macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread

[twinboys]

Can't really help. Mine is a MacBook Pro 8,3. Are you sure that 8,1 is APFS capable?. I don't think is the SATA cable, cause installation is right. Have you tried pressing ALT in the boot chime and if the macbook sees any boot drive?

Thanks @trifero. I'll install Mojave on a Mac OS Extended partition.

If you don't have a bootable installer, use a Recovery key combo on startup:
⌘R Reinstall the latest macOS that was installed
⌥⌘R Upgrade to the latest compatible macOS (recommended)
⇧⌥⌘R Reinstall the macOS that came with your Mac (or the closest version still available)

Use Disk Utility to run the First Aid feature, then install High Sierra so that you have the latest BootROM version. The Folder w/ Question Mark [?] is usually sign of something wrong with the startup volume, or maybe the installer app itself was corrupt. I still install my installer apps with the Mac App Store links ⬇︎ on the page below before I open dosdude1's patcher tool, because I have had a problem with that before.

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

You can use a USB flash drive or other secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system.

support.apple.com

The SATA cable in my MacBook Pro 7,1 (13 inch, Mid 2010) failed too. I discovered this by disconnecting the hard drive, and using a bootable installer containing macOS High Sierra (10.13.6). I kept the backplate off, and I tried to plug in the SATA connector to the internal hard drive while it was on the ⌥ Option boot drive selector.
A white spark came out, and it immediately shut itself down. New SATA cable and an SSD solved the problem.

I highly recommend you make a bootable installer from a USB drive (or a partition of an external storage device formatted as macOS Extended) — it's much more reliable.

@quaccOS and @trifero; you guys are great! I'll go try High Sierra and report back. Should I install it using AFPS or a Mac OS Extended partition?

 

[quaccOS]

Thanks @trifero. I'll install Mojave on a Mac OS Extended partition.

@quaccOS and @trifero; you guys are great! I'll go try High Sierra and report back. Should I install it using AFPS or a Mac OS Extended partition?

APFS if it's a solid state drive (SSD), Mac OS Extended (Journaled) if it's hard disk drive (HDD) – but to make a bootable installer, you have to use Mac OS Extended.
For High Sierra, you can just hold ⌥⌘R at startup for Internet Recovery, check Disk Utility, perform First Aid on the internal HD, erase it if you can, and then Install macOS High Sierra in the menu – you'll have 10.13.6

Edit: I prefer bootable installers because Internet Recovery can take long, so having the installer on a USB is a bit quicker. But if you're only doing it once, it's fine

 

[trifero]

Thanks @trifero. I'll install Mojave on a Mac OS Extended partition.


@quaccOS and @trifero; you guys are great! I'll go try High Sierra and report back. Should I install it using AFPS or a Mac OS Extended partition?

Though I have SSD, I don't use APFS on my macbook 8,3 High Sierra installed. I do use it in another Macbook 8,3, Mojave installed, GPU disabled. I really cannot tell the difference between both format systems in performance.

 

[AphoticD]

I have a late 2011 MacBook Pro 8,1. I have tried installing Mojave 10.14.6 and Catalina 10.15.3/4 using DosDude1 Patcher with drives formatted with APFS. It doesn’t matter which OS I’m using but once at the desktop and after DosDude1’s Patcher updates, the computer reboots and I get a ‘Folder w/ a Blinking Question Mark’.

I followed post #10,445 @AphoticD, up to changing out the SATA cable. I will order a replacement cable but until then, does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks

Thanks @twinboys, I’m glad my lengthy post was useful for somebody.

It may not be the case for your MacBook Pro, but I have personally repaired quite a few 2011 and 2012 13” MBPs with intermittent boot problems by replacing the HDD SATA / IR Sensor cable.

The ribbon appears to become damaged over time by grit building up between the flex ribbon and the chassis / top case, which rubs against the ribbon. Movement is expected due to the rubber mounts on the HDD, so it’s a bit of shortcoming in the design.

In my observations, the friction over time can expose and short the micro traces in the ribbon against the aluminum top case, causing intermittent drive errors and boot / install problems.

An early sign of the failure can be a lower than expected negotiated SATA link speed (i.e 1.5Gbps on a 6G bus).

When replacing the part, I would recommend you also place a strip of electrical or kapton tape between the ribbon and the aluminum top case to help protect it.

