macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

[macMan_1984]

wow... I am stunned... On a MBP 15" early 2011 this works BETTER then MOJAVE.... to say nothing of the 'earlier' supported OS's. I have 4TB of SSD installed.. and this is screaming..... stable... I am stunned...

I moved to the Catalina, as I needed to use XCODE 11.. and... I am not in the mood to spend over 5K for a system that is marginally better then what I have today....

I've been using this now for 4 days... solid.. and am just very impressed...

Thank you so much @dosdude1... I am very impressed.. and sad that apple did not at least offer the option of running catalina on older equipment by turning off the AMD GPU's..... apple should have given us a choice...

Again, thank you all so much.

 

[3w3n]

wow... I am stunned... On a MBP 15" early 2011 this works BETTER then MOJAVE.... to say nothing of the 'earlier' supported OS's. I have 4TB of SSD installed.. and this is screaming..... stable... I am stunned...

I moved to the Catalina, as I needed to use XCODE 11.. and... I am not in the mood to spend over 5K for a system that is marginally better then what I have today....

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I've been using this now for 4 days... solid.. and am just very impressed...

Thank you so much @dosdude1... I am very impressed.. and sad that apple did not at least offer the option of running catalina on older equipment by turning off the AMD GPU's..... apple should have given us a choice...

Again, thank you all so much.

Any chance you could do a step by step so I can see how you did this?

Cheers

 

[macMan_1984]

Hi no I really apprciate the feedback!

This is my first MBP, bought from Ebay did not read in to getting a metal MBP so got a MBP early 2011 for £200 on Ebay. Was drawn in by the 16gb Ram and 250gb SSD added!

Its not my main machine so basically I saw the Catalina patcher, thinking its not my main computer I would give it a crack. Just moved to a new house (VERY SLOW internet) follwed the Catalina Patcher so disabled SIP etc. Did the update all seemed well till I tried to login, behold a MBP that would only respond to doing a Shift, Op, Com, R and rolling back to Lion. Funnily enough, now it downloads Lion (done this twice now) but does not seem to want to install it. now 00.26 managed to get a friend's Mac Air running Mojave so currently creating a Botttable USB of High Sierra. Fingers crossed this works!!

I had a similar issue at first... I created a USB installer with @dosdude1 's patcher. Failed on first install.. but then after going through again, and turning off GPU with command line nvram mods... it works...

and to top it all off.. Brightness and all else works (It did not on r MOJAVE.... )

Love my computer....

 

[dosdude1]

Any chance you could do a step by step so I can see how you did this?

Cheers

Just go through the guided process of Catalina Patcher. You MUST ensure you're using the latest version (1.1.5) with the latest Catalina Installer app (v15.0.30). Based on your previous post, it sounds like you used an older version of Catalina Patcher, which experienced a kextcache rebuild issue when installing Catalina DP9.

 

[3w3n]

Just go through the guided process of Catalina Patcher. You MUST ensure you're using the latest version (1.1.5) with the latest Catalina Installer app (v15.0.30). Based on your previous post, it sounds like you used an older version of Catalina Patcher, which experienced a kextcache rebuild issue when installing Catalina DP9.

Brilliant Cheers for that will give it a go once I have brought the MBP back from the dead!

 

[danallen]

Hi no I really apprciate the feedback!

This is my first MBP, bought from Ebay did not read in to getting a metal MBP so got a MBP early 2011 for £200 on Ebay. Was drawn in by the 16gb Ram and 250gb SSD added!

Its not my main machine so basically I saw the Catalina patcher, thinking its not my main computer I would give it a crack. Just moved to a new house (VERY SLOW internet) follwed the Catalina Patcher so disabled SIP etc. Did the update all seemed well till I tried to login, behold a MBP that would only respond to doing a Shift, Op, Com, R and rolling back to Lion. Funnily enough, now it downloads Lion (done this twice now) but does not seem to want to install it. now 00.26 managed to get a friend's Mac Air running Mojave so currently creating a Botttable USB of High Sierra. Fingers crossed this works!!

Thanks for filling in some background. Is there any storage besides the 250gb ssd? The 16gb RAM is awesome. Price is awesome if everything works.

You are dead in the water until that lion installation works.

What was it running for macOS when you got it? Unbricking that thing might prove to be a challenge. There are people here who know how to work through these kinds of problems. You have an ssd on a machine that did not come with the computer. I think it is possible that the stock lion might not install on that. There might ahve been some hacking involved in getting that machine to run with that ssd. I am not really an expert on how to go about getting through this.

I like the idea of the usb with a bootable High Sierra. If you can get it to boot with that thumb drive that would be huge.

Mojave and Catalina probably are no go, because they require metal-enabled graphics that did not come with that computer. Unless it has been added, the furthest you can hope for is high sierra. I just found out that people here know how to run the most recent macOS without metal-enabled graphics.

 

[dosdude1]

Thanks for filling in some background. Is there any storage besides the 250gb ssd? The 16gb RAM is awesome. Price is awesome if everything works.

You are dead in the water until that lion installation works.

