macOS 11 Big Sur on Unsupported Macs Thread

[naylom11]

Hi guys

I'm reading through this thread...but is it worth it to upgrade a mid-2009 13" MBP to Big Sur? I read it takes 23 seconds just to minimize a window - is that right?

Thanks

Without graphics acceleration the experience will be very frustrating in my opinion. So it depends on your reason for upgrading. For everyday use, I say no. As long as you have a backup you can always try it for yourself.

 

[naylom11]

So, without OC, no patch? Thanks.

Not necessarily, but it's starting to look that way. Up to 11.1, the micropatcher is working just fine. It all depends on what apple does in terms of releasing a full installer.

 

[Pri-est]

2008 Mac Pro 3,1 OpenCore Legacy Patcher Big Sur installation SUCCESS - sort of.

First off - thanks @Ausdauersportler for reminding me about OpenCore Legacy Patcher. Also super thanks to its developers.

Second off, to clarify the question I had earlier but could get no answers for - OC Legacy Patcher functions exactly the same as regular OpenCore itself, by applying patches to the EFI bootloader instead of the operating system itself. OCLP is just a tool that configures the OpenCore bootloader to allow for running unsupported Mac OS versions on old hardware.

I know this isn't the right way to install Big Sur, but here is how I did it, in case anyone wants to know. I had tried to avoid using the OCLP at first due to not understanding how it works and fear of firmware destruction, instead preferring to configure OpenCore myself, but that proved to be a massive waste of time (see 3rd bullet point).
- Installed and confiured OpenCore via the guide at: https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-For-Legacy-Macs/prerequisites.html
- Download Big Sur 11.1 full installer OTA from Catalina through Software Update, which got enabled after following the above guide
- Used that installer to install Big Sur on to a 2nd hard drive in the Mac Pro; this installed successfully but the keyboard and mouse input was not working at all at the "Select your Country or Region" setup screen.

- Booting back into Catalina, ran the OC Legacy Patcher, following instructions at: https://github.com/dortania/Opencore-Legacy-Patcher
- Replaced the contents of the EFI bootloader partition created by the old OpenCore install with what was generated by the OCLP

- Rebooted to the Big Sur drive, and all seems to be working (aside from audio but that seems to be a well known issue). Currently writing this from the Pro 3,1 running Big Sur 11.1.

So a few concerns:
- I did not actually install Big Sur with the OCLP generated bootloader; the installation was done with my self-configured one. So I can say nothing about the safety of running the installer with the OCLP generated bootloader with regards to harmful firmware updates. I'll figure this out more when the 11.2 update comes out, as to how to safely OTA update.
@h9826790 and everyone else who used the method of spoofing a BootROM version higher than what was in the f/w update package as an added protection from f/w update damage - what supported Mac had you spoofed your config to? My OCLP default config spoofed to Mac Pro 7,1 and a BootROM version of 1554.50.3.0.0, higher than the 999.0.0.0.0 that you used. Would putting something even higher like 9999.99.99.99.99 do the trick? Obviously this isn't the only protection I'll use to block f/w updates - but I would like to use it in addition to BlacklistAppleUpdate and run-efi-updater=no.
- Audio does not work, nothing new. But would it be possible to take the audio kexts used by the BarryKN Micropatcher, Big Mac or whatever other operating system level (as against bootloader level) patch tools that do have audio working on the Mac Pro 3,1 and add them to OpenCore to inject at bootup? If so, which kext is it?

- I see absolutely nothing in the Big Sur installation related to DVD drives, even though my Mac Pro has two! Are DVD drives not supported at all in Big Sur or is it just missing the driver for my IDE optical drives (one original Apple SuperDrive and another PC one)? The Disc Burning section of System Report says "No disc burning device was found. If the device is external, make sure it’s connected and turned on." The ATA devices section also says "This computer does not contain any ATA devices". Is there an ATA / IDE support kext that I can add? Can someone who installed Big Sur on a MP3,1 with any other method see if DVD drives work? If DVD drives don't work I really will have to stick with Catalina.

