macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread

[story]

Have things changed? I thought you can’t even run Mojave on 2011 without disabling AMD 6770 as per 1st page. That’s why I’ve been hesitant to install. I can’t work with full brightness.

Edit: Ah, my mistake. There's just no acceleration with the AMD 6770M. If I use gfxcardstatus, I can just disable it and use HD 3000 with acceleration right?

I just bought a pre-owned early 2011 15 inch mac book pro for school- and I installed Mojave - I haven't attempted to disable the AMD graphics care yet - I will later. The only issue I notice is some tearing/overlapping at the edges of applications like Safari for example.

When I do a vram reset and look at my "About This Mac" section - I see the AMD card is gone(temporarily) and the tearing/overlapping issue goes away. The card does come back and so does the edge tearing, after awhile. So I will try to follow the dosdude guide to disable it, permanently.

One question I have is - is the new legacy video card patch on the updater for people with AMD cards? or just NVIDIA- I've been avoiding the update because it previously said "for NVIDIA cards" now it doesn't in the updater description area.
View attachment 845334 View attachment 845335
I also I am still running 10.14.4, I don't really wanna do a whole new install.

That update is for all non-Metal cards, so you can go ahead and install it.

 

[story]

For fun I tried on a Mojave 10.14.5 to use the CoreDisplay + OpenGL + GPUSupport frameworks from HighSierra 10.13.6 and non-metal-opengl acceleration is still working fine, exactly as it does when using the 10.14.3 non-metal frameworks.

edit:

I just encountered very few crashes on "Safari" and "System Preferences" but I quick fixed them in this way: replacing also the OpenCL.framework from HighSierra 10.13.6

So again I confirm that on Mojave 10.14.5 using CoreDisplay + OpenGL + OpenCL + GPUSupport frameworks from HighSierra is totally working without any issues.

I made this test to underline the importance of HighSierra as repository for our Mojave/Catalina alternative patches.

How's this going? What machine were you using this on?

 

[indigotheory]

Hi all

I have a MacbookPro6,1 Mid 2010 17” and I’ve installed Mojave on it following the instructions to a T

At the end of the install it asked me if I wanted to encrypt the APFS volume, it was checked by default along with the reset via iCloud, so I went ahead with it.

After that I installed some patch updates and now I just can’t get it to boot whatsoever. And I can’t boot it from the USB Mojave installer

I’m stuck in a right loop. It will get so far then it will either show the Apple logo with the line through it or the Apple logo with the text saying your computers restarted because of a problem

Ive tried internet recovery mode twice; the first time it automatically prompted me to reset the password - which I tried and it ended up saying I couldn’t do it. The second time I got into disk utility to erase the disk and start again and it appeared to be erasing the disk but it didn’t actually do anything

I’ve googled around and it’s definitely something to do with encrypting the APFS disk. But I’m just not sure what to do

Any help would be really appreciated, thanks

 

[jackluke]

How's this going? What machine were you using this on?

It works exactly as non-metal post-patches, on any Mojave unsupported machine (even a supported one), it was just an experiment to prove that from 10.13.6 to 10.14.3 apple haven't make big changes to those frameworks for OpenGL fallback.

 

[indigotheory]

Hi all

I have a MacbookPro6,1 Mid 2010 17” and I’ve installed Mojave on it following the instructions to a T

At the end of the install it asked me if I wanted to encrypt the APFS volume, it was checked by default along with the reset via iCloud, so I went ahead with it.

After that I installed some patch updates and now I just can’t get it to boot whatsoever. And I can’t boot it from the USB Mojave installer

I’m stuck in a right loop. It will get so far then it will either show the Apple logo with the line through it or the Apple logo with the text saying your computers restarted because of a problem

Ive tried internet recovery mode twice; the first time it automatically prompted me to reset the password - which I tried and it ended up saying I couldn’t do it. The second time I got into disk utility to erase the disk and start again and it appeared to be erasing the disk but it didn’t actually do anything

I’ve googled around and it’s definitely something to do with encrypting the APFS disk. But I’m just not sure what to do

Any help would be really appreciated, thanks

Update...

