macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread

[antony34]

I updated the APFS patch. It should work as intended now. Please test it and let me know. Thank you. As always, it's available here.

it is not working on APFS patch.
I boot into the installer and run terminal to patch the OS. after the patch finished, it doesn't run APFS patch. when compare with last version

 

[0403979]

it is not working on APFS patch.
I boot into the installer and run terminal to patch the OS. after the patch finished, it doesn't run APFS patch. when compare with last version

You mean it doesn’t ask you to install the apfs patch? Make sure your drive is an apfs drive.

 

[antony34]

You mean it doesn’t ask you to install the apfs patch? Make sure your drive is an apfs drive.

yes, 100% sure it is APFS and it doesn't ask me to install the APFS Patch

I am going to repartition and install the OS again. Let me try again and let you know the result.

 

[brandonnel237]

Which macOS version do you use? 10.14.4?
If so, many owners of MBP5,2 have reported crashes across this forum. A remedy is to switch to the faster of the two built-in GPUs: System Settings -> Power saving, select higher performance. Then you need to logout/login, hopefully with no kernel panic. Then shutdown and boot.
That helped, also in my case. Second problem: using Safari may provoke kernel panics. Use some other browser for now. Safari OK in 10.14.5 (beta releases only so far).

Yes I am using 10.14.4. I've tried using the Higher Performance option but still no luck. Would downgrading back to 10.14.3 help? Thanks.

 

[0403979]

yes, 100% sure it is APFS and it doesn't ask me to install the APFS Patch

I am going to repartition and install the OS again. Let me try again and let you know the result.

The issue is that you already installed the apfs patch on the drive. It’s done on a per hard drive basis instead of per drive. I could walk you through removing it manually or I could simply remove the check.

 

[antony34]

The issue is that you already installed the apfs patch on the drive. It’s done on a per hard drive basis instead of per drive. I could walk you through removing it manually or I could simply remove the check.

how to remove it? i can make it after os installation.

 

[0403979]

how to remove it? i can make it after os installation.

Run diskutil list and copy the disk indentifier (diskXsX) for your edit partition. Then run these commands.

diskutil mount (your efi indentifer here)
rm /Volumes/EFI/EFI/apfs.efi
rm /Volumes/EFI/EFI/BOOT

 

[MrZupp]

You mean you used the APFS boot patch and it shows a folder with question mark?

Yes

Edit: Formated as jouraled, booted, but only the backlight HUD appears, but does nothing, still I can't switch GPUs

 

[hvds]

Yes I am using 10.14.4. I've tried using the Higher Performance option but still no luck. Would downgrading back to 10.14.3 help? Thanks.

Yes, several people on this forum did, see e.g. post #14480.

 

[flygbuss]

My supported MBP 15” from 2012 and my unsupported MBP 13” from 2011 make randomly the optical drive wake up sound when the lid is closed and the book is supposed to sleep. Does anyone else experience this? Both run the lastest Beta of Mojave.

 

[AtreidesModi]

UPDATE Apr 27PM: Well, overall there is greater predictability now with the various combinations. 10.14.3 was stable all around. 14.14.4 appears to have broken sleep for me now. Strangely, it has caused the app "Screens 4" to have a blackened display space when vnc'd to other machines (know its a 10.14.4 issue as when I rolled back to 10.14.3 it worked again and broke going back to 10.14.4). Wish I stayed at 10.14.3. Pain to go back now as my patcher image is now based on 10.14.4. Tried replacing prior video kexts which had no impact +/-. Restored kexts to 10.14.4. Ran another sleep test and it worked. More testing needed.
UPDATE Apr 27AM: Not unexpectedly, some of my assumptions were wrong. After rebooting at some point post 10.14.4 update, I hung at the gray boot screen (just after executing gIOScreenLockState 3). Reapplied NVRAM to no use. So I assume one of the drivers in parrotgeeks update route was choking 10.14.4. Then, I stumbled on dosdudes acceleration fix for 10.14.4 where folks were hanging at same spot. Most important finding I have is that when I was having issues with AMD drivers being deleted from /System/Library/Extensions, I assumed is was related to the Mojave legacy video patcher in addition to the GPUDisabler as well. Wrong. The problem was solely the GPUDisabler. After doing a repair install, with GPUDisabler fully removed (described below) I apply latest Mojave legacy video patcher as recommended for an 8,x MBP. Sweetness - boots fine and have full use of my dimming and sleep with chilly dGPU VCORE = 0. Updated below to reflect latest finding.

