macOS 10.12 Sierra Unsupported Macs Thread

[brunsik]

I have VirtualBox installed with a Mountain Lion VM in it, which I was using to run SheepShaver. However, I haven't used it in a while, since I am currently running SheepShaver directly under Sierra at the moment.

At any rate, can you please provide specific instructions regarding how to detach the iSight camera from VirtualBox?

I guess it is worth a try before I am forced to conduct a clean install of 16A323.

Thanks.

Try first install extra usb support in virtualbox in usb settings, then start any virtual os, go to devices>usb>and choose your isight camera. then shut down the vm and close virtualbox and check whether your acmera works i.ex. in facetime

I followed this article http://www.macworld.com/article/2107864/bugs-and-fixes-os-x-10-9-2-and-the-disappearing-camera.html but my culprit was the virtualbox, i had not got AirParrot

 

[RumorzGuy]

I would add, since you will be down for a while anyway and you have the space, why not ...
- take this opportunity and restore to your previous fully operational El Cap (assuming that was the case)
- create a new partition for patching Sierra, following your plan.

That would be a good idea . . . if I still had a full backup of my previous El Capitan setup. However, I don't.

Being as these problems didn't crop up until this morning, both of my USB external hard drives -- I conduct two daily full backups of my internal hard drive, one to each external hard drive -- already have backups of my current Sierra installation, and not of my previous El Capitan installation. So that approach is kind of a lost cause at this point.

So, I really have no choice but to do a clean install, and then migrate my personal files after I check to see if the iSight camera is even working. As I said, at the very least, I will know that I have a clean system without any corrupted system files, with all ownership and permissions set properly.

Question: When I run the post-install, should I enable the "Recovery Partition Patch"? Dosdude1 never emphasized doing this, so until you mentioned it, I have just left the options set at whatever the tool automatically selects for iMac9,1.

 

[indigotheory]

I went for the 24" early 2009 imac 9,1 so will be getting a USB installer ready.

Unsure whether it's best to either install the latest public beta or the GM, does it matter?

Is the link to the Sierra GM on dosdude1 page here?
http://dosdude1.com/sierrapatch.html

 

[ChrisChaval]

Hi, is chance to work unsupported wifi with kext from El Capitan? Or is only one way - change to supported card? And this second question, what is supported card for MacBook Pro Early 2008 and Mac Mini Late 2009? Ideally cheaper than 70 € Thank you.

I own a late 2009 Mini

It appears there are no internal wifi/bluetooth cards available on the market today that could be used to upgrade that specific model. At least I did not find any

The capitan driver will not work

You can try a usb wifi dongle, just make sure it is osx compatible, ralink/mediatek provides good osx support.

 

[RumorzGuy]

I went for the 24" early 2009 imac 9,1 so will be getting a USB installer ready.

Unsure whether it's best to either install the latest public beta or the GM, does it matter?

Is the link to the Sierra GM on dosdude1 page here?
http://dosdude1.com/sierrapatch.html

If by public beta you mean Public Beta 7, I would recommend that you install the final public release of macOS Sierra, which is identical to the last GM, or 16A323.

Just go to dosdude1's patch tool page. You will see a link to download 16A323 there under the Things You'll Need section. Here is the URL:

dosdude1's macOS Sierra Patch Tool

Follow his instructions very carefully.

 

[indigotheory]

If by public beta you mean Public Beta 7, I would recommend that you install the final public release of macOS Sierra, which is identical to the last GM, or 16A323.

Just go to dosdude1's patch tool page. You will see a link to download 16A323 there under the Things You'll Need section. Here is the URL:

dosdude1's macOS Sierra Patch Tool

Follow his instructions very carefully.

Great thanks for the reply. I sat with the guide when I did the 1st public beta on the late 2008 MacBook and I patched that up until the public beta 7 and it works really good

Is there anyway to update the public beta 7 on the MacBook to the 16A323 build without doing a clean install? (Like I will with the imac)

 

[RumorzGuy]

YIPPEE YAHOO!!! MY iSIGHT CAMERA IS WORKING AGAIN!!!

Please refer to point #11 under MY PREVIOUS MESSAGE #2802 for all of the juicy details.

Trust me; it's not what some of you may think . . . at least it wasn't in my particular case.

None of us were even close; but a MacRumors newbie was!

Of course, being as there are so many different configurations that we each use on our machines, there may be just as many different solutions to our individual problems.

