macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread

[FarmerBob]

Does anyone know of a way to definitely tell whether graphics acceleration is active?

I thought I saw it said that the Menu Bar and Notification Window would be transparent. I may be wrong.

 

[marpix]

"WELL S.O.B.!!!" "It worked like a Charm!!!"
I let the "Software Installer" install . . .
Then rebooted to the Patcher;
Ran the patches;
Rebooted and got an instant 2/3rds done progress meter for a long time. Thought that was my "White Whirlygig". Then "13 minutes remaining" popped up and the install finished and . . .
It went right into the "Analytics" panel you get after a new install;
Clicked through all that, it went away and the "Patches" have been over written pop up came up;
Clicked "Re-Install Patches", it did and then asked if I wanted to reboot now, I did and;
It booted faster than in 10.14.4 and I have . . .

View attachment 828950

But it's feelin' slow and things are Hot on my MBP Mid-2010 7,1!! Just looked and "No Graphics Acceleration". No transparent anything . . .
FaceTime Camera works. FaceTime came up and ready a lot faster than .14.4.

I'm not sure how you're getting that nVidia graphics card to work...its not supported which is the point of this entire thread...although the older ones MIGHT work...it supposed to use the INtel graphics...

 

[dosdude1]

"WELL S.O.B.!!!" "It worked like a Charm!!!"
I let the "Software Installer" install . . .
Then rebooted to the Patcher;
Ran the patches;
Rebooted and got an instant 2/3rds done progress meter for a long time. Thought that was my "White Whirlygig". Then "13 minutes remaining" popped up and the install finished and . . .
It went right into the "Analytics" panel you get after a new install;
Clicked through all that, it went away and the "Patches" have been over written pop up came up;
Clicked "Re-Install Patches", it did and then asked if I wanted to reboot now, I did and;
It booted faster than in 10.14.4 and I have . . .

View attachment 828950

But it's feelin' slow and things are Hot on my MBP Mid-2010 7,1!! Just looked and "No Graphics Acceleration". No transparent anything . . .
FaceTime Camera works. FaceTime came up and ready a lot faster than .14.4.

You may just need to re-install the Legacy Video Card patch using the post-install tool manually. I haven't added that to the integrity check yet.

 

[FarmerBob]

I'm not sure how you're getting that nVidia graphics card to work...its not supported which is the point of this entire thread...although the older ones MIGHT work...it supposed to use the INtel graphics...

I thought I read that it was the nVidia that were the ones that worked . . . It was the (correction: Went back to the beginning and it's saying AMD. so>) AMD's or (?) that were the problem. It's worked all along and up until .14.5, the Menu Bar and Notification window are transparent.

 

[marpix]

I thought I read that it was the nVidia that were the ones that worked . . . It was the ATI's or (?) that were the problem. It's worked all along and up until .14.5, the Menu Bar and Notification window are transparent.

Hey as long as its working whadda I know?

But yeah reinstall the patches either using the patch updater in your launch pad "other" or use the bootloader USB and "Option" startup method...

 

[FarmerBob]

Hey as long as its working whadda I know?

But yeah reinstall the patches either using the patch updater in your launch pad "other" or use the bootloader USB and "Option" startup method...

I went back the beginning to see which one it was and it's the AMD that's the big problem. I reinstalled all the patches when it asked upon initial start up after install. And not Patcher in the Launcher. Just have the Patch Updater in the System Prefs. Boy certain things are fast. The Sys Pres open instantly. I'll reboot the Flash Drive and rePatch and see what happens. Last might do the 10.14.4accel. If I break anything, that'll be my excuse to start over, but with Sierra.

Wasn't watching, but earlier I was thinkin' it would be great to get post #13431. "AND I DID!!!" It's a Palindrome. Go ahead and say it . . . "NERD!!" I was screaming it at my TV all during the 03/25 Keynote.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

I thought I saw it said that the Menu Bar and Notification Window would be transparent. I may be wrong.

