[Success] Big Sur Public Installation

[manolo2001]

Hi, just wanted to say thanks for the guide, just went from clover to OC and it works beautifully. Boot times are impressive, and everything is very stable.

Created the OC USB boot pendrive, one difference is that I included Clover Configurator to mount EFI after install. But mounting the EFI can be done in many other ways too.

Basically created a test SSD, where I loaded every kext I wanted to run, and created a proper OC booting Big Sur install in the SSD. Then simply took my working Catalina drive, deleted everything in the EFI folder and replaced it with the EFI I had in the new Big Sur drive. It worked perfect, then from Catalina, booting in OC, I upgraded to Big Sur, latest beta.

Works like a charm.

Just thought it might be good to detail the process a bit more:

Getting started with OpenCore | OpenCore Install Guide

This is the starting page for the install, as it is stated clearly there it is crucial to know your hardware, to then go on to create the USB drive.

Now comes the tricky part, the EFI.
What needs to be done is add the base format that is in the download and adapt it to your build. I have a Haswell, and it turned out to be pretty simple. Just follow the instructions, it's like recipe and pretty much fool proof. All EFI's will look different depending on the system you are using. Get the files you need together and place them where they tell you to.

By then it's pretty much ready, for install. That bit is easy, and if you've used clover, not much different.

Post install is needed, cleaning up, and it should be ready.

The guide is extremely detailed.

In the end it feels a lot more stable than Clover, as now my temps and fans etc. everything works.

Thanks to everyone involved.

Manolo

PS
Rather than bumping my own post, just wanted to comment on the fact that Big Sur is running really well on my computer.

Geekbench scores went up on my i7-4790S

iMac14,2
Intel Core i7-4790S 3200 MHz (4 cores) macOS 64 x86_64 996 3456

iMac15,1
Intel Core i7-4790S 3200 MHz (4 cores) macOS 64 x86_64 1011 3553

And it feels really snappy and super stable. Apart from the OS I now have OC, so I don't know if this is OS or OC related. But whatever it is, it's very positive. Going to an i7-5775C in a few weeks, so that should increase scores as well. Will PPS.

I did change my GPU from an Nvidia GT 710 2Gb to a Radeon RX 560 4GB, maybe that helps somehow, although this is just the CPU test.

 

[macnb]

Hi, just wanted to say thanks for the guide, just went from clover to OC and it works beautifully. Boot times are impressive, and everything is very stable.

Created the OC USB boot pendrive, one difference is that I included Clover Configurator to mount EFI after install. But mounting the EFI can be done in many other ways too.

Basically created a test SSD, where I loaded every kext I wanted to run, and created a proper OC booting Big Sur install in the SSD. Then simply took my working Catalina drive, deleted everything in the EFI folder and replaced it with the EFI I had in the new Big Sur drive. It worked perfect, then from Catalina, booting in OC, I upgraded to Big Sur, latest beta.

Works like a charm.

Getting the usb drive created is a bit tricky as there are many details and very precise settings for every machine, but once they are set it just works.

Followed every part of the OC guide, now have GIU boot, cleaned up everything, etc.

It feels a lot more stable than Clover, as now my temps and fans etc. everything works.

Thanks to everyone involved.

Manolo

PS
Rather than bumping my own post, just wanted to comment on the fact that Big Sur is running really well on my computer.

Geekbench scores went up on my i7-4790S

iMac14,2
Intel Core i7-4790S 3200 MHz (4 cores) macOS 64 x86_64 996 3456

iMac15,1
Intel Core i7-4790S 3200 MHz (4 cores) macOS 64 x86_64 1011 3553

And it feels really snappy and super stable. Apart from the OS I now have OC, so I don't know if this is OS or OC related. But whatever it is, it's very positive. Going to an i7-5775C in a few weeks, so that should increase scores as well. Will PPS.

I did change my GPU from an Nvidia GT 710 2Gb to a Radeon RX 560 4GB, maybe that helps somehow, although this is just the CPU test.

Big Sur is not supported on iMac14,2.

Are you sure you did not change your SMBIOS model ID to a compatible ID or are you using "some other trick" to boot with iMac14,2 model ID ???

 

[manolo2001]

Big Sur is not supported on iMac14,2.

Are you sure you did not change your SMBIOS model ID to a compatible ID or are you using "some other trick" to boot with iMac14,2 model ID ???

it says 14,2 then goes on to say 15,1 no tricks !!!!!!

Geekbench scores went up on my i7-4790S

iMac14,2
Intel Core i7-4790S 3200 MHz (4 cores) macOS 64 x86_64 996 3456

iMac15,1
Intel Core i7-4790S 3200 MHz (4 cores) macOS 64 x86_64 1011 3553

 

[macnb]

it says 14,2 then goes on to say 15,1 no tricks !!!!!!

Geekbench scores went up on my i7-4790S

iMac14,2
Intel Core i7-4790S 3200 MHz (4 cores) macOS 64 x86_64 996 3456

iMac15,1
Intel Core i7-4790S 3200 MHz (4 cores) macOS 64 x86_64 1011 3553

So with iMac14,2 you running some other macOS and with Big Sur you used iMac15,1 ?

 

[manolo2001]

So with iMac14,2 you running some other macOS and with Big Sur you used iMac15,1 ?

I used to run Catalina on 14,2 and had to change it to 15,1 with OC to install Big Sur. Same machine though. Right as you said it, I changed the SMBIOS when I went from Clover 14,2 Catalina to Opencore 15,1 Big Sur.