macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread

[Vyzantion]

The GPU in my Hackintosh does not support transparency. Since Yosemite, it never did, even when the OS was unpatched. Now, would it make any sense now to turn on Reduce Transparency, to save hardware resources?

 

[pkouame]

@pkouame take a look at this old app: http://petermacwhinnie.com/transbar.php

This app in High Sierra will "paint to grey" the opacity of the Finder menu bar, the interesting part is that it includes the source code, useful to understand how the Finder bar was drawn until HS.

Already tried launching this app from Mojave Terminal and it does crash, giving issues on CoreDisplay and IOAccelerator Frameworks, already did tried replacing, but IOAccelerator from HS will produce WindowServer crashes on Mojave, the oldest working IOAccelerator is the one from Mojave beta 1.

Nice little nugget. Thanks.
Yes, CoreDisplay + OpenGL framework are the two most probable places to fix things like this. I can turn metal off in CoreDisplay to make Light Mode glitch (without it affecting Dark Mode - still a mystery). I can then turn IOP ON and Light Mode is back to normal. Of course this on a GTX680. But extremely promising. I suspect there will be some card/cpu specific variants to consider also. This is all getting pretty low level, but a binary patch or kext approach is in the stars. There is also the possibility that some kext swap in @dosdude1 's patcher is interfering with all of this. If I could someone discount that, it would save a lot of time...

 

[jackluke]

N

Nice little nugget. Thanks.
Yes, CoreDisplay + OpenGL framework are the two most probable places to fix things like this. I can turn metal off in CoreDisplay to make Light Mode glitch (without it affecting Dark Mode - still a mystery). I can then turn IOP ON and Light Mode is back to normal. Of course this on a GTX680. But extremely promising. I suspect there will be some card/cpu specific variants to consider also. This is all getting pretty low level, but a binary patch or kext approach is in the stars. There is also the possibility that some kext swap in @dosdude1 's patcher is interfering with all of this. If I could someone discount that, it would save a lot of time...

I guess you can install an almost clean Mojave even from dosdude1's Mojave Patcher, without applying any Post-Install patches to boot on a supported Mac, while using only those mandatory needed patches for an unsupported Mac: Legacy USBOHCI, Legacy Audio, Legacy Platform and SIP disabler, maybe "Video Patch" should be a bit revisited but I don't think that it touches any required framework for the "light mode" translucency.

 

[pkouame]

I have a few questions with regard to using this on a MacPro 3,1 which has...

Boot ROM Version: MP31.006C.B05

1) Later messages here indicate that the ROM patching is completed from within the running APFS ROM Patcher program. So is it correct to say that the process will be finished after you quit the program and that nothing is done during the next reboot? I ask because my understanding of dosdude1's earlier ROM patching programs was that the ROM patching was done during the next restart (like Apple's own ROM patchers) which is entirely different from how the 2.0.0 release seems to work now.

2) Has anyone running an APFS ROM patched MacPro 3,1 checked if the ROM patches cause any issues with booting Windows or Linux on a separate drive? I vaguely recall from the early testing that one user was complaining about the boot selector no longer working after APFS ROM patching. Is that all ironed out?

3) Is the boot time for a SSD APFS volume roughly the same as an HFS volume on the APFS ROM patched systems? I recall some users complaining that the APFS boot time was significantly slower than the HFS boot time on unsupported systems but it was unclear if all of those users were using the APFS patches or the APFS ROM patches.

Thanks in advance for any clarifications.

ps I assume that the MacPro 3,1 only has one variant of EEPROM to deal with.

As the earliest adopter of APFS ROM PATCHER v2 on macpro 3.1, I can address some of your questions:

0) Have the same Boot ROM version - the patcher did not change that
1) In my experience, all ROM flashing was completed in one cycle. I then rebooted into HFS+ with no issues. Then rebooted using the patcher to reformat my boot disk as APFS before installing the new patched OS.
2) Haven't checked. Good question.
3) Didn't benchmark, but it seems a little zipper. Can't tell for sure if it's just new car smell...

Of course, @dosdude1 is the ultimate authority on all things APFS boot rom related. So make sure and double check with him. This is just my real-world experience. YMMV.