From what I've read over the years, that's supposed to be one way to infer that graphics acceleration is active, but I've never been able to get a straight answer about this. I've looked online for utilities that just display a simple line of text that reads "Graphics acceleration on" or "Graphics acceleration off", but I haven't found any such utilities, though I can't say I've tried all of them or drilled down into all the options of the ones I have tried. All I've found is speculation about how to determine this for certain, with some people suggesting code to figure this out, which they haven't actually tried themselves. There doesn't seem to be anything in System Profiler about this (at least nothing that clear), but it doesn't seem it would be too hard for even the simplest utility to provide that info.

Complicating things for me in figuring this out, is that on my Macbook 5,2 running 10.4.4 using @dosdude1's Mojave Patcher, when in Light Mode, I get opaque pulldown menus, etc. even when I haven't set transparency to be reduced (System Preferences > Accessibility > Display > [deselect] Reduce transparency), but I get slightly transparent pulldown menus, Notifications Window, etc. when in Dark Mode. I've asked if anyone knows what to make of this, but I've gotten no answers.

 

[marpix]

As far as MBP running hot, seems to be a typical problem...one of the mods I've done that is really not recommended by anyone but me, is when I replaced the battery and ram I took the bottom lid down to the shop after drawing circles inside where the fans sat...I drilled about 10 air holes in the bottom of my case and then deburred them, wiped it down and reinstalled it...when it gets hot I sit it on my laptop USB fan tray plug it in and watch the tmp drop 5 degrees...

Obviously you cannot have it on a table with drinks since they can seep in the bottom, and its not a pretty fix...but 5-8 degrees can have a prolonged affect on the life of this thing...its probably part of why the nVidia GPU has never failed...

I did get a MuxHat and plan on that mod...but I have other projects more pressing...

I'm not saying this is a pretty mod but it does work.

 

[FarmerBob]

You may just need to re-install the Legacy Video Card patch using the post-install tool manually. I haven't added that to the integrity check yet.

I'll reboot to the Installer and rerun the Patcher and will let you know . . .

UPDATE: Thought I was (Having a bit of a "first time" problem. The machine won't completely boot off the Patcher flash drive. It jams until about 2/3rds of the way and then the flash drive goes to sleep and no further progress.) There's progress, BUT progress is really slow booting off the flash drive that is doing a "sleeping light" thing. The Progress Bar is creeping really . . . very . . . slow . . . almost there . . . there we go the screen just flipped to a new progress bar with a little done and then to Bluetooth Set Up Pictograms and no track pad or keyboard. Will be crashing and rebooting . . . OK and we're creepin' again . . .

UPDATE 2: Glad I spaced the location of the Post-Install Patcher. That showed me/us the issues of booting off the Installer. Am patching off the Post-Install Patcher now. Patches installed, rebooting and it's stuck shutting down in a white whirlygig page loop. Not the stacking kind of one we got when booting up. It whirls, then for a second the cursor flickers in the upper left corner and they both go away and then does it all again . . . Rinse, Repeat . . . Crashed it! Rebooting . . . get to 1/2 progress bar and black screen, keyboard lights come on and now the "whirlygig loop" page is back. It's Broke. A little more broke than I was thinking of. Done for the night . . .

 

[AlexyFoxy]

Macbook Pro Early 2011, 8,2 03/11/2019

Install Mojave + dGPU disable + CAT on Mojave
- 15in. Macbook Pro Early 2011, 8,2
- Updated AirPort card: Broadcom BCM94331PCIEBT4CAX
- MacOS: 10.14.3 Mojave.
- Clean Mojave install, using dosdude1 Unsupported Macs Mojave Installer.
- Do not install dosdude1 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth patches.
- Do not install dosdude1 USBOHCI patch.

