macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

[K two]

I'd been using Catalina happily on my mid-2009 MBP (MacBookPro5,5) for a couple of months, when one day the system froze and restarted. From that point on, I've not been able to get WiFi working, it's as if there's no WiFi card installed. I've tried rebooting into the Catalina installer and running the post-install patches (with and without the Broadcom patch selected) and following the instructions in this StackExchange link with no luck.

I found someone in this post saying to post the Card Type found when running System Profiler in Terminal, but there's no "Card Type" listed in the output. I've attached the full System Profiler output, and pasted the Wi-Fi section below:

Wi-Fi: Software Versions: CoreWLAN: 13.0 ((null)) CoreWLANKit: 13.0 ((null)) Menu Extra: 13.0 ((null)) System Information: 12.0 (1500) IO80211 Family: 12.0 (1200.12.2) Diagnostics: 1.0 (910) AirPort Utility: Not Installed

Also for reference, the output of ioreg -l | grep "board-id" is <"Mac-F2268AC8">

Does anyone have any suggestions, before I commit to reinstalling again?

Looks like a bad macOS install. Rebuild the v.1.4.4 USB w/Build#19H15. Use gibMacOS-master or MDS to get that version. Also, the Broadcomm card may have gone south. Is there another install that can be booted?

 

[b251]

Unfortunately, the OTA SW Update Fix is not working for me. I've did both software update and OTA patches. The update 2021-001 is offered after performing the patch, but it does not install properly. It downloads, then reboots and installs it for 10 minutes, but after that the version is still at 19H2 and the update is still offered and available for installation. I tried it now multiple times and also deleted everything in /Library/Updates, but still same result.

Has anyone some hints for me?

 

[SpookTheHamster]

Looks like a bad macOS install. Rebuild the v.1.4.4 USB w/Build#19H15. Use gibMacOS-master or MDS to get that version. Also, the Broadcomm card may have gone south. Is there another install that can be booted?

Dammit, reinstalling my OS was really low on my agenda of things to do. I’ve got the bootable installer, but no other drives with an OS on

 

[K two]

Unfortunately, the OTA SW Update Fix is not working for me. I've did both software update and OTA patches. The update 2021-001 is offered after performing the patch, but it does not install properly. It downloads, then reboots and installs it for 10 minutes, but after that the version is still at 19H2 and the update is still offered and available for installation. I tried it now multiple times and also deleted everything in /Library/Updates, but still same result.

Has anyone some hints for me?

It's good to know which Mac is being updated?

 

[K two]

Dammit, reinstalling my OS was really low on my agenda of things to do. I’ve got the bootable installer, but no other drives with an OS on

If an ethernet connection is available run the Patch Updater in the /Utilities ƒ or sometimes running Onyx/Maintenance fixes stuff.

 

[b251]

It's good to know which Mac is being updated?

17-inch MBP Late 2011. But I was able to install the update in the meantime. The solution was to not just reboot the MBP after the download is completed but instead reboot it and hold the option key and then boot from the temporarily available "Install Mac OS" partition. After the update was finished I had to run the Patcher two times until I was able to boot successfully. Nevertheless I have now a successfully working 19H512 on my MBP.

 

[SpookTheHamster]

If an ethernet connection is available run the Patch Updater in the /Utilities ƒ or sometimes running Onyx/Maintenance fixes stuff.

I’ve done the Patch Updater already, not tried Onyx though. I’ll give that a go. Thanks

 

[makra]

Just realized that since 19H1009 all my apps start flawlessly - I had gotten used to start Brave Browser, PDF Expert or Coconut twice, as Dosdude1 points out. Nice.

 

[b251]

Somebody know why it was possible to get most older cards working with graphics acceleration in Catalina but just the HD6xxx series not?

 

[windrider42]

Successfully updated my MBP mid 2009 5,3 to 19H1009

I had to use the CatalinaOTAswufix and USBOpenCoreAPFSloader3 as it wouldn't update without the USB, then did the dosdude1 patches and all is good

Thanks to dosdude1, jackluke and K two for your apps and advice

 

[NutherBob]

Unfortunately, the OTA SW Update Fix is not working for me. I've did both software update and OTA patches. The update 2021-001 is offered after performing the patch, but it does not install properly. It downloads, then reboots and installs it for 10 minutes, but after that the version is still at 19H2 and the update is still offered and available for installation. I tried it now multiple times and also deleted everything in /Library/Updates, but still same result.

Has anyone some hints for me?

Same here with MacBook Pro 5,5

 

[K two]

Same here with MacBook Pro 5,5

Trash everything in /Library/Updates and start over - both buttons, select the OTAUpdateFix button, early-on esp. w/long p/w. Often it takes a few tries, at least it does for me. Always start with an empty /Library/Updates ƒ. If disks are visible during OTAButtonFix and they temporarily vanished during that interval, the fix was a success. It will start to install and then restart, hold the <option/alt> key and get the Startup Manager to see the macOS installer. If unpatched ROM, boot into OpenCoreAPFSloader3 and find macOS installer. Selecting either way will complete the update. At the next restart boot into Patcher v.1.4.4 USB, re-install patches and ForceCacheRebuild, restart. Done.

