macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread

[jackluke]

@jackluke thank you for your quick answer.
I have patched the ROM.

These are the diskutil result:

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *1.0 TB disk0
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_APFS Container disk2 1.0 TB disk0s2

/dev/disk1 (internal, physical):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *500.1 GB disk1
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk1s1
2: Apple_APFS Container disk4 499.9 GB disk1s2

/dev/disk2 (synthesized):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: APFS Container Scheme - +1.0 TB disk2
Physical Store disk0s2
1: APFS Volume Macintosh HD 221.4 GB disk2s1
2: APFS Volume VM 20.5 KB disk2s2
3: APFS Volume Preboot 43.1 MB disk2s3
4: APFS Volume Recovery 509.8 MB disk2s4

/dev/disk3 (internal, physical):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *320.1 GB disk3
1: Apple_HFS Seagate 319.7 GB disk3s2

/dev/disk4 (synthesized):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: APFS Container Scheme - +499.9 GB disk4
Physical Store disk1s2
1: APFS Volume WD 462.6 GB disk4s1
2: APFS Volume Preboot 28.7 KB disk4s2
3: APFS Volume Recovery 20.5 KB disk4s3

/dev/disk5 (external, physical):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *1.0 TB disk5
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk5s1
2: Apple_HFS WD1TB 999.9 GB disk5s2



and


APFS Containers (2 found)
|
+-- Container disk2 E45FDF4A-E7DA-4B75-92DF-930B038A3DE3
| ====================================================
| APFS Container Reference: disk2
| Size (Capacity Ceiling): 1023999787008 B (1.0 TB)
| Capacity In Use By Volumes: 222204952576 B (222.2 GB) (21.7% used)
| Capacity Not Allocated: 801794834432 B (801.8 GB) (78.3% free)
| |
| +-< Physical Store disk0s2 89EBAF6D-C347-424D-A18C-9ADA329CE18C
| | -----------------------------------------------------------
| | APFS Physical Store Disk: disk0s2
| | Size: 1023999787008 B (1.0 TB)
| |
| +-> Volume disk2s1 F5A3594D-C5CF-3AAB-A32C-9EBFF51C6FF5
| | ---------------------------------------------------
| | APFS Volume Disk (Role): disk2s1 (No specific role)
| | Name: Macintosh HD (Case-insensitive)
| | Mount Point: /
| | Capacity Consumed: 221441998848 B (221.4 GB)
| | FileVault: No
| |
| +-> Volume disk2s2 8E8BD00C-E757-49E3-A06F-3FC61EA197B5
| | ---------------------------------------------------
| | APFS Volume Disk (Role): disk2s2 (VM)
| | Name: VM (Case-insensitive)
| | Mount Point: /private/var/vm
| | Capacity Consumed: 20480 B (20.5 KB)
| | FileVault: No
| |
| +-> Volume disk2s3 7B85C833-4A20-472A-8BC6-F6B211D514BA
| | ---------------------------------------------------
| | APFS Volume Disk (Role): disk2s3 (Preboot)
| | Name: Preboot (Case-insensitive)
| | Mount Point: Not Mounted
| | Capacity Consumed: 43081728 B (43.1 MB)
| | FileVault: No
| |
| +-> Volume disk2s4 D96BF4C1-54FB-4B89-9F49-6042D665C6DD
| ---------------------------------------------------
| APFS Volume Disk (Role): disk2s4 (Recovery)
| Name: Recovery (Case-insensitive)
| Mount Point: /Volumes/Recovery
| Capacity Consumed: 509841408 B (509.8 MB)
| FileVault: No
|
+-- Container disk4 E641804A-DC66-46CA-AA69-F0E5A7FAA54C
====================================================
APFS Container Reference: disk4
Size (Capacity Ceiling): 499898105856 B (499.9 GB)
Capacity In Use By Volumes: 462747652096 B (462.7 GB) (92.6% used)
Capacity Not Allocated: 37150453760 B (37.2 GB) (7.4% free)
|
+-< Physical Store disk1s2 EE284CE0-9796-4A54-BD6B-28C0F09D161E
| -----------------------------------------------------------
| APFS Physical Store Disk: disk1s2
| Size: 499898105856 B (499.9 GB)
|
+-> Volume disk4s1 82B18D02-72E3-4FDC-93C5-48C609B0718A
| ---------------------------------------------------
| APFS Volume Disk (Role): disk4s1 (No specific role)
| Name: WD (Case-insensitive)
| Mount Point: /Volumes/WD
| Capacity Consumed: 462586175488 B (462.6 GB)
| FileVault: No
|
+-> Volume disk4s2 6BCFB587-6875-4C6B-987D-CACDB64FA147
| ---------------------------------------------------
| APFS Volume Disk (Role): disk4s2 (Preboot)
| Name: Preboot (Case-insensitive)
| Mount Point: Not Mounted
| Capacity Consumed: 28672 B (28.7 KB)
| FileVault: No
|
+-> Volume disk4s3 762FD14E-93BF-458C-97A5-A44164290E67
---------------------------------------------------
APFS Volume Disk (Role): disk4s3 (Recovery)
Name: Recovery (Case-insensitive)
Mount Point: Not Mounted
Capacity Consumed: 20480 B (20.5 KB)
FileVault: No