I’ve managed to reformat the drive as APFS and I’ve installed Mojave again from the USB and applied the suggested patches for MacbookPro6,1 and it’s still not booting. I get the no entry sign, this is really strange

 

[Sylverton76]

Can u please tell if u are having anyissues with the appstore or not , i am unable to sign in still

I've never managed to login to iCloud on either an MB 4,1 or MB 7,1 using the macOS Patcher Tool. The Mojave Patcher Tool allows me to login to iCloud during setup on the MB 7,1 though. I reinstalled using the re-released r2.3.1 from 2 days ago but have the same issues. It doesn't matter whether I use macOS Downloader to get the Mojave app or use the App Store, the results are the same.

This:

mount -uw /
chown root:wheel /usr/bin/login
chmod 4755 /usr/bin/login
reboot

in single user mode fixes the terminal issues but I still cannot login to iCloud. Out of curiosity I installed High Sierra on the 4,1 using the r2.3.1 macOS Patcher Tool for High Sierra. Again, I had to apply the above to fix terminal but I still cannot sign in to iCloud, App Store etc. I've tried three iCloud accounts - one has never been used on a Mac before. All give the message "This action could not be completed. Please try again" when trying to sign in. I'm definitely connected to the WiFi as I have no problems surfing the web.

 

[indigotheory]

Update...

I’ve managed to reformat the drive as APFS and I’ve installed Mojave again from the USB and applied the suggested patches for MacbookPro6,1 and it’s still not booting. I get the no entry sign, this is really strange

I ran the patches again but this time I didn’t force the cache rebuild and booted it to the desktop, unchecked the graphics switching in energy saver and all seems well. I’ve learnt it was a kernel panic, schoolboy error I guess.

I did only get it last night!

Thanks again to dosdude1

 

[@ioith]

@Larsvonhier i know u do use an early 2008 macbook with mac os catalina .
can u tell if u got the appstore signed in, or there are restrictions in the code that stops us from signing in , after three attempts i get that my password was entered incorrectly multiple times .
even though my passcode was correct as i checked it on the appleid online sign

 

[whereisdan]

been following this thread since it was 9 pages large and I've just run into my first problem with mojave that I can't seem to fix, and I was hoping someone here could get me back on track.

The problem: macbook pro 13" early 2011 upon start will load 50% at the login screen quickly. Slowly progress to 75% over the next 30 second or so. Then climbs to 99-100% over the next 5 to 10 minutes and that's as far as it goes.

The issue just started yesterday after a reboot. I can't for the life of me figure out what happened. I had inserted a 32GB USB stick with Tails OS on it and updated it to the most recent OS version. Shutdown and rebooted into macOS and that's when the hangs began. Updating a USB stick OS shouldn't have touched a thing on the hard drive so I'm not sure what changed?

My setup (for context): Triple boot system, Windows 10 64 bit / Kali Linux / Mojave macOS, with rEFInd on a MPB 13" early-2011.

What I've tried thus far: restarted - multiple times (duh), able to boot into other OSes without issue. Reapplied the patch from a freshly made 16GB stick using dosdude's 1.3.3 patcher and latest version of Mojave. Force rebuilt the cache. Reinstalled that OS over the previous install. Cleared the NVRAM (which disables the rEFInd setup, which means I can't - easily - get into Kali, but holding the option key at boot I can still get into windows.)

Does anyone have any suggestions (other than a format) that could mojave back up and running? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[whereisdan]

been following this thread since it was 9 pages large and I've just run into my first problem with mojave that I can't seem to fix, and I was hoping someone here could get me back on track.

The problem: macbook pro 13" early 2011 upon start will load 50% at the login screen quickly. Slowly progress to 75% over the next 30 second or so. Then climbs to 99-100% over the next 5 to 10 minutes and that's as far as it goes.

The issue just started yesterday after a reboot. I can't for the life of me figure out what happened. I had inserted a 32GB USB stick with Tails OS on it and updated it to the most recent OS version. Shutdown and rebooted into macOS and that's when the hangs began. Updating a USB stick OS shouldn't have touched a thing on the hard drive so I'm not sure what changed?

