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macOS High Sierra (10.13) Unsupported Macs Thread
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@wilef Even though the volume patch is for the 2008 iMac, go ahead and select it anyway in the post install patcher from your usb installer of course. Let us know if that works... Also what cpu did you install, I have the C2D T9300, are you also having the MHzgate?
Picked up a used late 2008 Unibody aluminum MacBook5,1 Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz to replace my wife's 2008 white MacBook kitchen computer (a MacBook4,1 which is stuck on 10.7.5 and therefore can't get any modern browser). I happened to have 4 GB RAM I wasn't using and transferred over the 128 GB SSD from the MacBook, and then installed the patched High Sierra. Everything works... except the trackpad click being a big sticky in one spot. The focally sticky trackpad has nothing to do with the patch though of course, just the perils of buying ancient used equipment. 
But hey, it was less than US$150 for this now fully functional laptop running the latest OS Apple has to offer.
BTW, now that I have a 2.26 GHz MBP5,5 and a 2.0 GHz MBP5,1 I can honestly say the performance on these is OK for surfing. However, I'd probably prefer having something like a 2.53 GHz P8700 MBP5,5. At these performance levels, I can feel the difference 10-15% of CPU performance makes. For example, I can notice a bit of speed difference for page rendering in Safari between the 2.26 GHz and 2.0 GHz, even though it's just a 13% difference. I would love to be able to find a 17" 3.06 GHz MacBookPro5,2 somewhere for cheap.
But hey, it was less than US$150 for this now fully functional laptop running the latest OS Apple has to offer. BTW, now that I have a 2.26 GHz MBP5,5 and a 2.0 GHz MBP5,1 I can honestly say the performance on these is OK for surfing. However, I'd probably prefer having something like a 2.53 GHz P8700 MBP5,5. At these performance levels, I can feel the difference 10-15% of CPU performance makes. For example, I can notice a bit of speed difference for page rendering in Safari between the 2.26 GHz and 2.0 GHz, even though it's just a 13% difference. I would love to be able to find a 17" 3.06 GHz MacBookPro5,2 somewhere for cheap.
1. Yes, it is possible to do an in-place upgrade.
2. Use the macOS High Sierra Patcher tool to download a copy of macOS High Sierra, create an installer USB drive, boot from it, but simply select the disk containing Sierra to install on, without erasing the disk in Disk Utility. Run the post-install patch after installing, of course.
3. You can convert the drive whenever you wish, however you'll need to be sure to re-run the post-install patch after the conversion if you do it after installing. Just a warning, I'm not exactly sure how the APFS booting implementation will handle your "home-brew" fusion drive, so be sure to back up important data in case it doesn't work.
Yeah I tried the 2008 volume patch but it didn't seem to do anything. I have the T9300 as well and it reports 400mhz.
Scratch that: I tried again and chose to rebuild cache this time and it worked. Volume controls function as normal.
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I am seeing some posts regarding Mac Pro 3.1s running the ATI Radeon HD5770 video card. I currently have a Mac Pro 3.1 running a HD5770 from Apple . . . Will that card be compatible with the High Sierra patcher (once the High Sierra is released)? Will there need to be an additional action I need to take after running the dosdude patcher?
Hello guys,
I now have installed High Sierra on my Mac mini 3,1 and I now have two questions:
1. Is it correct that when used APFS, there is no Recovery Partition? If yes, how I'm able to recover my Mac, if needed?
2. My WiFi isn't enabled. Is there any possibility to enable WiFi, see attachment.
Thanks in advance
I now have installed High Sierra on my Mac mini 3,1 and I now have two questions:
1. Is it correct that when used APFS, there is no Recovery Partition? If yes, how I'm able to recover my Mac, if needed?
2. My WiFi isn't enabled. Is there any possibility to enable WiFi, see attachment.
Thanks in advance
Attachments
Thanks for the detailed pointers and heads up about APFS and my fusion drives. You are the best!! Will save the APFS upgrade for later so I can isolate any issues related to that.
A couple of follow-ups:
- After the initial install, what is the recommended procedure for installing subsequent High Sierra updates?
- During the upgrade to Sierra, I ended up with unusable Recovery HD partitions (fortunately, never had to use them), and also had to upgrade the wifi module on my Mac Mini 3,1 for compatibility. Are there any other known issues for High Sierra on these machines (MBP 5,5 and MM 3,1)?
Thanks!
