Struggling to upgrade

I've been struggling for days to upgrade my four-year-old Sierra build (which is still running on the install and EFI that I perfected in 2017).

I keep trying to make a bootable Big Sur install USB and it never works. (I want to install on a second, blank SSD I've installed, but I never get that far.) So far I've

1) Downloaded the full Big Sur Installer
2) Formatted a USB drive Mac OS Extended (Journaled)/GUID Partition
3) Used the "createinstallmedia" sudo command to make the USB drive into "Install macOS Big Sur"
4) Used the current "Clover Configurator" to mount the USB drive's EFI partition
5) Used the current "Clover Configurator" to install Clover onto the USB drive's EFI partition
6) Downloaded and copied over the 7 recommended kexts into EFI/CLOVER/kexts/Other:

CPUFriend.kext
Lilu.kext
VoodooPS2Controller.kext
realtekALC.kext
FakeSMC.kext
USBInjectAll.kext
WhateverGreen.kext

7) Rebooted

It doesn't work. After the Clover selector screen (where I can use the mouse to choose the USB drive to boot) I get four lines of text:

27:849 0:000 There are problems in plist '\EFI\CLOVER\config.plist'
27:850 0:000 Warning: ProductName is not defined. The whole SMBIOS dict is ignored at line 1194.
27:852 0:001 Warning: FixHeaders exists in ACPI and ACPI/DSDT/Fixes. Delete FixHeaders from ACPI/DSDT/Fixes.
27:853 0:001 Use CloverConfigPlistValidator or look in the log

Then it goes to a circle with a diagonal line and an Apple URL.

When I replace the EFI directory with a copy of my current working directory (from the EFI partition of my Sierra boot drive) it just boots to my Sierra boot drive.

I've been struggling with this for hours and I can't get anywhere. I tried replacing just the config.plist file with the current working one I have, but that doesn't work either.

I realize I should be configuring the EFI and config.plist files on the USB drive using Clover Configurator but I can't find any guides on the site on how to do this: they all want me to use UniBeast (rather than Clover).

Will the EFI files on the USB installer be the same as the eventual EFI directory on the new Big Sur install (when I get that far)?

Can I simply upgrade Sierra to Big Sur using Apple's installer on my existing install?

Am I "shooting too high" trying to get to Big Sur, anyway? Given my specs (including my "new" Sapphire card), should I be upgrading to something in between like Catalina?

Thanks in advance for any help or advice. I'm very frustrated — I'm sure there's something obvious I'm missing but I haven't been able to find the guidance I need.

Jordan

did you update Clover to the latest version?

TBH it's easier to go over the to OpenCore site and follow their step by step guide to create a OpenCore EFI folder. The docs are really good, and the process to get to boot is pretty painless. I setup on a new SDD, and when I had a bootable image I boot my SSD that was using Clover/Catalina, and upgraded to BigSur with no issues
(Though be warned if you are uisng USBInjectAll.kext you need to use 11.2 or less until you create a USBMaps.Kext of your usb port layout - again, easy if you follow the guide)

antieatingactivist said:

did you update Clover to the latest version?

Click to expand...

I downloaded the latest version of "Clover Configurator" and used it for steps #4 and #5 above (mounting the USB drive's EFI partition and installing Clover onto it), if that's what you you mean. This is of course distinct from the 2017 version of Clover that's on my working Sierra boot drive — the source for the "config.plist" that I copied over to the USB drive (which didn't work, as nothing I've tried has worked).

As I've explained, I haven't even gotten to the "Install Big Sur" portion of the process...I'm still just trying to make a bootable "Install macOS Big Sur" USB drive. I don't really understand 1) whether the EFI partition (with its "CLOVER" directory, including its all-important "config.plist" file) on the USB install drive is the same as the one that will end up on my (2nd) boot drive once the install is complete; or 2) how it gets there.

I was able to do all the equivalent steps in 2017 — successfully configuring the Sierra install I'm using to this day — because (if I recall correctly) I was able, back then, to find a detailed guide on this site that explained how to use the widgets in Clover Configurator to properly set up the "config.plist" file and which kexts to copy over. I haven't been able to find anything like that, this year, for Big Sur (of course it's possible that I'm missing something obvious here on the site). As I explained above, I did go get the list of kexts that I found and copy them over, but it didn't work; I didn't end up with a bootable USB drive.

There are several fundamental ideas I'm not understanding, obviously (and, I apologize for my obtuseness if I'm simply overlooking prominently-placed explanations). For example, in theory, since I have a 100% working Sierra install, that means I've got a 100% working EFI containing Clover (with its config.plist file) for my hardware...but, of course, it corresponds to the Sierra OS. Presumably, a bootable USB installer — one made using Sierra's Disk Utility and the "createbootablemedia" script (that that sudo command runs from inside the "Install macOS Big Sur" package) — is going to boot using some version of Big Sur...which of course means that the working Sierra Clover on my working boot drive's EFI partition won't work with it (since it can't patch the kexts or anything else since Apple's moved everything around several times between Sierra and Big Sur).

I know Big Sur will run on my motherboard/CPU because I found examples here of people doing just that.

Thanks for responding.

JordanOrlando said:

I downloaded the latest version of "Clover Configurator" and used it for steps #4 and #5 above (mounting the USB drive's EFI partition and installing Clover onto it), if that's what you you mean. This is of course distinct from the 2017 version of Clover that's on my working Sierra boot drive — the source for the "config.plist" that I copied over to the USB drive (which didn't work, as nothing I've tried has worked).

