new guide for installing mountain lion gm on unsupported macs

[noglider]

So right now, my MP runs ML with almost no problems (messages will not work but that may well be related to a MB replacement -by Apple- that somehow did not serialize the MB to the machine) but I have no doubt that, in the future, I will find myself in the same bucket. So, my questions is this: given that there are Mach kernels out there, couldn't one recompile the Mach kernel and add whatever it lacks (I am not sure how to do this but I know it is possible to remove things from a BSD or Linux kernel prior to recompiling) so that it will be compatible with the old hardware?

Given this, I was thinking, wouldn't it be possible to patch a PPC kernel so that ML could theoretically run on a G-4 or G-5 based machine?

No, because you'd need source code, wouldn't you? And some of the source code is in assembler language, i.e. completely different between PPC and Pentium.

 

[RAMtheSSD]

NoGlider: The source code for the Mach kernel is available and is under the BSD license. You do bring up a valid point and there are a whole lot of issues that I haven't resolved as of yet. OK, so I would need a RISC optimised kernel but the libraries etc would be in C so that they could be folded in as long as they matched the calls, right? I wasn't intending to use the X86 kernel I was thinking PPC kernel with libraries and patches in C and compiled on a PPC native platform using a BSD. Thus, a 32 bit Snow Leopard on a PPC ?

 

[noglider]

I suspect there's proprietary code in the OS that addresses the hardware. I also suspect you want more than the new kernel. You'll want the rest of the OS. It seems like much more than is worth it. How much is your time worth? But if you can do it, more power to you. Chances are, you can work any job long enough to buy yourself a new machine before you port the new OS to your machine. And if you pull it off, you still have an old machine.

 

[T909]

Hey,
Um.. Cannot I do that with InstallESD.dmg? I once bought Mountain Lion and saved InstallESD.dmg on my external harddrive, but now I have a new Apple ID and I wouldn't like to buy 10.8 again.
So is there any simple way to do that?

 

[GerardDirks]

Doesn't workk with Clean 10.8.5 Installier

Hello

I tried to install ML on my MacBook Air (First Version) with this method. after reboot I got the forbidden sign. I also tried it with the MLPostFactor 0.3 but I got the same result.

So probably Apple changed something in their latest 10.8.5 installier :-(

Any Help?

 

[upsaker]

First of all I will say thanks for a very nice guide and workaround.

That said, I have problems with the graphics after installing Mountain Lion. I did the installation without any problems on 2 Xserve early 2008 and one iMac5,1. The Xserves now says they have 3MB graphics memory but seems to work find using a local monitor, but when I remote desktop them everything is soooo slooooow. Not just slow, but actually complete unusable. As I was remote desktoped it from the other side of the globe using a modem connection from the 90s.

The iMac thinks it has 5MB graphics memory and is working okey locally, but it has artifacts making pictures and texts sometimes dissappear on for example mouse over.

Am I the only one having these kinds of trouble? Also, is there a guide for installing Mavericks on a Xserve early 2008 with 64 bit EFI somewhere?

 

[RV-ABZ]

If it has built-in ATI Radeon X1300 graphics, that is last supported in Lion... As such, you cannot decently run ML or Mav without adding a dedicated and supported graphics card (if that is at all possible), unless it's solely for usage without any sort of graphics requirements (eg: file server).

PS: this thread is obsolete and has been for over a year.

