macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

[jbarley]

which version of Catalina did you tru it on and did you run it in the terminal if forgot to mention that I have working on 10.15.3 and worked on 10.15.4 Dev Beta 5 as well as safe mode

10.15.3, and yes I ran it in Terminal.

 

[rbyster]

I have this exact same issue. Did you find a fix?

 

[jackluke]

Thanks for the link, unfortunately it did not work for me, but as I mentioned I can make do without the Recovery thingy.

That apfsrecovery script is mainly addressed to unsupported Catalina Mac with a non-Metal GPU.

If you have a MacPro4,1/5,1 with upgraded Metal GPU either with apple or non-apple GPU EFI-firmware, probably for APFS Recovery the patched prelinkedkernel won't work (due to graphic patched kext), instead after you applied that recovery script you might check this from Catalina terminal:

diskutil mount Recovery
ls -lh /Volumes/Recovery/*/BaseSystem.dmg

a working "Basesystem.dmg" for an apple EFI "CMD+R" should be no higher than 500 MB (it is compressed but it fits exactly in 2 GB RAMdisk)

then if you have a Metal GPU you might try this from the Catalina terminal:

diskutil mount Recovery
sudo mount -uw /
sudo cp -a /System/Library/PrelinkedKernels/immutablekernel /Volumes/Recovery/*/immutablekernel

reboot, hold CMD+R and if you have a Metal GPU but without EFI bootscreen allow at least 5 minutes to check if APFS Recovery loads to its GUI environment.

 

[jUeLz23]

so I was able to get the catalina patcher on a USb. was able to make it a boot installer. it lets me select it when I restart my mac, im able to go through the install process but as its about to finish i get this error message

"could not create a preboot volume for apfs"

I think proceeded to try and delete the partitions and start fresh. but im unable to successfully get past this step, im not even sure if the partitions are deleted because it still says I have about 50gb used.

 

[jackluke]

Try this to fix to fix recovery from jackluke also have one to fix safe mode to

I adjusted those script because from 10.15.4 beta as you know there is this "AMFI issue", and I tested that the APFS Recovery needs to disable AMFI (safe mode too) otherwise stuck on verbose message "AMFI SIP disabled core dump" with no GUI environment, so to have a working CMD+R recovery package (even if after an OTA update it is automatically fixed) you should use these updated attached scripts valid from 10.15.4 beta .

 

[TimothyR734]

so I was able to get the catalina patcher on a USb. was able to make it a boot installer. it lets me select it when I restart my mac, im able to go through the install process but as its about to finish i get this error message

"could not create a preboot volume for apfs"

I think proceeded to try and delete the partitions and start fresh. but im unable to successfully get past this step, im not even sure if the partitions are deleted because it still says I have about 50gb used.

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From your Catalina Patcher using disk utility click on View-Show All Devices then click on the top one like I have highlighted you can try erase use APFS then try to install Catalina again if that doesn't work go through the steps again but instead of erase you Partition- then select APFS

 

[TimothyR734]

I adjusted those script because from 10.15.4 beta as you know there is this "AMFI issue", and I tested that the APFS Recovery needs to disable AMFI (safe mode too) otherwise stuck on verbose message "AMFI SIP disabled core dump" with no GUI environment, so to have a working CMD+R recovery package (even if after an OTA update it is automatically fixed) you should use these updated attached scripts valid from 10.15.4 beta .

I did post on Discord the monitorPanels and monitorPanels.frameworks from 10.15.3 and also noticed in the carbon.framework there is a commonPanels.framework and if you notice in the HIToolbox in the /Versions A folder on 10.15.4 Dev Beta 5 it will say 4.7mb on disk 2.5 compressed where on 10.15.3 it will say 4.7 mb on disk what is being compressed and is it a link to commonPanels

 

[jbarley]

10.15.3, and yes I ran it in Terminal.

Or at least I thought I did.
Apparently double clicking to run the script is not the same as drag/dropping the script in a Terminal window and running it.
Did the latter and now I have a functioning Recovery partition.
Thanks to all who helped make this work.

