Install High Sierra Public Beta to a new partition (APFS)

[vulgo]

Update 2017.09.25: Now that 10.13 is out this guide is obsolete. High Sierra update guide.

Installing the 10.13 beta (starting the installer app from a booted 10.12 installation) to a new partition. Testing APFS filesystem and 10.13 Clover configuration. These steps are to verify a working config before upgrading to High Sierra when it is released. It is not recommended to use beta software on your main machine. If you do want use beta software, do not risk your data, see the guide for creating installation media and install where it doesn't matter if things break.


1. Update

Backup your EFI folder. Update to the latest Clover, update FakeSMC in /efi/clover/kexts/other and update other essential kexts.

Clover installer packages

FakeSMC


2. APFS EFI Driver

We need to install Apple's APFS.EFI driver to a folder in our Clover installation, before we can boot from an APFS volume.

Locate the 'Install macOS High Sierra Beta' bundle in your Applications folder

Show Package Contents -> Contents -> SharedSupport -> BaseSystem.dmg

BaseSystem.dmg -> usr -> standalone -> i386 -> apfs.efi

Copy the APFS.EFI driver to the correct location for your installation type:


For Clover UEFI

Install APFS.EFI to /efi/clover/drivers64uefi


For Clover LEGACY or CSM or BIOS

Install APFS.EFI to /efi/clover/drivers64



3. Test updated configuration

Reboot 10.12 and run

$ bdmesg

...
0:112  0:000  === [ LoadDrivers ] =======================================
0:116  0:003  Loading FSInject-64.efi  status=Success
0:118  0:001  Loading OsxFatBinaryDrv-64.efi  status=Success
0:118  0:000  Loading OsxAptioFix2Drv-64.efi  status=Success
0:119  0:000  Loading HFSPlus.efi  status=Success
0:120  0:001   - driver needs connecting
0:120  0:000  Loading AppleKeyAggregator-64.efi  status=Success
0:121  0:000  Loading AppleImageCodec-64.efi  status=Success
0:121  0:000  Loading AppleUITheme-64.efi  status=Success
0:122  0:000  Loading FirmwareVolume-64.efi  status=Success
0:123  0:000  Loading SMCHelper-64.efi  status=Success
0:123  0:000  Loading APFS.EFI  status=Success
0:131  0:007   - driver needs connecting
0:131  0:000  2 drivers needs connecting ...
0:131  0:000  PlatformDriverOverrideProtocol not found. Installing ... Success
0:131  0:000  HFS+ driver loaded
0:131  0:000  APFS driver loaded
0:131  0:000  Searching for invalid DiskIo BY_DRIVER connects: not found, all ok
...

We can see that the APFS driver is loading.



4. Prepare Partition

Create a new HFS+ partition on your boot SSD (or any disk) e.g. 'HighSierraBeta' with disk utility.



5. Begin Installation

Open the beta installer app. Select the newly created partition as the installation target

Show All Disks -> e.g. 'HighSierraBeta'



6. Complete Installation

After a short time, restart to the boot loader and install the beta.

$ diskutil list

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *480.1 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            239.4 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
   4:         Microsoft Reserved                         16.8 MB    disk0s4
   5:       Microsoft Basic Data Windows                 62.4 GB    disk0s5
   6:           Windows Recovery                         471.9 MB   disk0s6
   7:           Linux Filesystem                         41.9 GB    disk0s7
   8:                 Apple_APFS Container disk1         82.8 GB    disk0s8
   9:       Apple_KernelCoreDump                         655.4 MB   disk0s9

/dev/disk1 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +82.8 GB    disk1
                                 Physical Store disk0s8
   1:                APFS Volume HighSierraBeta          8.3 GB     disk1s1
   2:                APFS Volume Preboot                 19.6 MB    disk1s2
   3:                APFS Volume Recovery                505.4 MB   disk1s3
   4:                APFS Volume VM                      2.1 GB     disk1s4