- What is the best model supported Mac to spoof to? OCLP defaulted to Mac Pro 7,1, but that results in a memory config error / warning message because my 32GB total DDR2 on two risers doesn't match what an MP7,1 would use. Also, what is the bare minimum spoofing that I can do to get updates to work? Can I leave the model name and leave the serial number as original, or vice versa?

I replaced original SuperDrive and install SATA DVD-RW drive. IDE and FireWire don't work on Mac Pro 3.1

In my case - CPU and RAM worked correctly (GeekBench 4 and 5 test done without issues).

 

[vinaypundith]

I replaced original SuperDrive and install SATA DVD-RW drive. IDE and FireWire don't work on Mac Pro 3.1

In my case - CPU and RAM worked correctly (GeekBench 4 and 5 test done without issues).

Hmmm. Is the Catalina Legacy Intel IDE Controller Patch (from dosdude's patcher) transplantable maybe? Replacing the DVD drives with SATA ones is gonna be hard because of a good bit of custom wiring I did to get an extra SATA power tail into the main compartment of the computer to power a USB 3.0 card.
I was not aware of the FireWire issue. Is this an issue with FireWire and Big Sur in general or just for the MP3,1?

Thanks for the info.

 

[ggyenyen]

Guys, I'm probably gonna be leaving for good. Goodbye.

Byeeeeee

 

[Pri-est]

Hmmm. Is the Catalina Legacy Intel IDE Controller Patch (from dosdude's patcher) transplantable maybe? Replacing the DVD drives with SATA ones is gonna be hard because of a good bit of custom wiring I did to get an extra SATA power tail into the main compartment of the computer to power a USB 3.0 card.
I was not aware of the FireWire issue. Is this an issue with FireWire and Big Sur in general or just for the MP3,1?

Thanks for the info.

On Mac Pro 4.1 all FireWire 800 ports working fine

Replacing the DVD drives with SATA ones is gonna be hard

Spoiler: Nothing hard for me

 

[Mikokola]

Dear all,
As an update, after updating a MBA 11' Mid2012 to Big Sur and rolling back to Catalina I have this: Serial: Unavailable...

 

[h9826790]

2008 Mac Pro 3,1 OpenCore Legacy Patcher Big Sur installation SUCCESS - sort of.

First off - thanks @Ausdauersportler for reminding me about OpenCore Legacy Patcher. Also super thanks to its developers.

Second off, to clarify the question I had earlier but could get no answers for - OC Legacy Patcher functions exactly the same as regular OpenCore itself, by applying patches to the EFI bootloader instead of the operating system itself. OCLP is just a tool that configures the OpenCore bootloader to allow for running unsupported Mac OS versions on old hardware.

I know this isn't the right way to install Big Sur, but here is how I did it, in case anyone wants to know. I had tried to avoid using the OCLP at first due to not understanding how it works and fear of firmware destruction, instead preferring to configure OpenCore myself, but that proved to be a massive waste of time (see 3rd bullet point).
- Installed and confiured OpenCore via the guide at: https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-For-Legacy-Macs/prerequisites.html
- Download Big Sur 11.1 full installer OTA from Catalina through Software Update, which got enabled after following the above guide
- Used that installer to install Big Sur on to a 2nd hard drive in the Mac Pro; this installed successfully but the keyboard and mouse input was not working at all at the "Select your Country or Region" setup screen.

- Booting back into Catalina, ran the OC Legacy Patcher, following instructions at: https://github.com/dortania/Opencore-Legacy-Patcher
- Replaced the contents of the EFI bootloader partition created by the old OpenCore install with what was generated by the OCLP

- Rebooted to the Big Sur drive, and all seems to be working (aside from audio but that seems to be a well known issue). Currently writing this from the Pro 3,1 running Big Sur 11.1.