AMDRadeon GPU Disable (EFI software only method):

https://luispuerto.net/blog/2017/12/11/disconnecting-the-dgpu-in-a-late-2011-macbook-pro-third-way/

o IMPORTANT: DO NOT use dosdude1 dGPU disabler app!
o Reset PRAM & SMC
o Disable SIP
o Use EFI method to alter nvram prefs to disable dGPU.
o Use script/loginhook method to unload/load AMDRadeonX3000.kext before/after boot.
Use pmset -a gpuswitch 1 in loginhook to keep dGPU from switching.

o Modify AMD6000Controller.kext to make CFG_FB_LIMIT=3

<key>CFG_FB_LIMIT</key><integer>3</integer>



Continuity Activation Tool Install:

o All Wi-Fi / Bluetooth Kexts should be Mojave unaltered originals.
o Wi-Fi and Bluetooth should already be working as expected without Continuity.
o Install latest CAT BETA as normal. (Make sure you are using ONLY the latest CAT Beta!)
o Once you reboot, CAT will say it is active, but is likely not really working.

1.) In terminal get your board ID number:

ioreg -l | grep "board-id" | awk -F\" '{print $4}'

Ex: MBP2011 Board ID: Mac-94245A3940C91C80


2.) Set SystemParameters.plist flag to "true":

sudo nano /System/Library/Frameworks/IOBluetooth.framework/Versions/A/Resources/SystemParameters.plist

- Search (Ctrl+w) for Board ID (paste your Board ID in the search field and hit enter).
- Change flag from “false” to “true”
- Ctrl+o (write changes), then Ctrl+x (to exit nano).


3.) Set BoardID in IO802.11Family.kext AirportBrcm4360 & AirportBrcmNIC Plugins:

sudo -E perl -pi -e "s/\Mac-00BE6ED71E35EB86/\Mac-94245A3940C91C80/" /System/Library/Extensions/IO80211Family.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AirPortBrcm4360.kext/Contents/MacOS/AirPortBrcm4360

sudo -E perl -pi -e "s/\Mac-00BE6ED71E35EB86/\Mac-94245A3940C91C80/" /System/Library/Extensions/IO80211Family.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AirPortBrcmNIC.kext/Contents/MacOS/AirPortBrcmNIC


4.) Restart, CAT should be working after you reboot!


Note:

I don’t take any credit for the “R&D” of the above “solution”. There are many other folks who have CRITICALLY contributed by figuring out the nuts & bolts and sharing their findings. Thank you all! Also, it seems to me that in the end, none of this would even be possible without dosdude1’s excellent contributions for “Unsupported Macs”. THANK YOU dosdude1!

So, all I’ve done is to collate everything I’ve learned into a process “document” summary, which I wanted to make and keep for myself. Hopefully, other folks will find this useful as well.

There was a lot of trial and error associated with making this work for my Macbook Pro Early 2011 (8,2) with a defective AMD dGPU. If the dGPU had NOT gone bad, I probably would’ve stayed on High Sierra. But since it needed to be disabled anyway, I decided I may as well try to upgrade to Mojave.

I can confirm that with the process above, I was able to achieve my goals and Mojave is working fabulously! My dGPU diode temp is typically between 4-12C, indicating dGPU is indeed disabled. My Backlight keys work as they should, and I have no sleep/wake issues. Additionally, (and even prior to dGPU failure), I was seeing battery drain issues on High Sierra, getting around 2.5hrs of battery life…even after repeated SMC/PRAM resets and battery calibrations. After this process, my battery life is now back within normal expectations, and I’m getting 5-7hrs of battery life.

Continuity (via CAT) was working great previously on this Macbook Pro in High Sierra. I was surprised when it didn’t work with Mojave, but thanks to the awesome folks in the forum, I was able to get it working via the process outlined above. It is now working great, and I’m sure I won’t be able to live now without Mojave Camera Continuity!



Thanks again everybody for your invaluable work. Now I can hold off on buying a new MBP for a while longer!!!


Regards,

Finbarr Cnaipe, 03/11/2019

Dose this still working on 10.14.4?
cause it does not work for me on my 2011 MacBook Pro.

