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

[Snowshiro]

Another successful and drama free Mac Pro 1,1 installation.

Just restored the public release installer to an install partition on a spare drive, configured chameleon to boot from it, copied the mach kernel from within the distribution to the root folder and restarted. Took about 20 mins give-or-take to install.

Seems nice, smooth and snappy so far. There's plenty of life in the old dog yet.

 

[ElderBrE]

Reporting that Mavericks final release is also running on my Mac Pro 1,1 that was running ML. Couple issues to get it to install, but then everything went fine and could upgrade ML without having to do a clean install.

HD5850 GPU, all sweet and dandy. Excellent machine on its 7th year.

 

[Hennesie2000]

Before upgrading I'm trying to find out more conclusively if Mavericks will run on my particular MBP hardware. I have an older MBP -- not sure how old as I bought it refurbished from Apple. But here are my system details.

Processor Name Intel Core 2 Duo
Model Identifier MacBookPro4,1
Processor Name Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed 2.5 GHz
Bus Speed 800 MHz

L2 Cache 6 MB
Memory 4 GB 667 Mhz DDR2 SDRAM

Boot ROM Version MBP41.00C1.B03
SMC Version (system) 1.28f3
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT 512MB


Thanks,

http://www.apple.com/osx/specs/

A quick google search would say that you have a 2008 MBP and are supported with Mavericks. This thread is for Macs that are not supported but can still run Mavericks. You should be able to launch the App Store and download the updater. If you weren't on a supported Mac it would not let you download it.

 

[hezr]

No bootable device

I have a macpro1,1 with an upgraded video card and a CF card with Chameleon installed on it. But when I try and boot off it I get a "No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key" message. I also do not get the Chameleons partition listed when I hold down the Option key when booting.

Any ideas?

 

[grizzlayleslay]

Hey guys, just picked up a 2006 Mac mini 1.1, I have updated the Efi to 2.1, upgraded CPU to an intel T7400 core 2 duo, 4gb ram and ssd...reading through here I can't see anyone who has done the same although as the 2006 Mac mini shipped with the gma 950 I guess I can't run mavericks on it? Would presumably need an 09 3.1 mini with nvidia 9400?

Question is a. Am I correct about not being able to run mavericks despite the CPU ram upgrade? b. What is the best version of osx I could run on it? Mountain lion ?

Cheers

Moj

Check my signature. I did literally the exact same thing you did. 2006 Mac Mini Intel Core Solo, upgraded to Core 2 Duo, SSD, flashed to 2.1, 4GB RAM, running 10.8.4 Mountain Lion on it just fine.

And for your questions,

a. Yes, you are correct. You won't be able to run Mavericks despite the CPU and RAM upgrade, at this time. There is a chance that hackerwayne will figure out how to get Mavericks to install on our Mac Mini's, so for now, patience.

b. Mountain Lion via MLPostFactor is the highest you can run on it, as of right now. Like I said, this COULD change if hackerwayne figures out how to get Mavericks running on Macs with Intel GMA cards.

 

[Hennesie2000]

I have a macpro1,1 with an upgraded video card and a CF card with Chameleon installed on it. But when I try and boot off it I get a "No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key" message. I also do not get the Chameleons partition listed when I hold down the Option key when booting.

Any ideas?

Do you also have a Windows install/partition?

 

[ces1965]

10.9 won't install on Mac Pro 1,1

I have a 1,1 running ML with chameleon. I've put together the bootable install volume for 10.9 and can boot to that, it lets me select English and then I get an error saying OS X cannot be installed on this mac. I have an HD 4800 Radeon. Firmware upgraded to 2,1. Any ideas? At this point I may try to install 10.9 on my boot drive (external SSD) using a supported mac.

 

[Hennesie2000]

I have a 1,1 running ML with chameleon. I've put together the bootable install volume for 10.9 and can boot to that, it lets me select English and then I get an error saying OS X cannot be installed on this mac. I have an HD 4800 Radeon. Firmware upgraded to 2,1. Any ideas? At this point I may try to install 10.9 on my boot drive (external SSD) using a supported mac.