@dosdude1 and anybody else who reads this. I have a MacBook 5,1 late 2008. I will eventually upgrade this to a newer MB or MBP but for now my MacBook does everything I need it too, and I'm going to upgrade the RAM and install an SSD. @dosdude1 I saw your post a while back about getting High Sierra working on a 5,1 - how did you do this? And is it stable and good enough for every day use?
I have successfully completed your Sierra patch and just wondering whether it is worth me upgrading next week when High Sierra comes out, or if I should stick with regular Sierra until I eventually buy a newer Mac.
Thanks in advance for your help!
I have successfully completed your Sierra patch and just wondering whether it is worth me upgrading next week when High Sierra comes out, or if I should stick with regular Sierra until I eventually buy a newer Mac.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Works great. Just follow the instructions on dosdude1's website. And just look up a few posts to see my report on the MacBook5,1 I just picked up yesterday:@dosdude1 and anybody else who reads this. I have a MacBook 5,1 late 2008. I will eventually upgrade this to a newer MB or MBP but for now my MacBook does everything I need it too, and I'm going to upgrade the RAM and install an SSD. @dosdude1 I saw your post a while back about getting High Sierra working on a 5,1 - how did you do this? And is it stable and good enough for every day use?
I have successfully completed your Sierra patch and just wondering whether it is worth me upgrading next week when High Sierra comes out, or if I should stick with regular Sierra until I eventually buy a newer Mac.
Thanks in advance for your help!
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ted-macs-thread.2048478/page-54#post-25051301
I already had it on a MacBookPro5,5 as well, and it was perfectly fine as a daily driver. No issues. It seems HS on MB5,1 is just as good as HS on MBP5,5, which shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, since the hardware is almost identical.
You'll need an SSD asap though. As for RAM, 4 GB is the bare minimum and 8 GB is a big improvement. I was testing the MacBook5,1 with 2 GB RAM and HD, and even in Yosemite it was completely unusable IMO.
@EugW in dosdude's post (a while ago now) he mentioned it worked fine after skipping a system check and making sure something else was in place? a "kext" or something? is that not the case anymore - should it just work fine?
I won't update to the public beta, I'll just wait for the full release from Apple in a week and then download the full version HOPEFULLY direct from dosdude's website!
@EugW I THINK I'm getting both SSD and 8gb RAM this weekend as I managed to find some for a good price Think it will make it run like a dream
I won't update to the public beta, I'll just wait for the full release from Apple in a week and then download the full version HOPEFULLY direct from dosdude's website!
@EugW I THINK I'm getting both SSD and 8gb RAM this weekend as I managed to find some for a good price
Think it will make it run like a dream
I didn't add any additional kexts outside of what dosdude1's software does. I just followed the instructions.
Note though some MacBook5,1 units may still be on an older EFI firmware. To get full SATA speed and 8 GB RAM compatibility, you may need to update the firmware. No need to worry though, as it's direct from Apple.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201518
You'll also want to enable TRIM on your SSD.
https://randomnerds.com/execute-sudo-trimforce-enable-to-keep-your-ssd-healthy/
@EugW the EFI was already on the correct one for 8GB RAM when I bought it so winner! Which software would you recommend for swapping to SSD? I started the 30 day free trial of Carbon Copy Cloner - does free include all the features you need?
@EugW also will I still only get 3gb/s and a SATA3 drive run at SATA2? Is that simply a hardware issue and the SSD will simply run at the highest capability of my macbook?
@EugW also will I still only get 3gb/s and a SATA3 drive run at SATA2? Is that simply a hardware issue and the SSD will simply run at the highest capability of my macbook?
CCC should be fine, but I've used SuperDuper! CCC has HS support for both APFS and HFS+. SuperDuper! has HS support but only for HFS+. But for MacBook5,1 I would just stick with HFS+ anyway. HS on HFS+ gives the cleanest, most Mac-like experience. AFPS works fine, but the bootup process looks a little messy.
Unless there is a compatibility issue, any SATA3 SSD should be fine, but will just be limited to SATA2 speeds. But that doesn't matter. It's still lightning fast compared to any hard drive that model shipped with.
@EugW so even though dosdude website says the 5,1 is NOT supported I should just go ahead as it does actually work fine? Like I said I've only just done Sierra patch this morning so I'll wait for the full release of High Sierra before making a decision.
And sorry but APFS and HFS+ & HS stands for? Mac noob here... <- Never mind I googled it lol. So does HS automatically install using APFS and I have to change this to HFS+ or will it give me the option? Or will HS automatically install over Sierra using my current file system? Is there a way I need to either choose or stop it from changing to APFS if you recommend staying on HFS+?
