macOS 10.12 Sierra Unsupported Macs Thread

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

So installing macOS Sierra using this methodology will also install Sierra's Recovery partition too? Or we'll have to wait for a final release and also DiskmakerX? Just wondering...I have an early 2008 iMac, super capable machine. It's sad Wifi is not supported. Is this a final "state" or a workaround will be possible? What do you guys think?

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS TOOL.

*Sigh* Had a 24" early '08 iMac that I found, but I couldn't fully fix its GPU. I had to part the poor machine out. It was so capable and nice. It's too bad that they fell out of support and that their WiFi cards are no longer supported. Being a desktop, it's not too difficult for it to conceal a WiFi dongle, but it sure is annoying. I believe that, somewhere down the road, there will be a patch for the older WiFi cards.

 

[Kroo]

@dosdude1 Just wanted to say thank you. This worked like a charm on Mid 2009 MacBook Pro 5,2, everything working. Will future updates need to be patched as well?

 

[dosdude1]

@dosdude1 Just wanted to say thank you. This worked like a charm on Mid 2009 MacBook Pro 5,2, everything working. Will future updates need to be patched as well?

Yes, they will.
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Hello ferretex;

This is from my experience. It will create a Sierra Recovery partition. But as you will find out just like me, you won't be able to boot into that partition.

I don't know what dosdude1 has plans for the future and that's up to him to say.

Hope this makes sense to you.

I'll probably try at some point to patch the recovery partition. Didn't bother with it right now, as I found it somewhat unnecessary.

 

[redheeler]

*Sigh* Had a 24" early '08 iMac that I found, but I couldn't fully fix its GPU. I had to part the poor machine out. It was so capable and nice. It's too bad that they fell out of support and that their WiFi cards are no longer supported. Being a desktop, it's not too difficult for it to conceal a WiFi dongle, but it sure is annoying. I believe that, somewhere down the road, there will be a patch for the older WiFi cards.

I hope so. An external Wi-Fi dongle is more of a problem on a MacBook Air with a single USB port (yes, before the Retina MacBook there was this Air). Might as well just keep using El Capitan as the primary OS until the end of support.
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I'll probably try at some point to patch the recovery partition. Didn't bother with it right now, as I found it somewhat unnecessary.

Do you know how I would put LegacyUSBInjector into the Recovery partition? That's all I need to get it working (already modified PlatformSupport.plist to make it bootable).

 

[docSierra]

I have a MacBook Pro 5,2, too - latest patcher downloaded.
Mac OS X Base: external drive, macOS Sierra: internal drive, separate partition.
Problem: Installation hangs with message "OS X could not be installed on this computer; An error occured while setting file attributes"
any suggestions?
best regards and many thanks!

 

[alfansome]

Hi, it was with your tool and those very instructions. I've remade the drive so many times to try it, I've lost count!

a couple of suggestions:

• when checking if journalling is enabled - make sure to do this after running the patch tool just in case
• try a different usb flash drive - I had best luck using 2.0 rather than 3.0 and single partition on the flash drive - also used a small one (16GB)

 

[nospamboz]

I have a MacBook Pro 5,2, too - latest patcher downloaded.
Mac OS X Base: external drive, macOS Sierra: internal drive, separate partition.
Problem: Installation hangs with message "OS X could not be installed on this computer; An error occured while setting file attributes"
any suggestions?

Maybe it's a CoreStorage partition issue?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/core-storage-still-an-install-issue-in-10-11.1936096/

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

I hope so. An external Wi-Fi dongle is more of a problem on a MacBook Air with a single USB port (yes, before the Retina MacBook there was this Air). Might as well just keep using El Capitan as the primary OS until the end of support.
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Do you know how I would put LegacyUSBInjector into the Recovery partition? That's all I need to get it working (already modified PlatformSupport.plist to make it bootable).

It does suck for those few laptops that won't get WiFi. I'm sure that those cards could possibly be patched; but, yeah, no sense in trying to upgrade if they cannot be patched. Frankly, a 2008 MacBook Air isn't extremely capable. It seems to share similar specifications to those of a 2006 MacBook. However, I usually don't like concluding things like that. There's always someone with a machine that they want working. I'd be annoyed if I had, say, a 3,1 Mac Pro (albeit a much more capable machine than those MacBook Airs) and someone told me to forget about and buy a new one.