So maybe what I did will work for you, but maybe it won't too. There's only one way to find out.

Thank you to everyone who offered their time and their expertise to try to help me to figure this out. I appreciate it . . . but the crown must be laid upon our MacRumors newbie.

Have I piqued your curiosity?

 

[waveman]

Guys, I'm happy to see that you solved the camera problem. Would you mind giving me some instructions that would help me to solve my problem? Since I updated El Cap to Sierra using dosdude1 instructions I ended up with a broken system. I downloaded Sierra from AppStore using a link provided by dosdude1. I updated the system, I haven't done a clean install. I don't have a backup, I was sure the process was painless. It wasn't, and now I can only access Recovery partition, and if there is a way to fix it from there I'd like to know how.

Any ideas?
I'd really appreciate some...

 

[dosdude1]

Guys, I'm happy to see that you solved the camera problem. Would you mind giving me some instructions that would help me to solve my problem? Since I updated El Cap to Sierra using dosdude1 instructions I ended up with a broken system. I downloaded Sierra from AppStore using a link provided by dosdude1. I updated the system, I haven't done a clean install. I don't have a backup, I was sure the process was painless. It wasn't, and now I can only access Recovery partition, and if there is a way to fix it from there I'd like to know how.

Any ideas?
I'd really appreciate some...

Backup your data, and do a clean install. It's the best option and will cause less issues.

 

[Czo]

Guys, I'm happy to see that you solved the camera problem. Would you mind giving me some instructions that would help me to solve my problem? Since I updated El Cap to Sierra using dosdude1 instructions I ended up with a broken system. I downloaded Sierra from AppStore using a link provided by dosdude1. I updated the system, I haven't done a clean install. I don't have a backup, I was sure the process was painless. It wasn't, and now I can only access Recovery partition, and if there is a way to fix it from there I'd like to know how.

Any ideas?
I'd really appreciate some...

Whats the symptoms?

 

[RumorzGuy]

Is there anyway to update the public beta 7 on the MacBook to the 16A323 build without doing a clean install? (Like I will with the imac)

I am not absolutely certain about that. However, from comments I've seen from dosdude1 and others, it seems like it might be possible, because they are even saying that you can upgrade from El Capitan, without doing a clean install, I believe.

But again, please don't quote me on that. You may possibly have to upgrade to a GM first.

I know that when I was still on the Public Betas, dosdude1's instructions were that you did have to do a clean install in order to install a GM. However, in his latest comments, he has been singing a different tune, which seems to indicate that in some cases, a clean install is no longer necessary.

For example, I updated from 16A319 to 16A323 -- which is also the final build/public release of Sierra -- without performing a clean install. But please note, that is from one GM to another GM.
[doublepost=1474635122][/doublepost]

Guys, I'm happy to see that you solved the camera problem. Would you mind giving me some instructions that would help me to solve my problem? Since I updated El Cap to Sierra using dosdude1 instructions I ended up with a broken system. I downloaded Sierra from AppStore using a link provided by dosdude1. I updated the system, I haven't done a clean install. I don't have a backup, I was sure the process was painless. It wasn't, and now I can only access Recovery partition, and if there is a way to fix it from there I'd like to know how.

Any ideas?
I'd really appreciate some...

I don't want to sound too preachy, but I assume that by now, you have already realized that you made two mistakes with that particular approach:

1. You don't have a backup. That's a big no-no. For the past two days, each time that I have undertaken a major change to my system to resolve these issues, I have made a full backup of my internal startup drive first. I would be crazy/nuts/foolish/insane not too.

2. You assumed it would be painless, and so you didn't prepare for any negative outcomes. Tsk . . . tsk. We are all working in uncharted territory here, on unsupported machines which even Apple told us not to use. So, while painless would be great, as we all know, many of us have had our fair share of headaches and head-scratching over this.

If you can't do what dosdude1 suggested to you -- he knows his stuff -- at least you can boot into Recovery Mode, which means that you have the option to reinstall your previous system, albeit, a virgin version without all of your personal files, I would assume.

 

[AMouseCowHerd]

Hmm, I have a mid-2007 iMac. According to the first post, I can upgrade the WiFi and CPU to ensure compatibility. However, I thought the EFI in my Mac would choke on a Penryn processor. Could I upgrade it to a quad? Is it a mobile or desktop CPU? Does anyone have a list of known working CPUs?