Thank you

Before attempt this unplug any external USB hard disks, USB drive and unmount any DMG (also eventually DMG app you were installing) mounted on your desktop.

Boot Mojave normally, then launch Terminal and type (or copy/paste one at once):

diskutil mount disk2s4

cd /Volumes/Recovery/F5A3594D-C5CF-3AAB-A32C-9EBFF51C6FF5/

sudo mv immutablekernel immutablekernelbackup

sudo mv PlatformSupport.plist PlatformSupportbackup

sudo cp -a /System/Library/Prelinkedkernels/prelinkedkernel /Volumes/Recovery/F5A3594D-C5CF-3AAB-A32C-9EBFF51C6FF5/immutablekernel

then type: open /Volumes/Recovery/F5A3594D-C5CF-3AAB-A32C-9EBFF51C6FF5/

landing on Finder using TextEdit or any other plain-text editor launch com.apple.boot.plist

Inside it first check the green part if matches with your file, in this place add the orange part (in one line) close and save:

<string>root-dmg=file:///F5A3594D-C5CF-3AAB-A32C-9EBFF51C6FF5/BaseSystem.dmg -no_compat_check -v</string>

Now, reboot and hold CMD+R after power-on chime, if you still can't reach APFS Recovery, post here a picture of your verbose screen.

 

[joelw135]

I have successfully updated my Mac Mini 3,1 and my MacBook Pro 7,1 to the latest beta OTA with not a hurdle to jump. This was the easiest update so far.

 

[L Caputo]

Having problems updating from public release 10.14 to public release 10.14.1 on a 2011 MBP 8,1, I tried installing OTA through system preferences and if I let it install and reboot on its on then it stops progress at 60%. If I install the patch from usb drive in between the reboot then the progress bar fills 99% then stops. I confirmed I have patch 1.2.3 (latest version). Then I tried downloading the update through Apple's website and then running it through Terminal to install it but then i get
"installer: Error - This software is not supported on your system."

have no idea what to do at this point or what i am missing.

#10355
You need to modify the distribution file in the standalone update you downloaded. Instructions below, when you run it it will stop with an error, it fails trying to update the Recovery Drive, don't worry about that, this happens all the time but every other aspect of the update has been installed. Restart your Mac and when booted up look at About This Mac to check it has updated.


Security And OS Standalone Updates

Modifying the Security Updates or macOS Updates for Sierra or High Sierra or Mojave

Download the update.
Open the update.
Move the update.pkg to Desktop.

Open Terminal.

You will need to know your BoardID, In Terminal paste the following command
ioreg -lp IOService | grep board-id
hit Return

Enter pkgutil --expand now drag and drop the .pkg from the Desktop into the Terminal window and type after a space~/Desktop/Expanded hit Return and wait, this takes a little while.

