macOS 11 Big Sur on Unsupported Macs Thread

[gw463]

now I install the 7 even if I don't think it solves my problem with the two software that do not open crossing my fingers

 

[CuchoM]

MBP9,2 non retina -
itex@Mac ~ % nvram 4D1FDA02-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B30102em-product

4D1FDA02-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B30102em-product MacBookPro9,2

itex@Mac ~ % nvram 4D1FDA02-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B30102:OCLP-Version

4D1FDA02-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B30102:OCLP-Version 0.0.21%00

itex@Mac ~ % nvram 4D1FDA02-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B30102pencore-version

4D1FDA02-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B30102pencore-version REL-069-2021-04-08

BS 11.3 beta (20E5229a)

Working fine no issues.

Sidecar does not enable ...

 

[Khadam]

The phrase OTA updates came from world of iOS devices. Basically we write OTA and mean the Apple software update process described here.

Having an unsupported Mac lead to three problems:

1. no macOS installation
2. no such macOS updates
3. lack of functionality

The first and last problem have been solved more or less by all patchers listed on the first post. Solving the second is only possible with OpenCore unless you do not want to follow a 20 step manual process like the micropatcher one each time.

You should try OCLP with the next 11.3 release update and you may read the Dortania OpenCore guide about EFI installation on internal disks.

I tried to OCLP as soon as you recommended it to me. I didn't wait for next update and I simply reinstalled macOS. It works great! If used OCLP on mid 2011 iMac and doesn't have brightness control: GO INTO "PATCHER SETTINGS" AND TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU FORCED iMAC METAL PATCH AND THEN REBUILD OPENCORE AND REINSTALL IT ON YOUR INTERNAL DRIVE.

Quick question: Now, since I have installed BigSur with OCLP, does it mean that I no longer need to install each system update manually?

 

[buckrock]

I just checked my sources for the sucatalog; the full installer for 11.3 beta 7 is not yet available. I will keep checking periodically and get you the link as soon as possible.

This tidbit from Mr. Macinstosh: "11.3 now holds the record for the most beta releases (7) Not counting the summer beta cycle (10)."

Edit: It is available now as reported on the next page!
http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...s789llp9vazv9o3olhp0yecm/InstallAssistant.pkg

 

[gustavopi]

Anyone know why I am getting this error? I’m using the OpenCore Legacy Patcher. It has been sitting like this for over an hour now. It was stalling on the apple logo with the loading bar so I enabled verbose to see if I could see what the problem is and that is what I see. Any ideas? I have 2013 iMac (iMac14,2)

This can be a simple ownership problem. Must set to ignore the owner of the disk.

Thank you to all who make this forum work! Here's some nostalgia to remind us how far we've come: 10.3 to 11.3!
View attachment 1754141

Yeah! Did you know I still have the install CDs, the first Mac OS X I bought for my iMac green, the original system was OS 8.6 in a 32MB CPU that I expanded to 256MB. I always loved to give extra life to old macs, Apple must love me... XD

 

[Ausdauersportler]

BS 11.3 beta (20E5229a)

Working fine no issues.

Sidecar does not enable ...

SideCar needs a more recent real Intel iGPU with HEVC support. Even a modern AMD dGPU with HEVC will not do the job.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I tried to OCLP as soon as you recommended it to me. I didn't wait for next update and I simply reinstalled macOS. It works great! If used OCLP on mid 2011 iMac and doesn't have brightness control: GO INTO "PATCHER SETTINGS" AND TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU FORCED iMAC METAL PATCH AND THEN REBUILD OPENCORE AND REINSTALL IT ON YOUR INTERNAL DRIVE.

Quick question: Now, since I have installed BigSur with OCLP, does it mean that I no longer need to install each system update manually?

Sorry, but this is what we are talking about for weeks now! No manual updates. Works as on a fully supported system. Only the AppleHDA patch (if used to get sound working) needs to be installed unless AppleALC is working.

If OCLP does not get you the brightness control you did not enable the NVIDIA metal GPU patch as described in the docs. (I do not understand why you added this here? Was it meant as a hint for other iMac users?).

 

[Desjek-T]

Hi, I currently have Big Sur Beta 6 installed on my iMac13,2 Late 2012 with upgraded 802.11ac Wi-Fi card and SSD hard drive without any problem, I have used big-sur-micropatcher (Version 0.5.1).