 

[NutherBob]

Trash everything in /Library/Updates and start over - both buttons, select the OTAUpdateFix button, early-on esp. w/long p/w. Often it takes a few tries, at least it does for me. Always start with an empty /Library/Updates ƒ. If disks are visible during OTAButtonFix and they temporarily vanished during that interval, the fix was a success. It will start to install and then restart, hold the <option/alt> key and get the Startup Manager to see the macOS installer. If unpatched ROM, boot into OpenCoreAPFSloader3 and find macOS installer. Selecting either way will complete the update. At the next restart boot into Patcher v.1.4.4 USB, re-install patches and ForceCacheRebuild, restart. Done.

My boot rom is Boot ROM Version: MBP55.00AC.B03
Is that unpatched?
I have found and downloaded OpenCoreAPFSloader3 but I am not sure what it does and why it needs to be used.
Thanks K two.

 

[amstel78]

My boot rom is Boot ROM Version: MBP55.00AC.B03
Is that unpatched?
I have found and downloaded OpenCoreAPFSloader3 but I am not sure what it does and why it needs to be used.
Thanks K two.

OpenCoreAPFSloader3 is needed if your Mac won't natively boot an APFS drive. In the case of updates, it's needed to allow such Macs to see the update installer. Without it, your Mac would simply boot straight back to the original OS without actually updating the system.

 

[honglong1976]

I have 10.15.3 installed on a Mid 2009 MacBook pro. I downloaded the latest dosdude Catalina patcher and the latest 10.15. Am I right in assuming I just need to boot from the USB, install Catalina over the existing one and that's it?

Thanks

 

[trifero]

I have 10.15.3 installed on a Mid 2009 MacBook pro. I downloaded the latest dosdude Catalina patcher and the latest 10.15. Am I right in assuming I just need to boot from the USB, install Catalina over the existing one and that's it?

Thanks

I prefer to clone the drive, make a a clean install and then use the Migration Assistant. Much more clean results, in my opinion.-

 

[Larsvonhier]

Unfortunately, the OTA SW Update Fix is not working for me. I've did both software update and OTA patches. The update 2021-001 is offered after performing the patch, but it does not install properly. It downloads, then reboots and installs it for 10 minutes, but after that the version is still at 19H2 and the update is still offered and available for installation. I tried it now multiple times and also deleted everything in /Library/Updates, but still same result.

Has anyone some hints for me?

If you end up with the same build as before (19H2) you missed the 2nd stage installer phase.
Re-do everything but hold ALT key during reboot - and select the "Installer" drive instead of your primary boot volume.
Then let the 2nd stage do its deed.
Worked for me flawlessly.
Edit: I assume that your machine is already ROM-patched for APFS? Otherwise it´s a bit more tricky to select the right boot volume.

 

[Larsvonhier]

Successfully updated my MBP mid 2009 5,3 to 19H1009

I had to use the CatalinaOTAswufix and USBOpenCoreAPFSloader3 as it wouldn't update without the USB, then did the dosdude1 patches and all is good

Thanks to dosdude1, jackluke and K two for your apps and advice View attachment 1726618

Is that the build from the recent 2021-002 security update?

 

[windrider42]

Is that the build from the recent 2021-002 security update?

Yes it is

 

[Larsvonhier]

Yes it is

Thanks, and from what build did you update this to? (Asking because I tried from 19H512 and screwed up completely, instable and crashing Finder afterwards).
Edit: Did it again starting from 19H2 and this time it worked as intended. So either a one-shot mishap when I did the 2021-002 update starting with 19H512 or (unlikely) there could be some problem with that update combination.

 

[hvds]

Thanks, and from what build did you update this to? (Asking because I tried from 19H512 and screwed up completely, instable and crashing Finder afterwards).
Edit: Did it again starting from 19H2 and this time it worked as intended. So either a one-shot mishap when I did the 2021-002 update starting with 19H512 or (unlikely) there could be some problem with that update combination.

View attachment 1727082

No problems upgrading from 19H512 to H1009 in my case #13,564 .
Applied the 1.4.4 post-install patches with forced cache rebuild, though H1009 booted upto the login screen without it. If I remember well, I observed such instability at the time after upgrading to H512, before post-install patching it.

 

[K two]

My boot rom is Boot ROM Version: MBP55.00AC.B03
Is that unpatched?
I have found and downloaded OpenCoreAPFSloader3 but I am not sure what it does and why it needs to be used.
Thanks K two.

You have an unpatched ROM. Make a USB using the built-in instructions within OpenCoreAPFSloader3. Booting into that USB will allow selection of the macOS installer to complete the update, you may have to redo all of the previous steps including deleting everything in the /Library/Updates ƒ. Tedious, I know but patience and perseverance will eventually pay off.

 

[K two]

Since all of our MCP79 Macs have unpatched (barefoot) ROMS, using a dual-boot installer/patcher USB has been helpful for updating Catalina. From a functional v.1.4.4 installer USB make the smallest partition on that USB which Disk Utility will permit. Install OpenCoreAPFSloader3 onto that partition. If done correctly, the result will be a dual-boot USB which will appear as such in the Startup Manager via <option/alt> reboot. FWIW

 

[trifero]

Excuse me everyone, please, but I can´t find the link for the CatalinaOTAswufix and the instruccions. Anyone can help me? No OpenCore, just @dosdude1 patch. On 19H15 now. Thanks.

 

[K two]

Excuse me everyone, please, but I can´t find the link for the CatalinaOTAswufix and the instruccions. Anyone can help me? No OpenCore, just @dosdude1 patch. On 19H15 now. Thanks.

Try this - instructions are built-in.