macOS 11 Big Sur on Unsupported Macs Thread

[Barry K. Nathan]

Yes, it worked!!! Thank you so much, you saved my Mac ??

Make sure to update to a newer version of the patcher before updating to a newer Big Sur beta. The newer patcher versions add an "EFI Boot" partition to the patched installer USB. Booting from this partition quickly runs an EFI program that fixes the nvram settings then powers the Mac down. This turned out to be more reliable than trying to change the nvram settings from within macOS, and it also means that when you get the prohibited/no-entry sign, you can just quickly boot the USB stick's EFI Boot partition then turn the Mac back on, and the Mac will boot again.

 

[vendini]

Make sure to update to a newer version of the patcher before updating to a newer Big Sur beta. The newer patcher versions add an "EFI Boot" partition to the patched installer USB. Booting from this partition quickly runs an EFI program that fixes the nvram settings then powers the Mac down. This turned out to be more reliable than trying to change the nvram settings from within macOS, and it also means that when you get the prohibited/no-entry sign, you can just quickly boot the USB stick's EFI Boot partition then turn the Mac back on, and the Mac will boot again.

Thank you for your advice! Of course I will now proceed like that and be more careful

 

[Barry K. Nathan]

Even if no one does manage to get it easy to install Big Sur on unsupported Macs you could stay on Catalina and enjoy another 3 years.

Assuming Apple sticks to their historical practices, they'll support Catalina for 3 years total, which means another 2 years (until roughly October 2022).

It would be nice if Apple extended Catalina's security updates by another year; that would mean all of the Macs that are unsupported beyond Catalina, even the Mid 2012 13" MacBook Pro (discontinued in October 2016), would receive security updates until they become Obsolete (7 years after discontinuation). However, I don't expect that Apple will do that.

 

[justperry]

Installer works, it installing now after using Micropatcher 0.3.1.

I'll be back when it's finished, or before if anything went wrong.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Installer works, it installing now after using Micropatcher 0.3.1.

I'll be back when it's finished, or before if anything went wrong.

Can confirm that the beta 9 with micro patcher 0.3.1 creates an usable installer - I am some minutes behind within the installation, let's see if my hardware can catch up

Thank you, @Barry K. Nathan!

 

[amaze1499]

I have now released v0.3.1 to fix the beta 9 problem. I was able to fix the trampoline after all.

Release notes:

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

@Barry K. Nathan MBP mid 2012 13" - MiPa 0.3.1, beta 9: was able to install via USB after applying ( /Volumes/Image\ Volume/insert-hax.sh without seal) - 20A5384c up and running, incl Wifi and Airdrop. Looking at DiskUtility: It now shows system booted from a snapshot.

Thank you!

 

[jackluke]

About Legacy USB and non-APFS Mac BigSur installer or recovery, I noticed that apple from beta 9 is seriously intentioned to remove the Extensions (kext), now the beta 9 BaseSystem.dmg size is 661 MB (on beta 4 was 840 MB , beta 8 was 750 MB ), so they have reduced even more the BaseSystem.dmg, but I just made an updated BaseSystem Legacy USB fix for beta 9 , moreover it adds the Wifi (so you can use Safari) on BigSur recovery installer and sound (press CMD+F5 to enable it on recovery).

First requirement is that from any macOS Recovery terminal at least set csrutil disable

Then get an "Install macOS Big Sur Beta.app" (currently beta 9 InstallAssistant.pkg) making a stock apple USB BigSur installer with this method:

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur\ Beta.app/Contents/Resources/ createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/YourUSBLabel

then apply the "BigSur BaseSystem b9 legacy usb fix" , after unplug and plug again your USB drive and apply the "BigSur BaseSystem b9 legacy usb fix2".

After made you can boot from a Penryn Core2Duo non-APFS or legacy USB Mac the USB BigSur Installer from apple startup manager or USBopencore, then upgrade or install it on BigSur unsupported Mac, simply typing from Recovery Utilities terminal this: /V*/I*/H*

(that is abbreviation for /Volumes/Image\ Volume/Hax3.sh based on ASentientBot Hax3.dylib)

It should work on any BigSur capable Mac but is aimed to Legacy USB and non-APFS Penryn Core2Duo, to continue stage2 installer or to boot after installation you need a non spoof version of USBOpenCoreAPFSloader4s1.zip (to detect the "macOS Installer") and for Legacy USB to use CMD+S and exit (this check is required to have responsive usb input devices and concurrently a BigSur USB external installation).