I would like to switch to OCLP, I know I have to create a USB with Big Sur, install OpenCore and install Big Sur again on my iMac. But I have a couple of doubts:

Should I change the model from iMac13,2 to iMac15,1 when installing OpenCore?

Do I need to do any other step before?


Thanks in advance!

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hi, I currently have Big Sur Beta 6 installed on my iMac13,2 Late 2012 with upgraded 802.11ac Wi-Fi card and SSD hard drive without any problem, I have used big-sur-micropatcher (Version 0.5.1).

I would like to switch to OCLP, I know I have to create a USB with Big Sur, install OpenCore and install Big Sur again on my iMac. But I have a couple of doubts:

Should I change the model from iMac13,2 to iMac15,1 when installing OpenCore?

Do I need to do any other step before?


Thanks in advance!

The focal point is to make your unsupported iMac13,2 look like a supported one (which is the iMac15,1). If you do not allow this so called spoofing you will not even get the installer to work and surely not the update process.

Install OC to your EFI partition or an USB device (if that makes you feel more confident), boot OpenCore, boot Big Sur and let the update process to the job.

Note:
If you current Big Sur installed is really unpatched this will work. If it has been patched you need to disable SIP and SecureBoot with the OCLP to boot into than patched Big Sur.

 

[vvapple]

I am having a iMac 14,1 with BigSur 11.2.2 running (perfectly smooth) on it. I used PatchedSur.

However I noticed that the analyzing of my Photos library seems to be broken as well as face detection.

So I am thinking about switching back to Catalina. How difficult is that or could I just install Catalina over BigSur? I have a bootable stick with the Catalina installer as well as a TimeMachine Backup.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I am having a iMac 14,1 with BigSur 11.2.2 running (perfectly smooth) on it. I used PatchedSur.

However I noticed that the analyzing of my Photos library seems to be broken as well as face detection.

So I am thinking about switching back to Catalina. How difficult is that or could I just install Catalina over BigSur? I have a bootable stick with the Catalina installer as well as a TimeMachine Backup.

No, you need to delete the APFS file system containing Big Sur during the Catalina boot process and rebuild it using the Catalina disk utility (this is crucial!). Later you need to import back your data from Time Machine.

Before going back give the OCLP a try! I do not know the root cause of your problems with Photos. I just fired up Photos on my iMac12,2 with OCLP (after a very long time) and the Photos app is just doing a long "Updating People" run with all my shared albums from all the iDevices....

 

[Desjek-T]

The focal point is to make your unsupported iMac13,2 look like a supported one (which is the iMac15,1). If you do not allow this so called spoofing you will not even get the installer to work and surely not the update process.

Install OC to your EFI partition or an USB device (if that makes you feel more confident), boot OpenCore, boot Big Sur and let the update process to the job.

Note:
If you current Big Sur installed is really unpatched this will work. If it has been patched you need to disable SIP and SecureBoot with the OCLP to boot into than patched Big Sur.

Sorry, when you say if Big Sur is patched, I guess you mean if I used the micropatcher to install Big Sur, right?
Yes, I have used it.

Or do you mean if I have patched any component with the micropatcher as it could be the wifi card?
This is not the case because I replaced it.

To install OCLP, I must first disable SIP and SecureBoot with OCLP before installing Big Sur, but then I must re-enable these options?


Thanks again, best regards!

 

[pietruszkim]

I am very happy that we have such a tool like e.g. micropatcher. My 2012 MacMini received new life with BigSur for next years I hope. However I have one stupid question in my head: IS IT REALLY SECURE? I mean, after patching PRAM memory/EFI, are our computers secure? Has this solution any potential vulnerabilities? OF COURSE I assume that the creator of micropatcher is an honest guy but I wonder if this kind of changes are possible open door for bad guys-hackers? Thank you in advance for your potential comments in this topic.

 

[vvapple]

No, you need to delete the APFS file system containing Big Sur during the Catalina boot process and rebuild it using the Catalina disk utility (this is crucial!). Later you need to import back your data from Time Machine.

Before going back give the OCLP a try! I do not know the root cause of your problems with Photos. I just fired up Photos on my iMac12,2 with OCLP (after a very long time) and the Photos app is just doing a long "Updating People" run with all my shared albums from all the iDevices....

Thanks!

