macOS 15 Sequoia on Unsupported Macs Thread

[MacinMan]

For those of you who do a multi boot setup using APFS Volumes on one drive, in which order do you usually do your installations? Supported OS first, and than OCLP installs, or OCLP installs first and then supported OS?

I went back to Monterey, because I observed installing the software for my epson printer, and scanner had strange install slow downs under OCLP vs supported OS, even though everything seemed to work in the end, i went back to the supported OS to make sure things keep working, and then there is the issue of the older software I use that prefer older versions of macOS for best performance. So with this in mind, would it be better to keep. Monterey as the main install with OCLP installs secondary?

 

[sdds]

So, if you boot holding down Option key, to get to system boot drive picker, select EFI disk to get to OC boot picker. You need to press Shift+Enter when selecting the target OCLP macOS in the OC boot picker to boot Safe mode in target OC macOS.

Here‘s what I tried:
1) Power on -> otion key down to get to the boot drive picker which is presenting me the following options:

2) when from here I select either one of the EFI boot optons (internal or USB drive containing the Sequoia installer) using shift-enter the boot process hangs (early on, progress bar barely moves)
3) when I choose internal EFI boot I get to Install Sequoia option which starts normally
4) when I choose the USB EFI boot I first get an error (see below) then it continues and starts the Sequoia installer from USB (or at least I think it does)

5) either way I can‘t get past the macos recovery Apple ID login because there‘s no internet connection

This is what I get in the WiFi menu

And this is what I get when I want to join other network and show networks there

As mentioned earlier, entering the SSID manually or using an Ethernet connection doesn‘t connect me either.

So, is there a way to reinstall Sequoia without having to enter the Apple ID?

Addendum:
- I‘ve already reset NVRAM at one point after the first futile attempts to recover
- I do have a TM backup from my OCLP Sequoia setup. I did a network boot at one point only to find out from there I only get to choose from my earlier, Monterey based, backups…

 

[Bmld]

Hello, on my Imac 2012 sequoia I lost color on app, the desk screen came blacK and everything Is slow. I do a new Post-install root path and then all is correct. Do you know why I lost the conf.
I have the same problem on an Imac 2015.
thank

 

[Pachnes]

Apple yesterday did seed Sequoia 15.6 Beta.

 

[MacinMan]

Hey all, to follow up from the question I posted yesterday regarding dual booting, and installation order of operating systems. I have basically found that I need both an older and a newer version of macOS together, not one, or the other.

I was really wanting to know if anyone had suggestions on the cleanest, and easiest way of doing this. I did check my fully support copy of VMware Fusion which is 13.5.2, and it lists macOS 14, as the latest officially supported version.

Here is what I've found that will most likely work best for me:

The supported OS for full GPU and System level stuff such as drivers (so there are no permissions modified), and older software that runs better on older versions of macOS vs newer.
the Patched OS for everything else.

 

[roronl]

Here‘s what I tried:
1) Power on -> otion key down to get to the boot drive picker which is presenting me the following options:
View attachment 2521028
2) when from here I select either one of the EFI boot optons (internal or USB drive containing the Sequoia installer) using shift-enter the boot process hangs (early on, progress bar barely moves)
3) when I choose internal EFI boot I get to Install Sequoia option which starts normally
4) when I choose the USB EFI boot I first get an error (see below) then it continues and starts the Sequoia installer from USB (or at least I think it does)
View attachment 2521034
5) either way I can‘t get past the macos recovery Apple ID login because there‘s no internet connection
View attachment 2521036

This is what I get in the WiFi menu
View attachment 2521037
And this is what I get when I want to join other network and show networks there
View attachment 2521038

As mentioned earlier, entering the SSID manually or using an Ethernet connection doesn‘t connect me either.

So, is there a way to reinstall Sequoia without having to enter the Apple ID?

Addendum:
- I‘ve already reset NVRAM at one point after the first futile attempts to recover
- I do have a TM backup from my OCLP Sequoia setup. I did a network boot at one point only to find out from there I only get to choose from my earlier, Monterey based, backups…

Use an ethernet-cable for internetacces.

