macOS 11 Big Sur on Unsupported Macs Thread

[Larsvonhier]

A little feedback to @khronokernel and the OCLP team:
When booting a MacBook 4,1 it always crashed at various points when using a OC set specifically for this machine.
Instead, I found that preparing the EFI OC for MacBook5,2 it will boot fine (with legacy mouse and USB support).
Something is amiss with the setting for the MB4,1 (this has been the case and is still so with 0.1.5 of the patcher).

 

[mt247]

I messed up my system.

Yesterday evening i created an usb stick to install the latest Big Sur Version. After instaling the new version, system is not booting anymore. It starts to boot but then the circle with a line though it appears.
Booting with pressing the alt key does not help.
You are getting the boot options displayed, including the efi boot, but it looks like the efi partiion on the stick is damaged.
My Macbook Pro is from late 2012, so not officially supported. I have not other mac at hand, only an old windows laptop i could use to create an usb stick.
Bis Sur was on 11.4 Beta 3 and i wanted to upgrade to the RC.
Anyone has a hint on what i could do?
I was using the OCLP patcher approach.

 

[mt247]

I messed up my system.

Yesterday evening i created an usb stick to install the latest Big Sur Version. After instaling the new version, system is not booting anymore. It starts to boot but then the circle with a line though it appears.
Booting with pressing the alt key does not help.
You are getting the boot options displayed, including the efi boot, but it looks like the efi partiion on the stick is damaged.
My Macbook Pro is from late 2012, so not officially supported. I have not other mac at hand, only an old windows laptop i could use to create an usb stick.
Bis Sur was on 11.4 Beta 3 and i wanted to upgrade to the RC.
Anyone has a hint on what i could do?
I was using the OCLP patcher approach.

I fixed it by using a different usb stick from a previous installation.
All back to fine now.

 

[K two]

Ahoy. Big Sur missing display resolutions can be acquired in the Display CP by holding <option> and selecting <Scaled> with the mouse, the resolutions panel will fill-in with many more options which all work. The problem arises if one of these new resolutions is selected and the Mac is rebooted. Unless one of the default selections is made, the Mac will suffer a prohibited sign full fans power button to recover crash. It will then restart just fine in the default resolution. Very dramatic. Mini3,1, OCLP v.0.1.5, macOS 11.3.1 🤨

 

[RogueB]

MacBook pro 5,2 (Late 2009) SSD - an attempt to install Big Sur 11.4 RC via OTA method.

I tried to use the OTA update (while booted in Big Sur 11.4 beta3 installation) on MacBook Pro 5,2.
While update showed up in the Software Update panel, and Big Sur 11.4 RC appeared to have been downloaded and go through "preparing to install " phase, it would not allow installation to proceed after reboot.
I run into "prohibitory sign" whether I chose "OS install" from Apple drive picker, or the OCLP drive picker.
Both attempts required power-button shutdown; on restart, and choosing BigSur icon in OCLP picker, machine booted normally but into the Big Sur 11.4. beta3 installation (previously installed system - no update).

I do recall a "warning", somewhere in this thread (from khronokernel(?)) that, with advent of the graphic acceleration patches for legacy Macs, it would require full OS installer and USB thumb-drive method for process to succeed(?)

Thank you to all the developers for great work.

 

[hvds]

MacBook pro 5,2 (Late 2009) SSD - an attempt to install Big Sur 11.4 RC via OTA method.

I tried to use the OTA update (while booted in Big Sur 11.4 beta3 installation) on MacBook Pro 5,2.
While update showed up in the Software Update panel, and Big Sur 11.4 RC appeared to have been downloaded and go through "preparing to install " phase, it would not allow installation to proceed after reboot.
I run into "prohibitory sign" whether I chose "OS install" from Apple drive picker, or the OCLP drive picker.
Both attempts required power-button shutdown; on restart, and choosing BigSur icon in OCLP picker, machine booted normally but into the Big Sur 11.4. beta3 installation (previously installed system - no update).

I do recall a "warning", somewhere in this thread (from khronokernel(?)) that, with advent of the graphic acceleration patches for legacy Macs, it would require full OS installer and USB thumb-drive method for process to succeed(?)

Thank you to all the developers for great work.

Do you remember the size of the 11.4 RC during OTA download?

I tried OTA in an earlier upgrade, and the size was almost that of a full installer, about 11GB. I think I remember that khronokernel said OTA should still be possible for root-patched systems (as we have after applying the acceleration patch), but with large download size. In my case the stage 1 installation did start, but turned out to be very slow, slower than from a full installer, so I cancelled it, waited for the full installer, and used this instead of OTA.

 

[RogueB]

Do you remember the size of the 11.4 RC during OTA download?

