macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

[trifero]

sudo mount -uw /

 

[cwiles]

Thanks for the pointer: I did find it on the site you linked, though the download itself is hosted on a file sharing site which didn't work for me. However, I did finally find a copy of the 10.1.12 pkg file on the Internet Archive in their Software section in case anyone else is looking.

 

[AlexyFoxy]

Strangely When I replace HIToolbox and do the signing In terminal and restart, the laptop just get stuck on Apple logo.

am I doing something wrong?



I remember there was a patch for iSight camera in Mojave. But I can’t find it under Catalina.
As my camera is broken even on my high Sierra drive. This means it died?

 

[lotfix]

it is necessary to add nvram boot-args="-no_compat_check amfi_get_out_of_my_way=0x1"
Boot in single user mode (Command-S) and type the command and reboot, I got the same thing when I installed ImprovementUI 😅

Installing bricks my machine · Issue #2 · fabioiop/ImprovementUI

I have a MacBook Pro running on Catalina with the dosdude1 patcher. When I installed CatalinaUI, I rebooted and my machine will no longer boot to the login screen or recovery.

github.com

 

[tom33231]

For continuity

macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

AirDrop Catalina pre-patched (only for Broadcom cards) to those interested you should post the output of these Catalina Terminal commands: ioreg -l | grep "board-id" | awk '{print $4}' ioreg -r -n ARPT | grep IOName system_profiler -detailLevel mini | grep "Card Type" system_profiler...

forums.macrumors.com

The only extra patch I used is CatalinaOTAswufix to get the 19H15

macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

I have just re-implemented "catalinaswufix5amfi.command" with a GUI to allow, download and install the Catalina Beta Software Update (and public too) on any Catalina unsupported Mac, I have tested it and seems to work enough good. I used the @Czo SUVMMFaker.dylib , @Pinarek method of OTA .dist...

forums.macrumors.com

PS: I tested it too "Improvement UI for macOS Mojave and Catalina" but I was forced to suppress it because it is necessary to add nvram boot-args "amfi_get_out_of_my_way=0x1" and this prevents access to the camera, microphone for applications. There may be a solution for the bot if so, I will be happy to know it. 😅

I would like to know this too trying to fix that at the moment. I don’t really use my webcam but the UI patches are great. Only issue is that after Applying the UI patch I tried to reset my pram and some features worked again like the webcam. I did have to reapply the main Patches to boot the computer again but the webcam came back so I can use it for zoom calls/ use the metal zoom patch.

 

[tom33231]

Sometimes after that I have issues booting every now and than.

 

[tom33231]

That’s the closest I got to a fix

 

[tom33231]

That’s the closest I got to a fix

I plan to possibly get this amfi solved. The issues that are related with disabling it at first.

 

[tom33231]

This was on a MacBook Pro 7,1

 

[AlexyFoxy]

it is necessary to add nvram boot-args="-no_compat_check amfi_get_out_of_my_way=0x1"
Boot in single user mode (Command-S) and type the command and reboot, I got the same thing when I installed ImprovementUI 😅

Installing bricks my machine · Issue #2 · fabioiop/ImprovementUI

I have a MacBook Pro running on Catalina with the dosdude1 patcher. When I installed CatalinaUI, I rebooted and my machine will no longer boot to the login screen or recovery.

github.com

But why the camera is broken too on my High Sierra drive?

 

[marvin_h]

I cannot figure out how to search the thread, and I am sure this is in there somewhere, so I apologize. I don't see this listed as a known issue but I lost wifi on my 2011 Mac Mini after updating. I'm NOT complaining. I use ethernet mostly. But it would be good to fix. Is there a good fix?

 

[tom33231]

If high Sierra is also having issues try reset the SMC and pram

 

[tom33231]

Suggest having the patcher on a usb drive. Before doing this. Catalina will probably break somewhat so back your stuff up before this.

Reset NVRAM on your Mac – Apple Support (UK)

If one or more settings stored in NVRAM aren't working as expected on an Intel-based Mac, resetting NVRAM may help.

support.apple.com

 

[tom33231]

Hopefully this doesn’t completely break you r Catalina install. I don’t think it will. Sometimes I need to repatch after a couple of reboots after the pram rest. Didn’t do this before but at least my El Capitan works correctly and Catalinas web cam. I don’t know if this will work as well for you so do it at your own risk.

 

[marvin_h]

Thanks for the ideas. High Sierra had none of these issues.

This is after installing Catalina using the patcher.

That is, High Sierra was supported on my Mac Mini. Catalina wasn't. So I used the special installer (which is AWESOME) to get Catalina onto it.

