August 16, 2022

macOS Monterey on unsupported Mac

Updated 2022-08-16 !

In a former post I went trough how to update an old MacBook Air 4.2, (mid 2011, SSD, 4 Gb memory) to Big Sur and in this post I will update the Mac to Monterey with the same patcher !! 

This is despite that max OS for the Mac is High Sierra. This is done, among other things, due to that the patcher handles Macs with graphic cards from 2008 - 2011 which Monterey doesn't do natively.

Since my former upgrade, to Big Sur, included a format of the SSD disk I here used the patcher to do an upgrade from Big Sur to Monterey.

Awesome !!!

Patcher manual
The manual for the OpenCore Legacy Patcher(OLCP) is nice and there are also a recent video how to upgrade/use the OLCP to version 4.10 using the new GUI.

Create bootable USB

You can create installers, for the most recent OS, via OLCP.

Another way is checking this post which will also give older variants to choose from.


Building/installing the patcher

After that follow these instructions, and/or the above video, on how to install and use the OLCP.


Good luck !

Remarks
  • The Mac rebooted several times during install.
  • Don't eject/remove the USB until at the very end.
  • If you, like me, have a Mac which need the legacy video acceleration support please note that the Mac have a painfully slow display update before you have applied the "Post-Install volume Patch".
  • If you are coming from an OS, several versions back, I really think that you should erase/format the MAC HD/SSD before installation !! This does it more simple for the installer. But don't forget the backup.
    • With an old non SSD HD use "Mac OS Extended(journaled)" 
    • With en SSD use "APFS"
  • Please note that a "Nightly TUI Build"(NB) are available, but just for testing purposes !!! Use the latest release instead.
  • With the update to 12.3.1 I couldn't adjust the screen light, but using NB solved the problem.
  • When finished, in TUI "5. Miscellaneous Settings => 1. Set Showpicker Mode:" to "False" 
  • If on a Mac with non metall video card these changes could be nice
    • Non metall settings => Dark Meny bar & Enable Beta Blur

4 comments:

  1. Any noticeable performance issues with going to either Big Sur or Monterey? I'm on an old mid 2012 Mini with dual internal SSDs, but obviously I've maxed out at Catalina. My next "upgrade" for it will be pulling out the power supply and installing a 12volt power source for it, thereby eliminating my inverter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No its very similar. The only drawback I have found, with Monterey, is that a Keynote presentation doesn't want to "Play".

      Delete
  2. Great! Arrived to your blog looking for a method to carry out a complete backup of a raspberry up & running (weewx+pi-hole+wireguard server+printing server) and actually found great instructions!

    Now reading further posts, I found this one very interesing. I'm also a proud owner of a Mid 2011 MacBookAir but didn't upgrade more than High Sierra because what I want overall is good performance. Can you confirm that Big Sur or Monterey behaves correctly? I don't care about having latests graphics or menus, I want smooth performance!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thx. I think an erased/formated SSD disk is the best prerequisite for performance. Besides the mentioned issue about Keynote and "Play" you can't stream to an ATV. Everything else works fine with nice performance.

      Delete

Feel free to leave a comment ! ... but due to a lot of spam comments I have to moderate them. Will reply ASAP !