macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread

[bosozoku]

Hi @Czo - On software update fix ...

I get the following "Package Authoring errors" in my install.log. Some notifications are normal but the Syntax errors indicate (to me at least) that "broken lines" processing in Faker may be a little off. It must be removing lines and leaving open distribution xml sections, hence confusing the parser.

Check the log below. This may account for the inconsistent system update behavior some of us are experiencing. Can you check this out ? (I left you a pm about the tags we are ignoring also)

I matched my install.log with @TimothyR734 who successfully system updates on every shot and no such errors.

Others who've been unable to system update or always get the full install package every time, may want to check their install.log for errors also.

Thanks!

2018-08-07 02:47:57-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring: error running installation-check script: SyntaxError: Return statements are only valid inside functions. at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D ==> return false;
2018-08-07 02:47:58-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring: error running installation-check script: SyntaxError: Return statements are only valid inside functions. at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D ==> return (needsEFIUpdate(actualEFI, intendedEFI, actualSMC, minSMCforEFI));
2018-08-07 02:47:59-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring: error running volume-check script: SyntaxError: Unexpected keyword 'else' at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D ==> else if (argv[0] == 'HP_Crossbow') { bundlePaths = ["/Library/Printers/hp/Frameworks/Crossbow.framework/Versions/D/Resources/Info.plist",]; }
2018-08-07 02:47:59-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: IFJS: Package Authoring Error: error evaluating script visible for choice su: TypeError: null is not an object (evaluating 'my.target.mountpoint') at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D/choice%5B1%5D/@visible ==> Script9(my.target.mountpoint)
2018-08-07 02:48:02-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring: error running installation-check script: SyntaxError: Return statements are only valid inside functions. at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D ==> return (needsEFIUpdate(actualEFI, intendedEFI, actualSMC, minSMCforEFI));
2018-08-07 02:48:06-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring: error running installation-check script: SyntaxError: Return statements are only valid inside functions. at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D ==> return false;
2018-08-07 02:48:07-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring: error running installation-check script: SyntaxError: Return statements are only valid inside functions. at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D ==> return (needsEFIUpdate(actualEFI, intendedEFI, actualSMC, minSMCforEFI));
2018-08-07 02:48:08-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring: error running volume-check script: SyntaxError: Unexpected keyword 'else' at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D ==> else if (argv[0] == 'HP_Crossbow') { bundlePaths = ["/Library/Printers/hp/Frameworks/Crossbow.framework/Versions/D/Resources/Info.plist",]; }
2018-08-07 02:48:11-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring: error running installation-check script: SyntaxError: Return statements are only valid inside functions. at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D ==> return (needsEFIUpdate(actualEFI, intendedEFI, actualSMC, minSMCforEFI));
2018-08-07 03:02:51-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring: error running installation-check script: SyntaxError: Return statements are only valid inside functions. at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D ==> return false;
2018-08-07 03:02:52-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring: error running installation-check script: SyntaxError: Return statements are only valid inside functions. at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D ==> return (needsEFIUpdate(actualEFI, intendedEFI, actualSMC, minSMCforEFI));
2018-08-07 03:02:53-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring: error running volume-check script: SyntaxError: Unexpected keyword 'else' at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D ==> else if (argv[0] == 'HP_Crossbow') { bundlePaths = ["/Library/Printers/hp/Frameworks/Crossbow.framework/Versions/D/Resources/Info.plist",]; }
2018-08-07 03:02:53-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: IFJS: Package Authoring Error: error evaluating script visible for choice su: TypeError: null is not an object (evaluating 'my.target.mountpoint') at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D/choice%5B1%5D/@visible ==> Script9(my.target.mountpoint)
2018-08-07 03:02:55-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring: error running installation-check script: SyntaxError: Return statements are only valid inside functions. at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D ==> return (needsEFIUpdate(actualEFI, intendedEFI, actualSMC, minSMCforEFI));
2018-08-07 03:02:57-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring Error: PackageInfo bundle reference found without top-level bundle definition. Bundle will be skipped: <bundle id="*"></bundle>
2018-08-07 03:02:57-04 Mac-Pro system_installd[516]: Package Authoring Error: PackageInfo bundle reference found without top-level bundle definition. Bundle will be skipped: <bundle id="*"></bundle>
2018-08-07 11:18:36-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring: error running installation-check script: SyntaxError: Return statements are only valid inside functions. at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D ==> return false;
2018-08-07 11:18:37-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring: error running installation-check script: SyntaxError: Return statements are only valid inside functions. at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D ==> return (needsEFIUpdate(actualEFI, intendedEFI, actualSMC, minSMCforEFI));
2018-08-07 11:18:37-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring: error running volume-check script: SyntaxError: Unexpected keyword 'else' at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D ==> else if (argv[0] == 'HP_Crossbow') { bundlePaths = ["/Library/Printers/hp/Frameworks/Crossbow.framework/Versions/D/Resources/Info.plist",]; }
2018-08-07 11:18:40-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: Package Authoring: error running installation-check script: SyntaxError: Return statements are only valid inside functions. at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D ==> return (needsEFIUpdate(actualEFI, intendedEFI, actualSMC, minSMCforEFI));
2018-08-07 11:22:04-04 Mac-Pro softwareupdated[575]: IFJS: Package Authoring Error: error evaluating script visible for choice su: TypeError: null is not an object (evaluating 'my.target.mountpoint') at x-distribution:///installer-gui-script%5B1%5D/choice%5B1%5D/@visible ==> Or0(my.target.mountpoint)

