[Guide] Success! Install 10.8 on old unsupported Mac

[H2SO4]

Is my logic board dead?

What kind of failure? Error messages during the installation?

Well, I mean upgrades that take ages. Like hours.

..........I decided to stop threadjacking and have moved my orignal text to here.

 

[Michelasso]

Then it could be because Pacifist doesn't run the post install scripts. Personally I'd rather install the real stuff and repatch it at the end. Right now I am updating using the App Store (my 10.8.2 was the one for developers, which I am allowed to get - long story). I wanna see how it works! RIght now it is downloading, no platform check for it.

Just to let you know that I downloaded the update via the App Store, it installed during the shutdown fine, but to reboot I had to apply the patched boot.efi again from the Lion partition as I expected.

In any case, I installed Safari 6.0.1 using Pacifist (somehow it got messed up reinstalling Lion. I had only 5.1.7 and it crashed). It took AGES. Pacifist isn't the best way to do the installation. It was useful only when the updates were still checking if the platform was supported...

 

[hackerwayne]

Hey guys, im back and ill answer some unanswered questions here:

1. GMA 950 uses still no luck, no QE/Ci. Sorry guys.

2. Fixes for sleep and slow graphics on X3100 are underway

3. Fixes for X1900, X1600 detected as "8MB" are underway. No QE/CI thou, just slightly improved kexts.

Dear hackerwayne:

have any good news for GMA950 QE/CI?

Everyday I come here looking for your good news

Thanks

Chali Wang

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Change your HD to other machine to run this ML , and Jion to iCloud , then back to your MacMini,it's work and can keep iCloud to my Macbook2,1

But iMessage and FaceTime use same , in other machine can login , when back to older MacBook2,1 , Still can't work

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Is 10.8.2 supported on PowerBook MB133LL/A?

No sir, your PowerBook is based on PowerPC Chipset, starting 10.6, Apple only supports Intel chipset x86 IE64, which means only Intel Macs.

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Ty, it work on my 2007 macbook!

I would like to know how to remove the Lion partition once the Mountain Lion his installed?

Keep getting "can't unmount this disk".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nevermind, I boot on the Key, and removed it!

Now let's find why BootCamp don't work anymore

Yes, bootcamp doesnt work. Ive fixed that already, a patch will be up shortly.

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Hi all,
is there a faster way to instal ML on a 1,1 Mac Pro (running a supported video card; i.e. an ATI 5870)?

I've downloaded and installed ML 10.8.1 from App store on my (late 2008) MacBook after creating an USB thumb drive and I'm wondering to install ML on my Pro from that thumb maybe working on the .plist file to modifiy 1,1 Mac Pro compatibility. Is that possible?

You will still need to replace PlatformSupport.plist, boot.efi.

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Everything appeared to work under 10.8.1

10.8.2 killed it.

Ran 10.8.2 software update, restarted the machine and got the circle with a slash though it.

Tried replacing first the boot.efi files in the CoreServices then the one in the i386 folder. Also tried replacing the PlatformSupport.plist (even though it was not modified by the update)

Still the same circle with a slash through it. Any ideas?

Running on a mac pro 1,1 with an apple 8800gt and 4 gb ram.

Replace Mach_Kernel from 10.8.1 that solved the problem.

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Mine didn't exactly go according to plan either. Had to boot from a clone and fix things that way.

Replace Mach_Kernel from 10.8.1, that will solve the 10.8.2 unbootable issue. Will add this to post 1 and 22

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"Mac Pros with upgraded graphics > Perfect (RAM limitation = 8GB)"

Why does this RAM limitation exist? I have 21GB of RAM...so I guess I better stick with Lion for now huh?

Simply because the patched EFI files does not support more then 8GB lol.. Anyone here thats good in Hex can try to modify that :X

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Then it could be because Pacifist doesn't run the post install scripts. Personally I'd rather install the real stuff and repatch it at the end. Right now I am updating using the App Store (my 10.8.2 was the one for developers, which I am allowed to get - long story). I wanna see how it works! RIght now it is downloading, no platform check for it.

BTW no news for REAL GMA 950 kexts? Are they really so hard to develop??

Nope, no news for GMA 950 kexts. As mention earlier by Trunkz those patched GMA 950 kexts are simply modified to improve performance, but its still Framebuffer, means no QE/CI and/or proper acceleration. Apple has never developed a 64 bit GMA 950 kexts. The reason why X3100 worked is because Apple accidentally included it in 10.6.2, and even that isnt a perfect kext :\

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Is anybody looking into a solution for iMessages and FaceTime? If so, I thought this screenshot might be of use to a genius in the community.

