macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

[Starplayr]

So far, Catalina is actually running better than Mojave had for me in the last few weeks. I wasn't able to pull up Messages in Mojave at all, but I've been able to access everything without issue in Catalina. So grateful for all the hard work put into the patches.

The only question I have is the automatic theme doesn't seem to be working. Is that something I can address in settings?

If there is a good way to set the theme in the command line we could recreate a scheduled task that does this. That may work for those who are broken.

 

[TimothyR734]

Request these patches to be added on the next version of MacOS Catalina Patcher.

@dosdude1, not sure if these have been requested already for Catalina Beta 3 or forward:

• APFS Patch
• Desktop Automatic (Light and Dark mode) setting based on time of day.
• Nightshift (like what you have in Mojave). On my Catalina b3, nightshift tab is non existent under Display settings.

Thanks so much for your efforts.

If you run the CatalinaAuto in the terminal then go to System/Library/PrivateFrameworks delete the CoreBrightness.Framework or rename it then replace it with the patched one here NightShift is working

 

[Starplayr]

I am running into an extreme slow down on Beta 3 on a Mac Pro 5,1. Finder copies often do not complete and just stall. This means it's likely disk IO related.
Activity Monitor gives no clue and neither does the console.
I removed all user daemons (Logitech etc.)
Vanilla install with my modified WiFI and metal capable card. The first update from Beta 2 died. I had to freshly install and migrate.
Have not yet tried a new account, but might wait until beta 4 to mess with it again. It does not really get me anything I really want over Mojave - yet.

Strange. Many of us on the older Mac Pro 3,1s are not having issues. I’m using my own set of patches, but my set for metal boxes is not much different than Dosdude1’s. I just prefer to use my own. Mine can be applied from anywhere. main system, base system, secondary system, etc. and if there are any issues mine will spit out the errors. Mine does not have a GUI yet, but may add it to CloneToolX as a task.

I wonder what’s up your 5,1.

 

[Starplayr]

Is there a good rule of thumb re: how large the partition should be? Am I able to access my files from the non-APFS portion?

Partition size. I would go no less than 128g. Ideally 256-512gb. If you try running on 64g, you will get out running low on disk space message issues sooner than you think.

 

[Starplayr]

If you REALLY want to maximize SSD R/W thru'put in a MacPro 3,1, invest $300 in a Highpoint 7101A PCIe card, add support for NVMe to the bootrom (dosdude1 has a patch) and populate the HighPoint board with four fast 970 Pro NVMe PCIe blades. That will get you >2 Gbps throughput without squabbling over SATA II or III standards and ports. There's a thread on Macrumors on the HighPoint board.
Here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/highpoint-7101a-pcie-3-0-ssd-performance-for-the-cmp.2124253/
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So Drift is buggy even on supported Macs.

This is very similar to what Apple does with its SSD’s today’s Macs. Apple will stripe many PCIe blades.

I had something like this from OtherWorldComputing but I sold it for a grand because it could not run an OS on it. Wasn’t bootable. I may one day get a High Point card. Right now I am pretty happy with my two SSD hardware RAID’s. And my PCIe cards running SATA drives for now.

Thank you for the tip! I do appreciate it.

 

[macosdon]

@0403979, @dosdude1, I just reinstalled the WIFI and Ethernet kexts files from dosdude's Mac post install app, they are threes files from bcm4321 and two files from ethernet. Now the OS is much stable and no suddenly reboot on MB 4.1 after installing these kexts files with kext wizard. Currently, 10.15 runs perfect on MB 4.1, only the FaceTime camera and optical drive can't be used, touch preference can't be loaded from preference panel, brightness doesn't change when pressing brightness control keys. So I installed brightness slide to adjust brightness. Looking forward solutions to resolve these problems!

 

[pkouame]

This is very similar to what Apple does with its SSD’s today’s Macs. Apple will stripe many PCIe blades.

I had something like this from OtherWorldComputing but I sold it for a grand because it could not run an OS on it. Wasn’t bootable. I may one day get a High Point card. Right now I am pretty happy with my two SSD hardware RAID’s. And my PCIe cards running SATA drives for now.