[doublepost=1533736798][/doublepost]
Hi - I did a little spelunking myself to add to others who are investigating this issue. Here are my (summarized) findings in a nutshell:

• The issue is localized to the Skylight.framework which includes the WindowServer
• A deep inspection of skylight and windowserver binaries revealed that Mojave's version leverages two new libraries compression and the latest metal performance shaders framework (compared to HS Skylight) So Apple has moved some shader processing to their framework, consistent with their bent on "full" metal everywhere and dropping support for OpenGL and OpenCL
• A drop in swap with the HS Skylight will simply not work (and risks hosing things really up)
• I also discovered two missing traditional shaders that are very conspicuously related to transparency/translucency. Why they are gone is up for debate (just a bug by omission or neglect?) but I am almost certain it accounts for our glitches on our older non-metal accelerated cards. For example my "unsupported" macpro 3,1 has a metal capable GTX 680 and does not glitch: so it's simply that Apple really dropped support for non-metal cards like exist on some our older laptops. HS still quasi supported them
• I also believe Dark mode "glitches" on non-metal cards but since it's Dark...you get the drift
• IMHO a solution to this would be extremely difficult since Skylight is ubiquitous (linked everywhere) and a binary patch may introduce unwanted side-effects system wide (skylight handles A LOT of things)
• Transparency/lucency is traditionally handled via shaders since its the best way to accelerate it, so we're definitely on the right track - how to fix this is up for strong debate
• If I had the time, I would debug this issue using Xcode gpu tracers (opengl or metal). But the setup is a little more complex since it's the windowserver: you have to remote debug the offending laptop
• We are at beta 6 and these non-metal card glitches are still not fixed, so I don't think Apple is seriously looking into this. In fact, as stated per their policy, support for non-metal cards is officially deprecated.

Feel free to trash/debunk or add to my theories (I don't take anything personally)

Hope this helps.

Thank you for your effort!
If I got it right, we can just edit driver kexts to make it use opengl shader! As far as I know, kexts are editable (I have changed my 2011 13” MBPs intel hd3000 mem to 1024Mb with no problems!

 

[jackluke]

Thank you for your effort!
If I got it right, we can just edit driver kexts to make it use opengl shader! As far as I know, kexts are editable (I have changed my 2011 13” MBPs intel hd3000 mem to 1024Mb with no problems!

Only kext's plist files are editable, spoofing a video card ID to match another similar ID (for ex. IntelHD4000) Metal supported one, simply won't work cause each uses a different FrameBuffer.

A possibility would be catching from SkyLight/WindowServer the part of OpenGL coding used by the Mojave "dark mode" and fitting for the "light mode".

 

[pkouame]

Very confused by the whole 'receiving updates via System Preferences' issue. Installed SWUSwitcher -- thought this was supposed to eliminate necessity of going thru Apple in any way -- but, even though I could set Developer Preview or Public Beta in SWUSwitcher, and these seeds would then show as "enrolled" in Software Update, no updates would appear.

