macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

[K two]

Yes, I own several Core 2 Duo machines. They are too slow IMO.

In fact the reason I'm thinking of getting the new machine is because my daughter has complained the MacBookPro5,5 Core 2 Duo 2.26 GHz with Catalina that I gave her is too slow for some of the things she likes to do, including elementary school level educational web games. I'm not surprised, considering I find even just surfing on that machine sometimes can be frustrating. I need to install an ad blocker just to make it tolerable, because otherwise it slows to a crawl, even with 8 GB RAM and SSD.

That said, I have a MacBook5,1 Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz that I use in the kitchen for very light surfing and recipes, and it's OK for that.

Safari is an infestation subject to huge slowdowns. Selecting the right software brings those earliest Macs back to life.

 

[EugW]

Safari is an infestation subject to huge slowdowns. Selecting the right software brings those earliest Macs back to life.

I'm using Chrome. Usually not Safari. Outside of Firefox, IMO other browsers are not ideal, due to various website incompatibilities.

Put it this way, while one can jump through hoops to make a Core 2 Duo system work, it's annoying IMO. I'd rather just spend a bit more money and get a machine with sufficient performance. IMO none of the Core 2 Duo machines fit that description for 2022, at least if you're running Catalina with Chrome.

Mind you, I'd consider the Core i3-540 3.06 GHz. While it will still be slow, it won't be quite so bad. Plus, my daughter doesn't really want a 27", so the Core i3 would fit the bill as it is a 21.5" model.

Or I could just bite the bullet and get a 2012 model as that wouldn't need a patcher. However, I don't want to disassemble a 2012. If I got a 2012, it would need to have have the SSD installed already. I'm willing to do the HD->SSD swap in a 2009-2011, but not in a 2012+.

 

[K two]

I'm using Chrome. Usually not Safari. Outside of Firefox, IMO other browsers are not ideal, due to various website incompatibilities.

Put it this way, while one can jump through hoops to make a Core 2 Duo system work, it's annoying IMO. I'd rather just spend a bit more money and get a machine with sufficient performance. IMO none of the Core 2 Duo machines fit that description for 2022, at least if you're running Catalina with Chrome.

Mind you, I'd consider the Core i3-540 3.06 GHz. While it will still be slow, it won't be quite so bad. Plus, my daughter doesn't really want a 27", so the Core i3 would fit the bill as it is a 21.5" model.

Or I could just bite the bullet and get a 2012 model as that wouldn't need a patcher. However, I don't want to disassemble a 2012. If I got a 2012, it would need to have have the SSD installed already. I'm willing to do the HD->SSD swap in a 2009-2011, but not in a 2012+.

The iMac11,2 w/i3 is not that much faster than the Core2Duo boxes but is sufficient. At least it was easy to open.

 

[TigerA]

Yes, I own several Core 2 Duo machines. They are too slow IMO.

In fact the reason I'm thinking of getting the new machine is because my daughter has complained the MacBookPro5,5 Core 2 Duo 2.26 GHz with Catalina that I gave her is too slow for some of the things she likes to do, including elementary school level educational web games. I'm not surprised, considering I find even just surfing on that machine sometimes can be frustrating. I need to install an ad blocker just to make it tolerable, because otherwise it slows to a crawl, even with 8 GB RAM and SSD.

That said, I have a MacBook5,1 Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz that I use in the kitchen for very light surfing and recipes, and it's OK for that.

I reckon it will be a safe and easy option to buy a brand new M1 MBA for your daughter so that you don't need to worry about the tricky stuff we are doing here for at least 5 years, even though it will be much more expensive than a 2nd hand MacBook. The M1 MBA is also very light with all-day battery life, really suits kids' user-case.

 

[DearKev2k]

🧐You'll need this tool - https://github.com/jacklukem/CatalinaOTAswufix/releases/download/1.0/CatalinaOTAswufix.app.zip and your dosdude USB for the post-install. The CatalinaOTAswufix instructions are built into the app, read and understand, carefully. If the update fails, delete everything in the /Library/Updates ƒ and try, again.