Good luck.
[doublepost=1535317625][/doublepost]

I guess you can install an almost clean Mojave even from dosdude1's Mojave Patcher, without applying any Post-Install patches to boot on a supported Mac, while using only those mandatory needed patches for an unsupported Mac: Legacy USBOHCI, Legacy Audio, Legacy Platform and SIP disabler, maybe "Video Patch" should be a bit revisited but I don't think that it touches any required framework for the "light mode" translucency.

I know...just being a little lazy on a Sunday afternoon...Trying to avoid any unnecessary lifting .
Patching CoreDisplay and/or OpenGL so we can avoid application specific workarounds is tricky enough...

And of course, tomorrow is patch Monday! Some new surprises for sure...

 

[oscarodas]

As the earliest adopter of APFS ROM PATCHER v2 on macpro 3.1, I can address some of your questions:

0) Have the same Boot ROM version - the patcher did not change that
1) In my experience, all ROM flashing was completed in one cycle. I then rebooted into HFS+ with no issues. Then rebooted using the patcher to reformat my boot disk as APFS before installing the new patched OS.
2) Haven't checked. Good question.
3) Didn't benchmark, but it seems a little zipper. Can't tell for sure if it's just new car smell...

Of course, @dosdude1 is the ultimate authority on all things APFS boot rom related. So make sure and double check with him. This is just my real-world experience. YMMV.

Good luck.
[doublepost=1535317625][/doublepost]
I know...just being a little lazy on a Sunday afternoon...Trying to avoid any unnecessary lifting .
Patching CoreDisplay and/or OpenGL so we can avoid application specific workarounds is tricky enough...

And of course, tomorrow is patch Monday! Some new surprises for sure...

[doublepost=1535318379][/doublepost]Hi, anyone there with an iMac 2011 (12.2)? I have been running Mojave for a while without major upsets, just two programs won't run, Netflix gives code error
Error code: S7363-1260-00000007 which means I have an unsupported monitor if I hover the mouse over any title I can see the preview. Is a bit of a downfall because chrome doesn't run on my computer, the other app is VLC, which opens with a flickering black screen, I know the risks of using beta software on unsupported machines but maybe someone there is having similar problems, thank you.

 

[Luckygreek]

[doublepost=1535318379][/doublepost]Hi, anyone there with an iMac 2011 (12.2)? I have been running Mojave for a while without major upsets, just two programs won't run, Netflix gives code error
Error code: S7363-1260-00000007 which means I have an unsupported monitor if I hover the mouse over any title I can see the preview. Is a bit of a downfall because chrome doesn't run on my computer, the other app is VLC, which opens with a flickering black screen, I know the risks of using beta software on unsupported machines but maybe someone there is having similar problems, thank you.

First question what browser are you using?
As far as I know in Safari you need Silverlight, which in my case will not install in Safari or Safari Technology Preview.
Firefox will play Netflix with no errors.
You might want to give that a try.
I didn't try Chrome.
If you're experiencing issues with Chrome you might want to remove all the files associated with Chrome, itrash or App Cleaner effectively does that. Then reinstall Chrome. (Export bookmarks first)

2011 iMac, Mojave version 18A371a

 

[victor30r]

[Quote = "jackluke, de la publicación: 26386227, miembro: 1133911"] Bien hecho, que el CD de restauración del firmware ¿Tiene utilizado para la MBP?
Tal vez esto (última versión) uno? https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1320?locale=en_US

O una versión anterior de esta manera: https://support.apple.com/kb/DL77?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Lo pregunto porque no puedo encontrar cualquier restauración CD de firmware para su MBP 15" 2008, debe ser MacBookPro4,1, por lo que sería útil para los demás si te fijas explicar en detalle cómo su EFI EEPROM CHIP. [/ Quote] ladrillo
el mío es macbook pro 5,1 lo que hice fue buscar en la página de apple el firmware correspondiente a mi ordenador. Hay que grabarlo en un cd y debes encender el ordenador estando enchufado a la corriente. mientras está pintado metes el cd y comienza a instalar el firmware.
[doublepost=1535324650][/doublepost]

Hay que desactivar el traductor de Google antes de hacer un post en este foro, para que no se arruine el formato de bbcode.
----
You have to turn off Google Translate before making a post in this forum so that it doesn't ruin the bbcode formatting.

disculpa, no lo sabía. Es que no entiendo bien el Inglés y por eso siempre lo tengo activado.