My 2011 MBP was bought for a song and is still happily zipping along with 8GB of RAM. I haven’t taken it to Catalina yet though. It is happy with Mojave.

 

[jowaju]

I have a late 2011 MacBook Pro 8,1. I have tried installing Mojave 10.14.6 and Catalina 10.15.3/4 using DosDude1 Patcher with drives formatted with APFS. It doesn’t matter which OS I’m using but once at the desktop and after DosDude1’s Patcher updates, the computer reboots and I get a ‘Folder w/ a Blinking Question Mark’.

I followed post #10,445 @AphoticD, up to changing out the SATA cable. I will order a replacement cable but until then, does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks

This is because your machine does not have APFS support. The easiest way to confirm this is to install MacOS Mojave on a n HFS+ formatted volume using the DosDude patcher. If the machine boots after the install is complete, the problem was the missing APFS support. You can then load the APFS update package from within Mojave, then format the drive APFS and re-install once more and you will be done. Don't go ordering any parts or trying anything crazy until you have tried this. Almost 100% of the time this is the issue.

 

[trifero]

This is because your machine does not have APFS support. The easiest way to confirm this is to install MacOS Mojave on a n HFS+ formatted volume using the DosDude patcher. If the machine boots after the install is complete, the problem was the missing APFS support. You can then load the APFS update package from within Mojave, then format the drive APFS and re-install once more and you will be done. Don't go ordering any parts or trying anything crazy until you have tried this. Almost 100% of the time this is the issue.

That´s what I said to him some posts ago. First he has to be sure is Mac is APFS capable.

 

[jowaju]

That´s what I said to him some posts ago. First he has to be sure is Mac is APFS capable.

Sorry I must have missed your post. I saw others were talking about replacing cables and making new USB installers or running internet recovery. I was just letting him know he can find out for sure with what he has already with just a little time.

 

[trifero]

Sorry I must have missed your post. I saw others were talking about replacing cables and making new USB installers or running internet recovery. I was just letting him know he can find out for sure with what he has already with just a little time.

No, sir! In fact i didn’t know it that model is APFS capable or not. You dispelled the doubts. ??

 

[quaccOS]

This is because your machine does not have APFS support. The easiest way to confirm this is to install MacOS Mojave on a n HFS+ formatted volume using the DosDude patcher. If the machine boots after the install is complete, the problem was the missing APFS support. You can then load the APFS update package from within Mojave, then format the drive APFS and re-install once more and you will be done. Don't go ordering any parts or trying anything crazy until you have tried this. Almost 100% of the time this is the issue.

But MBP 8,1 goes all the way to macOS High Sierra to when APFS was released?
It even gives you the recommendation to convert your drive to APFS during the installation process.
Took from Google Images

 

[jowaju]

Your model DOES support APFS. The question is whether it has had the firmware update installed yet which is required to boot from APFS formatted devices. The fact that it loads from the USB and then won’t boot to the OS tells us the likely answer is no. Try loading it to an HFS+ volume and check your firmware version. I’ve had first hand experience with these and that’s the expected behavior when the firmware isn’t up to date.

 

[quaccOS]

Your model DOES support APFS. The question is whether it has had the firmware update installed yet which is required to boot from APFS formatted devices. The fact that it loads from the USB and then won’t boot to the OS tells us the likely answer is no. Try loading it to an HFS+ volume and check your firmware version. I’ve had first hand experience with these and that’s the expected behavior when the firmware isn’t up to date.

I didn't want to go as far as to say that the OP didn't at least try the last supported version of macOS on their system – I doubt that. And even if they didn't, they would've read about this on dosdude1's website.

Taken from both dosdude1's patcher webpages
dosdude1.com/catalina & dosdude1.com/mojave:

• APFS BootROM Support: If you have a machine that supports High Sierra natively, you MUST ensure you have the latest version of the system's BootROM installed. If you have NOT previously installed High Sierra, you can download and install this package (if running OS X 10.10 Yosemite or later) to install the latest BootROM version (you MUST reboot after installing the package to apply the firmware update). When installing, ensure your system is plugged in to power, or the update will not be installed.

Edit: I even mentioned that they should have the latest BootROM version, but it's a bit insulting to assume someone didn't follow the instructions – I couldn't jump to that assumption.

