- Joined
- Nov 28, 2011
- Messages
- 142
- Motherboard
- ASUS Prime H370M-PLUS
- CPU
- i5-8600
- Graphics
- RX 570
- Mac
- Mobile Phone
I thought I would share my successes (and challenges) with the public beta.
Note: This is experimental and should only be done on a test drive and would be hard to do if you did not have another system or another drive to boot from.
My method (worked for clean install and upgrade):
Board: ASUS Prime H370M-PLUS
Other details in profile are accurate
OpenCore 0.6.0 Release or Debug
AppleALC-1.5.1
IntelMausi-1.0.3
VirtualSMC-1.1.5
WhateverGreen-1.4.1
I also used the SMCProcessor, VirtualSMC and XHCI-unsopported kexts that are packaged with OpenCore.
Step one is to install OpenCore. By "install" you are just building your EFI folder that you will later use. A complete guide is found here:
Give yourself several hours for this as you will need to read, understand and make the files your board needs. If you have the same board as me, you are welcome to my aml files and config.plist.
For this board you will need SSDT-PLUG, SSDT-EC-USBX, SSDT-AWC and SSDT-PMC as described in the OpenCore guide linked above.
I extracted the DSDT using a linux system (I have a linux drive that I use frequently, but you could boot on a Linux distro USB). Directions for the extraction are in the guide. Back in Catalina, I used MacIASL to open and view the DSDT. Per the OpenCore guid, AICP settings were taken from the DSDT to compile the above listed SSDTs. I did not compile the SSDT-EC-USBX as this board's EC is correct, so I used rehabman's one. The config.plist is made using ProperTree and it will populate the file with the compiled aml files and kexts you have, so you do this last.
Big Sur was downloaded with gibMacOS. You can't use gibMacOS to extract the image for Big Sur, but instead run the package you downloaded and it will create the install app in your Applications folder and you can then use the built in install media creation tool to make a USB. Detailed directions are here:
Once made, you can use MountEFI to mount the USB partition and copy over the OpenCore files, the compiled SSDTs and your kexts.
Take time and go through the recommended config.plist entries for your specific platform. I used the recommended settings and only had to apply the RTC fix as outlined in the troubleshooting section of the guide. There are recommended tweaks for each CPU family. Coffee Lake settings are here:
I used GenSMBIOS (application) and used iMac19,1 for my Coffee Lake CPU. The values generated were entered into the config.plist.
Personally, I recommend you get OpenCore working on a Catalina setup so you are not learning OpenCore while trying to install Big Sur (that is what I did). Once you have OpenCore booting Catalina well, you can simply use your EFI folder on the USB drive. I want to stress this...it is way easier to get OpenCore working outside of a beta install so you are not trying to figure out if you have an error with the loader or the install. I installed and debugged OpenCore on my test drive first with a fresh install of Catalina. Once working, I copied the EFI folder then started the install process proper. I am happy enough with OpenCore (DRM works!!) that I have moved it to my main drive.
Booting off the USB allows to then boot off of the install entry in OpenCore. It takes a very long time. It rebooted twice and I selected "Mac OS Installer" as the boot entry each time and then rebooted two more times where I selected "Preboot" each time. "Preboot" remains the name of the boot entry that boots Big Sur.
Post installation was simply mounting the EFI partition and copying the EFI folder from the USB drive. You can only have one mounted at a time with the MountEFI tool, so I mounted the USB, copied it to the desktop, ejected it then mounted the hard drive's partition.
Sound and wired networking worked (I don't use wifi). The app store worked as well as icloud. DRM broke though it was working in Catalina. There were some artifacts in YouTube video where "cards" overlayed the video. The system was responsive and crisp feeling.
I did not do a great deal of testing other than some 3d CAD, web browsing and a run through of my common applications. I did not want to load my profile (that I keep on a second NVME from my boot one) as I am not ready to use it as my daily driver and I am certain it would convert mail and other items causing issue for when I booted back into Catalina.
If you remove the learning curve for OpenCore if you are coming from Clover, it is a simple install (but very long and VERY VERY different than prior versions). There are some cleanup issues in converting from Clover to OpenCore, so I elected to do a clean install then reset my NVRAM so I knew I was starting fresh. Much of OpenCore involves leaving values in NVRAM unless you explicitely delete them on boot, so a clean start made things easier. OpenCore has an NVRAM reset tool available in the boot loader menu. Once used, my OpenCore journey was easier as it removed some Clover artifacts (IMHO).
