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

[wwanthony]

I just installed Mavericks onto a RAID-0 volume (using the MacPro3,1). replaced boot.efi and put the disks back into the MacPro2,1 and all is well. Mavericks boots, no problems so far

Cool. So it works with a clean install.

I cloned my install with CCC to a Raid 0 and it work great. Nice and fast on a Raid 0 with a couple of 2TB Blacks.

This is really fantastic.....

 

[jeanlain]

The boot.efi method worked flawlessly on my 2006 Mac Pro. I just did sudo rm to remove the old file in CoreServices and sudo cp to copy the new one. Then sudo chown root:wheel on the file and sudo chflags uchg. I just followed the instructions here: http://www.red91.com/2009/10/23/enabling-snow-leopard-64-bit-kernel/
For the file in /i386, I just replaced it with the Finder (I repaired permission afterwards).
I didn't do anything with -bless. I just rebooted from Lion an selected the Mavericks drive with the alt-key.
It's way faster than chameleon and it looks like your Mac is just supported. The system profiler even reports the correct model (Mac Pro 1.1 with xeons instead of the C2D reported under chameleon). It's absolutely flawless and I recommend that every 2006 Mac Pro owner uses this method. Everything just works.

 

[pikachu88]

Help?

Hey guys,

Would it be possible for someone to help me?

I have a Mac Pro 1.1

Ati 5770hd
14gb ram

+ a separate 250gb hdd specifically for Mavericks

after spending several days and many hours

I was not able to follow either of the two main guides

so I took the hdd and put it in a Mac Pro 5.1 that was at work

and installed OSX Mavericks on that hdd and now I want to put it

back in my Mac pro 1.1 but I am not sure exactly what I need to do now

that it is in my computer.

Do I still have to run the "bless" command?

Do I still need to install Chameleon?

How do I trigger Chameleon when

Someone mentioned that I just need to replace two efi boot files

and I am good to go.

At this point the hard drive has a new install of Mavericks

and is sitting in my 1.1 Mac pro.

Any help directing me on exactly what to do, please be as specific as possible

to help alleviate any misunderstanding or incorrect assumption I may have.

Thank you so much in advance for all your help!

 

[pikachu88]

The boot.efi method worked flawlessly on my 2006 Mac Pro. I just did sudo rm to remove the old file in CoreServices and sudo cp to copy the new one. Then sudo chown root:wheel on the file and sudo chflags uchg. I just followed the instructions here: http://www.red91.com/2009/10/23/enabling-snow-leopard-64-bit-kernel/
For the file in /i386, I just replaced it with the Finder (I repaired permission afterwards).
I didn't do anything with -bless. I just rebooted from Lion an selected the Mavericks drive with the alt-key.
It's way faster than chameleon and it looks like your Mac is just supported. The system profiler even reports the correct model (Mac Pro 1.1 with xeons instead of the C2D reported under chameleon). It's absolutely flawless and I recommend that every 2006 Mac Pro owner uses this method. Everything just works.

Hey! This looks really cool, consider me a newbie to all of this is there any way you could help me install this efi on my mac pro? It would be splendid not to have to use Chameleon as I couldnt seem to get it to work no matter what I tried. Maybe its because I have 3 separate hdds in my computer.

Thank you so much!

----------

With this 64 bit efi fix it says it will limit ram to 4gb and no facetime.

I definitely want to utilize my 14gb of ram and use imessage/facetime.

Does this mean that I must use Chameleon loader?

If so, I set up the Mavericks hdd with 1 partition,

does this mean i need to reformat the hdd with 2 partitions 1 being for

Chameleon?

Is Chameleon compatible with me having a separate hdd for bootcamp windows 7 x64?

I apologize for asking so many questions its just so frustrating that everyone seems to be doing the mavericks install with such ease and its been days
of frustration for me.

 

[Sko]

I've been on Chameleon since Mavericks came out. I'm now using tiamo's custom boot.efi. An extremely pleasant experience after fighting with Chameleon - learning the hard way that your boot-volume has to be the ONLY volume on that port.

Hey guys,

Would it be possible for someone to help me?

...so I took the hdd and put it in a Mac Pro 5.1 that was at work
and installed OSX Mavericks on that hdd and now I want to put it
back in my Mac pro 1.1 but I am not sure exactly what I need to do now
that it is in my computer.

Before putting the HDD back in your 1,1 you have to replace both boot.efi files. Or put the HDD back in, boot from an other volume (e.g. Lion Install CD), have the custom boot.efi ready somewhere (e.g. flash-drive) and replace it in Terminal.

----------

...With this 64 bit efi fix it says it will limit ram to 4gb and no facetime.

Definitely not with tiamo's custom boot.efi. All of my 9GB RAM ist available and FaceTime is working.

