myself anyway and in reading several of viewpoints presented here, while I think its great that some have made work for them I just don't feel comfortable nor the necessity. Thanks again.

I do not think one should find fault with "Treksdot" initial skepticism and his since "changing his tune". Firstly I feel that it is good to proceed with caution with these matters. You did the same and found that this procedure is not applicable nor necessary/suitable for your purposes. He (Treksdot) described earlier in this thread that due to his RAID set-up, that he possesses a keen interest in having this procedure work for himself. And with some effort he has indeed made it do so so of course he finds value with it and is now a proponent.

 

[atvusr]

Do You know any way how to install Mavericks on old MacBook Pro?

Have a look at Post #914 in this Thread.

 

[tjbroderick]

I do not think one should find fault with "Treksdot" initial skepticism and his since "changing his tune". Firstly I feel that it is good to proceed with caution with these matters. You did the same and found that this procedure is not applicable nor necessary/suitable for your purposes. He (Treksdot) described earlier in this thread that due to his RAID set-up, that he possesses a keen interest in having this procedure work for himself. And with some effort he has indeed made it do so so of course he finds value with it and is now a proponent.

I am not finding fault with "Treksdot" or anyone else for that matter, I was just trying to make note of all the inconsistencies surrounding this procedure as described from all who have reported here concerning it.

 

[gpatpandp]

As I have been following Hacker Waynes forum MLPF/10.8 on Unsupported Macs for quite awhile now, I thought it of interest to note that if one scrolls back in the pages of that forum at the time that OS X 10.9 Mavericks DP1 was first released, you will see that the poster who has commented here "gpatpandp" and "batmanofzurenarh" both collaborated together on the first installs of Mavericks so the guy does know what he is talking about.

I am glad you found the information I offered helpful

----------

I am not finding fault with "Treksdot" or anyone else for that matter, I was just trying to make note of all the inconsistencies surrounding this procedure as described from all who have reported here concerning it.

I am not the individual in which to address the inconsistencies you have noted. I have said my peace on this particular subject, that proverbial "ship has sailed" and not to be rude but I no longer care to discuss it any further. My only advice is to do what works best for your particular situation.

 

[Treksdot]

As I have been following Hacker Waynes forum MLPF/10.8 on Unsupported Macs for quite awhile now, I thought it of interest to note that if one scrolls back in the pages of that forum at the time that OS X 10.9 Mavericks DP1 was first released, you will see that the poster who has commented here "gpatpandp" and "batmanofzurenarh" both collaborated together on the first installs of Mavericks so the guy does know what he is talking about.

My statement was not to denigrate anyone's work but merely to help others avoid possible headaches. Jabbawok deserves much credit for making his guide but it contains steps that are no longer necessary for Mavericks and references software that DOES NOT support Mavericks. Evidently it can still be used as a guide for installing Mavericks for those who are aware that it requires tweaking in order to work. As for the multitude new to the concept, upgrading to Mavericks from Snow Leopard or Lion should be done using the more germane batmanofzurenarh guide.

----------

All,

I have made some PC's into Hack's nearly all without a problem but getting my Mac Pro 2.1 sp that it will install Maveric seems to be a problem.

I follow the below standing guide.

http://batmanofzurenarh.wordpress.c...-mavericks-developer-preview-on-a-mac-pro-11/

I would say no problem.

I have formatted a external USB drive in three partitions as I would like to see if it would work prior to cleaning out my running Lion system

When I do a boot of the system with the option key down I get the StartUp Disk but it reds Boot EFI (orange USB icon)
When I click on the icon I go the the Apple grey boot screen with the apple logo.
Now it all stops the apple logo changes in a stop sign and then in a folder icon with question mark and this will keep doing it.

Power down of the MP 2.1 is the only option.

For your info I have a original 5870 graphics card original for MP.

What is it that I do wrong

thanks,

If you followed that guides instructions then you formatted the external USB drive as MBR. At the boot selector screen choose the drive marked Windows, not EFI Boot, for Chameleon to take over. By default the boot selector identifies any bootable MBR formatted drive as a Windows drive. In case you already happen to have Windows installed remove its drive if possible or just hope you get lucky and guess the right one. This is another reason why getting Chameleon to run off a GPT drive is useful, you won't have two Windows options at that screen.

 

[Hennesie2000]

I have put together a pretty detailed guide to installing everything using one HDD and only using the Mac Pro 1,1 or 2,1. If anyone with a spare HDD would like to give it a try and let me know if there is anything I have overlooked in the guide, it would be appreciated. I would need you to follow the guide exactly as it is written starting in OS X 10.7.5 without Chameleon present. I can PM you with a link to a PDF.

 

[atvusr]

BTW: was someone able to install Mavericks directly in a empty VM of Parallels Desktop 9 on a older Mac ?