If you don't have a bootable installer, use a Recovery key combo on startup:
⌘R Reinstall the latest macOS that was installed
⌥⌘R Upgrade to the latest compatible macOS (recommended)
⇧⌥⌘R Reinstall the macOS that came with your Mac (or the closest version still available)

Use Disk Utility to run the First Aid feature, then install High Sierra so that you have the latest BootROM version. The Folder w/ Question Mark [?] is usually sign of something wrong with the startup volume, or maybe the installer app itself was corrupt. I still get my installer apps from the Mac App Store links on the page below ⬇︎ before I open dosdude1's patcher tool, because I've had a problem with that before.

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

You can use a USB flash drive or other secondary volume as a startup disk from which to install the Mac operating system.

support.apple.com

The SATA cable in my MacBook Pro 7,1 (13 inch, Mid 2010) failed too. I discovered this by disconnecting the hard drive, and using a bootable installer containing macOS High Sierra (10.13.6). I kept the backplate off, and I tried to plug in the SATA connector to the internal hard drive while it was on the ⌥ Option boot drive selector.
A white spark came out and it immediately shut itself down — New SATA cable and an SSD solved it.

I highly recommend you make a bootable installer with a USB drive (or a partition of an external storage device formatted as macOS Extended) — it's much more reliable. You can reformat the drive, repair & check its status without relying on the internal HD. You should establish that your machine runs High Sierra without problems, then prepare a bootable installer – boot from that and run first aid, erase the drive, and download macOS 10.14.6 or 10.15.4, hold ⌥ while it reboots and select the same bootable installer, use macOS Post Install, then boot up normally. Install the new patches in the updater that should pop up at the desktop, and hit Restart – and if that caused the problem, then contact Colin (dosdude1) himself.

 

[leo.barza21]

Hi there, I'd like to upgrade my MacBook to OS Mojave, but I have some questions before. Here is my setting:
MacBook Pro 8,1 late 2011. I have High Sierra 10.13.6 installed on a APFS encrypted volume on my SSD. So, what I have to do before installing (I already have the bootable USB created following the guide)? Do I have to disable FileVault? Or disable SIP? Or other things? Thanks and sorry if they're stupid questions. Ah, I'd like not to do a clean install but just upgrade the system, but in case it's better to first format the disk, I have Time Machine with a just made backup

 

[TimothyR734]

Hi there, I'd like to upgrade my MacBook to OS Mojave, but I have some questions before. Here is my setting:
MacBook Pro 8,1 late 2011. I have High Sierra 10.13.6 installed on a APFS encrypted volume on my SSD. So, what I have to do before installing (I already have the bootable USB created following the guide)? Do I have to disable FileVault? Or disable SIP? Or other things? Thanks and sorry if they're stupid questions. Ah, I'd like not to do a clean install but just upgrade the system, but in case it's better to first format the disk, I have Time Machine with a just made backup

It is better to do a clean install but with being said you would be wise to turn off FileVault and disable SIP then download the Mojave patcher then from the patcher download the latest version of Mojave create your patcher with Mojave installer, then install Mojave. after it reboots bout into your patcher and apply the post install patches for your Mac

 

[leo.barza21]

It is better to do a clean install but with being said you would be wise to turn off FileVault and disable SIP then download the Mojave patcher then from the patcher download the latest version of Mojave create your patcher with Mojave installer, then install Mojave. after it reboots bout into your patcher and apply the post install patches for your Mac

Thanks a lot, so I turned off FileVault but it seems it will take a lot to decrypt. After I install Mojave, is it better to turn it on again or I may leave it disabled? Also, if I do a clean install I can later recover all my data from time machine, right?

 

[TimothyR734]

I don't use time machine but you should be able to use it and yes you could turn on file vault again

 

[ScooterComputer]

Anxious with the release of Zoom 5.0 for Unsupported Mojave users to try it and see if maybe, maybe Zoom added back non-Metal support for Unsupported users.

(Way I figure, the app works fine on those older machines under macOS versions older than 10.14. So they have the code, and they're doing a simple version check to determine which rendering code to run. Seems all they really need to do is to check to see if Metal is actually –supported– at runtime when on 10.14 and later and fall-back to the older rendering code if not, rather than merely checking if they're running on 10.14 or later. If they'd not just assume… there is a chance.)

Alternatively: are there any injector methods in the Unsupported community to target SPECIFIC apps whereby if/when Zoom.app does a platform check we could make it THINK it is running on High Sierra (when running on Mojave)?? As in, is there a way to "fool" Zoom into thinking it is running under 10.13 while actually running on 10.14?