I need to call Apple tomorrow to activate Messages, though. This is so Windows 7 ;-)

 

[Treksdot]

I need to call Apple tomorrow to activate Messages, though. This is so Windows 7 ;-)

No you don't, just change the password for your Apple ID.

https://appleid.apple.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/MyAppleId.woa/

 

[wwanthony]

Hey guys,

Would it be possible for someone to help me?

I have a Mac Pro 1.1

Ati 5770hd
14gb ram

+ a separate 250gb hdd specifically for Mavericks

after spending several days and many hours

I was not able to follow either of the two main guides

so I took the hdd and put it in a Mac Pro 5.1 that was at work

and installed OSX Mavericks on that hdd and now I want to put it

back in my Mac pro 1.1 but I am not sure exactly what I need to do now

that it is in my computer.

Do I still have to run the "bless" command?

Do I still need to install Chameleon?

How do I trigger Chameleon when

Someone mentioned that I just need to replace two efi boot files

and I am good to go.

At this point the hard drive has a new install of Mavericks

and is sitting in my 1.1 Mac pro.

Any help directing me on exactly what to do, please be as specific as possible

to help alleviate any misunderstanding or incorrect assumption I may have.

Thank you so much in advance for all your help!

Your config is like mine. You have come at a good time.

If you look back a page or two in this thread you will see a post about a hacked/modified boot.efi file that replaces the need for an external bootloader such as Chameleon.

You will simply need to place the modified boot.efi (you will find the link (and instructions) on a previous page) into a couple of directories on your new Mavericks install, fix some permissions and reboot.

No extra software or steps.

 

[Snowshiro]

For people who prefer not to have their machine boot in verbose mode (lots of white text) tiamo has released a "silent" boot.efi, so you can make your machine even more like an official install. See attached file.

 

[Hennesie2000]

For people who prefer not to have their machine boot in verbose mode (lots of white text) tiamo has released a "silent" boot.efi, so you can make your machine even more like an official install. See attached file.

Very nice. I still haven't made the switch. Although I assume I could just replace the two efi files and leave chameleon there if I ever wanted to use it again.

-----

Went ahead an did it with the new boot.efi and just reset my NVRAM and Mavericks booted right up. I installed the two boot.efi files while booted in the Mavericks install using Chameleon. No need to choose the startup disk or hold option at boot, unless of course you have another OS X install and it defaults to that one.

Having an issue with iMessage though. I am logged in but it just stays inactive, even though the box is checked to enable it, and I can't use it. Forgive me if this has been mentioned as a limitation of this boot method.

Never mind a reboot fixed it.

 

[tripmusic]

The boot.efi method worked flawlessly on my 2006 Mac Pro. I just did sudo rm to remove the old file in CoreServices and sudo cp to copy the new one. Then sudo chown root:wheel on the file and sudo chflags uchg. I just followed the instructions here: http://www.red91.com/2009/10/23/enabling-snow-leopard-64-bit-kernel/
For the file in /i386, I just replaced it with the Finder (I repaired permission afterwards).
I didn't do anything with -bless. I just rebooted from Lion an selected the Mavericks drive with the alt-key.
It's way faster than chameleon and it looks like your Mac is just supported. The system profiler even reports the correct model (Mac Pro 1.1 with xeons instead of the C2D reported under chameleon). It's absolutely flawless and I recommend that every 2006 Mac Pro owner uses this method. Everything just works.

Awe damn... I've got mine working with Chameleon pretty well now. You're gonna make me try this now? Lol I might... doesn't seem crazy. I would need to start by booting back into the 32bit Kernel? Are there any advantages over Chameleon? Does it Sleep and Wake from Sleep without crashing? Can you Start-Up from external FW Hdd's?

 

[Rastafabi]

Awe damn... I've got mine working with Chameleon pretty well now. You're gonna make me try this now? Lol I might... doesn't seem crazy. I would need to start by booting back into the 32bit Kernel? Are there any advantages over Chameleon? Does it Sleep and Wake from Sleep without crashing? Can you Start-Up from external FW Hdd's?

All you need to do actually is replacing the boot efi file(s).

/System/Library/CoreServices/[COLOR="DarkOrange"]boot.efi[/COLOR]

and

/usr/standalone/i386/[COLOR="DarkOrange"]boot.efi[/COLOR]

delete them with the Terminal

sudo rm -rf **file path**

Now just drag and drop the boot.efi file by tiamo to those locations.
You do not even need to care about permissions (as the firmware does not care either).
Afterwards just reboot, hold the option key and select your system drive.
To make sure the Mac will boot this partition every time select it as the Startup drive in the System Preferences.

The Advancements? Much faster boot times. Full hardware recognition*.
*You need to have a GPU which works with Mac OS (presumably no unflashed PC cards).