Instead for other recent USB Mac this BaseSystem fix should work without efforts and could be also combined with Micropatcher.

 

[vendini]

I have now released v0.3.1 to fix the beta 9 problem. I was able to fix the trampoline after all.

Release notes:

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

Wow! You did it! It works like a charm! I just installed beta 9 on my iMac without any problem, and even the wifi works! Thank you so much, Barry!!

 

[MrWeenus]

@Barry K. Nathan Installed Beta 9 with Micropatcher 0.3.1 and it works flawlessly. Animations are still kinda choppy due to HD4000 graphics, but nonetheless, it works great!

MacBook Pro Retina 15" mid-2012

 

[amaze1499]

...

 

[justperry]

Can confirm that the beta 9 with micro patcher 0.3.1 creates an usable installer - I am some minutes behind within the installation, let's see if my hardware can catch up

Thank you, @Barry K. Nathan!

Yup, works like a charm, easier than previous Installs thanks to @Barry K. Nathan

Works On my 2012 Mac Mini and probably also for 2012 MBP (Non Retina) amongst others.
It's this easy

1. Download Installassistant.pkg.
2. Download @Barry K. Nathan Micropatcher 0.3.1.
3. Create USB installer with createinstallmedia.
4. Run Micropatch.sh and install-setvars.sh (last one with sudo) in Terminal
5. Restart into Installer, no Terminal commands needed.
6. Working
7. One last step,Install Wifi Kext with the patch-kexts.sh in Terminal from the USB Installer.

Still have the problem with Wifi menu not be able to change my networks, there's a workaround which I explained in a former post.

Ha, I changed my HD VRAM memory on my Mini from 1536 MB to 4080 MB a week ago, it's back to the default.

 

[joevt]

About Legacy USB and non-APFS Mac BigSur installer or recovery, I noticed that apple from beta 9 is seriously intentioned to remove the Extensions (kext), now the BaseSystem.dmg size is 661 MB (on beta 4 was 840 MB , beta 8 was 750 MB ), so they have reduced even more the BaseSystem.dmg, but I have made an updated BaseSystem Legacy USB fix for beta 9, moreover it adds the Wifi (so you can use Safari) on BigSur recovery installer and sound (press CMD+F5 to enable it on recovery).

Note: currently after applied this fix will allow to patch a stock beta 9 full installer (already made with createinstallmedia) and even to install it on BigSur unsupported Mac, simply using from Recovery Utilities terminal this: /V*/I*/H*

(that is the ASentientBot Hax3.dylib)

it should work on any Mac but is aimed to Legacy USB and non-APFS Penryn Core2Duo, but to continue stage2 installer or to boot after installation you need an USBOpenCoreAPFSloader4s (to continue the "macOS Installer") and for Legacy USB to use CMD+S and exit .

Instead for other recent USB Mac this fix should work without issues and could be also combined with Micropatcher.

If you have a Mac that doesn't have apfs efi driver in firmware, then it might be possible to use the Driver#### variables. I've only done this on MacPro3,1 with Catalina. I haven't tried Big Sur yet.

Mac Pro 3,1 NVMe support + Upgrade Guide + Questions

Adding NVMe and apfs support to MacPro3,1 without flashing ROM or using a EFI boot loader or Shell: You can place the EFI drivers on a EFI or FAT or HFS+ partition, then set Driver#### and DriverOrder NVRAM variables using the commands discussed here. In my example below, I chose a folder...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[jackluke]

If you have a Mac that doesn't have apfs efi driver in firmware, then it might be possible to use the Driver#### variables. I've only done this on MacPro3,1 with Catalina. I haven't tried Big Sur yet.