Often, it takes more than one try to get it right.

Once the macOS installer completes to a restart hold <option> and select the icon on the far right to get into the USB Patcher, re-install the recommended patches, FORCE CACHE REBUILD, restart after 10 seconds. Done. 😎

Check the very first post of this thread. It contains right on the top of the page the recipe how to update.

Thanks. I'll check it Take care

 

[DearKev2k]

🧐You'll need this tool - https://github.com/jacklukem/CatalinaOTAswufix/releases/download/1.0/CatalinaOTAswufix.app.zip and your dosdude USB for the post-install. The CatalinaOTAswufix instructions are built into the app, read and understand, carefully. If the update fails, delete everything in the /Library/Updates ƒ and try, again.

Often, it takes more than one try to get it right.

Once the macOS installer completes to a restart hold <option> and select the icon on the far right to get into the USB Patcher, re-install the recommended patches, FORCE CACHE REBUILD, restart after 10 seconds. Done. 😎

Thanks ! i'll check it Take care

 

[EugW]

I reckon it will be a safe and easy option to buy a brand new M1 MBA for your daughter so that you don't need to worry about the tricky stuff we are doing here for at least 5 years, even though it will be much more expensive than a 2nd hand MacBook. The M1 MBA is also very light with all-day battery life, really suits kids' user-case.

I was thinking about that, but considering she's only in grade 4, I'm not really keen on doing that. I was thinking of waiting until she hits high school before getting her something like that.

 

[KennyW]

I was thinking about that, but considering she's only in grade 4, I'm not really keen on doing that. I was thinking of waiting until she hits high school before getting her something like that.

Why not give your 2017 MacBook as listed in your signature to her and get yourself a new M1 MacBook pro.
I am sure both of you would be happy then 😜

I don't think spending money on a 10+yrs old iMac is a good move since their GPUs are also prone to fail requiring replacement. You have additional hidden cost to pay in the days to come and manage. Otherwise, aren't most educational materials being delivered via iPad or other smart tablets nowadays ?

 

[EugW]

Why not give your 2017 MacBook as listed in your signature to her and get yourself a new M1 MacBook pro.
I am sure both of you would be happy then 😜

I don't think spending money on a 10+yrs old iMac is a good move since their GPUs are also prone to fail requiring replacement. You have additional hidden cost to pay in the days to come and manage. Otherwise, aren't most educational materials being delivered via iPad or other smart tablets nowadays ?

Yeah I’m sure we’d both be happy if I bought myself a new Air. Mind you, she’ll have to pry that 12” from my cold dead hands. I love that size.

She has an iPad Air 2 but some of her school stuff doesn’t run right on it. Plus she needs a proper keyboard. I offered to get her a Chromebook, but she definitely didn’t want that.

Actually, you weren’t too far off the mark with your suggestion. I’m getting a 2014 Mac mini*, which has official Monterey support, but only plan on using it maybe until the 2022 M2 Mac mini is released. Or maybe an entry level M1 Pro (8-core). I’m now thinking that when I upgrade, I’ll give her the 2014 Mac mini. Perhaps I’ll get a 23” Cinema HD Display to go with it. Or else I’ll just give her our unused 24” Dell monitor.

*The Mac mini is replacing a problematic 2007 Mac Pro. It was an excellent deal from an eBay sale, with 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HD, and Core i5-4278U, and it’s easy as pie to add an NVMe SSD. I was considering an M1 Mac mini but didn’t want to pay full price for the decade old design. I want a new form factor if I’m shelling out for full retail pricing. I figure both the hypothetical M2 and the hypothetical M1 Pro Max minis will have that new form factor everyone’s predicting.

 

[K two]

🎈 Looks like macOS Catalina Security Update Public Beta 2021-008 Build 19H1602 may be the Beta for 10.15.7.1? Major components within the Installer have labels like version 10.15.7.1.1.1636048273.

