macOS 11 Big Sur on Unsupported Macs Thread

[jackluke]

There may be some hardware difference, or maybe something going on with the USB kexts, that might explain what you and jhowarth are seeing but I'm not seeing -- but I'll have to come back to the topic later. It's going to be a while (maybe several weeks) before I can really turn my attention back to LegacyUSBInjector, etc. I have other things I need to deal with in my patcher, and other things I need to deal with besides my patcher.

I guess need to use CMD+S and "exit", because I use an external USB disk BigSur installation for legacy USB Mac, that on BKE (with legacy USB) seems can't give both the "IOUSB injection" simultaneously for external USB root disk and internal USB devices (example trackpad, bluetooth, usb mouse and keyboard), probably you and @testheit referred to an internal SATA disk BigSur installation for legacy USB.

Anyway the new USBOpenCoreAPFSloader4 should continue a BigSur stage2 installer "unattended" for non-APFS or legacy USB Mac, but after of course is required your micropatcher or a prelinkedkernel fix to boot the desktop.

 

[Barry K. Nathan]

I guess need to use CMD+S and "exit", because I use an external USB disk BigSur installation for legacy USB Mac, that on BKE (with legacy USB) seems can't give both the USB injection simultaneously for external USB root disk and internal USB devices (example internal trackpad, bluetooth, usb mouse and keyboard), probably you and @testheit referred to an internal SATA disk BigSur installation for legacy USB.

Anyway the new USBOpenCoreAPFSloader4 should continue a BigSur stage2 installer "unattended" for non-APFS or legacy USB Mac, but after of course is required your micropatcher or a prelinkedkernel fix.

All of my LegacyUSBInjector testing has been with an external USB root disk -- but my MacBook6,1 is different because it needs LegacyUSBInjector for USB 1.1 but not for USB 2.0.

 

[jackluke]

All of my LegacyUSBInjector testing has been with an external USB root disk -- but my MacBook6,1 is different because it needs LegacyUSBInjector for USB 1.1 but not for USB 2.0.

Right, there are APFS HighSierra supported Mac with legacy USB, so my previous considerations concern only non-APFS Mac that should have internal legacy usb devices with OHCI specification (because input devices as bluetooth, trackpad, usb mouse and keyboard require a low speed bitrate).

 

[Barry K. Nathan]

I just released v0.0.20 of the micropatcher. It fixes a bug I found while checking out @astuermer's problem (by the way, please look again at my previous reply to you, I edited it and updated it with something I want you to try). I'll quote the release notes below:

There used to be a bug in the patcher that would erroneously display messages saying that you had to restart the Mac, even though restarting it would actually cause the installer to fail. I fixed that bug in v0.0.11, but a change in Big Sur developer beta 4 and the public beta brought that patcher bug back from the dead, and I missed it when testing v0.0.19 with developer beta 4. This is a quick release to fix the bug again.

If you have successfully installed developer beta 4 or the public beta using a previous patcher release, there is no need to download or use this version of the patcher (unless you need to reinstall).

GitHub - barrykn/big-sur-micropatcher: A primitive USB patcher for installing macOS Big Sur on unsupported Macs

A primitive USB patcher for installing macOS Big Sur on unsupported Macs - barrykn/big-sur-micropatcher

github.com

 

[astuermer]

I'll have to try testing it. Maybe later this morning. (I might come back and edit this post.)

Edit: I found a compatibility bug between my patcher and developer beta 4/public beta 1, which I somehow missed when testing v0.0.19. I'm about to release v0.0.20 to fix that bug, but I don't think it's related to the problem you're seeing.

I'd like you to try running this command (on the machine that created the Public Beta bootable USB installer, with the USB stick inserted), and let me know what (if any) output it produces: diff -ruN --speed-large-files /Volumes/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur\ Beta/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur\ Beta.app /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur\ Beta.app

Tried, but after hitting Enter it does nothing
The Mac I am building the Installer-USB is an iMac 2011 with High Sierra.
Also tried on my Macbook Air.
Same error at around 12 minutes left as shown in the photo above.

Update: I don't know if this (red warnings) were shown on the dev betas too...

iMac-Andiweli:~ andreas$ sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur\ Beta.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled

objc[654]: Class IASNightInstallSupport is implemented in both /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/IASUtilities.framework/Versions/A/IASUtilities (0x7fff9aa84368) and /Applications/Install macOS Big Sur Beta.app/Contents/Frameworks/OSInstallerSetup.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/IAESD.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/IAInstallerUtilities.framework/Versions/A/IAInstallerUtilities (0x107589ac0). One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.

objc[654]: Class IASSystemInformation is implemented in both /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/IASUtilities.framework/Versions/A/IASUtilities (0x7fff9aa844a8) and /Applications/Install macOS Big Sur Beta.app/Contents/Frameworks/OSInstallerSetup.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/IAESD.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/IAInstallerUtilities.framework/Versions/A/IAInstallerUtilities (0x107589bd8). One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.