So a few concerns:
- I did not actually install Big Sur with the OCLP generated bootloader; the installation was done with my self-configured one. So I can say nothing about the safety of running the installer with the OCLP generated bootloader with regards to harmful firmware updates. I'll figure this out more when the 11.2 update comes out, as to how to safely OTA update.
@h9826790 and everyone else who used the method of spoofing a BootROM version higher than what was in the f/w update package as an added protection from f/w update damage - what supported Mac had you spoofed your config to? My OCLP default config spoofed to Mac Pro 7,1 and a BootROM version of 1554.50.3.0.0, higher than the 999.0.0.0.0 that you used. Would putting something even higher like 9999.99.99.99.99 do the trick? Obviously this isn't the only protection I'll use to block f/w updates - but I would like to use it in addition to BlacklistAppleUpdate and run-efi-updater=no.
- Audio does not work, nothing new. But would it be possible to take the audio kexts used by the BarryKN Micropatcher, Big Mac or whatever other operating system level (as against bootloader level) patch tools that do have audio working on the Mac Pro 3,1 and add them to OpenCore to inject at bootup? If so, which kext is it?

- I see absolutely nothing in the Big Sur installation related to DVD drives, even though my Mac Pro has two! Are DVD drives not supported at all in Big Sur or is it just missing the driver for my IDE optical drives (one original Apple SuperDrive and another PC one)? The Disc Burning section of System Report says "No disc burning device was found. If the device is external, make sure it’s connected and turned on." The ATA devices section also says "This computer does not contain any ATA devices". Is there an ATA / IDE support kext that I can add? Can someone who installed Big Sur on a MP3,1 with any other method see if DVD drives work? If DVD drives don't work I really will have to stick with Catalina.

- What is the best model supported Mac to spoof to? OCLP defaulted to Mac Pro 7,1, but that results in a memory config error / warning message because my 32GB total DDR2 on two risers doesn't match what an MP7,1 would use. Also, what is the bare minimum spoofing that I can do to get updates to work? Can I leave the model name and leave the serial number as original, or vice versa?

I haven't test BootROM version spoofing yet.

But some reports about going above 999 on the 1st set of number may crash the OS during boot. I am not sure if this happens on all Mac, or just some particular Mac.

Anyway, OpenCore 0.6.6 will have this new function. This is particularly to make for old Mac safer to installer unsupported macOS

I haven't test it yet, but I assume this function will allow us to go BootROM 9999.999.999.999.999 straight away without crashing.

 

[Bustycat]

I haven't test BootROM version spoofing yet.

But some reports about going above 999 on the 1st set of number may crash the OS during boot. I am not sure if this happens on all Mac, or just some particular Mac.

Anyway, OpenCore 0.6.6 will have this new function. This is particularly to make for old Mac safer to installer unsupported macOS
View attachment 1710950

I haven't test it yet, but I assume this function can will allow us to go BootROM 9999.999.999.999.999 straight away without crashing.

Yes this is submitted by the developer of Legacy Patcher and 0.0.8 0.0.9 will use OpenCore 0.6.6.

 

[chris1111]

@vinaypundith

The DVD Drive works here on my HP Prodesk 600 G1 Big Sur Hackintosh
The DVD Writer is connect to the SATA PCI express card
StarTech PCI Express card using Drivers Marvell 88SE9128 native support

Eject menus also works

 

[Bustycat]

OpenCore Legacy Patcher 0.0.9 is released for resolving firmware install issues bricking Macs.

 

[kudalev]

I’m almost successfully installed Big Sur (thanks @Ausdauersportler) on iMac 12,1 with K1100 and everything works (wifi, sleep, gpu acceleration) but no internal monitor of iMac. After boot menu main screen goes black and picture only through second monitor. MacOS doesn’t see internal display at all!
Please help.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I’m almost successfully installed Big Sur (thanks @Ausdauersportler) on iMac 12,1 with K1100 and everything works (wifi, sleep, gpu acceleration) but no internal monitor of iMac. After boot menu main screen goes black and picture only through second monitor. MacOS doesn’t see internal display at all!
Please help.

Do you use the Catalina Loader and OpenCore?