***

Hoping this is something folks can make use of. Thanks to all the folks that are keeping our aging machines alive. If the below back story sounds like something you have experienced, maybe this post will be of use to you. Of course, everyones situation can be different and this may not work for you and may even make matters worse . Take this with a grain of salt:

• 2nd logic board with a failed GPU on my Macbook Pro 17" 8,3. Tired of fixing / replacing, so sought software solutions a few months back.
• Installed gfxCardStatus v2.1. This worked for the most part. But sometimes boots would hang, presumably when the nvram settings got lost.
• Stumbled on dosdudes GPUDisabler. Seemed to work consistently, but at the cost of losing sleep and dimming functions due to the nature of the solution. It removes the the AMD drivers from /System/Library/Extensions, backing them up to /.AMD_Backup.
• Then I decided to upgrade to Mojave using dosdudes patcher with default options for a MBP 8,3, which includes legacyVideo as an option.
• Missing sleep and dimming functions, I starting exploring alternative methods to getting past a bum GPU without losing key functions. At one point in my trials, I thought I found the solution but lacking knowledge about what exactly GPUDisabler and Mojave Patcher legacyVideo patch does, I had difficult recreating the success and hit many failed states forcing recovery.

1. Install gfxCardStatus v2.1 - This seems to be reliable in most cases. It did fail in certain boot up scenarios, presumably where the nvram setting was reset due to a pram reset or OS update. I don't think gfxCardStatus sets the nvram. Once installed, go to settings and ensure set to load at startup, disable checking for updates (since many have stated that post v2.1 does not work as expected), and select power based switching in advanced ; setting both to Integrated
2. NVRAM Disable Script - In my drive root, I created a script to re-issue the dGPU nvram setting. This way, I can always go to single-user mode and execute it to get my system to boot. Someone else had a good write-up on this here (go down to Preventative Measures for Future Use) : (doesn't like links maybe - search for post 875 in article "force-2011-macbook-pro-8-2-with-failed-amd-gpu-to-always-use-intel-integrated-gpu-efi-variable-fix".
3. Remove dosdudes GPU Disabler (if you installed it)
When installing Mojave Patcher, I had come across this here (doesn't like links maybe - search dodude1 gpudisable). There's no documentation I could find as to exactly what it does and more importantly how to remove it / revert to prior state. With some poking around, it seems easily removed by:
a. sudo rm /usr/local/sbin/dGPUDisableHelper
b. sudo rm /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.dosdude1.GPUDisableHelper.plist
4. Reapply Mojave Patcher legacyVideo Patch
So far the drivers out-of-the-box with the Mojave Patcher 1.3.0 are working just fine with dimming and sleep functioning. I am still on 10.14.3 and will test that things remain okay post upgrade to 10.14.4. Update: After rebuilding 1.3.0 Mojave Install (re-downloaded latest full Mojave via tool) everything working on 10.14.4.

I am not sure if dosdudes 10.14.4 acceleration fix is in the latest 1.3.0 patcher; I assume it is. At some earlier point in my testing, I was hanging pre-login and assumed it was due to something I had done in my various kext moves (e.g. previously installing parrotgeeks drivers). Once I upgrade I will update this post with the outcome. Sorry for those who read the 1st version of this - you were warned, it was littered with (flawed) assumptions and my meandering from failure to failure.

Cheers,
Atreides

 

[rayd8or]

Fantastic -I shall try this soon as I can - many thanks for a most comprehensive document.

I have the same Macbook Pro 8,2. I have Mojave 10.14.4 + Continuity Activation Tool patch working just fine.

In order for this to work (including brightness control and sleep), I had to remove dosdude1's AMD GPU disable patch, and use the method outlined in my summary. Here is that summary that I posted earlier:

Macbook Pro Early 2011, 8,2 03/11/2019

Install Mojave + dGPU disable + CAT on Mojave

- 15in. Macbook Pro Early 2011, 8,2

- Updated AirPort card: Broadcom BCM94331PCIEBT4CAX

- MacOS: 10.14.3 Mojave.

