Jumping to El Capitan

[ciphoto]

I want to make the jump from 10.7.5 to El Capitan 10.11. I’ve spent some time reading around the forums and I have a few questions I’d like to clear up before I embark on the update.

Thanks to this forum I built this about 4 years ago, but I’m gone about half of each year so I get behind on updates etc…

I have a GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 F10 motherboard on my build and the few updates I’ve done since building this I’ve done the Mulitbeast/uninstall way.

From what I’ve read it seem I need to update the BOIS on the MB to an UEFI before proceeding is that correct?

Also that I need to swap and install Clover, right? Does clover only work with UEFI boards or can I try it out now before I update the MB to UEFI?

If I update the MB to UEFI can I still run my current system?

Also since I have a partition on another drive with a bootable copy of my system hard drive, all I have on it are apps and the system, can I do a clean install and then use the migration assist to move my applications, users, setting etc?

I have my home folder, music and photos all on their own hard drives.

Thanks in advance for comments and suggestions…

Peace
john

 

[Going Bald]

Personally, I would not attempt to use a Beta version BIOS on any PC if I wanted it stable - the view is not worth the climb IMHO for your board.
While Clover is required boot loader for El Capitan, it does NOT have to be installed UEFI. I have 2 legacy PCs (GA-EP45-UD3P and GA-X58A-UD7) running El Capitan and booting happily with Clover in Legacy mode. I see no reason your Z68X series PC-Mac cannot do the same.

Suggest you install on a new drive and use it for a bit. You may find you do not like it. If you decide you do not or you have problems with it and need the PC-Mac, you always have the old drive to put back in and boot with.

 

[ciphoto]

Thanks for the reply.

Okay so let me see if I got this right. Clover will run on none UEFI boards, I wasn't sure about that, I'm not a fan of doing beta stuff on my main computer and currently I only have the one, and I can still load El Capitan with out changing to the UEFI from bios.

Can I load El Capitan with out clover?

Can i run my current set up 10.7.5 with clover?

I will probably just El Capitan on my SSD and then if I don't like reinstall my old system.

Thanks again.

 

[Going Bald]

Can I load El Capitan with out clover?

No. So far Clover is the only boot loader that will boot El Capitan. The Chameleon team was working on it, but I have not seen a Chameleon boot loader yet.

Can i run my current set up 10.7.5 with clover?

Yes, you can boot the 10.75 with Clover. To experiment, clone your current drive. Make a Clover test drive booter by installing Clover to a USB - there is a guide somewhere here on the forum. Remove the /Extra folder from the clone. Boot the clone with the USB and work on the config.plist to get your system booting properly. Also put your DSDT, if you have one, in the Clover/ACPI/Patched folder. Clover Configurator can be of assistance in patching your config.plist.

 

[P1LGRIM]

Can I load El Capitan with out clover?

Some people have reported success with the Enoch fork of Chameleon :

http://www.tonymacx86.com/el-capitan-desktop-guides/179905-install-os-x-el-capitan-chameleon.html

 

[trs96]

I want to make the jump from 10.7.5 to El Capitan 10.11. I’ve spent some time reading around the forums and I have a few questions I’d like to clear up before I embark on the update.

Thanks to this forum I built this about 4 years ago, but I’m gone about half of each year so I get behind on updates etc…

I have a GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 F10 motherboard on my build and the few updates I’ve done since building this I’ve done the Mulitbeast/uninstall way.

From what I’ve read it seem I need to update the BOIS on the MB to an UEFI before proceeding is that correct?

Also that I need to swap and install Clover, right? Does clover only work with UEFI boards or can I try it out now before I update the MB to UEFI?

If I update the MB to UEFI can I still run my current system?


Peace
john

There is UEFI available for your board. http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3853#bios As GB mentioned it's probably not worth the risk if you will be booting legacy anyway.

You could move up to the F12 BIOS which may possibly help with any USB 3 issues in Windows. Not sure how it would affect that in OS X. So try out Clover with a spare HDD and see how it goes first. Then make a decision after you play with it a while.

 

[ciphoto]

Yes, you can boot the 10.75 with Clover. To experiment, clone your current drive. Make a Clover test drive booter by installing Clover to a USB - there is a guide somewhere here on the forum. Remove the /Extra folder from the clone. Boot the clone with the USB and work on the config.plist to get your system booting properly. Also put your DSDT, if you have one, in the Clover/ACPI/Patched folder. Clover Configurator can be of assistance in patching your config.plist.

Thanks GB, I remember reading about the DSDT and was going to double check that. I've always left it on my desktop I guess i should move that on too. I'll look for that guide to make the USB

There is UEFI available for your board. http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3853#bios As GB mentioned it's probably not worth the risk if you will be booting legacy anyway.

You could move up to the F12 BIOS which may possibly help with any USB 3 issues in Windows. Not sure how it would affect that in OS X. So try out Clover with a spare HDD and see how it goes first. Then make a decision after you play with it a while.

Well my main rule is if it broke don't fix it. But I would like to update my PS and LR so thats why I'm looking at doing this any way.

When I went to the Gigabyte page I saw the other bios updates, and my usb 3 ports have never worked, but it has not been an issue for me, as I don't transfer much data via USB just use a wacom, and a headphone amp. I have firewire for my cf cards.

I have my system and apps on a SSD and a clone on a partition of my main back drive that is bootable. Do you think i should
try clover on the system on the SSD or the clone version?

Some people have reported success with the Enoch fork of Chameleon :

Thanks for pointing that out. But I think I might just go with Clover instead since it had the legacy option.