 

[redheeler]

It does suck for those few laptops that won't get WiFi. I'm sure that those cards could possibly be patched; but, yeah, no sense in trying to upgrade if they cannot be patched. Frankly, a 2008 MacBook Air isn't extremely capable. It seems to share similar specifications to those of a 2006 MacBook. However, I usually don't like concluding things like that. There's always someone with a machine that they want working. I'd be annoyed if I had, say, a 3,1 Mac Pro (albeit a much more capable machine than those MacBook Airs) and someone told me to forget about and buy a new one.

I have a newer Mac laptop (as you can obviously tell my my signature) running the Sierra beta, but I still want to push the Air to run the latest software it possibly can. Yes it's pretty low-speced and doesn't run terrifically, but it runs usable enough that I can enjoy the benefit of being on a current OS (and also the option to revert if I'd like).

A 2010 11" MacBook Air, which is supported by Sierra, has an even slower CPU and the same 2 GB RAM, only the GPU is a bit better. Apple will have to further optimize Sierra for this supported hardware, and hopefully get it running even better than El Capitan on my unsupported 2008 Air.

 

[garirry]

Tried dosdude1's method and it works on my MacBook 5,2. Thank you very much! Only problem is that for some reason Wifi is unavailable. I did patch the system properly and used the default options, and I don't think 5,2 doesn't have Wifi because one of the pictures on your page shows that it's a 5,2 and it works fine.

EDIT: there seems to be some other issues going on.
1) Sometimes the keyboard doesn't respond fully. When I'm entering the password to access locked settings, I can't type anything. Same with textedit. However, on the desktop, spotlight works, function keys work all the time regardless of where I am, and the most surprising fact, is that if I enable on-screen keyboard and try typing in stuff... it doesn't work, I can't type anything.
2) The trackpad is been seen as a mouse, so I can't enable stuff like right-click, etc.

 

[dosdude1]

Tried dosdude1's method and it works on my MacBook 5,2. Thank you very much! Only problem is that for some reason Wifi is unavailable. I did patch the system properly and used the default options, and I don't think 5,2 doesn't have Wifi because one of the pictures on your page shows that it's a 5,2 and it works fine.

Some have the older, unsupported card. You'll have to get a BCM4322 card for it.

 

[garirry]

Some have the older, unsupported card. You'll have to get a BCM4322 card for it.

Oh yeah, I remember. This Early 2009 is actually an Early 2008 using an E2009 logic board. So that means the Wifi card is from an Early 2008 MacBook. Maybe that's the reason it won't work?

 

[bunnspecial]

First of all, @dosdude1 , thank you so much for this patch.

I've mentioned this a couple of times but I have two general use laptops(aka work laptops, even though I personally own them) and a couple of older ones that I use to test new OS installs. My main ones have been a mid-09 Macbook and a Macbook Pro 4,1(early '08, pre-Unibody), both of which were supported through 10.12. My #1 laptop is a Macbook Pro 9,1(15" mid-2012 non-retina) and I installed Sierra on a second partition the day it was announced. This computer(along with my late '11 13" and the Mac Pro in my office) all run Mavericks as their primary OS, and I WILL NOT run a Beta OS for work, so I was glad to get the Macbook running with 10.12 for full time use.

I haven't done the 4,1 yet, as I will miss WiFi. I want to put a larger SSD in it, so I'll likely also track down a compatible WiFi card and drop that in before installing Sierra while I have the computer apart for the SSD replacement. I've done enough aluminum Powerbooks and pre-Uni MBPs to have the process down fairly well, but I still don't like venturing into them any more than I have to.

 

[fredy313]

hola gracias por el programa y la guia,e conseguido instalar mac os sierra,solo hay un problema,no me reconoce el audio...sabes que podria hacer para que me lo reconozca,asi me ira 100% por favor gracias.

 

[lumos]

Make sure you enter your password when prompted, and ensure your USB drive is formatted correctly.

