macOS High Sierra (10.13) Unsupported Macs Thread

[apriliars3]

Where can I find "DownloadMacOS"? I've searched the internet, but didn't find it.

DownloadMacOS 1.2

If you have an Apple ID previously authenticated and downloaded macOS, and want to download macOS installation media again (on an unsupported Mac), you can use this utility.

http://swdist.furcode.co/bin/DownloadMacOS-1.2.zip
SHA1 = 423b0266e068f856a3ffe8139fd66dc4c2053c62

 

[Junkboxy]

I have a question – I think for foxlet – as I want to put High Sierra Public Beta1 with APFS on my unsupported MacBookAir2,1.

What’s my best tool-and-path…… Is newCore v0.2 is the current state-of-the-art for APFS-capable installations?

 

[Jonathan50]

Yes @Junkboxy asks a valid question. And if I may add, where can one download the latest version of newCore from? I have already installed 10.13 Beta (17A264c) on a separate mechanical disk my 2008 Pro 3,1 using the @dosdude1 tool without a glitch but would like to test the newCore method too. So far I only have HFS+ and would also like to go for APFS, if possible. Finally, where can the latest 10.13 version be found?

 

[Junkboxy]

Finally, where can the latest 10.13 version be found?

The Official Apple Way:
The latest 10.13 beta (it's recently phase-shifted from "developer beta" to "public beta" now) will pop-up as a downloadable in the App Store AFTER you have downloaded-and-installed a tiny .pkg file from the beta.apple.com site. Gotta punch in your Apple ID and pass on that site. That's the Official Apple Way anyhow, and what I did. But it yielded me the 15.7 MB version of "Install macOS High Sierra Beta". I think that's because I did it all on a Mountain Lion machine. I think people going through that rigmarole using Sierra machines had better luck getting the ~6GB full-files-installer.

Foxlet way:
Back on post #295, he talks up a utility he made called FetchMacOS v1.0.

 

[foxlet]

An odd sight to see on Windows...

 

[nekton1]

I've been trying dosdude's and foxlet's methods to boot a cMP3,1 with non-standard GPUs into HS beta 2 upgrade 1. In both cases with either an RX460 or a Mac rom flashed HD6870 (both of which work fine under Sierra), the boot process stalls as the GPU drivers load. I rooted out an old Mac HD2600 XT that came in a 2008 MP and put that in after removing the RX460 or HD6870. Result was HS booted up fine (see screen).
And as a final test, I tried using the HD2600 XT as a helper for the RX460 (straight PC card that boots in Sierra but with no efi screen) and got the same spinner towards the end of the boot progress bar. For completeness, I repeated over with the HD2600 XT and the Mac-rom-flashed HD6870 that also works fine in Sierra and saw the same spinner towards the end of the boot progress bar.
Conclusion, the HS GPU drivers are still immature for non-standard GPU cards in the cMP.
With only the HD2600XT installed, the MacPro 3,1 boots straight into HS no problem and everything (BT 4.0 from iMac, USB3, sound, etc.) seems fine.
This is not an APFS install—I'll wait for later betas before playing with that.

 

[Kruegschen]

FetchMacOS v1.0
An utility to download macOS directly from Apple. It does not require an Apple ID and works on unsupported Macs and PCs.

If you'd like a copy, please send a message.

FAQ
What can I download with this?
You can download macOS High Sierra developer and public beta builds, in installer format, only as they become available. It does not use third-party servers.

Can I get earlier versions of macOS (Sierra, El Capitan, etc)?
No. If you'd like to do that, you can use DownloadMacOS (after purchasing the related macOS version).

Does it work with unsupported Mac patchers?
Yes and no. It works with newCore v0.1/v0.2, and will be integrated in v0.3. It does not work with dosdude1's patcher, as that only accepts application bundles.

Can I use it on other operating systems?
Yes, partially. It works on Linux, but only in compressed format (you'll have to move the downloaded data to a Mac to extract it). Same goes for Windows.

When will it become public?
It will be part of newCore v0.3. The current version does not have an UI and is meant for users of v0.1 and v0.2.