What was it running for macOS when you got it? Unbricking that thing might prove to be a challenge. You have an ssd on a machine that did not come with the computer. I think it is possible that the stock lion might not install on that. There might ahve been some hacking involved in getting that machine to run with that ssd. I am not really an expert on how to go about getting through this.

I like the idea of the usb with a bootable High Sierra. If you can get it to boot with that thumb drive that would be huge.

Mojave and Catalina probably are no go, because they require metal-enabled graphics that did not come with that computer. Unless it has been added, the furthest you can hope for is high sierra.

Just a note: please refrain from referring to a machine that has an OS issue as being "bricked". Bricked refers to a system that is A, completely dead due to water damage or other logic board issue, or B, has suffered a failed BootROM/SPI firmware update. A software issue that can be resolved by the re-installation of an operating system is NOT considered "bricked".

Secondly, he doesn't HAVE to install Lion. He can create a USB installer for any version of macOS, as old as Lion, or up to Catalina using Catalina Patcher, boot from that, and install onto the hard disk/SSD. That will completely fix the issue.

Lastly, myself and other participants of this forum have been working for years on getting non-Metal GPUs working in both Mojave and Catalina with great success. We have had non-Metal video cards working with full acceleration under Mojave since its first Developer Preview release, and the same with Catalina.

Just wanted to ensure nobody was misinformed.

 

[macMan_1984]

Just a note: please refrain from referring to a machine that has an OS issue as being "bricked". Bricked refers to a system that is A, completely dead due to water damage or other logic board issue, or B, has suffered a failed BootROM/SPI firmware update. A software issue that can be resolved by the re-installation of an operating system is NOT considered "bricked".

Secondly, he doesn't HAVE to install Lion. He can create a USB installer for any version of macOS, as old as Lion, or up to Catalina using Catalina Patcher, boot from that, and install onto the hard disk/SSD. That will completely fix the issue.

Lastly, myself and other participants of this forum have been working for years on getting non-Metal GPUs working in both Mojave and Catalina with great success. We have had non-Metal video cards working with full acceleration under Mojave since its first Developer Preview release, and the same with Catalina.

Just wanted to ensure nobody was misinformed.

and... I can vouch that no special software or hacking is needed to install normal OS on a SSD upgraded MBP 15” early 2011.

And follow the guide to disable GPU
and use the newest catalina patcher with current Catalina download and USB booter and install and ... bob’s your uncle .... great fast computer! thanks again @dosdude1

 

[haralds]

I've been able to get the SideCar Preference Pane to load on a 2008 Mac Pro 3,1.

Steps:

1. Go to, /S*/L*/PreferencePanes
2. Copy Sidecar.prefPane to the Desktop
3. Remove the installed preference pane
4. Double click on the SideCar.prefPane
4. It will then ask you to install it.
5. Voila

Screenshots are from MP3,1 on Cat.

As Dosdude1 suggested, this may only work on Metal Macs. I have not tested SideCar as I don't have a supported iPad (yet).

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What graphics card are you using?

 

[haralds]

I am considering upgrading my wife's 3,1, which is currently running El Cap. It has a Radeon 4870.
Is that card good enough or are there other recommendations?

 

[dosdude1]

I am considering upgrading my wife's 3,1, which is currently running El Cap. It has a Radeon 4870.
Is that card good enough or are there other recommendations?

That card will work with the Legacy Video Card Patch, but I'd recommend upgrading to a Metal-compatible card, such as a GeForce GTX680.

 

[Lardyboy999]

Brilliant thanks for all your help. Got Catalina running on a 2009 MacBook Pro and it runs far better than Mojave did! good work to all those involved in getting this working!!

 

[makima]

great work guys!
couple of questions, if i may.

1. if i'm on a MBP 2009 running Mojave currently, can i just upgrade to Catalina?
2. will update from betas work to final release or i will need to reinstall at that time?

cheers!

 

[chunzhi]

1.Put this in your /Library/LaunchDaemons folder
2. Put the is /System/Library/Frameworks/Carbon.framework/Frameworks/HIToolbox.framework/Versions/A folder
3.Put this in /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SkyLight.framework/Versions/A folder reboot

Hello i did all of the above but when i reboot the system hangs on white screen with full loading bar.

is there something i did wrong i use 1.14 installer and dp 9/8 version of cataline.

TIA Chunzhi

 

[3w3n]

Thanks for filling in some background. Is there any storage besides the 250gb ssd? The 16gb RAM is awesome. Price is awesome if everything works.

You are dead in the water until that lion installation works.

What was it running for macOS when you got it? Unbricking that thing might prove to be a challenge. You have an ssd on a machine that did not come with the computer. I think it is possible that the stock lion might not install on that. There might ahve been some hacking involved in getting that machine to run with that ssd. I am not really an expert on how to go about getting through this.

I like the idea of the usb with a bootable High Sierra. If you can get it to boot with that thumb drive that would be huge.

Mojave and Catalina probably are no go, because they require metal-enabled graphics that did not come with that computer. Unless it has been added, the furthest you can hope for is high sierra.

Update on the MBP.