So far, 19H1602 tests perfect on Core2Duo and i3 Macs which bodes well for the dot 1 release courtesy of @jackluke and @dosdude1 boot by OC. 🪓

 

[EugW]

🎈 Looks like macOS Catalina Security Update Public Beta 2021-008 Build 19H1602 may be the Beta for 10.15.7.1? Major components within the Installer have labels like version 10.15.7.1.1.1636048273.

So far, 19H1602 tests perfect on Core2Duo and i3 Macs which bodes well for the dot 1 release courtesy of @jackluke and @dosdude1 boot by OC. 🪓

I have a couple of machines on an older version of the patched version of Catalina.

Do you guys and gals think it's advisable that once the new release arrives to do a clean install?

 

[TigerA]

I have a couple of machines on an older version of the patched version of Catalina.

Do you guys and gals think it's advisable that once the new release arrives to do a clean install?

I did not when converting from dosdude1-Catalina to OCLP-Catalina a few months ago, only because I have a lot of data and was not confident the TimeMachine would do a proper job, coming from decades long Windows experience😅 In other words, I was new to the macOS world at the time of conversion. The reason for converting from dosdude1 to OCLP was that I was not fluent in using apps like CatalinaOTAswufix etc. required to trigger the update.
But it's always a good idea to do a clean install if you encounter some strange behaviour.

 

[K two]

I did not when converting from dosdude1-Catalina to OCLP-Catalina a few months ago, only because I have a lot of data and was not confident the TimeMachine would do a proper job, coming from decades long Windows experience😅 In other words, I was new to the macOS world at the time of conversion. The reason for converting from dosdude1 to OCLP was that I was not fluent in using apps like CatalinaOTAswufix etc. required to trigger the update.
But it's always a good idea to do a clean install if you encounter some strange behaviour.

The final full installer for Catalina is Build H15 every version from there is an update.

 

[KennyW]

I did not when converting from dosdude1-Catalina to OCLP-Catalina a few months ago, only because I have a lot of data and was not confident the TimeMachine would do a proper job, coming from decades long Windows experience😅 In other words, I was new to the macOS world at the time of conversion. The reason for converting from dosdude1 to OCLP was that I was not fluent in using apps like CatalinaOTAswufix etc. required to trigger the update.
But it's always a good idea to do a clean install if you encounter some strange behaviour.

I have Catalina installed in an internal SSD by DOSDude1 Catalina Patcher, and put OCLP 0.3.2n on a SD card.
There is nothing to convert from DOSDude1 to OCLP. I even don't have OC installed on the SSD volume.
I can boot directly to Catalina (default boot device on PRAM reset) or indirectly via OCLP.
Both work, except no internal speaker sound (a known fact that can be solved by BlueTooth speaker).
I didn't find any problem with OCLP booting into the DOSDude1 patched Catalina os.

 

[TigerA]

I have Catalina installed in an internal SSD by DOSDude1 Catalina Patcher, and put OCLP 0.3.2n on a SD card.
There is nothing to convert from DOSDude1 to OCLP. I even don't have OC installed on the SSD volume.
I can boot directly to Catalina (default boot device on PRAM reset) or indirectly via OCLP.
Both work, except no internal speaker sound (a known fact that can be solved by BlueTooth speaker).
I didn't find any problem with OCLP booting into the DOSDude1 patched Catalina os.

What I meant ”conversion” was to install the stock Catalina macOS on top of the dosdude1 Catalina to get rid of the patch. Nice to know your approach works, which gives you more choices.

 

[K two]

What I meant ”conversion” was to install the stock Catalina macOS on top of the dosdude1 Catalina to get rid of the patch. Nice to know your approach works, which gives you more choices.

Upgrading atop a @dosdude1 Catalina install requires removing the dd1 patches and additions which is EASY. Using FindAnyFile (AppStore) or EasyFind, find all dosdude1 and dd1 files, remove. The two CPs can be removed with a right click, follow the prompt. Log out, restart.