 

[techinfant]

Update: I re-created the USB again on the Mini, and this time it worked! Not really sure what was going on. Hopefully, the install goes through smoothly! ?

I'm trying to install Mojave on my Mac Mini 3,1 that is currently running unsupported High Sierra. I started out trying to use the USB patcher that worked successfully to install Mojave on my MBP 5,5. However, the same USB didn't go anywhere on the Mini, and was basically stuck on the apple logo with zero progress on the bar. So, to try something different, I re-created the USB patcher on the Mini, but this time when I selected it at startup, I got the grey "prohibited" symbol, which appears to be a regression. Anybody have this happen to them and know of a workaround? Thank you in advance!

 

[techinfant]

All: I am looking to do clean installs of Mojave on my Mac mini 3,1 and my MBP 5,5. Both Macs have DIY fusion drives that are formatted HFS+.

On going through this thread, I'm leaning to reformat the fusion drives to APFS prior to doing the clean install. I wanted to double check with the experts on here whether that is a prudent move, and if so, how I should go about reformatting the fusion drives. I'm guessing I would boot with the patcher tool and use Disk Utility to format the drive to AFPS, but can I reformat a fusion drive (the combined SSD+HDD volume) in place, or should I separate and format each SSD and HDD to APFS individually and then recombine later? Any guidance or pointers to resources on this will be greatly appreciated, thank you!

 

[trifero]

All: I am looking to do clean installs of Mojave on my Mac mini 3,1 and my MBP 5,5. Both Macs have DIY fusion drives that are formatted HFS+.

On going through this thread, I'm leaning to reformat the fusion drives to APFS prior to doing the clean install. I wanted to double check with the experts on here whether that is a prudent move, and if so, how I should go about reformatting the fusion drives. I'm guessing I would boot with the patcher tool and use Disk Utility to format the drive to AFPS, but can I reformat a fusion drive (the combined SSD+HDD volume) in place, or should I separate and format each SSD and HDD to APFS individually and then recombine later? Any guidance or pointers to resources on this will be greatly appreciated, thank you!

I hate fusion drives, really. Can´t help.

 

[jsusa]

I guys I have a MID 2010 iMac 27" i7 16GB with ATI Radeon HD 5750.
What problems will I have by installing this Patch on my iMac model ? can they solve? I use the iMac for work, I would not have an iMac that works badly.
Thanks

It is not worthy, since you wont be able to use full graphics acceleration(compatibility issue), you will have inverted colors, btw you can fix that by deleting kext from S/L/E but still not worth it. Believe me I have been there several times and changed back to HS 10.13.6.
Cheers

 

[techinfant]

I hate fusion drives, really. Can´t help.

No worries! I did a little research on APFS, and it appears that it generally spells trouble for HDDs especially with files that are frequently edited, so I decided to keep the OS and key files on the APFS-formatted SSD, and keep the HDD formatted HFS+ for storing large media collections that do not change. It’ll take a little work to manage space on the SSD, but probably worth the trade off.

I did a clean install on the MBP along those lines, but ran into a couple of issues, neither of which appear to be patcher-related. One, the CPU got taken over a couple of processes - soagent and callservicesd - which I learned are related to iCloud sync. Two, Migration Assistant ran overnight but never completed restoring my files from a TM Backup on an external USB. So I’m currently doing another clean install, but this time I skipped iCloud during the post-install setup (I plan to do it later in a more controlled setting), and am trying to restore my files during the post-install setup rather than afterward with Migration Assistant. Will report back on how it goes.

 

[trifero]

No worries! I did a little research on APFS, and it appears that it generally spells trouble for HDDs especially with files that are frequently edited, so I decided to keep the OS and key files on the APFS-formatted SSD, and keep the HDD formatted HFS+ for storing large media collections that do not change. It’ll take a little work to manage space on the SSD, but probably worth the trade off.

I did a clean install on the MBP along those lines, but ran into a couple of issues, neither of which appear to be patcher-related. One, the CPU got taken over a couple of processes - soagent and callservicesd - which I learned are related to iCloud sync. Two, Migration Assistant ran overnight but never completed restoring my files from a TM Backup on an external USB. So I’m currently doing another clean install, but this time I skipped iCloud during the post-install setup (I plan to do it later in a more controlled setting), and am trying to restore my files during the post-install setup rather than afterward with Migration Assistant. Will report back on how it goes.