[doublepost=1499255268][/doublepost]Hi foxlet
I'd like a copy.
Thanks and best regards

 

[apriliars3]

Is this real with APFS?

https://pikeralpha.wordpress.com/2017/07/04/do-i-use-apfs/

 

[mikeguru]

Hi foxlet
I'd like a copy of FetchMacOS v1.0 too please.
Thanks for your help!
[doublepost=1499273895][/doublepost]

I just updated Sierra Patcher to work with 10.13. Due to the glitches with the 10.13 installer, I used @foxlet's idea of using the El Capitan installer as a base, and just replacing the packages with those from High Sierra. As such, BaseSystem.dmg from El Capitan is included with the application, making the download quite large (~477MB). This is a temporary solution, and will be improved over time. In the meantime, it does indeed work, and can be downloaded from here. The process is exactly the same as with macOS Sierra patcher.

When I run the High Sierra patcher, the USB installer it creates ends up showing an icon for the El Capitan Installer. Is this normal? Is the end result actually a High Sierra (10.13) Beta Installer, even though it looks like an El Capitan installer? Please clarify.

 

[dosdude1]

Hi foxlet
I'd like a copy of FetchMacOS v1.0 too please.
Thanks for your help!
[doublepost=1499273895][/doublepost]

When I run the High Sierra patcher, the USB installer it creates ends up showing an icon for the El Capitan Installer. Is this normal? Is the end result actually a High Sierra (10.13) Beta Installer, even though it looks like an El Capitan installer? Please clarify.

Yes, that's correct. It looks to be installing El Capitan, but is actually installing High Sierra.

 

[Jonathan50]

Yes but how can we "alter" the High Sierra Patcher to install a more recent version of HS than 17A264c?

 

[Junkboxy]

Yes but how can we "alter" the High Sierra Patcher to install a more recent version of HS than 17A264c?

Have you had any luck downloading the full High Sierra Public Beta from a apple.com source? I'm going nuts trying to get it...

 

[Jonathan50]

Have you had any luck downloading the full High Sierra Public Beta from a apple.com source? I'm going nuts trying to get it...

Well, foxlet was very kind to give me access to his FetchMacOS utility so I was able to download a bunch of files, including a big one, that I now have on my disk. I don't want to install to a partition, I want to install to a separate blank disk. This, I haven't figured out how to do yet.

 

[Junkboxy]

I want to install to a separate blank disk.

Yeah. In an end run type experiment, I used what I had - the official Mac App Store stub installer - to "install" to USB disk, and even though 5.17GB worth of full files hencely got pulled down and wrote to said USB thumb drive, IT WAS NOT A BOOTABLE! And furthermore, it wasn't in a installer form that dosdude's macOS High Sierra Patcher considered kosher, just a file tree structure. Useless; unless perhaps I can re-arrange stuff into a kosher installer form.

From the screenshots, it looked to me that foxlet's utility downloads the pieces separately, and so that whole enchilada - same problem - would also need to be user-arranged into a kosher installer form. (i.e., whatever relational structure that createinstallmedia relies on) Does sound like your issue?

I was hoping to come across some magic apple-sourced URL or curl command that would pull down the whole installer. I surmise that since they are in beta phase, it's too much trouble to make a universal full installer that tends to the hundreds of combos of OS versions and hardware out there. The lucky ones to pulldown the full installer via the App Store just have the right combo---I dunno really.

 

[Jonathan50]

Yeah. In an end run type experiment, I used what I had - the official Mac App Store stub installer - to "install" to USB disk, and even though 4.9GB worth of full files hencely got pulled down and wrote to said USB thumb drive, IT WAS NOT A BOOTABLE! And furthermore, it wasn't in a installer form that dosdude's macOS High Sierra Patcher considered kosher, just a file tree structure. Useless; unless perhaps I can re-arrange stuff into a kosher installer form.

From the screenshots, it looked to me that foxlet's utility downloads the pieces separately, and so that whole enchilada - same problem - would also need to be user-arranged into a kosher installer form. (i.e., whatever relational structure that createinstallmedia relies on) Does sound like your issue?

