Dosdude Catalina

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DeMux

At this moment I got macOS Catalina 10.15.7 (19H2) working on my MacBookPro5,1 from Late 2008 by using DosDude1's Patcher. Everything is running smoothly except for some bugs here and there which go away after some time (mainly only coming up after freshly booting the system). If you have past experience using the excellent DosDude tool for Mojave or for installing Catalina on unsupported Macs, you’ll find the Big Sur Micropatcher is not quite as simple, and Dosdude has already publicly stated that a Big Sur patcher will not become available. The experience now is closer to that of running a Hackintosh PC compared. Dosdude1's Personal Web Server. My name is Collin. I do practically anything related to computers and electronics, including programming, repairing devices, and circuit/PCB design. I specialize in component-level board repair on Apple Macintosh computers, and programming for both macOS and iOS platforms.

Firmware to disable the defective dedicated AMD GPU on 2011 MacBook Pro models. A permanent solution for radeongate.

NOW WITH NATIVE BACKLIGHT CONTROL! (See details)

Please read this page in its entirety before purchasing to understand what is required.
We are accepting mail-ins! The base rate is $60+SH for a flash. Only $40+SH if you already bought a key. Please contact us if you would like to do a mail-in.

If you have already got everything set up, you canPurchase A License Key (If you would like to do a bulk order please contact us before purchasing, we may be able to give you a discount.)

Important Notes

(Seriously, these are important.)

  • For those with repeated failed flashes, please complete the following steps while flashing:
    1. Short PLT_RESET_L from Pin 1 of R2881 to any GROUND using a jumper wire (a reference grounding point is shown in the below images).
    2. Power on the machine. (While still shorting PLT_RESET_L)
    3. Proceed to flash normally. (While still shorting PLT_RESET_L)
    4. Remove jumper wire.
    5. Hard reboot machine.
    Please use the following diagrams to find the locations used to short PLT_RESET_L to ground:
    15' PLT_RESET_L Diagram
    17' PLT_RESET_L Diagram
  • If you are getting errors saying a DLL is missing please install the following Microsoft Redistributable (it is also packaged with the DeMux download as 'vcredist_x64.exe'):
    Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Rev4
    Please make sure you are installing the 64-bit version by selecting it in the menu that comes up when you click 'Download'.
  • DisplayPort is a functionality of the dedicated GPU only, disabling the dedicated GPU will also disable the DisplayPort.

Table of Contents

    • A Lattice HW-USBN-2A ICSP FPGA Programmer (you can get one cheaply here)
    • Wires and connector to connect from the Lattice programmer to the MacBook logic board.
    • A copy of the DeMux flashing software

    Installing the software

    Installing the software comes in three steps. First, download the package, and extract it. You should then connect your programmer and install the programmer drivers. After this is done, you can purchase a flash license from us and use it with the DeMux utility to flash your gMux IC. These steps are covered in further detail below.

    Downloads

    Dosdude Catalina Patcher Update

    A 64 Bit Windows system is required to use DeMux.

    Download one of the following packages:

    Download PGP Signed VersionMirror

    Once the package is downloaded, go ahead an extract it somewhere safe. You are now ready for the next step.

    Drivers

    Once the package has been extracted, plug your Lattice HW-USBN-2A ICSP programmer into a USB port on your computer. Then, open the driver installer executable, and use it to install the USB driver. The program will tell you if it was successful.

    License keys

    If you don't yet have a license key, you'll need to purchase one. Keys cost $20 each, and are good for one gMux IC flash. Once purchased, save the key in a safe place, as it will be needed later. (If you would like to do a bulk order please contact us before purchasing, we may be able to give you a discount. A discount table is available on the purchasing page.)

    DeMux client

    Next, open up the DeMux flashing application. Here, you will need to enter the license key you purchased. If it's a valid key, the program will indicate so. Once the license has been verified as valid, you can proceed to the next steps.

    • Please note that once a license key is verified as valid on one machine, it CANNOT be used on another.

    Preparing your programmer

    In order to prepare the hardware for gMux flashing, you will need to correctly connect your Lattice programmer to the gMux IC JTAG header of your MacBook logic board. This will require either soldering wires to each pad of the header, or using our custom pogo-pin solderless connector (coming soon).

    When soldering the wires on a 15' board, please be sure to route them away from or around the large black inductor, located just to the right of the JTAG header. This inductor will interfere with the data lines if they are routed overtop of it. This leads to a failed flash.



