macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

[tom33231]

Does anyone know if there is actually a lack of video decoding acceleration on non metal Macs. I have a MacBook Pro 7,1 I plan to upgrade I'm currently on Mac OS 10.14.6. If this is true then let me know. I know for a fact that I had to replace AppleGVA.framework from High Sierra to get video accelerated decoding for quicktime on Mojave. I hope that that's all I have to do on Catalina as well. I saw this a while back when looking into the issue

macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

You can use the macOS Catalina Patcher to download 10.15.1 then create a new patcher with the current macOS Catalina Patcher or use the install to the machine method

forums.macrumors.com

 

[tom33231]

Does anyone know if there is actually a lack of video decoding acceleration on non metal Macs. I have a MacBook Pro 7,1 I plan to upgrade I'm currently on Mac OS 10.14.6. If this is true then let me know. I know for a fact that I had to replace AppleGVA.framework from High Sierra to get video accelerated decoding for quicktime on Mojave. I hope that that's all I have to do on Catalina as well. I saw this a while back when looking into the issue

macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

You can use the macOS Catalina Patcher to download 10.15.1 then create a new patcher with the current macOS Catalina Patcher or use the install to the machine method

forums.macrumors.com

I like the fact that this community has gotten these unsupported machines working well at least on Mojave
Heres a list of patches I did on my install of 10.14.6

macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

HIToolbox to 10.15.2

forums.macrumors.com

shadow (and consequently the corners) dock menu at HIToolbox (Mojave and Catalina)
Fix for right click dock shadow rendering issues

macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

I am still not sure you got the message. They ALREADY wrote the patch, it is just the very unsafe nature of the MCP79 chipset with its multiple definitions makes it a risky business.

forums.macrumors.com

AppleGVA.framework

macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

Hi everyone! This is the progress with the window corner masks. Soon I share the modified files and a script to install.

forums.macrumors.com

Ui improvements for Mac OS Catalina and Mojave/ Non Metal graphics card

macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs

Hi everyone! I release my cosmetic enhancement for the window (frame view) and popover corners that have been updated for the Metal. The correction of the mask corners will not be perfectly rounded like the High Sierra. But, the windows and popovers will be shown correctly with the shadow. The...

forums.macrumors.com

More info on UI improvements/ Non Metal graphics card

macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread

Not worried about defaults being unsafe. Rather, concerned with having to needlessly rebuild caches from running all the defaults (most pressing issue after running a SecUpd is the beachballing and launch delays -- so don't want to add any more of that. For example, would think that rebuilding...

forums.macrumors.com

Siri framework and Siri fix for non metal graphics cards

 

[tom33231]

Does anyone know if catalyst apps work on Non-Metal Video cards. I know that news, Voice memos and other default apps are Marzipan/ catalyst apps and they work well. So if catalyst apps work then I will upgrade if not then Mojave is fine.

 

[Henk Poley]

Does anyone know if there is actually a lack of video decoding acceleration on non metal Macs. I have a MacBook Pro 7,1 I plan to upgrade I'm currently on Mac OS 10.14.6.

If you are happy with pre-Catalina, I'd stay there. The amount of warts that I bump into due to it being an unsupported system is much greater than on 10.14.

On my MacBook7,1 on 10.15.7 sometimes Safari stops playing video until I reboot. But I guess technically it could have been doing software decoding all along, which then breaks at some point.

I did see there is an update of 'Legacy Video patch' here, with unspecified fixes ("Release Update 18 Oct 2020 Fix issue on some hardware 10.15.6 and 10.15.7 "): https://github.com/chris1111/Legacy-Video-patch

(Edit: Apparently it fixes some kernel panics, which I haven't seen)

So maybe @dosdude1 needs to incorporate it into an update of Catalina patcher?

 

[tom33231]

If you are happy with pre-Catalina, I'd stay there. The amount of warts that I bump into due to it being an unsupported system is much greater than on 10.14.