Open Expanded folder and then open Distribution file in Text Wrangler or BBEdit

Change Distribution file, change Board iD select one and change it to <your Macs boardID> go to nonSupportedModels remove <your Mac model>

Save As .xml file to the Desktop

In Terminal chmod +x ~/Desktop/distribution.xml (or just drag it in to the Terminal window)

Remove the extension .xml

Move new Distribution file to Expanded replacing the original

In Terminal pkgutil --flatten ~/Desktop/Expanded ~/Desktop/Modified.pkg
Using the .pkg extension is crucial.

 

[avz]

Hey avz, how your laptop working?. Does it feel sluggish or slow?. How are the graphics?
Thanks.

Hi, sorry for the late reply.
Granted I am a limited user but laptop is working great. The only thing that I noticed so far is playing 1080 video files is sluggish(there is a 1-2 sec pause when you jump along the timeline). High Sierra and El Capitan does not seem to have this issue. Snow Leopard have this issue as well.
I am using dark mode and happy with the graphics. The minor anomalies does not bother me.

 

[L Caputo]

My MP 3.1 will still not boot into APFS Mojave when other disks are in the machine, always defaults to booting in Sierra, if the SSD is the only disk in the Mac then it will quite happily boot to APFS Mojave.

Getting oh so grumpy.

 

[ford.tonthat]

My MB5,1 cannot update to 10.14.1 as it has the Software Update Patch in the Patch Updater... I tried to reinstall that patch but i still cannot update my MB. Is there any way to update to 10.14.1 (not creating a usb and upgrading the laptop) ?

My MB can run Mojave really well, no bugs, no problem, dark mode is so great!!!!

 

[Doomsday4949]

i have a mac mini 5.1 no matter what i try i can not update to 10.14.1 tried creating the installer and tried to bood from it and it will not let me it has a circle with a line through it when i try.
i can't even get internet recovery to work to go back to high sierra.

 

[luismendez39]

hi guys, can somebody of you can help me? i installed mojave patcher tool and sucesfully downloaded the copy of mojave. then i copy with the tool to a 8GB USB stick (i dont have a 16 one) i also did a copy in a new partition of the laptops hdd. but when i turn on the computer holding option y select the usb stick and it starts loading (apple logo with a loading bar) and it goes to the end and i get stuck there... it doesnt pass more than that. its the same if i load it from the usb stick and from the hdd partition. any suggetion?

 

[LuisN]

hi guys, can somebody of you can help me? i installed mojave patcher tool and sucesfully downloaded the copy of mojave. then i copy with the tool to a 8GB USB stick (i dont have a 16 one) i also did a copy in a new partition of the laptops hdd. but when i turn on the computer holding option y select the usb stick and it starts loading (apple logo with a loading bar) and it goes to the end and i get stuck there... it doesnt pass more than that. its the same if i load it from the usb stick and from the hdd partition. any suggetion?

Get a 16GB USB stick, the installer doesn't fit in 8GB

 

[lumos]

Before attempt this unplug any external USB hard disks, USB drive and unmount any DMG (also eventually DMG app you were installing) mounted on your desktop.

Boot Mojave normally, then launch Terminal and type (or copy/paste one at once):

diskutil mount disk2s4

cd /Volumes/Recovery/F5A3594D-C5CF-3AAB-A32C-9EBFF51C6FF5/

sudo mv immutablekernel immutablekernelbackup

sudo mv PlatformSupport.plist PlatformSupportbackup

sudo cp -a /System/Library/Prelinkedkernels/prelinkedkernel /Volumes/Recovery/F5A3594D-C5CF-3AAB-A32C-9EBFF51C6FF5/immutablekernel

then type: open /Volumes/Recovery/F5A3594D-C5CF-3AAB-A32C-9EBFF51C6FF5/

landing on Finder using TextEdit or any other plain-text editor launch com.apple.boot.plist

Inside it first check the green part if matches with your file, in this place add the orange part (in one line) close and save:

<string>root-dmg=file:///F5A3594D-C5CF-3AAB-A32C-9EBFF51C6FF5/BaseSystem.dmg -no_compat_check -v</string>

Now, reboot and hold CMD+R after power-on chime, if you still can't reach APFS Recovery, post here a picture of your verbose screen.