 

[TimothyR734]

Yes, I know, @TimothyR734 is right, just move/place the Transbar.app on the Desktop, double tap again after launch and you will see funny features like "Show Menu Bar Caps", top/bottom line, and others image effects that of course will not work properly on Mojave, but the most interesting part is that the author included the source code, useful to understand something else.

This might work if we could make compatible for Mojave

 

[thegurgz]

Quick question~ can you use an installer file in the patcher from another disk? Once I get my SSD, I plan on installing Mojave on it and keeping my HDD as external storage (and supported El Capitan), and since it’s a 120gb SSD vs. my 250gb HDD, I want to keep large files on the external El Capitan disk. If possible, I want to keep the 6gb installer files on my HDD and use the patcher tool on my SSD. When it asks you to select the “Install Mojave Beta” file to verify it before writing it to a flash drive, can you select a file from another drive, and will the writing time be the same as if the installer file was on your startup drive?

No answer, I’ll assume I cannot do it. Another question~ would it be smarter to have my HDD run El Capitan and use it as an external storage and have only Mojave on my SSD, or have a partition of my SSD be El Capitan and use my HDD as a Time Machine disk? I currently have no time machine backups, never needed it, but would it be smarter to have supported El Capitan on it or turn it into a time machine backup?

 

[ctaylora1231]

[doublepost=1535318379][/doublepost]Hi, anyone there with an iMac 2011 (12.2)? I have been running Mojave for a while without major upsets, just two programs won't run, Netflix gives code error
Error code: S7363-1260-00000007 which means I have an unsupported monitor if I hover the mouse over any title I can see the preview. Is a bit of a downfall because chrome doesn't run on my computer, the other app is VLC, which opens with a flickering black screen, I know the risks of using beta software on unsupported machines but maybe someone there is having similar problems, thank you.

I also am having issues playing videos on my 2011 Mac mini using safari. Netflix and amazon prime won't play.I also get the code. I can watch YouTube videos though. It all worked on High Sierra without Silverlight.

 

[slvrscoobie]

Hey Guys, Im running a MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2011) - tried to install Majove, as my much inferior work Macbook Pro early 2012 did it just fine - and ran into the 'nope cant install Mojave' issue.
How much work is it to get this working on my 17" - Im not going to do any eprom writing, ect. Im ok with Continuity activation, but 246 pages and ive seen enough to keep me away (incorrect firmwares for AFS, ect).
Worth it or skip it?

 

[dosdude1]

Hey Guys, Im running a MacBook Pro (17-inch, Late 2011) - tried to install Majove, as my much inferior work Macbook Pro early 2012 did it just fine - and ran into the 'nope cant install Mojave' issue.
How much work is it to get this working on my 17" - Im not going to do any eprom writing, ect. Im ok with Continuity activation, but 246 pages and ive seen enough to keep me away (incorrect firmwares for AFS, ect).
Worth it or skip it?

You don't need to worry about patching the ROM on this machine. Just follow the process of using macOS Mojave Patcher to install it on your machine. Keep in mind, though, that you will have no graphics acceleration, unless you disable the dedicated video card.

 

[oscarodas]

First question what browser are you using?
As far as I know in Safari you need Silverlight, which in my case will not install in Safari or Safari Technology Preview.
Firefox will play Netflix with no errors.
You might want to give that a try.
I didn't try Chrome.
If you're experiencing issues with Chrome you might want to remove all the files associated with Chrome, itrash or App Cleaner effectively does that. Then reinstall Chrome. (Export bookmarks first)

2011 iMac, Mojave version 18A371a

Hi, Luckygreek, sorry, I tried safari, then Chrome but it doesn't work, then Mozilla but that is a pesky one because every single site is reported as unsafe even their site.
I did what you recommend with chrome, but the browser works a few minutes then freezes up.
I will wait for next beta release.

