macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread

[mdgm]

Or better delete and using APFS?

If your Mac was officially supported on High Sierra and natively supports APFS booting and you are using a SSD then that is the way to go.

If your Mac doesn't natively support APFS and you want to use it then you need to backup your boot rom (so there's some chance of restoring it if you need to). If there is more than one chip for your computer you need to open up the computer to see which one it uses. Then you'd patch your boot rom with APFS booting support as per the guide (it is critical to select the correct chip if there is more than one to avoid bricking your machine).

The less risky approach would be to stick with HFS+.

 

[L Caputo]

Hi,
i have a MacBook 5,1 here and want to run Mojave on it.

What is the better solution?

HFS+ or APFS

At the Moment i have updated from El Capitan to Mojave with HFS+ (18G103). After this i have modified the SecUpd2019-001Mojave (18G1012) and and installed it too.

Now i have Mojave running on 18G1012

Because the updates are not displayed, what is the order of the updates? Suplemental update for example.

Or better delete and using APFS?

Mojave is optimised to run on APFS, but if you are using a spinning disk HFS+ might be best.

You do not need to install all the Security Updates one at a time, installing the latest one 2020-007 link above should include all the previous updates. Have a look at what System Preferences> Software Update says.

 

[joevt]

If your Mac was officially supported on High Sierra and natively supports APFS booting and you are using a SSD then that is the way to go.

If your Mac doesn't natively support APFS and you want to use it then you need to backup your boot rom (so there's some chance of restoring it if you need to). If there is more than one chip for your computer you need to open up the computer to see which one it uses. Then you'd patch your boot rom with APFS booting support as per the guide (it is critical to select the correct chip if there is more than one to avoid bricking your machine).

The less risky approach would be to stick with HFS+.

I think Mojave after 10.14.3 requires APFS?

Or add the apfs.efi driver using the Driver#### and DriverOrder NVRAM variables method if you don't want to modify your boot rom.

Mac Pro 3,1 NVMe support + Upgrade Guide + Questions

Hello everybody! I'm newly owner of MP 3,1 and I want to discuss upgrading of this nice but old machine with you. I suggest everyone to take part in creating this guide. Now I will post my achievement in making it bootable from NVMe SSD. Bootable NVMe Note: it can be dangerous for your MP...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[L Caputo]

I think Mojave after 10.14.3 requires APFS?

Or add the apfs.efi driver using the Driver#### and DriverOrder NVRAM variables method if you don't want to modify your boot rom.

Mac Pro 3,1 NVMe support + Upgrade Guide + Questions

Hello everybody! I'm newly owner of MP 3,1 and I want to discuss upgrading of this nice but old machine with you. I suggest everyone to take part in creating this guide. Now I will post my achievement in making it bootable from NVMe SSD. Bootable NVMe Note: it can be dangerous for your MP...

forums.macrumors.com

I have an install of macOS Mojave 10.14.6 fully updated running on HFS+

Although now I think about it that drive had macOS Mojave 14.0 installed first and then updated through all
versions to 10.14.6, so that might be a difference.

 

[alphascorp]

Hi all,
I would like to provide information to your questions about installing Mojave on HFS+.

I don't think that from 10.14.3 it requires APFS.

The installation of 10.14.6 (18G84, 18G87, 18G95 or 18G103) also does not require to have an earlier version installed.

As TzunamiOSX said: it directly installed 10.14.6 (18G103) on HFS + then updated to SecUpd2020-001Mojave (18G1012).

In the last 6 months, I too have done several clean installs of Mojave 10.14.6 (18G103) in HFS+ in several MBP5,3 and iMac7,1/8,1/9,1 (with Dosdude1's Patcher) and update with the current SecUpd2020-00XMojave (With modification of the Distribution file in the .pkg)

 

[RK78]

Please read again. I did quit SK, when it showed all updates installed. But the question was did I quit prematurely, which then prevented the auto restart?

About to try this again, but on Mini 4,1. Will see how it goes this time.

Ran SK on Mini 2010 at APFS external. Basically same behavior as on iMac. No auto restart after waiting a few seconds once "all updates installed" appeared. This time I went directly to a manual restart followed by the usual KP, hard shutdown, then ran the USB Patcher. This appeared to be successful.