The best working CPU mentioned in this thread is a T9500 which is a mobile CPU. You can find it on AliExpress, amongst other places. You need the Socket P version.

I'll be testing for the iMac7,1 in the coming days and will report my results. I have a SLAYX Penryn on order, just waiting for it to come in.

Some notes for anyone else who wants to try with this machine:

• If you've worked on one of these iMacs before, it's time consuming but not hard. If it's your first time, however, it's very tedious.
• Do NOT try to use a Core 2 Extreme Penryn in this iMac. EFI was never updated for Penryn on this machine, and as such, it will not read the CPUID of an Extreme Penryn correctly and will run at a fairly slow speed (700MHz if I remember correctly). I recommend the SLAYX T9500 since it's the highest clocked non-Extreme Penryn on the 800MHz FSB and won't have this issue since the multiplier is enforced by the processor. With a locked Penryn the only negative effect of the unrecongized CPUID is the wrong information under About This Mac.
• It's possible to use a BCM94360CD with an adapter from osxwifi.com and avoid the wifi kext issues with the 4321 completely. The 7,1 has only two wifi antennas, and the card will run fine like that in 2x2 mode, however you can get an extra antenna that has some 3M adhesive, snake it up behind the RF shielding inside the back of the iMac somewhere and mount it in there. It works well and you'll get the 3x3 speeds.
• Go ahead and swap out your HDD with an SSD while you're in there, it brings some new life to this old machine.

You also need to copy a couple of kexts from El Capitan to make the volume control work as described a few pages back.

It does. Copying IOAudioFamily.kext and AppleHDA.kext from El Capitan works.

 

[waveman]

Whats the symptoms?

Kernel panic

 

[Stratus Fear]

The best working CPU mentioned in this thread is a T9500 which is a mobile CPU. You can find it on AliExpress, amongst other places. You need the Socket P version.



You also need to copy a couple of kexts from El Capitan to make the volume control work as described a few pages back.

To add to the CPU information, searching for sSpec number "SLAYX" will generally find you the exact processor you need (socket and frequency).

 

[Abby_CZ]

Get a Broadcom BCM4322.

Hi, will be working this card? - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/For..._6&btsid=92cf2e0f-79c3-45c4-9e49-d57b2b039064 or this? - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/for..._6&btsid=2b3d8486-16e1-4a66-88a8-846719ab7bc3

And will be working bluetooth after change wifi for this card? Thank you.

 

[Czo]

Kernel panic

Can you shot the full screen? I need all the texts. It is a upgrade install over El Capitan? Which El Capitan version? Which folders exists on /Library/Extensions/? Have you any external mouse or keybord? Which brand and type?

 

[RumorzGuy]

Can someone help me, I used dosdudes patch tool to download sierra then put it on a flashdrive with the same tool and everytime I boot from it I get a probationary sign. I have a macbook mid 2009. Help Please!

Your comment is a little ambiguous.

When you say "everytime I boot from it", are you referring to trying to boot from the USB installer flashdrive that you created, or are you referring to trying to boot from macOS Sierra that you just installed on your internal startup drive, using your flashdrive?

If it is the latter, one common response here has been that you may have forgotten to use the post-install option that is located on your USB installer flashdrive.

In other words -- and I was meaning to tell dosdude1 that maybe he needs to make this a little clearer in his instructions -- immediately after macOS Sierra is installed on your internal hard drive do not let your machine boot from your internal hard drive. That will mess things up for you.

Instead, as soon as macOS Sierra is installed on your internal hard drive, shut down your machine if you can.

What you want and must do, is reboot your machine holding down your option/alt key so that you can boot right back into the USB installer flashdrive that you made, and then select the post-install option before you even try to boot into the macOS Sierra that you just installed on your internal startup drive.

I think this might be one point that some folks are missing, from the comments I have read here. After they install macOS Sierra on their internal hard drive, they are letting their machine boot into that just-installed system, before they have run post-install from their USB installer drive. As I said, if you do that, from what I have read in this thread, you will get the prohibited sign.

 

[pkouame]

YIPPEE YAHOO!!! MY iSIGHT CAMERA IS WORKING AGAIN!!!

Please refer to point #11 under MY PREVIOUS MESSAGE #2802 for all of the juicy details.

Trust me; it's not what some of you may think . . . at least it wasn't in my particular case.

None of us were even close; but a MacRumors newbie was!

Of course, being as there are so many different configurations that we each use on our machines, there may be just as many different solutions to our individual problems.