 

[jackluke]

[Quote = "jackluke, de la publicación: 26386227, miembro: 1133911"] Bien hecho, que el CD de restauración del firmware ¿Tiene utilizado para la MBP?
Tal vez esto (última versión) uno? https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1320?locale=en_US

O una versión anterior de esta manera: https://support.apple.com/kb/DL77?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Lo pregunto porque no puedo encontrar cualquier restauración CD de firmware para su MBP 15" 2008, debe ser MacBookPro4,1, por lo que sería útil para los demás si te fijas explicar en detalle cómo su EFI EEPROM CHIP. [/ Quote] ladrillo
el mío es macbook pro 5,1 lo que hice fue buscar en la página de apple el firmware correspondiente a mi ordenador. Hay que grabarlo en un cd y debes encender el ordenador estando enchufado a la corriente. mientras está pintado metes el cd y comienza a instalar el firmware.
[doublepost=1535324650][/doublepost]
disculpa, no lo sabía. Es que no entiendo bien el Inglés y por eso siempre lo tengo activado.

Could you share exactly the link for macbook pro 5,1 firmware restoration CD DMG file?
Maybe do you have used a different machine firmware restoration CD and for your MBP it has worked ?

Which file version do you used among these available at apple:

Firmware Restoration 1.9 - MacPro5,1
Firmware Restoration 1.8 - MacPro4,1, Xserve3,1
Firmware Restoration 1.7 - iMac4,1, iMac4,2, MacMini1,1, MacBook1,1, MacBookPro1,1, MacBookPro1,2, MacBookPro3,1
Firmware Restoration 1.6 - Xserve2,1, MacBook3,1, iMac7,1
Firmware Restoration 1.5 - MacPro3,1
Firmware Restoration 1.4 - iMac5,1, iMac5,2, iMac6,1, MacBook2,1, MacBookPro2,1, MacBookPro2,2, MacPro1,1, MacPro2,1, Xserve1,1

 

[aaronlroberts]

Hey all! I have a question. I'm running a lovely Mac Pro 3,1 with an NVIDIA GTX 750ti non-Apple card... It runs pretty much great, although, I have had some issues recently with booting after a recent update.. that's another story.

Anyway, does anyone know if there's a clever way to install macOS Mojave with pre-patched drivers for the GTX 750 (non-Apple) card? Otherwise, I'd have to run the installer with the ATI card inside (Apple supplied) and then fiddle around with deactivating that card and removing the patched legacy drivers, in order to run the NVIDIA web driver and obtain full acceleration?

Any smarties out there have any ideas? Anyone else in my position?

 

[jackluke]

Just an update from my previous post. I patched my computer choosing the second option, and now it is dead as a dodo :S Already send it to repair... just out of curiosity, what was the correct option @dosdude1 ?

I did bricked too MBA2,1 a month ago, and it's not a pleasant feeling, anyway since you should have a MacBookPro5,x the user "victor30r" reported that has fixed his EFI EEPROM for MBP5,1 using the firmware restoration CD, here the conversation: Intel Mac firmware restoration CDs

If the CD doesn't work, there is another way to recover your firmware, since from your pictures you have inside logic board an EFI EEPROM CHIP "with paws" you could use/buy an EEPROM tool with a SOIC Clip without desoldering/soldering it, easily reprogramming from another PC/Mac.

But first of all you need your original EFI EEPROM firmware backup.

Use an external USB adapter plug your HDD into another Mac:
The APFS ROM patcher made a backup of your original EEPROM into /Users/yourusername/MacBookPro5,x_backup.bin
while you'll find the APFS Patcher logs (why it failed writing identifying wrong CHIP type) into the /tmp/ root folder.

 

[Larsvonhier]

First question what browser are you using?
As far as I know in Safari you need Silverlight, which in my case will not install in Safari or Safari Technology Preview.
Firefox will play Netflix with no errors.
You might want to give that a try.
I didn't try Chrome.
If you're experiencing issues with Chrome you might want to remove all the files associated with Chrome, itrash or App Cleaner effectively does that. Then reinstall Chrome. (Export bookmarks first)

2011 iMac, Mojave version 18A371a

Opera also plays Netflix and Amazon Prime without further plugins.