No need for a 32bit kernel.

 

[Hennesie2000]

The Advancements? Much faster boot times. Full hardware recognition*.
*You need to have a GPU which works with Mac OS (presumably no unflashed PC cards).

No need for a 32bit kernel.

Unflashed PC Cards work fine. They are fully recognized since 10.7.

I renamed the two original boot.efi files just so I could always go back if I wanted to.

 

[Rastafabi]

Unflashed PC Cards work fine. They are fully recognized since 10.7.

I renamed the two original boot.efi files just so I could always go back if I wanted to.

Maybe this won't work. You better archive them and delete them.

 

[Snowshiro]

OMFG: I think I got it working.

I literally turned on the machine, held down the option key, waited for 30 seconds to be sure it was at the boot options screen (I can't see it - all I have is a totally black screen because I have flashed PC card) , and just systematically moved the cursor keys left and right until I hit the correct partition and managed to get it to boot. Had no idea what was happening because I couldn't see anything, but it worked!!!

Now it reboots ok every time. And I don't see any verbose boot either because the screen is totally black for that as well. But the SSD is so fast that it boots in just a few seconds anyway.

 

[Hennesie2000]

Maybe this won't work. You better archive them and delete them.

It does work. I am already using it that way.

 

[Rastafabi]

OMFG: I think I got it working.

I literally turned on the machine, held down the option key, waited for 30 seconds to be sure it was at the boot options screen (I can't see it - all I have is a totally black screen because I have flashed PC card) , and just systematically moved the cursor keys left and right until I hit the correct partition and managed to get it to boot. Had no idea what was happening because I couldn't see anything, but it worked!!!

Now it reboots ok every time. And I don't see any verbose boot either because the screen is totally black for that as well. But the SSD is so fast that it boots in just a few seconds anyway.

Congrats

 

[Sko]

No you don't, just change the password for your Apple ID.

Unfortunately that didn't work. I just called Apple and gave them the validation code Messages showed on unsuccessful login. They hardly took notice that my 'product' is 'vintage' and just validated my Apple-ID.

 

[Hennesie2000]

@Treksdot

I noticed you mentioned using BootChamp in the other thread which I have always used as well. Interestingly, and kind of convenient, choosing "Restart into Windows" in the BootChamp menu boots Chameleon for me since I still have it installed and the active partition in Windows is not set to the Windows partition. As with normal BootChamp functionality, it boots right back into OS X in efi mode. It's kind of like the best of both worlds for me.

 

[pembyfrank]

But easiest of course will be waiting for MacPostFactor, no matter how long it takes for the developers to finish it, as they already stated to have finished work on the x1600.

Ya I am really excited to try it out.. I wonder if this Tiamo patch might be able to be used post PostFactor so to speak, just a thought. In the meantime I just finished researching and communicating with an individual about putting an SSD in this iMac, removing the superdrive and putting the existing hdd there with a SATA to PATA adapter. Also putting in 4 gigs of RAM today so this machine is as ready as it can be.. now to get into the guts.. uggh this is gonna be a delicate operation fo sho.

 

[pikachu88]

Amazing!

I merely took the boot.efi file and replaced the ones in my then Chameleon/Mavericks install. The easiest way to do this without going to the Terminal to modify ownership is to log into the root account. From your current account logout and at the prompt choose Other. For the account name put 'root' and for the password use your admin account password that was used to install OS X. You should now be logged into the root account and staring at the default Mavericks desktop. At this point download the boot.zip file attached to tiamo's post. Open /System/Library/CoreServices and get info on the boot.efi already there. Deselect the Locked option so that you can move the file to the trash. While holding down the Option key drag the new boot.efi to the CoreServices folder. Get info on it again and re-enable the lock. Now, in the Finder open the Go menu at top and select Go to Folder. Type in /usr/standalone/i386 and hit return. Delete the boot.efi in this folder and copy over the one you downloaded. Run permissions repair in Disk Utility just to be thorough. At this point you're ready to switch back to native EFI boot. Reboot and hold down the Option key the second you hear the boot chime. Select whatever you named your Mavericks install as the boot disk. The screen will go black and you will see white text scrolling down the screen, this is verbose mode, get used to it. Once you're back at your desktop you can feel confident that it worked. Something to be aware of is that Chameleon is still present, just no longer used. To keep it this way open System Preferences->Startup Disk to set Mavericks as your default boot disk. What you do with your Chameleon partition is up to you.

This is absolutely flawless advice,

Terminal free step by step instructions and after 3 days of absolute frustration after following the two main guides by the book I had this done in 12 minutes.

I am so grateful for everyones help, I am writing this from my flawless Mavericks install at the moment.