I tried OTA in an earlier upgrade, and the size was almost that of a full installer, about 11GB. I think I remember that khronokernel said OTA should still be possible for root-patched systems (as we have after applying the acceleration patch), but with large download size. In my case the stage 1 installation did start, but turned out to be very slow, slower than from a full installer, so I cancelled it, waited for the full installer, and used this instead of OTA.

Yes, it was a "full installer" at about 11.4 GB.
I had the same experience with OTA as you have (long time to install) but I let it continue.
On reboot I had the experience I described in the above post (#10334).

Were you able to download a full, independent Big Sur 11.4 RC installer?

 

[hvds]

Yes, it was a "full installer" at about 11.4 GB.
I had the same experience with OTA as you have (long time to install) but I let it continue.
On reboot I had the experience I described in the above post (#10334).

Were you able to download a full, independent Big Sur 11.4 RC installer?

No, none availabe yet according to gibmacos - but won‘t be long probably.

I join you in thanking the developers. It is a pleasure to have our MBP5,2s in such good shape with BS.
Mine underwent some surgery (soldering) three years ago which went well with dosdude1‘s advice. Good to see that the machine can now be useful for a bit longer again.

 

[whgmkeller]

Correct. There are some very strange boot issues on 11.3.x with the MacPros that they've been trying to track down. 11.2.3 is perfectly stable though.

After all the good advice - much appreciated -, I installed BS 11.2.3 thru the latest OCLP two days ago. Everything works fine, including wifi and Zoom - thanks guys !

Only thing I still need to fix is replace my Bluetooth card so that I - hopefully - will be able to unlock the MP5,1 with my Apple Watch.

Greetz,
Willem

 

[RogueB]

No, none availabe yet according to gibmacos - but won‘t be long probably.

I join you in thanking the developers. It is a pleasure to have our MBP5,2s in such good shape with BS.
Mine underwent some surgery (soldering) three years ago which went well with dosdude1‘s advice. Good to see that the machine can now be useful for a bit longer again.

My MacBook Pro was build to order (from Apple store); essentially a twin of yours. A bit faster processor, but nothing else. I did not have to preform any "surgical procedures", with scapel or soldering iron, but did repalce HDD with Samsung EVO 860 SSD. Machine is fully usable for most tasks, with graphic acceleration enabled, and I agree that it is nice to be able to use the 5,2 after 11 years of great service.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Thanks, @Ausdauersportler ... Now I'll look for nanopatcher ... So, I like first to understand "where the future macOS going" and act based on knowledge.
But in this case I ran into a mystery ... I perfectly disabled everything (with csrutil and csrutil authenticated-root) and from Recovery Mode I perfectly REPLACED the two GeForce drivers I wanted to change. With Terminal and ls -alGO I verified that the replacement had occurred perfectly in /System/Library/Extensions/. BUT ... when macOS restarts... it always RESETS its Big Sur drivers!!!! Grrrrr....
I will be using nanopatcher, but I also want to understand how this can be done directly. It's useful to understand for remediate any future problems, even with Macs that support Big Sur. The knowledge it's all
In any case, this afternoon I investigated the matter in depth and starting from your indications I understood the mechanism behind Big Sur and "virtual images" it uses ... Unfortunately I don't have time to dedicate and it means that I will wait for some Utility in which just insert the Kexts files or other system files to replace and the utility does it all. Thank you for your time

To understand my post you might start with the question about the mount point. This should clarify everything.

 

[khronokernel]

A little feedback to @khronokernel and the OCLP team:
When booting a MacBook 4,1 it always crashed at various points when using a OC set specifically for this machine.
Instead, I found that preparing the EFI OC for MacBook5,2 it will boot fine (with legacy mouse and USB support).
Something is amiss with the setting for the MB4,1 (this has been the case and is still so with 0.1.5 of the patcher).

Interesting, could you file a report on our Github? Would really like to get this resolved though like having a central place for tracking issues. See below:

Issues · dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher

Experience macOS just like before. Contribute to dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

 

[serafin79]

anyone encounter a bug with message app where it won't load. when I run it through command line I get this error

Messages[749:28116] Invalid absolute dimension, must be > 0.0. NOTE: This will be a hard-assert soon, please update your call site

I solved this by removing the following files
chat.db, chat.db-shm, or chat.db-wal

 

[Dilli]

Ahoy. Big Sur missing display resolutions can be acquired in the Display CP by holding <option> and selecting <Scaled> with the mouse, the resolutions panel will fill-in with many more options which all work. The problem arises if one of these new resolutions is selected and the Mac is rebooted. Unless one of the default selections is made, the Mac will suffer a prohibited sign full fans power button to recover crash. It will then restart just fine in the default resolution. Very dramatic. Mini3,1, OCLP v.0.1.5, macOS 11.3.1 🤨

I have no brightness slider on a MacBook Air 4,2 inspite of using OCLP correctly. I thought this brightness issue was only there for iMacs.