My setup (for context): Triple boot system, Windows 10 64 bit / Kali Linux / Mojave macOS, with rEFInd on a MPB 13" early-2011.

What I've tried thus far: restarted - multiple times (duh), able to boot into other OSes without issue. Reapplied the patch from a freshly made 16GB stick using dosdude's 1.3.3 patcher and latest version of Mojave. Force rebuilt the cache. Reinstalled that OS over the previous install. Cleared the NVRAM (which disables the rEFInd setup, which means I can't - easily - get into Kali, but holding the option key at boot I can still get into windows.)

Does anyone have any suggestions (other than a format) that could mojave back up and running? Any help would be appreciated.

Disregard... finally solved the problem.

For anyone encountering the same issue, OPTION + COMMAND + R, unlocked my disk using diskutil, opened terminal and had to cd 1 file at a time (for some god awful reason) to /volumes/mojave\ /var/db/caches/opendirectory and deleted the mbr_cache. Rebooted and after about 5 minutes the system booted up like normal.

I hate mbr's soooo much. lol

 

[Larsvonhier]

@Larsvonhier i know u do use an early 2008 macbook with mac os catalina .
can u tell if u got the appstore signed in, or there are restrictions in the code that stops us from signing in , after three attempts i get that my password was entered incorrectly multiple times .
even though my passcode was correct as i checked it on the appleid online sign

There you know more than me ;-)
I have Cat running on a MB7,1 but not yet on the MB4,1 (will follow soon though)
AppStore on the 7,1 logs me in correctly without problems...

Wrong thread here - pls. hop over to the Catalina thread. Thx.

 

[lorehaze]

Installed latest Mojave stable release on MacBook Pro 6,2 Mid 2010 with i5 processor, 8 GB rams and ssd.

After a first suffering over the trackpad (it resulted slow first), all working great, probably due to the first stabilization.

All working good here, thanks to all the developers!!!

 

[BuffyzDead]

Well, I need to give a HUGE thanks to @parrotgeek1, who figured out this amazing solution... Broadcom BCM94321 WiFi cards are now WORKING under Mojave! If you'd like to test, just download the attached ZIP, extract it, cd into the extracted directory using Terminal, and then run ./install.sh. This should get WiFi working on ALL machines with BCM94321 WiFi chipsets, including the MacMini3,1, MacBookAir2,1, MacBookPro4,1, iMac8,1, and more. Please post results!

View attachment 825032

On a late 2009 Mac mini, having tried two different legacy BCM94321 WiFi cards, and having applied the post install patches (v1.3.3 patcher), I Cannot get the system/hardware to recognize those installed cards. What terminal commands can I try to clean out the cruft, allowing the system to SEE the cards please. I used to connect via a third party dongle but now that the legacy cards can be supported, I want to use that approach for a wireless network connection. Thank you

 

[dosdude1]

On a late 2009 Mac mini, having tried two different legacy BCM94321 WiFi cards, and having applied the post install patches (v1.3.3 patcher), I Cannot get the system/hardware to recognize those installed cards. What terminal commands can I try to clean out the cruft, allowing the system to SEE the cards please. I used to connect via a third party dongle but now that the legacy cards can be supported, I want to use that approach for a wireless network connection. Thank you

Try using the Patch Updater tool to re-install the patch, and see if that helps.

 

[Sylverton76]

@Larsvonhier i know u do use an early 2008 macbook with mac os catalina .
can u tell if u got the appstore signed in, or there are restrictions in the code that stops us from signing in , after three attempts i get that my password was entered incorrectly multiple times .
even though my passcode was correct as i checked it on the appleid online sign

I actually have iCloud working now by following Larsvonhier's earlier post. I created a new installer using dosdude1's Mojave Patcher Tool and installed to an external drive attached to my MB 7,1. Whilst still attached to the MB 7,1 I patched using the options mentioned in the post i.e. minimal MB 5,2. I also copied the 23 kexts from Julian Fairfax's macOS Patcher Tool to S/L/E. These are found in release-10.14/resources/patch/MacBook4,1. Having moved the drive over to the MB 4,1 to test, I can confirm that I was able to login to iCloud during the initial account setup. Whilst the iSight camera doesn't work, I am able to use FaceTime audio and iMessage.

