On a dual boot Big Sur 11.6.5/Monterey 12.3 in separate partitions could Monterey’s needed OCLP (0.4.3) post root patching (WiFi /Kepler) negatively effect the Big Sur partition which doesn’t require root patching on a Metal GPU card installed 2011 iMac 27” NVIDIA K4100M?
On a dual boot Big Sur 11.6.5/Monterey 12.3 in separate partitions could Monterey’s needed OCLP (0.4.3) post root patching (WiFi /Kepler) negatively effect the Big Sur partition which doesn’t require root patching on a Metal GPU card installed 2011 iMac 27” NVIDIA K4100M?
The root patch for Monterey is applied to the Monterey partition, not to the EFI partition or any other partition, so it should not affect Big Sur. I use the same OCLP for Monterey and Big Sur on my MacPro3,1. I recently found that it also works for Catalina though I recall earlier OCLP attempts to boot Catalina failed so I guess something has improved since then. I haven't tried going earlier than Catalina (though I do have all macOS versions from 10.4 Tiger installed and working without OCLP up to Catalina).
The root patch for Monterey is applied to the Monterey partition, not to the EFI partition or any other partition, so it should not affect Big Sur. I use the same OCLP for Monterey and Big Sur on my MacPro3,1. I recently found that it also works for Catalina though I recall earlier OCLP attempts to boot Catalina failed so I guess something has improved since then. I haven't tried going earlier than Catalina (though I do have all macOS versions from 10.4 Tiger installed and working without OCLP up to Catalina).
Thanks for that answer, I thought since Big Sur in my current setup doesn’t require root patching I might be lessening performance via root patching Monterey… however you just explained that each partition is patched or not patched separately. Thanks Again! 😊
Thanks @alphascorp! And could you please tell where to find the instructions to do it? Or maybe you could publish the two themes in one or two ZIP files attached? Thank you. PS: the background with the apple is very nice...
On Github, a download link is included next to each theme name.
NOTE: Each theme includes the Backgroud and all the icons in .icns format but also the icons for the EFI volumes (internal and/or external) to be harmonized with the theme, (or not).
This thread will be used to discuss advancements in getting macOS 11.0 Big Sur running on unsupported Macs.
---
Compatibility List:
2015 and later MacBook
MacBook8,1
MacBook9,1
MacBook10,1
2013 and later MacBook Air
MacBookAir6,x
MacBookAir7,x
MacBookAir8,x
MacBookAir9,1
Late 2013 and later MacBook Pro
MacBookPro11,x
MacBookPro12,1
MacBookPro13,x
MacBookPro14,x
MacBookPro15,x
MacBookPro16,x
2014 and later iMac
iMac14,4
iMac15,1
iMac16,x
iMac17,1
iMac18,x
iMac19,x
2017 and later iMac Pro
iMacPro1,1
2014 and later Mac mini
Macmini7,1
Macmini8,1
2013 and later Mac Pro
MacPro6,1
MacPro7,1
- These Macs so far are capable of running Big Sur properly, but WiFi is not yet fully stable (except on iMac14,x, i.e. Late 2013 iMacs), and (at least on iMac14,x) Fusion Drive performance is significantly slower than on previous macOS releases. See FAQ for more information.
2012 and Early 2013 MacBook Pro
MacBookPro9,x
MacBookPro10,x
2012 MacBook Air
MacBookAir5,x
2012 and 2013 iMac
iMac13,x
iMac14,x
2012 Mac mini
Macmini6,x
- These Macs so far can boot Big Sur, some got graphical acceleration support and, as with most 2012-2013 Macs, using early versions of Big Sur WiFi is not fully stable yet. See FAQ for more information.
* Not officially supported in macOS Catalina, but are fully capable of running both Catalina and Big Sur with a Metal-compatible GPU and upgraded WiFi/BT card.