Storage-wise its only 250 SSD, looks like a straight swap out for the old HDD.

In terms of a computer, it's been brilliant, super quick used it as my day to day office pc and it's lightning-fast running on High Sierra when I got it, the only issue I had was if running multiple chrome tabs that were AV heavy I would get the fan running its self right up to cool the aging CPU.

Good news, I created a Bootable Disk with High Sierra on using my MBA 2013 so I avoided loading Lion and went straight into installing HS. Will keep the HS bootable USB for back up and I am going to give the Catalina Patcher another go. With my back up Boot USB, I think I am better prepared!

 

[MacPeet]

Has anyone patched SidecarCore.framework for MacPro3,1 <-> iPadPro ??? Here the MacPro3,1 at Sidecar does not display any devices.

 

[jackluke]

Has anyone patched SidecarCore.framework for MacPro3,1 <-> iPadPro ??? Here the MacPro3,1 at Sidecar does not display any devices.

I have made a Sidecar patch for supported Catalina Mac with older "non-HEVC GPU machines" and older iPadOS devices, I guess if your mac has a Metal GPU so without any "Video Patch" applied, and your GPU does support AirPlay Display Video Mirroring, then you can use my Sidecar patch to make it working, here is the post where you can download the Sidecar beta 9 patch: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/side-car-has-anyone-got-it-working.2184104/post-27807001

 

[TimothyR734]

Hello i did all of the above but when i reboot the system hangs on white screen with full loading bar.

is there something i did wrong i use 1.14 installer and dp 9/8 version of cataline.

TIA Chunzhi

I am having that same issues so I rebooted Ito the Catalina Patcher 1.1.5 and reinstalled only the legacy video patch but the sidebars are grey instead of white

 

[joelw135]

Anyone found the USB drives eject on sleep? If so is there a fix?

 

[TimothyR734]

Anyone found the USB drives eject on sleep? If so is there a fix?

Not yet I am having a screensaver issue similar to sleep as you have to hit the power button a few times to get my login screen back up to enter my password

 

[danallen]

Just a note: please refrain from referring to a machine that has an OS issue as being "bricked". Bricked refers to a system that is A, completely dead due to water damage or other logic board issue, or B, has suffered a failed BootROM/SPI firmware update. A software issue that can be resolved by the re-installation of an operating system is NOT considered "bricked".

Secondly, he doesn't HAVE to install Lion. He can create a USB installer for any version of macOS, as old as Lion, or up to Catalina using Catalina Patcher, boot from that, and install onto the hard disk/SSD. That will completely fix the issue.

Lastly, myself and other participants of this forum have been working for years on getting non-Metal GPUs working in both Mojave and Catalina with great success. We have had non-Metal video cards working with full acceleration under Mojave since its first Developer Preview release, and the same with Catalina.

Just wanted to ensure nobody was misinformed.

Thank you for correcting everything. I am fixing my post.

 

[DanieleDN]

Hi. I've done the standard procedure in order to install the new beta on my MBP 4.1, using the 1.1.5 Patcher tool and a 16GB USB.
However, I tried many times but I've achieved every time the same result: the machine isn't able to complete the installation.
Is it possible to solve that problem?

 

[danallen]

and... I can vouch that no special software or hacking is needed to install normal OS on a SSD upgraded MBP 15” early 2011.

And follow the guide to disable GPU
and use the newest catalina patcher with current Catalina download and USB booter and install and ... bob’s your uncle .... great fast computer! thanks again @dosdude1

I corrected the invalid post I had up. Thank you for the correction.

 

[danallen]

Update on the MBP.

Storage-wise its only 250 SSD, looks like a straight swap out for the old HDD.

In terms of a computer, it's been brilliant, super quick used it as my day to day office pc and it's lightning-fast running on High Sierra when I got it, the only issue I had was if running multiple chrome tabs that were AV heavy I would get the fan running its self right up to cool the aging CPU.

Good news, I created a Bootable Disk with High Sierra on using my MBA 2013 so I avoided loading Lion and went straight into installing HS. Will keep the HS bootable USB for back up and I am going to give the Catalina Patcher another go. With my back up Boot USB, I think I am better prepared!

In case you did not see, there were several errors in the post I last put up in our conversation. If you have any problems with High Sierra, you are in the right place for finding all the help you will need.

 

[MacPeet]

I have made a Sidecar patch for supported Catalina Mac with older "non-HEVC GPU machines" and older iPadOS devices, I guess if your mac has a Metal GPU so without any "Video Patch" applied, and your GPU does support AirPlay Display Video Mirroring, then you can use my Sidecar patch to make it working, here is the post where you can download the Sidecar beta 9 patch: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/side-car-has-anyone-got-it-working.2184104/post-27807001

First thank you for the help.

Unfortunately, it did not help me.
The iPadPro9.7 "is now displayed with native SidecarCore.framework and patched SidecarCore.framework.
Same behavior with both variants.
On the iPad is Sidecar App to see and opens with black screen. Catalina reports error.
Same behavior also via Wifi or USB.
I suspect the HD5770 obstructs the function. This does not work and is only for the boot menu.