[Guide] Install High Sierra or Mojave on the Dell Optiplex 7010 / 9010 Desktop PC - Revision II

[trs96]

will this mean my UEFI nvram is lost or is there a way to save and install the same nvram settings so my install still boots? Or is enough changed that I might be facing a reinstall?

You'll want to be on the same BIOS version as you were on before. Flash it to that if need be. Load Optimized defaults. Then make the same changes in the BIOS settings as you did previously. Your hard drive should still work with the previous macOS install on it. Don't worry about NVRAM. Don't think you'll need a reinstall.

 

[guansmith66]

When booting, after the Dell logo disappears, There is a delay of about 15 seconds before I see the OS selection. Any idea what might cause that delay? Than you.

 

[RickAce]

Strange Firefox (browser) Behavior (69.x/70.x):

When loading Firefox up all seems well until I try to copy then paste to another program. It does not copy nor paste at all until I quit Firefox (which hangs the browser (spinning beach ball) and creates a Mozilla crash report) and then reboot the browser. Then all is well.

I even uninstalled Firefox (via AppCleaner) shutdown and then reinstalled a fresh copy of Firefox. Shutdown, rebooted and the exact same issue. Thought for sure this would correct a potential corrupt previous install but to no avail.

In the end it is just a nuisance issue but if anyone has any insight it would be appreciated (I have not heard back from Mozilla). As an aside... Safari does not have this issue.

 

[craighazan]

Updated to Catalina 15.1 (Build 19B88) today on my BluEye G5/Dell 7010 mod, and did a Geekbench4 test. Catalina has consistently scored over 13000 (Geekbench4), compared to Mojave which was around the 12464 mark. I currently only have 8GB ram installed, I suspect that maxing out the ram will bring the score upto the 14000 mark, which is base 2018 Mac mini territory.

 

[mugiwara]

Updated to Catalina 15.1 (Build 19B88) today on my BluEye G5/Dell 7010 mod, and did a Geekbench4 test. Catalina has consistently scored over 13000 (Geekbench4), compared to Mojave which was around the 12464 mark. I currently only have 8GB ram installed, I suspect that maxing out the ram will bring the score upto the 14000 mark, which is base 2018 Mac mini territory.
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I am still running Mojave on my 7010 and I have been waiting to see how other people have dealt with the Catalina upgrade. Did you run into any issues during the upgrade?

 

[craighazan]

I am still running Mojave on my 7010 and I have been waiting to see how other people have dealt with the Catalina upgrade. Did you run into any issues during the upgrade?

I haven't myself, but I have read on other threads that people have. trs96 recommends waiting until 15.2 or 15.3 before upgrading just incase, but personally I haven't come across anything that causes me to be concerned. Just a couple of restarts and making sure you select the right disk in Clover Boot Manager should see you right.

 

[rhhousehold]

I have a replacement mobo and before I install it wanted to check— will this mean my UEFI nvram is lost or is there a way to save and install the same nvram settings so my install still boots? Or is enough changed that I might be facing a reinstall?

You'll want to be on the same BIOS version as you were on before. Flash it to that if need be. Load Optimized defaults. Then make the same changes in the BIOS settings as you did previously. Your hard drive should still work with the previous macOS install on it. Don't worry about NVRAM. Don't think you'll need a reinstall.

thanks again. Got first MB and video out was bad, seller replaced free of charge. Now video out is good and ready to upgrade BIOS. Crossing fingers that MEI is not locked out and graphics acceleration works...

 

[rhhousehold]

thanks again. Got first MB and video out was bad, seller replaced free of charge. Now video out is good and ready to upgrade BIOS. Crossing fingers that MEI is not locked out and graphics acceleration works...

Flashed BIOS and setup per the instructions and yes, my original High Sierra installation did boot up on its own (good!)
However, Wifi dongle not working (not sure why), also no accelerated graphics as far as I can tell - at least not in the System report. I will get Clover logs and screenshot later. Mystery continues...

 

[rhhousehold]

So a separate issue -- here Clover boot log and screenshot from is my 7010 MT with Mojave. Interestingly, Metal used to show up on this one, but no Metal on this one either. Must be because of Halloween? This 7010 used to be fine with Metal showing up, and I haven't modified the installation or Clover or anything like that. I was going to compare it with the USFF with the new motherboard, but discovered Metal disappeared.

 

[trs96]

Here's how my HD4000 graphics reports on my 7010 USFF with i5-3475S CPU.