Like someone else said, this feels like a genuine Mavericks install as opposed to a hack job.

Thank you so much everyone!

 

[Treksdot]

I can't see it - all I have is a totally black screen because I have flashed PC card

The behavior you described indicates that your card isn't flashed at all, just a stock PC card dropped in.

----------

Unfortunately that didn't work. I just called Apple and gave them the validation code Messages showed on unsuccessful login. They hardly took notice that my 'product' is 'vintage' and just validated my Apple-ID.

Odd since I had the exact same error after switching to the custom EFI. The way I fixed it was to reset my password and wait a few minutes for iCloud to notice the change. After signing back into my iCloud account with the new password Messages started working again. Sorry to hear you actually had to call Apple support.

 

[Treksdot]

@Treksdot

I noticed you mentioned using BootChamp in the other thread which I have always used as well. Interestingly, and kind of convenient, choosing "Restart into Windows" in the BootChamp menu boots Chameleon for me since I still have it installed and the active partition in Windows is not set to the Windows partition. As with normal BootChamp functionality, it boots right back into OS X in efi mode. It's kind of like the best of both worlds for me.

This is actually due to BootChamp temporarily setting the first legacy flagged partition it finds in the device tree. Previously you could actually choose which volume you wanted BootChamp to use but that functionality was dropped some revisions ago.(Along with some other nifty features.) Now I use QuickBoot instead.

 

[Hennesie2000]

This is actually due to BootChamp temporarily setting the first legacy flagged partition it finds in the device tree. Previously you could actually choose which volume you wanted BootChamp to use but that functionality was dropped some revisions ago.(Along with some other nifty features.) Now I use QuickBoot instead.

I'll have to checkout QuickBoot. I did notice that I no longer had the dropdown drive selection. BootChamp used to just show any NTFS formatted drive, regardless if there was Windows installed on it or not.

-------------------

Update:
QuickBoot has the same functionality as BootChamp for me. I believe it is because in my Hybrid MBR my Mavericks partition is flagged as the active partition. That was needed to stop Windows from booting first when in legacy mode instead of Chameleon. Using QuickBoot I get the option to choose which OS (Mavericks or Windows) but I don't really need that. Windows boots almost instantly after Chameleon boots so it's not a big deal. I could get rid of the Chameleon partition, but I like having options.

 

[Snowshiro]

The behavior you described indicates that your card isn't flashed at all, just a stock PC card dropped in.

It's flashed for sure - I did it myself. But it may be that there's a better process or something.

I extracted the firmware, added some extra stuff and then wrote it back to the card following a guide on netkas.org. Something definitely changed, because when it boots it went from having a black screen with a static cursor in the corner to having a white screen, then a black screen and then the apple logo screen for a couple of seconds just before the login screen (that Apple screen in particular never appeared before). It also had a proper screen when shutting down, whereas it went black before as soon as I initiated the shutdown.

It's a Sapphire (don't have the model to hand) 5770HD 1 Gig. If you have any advice on finding better firmware (or links to step-by-step guides) that would get me a boot screen I'd be really keen to hear it. That would be the icing on the cake for me.

That said I've seen quite a lot of reports of other people who say their flashed cards still have no boot screen.

 

[Treksdot]

It's flashed for sure - I did it myself. But it may be that there's a better process or something.

I extracted the firmware, added some extra stuff and then wrote it back to the card following a guide on netkas.org. Something definitely changed, because when it boots it went from having a black screen with a static cursor in the corner to having a white screen, then a black screen and then the apple logo screen for a couple of seconds just before the login screen (that Apple screen in particular never appeared before). It also had a proper screen when shutting down, whereas it went black before as soon as I initiated the shutdown.

It's a Sapphire (don't have the model to hand) 5770HD 1 Gig. If you have any advice on finding better firmware (or links to step-by-step guides) that would get me a boot screen I'd be really keen to hear it. That would be the icing on the cake for me.

That said I've seen quite a lot of reports of other people who say their flashed cards still have no boot screen.

All the details you've provided sounds like the expected behavior for a stock PC card. What this means is you'll see nothing onscreen until the user environment loads. There does exist a procedure to add the neccessary EFI code to your cards ROM so it's properly initialized at boot. In effect you'll end up with a hybrid Mac card rendering full screen support at boot. Granted the success rate is highly dependent upon the card and how far it deviated from the reference design. In other words, the best way to insure a good flash is to get a PC card that's as close as possible to the specs of the Mac card you're trying to mimic. It's been years since I flashed my own card so I can't recall all the steps off hand but I do remember having to research which make and model of card to buy before flashing. I can't guarantee a prompt response due to it being Thanksgiving tomorrow but if you post your cards original ROM, the modified ROM you're currently using and the exact model of the card I'll have a look into rolling you a new ROM.