macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread

[AnonMac50]

No APFS. But I got it working!

Used the kexts out of the High Sierra post-update utility together with the instructions where to put them and how to fix file permissions:

https://forums.macrumors.com/goto/post?id=23696261#post-23696261

Now I have found a new issue, my AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x111) has no Bluetooth anymore.

Anyway, dosdude1 you are awesome and I’ll definitely donate enough to buy you dinner.

That's great! How do software updates work?

 

[lukiy]

I am having problems with opening apps that used to work fine under High Sierra. But in Mojave, after clicking on the app icon, the icon just keeps bouncing forever on the dock.

Here is an example:

https://stuntsoftware.com/onthejob/

Just download the app, and try to open it.

Strangely, the app opens in safe mode, but not in full mode.

Is this expected on unsupported macs?

It looks like none of the 32 bit apps open in Mojave for me, they only open in safe mode. Is this a known issue? I know that Mojave allows running 32 bit apps with a one off warning.

 

[ASentientBot]

Not working on my mid 2010 MPB! Any ideas what might be wrong?

Works on my mid-2010 MacBook (not pro), so it's not your CPU or GPU as they're about the same. I'd bet on it being a software problem. Do you get any error message? Perhaps try launching it through Terminal and see if it prints out anything. Try a reboot. Idk, good luck.
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It looks like none of the 32 bit apps open in Mojave for me, they only open in safe mode. Is this a known issue? I know that Mojave allows running 32 bit apps with a one off warning.

32-bit apps are deprecated in Mojave but they should work until 10.15. I use several on a daily basis.

 

[lukiy]

32-bit apps are deprecated in Mojave but they should work until 10.15. I use several on a daily basis.

I just found all of my 32 bit apps on System Information, and NONE of them open. All of them have the same problem of bouncing on the dock with no error in console log.

Is there a setting somewhere for 32 bit apps that might be messed up?

 

[jackluke]

I just found all of my 32 bit apps on System Information, and NONE of them open. All of them have the same problem of bouncing on the dock with no error in console log.

Is there a setting somewhere for 32 bit apps that might be messed up?

Create another new user Administrator from safe mode and then try opening again 32bit apps from normal mode logging in with the new user.

 

[lukiy]

Create another new user Administrator from safe mode and then try opening again 32bit apps from normal mode logging in with the new user.

Why create the new Admin user from safe mode? What happens if I create the user in full mode?

 

[djgamble]

Sounds like I shouldn't bother trying as my graphics card is not supported, so will act all weird.

Meh... this is just Apple's good old trick of not updating GPU drivers after a point, so that people need to upgrade their computer if they want the latest OS.

From a practical perspective an upgrade could be useful. I'm no gamer, but I eventually want a computer that can play Dreamfall Chapters properly without really poor graphics resolution/detail (which only just makes it playable). Maybe this it's time? My MBP is 10 years old now (nearly 11).

 

[vix2000]

Late 2010 MBA. After 3 attempts, (deleting and redownloading) I got to the install page andgot a dark grey no entry sign then a black screen. On re-starting, back to High Sierra. Back to square one, have re-formatted, re dowloaded, again this is th 3rd attempt, and everytime I get this!!! Can anyone tell me where I'm going wrong, please?

 

[Starplayr]

Never say never, perhaps if will be figured out a way to by-pass the SSE4.2 CPU instruction requirement or patched one of the many Framebuffers inside the legacy AMD/ATI Kexts, probably it will possible, however I address in general, there is no reason to ask for it continuo-sly, when it will available it will be written on the main OP.

I started buying and selling tech junk. And when I have enough spare change gonna setup an eGPU. Will start with Thunderbolt 2 systems.

Then I might look at systems that have replaceable GPUs in iMacs and MacBooks and then any that are soldered in. I have a few friends who are good at soldering so might get something like that going.

I have also tried loading kexts through and sse4.2 emulator and did get some AMD kexts to load successfully but no luck with the video.

 

[dosdude1]

I started buying and selling tech junk. And when I have enough spare change gonna setup an eGPU. Will start with Thunderbolt 2 systems.

Then I might look at systems that have replaceable GPUs in iMacs and MacBooks and then any that are soldered in. I have a few friends who are good at soldering so might get something like that going.

I have also tried loading kexts through and sse4.2 emulator and did get some AMD kexts to load successfully but no luck with the video.

You can't simply upgrade a GPU soldered onto a board, as it's not just the chipset that has to be changed. There is supporting circuitry on the board that is specific to that chipset, which cannot be changed. Also, the VBIOS portion of the system ROM will only work with that particular GPU chipset.

