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macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs
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Your best bet for that is a VM that uses Apple's Hypervisor.framework to run a macOS VM at near native speed that supports 32-bit apps. ANKA comes to mind. The second best bet is someone who does make a wrapper with the Hypervisor.Framework. Most of the framework's usage has been on full VMs, but an app could be made that wraps its instructions, pretty low level stuff though.
QEMU with KVM on Linux also comes to mind to run a Mojave VM that would support 32-bit apps. Or just keep an older installer lying around. I keep several.
I run excel on my 2015 rMBP with a ****** i5 dual core does linear regressions, time series other calculations using the analysis toolpak perfectly fine. And some of the sheets that need to be calculated are 100+mb in size...
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KVM/QEMU runs perfectly fine on macOS too
There's also a port of Virt-Manager!
Those are very solid suggestions, thanks, I'll definitely think about them.
As a test from my supported Mac, I was able to get Catalina running on Anka Build VM. No networking on it yet. Just got it working. I am curious to see if Anka will run on my 2008 Mac Pro. Tip: On Mojave do not install the Nested VM option. It is not compatible with Mojave.
In case you are wondering why is this good? For developers, it has access to USB devices like an iPhone and it can be used in the cloud or on your own desktop. (with some command line setup) Going to see if Anka will run on an unsupported Mac. Anka Build runs in the command line but it's not free, but there is a free trial. I thought it might be nice to tinker with while I am working on a native install on my Mac Pro 2008 3,1.
Anka VM uses only 15MBs for its app to run. It uses Apple's Hypervisor framework.
I have a Mac mini "server" via a web host and this may be a good option for me to support SwiftUI development remotely. And put my server software within "Containers" like Docker.
Anka would not install Catalina as a VM or run it on Mac Pro 2008. Parallels (same as with Mojave) will run the Recovery disk installer with Catalina.
In case you are wondering why is this good? For developers, it has access to USB devices like an iPhone and it can be used in the cloud or on your own desktop. (with some command line setup) Going to see if Anka will run on an unsupported Mac. Anka Build runs in the command line but it's not free, but there is a free trial. I thought it might be nice to tinker with while I am working on a native install on my Mac Pro 2008 3,1.
Anka VM uses only 15MBs for its app to run. It uses Apple's Hypervisor framework.
I have a Mac mini "server" via a web host and this may be a good option for me to support SwiftUI development remotely. And put my server software within "Containers" like Docker.
Anka would not install Catalina as a VM or run it on Mac Pro 2008. Parallels (same as with Mojave) will run the Recovery disk installer with Catalina.
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It actually depends on the 32 bit app. One that needs 32 bit support (code) from Catalina frameworks (like UI frameworks) will not work since most 32 bit forks have been stripped. But Catalina runs a 64 bit kernel entirely capable of running 32 bit code extensions, command line utilities etc.
My main concern resides in old hardware (think firewire audio interfaces, mixers, etc...) which *I think* rely on 32-bit extensions and whatnot.
Personally I see no point in launching 10.15 on such outdated machine as 2011 mbp. Get at least 2012 classic, it’s not a big money now...
Hello, a quick question...do I need to use just macos donwloader or any patcher? Thank you very much
Good question. I was just stating the raw capabilities of macOS.
Some here (@jackluke and @ASentientBot and many others) are jockeying old extensions around - if some of those are 32 bit then you have your answer - maybe they can pitch in.
I've read reports that even kernel "extensions" are on the deprecation path (for security reasons), but I don't know exactly what that wild claim actually means for the roadmap.
Someone needs to test whether it's even possible to bring Catalina up in 32 bit anymore : holding 3 + 2 on boot used to do the trick...
I haven't even been able to update my mid-2011 Macbook Air to High Sierra, so I am afraid my machine will become obsolete, even though it still works fine.
I took a dive and just tried to do an OTA update to Catalina
Guess ill find out how it goes in a few minutes
Guess ill find out how it goes in a few minutes
You should be able to run macOS High Sierra or MacOS Mojave if you create a macOS HS Patcher or Mojave Patcher on the very first page in the unsupported Macs threads for each but sometimes when installing a new macOS its best to do a clean install
Do you think a chroot to a Mojave system would work? That could be the simplest solution but I haven't tried it out yet.
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32-bit kexts have been unsupported since (I think) Lion.