The APFS Recovery start without problems.
Pressing ALT however show always two EFI Boot drives

Thank you

 

[CNiles38006]

hi guys, can somebody of you can help me? i installed mojave patcher tool and sucesfully downloaded the copy of mojave. then i copy with the tool to a 8GB USB stick (i dont have a 16 one) i also did a copy in a new partition of the laptops hdd. but when i turn on the computer holding option y select the usb stick and it starts loading (apple logo with a loading bar) and it goes to the end and i get stuck there... it doesnt pass more than that. its the same if i load it from the usb stick and from the hdd partition. any suggetion?

I always make sure I follow every step exactly to a T when doing these updates. I would recommend getting the 16GB stick and recreate the installer, after all dosdude states using a 16GB USB, unlike 8GB sticks in the past versions of macOS.

 

[jackluke]

The APFS Recovery start without problems.
Pressing ALT however show always two EFI Boot drives

Thank you

Just a little tip, dropping the "-v" from the "com.apple.Boot.plist" will show the APFS Recovery apple logo loading bar, so nicer look.

About the "EFI Boot" ghost partitions, probably they are related in some way to the multiple GPT Entries:
sudo gpt -r show /dev/disk0

Playing with those entries could be tricky and harmful, I guess another way to get rid of them is mounting the EFI partition, and delete from inside the EFI folder the "double-entry" folder, but I really don't feel to advise it.

 

[TN4U]

So I installed the patch to my late-2011 MacBook Pro 15, and for some reason my ambient light sensor no longer works. Is this tied to the Radeon GPU which I was required to disable?

Putting the computer to sleep is useless, as the display never wakes up, nor does it respond to the keyboard (which lights up when I open the display...). Also, my brightness keys don't work, and closing the display doesn't put the computer to sleep.

EDIT: Nevermind, just realized this actually is tied to the GPU.

 

[luismendez39]

I always make sure I follow every step exactly to a T when doing these updates. I would recommend getting the 16GB stick and recreate the installer, after all dosdude states using a 16GB USB, unlike 8GB sticks in the past versions of macOS.

thanks, i will try with a 16gb stick.. but why it doesnt load on a 20GB HDD partition neither?
i better try with a 16gb stick first

 

[ASentientBot]

#10355
You need to modify the distribution file in the standalone update you downloaded. Instructions below, when you run it it will stop with an error, it fails trying to update the Recovery Drive, don't worry about that, this happens all the time but every other aspect of the update has been installed. Restart your Mac and when booted up look at About This Mac to check it has updated.


Security And OS Standalone Updates

Modifying the Security Updates or macOS Updates for Sierra or High Sierra or Mojave

Download the update.
Open the update.
Move the update.pkg to Desktop.

Open Terminal.

You will need to know your BoardID, In Terminal paste the following command
ioreg -lp IOService | grep board-id
hit Return

Enter pkgutil --expand now drag and drop the .pkg from the Desktop into the Terminal window and type after a space~/Desktop/Expanded hit Return and wait, this takes a little while.

Open Expanded folder and then open Distribution file in Text Wrangler or BBEdit

Change Distribution file, change Board iD select one and change it to <your Macs boardID> go to nonSupportedModels remove <your Mac model>

Save As .xml file to the Desktop

In Terminal chmod +x ~/Desktop/distribution.xml (or just drag it in to the Terminal window)

Remove the extension .xml

Move new Distribution file to Expanded replacing the original

In Terminal pkgutil --flatten ~/Desktop/Expanded ~/Desktop/Modified.pkg
Using the .pkg extension is crucial.

This will absolutely work, but it's more complicated than necessary. All you need to do is:

- pkgutil --expand /path/to/update.pkg ~/Desktop/Expanded
- Open Distribution in TextEdit
- Put return true; at the beginning of the installationCheck() function
- pkgutil --flatten ~/Desktop/Expanded ~/Desktop/Patched.pkg

No need to edit the supported/nonsupported model lists when you can just make it always return true. No need to chmod the file if you just edit it in place. No need for a third party text editor when there is good old TextEdit.

And, don't forget to re-apply patches after updating and before restarting -- it probably won't boot otherwise and you'll have to use a second partition to fix it.