 

[Luckygreek]

It looks like none of the 32 bit apps open in Mojave for me, they only open in safe mode. Is this a known issue? I know that Mojave allows running 32 bit apps with a one off warning.

Got it working on my unsupported Mac. Also all the 32bit apps I have work with the obligatory error.

 

[lukiy]

Got it working on my unsupported Mac. Also all the 32bit apps I have work with the obligatory error.

I am stuck with a rare problem then Google finds me nothing. There is no sign of any errors in the logs.

Just tried opening GarageBand and getting exactly the same bouncing icon problem. Could it be a permission problem?

 

[Luckygreek]

I am stuck with a rare problem then Google finds me nothing. There is no sign of any errors in the logs.

Just tried opening GarageBand and getting exactly the same bouncing icon problem. Could it be a permission problem?

Some of apps I use, Safari in particular bounces 52+ times on initial opening, after that 18 to 24 bounces, others are almost instant. Did you install over or migrate your files?

 

[yeiyei0891]

I cloned the USB Mojave Patcher to a new volumen because recovery partition doen't work, but in my new "recovery Mojave Patcher" i can't disable SIP because says me I need to do it with recovery partition. Then... how can I disable SIP?

 

[lukiy]

Some of apps I use, Safari in particular bounces 52+ times on initial opening, after that 18 to 24 bounces, others are almost instant. Did you install over or migrate your files?

I migrated. but some apps are very small, like On The Job.

 

[Luckygreek]

I migrated. but some apps are very small, like On The Job.

Being that they open in Safe Mode, just a suggestion, I would disable all Login Items, reboot & see if you can open any 32bit apps, if so turn them one 1 by 1 & see if you can isolate the problem, also look at extensions that load as part of an app package. AppCleaner (from App Store) will give you insight as to how many extensions actually load. see attached.

 

[Aletancredo]

With your help and your mojave patcher apps, I succeeded in installing Mojave 10.14.1 beta 2 on an unsupported Mac. And the boot drive is formatted in APFS Encrypted with your assistance/recommendation above.

View attachment 791968

Mahalo Nui Loa (Thank You very much)!~

Hi, I tried the same procedure but is not working on my macbook pro 8,1.
Could you help me? I do not know what I am doing wrong...

Thank You,

 

[jhowarth]

I think you could thank Tim Cook for the dismal macOS push Steve Job's was a big macOS supporter and user. Apple has not been the same since he passed away

You can't discount the impact of the end of Moore's law on all of this. The CPU performance increases have slowed so dramatically that their whole model was put at risk when the 5-6 year speed increases were halved. Apple has been forced to work around that at the margins with increases in GPU and SSD performance.

 

[Starplayr]

I'm running AFPS. At work we received an unknown 768MB update via System Preferences / Update for Mojave.

This 3/4GB Update was not 10.4.1.

At home, no updates. This may have been one specific for a 2017 MacBook Pro. Not sure. Anyone else receive a similar update?
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You can't simply upgrade a GPU soldered onto a board, as it's not just the chipset that has to be changed. There is supporting circuitry on the board that is specific to that chipset, which cannot be changed. Also, the VBIOS portion of the system ROM will only work with that particular GPU chipset.

Thanks. Looks like I'll focus on an eGPU then.
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You can't simply upgrade a GPU soldered onto a board, as it's not just the chipset that has to be changed. There is supporting circuitry on the board that is specific to that chipset, which cannot be changed. Also, the VBIOS portion of the system ROM will only work with that particular GPU chipset.

How about this approach. Do you have a list of Machines that can except a new Motherboard for a newer model that supports Mojave? Are there any thick iMacs and MacBooks, MacBook Pros that can take a better Mobo with an Nvidia GPU on it? I have seen some on here, but did not keep track as it. wasn't something I was doing at the time.

 

[RogueB]

@RogueB your steps are acceptable however I don't understand why you remove the System and Library content, I guess to make your drive lighter in using DiskUtility's First Aid so you can recover with less effort the Users folder ?

I believe that if a main drive SSD or spinning asks often to check/repair file-system or some little system/library files become corrupted, it's a signal of main drive becoming faulty, sometimes a full erase can make it workable again for a period, but I'd not rely much on it for storing important datas.

I deleted system and library directories (folders), with all contents, because at that point in trouble shooting, it appeared that there was a corrupted file, extension, or preference in one of those folders, and was the root cause of the boot_loop (pun intended). In effect, I did what using "Recovery" partition would accomplish, i.e., remove old system and library files, and replace those with fresh (uncorrupted) system and library components, while leaving Home directory (folder) untouched.