Ready to start.


Anyway I will try with 0.0.20 now.

 

[Barry K. Nathan]

Tried, but after hitting Enter it does nothing
The Mac I am building the Installer-USB is an iMac 2011 with High Sierra.
Also tried on my Macbook Air.
Same error at around 12 minutes left as shown in the photo above.

Anyway I will try with 0.0.20 now.

That command should take several minutes to run. It may or may not produce any output. I just want to know whether it produces any output after you press Enter and allow it time to run.

As an alternative, you can save the installer log if the error happens again, then zip the installer log and either attach it here or send it to me by private message.

I guess I should get to the point: Try again with another USB stick. I think your USB stick is dying. (I wanted to see if I could get hard proof first before saying that, however.)

 

[jhowarth]

and @Barry K. Nathan do you confirm that using that @testheit method to add LegacyUSBInjector.kext to the kmutil's BootKernelExtensions.kc , allowed a "legacy USB Mac" booting but only through CMD+S and "exit" ?

Because in USBOpenCoreAPFSloader4 , I included some kind of LegacyUSB on BKE , but to use usb input devices need to boot with CMD+S and "exit".

Also as @jhowarth wrote, without using CMD+S and "exit", I can boot with BKE (and legacyUSB) from an external USB BigSur installation to the desktop but with the Bluetooth Mouse and keyboard message, hence without responsive usb .

Currently I can only avoid CMD+S and "exit" when using a patched legacyusb prelinkedkernel (I encountered some minimal issues on beta 4 prelinkedkernel, but using beta 3 prelinkedkernel still worked).

Are you doing clean installs of beta 4 or upgrade installs? I used your "BigSur BaseSystem legacy usb fix" to create a legacy usb installer to upgrade install on a pre-existing beta 3 installation running your legacy usb prelinked kernel. I had manually installed the LegacyUSBInjector kext into L*/E* and was surprised to find that the beta 4 installation created a kc with parrot instances in it. I haven't been able to get that kc to completely boot yet though.

 

[GSXB]

From a patched big sur usb can you upgrade a beta or will the installer overwrite you existing installation
I have beta 1 working on a Macpro 4.1/5.1

 

[jackluke]

Are you doing clean installs of beta 4 or upgrade installs? I used your "BigSur BaseSystem legacy usb fix" to create a legacy usb installer to upgrade install on a pre-existing beta 3 installation running your legacy usb prelinked kernel. I had manually installed the LegacyUSBInjector kext into L*/E* and was surprised to find that the beta 4 installation created a kc with parrot instances in it. I haven't been able to get that kc to completely boot yet though.

I also upgrade previous BigSur installation using an USB BigSur Installer (BaseSystem fix for legacy USB), currently I still use "prelinkedkernel fix penryn beta 3" for easy booting with legacy USB, haven't tested yet to install any kext on /L*/E* , but I made a test using BKE.kc (with legacy USB) I can only boot using CMD+S and "exit".

Do you fixed also "sudo mount -uw /" ?
(Note that using an USB BigSur Installer with upgrade you can skip directly the stage3 installer)

But even after a snapshot booting installation, using an USB BigSur Installer is easier for apfs_systemsnapshot tagging (ASentientBot method) and diskutil apfs deleteSnapshot .

 

[jackluke]

From a patched big sur usb can you upgrade a beta or will the installer overwrite you existing installation
I have beta 1 working on a Macpro 4.1/5.1

Upgrade that means overwriting previous System files, but users Data and Library settings are kept.

 

[jhowarth]

I also upgrade previous BigSur installation using an USB BigSur Installer (BaseSystem fix for legacy USB), currently I still use "prelinkedkernel fix penryn beta 3" for easy booting with legacy USB, haven't tested yet to install any kext on /L*/E* , but I made a test using BKE.kc (with legacy USB) I can only boot using CMD+S and "exit".

Do you fixed also "sudo mount -uw /" ?
(Note that using an USB BigSur Installer with upgrade you can skip directly the stage3 installer)

But even after a snapshot booting installation, using an USB BigSur Installer is easier for apfs_systemsnapshot tagging (ASentientBot method) and diskutil apfs deleteSnapshot .

The beta 3 installation had the snapshots left in place with just the seal removed. I still have some concerns about pruning off snapshots. Do we really understand how system snapshots behave compared to time machine ones? For example, the snapshot for a clean install is an update one. If we prune off that snapshot, what happens to all of the file changes made by the update? Are they regressed back like it would be with time machine ones?

 

[astuermer]

That command should take several minutes to run. It may or may not produce any output. I just want to know whether it produces any output after you press Enter and allow it time to run.

As an alternative, you can save the installer log if the error happens again, then zip the installer log and either attach it here or send it to me by private message.