I did my install over Firewire from a capable Macbook Pro onto a Mac Pro. The Migration Assistant solution worked for getting iCloud running, but still no iMessages and FaceTime. There are a few quick Hackintosh solutions w/ networking prefs, but those have not worked.

I booted to my MacPro install as external Firewire from capable Mac in hopes of something working for those. I guess I was hoping the capable Mac would trigger some kind of permanent bypass, and I was able to log in to both services w/ no problem.

As soon as I booted directly from MacPro drive, iMessages prompted me for login. Right when that happened, Little Snitch showed this connection attempt, and then iMessage functionality was lost for good once the connection was allowed.

So it looks like this process is what tells the Apple server that you are on an unsupported Mac.

Is it the model number? Or a serial number I have read on Hackintosh forums?

Its actually the UDID or Unique Device ID. If you are using Chameleon method, you can get both of them working by spoofing an UDID, Serial and Model Number from another Mac. Its impossible if you're using stock Apple bootloader.

 

[ciacorp]

I finished installing 10.8.2 via Pacifist on my MacBook early 2008.
Took me about 15h, so a little faster than SchlomoGoldberg ;-)

 

[ciacorp]

Hey guys, im back and ill answer some unanswered questions here:

1. GMA 950 uses still no luck, no QE/Ci. Sorry guys.

2. Fixes for sleep and slow graphics on X3100 are underway

3. Fixes for X1900, X1600 detected as "8MB" are underway. No QE/CI thou, just slightly improved kexts.

Thank you for you're work! Does nr. 2 mean that you are developing a patch/kext for QE/CI support with X3100? That would be a HUGE improvement, making older MacBooks with X3100 nearly 100% compatible with ML

 

[ultron90]

I'm gonna try this on my macbook 3,1!

Just realized that hackerwayne is a 16 year old. Malaysian too! Malaysia boleh! Kudos for the awesome skills you have man.

 

[Commandor]

Hey guys, im back and ill answer some unanswered questions here:

1. GMA 950 uses still no luck, no QE/Ci. Sorry guys.

2. Fixes for sleep and slow graphics on X3100 are underway

3. Fixes for X1900, X1600 detected as "8MB" are underway. No QE/CI thou, just slightly improved kexts.

How's the possibility of X1600 to support QE/CI in the future?

I am still holding on 10.7.5

 

[Srico]

MachKernel

Can someone please post the mach kernel from 10.8.1 and explain to me how to use it, im pretty screwed right now , my macbook is giving me the slash symbol thingy right now. Using Safari through mountain lion setup disk.

 

[hackerwayne]

I finished installing 10.8.2 via Pacifist on my MacBook early 2008.
Took me about 15h, so a little faster than SchlomoGoldberg ;-)

Why?! Disable automatic checking/installation in Pacifist (& manually hold down enter for about 15 mins) the installation will only take about 15 to 20 mins.

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How's the possibility of X1600 to support QE/CI in the future?

I am still holding on 10.7.5

I would say the same fate as GMA950

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Thank you for you're work! Does nr. 2 mean that you are developing a patch/kext for QE/CI support with X3100? That would be a HUGE improvement, making older MacBooks with X3100 nearly 100% compatible with ML

Actually these X3100 kexts are from 10.6.3 but crippled they include partial QE/CI support. Im only gonna modify the framework files from Lion to work with the kexts from 10.6.3 so unfortunately any bugs in QE/CI will not be fixed at this point as i do not know how to read/write/compile kexts lol..

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Can someone please post the mach kernel from 10.8.1 and explain to me how to use it, im pretty screwed right now , my macbook is giving me the slash symbol thingy right now. Using Safari through mountain lion setup disk.

Use Mach_Kernel from 10.8. It should boot now.

 

[hackerwayne]

I'm gonna try this on my macbook 3,1!

Just realized that hackerwayne is a 16 year old. Malaysian too! Malaysia boleh! Kudos for the awesome skills you have man.

Thanks man, report back when you've completed the installation. If you're located in KL area maybe I can work on your X3100 haha, now i don't have a X3100 MB with me in hand, so its hard to test kexts

 

[ciacorp]

Actually these X3100 kexts are from 10.6.3 but crippled they include partial QE/CI support. Im only gonna modify the framework files from Lion to work with the kexts from 10.6.3 so unfortunately any bugs in QE/CI will not be fixed at this point as i do not know how to read/write/compile kexts lol..

Thank you for you're work! Sounds promising despite these restrictions!

 

[panjandrum]

2006 Xserve video card?

OK, I'm giving up on my Mac Pro 1,1 and will try it through the chameleon method when I get time.

But I've also got a 2006 XServe, and would like to add a video-card to it to enable it to run ML server with reasonable speed. Does anyone have a bead on what might be the best route? Thanks.