 

[sdds]

Use an ethernet-cable for internetacces.

I did but still don‘t get past entering my Apple ID (the password field never apperars, the „ball“ next to the ID never stops spinning). From the status LEDs of my USB ethernet adapter suggest there is a connection, my router also shows there is a device connected (also it keeps count of RX and TX data amounts which indicates that there is some, if ony little, few MB per minute, data is exchanged between the two).
View attachment 2521093

I‘d like to avoid having to reformat the whole thing, which seems the only option so far that I can get to without hitting a brick wall…

 

[Bigwaff]

either way I can‘t get past the macos recovery Apple ID login because there‘s no internet connection

So, is there a way to reinstall Sequoia without having to enter the Apple ID?

No. This activation lock screen.

 

[houser]

I‘d like to avoid having to reformat the whole thing, which seems the only option so far that I can get to without hitting a brick wall…

The options you were given were not to reformat anything, just reinstall in place without erasing or reformatting anything.

 

[sdds]

No. This activation lock screen.

Lesson learned: I‘ll disable this on my MBP when it is up and running again. Is Activation Lock know to not play nicely with OCLP or am I just unlucky to have been the exeption?

 

[sdds]

The options you were given were not to reformat anything, just reinstall in place without erasing or reformatting anything.

Yes, thanks to all for the help! Unfortunately all these options led to a brick wall in my case, so I guess I‘l have to bite the bullet and reformat/install from scratch…

 

[Meddvedd]

Hi Guys!
I've decided to upgrade my MacBook Pro 11,3 A1398 Mid2014 i7 16Gb RAM, 1TB Original SSD
What would be better for me - Sonoma or Sequoia?
What is more stable and faster?
Sorry if it's off-topic

 

[TOM1211]

Hi Guys!
I've decided to upgrade my MacBook Pro 11,3 A1398 Mid2014 i7 16Gb RAM, 1TB Original SSD
What would be better for me - Sonoma or Sequoia?
What is more stable and faster?
Sorry if it's off-topic

Sequoia runs fine for me same specs apart from Nvme drive fitted. will have to use Firefox instead of safari. Best option? Install them both on separate partitions and test drive them to see which one fits your needs .

 

[Bigwaff]

Lesson learned: I‘ll disable this on my MBP when it is up and running again. Is Activation Lock know to not play nicely with OCLP or am I just unlucky to have been the exeption?

Just use ethernet. Activation Lock need to connect to Apple activation service to unlock Mac. Obviously, you need the Apple Account password. Alternative is to sign into iCloud w/ Apple Id and remove device from the account, although this may require device to be wiped remotely. If you don't have the Apple Account password, you're toast.

 

[sdds]

Just use ethernet. Activation Lock need to connect to Apple activation service to unlock Mac. Obviously, you need the Apple Account password. Alternative is to sign into iCloud w/ Apple Id and remove device from the account, although this may require device to be wiped remotely. If you don't have the Apple Account password, you're toast.

That is the part that doesn’t work at all in my case: Even with Ethernet I never get further than entering my ID. The password prompt never appears (see the the attachment of post #3557). It‘y my primary device and I could kick it out of my account through my iPhone. But AFAIK the data will be wiped in that case too.

 

[Meddvedd]

Sequoia runs fine for me same specs apart from Nvme drive fitted. will have to use Firefox instead of safari. Best option? Install them both on separate partitions and test drive them to see which one fits your needs .

This is probably the right way, but too complicated.
When I updated from El Capitan to Big Sur my MBP got a little slower.
Is Sonoma or Sequoia slower than the Big Sur? And which is faster?

 

[Jauso]

does anyone else get this error, i am on OCLP 2.4 and 15.3 macOS. i tried logging in (with chrome) by GCkey and i get the error (even when doing it by safari later) but later i tried logging in on my chromebook and it logs in fine.

this must be some bug with OCLP and macOS and chrome

 

[MacinMan]

This is probably the right way, but too complicated.
When I updated from El Capitan to Big Sur my MBP got a little slower.
Is Sonoma or Sequoia slower than the Big Sur? And which is faster?

