The following guide is a complete walkthrough for updating to or installing a fresh version of macOS Mojave. It requires no experience and all of the basic installation and post-installation tools are available on tonymacx86.com.
Table of Contents
Step 1: Download macOS Mojave
Step 2: Create a Bootable USB with UniBeast
Step 3: Recommended BIOS Settings
Step 4: Install macOS Mojave
Step 5: Post Installation with MultiBeast
Troubleshooting and Optimizations
Before You Begin
1. Register here at tonymacx86! If you don't have a user account,
create one!
2. Get our latest
UniBeast and
MultiBeast tools from the downloads section.
3. Purchase a 16GB or larger USB drive.
4. Do a
full backup of your system. We strongly recommend performing a full backup of your existing system using Carbon Copy Cloner. By doing this, you can always go back to your working installation.
UniBeast is a tool that creates a bootable installer out of your downloaded version of macOS. In order to start fresh, you'll need access to a functional computer running OS X Lion 10.7.5 or later. This is a requirement, as you need access to the Mac App Store to download macOS and create the installation drive. To start from scratch, booting the 10.6 Snow Leopard Retail DVD directly, check out
iBoot + MultiBeast.
Existing Clover users may do a direct update to macOS Mojave by simply running the Install macOS Mojave app as normal Mac users would. Follow these steps:
Update Directly to macOS Mojave.
STEP 1: Download macOS Mojave
The full operating system is a free download for anyone who has purchased Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Lion, or Mountain Lion or has a Mac preloaded with OS X Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan, macOS Sierra, or macOS High Sierra.
Download the Application from the Mac App Store using your Apple ID on any of these specific Macs:.
- MacBook (Early 2015 or newer)
- MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or newer)
- MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or newer)
- Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer)
- iMac (Late 2012 or newer)
- iMac Pro (2017)
- Mac Pro (Late 2013, plus mid-2010 and mid-2012 models with recommended Metal-capable GPU)
1. Open
Mac App Store
2. Log in with your Apple ID
3. Download
macOS Mojave
The Application
Install macOS Mojave will appear in /Applications.
STEP 2: Create a Bootable USB Drive with UniBeast
Take a deep breath and take your time- this is pretty simple, but it's easy to miss things if you rush. Follow each step to the letter.
1. Insert the USB drive
2. Open /
Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility
3. Highlight the USB drive in left column
4. Click
Erase button
5. For
Name: type
USB (You can rename it later)
6. For
Format: choose
Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
7. Click
Erase then
Done
8. Download and run
UniBeast
9. Click
Continue,
Continue,
Continue,
Continue,
Agree
10. At Destination Select, choose
USB and click
Continue
11. At
Select OS Installation screen choose
Mojave and click
Continue
12. At
Bootloader Options screen choose
UEFI Boot Mode or
Legacy Boot Mode. UEFI Boot Mode is recommended for 7/8/9/100/200/300 Series CustoMac desktops and all UEFI capable systems.
Legacy Boot Mode is recommended for 5/6 Series CustoMac desktops and all BIOS based systems.
13. (Optional) At
Graphics Configuration screen choose the appropriate graphics option for your system and click
Continue.
14. Verify installation options, then click
Continue, enter password and click
Install
UniBeast will now create the bootable USB drive. The process will only take about 10 minutes, depending on system and drive speed. Do not unplug or stop during this time.
15. Drag
MultiBeast to your completed USB drive.
Clover Note: UniBeast delivers basic bootloader support based on our testing on recommended CustoMac systems. For further bootloader customization, download and run the
official Clover package. Advanced users may also compile Clover by downloading the full source.
STEP 3: Recommended BIOS Settings
If you're installing on a recommended CustoMac desktop with AMI UEFI BIOS, the options are simple. For other systems make sure to set your BIOS to Optimized Defaults, and your hard drive to AHCI mode. Here are standard AMI UEFI BIOS settings for
Gigabyte AMI UEFI BIOS,
Gigabyte AWARD BIOS,
ASUS AMI UEFI BIOS, and
MSI AMI UEFI BIOS.
1. To access BIOS/UEFI Setup, press and hold
Delete on a USB Keyboard while the system is booting up
2. Load
Optimized Defaults
3. If your CPU supports
VT-d, disable it
4. If your system has
CFG-Lock, disable it
5. If your system has
Secure Boot Mode, disable it
6. Set OS Type to
Other OS
7. If your system has
IO Serial Port, disable it
8. Set XHCI Handoff to
Enabled
9. If you have a 6 series or x58 system with AWARD BIOS, disable
USB 3.0
10. Save and exit.
STEP 4: Install macOS Mojave
You're almost done! All you need to do is boot from the USB drive and install! For best results, insert the USB in a USB 2.0 port.
1. Turn on the computer
2. Press the hotkey to choose boot device (F12 for Gigabyte motherboards, F8 for ASUS motherboards, F11 for ASrock motherboards)
3. Choose USB
4. At Clover boot screen, choose
Boot OS X Install from Install macOS Mojave
5. When you arrive at the Installer, choose language.
If you have issues reaching the installer, you can use spacebar on boot screen to enter alternate boot modes such as verbose and safe mode. For more instructions on entering boot flags see Clover Basics and Switching Advice.