Mac Pro 3,1 NVMe support + Upgrade Guide + Questions

Adding NVMe and apfs support to MacPro3,1 without flashing ROM or using a EFI boot loader or Shell: You can place the EFI drivers on a EFI or FAT or HFS+ partition, then set Driver#### and DriverOrder NVRAM variables using the commands discussed here. In my example below, I chose a folder...

forums.macrumors.com

I used an APFS efi driver in my USBopencore setup (non spoof version): USBOpenCoreAPFSloader4s1.zip

but currently the main issue for Legacy USB Mac is that is not easy to add legacyUSBInjector.kext to kmutil BootKernelExtensions.kc , and through opencore some kext can be injected on the stock kernelcollection .

For example from my USBopencore a Legacy USB can boot with CMD+S and exit a stock APFS Recovery 11.0 (@hvds already tested this and it works also on beta 9).

My BaseSystem Legacy USB fix b9 is still based of course on the prelinkedkernel, but to boot a full installation prelinkedkernel don't work more (it stuck on stage2 apple booting logo when switching to graphic kext), only BKE allows to boot and for non-APFS Mac through CMD+S and exit .

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Success with Big Sur Beta 9 on an iMac 2011/metal GPU with a slightly different work plan

1. Download Installassistant.pkg.
2. Download @Barry K. Nathan Micropatcher 0.3.1.
3. Create USB installer with createinstallmedia.
4. Run Micropatch.sh in Terminal
5. Restart into Installer, called the set-vars.sh command in terminal because I did not read the changed docs.
6. installer started, installed and finally had a successful login

Did not patch the iMac so far, have to fix the patch script first - WIFI is running oob with the BCM94360CD

EDIT: Do not use this method ignoring the install-setvars.sh! Follow the docs @Barry K. Nathan provides on GitHub!

 

[Barry K. Nathan]

Still have the problem with Wifi menu not be able to change my networks, there's a workaround which I explained in a former post.

Is that the problem where the dialog box shows up saying the network cannot be found?

 

[StephN999]

Bonjour,

@Ausdauersportler,
Would it be possible to have more installation options in your script?
For example I don't need Whatevergreen/lilu and maybe others that are already included in OpenCore and the IntelHD3000 kext and plugin.

Thank you for that. ?

 

[Barry K. Nathan]

Success with Big Sur Beta 9 on an iMac 2011/metal GPU with a slightly different work plan

1. Download Installassistant.pkg.
2. Download @Barry K. Nathan Micropatcher 0.3.1.
3. Create USB installer with createinstallmedia.
4. Run Micropatch.sh in Terminal
5. Restart into Installer, called the set-vars.sh command in terminal because I did not read the changed docs.
6. installer started, installed and finally had a successful login

Did not patch the iMac so far, have to fix the patch script first - WIFI is running oob with the BCM94360CD

Would you mind letting me know which kexts need to be added? I should probably add them to my patcher as an option like --2011-imac or --2011-imac-metal or something like that. (My recollection is that you've posted about that in the past, so a link to a previous post is fine, if that information is still current. I tried searching, but I was having some trouble, and anyway I want to make sure I make the changes based on up-to-date information and not something that's outdated and incorrect.)

 

[thatsmeonlyme]

@Barry K. Nathan
using your new micropatcher 0.3.1 Installation went through flawlessly on cMP 5.1. Handoff working, Watch unlock working, airdrop working.
Did exactly follow your updated README.
Thanks for your work.
I will test later on my 20121 MBPs non retina and report.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Bonjour,

@Ausdauersportler,
Would it be possible to have more installation options in your script?
For example I don't need Whatevergreen/lilu and maybe others that are already included in OpenCore and the IntelHD3000 kext and plugin.

Thank you for that. ?

Currently it would be more easy for the few users ( single user) of the K1100M/K610M/K2100M to change their (his) config.plist on the Catalina Loader.

The current config.plist for Nvidia cards assumes the HD3000 to be installed on disk and injects only the BacklightFixup, FakeSMC, Whatevergreen, Lilu - so you left already the "standard" - how shall I catch up with all these possible configurations? H.264 iGPU acceleration does not work with injected HD3000.

But you are free to edit the script and change some lines to delete whatever you do not need.