Edit: Mavericks can be installed directly in a empty VM and runs fine in Parallels Desktop 9, see the Parallels Knowledgebase, Article-ID: 118806.

 

[Treksdot]

I have put together a pretty detailed guide to installing everything using one HDD and only using the Mac Pro 1,1 or 2,1. If anyone with a spare HDD would like to give it a try and let me know if there is anything I have overlooked in the guide, it would be appreciated. I would need you to follow the guide exactly as it is written starting in OS X 10.7.5 without Chameleon present. I can PM you with a link to a PDF.

I advise adding an addendum to the guide on how to keep the Chameleon partition from auto-mounting.(It involves using Terminal to create and/or edit the fstab file under /etc.)

 

[Hennesie2000]

I advise adding an addendum to the guide on how to keep the Chameleon partition from auto-mounting.(It involves using Terminal to create and/or edit the fstab file under /etc.)

Good point which is something I have done myself to my own setup.

 

[panosz]

hello i need a help i have a macbook 4.1 plus pushed my memory to 4g from 1g please can you help me with a guide how to install mavericks?? i want to install it in a new hard disk....

 

[RobertJB]

My statement was not to denigrate anyone's work but merely to help others avoid possible headaches. Jabbawok deserves much credit for making his guide but it contains steps that are no longer necessary for Mavericks and references software that DOES NOT support Mavericks. Evidently it can still be used as a guide for installing Mavericks for those who are aware that it requires tweaking in order to work. As for the multitude new to the concept, upgrading to Mavericks from Snow Leopard or Lion should be done using the more germane batmanofzurenarh guide.

----------



If you followed that guides instructions then you formatted the external USB drive as MBR. At the boot selector screen choose the drive marked Windows, not EFI Boot, for Chameleon to take over. By default the boot selector identifies any bootable MBR formatted drive as a Windows drive. In case you already happen to have Windows installed remove its drive if possible or just hope you get lucky and guess the right one. This is another reason why getting Chameleon to run off a GPT drive is useful, you won't have two Windows options at that screen.

I have done it more then once at first as MBR formatted end then as GPT formated. The both give the same result. Could it be that I can not bless the drive? or that I do something wrong with it?
How do I know if the drive is blessed correctly?

thanks,

 

[Treksdot]

I have done it more then once at first as MBR formatted end then as GPT formated. The both give the same result. Could it be that I can not bless the drive? or that I do something wrong with it?
How do I know if the drive is blessed correctly?

thanks,

To see if Chameleon is blessed run the following in Terminal:

bless --info /Volumes/NAMEOFYOURCHAMELEONPARTITIONHERE

The results should look something like this:

finderinfo[0]:      2 => Blessed System Folder is /Volumes/Chameleon/
finderinfo[1]:    116 => Blessed System File is /Volumes/Chameleon/boot
finderinfo[2]:      0 => Open-folder linked list empty
finderinfo[3]:      0 => No alternate OS blessed file/folder
finderinfo[4]:      0 => Unused field unset
finderinfo[5]:      2 => OS X blessed folder is /Volumes/Chameleon/
64-bit VSDB volume id:  0xF85E2A709155CAA2

A properly blessed Chameleon install will then take precedence automatically without the need for holding option at boot, it only needs to be told which OS to run. If running off an MBR formatted drive it will be listed as a Windows drive at the boot selector. If running on a GPT formatted drive it will be listed as EFI Boot. I would highly recommend taking your external drive and mounting it in one of the internal bays for the time being.

 

[RobertJB]

To see if Chameleon is blessed run the following in Terminal:

bless --info /Volumes/NAMEOFYOURCHAMELEONPARTITIONHERE

The results should look something like this:

finderinfo[0]:      2 => Blessed System Folder is /Volumes/Chameleon/
finderinfo[1]:    116 => Blessed System File is /Volumes/Chameleon/boot
finderinfo[2]:      0 => Open-folder linked list empty
finderinfo[3]:      0 => No alternate OS blessed file/folder
finderinfo[4]:      0 => Unused field unset
finderinfo[5]:      2 => OS X blessed folder is /Volumes/Chameleon/
64-bit VSDB volume id:  0xF85E2A709155CAA2

A properly blessed Chameleon install will then take precedence automatically without the need for holding option at boot, it only needs to be told which OS to run. If running off an MBR formatted drive it will be listed as a Windows drive at the boot selector. If running on a GPT formatted drive it will be listed as EFI Boot. I would highly recommend taking your external drive and mounting it in one of the internal bays for the time being.