- Clean Mojave install, using dosdude1 Unsupported Macs Mojave Installer.

- Do not install dosdude1 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth patches.

- Do not install dosdude1 USBOHCI patch.

AMDRadeon GPU Disable (EFI software only method):

https://luispuerto.net/blog/2017/12/11/disconnecting-the-dgpu-in-a-late-2011-macbook-pro-third-way/

o IMPORTANT: DO NOT use dosdude1 dGPU disabler app!

o Reset PRAM & SMC

o Disable SIP

o Use EFI method to alter nvram prefs to disable dGPU.

o Use script/loginhook method to unload/load AMDRadeonX3000.kext before/after boot.

Use pmset -a gpuswitch 1 in loginhook to keep dGPU from switching.


o Modify AMD6000Controller.kext to make CFG_FB_LIMIT=3

<key>CFG_FB_LIMIT</key><integer>3</integer>

Continuity Activation Tool Install:

o All Wi-Fi / Bluetooth Kexts should be Mojave unaltered originals.

o Wi-Fi and Bluetooth should already be working as expected without Continuity.

o Install latest CAT BETA as normal. (Make sure you are using ONLY the latest CAT Beta!)

o Once you reboot, CAT will say it is active, but is likely not really working.


1.) In terminal get your board ID number:




ioreg -l | grep "board-id" | awk -F\" '{print $4}'



Ex: MBP2011 Board ID: Mac-94245A3940C91C80

2.) Set SystemParameters.plist flag to "true":




sudo nano /System/Library/Frameworks/IOBluetooth.framework/Versions/A/Resources/SystemParameters.plist



- Search (Ctrl+w) for Board ID (paste your Board ID in the search field and hit enter).

- Change flag from “false” to “true”

- Ctrl+O (write changes), then Ctrl+X (to exit nano).



3.) Set BoardID in AirportBrcm4360.kext & AirportBrcmNIC.kext:


sudo -E perl -pi -e "s/\Mac-00BE6ED71E35EB86/\Mac-94245A3940C91C80/" /System/Library/Extensions/IO80211Family.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AirPortBrcm4360.kext/Contents/MacOS/AirPortBrcm4360


sudo -E perl -pi -e "s/\Mac-00BE6ED71E35EB86/\Mac-94245A3940C91C80/" /System/Library/Extensions/IO80211Family.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AirPortBrcmNIC.kext/Contents/MacOS/AirPortBrcmNIC



4.) Restart, CAT should be working after you reboot!


Note:

I don’t take any credit for the “R&D” of the above “solution”. There are many other folks who have CRITICALLY contributed by figuring out the nuts & bolts and sharing their findings. Thank you all! Also, it seems to me that in the end, none of this would even be possible without dosdude1’s excellent contributions for “Unsupported Macs”. THANK YOU dosdude1!

So, all I’ve done is to collate everything I’ve learned into a process “document” summary, which I wanted to make and keep for myself. Hopefully, other folks will find this useful as well.

There was a lot of trial and error associated with making this work for my Macbook Pro Early 2011 (8,2) with a defective AMD dGPU. If the dGPU had NOT gone bad, I probably would’ve stayed on High Sierra. But since it needed to be disabled anyway, I decided I may as well try to upgrade to Mojave.

I can confirm that with the process above, I was able to achieve my goals and Mojave is working fabulously! My dGPU diode temp is typically between 4-12C, indicating dGPU is indeed disabled. My Backlight keys work as they should, and I have no sleep/wake issues. Additionally, (and even prior to dGPU failure), I was seeing battery drain issues on High Sierra, getting around 2.5hrs of battery life…even after repeated SMC/PRAM resets and battery calibrations. After this process, my battery life is now back within normal expectations, and I’m getting 5-7hrs of battery life.

Continuity (via CAT) was working great previously on this Macbook Pro in High Sierra. I was surprised when it didn’t work with Mojave, but thanks to the awesome folks in the forum, I was able to get it working via the process outlined above. It is now working great, and I’m sure I won’t be able to live now without Mojave Camera Continuity!