 

[KennyW]

Well, my point is just that DOSDude1 patched Catalina can properly run under OCLP.
There is no specific need to unpatch it.
You can also receive incremental update with the DOSDude1 patched Catalina.
But of course, if you change to OCLP, Catalina can be run "natively" without patching the kexts.
That needs a little preparation for the OCLP installation but otherwise an elegant solution.

 

[joevt]

Upgrading atop a @dosdude1 Catalina install requires removing the dd1 patches and additions which is EASY. Using FindAnyFile (AppStore) or EasyFind, find all dosdude1 and dd1 files, remove.

I think the list of items to remove needs to be more specific. I haven't done an inventory of the patches. But I have documented in other posts how to download them all so they can be inspected. There's usually two versions of each patch. One for the installer app (source code on GitHub - usually consists of Objective-C code), and another from the download site (usually consists of a bash script that installs the patch).

The two CPs can be removed with a right click, follow the prompt. Log out, restart.

What's a CP? Control Panel? Do you mean System Preferences panel (APFS Boot and Patch Updater)? I don't think they do anything unless you select them so they don't necessarily have to be removed. Patch Updater has options to disable checking for updates and to disable verifying patch integrity so its background tasks won't do anything.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Well, my point is just that DOSDude1 patched Catalina can properly run under OCLP.
There is no specific need to unpatch it.
You can also receive incremental update with the DOSDude1 patched Catalina.
But of course, if you change to OCLP, Catalina can be run "natively" without patching the kexts.
That needs a little preparation for the OCLP installation but otherwise an elegant solution.

Some time ago Catalina was the first macOS version which I installed and tried completely unpatched with OCLP. Especially on the Late 2009 and Mid 2010 systems there is no sacrifice compared to the @dosdude1 patcher, in the contrary you get - including sound and network - full support through OCLP and can apply every new update just through the Apple software update preference pane (OTA).

Only on 2011 iMacs with NVIDIA dGPU there is a last use case for the older patcher - OCLP disables the iGPU because we could not make it work with Big Sur and later. AMD modded iMacs do not need the (non metal) SandyBridge iGPU, the AMD card provide AirPlay and other features on Catalina even without using it.

So I do not understand why you are using the older patcher with your iMac11,3 equipped with an AMD card?

 

[KennyW]

So I do not understand why you are using the older patcher with your iMac11,3 equipped with an AMD card?

Without the Catalina Patcher or OCLP, native Catalina won't boot in unsupported iMac 11,3.

Thus, in the early days when I am experimenting with the newer Mac OSes when OCLP is in active development, to ease troubleshooting, I have the DOSDude1 patched Catalina in my default internal SSD which would run upon PRAM reset without relying on the experimental OCLP and the beta OSes which may fail due to bugs. While High Sierra can natively boot in my iMac, it would cause pre-boot EFI volume corruption and thus I have to replace it with Catalina.

Later, I found out that the patched Catalina can run good under OCLP as well. Hence, I don't bother to unpatch it so that it can still serve as a final safety measure for booting up my iMac when my other volumes of newer mac OSes don't run. In fact, recently my Big Sur volume has to be reformatted due to an APFS Boot block is zeroed out for some unknown reason with inability to startup. Yes, I can use an OCLP patched USB finger to boot up for rescue and perform Disk Utility check but it is a slow process via USB 2. I also don't install OCLP onto my 3 internal SSDs of different OS for easier editing of the OCLP config on an SD card that serves to boot the various OS.

Of course, now that OCLP is stable enough and far in development that DOSDude1 Patcher may not be needed, but I still prefer a bootable volume in the default SATA drive upon PRAM reset. OCLP BootPicker is close but you may find it difficult to choose to boot from the OCLP SD without a native Apple BootPicker for the GOP vBIOS of the AMD. Your OCLP CD solution is good but I have replaced my internal DVD drive with a USB3 PCIe card.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Without the Catalina Patcher or OCLP, native Catalina won't boot in unsupported iMac 11,3.

