Resolved OS X Yosemite on Unsupported Macs [Guide]

[oiljames]

Did you manage to get your recovery partition working properly? I can boot into the recovery partition (enabled debug in Disk Utility, mounted Recovery and modified PlatformSupport.plist), but can't move past the initial screen. Just see the Utilities box, menu bar and an infinite spinning beachball.

I'm wondering if there's something else I need to modify to actually make the Recovery partition useful?

 

[Fred57]

ATI Kexts HD 4850

Hi All,

Quick help needed please to the community
Yosemite 10.10 successfully installed thanks to SFOTT on Mac mini 2,1 but my external graphic card (through Airport) is not recognized (ATI HD 4850). I tried to inject ATY_INI through Kext Utility 2.6.1 without success. Any idea how to get it work ? It was fully working under Mavericks.

Also, Update 10.10.1 does not want to install through Store or separate download. Any solution ?

Many thanks in advance

 

[TMRJIJ]

Did you manage to get your recovery partition working properly? I can boot into the recovery partition (enabled debug in Disk Utility, mounted Recovery and modified PlatformSupport.plist), but can't move past the initial screen. Just see the Utilities box, menu bar and an infinite spinning beachball.

I'm wondering if there's something else I need to modify to actually make the Recovery partition useful?

We are looking at a way to recreate the recovery partition. No ETA yet.

 

[grahamperrin]

Working without com.apple.dynamic_pager

… unloaded com.apple.dynamic_pager …

Risky.

 

[oiljames]

Risky.

Truth.

But it's only a temporary measure until I get a new solid state drive and I CERTAINLY wouldn't recommend that any newbies reading my posts do this.

 

[oiljames]

Hi All,

Quick help needed please to the community
Yosemite 10.10 successfully installed thanks to SFOTT on Mac mini 2,1 but my external graphic card (through Airport) is not recognized (ATI HD 4850). I tried to inject ATY_INI through Kext Utility 2.6.1 without success. Any idea how to get it work ? It was fully working under Mavericks.

Also, Update 10.10.1 does not want to install through Store or separate download. Any solution ?

Many thanks in advance

I assume you've already enabled the loading of unsigned kexts?

Terminal:

sudo nvram boot-args="kext-dev-mode=1"

And then reboot.

If you have and are still having issues, have you tried these kexts?

Clicky

 

[oiljames]

We are looking at a way to recreate the recovery partition. No ETA yet.

Quick update

As far as I can tell, I have a fully working recovery partition.

All utilities working.

Edit: I also ran w0lfschild's lovely darkboot mod, which I am happy to report works just fine!

 

[Fred57]

I assume you've already enabled the loading of unsigned kexts?

Terminal:

sudo nvram boot-args="kext-dev-mode=1"

And then reboot.

If you have and are still having issues, have you tried these kexts?

Clicky

Hi Oiljames,

Thanks for the tips. I did do the sudo command + used Kext Utility 2.6.1 (which does the sudo nvram itself) & the Kexts you sent me.
Still same black screen at boot.

I did though find a workaround (not satisfying) which I posted here
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/297040/
Post #196

So quite funny but not very functional

Would you see other options ?

Thanks

 

[oiljames]

Hi Oiljames,

Thanks for the tips. I did do the sudo command + used Kext Utility 2.6.1 (which does the sudo nvram itself) & the Kexts you sent me.
Still same black screen at boot.

I did though find a workaround (not satisfying) which I posted here
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/297040/
Post #196

So quite funny but not very functional

Would you see other options ?

Thanks

Technically for MacBook Pros with discrete graphics, but have you tried gfxcardstatus?

It has an option for discrete only, so may automatically switch gpus after you login if you set it to run at login?

 

[Fred57]

Technically for MacBook Pros with discrete graphics, but have you tried gfxcardstatus?

It has an option for discrete only, so may automatically switch gpus after you login if you set it to run at login?

I did try that too but gfxcardstatus does not want to install as it spots I am not on a MacBook Pro. If there is a way to prevent the check, I definitely agree with you.