Next step: Went to Apple, enrolled in Public Beta (no choice, since not a paid developer account holder), installed Apple's PublicBetaAccessUtility and, voilà, PB5 download appeared immediately in Software Update -- full version, not update, but that makes sense since I'm updating from DP5, not PB4. Proceeded to download PB5 via Software Update (verified the version number), downloaded macOS Mojave Patcher 1.1.2 from here, and installed the downloaded PB5 on my USB stick (intending to use only for patches, or as a backup install if internal update failed).

Tried to run the new PB5 version of Install macOS Mojave Beta from my Applications folder and, as soon as I tried to choose my destination drive, got hit with the rude message: "This version of macOS cannot be installed on this computer." Drat! Re-installed Software Update Patch from Patch Update, rebooted, and tried again. Same error message from the installer. What gives? I thought the whole idea of the Software Update Patch was to allow the macOS installer app to run on an unsupported machine.

Maybe @dosdude1 can explain how this is all supposed to work.

(Sigh.)

Following up on what @TimothyR734 said. You can still use the system update full download to create a patcher stick from within Mojave. It's a short cut that always worked for me. Here's how:

• You get a system update full download and it launches the setup screen. Which obviously won't allow you to install since it hasn't been patched.
• Quit the Installer setup . You should have Install Mojave Beta in your Applications folder
• Download the latest patcher from the OP
• Before you patch: in terminal diskutil list check for an InstallESD mounted disk! If you have one, the patcher will choke and give you errors. So...
• unmount/unmountDisk/eject the InstallESD partition (it's something like /dev/disk6 for me but depends on what else you have mounted). diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskX usually works for me. Double check by running diskutil list again
• Run the patcher using your new Install Mojave Beta as the source
• Profit

Or (of course) you can just download the full installer with the patcher disk...

I and others are still looking into system update errors that may prevent incremental system updates from being correctly processed. If you have an install.log you can share, I will add to my collection of evidence. I'm especially looking for any and all lines with "softwareupdated:". It should be accessible from your console app under /var/log

Good luck.
[doublepost=1533823937][/doublepost]

Idea: If Dark Mode's code can be adapted to be integrated into the Light Mode code, would we get this to a) work as expected or b) be less noticeable.

Yes, that's the gist of it. The issue is finding/isolating the Light/Dark mode code which none of us have yet.
[doublepost=1533826731][/doublepost]

Probably you're right, needed to upgrade instead from the BootRom MP51.00087.800 to BootRom MP51.007F.B03 (EFI 1.5)

edit:
No, wait, MacPro5,1 supported natively until El Capitan, I think a downgrade BootRom isn't feasible.
Maybe has to install Mojave only in HFS+ on that machine.



Anyway try to follow my previous advice, I told during Post-Install to select "MacPro4,1" since MacPro5,1 seems not yet available on the Mojave Patcher, they are very similar, the only relevant difference is that you have a Metal supported video card.

Why isn't the 5,1 listed in the patcher? Must be a good reason - maybe @dosdude1 is the only one who can address this.

I have a pro 3,1 with the same GTX 680 so I see no reason why @thewebgal shouldn't at least be able to install on a 5,1. But HS incompatibility is a clue to start with. Firmware is definitely a possibility.

@thewebgal I remember reports of 5,1 High Sierra issues related to firmware upgrades and third party SSD drives. Are you running a third party SSD drive by any chance? I don't remember your actual configuration, can you tell us more and maybe specific details of your installation woes (black screens, kernel panics, no entry signs, locked keyboards, video glitches etc.)

 

[dosdude1]

Following up on what @TimothyR734 said. You can still use the system update full download to create a patcher stick from within Mojave. It's a short cut that always worked for me. Here's how:

• You get a system update full download and it launches the setup screen. Which obviously won't allow you to install since it hasn't been patched.
• Quit the Installer setup . You should have Install Mojave Beta in your Applications folder
• Download the latest patcher from the OP
• Before you patch: in terminal diskutil list check for an InstallESD mounted disk! If you have one, the patcher will choke and give you errors. So...
• unmount/unmountDisk/eject the InstallESD partition (it's something like /dev/disk6 for me but depends on what else you have mounted). diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskX usually works for me. Double check by running diskutil list again
• Run the patcher using your new Install Mojave Beta as the source
• Profit

Or (of course) you can just download the full installer with the patcher disk...