However, as frequently happens, after cloning the successfully updated APFS volme, with CCC 5, to the Mini internal HFS+ (HDD), and booting there, desktop, menubar, apps etc., all load very slowly with constant beachballs/hangs, unlike at the iMac, where everything is much more normal (faster processor, but still.) For example, doing something as simple as copying tiny75KB .png somewhere produces "preparing to copy" for several minutes.

If I wait an hour or two, things become becomes usable, more of less. Wonder what that suggests? Taking all that time to load everything newly into RAM and still busy rebuilding caches??? Made me suspect the Mini internal drive, but DriveDX (DU as well) gives the drive a completely clean bill of health. Have loads of free space. High Sierra, supported on the Mini, runs quite well, 8GB Ram, same drive, same login items, almost same everything, since it the 10.14 was migrated from the 10.13. So no idea why the issue with the Mojave. Have tried running Onyx in the past for this, but that just makes everything much worse.

A btw: have asked this before without an answer, after running the Patcher I'm nagged to run the following. Since there's no T2 chip on this old Mini, it's like looking for seatbelts on a 1950 Studebaker. Wonder if anyone can explain what this is about, and why I would be nagged to install it, which I always do, taking no chances (same nag also appears for the iMac Late '09)?

,

 

[strof]

Hello everyone! I had patted my iMac 2009 with Mojave but on system update appears to update on Big Sur. What I do wrong?

 

[trifero]

Hello everyone! I had patted my iMac 2009 with Mojave but on system update appears to update on Big Sur. What I do wrong? View attachment 1697980

Nothing. It’s normal. Ignore it.

 

[TzunamiOSX]

Here is my feedback, Mojave is running ok, but there are some compatiblity problems. On my Macbook i can not play "The Secret of Monkey Island SE" or "SimCity™4 Deluxe Edition".

Did anyone know more? Is it a Problem of the GPU memory of the Book, or are these games not compatible with Mojave?

Now im on High Sierra on the MacBook (works better).

 

[avz]

Hello everyone! I had patted my iMac 2009 with Mojave but on system update appears to update on Big Sur. What I do wrong? View attachment 1697980

Since you installed Software Update patch it offers you to download the latest version of macOS. It is actually very cool that your unsupported Mac can download full installers straight from the App Store.

 

[thomasonlineva]

I have a problem I cannot resolve. Following the early November OS Mojave updates I can no longer boot the Mojave patcher to either install the OS or reapply the patches. I created a new thumb drive, same results, I created a partition on my flash SSD main drive, same result, boots about 1/2 way and then puts up a black screen and never finishes booting. I tired the patcher in another very similar system no problems. my machine:

MacPro 2008 3,1
GPU NVidia GeForce GTX680 4GB
28GB ram
2 CPUs x 2.8GHZ

-To verify it was not the video flash, I refreshed the card using two different 4GB rooms, same result.
-I tried several different flash them drives.
-reset the Parameter rom, PR+Opt+CMD
-reset the SMC
-rebooted a dozen times
pulled other drives to avoid conflict.
-My Mojave OS boots without issue, but I can not update?
-IO can boot from High Sierra and Catalina patchers
-ran disk first aid
-ran tech rooms pro

ran Verbose move but it trolls to quickly for me to read

thanks for any ideas

 

[nospamboz]

Thank you to all the advisers here, with special thanks to @dosdude1 for his Mojave patcher, which has enabled me to get another year's use from my mid-2009 MacBook5,2. He's getting a little XMas donation.

Though I just made the jump from High Sierra, this will likely be my last year with macOS/X as my main OS. Catalina looks like trouble, and besides, I want to stay on HFS+. During the next year I'll be figuring out how to run my raw Mojave partition as a VM when booted on my Ubuntu partition. Hopefully I'll get a few more years of use via Ubuntu. Hey, if it works....