 

[oiljames]

I did try that too but gfxcardstatus does not want to install as it spots I am not on a MacBook Pro. If there is a way to prevent the check, I definitely agree with you.

I'm not at home so I can't check, but have you checked inside the package for any plists that check board IDs/model identifiers?

If there are, insert your macs details in there and see if it lets you install? Other than that I'm not sure.

 

[Fred57]

I'm not at home so I can't check, but have you checked inside the package for any plists that check board IDs/model identifiers?

If there are, insert your macs details in there and see if it lets you install? Other than that I'm not sure.

I believe I found part of the solution. I just removed ATY_INIT from the Extensions folder, and it now boots well with the Radeon 4850 only. I had inserted the correct board IDs/model identifiers there previously.

Now, last issue. Yosemite still believes to see a second display plugged into the GMA 950 even if no cable is inserted. Weird but apparently known bug (?). Trying to get rid of that now.

Thanks again for the support

 

[oiljames]

I believe I found part of the solution. I just removed ATY_INIT from the Extensions folder, and it now boots well with the Radeon 4850 only. I had inserted the correct board IDs/model identifiers there previously.

Now, last issue. Yosemite still believes to see a second display plugged into the GMA 950 even if no cable is inserted. Weird but apparently known bug (?). Trying to get rid of that now.

Thanks again for the support

Glad you've got it mostly there.

Have you already tried "Detect Displays"?

From Apple Support:

I am using OS X Mavericks or Yosemite. Where did the Detect Displays button go?
You can find the Detect Displays button in the Displays section of System Preferences. Once there, press and hold the Option key to see the Detect Displays button in the lower-right corner. You can click this button to manually detect another display.

It should also detect that you only have 1 display.

 

[Fred57]

Glad you've got it mostly there.

Have you already tried "Detect Displays"?

From Apple Support:

I am using OS X Mavericks or Yosemite. Where did the Detect Displays button go?
You can find the Detect Displays button in the Displays section of System Preferences. Once there, press and hold the Option key to see the Detect Displays button in the lower-right corner. You can click this button to manually detect another display.

It should also detect that you only have 1 display.

Yes, indeed. Done that also. The mystery display is still there :-/
Probably a legacy system file that I need to find and delete...

Best

 

[oiljames]

Yes, indeed. Done that also. The mystery display is still there :-/
Probably a legacy system file that I need to find and delete...

Best

That is a mystery then!

As a last resort, have you tried removing the kexts for the GMA?

May do more harm than good though.

 

[Fred57]

That is a mystery then!

As a last resort, have you tried removing the kexts for the GMA?

May do more harm than good though.

This is a bold move I will live with that ghost display for the time being until I am fed up with it & give a try to the Bazooka solution

Very pleased with Yosemite for the time being on such a little & oldie piece of hardware.

 

[oiljames]

Very pleased with Yosemite for the time being on such a little & oldie piece of hardware.

I agree with this! Runs much faster than Lion.

 

[Csb-17]

Hi, installed mavericks on a iMac 6.1.

Everything its working, but the graphics are very slow, it is a 7300gt, it is recognized properly by the mac but only as a 9mb graphics card.

Any solution for this graphics?

Thanks

Edit: just find out, i have no sound too, no output or entry devices...

Solution? just go back?

 

[Kishtel]

AUDIO problem solution

On the subject of audio, I got all the audio working perfectly on a MacBookAir1,1 without using VoodooHDA. (after many attempts at that route!)

I have an original Snow Leopard install disc, so using remote disc from my MBP I grabbed the Snow Leopard versions of AppleHDA.kext and IOAudioFamily.kext and loaded those into the Yosemite install using Kext Utility. Once complete I rebooted and presto, audio input/output working perfectly and correctly displayed as "Internal Speakers" within System Prefs.

If only it was that simple for sleep/wake and graphics acceleration!

Even with the problems, 10.10.1 runs much faster than 10.7.5 on the Air! Just have to remember not to let it sleep if it's being used...