 

[straycat23]

run this script in your terminal then about when the update is about 10% or so downloaded close your terminal and open again and run this script but I also suggest installing easyres and brightness slider from the App Store they are free as the display settings in System Preferences is broke but fix able and also if you use Night Shift an app called Shifty as it is broke as well
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this is the second patch make sure you unzip them

I stupidly forgot to mention that with my Mac Pro 5.1, I am using an AMD HD 7950 graphics card and the brightness slider as well as the night shift do work. I am still not able to get the beta updates with these patches. I know I am probably doing something wrong. Are we still not able to boot up with the beta OS v 10.15.4 updates? If so, I would prefer not using the betas. My computer is running great with the Catalina Patcher. I think it does everything it is supposed to do with Catalina. I am just unsure of how to run the updates. Does the Patch Updater inform you of an update?

 

[jUeLz23]

[automerge]1584458368[/automerge]
From your Catalina Patcher using disk utility click on View-Show All Devices then click on the top one like I have highlighted you can try erase use APFS then try to install Catalina again if that doesn't work go through the steps again but instead of erase you Partition- then select APFS

thank you so much!!!!!!

this did the trick I wasnt able to retain my bookmarks but atleast the mac turns on now!

I apperciate everyone in this thread who helped out

 

[haralds]

I stupidly forgot to mention that with my Mac Pro 5.1, I am using an AMD HD 7950 graphics card and the brightness slider as well as the night shift do work. I am still not able to get the beta updates with these patches. I know I am probably doing something wrong. Are we still not able to boot up with the beta OS v 10.15.4 updates? If so, I would prefer not using the betas. My computer is running great with the Catalina Patcher. I think it does everything it is supposed to do with Catalina. I am just unsure of how to run the updates. Does the Patch Updater inform you of an update?

You cannot get beta updates. Not sure why you want to go through the trouble.

 

[TimothyR734]

I stupidly forgot to mention that with my Mac Pro 5.1, I am using an AMD HD 7950 graphics card and the brightness slider as well as the night shift do work. I am still not able to get the beta updates with these patches. I know I am probably doing something wrong. Are we still not able to boot up with the beta OS v 10.15.4 updates? If so, I would prefer not using the betas. My computer is running great with the Catalina Patcher. I think it does everything it is supposed to do with Catalina. I am just unsure of how to run the updates. Does the Patch Updater inform you of an update?

For now I would stay on macOS Catalina 10.15.3 until 10.15.4 Final is out but you will have to wait for a updated Catalina Patcher

 

[straycat23]

For now I would stay on macOS Catalina 10.15.3 until 10.15.4 Final is out but you will have to wait for a updated Catalina Patcher

Thanks Timothy. Your responses are helpful.

 

[chris1111]

Thanks for the link, unfortunately it did not work for me, but as I mentioned I can make do without the Recovery thingy.

You can Try this Catalina Recovery HD

let me know

 

[MacTobi]

Hey guys, I have a question ... Can I use the macOS Mojave Photos app in macOS Catalina? So can I move it to macOS Catalina? Have someone the ability to do that? If it works how does it work?

 

[TimothyR734]

Hey guys, I have a question ... Can I use the macOS Mojave Photos app in macOS Catalina? So can I move it to macOS Catalina? Have someone the ability to do that? If it works how does it work?

It may work but most likely not as in Catalina the Photo's app require metal for the Photos tab to appear but there is a work around you can create a Smart Album and rename it Photos and place your photos in there

 

[MacTobi]

It may work but most likely not as in Catalina the Photo's app require metal for the Photos tab to appear but there is a work around you can create a Smart Album and rename it Photos and place your photos in there

This is a great tip, but as already other application as, if I recall mojave maps, as well as iPhoto, Apature und iTunes have been modified to work on Catalina porting over the Mojave version could be provide all the perfectly working Mojave features for us unsupported Mac users while also having a minimal compromise Catalina install. At least to me not being able to properly use Photos is the only thing that is holding be back from upgrading and I assume this could be true for others as well.

 

[Michael Filipan]

Hi. Does someone know can I enter safe mode with this patcher installed? It’s on an APFS drive and when I hold shift a circle with crossed line appeares and I have to restart.

 

[jbarley]

You can Try this Catalina Recovery HD

let me know

Thank you, I would try it if I needed still it but I've got my Recovery working now.

 

[TimothyR734]

This is a great tip, but as already other application as, if I recall mojave maps, as well as iPhoto, Apature und iTunes have been modified to work on Catalina porting over the Mojave version could be provide all the perfectly working Mojave features for us unsupported Mac users while also having a minimal compromise Catalina install. At least to me not being able to properly use Photos is the only thing that is holding be back from upgrading and I assume this could be true for others as well.