High Sierra was fine in terms of all features working.

So what you are saying is that there isn't a particular known issue with wifi and this tool and any particular model of Mac, and that the likely best approach is to reset the nvram and pram on my mini? That's fair and simple enough, and if it solves it, that's very cool.

I noticed in testing today that bluetooth audio output doesn't work correctly either. I can choose a destination device to pair with, ones that worked under High Sierra, but they disconnect right away under this patched version of Catalina.

Same story with HDMI audio output. That no longer shows as an option in Catalina. Can only output audio from the headphone output, not via HDMI and not via bluetooth.

Thanks!

 

[marvin_h]

View attachment 868101


All research, testing, and releases of tools and patches relating to macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs should be posted here.

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Machine Support

Spoiler: Early-2008 or newer Mac Pro, iMac, or MacBook Pro

MacPro3,1​

MacPro4,1​

iMac8,1​

iMac9,1​

iMac10,x​

iMac11,x (systems with AMD Radeon HD 5xxx and 6xxx series GPUs will be almost unusable when running Mojave. More details are located in the Current Issues section below.)​

iMac12,x (systems with AMD Radeon HD 5xxx and 6xxx series GPUs will be almost unusable when running Mojave. More details are located in the Current Issues section below.)​

MacBookPro4,1​

MacBookPro5,x​

MacBookPro6,x​

MacBookPro7,1​

MacBookPro8,x​

Spoiler: Late-2008 or newer MacBook Air or Aluminum Unibody MacBook

MacBookAir2,1​

MacBookAir3,x​

MacBookAir4,x​

MacBook5,1​

Spoiler: Early-2009 or newer Mac Mini or white MacBook

Macmini3,1​

Macmini4,1​

Macmini5,x​

MacBook4,1*​

MacBook5,2​

MacBook6,1​

MacBook7,1​

Spoiler: Early-2008 or newer Xserve

Xserve2,1​

Xserve3,1​

Video Card Support

Pre-Metal AMD video cards (Radeon HD 6xxx series and older without acceleration, Radeon HD 4xxx series and older with acceleration.)​

Pre-Metal Nvidia video cards (GeForce 5xx series and older without acceleration, GeForce 3xx Series and older with acceleration i.e. 8600M(GT)/8800M(GT), 9400M/9600M(GT), 320M/330M)​

Pre-Metal Intel video cards (Intel HD Graphics 3000 and Intel HD Graphics Arrandale)​

Installation
macOS Catalina can be installed on an unsupported system using @dosdude1's macOS Catalina Patcher tool or @0403979's macOS Patcher 3.0 tool.

APFS ROM Patcher:
Warning: This tool could irreversibly brick your EFI chip. Please exercise caution with machines that have multiple EEPROM definitions. Relevant information can be found here and here. The APFS ROM patcher can be found here. Use the password apfs to decrypt the ZIP.

Known Issues

Spoiler: AMD Radeon HD 5xxx/6xxx Series Video Card Acceleration

Currently, it is not possible to get full graphics acceleration when running Catalina on a system with a Radeon HD 5xxx or 6xxx series video card. *Also, the GMAx3100 in the MB4,1 is not fully supported (framebuffer only, no acceleration). Catalina will be almost unusable without graphics acceleration. This includes the 15" and 17" MacBook Pro systems (MacBookPro8,2 and 8,3). If you want to enable GPU acceleration on these machines, you'll need to disable the AMD video card (This will work on MacBook Pro 8,2 and 8,3 systems ONLY. You CANNOT disable the AMD GPU in an iMac.) Weird colors will also be produced when running Catalina with one of these video cards installed/enabled. To disable the AMD GPU on a 2011 MacBook Pro 8,2 or 8,3, follow the guide found here.

Spoiler: All Photos tab

In the Photos app, there is no tab for "All Photos." However, if you right-click any photo, you can choose, "Show in All Photos" and the expected "All Photos" functionality is displayed.
You can also set up a smart album, call it "All Photos" and use search criteria "Date Captured is after 1/1/1970".

