OS X El Capitan on Unsupported Macs

[atvusr]

I am using Mountain Lion btw.

Then have a look into the 10.8 Thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/guide-success-install-10-8-on-old-unsupported-mac.1325709/

This Thread here is intended for OSX 10.11 El Capitan only.

 

[Brainzyy]

Then have a look into the 10.8 Thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/guide-success-install-10-8-on-old-unsupported-mac.1325709/

This Thread here is intended for OSX 10.11 El Capitan only.

Yeah I did that, but that thread is dead.

 

[electronicpeter]

Hi, after modifiing the installation drive it is no more bootable.

I have a mac pro 2.1 with mavericks (10.9.4). This patching was two years ago.
And I have macBookPro (2013) for downloading el capitain. As installation drive I use a 8gb usb stick. After using the disk utitlity this stick is recognized as bootable. (But when I run the bootstick in my macBook pro, which is already on el capitain, after loading I only get a black screen with a "forbidden" sign. I thought, this is because el capitain is already installed). However after doing the modifications as described above, the stick is no more recognized as bootable. I try this on my macBookPro first, because on my MacPro21 are patched graphic cards, they dont show anything during boot. So pressing the alt key on the macPro21 only works when I put in my old original graphic cards. On the macBook this is much easier.

The modified boot stick looks like this:
[admins-MBP peter /Volumes ]ls -la OS\ X\ Base\ System/
total 933400
drwxrwxr-t 24 peter staff 884 14 Apr 10:04 .
drwxrwxrwt@ 5 root admin 170 14 Apr 10:10 ..
-rw-r--r--@ 1 peter staff 10244 14 Apr 10:53 .DS_Store
drwx------ 5 peter staff 170 14 Apr 09:38 .Spotlight-V100
d-wx-wx-wt 3 peter staff 102 14 Apr 09:44 .Trashes
drwx------ 15 peter staff 510 14 Apr 10:08 .fseventsd
drwxr-xr-x 2 peter staff 68 31 Jul 2015 .vol
-rw-r--r--@ 1 peter staff 328 3 Dez 08:02 AppleDiagnostics.chunklist
-rw-r--r--@ 1 peter staff 2090275 15 Okt 19:46 AppleDiagnostics.dmg
drwxrwxr-x+ 4 peter staff 136 3 Dez 07:13 Applications
-rw-r--r--@ 1 peter staff 1948 3 Dez 08:02 BaseSystem.chunklist
-rw-r--r--@ 1 peter staff 475774193 3 Dez 07:17 BaseSystem.dmg
drwxr-xr-x 3 peter staff 102 3 Dez 05:01 Install OS X El Capitan.app
drwxr-xr-x+ 11 peter staff 374 3 Dez 07:13 Library
drwxr-xr-x+ 5 peter staff 170 14 Apr 09:44 System
drwxrwxrwt 2 peter staff 68 31 Jul 2015 Volumes
drwxr-xr-x 35 peter staff 1190 3 Dez 07:15 bin
dr-xr-xr-x 2 peter staff 68 16 Sep 2015 dev
lrwxr-xr-x 1 peter staff 11 3 Dez 07:13 etc -> private/etc
drwxr-xr-x 5 peter staff 170 3 Dez 07:13 private
drwxr-xr-x 57 peter staff 1938 3 Dez 07:15 sbin
lrwxr-xr-x 1 peter staff 11 3 Dez 07:13 tmp -> private/tmp
drwxr-xr-x 9 peter staff 306 14 Apr 09:43 usr
lrwxr-xr-x 1 peter staff 11 3 Dez 07:13 var -> private/var

The boot stick described by diskutil looks like this
/dev/disk2 (external, physical):
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: OS X Base System *7.9 GB disk2

[admins-MBP peter /Volumes ]diskutil info /dev/disk2
Device Identifier: disk2
Device Node: /dev/disk2
Whole: Yes
Part of Whole: disk2
Device / Media Name: Storage Device

Volume Name: OS X Base System

Mounted: Yes
Mount Point: /Volumes/OS X Base System

File System Personality: HFS+
Type (Bundle): hfs
Name (User Visible): Mac OS Extended
Owners: Disabled

