macOS 11 Big Sur on Unsupported Macs Thread

[jackluke]

ok, so here is my current dilemma...

I've used several different methods to try to get Big Sur up and running on my 2010 15" MacBook Pro, which included all of the hax methods, the ParrotGeek method, making a usb to boot off of, and the git hub micro patcher from barrykn. Yet, whenever I restart to try to install, My Mac goes into a boot loop trying to load the installer. it gets to the apple logo, and then restarts, and this happens over and over again. It would be much appreciated if someone could assist me in some way, as I've been trying to get BS up and running since the day after WWDC.

Thanks to who ever helps me

MacBookPro6,x and I guess any Arrandale i5 (maybe i7 too) and Clarkdale i3 are unable to boot the BigSur xnu_kernel (darwin version 20.0.0 ) due to an incompatible AppleACPICPU (kernel panic at early booting) , so I'd remove them from the OP as possible BigSur capable mac , unless someone very expert will allow them to boot fixing the "ACPI issues".

This "Intel Arrandale and Clarkdale" kernel panic loop has nothing to do with telemetry plugin .

 

[K two]

Dr. Oakley explains where all the disk capacity is going in Big Sur, here: https://eclecticlight.co/2020/07/12/last-week-on-my-mac-control-space/

 

[MacHacJac]

Just a quick, kinda related question. I know it's possible to flash a Mac Pro 4,1 to 5,1, among other Mac pros but is it possible to flash a MacBook Pro 8,1 to something newer...???

 

[TimothyR734]

ok, so here is my current dilemma...

I've used several different methods to try to get Big Sur up and running on my 2010 15" MacBook Pro, which included all of the hax methods, the ParrotGeek method, making a usb to boot off of, and the git hub micro patcher from barrykn. Yet, whenever I restart to try to install, My Mac goes into a boot loop trying to load the installer. it gets to the apple logo, and then restarts, and this happens over and over again. It would be much appreciated if someone could assist me in some way, as I've been trying to get BS up and running since the day after WWDC.

Thanks to who ever helps me

maybe try creating the Big Sur installer usb using the ParrotGeek method then after it is finished then run Barry's micropatcher that worked for me.

 

[HackMini]

Just a quick, kinda related question. I know it's possible to flash a Mac Pro 4,1 to 5,1, among other Mac pros but is it possible to flash a MacBook Pro 8,1 to something newer...???

I also am interested in flashing my 2012 MacBook Air if at all possible. Seems I'm not the only one!

 

[MacHacJac]

I also am interested in flashing my 2012 MacBook Air if at all possible. Seems I'm not the only one!

I'm glad to hear that you want to do the same thing. Let me know if you find anything.

 

[jhowarth]

I also am interested in flashing my 2012 MacBook Air if at all possible. Seems I'm not the only one!

The MacPro 4,1 flashed to MacPro 5,1 is a very unique situation which doesn't exist elsewhere across the product line.

How to Upgrade the Firmware of a 2009 Mac Pro 4,1

 

[affer]

Hi Guys.. i just installed Big Sur on my mac pro 5.1 worked perfectly, until i entered this command:
sudo nvram boot-args=“-no_compat_check amfi_get_out_of_my_way=1” (to get wifi working)
Now my mac shut down during boot, even when trying recovery partition, ive tried reset nvram, with no succes. any one have an idea? thanks

 

[BitVolcano]

Thanks @jackluke and @TimothyR734
Your help is much appreciated

 

[krakman]

a few sound issues but apart from that all working
cMP 4.1/5.1

do you still have the original CPU in your mac pro?

 

[TimothyR734]

Hi Guys.. i just installed Big Sur on my mac pro 5.1 worked perfectly, until i entered this command:
sudo nvram boot-args=“-no_compat_check amfi_get_out_of_my_way=1” (to get wifi working)
Now my mac shut down during boot, even when trying recovery partition, ive tried reset nvram, with no succes. any one have an idea? thanks

make sure your SIP is disabled and nvram boot-args="no_compat_check"

 

[Mystere65]

maybe try this method https://github.com/barrykn/big-sur-micropatcher

OK thanks

 

[webg3]

In the 2012 models there seems to be no need to disable SIP or authentication-root if using the compatible wifi card, I did it and it is like a supported mac, however it is only with the parameters NVRAM to ignore the verification of the PlatformSupport to start.

 

[Alex-Microsmeta]

I've tryed to install the first 10 (of 32) Nvidia Web Drivers for High Sierra (Official installers package patched for BS beta 2) starting from the older ones. All 10 pkgs return an error at the end of installation, but maybe dissassembling and inverse engeenering them, they could be useful to someone for building a BS acceleration fix. http://www.microsmeta.com/public/patched.zip

 

[justperry]

I just used this to successfully clone a Big Sur installation to another drive. This was a USB attached SSD Big Sur booted OS. It cloned the drive to another USB attached SSD. I then powered off the unit, completely removed the original booted Big Sur drive, and booted to the newly created Big Sur drive, again connected USB to a non supported Mac. Seemed to work with no issues.

chris1111/ASR-Clone-SSD-macOS-Catalina-Big-Sur

Contribute to chris1111/ASR-Clone-SSD-macOS-Catalina-Big-Sur development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Nice find, I do think that DD would work without problems whatsoever.
I cloned *flash cards which couldn't be copied (They said) but twas a piece of cake.