 

[L Caputo]

W

I have a problem I cannot resolve. Following the early November OS Mojave updates I can no longer boot the Mojave patcher to either install the OS or reapply the patches. I created a new thumb drive, same results, I created a partition on my flash SSD main drive, same result, boots about 1/2 way and then puts up a black screen and never finishes booting. I tired the patcher in another very similar system no problems. my machine:

MacPro 2008 3,1
GPU NVidia GeForce GTX680 4GB
28GB ram
2 CPUs x 2.8GHZ

-To verify it was not the video flash, I refreshed the card using two different 4GB rooms, same result.
-I tried several different flash them drives.
-reset the Parameter rom, PR+Opt+CMD
-reset the SMC
-rebooted a dozen times
pulled other drives to avoid conflict.
-My Mojave OS boots without issue, but I can not update?
-IO can boot from High Sierra and Catalina patchers
-ran disk first aid
-ran tech rooms pro

ran Verbose move but it trolls to quickly for me to read

thanks for any ideas

Which version of the Patcher app are you using, it should be the last/ most recent one version 1.3.7
go to the first page and click on the link for the download from Dosdude1

 

[strof]

Since you installed Software Update patch it offers you to download the latest version of macOS. It is actually very cool that your unsupported Mac can download full installers straight from the App Store.

Thanks for the answer! If  realise one other update for Mojave, i will see the update or the machine see only the big sur update?

 

[avz]

Thanks for the answer! If  realise one other update for Mojave, i will see the update or the machine see only the big sur update?

Yes, you will see everything(now, this can be tricky as your machine does not need updates designed for the T2 equipped Macs, so use common sense before applying updates), this is the whole idea behind the software update patch, full installers like High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina and Big Sur are just a nice bonus as Apple changed the way the updates are downloaded starting with Mojave.

 

[thomasonlineva]

W

Which version of the Patcher app are you using, it should be the last/ most recent one version 1.3.7
go to the first page and click on the link for the download from Dosdude1

yes, as part of my on-going attempts to address this problem i re-downloaded 1.3.7 recently, no progress, same result, thanks

 

[nospamboz]

i re-downloaded 1.3.7 recently, no progress, same result

This isn't related to the certificate problem with old copies of Apple's Mojave installer, is it?

macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread

You used a Mojave installer you had on disk from before or around 24 October 2019 but the certificate in those have expired hence the message. Get rid of that installer, use the Dosdude patcher to download a new one (Apple has since updated the certificates), create a new USB with this and it...

forums.macrumors.com

If that isn't the issue, you might want to try other installers, like Sierra or HS, to see if they work.

 

[K two]

Ran SK on Mini 2010 at APFS external. Basically same behavior as on iMac. No auto restart after waiting a few seconds once "all updates installed" appeared. This time I went directly to a manual restart followed by the usual KP, hard shutdown, then ran the USB Patcher. This appeared to be successful.

However, as frequently happens, after cloning the successfully updated APFS volme, with CCC 5, to the Mini internal HFS+ (HDD), and booting there, desktop, menubar, apps etc., all load very slowly with constant beachballs/hangs, unlike at the iMac, where everything is much more normal (faster processor, but still.) For example, doing something as simple as copying tiny75KB .png somewhere produces "preparing to copy" for several minutes.

If I wait an hour or two, things become becomes usable, more of less. Wonder what that suggests? Taking all that time to load everything newly into RAM and still busy rebuilding caches??? Made me suspect the Mini internal drive, but DriveDX (DU as well) gives the drive a completely clean bill of health. Have loads of free space. High Sierra, supported on the Mini, runs quite well, 8GB Ram, same drive, same login items, almost same everything, since it the 10.14 was migrated from the 10.13. So no idea why the issue with the Mojave. Have tried running Onyx in the past for this, but that just makes everything much worse.

A btw: have asked this before without an answer, after running the Patcher I'm nagged to run the following. Since there's no T2 chip on this old Mini, it's like looking for seatbelts on a 1950 Studebaker. Wonder if anyone can explain what this is about, and why I would be nagged to install it, which I always do, taking no chances (same nag also appears for the iMac Late '09)?

View attachment 1697491
,

No one here has ever reported issues or problems from installing the patch. Questions specific to his patchers should be sent to @dosdude1, directly, along with your donation.

 

[RK78]

Have reinstalled, which brings me to 18G103. Hangs/beachballing are now history. Running much better now. Next, preparing to run the 2020-007 SecUpdate via the modified package to my 2010 Mini HFS+/HDD.

Before I do, does anyone know if the 2020-007 is a combo/i.e. cumulative? At 1.7GB would think it's likely, but would like to be sure.

Security Update 2020-007 (Mojave) - Apple Support

Security Update 2020-007 is recommended for all users and improves the security of macOS.

support.apple.com

 

[avz]

Have reinstalled, which brings me to 18G103. Hangs/beachballing are now history. Running much better now. Next, preparing to run the 2020-007 SecUpdate via the modified package to my 2010 Mini HFS+/HDD.