Early-2008 or newer Mac Pro, iMac, or MacBook Pro:
MacPro3,1 *
MacPro4,1 *
MacPro5,1 *
iMac7,1 +
iMac8,1 +
iMac9,1 +
iMac10,x +
iMac11,x (starting with OCLP 0.2.5 systems with AMD Radeon HD 5xxx and 6xxx series GPUs will be supported under Big Sur as well. Radeon HD 4xxx series GPU has graphics acceleration with Big Sur!) *
iMac12,x (starting with OCLP 0.2.5 systems with AMD Radeon HD 5xxx and 6xxx series GPUs will be supported under Big Sur as well. Radeon HD 4xxx series GPU has graphics acceleration with Big Sur!) *
MacBookPro4,1 +
MacBookPro5,x +
MacBookPro6,x +
MacBookPro7,x +
MacBookPro8,x +
Late-2008 or newer MacBook Air or Aluminum Unibody MacBook:
MacBookAir2,1 +
MacBookAir3,x +
MacBookAir4,x +
MacBook5,1 +
Early-2009 or newer Mac Mini or white MacBook:
Macmini3,1 +
Macmini4,1 +
Macmini5,x (starting with OCLP 0.2.5 systems with AMD Radeon HD 6xxx series GPUs will be supported under Big Sur as well.) +
MacBook5,2 +
MacBook6,1 +
MacBook7,1 +
Early-2008 or newer Xserve:
Xserve2,1 *
Xserve3,1 *
2006-2007 Mac Pros, iMacs, MacBook Pros, and Mac Minis:
MacPro1,1
MacPro2,1
iMac4,1
iMac5,x
iMac6,1
MacBookPro1,1
MacBookPro2,1
MacBookPro3,1
Macmini1,1
Macmini2,1
— The 2007 iMac 7,1 is compatible with Catalina and potentially Big Sur if the CPU is upgraded to a Penryn-based Core 2 Duo, such as a T9300.
2006-2008 MacBooks:
MacBook1,1
MacBook2,1
MacBook3,1
MacBook4,1 (as with Mojave and Catalina, we'll be on our own here, but Big Sur will be running on this machine!)
2008 MacBook Air (MacBookAir 1,1)
All PowerPC-based Macs
All 68k-based Macs
After a long journey @ASentientBot was able to add graphics acceleration back to some systems without a metal GPU. A complete list of the current public beta phase has been created within this particular OpenCore Legacy Patcher documentation.
The current consensus is to install Big Sur on systems offering a Metal capable GPU. These cards offer graphics acceleration and more importantly (probably) full application support. Big Sur will be almost unusable without graphics acceleration.
You can install Big Sur on such systems, but it is not possible to get graphics acceleration when running Big Sur on a system with:
Pre-Metal AMD video cards: Radeon HD 6xxx, 5xxx series (support has been added to OCLP)
Pre-Metal Intel video cards: 3rd and 4th Gen are unsupported (GMA series)
Big Sur will be almost unusable without graphics acceleration.
This is a short list of users and theirs systems running Big Sur with some of the patcher options listed below. It is not complete, does not represent a ranking, is just meant to answer the "is my system supported" question. The OLCP support list can be found here.
I gathered this list from the signatures the particular users added to their account here, just searching through the last 10 pages of posts.
If you want to see a longer list please just add a signature to your own account showing the data I need to fill the columns here in the table.
Q: What does unsupported mean for my old Mac?
A: Three problems: Apple locks you out from running the stock installer of Big Sur and as important to mention, you cannot get OTA upgrades via Softwareupdate in the Systems Preference. Third problem: software functionality may have been stripped from the new macOS. To make your old system working again it needs searching, finding and reinstallation of these stripped parts. Non-metal graphics card support is missing, just as an example.
Q: I see that my (2011 or earlier) unsupported Mac does not have "graphics acceleration" under Big Sur. How much performance loss does this cause?
A: For example, minimizing a Safari window takes well under a second on a 2012 MacBook Pro with accelerated graphics, versus 14 seconds on an Early 2011 13" MacBook Pro (2.3GHz Intel Core i5) or 25 seconds on a Late 2009 MacBook (2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo). During these multi-second delays, the entire user interface can freeze up. So when one app causes a graphics processing delay, it can occupy the entire computer and prevent switching to another app. Video playback is still generally fluid on 2011 Macs with 2nd generation Intel Core processors, but videos are almost slide shows if you have a Core 2 Duo. Overall, a small number of users of these Macs may have a serious need for Big Sur and may be able to endure the slowdowns, but most users will find unaccelerated graphics performance to be simply unacceptable.
Q: When will my unsupported Mac receive macOS 11.0 Big Sur?