On my MacBook7,1 on 10.15.7 sometimes Safari stops playing video until I reboot. But I guess technically it could have been doing software decoding all along, which then breaks at some point.

I did see there is an update of 'Legacy Video patch' here, with unspecified fixes ("Release Update 18 Oct 2020 Fix issue on some hardware 10.15.6 and 10.15.7 "): https://github.com/chris1111/Legacy-Video-patch

So maybe @dosdude1 needs to incorporate it into an update of Catalina patcher?

Thanks for sending me that I might try to contact the developer of this patch, and see if the update applies to what I'm talking about. At least Mojave works from the original supported os of High Sierra. If this gets fixed than I will upgrade to Catalina. Im surprised to see Xcode 11 and some other programs work that wouldn't otherwise if I sticked with the supported OS. The main reason for me upgrading to Catalina at some point is to develop on Xcode 12.

 

[Larsvonhier]

Just found out how to work around some very uncomfy bug in the combination of 10.15.7 installer and the latest @dosdude1 patcher v.1.4.4
At some point back in the revision ladder (I´d guess from 10.15.6 to 10.15.7 and/or patcher v1.4.3 to v1.4.4) a perfectly prepared USB stick could only be used _once_ to install Catalina. After that, you´d get the error message "installer file invalid". You could still boot the stick, patch machines, but not install another round.
I tested this with various sticks, and to various machines. Same outcome. Co-worker here encountered the same.
Perhaps this has been covered earlier in the thread. Anyways, here is a workaround:
Just set a write protect lock to the installer app file (the big 8GB one on the root directory level) after creation of the stick finished. Now you´ll have a re-usable installer again ;-)

 

[Larsvonhier]

Does anyone know if catalyst apps work on Non-Metal Video cards. I know that news, Voice memos and other default apps are Marzipan/ catalyst apps and they work well. So if catalyst apps work then I will upgrade if not then Mojave is fine.

Mixed bag with the Catayst Apps:
News and Stocks work fine, Home only partially (i.e. some icons are empty when "off"). Maps (although to my knowledge not a catalyst app) is rendered too dark in satellite view, otherwise fine...

 

[K two]

Has anyone seen the dreaded MRT 1.68 issues (as noted on Mr. Macintosh and here: https://eclecticlight.co/2020/10/25/last-week-on-my-mac-are-silent-security-updates-a-vulnerability/ ) on unsupported Macs? A few observations: an auto-updating iMac11,3 shut itself down after MRT 1.68 was installed in the background running the latest High Sierra (supported). Yet, an iMac 11,2 on Catalina (unsupported) auto-updated and runs just fine. A Mini3,1 on Mojave will not update MRT past 1.67 under any circumstances. This particular Mini3,1 on 10.15.7 build 19H2 updated to MRT 1.68 and also runs spiffy. The problem with the iMac11,3 was fixed by running Maintenance, it's still on MRT 1.68 but runs perfect, now. No snapshot action was needed, btw. From here on out, the auto-update selection in the SW Update CP/Advanced is OFF, unchecked. All updates are now under the authority of the SilentKnight app on all of our Macs. YMMV

Update - Apple has pulled MRT 1.68.

 

[K two]

If you are happy with pre-Catalina, I'd stay there. The amount of warts that I bump into due to it being an unsupported system is much greater than on 10.14.

On my MacBook7,1 on 10.15.7 sometimes Safari stops playing video until I reboot. But I guess technically it could have been doing software decoding all along, which then breaks at some point.

I did see there is an update of 'Legacy Video patch' here, with unspecified fixes ("Release Update 18 Oct 2020 Fix issue on some hardware 10.15.6 and 10.15.7 "): https://github.com/chris1111/Legacy-Video-patch

(Edit: Apparently it fixes some kernel panics, which I haven't seen)

So maybe @dosdude1 needs to incorporate it into an update of Catalina patcher?