 

[macsba]

Only if the patches and mods are on servers located in the EU. It would be hard for Apple to enforce this world wide.

An update:

Sad news for our friends in the EU:

https://appleinsider.com/articles/1...troversial-article-13-internet-copyright-bill

Just hope this doesn't affect trying to get Mohave and future macOS systems on unsupported Macs.

 

[Badruzeus]

Not so important for you to know but since 10.14.5 Beta; Nvidia Fermi (GF) is also dead; except rolling back OpenGL~ GPUSupport~ frameworks from 10.14.4.

Nevermind; #btw.. any of you with unsupported gfx under 10.14.x are using Oracle VirtualBox and having 3D Acceleration error when Guest OS launched? Thanks.

 

[ASentientBot]

From what I've read over the years, that's supposed to be one way to infer that graphics acceleration is active, but I've never been able to get a straight answer about this. I've looked online for utilities that just display a simple line of text that reads "Graphics acceleration on" or "Graphics acceleration off", but I haven't found any such utilities, though I can't say I've tried all of them or drilled down into all the options of the ones I have tried. All I've found is speculation about how to determine this for certain, with some people suggesting code to figure this out, which they haven't actually tried themselves. There doesn't seem to be anything in System Profiler about this (at least nothing that clear), but it doesn't seem it would be too hard for even the simplest utility to provide that info.

Complicating things for me in figuring this out, is that on my Macbook 5,2 running 10.4.4 using @dosdude1's Mojave Patcher, when in Light Mode, I get opaque pulldown menus, etc. even when I haven't set transparency to be reduced (System Preferences > Accessibility > Display > [deselect] Reduce transparency), but I get slightly transparent pulldown menus, Notifications Window, etc. when in Dark Mode. I've asked if anyone knows what to make of this, but I've gotten no answers.

I don't know about a utility. But simply check the following:
- Transparent menu bar and Dock
- Transparent sidebar in Finder window
If these work, you guaranteed have graphics acceleration. If they do not, and "reduce transparency" is unchecked in Accessibility preferences, you almost certainly do not.

A command-line tool to test OpenGL functionality would be nice (and, I imagine, fairly easy to make). But the above checks are always conclusive.

 

[Badruzeus]

A command-line tool to test OpenGL functionality would be nice (and, I imagine, fairly easy to make). But the above checks are always conclusive.

Try using this one (some nvda gfx having detection issue, though):
https://github.com/cylonbrain/VDADecoderCheck

 

[0403979]

Tried the dev version of the patcher. Ran the patch command with terminal.
Same behaviour: Bootable installation but no USB/trackpad functions.

Idk what else to do. I have attached an image of your extensions folder. All of those should be in /S/L/Extensions except USBInjectAll and the Backlight ones. What you could do is find each one in /S/L/Extensions and compare the version number with yours. It would also help if you could run the patch command in verbose mode and save the output and send it to me. A verbose boot video might help as well. This is considerably harder to fix when I have to tell others what to try. I apologize to the community for these issues.

Red: USB
Orange: GPU
Yellow: Audio
Green: Bluetooth
Blue: Backlight

 

[DuncanGarp]

I was able to upgrade to 10.14.5 developers beta 1 on a supported mac.

Going to try later on my unsupported MBAir, and will let you know the results using @dosdude1's patcher app to run the post install part.
Anyone tried it yet on a unsupported device?

Thanks.

I was able to upgrade my unsupported MBAir to 10.14.5 developer beta 1.



Steps followed using @dosdude1's Mojave Patcher App 1.3.0 :

• OTA
• rebooted to the patcher usb device.
• removed /System/Library/Extension/AppleIntelHD3000GLDriver.bundle/ (this is specific to my mac)
• had to do the above to be able to boot.
• continued installing update.
• after boot, ran dosdude1's 10.14.4accel script.
• rebooted and now on on 10.14.5

Only exception after upgrade is that no graphics acceleration (transparency) accomplished.

So I'm rolling back to 10.14.4 Final release.