A: This is a community-driven effort to try and restore support for various unsupported Macs. Community members are working as hard as they can, often in their spare time, to try and add back stable support for these Macs. Based upon changes in macOS Big Sur, it may be possible some Macs that were previously patchable in Mojave, Catalina, and other previous releases of macOS may not be patchable under Big Sur. Please do not harass the patch developers to go faster, release the patcher, etc. Please do not clog up the thread with useless posts asking if your specific Mac will be patchable. Rest assured, the dedicated community of developers are working on these patches and doing everything that they can to re-add support for as many Macs as possible.
A: Check the table containing current download links. Please do not assume that all links will be all valid in the future! Apple may pull these downloads from their servers.
To get the latest installer, use this tool. Create the USB installer following this guide.
Q: How to create a USB installer after downloading the InstallAssistant package??
A: Install the package, it creates an app named Install macOS Big Sur in your applications folder. Create the USB installer following this official Apple guide.
Q: How to prepare my installation disk before installation??
A: Of course, you will need to do the normal prudent things like backup your disk. You'll probably want to erase and reformat your entire internal SSD. Big Sur doesn't like to share space with Catalina. Do some reading up on the new, APFS format and how Big Sur sets up snapshots, uses SIP, and uses containers rather than partitions: Eclectic LC article on boot volume layout is a great start.
Q: How do I prepare my Mac?
A: Install the latest firmware release you can get for your Mac. All system pre 2012 do not receive any new updates. Install the lastest High Sierra or El Capitan (pre 2009) version to force your old Mac to get the firmware update.
All Macs 2012+ may still receive updates with Catalina until Summer 2022. The most easy way to get this still upcoming updates is having a small Catalina installation on a separate APFS container on the internal disk and update this installation on a regular basis.
Q: Where/how can I download a patcher tool?
A: Currently we have here more than a single known option. Historically no former patcher was able to enable the normal Apple Software Update on unsupported systems. With the interception of Acidanthera'sOpenCore on Macs this has changed dramatically. The first and most important tool is OpenCore Legacy Patcher. It uses OpenCore and lets your system look like a supported one and you can use the common Apple system tools to install and update, have SIP enabled, use File Vault, have WPA Wireless support and more.
OpenCore Legacy Patcherby @khronokernel and @dhinakg is a completely different approach based on OpenCore. Detailed information is available from his announcement on this thread and their guide. This is currently the only option offering system updates via Apple software update like all supported Macs as well as Legacy Graphics Acceleration. While the preparation uses a simple GUI the Big Sur installation and updating happens in the same way as on supported systems via System Preferences.
Supports macOS 10.9, Mavericks and later to run.
Supports macOS 10.7, Lion and later if Python3 is installed manually.
There are other solutions sometimes using partly the same OpenCore or the older well-known patching methodologies and we have them listed here just to be complete. We would recommend that every user of those tools checks if you can move over to OpenCore Legacy Patcher.
micropatcher by @Barry K. Nathan was the first tool supporting a longer list of hardware. Installation needs some preparations and following the instructions step by step. Using this patcher you can also easily add your own extensions after patching following this doc. Please study the docs before you press the download button!
Development is on indefinite hold as of November 17th, 2020, see option 1: OpenCore Legacy Patcher.
bigmacby StarPlayrX is another patcher worth considering if you have a Mac Pro.
Development is on temporary hold as of April 11th, 2021.
BigSurFixes by @jackluke is the next option. This patcher allows booting of the Big Sur (Beta) installer on a wider range of older systems without graphics acceleration.
iMac micropatcher by @Ausdauersportler is a forked variant of the 0.5.1 release of the @Barry K. Nathan micropatcher you will find here all necessary extensions needed to install and run Big Sur on the iMac Late 2009 to Mid 2011 modded with a Metal GPU as described in this thread. This patcher is an enhancement of the original including the @jackluke Night Shift patch and can be used as a fully replacement and it is still under development (dev-v0.5.5). There is an OpenCore add-on available to offer software upgrades (hybrid solution). Basically, this comes close to the OCLP approach and for that reason development has been stopped.
Further development progress is available through the OpenCore Legacy Patcher.
Patched Surby @BenSova is a really nice polished GUI patching option. The GUI makes it more comfortable to follow the process.
Supports macOS 10.15, Catalina and later and so can only be used to update starting from Catalina!
Development is on hold as of Oct 9th, 2021.
MicropatcherAutomator by MinhTonand @moosethegoose2213 is another frontend using the micropatcher backend. The GUI makes it more comfortable to create the USB installer and follow the installation and patch process.
