macOS 14 Sonoma on Unsupported Macs Thread

[Marfan-58]

Just updated the Sonoma volume on my 10,1 iMac to 14.3.1 with OCLP 1.3.0. Everything seems to work/not work as expected for this machine, ie non metal limitations for apps such as Maps, Find My etc, but otherwise the system works very well.
The biggest surprise though, is that for the first time on a version of MacOS since High Sierra, Target Display Mode is working with my 14,2 iMac. The two are connected with an Apple Thunderbolt cable from the TB1 port on the 14,2 to the MD port on the 10,1. Using Cmd F2 on the 10,1 I can switch from its desktop to extended desktop on my 14,2.
This may be a temporary aberration, and I won’t be surprised if it stops working with a future update, but while it lasts it’s great not to have to switch back to my High Sierra volume when I want to extend the display of my 14,2

 

[iMac-Oldschool]

Please, what was the Snow Leopard glitch than?

In my understanding, Snow Leopard was the last release that supported Power PC. Later releases only supported Intel, until Apple silicon came along.

 

[macinfo]

Apple seeded macOS Sonoma 14.4 Beta 5 (23E5211a) to developers

 

[VintageMacGS]

In my understanding, Snow Leopard was the last release that supported Power PC. Later releases only supported Intel, until Apple silicon came along.

I thought that Leopard was the last system to fully support PowerPC although some 10.6 beta versions had code that would install on PowerPC machines with limited success.

 

[steve123]

Will 14.4 be another SnowLeopard event for MacOS?

Unlikely it is going to be as stable as Snow Leopard was. That was a release Apple never repeated and I wish they would. There are still outstanding issues people are reporting with Sonoma. There are probably 2 or 3 point releases left after 14.4 ... so if the bugs get worked out it might be close.

 

[VintageMacGS]

Even though I'm please with my Sonoma 14.3.1 install using OCLP 1.3.0, one program that did not work for me was VMware Fusion Player 13.5 as well as older versions like 13.0.1 which it seems worked for some users. The error "Transport (VMDB) error -14: Pipe connection has been broken" prevented any startup of virtual machines. This is on a Late 2012 Mac Mini. So I was researching again today and checking that I may have missed something in the threads here and other sources. I decided to check my VMware account and I noticed a 13.5.1 update with today's date so I thought might as well try it since nothing else worked so far.

Well, now there are no errors and my VM's are working again. I don't know what changed in the update but all is well for me now. I did have to change one or two lines in the .vmx file for the Windows VM which gave an error but an easy fix.

 

[K two]

macOS 14.4b5 installed OTA atop b4, OCLPv.1.4.0n, runs as expected.

 

[PropClear]

KDK 23E5211a is also released...

 

[Ready-for-Apple]

VTDecoderXPCService is a videoplayback service and is part of the VideoToolbox framework that handles video compression, decompression, and conversion between formats. If you play anything that your CPU or GPU does not have hardware support for, your Mac will struggle and run the fans. As me and others have written on in this thread. It is a vintage Mac thing and has very little to do with OCLP as such. Being aware of that helps. Below is a quote that discussed this.

Once again for clarification and for those who have the same problem:
I know what VTDecoderXPCService is for. However, no video, website etc. was running - no app was open. My MBP went into screensaver and the fans exploded. I then looked at the Activity Monitor immediately after closing the screen saver and the VTDecoderXPCService process was running at over 300%.
I also had the same problem at night when the MBP was closed.

Since all the Aerial screensavers have been deleted, things have been quiet for a few weeks now 😉

 

[haralds]

All went well.
oclp 1.4.0n and 14.4 beta 4
View attachment 2351685
Thanks Devs!!

So you are completely stable on CMPro 5,1 with RX580? You have the identical config I have, but I get periodic VTDecoderXPCServ panics. It might run 2 days or 1 hour, it's unpredictable. Image streaming works and screen savers are turned off. I tried mono-color backgrounds. It's likely caused by the unsupported AVX2 instructions.
Could you post a System Report or send it to me? I would love to try to trace what is different.

 

[amaze1499]

Unlikely it is going to be as stable as Snow Leopard was. That was a release Apple never repeated and I wish they would. There are still outstanding issues people are reporting with Sonoma. There are probably 2 or 3 point releases left after 14.4 ... so if the bugs get worked out it might be close.

Looks like it. I am preparing myself for Sonoma being the last MacOS running on this machine whatsoever.

If performance does not decrease with the last update, there are maybe 2-3 years still left in this machine to be used as a daily driver. Fingers crossed, hardware playes along.

Thanks again to all developers, making this possible.

 

[houser]

Once again for clarification and for those who have the same problem:
I know what VTDecoderXPCService is for. However, no video, website etc. was running - no app was open.

Same, I see that too. VTDecoderXPCService is running processes in the background even when you do not see video.
When I encountered it the first few times I assumed it was a bug but maybe it is some form of OS housework like pre-cashing or so. No real idea. Here simply switching Aerial off seems sufficient.

