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Install Macos Big Sur On Unsupported Macs

You are probably aware that this fall, like every single fall season, the pumpkin spice latte new macOS version will be available to install. However, this year, Apple chose to do things differently.

In-Depth Tutorial for Running Big Sur on Unsupported Macs using BarryKN’s Big Sur Micropatcher If your Mac will lose support with the release of MacOS 11, don’t lose hope. You can still get Big Sur with little to no problems (depending on your Mac) even in its beta stages. How to install macOS Big Sur on an Unsupported Mac,In this video, I am going to show you how to install the final version of macOS Big Sur on an Unsupported.

macOS Big Sur

First thing first, the version number. Yes, we are now looking at macOS 11, after roughly 20 years of macOS 10/Mac OS X incremental updates. Why change now? Well, with the release of this new version which will be available on Apple Silicon-based Macs and which introduces a totally new design, Apple taught it was time.

Weirdly (not really), I tend to agree with that. Indeed, I've now spent most of my life on version 10. That makes me think I still have the CD for Mac OS 9 somewhere and that I should take my first computer ever — the iMac G4 from 2000 — for a spin sometime.. just for fun.

Install Macos Big Sur On Unsupported Macs

Yet, that is not the only thing Apple decided to innovate on: making perfectly working older Macs obsolete seems to be one of the new features brought by this version. Yikes.

My iMac late-2012

I am actually writing this article on this iMac. Yup, that's an eight years old device still standing perfectly here — accounting for the external SSD I'm running macOS from. I can remember myself saving the money for it for years and then finally going to the store with my mother, picking an iMac from the aisle, buying Microsoft Office like a dumba-- with it and unboxing it at home.. with no Internet connection whatsoever. Anyway.

The fact is, this machine has serious specs that are still relevant to this day. Indeed, my iMac is equiped with:

  • an Intel Core i5 Quad-Core @ 2.7 GHz;
  • 8GB of DDR3 RAM @ 1600 MHz;
  • a 128GB external Samsung M.2 SSD connected via USB-3 with macOS installed on it;
  • an NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M graphics card with 512MB of VRAM (yes, yes, NVIDIA graphics, in a Mac, what a world).

I was then rightfully persuaded while watching the WWDC20, with my specs in mind, that my Mac, will, once again receive this new version, as it did with macOS Catalina. But oh boi was I wrong.. Several hours later, articles started to pop out of nowhere saying my iMac (in addition to my Apple Watch Series 2 and AirPods 1st-gen) was now obsolete and stuck on macOS Catalina.

Unacceptable (!), I taught. But then, I remembered that some people were running the current version on already obsolete machines. So I began to search.. and was I reassured by the dozens of Mac-afficionados already running the macOS Big Sur beta1 on their unsupported MacBooks and Mac Minis.

The trick

Well then, with all those people already installing the beta on their unsupported Macs, I started to work on it for mine. Without spoiling you the ending, I was not expecting for it to work as well as it does (remember, I'm using it right now).

The basic principle of this 'hack' is to disable the verification of the system done by the installer and ideally force the installation by disabling some security aspects of macOS and adding a new library in the process that will help us achieve our goal.

If you follow very simple instructions, the end of the installation is pretty straightforward: in fact you will in the end be doing the same thing you would have been if your Mac had been compatible to start with.

Those additional steps done, some reboots, and an hour elapsed.. et voilà! You are now rocking the last version of macOS (still in beta, remember) on your obsolete system.

As you can see in the screenshots above, first, it's really late, and second, everything works like a charm. From Maps, a Catalyst version of an iPad app, to the new System Preferences.. all is great, great is all! The revamped notification center and widgets section, as well as the new control center are also all there for us to enjoy.. without having spent any more money on it.

Let's get right to it then!

The catch (and how to fix it)

Before we go, you should know that your mileage may vary depending on which device you are following this tutorial with. Indeed, while some of them will have everything working as expected, most of them will lack support for Wi-Fi on macOS Big Sur..