 

[jasoncarle]

For those interested to have somewhat of a working APFS Recovery, I have fitted it into script, finding a way to cheat any UUID so it should work fine, and don't worry this won't break your mac. Enjoy.

For me this worked great, I was able to load into my Recovery partition and re-enable SIP after making all the mods and doing a clean install of 10.14.4 on my 5.1 Mac mini. Thanks to @dosdude1 as well. My Mini has never ran this well, Mojave is a big improvement in efficiency.

 

[wannebeme]

No, you just have to unmount the volume first and then the option is not greyed out any more. Then do the conversion...

done that. worked lovely. cheers for all help!

 

[avz]

Also need replacing from 10.13.6:

/System/Library/Extensions/AppleGraphicsControl.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy.kext

Does that mean that you had a success with the clamshell mode on 10.14.4?

 

[dosdude2]

Sorry everyone, sorry @dosdude1

My name is Collin Sebastian. My friends calls me dosdude2 because they are users of your Mojave Patcher and my name is the same as you @dosdude1. Sorry for the jokes.

 

[DuncanGarp]

I was able to upgrade my unsupported MBAir to 10.14.5 developer beta 1.

View attachment 828968

Steps followed using @dosdude1's Mojave Patcher App 1.3.0 :

• OTA
• rebooted to the patcher usb device.
• removed /System/Library/Extension/AppleIntelHD3000GLDriver.bundle/ (this is specific to my mac)
• had to do the above to be able to boot.
• continued installing update.
• after boot, ran dosdude1's 10.14.4accel script.
• rebooted and now on on 10.14.5

Only exception after upgrade is that no graphics acceleration (transparency) accomplished.

So I'm rolling back to 10.14.4 Final release.

Rolled it back to 10.14.4 and retained graphics acceleration (transparency).



Anyone able to accomplish graphics acceleration on 10.14.5? If so can you please let me know the steps? I may have missed something from my original steps listed on my original post. Thanks.

 

[dosdude1]

Sorry everyone, sorry @dosdude1

My name is Collin Sebastian. My friends calls me dosdude2 because they are users of your Mojave Patcher and my name is the same as you @dosdude1. Sorry for the jokes.

Ahh OK LOL. I just wanted to make sure people weren't confused.
[doublepost=1553759390][/doublepost]

Rolled it back to 10.14.4 and retained graphics acceleration (transparency).

View attachment 828974

Anyone able to accomplish graphics acceleration on 10.14.5? If so can you please let me know the steps? I may have missed something from my original steps listed on my original post. Thanks.

Did you make sure to re-apply the legacy video card patch, or rename your GLBundle back after you applied the 10.14.4 acceleration patch?

 

[jackluke]

2011 MBP running 10.14.5 beta now...

Basically just followed dosdude1's instructions from post #12410...

Rebooted repatched everything is working including Siri.

13 inches or 15/17 inches display ?

 

[marpix]

13 inches or 15/17 inches display ?

15" display...

But I also managed to get 10.14.4 loaded on a 2009 Macbook Pro 13" on Monday...

 

[jackluke]

Can anyone make sense of this

Does it a random Kernel Panic that occurs after some minutes of using ?

Reading the backtrace it seems related mainly to the apfs kext, and I think on your iMac you used the APFS-ROM-Patcher, I guess, starting from 10.14.4 that KP doesn't occur to those who on your same iMac use a Mojave HFS Installation.
[doublepost=1553762185][/doublepost]

15" display...

But I also managed to get 10.14.4 loaded on a 2009 Macbook Pro 13" on Monday...

Unsterstood about 10.14.4 , but since [USER=1143505]@DuncanGarp[/USER] previously applied the 10.14.4accel but not successfully on 10.14.5beta , I mean do you have from 10.14.5 beta 1 Graphic acceleration (aka transparencies) if you switch to the IntelHD3000 GPU from your MBP 15" ?

Because I guess you are using your 10.14.5 beta w/o OpenGL acceleration.