 

[@ioith]

I actually have iCloud working now by following Larsvonhier's earlier post. I created a new installer using dosdude1's Mojave Patcher Tool and installed to an external drive attached to my MB 7,1. Whilst still attached to the MB 7,1 I patched using the options mentioned in the post i.e. minimal MB 5,2. I also copied the 23 kexts from Julian Fairfax's macOS Patcher Tool to S/L/E. These are found in release-10.14/resources/patch/MacBook4,1. Having moved the drive over to the MB 4,1 to test, I can confirm that I was able to login to iCloud during the initial account setup. Whilst the iSight camera doesn't work, I am able to use FaceTime audio and iMessage.

S/L/E is System/Library/Extensions right?
so u suggest i do this on another mac that is supported by dosdude1's tool ,transfer the kexts , patch to MB5,2 and restore the disk image using the my current recovery partition . so as to boot from my ssd .

 

[Sylverton76]

S/L/E is System/Library/Extensions right?
so u suggest i do this on another mac that is supported by dosdude1's tool ,transfer the kexts , patch to MB5,2 and restore the disk image using the my current recovery partition . so as to boot from my ssd .

Yes, S/L/E is System/Library/Extensions and this is where the MB4,1 specific kexts need to be copied to. The files will need the correct permissions:

sudo chmod -R 755 /Volumes/[Drive Name]/System/Library/Extensions
sudo chown -R root /Volumes/[Drive Name]/System/Library/Extensions

I believe rebooting automatically rebuilds the prelinkedkernel. With regards to the MB5,2 patch, I think I used Boot.plist patch, Software Update Patch, Install Patch Updater and the SIP Disabler Patch. As for restoring the image, I didn't bother. I simply removed the drive from the MB4,1 and attached it via a USB enclosure on the MB7,1. When finished, I put the drive back in the MB4,1 and booted of the internal drive.

 

[deeveedee]

@Sylverton76 It looks to me like one of your commands is missing something. Should the following

sudo chown -R root /Volumes/[Drive Name]/System/Library/Extensions

be

sudo chown -R root:wheel /Volumes/[Drive Name]/System/Library/Extensions

 

[Sylverton76]

@Sylverton76 It looks to me like one of your commands is missing something. Should the following

sudo chown -R root /Volumes/[Drive Name]/System/Library/Extensions

be

sudo chown -R root:wheel /Volumes/[Drive Name]/System/Library/Extensions

It should, yes. Thanks!

 

[@ioith]

Yes, S/L/E is System/Library/Extensions and this is where the MB4,1 specific kexts need to be copied to. The files will need the correct permissions:

sudo chmod -R 755 /Volumes/[Drive Name]/System/Library/Extensions
sudo chown -R root /Volumes/[Drive Name]/System/Library/Extensions

I believe rebooting automatically rebuilds the prelinkedkernel. With regards to the MB5,2 patch, I think I used Boot.plist patch, Software Update Patch, Install Patch Updater and the SIP Disabler Patch. As for restoring the image, I didn't bother. I simply removed the drive from the MB4,1 and attached it via a USB enclosure on the MB7,1. When finished, I put the drive back in the MB4,1 and booted of the internal drive.

I do not own another mac to do this procedure what do you suggest
i do ?

 

[Jack Neill]

Got a MB 7,1. The tool worked perfectly. Love this little machine. 512 Samsung SSD and 16GB OWC

 

[0403979]

I actually have iCloud working now by following Larsvonhier's earlier post. I created a new installer using dosdude1's Mojave Patcher Tool and installed to an external drive attached to my MB 7,1. Whilst still attached to the MB 7,1 I patched using the options mentioned in the post i.e. minimal MB 5,2. I also copied the 23 kexts from Julian Fairfax's macOS Patcher Tool to S/L/E. These are found in release-10.14/resources/patch/MacBook4,1. Having moved the drive over to the MB 4,1 to test, I can confirm that I was able to login to iCloud during the initial account setup. Whilst the iSight camera doesn't work, I am able to use FaceTime audio and iMessage.