As I've explained, I haven't even gotten to the "Install Big Sur" portion of the process...I'm still just trying to make a bootable "Install macOS Big Sur" USB drive. I don't really understand 1) whether the EFI partition (with its "CLOVER" directory, including its all-important "config.plist" file) on the USB install drive is the same as the one that will end up on my (2nd) boot drive once the install is complete; or 2) how it gets there.

I was able to do all the equivalent steps in 2017 — successfully configuring the Sierra install I'm using to this day — because (if I recall correctly) I was able, back then, to find a detailed guide on this site that explained how to use the widgets in Clover Configurator to properly set up the "config.plist" file and which kexts to copy over. I haven't been able to find anything like that, this year, for Big Sur (of course it's possible that I'm missing something obvious here on the site). As I explained above, I did go get the list of kexts that I found and copy them over, but it didn't work; I didn't end up with a bootable USB drive.

There are several fundamental ideas I'm not understanding, obviously (and, I apologize for my obtuseness if I'm simply overlooking prominently-placed explanations). For example, in theory, since I have a 100% working Sierra install, that means I've got a 100% working EFI containing Clover (with its config.plist file) for my hardware...but, of course, it corresponds to the Sierra OS. Presumably, a bootable USB installer — one made using Sierra's Disk Utility and the "createbootablemedia" script (that that sudo command runs from inside the "Install macOS Big Sur" package) — is going to boot using some version of Big Sur...which of course means that the working Sierra Clover on my working boot drive's EFI partition won't work with it (since it can't patch the kexts or anything else since Apple's moved everything around several times between Sierra and Big Sur).

I know Big Sur will run on my motherboard/CPU because I found examples here of people doing just that.

Thanks for responding.

Click to expand...

you are better off looking into OpenCore

Feartech said:

you are better off looking into OpenCore

Click to expand...

Thank you very much — I will.

Clover and OpenCore are two roads to the same destination, right?

What I mean is, in either case — Clover or OpenCore — you end up with a boot drive that's got a basically untouched Apple install of macOS, with a doctored EFI partition that contains the .kexts etc. and a script that patches the macOS during each boot (so that the macOS "thinks" it's running on a real Apple motherboard but the connections to the PC are re-routed etc.)?

In other words, once I switch to OpenCore, I'm leaving Clover behind...the scheme of which kexts are replaced/"injected" and which other arcane adjustments are made to the macOS may be exactly the same, but the mechanism performing those patches (during each boot) is totally different and incompatible, right?

Thanks again,
Jordan

JordanOrlando said:

Thank you very much — I will.

Clover and OpenCore are two roads to the same destination, right?

What I mean is, in either case — Clover or OpenCore — you end up with a boot drive that's got a basically untouched Apple install of macOS, with a doctored EFI partition that contains the .kexts etc. and a script that patches the macOS during each boot (so that the macOS "thinks" it's running on a real Apple motherboard but the connections to the PC are re-routed etc.)?

In other words, once I switch to OpenCore, I'm leaving Clover behind...the scheme of which kexts are replaced/"injected" and which other arcane adjustments are made to the macOS may be exactly the same, but the mechanism performing those patches (during each boot) is totally different and incompatible, right?

Thanks again,
Jordan

Click to expand...

correct

sorry for shot answer

basically, previous clover versions was unable to boot/install Big Sur so needed to take elements from OpenCore to make it work. this caused lots of issues as previously you could just update clover and not have to worry about adding new stuff to your config.plist to make it work

while OpenCore requires more reading, it is a lot better bootloader, very clean compared to clover and worth the transition

Feartech said:

correct

sorry for shot answer

basically, previous clover versions was unable to boot/install Big Sur so needed to take elements from OpenCore to make it work. this caused lots of issues as previously you could just update clover and not have to worry about adding new stuff to your config.plist to make it work

while OpenCore requires more reading, it is a lot better bootloader, very clean compared to clover and worth the transition

Click to expand...

Okay, that makes perfect sense — now I understand. Thanks again!

J

One final question, while I've got the kind attention of you knowledegable people: is there a reliable mechanism for getting the latest, complete Big Sur installer from Apple ("complete" meaning not the small, initial, non-booting installer that immediately downloads more components)?

I found a script that seemed to work ("macadmin scripts") — it downloaded several files and integrated them into an "installer" package called "Install macOS Big Sur" — but it had a "forbidden" crossed-out circle over it and, when I viewed package contents, it contained nothing but a .dmg called "SharedSupport.dmg" (in nested folders), so (obviously) the "createinstallmedia" script wasn't found and wouldn't run.

Thanks again!
Jordan

JordanOrlando said:

One final question, while I've got the kind attention of you knowledegable people: is there a reliable mechanism for getting the latest, complete Big Sur installer from Apple ("complete" meaning not the small, initial, non-booting installer that immediately downloads more components)?

I found a script that seemed to work ("macadmin scripts") — it downloaded several files and integrated them into an "installer" package called "Install macOS Big Sur" — but it had a "forbidden" crossed-out circle over it and, when I viewed package contents, it contained nothing but a .dmg called "SharedSupport.dmg" (in nested folders), so (obviously) the "createinstallmedia" script wasn't found and wouldn't run.

Thanks again!
Jordan

Click to expand...

haven't used that script but I have used GibMacOS script