Thank you for the tip! I do appreciate it.

@nekton1 - some nice throuput there - sure beats my old OWC Mercury. But is it worth spending $300 and beyond on a box selling for less than a Bengie?

 

[nekton1]

@nekton1 - some nice throuput there - sure beats my old OWC Mercury. But is it worth spending $300 and beyond on a box selling for less than a Bengie?

Not really in straight money terms, but the 7101A can be moved to a MP 5,1 when they come down in S/H price! The card has its own PCIe Gen3 chip on-board, so it gets very good thru'puts independent of the Mac bus.

 

[jackluke]

So it seems that it'll work. thanks @jackluke for the info. One more thing. Netkas patch is separate patch or is it included in dosdude's patcher? I think I'll have to do start reading the thread from the beginning to get all the stuff required

Yes, it's a separate patch applied on this kext (I guess) AMDMTLBronzeDriver, but you should first check from your current Terminal (at least El Capitan):

kextstat | grep AMD

kextstat | grep MTL

and post the output here to check which kext are involved in your graphic acceleration.

 

[jackluke]

If there is a good way to set the theme in the command line we could recreate a scheduled task that does this. That may work for those who are broken.

I've written a working AppleScript (as example purpose) for Catalina Automatic dark light switch, the funny thing is that the Catalina island at night wallpaper is automatically picked when the global theme is dark.

I just made that in these time range 8 PM - 6 AM the theme is dark, out of that range is light.
(I used the 24-hour clock)

I attach the source AppleScript that anyone can customise or export as script, application, or put it in automator, or login item scheduled.

edit:
I adjusted the applescript since setting the hours from 20 (evening) to 6 (morning) in "dark mode" didn't worked properly because it switched to the next day after the midnight, instead setting from 6 (morning) to 20 (evening) in "light mode" it works correctly in both ways, even using the 12-hour clock, you can change temporary your time zone to test it.

 

[jasoncarle]

I am having another weird problem, that I am unsure if it is a beta bug, or a bug due to the unsupported hardware...

No matter what I set the sleep settings to in Energy Saver, and even if I set it to never go to sleep, my computer still goes to sleep in about an hour. Amphetamine also does nothing to keep it awake.

 

[ASentientBot]

I've written a working AppleScript (as example purpose) for Catalina Automatic dark light switch, the funny thing is that the Catalina island at night wallpaper is automatically picked when the global theme is dark.

I just made that in these time range 8 PM - 6 AM the theme is dark, out of that range is light.
(I used the 24-hour clock)

I attach the source AppleScript that anyone can customise or export as script, application, or put it in automator, or login item scheduled.

Nice! I didn't know you could change the theme from AppleScript. They sure make it easy!

 

[0134168]

This is very similar to what Apple does with its SSD’s today’s Macs. Apple will stripe many PCIe blades.

I had something like this from OtherWorldComputing but I sold it for a grand because it could not run an OS on it. Wasn’t bootable. I may one day get a High Point card. Right now I am pretty happy with my two SSD hardware RAID’s. And my PCIe cards running SATA drives for now.

Thank you for the tip! I do appreciate it.

You can also use the IOCREST, the one I use. Cheaper but great performance. Bootable, of course.

https://es.aliexpress.com/item/3289...69-4299-aa1e-995360b8bb67&transAbTest=ae803_4

 

[GSXB]

Is there a fix for a pci nvme ssd so that it’s recognised as internal
In Mojave I used lilu + innie (dev kexts)
And my nvme ssd was an internal pci ssd
In Catalina it is recognised as external
Any suggestions ?????

 

[0134168]

Is there a fix for a pci nvme ssd so that it’s recognised as internal
In Mojave I used lilu + innie (dev kexts)
And my nvme ssd was an internal pci ssd
In Catalina it is recognised as external
Any suggestions ?????

Never saw the difference? Can you tell me whre do you notice differences? Thanks.

 

[jackluke]

Nice! I didn't know you could change the theme from AppleScript. They sure make it easy!