Le us know how it goes!

 

[BvanBart]

For people with a iMac 2011 with an AMD 6750M 512Mb GPU. I got it working with normal colors!
For now it is working in a test setup with an external HDD.

What works:
- video showing no strange colors
- audio is working
- external screen via DisplayPort/ thunderbolt
- wifi

Strange behavior:
- for as far as I can see no transparenacy
- the search bar shows a horizontal line
- maps not working

What I tested:
- Youtube 1080P works very well
- Quicktime 1080P works also very good (sometimes some lines... but overall no problems)
- Photoshop - works great, only some hiccups when moving large area's
- Zoom works
- Affinity Design does work but suffers from strange lines etc...

I am not a gamer, but I had a Sims 2 installation on the HDD and that worked
However Unreal Tournament 2004 was not able to run. So I guess this is no setup for gaming.

===========

What did I do to install this?

1. Install via normal means with DosDude patcher
2. Go to his fix with the Kext files
3. Patch the system again
4. Downloaded this and install the kext files from a YouTube video (Link is =

)

If this is not allowed please remove! I do not want to do stuff against the rules...

 

[quaccOS]

I've had a MacBook Pro 8,3 (2.4 Late 2011) running gfxCardStatus 2.1. It crashed and would only boot-up into the empty grey screen of death (or black sometimes) – so I googled, found RadeonGate and dGPU glitch and followed dosdude1.com/gpudisable and it's back working!
But the trade-offs were no backlight control, no sleep mode, and no more external displays…
People call this the nvram method of bypassing the dGPU but can someone tell me how permanent this fix is? I'm on 10.14.6 and won't be updating again.
And if there's anyway to get adjustable brightness and sleep mode back? I seen dosdude's DeMux software – but I wasn't impressed that we get the same trade-offs with a method that we can do for free.
Any clarity is appreciated, thank you. It's my brother's Mac, and I honestly don't know how to answer/explain why the dGPU is defective or why NVRAM variables screw up backlight control etc

 

[techinfant]

No worries! I did a little research on APFS, and it appears that it generally spells trouble for HDDs especially with files that are frequently edited, so I decided to keep the OS and key files on the APFS-formatted SSD, and keep the HDD formatted HFS+ for storing large media collections that do not change. It’ll take a little work to manage space on the SSD, but probably worth the trade off.

I did a clean install on the MBP along those lines, but ran into a couple of issues, neither of which appear to be patcher-related. One, the CPU got taken over a couple of processes - soagent and callservicesd - which I learned are related to iCloud sync. Two, Migration Assistant ran overnight but never completed restoring my files from a TM Backup on an external USB. So I’m currently doing another clean install, but this time I skipped iCloud during the post-install setup (I plan to do it later in a more controlled setting), and am trying to restore my files during the post-install setup rather than afterward with Migration Assistant. Will report back on how it goes.

So I went through with my repeat of the clean install on my MBP 5,5 as described above, and had some interesting things happen:

• The TM restore during the post-install setup went through, albeit with some errors. It wasn't able to transfer a few /Library files over.
• After I logged in, I got a blank startup screen.
• I restarted the Mac, and it restarted itself thrice before it finally went through and took me to the login screen.
• Once I logged in, the CPU was calm for a change. I suspect skipping iCloud during setup helped.
• Oddly enough, I was unable to open any downloaded files (I tried apps, and image files); I suspect this has to do with some of the Library files not transferring over.
• My System Report shows that macOS 10.14.6 (18G103) is installed. (I expected that with having installed Mojave on APFS, I would be offered the latest Mojave Security Update 2020-002, either via the App Store or Patch Updater. I plan to manually run that update - hoping it'll fix the issue with downloaded files - and will update this post with the results.
• Scratch the above; I was able to find the Security Update under System > Software Update, and install it successfully. However, it wouldn't start back up after going through numerous restart cycles. Ultimately, I applied the patch, and it went through and started up. However, once I logged in, Mojave notified me that due a Panic Medic Boot, it had decided to disable all third party kernel extensions. So I went through a few iterations of applying patches through the Patcher Tool ("force rebuild") and Patch Updater, and finally seem to have things up and running. One good side-effect of this ordeal is that downloaded files are opening now

I hope some of this will be helpful to others, and I'm open to any pointers to doing anything differently. Thank you!