 

[saudor]

Quick question~ can you use an installer file in the patcher from another disk? Once I get my SSD, I plan on installing Mojave on it and keeping my HDD as external storage (and supported El Capitan), and since it’s a 120gb SSD vs. my 250gb HDD, I want to keep large files on the external El Capitan disk. If possible, I want to keep the 6gb installer files on my HDD and use the patcher tool on my SSD. When it asks you to select the “Install Mojave Beta” file to verify it before writing it to a flash drive, can you select a file from another drive, and will the writing time be the same as if the installer file was on your startup drive?

You can but you need to make a partition on the el cap disk

 

[olrik77]

I have a few questions with regard to using this on a MacPro 3,1 which has...

Boot ROM Version: MP31.006C.B05

1) Later messages here indicate that the ROM patching is completed from within the running APFS ROM Patcher program. So is it correct to say that the process will be finished after you quit the program and that nothing is done during the next reboot? I ask because my understanding of dosdude1's earlier ROM patching programs was that the ROM patching was done during the next restart (like Apple's own ROM patchers) which is entirely different from how the 2.0.0 release seems to work now.

2) Has anyone running an APFS ROM patched MacPro 3,1 checked if the ROM patches cause any issues with booting Windows or Linux on a separate drive? I vaguely recall from the early testing that one user was complaining about the boot selector no longer working after APFS ROM patching. Is that all ironed out?

3) Is the boot time for a SSD APFS volume roughly the same as an HFS volume on the APFS ROM patched systems? I recall some users complaining that the APFS boot time was significantly slower than the HFS boot time on unsupported systems but it was unclear if all of those users were using the APFS patches or the APFS ROM patches.

Thanks in advance for any clarifications.

ps I assume that the MacPro 3,1 only has one variant of EEPROM to deal with.

It is also a part of my question :

Running my MP 3,1 under High Sierra with Dosdude1 patch and a SSD drive (APFS). The Rom patching seems to be done at each restart (or reboot).

What is the proper way to install Mojave and keep my SSD on APFS ?

Thanks in advance,

 

[jackluke]

This might work if we could make compatible for Mojave

Yes, I've already tried, in Mojave the "Menu Bar Tint app" will not launch because an incompatibility with the AppKit.framework, and replacing with the HighSierra one will produce many WindowServer/loginwindow pid crashes.

I know...just being a little lazy on a Sunday afternoon...Trying to avoid any unnecessary lifting .
Patching CoreDisplay and/or OpenGL so we can avoid application specific workarounds is tricky enough...

And of course, tomorrow is patch Monday! Some new surprises for sure...

I think also patching the AppKit.framework could be necessary to obtain transparencies in Mojave "light mode", since this framework contains many NS*** functions.

I attach the Headers source code present inside the HighSierra's Appkit framework, for some reason apple forgotten them there.

@ASentientBot take a look to these Headers they seem very interesting.

 

[olrik77]

It is also a part of my question :

Running my MP 3,1 under High Sierra with Dosdude1 patch and a SSD drive (APFS). The Rom patching seems to be done at each restart (or reboot).

What is the proper way to install Mojave and keep my SSD on APFS ?

Thanks in advance,

 

[jackluke]

It is also a part of my question :

Running my MP 3,1 under High Sierra with Dosdude1 patch and a SSD drive (APFS). The Rom patching seems to be done at each restart (or reboot).

What is the proper way to install Mojave and keep my SSD on APFS ?

Thanks in advance,

You can't use the High Sierra APFS dynamic EFI script patcher for Mojave.

The only way is through APFS ROM Patcher, but as you read it's a very risky process, it may fail even on those rare cases where for many other machines has worked.

Personally I start to think that the main failing of dumping/flashing EFI EEPROM could be issue to the too fast SSD read/write speed versus a slower spinning disk, and as known safer/better is as slower you flash a firmware.

And the EEPROM dumping/flashing/writing should not be done from the last supported MacOS (El Capitan for MP3,1) but possibly from a previous pre-SIP OSX like Lion/ML/Mavericks

And another important step for some machines is to put, holding power button 20/30 sec, in blinking led firmware write mode.

 

[victor30r]

This might work if we could make compatible for Mojave

[doublepost=1535374311][/doublepost]

Could you share exactly the link for macbook pro 5,1 firmware restoration CD DMG file?
Maybe do you have used a different machine firmware restoration CD and for your MBP it has worked ?