*Siemens Memory cards for their PLC's and other Industrial gear, those can be a few 100's of € for a few MB, used to be KB, mostly licences and driver/software on them.
A colleague challenged me, I provided him with a working copy, we just did it for fun, not used for commercial purposes.

 

[BitVolcano]

Hello everyone,

MacBookPro6,x and I guess any Arrandale i5 (maybe i7 too) and Clarkdale i3 are unable to boot the BigSur xnu_kernel (darwin version 20.0.0 ) due to an incompatible AppleACPICPU (kernel panic at early booting) , so I'd remove them from the OP as possible BigSur capable mac , unless someone very expert will allow them to boot fixing the "ACPI issues".

This "Intel Arrandale and Clarkdale" kernel panic loop has nothing to do with telemetry plugin .

Where would I find the OP?

 

[haralds]

Do you have a Big Sur usb installer or a Catalina usb installer that you can access the terminal

I have not set up a Big Sur installer. USB I have Catalina Installer USB. I also have Catalina running with a patched Recovery that works.

 

[justperry]

Nice find, I do think that DD would work without problems whatsoever.
I cloned *flash cards which couldn't be copied (They said) but twas a piece of cake.

*Siemens Memory cards for their PLC's and other Industrial gear, those can be a few 100's of € for a few MB, used to be KB, mostly licences and driver/software on them.
A colleague challenged me, I provided him with a working copy, we just did it for fun, not used for commercial purposes.

DD command example

dd if=/dev/disk2 of=/dev/disk3

This can take a long time dependable on the disk size, speed of transfer (Connection protocol), also keep in mind there's no time elapsed nor progress visible in Terminal.
If the disk is huge you better let it copy overnight and/or during weekdays if you have to work.
Target disk has to be equal or bigger than the source disk.

 

[jhowarth]

Cloning under the current Carbon Copy beta loses the Preboot partition...

/dev/disk6 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *250.1 GB   disk6
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk6s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk7         249.8 GB   disk6s2

/dev/disk7 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +249.8 GB   disk7
                                 Physical Store disk6s2
   1:                APFS Volume BigSur                  134.4 GB   disk7s1

 

[MacHacJac]

The MacPro 4,1 flashed to MacPro 5,1 is a very unique situation which doesn't exist elsewhere across the product line.

How to Upgrade the Firmware of a 2009 Mac Pro 4,1

Oh, ok, thanks. Too bad. I was hoping for a similar situation...

 

[RogueB]

I see no evidence of barryk's micropatcher attempting to insert the legacy usb support into the process. Someone is going to have to rebuild the the internal dmg's in the installer to have that support.

Hello Jhowarth,

Just for clarity, I only used barrykn’s mciropatcher to install BigSur -beta2 (successfully) on iMac 13,2 .
I did not attempt to use it on the MacBook Pro 5,2, knowing that the micropatcher could not “inject” USB support on that machine.

I used internal drive in the MacBook Pro 5,2 ,running Catalina OS, to try to install BigSur onto a separate partition on same *internal* drive; Asentientbot’s Hax3.app, Jackluke’s Prelinked Fix4 (beta1) script, and terminal commands listed in this thread, were basis for that installation.

Oddly, I was able to install BigSur Beta1 on said MAcBook Pro 5,2, and it worked until the login window; the computer entered a loop where login window would appear, disappear ,and reappear; “reduce transparency” command would have remedied this (discovered that a bit late), but Beta2 “beckoned”.
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As for the MBP5,2, I have an equivalent machine, and could install with Hax3.app, both beta 1 and beta 2 - but only to internal disk, NOT to one connected via USB. When on USB, I observed the same symptom as you did.
Is yours on USB?

For Catalina, jackluke had made an OpenCore loader which injects legacy USB into the (OTA) installation process on USB disks. The same doesn't work (yet?) for BS. Legacy USB can be injected into the installed system though.

So unfortunately I had to hook my BS testing disk on SATA for installation of BS. Afterwards, it can live on USB for further installation steps (patches), booting and running. I used jackluke's prelinkedkernel fix4.command and can run BS on MBP5,2 (slowly without acceleration, but good enough for testing. Photos 6.0 crashes.)

(MBP5,2 17" mid 2009, 2.8GHz Penryn T9600, Nvidia 9600M GT, 8GB, APFS ROM patch applied. APFS SSD Samsung 860 EVO for production / 840 for testing, with Catalina 10.15.5.02 / Big Sur 10.16.0 beta, resp.)