 

[hackerwayne]

OK, I'm giving up on my Mac Pro 1,1 and will try it through the chameleon method when I get time.

But I've also got a 2006 XServe, and would like to add a video-card to it to enable it to run ML server with reasonable speed. Does anyone have a bead on what might be the best route? Thanks.

Whats the problem with the Mac Pro? 8GB ram limitation?

 

[H2SO4]

OK, I'm giving up on my Mac Pro 1,1 and will try it through the chameleon method when I get time.

But I've also got a 2006 XServe, and would like to add a video-card to it to enable it to run ML server with reasonable speed. Does anyone have a bead on what might be the best route? Thanks.

Whats the problem with the Mac Pro? 8GB ram limitation?

I'd like to be able to help out here too as I've got one or two issues, (though for the most part ML runs really very well). I know you've spoken before but can you summarise the issue(s)?

 

[macguyincali]

MacPro 2,1 with a bunch of drives

Sorry if this has been covered, but with 40 pages of replies, this has become a difficult thread to wade through:

I have a MacPro 2,1 Quad Core 3GHz with 18GB of memory. Upgraded graphics card to ATI Radeon HD 4870. I also have 6.5 TB of hard drives installed.

My questions are as follows:

a) MEMORY: I have 18GB of RAM. If I try to upgrade this to Mountain Lion using the guide laid out here, will I have to give up 10GB of RAM? Do I need to remove the RAM or will it simply not work at all if I try to install this? In the guide, it says "Mac Pros with upgraded graphics > Perfect (RAM limitation = 8GB)

b) INSTALLATION: can I use one of my hard drives to create the installer disk instead of using a thumb drive? Could I use a 4GB thumb drive? Don't have an 8GB handy.

c) GRAPHICS: I believe the HD4870 is supported. Are there any limitations?

d) GENERAL: I really want to have Mountain Lion on this computer since all my other computers are running it and it has become awkward to not have VIPs, Airplay support, Shared PhotoStreams on Aperture, reminders etc. HOWEVER, I also really enjoy using a computer with 18GB of RAM as it allows me to multitask in the ADD sort of way that I'm accustomed to. Any friendly advice from other fanboys who have gone through this? I guess I'm afraid to take the plunge.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts, constructive or otherwise.

 

[H2SO4]

Sorry if this has been covered, but with 40 pages of replies, this has become a difficult thread to wade through:

I have a MacPro 2,1 Quad Core 3GHz with 18GB of memory. Upgraded graphics card to ATI Radeon HD 4870. I also have 6.5 TB of hard drives installed.

My questions are as follows:

a) MEMORY: I have 18GB of RAM. If I try to upgrade this to Mountain Lion using the guide laid out here, will I have to give up 10GB of RAM? Do I need to remove the RAM or will it simply not work at all if I try to install this? In the guide, it says "Mac Pros with upgraded graphics > Perfect (RAM limitation = 8GB)

b) INSTALLATION: can I use one of my hard drives to create the installer disk instead of using a thumb drive? Could I use a 4GB thumb drive? Don't have an 8GB handy.

c) GRAPHICS: I believe the HD4870 is supported. Are there any limitations?

d) GENERAL: I really want to have Mountain Lion on this computer since all my other computers are running it and it has become awkward to not have VIPs, Airplay support, Shared PhotoStreams on Aperture, reminders etc. HOWEVER, I also really enjoy using a computer with 18GB of RAM as it allows me to multitask in the ADD sort of way that I'm accustomed to. Any friendly advice from other fanboys who have gone through this? I guess I'm afraid to take the plunge.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts, constructive or otherwise.

I can help you with the flash drive bit......

 

[stingray88]

2. Fixes for sleep and slow graphics on X3100 are underway

Nice! Excited to see what you have in store for us.

Why?! Disable automatic checking/installation in Pacifist (& manually hold down enter for about 15 mins) the installation will only take about 15 to 20 mins.

Exactly! That's what I did and the update took like 20 minutes.

Edit: Also for anyone that's wondering, I applied the 10.8.2 supplemental update with pacifist without a hitch. Only took about a minute or two.

 

[SchlomoGoldberg]

I finished installing 10.8.2 via Pacifist on my MacBook early 2008.
Took me about 15h, so a little faster than SchlomoGoldberg ;-)

You lucky bastard! hehehe!

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Nice! Excited to see what you have in store for us.



Exactly! That's what I did and the update took like 20 minutes.

Edit: Also for anyone that's wondering, I applied the 10.8.2 supplemental update with pacifist without a hitch. Only took about a minute or two.

I've just updated my MacBook Late 2007 too, via Pacifist.