I was hoping to come across some magic apple-sourced URL or curl command that would pull down the whole installer. I surmise that since they are in beta phase, it's too much trouble to make a universal full installer that tends to the hundreds of combos of OS versions and hardware out there. The lucky ones to pulldown the full installer via the App Store just have the right combo---I dunno really.

I think createinstallmedia and the dosdude1 method require an *.app file. The only *.app file I have is the earlier HS version from post #104, which installed fine, again, on a separate drive (HFS+), boots fine, runs a couple of daw's too. The recent version files I got via FetchMacOS are some (or all?) of an *.app file constituents, but I cannot claim to be an expert. Did you get a stub installer because you have a supported mac? All I have is a Pro 3,1 and some sata2 spinners to play with. Perhaps wait until foxlet and dosdude1 come up with revised methods?

 

[Junkboxy]

Did you get a stub installer because you have a supported mac?

Its a supported MacbookPro i7 running Mountain Lion. Not sure why it can only seem to receive the stub installer. I've seen some people guessing that stub-vs-full depends upon available hard drive space or current running OS. Who knows, i sure don't.

I have successfully rolled my own. I've repacked those stub-installer-downloaded constituents into an installer .app that dosdude1's utility verifies. Dosduded a patched High Sierra Public Beta. Installing on MacBookAir as I type..... slow as molasses in Siberian winter. Fingers crossed..

 

[BlackScorpion]

Hi from my 2008 Mac Pro guys! @dosdude1 your old patcher still is king!

How did you get the old patcher file to work? I keep getting invalid file? did you modify the patcher? I'm looking to install it on a early 2009 Xserve.

 

[EugW]

Wow. Thanks everyone for your pioneering spirit.

However, I think what I'll do is wait for 10.13.5 or something in 2018 and then install that nice and mature High Sierra version on my 2009 MacBook Pro 13" then, using your great patcher, beta tested by everyone here.

And the main reason is to get HEIF compatibility. Otherwise I wouldn't even bother.

 

[MP39]

I've been trying dosdude's and foxlet's methods to boot a cMP3,1 with non-standard GPUs into HS beta 2 upgrade 1. In both cases with either an RX460 or a Mac rom flashed HD6870 (both of which work fine under Sierra), the boot process stalls as the GPU drivers load. I rooted out an old Mac HD2600 XT that came in a 2008 MP and put that in after removing the RX460 or HD6870. Result was HS booted up fine (see screen).
And as a final test, I tried using the HD2600 XT as a helper for the RX460 (straight PC card that boots in Sierra but with no efi screen) and got the same spinner towards the end of the boot progress bar. For completeness, I repeated over with the HD2600 XT and the Mac-rom-flashed HD6870 that also works fine in Sierra and saw the same spinner towards the end of the boot progress bar.
Conclusion, the HS GPU drivers are still immature for non-standard GPU cards in the cMP.
With only the HD2600XT installed, the MacPro 3,1 boots straight into HS no problem and everything (BT 4.0 from iMac, USB3, sound, etc.) seems fine.
This is not an APFS install—I'll wait for later betas before playing with that.View attachment 707306

nekton1-

I am experiencing the EXACT SAME BEHAVIOR on my cMP 3,1. I have a flashed AMD Radeon HD 7950 3072 MB and also have zero issues running Sierra. I, too, previously used dosdude1's Patcher with no issues. I have recently been in touch with both foxlet and dosdude1 to run this by both of them. They both seem to agree that this is probably due to the graphics card. So I am waiting for a newer release as well where hopefully my card will be supported and others as well (I didn't have my stock card available to negative test...thank you for doing that and posting!)

Just wanted to put this out there for anyone following all instructions explicitly and being frustrated why 3/4 the way through boot sequence on new HS volume he/she gets an spinner than slows to a freeze. That is likely the issue.

nekton1, please keep me (us) posted on your progress and I will do the same. If anyone gets a cMP3,1 that has a flashed working carding under Sierra working with any of the updated releases or newer patches, please post it clearly here. Thanks.