So maybe what I did will work for you, but maybe it won't too. There's only one way to find out.

Thank you to everyone who offered their time and their expertise to try to help me to figure this out. I appreciate it . . . but the crown must be laid upon our MacRumors newbie.

Have I piqued your curiosity?

Congrats!! You have officially graduated from self professed newbiedom...

See...biting that bullet wasn't that painful after all now was it?

Btw, did u check your recovery partition? As mentioned before you need to select it (check box) during post install. Is your safe mode working? Those may be the last glitches to iron out. Maybe for another day
Enjoy your new Mac.
[doublepost=1474638353][/doublepost]

Backup your data, and do a clean install. It's the best option and will cause less issues.

A suggestion: do you keep a log file of your install process somewhere? This may be helpful in the future. Also, is there a way to post install "patch" recovery after the fact via your utility? May also be helpful for some.

 

[aquaticflow]

Try first install extra usb support in virtualbox in usb settings, then start any virtual os, go to devices>usb>and choose your isight camera. then shut down the vm and close virtualbox and check whether your acmera works i.ex. in facetime

This just worked for me! I'm gonna reboot and see if it's a 'permanent' fix.. and I would say that this must be the difference (at least for people with 5,3 Macbook Pro's) that are having the issue.. I assume it's something conflicting with Virtualbox?

Anyways, thank you @brunsik! Gonna reboot now and see if the fix persists!

 

[dosdude1]

Congrats!! You have officially graduated from self professed newbiedom...

See...biting that bullet wasn't that painful after all now was it?

Btw, did u check your recovery partition? As mentioned before you need to select it (check box) during post install. Is your safe mode working? Those may be the last glitches to iron out. Maybe for another day
Enjoy your new Mac.
[doublepost=1474638353][/doublepost]
A suggestion: do you keep a log file of your install process somewhere? This may be helpful in the future. Also, is there a way to post install "patch" recovery after the fact via your utility? May also be helpful for some.

I don't save any logs, but there's a Recovery Partition Patch in the post-install tool.

 

[pkouame]

I don't save any logs, but there's a Recovery Partition Patch in the post-install tool.

Great!
By the way, I have a few suggestions on how to try and bullet proof your tool a little more. I'm a developer, so if you want to collaborate on that (and share your code) just holler and PM.
I think the time is about ripe for an update to post #1. Think @foxlet suggested it too. Can help with that too. Dunno who officially maintains the original post. Keep up the good work. 10.12.1+ is just around the corner...Geez this will never end.

 

[aquaticflow]

Ok, so the virtualbox 'fix' did not persist, and just to see if I could boot into safe mode, (so maybe it wouldn't load the virtualbox extensions) to check if the camera would work or not... and I just get the prohibited symbol every time.. since using 10.3, I have never booted any of my macs into safe mode.. dosdude or anyone that has a 5,3, is it normal behavior to not be able to boot into safe mode on a patched 10.12 system?

 

[pkouame]

Ok, so the virtualbox 'fix' did not persist, and just to see if I could boot into safe mode, (so maybe it wouldn't load the virtualbox extensions) to check if the camera would work or not... and I just get the prohibited symbol every time.. since using 10.3, I have never booted any of my macs into safe mode.. dosdude or anyone that has a 5,3, is it normal behavior to not be able to boot into safe mode on a patched 10.12 system?

Yes safe mode is also an issue for me on my mbp 5,3.

 

[aquaticflow]

Yes safe mode is also an issue for me on my mbp 5,3.

Ok, thanks for confirming!

 

[bigmacintosh]

I have a MacBook Pro 5.4 from mid-2009 (2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 8 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, 240 GB SSD). I downloaded Sierra on a supported Mac, wrote it to a USB drive and patched it with dosdude1's tool.
Then I installed it on a secondary partition on said mid-2009 MacBook Pro, and after the patch, it works just as well as El Capitan. Even the iSight webcam is working.
The only thing that no longer works is double tap and hold on the trackpad to drag. But I can live without it, all the other gestures still work.
However, I'm making a full Time Machine backup and waiting until the public release of 10.12.1 before attempting to upgrade my main El Capitan installation, because I want to make sure the updates also install fine (having to patch them using dosdude1's other tool is fine).

TBH I'm fine with El Capitan, but it's not fair Apple shrug off people who gave more money to them. Sierra is supported on the 2009 white Macbook which has the same exact hardware as the more expensive 2009 Macbook Pro.