I and others are still looking into system update errors that may prevent incremental system updates from being correctly processed. If you have an install.log you can share, I will add to my collection of evidence. I'm especially looking for any and all lines with "softwareupdated:". It should be accessible from your console app under /var/log

Good luck.
[doublepost=1533823937][/doublepost]
Yes, that's the gist of it. The issue is finding/isolating the Light/Dark mode code which none of us have yet.
[doublepost=1533826731][/doublepost]
Why isn't the 5,1 listed in the patcher? Must be a good reason - maybe @dosdude1 is the only one who can address this.

I have a pro 3,1 with the same GTX 680 so I see no reason why @thewebgal shouldn't at least be able to install on a 5,1. But HS incompatibility is a clue to start with. Firmware is definitely a possibility.

@thewebgal I remember reports of 5,1 High Sierra issues related to firmware upgrades and third party SSD drives. Are you running a third party SSD drive by any chance? I don't remember your actual configuration, can you tell us more and maybe specific details of your installation woes (black screens, kernel panics, no entry signs, locked keyboards, video glitches etc.)

The Mac Pro 5,1 isn't listed because it natively supports Mojave, and doesn't need any post-install patches applied.

 

[PBear.SF]

Following up on what @TimothyR734 said. You can still use the system update full download to create a patcher stick from within Mojave. It's a short cut that always worked for me. Here's how:

• You get a system update full download and it launches the setup screen. Which obviously won't allow you to install since it hasn't been patched.
• Quit the Installer setup . You should have Install Mojave Beta in your Applications folder
• Download the latest patcher from the OP
• Before you patch: in terminal diskutil list check for an InstallESD mounted disk! If you have one, the patcher will choke and give you errors. So...
• unmount/unmountDisk/eject the InstallESD partition (it's something like /dev/disk6 for me but depends on what else you have mounted). diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskX usually works for me. Double check by running diskutil list again
• Run the patcher using your new Install Mojave Beta as the source
• Profit

Or (of course) you can just download the full installer with the patcher disk...

I and others are still looking into system update errors that may prevent incremental system updates from being correctly processed. If you have an install.log you can share, I will add to my collection of evidence. I'm especially looking for any and all lines with "softwareupdated:". It should be accessible from your console app under /var/log

Good luck.

When I received the full version from Software Update, I went ahead and used it to create my USB stick with the Patch Updater (figured out quickly that the image needed to be unmounted since the Patch Updater choked with error message "cannot mount image" [or something to that effect] when I tried to run it, so opened Disk Utility, found the unexpected mount point and ejected it -- who knew an app could be "mounted"?!!). But after reading TimothyR's warnings about all the error messages he got when trying to do an in-place install from the Patcher USB using that method, I chickened out and re-did the USB creation by downloading the Mojave installer file from within the Patch Updater all over again.

I am attaching a selection of all the lines including the string "softwareupdated" from my install.log for the last three days (somewhere in there will be the point when Software Update offered up the download of Mojave 14.0.16):

 

[pkouame]

When I received the full version from Software Update, I went ahead and used it to create my USB stick with the Patch Updater (figured out quickly that the image needed to be unmounted since the Patch Updater choked with error message "cannot mount image" [or something to that effect] when I tried to run it, so opened Disk Utility, found the unexpected mount point and ejected it -- who knew an app could be "mounted"?!!). But after reading TimothyR's warnings about all the error messages he got when trying to do an in-place install from the Patcher USB using that method, I chickened out and re-did the USB creation by downloading the Mojave installer file from within the Patch Updater all over again.

I am attaching a selection of all the lines including the string "softwareupdated" from my install.log for the last three days (somewhere in there will be the point when Software Update offered up the download of Mojave 14.0.16):

Good. You figured out the mounted partition issue. Unfortunately the Installer is leaving the InstallESD image mounted even after quitting. So a gotcha.

Thanks for the install log. It's showing the same set of "Package Authoring: error" lines I see locally (on macpro 3,1), while @TimothyR734 successful system update log doesn't. I think this clue is getting stronger. I have a shout out to the original author[ @Czo ] to see if he can make sense of this. I have a a hunch and am looking for time to test my fix and theory, but it's just a hunch. There are variables though, like machine type etc. we're all running on different devices and system update will tailor what it chooses to install on any particular day. Makes the sleuthing a tad more difficult
[doublepost=1533830425][/doublepost]

The Mac Pro 5,1 isn't listed because it natively supports Mojave, and doesn't need any post-install patches applied.