It is a bit strange. Until two weeks ago it worked perfectly fine with photos - now it seems to completely broken. Could Apple have done a server side change here which blocks unsupported machines from having certain functions?

 

[gw463]

Hi all has anyone here installed Luminar or CaptureOne on BigSur? can't I install either softw on Macpro 3.1 ?. if i don't find the solution i will have to go back to catalina and downgrade is always unpleasant .... thanks in advance

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Sorry, when you say if Big Sur is patched, I guess you mean if I used the micropatcher to install Big Sur, right?
Yes, I have used it.

Or do you mean if I have patched any component with the micropatcher as it could be the wifi card?
This is not the case because I replaced it.

To install OCLP, I must first disable SIP and SecureBoot with OCLP before installing Big Sur, but then I must re-enable these options?


Thanks again, best regards!

I assume you have used the micropatcher only to install Big Sur, likely the patch-kext.sh came back with a message like "Detected a Late 2013 iMac. patch-kexts.sh is not necessary on this model."

In that particular case you can leave SIP enabled. You can test this really easily. Use OC with SIP enabled and try to boot your micropatcher partition. If everything works out fine you can directly leave it in this way and apply updates, if your want.

It is time you start to do something, we cannot talk about this the whole day. You cannot break things!

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Thanks!

It is a bit strange. Until two weeks ago it worked perfectly fine with photos - now it seems to completely broken. Could Apple have done a server side change here which blocks unsupported machines from having certain functions?

I assume the same thing. Using OCLP will change the model to a supported one and who knows - possibly the functionality comes back. On the other hand something might be broken with the Apple iServices in general.

There is no bug/virus free world - we learnt that the very hard way last year, didn't we?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I am very happy that we have such a tool like e.g. micropatcher. My 2012 MacMini received new life with BigSur for next years I hope. However I have one stupid question in my head: IS IT REALLY SECURE? I mean, after patching PRAM memory/EFI, are our computers secure? Has this solution any potential vulnerabilities? OF COURSE I assume that the creator of micropatcher is an honest guy but I wonder if this kind of changes are possible open door for bad guys-hackers? Thank you in advance for your potential comments in this topic.

If your want more security your only way will be using OCLP. There you can enable SIP, use FileVault and follow Apples rules and recommendations nearly completely.

About really secure:

There is no such concept in this world. The only really sure thing is - we will all going to die. You can put more and more efforts to avoid this on a short time scale like eating healthy food, no drugs like sugar, some sport and than you will be hit by a car on your leisure bike ride or your Genom lead you into serious problems without any chance to escape (The Island is just a Bad dream).

Same with computer and software in general: First there will be always bugs, hackers and experts more capable in breaking into your system than you will be able to secure it. You can build a higher fence (SIP and file vault and firmware passwords), but...

Apple created a lot of such fences to protect the system. Patcher developers had to tear down most of them to patch the system (this way we can re-enable support for unsupported systems).

Even OCLP will not be able to guarantee you a long term security. If Apple drops HD4000 support from macOS you will have to patch it back, tearing down the fences you just brought up, again.

Hope you understand this colorful story...

 

[lumos]

Hello everyone, I have a request from OpenCore Legacy Patcher users. Specifically we're looking to document more success cases within the patcher, this allows us to check if a specific model's been tested in the wild as well as what version of OCLP is used.

This should aid greatly for both us (the developers) as well as the users when troubleshooting since they're able to more easily find what version is known good in the event the latest release of the patcher has regressions.

To help out, we're mainly asking for the following:
- Machine model (ie. iMac14,2)
- Patcher version (ie. 0.0.21)
- Any extra mods done to the machine (ie. Wifi or GPU upgrade)

To get an idea what we're referring to, see the below link. It's currently not hooked up to the rest of the site so average users won't stubble upon it at first:

Tested Models on OpenCore Legacy Patcher | OpenCore Legacy Patcher

For those unsure how to get the model and patcher version, you can run the following in terminal:

# Check Model
nvram 4D1FDA02-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B30102:oem-product
# Check Patcher Version
nvram 4D1FDA02-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B30102:OCLP-Version

- Machine mode (MacPro3,1)
- Patcher version (0.0.21)
- HW upgrades (Radeon RX 580 8 GB, Broadcom Bcm94360cd WiFi card)
- Post-Install Volume Patch

All work well

Thanks!