Haven't seen KPs on NVIDIA 9400 not M with Legacy Video Patch 13 in Catalina or Mojave.

 

[tom33231]

Haven't seen KPs on NVIDIA 9400 not M with Legacy Video Patch 13 in Catalina or Mojave.

I haven't had Kernel Panics but im worried about Video decoding not being hardware accelerated and h264 decoding as well. I know Mac os Mojave is hardware accelerated with video both h264 and in QuickTime. Safari performance improved on Mojave after replacing AppleGVA.framework. QuickTime based videos as well like in the app store and on Safari. I heard that on Catalina replacing AppleGVA.framework doesn't work to achieve this anymore is that true?

 

[tom33231]

I haven't had Kernel Panics but im worried about Video decoding not being hardware accelerated and h264 decoding as well. I know Mac os Mojave is hardware accelerated with video both h264 and in QuickTime. Safari performance improved on Mojave after replacing AppleGVA.framework. QuickTime based videos as well like in the app store and on Safari. I heard that on Catalina replacing AppleGVA.framework doesn't work to achieve this anymore is that true?. If so than will video playback performance be degraded. How is Video playback on your machine. Can you watch at least 1080P 30fps videos with out issues or jerking or high CPU usage?

 

[K two]

I haven't had Kernel Panics but im worried about Video decoding not being hardware accelerated and h264 decoding as well. I know Mac os Mojave is hardware accelerated with video both h264 and in QuickTime. Safari performance improved on Mojave after replacing AppleGVA.framework. QuickTime based videos as well like in the app store and on Safari. I heard that on Catalina replacing AppleGVA.framework doesn't work to achieve this anymore is that true?

Catalina video runs just fine w/o the early framework. Aiso, avoiding Safari solves many headaches.

 

[tom33231]

Catalina video runs just fine w/o the early framework. Aiso, avoiding Safari solves many headaches.

Thanks I have been using Firefox Esr off and on over the years should I start using Firefox again. Or is Google Chrome by best bet now. I prefer Firefox to google chrome though.

 

[K two]

Thanks I have been using Firefox Esr off and on over the years should I start using Firefox again. Or is Google Chrome by best bet now. I prefer Firefox to google chrome though.

After trying them all, Firefox esr has yielded the least grief on unsupported Macs.

 

[Mrtoto]

Hi

My MBP 2011 late 2.7ghz working like a charm on 10.15.7
thanks again for all the work

but some of you have done a double boot Windows10 ? to bypass no hw acceleration on 10.15 for some little game ?
If yes, how ?

 

[alphascorp]

Hi all,
Catalina 10.15.7 19H4 update is out and available on Apple servers:

https://swscan.apple.com/content/catalogs/others/index-10.15-10.14-10.13-10.12-10.11-10.10-10.9-mountainlion-lion-snowleopard-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog.gz

                </dict>
                <key>PostDate</key>
                <date>2020-10-27T17:28:13Z</date>
                <key>Distributions</key>
                <dict>

Here are the contents of "SystemVersion.plist"

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>ProductBuildVersion</key>
    <string>19H4</string>
    <key>ProductCopyright</key>
    <string>1983-2020 Apple Inc.</string>
    <key>ProductName</key>
    <string>Mac OS X</string>
    <key>ProductUserVisibleVersion</key>
    <string>10.15.7</string>
    <key>ProductVersion</key>
    <string>10.15.7</string>
    <key>iOSSupportVersion</key>
    <string>13.6</string>
</dict>
</plist>

It's strange, the installer version is 15.7.02 identical to 19H2 but the files were compiled on October 17, 2020...

Given the compilation date and the SystemVersion.plist, so it's realy 19H4.