-MP39

 

[nekton1]

nekton1-

I am experiencing the EXACT SAME BEHAVIOR on my cMP 3,1. I have a flashed AMD Radeon HD 7950 3072 MB and also have zero issues running Sierra. I, too, previously used dosdude1's Patcher with no issues. I have recently been in touch with both foxlet and dosdude1 to run this by both of them. They both seem to agree that this is probably due to the graphics card. So I am waiting for a newer release as well where hopefully my card will be supported and others as well (I didn't have my stock card available to negative test...thank you for doing that and posting!)

Just wanted to put this out there for anyone following all instructions explicitly and being frustrated why 3/4 the way through boot sequence on new HS volume he/she gets an spinner than slows to a freeze. That is likely the issue.

nekton1, please keep me (us) posted on your progress and I will do the same. If anyone gets a cMP3,1 that has a flashed working carding under Sierra working with any of the updated releases or newer patches, please post it clearly here. Thanks.

-MP39

Hi MP39,

I'll keep you posted with upgrade results as they happen. At the moment, it is a case of waiting until the next beta release and retesting again. My guess is that it will come good as soon as a 10.13 beta fully supports the 5,1 cMP.
In the meantime, the old 3,1 is fast when booting from an HFS+ SSD even with the ancient HD2500 XT for the GPU. Foxlet and I messed around with an APFS boot as well but I have not been able to get that working yet—close but no cigar.

 

[Jonathan50]

Its a supported MacbookPro i7 running Mountain Lion. Not sure why it can only seem to receive the stub installer. I've seen some people guessing that stub-vs-full depends upon available hard drive space or current running OS. Who knows, i sure don't.

I have successfully rolled my own. I've repacked those stub-installer-downloaded constituents into an installer .app that dosdude1's utility verifies. Dosduded a patched High Sierra Public Beta. Installing on MacBookAir as I type..... slow as molasses in Siberian winter. Fingers crossed..

Very good. Would you care to share how you rolled your own, in some detail?

 

[Jonathan50]

Appears to be working. Used the @dosdude1 patcher with the app file I got from this site:
https://www.zoneactu.fr/2017/06/30/...cos-high-sierra-10-13-public-beta-1-liens-pkg
This time it was installed on a small ssd borrowed from a friend. It's fast. Still HFS+.
Next thing to try is my audi o interface and a few audio applications.

 

[PeterHolbrook]

@nekton1

Can you please clarify if your BT4 module on the Mac Pro 3,1 is running in Sierra 10.12 thanks to the Continuity Activation Tool? If not, which specific Bluetooth module have you used? I have a Mac Pro 5,1 with a BCM94360CD module, which worked fine by itself in El Capitan, but required the use of Continuity Activation Tool for Instant Hotspot, HandOff, Universal Clipboard and Apple Watch Unlock to work in Sierra. If your experience is similar to mine, can you tell us, whether these features work "out of the box" in High Sierra 10.13, or do they require to run the Continuity Activation Tool in High Sierra?

 

[Czo]

When Apple introduces all of this BT4 features in Yosemite, it's only check hardware availability to enable all of this. From El Capitan, the hardware check extended with machine/model id check. From Sierra, the model/machine check enforced to more devices (especially to the upgradable Mac Pro). High Sierra remain the same. If you run CAT, it's patch a textual plist file in IOBluetooth.framework to enable Continuity (add logic board id) and patch one file in a binary WiFi kernel extension (add logic board id).

 

[nekton1]

When Apple introduces all of this BT4 features in Yosemite, it's only check hardware availability to enable all of this. From El Capitan, the hardware check extended with machine/model id check. From Sierra, the model/machine check enforced to more devices (especially to the upgradable Mac Pro). High Sierra remain the same. If you run CAT, it's patch a textual plist file in IOBluetooth.framework to enable Continuity (add logic board id) and patch one file in a binary WiFi kernel extension (add logic board id).

[doublepost=1499335291][/doublepost]

That's not my experience. The BT4/WiFi module in this MP3,1 was taken from an iMac 2014 and has worked reliably with no patches at all from Yosemite through Mavericks, El Cap, Sierra to High Sierra. I have never had to use the CAT. This BT/Wi-Fi has worked OOTB since Yosemite.
Sierra below

High Sierra below

I bought it from osxwifi.com. Broadcom BCM94360CD + the adapter card. It seems to be the same card as the one you are using.