Oh yeah! Westmere/Nehalem cpus are still on the supported list ...

• Mac Pro (Late 2013, plus mid 2010 and mid 2012 models with recommend Metal-capable GPU)

So @thewebgal shouldn't even need to patch as the pro 5,1 is a supported configuration! Plus it has a metal card. The only thing I can thing of is firmware + hw incompatibility/issues with workarounds. I found this about third party SSD issues on the 5,1. It may help (?):

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8376628

 

[PeterWan]

After the firsg boot with yhe patched installer and failed with the error : no package were eligible for install than i reboot my ma and the boot instsller took so much longer to boot and it didnt recognize ANY internal sata driver...

 

[TimothyR734]

After the firsg boot with yhe patched installer and failed with the error : no package were eligible for install than i reboot my ma and the boot instsller took so much longer to boot and it didnt recognize ANY internal sata driver...

Here is a copy of my install of my external usb hdd that I am running Mojave DP6 in light mode that I installed with the patcher since it was unable to update from the software update
[doublepost=1533830744][/doublepost]

After the firsg boot with yhe patched installer and failed with the error : no package were eligible for install than i reboot my ma and the boot instsller took so much longer to boot and it didnt recognize ANY internal sata driver...

Here is a copy of my install of my external usb hdd that I am running Mojave DP6 in light mode that I installed with the patcher since it was unable to update from the software update

 

[Pinarek]

How can I activate the DP6 from Mojave nighshift on a Hackintosh iMac11.2 with nVidia GT9500 card

 

[arqueox]

Thank you for your effort!
If I got it right, we can just edit driver kexts to make it use opengl shader! As far as I know, kexts are editable (I have changed my 2011 13” MBPs intel hd3000 mem to 1024Mb with no problems!

How did you do it? Can you share? Is it safe? I have the same model

 

[jackluke]

The Mac Pro 5,1 isn't listed because it natively supports Mojave, and doesn't need any post-install patches applied.

I can guarantee that a Mojave Metal supported Mac, even with all the patches applied, maybe except the "Legacy Video Patch", will still boot correctly, but there is only a mandatory "patching" requirement that is all the 5 IOUSB***.kext must be replaced from HighSierra and then rebuilding the prelinkedkernel with those 5 IOUSB*** embedded in, while instead with just only the 2 IOUSB*** will get instantly KP on a supported Mac, the 2 IOUSB*** are suffice only for an unsupported Mac. I wrote this because I've tested using the same Mojave beta 6 USB SSD installation both on a supported/unsupported Mac and with that scheme everything is working fine.

edit:
2 IOUSB*** I meant: IOUSBFamily.kext and IOUSBHostFamily.kext

edit2:
In my case I used also the "video patch" since the unsupported Mac has a legacy Nvidia Tesla and its kexts are totally missing in Mojave, so this doesn't affect in any way the others Mojave Nvidia kexts on a supported Mac.

Another thing I've noticed, it seems that only Nvidia kexts (maybe ATI too) are embedded into the prelinkedkernel while the others IntelHDx000 are loaded dynamically during the boot.

 

[dosdude1]

After the firsg boot with yhe patched installer and failed with the error : no package were eligible for install than i reboot my ma and the boot instsller took so much longer to boot and it didnt recognize ANY internal sata driver...

Set the machine's date and time correctly. This is covered in the FAQ.

 

[pkouame]

I can guarantee that a Mojave Metal supported Mac, even with all the patches applied, maybe except the "Legacy Video Patch", will still boot correctly, but there is only a mandatory "patching" requirement that is all the 5 IOUSB***.kext must be replaced from HighSierra and then rebuilding the prelinkedkernel with those 5 IOUSB*** embedded in, while instead with just only the 2 IOUSB*** will get instantly KP on a supported Mac, the 2 IOUSB*** are suffice only for an unsupported Mac. I wrote this because I've tested using the same Mojave beta 6 USB SSD installation both on a supported/unsupported Mac and with that scheme everything is working fine.

edit:
2 IOUSB*** I meant: IOUSBFamily.kext and IOUSBHostFamily.kext

edit2:
In my case I used also the "video patch" since the unsupported Mac has a legacy Nvidia Tesla and its kexts are totally missing in Mojave, so this doesn't affect in any way the others Mojave Nvidia kexts on a supported Mac.