A clean install of Sequoia runs well on this late 2015 27" iMac. My hardest thing now is where to draw the line between current, compatible, and stable. It's easy enough to find ways to work around the DRM limitations on a patched install, bu;t then there is the issue of older software, and intel specific stuff. These also would affect my decision in buying a new mac too. The older software, and Intel specific stuff I want to be able to continue to have access to.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a a solution that includes Apple's specific features such as text message forwarding + Microsoft's solution of backward compatibility that will both be compatible, and current ?

 

[MacinMan]

So, here is what seems to be the best all around solution for my specific situation.
1. I have Monterey as the base installed OS on the original Fusion drive partition.
2. I created an APFS Volume to share the space of the main partition and installed Sequoia on that one.
3. I have left all apps known to prefer older macOS versions on the Monterey install, and only copied / installed apps that work correctly, or require newer versions of macOS onto the Sequoia volume.
4. macOS kind of sucks as a platform for windows gaming with wine, and proton. So, will use my external install of Linux with that. I really didn't want a dual boot system, but it seems like there isn't one OS that does everything well anymore. Usually I would have said Linux solves most problems for Unix based OS, but then I lose Apple specific features like text messaging forwarding. (I prefer a physical keyboard to a touch screen.)

This is the only solution I could think of and still keep Intel as the platform. No one else suggested anything.

 

[ronton3]

OpenCore Legacy Patcher Retrospective & Next Chapter

Seeing that this year will be OpenCore Legacy Patcher’s 5th anniversary and that there’s some bitter-sweet news to share (more at the end), I thought it’d be a good time to reflect on my time with OpenCore Legacy Patcher.

khronokernel.com

Read this and still be happy, it is not over .

 

[MacinMan]

OpenCore Legacy Patcher Retrospective & Next Chapter

Seeing that this year will be OpenCore Legacy Patcher’s 5th anniversary and that there’s some bitter-sweet news to share (more at the end), I thought it’d be a good time to reflect on my time with OpenCore Legacy Patcher.

khronokernel.com

Read this and still be happy, it is not over .

It feels like Apple is pretty much over in terms of what really made them important to me growing up, and the overall direction they are going now as a company. They aren't like they used to be and hold any real advantage for a power user to choose them over the alternatives. As I've said many times before. They still have a few things, but they seem minor in quantity compared to other options, but for now they are still important things.

I recently watched a video by Lance of Mac Sound Solutions, and he even mentioned in that video that Apple is forcing even more options on people in the macOS 26 installation. This is something I don't want, I want to pick the options that are on, ore off by default, and be able to change them later if needed, or desired. For reference, the video is here:

For me, I agree with him, in the sense I don't want FileVault on by default, and in my case, I don't want it on at all, I don't need it, or want it. It's caused performance issues for me in the past, so it's not worth it for me, and since I live alone, and my current Mac doesn't go anywhere, I have no reason to encrypt my data locally.

I really truly believe the Apple that was really worth anything died with Steve Jobs.

 

[jgleigh]

For me, I agree with him, in the sense I don't want FileVault on by default, and in my case, I don't want it on at all, I don't need it, or want it. It's caused performance issues for me in the past, so it's not worth it for me, and since I live alone, and my current Mac doesn't go anywhere, I have no reason to encrypt my data locally.

FileVault is optimized for current modern hardware. On a current machine it's entirely transparent. Totally different story when I enabled it on my 2010 Mac Pro.

 

[MacinMan]

FileVault is optimized for current modern hardware. On a current machine it's entirely transparent. Totally different story when I enabled it on my 2010 Mac Pro.

OK, but that still doesn't help those who may not want it on by default, that was the main point, the speed issues were just my personal experience. Maybe this will help put things into prospective from my way of thinking. I miss the days when Mac OS X was more like Linux, or FreeBSD in terms of freedom, it's always been a commercial and closed source OS, but the user had more control and say so than they do now. Even if someone chooses not to use the options available, it's nice knowing they are available.