 

[StephN999]

I would try to modify the script myself, I understand that you can't do it for X configuration, however it's not at all in my skill set.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Big Sur Beta 9 on iMac 2011 with metal enabled graphics cards​

Would you mind letting me know which kexts need to be added? I should probably add them to my patcher as an option like --2011-imac or --2011-imac-metal or something like that. (My recollection is that you've posted about that in the past, so a link to a previous post is fine, if that information is still current. I tried searching, but I was having some trouble, and anyway I want to make sure I make the changes based on up-to-date information and not something that's outdated and incorrect.)

I would love this!

Let me first change your script (adding just a few lines) and do a final test if all this still works with your latest 0.3.1 patch-kext.sh version. There are some changes from 0.10 to 0.3.1. It would be easy to see the changes using plain diff or some more sophisticated source code control software.

Spoiler: Patch log

install@T5-BSB9 Install macOS Big Sur Beta % ./patch-kexts-iMac.sh --no-wifi --iMac --2011
Password:
Disabling WiFi patch (--no-wifi command line option)
Enabling 2011 iMac patch (--iMac command line option)
Using --2011 mode.
Installing kexts to:
/
Volume appears to have a Big Sur installation (build 20A5384c). Continuing.
Volume is mounted from device: /dev/disk6s5s1
Mounted device is a snapshot. Will now mount underlying volume
from device /dev/disk6s5 at temporary mountpoint:
/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n0000000000000/T/tmp.U1l641gF
Checking for KernelCollections backup...
Backup not found. Performing backup now. This may take a few minutes.
Backing up original KernelCollections to:
/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n0000000000000/T/tmp.U1l641gF/System/Library/KernelCollections/KernelCollections-20A5384c.tar.lz4
a BootKernelExtensions.kc
a SystemKernelExtensions.kc
Installing High Sierra AppleHDA.kext
Installing High Sierra Intel HD 3000 kexts
Installing LegacyUSBInjector.kext
Installing Catalina AppleBCM5701Ethernet.kext
Installing highvoltage12v patched iMac-2011-family.kext
NVIDIA Kepler based graphics adapter found
Using stock NVIDIA compatible version of AppleIntelSNBGraphicsFB.kext
Using kmutil to rebuild boot collection...
Using kmutil to rebuild system collection...
Copying deferred prelinked kernels in /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n0000000000000/T/tmp.U1l641gF...
/AppleInternal/BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/kext_tools/kext_tools-692.40.6/kc_staging.m.279: Encountered error while inspecting path: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=260 "The folder “PrelinkedKernels” doesn’t exist." UserInfo={NSFilePath=/private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n0000000000000/T/tmp.U1l641gF/Library/Apple/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels, NSUserStringVariant=(
Folder
), NSUnderlyingError=0x7fd3de506110 {Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-43 "fnfErr: File not found"}}
/AppleInternal/BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/kext_tools/kext_tools-692.40.6/kc_staging.m.279: Encountered error while inspecting path: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=260 "The folder “PrelinkedKernels” doesn’t exist." UserInfo={NSFilePath=/private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n0000000000000/T/tmp.U1l641gF/Library/Apple/System/Library/PrelinkedKernels, NSUserStringVariant=(
Folder
), NSUnderlyingError=0x7fd3de70f250 {Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-43 "fnfErr: File not found"}}
Copying KCs in /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n0000000000000/T/tmp.U1l641gF...
System Volume UUID: 078F6D13-9764-4E11-A9EF-507A0C6E9250
Volume Group UUID: 5D8C8B7A-A669-467F-B892-D4E51334109E
Preboot disk: /dev/disk6s2
Preboot volume: /System/Volumes/Preboot
Copying: /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n0000000000000/T/tmp.U1l641gF/System/Library/KernelCollections/BootKernelExtensions.kc.elides -> /System/Volumes/Preboot/5D8C8B7A-A669-467F-B892-D4E51334109E/boot/System/Library/KernelCollections
Copying: /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n0000000000000/T/tmp.U1l641gF/System/Library/KernelCollections/BootKernelExtensions.kc -> /System/Volumes/Preboot/5D8C8B7A-A669-467F-B892-D4E51334109E/boot/System/Library/KernelCollections
Creating new root snapshot.
Attempting to unmount underlying volume (don't worry if this fails).
This may take a minute or two.
umount(/private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n0000000000000/T/tmp.U1l641gF): Resource busy -- try 'diskutil unmount'
Volume BigSur on disk6s5 failed to unmount: dissented by PID 0 (kernel_task)
Installed patch kexts successfully.
install@T5-BSB9 Install macOS Big Sur Beta %

Made the test and it works with your current 0.3.1 micro patcher. Added the single package I created before and the new and renamed script to this post.