Another thing I've noticed, it seems that only Nvidia kexts (maybe ATI too) are embedded into the prelinkedkernel while the others IntelHDx000 are loaded dynamically during the boot.

On my macpro 3,1, I never have to swap in any of the IOUSB* HS equivalents. dude's post-install defaults work.
On my mbp 5,3 I swapped in all 5 HS kexts to fix iSight and other things while debugging dB3. Since then (a while now) I haven't had to mess with it.

 

[jackluke]

On my macpro 3,1, I never have to swap in any of the IOUSB* HS equivalents. dude's post-install defaults work.
On my mbp 5,3 I swapped in all 5 HS kexts to fix iSight and other things while debugging dB3. Since then (a while now) I haven't had to mess with it.

On MacPro3,1 I guess with Post-Install are swapped only 2 of 5 IOUSB* HS
I'd consider swapping all 5 IOUSB* HS a better general solution for those who intend use external USB Mojave disk as booting device from supported/unsupported machines.

My test is much aimed to Mac laptops but I guess it's applicable on Mac desktop too.
In my specific case I have patched the MB7,1 as known (telemetry HS, Nvidia Tesla) then replaced all the 5 IOUSB* HS into Mojave /S/L/E/ after reboot in single user mode simply:

mount -uw /
chown -R 0:0 /System/Library/Extensions && chmod -R 755 /System/Library/Extensions
kextcache -i /
reboot

The same prelinkedkernel generated will work on any supported Metal Mac with IntelHD4000 or higher, not sure if it will work on AMD/ATI GPU Macs too.

 

[TimothyR734]

On MacPro3,1 I guess with Post-Install are swapped only 2 of 5 IOUSB* HS
I'd consider swapping all 5 IOUSB* HS a better general solution for those who intend use external USB Mojave disk as booting device from supported/unsupported machines.

My test is much aimed to Mac laptops but I guess it's applicable on Mac desktop too.
In my specific case I have patched the MB7,1 as known (telemetry HS, Nvidia Tesla) then replaced all the 5 IOUSB* HS into Mojave /S/L/E/ after reboot in single user mode simply:

chown -R 0:0 /System/Library/Extensions && chmod -R 755 /System/Library/Extensions
kextcache -i /
reboot

The same prelinkedkernel generated will work on any supported Metal Mac with IntelHD4000 or higher, not sure if it will work on AMD/ATI GPU Macs too.

on my iMac 9,1 I just replaced all the 5 IOUSB* using kextutility worked awesome

 

[thewebgal]

Why isn't the 5,1 listed in the patcher? Must be a good reason - maybe @dosdude1 is the only one who can address this.

I have a pro 3,1 with the same GTX 680 so I see no reason why @thewebgal shouldn't at least be able to install on a 5,1. But HS incompatibility is a clue to start with. Firmware is definitely a possibility.

@thewebgal I remember reports of 5,1 High Sierra issues related to firmware upgrades and third party SSD drives. Are you running a third party SSD drive by any chance? I don't remember your actual configuration, can you tell us more and maybe specific details of your installation woes (black screens, kernel panics, no entry signs, locked keyboards, video glitches etc.)

Okay - I actually own 2 macPro 4.1 machines ...tho one is just a spare for parts, if needed.
Current config is an OWC 480 GB SSD as Macintosh HD (main boot drive), 3 other large drives in the case, and an external case with 4 other drives in it. But in the past I have tried doing the upgrade with a normal 1TB Seagate, and had no difference in outcome.During the trial of upgrading to High Sierra, I have installed a newer WiFi card.
The majority of issues I have seen with the HS upgrade and now with the Mojave upgrade are Kernel panics. Once the restart occurs it crashes and reboots with not much more than "Something has gone wrong, click any key to restart".
The original video card in the machine was an Nvidia GeForce GT120, I upgraded the video card in June after reading how it worked for others with similar Mac Pro towers.