So, I'm almost firmly sure that AUDIO problem for Yosemite on unsupported macs is solved (for sure, as for me )! I can confirm that it works on my MacBook 4,1 (late 2008)
Two kext files from SL (Os X 10.6.3 Retail): AppleHDA.kext and IOAudioFamily.kext are attached.

P.s. Please delete Voodoo drivers before installation these two kexts with KextUtility. Search in Finder kexts "VoodooHDA" and "VoodooHDA.PrefPane" (manually in folders:
YourDisk/System/Library/Extensions,
YourDisk/Library/Extensions,
YourUsername/Library/Extensions and
YourDisk/System/Library/PreferencePanes,
YourDisk/Library/PreferencePanes,
YourUsername/Library/PreferencePanes respectively).
And of course delete VoodooHdaSettingsLoader.app in Applications. Then delete AppleHDADisabler.kext in following folders.

!!!Please BE SURE (reboot after deleting) that your Voodoo kexts are deleted, because it causes kernel panic with AppleHDA.kext

 

[TMRJIJ]

So, I'm almost firmly sure that AUDIO problem for Yosemite on unsupported macs is solved (for sure, as for me )! I can confirm that it works on my MacBook 4,1 (late 2008)
Two kext files from SL (Os X 10.6.3 Retail): AppleHDA.kext and IOAudioFamily.kext are attached.

Thanks for the feedback. These kexts will be tested on other models and overwrite the current ones in the post 1 guide.

----------

Hi, installed mavericks on a iMac 6.1.

Everything its working, but the graphics are very slow, it is a 7300gt, it is recognized properly by the mac but only as a 9mb graphics card.

Any solution for this graphics?

Thanks

Edit: just find out, i have no sound too, no output or entry devices...

Solution? just go back?

Hi,

We will include your graphics kexts in the upcoming OSXH update in post 1 sometime over the weekend. The sound issue can be fixed with the AppleHDA.kext provided in the attachments there or presented by Kishtel in post 369.

----------

Quick update

As far as I can tell, I have a fully working recovery partition.

All utilities working.

Edit: I also ran w0lfschild's lovely darkboot mod, which I am happy to report works just fine!

Thanks for the update!

 

[oiljames]

Hi, installed mavericks on a iMac 6.1.

Everything its working, but the graphics are very slow, it is a 7300gt, it is recognized properly by the mac but only as a 9mb graphics card.

Any solution for this graphics?

Thanks

Edit: just find out, i have no sound too, no output or entry devices...

Solution? just go back?

What extensions are you using for that card?

I have the 10.6 extensions if you want to try dropping those in? Although you'll still have the same problem as with the Intel GMA graphics, in that you'll have no graphics acceleration.

GeForce7*** Extensions

EDIT: Please wait for the OSXH update and use the kexts that they include. They test everything and the files in my link are raw originals straight from OS X 10.6.0 that I have not tested, as I have no machine to do so.

----------

Thanks for the update!

No problem.

It involved mounting the Recovery HD, setting rwx permissions for user and modifying all platformsupport.plist's.

I then converted base system.dmg into a read/write image (read only on the recovery partition) and modified the relevant files within there. Once complete, converted the new basesystem.dmg to "compressed" and copied it into the recovery HD (made sure I backed up the original first).

I made sure all permissions were reset and any files that I had unhidden were set back to hidden, then unmounted the Recovery HD.

Rebooted into recovery (using CMD+R) and it all worked perfectly.

 

[TMRJIJ]

What extensions are you using for that card?

I have the 10.6 extensions if you want to try dropping those in? Although you'll still have the same problem as with the Intel GMA graphics, in that you'll have no graphics acceleration.

GeForce7*** Extensions

EDIT: Please wait for the OSXH update and use the kexts that they include. They test everything and the files in my link are raw originals straight from OS X 10.6.0 that I have not tested, as I have no machine to do so.

----------



No problem.

It involved mounting the Recovery HD, setting rwe permissions for user and modifying all platformsupport.plist's.

I then converted base system.dmg into a read/write image (read only on the recovery partition) and modified the relevant files within there. Once complete, converted the new basesystem.dmg to "compressed" and copied it into the recovery HD (made sure I backed up the original first).

