OpenCore Ventura installation - please help!

[heardy86]

Hey guys, really hoping someone may be able to provide a solution to my Mac issue.

Firstly, please excuse my knowledge of Apple products as I haven't owned a Mac before the one I have now, which is a 21.7inch late 2013 model.

I recently bought it second hand and went through OpenCore to install Ventura as it had been factoty reset to Catalina from the previous owner. All went well with OpenCore and the Mac was functioning perfectly.

I then (stupidly) decided to opt for the newest software update to Sonoma and it was evident my Mac couldn't handle it. Completely froze, wouldn't work etc.

I therefore decided to reinstall but not having the option to erase all data etc I opted for the Internet Recovery route. I really just wanted to revert back to Ventura.

After downloading OS X Mavericks and the system defaulting back to Catalina 10.15 7, I started the process again of using OpenCore. Again, all was going well and I managed to get everything installed on a SanDisk 128gb flash drive. Got as far as the EFI boot - option to install Ventura and then the status bar loads a bit, freezes and then the Mac doesn't function. Completely switches off. Even going back to the menu again for the EFI boot I am just going round and round in circles. Disk utility doesn't come up with any issues.

Obviously I shouldn't have ever attempted to upgrade to Sonoma given that Ventura was working perfectly.

I am now on the 5th cycle of reinstalling OS X Mavericks via the Internet Recovery mode.

I have a couple of questions:

- on the disk utility, there are no partitions shown. The Mac is 1tb and the whole partition is 100% on that. Do I need to change that at all?

- does reinstalling the system via the Internet Recovery limit me to what I can do with OpenCore?

- I've read on other forums about disabling the safe mode option on boot up - where is this located please?

Any help would be much appreciated!! Thank you 😊

 

[shafez]

macOS 13 Ventura on Unsupported Macs Thread

GitHub - dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher: Experience macOS just like before

 

[pdxplm]

A couple of items if you are reverting back to an older OS:
1. Use Disk Utility, Show All Devices, select the top container, and wipe the disk cleanly making sure to use the Mac Extended, and Guid Partition Map
2. If you are building the OCLP on a different machine, make sure to go to the settings and change to the machine type you are going to install on. This is important as it copies the correct setting files for that type of machine.

Hope that helps get you along!

 

[heardy86]

Thank you both - much appreciated.

So the issue I am now getting (after patiently watching the whole thing, haha) is that the whole reboot gets up to 97% on the progress and then at that stage the Mac completely turns off. Doesn't even enter a sleep mode.

When I turn the power back on again it comes up saying it had to restart due to an issue it encountered, but doesn't given any other information.

Each time I start it back up again, should I wipe the disk using the Disk Utility function?

I'm building the OCLP on the same machine but I'm wondering if I should be trying an alternative route...

 

[pdxplm]

Also, don't forget to reset your NVRAM/PRAM before installing, it definitely will help with some of the bugs..

 

[heardy86]

Thank you - unfortunately still not progressing.

Would you suggest I do the NRAM/PRAM resets after or before erasing the disk via disk utility?

 

[pdxplm]

Thank you - unfortunately still not progressing.

Would you suggest I do the NRAM/PRAM resets after or before erasing the disk via disk utility?

Do it after you erase the disk, I would do it at least twice. Then run your OCLP using the ALT key at startup. I've gotten pretty good at it since I have 2 5,1's.

 

[heardy86]

Hello @pxpxpx

I re-installed Catalina via the Internet Recovery mode. I went through all the software updates so that it was on the 10.15.7 version. I did the NRAM/PRAM resets, plus the SMC reset - did all of these multiple times.

I then started the installation of Ventura, using the alt button to access the EPI Boot - went through that process and then again, it just gets so far and completely freezes/shuts down.

Is there anything obvious that I may still not have done?

I suppose the other option is to start again with OpenCore and reinstall it onto a USB drive?

 

[pdxplm]

Hello @pxpxpx

I re-installed Catalina via the Internet Recovery mode. I went through all the software updates so that it was on the 10.15.7 version. I did the NRAM/PRAM resets, plus the SMC reset - did all of these multiple times.

I then started the installation of Ventura, using the alt button to access the EPI Boot - went through that process and then again, it just gets so far and completely freezes/shuts down.

Is there anything obvious that I may still not have done?

I suppose the other option is to start again with OpenCore and reinstall it onto a USB drive?

Here are the steps I usually take:
1. Reset PRAM/NVRAM
2. Build a USB with OCLP for the machine using and the specific OS needed
3. Boot using the USB Drive and once the Install/Recovery comes up, use the disk utility to wipe your mac's HD
3. Once the Drive is wiped, exit and start up the Install process, this may take awhile
4. OCLP will reboot the machine several times during the install

Best of luck!

 

[heardy86]

Perfect, thank you @pxpxpx - I shall give that a go I'm determined to get it sorted!!

 

[pdxplm]

Perfect, thank you @pxpxpx - I shall give that a go I'm determined to get it sorted!!

Awesome! Best of luck! One additional thing I just thought of... remove any extra drives or cards. Just leave your main GPU (I would reseat it) and your main drive that you will install onto. Again, best of luck!