I don't think MacBook 4,1 has been supported in the past. Did you mean macbookpro4,1? I'm curious because I have an old MacBook4,1.
I'm looking forward to the new patch. I can beta test if someone tells me what's involved. I have access to a lot of a1278 and a1286 machines ranging from 2008 to 2012. I also have access to macbook6,1 and MacBook 7,1.
I run excel on my 2015 rMBP with a ****** i5 dual core does linear regressions, time series other calculations using the analysis toolpak perfectly fine. And some of the sheets that need to be calculated are 100+mb in size...
[doublepost=1559772957][/doublepost]
KVM/QEMU runs perfectly fine on macOS too
There's also a port of Virt-Manager!
I haven't seen a port of KVM on Mac only Hypervisor.framework. can you point me in that direction?
So that didn't work out to well. If I have Mojave on a Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume the 10.15 beta tells me I need a APFS volume to install on. If I have Mojave on a APFS volume it tells me "Your Mac needs a firmware update in order to install to this volume. Please select a Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume instead."
I think I remember there being some kind of issue when Mojave first came out. But I can't be for sure. Im assuming its the apfs.efi that it wants? Can I just take the apfs.efi from 10.15 and put it in Mojave and reboot? That doesn't seem like it would work tho
I think I remember there being some kind of issue when Mojave first came out. But I can't be for sure. Im assuming its the apfs.efi that it wants? Can I just take the apfs.efi from 10.15 and put it in Mojave and reboot? That doesn't seem like it would work tho
Hi there. My first post here. I took a look in Catalina's kexts and there is no AirPortBrcm4331.kext. Seems like support for the BCM94322 cards is dropped.
Have Catalina running on my Mac Pro 3,1 natively.
With metal. Just missing WiFi.
Have Bluetooth. 3 screens.
Booted with cmd x and v.
Trying without x and v options. Crawling at boot. With x and v boot was instant.
Looks like safe mode still loads extensions?
Screen is gorgeous.
No WiFi yet.
Gonna see if it boots normal.well it did. No WiFi. Will track that down from mojave.
With metal. Just missing WiFi.
Have Bluetooth. 3 screens.
Booted with cmd x and v.
Trying without x and v options. Crawling at boot. With x and v boot was instant.
Looks like safe mode still loads extensions?
Screen is gorgeous.
No WiFi yet.
Gonna see if it boots normal.well it did. No WiFi. Will track that down from mojave.
How did you get it to install? Installer says I need a firmware update.......
Disk utility in Catalina only supports APFS.
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Moved the installed copy from my SSD ro the unsupported Mac.
Used nvram hack to boot system that removes compatibility check.
Also removed that requirement from my installer just in case in OSInstall.mkpg/Distrobution but I don’t think that mattered.
SSD helped a lot getting it up and running.
[doublepost=1559794044][/doublepost]Previously installed APFS firmware patch
[doublepost=1559794536][/doublepost]I’m so glad I don’t need that awesome 2019 Mac Pro to develop software in 2019. 2008 Mac Pro wins again.
Boot without cmd x is still slow though. Must rebuild cache every time. Might just add x to the nvram flag because it still runs full user mode at the GUI stage.
[doublepost=1559793878][/doublepost]
Installed on a supported Mac.
Moved the installed copy from my SSD ro the unsupported Mac.
Used nvram hack to boot system that removes compatibility check.
Also removed that requirement from my installer just in case in OSInstall.mkpg/Distrobution but I don’t think that mattered.
SSD helped a lot getting it up and running.
[doublepost=1559794044][/doublepost]Previously installed APFS firmware patch
[doublepost=1559794536][/doublepost]I’m so glad I don’t need that awesome 2019 Mac Pro to develop software in 2019. 2008 Mac Pro wins again.
Boot without cmd x is still slow though. Must rebuild cache every time. Might just add x to the nvram flag because it still runs full user mode at the GUI stage.
Don't know if people here already know this workaround but one of the macadmins I follow on twitter found a way to make Catalina work in VMWare Fusion 11:
https://communities.vmware.com/thread/611961
https://communities.vmware.com/thread/611961
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defaults write http://com.apple .sidecar.display allowAllDevices -bool YES
Sidecar requires a Mac with HEVC playback support... to enable it type
com.apple.sidecar.display allowAllDevices -bool YES
com.apple.sidecar.display allowAllDevices -bool YES