 

[0403979]

This will absolutely work, but it's more complicated than necessary. All you need to do is:

- pkgutil --expand /path/to/update.pkg ~/Desktop/Expanded
- Open Distribution in TextEdit
- Put return true; at the beginning of the installationCheck() function
- pkgutil --flatten ~/Desktop/Expanded ~/Desktop/Patched.pkg

No need to edit the supported/nonsupported model lists when you can just make it always return true. No need to chmod the file if you just edit it in place. No need for a third party text editor when there is good old TextEdit.

And, don't forget to re-apply patches after updating and before restarting -- it probably won't boot otherwise and you'll have to use a second partition to fix it.

We can’t actually install the update packages themselves though. We need all the dependencies. I don’t know what they all are but they get downloaded when you download an OTA update.

 

[L Caputo]

This will absolutely work, but it's more complicated than necessary. All you need to do is:

- pkgutil --expand /path/to/update.pkg ~/Desktop/Expanded
- Open Distribution in TextEdit
- Put return true; at the beginning of the installationCheck() function
- pkgutil --flatten ~/Desktop/Expanded ~/Desktop/Patched.pkg

No need to edit the supported/nonsupported model lists when you can just make it always return true. No need to chmod the file if you just edit it in place. No need for a third party text editor when there is good old TextEdit.

And, don't forget to re-apply patches after updating and before restarting -- it probably won't boot otherwise and you'll have to use a second partition to fix it.

Can you show me exactly where to put the return true; in the body of the text. I have tried a couple of times but when running the patched update it responds with an error.

 

[jackluke]

Can you show me exactly where to put the return true; in the body of the text. I have tried a couple of times but when running the patched update it responds with an error.

I guess in between the zone where "var nonSupportedModels = " are and the System ProductVersion check after 'Fatal', instead the last return true replace with false.

Or maybe as @ASentientBot suggested, add this "function InstallationCheck(prefix) { return true; }"
[doublepost=1541789482][/doublepost]

We can’t actually install the update packages themselves though. We need all the dependencies. I don’t know what they all are but they get downloaded when you download an OTA update.

I guess if you delete the other dependencies pkg references into the Distribution they are droppable.

 

[DaniloGeekDude]

10.14.2 Beta 1 to 10.14.2 Beta 2 update

Successfully updated OTA and Mojave Patcher | MacOS Post Install.

View attachment 802325

Must have been hundreds of times that I attempted to updates of betas on my Mojave unsupported Macs. Failed several times but succeeded when I specifically followed the following steps.

1. System Preferences | Software Update, then click on "update now". (goes without saying ... must be on developers or public beta program)
2. It will reboot and then show "installing software update ...xx minutes remaining)
3. When finishing step 2, it will again reboot. Now the next step (4) is important.
4. Option-Key and boot to "Mojave Patcher" 1.2.3 thumb drive.
5. run MacOS Post Install. Check on "Force Rebuild Cache" and then reboot.
6. It will boot with the message "Finishing Update" on black screen.
7. Then you are done!

Hope these detailed steps are helpful.

Forgot to mention that @pkouame's hybrid patch v1.2 (18B75-fat) works on this 10.14.2 beta 2 MBP5,3.

 

[0403979]

Can you show me exactly where to put the return true; in the body of the text. I have tried a couple of times but when running the patched update it responds with an error.

Paste this in Terminal. Remove /path and replace it with the path of the folder you have the package in.

cd /path
pkgutil --expand OSInstall.mpkg OSInstall
cd OSInstall
sed -i '' 's/cpuFeatures\[i\] == "VMM"/1 == 1/' Distribution
sed -i '' 's/nonSupportedModels.indexOf(currentModel) >= 0/1 == 0/' Distribution
sed -i '' 's/boardIds.indexOf(boardId) == -1/1 == 0/' Distribution
cd ../
mv OSInstall.mpkg OSInstallbak.mpkg
pkgutil --flatten OSInstall OSInstall.mpkg
rm -R OSInstall

 

[lateadopeter]

I have an iMac 10,1. Ran Mojave 10.14.0 with @dosdude1’s patcher with great success. Now, trying to update this iMac to 10.14.1 with a USB installer + @dosdude1’s patcher 1.2.3, and things are going haywire. The installation of the update doesn’t appear to complete; stops somewhere around 10 or 11 minutes, then immediately reboots. When that happens, it gets stuck in a reboot loop, and eventually ends up with the “No” symbol when trying to boot from the primary HD. I’ve tried the installation twice, and applied the post-install patch both times. Doesn’t seem to make a difference. Any ideas?