$ uname -v

Darwin Kernel Version 17.0.0: Tue Jun 13 21:06:15 PDT 2017; root:xnu-4481.0.0.1.1~1/RELEASE_X86_64

Notes

• Thanks to the Clover developers, the state of the bootloader means that with APFS.EFI installed, 10.13 should "just work" (with compatible hardware and user configuration of course).
• There is a new CSR flag in 10.13 "Allow Unapproved Kernel Extensions", see Clover options -> System Parameters -> System Integrity Protection, and update CsrActiveConfig in your config.plist if necessary.
• The option to keep an HFS+ file system on SSDs has been removed from the installer.
• If you arrive at a kernel panic with com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform you can try dropping the MATS table.
• This method is for starting the beta installer from a working 10.12 installation using your existing EFI partition. For creating an installation USB see here.

 

[GuitarGuy77]

Thanks for the post! May I ask dropping the MATTs table does that mean simply clicking plus in clover to add it or minus to subtract it? If so do users need to fill in any proprietary information for mainboards..etc? Thanks

 

[vulgo]

Thanks for the post! May I ask dropping the MATTs table does that mean simply clicking plus in clover to add it or minus to subtract it? If so do users need to fill in any proprietary information for mainboards..etc? Thanks

In clover boot options check "MATS" in "drop tables" - i never had to do this to get it to boot - that table is never in my firmware. Drop tables in clover wiki

 

[086_naseer]

Hello
I recently upgrade from sierra to high sierra. Everything was ok. I now convert HFS to APFS and update the clover to the latest version. I copy the apfs.efi from the beta package and paste it to the location /efi/clover/drivers64uefi. I restart my system and now I can't see boot partition on the boot menu. I can see only recovery partition. Partition actually exist but not showing in the clover boot menu? Please help.

 

[vulgo]

I now convert HFS to APFS

How did you convert to APFS? Are you able to upload your preboot.log (F2 at boot menu, it gets saved to /efi/clover/misc/preboot.log)?

 

[086_naseer]

How did you convert to APFS? Are you able to upload your preboot.log (F2 at boot menu, it gets saved to /efi/clover/misc/preboot.log)?

I am away from the system now. I boot with installation USB and using disk utility convert hfs to apfs. Drives are still alive but not showing on boot list at start up.

 

[jktaurus8]

I can't boot after the installation it stuck at IOUSBHOSTDevice. any help?

 

[vulgo]

I can't boot after the installation it stuck at IOUSBHOSTDevice. any help?

The latest Clover uses APFS-aware firmware version data for patching SMBIOS by default, but these will be overridden if 'BiosVersion', 'BiosReleaseDate', 'FirmwareFeatures' are specified in your config.plist - you should probably let Clover handle these.

Your config.plist SMBIOS overrides Clover defaults, you might try

...
    <key>SMBIOS</key>
    <dict>
     <key>BoardSerialNumber</key>
     <string> your unique values </string>
     <key>ProductName</key>
     <string>iMac17,1</string>
     <key>SerialNumber</key>
     <string> your unique values </string>
     <key>SmUUID</key>
     <string> your unique values </string>
  </dict>
...

https://clover-wiki.zetam.org/configuration/smbios

 

[vulgo]

I am away from the system now. I boot with installation USB and using disk utility convert hfs to apfs. Drives are still alive but not showing on boot list at start up.

Check your config.plist - see post #8, also upload preboot.log

 

[toleda]

Apple File System Guide/Frequently Asked Questions:
Can RAID be used with Apple File System?

Yes. Apple File System does not directly implement software RAID; however APFS-formatted volumes can be combined with an Apple RAID volume to support Striping (RAID 0), Mirroring (RAID 1), and Concatenation (JBOD). APFS-formatted volumes can also be used with direct-attached hardware RAID solutions.

There are no tools to convert a HFS+/Raid to APFS/Raid.