 

[khronokernel]

Hello everyone, today with OCLP we've made a great advancement! Specifically we've removed our dependancy on AppleHDA root patching with AppleALC!

What this means for the average user is:

- Any machine with a metal GPU can now have DELTA updates, SIP, FileVault, etc!

Main machines benefiting are:

- MacPro3,1 with Metal GPU
- iMac11,x with Metal GPU
- iMac12,x with Metal GPU

However this support affects all Mac models with audio missing in Mojave+ as currently OCLP has no other need for root patching until ASentientBot's acceleration patches are ready for public beta testing. So deltas for all!

Currently this will be released with 0.0.22 however for those who wish to play around with this can find an early build below(Note you must be signed into Github to download):

- OpenCore-Patcher.app

Additional notes:
- iMac11,2 and MacBook7,1 were tested (ie. CS4206)
- MacPro3,1 are untested (ie. ALC885)
- AppleHDA must be unpatched for AppleALC to work correctly

 

[dhinakg]

20E5229a's InstallAssistant is out: http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...s789llp9vazv9o3olhp0yecm/InstallAssistant.pkg

EDIT: this ended up posting after @khronokernel

 

[khronokernel]

Credit to @dhinakg , InstallAssistant for macOS 11.3 20E5229a Beta 7:

http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/05/50/071-25879-A_OQE4ER0DFZ/lzaykslcd8s789llp9vazv9o3olhp0yecm/InstallAssistant.pkg

 

[jlbillman]

Hello all. I have a Mac 5,1 with 64 GB RAM, a Radeon 7950 , and two 27" LED Cinema displays. I have the two monitors attached to th 7950 by the mini-DP ports. My problem is I can only get one monitor working. Is there a tweek, a ,kext, or somehting I missed? Everything else is working fine.

One note, I didn't use OpenCore when I setup my Big Sur. I used one of he other patchers. Unfortunately I don;t remember which one. Would this possibly help?

 

[pietruszkim]

If your want more security your only way will be using OCLP. There you can enable SIP, use FileVault and follow Apples rules and recommendations nearly completely.

About really secure:

There is no such concept in this world. The only really sure thing is - we will all going to die. You can put more and more efforts to avoid this on a short time scale like eating healthy food, no drugs like sugar, some sport and than you will be hit by a car on your leisure bike ride or your Genom lead you into serious problems without any chance to escape (The Island is just a Bad dream).

Same with computer and software in general: First there will be always bugs, hackers and experts more capable in breaking into your system than you will be able to secure it. You can build a higher fence (SIP and file vault and firmware passwords), but...

Apple created a lot of such fences to protect the system. Patcher developers had to tear down most of them to patch the system (this way we can re-enable support for unsupported systems).

Even OCLP will not be able to guarantee you a long term security. If Apple drops HD4000 support from macOS you will have to patch it back, tearing down the fences you just brought up, again.

Hope you understand this colorful story...

Hi Ausdauersportler, thank you for your comment and really colorful (like iMacs G3) story I got it. The real question is like the following: Suppose we have 2 identical MacMini 2012 setups. The first one has "legal" Catalina OS on the board and the second one has "blessed" with micropatcher BigSur OS. Both of them have disabled SIP, file vault, firmware password, Gatekeeper. Is there any difference between them in security level? Is modified by micropatcher EFI/PRAM memory the wider door for potential unsupported access than apple standard EFI/PRAM data?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hi Ausdauersportler, thank you for your comment and really colorful (like iMacs G3) story I got it. The real question is like the following: Suppose we have 2 identical MacMini 2012 setups. The first one has "legal" Catalina OS on the board and the second one has "blessed" with micropatcher BigSur OS. Both of them have disabled SIP, file vault, firmware password, Gatekeeper. Is there any difference between them in security level? Is modified by micropatcher EFI/PRAM memory the wider door for potential unsupported access than apple standard EFI/PRAM data?

I guess you caught me naked here. This is an interesting question!

Since both systems would use in this particular case an unmodified root system volume and Apple added this APFS crypto sealing (like ZFS) to the Big Sur system you might even have a better situation with the more recent macOS. And you can have it all with your Mac mini using OCLP.

Today I migrated my last micropatcher installation over to OCLP (because I can use it now without any patching and SIP enabled and FileVault support and a non broken seal).

This is simply unbelievable!