Good luck!
Note: This is experimental and should only be done on a test drive and would be hard to do if you did not have another system or another drive to boot from.
My method (worked for clean install and upgrade):
Board: ASUS Prime H370M-PLUS
Other details in profile are accurate
OpenCore 0.6.0 Release or Debug
AppleALC-1.5.1
IntelMausi-1.0.3
VirtualSMC-1.1.5
WhateverGreen-1.4.1
I also used the SMCProcessor, VirtualSMC and XHCI-unsopported kexts that are packaged with OpenCore.
Step one is to install OpenCore. By "install" you are just building your EFI folder that you will later use. A complete guide is found here:
Give yourself several hours for this as you will need to read, understand and make the files your board needs. If you have the same board as me, you are welcome to my aml files and config.plist.
For this board you will need SSDT-PLUG, SSDT-EC-USBX, SSDT-AWC and SSDT-PMC as described in the OpenCore guide linked above.
I extracted the DSDT using a linux system (I have a linux drive that I use frequently, but you could boot on a Linux distro USB). Directions for the extraction are in the guide. Back in Catalina, I used MacIASL to open and view the DSDT. Per the OpenCore guid, AICP settings were taken from the DSDT to compile the above listed SSDTs. I did not compile the SSDT-EC-USBX as this board's EC is correct, so I used rehabman's one. The config.plist is made using ProperTree and it will populate the file with the compiled aml files and kexts you have, so you do this last.
Big Sur was downloaded with gibMacOS. You can't use gibMacOS to extract the image for Big Sur, but instead run the package you downloaded and it will create the install app in your Applications folder and you can then use the built in install media creation tool to make a USB. Detailed directions are here:
Once made, you can use MountEFI to mount the USB partition and copy over the OpenCore files, the compiled SSDTs and your kexts.
Take time and go through the recommended config.plist entries for your specific platform. I used the recommended settings and only had to apply the RTC fix as outlined in the troubleshooting section of the guide. There are recommended tweaks for each CPU family. Coffee Lake settings are here:
I used GenSMBIOS (application) and used iMac19,1 for my Coffee Lake CPU. The values generated were entered into the config.plist.
Personally, I recommend you get OpenCore working on a Catalina setup so you are not learning OpenCore while trying to install Big Sur (that is what I did). Once you have OpenCore booting Catalina well, you can simply use your EFI folder on the USB drive. I want to stress this...it is way easier to get OpenCore working outside of a beta install so you are not trying to figure out if you have an error with the loader or the install. I installed and debugged OpenCore on my test drive first with a fresh install of Catalina. Once working, I copied the EFI folder then started the install process proper. I am happy enough with OpenCore (DRM works!!) that I have moved it to my main drive.
Booting off the USB allows to then boot off of the install entry in OpenCore. It takes a very long time. It rebooted twice and I selected "Mac OS Installer" as the boot entry each time and then rebooted two more times where I selected "Preboot" each time. "Preboot" remains the name of the boot entry that boots Big Sur.
Post installation was simply mounting the EFI partition and copying the EFI folder from the USB drive. You can only have one mounted at a time with the MountEFI tool, so I mounted the USB, copied it to the desktop, ejected it then mounted the hard drive's partition.
Sound and wired networking worked (I don't use wifi). The app store worked as well as icloud. DRM broke though it was working in Catalina. There were some artifacts in YouTube video where "cards" overlayed the video. The system was responsive and crisp feeling.
I did not do a great deal of testing other than some 3d CAD, web browsing and a run through of my common applications. I did not want to load my profile (that I keep on a second NVME from my boot one) as I am not ready to use it as my daily driver and I am certain it would convert mail and other items causing issue for when I booted back into Catalina.
If you remove the learning curve for OpenCore if you are coming from Clover, it is a simple install (but very long and VERY VERY different than prior versions). There are some cleanup issues in converting from Clover to OpenCore, so I elected to do a clean install then reset my NVRAM so I knew I was starting fresh. Much of OpenCore involves leaving values in NVRAM unless you explicitely delete them on boot, so a clean start made things easier. OpenCore has an NVRAM reset tool available in the boot loader menu. Once used, my OpenCore journey was easier as it removed some Clover artifacts (IMHO).
Good luck!
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