Before I do, does anyone know if the 2020-007 is a combo/i.e. cumulative? At 1.7GB would think it's likely, but would like to be sure.

Security Update 2020-007 (Mojave) - Apple Support

Security Update 2020-007 is recommended for all users and improves the security of macOS.

support.apple.com

It is a combo.

 

[RK78]

Thanks for the info. So, after reinstalling to the HFS+ internal, which brought me to 18G103, and then running the Safari 14.0.2 update, everything was running quite well. Low RAM usage, Applications opening right away without significant beachballing or hangs, I ran the 2020-007 Modified Package, which turned everything back once again into a total slow as mud total beachballing/hanging clusterf*ck.

The only reason I am running Mojave (or trying to run Mojave - I do remember some time ago, I did have a reasonably good working Mojave. Don't remember just which SecUpdate first introduced all these problems, but this isn't the first time) is to be able to run an OS on these machines which will get security updates, at least until next year. So no point in staying at the 18G103, which is lacking any of the subsequent updates, even if it runs quite well.

I would have assumed that the 2020-007 recently released would have fixed the issues reported here, for the Safari/2020-005 updates. But perhaps Apple is no longer paying all that much attention to Mojave? As a Combo, does the 2020-007 still include the very problematic 2020-005? Not finding anyone else reporting what's happening to me with the 2020-007.

Security Update 2020-005

Is anyone getting really low free RAM after applying this update? Activity Monitor says I have 12 GB of RAM used right after I launch it after logging in. There seems to be no app or process that is claiming that RAM, yet it's marked as used. Already tried sudo purge, cleaning out unused...

forums.macrumors.com

Safari 14.0 + Mojave 2020-005 Security Update Causing Major Problems!

Reports coming in from users who are starting to have major problems after installing the Mojave 2020-005 Security Update. Workarounds Inside

mrmacintosh.com

Reinstalling again, but really no idea what to do next. Is it possible that by first installing the Safari 14.0.2 update, then running the 2020-007 full standalone, I exposed myself to the nightmare described in those 2 threads? Run the 2020-007 first, before running the Safari 14.0.2???

If not by way of the 2020-007, which turned the 2010 Mini, at least, back into total crap, then how do I get to the 18G7016? After all this, getting quite ready to completely give up on the idea of running Mojave.

EDIT: Reinstalled. Back to 18G103. What's next, install just the Supplemental for now? If so, then what? (Note:did all 3 yesterday prior to running the disastrous 2020-007 package.)

 

[avz]

Thanks for the info. So, after reinstalling to the HFS+ internal, which brought me to 18G103, and then running the Safari 14.0.2 update, everything was running quite well. Low RAM usage, Applications opening right away without significant beachballing or hangs, I ran the 2020-007 Modified Package, which turned everything back once again into a total slow as mud total beachballing/hanging clusterf*ck.

The only reason I am running Mojave (or trying to run Mojave - I do remember some time ago, I did have a reasonably good working Mojave. Don't remember just which SecUpdate first introduced all these problems, but this isn't the first time) is to be able to run an OS on these machines which will get security updates, at least until next year. So no point in staying at the 18G103, which is lacking any of the subsequent updates, even if it runs quite well.

I would have assumed that the 2020-007 recently released would have fixed the issues reported here, for the Safari/2020-005 updates. But perhaps Apple is no longer paying all that much attention to Mojave? As a Combo, does the 2020-007 still include the very problematic 2020-005? Not finding anyone else reporting what's happening to me with the 2020-007.

Security Update 2020-005

Is anyone getting really low free RAM after applying this update? Activity Monitor says I have 12 GB of RAM used right after I launch it after logging in. There seems to be no app or process that is claiming that RAM, yet it's marked as used. Already tried sudo purge, cleaning out unused...

forums.macrumors.com

Safari 14.0 + Mojave 2020-005 Security Update Causing Major Problems!

Reports coming in from users who are starting to have major problems after installing the Mojave 2020-005 Security Update. Workarounds Inside

mrmacintosh.com

Reinstalling again, but really no idea what to do next. Is it possible that by first installing the Safari 14.0.2 update, then running the 2020-007 full standalone, I exposed myself to the nightmare described in those 2 threads? Run the 2020-007 first, before running the Safari 14.0.2???