6. For a new installation of macOS, you MUST erase and format the destination drive according to the following steps before continuing.
a. In the top menu bar choose Utilities, and open Disk Utility
b. Highlight your target drive for the Mojave installation in left column.
c. Click Erase button
d. For Name: type Mojave (You can rename it later)
e. For Format: choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
f. Click Erase
g. Close Disk Utility
7. When the installer asks you where to install, choose
Mojave
8. Upon completion, the system will automatically restart.
9. Press the hotkey to choose boot device (F12 for Gigabyte motherboards, F8 for ASUS motherboards, F11 for ASrock motherboards)
10. Choose
USB
11. At the Boot Screen, choose
Mojave
12. Complete macOS installation. The system will automatically reboot.
STEP 5: Post Installation with MultiBeast
MultiBeast is an all-in-one post-installation tool designed to enable boot from hard drive, and install support for Audio, Network, and Graphics. The installation is complete, but the drive isn't bootable yet. Boot from the USB again, this time choosing Mojave.
Note: MultiBeast 11 will be ready soon- for now use MultiBeast 10.4.0 for Post-Installation.
1. Press the hotkey to choose boot device (F12 for Gigabyte motherboards, F8 for ASUS motherboards, F11 for ASrock motherboards)
2. Choose
USB
3. At the Boot Screen, choose your new
Mojave installation.
4. Complete macOS setup
5. Open and run
MultiBeast
6. If this is a fresh installation, click
Quick Start. UEFI Boot Mode is recommended for 7/8/9/100/200/300 Series CustoMac desktops and all UEFI capable systems.
Legacy Boot Mode is recommended for 5/6 Series CustoMac desktops and all BIOS based systems.
7. Choose the appropriate audio and network options for your system:
8. Click
Customize for further options
9. Click
Print or
Save to back up your configuration
10. Click
Build then
Install
If using a GeForce GTX 1050, 1050 Ti, 1060, 1070, 1070 Ti, 1080, 1080 Ti, TITAN Pascal, and TITAN Xp 'Pascal' graphics card or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750, 750 Ti, 950, 960, 970, 980, 980 Ti, and TITAN X 'Maxwell' graphics card, macOS Mojave graphics drivers are not natively supported. Alternate NVIDIA drivers are required.
Note: Alternate NVIDIA Graphics Drivers are not available yet- if you have a Maxwell or Pascal based NVIDIA card, stay on High Sierra for now.
11. (Optional) Download and install
Alternate NVIDIA Graphics Drivers
12. Reboot
Yay! You now have a fully updated bootable version of macOS Mojave on your CustoMac! And a super handy USB rescue drive. It's easy to get frustrated, but don't give up! If you get stuck, there are many users with similar hardware in the tonymacx86 Forum to provide support.
Thanks to all of the hard working developers, hackers, and testers all over the world without whom this guide would never have been possible.
Troubleshooting and Optimizations:
After you've completed the guide, things such as HDMI audio and iMessage may not work automatically. The list below should serve to fully optimize your system after initial setup.
[README] Common Problems/Changes/Fixes on Mojave
Mojave AppleHDA Audio]
Update Directly to MacOS Mojave
[Guide] Intel Framebuffer patching using WhateverGreen
Solving NVIDIA Driver Install & Loading Problems
An iDiot's Guide To Lilu and its Plug-ins
An iDiot's Guide To iMessage
macOS Native CPU/IGPU Power Management
This list will be updated.
Alternate NVIDIA Graphics Drivers
NVIDIA releases alternate graphics drivers separately on the web for each build of macOS. These are different from the drivers Apple ships as standard, and should be considered experimental. In the past, the drivers have been known to solve OpenCL issues with certain applications, as well as providing better native GPU power management for certain devices. These drivers are currently the only method to get full acceleration for GeForce GTX 1050, 1050 Ti, 1060, 1070, 1070 Ti, 1080, 1080 Ti, TITAN Pascal, and TITAN Xp 'Pascal' graphics cards and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750, 750 Ti, 950, 960, 970, 980, 980 Ti, and TITAN X 'Maxwell' graphics cards. There are no current Macs with these cards, so support is absent natively in macOS.
Note: Alternate NVIDIA Graphics Drivers are not available yet- if you have a Maxwell or Pascal based NVIDIA card, stay on High Sierra for now.
Clover Bootloader Credits
UniBeast contains and delivers files from the Clover EFI Bootloader project. For more information and sources used see
Clover EFI bootloader. Clover v2 is open source based on different projects: Clover, rEFIt, XNU, VirtualBox. The main is EDK2 latest revision.
Clover Note: UniBeast delivers basic bootloader support based on our testing on recommended CustoMac systems. For further bootloader customization, download and run the
official Clover package. Advanced users may also compile Clover by downloading the full source.
Clover Developers:
Slice, with help of Kabyl, usr-sse2, jadran, Blackosx, dmazar, STLVNUB, pcj, apianti, JrCs, pene, FrodoKenny, skoczy, ycr.ru, Oscar09, xsmile, SoThOr, rehabman…
Source code credits:
Intel, Apple, Oracle, Chameleon, rEFIt and Xom.
Clover Source and Downloads:
Sourceforge: Clover