 

[amaze1499]

Same, I see that too. VTDecoderXPCService is running processes in the background even when you do not see video.
When I encountered it the first few times I assumed it was a bug but maybe it is some form of OS housework like pre-cashing or so. No real idea. Here simply switching Aerial off seems sufficient.

I have seen that as well. However after turning off live wallpaper in desktop background, lock screen and screensaver and set all to still picture only that service became less often active.

 

[LinChu]

Doesn't allow me to create an installation disk, it says this error

 

[rehkram]

rMBP 10,1 same here. Working perfectly fine once live wallpaper is turned off. I can get a similar effect by going to the YouTube left column menu and bringing up the Home- or Subscriptions pages, which are very crowded with available videos.

 

[houser]

rMBP 10,1 same here. Working perfectly fine once live wallpaper is turned off. I can get a similar effect by going to the YouTube left column menu and bringing up the Home- or Subscriptions pages, which are very crowded with available videos.

Yes, Youtube is at least partially H265 these days so you will get the fans there if the content you are watching is H265 on a pre 2017 Mac. YMMV.

 

[webg3]

Yes, Youtube is at least partially H265 these days so you will get the fans there if the content you are watching is H265 on a pre 2017 Mac. YMMV.

That's why I recommend using Enhancer for YouTube (Chrome) and Enhancements For YouTube (Safari), it solved the problems here, as I activated H.264 and only 30 frames.

Wallpaper static.

 

[K two]

For anyone with issues using Prime Video under macOS 14.4b5 and OCLPv.1.4.0n, running Onyx/Maintenance (current version) fixed the resume episode video not starting problem. So far, that has been the only issue observed updating from b4 to b5. 👏

 

[K two]

Doesn't allow me to create an installation disk, it says this error

Try a different USB, preferably 32GB.

 

[Ready-for-Apple]

I have seen that as well. However after turning off live wallpaper in desktop background, lock screen and screensaver and set all to still picture only that service became less often active.

Lock screen? What do you mean exactly? I haven't any problem with it. These are my settings:


***

I can get a similar effect by going to the YouTube left column menu and bringing up the Home- or Subscriptions pages, which are very crowded with available videos.

Yes, Youtube is at least partially H265 these days so you will get the fans there if the content you are watching is H265 on a pre 2017 Mac. YMMV.

NO problem with youtube here 👍🏻 – CPU/GPU just normal and fans quiet

You can try the "Focus for Youtube" extension to see if it helps you. This also helps you to be less distracted 😉

‎Focus (for YouTube)

‎Focus for YouTube enables users to streamline their video browsing experience. Whether you work on YouTube and are tired of the distractions, or whether you're a teacher who'd rather keep their recommended videos private, you'll be able to fix YouTube to your liking within the Focus app. Since...

apps.apple.com

 

[houser]

NO problem with youtube here 👍🏻 – CPU/GPU just normal and fans quiet

You can try the "Focus for Youtube" extension to see if it helps you. This also helps you to be less distracted 😉

Not distracted, as I just did my research Not all of Youtube is H265. At all. But trying a hires 4K or so H265 will run the fans for sure on my Mac. It is just not possible to do that quietly without H265 hardware support on my CPU/GPU and my Mac at least does not have that as it is a 2012 rMBP 10,1. YMMV
Thanks for the tip, but that extension can not change H265 content into H264.
I might be missing something but I don't think so.

 

[webg3]

Not distracted, as I just did my research Not all of Youtube is H265. At all. But trying a hires 4K or so H265 will run the fans for sure on my Mac. It is just not possible to do that quietly without H265 hardware support on my CPU/GPU and my Mac at least does not have that as it is a 2012 rMBP 10,1. YMMV
Thanks for the tip, but that extension can not change H265 content into H264.
I might be missing something but I don't think so.

Enhancer for YouTube (Chrome) and Enhancements For YouTube (Safari)

 

[houser]

Thanks for the tip. I am aware of that nice little extension but as I understand it will only pick h264 formats for a clip if it exists but not transcode. Very useful for sure but does not replace hardware support for H265 on vintage Macs if that is required to play a clip . "blocks VP8/VP9 codecs on YouTube, so that you can use H264 only."
Maybe I am still missing something but not a big Youtube user anyway on my Mac so no worries here. I use my Apple TV or Raspi Kodi for hi-res watching on the TV. No fans anywhere there to spin

 

[steve123]

Enhancer for YouTube (Chrome) and Enhancements For YouTube (Safari)

Interesting extension, thanks for the tip.

Note, the Safari version does not appear to have the ability to change the video format. At least, I could not find how to make these changes. It only allows you to block ads on YouTube which is a desirable feature nonetheless.

 

[houser]

allows you to block ads on YouTube which is a desirable feature nonetheless.

Yes, that is what I use it for.