 

[David dongfox]

Ah, so you are already on Big Sur using another patcher and you want to switch to OCLP.

See my earlier post on switching to OCLP.

macOS 11 Big Sur on Unsupported Macs Thread

The 2012 MBP is fully supported by OCLP. I think it is worthwhile switching over to OCLP because of simplicity of OTA afterwards. You might think OCLP is complicated but it is straight forward in operations especially for models fully supported. When I switched to OCLP, it was not that hard: -...

forums.macrumors.com

Still not sure exactly what problems you are having...
Maybe you are unsure on installing the OCLP onto the USB stick's EFI ???

Just follow the steps in the official guide.

Ah, so you are already on Big Sur using another patcher and you want to switch to OCLP.

See my earlier post on switching to OCLP.

macOS 11 Big Sur on Unsupported Macs Thread

The 2012 MBP is fully supported by OCLP. I think it is worthwhile switching over to OCLP because of simplicity of OTA afterwards. You might think OCLP is complicated but it is straight forward in operations especially for models fully supported. When I switched to OCLP, it was not that hard: -...

forums.macrumors.com

Still not sure exactly what problems you are having...
Maybe you are unsure on installing the OCLP onto the USB stick's EFI ???

Just follow the steps in the official guide.

Yes, finally install and update to 11.4 (20F71) using OCLP 0.1.5 on my Mac mini late 2012.
Thanks.

 

[OKonnel]

An important question: even if a Mac is unsupported by Big Sur (and if my iMac 27" late 2013 is perfectly compatible for macOS 11.x), I can still try to send Apple some error reports or generic improvement requests, via Feedback Assistant?
Or do they get angry, because Apple doesn't accept that we use Big Sur, even if works very fine in my and in others unfairly unsupported Macs? We run risks to dialogue with them?...
Of course, I am referring to generic bugs and problems not related to using an unsupported Mac! And if the report is useful or important, indeed, Apple should be grateful.

 

[Macdctr]

An important question: even if a Mac is unsupported by Big Sur (and if my iMac 27" late 2013 is perfectly compatible for macOS 11.x), I can still try to send Apple some error reports or generic improvement requests, via Feedback Assistant?
Or do they get angry, because Apple doesn't accept that we use Big Sur, even if works very fine in my and in others unfairly unsupported Macs? We run risks to dialogue with them?...
Of course, I am referring to generic bugs and problems not related to using an unsupported Mac! And if the report is useful or important, indeed, Apple should be grateful.

Apple most likely will not respond to those who are using BS on unsupported Macs because you no longer receive support from Apple on your device...

 

[OKonnel]

Apple most likely will not respond to those who are using BS on unsupported Macs because you no longer receive support from Apple on your device...

This I imagined ... I would like to understand, however, if they can take revenge legally or if, then, maliciously, they will devise methods to prevent those who do not buy new Macs from using Big Sur…
In short: are we risk something, apart from being ignored?... Is the Community can would damaged?… Can Apple spy on us and take countermeasures? Could Apple ban the development of Micropatcher and OCLP and indict the authors?… Or does Apple know all this and doesn't care and maybe we are useful too? 😊

 

[Larsvonhier]

This I imagined ... I would like to understand, however, if they can take revenge legally or if, then, maliciously, they will devise methods to prevent those who do not buy new Macs from using Big Sur…
In short: are we risk something, apart from being ignored?... Is the Community can would damaged?… Can Apple spy on us and take countermeasures? Could Apple ban the development of Micropatcher and OCLP and indict the authors?… Or does Apple know all this and doesn't care and maybe we are useful too? 😊

This has been brought up a lot of times in a lot of threads here already.
The common take on it is: Apple does not care. Simple as that. They do not track unsupported machines running newer macOS. They most likely ignore feedback on betas from such machines. They also filter out personal information (and do not send back that for diag purposes) that some hackintosh EFI/BIOS produce (in contrast to Macs) when they collect the circumstances of crashes etc.

My personal experience is this: I have sent in feedback from such machines and very, very seldomly I really got back a question on details of crashes or missing/wrong behaviour. Might have slipped the support at Apple that it was an unsupported configuration...
I also dared to call their hotline (whenever I had at least one supported gadget i.e. iPhone X in combination with an old unsupported Mac) a couple of times. They always kind of hick-upped about such old hardware but then after my apologetic "I know, I know..." tried to help, always. (One time it was about getting facetime up and running on a very old MacBook).

 

[OKonnel]

To understand my post you might start with the question about the mount point. This should clarify everything.

@Ausdauersportler I love you You're making me rediscover the pleasure of learning more about the new ways in which macOS is structured today.
So! It's beautiful! I typed "mount" and ... boom! Then I created ROOT. But from then on Terminal prevents me from doing anything else, maybe because my system is "sealed"?

