Best Clover version for Sierra with Filevault in 2024

[cyberdogg]

Hi... I have 2 disks with Sierra 10.12.6 running (gtx560ti can't run on more recent OSs).

Disk 1
Filevault on, and uses an old version of Clover. There are bugs. Mainly Finder's Quick Look preview (when you press space bar on a file). It fails to preview the file, and I get the spinning rainbow wheel of death. Have to force quit the finder to get out of it. Ethernet didn't work until I installed the AppleIntele1000 kext. The EFI partition for disk 1 uses an old Clover version (4586).

Disk 2
Filevault is off, no bugs apparent. Ethernet works without having to install any kexts. Quick Look works fine. The EFI partition for disk 2 uses the latest Clover version (5157).


I've really only just understood that a hackintosh is really 2 things. A partition with an OS, and an EFI partition with a bootloader. Having both disks plugged into the rig means I can try out each one's EFI on the other. Disk 1's EFI works for both fine no problem. Disk 2's EFI hangs both disks on boot with a full on kernel panic ("can't perform kext scan: no kext summary").

So it appears that the latest Clover is flat-out not compatible with Sierra on my rig, regardless of Filevault being on or off.

-> Can someone confirm this is true for me?

If this is indeed the case, then which version of Clover is best suited to Sierra?

 

[P1LGRIM]

Can someone confirm this is true for me?

No, it's not true.

In the newer versions of Clover the folder structure has changed.
There is also the addition of a Quirks section in the config.plist which means that you cannot just take your old config.plist and use it with newer versions of Clover.

Rather than learning the newer variations of Clover which incorporate elements of the OpenCore boot loader, it would be advantageous to switch to OpenCore now which is better documented/supported.

 

[cyberdogg]

No, it's not true.

This does not correspond with my experiments. I just tried using identical drivers and kexts in my new 5157 EFI, as in my old 4586 EFI. The new one boot-loops whereas the old one does not. (I didn't touch the config.plist file on either, those files are as they are from when i ran the installers).

Have just copied my EFI boot and clover directories from Disk 1 to Disk 2. Disk 2's EFI now boots and disk fine.

(In the long run switching to OC sounds like it will save me time. I will probably do so soon on Disk 2.)

 

[Feartech]

(I didn't touch the config.plist file on either, those files are as they are from when i ran the installers).

which is why it won't work

you need to add in all the new quirks etc to make it work in your config.plist

 

[cyberdogg]

ah, thanks @Feartech !

I will have a fiddle.

 

[P1LGRIM]

Go to :

Releases · CloverHackyColor/CloverBootloader

Bootloader for macOS, Windows and Linux in UEFI and in legacy mode - CloverHackyColor/CloverBootloader

github.com

Download the ISO, unpack it and then mount it.

Inside you can see the new file structure and an example config.plist with the new quirks feature included.

 

[Feartech]

ah, thanks @Feartech !

I will have a fiddle.

instead of learning 2 bootloaders, may be better to just learn opencore instead as already suggested to you

 

[cyberdogg]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the pointers.

I do plan to get round to OpenCore... but my curiosity has got the better of me . And i'm really motivated to explore clover more.

I've been doing some more experiments with clover.

5119 doesn't have the quirks feature, so I tried it, installing all the same drivers and kexts as on my old working 4586 efi. No dice. I get the same boot loop as I did on the latest 5157 EFI (ok "boot loop" may not be correct, I get apple logo and loading bar but before it finishes loading the system restarts back to the boot loader, is that a boot-loop? maybe it is).

So I tried an older version. I wanted to at least get a 5XXX version working, so i tried v5084. This was interesting, I installed it with all the same drivers as on my working efi... but when the install was done, i noticed there was no kext directory. Strange. 5119 provides one. And 4586 does. Was there a period where it was decided the kext folder wasn't needed? Seems very odd. I tried booting my kext-less 5084 efi but no joy, the Apple logo appears and the loading bar appears to complete, but then I just get a black screen, no login (the monitor is active, so I assume this is what my Kext was needed for).

Manually adding kext/other directories with FakeSMC to the 5084 efi worked though.

I may try some later pre-5119 versions before dipping into OC.

The big test... will be encrypting Disk 2 and loading it with one of these newer Clover versions, and seeing if I still get the quick-look bug I get on my encrypted Disk 1.

 

[cyberdogg]

More tests complete...

5103 works. Still creates `kexts/other` directories. Ethernet kext needed even for unencrypted disk this time though.

5111 very strange... loaded my unencrypted disk fine. But instead of a white Apple logo on a black background, it was the old dark grey on light grey. And I didn't see the loading bar at all. But it did boot up fine first time. However with the encrypted Disk1, I didn't get the FV password screen. Just the grey on grey apple logo. I tried entering my password in anyway as it felt the system was still running... something happened... it displayed an error message in the top right hand corner of the screen (still with the grey on grey apple logo displayed):

Was error, press any key

* Hit any key to continue ***** Error LWSmcUINT8ForKey smcProtocol->SmcReadValue
failed for key 'DLSM'

Pressing any key as it suggests clears the screen to black with the same error displayed and a cursor which blinks but i can't type. Had to switch off the machine.

I tried a few more boots. Disk 2 actually also gave me this error in the tope right hand corner once. But when I rebooted it it booted up fine again.

So I tried booting Disk 1 a few more times to see if it might occasionally boot. Entering in my FV password blind each time. Indeed it worked.

I thought the grey on grey apple logo (and missing loading bar and password entry field) could be related to the theme, but changing theme didn't help. Then I noticed the Apple directory was missing on the EFI. But restoring this didn't help.

5115.... all good really, similar to 5103.

5118... ha... the boot-loop returns. Ah but what's this, the Apple directory is missing. Never mind, restoring the Apple directory doesn't fix the boot loop.

5117... still boot looping.

5116 is golden. So I encrypted Disk2, and brilliantly the quick-look bug was gone. I'd tried loading the encrypted Disk1 with 5116 and it still had the quick-look bug. So it's hard to say what was causing it. Anyway this seems to be the best release for my setup. So I'm now formatting Disk1, and restoring it from Disk2, putting 5116 on Disk 1's EFI, and then encrypting it.

Hard to say now if I will be moving to OpenCore. We'll see how stable the current set up is.