I simply added an --iMac option and in my special case having an iMac 2011 with a metal enabled GPU and an upgraded WIFI BCM94360CD this call patch-kext-iMac.sh --2011 --iMac --no-wifi does the trick.

For all users of an (metal GPU enhanced) iMac 2011 having only the old Atheros WIFI card I assume the correct call would be simply patch-kext-iMac.sh --2011 --iMac.

Notes:

• Patching has to be done from the booted BigSur using the terminal command line. There is a call/hack to the system_profiler to get info about the installed GPU.
• Currently I did only a single test with the 2009/2010 iMacs. The micro patched Apple installer switches off the machine after a few seconds.
• I could not make the installer work directly on the iMacs having a metal AMD Polaris based GPU. The lack of the EFI boot screen makes it nearly impossible to to this. Possibly the USBopencore may work to circumvent this problem.
• The attached file iMac2011Family-highvoltage12v.zip has to be copied into the kexts folder on the patched USB installer. The modified shell script has to be copied onto the patched USB installer directly side by side with the original file. If you cannot make it run use the chmod +x patch-kext-iMac.sh from the terminal before. Just change the to the installer directory.

Edit:

• Updated patch-kexts-iMac.zip, fixed error and deleted Whatevergreen and Lily from installation in case of AMD cards. The third case needs a new command line argument (CL)
• Updated extension zip

 

[thatsmeonlyme]

after installing DP9 now the kextload Bug --> smbfs is fixed.

 

[Barry K. Nathan]

I would love this!

Let me first change your script (adding just a few lines) and do a final test if all this still works with your latest 0.3.1 patch-kext.sh version. There are some changes from 0.10 to 0.3.1. It would be easy to see the changes using plain diff or some more sophisticated source code control software.

You may want to wait for v0.3.2 (probably within the next few hours). (On the other hand, v0.3.0 had massive changes to patch-kexts.sh and v0.3.2 will have small changes in comparison, so if you don't want to wait, that's also fine.)

patch-kexts in v0.3.1 can be flaky if you run it from the live system (if you boot from the USB first, it works, though). Apple made some changes (not sure if it was in beta 7 or beta 9) to how SIP works, so I need to update the patcher to take that into consideration.

 

[thatsmeonlyme]

@Barry K. Nathan
I think it could be useful for people using your micropatcher to add in step 15 that the terminal entries here are case sensitive. There were many problems in the past of newbies not knowing that.

THX

 

[Ausdauersportler]

You may want to wait for v0.3.2 (probably within the next few hours). (On the other hand, v0.3.0 had massive changes to patch-kexts.sh and v0.3.2 will have small changes in comparison, so if you don't want to wait, that's also fine.)

patch-kexts in v0.3.1 can be flaky if you run it from the live system (if you boot from the USB first, it works, though). Apple made some changes (not sure if it was in beta 7 or beta 9) to how SIP works, so I need to update the patcher to take that into consideration.

Made the test and it works with your patcher. Added the single package I made and the new and renamed script to the former post.

I simply added an --iMac option and in my special case having an iMac 2011 with a metal enabled GPU and an upgraded WIFI BCM94360CD this call patch-kext-iMac.sh --2011 --iMac --no-wifi does the trick.

For all users of an (metal GPU enhanced) iMac 2011 having only the old Atheros WIFI card I assume the correct call would be simply patch-kext-iMac.sh --2011 --iMac.

Notes:

• Patching has to be done from the booted BigSur using the terminal command line. There is a call/hack to the system_profiler to get info about the installed GPU.
• Currently I did only a single tests with the 2009/2010 iMacs. The micro patched Apple installer switches off the machine after a few seconds.
• I could not make the installer work directly on the iMacs having a metal AMD Polaris based GPU. The lack of the EFI boot screen makes it nearly impossible to to this. Possibly the USBopencore may work to circumvent this problem.
• The BCM94360CD works out off the box with BT and WIFI, but I had to enable Continuity manually.