Not to worry, though. The Mac community and the wonderful people participating on the MacRumors forums have seen worse! This is nothing a little patching can't fix. I'd like to thank libneko, jackluke and Andrey Viktorov for their insightful contributions on how to fix the Wi-Fi and his experience. I wouldn't have macOS Big Sur and working Wi-Fi on my iMac if it wasn't for them and other members of this forum.

In such manner, you'd be happy to know that my iMac is ready to roll on the latest version for at least another update cycle — with all functions working properly. If you too, you are experiencing the failed with 66 error or want to fix you Wi-Fi on macOS Big Sur, make sure to jump to step 10 or follow the entire tutorial below.

Also, just a little reminder that this tutorial is intented for Macs that are currently running macOS Catalina (10.15).

November 17th: Since the official launch of macOS Big Sur, more people are trying to follow this tutorial that was previously meant for the beta version. Thanks to some of you who gave me feedback by email, you might have some more luck with the Micropatcher if the following tutorial fails.. Stay safe everyone!

Tutorial : macOS Big Sur beta 1 installation and Wi-Fi fix via kernel extension modification

Edit July: now that beta 2 and 3 are out, this tutorial and some links might not work anymore. I'll try to update the article with the final release so your mileage may vary.

Step 0: being aware of the risks

If you are not comfortable with Linux or the Mac terminal, please do not attempt this tutorial. If you attempt this tutorial only to make your Wi-Fi working on your already working macOS Big Sur partition, do not do it also if you are not very comfortable with a Terminal as it may completely break your system. Wait for a better solution or buy a cheap Wi-Fi dongle on Amazon instead.

Step 1: downloading the beta

Since your Mac isn't officially supported, the update will not be showing on your system, even when enrolled in the beta program. You'll need to download the special package directly from Apple CDN, here (9.56GB).

Step 2: downloading the additional library

We need to inject an additional library named Hax.dylib during the installation process. You need to download it here (32KB).

Step 3: moving the library

To make it easier later (when we will use the $PWD variable in the Terminal), use the Finder to move or copy the library to your home folder. In my case this is /SAMSUNG SSD/Users/juliensatti/.

Step 4: booting into recovery mode

Before actually installing macOS Big Sur, we need to disable the system compatibility check layer, disable the system integrity protection (SIP), disable the verification of the libraries and, only then, insert our Hax.dylib in an environment variable.

To achieve all that, we first need to BOOT into recovery mode. Simply restart your Mac and immediately hold the CMD-R keys on reboot until you see the recovery OS.

Step 5: disabling SIP

Run csrutil disable in the recovery Terminal accessible in the menu bar under Utilities. You will also be able to check the success of the command, back in Catalina (so, after a reboot), by running csrutil status (optional).

Step 6: disabling compatibility check

Run the following command in the previoulsy opened Terminal in recovery mode: nvram boot-args='-no_compat_check'. Nothing should show up if successful.

Step 7: disabling libraries validation

First, REBOOT your computer into recovery mode (step 4). Then, open a new Terminal from there and run this long command: sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.security.libraryvalidation.plist DisableLibraryValidation -bool true. If you get an error regarding sudo, try the same command without it.

Step 8: inserting the additional library

From the same Terminal, execute launchctl setenv DYLD_INSERT_LIBRARIES $PWD/Hax.dylib. This command will add the Hax.dylib library in your home folder as an environement variable.

Step 9: installing macOS, finally

To proceed with the proper installation of the system, REBOOT your computer in macOS Catalina (your original partition). Then, open the InstallAssistant.pkg package that you downloaded on step 1.

At the end of the process, a new app will be installed in your Applications folder (you can find it via Spotlight): Install macOS Beta.

IMPORTANT: If the computer on which you will be installing this version of macOS is not capable of a wired Ethernet connexion and if you do not have another computer on-hand, please also follow step 11 to 13 right now as you may not have a working Wi-Fi right away after the install.

The only thing left to do is to run this new application, select your target partition and wait

Please note that during the launch of the latter app it may seem stuck. It is not, the whole macOS Big Sur OS is being unzipped in the background, please wait. Additionnaly, you can check this by opening the Activity Monitor.

