macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread

[K two]

Thanks @K two for the information about "trustd" high CPU usage, I also got that but after the 2021-003 SU, I used the excellent Onyx and everything was fine.

Yes, Big Sur's .heic wallpapers work very well under Mojave (I've been using them for almost a year, and I'm currently using "blue hello" from 11.3)

View attachment 1781508

But I've found that for a better reactivity of the thumbnails display in "DesktopScreenEffects. prefPane" of the System Preferences, it is advisable to add the thumbnails in the hidden folder ".thumbnails" (in the "Desktop pictures" folder) but also to add each added wallpaper name in the hidden file ".orderedPictures.plist" (also in the "Desktop pictures" folder) like this:

    <string>Big Sur.heic</string>
    <string>The Cliffs.heic</string>
    <string>The Lake.heic</string>
    <string>The Desert.heic</string>
    <string>The Beach.heic</string>
    <string>Solar Gradients.heic</string>
    <string>Big Sur Graphic.heic</string>
    <string>Peak.heic</string>
    <string>Tree.heic</string>
    <string>Valley.heic</string>
    <string>Dome.heic</string>
    <string>Iridescence.heic</string>
    <string>Big Sur Graphic Day.heic</string>
    <string>Big Sur Graphic Night.heic</string>
    <string>Big Sur Day.heic</string>
    <string>Big Sur Night.heic</string>
    <string>Big Sur Mountains.heic</string>
    <string>Big Sur Aerial.heic</string>
    <string>Big Sur Horizon.heic</string>
    <string>Big Sur Coastline.heic</string>
    <string>Big Sur Shore Rocks.heic</string>
    <string>Big Sur Waters Edge.heic</string>
    <string>Big Sur Road.heic</string>
    <string>Big Sur Night Succulents.heic</string>
    <string>hello Blue.heic</string>
    <string>hello Green.heic</string>
    <string>hello Grey.heic</string>
    <string>hello Orange.heic</string>
    <string>hello Purple.heic</string>
    <string>hello Red.heic</string>
    <string>hello Yellow.heic</string>

Thank you for the pref.Pane fix, works great. Also, after the -004 update and saw trustd max'd out, tried Onyx/Maintenance to no avail, removing the Library/Keychains/crls/ valid.sqlite3 files per lapcatsoftware completely repaired the problem. FWIW

 

[mrploppy]

My guess then is that simply running the SIP Disabler, as I did, isn't sufficient to test. Not going to do this, but I assume what's needed for a valid test is to entirely reapply the 2021-004, which will overwrite the current patches, including the SIPManager.kext, and fully re-patch. My expectation then would be that SIP in HSierra would be disabled, as before.

There's a lot of guesswork going on here! I tend to think of those post-install patches as just installations i.e. they don't do anything until you run the target system. For example, I don't think choosing the SIP Disabler patch in post-install does anything more than install SIPManager.kext (but could be wrong). Then, when you run Mojave, that kext makes it look like SIP is disabled, regardless of the status of SIP in NVRAM.

If you wanted to test it, all you'd have to do is what @dosdude1 said in one of his tweets
"you can delete the "SIPManager" kext from /Library/Extensions, then rebuild the kextcache using, in Terminal,
sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel
"
i.e. boot into something other than Mojave (if you have to), remove SIPManager.kext from /L/E on the Mojave volume, boot into Mojave and rebuild the kextcache.

Then you could switch back and fore between your HS and Mojave systems and you should see the value of SIP persist from one to the other. Obvs, if you do this, to change the state of SIP (using csrutil enable/disable) you'll need to boot into something else e.g. the patcher, recovery, etc, as usual.

.... I guess.

 

[RK78]

We can still use recovery with our older machines which is updated when you use a full installer....

Just booted to Mojave recovery and everything was there. It's pretty plain vanilla, don't understand what would get updated by running the full installer vs. the partial package I used.

 

[K two]

There's a lot of guesswork going on here! I tend to think of those post-install patches as just installations i.e. they don't do anything until you run the target system. For example, I don't think choosing the SIP Disabler patch in post-install does anything more than install SIPManager.kext (but could be wrong). Then, when you run Mojave, that kext makes it look like SIP is disabled, regardless of the status of SIP in NVRAM.