I made sure all permissions were reset and any files that I had unhidden were set back to hidden, then unmounted the Recovery HD.

Rebooted into recovery (using CMD+R) and it all worked perfectly.

We will add the link to the beta of the new OSXH update v1.1 below
The update will include:

• Revised Sound Kexts
• Scripts to disable some Graphical Animations that may slow down our Macs
• New Nvidia kext extensions (slight adjustments may be made in final version)
• OSXH app will have live chat enabled when developers are online.

OpenGL patches are not included in this update. We are still working on this as permission problems are occurring. As previously stated, these are only for developers/tester who know what they are doing and can diagnosed their Mac if it bricks completely.
Recovery HD guide/patch is being worked on. We are working on Automating the kext installation similar to what the animation script are doing. Any help is always welcomed.

Download Link Here

 

[fiatlux]

OS X Yosemite on Unsupported Macs

So, I'm almost firmly sure that AUDIO problem for Yosemite on unsupported macs is solved (for sure, as for me )! I can confirm that it works on my MacBook 4,1 (late 2008)

Two kext files from SL (Os X 10.6.3 Retail): AppleHDA.kext and IOAudioFamily.kext are attached.



P.s. Please delete Voodoo drivers before installation these two kexts with KextUtility. Search in Finder kexts "VoodooHDA" and "VoodooHDA.PrefPane" (manually in folders:

YourDisk/System/Library/Extensions,

YourDisk/Library/Extensions,

YourUsername/Library/Extensions and

YourDisk/System/Library/PreferencePanes,

YourDisk/Library/PreferencePanes,

YourUsername/Library/PreferencePanes respectively).

And of course delete VoodooHdaSettingsLoader.app in Applications. Then delete AppleHDADisabler.kext in following folders.



!!!Please BE SURE (reboot after deleting) that your Voodoo kexts are deleted, because it causes kernel panic with AppleHDA.kext

I was delighted to hear that audio was fixed. I deleted the Voodoo and AppleHDADisabler kexts, rebooted, installed the new kexts, rebooted... but my MacBook 3,1 now hangs at boot :-(

If I boot in verbose mode I get a lot of the following messages before it hangs :
"BUG in process suhelperd[###]: over-released legacy external boost assertions (1 total, 1 external, 0 legacy-external)"

Any clue? I've booted in single user mode and 2x checked I removed all old kexts...

Looks like I'll give up and re-install 10.7 from scratch... :-(

 

[TMRJIJ]

Hi, installed mavericks on a iMac 6.1.

Everything its working, but the graphics are very slow, it is a 7300gt, it is recognized properly by the mac but only as a 9mb graphics card.

Any solution for this graphics?

Thanks

Edit: just find out, i have no sound too, no output or entry devices...

Solution? just go back?

We just added the second beta of the OSXH update v1.1 below
The update will include:
AirDrop Enable Scripts
Revised Sound Kexts (fixed a slight issue)
Scripts to disable some Graphical Animations that may slow down our Macs
New Nvidia kext extensions (slight adjustments may be made in final version)
OSXH app will have live chat enabled when developers are online.
Fixed an Issue where some users are not able to open the OSXH app

OpenGL patches are not included in this update. As previously stated, these are only for developers/testers who know what they are doing and can diagnosed their Mac if it bricks completely.
Recovery HD guide/patch is being worked on later. We are also working on Automating the kext installation similar to what the animation script are doing. Any help is always welcomed.

Beta 2 Download link

 

[illuminerdi]

Has anyone loaded Yosemite or Mavericks onto a 17" iMac 4,1 w/Radeon X1600? Was it acceptable or did the lack of OpenGL acceleration effectively make the system useless for everything but basic tasks (browsing, etc)?

I don't expect to be playing modern games or using photoshop, even if acceleration was working, but I really need QE / OpenGL Acceleration to be working on this system.

For now I guess I'm going to install ML, but if anyone has had good experiences with Yosemite or Mavericks on a C2D mac with a Radeon, let me know.

Thanks!