I assume you used my fork of the micro patcher?

 

[kudalev]

Do you use the Catalina Loader and OpenCore?

Yes I used Catalina Loader with High Sierra.
And yes I've used your iMac micro patcher for Big Sur.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Yes I used Catalina Loader with High Sierra.
And yes I've used your iMac micro patcher for Big Sur.

Then please unpatch the system and patch it again using the modified script attached....

Open a terminal app in Big Sur and enter:

/Volumes/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur/patch-kexts.sh -u

copy the attached script side by side the the existing one and enter after a reboot

/Volumes/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur/patch-kexts.K1100M.sh --ns

reboot again and the internal display should work....the --ns enables Night Shift and is optional, if you need it.

please report back

 

[vinaypundith]

Is it possible to apply the "Legacy Intel IDE Controller Patch" that dosdude's Catalina Patcher uses to Big Sur?

Maybe if I can find where the kext is on a patched Catalina drive I can copy it over to the corresponding folder in Big Sur?

 

[LavaTech]

Hey guys! Im looking for a way to run Big sur on my Mac pro 5,1 (mid 2010) It has th dual cpu, 8 cores, 16 threads, Its running a gt 120 and ati radeon 5670, Is there any way possible that I can run Big sur on this Mac?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hey guys! Im looking for a way to run Big sur on my Mac pro 5,1 (mid 2010) It has th dual cpu, 8 cores, 16 threads, Its running a gt 120 and ati radeon 5670, Is there any way possible that I can run Big sur on this Mac?

Change the GPU and take a visit on the first post of this thread for the patcher options. You need a Metal GPU - otherwise this experiment is wasted time.

 

[LavaTech]

So big sur would just not be a good option for my pc? Or would Catalina run much better without a metal supported?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

So big sur would just not be a good option for my pc? Or would Catalina run much better without a metal supported?

Have you checked the @dosdude1 patcher notes about non Metal GPU? The Radeon 5xxx is not supported at all. The GT120 will walk (not really run).

As you own a modular system I would strongly recommend to get the cheapest Metal GPU on the market even for Mojave or Catalina. Having such a GPU you can most likely jump onto the Big Sur train, too.

 

[LavaTech]

Oh, What one would you suggest?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Oh, What one would you suggest?

I do not own a MacPro - try the fat search machine and we have here within this forum a fat thread about AMD GPU on Mac Pro...possibly you can get an older metal card because some guys seem to be on the eternal hunt for the fastest GPU you can buy and they leave a trail of used cards behind.

 

[naylom11]

OpenCore Legacy Patcher 0.0.9 is released for resolving firmware install issues bricking Macs.

Had some issues upgrading my previous 0.0.7/OC 0.6.5 install. Added the new maxbios variable, and boot hung at Apple logo. Not sure if it was a structural issue with the config.plist or what. After reshuffling the structure of my 0.6.5 .plist to match the newer 0.6.6, everything worked. I would highly recommend anyone upgrading (not creating an entirely new install) take a close look at the structure of the newer config, and copy it identically.

Here are some good tools for assessing the differences/integrity of your config:

OC Config Compare: https://github.com/corpnewt/OCConfigCompare
Sanity Checker: https://opencore.slowgeek.com

* As an added note, anyone with a 9,2 mbp can do some general housecleaning tasks, such as removing the SSDT-CPBG.aml, and Restrictevents.kext (AirportBrcmFixup.kext as well if you've upgrade to an AC compatible card). You won't need any of these

 

[CuchoM]

Dear all,
As an update, after updating a MBA 11' Mid2012 to Big Sur and rolling back to Catalina I have this: Serial: Unavailable...

try this to solve serial number

 

[0423MAC]

Hi guys

I'm reading through this thread...but is it worth it to upgrade a mid-2009 13" MBP to Big Sur? I read it takes 23 seconds just to minimize a window - is that right?

Thanks

Better off going with Windows or Linux. No GPU acceleration means at best your MacBook is a digital picture frame.