Hi, I have try to format the USB key, install with your patch, enter the password when asked.
I also try it on two different Mac, a Mac Pro 3.1 and a new MacBook 2015.
If I put the USB key on the MacBook 2015 when it start, I can select the USB key to boot and then install the macOS.
But If I put the same USB key on my MacPro 3.1 at the startup I see only the Macintosh HD and the Recovery partition and no USB key.

If I make a bootable USB Key (with the same USB key) for El Capita, the Mac Pro 3.1 show me the USB key to install El Capitan.

What's the prob???

 

[macsba]

Hi lumos;

For your new MacBook 2015 all you need is just the Sierra beta installer. No other fixings needed. Your new MacBook 2015 is supported by the Sierra OS.

 

[lumos]

Hi lumos;

For your new MacBook 2015 all you need is just the Sierra beta installer. No other fixings needed. Your new MacBook 2015 is supported by the Sierra OS.

I know this, I have tried to make the USB even from a supported Mac and not only on my Mac Pro.
In both of case, the USB key at startup (on the clover startup), is only visible on MacBook and not into the Mac Pro.

 

[Fred57]

Hi all

How does the legacy USB Kext work ? Could it be used under El Capitan for old macs ? It would be nice for some of us to go through El Capitan before seeing Sierra coming !

Still stuck with KPs under the EC Installer even with Bluetooth and USB kexts installed as indicated in post 1.
Did someone manage to install EC on unsupported Macs on top of MacPro's ?

Thanks

 

[dosdude1]

Hi all

How does the legacy USB Kext work ? Could it be used under El Capitan for old macs ? It would be nice for some of us to go through El Capitan before seeing Sierra coming !

Still stuck with KPs under the EC Installer even with Bluetooth and USB kexts installed as indicated in post 1.
Did someone manage to install EC on unsupported Macs on top of MacPro's ?

Thanks

There's no reason to run El Capitan on a 2008 or older MacBook, or 2006 iMac or MacBook Pro, as the GPU isn't supported, which would result in extremely terrible performance, as well as functionality limitations.

 

[Fred57]

There's no reason to run El Capitan on a 2008 or older MacBook, or 2006 iMac or MacBook Pro, as the GPU isn't supported, which would result in extremely terrible performance, as well as functionality limitations.

Except if one has upgraded the GPU to get reasonable frame rates or put back SL kexts which are not so sluggish.
(By the way, apologies, I understand the topic here is Sierra, not EC, just asking )

 

[redheeler]

Except if one has upgraded the GPU to get reasonable frame rates or put back SL kexts which are not so sluggish.

Simply dropping in the 32-bit kexts from Snow Leopard or Lion doesn't work, the only option is to upgrade the GPU. I am wondering how that is possible on a Mac mini though...

 

[dosdude1]

Except if one has upgraded the GPU to get reasonable frame rates or put back SL kexts which are not so sluggish.
(By the way, apologies, I understand the topic here is Sierra, not EC, just asking )

You can't upgrade the GPUs in the models I listed, and the Snow Leopard kexts won't load in Mavericks or newer, as those versions cannot load 32-bit kexts.

 

[tribalhere10]

i have a macbook pro mid 2009 13-inch.installed with OS X Ei Captain. Everytimes when i hit the install 10.12 Developer preview dmg it will show " install 10.12 developer preview" can't be opened because the identity of the developer cannot be confirm. where does me go wrong.

 

[macsba]

i have a macbook pro mid 2009 13-inch.installed with OS X Ei Captain. Everytimes when i hit the install 10.12 Developer preview dmg it will show " install 10.12 developer preview" can't be opened because the identity of the developer cannot be confirm. where does me go wrong.

Hi ya tribalhere10;

Try this:

Double-click on the .dmg file. Then when a new window opens up, move the Sierra installer icon onto your desktop. Then when creating the USB flash drive using dosdude1's instructions, use the Sierra installer located on your desktop.

Now, if you're trying to open the dmg file directly, right-click on the dmg file and select Open in the pop-up menu, in the resultant pop-up window, select open, you should be fine after that.

Hope this helps.

 

[tribalhere10]

hi macsba,

i have move sierra installed icon to my desktop. and i have download the macOS sierra patcher.zip to a thumbdrive. what should i do next?