macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread

[marpix]

Running Mojave 10.14.4 beta on 2011 15" Macbook Pro, thanks for all the hard works especially dosdude1!

Quick question which might not be related to anything other than having an older machine, but even before I updated and installed patches it seems like my fans have been running a lot more lately, the only change I made was the second battery replacement from OWC guys...I have reset smc but it seems like the fans are always running now...

any advice?

 

[dosdude1]

Cannot confirm this. Did the APFS ROM patch successfully on 15" and 17" MB Pro 4,1 with the NVIDIA chipset, and on other newer machines with NVIDIA as well. Nothing bricked, except MacBook Air 2,1 (which I did with the old version of the APFS ROM patch and dare not to re-do even with the newer version where you can confirm the ROM finding).

The MacBookPro4,1 has an Intel chipset, NOT an nVidia MCP79. Those are the machines that my tool has issues flashing.

 

[Larsvonhier]

The MacBookPro4,1 has an Intel chipset, NOT an nVidia MCP79. Those are the machines that my tool has issues flashing.

Thanks for clarification.
Then on more recent machines like the Unibody Alu ones I‘ve been lucky with successful ROM patches as well.
Is the problem with MCP79 persisting or solved with the new version of your tool?

 

[jowaju]

What you can do is revert back to the working setup - i.e. by installing 10.14.3 again (plain over the newer system, you will not lose any data/user profiles etc.). Then update to 10.14.4 (b4 or b5) again and avoid the latest patch updater suggestion(s) for the time being. The old patch updater is still available at dosdude1´ s website, btw.
[doublepost=1552656805][/doublepost]
Its clearly not a HW issue. And it is not top priority anyway - as the installer can be used to install the latest 10.14.3 (final) onto MB5,2. There is a trackpad/keyboard patch in the patcher tool afterwards that makes the MB5,2 pretty useable after it is applied. Its just not present in the installer setup, but no real problem...

Where is this Macbook5,2 trackpad/keyboard patch? I definitely don't see it on in the patcher tool on my MB5,1 I installed yesterday, and the Trackpad and Mouse preferences pane both say None Connected.

 

[dosdude1]

Thanks for clarification.
Then on more recent machines like the Unibody Alu ones I‘ve been lucky with successful ROM patches as well.
Is the problem with MCP79 persisting or solved with the new version of your tool?

No, it happens with even the latest version; it has to do with the FlashROM/DirectHW oddities with that chipset. MOST of the time it actually works fine, but it has bricked machines in a few cases.

 

[Larsvonhier]

Where is this Macbook5,2 trackpad/keyboard patch? I definitely don't see it on in the patcher tool on my MB5,1 I installed yesterday, and the Trackpad and Mouse preferences pane both say None Connected.

Can you send screenshot of the message "none connected"? What does the USB info in system infos tell?
The MacBook 5,1 does not need the 5,2 trackpad patch, so you will not see it in the list of applied patches and the patch updater tool will only supply and check for machine specific patches, as far as I encountered.

 

[avz]

The MacBookPro4,1 has an Intel chipset, NOT an nVidia MCP79. Those are the machines that my tool has issues flashing.

I was actually wondering (before I saw that Hrutkay Mod's video) why Greg would not add native APFS support to his world's fastest MacBook5,1. There seems to be quite a few success stories of patching ROM on MacBook5,1 in this thread.

 

[monyker]

On a patched mid-2011 Mac Mini (5,2), display output is fine on a directly connected display. But for a remote screen sharing (VNC) session, using Remotix, the display is crap. See below. Any ideas?

 

[dosdude1]

On a patched mid-2011 Mac Mini (5,2), display output is fine on a directly connected display. But for a remote screen sharing (VNC) session, using Remotix, the display is crap. See below. Any ideas?

AMD Radeon HD 6xxx series? if so, that's a known issue.

 

[iLoveiTunes]

On a patched mid-2011 Mac Mini (5,2), display output is fine on a directly connected display. But for a remote screen sharing (VNC) session, using Remotix, the display is crap. See below. Any ideas?

@monyker How's your machine holding up on Mojave...?? I had to downgrade to High Sierra due to the AMD Radeon card and pretty sluggish graphics and performance.

Sad thing is after the downgrade to High Sierra and after running Apple Hardware test I saw the dreaded "4ETC/1/40000002" hardware failure error. Which likely points to possible faulty (or dying) motherboard.
@dosdude1 due you have any idea about that error code ?

 

[monyker]

AMD Radeon HD 6xxx series? if so, that's a known issue.

Yup. Thanks, dosdude1! I also tried NoMachine, thinking maybe the problem is specific to (Apple) VNC. Same problem with NoMachine...
[doublepost=1552683908][/doublepost]

@monyker How's your machine holding up on Mojave...?? I had to downgrade to High Sierra due to the AMD Radeon card and pretty sluggish graphics and performance.