Supports macOS 10.11, El Capitan and later to create a bootable installer - so it closes a gap for users starting with systems having older macOS versions currently installed.
OpenCore on the Mac Proby @cdf is a detailed thread explaining the process of installing OpenCore onto MacPro5,1's teaching users how to maintain their own configurations. For more tech-savvy users, this is a great way to learn the legacy patching process.
For users less confident in configuring their own OpenCore setup, OpenCore Legacy Patcher is available to automate this process.
Please remember it is highly suggested that you have a backup in place before installing new system software on your main devices, overwriting any stable releases.
Please remember it is highly suggested that you have a backup of your Macs firmware. You can use @dosdude1 (legacy) software called romtool (password of the software archive is rom) to save and store it externally. Getting a corrupted firmware can cause serious headaches.
Unsupported software can cause irreparable hardware damage or irrecoverable data loss and should be used at one's own risk.
Q: Where/how can I upgrade the Big Sur installation with upcoming releases?
A: Normally unsupported implies, that Apple locks out these Macs from the normal initial installation process as well as from the normal upgrade process. Currently only the option 1 (OpenCore Legacy Patcher) offers the possibility to use the (normal) Apple upgrade process (called OTA upgrades). Option 6 (Patched Sur) has a macOS updater inside its post-install app, and while it still requires the 12 GB InstallAssistant.pkg, it does not require a USB to upgrade. With all other versions, you have to go through the initial process, again. Download the recent InstallAssistant.pkg from Apple, create a USB installer, follow the instructions provided by the various patcher options.
Q: Where/how can I download the @dosdude1 Big Sur patcher tool?
A:@dosdude1commented recently directly on this topic. There will be no such patcher for Big Sur available. Please do not clutter the thread asking for it again and again.
Q: After a PRAM reset I get a prohibited symbol and cannot boot back into Big Sur - what to do now?
A: Depending on your patcher you need to reboot into the EFI partition of your USB installer once to set the boot-args properly (all micropatcher based options above except #2 and #4). Option 1: OpenCore Legacy Patcher users need to boot OpenCore before booting into Big Sur!
Q: After the installation of Big Sur some unknown volumes appear on my desktop. Why does this happen ?
A: Compared to Catalina a lot of changes came up. You can find an interesting article linked in here. Do not try to delete the volumes or snapshots listed in the disk utility!
Q: Using the patchers listed above I have issues! How to post my problems?
A: Please first add a signature to your account describing your hardware setup. It will be added automatically to each of your posts. Please describe what you did and what you experienced. Add screen shots of your Mac using Hold CMD+Shift+3 for whole screen capture of CMD+Shift+4 for capturing selection. Do not post blurred photos. Be specific and be precise, be sharp!
Q: Why did Apple drop support for my perfectly capable Mac?
A: Only Apple can give a definite answer to this. However, there is evidence that it is based upon the CPUs being used in the now-unsupported Macs, which was the case last year with the Mac Pro 4,1/5,1. Intel decided to stop releasing firmware security fixes for Ivy Bridge and previous-generation CPUs. While they are technically compatible and supported in Big Sur, Apple has decided it is not worth the risk to continue supporting CPUs that have permanently unpatched security holes, putting users at risk. Also, terrible Fusion Drive performance under Big Sur on Late 2013 iMacs may be the reason Apple dropped support for that model.
While this is also not confirmed, another possibility could be that some of the excluded Macs feature WiFi chips that are no longer deemed fit for the next major release. This decision could be based on the previously mentioned security issues as well. The presence of graphics drivers for some of these newly unsupported Macs in Big Sur Beta 1 suggests this.
Q: So will my now unsupported Mac get macOS 11.x Big Sur?
A: If your Mac had official support in macOS Catalina, it will be able to be patched to run Big Sur with minimal issues.
If your Mac was unsupported before the release of macOS Catalina, support remains to be seen as graphics acceleration may not be feasible (as before with Mojave and Catalina) at this time. (OpenGL is deprecated but actually still supported for now in Big Sur, as mentioned in Apple's own developer documentation. However, there are other reasons why providing non-Metal graphics acceleration on Big Sur is proving to be very difficult.)
For legal purposes, the only official way to obtain a copy of macOS Big Sur at this time is to register with the Apple Developer program ($99/year) or, for the public beta, the Apple Beta Software Program (free). Please remember it is highly suggested that you do not install beta software on your main devices, overwriting any stable releases. Beta software can cause irreparable hardware damage or irrecoverable data loss and should be used at one's own risk.