Not only, this dictionary key "set dark mode 0/1" will work also on Mojave, HighSierra, El Capitan and probably Yosemite too. I attach another simple example for those previous macOS.

 

[GSXB]

Never saw the difference? Can you tell me whre do you notice differences? Thanks.

The nvme drive is recognised as an internal ssd instead of external, as a result the drive in the side bar has no eject tab next to it

 

[chris1111]

We have a excellent workflow integrate in Automator Catalina for System Appearance

Open Automator, choose Application then drag the Change System Appearance

Check the BOX (Show this action) save as the name of you want

 

[Starplayr]

@nekton1 - some nice throuput there - sure beats my old OWC Mercury. But is it worth spending $300 and beyond on a box selling for less than a Bengie?

lol the OWC Mercury is what I had. First version. 1TB, 2 512 blades.

 

[producer26]

But does the signing of the parent, IOATAFamily.kext, not get broken?

I still don't approve mixing and matching kext's ........m not aware of it.

You use any unflashed Kepler Card except for the Titan Black.

wow man. Really appreciate the effort put here.Thanks to all the people here n the community and kudos to those like you that keep the info clear for us the average guys.

I'll try the patch on my hd7950 and if this doesn't work properly I'll get one nvid.
I have nothing to loose while trying both ways. (I have a 2017 iMac to deal with work if my MacPro doesn't boot, till I fix it.
[doublepost=1562511176][/doublepost]

Yes, it's a separate patch applied on this kext (I guess) AMDMTLBronzeDriver, but you should first check from your current Terminal (at least El Capitan):

kextstat | grep AMD

kextstat | grep MTL

and post the output here to check which kext are involved in your graphic acceleration.

ok. here is the AMD output

kextstat | grep AMD

93 2 0xffffff7f82a26000 0x156000 0x156000 com.apple.kext.AMDSupport (1.5.4) 281B3410-FAF8-3340-A512-F66B53DB74AD <92 91 12 11 7 5 4 3 1>

94 0 0xffffff7f8361c000 0x1e2000 0x1e2000 com.apple.kext.AMD7000Controller (1.5.4) 4B7C078B-7B38-3F51-AD2B-D72E96EDEFCD <93 91 12 11 5 4 3 1>

113 0 0xffffff7f82c2a000 0x873000 0x873000 com.apple.AMDRadeonX4000 (1.5.4) 40F37ABD-530F-33C2-AD45-0B2B75308569 <112 111 91 12 7 5 4 3 1>

127 0 0xffffff7f835e1000 0x27000 0x27000 com.apple.kext.AMDFramebuffer (1.5.4) A0EE3F7D-1DA6-39CD-8D3F-9E6DC32FB908 <93 91 12 11 7 5 4 3 1>

on MTL says nothing


BTW I'm on 10.12.6

 

[StratUk]

Does anyone know how to get a dosdude1 or Julian patched USB installer to boot in a Parallels VM? Currently you get the Apple logo then the Forbidden Sign.

The reason I want to do this is to patch a standard Catalina install so that the keyboard and mouse work.

The only way I've been able to do it so far is to image the disk to a USB drive, boot my MacPro 3.1 with the patching USB stick, patch the USB stick and image it back to the drive.

As you can imagine, this is very tedious as you have to do it with each new update.

A VM is currently the only way I've got of testing out my apps for Catalina compatibility.

 

[pkouame]

Not really in straight money terms, but the 7101A can be moved to a MP 5,1 when they come down in S/H price! The card has its own PCIe Gen3 chip on-board, so it gets very good thru'puts independent of the Mac bus.

Good point on the 5,1. Need to find a cheap 5,1...

 

[TimothyR734]

Good point on the 5,1. Need to find a cheap 5,1...

Are you talking about the MacBook 5,1 sometimes you can find them cheap on eBay

 

[0134168]

The nvme drive is recognised as an internal ssd instead of external, as a result the drive in the side bar has no eject tab next to it

My Nvme boot drive also appears as external. No Eject option.

 

[Althiometer]

How do we update our patches and Catalina to pb2?