Which file version do you used among these available at apple:

Firmware Restoration 1.9 - MacPro5,1
Firmware Restoration 1.8 - MacPro4,1, Xserve3,1
Firmware Restoration 1.7 - iMac4,1, iMac4,2, MacMini1,1, MacBook1,1, MacBookPro1,1, MacBookPro1,2, MacBookPro3,1
Firmware Restoration 1.6 - Xserve2,1, MacBook3,1, iMac7,1
Firmware Restoration 1.5 - MacPro3,1
Firmware Restoration 1.4 - iMac5,1, iMac5,2, iMac6,1, MacBook2,1, MacBookPro2,1, MacBookPro2,2, MacPro1,1, MacPro2,1, Xserve1,1

MBP51.007E.B06 (EFI 2.8) utilicé este firmware.
[doublepost=1535374526][/doublepost]

Could you share exactly the link for macbook pro 5,1 firmware restoration CD DMG file?
Maybe do you have used a different machine firmware restoration CD and for your MBP it has worked ?

Which file version do you used among these available at apple:

Firmware Restoration 1.9 - MacPro5,1
Firmware Restoration 1.8 - MacPro4,1, Xserve3,1
Firmware Restoration 1.7 - iMac4,1, iMac4,2, MacMini1,1, MacBook1,1, MacBookPro1,1, MacBookPro1,2, MacBookPro3,1
Firmware Restoration 1.6 - Xserve2,1, MacBook3,1, iMac7,1
Firmware Restoration 1.5 - MacPro3,1
Firmware Restoration 1.4 - iMac5,1, iMac5,2, iMac6,1, MacBook2,1, MacBookPro2,1, MacBookPro2,2, MacPro1,1, MacPro2,1, Xserve1,1

MBP51.007E.B06 (EFI 2.8) utilicé este firmware
[doublepost=1535375117][/doublepost]

[doublepost=1535374311][/doublepost]
MBP51.007E.B06 (EFI 2.8) utilicé este firmware.
[doublepost=1535374526][/doublepost]

MBP51.007E.B06 (EFI 2.8) utilicé este firmware

 

[jackluke]

View attachment 778111
[doublepost=1535374311][/doublepost]
MBP51.007E.B06 (EFI 2.8) utilicé este firmware.
[doublepost=1535374526][/doublepost]

MBP51.007E.B06 (EFI 2.8) utilicé este firmware
[doublepost=1535375117][/doublepost]
View attachment 778116

The DMG file inside your link contains a pkg firmware update, the firmware restoration CD instead must be bootable and requires a .fd EFI ROM, ok from your pictures you have successfully APFS ROM patched your MBP5,1 , but I still don't understand how you unbricked your EFI EEPROM with a firmware restoration CD, probably you haven't bricked at all, just a couple of reboot have fixed your power-on stuck, so APFS ROM Patcher went fine in your case. Simply because there is not any firmware restoration CD for MacBookPro5,1 released by apple. Apple DMG is not exactly a CD/DVD image, is a generic disk image container, in mainly cases not bootable if burned/restored into an empty CD/DVD.

 

[victor30r]

The DMG file inside your link contains a pkg firmware update, the firmware restoration CD instead must be bootable and requires a .fd EFI ROM, ok from your pictures you have successfully APFS ROM patched your MBP5,1 , but I still don't understand how you unbricked your EFI EEPROM with a firmware restoration CD, probably you haven't bricked at all, just a couple of reboot have fixed your power-on stuck, so APFS ROM Patcher went fine in your case. Simply because there is not any firmware restoration CD for MacBookPro5,1 released by apple.

Tardé dos días en repararlo. Cada vez que encendía el MacBook Pro solamente emitía pitidos y no se encendía. Tardé 2 días en encontrar la solución. El cd lo tuve que crear desde un equipo windows utilizando TransMac. Entonces metí el cd en el MacBook Pro, conectado a la corriente. Lo encendí y comenzó a actualizar el firmware y a funcionar con normalidad. Al ver que había podido repararlo volví a intentar con APFS Rom Patcher y esta vez funcionó todo perfectamente y ya puedo arrancar el Macbook Pro desde discos APFS de forma nativa