Once the OS is prepared to be installed, click 'Restart' and you should be on for dozens of automatic reboots. Wait for the installation to proceed, give it time.Some time later, you should now have macOS Big Sur beta1 installed on your obsolete Mac. Congrats!

— At this point your Wi-Fi should or should not be working —

My Wi-Fi is working

Great! It's over. Glad I could help! Updates should be arriving in the system preferences, as usual. Don't forget to enroll your Mac to the beta program to receive future betas along the way..

My Wi-Fi is not working

Well then, we have work to do. Be sure to know what you are doing. If you are not but still feeling lucky (and totally aware that you can break your whole system in an instant), then proceed to the steps below:

Step 10: testing the system

In order to make your life easier, try to run the following command from a macOS Big Sur Terminal: sudo mount -uw. If no error is returned as a result, please follow this tutorial from ASentientBot or this one if it still does not work, from libneko. Else, carry on.

Step 11: downloading an older version of the Wi-Fi kernel extension

Patched Big Sur

An older kext (kernel extension) named IO80211Family.kext is necessary in order for the Wi-Fi to work. You can download it here (8.6MB, 20.5MB unzipped). Mediafire. com omnisphere 2.

Step 12: creating the bootable USB

You'll need a bootable version of macOS Big Sur on a USB stick (or an external drive partition, as you wish).

To do this, open a Terminal, make sur that Install macOS Beta is still in your Applications folder and execute the following command by making sure to replace <USB/ Label> with the name of your USB stick or dedicated partition:sudo /Applications/Install macOS Beta.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/<USB/ Label>/

Please note that this command will wipe the content on the volume selected.*

Step 13: copying the extension to the USB

Now that the bootable USB is done with the previous command, you can copy on it the IO80211Family.kext previously downloaded (and unzipped, if not already done).

Step 14: remembering Volume Group UUID and Preboot disk

From a Terminal window running on your installed macOS Big Sur system, run sudo kcditto. Take a picture with your phone of this window as it may come in handy later on.

Step 15: disabling authenticated root

  1. REBOOT to the bootable USB drive of macOS Big Sur.
  2. If you have FileVault enabled, neither the author of the original tutorial or I have tested it, but you should be prompted to enter password for the Big Sur installation.
  3. Open a new Terminal window, from Utilities > Terminal.
  4. Run csrutil authenticated-root disable to disable the authenticated root from the System Integrity Protection (SIP).
  5. REBOOT to the bootable USB drive of macOS Big Sur, once more.

Mac Mini 2012 Big Sur

Step 16: mounting the volume

After reboot, open a new Terminal and:

  1. Mount your Big Sur system partition, not the data one: diskutil mount /Volumes/<Volume Name. Please don't forget to replace <Volume Name> with the name of your volume. Always prepend spaces in volume name with, for example, in my case: diskutil mount /Volumes/SAMSUNG SSD
  2. Remount it as readwrite: mount -uw /Volumes/<Volume Name>
  3. Make a snapshot to restore if something wents wrong:/System/Library/Filesystems/apfs.fs/Contents/Resources/apfs_systemsnapshot -s 'BeforeWifiKexts' -v /Volumes/<Volume Name>

You should see: <Volume Name> on /Volumes/<Volume Name> mounted as a confirmation.

Step 17: replacing the kernel extension (kext)

From the same Terminal:

Macs
  1. Navigate to the extensions folder: cd /Volumes/<Volume Name>/System/Library/Extension
  2. Backup current kext: mv IO80211Family.kext IO80211Family.kext.backup
  3. Copy new kext from the USB drive, the latter always being mounted at /Volumes/Image Volume : cp -r /Volumes/Image Volume/IO80211Family.kext ..

Make sure there are no errors at the end of these commands. Nothing should appear, it's normal.

Step 18: installing the kernel extension (kext)

That's where things can start to go wrong, proceed cautiously.

From the same Terminal, run the following command: kmutil install --update-all --volume-root /Volumes/<Volume Name>.

You should see Brcm4360, Brcm4331 and some other kexts in the output. There MUST be no errors when running this command. You can see an example here.

