macOS 12 Monterey on Unsupported Macs Thread

[headlessmike]

Same for my 10,1 though I'm on an even older firmware 262.0.0.0.0. Please post back when you figure out how to update, I'm planning to install the latest "Supported" (at least officially) of Catalina on a USB to see if it'll update my firmware which may not work since its not the built in ssd.

I did exactly that today on my 2012 mini. After installing the latest version of Catalina on an external drive my machine displayed the latest firmware version. I had been using Big Sur and later Monterey on it since they were released, having upgraded from the latest Catalina version of the time, so I guess the firmware update must have been part of a security patch for Catalina during the last year or so.

 

[rehkram]

Please post back when you figure out how to update, I'm planning to install the latest "Supported" (at least officially) of Catalina on a USB to see if it'll update my firmware which may not work since its not the built in ssd.

I was thinking along the same lines, clean install back to my last supported version (Catalina) and upgrade back up to where I am now. Does anyone have a list of macOS releases that include firmware updates, Catalina and above?

 

[mwidjaya]

I was thinking along the same lines, clean install back to my last supported version (Catalina) and upgrade back up to where I am now.

It will be an ongoing thing, so an ongoing solution is better than a one-off.

Your sig says you have the Apple SSD in OWC enclosure?

Create a small partition of Catalina there. Boot into that whenever there is a new sec update for Catalina. That will keep your 2012 MBP firmware up-to-date.

 

[rehkram]

I did exactly that today on my 2012 mini. After installing the latest version of Catalina on an external drive my machine displayed the latest firmware version. I had been using Big Sur and later Monterey on it since they were released, having upgraded from the latest Catalina version of the time, so I guess the firmware update must have been part of a security patch for Catalina during the last year or so.

That's very interesting... so there's a group of us who have reached the same conclusion on this. So your firmware got updated by installing the last production release of Catalina on the ext drive, correct?

 

[rehkram]

Create a small partition of Catalina there. Boot into that whenever there is a new sec update for Catalina. That will keep your 2012 MBP firmware up-to-date.

Great idea. About 40 GB should be big enough; full installer is 8.75 GB

 

[alphascorp]

editing the config.plist make oclp refuse to install and showing error messages about the config.

if editing the already installed file the changes not respected.

I also always edit and modify config.plist with the value fwgAA== to leave SIP and SSV disabled (instead of AAAAAA==)

    <key>NVRAM</key>
    <dict>
        <key>Add</key>
        <dict>
         
            …
             
                <key>csr-active-config</key>
                <data>
                fwgAAA==
                </data>
             
                …

but also to use my personal theme

    <key>Misc</key>
    <dict>
     
        …
     
        <key>Boot</key>
        <dict>
         
            …
         
            <key>PickerVariant</key>
            <string>Alphascorp\Theme#CaliforniaStreaming</string>

            …

Editing and modifying the config.plist on the EFI volume after its creation has always worked for me without errors

 

[the.burn]

My problem too, I found it crashing less on OCLP 0.4.2. Still happening occasionally mind

@TigerA
of course I used the latest OCLP 0.4.2 when installing 12.2 on clean disk.
However, I experience 5 or more crashes each day, very annoying

 

[makra]

So you're saying, that just the physical disk does it? Although it's been reformatted?

I found the original disk and installed it inside the MBP9,1. That did it. Now I'm on 425.0.0.0. ?

 

[TigerA]

@TigerA
of course I used the latest OCLP 0.4.2 when installing 12.2 on clean disk.
However, I experience 5 or more crashes each day, very annoying

Running the latest macOS, Monterey, on non-metal GPU is always a hit&miss experience as Ausdauersportler has pointed out before. I've upgraded all my iMacs (which can be upgraded) to metal GPU to have minimised a lot of headache, thanks to Ausdauersportler and all the other developers involved.

 

[JoinMeinHeaven]

I am done with Monterey, back safely to Big Sur, Volume Hash Mismatch did it.
Can't stand it happening in the middle of work, application stops responding and have to restart.

This issue disappeared in 12.1 (21C52), at least for me. Check if mds appears in crash report

 

[headlessmike]

That's very interesting... so there's a group of us who have reached the same conclusion on this. So your firmware got updated by installing the last production release of Catalina on the ext drive, correct?

That’s right. It went from 262.0.0.0 to 425.0.0.0 in the process. I reset the NVRAM and bypassed OCLP when installing Catalina to be sure that there’d be no interference. Once the installation was complete and all of the latest updates installed in Catalina, I booted back into OCLP and Monterey on my internal drive and it showed the latest firmware.

 

[0134168]

I believe this is exactly what Mike Bombich describes in his CCC notes regarding bootable clones in Big Sur and later. Please note you can make the backup bootable by reinstalling the MacOS from USB to the backup disk.

I say again, CCC makes perfect bootable clones on Monterey. Not on the new betas. All you got to do is choose erase the clone and create a new one.

 

[0134168]

.

 

[makra]

That’s right. It went from 262.0.0.0 to 425.0.0.0 in the process. I reset the NVRAM and bypassed OCLP when installing Catalina to be sure that there’d be no interference. Once the installation was complete and all of the latest updates installed in Catalina, I booted back into OCLP and Monterey on my internal drive and it showed the latest firmware.