Here's an interesting incompatibility with my Mac Mini 3,1. Under Mojave 10.14 bluetooth works fine so far, except with bluetooth audio. Audio devices pair fine and connect but then after 20 seconds, the unit disconnects without audio ever being switched to the bluetooth audio channel. I have tried deleting the com.apple.Bluetooth.plist, deleting and then re-pairing the audio devices, re-installing the legacy audio patch and using the bluetooth debug menu to reset the bluetooth module. Bluetooth keyboard and mouse work fine. Devices attempted so far without success are Bose Quietcomfort 35 and Sony SRS-BTX500. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Hooroo

Success 10.14.1 now instilled on Mini 3,1 and bluetooth audio working seamlessly after taking the following route.
-used 32gb usb drive
-unplugged all other USB and used VGA (with adapter) for video output
-downloaded the latest Mojave patcher AND the apple Mojave installer (via the menu link in the patcher)
-reset SMC and PRAM on target mac
System booted fine from USB
-erased target drive (Mac OS extended (journaled)) using disk utility on USB
-performed clean install of Mojave from installer on USB
(Installer ran flawlessly)
-rebooted into USB and ran post install
-selected mac mini 3.1 from dropdown list
-selected 'force cache rebuild'
Post install worked fine and a brand new mac was born

What do I think I was doing wrong before? It was most likely a combination of:
a) mismatched Mojave patcher app and MacOS installer,
b) not using VGA video and
c) too small capacity USB.

Enjoy Mojave everybody

 

[olrik77]

Hello from France,

I have updated from 10.14 to 10.14.1 and it was necessary to reinstall Mojave with a freshly formatted stick with @dosdude1 tool (latest version).

While running the post install tool, I made a mistake by clicking on the "APFS patch" (text at boot) while I have already (and successfully) used the APFS ROM patcher.

Now, I can see at every boot the verbose list.

Is there a solution to uninstall the APFS patch (text at boot) ?

Can I leave the system as it is now without damage ?

Many thanks for your help.

PJN

 

[DuncanGarp]

Successfully installed 10.14.2 beta 2 with hybridcoreUI 1.3

@TimothyR734, I'm using @pkoume's hybrid patch, which latest version is at 1.2. The hybridcoreUI 1.3 you mentioned above, which is more than likely different to the hybrid patch, where can I download it and give it a try? Thanks.

 

[joshacd]

So, I haven’t been having any issues with 10.14.1 on my MacBook 6,1 since I used dosDude’s 1.2.3 patcher to install it over 10.14.0 until today. It was stuck at the boot screen at near complete, but just hanging there. I tried patching it again, no luck. I tried reinstalling again using the same patched USB. Did the post install, same issue. What have I done?

 

[DaniloGeekDude]

@TimothyR734, I'm using @pkoume's hybrid patch, which latest version is at 1.2. The hybridcoreUI 1.3 you mentioned above, which is more than likely different to the hybrid patch, where can I download it and give it a try? Thanks.

@TimothyR734 might have been referring to the same (v1.2).

This is from the hybrid patch GitHub: https://github.com/SpiraMira/HybridMode-Public

NEW: 11/5/2018 - Version v1.3 is almost feature complete with a host of important fixes for Search bar menus (in Safari, iMessage and other Core Apps), some HUDs (like the brightness and volume huds), more sidebar fixes (notably AppStore), Sidebar inactive selection appearance (currently appears black). Some progress has been made on the menubar vibrancy front. Not sure if this will be rolled into 1.3 or a later release. You can check v1.3 status by checking Issues filtered by milestone. Stay tuned (follow this repo).

NEW: Version v1.2 compatible with the official 10.14.1 Mojave are available here

Unless I missed it, it does not mention 1.3 being released yet.