Step 19: creating snapshot and making it bootable

Frpm the same Terminal, once again:

  1. We need to create an APFS snapshot for our volume, running the following long command:/System/Library/Filesystems/apfs.fs/Contents/Resources/apfs_systemsnapshot -s 'WifiKexts' -v /Volumes/<Volume Name>
  2. Then, we need to mark it as bootable:/System/Library/Filesystems/apfs.fs/Contents/Resources/apfs_systemsnapshot -r 'WifiKexts' -v /Volumes/<Volume Name>The only difference between these two commands, is -s after apfssystemsnapshot replaced with -r

You should see Attempting creation.. and Attempting tagging.. if everything went perfectly.

Install Macos Big Sur On Unsupported Macs

Step 20: copying updated BootKernelExtensions to the Preboot volume

Well, that's where things went south for me while following a tutorial of my own. I was told to mount the Preboot partition of the disk on which my installed macOS Big Sur is. At Step 1, the Terminal told me this was /dev/disk2s2. However, while executing the right command to mount this partition, well.. no partition with this name was available.

My fix was to run in the current Terminal of my USB Big Sur volume the following command in order to list all the disks (and their partitions) connected to Mac : diskutil list. From there, you should look over to a partition named Preboot and make sure it's the right one (if it's not the only one).So anyway, once that was under control:

  1. Mount the Preboot disk with diskutil mount /dev/<yourprebootdisk> (once again, look at the picture you took on step 13, or do what I did above).
  2. Create a backup of Preboot data by:
    2.1. Navigating to the volume: cd /Volumes/Preboot;
    2.2. Listing the UUID(s): ls;
    2.3. Checking with your picture that this is the correct UUID and execute the following command by replacing <UUID> with your UUID: cp -r <UUID> <UUID>.beforewifikexts.
  3. Navigate to the correct folder in Preboot with the UUID we just confirmed: cd /Volumes/Preboot/<UUID>/boot/System/Library/KernelCollections
  4. Copy BootKernelExtensions from your volume to Preboot:cp /Volumes/<Volume Name>/System/Library/KernelCollections/BootKernelExtensions.kc .
    cp /Volumes/<Volume Name>/System/Library/KernelCollections/BootKernelExtensions.kc.elides .

You should not see anything in return if the commands were successful.

We can also note that remembering the UUID wasn't really needed because in my case there were only one install base, but this way you can always verify..

Step 21: final

REBOOT to your installed macOS Big Sur system (the normal one). If you’re stuck on boot after approximately 10 minutes, well, you are in a state I wouldn't want to be in. THe only thing left to do is to reset your whole system via Recovery Mode.. else:

  1. Log in (Wi-Fi still should not work, that's normal).
  2. Open a Terminal and run: sudo kcditto
  3. Reboot.

Congrats! Wi-Fi should now work correctly.

In case something went wrong

To revert our changes, in the case they haven't entirely broken the system, REBOOT into your mac OS Big Sur USB and open a Terminal:

  1. Make a backup snapshot bootable (notice -r instead of -s):/System/Library/Filesystems/apfs.fs/Contents/Resources/apfs_systemsnapshot -r 'BeforeWifiKexts' -v /Volumes/<Volume Name>
  2. Mount Preboot as listed in step 19: cd /Volumes/Preboot
  3. mv .broken where is your Volume Group UUID4. cp -r .beforewifikexts where is your Volume Group UUID
  4. REBOOT to your macOS Big Sur original system and check. After that, you can try again, but don’t create BeforeWifiKexts snapshot and don’t copy preboot again! It’s meant to be done once.
    · · ·

That's the end of this large tutorial. Thanks again to all the contributors on MacRumors forums for their help.. and long live to our Macs! I'll try to update this tutorial to see if the other betas break what we fixed with the Wi-Fi or not. Until then, thank you for passing by! 🤟🏼

· · ·

If you tried for yourself or liked this post, don't hesitate to share this article with people it might interest and please share your taughts below in the comments. 😄

In this post, we will learn How to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac. macOS Catalina is the most innovative variant of the macOS that came within our palms on October 7, 2019. The debut of Catalina occurred in WWDC 2019. The general public beta of macOS Catalina was outside afterward in July 2019. Apple introduced Catalina with amazing features and amazing wallpapers by describing macOS Catalina is a great listener, and she can know you better than anyone. Catalina additionally has a Time-Shifting desktop, which turns light into dark or dark to light based on your time zone.