You are still on an unsupported Mac. You will need to use a supported Mac to boot up the installer and upgrade your Mt Lion install to Mavericks. You shouldn't loose any data but should always back up.

 

[GCB12]

Macbook Air 1st Gen...

I've been following this thread with great interest as my MBA (early 2008) is the only type of MBA not supported by Apple to upgrade to Mavericks...

I know my MBA is also the weakest of them all and pales in comparison with the Mac Pro's you are all working on. But I have to ask: is there any chance my MBA will be able to upgrade to Mavericks using any of the methods described in this thread? Or am I wasting my time?

Thanks a lot!

 

[RV-ABZ]

.

 

[alpez]

Chamelon on Macmini2,1

Hi

Have tried to intall Chamelon on my Macmini2,1 in **many** way's, but always nogo.

tried myHack btaman macpro1.1 installation, different 10.9 images.
(myHack don't even show the "EFI Boot")

It allways endup with that "EFI Boot" is shown when I hold down the option key, not BOOT or Startup Disk as described in the examples.
BOOT or Startup Disk should be the Chamelon bootloader disk.

Booting on "EFI Boot" just kick me back to 10.7

anyone got a clue what I'm doing wrong

/alpez

 

[Cryder]

Hi,

Does anyone know if it will be possible to install Mavericks in a iMac 5,1 with ATI X1600 video card? Now it's running MLPF 0.3 with no problem at all.

Anyway, I've read in some posts that it's possible to install Mavericks using Chameleon, but Chameleon says "Don't install in Macintosh". How is it supposed to do it?

 

[PeterHolbrook]

You are still on an unsupported Mac. You will need to use a supported Mac to boot up the installer and upgrade your Mt Lion install to Mavericks. You shouldn't loose any data but should always back up.

Your advice is absolutely WRONG! Mac Pro 1,1 users do NOT need a supported Mac to install Chameleon and/or Mavericks. At most, they need an extra internal SATA disk. And I know what I'm talking about: I own a Mac Pro 1,1, currently running Mavericks 10.9 (13A603) and at no time did I resort to a supported Mac to boot up the installer and upgrade my previous ML install. Neither did I use a supported Mac when I installed ML on this machine.

 

[Oculos]

It is not likely there will be a MVPF.

You have so much wasted space with that 140GB install partition. Chameleon needs less than 1GB but that's the smallest partition size when using disk utility. You don't need another boot drive for chameleon. I don't know why all of these guides say you do.

That's cause I was using MLPF, and needed the OS X Install on it.

 

[RV-ABZ]

.

 

[gio64]

Installed, some issues

Hi, if anybody can help, here's my question:
I have a MacPro 1.1, firmware 2.1, Radeon 3870, 3GHz Xeons.
I did the installation no problem.
I used the first GM Release.
Problem: the card is not recognized. It does a resolution I can't pinpoint, but on my 23" Cinema Display, it does nothing close to 1920x1200 as it is supposed to.
The card gets recognized as having 7 or 3 (I fiddled with chameleon) mb of RAM, instead of 512.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Note that I have run Lion up until yesterday and I never attempted any other installations.

 

[RV-ABZ]

.

 

[Oculos]

I followed batman's guide, but When I reboot to install, I keep getting the boot0: error.

Can someone send me the plist of how it should be on the org.chameleon.Boot.plist? mine is <string>0,2</string> - should it be different? Is this the culprit?

 

[Hennesie2000]

Your advice is absolutely WRONG! Mac Pro 1,1 users do NOT need a supported Mac to install Chameleon and/or Mavericks. At most, they need an extra internal SATA disk. And I know what I'm talking about: I own a Mac Pro 1,1, currently running Mavericks 10.9 (13A603) and at no time did I resort to a supported Mac to boot up the installer and upgrade my previous ML install. Neither did I use a supported Mac when I installed ML on this machine.