I am also aware that Mac OS X wasn't ever fully open like Linux, or FreeBSD, but it was much better than it is today, and that is what bothers me the most about the Apple today, they force people who know how to use a computer and want more control into the same camp as those who probably shouldn't even have a computer.

With that said, even with my experience and preferences, I haven't done a lot of customization in the last several years, or have really needed to, but I have missed having the options there at times.
So with the reasons I listed on the macOS 26 thread, here is another reason I haven't bought a new mac in addition to cost, I won't give into Apple's control, especially when I have other usable options.

The locked down OS is fine for a phone, or iPad, but for a desktop, that's where I draw the line.

 

[Kevo]

I am also away that Mac OS X wasn't ever fully open like Linux, or FreeBSD, but it was much better than it is today, and that is what bothers me the most about the Apple today, they force people who know how to use a computer and want more control into the same camp as those who probably shouldn't even have a computer.

I agree with you. Things were better in terms of openness and what you could do with your Mac before. You can get that with Linux today to some degree, but even there it's not what it once was. There are so many different distros and they all have their quirks and problems. In my latest foray into testing I went back and forth between KDE, Gnome, and a couple of the older style ones as well. Nothing was quite right. I landed on Linux Mint and it's pretty good, but I still don't think it's as nice to work on day to day as MacOS is. Mint does seem to be quite stable versus some of the others.

I really feel for people stuck on Windows too. I had to go help someone the other day with their Windows machine and it's kind of a mess. I guess you just have to pick your poison and do the best you can. I just hope Linux improves enough to put some real pressure on MS and Apple, but I don't think they are going to be pushing too hard anytime soon.

 

[MacinMan]

I agree with you. Things were better in terms of openness and what you could do with your Mac before. You can get that with Linux today to some degree, but even there it's not what it once was. There are so many different distros and they all have their quirks and problems. In my latest foray into testing I went back and forth between KDE, Gnome, and a couple of the older style ones as well. Nothing was quite right. I landed on Linux Mint and it's pretty good, but I still don't think it's as nice to work on day to day as MacOS is. Mint does seem to be quite stable versus some of the others.

I really feel for people stuck on Windows too. I had to go help someone the other day with their Windows machine and it's kind of a mess. I guess you just have to pick your poison and do the best you can. I just hope Linux improves enough to put some real pressure on MS and Apple, but I don't think they are going to be pushing too hard anytime soon.

First, I read your quote of my post, and realized I made a typo, so updated it to fix it to say "aware" instead of "away"
The install of Linux I have on my external drive is Kubuntu 24.04. I've always liked KDE over GTK based desktops. I've installed some quirks and modified the grub boot loader, so with the exception of Linux booting 4K instead of 5K on this iMac, things work perfectly. I try to use open source, and cross platform software where I can so it doesn't matter the OS, unless I specifically need something for a particular platform. The main issue I have with running windows games on macOS with a project such as Heroic, is that some games will run, but the cut scenes won't play under macOS where they will under Linux. There is audio, but no video, the screen just goes black, but the pointer is functional. I've even made sure to to enable automatically install DX/VK on the prefix for the particular game. There has been more and more news that Linux is becoming a better platform to play windows games, than windows itself. On an Intel Mac, it's not as bad to stick with a 64-bit OS such as Monterey, or above, as I have the other projects like mentioned, so they can accommodate for 32-bit support by running the windows version, if the Mac port is 32-bit only. If the Mac doesn't work for the windows version, Linux usually does more times than not. With a new Apple Silicon Mac, I'd keep the Apple stuff, but loose a lot of the other stuff I like to do which made owning an Intel Mac valuable. So, it's just a harder choice this time around. At least when Apple Switched from 68k, to PowerPC, and then to Intel, it was still a transition, but it didn't feel as drastic as going from Intel to ARM, and that might just because of all the other changes has made in addition to the arch this time around, too.