 

[TimothyR734]

Okay - I actually own 2 macPro 4.1 machines ...tho one is just a spare for parts, if needed.
Current config is an OWC 480 GB SSD as Macintosh HD (main boot drive), 3 other large drives in the case, and an external case with 4 other drives in it. But in the past I have tried doing the upgrade with a normal 1TB Seagate, and had no difference in outcome.During the trial of upgrading to High Sierra, I have installed a newer WiFi card.
The majority of issues I have seen with the HS upgrade and now with the Mojave upgrade are Kernel panics. Once the restart occurs it crashes and reboots with not much more than "Something has gone wrong, click any key to restart".
The original video card in the machine was an Nvidia GeForce GT120, I upgraded the video card in June after reading how it worked for others with similar Mac Pro towers.

did you apply the correct post install patches for your model you flashed it from 4,1 50 5,1 did you try the 4,1 post install patches

 

[thewebgal]

did you apply the correct post install patches for your model you flashed it from 4,1 50 5,1 did you try the 4,1 post install patches

When I created the Thumbdrive, I said it was a macPro 4.1 - and when I did the OS install yesterday,
I did load the 4.1 patches PostInstall. and did "Force Cache rebuild" as suggested.

 

[TimothyR734]

When I created the Thumbdrive, I said it was a macPro 4.1 - and when I did the OS install yesterday,
I did load the 4.1 patches PostInstall. and did "Force Cache rebuild" as suggested.

did you try resetting the pram

 

[kiwigrale]

Tried again earlier today, Kingston 16GB USB3 stick. Latest Patcher and fresh OSX dload MacPro flashed to 5.1 last year ... (BootRom MP51.00087.800)
Its been happily running Sierra 10.12.6 for quite a while, but I could never get HS to install -
so today I tried a direct upgrade to Mojave -
Crashed and burned - reloaded Sierra w/Time Machine ... ah well!

From the dev seed release notes. Think this answers your problem.

• Mac Pro (mid 2010 and mid 2012 models) must first be updated to macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 before updating to macOS Mojave. (41798700)
  

 

[pkouame]

Okay - I actually own 2 macPro 4.1 machines ...tho one is just a spare for parts, if needed.
Current config is an OWC 480 GB SSD as Macintosh HD (main boot drive), 3 other large drives in the case, and an external case with 4 other drives in it. But in the past I have tried doing the upgrade with a normal 1TB Seagate, and had no difference in outcome.During the trial of upgrading to High Sierra, I have installed a newer WiFi card.
The majority of issues I have seen with the HS upgrade and now with the Mojave upgrade are Kernel panics. Once the restart occurs it crashes and reboots with not much more than "Something has gone wrong, click any key to restart".
The original video card in the machine was an Nvidia GeForce GT120, I upgraded the video card in June after reading how it worked for others with similar Mac Pro towers.

Ah I see. Details are good. You have a 4,1 and upgraded to 5,1 firmware. Explains a lot.

The fact that you had problems upgrading to HS and you're getting all those nasty KPs indicates (strongly) that you're having bootrom issues with respect to hardware (and their drivers) installed. This probably has nothing to do with the patcher itself.

Don't know if you caught this a few posts behind, but certain OWC SSDs have issues with 5.1 bootroms and HS in particular. Here are some references that should really help :

5.1 bootrom + issues with OWC SSD:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8376628

Someone who managed to get their upgraded 4,1->5,1 machine running in HS:

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View...ate+from+4,1+to+5,1+for+Sierra+Upgrade+Solved

All this will most likely help, but will require some effort.

A few things you can try if you have the stamina:

- The best way to "peek" behind the KPs is to switch kernel verbose mode to capture the text. But unless you can boot to recovery or single user and [dmesg] you won't have much time to read the fast scrolling text.

- switch to a non-SSD main/boot hardrive (using the built-in controller) and install HS (or even Mojave).

- A 5.1 is a "supported" Apple Mojave configuration, but I don't know if just flashing the bootrom is good enough to spoof entirely for HS and Mojave. If it is, you shouldn't need to patch anything! From Sierra is your macpro upgrade compatible ie. can you download a legitimate copy of HS from the AppStore for example?

 

[PBear.SF]

Interesting changes in the lock screen/login screen starting with, I think, Dev Prev 4, or maybe 5 (whenever Apple fixed the new dynamic wallpaper to actually change brightness and contrast depending on the time of day); still true on DP6:

On my mid-2011 Mini w/Intel HD 3000 graphics, at least, the blurred overlay on the login and lock screens has completely disappeared. More interesting, instead of always displaying the default wallpaper underneath the blurred sign-in screen, these screens now show whatever wallpaper was in use at the time the computer went into lock mode, and show it without any sort of blur. I have five virtual desktops set up, each with a different wallpaper and, depending on which of those desktops is in use at the time the machine goes to sleep or locks, it is the wallpaper from that desktop that's used for the sign-in screen after wake-up.