If you wanted to test it, all you'd have to do is what @dosdude1 said in one of his tweets
"you can delete the "SIPManager" kext from /Library/Extensions, then rebuild the kextcache using, in Terminal,
sudo kextcache -system-prelinked-kernel
"
i.e. boot into something other than Mojave (if you have to), remove SIPManager.kext from /L/E on the Mojave volume, boot into Mojave and rebuild the kextcache.

Then you could switch back and fore between your HS and Mojave systems and you should see the value of SIP persist from one to the other. Obvs, if you do this, to change the state of SIP (using csrutil enable/disable) you'll need to boot into something else e.g. the patcher, recovery, etc, as usual.

.... I guess.

Changing CSRUTIL STATUS can only be accomplished while booted into macOS Recovery.

 

[mrploppy]

Changing CSRUTIL STATUS can only be accomplished while booted into macOS Recovery.

Thanks. I wasn't entirely sure. Obviously, that's how I disabled SIP in the first place when installing High Sierra all those years ago.

Just read on here that SIP can be turned off while booted into a bootable macOS installer also. Do you know if that's true?

 

[K two]

Changing CSRUTIL STATUS can only be accomplished while booted into macOS Recovery.

Thanks. I wasn't entirely sure. Obviously, that's how I disabled SIP in the first place when installing High Sierra all those years ago.

Just read on here that SIP can be turned off while booted into a bootable macOS installer also. Do you know if that's true?

I tried to use the patcher to control SIP but only the macOS Recovery worked. Easy to test, just boot into the patcher and try. ??

 

[L Caputo]

I tried to use the patcher to control SIP but only the macOS Recovery worked. Easy to test, just boot into the patcher and try. ??

If you are booted to a USB installer and using Terminal you will need to enter the name/ path of the partition or disk you want to disable SIP on.
When you are booted to a Recovery HD you don't as it assumes you want to disable SIP on the drive it is associated with.

Boom Boom.

 

[mrploppy]

I tried to use the patcher to control SIP but only the macOS Recovery worked. Easy to test, just boot into the patcher and try. ??

Yes, but the patcher isn't a bootable installer - it's just an application. It does create a bootable installer though. Unless you tried it with the installer that the patcher creates?

 

[Pralaya]

Still no 2021-004 standalone downloadble?

 

[K two]

Yes, but the patcher isn't a bootable installer - it's just an application. It does create a bootable installer though. Unless you tried it with the installer that the patcher creates?

This is all moot because except in a few situs, all of the patchers disable SIP which must remain disabled for the patched macOS to run.

 

[mrploppy]

This is all moot because except in a few situs, all of the patchers disable SIP which must remain disabled for the patched macOS to run.

Of course it is. Sorry to be pedantic, but it's the terminology that's not quite right. The patcher i.e. @dosdude1's application, isn't bootable - you can't "boot into the patcher and try". The installer that the patcher creates is bootable. The wider question becomes: if you boot from the installer that the patcher creates, can you use it to change the status of SIP - let's say you didn't have a recovery partition, like I don't. I can't even remember if there is a Terminal app included with the/any macOS installer ... of course there is. (Although, like you say, it's all moot for Mojave)

 

[Pralaya]

Successfully updated.

 

[K two]

If you are booted to a USB installer and using Terminal you will need to enter the name/ path of the partition or disk you want to disable SIP on.
When you are booted to a Recovery HD you don't as it assumes you want to disable SIP on the drive it is associated with.

Boom Boom.

Correct. Something that had slipped the mind. Thanks for the reminder. ?‍?

 

[alphascorp]

Hi all

Here is the link to the full installer SecUpd2021-004Mojave.dmg

 

[K two]

With the formal introduction of macOS 12 this September, Apple will likely end Security Updates for Mojave except for X-Protect and MRT. ?

 

[PaulJHK]

Hope some kind soul can help or point me in the right direction.