Ok that looks the same

finderinfo[0]: 2 => Blessed System Folder is /Volumes/StartDisk/
finderinfo[1]: 118 => Blessed System File is /Volumes/StartDisk/boot
finderinfo[2]: 0 => Open-folder linked list empty
finderinfo[3]: 0 => No alternate OS blessed file/folder
finderinfo[4]: 0 => Unused field unset
finderinfo[5]: 2 => OS X blessed folder is /Volumes/StartDisk/
64-bit VSDB volume id: 0x1F4FA74E27109202

With the option key I can select he boot EFI disk. Now I get a white screen and after some seconds (5) the screen goes black and then I get a message "No Bootable Device Insert Bootable Device"

 

[Colabear8900]

I have put together a pretty detailed guide to installing everything using one HDD and only using the Mac Pro 1,1 or 2,1. If anyone with a spare HDD would like to give it a try and let me know if there is anything I have overlooked in the guide, it would be appreciated. I would need you to follow the guide exactly as it is written starting in OS X 10.7.5 without Chameleon present. I can PM you with a link to a PDF.

I have a Late 2006 iMac 5,1 C2D 20" ATI X1600 w/ OS X 10.7.5. I would try your method on it. I have already DL'd the Mavericks.app from the App Store on a supported iMac and performed a clean install on it. I created an install drive on an 8GB USB stick to do the clean install.

Is it possible to use this same USB stick as the installation source instead of an 8GB HDD partition, so as to have only 2 partitions on the HDD, namely BOOT (Chameleon) and OS X (or Macintosh HD) ?

Please PM me the details of your PDF location, thank you.

 

[Treksdot]

Ok that looks the same

finderinfo[0]: 2 => Blessed System Folder is /Volumes/StartDisk/
finderinfo[1]: 118 => Blessed System File is /Volumes/StartDisk/boot
finderinfo[2]: 0 => Open-folder linked list empty
finderinfo[3]: 0 => No alternate OS blessed file/folder
finderinfo[4]: 0 => Unused field unset
finderinfo[5]: 2 => OS X blessed folder is /Volumes/StartDisk/
64-bit VSDB volume id: 0x1F4FA74E27109202

With the option key I can select he boot EFI disk. Now I get a white screen and after some seconds (5) the screen goes black and then I get a message "No Bootable Device Insert Bootable Device"

Thus why I suggested mounting the drive internally. After the screen goes black you should see 4-5 quick lines of boot text in the top left corner. Hit F8 and you will be put at a prompt asking which OS you'd like to boot from. You should see your regular Lion install and the OS X Installer listed as options. If you aren't seeing this then that means you've still got the drive mounted externally.

 

[Treksdot]

I have a Late 2006 iMac 5,1 C2D 20" ATI X1600 w/ OS X 10.7.5. I would try your method on it. I have already DL'd the Mavericks.app from the App Store on a supported iMac and performed a clean install on it. I created an install drive on an 8GB USB stick to do the clean install.

Is it possible to use this same USB stick as the installation source instead of an 8GB HDD partition, so as to have only 2 partitions on the HDD, namely BOOT (Chameleon) and OS X (or Macintosh HD) ?

Please PM me the details of your PDF location, thank you.

Pretty sure the GPU in your iMac is too old to allow for the Chameleon method. The reason all the guides mention requiring a newer graphics card is that they need to have 64 bit drivers loaded for them. You'll have to wait for the MVPF release my friend.

 

[Hennesie2000]

I have a Late 2006 iMac 5,1 C2D 20" ATI X1600 w/ OS X 10.7.5. I would try your method on it. I have already DL'd the Mavericks.app from the App Store on a supported iMac and performed a clean install on it. I created an install drive on an 8GB USB stick to do the clean install.

Is it possible to use this same USB stick as the installation source instead of an 8GB HDD partition, so as to have only 2 partitions on the HDD, namely BOOT (Chameleon) and OS X (or Macintosh HD) ?

Please PM me the details of your PDF location, thank you.

Chameleon won't see the USB drive as a choice to boot the installer. This is why you have to use an 8gb partition on the HDD. Also with the x1600 I think you will have to wait and see what MPF brings.

 

[Colabear8900]

Post removed. Added "Thank You's" below. Newb poster, what can say

 

[Colabear8900]

Pretty sure the GPU in your iMac is too old to allow for the Chameleon method. The reason all the guides mention requiring a newer graphics card is that they need to have 64 bit drivers loaded for them. You'll have to wait for the MVPF release my friend.

Chameleon won't see the USB drive as a choice to boot the installer. This is why you have to use an 8gb partition on the HDD. Also with the x1600 I think you will have to wait and see what MPF brings.

Thank you guys for your replies I guess I will just have to wait it out. Lion (10.7.5) is working just fine for me but I am interested in Mavericks to have the latest OS X and extend the life of my aging iMac.