Hello hvds,

I did use internal, SATA connected SSD, as the source of installation (from Catalina partition), in an attempt to install BigSur beta2 on second (separate partition) on same SSD. No USB disks, or thumb drives were used, precisely for the reasons you listed in your response. I did manage to install BigSur Beta1, by method you described, and it worked, until the login-window loop issue occurred; I could have used “reduce transparency” command to succeed, but, alas, Beta 2 appeared … Not sure why install did not work with Beta2.

 

[jackluke]

Hello hvds,

I did use internal, SATA connected SSD, as the source of installation (from Catalina partition), in an attempt to install BigSur beta2 on second (separate partition) on same SSD. No USB disks, or thumb drives were used, precisely for the reasons you listed in your response. I did manage to install BigSur Beta1, by method you described, and it worked, until the login-window loop issue occurred; I could have used “reduce transparency” command to succeed, but, alas, Beta 2 appeared … Not sure why install did not work with Beta2.

To fix the Beta 2 Finder loginwindow loop (for non-metal gpu) from externally (on a non-APFS or legacy USB mac at least HighSierra is required or an APFS capable macOS) just use the attached file here: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...unsupported-macs-thread.2242172/post-28652497

After you applied the "prelinkedkernel fix4" you can also use your internal SATA BigSur as external USB .

 

[Alex-Microsmeta]

Cloning under the current Carbon Copy beta loses the Preboot partition...

/dev/disk6 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *250.1 GB   disk6
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk6s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk7         249.8 GB   disk6s2

/dev/disk7 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +249.8 GB   disk7
                                 Physical Store disk6s2
   1:                APFS Volume BigSur                  134.4 GB   disk7s1

We must find a way to clone also the @jackluke Preboot workaround. I don't think CCC will support it in future.
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Yes, I launched the cloner from within Big Sur, it was the actively booted Big Sur SSD drive, and it successfully cloned it in use to another USB SSD drive.

it stops on my BS SDD B2 at beginning, sayng: "invalid argument")
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DD command example

dd if=/dev/disk2 of=/dev/disk3

This can take a long time dependable on the disk size, speed of transfer (Connection protocol), also keep in mind there's no time elapsed nor progress visible in Terminal.
If the disk is huge you better let it copy overnight and/or during weekdays if you have to work.
Target disk has to be equal or bigger than the source disk.

Tried it overnight (8 hours) for a BS SSD 100 GB to 100 GB USB BS external disk unsuccesfully, maybe it is a Preboot cloning issue.

 

[jowaju]

it stops on my BS SDD B2 at beginning, sayng: "invalid argument")

When it asks for your disk number are you just putting in the digit, as in 4? You have to put the entire thing, aka disk4, all lowercase.

 

[jackluke]

To those who used my USBOpenCoreAPFSloader3 , I just released a new upgraded optimized version for unsupported Big Sur mac:

USBOpenCoreAPFSloader3b.app.zip

specifically it allows to boot a BigSur Installation (either internal or USB external) from any Penryn Core2Duo non-APFS or APFS mac (also Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge Mac) and are included some additional useful fixes :

• @Syncretic AAAMouSSE.kext and telemetrap.kext (for SSE4.2 and AVX emulation and to block the com.apple.telemetry.plugin)
• @parrotgeek1 LegacyUSBInjector.kext (to allow any legacy USB on BigSur also for non-APFS mac)
• @ASentientBot nvenet.kext (for use Ethernet on Nvidia Chipset based Mac)
• preset nvram csr-active-config=w%08%00%00 (that is an already disabled "csrutil authenticated-root")
• preset nvram boot-args="-no_compat_check amfi_get_out_of_my_way=1"
• used as default bootloader OpenCanopy (similar to the apple startup manager with VolumeIcon support)
• allows to continue a BigSur stage2 installer from a non-APFS mac (simply selecting the "macOS Installer")
• blocks EFI SMC firmware updates when spoofing to a supported mac
• apple startup key combinations available at opencore menu (CMD+S , CMD+V and so on)

edit:
for non-APFS or legacy USB the USB BigSur Installer (or its Recovery) is bootable but not usable due to legacy usb limitation on BootKernelExtensions.kc , so to install BigSur on non-APFS (or legacy usb) mac use instead this
method: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...unsupported-macs-thread.2242172/post-28662873

Also using my USBopencore customized setup if you have an USB external stock BigSur installation, and plug the same disk to a non-APFS (legacy usb) Penryn Core2Duo mac, this will boot keeping stock your BigSur installation, because the patches are applied only in RAM and not stored on your BigSur installation.

Hence when you boot from apple startup manager the Big Sur is completely stock (also nvram changes are not stored on the target machine), so you should apply the "prelinkedkernel fix4" if you intend to boot without opencore and with Wifi .