I just upgraded, so I guess time will tell. My post indicating display output is fine for the connected display may have been a bit premature and based on a quick glance. The Mac Mini in question is used primarily for MacOS Server and as a Time Machine server, so I rarely work on it directly. Now that I'm doing some work directly on the machine, I see some flakiness with display output on the connected display. Windows not being redrawn when moved, etc.

 

[cullenmq]

Thanks for making this awesome patch! Just to try it out, I put mojave on an imac,7 with apfs (with new WiFi card, ram, newer cpu and ssd) and noticed the sound wasnt working so I rebooted into install disk, reinstalled the patches, and rebooted. The computer is now stuck in a boot loop. Is there any way to fix this? (I know that there is no recovery but can I switch the startup disk back to the USB or remove the internal ssd to force it to boot off of the external usb?)

Thanks!

 

[avz]

Thanks for making this awesome patch! Just to try it out, I put mojave on an imac,7 with apfs (with new WiFi card, ram, newer cpu and ssd) and noticed the sound wasnt working so I rebooted into install disk, reinstalled the patches, and rebooted. The computer is now stuck in a boot loop. Is there any way to fix this? (I know that there is no recovery but can I switch the startup disk back to the USB or remove the internal ssd to force it to boot off of the external usb?)

Thanks!

After applying the patches, selecting "force cache rebuild" might solve your issue.

 

[cullenmq]

After applying the patches, selecting "force cache rebuild" might solve your issue.

Thanks! But as of now I cannot even get the usb to load. It starts the progress bar like it's trying to boot up, but then reboots

 

[avz]

Thanks! But as of now I cannot even get the usb to load. It starts the progress bar like it's trying to boot up, but then reboots

I would use another Mac to apply the patches(connect your HDD/SSD via SATA to USB adapter externally), but obviously you would need another Mac to do it(be careful to select the right patches for your model).

 

[Larsvonhier]

Thanks for making this awesome patch! Just to try it out, I put mojave on an imac,7 with apfs (with new WiFi card, ram, newer cpu and ssd) and noticed the sound wasnt working so I rebooted into install disk, reinstalled the patches, and rebooted. The computer is now stuck in a boot loop. Is there any way to fix this? (I know that there is no recovery but can I switch the startup disk back to the USB or remove the internal ssd to force it to boot off of the external usb?)

Thanks!

You know that by holding ALT key while starting your Mac (during the chime) you get into the boot selector and then boot from i.e. USB (even if not pre-selected as startup volume through settings)...

 

[jackluke]

I'm having trouble getting APFS recovery to work on my MBP 8.1 2011, I keep getting the prohibited sign. I've tried adding -no_compat_check to the com.apple.Boot.plist and it's a no-go. I tried nvram boot-args="-no_compat_check -v" too, but verbose output tells me this version of OS X is not supported on this platform! The only way I can get this to work is by using nvram boot-args="-no_compat_check kext-dev-mode=1" posted by @jackluke. Of course upon an NVRAM reset, this gets erased.

If I install using HFS+ I can add the no_compat_check to the boot.plist and it works fine as it should! (Though extremely slow) Am I doing something wrong with the APFS filesystem?

Agree with "setting nvram arguments win over anything", and of course they get erased after PRAM resetting, but there is a "com.apple.boot.plist" for every OSX bootable partition, then you should place "-no_compat_check" editing instead the right "com.apple.boot.plist" located in your APFS Recovery partition, to locate it from Mojave Terminal:

diskutil apfs list
(locate your APFS Recovery typically on disk1s3 or diskXs3 or)
diskutil mount diskXsY
open /Volumes/Recovery/

open the sub-folder from Finder and edit inside "com.apple.boot.plist" adding this bold line:

<string>root-dmg=file:///YOUR-UNIQUE-VOLUME-ID/BaseSystem.dmg -no_compat_check</string>

save and close, then reboot and your CMD+R will be independent from PRAM reset.

 

[kagg2-12]

Anyone else notices that Siri does not work anymore on 10.14.4 b4 (and b5) ?
After invoking (with ALT-Space or icon in menu bar), the ploink sound comes, notification shifts in from top right and then before taking any sound input, Siri seems to crash?.
Same behavior here on MacBook Air 4,1, MacBook 5,2, MacBook 4,1 and MacBook Pro 5,2 (so not only C2D related, it seems).


Edit:
@0403979
Have tried the patched installer (created with your script and a 10.14.3 image).
The installer runs perfectly well on these machines:
MacBook 5,2 (incl. trackpad basic functions)
MacBook Pro 5,2
MacBook Air 4,1
MacBook Air 2,1
MacBook 7,1

but as before (no wonder without exchanged prelinked kernel) crashes on MacBook 4,1 due to
lost USB connection to external installer volume during runtime.
If kernel is changed to a suitable MB4,1 version, trackpad on MB5,2 does not work in a usable manner.

