MP 1,1-5,1 Moving from patched Mohave to Open core Catalina on an old Mac Pro......For a layman/Idiot's guide

[Dervish_DC]

Hello,

first of all thank you very much to anyone taking the time to help with this. I use this computer for my second job so I'm sometimes unnecessarily protective of it.

I'll attach pictures also but the long and short of it is I would like to do a clean install of Catalina.

I used Dosdude1's patcher for High Sierra and then Mohave as, at the time, I didn't think I was able to upgrade any further than Sierra as it did not come up on my updates. I am now of the understanding that perhaps there was something else I could do but no matter at this point. This was in Feb/March last year (2019).

I had to install a graphics card to get High Sierra ( metal or metal capable I believe is the term ) so I changed over to a Radeon RX580 8gb. This for me was a little scary as I don't really know what I'm doing but as, it seems most of us do, I just followed along with a youtube tutorial.

So, as in the title where do I go from here please? Do I need to do anything first or can I directly download opensource and get Catalina somehow? Any help is greatly appreciated,

Pictures are included of my mac specs but it's essentially a 2009 mac ( 4,1 I beleive that has been 'flashed' to 5,1 upon purchase - not me ).


Best,
D

 

[casperes1996]

What do you mean when you talk about open source? Either you’re referencing something I’m not aware of, or you may have misunderstood the term

 

[casperes1996]

Addendum; I believe you may have meant OpenCore. The Dosdude1 patcher shouldn’t matter if you follow any existing guides on the matter.

But I will say this; If it’s a crucial work related computer, it may not be worth it experimenting with this. I am sure you could get it working following a guide, but let’s say you wind up in a situation where your computer is unusable for a day, two, a week. I’m not trying to discourage experimenting; In fact I very much encourage trying out OpenCore and getting it running like you say you want. But if it’s a crucial computer for work, it may just not be right to experiment with if it’s working well for its tasks as is

 

[Dervish_DC]

What do you mean when you talk about open source? Either you’re referencing something I’m not aware of, or you may have misunderstood the term

Yes, thank you.

I meant open core.

Clearly demonstrating my knowledge level of the subject.

 

[Dervish_DC]

Addendum; I believe you may have meant OpenCore. The Dosdude1 patcher shouldn’t matter if you follow any existing guides on the matter.

But I will say this; If it’s a crucial work related computer, it may not be worth it experimenting with this. I am sure you could get it working following a guide, but let’s say you wind up in a situation where your computer is unusable for a day, two, a week. I’m not trying to discourage experimenting; In fact I very much encourage trying out OpenCore and getting it running like you say you want. But if it’s a crucial computer for work, it may just not be right to experiment with if it’s working well for its tasks as is

In short, I do use it for music composing work but have been struggling with one or two iddues and would like to try a later version of logic Pro.

I have nothing on this week and possibly next ( work has dried up somewhat these last few months) and want to take the opportunity to upgrade OS an my music program.

 

[casperes1996]

In short, I do use it for music composing work but have been struggling with one or two iddues and would like to try a later version of logic Pro.

I have nothing on this week and possibly next ( work has dried up somewhat these last few months) and want to take the opportunity to upgrade OS an my music program.

Fair enough; Well, all existing resources should be unaffected by you currently using a dosdude patched OS. - Dosdude’s patch should only affect the currently installed operating system.
So following the guides out there for OpenCore and all should work just fine for you
OpenCore isn’t something I’ve personally done much with though so for anything further the people who know that better than I will have to step in

 

[Dervish_DC]

Fair enough; Well, all existing resources should be unaffected by you currently using a dosdude patched OS. - Dosdude’s patch should only affect the currently installed operating system.
So following the guides out there for OpenCore and all should work just fine for you
OpenCore isn’t something I’ve personally done much with though so for anything further the people who know that better than I will have to step in

Thank you for your help and advice

 

[lclev]

I am currently in the process of upgrading my 2009 Mac Pro - which has been flashed to be a 5,1/2010. I had been running Mojave successfully for months now using Dosdude1's patch. I highly recommend you read the pinned posts on OpenCore. It is not for the faint of heart. I am at the point where I have upgraded the Boot ROM to 144.0.0.0.0. I had to install High Sierra on a blank drive then upgrade to Mojave so the Boot ROM would upgrade. For some reason that did not happen when I first installed Mojave. Now I have Mojave installed - again - and a blank SSD formatted APFS ready for the next step.

I am using the information found here:

OpenCore on the Mac Pro

This guide explains how to use the excellent OpenCore boot loader to install, run, and update the latest version of macOS on the MacPro5,1, resulting in a clean, unaltered operating system just like on a supported Mac.

forums.macrumors.com

Make sure your MP meets all the requirements before you start.

I have finished Part 1, #1. Disk Setup. I have one SSD with Mojave installed and one SSD blank ready to install OpenCore. The next steps will be a bit more tricky.

One thing I have done is keep my original SSD boot disk with the original Mojave install. I have it pulled out and set aside incase I need to go back to it later.

 

[pmiles]

Given all the horror stories about Catalina, one would think that staying at Mojave would be the better choice. As bad as Big Sur seems to have been so far, everyone seems to prefer Big Sur over Catalina if given a choice of evils.

 

[lclev]

My goal is Big Sur eventually. I have no love for Catalina. I run Big Sur on my 2020 MBP and it was a huge improvement over Catalina. I look at it this way - I always have my Mojave SSD sitting on the side if I want to go back.