Wonder if this (the lack of the blurred overlay, at least) is a new feature or a bug?

 

[thewebgal]

Yes, High Sierra is listed on the App Store as a legitimate download for my machine ...
I've downloaded it a number of time but I think initially my Recovery drive (partition?) was corrupted
by one of the early HS Betas and everything was weird after that, with a HDD or the OWC SSD - d
it didn't seem to matter which I tried, either way it would reboot into a kernel panic and repeated reboots.
So - maybe I'll timemachine back to a HDD version over the weekend and see what I can do from there.

Ah I see. Details are good. You have a 4,1 and upgraded to 5,1 firmware. Explains a lot.

The fact that you had problems upgrading to HS and you're getting all those nasty KPs indicates (strongly) that you're having bootrom issues with respect to hardware (and their drivers) installed. This probably has nothing to do with the patcher itself.

Don't know if you caught this a few posts behind, but certain OWC SSDs have issues with 5.1 bootroms and HS in particular. Here are some references that should really help :

5.1 bootrom + issues with OWC SSD:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8376628

Someone who managed to get their upgraded 4,1->5,1 machine running in HS:

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View...ate+from+4,1+to+5,1+for+Sierra+Upgrade+Solved

All this will most likely help, but will require some effort.

A few things you can try if you have the stamina:

- The best way to "peek" behind the KPs is to switch kernel verbose mode to capture the text. But unless you can boot to recovery or single user and [dmesg] you won't have much time to read the fast scrolling text.

- switch to a non-SSD main/boot hardrive (using the built-in controller) and install HS (or even Mojave).

- A 5.1 is a "supported" Apple Mojave configuration, but I don't know if just flashing the bootrom is good enough to spoof entirely for HS and Mojave. If it is, you shouldn't need to patch anything! From Sierra is your macpro upgrade compatible ie. can you download a legitimate copy of HS from the AppStore for example?

 

[pkouame]

Yes, High Sierra is listed on the App Store as a legitimate download for my machine ...
I've downloaded it a number of time but I think initially my Recovery drive (partition?) was corrupted
by one of the early HS Betas and everything was weird after that, with a HDD or the OWC SSD - d
it didn't seem to matter which I tried, either way it would reboot into a kernel panic and repeated reboots.
So - maybe I'll timemachine back to a HDD version over the weekend and see what I can do from there.

Great. The fact the Apple Store recognizes your machine as HS compatible is a very good sign.

Switching back to normal HDD (HFS+) as your main boot drive then installing the official (non-patched) HS will validate that you may have a bootrom+OWC SSD issue (per the links) After that, it's up to you, install Mojave on HDD and be done with it or research the SSD issue. If you read the second link carefully, the guy got HS running on his SSD also.
There is also the obvious option of switching to an SSD that's compatible with your configuration (if that's the issue).

You can also try an external drive.

Good luck, but you must resolve your HS issues before considering Mojave.
[doublepost=1533872067][/doublepost]

When I received the full version from Software Update, I went ahead and used it to create my USB stick with the Patch Updater (figured out quickly that the image needed to be unmounted since the Patch Updater choked with error message "cannot mount image" [or something to that effect] when I tried to run it, so opened Disk Utility, found the unexpected mount point and ejected it -- who knew an app could be "mounted"?!!). But after reading TimothyR's warnings about all the error messages he got when trying to do an in-place install from the Patcher USB using that method, I chickened out and re-did the USB creation by downloading the Mojave installer file from within the Patch Updater all over again.

I am attaching a selection of all the lines including the string "softwareupdated" from my install.log for the last three days (somewhere in there will be the point when Software Update offered up the download of Mojave 14.0.16):

Ditto! Geez you are right.

The nice blurred background on the lock screen is gone on both my mbp (non metal) and macpro(metal). Aww, and I actually like that. Rats! Now there's a bug we can report .
Can someone on a supported machine with Mojave beta check and report the bug?
(My only supported laptop is in production mode and still HS.)

Good find!

 

[TimothyR734]

I have noticed something strange when logging back in after a bit when the screensaver comes on my iMac 9,1 reboots