MacBook Air3,2 (13-inch, Late 2010), 1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB, Mojave 10.14.6 (18G9028) installed using Dosdude1's patcher ONLY.

I think I may at some stage have applied his patch to enable Zoom video conferencing to work / display video also. AFAIK, those are the only patches I have applied.

About a month ago, Brave browser (based on Chromium i.e. very similar to Chrome, but supposedly less tracking) stopped displaying anything in browser windows - it now only shows grey screens for each Brave window. The top screen Brave menu is visible, but clicking almost any option (other than Quit Brave) gives a brief beach ball, but the blank screen persists.

Tried starting from Terminal with --no-experiments, but problem persisted.

Same issue with Chrome, which I had migrated from to Brave.

I tried uninstalling Chrome completely and installing an earlier known good version, but it did not resolve the issue.

I'm not brave enough to uninstall Brave and fiddle with it - unless someone can advise what to do.

I "got over it" and switched to Safari.

Now my Signal Desktop (for use with Signal Messaging App - highly recommended if you value your privacy, security and freedom of speech!) has gone the same way since about a week ago.

Maybe that, too is based on Chromium?

I assume this is a GPU acceleration issue, with some changes in Chromium being pushed via different update cycles to Brave, Chrome and Signal. Perhaps Chromium is now "forcing" GPU hardware acceleration that isn't there?

I really do need Signal Desktop to allow me to write more than two line Signal messages with precision and without Android spell checker completely garbling what I write!

 

[nospamboz]

About a month ago, Brave browser (based on Chromium i.e. very similar to Chrome, but supposedly less tracking) stopped displaying anything in browser windows - it now only shows grey screens for each Brave window.

Yes, Chrome started misbehaving for me a few months back, and now all Chromium-based browsers are doing the blank window thing on my mid-2009 Macbook5,2.

Some research over the past few months shows it happening to others on Mojave, who may not be "unsupported" like we are. None of the suggested workarounds are any good, and it looks people are giving up and switching browsers.

I hope it's a Chrome problem, because if it's an Xcode SDK problem, it likely won't get fixed, and worse, will spread to other browsers.

Then again, I'm going to be migrating to Ubuntu when Mojave hits end-of-support later this year, and then it won't be a problem. This is probably the beginning of the end.

 

[veG5r]

Yes, Chrome started misbehaving for me a few months back, and now all Chromium-based browsers are doing the blank window thing on my mid-2009 Macbook5,2.

Some research over the past few months shows it happening to others on Mojave, who may not be "unsupported" like we are. None of the suggested workarounds are any good, and it looks people are giving up and switching browsers.

I hope it's a Chrome problem, because if it's an Xcode SDK problem, it likely won't get fixed, and worse, will spread to other browsers.

Then again, I'm going to be migrating to Ubuntu when Mojave hits end-of-support later this year, and then it won't be a problem. This is probably the beginning of the end.

Interesting. MBP 6,1 with graphics switching. Chrome works fine.
Safari had rendering issues, which I believe were limited to png. Mail has the same png issue.
I was able to fix safari with changes to settings using the safari developer menu (outlined in an earlier post)
I see now way to do the same for Mail.
I for one, welcome our new M2 chip overlords -- may they arrive soon.

 

[K two]

Interesting. MBP 6,1 with graphics switching. Chrome works fine.
Safari had rendering issues, which I believe were limited to png. Mail has the same png issue.
I was able to fix safari with changes to settings using the safari developer menu (outlined in an earlier post)
I see now way to do the same for Mail.
I for one, welcome our new M2 chip overlords -- may they arrive soon.

It's really a simple matter of choosing apps which are fully compatible with your UNSUPPORTED Mac. More and more, Metal GPUs are necessary for some apps to be fully functional.

 

[markj3000]

Hi all,

Successfully updated MBP5,3 (HFS+) with SecUpd2021-002Mojave (18G8022).

After, installing this update, needed reboot on USB Key and re-patch with Dosdude1's Patcher with force cache rebuild.