[doublepost=1552737365][/doublepost]I have an early 2011 13" MacBook Pro 8,1 with macOS 10.14.4 and Siris just opens and closed immediately. I had been working before I upgraded.

 

[0403979]

I don’t have a trackpad patch in my patcher. I’ll look at dosdude’s version. Can you video the issue so I can better understand it?

@Larsvonhier

 

[Jas-Singh685]

Agree with "setting nvram arguments win over anything", and of course they get erased after PRAM resetting, but there is a "com.apple.boot.plist" for every OSX bootable partition, then you should place "-no_compat_check" editing instead the right "com.apple.boot.plist" located in your APFS Recovery partition, to locate it from Mojave Terminal:

diskutil apfs list
(locate your APFS Recovery typically on disk1s3 or diskXs3 or)
diskutil mount diskXsY
open /Volumes/Recovery/

open the sub-folder from Finder and edit inside "com.apple.boot.plist" adding this bold line:

<string>root-dmg=file:///YOUR-UNIQUE-VOLUME-ID/BaseSystem.dmg -no_compat_check</string>

save and close, then reboot and your CMD+R will be independent from PRAM reset.

Thanks for the reply @jackluke I have followed this and I still cannot get the recovery to boot, CMD+R still gives me the prohibited sign. Heres what I did step by step,

diskutil mount disk1s3 < My recovery partition
open /Volumes/Recovery

Now I have two folders in here, both contain basesystem.dmg files, and com.apple.boot.plist files. I added the tag to the plist in both these folders, so my file now says " <string>root-dmg=file:///F9743EC8-5C57-4833-8842-D869525B5BA3/BaseSystem.dmg -no_compat_check</string>", and the same for the other folder plist respectively, with the other unique ID.

Please see screenshots, I can't figure what I'm doing wrong!

 

[kagg2-12]

Has anyone installed macOS 10.14.5 public beta 5?

 

[marpix]

Just another quick question: What happens once Mojave 10.14.4 is installed and lets say you want to enter recovery mode?

Command R on boot no longer seems to work in this setup...?



PS I found out why my fans were constantly running, if you use the "Vox" media program and have uninstalled it there is a memory leak with the "preferences" panel left in system...that needs to be removed..."Vox Media Buttons" was using up to 80% of cpu at times...

 

[jackluke]

Thanks for the reply @jackluke I have followed this and I still cannot get the recovery to boot, CMD+R still gives me the prohibited sign. Heres what I did step by step,

diskutil mount disk1s3 < My recovery partition
open /Volumes/Recovery

Now I have two folders in here, both contain basesystem.dmg files, and com.apple.boot.plist files. I added the tag to the plist in both these folders, so my file now says " <string>root-dmg=file:///F9743EC8-5C57-4833-8842-D869525B5BA3/BaseSystem.dmg -no_compat_check</string>", and the same for the other folder plist respectively, with the other unique ID.

Please see screenshots, I can't figure what I'm doing wrong!

It's weird you still get prohibitory symbol, you have done correctly, but the only folder that represents your current APFS Mojave is the one starting with B75FA...2683 so you should consider only that.

Meanwhile try this from Mojave Terminal:

diskutil mount disk1s3
diskutil apfs changeVolumeRole disk1s3 R
diskutil apfs updatePreboot disk1s1

sudo reboot

 

[Jas-Singh685]

It's weird you still get prohibitory symbol, you have done correctly, but the only folder that represents your current APFS Mojave is the one starting with B75FA...2683 so you should consider only that.

Meanwhile try this from Mojave Terminal:

diskutil mount disk1s3
diskutil apfs changeVolumeRole disk1s3 R
diskutil apfs updatePreboot disk1s1

sudo reboot

Thanks for the help @jackluke Unfortunately this still did not work, I still can't get into recovery! I did get a final confirmation upon the updatePreboot command

"UpdatePreboot: Exiting Update Preboot operation with overall error=(ZeroMeansSuccess)=0"

And if this means anything, I do have a BOOTCAMP partition on the same drive, could this be interfering? This all makes no sense! Recovery would work using the -no_compat_check when installed on an HFS volume, but not APFS, I don't understand!

 

[Larsvonhier]

[doublepost=1552737365][/doublepost]I have an early 2011 13" MacBook Pro 8,1 with macOS 10.14.4 and Siris just opens and closed immediately. I had been working before I upgraded.

so it is a common problem - how are guys doing on officially supported systems?
[doublepost=1552762978][/doublepost]

@Larsvonhier

Not much to see.
As mentioned: Your and dosdude1´s patched installer behave identical on MB 5,2 - you can move mousepointer, but "unaccelerated", very slow. After the installation, it stays that way until the patch updater finds a "keyboard and trackpad patch" and you install it. This patch only shows up on the specific 5,2 machine, nowhere else.
After installation of that patch, you can use the trackpad as described at page #1ff. It will be seen by the system as a mouse, though.