Apple and all patch developers are not responsible for any potential damage or data loss caused by using pre-release software or unofficial support patches. Please use at your own risk.
Hi. I successfully updated to Mojave using your patch. I've been trying to clean install Big Sur using OCLP and following the directives of MrMacintosh great video. I use an external drive, journaled, gui formatted. After install I can never boot into Bigsur, the mac just goes back to the installer and restarts the installation process. The OS is getting installed on a blank SSD. This is my secondary setup, which I decided to upgrade before I took the plunge on my main machine which is a 5,1. This one is a dual cpu 2008 3,1 with 20 gigs of ram, Radeon 7950 GPU.
Any suggestions? Thanks, and bravo for your great work btw.
Hi. I successfully updated to Mojave using your patch. I've been trying to clean install Big Sur using OCLP and following the directives of MrMacintosh great video. I use an external drive, journaled, gui formatted. After install I can never boot into Bigsur, the mac just goes back to the installer and restarts the installation process. The OS is getting installed on a blank SSD. This is my secondary setup, which I decided to upgrade before I took the plunge on my main machine which is a 5,1. This one is a dual cpu 2008 3,1 with 20 gigs of ram, Radeon 7950 GPU.
Any suggestions? Thanks, and bravo for your great work btw.
...but the current patcher called OCLP has been created mainly by @khronokernel. To use OCLP please check the online docs from the same site where you loaded the tool itself.
To use any macOS never than Catalina you have to format the drive using APFS/GUID. The Radeon 7950 GPU has an EFI boot picker (I guess) which should make the installation more easy. AFAIK OCLP includes APFS drivers and so your MacPro3,1 does not need any firmware patches to support APFS.
If you have technical questions join Discord. More info - you already guess it - within the docs or on the GitHub page.
...but the current patcher called OCLP has been created mainly by @khronokernel. To use OCLP please check the online docs from the same site where you loaded the tool itself.
To use any macOS never than Catalina you have to format the drive using APFS/GUID. The Radeon 7950 GPU has an EFI boot picker (I guess) which should make the installation more easy. AFAIK OCLP includes APFS drivers and so your MacPro3,1 does not need any firmware patches to support APFS.
If you have technical questions join Discord. More info - you already guess it - within the docs or on the GitHub page.
...but the current patcher called OCLP has been created mainly by @khronokernel. To use OCLP please check the online docs from the same site where you loaded the tool itself.
To use any macOS never than Catalina you have to format the drive using APFS/GUID. The Radeon 7950 GPU has an EFI boot picker (I guess) which should make the installation more easy. AFAIK OCLP includes APFS drivers and so your MacPro3,1 does not need any firmware patches to support APFS.
If you have technical questions join Discord. More info - you already guess it - within the docs or on the GitHub page.
I am new to Mac and had an old 2009 Macbook pro given to me about a year ago and did nothing with it until I had a free weekend and read on "unsupported" Macs. I have a Mid 2009 Macbook pro and I upgraded the Ram, 1TB SSD and battery. I updated to El Capitan from Snow Leopard then that's where I read about "DosDude1" and unsupported Macs.
About a month ago I updated to Mojave and loved it then decided I wanted to get onto a "supported OS" so I did a clean install of Catalina and formatted/erased to APFS----So far I really like Catalina.
Then I came across this site and noticed several pages back someone stated their machine is doing great on Big Sur and it's my exact Mac.
My question, can I simply update to BS via patcher and boot disk or do I have to do another clean install? I ask because my wife said "you're not wasting another day updating that computer"...
I am new to Mac and had an old 2009 Macbook pro given to me about a year ago and did nothing with it until I had a free weekend and read on "unsupported" Macs. I have a Mid 2009 Macbook pro and I upgraded the Ram, 1TB SSD and battery. I updated to El Capitan from Snow Leopard then that's where I read about "DosDude1" and unsupported Macs.
About a month ago I updated to Mojave and loved it then decided I wanted to get onto a "supported OS" so I did a clean install of Catalina and formatted/erased to APFS----So far I really like Catalina.
Then I came across this site and noticed several pages back someone stated their machine is doing great on Big Sur and it's my exact Mac.