Like the other times, I replaced appleGVA.framework, softwareupdate.framework, HIToolbox, Siri.app and SiriUI.framework (for Siri waveform)

View attachment 1728175

Hi there. Sorry if this is going back too far, but how did you manage to apply the security updates on Mojave with Hfs+ ? For example I directly download the security update secUpd2021-004Mojave but I get the error message “This software is not supported on your system” ? Not sure how to get past this. I installed the dosdude patched Mojave in April on a newly acquired MacBook 5,1 running hfs+. I’m not getting offered security updates otherwise by software update.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hi there. Sorry if this is going back too far, but how did you manage to apply the security updates on Mojave with Hfs+ ? For example I directly download the security update secUpd2021-004Mojave but I get the error message “This software is not supported on your system” ? Not sure how to get past this. I installed the dosdude patched Mojave in April on a newly acquired MacBook 5,1 running hfs+. I’m not getting offered security updates otherwise by software update.

You should have read the installation requirements the @dosdude1 himself put on the very same website where you got the macOS Mojave patcher….

(copied from this page)

Important Note: Using APFS is REQUIRED in Mojave in order to receive system updates via the normal Software Update method. If you choose to continue using macOS Extended (Journaled) as your filesystem type, you will NOT receive System Updates via System Preferences.

 

[coasterOneEightThree]

I have just updated my MacBook Pro 5.5 from HFS+ to the APFS file system (including the APFS boot patch) and 10.14.6 (18G9216).

Question: Is there a way to deactivate this certain code salad at the beginning of a boot process (screenshot attached)? How can I get rid of this?

Thanks in advance for useful hints!

 

[markj3000]

You should have read the installation requirements the @dosdude1 himself put on the very same website where you got the macOS Mojave patcher….

(copied from this page)

Important Note: Using APFS is REQUIRED in Mojave in order to receive system updates via the normal Software Update method. If you choose to continue using macOS Extended (Journaled) as your filesystem type, you will NOT receive System Updates via System Preferences.

True but I queried the post from other users who were posting their success with managing to apply security updates AND keep hfs+ Mojave. Their methods of doing this we’re not very clear, hence my query.

That said, I’ll happily go through; backing up current installation with time machine, formatting the volume to apfs, reinstalling Mojave via usb installer and then restoring the TM backup, if the result will give automatic security updates without further hacks ?

 

[nospamboz]

Sorry if this is going back too far, but how did you manage to apply the security updates on Mojave with Hfs+ ?

This is from @Dayo back in February. It patches an update file to permit the update. Don't forget to boot into the @dosdude1 patcher afterward to re-patch the system.

macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread

I have a preference for amending the distribution file manually or using a script I wrote: FixMacUpdates.sh Usage: ### # USAGE: # 1. Make the script executable in Terminal by typing: chmod +x '/path/to/FixMacUpdates.sh' # - To get the path, drag the 'FixMacUpdates.sh' file into Terminal after...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Ausdauersportler]

True but I queried the post from other users who were posting their success with managing to apply security updates AND keep hfs+ Mojave. Their methods of doing this we’re not very clear, hence my query.

That said, I’ll happily go through; backing up current installation with time machine, formatting the volume to apfs, reinstalling Mojave via usb installer and then restoring the TM backup, if the result will give automatic security updates without further hacks ?

Hi,

cannot confirm myself this is working without any hacks any longer - but I assume it is from the messages we have seen here recently. Only the update process in Catalina is broken in a way that you need further hacks to get it done.

Left the @dosdude1 route nearly a year ago and manage all my systems using OpenCore (in particular OCLP, which does not officially support Mojave or Catalina, but works beautifully), even with Mojava and Catalina. But I am the lucky guy to be able to change the GPU with a metal one in all my systems (iMacs, only) which makes the systems de facto 100% compatible. The minor details like WiFi/BT etc can be handled by OpenCore injection instead of root file system patching.

Nevertheless I would migrate to APFS - what was the reason to avoid this? When moving over to Catalina (if you plan this) you will face this the 32/64bit cut and I would advice the backup/restore route ignoring the programs and libs you have collected the last 10 years (a lot of may be not 64bit compatible at all) and reinstalling them.

Sometimes one has to clear the attic…