Content (IOContent): None
OS Can Be Installed: No
Media Type: Generic
Protocol: USB
SMART Status: Not Supported
Volume UUID: 65D5B880-E9FA-303E-A91C-1D23B47DFCD8

Total Size: 7.9 GB (7948206080 Bytes) (exactly 15523840 512-Byte-Units)
Volume Free Space: 348.9 MB (348930048 Bytes) (exactly 681504 512-Byte-Units)
Device Block Size: 512 Bytes
Allocation Block Size: 4096 Bytes

Read-Only Media: No
Read-Only Volume: No

Device Location: External
Removable Media: Yes
Media Removal: Software-Activated

Virtual: No
OS 9 Drivers: No
Low Level Format: Not supported

I would be grateful for any hint. Thx Peter

 

[atvusr]

I try this on my macBookPro first, because on my MacPro21 are patched graphic cards, they dont show anything during boot. So pressing the alt key on the macPro21 only works when I put in my old original graphic cards. On the macBook this is much easier.

Maybe it's better to install the old original graphic cards temporary in the MacPro 2,1 to test the boot process. The MacPro 2,1 has only a 32bit EFI and the MacBook Pro (2013) has a 64bit EFI. Therefore Pike's Boot.efi (32bit) doesn't work with the 64bit MacBook Pro (2013).

Btw, have a look into the OSX 10.11 MacPro 1,1/2,1 Thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2006-2007-mac-pro-1-1-2-1-and-os-x-el-capitan.1890435/

 

[electronicpeter]

Maybe it's better to install the old original graphic cards temporary in the MacPro 2,1 to test the boot process. The MacPro 2,1 has only a 32bit EFI and the MacBook Pro (2013) has a 64bit EFI. Therefore Pike's Boot.efi (32bit) doesn't work with the 64bit MacBook Pro (2013).

Btw, have a look into the OSX 10.11 MacPro 1,1/2,1 Thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2006-2007-mac-pro-1-1-2-1-and-os-x-el-capitan.1890435/

Thanks for the reply. I have already read the thread mentioned, but the current thread seems more likely the one I used for patching to mavericks. However, I know that the macpro has another boot.efi. But I thought the efi is not used when the MacBookPro is launchend and looking for bootable devices. Obviously I was wrong. So I follow your advice and try it now on the macpro21. Thx

 

[atvusr]

But I thought the efi is not used when the MacBookPro is launchend and looking for bootable devices.

The Boot.efi is always used in OS X - in this case the original 64bit version by Apple on the MacBook Pro (2013) or the 32bit version by Pike R. Alpha on the MacPro 2,1. The EFI loads the Boot.efi and the Boot.efi loads the Kernel. It's like DOS: the BIOS loads the Boot Sector which loads the IO.SYS / DOS.SYS and they load the COMMAND.COM.

 

[electronicpeter]

The Boot.efi is always used in OS X - in this case the original 64bit version by Apple on the MacBook Pro (2013) or the 32bit version by Pike R. Alpha on the MacPro 2,1. The EFI loads the Boot.efi and the Boot.efi loads the Kernel. It's like DOS: the BIOS loads the Boot Sector which loads the IO.SYS / DOS.SYS and they load the COMMAND.COM.

You were right. The mac pro 2.1 finds the install usb stick. But when I try to use it, it takes a second, then the screen gets black, then I can see the boot startup of my main disk and than the regular mavericks shows the login screen. So obviously, my stick is corrupt.
I checked every step:
1) the package directory is a real directory, not the former alias
2) the four invisable files BaseSystem.dmg and so on are in the root directory of the installation stick
3) the efi files have been changed, they have 300 kb instead of 600 (i changed the flags again, cant see the difference)
4) the System/Library directory contains a director called Kernel, which contains a kernal
5) the OSInstall.mpkg is changed in System/Installation/Packages
6) the files System/Library/CoreServices/PlattformSupportList and System/Installation/Packages/InstallableMaschines.plist contain my mac id in the last original entry

So what ca bee wrong? Any hint wellcome!!!

 

[atvusr]

So what can be wrong?

Try to boot in verbose mode (Command-V) to see potential error messages.

The MacPro needs sometimes the 'bless'-command (via Terminal-App):

sudo bless --folder /Volumes/[DriveName]/System/Library/CoreServices --file /Volumes/[DriveName]/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi

Some USB-Sticks don't boot properly - try another one.