Thanks again everybody for your invaluable work. Now I can hold off on buying a new MBP for a while longer!!!


Regards,

Finbarr Cnaipe, 03/11/2019

---

To upgrade to 10.14.4, I created a new installer flash drive with dosdude1's latest patcher, booted to the flash drive and upgraded. Reboot back from the Flash drive, ran the updated dosdude1 post-install patcher, reboot in to 10.14.14. I had to then confirm my loginhook and correct .kext files for graphics... Also had to uninstall/re-install CAT for Continuity (including having to re-do the board-ID for the appropriate .kext files for CAT (see above FYI: I replaced the stock Wi-Fi/bluetooth module on my MBP several years ago with continuity compatible bluetooth 4LE version. CAT takes advantage of that and patches to allow continuity, including Hotspot, and also now Camera for Mojave!).

In any event, my MBP 2011 (8,2) is working great...including sleep and brightness control. I also use gfxcardstatus to confirm integrated graphics is forced/selected.

If dosdude1 ever figures out a way to release a solderless GPU Mux w/firmware update, I will be first in line to buy it. In the meantime, I prefer the above software method for disabling my defective AMD GPU...it simply works as expected, without any caveats except for not having an external display. (External display is tied to the discrete GPU, so disabling it also disabled external display...but I don't really need an external display anyway...I just run ARD/VNC if I want to work on my MBP from another computer....oh, and that is working fine in clamshell mode... For work, if I need to do presentations, I just do them from my iPad or iPhone anyway....)

 

[0403979]

I redid the installation multiple times and the same error occurs, ill re-download the installer again and if anything changes

I was really looking forward to install 14.5 lol but all hopes died haha

also im facing a weird issue that keeps disappearing and coming back since the first days of mojave, my iMac keeps waking up and sleeping on its own, sometimes at night sometimes in the afternoon, not a full wake but a "dark" wake, did any of you guys face this issue?

@0403979 is it possible to chose the version I want to download and not only download the latest macOS installer? or is there a repository that has a history of all mojave installers and their updates/combo updates that i can download from?

Thank you

You can only download the latest one from Apple. But I have the 10.14.3 one which is super stable if you want it.

 

[antony34]

Finally!
Thanks @0403979.
But I need to re-patch WIFI (I found in this threads) to let it works.

my one AirPort Extreme card version is below
Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x88)
Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.131.36.16)

 

[0403979]

Finally!
Thanks @0403979.
But I need to re-patch WIFI (I found in this threads) to let it works.

my one AirPort Extreme card version is below
Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x88)
Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.131.36.16)

Did the APFS patch work after you removed and then reinstalled it?

 

[antony34]

Did the APFS patch work after you removed and then reinstalled it?

Yes, it works.
it still show command page but will auto boot into 10.14.3

But both of the drive name show in boot menu is the same "EFI Boot". can i rename it?
also, only 10.7 recovery disk can be showed

 

[0403979]

Yes, it works.
it still show command page but will auto boot into 10.14.3

But both of the drive name show in boot menu is the same "EFI Boot". can i rename it?
also, only 10.7 recovery disk can be showed

For specifics on the functionality of the APFS patch you’ll have to ask @dosdude1. Since you said it works I’m going to release it on the master branch. I believe that to change the APFS drive you want to boot from though, you’ll have to reinstall the patch. So I’ll remove the check. That means it will be reinstalled every time you patch and will as such, update your boot drive and the boot files.

 

[CharlieRuiz97]

I have some questions guys. i'm still on 10.14 since last year on my Macbook white mid-2010, the question is; Is recommendable to jump to 10.14.4, my mac works so stable and flawlessly on 10.14 and i don't know if there will be performace issues with 10.14.4. I wanna upgrate to 10.14.4 'cause i want the @dosdude1 full acceleration patch for my non-metal gpu; i guess that patch only works on 10.14.4, so i need to upgrade... and i have a problem too... software update doesn't show me the 10.14.4 update, only updates for xcode command line, i guess i have to update via installer....