Photos works only we don't have the Photos tab yes there is an app called Retroactivie that lets you install iTunes, iPhoto's and Apeture on Catalina. I tried the Mojave Photo's app on the early Catalina Beta's and still had no Photo's tab plus you need a script to have permissions to make any changes with files on Catalina-Data drive or use a terminal command in the terminal to force quit finder so you can make changes to the Catalina-Data drive and with Apple putting up another wall of security in macOS Catalina 10.15.4 with AMFI we have scripts to disable it but I have made changes and my AMFI got reenabled so you have to reinstall Catalina
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Hi. Does someone know can I enter safe mode with this patcher installed? It’s on an APFS drive and when I hold shift a circle with crossed line appeares and I have to restart.

did you try running the safe mode script in your terminal in post 8905

 

[telepati]

Guys, I need advice. My boot drive is Sandisk 120GB SSD SATA and I want to change it with a bigger size (250GB) of SATA Samsung SSD. If I clone my unsupported iMac APFS Boot Drive with CarbonCopy Cloner will it work or I must clean install?

 

[MrZupp]

Hey again, I wanted to ask 2 more things, are the expresscard port and thunderbolt 2 ports fully supported on 10.15.3? I want to buy an egpu enclosure and connect it via thunderbolt 2 on my mbp8,3, as I will deactivate the dedicated graphics as soon as my programmer arrives.

 

[ktimamue]

Hello good people

I need your help. The catalina patcher is not working for me at all.

When I select 'download' option I get this error:
"Could not locate the correct entry in CatalogURL"


When I select 'browse for a copy' with a first installer I sourced elsewhere I manage to make a bootable catalina drive but when I want to install from it I get this error:
"An error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running the installation again."



When I try 'browse for a copy' with a second installer from elsewhere, I can't even manage to make a bootable drive, I just get this error straight away:
"An error occurred while mounting the BaseSystem image. Verify that BaseSystem.dmg is not mounted using DiskUtility, then try again."


My SID is off
My system date and time is correct.

Early 2011 Macbook Pro with dGPU disabled with dosdude patch
Current OS High Sierra 10.13.6 (17G10021)
Latest Catalina patcher version 1.3.0.
The installer files versions:
Version 15.0.31 (15031)
Version 15.1.00 (15100)

Could someone please tell me how to either get this 'download' option working from the patcher, or alternatively where to get the installer file that would work with this patcher?

Thanks a million

 

[TimothyR734]

Guys, I need advice. My boot drive is Sandisk 120GB SSD SATA and I want to change it with a bigger size (250GB) of SATA Samsung SSD. If I clone my unsupported iMac APFS Boot Drive with CarbonCopy Cloner will it work or I must clean install?

It should work just as long as you format your new SSD APFS
[automerge]1584544860[/automerge]

Hello good people

I need your help. The catalina patcher is not working for me at all.

When I select 'download' option I get this error:
"Could not locate the correct entry in CatalogURL"
View attachment 899721

When I select 'browse for a copy' with a first installer I sourced elsewhere I manage to make a bootable catalina drive but when I want to install from it I get this error:
"An error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running the installation again."
View attachment 899722


When I try 'browse for a copy' with a second installer from elsewhere, I can't even manage to make a bootable drive, I just get this error straight away:
"An error occurred while mounting the BaseSystem image. Verify that BaseSystem.dmg is not mounted using DiskUtility, then try again."
View attachment 899723

My SID is off
My system date and time is correct.

Early 2011 Macbook Pro with dGPU disabled with dosdude patch
Latest Catalina patcher version 1.3.0.
The installer files versions:
Version 15.0.31 (15031)
Version 15.1.00 (15100)

Could someone please tell me how to either get this 'download' option working from the patcher, or alternatively where to get the installer file that would work with this patcher?

Thanks a million

Try downloading a new copy of the Catalina Patcher then try and download a new copy of macOS Catalina 10.15.3 the two versions you have 15.0.31 and 15.1.00 might have expired certificates

 

[ktimamue]

Try downloading a new copy of the Catalina Patcher then try and download a new copy of macOS Catalina 10.15.3 the two versions you have 15.0.31 and 15.1.00 might have expired certificates

Thanks, but where do I download a new copy of Catalina when I'm on an unsupported mac?