Check all steps for the creation of a patched Installer once again with the Guide from OSX 10.10 Yosemite (the basics are the same).

 

[electronicpeter]

Hello atvusr,
thank you again. Yes another bootstick showed some improvment. However, it still didnt work. Looks like that the kernel is not appriate to my hardware. I have one slot used for usb 3 connection - but did not use that for the patch. However, the message is:
Unable to find driver for this platform: \"ACPI\".\n" @/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/xnu/xnu-3216.0.0.1.13\iokit/Kernel/IOPlattfromExpert.cpp:1667

When I instelled the os hacker patch on my macpr21 (still on maverics) I checked OS EL Capitain. Hope this was right.
So do you have another idea? Might it help to remove the usb3 card?

Thank you for your help so far...

 

[atvusr]

Looks like that the kernel is not appriate to my hardware.

Extract the Kernel with Pacifist from InstallESD.dmg -> Packages -> Essentials.pkg -> /System/Library/Kernels/kernel

Add the extracted kernel file to /System/Library/Kernels/ of the patched Installer on the USB Stick.

 

[electronicpeter]

Extract the Kernel with Pacifist from InstallESD.dmg -> Packages -> Essentials.pkg -> /System/Library/Kernels/kernel

Add the extracted kernel file to /System/Library/Kernels/ of the patched Installer on the USB Stick.

Hello atvusr,
this helped a little further Now the apple logo appears and a nicecely rounded statusbar. After the statusbar has reached approximatly 70% the scrollbar and the logo disappear and the screen remains black?

I redid the whole procedure and created a new memorystick. Same result. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help so far!

 

[atvusr]

After the statusbar has reached approximatly 70% the scrollbar and the logo disappear and the screen remains black?

Boot in verbose mode (Command-V) and watch the error messages. What are the last lines?

Instead of the patched Installer you can also try to clone (Carbon Copy Cloner) the already installed OSX 10.11 from your MacBook Pro (2013), replace both Boot.efi and then boot the MacPro 2,1 with it.

 

[electronicpeter]

Instead of the patched Installer you can also try to clone (Carbon Copy Cloner) the already installed OSX 10.11 from your MacBook Pro (2013), replace both Boot.efi and then boot the MacPro 2,1 with it.

thats possible??? sounds too easy! however the ccc solution would have the advantage that i dont have to change the graphics. a further advantage is that its directly the latest el capitain. i will try this that weekend.

thank you very much for yor help!!!

 

[electronicpeter]

terrific!!! how f••••g easy. thx for that tip. macpro21 is on el capitain

 

[garretts228]

So is El Capitan working at all with this for a Macbook 4,1?

 

[Keir]

Hello!

I've been trying various ways to try and get El Capitan installed on my Xserve 1,1.
Using the Pikify route, I created the installer directly on one of the Xserve drives (via a USB dock) as I saw some people had issues getting it working via USB (I have actually managed to boot it from a USB pendrive but get the same error).

I am able to boot into the installer, it all looks fine, performance is perfect but I get an error telling me that El Capitan is already installed.

Attached a photo of the error I get as well as a video just to show performance (I know some people have had performance issues as well as issues with USB/Input devices - I have none of these).

I have one HDD in which contains the Pikify El Capitan installer, and another that is empty. Having gotten to the same point and the same error using a Pikify USB installer, it can't be related to the drives I don't think.

Any help would be appreciated!

Video

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

I have no idea if this will help you, but I added a board-id replacement for the Xserve1,1

https://github.com/Piker-Alpha/macosxbootloader/commit/816b3944090ed75317f2af5b5c0e6ad812b24701

 

[sarav.majestic]

Hello atvusr,
this helped a little further Now the apple logo appears and a nicecely rounded statusbar. After the statusbar has reached approximatly 70% the scrollbar and the logo disappear and the screen remains black?

I redid the whole procedure and created a new memorystick. Same result. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help so far!

Hi All,
I am also facing this issue. But it shows prohibitory sign after 70% completion. I am using MacBook4,1 with 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo. Since it is 64bit machine, I didnt change the boot.efi files. I tried running in verbose mode after selecting OS X Base System while booting up and ended with this message.

"Waiting on <dict ID=0 .....