After I had placed the original HDD inside my 9,1 and reached 425..., I tried your procedure with my 8,1: Just installed High Sierra on the original HHD in an external case and let it run through the updates. Now I'm on 87... I had given up after several attempts with a High Sierra partition on my internal third party SSD. Thanks a lot.

 

[headlessmike]

After I had placed the original HDD inside my 9,1 and reached 425..., I tried your procedure with my 8,1: Just installed High Sierra on the original HHD in an external case and let it run through the updates. Now I'm on 87... I had given up after several attempts with a High Sierra partition on my internal third party SSD. Thanks a lot.

Great! I'm not sure what difference the newer firmware will make on my machine, but I have been experiencing a few crashes recently when the computer sleeps (before updating). Hopefully these go away.

The 2012 machines are pretty nice for running OS's off external drives with their USB 3 ports.

 

[junley4]

Updated to 12.2.1 using OCLP GUI 0.4.1
Initiated the update, went out or coffee, came back after 1hour and I was greeted with 12.2.1 w/o graphics acceleration and wifi. After running the post install patch, everything works, as it should on my current specs, without any hitch.
Kudos to the brains behind OCLP and to all contributors in this thread.

 

[Tockman]

No luck with firmware update I installed Catalina on a separate volume (yes, volume, because Monterey didn't allow me create a partition on native Apple SSD) and rolled updates on. Firmware left intact. Then I installed Catalina on USB 3.0 external disk and got the updates. After all - 292.0.0.0.0... Maybe it doesn't like my SSD, maybe some other reason.

 

[ng0757]

I saw someone post "IMAC 2011 as an external monitor"
I have 27' 2009 and 2010 models, and I also want to ask the same question.
I Know Apple removed the support of target display mode in the later MACOS,
Is it possible to add this function back to the Monterey?

 

[HowowcanIgo]

Edit - Can confirm Messages indeed crashes but restarts OK, runs until it re-crashes, later. Attached is a grab of the crashlog, a portion anyway. Looks like the Catalyst fixes may be involved?
View attachment 1958440

I can also confirm the crashes. I also experienced crashes of Mail.

 

[makra]

No luck with firmware update I installed Catalina on a separate volume (yes, volume, because Monterey didn't allow me create a partition on native Apple SSD) and rolled updates on. Firmware left intact. Then I installed Catalina on USB 3.0 external disk and got the updates. After all - 292.0.0.0.0... Maybe it doesn't like my SSD, maybe some other reason.

Did you try do delete Time Machine snapshots first? After I did that, I was able to create a partition.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I saw someone post "IMAC 2011 as an external monitor"
I have 27' 2009 and 2010 models, and I also want to ask the same question.
I Know Apple removed the support of target display mode in the later MACOS,
Is it possible to add this function back to the Monterey?

Check the iMac GPU thread (link in my signature) and check the FAQ about target display mode.

 

[Tockman]

Did you try do delete Time Machine snapshots first? After I did that, I was able to create a partition.

You were right, thank you very much! After I deleted them, Disk Utility began to create partition. Unfortunately, it ends up with an error "Can't resize macOS partition (APFS error code 49187). May be there is something more to delete?

 

[davemp88]

So, I haven't posted in awhile so please, forgive me if the empirical data I'm about to espouse has already been discussed in this Thread or the, "macOS Big Sur on Unsupported Macs" Thread, but without even doing an intentional comparison, I was simply restarting my 2012 A1278 MBP, with 16GB RAM and a 500gb SSD Drive upgrade, because I wanted to switch Partitions. I currently have my 500GB hard drive divided into 2 equal partitions: One with macOS Big Sur 11.6.3 on it, (and only like 28gb left of storage space - The one I WAS on,) and One with macOS Monterey 12.2.1, with approx. 100gb left of storage, and on Big Sur, even playing media on VLC media player all night, my computer won't get that hot, but as soon as I booted up Monterey, I noticed the fans SIGNIFICANTLY increase, and could hear what sounded like a crackling inside my computer, so I very quickly switched back to my Big Sur Partition. I don't really even need the Big Sur partition, I just don't know of a free cloud big enough to store all my data from the Monterey partition while I erase it so I can re-download it.
**SO IN CONCLUSION, IMO, macOS Big Sur is much safer for older MBP's running it as an unsupported format.** At least for me, there's no real "dramatic improvements" Monterey has over Big Sur, and as a matter of fact, the reason I kept my Big Sur Partition this whole time is because while it CAN run Kali Linux and other Virtual Machine software, other than Parallels desktop, which barely works half the time and is no comparison to VMware Fusion Pro 12, I have yet to find a way to run a VM on the Monterey Partition. If I try to run VMware Fusion Pro 12, it'll say something like, "Connection Error: Pipe has been Broken"???

 

[hwojtek]

I say again, CCC makes perfect bootable clones on Monterey. Not on the new betas. All you got to do is choose erase the clone and create a new one.

The SSV complications present a questionable future for bootability, though https://bombich.com/blog/2021/05/19...dapting-recovery-strategies-evolving-platform

 

[mwidjaya]

The SSV complications present a questionable future for bootability

Have stopped doing bootable clones for a while now.

Guess what? Don't miss it. Have not needed it, once. That era is over.

TM suffice. Also, all the critical-must-not-lose files are in the cloud already.