 

[0403979]

I have some questions guys. i'm still on 10.14 since last year on my Macbook white mid-2010, the question is; Is recommendable to jump to 10.14.4, my mac works so stable and flawlessly on 10.14 and i don't know if there will be performace issues with 10.14.4. I wanna upgrate to 10.14.4 'cause i want the @dosdude1 full acceleration patch for my non-metal gpu; i guess that patch only works on 10.14.4, so i need to upgrade... and i have a problem too... software update doesn't show me the 10.14.4 update, only updates for xcode command line, i guess i have to update via installer....

View attachment 834081 View attachment 834082

First of all, don’t update to 10.14.4. If you want to update wait for 10.14.5 or I can hook you up with a 10.14.3 installer and you can update to that. I have 10.14.3 on the same Mac as you (using my own patcher - macOS Patcher) and it’s extremely stable. I have never experienced any issue whatsoever apart from transparency which is normal. If you want to update though, you need an apfs drive. If you want to convert your drive to apfs, you can boot from the installer, open disk utility, click edit, and click convert to apfs. Your machine supports apfs so I recommend it.

 

[CharlieRuiz97]

First of all, don’t update to 10.14.4

Why, there's problems or something related to performance?

you need an apfs drive.

I can't format my drive on apfs, i don't have an ssd... i'm still using a good old mecanical hard drive.

If you want to update wait for 10.14.5

if there's problems; I guess i just wait until 10.14.5...
thanks for your help @0403979

 

[0403979]

Why, there's problems or something related to performance?

I can't format my drive on apfs, i don't have an ssd... i'm still using a good old mecanical hard drive.

if there's problems; I guess i just wait until 10.14.5...
thanks for your help @0403979

10.14.4 is unstable and has issues. Hard drives can use apfs on Mojave now and you need to use it to receive updates.

 

[MrZupp]

Yes

Edit: Formated as jouraled, booted, but only the backlight HUD appears, but does nothing, still I can't switch GPUs

Any help?

 

[0403979]

Any help?

I don’t really understand your issue. You say it booted and only the backlight HUD appeared. Did you patch with my tool, dosdude1’s?

 

[xj01]

Then it's the incomplete update, a surely mismatched Extensions folder, I could suggest to copy all the Extensions from the MojaveUSBInstaller in your MojaveDisk, but it's a bit complicated and those are only-64bit, so not advisable.

Before attempting to reinstall, try this booting from the USB Installer Terminal:

mount -uw /
cd /Volumes/YourMojaveDiskLabel/System/Library/UserEventPlugins/
rm -R com.apple.telemetry.plugin
chown -R 0:0 /Volumes/YourMojaveDiskLabel/System/Library/Extensions/
chmod -R 755 /Volumes/YourMojaveDiskLabel/System/Library/Extensions/
touch /Volumes/YourMojaveDiskLabel/System/Library/Extensions/
reboot


If after this you will still have a bootloop, then I guess only fix is to re-install, but you have to free some space, try as I suggested booting from the USB Installer, removing the "sleepimage" and "swapfiles" you should get 4-5 GB, and carefully you can also empty or delete some files from your User's Trash "recycle bin", to get additional free GB.

But you have to consider that every each minor Mojave beta update, requires at least 20-25 gb to complete, so I guess with 15 GB it won't let you to re-install, but you can try.

Or wait for others opinions, after using my advises, don't worry your personal files are still there.

If attempt to empty the recycle bin, be very careful here:
cd /Volumes/YourMojaveDiskLabel/Users/YOURUSERNAME/.Trash/

ls

and when you are inside the Trash folder use " rm *.* " rather than " rm -R * "

Unfortunetally, I cannot even free up any space. I deleted a bunch of movies from my user folder but the remaining space shown in Disk Utility is still exactly the same. I would try to empty the trash but there is no .Trash folder in my user folder. But I suppose using the rm command should delete the files straight away so it is not important.

So I am thinking to just back up my user file to an external drive somehow, format the whole drive and try to reinstall the system.

 

[MrZupp]

I don’t really understand your issue. You say it booted and only the backlight HUD appeared. Did you patch with my tool, dosdude1’s?

Patched with yours, tried APFS but it didn't work(formated the whole SSD, not just the old MacOS partition), and after it booted, I did the set up and I tried everything, but the backlight doesn't work, only the HUD appears, and I still can't change the main graphics card.