My question, can I simply update to BS via patcher and boot disk or do I have to do another clean install? I ask because my wife said "you're not wasting another day updating that computer"...
There's always good reason for a clean install - but I've just updated a 2009 MacBook6,1 from Catalina to Big Sur. Non-metal graphics imply certain restrictions, but apart from that everything went smoothly. But you don't waste your time, if you follow the instructions carefully.
successfully installed MacOS 11.6.5 on iMac 11.1 (27" late 2009) with patcher v0.4.3
everything went smoothly.
booting without USB but I still have to select the EFI and boot path.
tried many times to disable the boot picker to no avail (every time I rebuild OC).
am I missing a trick?
successfully installed MacOS 11.6.5 on iMac 11.1 (27" late 2009) with patcher v0.4.3
everything went smoothly.
booting without USB but I still have to select the EFI and boot path.
tried many times to disable the boot picker to no avail (every time I rebuild OC).
am I missing a trick?
Reset NVRAM and reboot w/ the <option> key. When the OCLP icon appears select, then <control> the sub-icon will become circular, select ENTER which "blesses" OCLP to be the default booter which will boot whatever is selected in the Startup Disk CP. OpenCanopy menu can be turned off by the OCLP option.
I am new to Mac and had an old 2009 Macbook pro given to me about a year ago and did nothing with it until I had a free weekend and read on "unsupported" Macs. I have a Mid 2009 Macbook pro and I upgraded the Ram, 1TB SSD and battery. I updated to El Capitan from Snow Leopard then that's where I read about "DosDude1" and unsupported Macs.
About a month ago I updated to Mojave and loved it then decided I wanted to get onto a "supported OS" so I did a clean install of Catalina and formatted/erased to APFS----So far I really like Catalina.
Then I came across this site and noticed several pages back someone stated their machine is doing great on Big Sur and it's my exact Mac.
My question, can I simply update to BS via patcher and boot disk or do I have to do another clean install? I ask because my wife said "you're not wasting another day updating that computer"...
If you have room on your drive make a new partition, install and bless OCLP on the new partition and then install Big Sur from USB, clean install. That way Migration Assistant can grab what you need from Catalina. OCLP boots DD1 Catalina just fine, btw. With enough space you can do this -
These are individual partitions not volumes, btw. 🧐
I dropped a Big Sur install on a iMac 12,2 27". Working fantastic, root patched, and the beta blur is awesome! Finally no artifacts. Very grateful to the OCLP team. The Sandy i5 in this bad boy is still rocking from Snow to Big!
Reset NVRAM and reboot w/ the <option> key. When the OCLP icon appears select, then <control> the sub-icon will become circular, select ENTER which "blesses" OCLP to be the default booter which will boot whatever is selected in the Startup Disk CP. OpenCanopy menu can be turned off by the OCLP option.
I'm just working myself up to installing Big Sur on my 5,1 Mac Pro...
I'm confused about this section of the OCLP instructions:
"Booting without USB drive
Once you've installed macOS through OpenCore, you can boot up and go through the regular install process. To boot without the USB drive plugged in is quite simple:
Download OpenCore Legacy Patcher
Change Patcher settings as you'd like
Build OpenCore again
Install OpenCore to internal drive
Reboot holding Option, and select the internal EFI
And voila! No more USB drive required"
Does this mean that unless I do the above, I constantly have to have a USB stick plugged in to my Mac...?
"Once you've installed macOS through OpenCore, you can boot up and go through the regular install process."
I don't understand why I need to "go through the regular install process." when I've already "installed macOS through OpenCore"...?
Yes, the USB will always be required unless you install OpenCore onto your normal boot drive.
You don't need to install MacOS again. I think what they're trying to say is that once OpenCore is installed you can do all future updates the normal way without having to do any USB gymnastics. There are lots of MacPro 5,1 users on here who've been running OCLP successfully for awhile.
Yes, the USB will always be required unless you install OpenCore onto your normal boot drive.
You don't need to install MacOS again. I think what they're trying to say is that once OpenCore is installed you can do all future updates the normal way without having to do any USB gymnastics. There are lots of MacPro 5,1 users on here who've been running OCLP successfully for awhile.
You can skip the install of OpenCore to USB if you have a method to bypass OpenCore when something goes wrong (such as holding the option key at boot to select a different startup option).
You can skip the install of OpenCore to USB if you have a method to bypass OpenCore when something goes wrong (such as holding the option key at boot to select a different startup option).