 

[uksupreme101]

Mountain Lion on unsupported Mac

first of all, you still need to make sure your cpu supports 64bit extension. since mountain lion does not contain 32bit kernel now.
Image
Preparation
1, a working OSX, any version could be fine
2, mountain lion gm InstallationESD.dmg, the file name could be different.
3, a partition or a flash disk that has at least 5GB space. it will be used as your installation source.
4, the board id and name of your mac
5, this patch

Installation
1, open Terminal, and enter defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES
2, then enter killall Finder
3, double click InstallationESD.dmg to mount
4, double click the hidden BaseSystem.dmg in the new Finder window to mount.
5, open Disk Utility and format installation source partition as HFS+
6, restore Mac OS X BaseSystem to your installation source
7, copy mach_kernel from the root dir of Mac OS X Install ESD to the root dir of your installation source.
8, copy Packages from the root dir of Mac OS X Install ESD to /System/Installation of your installation source and replace the original one
9, copy OSInstall.mpkg of from the patch to /System/Installation/Packages of your installation source and replace the original one
10, copy boot.efi from the patch to /System/Library/CoreService and /usr/standalone/i386 of your installation source and replace the original one
11, edit /System/Library/CoreService/PlatformSupport.plist of your installation source to add the board id and name of your mac
12, copy the modified PlatformSupport.plist to /System/Library/CoreService/com.apple.recovery.boot of your installation source and replace the original one
13, reboot and hold option key until boot menu is shown
14, choose your installation source to boot
15, install
16, copy the modified PlatformSupport.plist to /System/Library/CoreService of your installation target and replace the original one. you may do it in Terminal before system reboot while the installation progress is completed

known issues
1, find my mac of iCloud does not work.
this installation method does not create the Recovery Partition for you. so you need to create it by yourself to fix the issue.

2, sound driver does not work.
you may fix the issue by installing the old AppleHDA.kext from Lion.

3, graphics driver does not work.
there is no complete solution for the issue at this time. and you may help us by porting Linux Graphics Drivers from Intel to OSX.

4, 32bit efi will probably case a kernel panic when you have more then 4GB ram installed.
there is no solution for the issue at this time.

for detailed changes between the original and the patched boot.efi, see this post

Hi Guys,

I'm extremely stuck on step 16 - i have booted up and get the grey circle - i can see its because of the plist file but i cant work how to copy it in the terminal? i can see the line of code but doesnt seem to be working... maybe im not selecting the correct source / installation target how do i check? appreciate any help on this

 

[jonobin]

no news from the #74's poster?

 

[halo2]

I was having the same issues with copying the boot.efi into the coreservices folder. It was locked and I kept getting permission denied when trying to unlock in terminal.

But this command worked:

sudo rm -rf /Volumes/Your\ install\ volume\ here/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi

 

[rra1968]

downloading Mountain Lion

Hello,
I looked a lot on line and can't find an answer to this: If I'm trying to follow the instructions to install ML on a an unsupported Mac, but I can't downloaded it from the App store because "We could not complete your purchase. OS X Mountain Lion is not compatible with this computer", I'm caught in an endless loop!

I think I can use the instructions to install on a separate drive etc..., if I could just get the file (which I've paid for) to download.
I'm using a:
Mid 2007 Mac Mini
2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Intel GMA 950 64MB
and running 10.7.5

any thoughts on how to download the 10.8 install file from the App store?

Thanks
Rob

 

[skwoodwiva]

Hello,
I looked a lot on line and can't find an answer to this: If I'm trying to follow the instructions to install ML on a an unsupported Mac, but I can't downloaded it from the App store because "We could not complete your purchase. OS X Mountain Lion is not compatible with this computer", I'm caught in an endless loop!

I think I can use the instructions to install on a separate drive etc..., if I could just get the file (which I've paid for) to download.
I'm using a:
Mid 2007 Mac Mini
2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Intel GMA 950 64MB
and running 10.7.5

any thoughts on how to download the 10.8 install file from the App store?

Thanks
Rob

Use MLPF .3. turn on your PMs, I should be able to click your UN & PM you.

 

[zjays]

It doesn't work for me on my early 2008 macbook. When I try to boot from the installer on an external drive. It just shows a circle with a line through it immediately after I select the drive to boot.

I realize this is late, but I ran into the same problem as above when restarting and holding the option key to select the installer drive. For some reason, using the Startup Disk menu within System Preferences to select the installer drive worked instead.