 

[TimothyR734]

It is not showing up on my supported and unsupported iMac's in software update so hopefully later it does

 

[tom33231]

It is not showing up on my supported and unsupported iMac's in software update so hopefully later it does

Okay on my MacBook Pro 7,1 can I just upgrade to Catalina straight to Mojave with the patcher? I never had done a straight upgrade. I have done clean installs for Mojave and Catalina once but had to go back because of 32 programs but now they have been updated for 64bit since release. I’m surprised that this laptop is still very fast for what it is I even put 16gb of ram in it and a 500gb ssd. But yea I’m surprised that a core 2 duo and a 256 mb NVIDIA card can run this well in 2020. I have had this laptop since 2015 plan to keep it for at least two more years. I might put a Linux distro or Windows 10 on it. I do have some experience with Linux from developing some weather based monitoring programs on the Raspberry pi. I almost prefer Linux to Windows.

 

[tom33231]

Okay on my MacBook Pro 7,1 can I just upgrade to Catalina straight to Mojave with the patcher? I never had done a straight upgrade. I have done clean installs for Mojave and Catalina once but had to go back because of 32 programs but now they have been updated for 64bit since release. I’m surprised that this laptop is still very fast for what it is I even put 16gb of ram in it and a 500gb ssd. But yea I’m surprised that a core 2 duo and a 256 mb NVIDIA card can run this well in 2020. I have had this laptop since 2015 plan to keep it for at least two more years. I might put a Linux distro or Windows 10 on it. I do have some experience with Linux from developing some weather based monitoring programs on the Raspberry pi. I almost prefer Linux to Windows.

I mainly use this computer for writing papers in school and browsing the internet. I might try to make an attempt to make a better Mojave and Catalina patcher and make it open source on GitHub. The improvements I plan to do will be the Ui improvement patch that fabioroberto made. I will also include the Siri framework and Siri fixes as well unless added on in the future by dos dude, I will add the HIToolbox for the dock shadow issues. I might add AppleGva.framework plus any core video patches. The first patch will probably be a terminal sh script or something similar then after that make a basic GUI based one. Only problem is that I’m a senior in high school, so it may be a while before I post any updates on the additional patches script. That’s why I would prefer to release the source code along with any other information that someone might need in order to improve on it. Even though I’m basically gifted with computer knowledge than most of my peers I don’t know everything about making advanced patches. Sorry for the terrible English I used to live in New Mexico and I have a speech impediment.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I mainly use this computer for writing papers in school and browsing the internet. I might try to make an attempt to make a better Mojave and Catalina patcher and make it open source on GitHub. The improvements I plan to do will be the Ui improvement patch that fabioroberto made. I will also include the Siri framework and Siri fixes as well unless added on in the future by dos dude, I will add the HIToolbox for the dock shadow issues. I might add AppleGva.framework plus any core video patches. The first patch will probably be a terminal sh script or something similar then after that make a basic GUI based one. Only problem is that I’m a senior in high school, so it may be a while before I post any updates on the additional patches script. That’s why I would prefer to release the source code along with any other information that someone might need in order to improve on it. Even though I’m basically gifted with computer knowledge than most of my peers I don’t know everything about making advanced patches. Sorry for the terrible English I used to live in New Mexico and I have a speech impediment.

The @dosdude1 patcher is open source, just search GitHub.

 

[philk34]

Bonjour,
J'ai un macpro 3.1 qui fonctionne bien sous Mojave et je souhaite le mettre à niveau vers Catalina. J'ai créé un programme d'installation à partir du patcher DosDude1 sur une partition de mon lecteur Firewire externe. Quand je redémarre dessus après la pomme, j'ai un signe d'interdiction d'entrée, pourquoi?
Macpro 3.1 20gigas, SSD, GTX 680. Merci

 

[Macschrauber]

So I have a 2008 Mac Pro 4.1 500gb ssd , running high Sierra , I tried the Catalina update a while back but ran into an audio problem, I want to update so I can update logic x to the latest version, I use a focus rite Safire pro 24 FireWire audio unit, everything is good apart from the audio through the Safire which is glitchy really glitchy, built in audio is fine, I’m just wondering if anyone else has had the problem? I’ve done a clean install on both Mojave and Catalina and it’s the same. I’ve tried loads of different patch options but still get the same result
any help appreciated
Rob