This supplemental updated only took 10 minutes

 

[hackerwayne]

Sorry if this has been covered, but with 40 pages of replies, this has become a difficult thread to wade through:

I have a MacPro 2,1 Quad Core 3GHz with 18GB of memory. Upgraded graphics card to ATI Radeon HD 4870. I also have 6.5 TB of hard drives installed.

My questions are as follows:

a) MEMORY: I have 18GB of RAM. If I try to upgrade this to Mountain Lion using the guide laid out here, will I have to give up 10GB of RAM? Do I need to remove the RAM or will it simply not work at all if I try to install this? In the guide, it says "Mac Pros with upgraded graphics > Perfect (RAM limitation = 8GB)

b) INSTALLATION: can I use one of my hard drives to create the installer disk instead of using a thumb drive? Could I use a 4GB thumb drive? Don't have an 8GB handy.

c) GRAPHICS: I believe the HD4870 is supported. Are there any limitations?

d) GENERAL: I really want to have Mountain Lion on this computer since all my other computers are running it and it has become awkward to not have VIPs, Airplay support, Shared PhotoStreams on Aperture, reminders etc. HOWEVER, I also really enjoy using a computer with 18GB of RAM as it allows me to multitask in the ADD sort of way that I'm accustomed to. Any friendly advice from other fanboys who have gone through this? I guess I'm afraid to take the plunge.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts, constructive or otherwise.

Let me answer one by one.

A. at this stage, installing more then 8GB RAM will result in an almost immediate kernel panic during boot.

B. 8GB thumb drive is absolutely needed.

C. That card isn't tested. If its a flash card, i doubt it will work. If its Apple card, chances are it will.

Im not always online, but im always on Twitter @Wayne_819. Any urgent question just follow me and ask me there.

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I'd like to be able to help out here too as I've got one or two issues, (though for the most part ML runs really very well). I know you've spoken before but can you summarise the issue(s)?

1. Right, heres the thing, the modified EFI file has 8GB RAM limitation. Unless someone here is good with Hex can try to modify that. The EFI is a combined version of Lion's EFI and ML's EFI.

2. For those "Flashed" PC graphics card, sometimes it doesn't work because you flashed EFI32.rom on the card, the flashed card needs to be at least 1MB so you could get BOTH EFI64.rom and EFI32.rom. Heres why, if you only flash EFI32.rom, Mountain Lion won't load the required kext for it, therefore, the card won't have any accelerations (No QE/CI). If you only flash EFI64.rom, you won't get a boot screen. So i highly recommend everyone here that has a Mac Pro to get a legit Apple card. You can easily find Nvidia 8800GT/GT120 cheap deals on eBay.

 

[prattio]

Hey guys, im back and ill answer some unanswered questions here:

Its actually the UDID or Unique Device ID. If you are using Chameleon method, you can get both of them working by spoofing an UDID, Serial and Model Number from another Mac. Its impossible if you're using stock Apple bootloader.

So Apple has the UDID logged and knows its a MacPro 1,1?

Many Hackintosh forums show editing their networking prefs file allows for imessages. That plist does show 1,1. Any other ideas?

I did my install from Snow Leopard 10.6 -> 10.8. Do you think installing Lion, then Mtn Lion on top of it may allow iMessages to work?

 

[hackerwayne]

So Apple has the UDID logged and knows its a MacPro 1,1?

Many Hackintosh forums show editing their networking prefs file allows for imessages. That plist does show 1,1. Any other ideas?

I did my install from Snow Leopard 10.6 -> 10.8. Do you think installing Lion, then Mtn Lion on top of it may allow iMessages to work?

Don't get what you mean by installing from 10.6 -> 10.8. You need to clean install it in an empty partition. Yes Apple does have an authentication server that checks UDID and serial number. Editing plist files means adding a UDID from a supported Mac it isnt possible unless you use Chameleon.

 

[eafzali]

2. Fixes for sleep and slow graphics on X3100 are underway

Can please explain a little more about what is your approach on fixing x3100 and when will it be ready? I can't really wait for it.

 

[prattio]

Don't get what you mean by installing from 10.6 -> 10.8. You need to clean install it in an empty partition. Yes Apple does have an authentication server that checks UDID and serial number. Editing plist files means adding a UDID from a supported Mac it isnt possible unless you use Chameleon.

I installed 10.8 from Firewire onto a partition w/ 10.6 already on it.

Thank you for clarifying the UDID mess.

 

[chromedome45]

Ati x1600

Any chance of having QE/CI working on an X1600 based system. Hate to beat a dead horse but was wondering.

 

[H2SO4]

Fips

Does anybody get any FIPS related messages during boot, or is it just me?

(You'll need to consult the system logs for the info).