Catalina Builds and Installer Versions

2019/10/07 10.15.0 Final, build 19A583, installer 15.0.33
2019/10/29 10.15.1, build 19B88, installer 15.1.03
2019/12/10 10.15.2, build 19C57, installer 15.2.02
2020/01/29 10.15.3, build 19D76, installer 15.3.00
2020/03/24 10.15.4, build 19E266, installer 15.4.01
2020/04/09 10.15.4 supplemental, build 19E287, installer 15.4.02
2020/05/26 10.15.5, build 19F96, installer 15.5.01
2020/06/01 10.15.5 supplemental, build 19F101, installer 15.5.02
2020/07/xx 10.15.6, build 19G73, installer 15.6.00
2020/08/13 10.15.6 supplemental, build 19G2021, installer 15.6.00
2020/09/24 10.15.7, build 19H2, installer 15.7.02

Spoiler: 10.15.0 beta versions

2019/06/04 10.15.0 beta 1, build 19A471t, installer 15.0.11
2019/06/17 10.15.0 beta 2, build 19A487l, installer 15.0.15
2019/07/02 10.15.0 beta 3, build 19A501i, installer 15.0.17
2019/07/16 10.15.0 beta 4, build 19A512f, installer 15.0.18
2019/07/31 10.15.0 beta 5, build 19A526h, installer 15.0.21
2019/08/19 10.15.0 beta 6, build 19A536g, installer 15.0.23
2019/08/28 10.15.0 beta 7, build 19A546d, installer 15.0.25
2019/09/10 10.15.0 beta 8, build 19A558d, installer 15.0.27
2019/09/23 10.15.0 beta 9, build 19A573a, installer 15.0.30
2019/09/30 10.15.0 beta 10, build 19A578c, installer 15.0.31
2019/10/03 10.15.0 GM, build 19A582a, installer 15.0.32

Spoiler: 10.15.3 beta versions

2019/12/17 10.15.3 beta 1, build 19D49f
2020/01/14 10.15.3 beta 2, build 19D62e
2020/01/24 10.15.3 beta 3, build 19D75a

Spoiler: 10.15.4 beta versions

2020/02/05 10.15.4 beta 1, build 19E224g
2020/02/19 10.15.4 beta 2, build 19E234g
2020/02/26 10.15.4 beta 3, build 19E242d
2020/03/03 10.15.4 beta 4, build 19E250c
2020/03/10 10.15.4 beta 5, build 19E258a
2020/03/18 10.15.4 beta 6 (GM), build 19E264b

Spoiler: 10.15.5 beta versions

Warning:
2020/04/01 10.15.5 beta 1, build 19F53f - do not install yet
2020/04/16 10.15.5 beta 2, build 19F62f - do not install yet
2020/04/29 10.15.5 beta 3, build 19F72f - do not install yet
2020/05/08 10.15.5 beta 4, build 19F83c - do not install yet
2020/05/20 10.15.5 beta 5, build 19F94a - do not install yet

Credits
@ASentientBot - Achieved full graphics acceleration, achieved semi-acceleration, fixed IOHID timeout, fixed AirPort, fixed Xcode 11 Metal crashes.
@jackluke - Fixed brightness control under semi-acceleration, fixed Wi-Fi AirDrop option, fixed Continuity with a dongle, fixed AirDrop with Broadcom cards
@parrotgeek1 - Developed LegacyUSBInjector, SIPManager, NDRVShim, source.
@Czo - Developed SUVMMFaker, source.
@Rastafabi - Catalina Loader for unsupported systems with supported hardware.
@oliveira131 - Developed script to apply AirDrop with Broadcom cards and Continuity with a dongle patches (from jackluke)
Apple - Fixed IOHID timeout, fixed Xcode 11 Metal crashes, fixed Siri Metal crashes, fixed Photos Metal crashes.
Don't know why you did it, but, thanks Apple.

Moderator Note:
Please do not ask for, or provide help getting developers profile information to access unauthorised beta software on MacRumors. If you are not a developer, sign up to the Apple Beta Software Program to get the official public beta releases.

Spoiler: Other Threads

macOS Catalina (10.15)
macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs - @0403979

macOS Mojave (10.14)
macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread - @dosdude1

macOS High Sierra (10.13)
macOS High Sierra (10.13) Unsupported Macs Thread - @foxlet

macOS Sierra (10.12)
MacOS 10.12 Sierra Unsupported Macs Thread - @redheeler

OS X El Capitan (10.11)
OS X El Capitan on Unsupported Macs - @TMRJIJ
2006/2007 Mac Pro (1,1/2,1) and El Capitan - @Mr. Zarniwoop

OS X Yosemite (10.10)
OS X Yosemite on Unsupported Macs - @TMRJIJ
2006/2007 Mac Pro (1,1/2,1) and OS X Yosemite - @Mr. Zarniwoop

OS X Mavericks (10.9)
[Guide] Installing 10.9 Mavericks on older Macs. - @Wayne_819
Mac Pro 2,1 and OS X Mavericks - @5050

OS X Mountain Lion (10.8)
Success! Install 10.8 on old unsupported Mac - @Wayne_819

Love the tool from @dosdude1 though it should be noted that on a 2011 mac mini I lost: wifi, bluetooth audio output, hdmi audio output, and airdrop, so caveat emptor. I can work around these losses but for other folks it might be a deal breaker.