Vincenzo@iMac-Studio ~ % mount
/dev/disk2s5s1 on / (apfs, sealed, local, read-only, journaled)
devfs on /dev (devfs, local, nobrowse)
/dev/disk2s4 on /System/Volumes/VM (apfs, local, noexec, journaled, noatime, nobrowse)
/dev/disk2s2 on /System/Volumes/Preboot (apfs, local, journaled, nobrowse)
/dev/disk2s6 on /System/Volumes/Update (apfs, local, journaled, nobrowse)
/dev/disk2s1 on /System/Volumes/Data (apfs, local, journaled, nobrowse)
map auto_home on /System/Volumes/Data/home (autofs, automounted, nobrowse)
com.apple.TimeMachine.2021-03-12-222225.backup@/dev/disk6s2 on /Volumes/.timemachine/37DD76DA...... (apfs, local, read-only, journaled, nobrowse)

Vincenzo@iMac-Studio ~ % sudo mkdir /Volumes/ROOT                                   
Vincenzo@iMac-Studio ~ % sudo mount -o nobrowse -t apfs /dev/disk2s5 /Volumes/ROOT     
Vincenzo@iMac-Studio ~ % sudo chown -R 0:0 /Volumes/ROOT/System/Library/Extensions
chown: /Volumes/ROOT/System/Library/Extensions/ .........: Operation not permitted

If that's the only problem, is it enough to use csrutil disable or should I also use csrutil authenticated-root disable?
Or is it better to use the OCLP Option to disable SIP and SecureBootModel? Thanks.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

@Ausdauersportler I love you You're making me rediscover the pleasure of learning more about the new ways in which macOS is structured today.
So! It's beautiful! I typed "mount" and ... boom! Then I created ROOT. But from then on Terminal prevents me from doing anything else, maybe because my system is "sealed"?

Vincenzo@iMac-Studio ~ % mount
/dev/disk2s5s1 on / (apfs, sealed, local, read-only, journaled)
devfs on /dev (devfs, local, nobrowse)
/dev/disk2s4 on /System/Volumes/VM (apfs, local, noexec, journaled, noatime, nobrowse)
/dev/disk2s2 on /System/Volumes/Preboot (apfs, local, journaled, nobrowse)
/dev/disk2s6 on /System/Volumes/Update (apfs, local, journaled, nobrowse)
/dev/disk2s1 on /System/Volumes/Data (apfs, local, journaled, nobrowse)
map auto_home on /System/Volumes/Data/home (autofs, automounted, nobrowse)
com.apple.TimeMachine.2021-03-12-222225.backup@/dev/disk6s2 on /Volumes/.timemachine/37DD76DA...... (apfs, local, read-only, journaled, nobrowse)

Vincenzo@iMac-Studio ~ % sudo mkdir /Volumes/ROOT                                  
Vincenzo@iMac-Studio ~ % sudo mount -o nobrowse -t apfs /dev/disk2s5 /Volumes/ROOT    
Vincenzo@iMac-Studio ~ % sudo chown -R 0:0 /Volumes/ROOT/System/Library/Extensions
chown: /Volumes/ROOT/System/Library/Extensions/ .........: Operation not permitted

If that's the only problem, is it enough to use csrutil disable or should I also use csrutil authenticated-root disable?
Or is it better to use the OCLP Option to disable SIP and SecureBootModel? Thanks.

There is no other way than using OCLP to disable SIP and SBM! Unless you deinstall OCLP entirely.

 

[khronokernel]

macOS 11.5 20G5023d Beta 1 has been seeded to developer channels, as usual no InstallAssistant yet

 

[dhinakg]

Surprisingly, InstallAssistant is already out:
macOS Installer - 11.5 beta 1 build 20G5023d: http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...ps00kiae2wubfx84zyz1g68d/InstallAssistant.pkg
http://swcdn.apple.com/content/down...i47qgwl3jd2sotsuq4ml016r/InstallAssistant.pkg

No 11.4 RC InstallAssistant yet though. Looking to see if they end up pulling the download this time like before

EDIT: They did, link is down again. Wait til tomorrow I guess
EDIT 2: Back again. Weird
EDIT 3: Added secondary link

 

[abelpinate]

Hello!
Well, my machine was working great and goes to sleep.

When I wake up, no internet again.

No problem, i decided to work all day and in the night try all the things like smc, pram, dns and well, none of this worked.

since Big Sur didn’t boot again, from a partition with Catalina I erased the partition and installed again (11.3).

I’m still using micro patcher because I’m load of work and I’m not quiet understanding the open core.

Installed, booted all good and do the patch ketx. Then when I go to about this mac, now says serial number unavaible!!!

Please, help me here. I don’t know if resetting so many time the pram and smc, i wipe something more. I need to finish my work, I don’t care the internet right now.

 

[Dilli]

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