Need to upgrade cpus

Mac Pro 5,1 kernal panic on sleep since 10.14.4, 10.14.5, 10.14.6 updates

The problem it's not with power management, but with multiple CPU support. A single CPU Nehalem Mac Pro have sleep and audio working perfectly with Mojave, but not a dual CPU one - some single CPU mid-2010 Mac Pros have Nehalem Xeons from factory, but all mid-2010 and mid-2012 dual CPU Mac...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[K two]

Hi all,
Catalina 10.15.7 19H4 update is out and available on Apple servers:

https://swscan.apple.com/content/catalogs/others/index-10.15-10.14-10.13-10.12-10.11-10.10-10.9-mountainlion-lion-snowleopard-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog.gz

                </dict>
                <key>PostDate</key>
                <date>2020-10-27T17:28:13Z</date>
                <key>Distributions</key>
                <dict>

Here are the contents of "SystemVersion.plist"

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>ProductBuildVersion</key>
    <string>19H4</string>
    <key>ProductCopyright</key>
    <string>1983-2020 Apple Inc.</string>
    <key>ProductName</key>
    <string>Mac OS X</string>
    <key>ProductUserVisibleVersion</key>
    <string>10.15.7</string>
    <key>ProductVersion</key>
    <string>10.15.7</string>
    <key>iOSSupportVersion</key>
    <string>13.6</string>
</dict>
</plist>

It's strange, the installer version is 15.7.02 identical to 19H2 but the files were compiled on October 17, 2020...

Given the compilation date and the SystemVersion.plist, so it's realy 19H4.

Does patcher 1.4.4 now D/L H2 or H4?

 

[alphascorp]

Does patcher 1.4.4 now D/L H2 or H4?

Hi @K two

Patcher 1.4.4 DL 19H2 not 19H4

I just dowloaded it with the Patcher and i confirm, here is the SystemVersion.plist extracted from ⁨Core.pkg (extracted from Installer macOS Catalina.app⁩/Contents⁩/SharedSupport⁩/BaseSystem.dmg)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>ProductBuildVersion</key>
    <string>19H2</string>
    <key>ProductCopyright</key>
    <string>1983-2020 Apple Inc.</string>
    <key>ProductName</key>
    <string>Mac OS X</string>
    <key>ProductUserVisibleVersion</key>
    <string>10.15.7</string>
    <key>ProductVersion</key>
    <string>10.15.7</string>
    <key>iOSSupportVersion</key>
    <string>13.6</string>
</dict>
</plist>

 

[alphascorp]

Hi all

I created my own complete installer for 19H4

1) I downloaded:
this 2 .dmg files:
AppleDiagnostics.dmg (3,1Mo)
BaseSystem.dmg (498,6 Mo)

this 2 .chunklist files:
AppleDiagnostics.chunklist (328 octets)
BaseSystem.chunklist (2 Ko)

this 2 .pkg files:
InstallAssistantAuto.pkg (10,8 Mo)
InstallESDDmg.pkg (7,74 Go)

2) I extracted "Install macOS Catalina.app" from "InstallAssistantAuto.pkg"
(with Pacifist because the command "pkgutil --expand " don't work)

3) I extracted "InstallESD.dmg" from "InstallESDDmg.pkg"
(with Pacifist, but the command "pkgutil --expand " work too)

4) I placed the following 5 files in the folder: Install macOS Catalina.app/Contents/SharedSupport/
AppleDiagnostics.dmg
BaseSystem.dmg
AppleDiagnostics.chunklist
BaseSystem.chunklist
InstallESD.dmg

Finally I was able to successfully create an installer on a USB key with the Patcher 1.4.4.

I guess the Patcher 1.4.4 function "install on this machine" should also work with this complete 19H4 installer. But I haven't tested yet because it's 2 a.m. here and it's time for me to go to sleep.