    Catalina

    Soldering

    Dosdude Catalina Patcher Instructions

    Important note: Only use a temperature controlled soldering iron or you WILL remove pads which are required for the flash to work. Most of the pads are ONLY available in this ONE place. The loss of a pad will PERMANENTLY ruin your ability repair the board.

    To solder the JTAG wires to the logic board, start by tinning each of the 6 header pads with fresh solder. Then, strip and tin 6 wires that you can connect to your Lattice programmer. Solder each wire to the respective pin, as shown in the diagrams below (click image for higher definition):




    Dosdude1

    There is now a video detailing these steps available:

    No soldering

    We are selling the adapter in limited quantities as a pre-release to high volume customers only. You must meet the following requirements to be able to purchase:

    • Flash a minimum of 25 machines a month.
    • Are a repair shop of some kind.
    • Will continue to have a use for the adapter after its initial use.

    No other customers will be considered at this time.

    Dosdude Catalina Patcher

    Flashing

    Lastly, once your Lattice programmer is properly connected to the logic board, and you have a valid license entered in the DeMux flashing utility, you are ready to proceed with flashing. To flash, perform the following steps:

    • Apply power to the logic board. To do so, simply connect the machine to power, and turn it on. It is recommended that you disconnect all hard disks during this process, to prevent the machine from booting into an OS. When the machine is powered on, the status LED on your Lattice programmer will turn from amber to green.
    • Once the LED is stable solid green, you are ready to press the 'FLASH GMUX' button in the DeMux flashing utility. This process will take a bit to complete, so be patient.
    • Do NOT disconnect the Lattice programmer, close the DeMux flashing utility, or power off the machine during this process.
    • If the process fails, check your JTAG connections and try again. If successful, turn the machine off and back on, and you should now be running only off Intel HD Graphics, indicating that the DeMux firmware was flashed successfully. You can verify this in System Report by selecting 'Graphics/Displays' and checking that 'gMux Version' is: d0.51.ab

    Backlight Control

    DeMux now supports native backlight control. How this is done depends on the version of macOS you plan to run on your system.