Thus, in the early days when I am experimenting with the newer Mac OSes when OCLP is in active development, to ease troubleshooting, I have the DOSDude1 patched Catalina in my default internal SSD which would run upon PRAM reset without relying on the experimental OCLP and the beta OSes which may fail due to bugs. While High Sierra can natively boot in my iMac, it would cause pre-boot EFI volume corruption and thus I have to replace it with Catalina.

Later, I found out that the patched Catalina can run good under OCLP as well. Hence, I don't bother to unpatch it so that it can still serve as a final safety measure for booting up my iMac when my other volumes of newer mac OSes don't run. In fact, recently my Big Sur volume has to be reformatted due to an APFS Boot block is zeroed out for some unknown reason with inability to startup. Yes, I can use an OCLP patched USB finger to boot up for rescue and perform Disk Utility check but it is a slow process via USB 2. I also don't install OCLP onto my 3 internal SSDs of different OS for easier editing of the OCLP config on an SD card that serves to boot the various OS.

Of course, now that OCLP is stable enough and far in development that DOSDude1 Patcher may not be needed, but I still prefer a bootable volume in the default SATA drive upon PRAM reset. OCLP BootPicker is close but you may find it difficult to choose to boot from the OCLP SD without a native Apple BootPicker for the GOP vBIOS of the AMD. Your OCLP CD solution is good but I have replaced my internal DVD drive with a USB3 PCIe card.

Slightly off topic:

But have you ever tried to connect a drive to the unused SATA port of the DVD and tried to use the C button to force a boot from that newly connected drive?? If my understanding of this process is not completely broken pressing the C will be read by the EFI boot process to use a particular device path to boot from, which is the SATA port where the DVD was connected to originally. It is just another way to modify the boot order as we know it from changing PC BIOS settings….

 

[K two]

I think the list of items to remove needs to be more specific. I haven't done an inventory of the patches. But I have documented in other posts how to download them all so they can be inspected. There's usually two versions of each patch. One for the installer app (source code on GitHub - usually consists of Objective-C code), and another from the download site (usually consists of a bash script that installs the patch).


What's a CP? Control Panel? Do you mean System Preferences panel (APFS Boot and Patch Updater)? I don't think they do anything unless you select them so they don't necessarily have to be removed. Patch Updater has options to disable checking for updates and to disable verifying patch integrity so its background tasks won't do anything.

Entering dosdude1 and dd1 suffice. The unused CPs add visual clutter. Do the inventory, please.

 

[trifero]

Entering dosdude1 and dd1 suffice. The unused CPs add visual clutter. Do the inventory, please.

Unbelievable. Not a sigle "thanks" 🤦🏻‍♂️

 

[KennyW]

Slightly off topic:

But have you ever tried to connect a drive to the unused SATA port of the DVD and tried to use the C button to force a boot from that newly connected drive?? If my understanding of this process is not completely broken pressing the C will be read by the EFI boot process to use a particular device path to boot from, which is the SATA port where the DVD was connected to originally. It is just another way to modify the boot order as we know it from changing PC BIOS settings….

Slightly off topic:

AFAIK, press the C key will search for a bootable CD/DVD in a DVD drive. If there is no bootable CD/DVD or when the DVD drive isn't there, the Mac will boot from the default primary SATA drive. Generally, in all the Macs that I have used before, including my current iMac, the DVD drive is connected to the secondary SATA channel. Pressing the C key won't boot from the SSD replacing the DVD drive.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Slightly off topic:

But have you ever tried to connect a drive to the unused SATA port of the DVD and tried to use the C button to force a boot from that newly connected drive?? If my understanding of this process is not completely broken pressing the C will be read by the EFI boot process to use a particular device path to boot from, which is the SATA port where the DVD was connected to originally. It is just another way to modify the boot order as we know it from changing PC BIOS settings….

The iMac11,3 (like the iMac12,x which offers 6gb/s) has three SATA ports, SATA0 and SATA1 for two disks and SATA2 for the DVD….