It took 16 minutes (per progress bar window), instead of usual 34 minutes, for the USB-based patcher to install the new system on the internal HDD (10.14 - final release). I used the First-Aid as a probe to check, at each stage of install process, whether any specific step introduced an error into the drive directory . The HDD itself had no internal faults.

 

[Starplayr]

You can't discount the impact of the end of Moore's law on all of this. The CPU performance increases have slowed so dramatically that their whole model was put at risk when the 5-6 year speed increases were halved. Apple has been forced to work around that at the margins with increases in GPU and SSD performance.

I believe Apple is stripping at least 2 PCIe SSDs or more in more expensive models to get top performance on disk. Also cloning from a TB3 MBP to another TBP3 is super fast. Copying files is even faster. But Apple continues to put what I consider sub-par GPUs in their iMacs and MacBook Pros. My $250 used Kepler Titan 6GB running at only 2.5GT/s inside a Mac Pro 3,1 out performs a 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro GPU. I guess manufactures want their laptops to be used with an eGPU for larger tasks like video editing, 3D Rendering or Gaming. But it kinda feels like having more of an Anchor for a mobile device than an eGPU.

 

[Badruzeus]

@parrotgeek1, @dosdude1
I'm using your great tool(s) to install Mojave to may MacPro 4,1 which being flashed to a 5,1. I know, that it's officially supported, but as I rely on my GT120's boot screen the purpose is to circumvent the Metal GPU check. While I do have a Metal capable GPU in form of a GTX 1070 it is not supported yet as NVIDIA did not release any drivers so far, nor does it give an ETA. While older web drivers can be installed to achieve Displayoutput they do not enable acceleration. While I can use your patches to enable acceleration on the GT120 I wonder if the same would be possible for the NVIDIA web drivers. Would it work using NVDAShim and/or the old IOAccelerator drivers? Or is there anything else needed? This would also be interesting for the hugh Hackintosh community as they mainly rely on NVIDIA GPUs.

Nope, it won't. NVDAShim does nothing on your case.. since IONDRV, IOGraphics, IOAccelerator are loaded just fine under Mojave (as you were referring to Pascal / GP that needs WebDriver for sure).

Oh yeah, bit #OffTopic but even you force loaded "10.13.6's WebDriver 378.10.10.15.15.108" under Mojave to get fully accelerated graphics, it's just worsing ur time. GeForceWeb.kext has many unresolved symbols (or binary missmatch, or whatever you say) between two diff. major OSes.. as usual. But you'll probably get only CoreImage (CI) running: with NVDAGP100Web, NVDAResmanWeb, NVDAStartupWeb just loaded. Not worth it w/o GeForce (QE) for nv_Accelerator running, just wait Nvidia to release WebDriver && Cuda officially LoL.

 

[ASentientBot]

I started buying and selling tech junk. And when I have enough spare change gonna setup an eGPU. Will start with Thunderbolt 2 systems.

Then I might look at systems that have replaceable GPUs in iMacs and MacBooks and then any that are soldered in. I have a few friends who are good at soldering so might get something like that going.

I have also tried loading kexts through and sse4.2 emulator and did get some AMD kexts to load successfully but no luck with the video.

Loading kexts through the SSE4.2 emulator sounds potentially interesting. Are you trying to do this from userspace? Of course, that won't work since video is already initialized. I would try it in single user mode. @dosdude1 @parrotgeek1 would this potentially work? I feel like @Starplayr may be onto something if the kexts do load successfully. Now it's just a matter of loading them before WindowServer & co. need them, no?

Once I have a few $$ I might go on eBay and grab myself an AMD based MBP to do some testing of my own.

 

[olad]

Sounds like I shouldn't bother trying as my graphics card is not supported, so will act all weird.

Meh... this is just Apple's good old trick of not updating GPU drivers after a point, so that people need to upgrade their computer if they want the latest OS.

From a practical perspective an upgrade could be useful. I'm no gamer, but I eventually want a computer that can play Dreamfall Chapters properly without really poor graphics resolution/detail (which only just makes it playable). Maybe this it's time? My MBP is 10 years old now (nearly 11).

What graphic card is it? I don't think you should give up on your MBP (2,2; 3,1 or 4,1?) as yet. You may find many people with MBPs similar to yours running Mojave and who found ways round the graphics issues.
P.S. I am running Mojave on a MacBook Pro 4,1 (early 2008), and I am happy with it.

 

[jackluke]

Why create the new Admin user from safe mode? What happens if I create the user in full mode?

Safe mode in your case seems a better clean way to do it (probably drops some extra extensions/frameworks), however do a couple of DiskUtility's First Aid on your disk and then try this very useful guide: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203538