Click on the Force Cache Rebuild option and click Restart. By this step, you will see macOS Catalina Setup running on your Mac. After the installation process is done you need to shut down your Mac and insert the USB drive for booting your computer. We are doing this step to verify patches. Jul 16, 2018 Download macOS Mojave Patcher tool. DMG file (official link) How to install macOS 10.14 on older Mac models. Step 1 Download the DMG file using the link above on your computer. Step 2 Launch the macOS Mojave Patcher tool by double-clicking the DMG file. Step 3 Specify the path for the bootable image and choose the appropriate USB. Step 1 How to install macOS Mojave on Unsupported Macs. Grab a copy of the Mojave Patch Tool at the link below: Make sure that your Mac is. Name this MacOS Mojave, and set it to Mac OS X (64-bit). Set the RAM to 4096 MB (or higher if you can achieve it!). When creating the disk, you can use either format versions.

Here is how to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac.

Some helpful links:
How to Speed Up macOS Catalina? 7 Easy Methods
How To Download Macos Catalina Vmware & Virtualbox Image – Latest Version
Download macOS Big Sur VMware & VirtualBox Image – Latest Version
How to share folders on VirtualBox & Vmware? (Windows-MAC) Step by Step Guide

Install Macos Big Sur On Unsupported Macs Windows 7

macOS Catalina

Install Macos Mojave Dmg

Catalina’s complete variant was down to October 7th, 2019. Once Catalina was totally out, there were lots of new things and also as many problems. I personally utilize macOS Catalina, and I enjoy it very much and don’t have any issue with it, except it is difficult to locate things. But, there are lots of features and updates I haven’t still touched off.

With the support of Catalyst, you can use macOS and iPadOS simultaneously. Apple has made so many new updates and features that let us edit our photos and videos like a pro editor. Many people adore Catalina, and people like to utilize macOS Catalina not merely by Mac consumers but also by Windows and other operating platform users. Within the following guide, I will demonstrate how to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac.

The most recent upgrades happened in macOS Catalina on March 24, 2020. Because of this upgrade, changes came into Screen Time Communication Limits, a characteristic brought to the iPhone in the iOS 13.3 upgrade, it includes iCloud Folder Sharing, and it brings a fresh Head Pointer Access option that enables the cursor to be controlled together with head movements using Mac’s camera. We’ll find out how to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac.

Big Sur Mac Pro 5 1

How To Install macOS Big Sur On VMware On Windows?
How To Install macOS Big Sur On VirtualBox On Windows?
How to Speed Up macOS Catalina? 7 Easy Methods

Is your mac in Your Unsupported List?

macOS Catalina is amazing, but when users can not utilize it, then it makes no sense to know it. From a while ago, Apple was cutting and creating the harmonious Macs list bigger for their new variants, and this list can be applied to Catalina. As Apple is rolling more versions, they are cutting more old Macs from the list. The list of jobless Mac is getting larger and is already too large. Maybe that is because Apple needs more users to buy their brand new products rather than using their older ones.

Considering that the list of unsupported Macs has increased now, some run Mojave users can not set up macOS Catalina. Based on Apple, they said, we’re decreasing the amount of Mac supports because old Macs don’t have enough capacity and metallic graphics processors. Based on Apple, they stated, we are accountable for all of the older mac users that can’t encounter MacOS Catalina within their Mac. Not everyone can afford to have a new Mac every year, and Macs aren’t cheap also. Don’t worry. We’re likely to show you how you can install macOS Catalina on unsupported Mac.

Before heading to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac, check out the unsupported collection of all Macs and if your Mac is from the unsupported list.

Here are the list of unsupported Mac.