I noticed on Apple's website they rave about the new APFS - do you still think on my 5,1 I shouldn't bother with it?
And sorry but APFS and HFS+ & HS stands for? Mac noob here... <- Never mind I googled it lol. So does HS automatically install using APFS and I have to change this to HFS+ or will it give me the option? Or will HS automatically install over Sierra using my current file system? Is there a way I need to either choose or stop it from changing to APFS if you recommend staying on HFS+?
I noticed on Apple's website they rave about the new APFS - do you still think on my 5,1 I shouldn't bother with it?
The website does not say 5,1 is not supported. In fact it specifically says both MacBookPro5,1 and MacBook5,1 are supported. MacBook4,1 is not supported though. iMac5,1 is also not supported. Did you just get confused with the names?
Below are the results for Sierra (not High Sierra), but it would seem the results are very similar:
The patcher will not convert it to APFS. You can always try APFS like I did but I didn't like the messy booting so I went back to HFS+. There are advantages to APFS, but in this case for me, the aesthetics of the booting for HFS+ trump the technical benefits of APFS on these patched machines.
My original link didn't work. It has been updated.
Aha I see it now thanks. If I did decide to try out APFS how did you go about swapping? Is it simply a setting you can enable and disable or do you have to install it with APFS and then re-install with HFS+ or something along those lines..
The installer does HFS+ and APFS as clean installs. You would use Disk Utility to erase the drive and format with your choice in disk format. If you do an upgrade from Sierra, it would be HFS+ since Sierra is HFS+.
HFS+ with patched HS will give you the normal boot process. Grey Apple screen when then turns into a black Apple screen and then you get into the OS.
APFS with patched HS will give you this verbose boot process with text all over the screen like an old-school DOS box, and then you get the normal boot process after that. Works totally fine but it doesn't look very Mac like. Something like this:
@EugW Well then I'm not going in and cloning my HD, reformatting in APFS, just to try it out. I'll just install HS over my current file system - I've never used APFS so hardly have anything to compare it to! Would I be missing out on some great new features or would a lot of the new stuff not work on a 5,1 mac?
All the apps still work on HFS+, but APFS has much better data integrity and has additional nice features. But I don't really care since none of my patched HS installs are for my primary systems.
My main desktop is a 2017 iMac.
My main laptop is a 2017 MacBook.
The MacBookPro5,5 HS system I have is a secondary laptop for myself.
The MacBook5,1 HS system is a replacement for my wife's kitchen recipe and surfing computer, since she was complaining that the old versions of the browsers on 10.7.5 aren't always compatible with modern websites. I also hated the fact that the fan would ramp up to max when watching HD YouTube. (That old 2008 white MacBook doesn't have a GPU that can do hardware h.264 decode.)
I didn't actually need to buy the MacBook5,1 but for US$150 off Kijiji, I figured I may as well, esp. since I already had the parts to upgrade it to 4 GB and SSD. I could have given her my secondary MBP5,5, but I would be very sad to see my beloved Samsung 840 EVO SSD endowed 8 GB MBP5,5, which is currently in pristine condition, covered in chocolate and batter.
If you do use APFS, this is what the boot process will look like:
Nothing too crazy, and it doesn't add but ~10 seconds to the boot time, which really doesn't matter.
@EugW awesome thank you for all your help! Another question separate to macOS you might be able to help with..
Upon startup, sleep, and loading the "storage" tab in About My Mac, my laptop makes a noise as if it's whirring away underneath the trackpad for a few seconds. If this makes any sense it sounds like: vrr, vrr vrr vrr vrr, vrr vrr vrr vrr, vrr vrr vrr vrr, vrr.
It sounds possibly like the mechanical hard drive but it didn't do it when I bought it and suddenly adopted it one day? It's a short Vrr sound, followed by 3 longer, finished with another short? Sorry if that makes NO sense lol!
Upon startup, sleep, and loading the "storage" tab in About My Mac, my laptop makes a noise as if it's whirring away underneath the trackpad for a few seconds. If this makes any sense it sounds like: vrr, vrr vrr vrr vrr, vrr vrr vrr vrr, vrr vrr vrr vrr, vrr.
It sounds possibly like the mechanical hard drive but it didn't do it when I bought it and suddenly adopted it one day? It's a short Vrr sound, followed by 3 longer, finished with another short? Sorry if that makes NO sense lol!