 

[AlexyFoxy]

Unrelated question, but how can I solve this when I lunch an app and it quits.

"Service exited due to signal: Illegal instruction: 4 sent by exc handler[0]"

 

[jowaju]

Love the tool from @dosdude1 though it should be noted that on a 2011 mac mini I lost: wifi, bluetooth audio output, hdmi audio output, and airdrop, so caveat emptor. I can work around these losses but for other folks it might be a deal breaker.

You didn’t lose any of those. Boot back to the Catalina patcher usb you created. Choose Post Install patches and let it run. After it completes, make sure you check the force cache rebuild option and let it finish up and reboot. If you still have issues, do it again. You shouldn’t be having any of those issues on that machine.

 

[Rob1n]

Hi!
I have a Macbook pro 2011 15 inch with catalina version 10.15.7 installed.
I have an issue with the optical audio output.
When I plug in headphones or anything in the audio port it doesnt show the output in settings and it doesnt want to play any audio through it.
I have tried reinstalling patches using the patch updater tool. It doesnt help.
When reinstalling patches with the headphones plugged in, they work after rebooting. But the moment I unplug them they immediately stop working.

Does anyone know how to fix this? I cant reset pram or vram because I have done a gpu disabling patch because my dedicated gpu is broken.

I also dont have my installer usb right now, because I am not home and left it there. (Of course the one time I dont bring it something breaks)

 

[tom33231]

Interesting 🧐 I never had many issues other than that once and a reboot fixed it. Keep my fingers crossed this doesn’t happen on my MacBook Pro 7,1🤞

 

[tom33231]

That’s a bit weird

 

[marvin_h]

You didn’t lose any of those. Boot back to the Catalina patcher usb you created. Choose Post Install patches and let it run. After it completes, make sure you check the force cache rebuild option and let it finish up and reboot. If you still have issues, do it again. You shouldn’t be having any of those issues on that machine.

Thanks for checking on this. Much appreciated. I'd rather my problem be user error than something the tool cannot resolve.

I booted back to the USB stick containing the Catalina patcher twice.

Chose "Post Install patches" both times.

Unfortunately the only volume it will install the patches on is the USB stick.

It won't install them on the main hard drive of the Mac Mini 5,1 (intel graphics).

Only the USB stick is listed as a volume for where to install the patches. No other volume is present in the destination drop down list.

So each time I let it select the USB volume, and it says Are you sure? that's not a valid system disc or something similar, and I say Yes, do it anyway..... and so far, no luck with the patches solving it.

 

[jowaju]

Thanks for checking on this. Much appreciated. I'd rather my problem be user error than something the tool cannot resolve.

I booted back to the USB stick containing the Catalina patcher twice.

Chose "Post Install patches" both times.

Unfortunately the only volume it will install the patches on is the USB stick.

It won't install them on the main hard drive of the Mac Mini 5,1 (intel graphics).

Only the USB stick is listed as a volume for where to install the patches. No other volume is present in the destination drop down list.

So each time I let it select the USB volume, and it says Are you sure? that's not a valid system disc or something similar, and I say Yes, do it anyway..... and so far, no luck with the patches solving it.

Boot back to the USB installer and choose disk utility instead of post install patches. Does it correctly show your internal hard drive and mount the partitions or are they greyed out and not able to be mounted?

 

[nobullone1964]

Boot back to the USB installer and choose disk utility instead of post install patches. Does it correctly show your internal hard drive and mount the partitions or are they greyed out and not able to be mounted?

Is SIP disabled?

 

[AlexyFoxy]

Hi

When I check for SIP I get this:

System Integrity Protection status: unknown (Custom Configuration).
Configuration:
Apple Internal: disabled
Kext Signing: disabled
Filesystem Protections: disabled
Debugging Restrictions: disabled
DTrace Restrictions: disabled
NVRAM Protections: disabled
BaseSystem Verification: disabled
This is an unsupported configuration, likely to break in the future and leave your machine in an unknown state.

Is this normal?

When I check for updates, it says I am not connected to Internet and it does not show updates for safari.
Should I apply CatalinaOTAFix?

Also when I check for patch updates it does not prompt anything, not even installing night shift.
I had a connection problem, sorry for spamming.

Any insight will be appreciated, I searched the thread first. But I am not tech savvy like lots here, so I am newbie. sorry.