First off calm down. My advice is not wrong because it would work even you mentioned using a supported Mac. I'd love to know how you were able to boot the installer. I assume you have a sata drive with the installer or you are doing a MLPF type patch on it to get it to boot. I always put the installer on a USB stick which isn't shown in the Chameleon boot. I will admit I am a bit new to this but I was able to get my Mac Pro up and running 13A603 quickly using a single hard drive with an OS X/Windows dual boot. When updating from the 13A598 build the installer wouldn't continue after the installer app did the reboot. Using a supported Mac I was able to continue that process.

 

[PeterHolbrook]

First off calm down. My advice is not wrong because it would work even you mentioned using a supported Mac. I'd love to know how you were able to boot the installer. I assume you have a sata drive with the installer or you are doing a MLPF type patch on it to get it to boot. I always put the installer on a USB stick which isn't shown in the Chameleon boot. I will admit I am a bit new to this but I was able to get my Mac Pro up and running 13A603 quickly using a single hard drive with an OS X/Windows dual boot. When updating from the 13A598 build the installer wouldn't continue after the installer app did the reboot. Using a supported Mac I was able to continue that process.

I am perfectly calm, so there's no need for me to calm down. Last year, with ML, and this year, with Mavs, I was able to run the installer for both programs using Chameleon, the very same boot loader that effects launching the installed system. No MLPF patches of ANY kind. The systems are unmodified and fully 64 bit. No 32-bit kernel, no unsupported kexts from unknown origin. No nothing fishy. Just Chameleon, using one extra disk in one of the Mac Pro bays. That's all.

 

[rudeboy2]

any hopes for a MacBook 2,1 with a 32Bit EFI and GMA950?

 

[Hennesie2000]

I am perfectly calm, so there's no need for me to calm down. Last year, with ML, and this year, with Mavs, I was able to run the installer for both programs using Chameleon, the very same boot loader that effects launching the installed system. No MLPF patches of ANY kind. The systems are unmodified and fully 64 bit. No 32-bit kernel, no unsupported kexts from unknown origin. No nothing fishy. Just Chameleon, using one extra disk in one of the Mac Pro bays. That's all.

Ok, I never tried putting the installer on an internal disk but that makes sense that chameleon would be able to boot that then. I'll play with that this weekend. I personally just used a supported Mac to install Mavericks and then used a supported Mac to update the Mavericks install from 13A598 to 13A603. This would help my get my friends Mac Pro updated who lives in another state though. Thanks.

 

[PeterHolbrook]

Ok, I never tried putting the installer on an internal disk but that makes sense that chameleon would be able to boot that then. I'll play with that this weekend. I personally just used a supported Mac to install Mavericks and then used a supported Mac to update the Mavericks install from 13A598 to 13A603. This would help my get my friends Mac Pro updated who lives in another state though. Thanks.

Your method would also work, of course, but it isn't necessary. If you want a detailed tutorial, look for Jabbawok's blog. Beware: the last time I read it, it was tailored for ML, not Mavericks per se. There's a subtle difference: the name of the installer image in /Volumes.

 

[wwanthony]

Another successful and drama free Mac Pro 1,1 installation.

Just restored the public release installer to an install partition on a spare drive, configured chameleon to boot from it, copied the mach kernel from within the distribution to the root folder and restarted. Took about 20 mins give-or-take to install.

Seems nice, smooth and snappy so far. There's plenty of life in the old dog yet.

How did you do the restore? What DMG from the installer did you use?

 

[Rastafabi]

MLforALL just posted, that he's still working on those GMA-based chipsets. I believe he is making some progress as he already got it working on Mountain Lion in 64 Bit in the past (unstable using 10.6.2 kext).
As MLforALL showed he's quiet good concerning fixing kext files (iSight running smoothly, fixing numlock LED issue) I think he has a chance enabling them in Mavericks, although it might be a thougther task fixing them to be stable.