I always wondered why they did it that way. Probably prevents people from bricking their machines and then complaining to the developers.
@smartin80 The initial OCLP install is a little clunky, but once you get it up and running it's very slick. OCLP and MacOS updates are usually seamless.
Hi everyone, I have a Macmini6,1 (2012 Mac mini) running OCLP patcher 0.3.0 with the latest Big Sur update. I'm having a couple issues:
1) Safari sometimes loads a page then automatically goes back to the previous page; or if I click a link, it opens the new tab then just closes it.
2) Every app starts closing randomly sometimes. like if I click a reminder, the app will close, then it sets off a chain where whatever app window I click just closes. I have to restart to fix.
3) Sometimes it repeatedly wakes and goes back to sleep every few seconds.
4) Some control center bugs like DnD turning on automatically after sleep or Bluetooth icon randomly staying on menu bar after recharging keyboard/mouse.
I have same model mini on Big Sur w/ OCLP 0.4.2 running smoothly.
a. I would update OCLP to 0.4.2 or 0.4.3(latest) and reinstall Big Sur over the top (will keep data and files).
I think this will also move from OCLP spoofing method to spoof-less method.
b. Also suspect that your firmware is not up to date.
Download SilenKnight, run that and tell us what is firmware version.
Skint – a watchful eye on security settings Updated! Checks key security settings and features including SIP, SSV, Gatekeeper, XProtect, XProtect Remediator and macOS security updates. Runs a…
eclecticlight.co
If outdated firmware, you should look into creating a small partition (internal or external disk of 50GB) to install official supported macOS Catalina and run through all software updates which will in turn update mini to latest firmware.
I have same model mini on Big Sur w/ OCLP 0.4.2 running smoothly.
a. I would update OCLP to 0.4.2 or 0.4.3(latest) and reinstall Big Sur over the top (will keep data and files).
I think this will also move from OCLP spoofing method to spoof-less method.
b. Also suspect that your firmware is not up to date.
Download SilenKnight, run that and tell us what is firmware version.
Skint – a watchful eye on security settings Updated! Checks key security settings and features including SIP, SSV, Gatekeeper, XProtect, XProtect Remediator and macOS security updates. Runs a…
eclecticlight.co
If outdated firmware, you should look into creating a small partition (internal or external disk of 50GB) to install official supported macOS Catalina and run through all software updates which will in turn update mini to latest firmware.
Thanks for the help. Attached is what I got with SilentKnight (System Information says the same). I specifically updated the firmware via Apple before going through the OCLP process. I even backed it up via ROMTool. I don't know what happened.
Could you further explain the firmware update process you're recommending. Can't I just update it using the current OS? I believe last time it was just an EFI Firmware file via Software Update.
I was unsure about updating to 0.4.2 so thanks for verifying stability on this machine. How would I reinstall Big Sur over the top? And is it necessary?
Lastly, Monterrey update is still a hardware limitation right? I wanted to keep SIP enabled.
Firmware in your mini says 9999.xxxx (maxed out) because of earlier OCLP spoofing method of faking to a newer mini (let's say 2014 mini) so that later macOS can be installed/ran.
To prevent Big Sur from updating the firmware on 2012 mini incorrectly, the version is maxed out to block any update.
By updating to current OCLP version, it uses spoof-less (hiding behind VM install), can present as true 2012 mini so no need to set firmware version to 9999.xxxx.
- update to OCLP 0.4.2
- run SilentKnight again to check firmware version (it should show true version instead of 9999.xxxx)
- may not need to reinstall Big Sur over the top but do that if macOS not working well
Catalina still gets Security Updates once in a long while. If there is a firmware update, it is bundled in there. Applying the security updates will also apply the firmware update.
- prepare a Catalina USB installer
- prepare a partition (50GB) to install it to
- reboot, hit spacebar at show picker, reset NVRAM (bypass OCLP)
- option reboot to select Catalina USB installer
- install Catalina, boot into it, run all software updates
- run SilentKnight to confirm firmware updated
- option reboot, select OCLP EFI boot
- CTRL select Big Sur to boot back into OCLP Big Sur
Need root patching (post install) to use HD4000 graphics acceleration. Breaks SSV and SIP but it is not really a big concern if you do it. Keeping SIP enabled is overrated.
eclecticlight.co