Early-2008 or newer Mac Pro, iMac, or MacBook Pro:
MacPro3,1
MacPro4,1
MacPro5,1
iMac8,1
iMac9,1
iMac10,x
iMac11,x (systems using AMD Radeon HD 5xxx and 6xxx series GPUs will likely soon be almost unusable when conducting Catalina.)
IMac12,x (systems with AMD Radeon HD 5xxx and 6xxx series GPUs will likely soon be nearly unusable when conducting Catalina.)
MacBookPro4,1
MacBookPro5,x
MacBookPro6,x
MacBookPro7,x
MacBookPro8,x
Late-2008 or newer MacBook Air or Aluminum Unibody MacBook:
MacBookAir2,1
MacBookAir3,x
MacBookAir4,x
MacBook5,1
Early-2009 or newer Mac Mini or snowy MacBook:
Macmini3,1
Macmini4,1
Macmini5,x (systems using AMD Radeon HD 6xxx series GPUs will probably be almost unusable when running Catalina.)
MacBook5,2
MacBook6,1
MacBook7,1
Early-2008 or newer Xserve:
Xserve2,1
Xserve3,1


When you have checked and found out your Mac is on the unsupported list, measure to the next step, which is to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac.

Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac: What We Need?

Before you proceed forward, here are the things you’ll need for this particular process.

16GB USB Drive
DosDude Catalina Patcher
macOS Catalina File
Backup Mac

Once that’s with you, let’s dive into the best and easiest way to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac.

Backup Your Mac

Install Macos Mojave 10.14

Before installing any operating system, you must choose to backup your computer fully. We recommend backing up your apparatus. If anything else goes wrong and you hadn’t backed up your apparatus, everything will be deleted. However, if you’d backed up your device, you can restore that. Here are the measures.

First, in the event you wish to replicate, Time Machine Backup can allow you to get it done without deleting some of your folders.

Connect an external hard disk or a USB having a small space.

On the top left corner of your display, click the Apple icon. Proceed to the dropdown menu and Choose System Preference.

By clicking Time Machine, you can earn a machine that will back up your device.

Choose your copy and click Backup.

Big

With that completed, we’ll start the procedure and how to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac.

How To Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac

After checking your Mac, if your Mac is in the brand new list, installing macOS Catalina marginally with no tool and measures is possible. If your Mac is unsupported, follow the steps below.

Once the application is there, open it. Click Continue.

Vst plugin auto tune 81. macOS Catalina Patcher

That being said, if you have the macOS Catalina copy, click Browse to get a backup. If you don’t, pick Download a copy.

macOS Installer App

With this window, click Start Download.

Download macOS

Once it’s finished, insert the USB and click on ”Create a Bootable Installer.”

Setup System

Let the process finish and once it’s done, take out the USB. After a few minutes, then insert the USB again, then reboot into the Mac.

When powering on, hold the Option key for a while until the startup manager appears. Following the Startup Manager opens, click on the USB Drive with the Aid of arrow keys.

Within this stage, choose Disk Utility and then click Continue.

macOS Utilities

If you have completed the previous steps correctly, you’re now in the Disk Utility window. To format your inner drive with APFS format, select the drive, and click Erase. When you’re done, close the window.

Erase Disk

Wait for the window and choose Reinstall macOS to initiate the setup.

Big

macOS Utilities

Click Continue with the straightforward installation wizard and also about the install window, then choose the appropriate disk and click on Install. It might require some while. And you will observe many orders going up and down.

Click on the Force Cache Rebuild option and click on Restart.

Welcome

By this step, you will see macOS Catalina Setup running on your Mac.

After the installation process is done, you want to shut down your Mac and insert the USB drive for booting up your PC. We’re doing this step to verify patches.

Now you’re totally done with all the settings and what. We have installed the most recent version of macOS booted in an unsupported device.

How to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac: Conclusion

Big

How To Install Macos Mojave

The installation procedure may be hard, but it is painless. If you face any issues installing macOS Catalina on an Unsupported Mac. Feel free to comment down below.

Here are some- Common macOS Catalina Problems and Solutions: 11 Key Errors and their Fix

Incoming Links:

Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac, How to Install macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac, Install macOS on Unsupported Mac, How to Install macOS on Unsupported Mac, macOS Catalina on Unsupported Mac Refx nexus v.2.4.