**** [IOBluetoothFamily][SearchForTransportEventTimeoutHandler] -- Missing Bluetooth Controller Transport"

Not sure why this is happening. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[TMRJIJ]

Hi All,
I am also facing this issue. But it shows prohibitory sign after 70% completion. I am using MacBook4,1 with 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo. Since it is 64bit machine, I didnt change the boot.efi files. I tried running in verbose mode after selecting OS X Base System while booting up and ended with this message.

"Waiting on <dict ID=0 .....

**** [IOBluetoothFamily][SearchForTransportEventTimeoutHandler] -- Missing Bluetooth Controller Transport"

Not sure why this is happening. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

I believe this is a Bluetooth kext issue that we've been having for a while. New Beta Kexts and bootloader (unless your model is 32bit EFI which is Pike's expertise) will be released with the next OS X Extractor update.

 

[sarav.majestic]

I believe this is a Bluetooth kext issue that we've been having for a while. New Beta Kexts and bootloader (unless your model is 32bit EFI which is Pike's expertise) will be released with the next OS X Extractor update.

Thanks for the quick reply TMRJIJ. I will try to use Carbon Copy Cloner for now and wait for next OS X extractor update.

 

[Fred57]

Hi all,

Would anybody know how to avoid this message while installing El Capitan ?

Of course I do not have El Capitan installed on my old mac yet, but the installer thinks otherwise. Where is it looking at ? any log, file, other to delete to bypass this error ?

Thanks all

 

[Fred57]

On USB and Bluetooth topic, there seems to be solutions found:

USB: here
Keyboard works but I did not manage to have a functional mouse.

But thanks to here you can have Bluetooth working and then a magic trackpad like mine.

Result: thanks to a USB installer with Pike's Boot EFI, I reach the installer and manage to use the keyboard and trackpad.

and then... see my previous post. Last piece it seems before EC is on my machine, so any help or clue is appreciated.

All credits go to the people who found the right kexts to replace the ones under EC and obviously to Pike for the Boot.efi.

 

[vaano]

New here. I've been working for about 5 days to get my Macbook4,1 booted with El Capitan. I have followed this guide over and over but the installer always fails. I'm not supposed to use another boot.efi am I? Those seem to revert and boot to Lion because I'm assuming they fail. I get about 70% and get Missing Bluetooth Controller Transport though looking up that error/through these forums doesn't seem to actually be the problem.

Installed extractor 1.31/1.32/1.31 beta (is the actual app supposed to fail to run?)
Followed all of the file copying and mounting properly
Changed the two .plist files

I tried using various bluetooth and multitouch kext fixes and placed them in the two extensions folders but they didn't seem to do anything.

 

[TMRJIJ]

On USB and Bluetooth topic, there seems to be solutions found:

USB: here
Keyboard works but I did not manage to have a functional mouse.

But thanks to here you can have Bluetooth working and then a magic trackpad like mine.

Result: thanks to a USB installer with Pike's Boot EFI, I reach the installer and manage to use the keyboard and trackpad.

and then... see my previous post. Last piece it seems before EC is on my machine, so any help or clue is appreciated.

All credits go to the people who found the right kexts to replace the ones under EC and obviously to Pike for the Boot.efi.

Indeed . Glad you found these guys as well. I been trying to contact spakk for a while about an internal trackpad issue.

As for your previous post about the installation error, did you followed the guide in the first post exactly besides the USB kexts? Changes might need to be made to prevent this issue for both Yosemite and ElCap installers. I had a solution for this before but never recorded it .

 

[Fred57]

Indeed . Glad you found these guys as well. I been trying to contact spakk for a while about an internal trackpad issue.

As for your previous post about the installation error, did you followed the guide in the first post exactly besides the USB kexts? Changes might need to be made to prevent this issue for both Yosemite and ElCap installers. I had a solution for this before but never recorded it .

Hi TMRJIJ
Happy to see that you are stil working on making the little beasts work under El Capitan ! All the steps were followed.

I solved my issue by reformatting the target drive under the Installer itself.
But the installation only goes for a moment, and then random KP (maybe new Kexts, maybe memory, maybe something totally different). I looked at the error logs, but no pattern. Disappointing. I thought it was in the box this time. Unsure what the next step is to nail the problem down.