I guess I should get to the point: Try again with another USB stick. I think your USB stick is dying. (I wanted to see if I could get hard proof first before saying that, however.)

I waited around 15 mins to produce a message, but nothing.
I already tried 0.0.20 with the public beta, same error.
Trying another USB stick now...

Will updated here!

Update: command line quits after a few minutes without output - before it never quits.

Update: Nope, same error - aborting at 12-13 minutes every time.

 

[jackluke]

Do we really understand how system snapshots behave compared to time machine ones? For example, the snapshot for a clean install is an update one.

If I don't get wrong from BigSur normal booting if use the apfs_systemsnapshot tagging an empty string, without deleting snapshot "sudo mount -uw /" should work keeping the apple-UUID snapshots, but snapshots are part of time machine (maybe since APFS time machine) that @civotit already tested:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...unsupported-macs-thread.2242172/post-28710826
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...unsupported-macs-thread.2242172/post-28712059

in few words when a time machine backup is made or restored, after you can't use "sudo mount -uw /", because it is tagged as snapshot booting regardless of system unsealed.

 

[astuermer]

As an alternative, you can save the installer log if the error happens again, then zip the installer log and either attach it here or send it to me by private message.

Here we go, the installation log...

 

[GSXB]

It here a preference for what type of device used for booting.ie a usb stick or a 20GB disk partition

 

[astuermer]

It here a preference for what type of device used for booting.ie a usb stick or a 20GB disk partition

My first try was using an external SSD, which worked perfect. It had 120 GB.
Tried installing it to a 30GB partition on my 128GB internal SSD, that quits with an error - so i resized the partition to 60GB which is working now.

 

[GSXB]

My first try was using an external SSD, which worked perfect. It had 120 GB.
Tried installing it to a 30GB partition on my 128GB internal SSD, that quits with an error - so i resized the partition to 60GB which is working now.

My bad, I meant for the purpose of booting from and installing big sur

 

[PBear.SF]

If the output of "csrutil status" shows this:

System Integrity Protection status: enabled (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.

This should anyway allow any system modification even if reported as "Custom Configuration".

But to have only this System Integrity Protection status: disabled these csr-active-config values are required w%00%00%00 or w%08%00%00 and a stock boot.efi .

No, it only shows this:

System Integrity Protection status: enabled.

Nothing about "Custom Configuration" -- and csr-active-config is %10%08%00%00.

 

[jackluke]

No, it only shows this:

System Integrity Protection status: enabled.

Nothing about "Custom Configuration" -- and csr-active-config is %10%08%00%00.

Boot from USB BigSur Installer and type: csrutil disable ; reboot

It here a preference for what type of device used for booting.ie a usb stick or a 20GB disk partition

You can use also a disk partition for the BigSur Installer (works also for BaseSystem legacy usb fix), I use that because is faster in read and write .

 

[Barry K. Nathan]

My first try was using an external SSD, which worked perfect. It had 120 GB.
Tried installing it to a 30GB partition on my 128GB internal SSD, that quits with an error - so i resized the partition to 60GB which is working now.

The fact that you were getting a mystery error instead of a clear "not enough disk space" type of error is a bug in my patcher (and the installation log was helpful in figuring out that this is what's happening). I should be able to fix it in the next several days. (I'd fix it today except I have non-patcher stuff going on in my life too.)

 

[luccax]

well according to what i see Big Sur won't load on a early 2013 MacBook pro - i have tried all the stuff including the terminal commands.. Is there a way forward with this machine???

 

[jackluke]

well according to what i see Big Sur won't load on a early 2013 MacBook pro - i have tried all the stuff including the terminal commands.. Is there a way forward with this machine???

Try this: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...unsupported-macs-thread.2242172/post-28737950

ignore the USBopencore that for Ivy Bridge Mac is not required.

After installation if you get prohibitory symbol, simply reboot to the USB BigSur Installer and type:
csrutil disable ; nvram boot-args="-no_compat_check" ; reboot

 

[civotit]

The fact that you were getting a mystery error instead of a clear "not enough disk space" type of error is a bug in my patcher (and the installation log was helpful in figuring out that this is what's happening). I should be able to fix it in the next several days. (I'd fix it today except I have non-patcher stuff going on in my life too.)

I also did encounter the error that @astuermer got in stage 1 of PB1 install to an external HD. Same Error 1004 (Update failure) but different cause. Whereas his is "not enough disk space", mine is "CRC mismatch" during extraction of a zip at that stage. My issue was resolved only by re-downloading the package and recreating the USB installer. I have a Macmini 6,2 and now runs build 20A5343j

 

[jmbZ]

Updated to Big Sur public beta on a Mid 2012 nMBP. And honestly it runs better then Catalina in some areas.

 

[luccax]

how did you do it - simple terms please