If not by way of the 2020-007, which turned the 2010 Mini, at least, back into total crap, then how do I get to the 18G7016? After all this, getting quite ready to completely give up on the idea of running Mojave.

EDIT: Reinstalled. Back to 18G103. What's next, install just the Supplemental for now? If so, then what? (Note:did all 3 yesterday prior to running the disastrous 2020-007 package.)

View attachment 1700943

You can fix your issues by installing Safari once again(after you've done all the other updates). Don't forget to restart your system after Safari update. You can download it here.

http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/35/10/001-55939-A_5C6C05U1VW/djn0z87dja2oivnzuc4raqehgjeisxv2k9/Safari14.0.2MojaveAuto.pkg

 

[RK78]

You can fix your issues by installing Safari once again(after you've done all the other updates). Don't forget to restart your system after Safari update. You can download it here.

http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/35/10/001-55939-A_5C6C05U1VW/djn0z87dja2oivnzuc4raqehgjeisxv2k9/Safari14.0.2MojaveAuto.pkg

Thanks, but let me get this straight:

First, install the Supplemental available from SU (but not the Safari 14.0.1/14.0.2), next run the 2020-007 package. Then, when finished (and after patching from the USB key) run the Safari 14.0.2 standalone linked in your post above

So I'm on the right track by ignoring the Safari until after running the 2020-007 package? Installing that first is what caused these issues?

>>...after you've done all the other updates"

Or do you mean run everything from SU, the Supplemental plus the 2 Safari, then the 2020-007 package, then finally the Safari 14.0.2 standalone you linked over that?

Perhaps you can give me the exact sequence of what you have in mind? I really don't want to screw this up all over again.

 

[avz]

Thanks, but let me get this straight:

First, install the Supplemental available from SU (but not the Safari 14.0.1/14.0.2), next run the 2020-007 package. Then, when finished (and after patching from the USB key) run the Safari 14.0.2 standalone linked in your post above

So I'm on the right track by ignoring the Safari until after running the 2020-007 package? Installing that first is what caused these issues?

>>...after you've done all the other updates"

Or do you mean run everything from SU, the Supplemental plus the 2 Safari, then the 2020-007 package, then finally the Safari 14.0.2 standalone you linked over that?

Perhaps you can give me the exact sequence of what you have in mind? I really don't want to screw this up all over again.

FYI, Supplemental update is Safari 14.0. You don't need to re-patch the system after the Safari update.
Yes, you are on the right track, although there is no "official" order in which updates should be installed, indirectly everything points out that there is an "unspoken" order which works best. In short, first install the SU updates - re-patch the system, then all Safari updates in order 14.0, 14.0.1, 14.0.2, restart the system, enjoy!

P.S. I am running Mojave on APFS, not sure if your HFS+ file systen is the issue. It should not be as plenty of people don't have any issues with it.

 

[RK78]

FYI, Supplemental update is Safari 14.0. You don't need to re-patch the system after the Safari update.
Yes, you are on the right track, although there is no "official" order in which updates should be installed, indirectly everything points out that there is an "unspoken" order which works best. In short, first install the SU updates - re-patch the system, then all Safari updates in order 14.0, 14.0.1, 14.0.2, restart the system, enjoy!

P.S. I am running Mojave on APFS, not sure if your HFS+ file systen is the issue. It should not be as plenty of people don't have any issues with it.

Sorry to be dragging this out, but still confused:

This is my takeaway, and what I suggested above. Please tell me if this what you mean:

First, install the Supplemental, which will provide the Safari 14.0. Then run the 2020-007 package. Re-patch. Then get the 14.0.1 and 14.0.2 from SU. Then, over that run the Safari 14.0.2 standalone you linked, which will resolve the issues I've been experiencing?

>>P.S. I am running Mojave on APFS, not sure if your HFS+ file systen is the issue. It should not be as plenty of people don't have any issues with it.

When I first installed Mojave from the patcher, and after the first several SecUpdates, I did not experience any of these issues on the HFS+ HDD internal drive. These problems started surfacing only with some of the relatively recent updates. Unable to pinpoint or remember right now just which updates. So seems like the HFS+/HDD is not the direct cause.