The kexts in that folder are only the MB4,1 specific ones. My patcher patches all devices equally except some WiFi patches and the MB4,1 patches. I don’t know if any of them are required on the MB4,1 but I still wouldn’t recommend only copying the specific ones. Btw, macOS Patcher supports installing macOS on the MB4,1 so I would recommend that next time as it’s an easier process.

 

[Hackintosh HD]

A question to all 17" MacBookPro5,2 early / mid-2009 owners out there (please forgive me if this has been asked before, at least I didn't find it in the 655+ preceeding pages):

Did anybody of you succeed in repairing High Sierra's and Mojave's broken instant GPU switching? By that I mean the GPU switching on the fly between the integraded nVidia GeForce 9400M and the discrete nVidia GeForce 9600M GT without logoff.

Maybe by transplanting specific kexts from macOS 10.12.6 Sierra (the last macOS version GPU switching on the fly was working on)?

Background: None of the GPU switching utilities I'm aware of - gfxCardStatus (1,2), gSwitch, gpu-switch - that used to work up to macOS 10.12.6 Sierra do work any longer under High Sierra or Mojave. At least not on the mid-2009 machines. This leads to a situation where I can't switch back to the integraded nVidia 9400M GPU of my macbookpro5,2 once an application has created a dependency to the discrete nVidia 9600M GT GPU, no matter if the responsible application is still running or not. You actually have to logout (!) for switching back to internal graphics, which is still the preferable mode for most tasks as it's generating far less heat and (therefore) fan activity. And that's really annoying.

I've contributed issue reports in both remaining GitHub repositories of gfxCardStatus (1,2) and I've also left feedback for Cody Schrank, the author of gSwitch.

However, If any of you have found a solution for the problem, I'd be more than thankful if you could report it here. Thank you!

 

[Sylverton76]

The kexts in that folder are only the MB4,1 specific ones. My patcher patches all devices equally except some WiFi patches and the MB4,1 patches. I don’t know if any of them are required on the MB4,1 but I still wouldn’t recommend only copying the specific ones. Btw, macOS Patcher supports installing macOS on the MB4,1 so I would recommend that next time as it’s an easier process.

Unfortunately we are not currently able to use your macOS Patcher on the MB4,1. As mentioned in our earlier posts, we've tried macOS Patcher but there are issues with both terminal and iCloud post installation. I managed to fix the terminal permissions but not being able to use iCloud is a deal breaker. Currently, only the hybrid method first mentioned by @Larsvonhier allows me to sign into iCloud on the MB4,1.

@ioith unfortunately without a second Mac you'll need to stick to macOS Patcher. Hopefully it can be updated to allow sign in with iCloud.

 

[Eschers]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents for my iMac 20" (Mid 2007):

• CPU upgrade to T9300 (easy job); applied new thermal paste to GPU as well; 4GB RAM added; upgraded with 120GB SSD
• Installed 10.14.5 on a spare SSD via USB from a Mac Mini 2012 and shut down when initial config screen appeared
• booted latest dosdude patcher, hooked spare SSD via USB to iMac
• restored to the internal SSD from the external SSD
• applied patches in the patcher system
• booted and configured the iMac

So far it runs extraordinary good for what it is. The Core2Duo is very often pushed to its limits, and the RAM is almost always fully loaded. Crazy how it can be managed with the old ATi 2400 GPU with only 128MB VRAM. Youtube is ok up to 720p! Waterfox, Firefox, Chrome/Chromium, Opera run good without any problems so far!

I am really impressed! The machine will get another 2 years of security updates and will be ready to retire by 2021 which will make it 14 years a usable machine

Note: Restoring fresh mojave install to internal iMac 2007 SSD in FireWire-Target-mode did not work somehow.

Thanks to everyone involved in this process, especially @dosdude1