 

[gpatpandp]

I have a Late 2006 iMac 5,1 C2D 20" ATI X1600 w/ OS X 10.7.5. I would try your method on it. I have already DL'd the Mavericks.app from the App Store on a supported iMac and performed a clean install on it. I created an install drive on an 8GB USB stick to do the clean install.

Is it possible to use this same USB stick as the installation source instead of an 8GB HDD partition, so as to have only 2 partitions on the HDD, namely BOOT (Chameleon) and OS X (or Macintosh HD) ?

Please PM me the details of your PDF location, thank you.

Ironically last week I was able to get this procedure of installing OS X and Chameleon to boot on the same hard drive/on an adjacent HFS+/GUID on an iMac with ATI X1600 graphics far more reliably/steadily then my Mac Pro would/does. I was hopeful that this technique would produce some real significant value other then merely a trick for space/convenience sake as it is presently being used for. Unfortunately, Chameleon installed/booting on the same hard drive as the OS X system from a HFS+/GUID behaved exactly as Chameleon installed/booted on the same hard drive each on an MBR partition when attempting it earlier this summer. Neither approach will load the appropriate kexts (ATI1600Controller.kext, ATIRadeonX1000.kext etc) and both options will kernel panic if either the Open CL and/or GL frameworks are replaced with the patched versions and therefore it is worthless.

Late last week after an exchange and getting some insight from the poster "Rastafabis", I outlined what I did in getting OS X 10.8.5 in 64 bit mode (meaning not using MLPF) to work on this same iMac with ATI X1600 graphics. If your interested feel free to let me know.

 

[flopticalcube]

Ironically last week I was able to get this procedure of installing OS X and Chameleon to boot on the same hard drive/on an adjacent HFS+/GUID on an iMac with ATI X1600 graphics far more reliably/steadily then my Mac Pro would/does. I was hopeful that this technique would produce some real significant value other then merely a trick for space/convenience sake as it is presently being used for. Unfortunately, Chameleon installed/booting on the same hard drive as the OS X system from a HFS+/GUID behaved exactly as Chameleon installed/booted on the same hard drive each on an MBR partition when attempting it earlier this summer. Neither approach will load the appropriate kexts (ATI1600Controller.kext, ATIRadeonX1000.kext etc) and both options will kernel panic if either the Open CL and/or GL frameworks are replaced with the patched versions and therefore it is worthless.

Late last week after an exchange and getting some insight from the poster "Rastafabis", I outlined what I did in getting OS X 10.8.5 in 64 bit mode (meaning not using MLPF) to work on this same iMac with ATI X1600 graphics. If your interested feel free to let me know.

Out of curiosity, how does it run on the iMac?

 

[tripmusic]

After looking over your boot plist some quick points:

1. You shouldn't need to have the AtiPorts flag set unless GraphicsEnabler isn't auto-detecting it. To verify you can remove this flag and after the next boot open up the bdmesg log in Chameleon Wizard to see if it is or not. Since you're running with a flashed 4870 are you having any issues with QE/CI?

2. The UseAtiROM flag is doing nothing for you unless you have the ROM for the card sitting in your Extras folder and you didn't mention it. This can be removed.

3. This is purely personal preference but do you need to use a theme with Chameleon? Why not just let it boot straight to Darwin?

4. I'm still not sure the darkwake flag is doing anything for you. When you say your system would crash after waking from sleep do you mean a kernel panic or the UI simply froze up? Flashed PC graphics cards have always been hit or miss when working properly with system sleep. I assume you used a tool like Zeus to add the EFI patch to the cards ROM?

Your SMBios is fine and, aside from a few key entries, purely cosmetic anyway. As you're running an actual Mac and not a hackintosh you don't need the Resolution.dylib file and there's a tweak mentioned earlier in this thread that negates the need for the FileNVRAM.dylib if you're interested. I noticed that you didn't mention the presence of a dsdt.aml file in your Extras folder; oversight or do you not have one?

Wow... most of that was way above my head. I'm a noob when it comes to boot loaders and terminal.

What would be signs of the QE/CI not working properly?
I don't have to use a theme... I just thought it was an option
Before I checked darkwake, it would freeze after wake. I'll uncheck it and see what happens. I didn't use any EFI patch to the cards ROM. If I'm not having graphics issues do I need to?
I must have neglected to copy the dsdt.aml file. I do have it though

 

[gpatpandp]

Out of curiosity, how does it run on the iMac?

It's the best 10.8 hack for the iMac with ATI X1600 graphics that I have implemented. This set up provides an OS X 10.8.5 64 bit system that I would estimate @ 99.8 % full functionality. Repairing permissions, Little Snitch are among several key components that fully operate in this set-up. And while nvram is not supported on this system (i.e. no iMessages), I have found that porting over an account from an OS X 10.7.5 Lion system coupled with the addition of the "PlatformUUID.kext" gets FaceTime to work.