    Dosdude Catalina Damaged

    • For macOS < 10.13 High Sierra - Out of the box support, simply flash and use.
    • For macOS 10.13 High Sierra - Follow these steps:
      1. Reboot the machine while holding CMD+R.
      2. Once recovery mode is booted open the terminal and enter the following: csrutil disable
      3. Reboot the machine.
      4. Install this package (mirror).
    • For macOS > 10.13 High Sierra - utilize a dosdude1 Patcher to install the 'Backlight Control Patch' via Patch Updater.
    • For Linux - Natively supported.
    Download old versions here.
    1.0b1 - 6/24/2019
    • Initial release
    1.0b2 - 6/24/2019
    • Fixed a compatibility issue with Mac OS X version 10.6 through 10.8
    1.0b3 - 6/25/2019
    • Removed the need to set the boot-args key of your NVRAM before installation
    1.0b4 - 6/26/2019
    • Fixed a crashing issue some users may experience
    1.0b5 - 6/30/2019
    • Added an all-new post-install tool, which will now be applied automatically after the system is installed
    1.0b6 - 7/1/2019
    • Updated the Legacy Video Card Patch
    1.0b7 - 7/5/2019
    • Added a new patch for legacy Marvell Ethernet controllers
    • Added a new patch for legacy Intel Parallel-ATA/IDE controllers
    • Updated the Legacy Video Card Patch
    1.0b8 - 7/10/2019
    • Patch Updater, a program used to update and re-install system patches, is now included with Catalina Patcher
    1.0b9 - 7/11/2019
    • Software APFS booting implementation is now included, and now no longer requires native APFS BootROM support to run Catalina
    1.0b10 - 7/14/2019
    • An option to disable the software APFS booter is included, allowing installation of it to be skipped even on machines on which it is required
    • Fixed an issue where the kextcache may not get rebuilt after automatic installation of post-install patches
    1.0b11 - 7/16/2019
    • Updated to add support for Catalina Developer Preview 4/Public Beta 3
    1.0.1 - 7/23/2019
    • First non-beta release
    • All installation methods are now fully implemented
    • Added logging functionality in order to pinpoint issues if they do occur
    1.0.2 - 7/25/2019
    • Fixed an issue with the in-place installation feature
    • In-place installation now no longer requires a machine with native APFS BootROM support
    1.0.3 - 7/31/2019
    • Added support for Catalina Developer Preview 5/Public Beta 4
    1.0.4 - 8/3/2019
    • Fixed an issue with a portion of the in-place installation feature
    • Improved logging verbosity, and error handling
    1.0.5 - 8/8/2019
    • Fixed an issue with a portion of the in-place installation feature
    1.0.6 - 8/9/2019
    • Added a new boot disk selection feature for machines that do not support APFS booting natively, allowing you to easily switch between multiple macOS installations on different APFS volumes
    1.0.7 - 8/20/2019
    • Added support for Catalina Developer Preview 6/Public Beta 5
    1.0.8 - 8/21/2019
    • Fixed an issue where performing a forced cache rebuild using the Post-install tool may result in an unbootable system
    • Added an option to allow users to disable the automatic Post-install patch installation feature for debugging purposes
    1.0.9 - 8/28/2019
    • Added support for Catalina Developer Preview 7/Public Beta 6
    1.1.0 - 8/29/2019
    • Improved the macOS installer app downloader implementation
    • Fixed a potential prelinkedkernel rebuild issue with the post-install tool
    1.1.1 - 9/10/2019
    • Added new fixes for Legacy Video Card patches
    • Added support for Catalina Developer Preview 8/Public Beta 7
    1.1.2 - 9/11/2019
    • More improvements made to the Legacy Video Card patches, drastically reducing the size of the application
    1.1.3 - 9/23/2019
    • Added official support for Catalina Developer Preview 9/Public Beta 8
    1.1.4 - 9/24/2019
    • Fixed an issue where the kextcache may not get rebuilt properly after applying post-install patches
    1.1.5 - 9/25/2019
    • Fixed a compatibility issue with the Legacy Video Card Patch and Catalina Developer Preview 9/Public Beta 8
    1.1.6 - 10/7/2019
    • Added support for the final release of Catalina
    • Fixed minor UI inconsistencies
    • Fixed an issue with the APFS booter during the installation process
    1.1.7 - 10/8/2019
    • Fixed an issue where the installation of Catalina would not work properly on machines using an encrypted APFS volume with the APFS booter
    1.1.8 - 10/15/2019
    • Added installer app support for macOS 10.15.0 w/ supplemental update (app version 15.0.33)
    • Added new Volume Control Patch for some iMac systems
    • Fixed an issue with the APFS booter implementation
    1.1.9 - 10/15/2019
    • Fixed an issue with the Legacy Video Card Patch
    1.2.0 - 10/19/2019
    • Added new SSE4.2 emulator, 'MouSSE' by Syncretic, which fixes the compatibility issue with newer Metal-compatible AMD video cards and the MacPro3,1
    1.2.1 - 10/29/2019
    • Added support for Catalina version 10.15.1
    1.2.2 - 11/1/2019
    • Updated the Legacy Video Card Patch, fixing an issue where users may experience crashes when using Notification Center on machines with non-Metal video cards
    1.2.3 - 11/2/2019
    • Updated the Legacy Video Card Patch, finally fixing the long-present grey Menu Bar and Finder Sidebar issues users would experience in Light Mode with non-Metal video cards. Huge thanks to @ASentientBot and @testheit for their work on developing these patches
    1.3.0 - 12/11/2019
    • Added support for Catalina version 10.15.2
    • This version also supports Catalina version 10.15.3
    • Added a feature to detect whether or not certain Mac models need to have newer system firmware installed
    1.3.1 - 3/24/2020
    • Added support for Catalina version 10.15.4
    1.3.4 - 3/25/2020
    • Due to major issues with 10.15.4, this version of Catalina Patcher has been reverted to 10.15.3 support only
    1.3.5 - 3/28/2020
    • Fixed all 10.15.4 issues, 10.15.4 support has now been fully restored
    1.3.6 - 3/31/2020
    • Fixed an issue where AMFI may prevent some third-party applications from launching in 10.15.4
    1.4 - 3/31/2020
    • Fixed a minor SIP issue
    • Fixed an issue where brightness control and/or Night Shift options would not appear under the Displays pane of System Preferences
    1.4.1 - 4/6/2020
    • Fixed an issue where permissions for some third-party applications may not work
    1.4.2 - 4/16/2020
    • Fixed an issue where Safe Mode may not work on some systems
    • Added more warnings to alert users if their machine needs a system firmware update in order to boot from APFS volumes
    1.4.3 - 4/17/2020
    • Added support for creating bootable Recovery partitions
    1.4.4 - 5/28/2020
    • Fixed compatibility with Catalina version 10.15.5
    • This version also supports Catalina version 10.15.6 and 10.15.7