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3. Installation
After we've successfully created the install media, we now can install MacOS. We need a few tweaks before that can successfully happen. First, we head to the BIOS settings, then we have to set some NVRAM values.
- Firstly, you need to load the factory defaults into the BIOS.
- After that, make sure that loading legacy ROMs are enabled, otherwise we'll have sleep issues.
- Make sure that the computer is in UEFI mode. The other settings aren't so important, you can set these stuff as you would like.
Sadly, Dell just hidden some neccesary BIOS options from us, which we can adjust only by using NVRAM variables. To make easier this, I've included a modGRUBShell.efi file in the Tools folder. We can just simlpy boot into this GRUB shell, and make the needed adjustments from there with a few commands.
Boot into the USB drive. OpenCore should launch now, giving you some boot options.
- Quickly press an up or down arrow, because OC will boot the default option after a few seconds, and we are not ready to boot the installer yet.
- If you've booted Clover on this machine before, choose Reset NVRAM to clear the NVRAM variables. It is the last boot option in OpenCore.
- Select modGRUBShell.efi Now you should be in a grub shell, which is indicated by the
grub>
prompt. We need to execute all the commands below. Pay special attention to run the commands that are meant for your computer. If you mismatch these commands, reset the motherboard, as applying the wrong variables will cause undefinied behavior. See note after section how to do it. Keep in mind, resetting the NVRAM via OpenCore will not affect these values.
Disable CFG Lock:
setup_var 0xD9E 0x0
Set DVMT pre-alloc to 64MB
setup_var 0x263 0x2
Enable EHCI hand-off
setup_var 0x2 0x1
setup_var 0x144 0x1
setup_var 0x15A 0x2
setup_var 0x146 0x0
setup_var 0x147 0x0
Reboot
reboot
Disable CFG Lock:
setup_var 0x53 0x0
Set DVMT pre-alloc to 64MB
setup_var 0x2F2 0x2
Enable EHCI hand-off
setup_var 0x2 0x1
setup_var 0x187 0x1
setup_var 0x1A4 0x2
setup_var 0x189 0x0
setup_var 0x18A 0x0
Reboot
reboot
We're done with the NVRAM variables, now we can start the installation process.
Note: If you want to revert these changes, or you've "bricked" your computer take out the CMOS battery of the motherboard, short the RTCST jumper, with the jumper looted from the password reset jumper, and connect the computer to the power chord. Leave it like for a minute. After that, unplug the computer, and press the power button for 30 secs. Reinstall the password reset jumper to it's original place, and the CMOS battery. Your machine is now resetted. Check out this article on Dell's site, to find these stuff on your motherboard.
After the reboot, select the macOS Base System (external) boot option. The MacOS installer now should boot. The installation process is the following:
- Select disk utility.
- In the view menu, choose show all devices.
- Higlight the drive that you want to install MacOS to.
- Click erase, change the name as you want, (Mac SSD etc.) use APFS format, with GUID partition scheme.
- Wait until the process finishes. You can close disk util now, and select install MacOS. The process is now the same as you wolud do it on a Mac.
After the first reboot, OC will start the installer on your internal disk, you should see a black screen with an Apple logo, and a progress bar, it can take up to 30 minutes.
After the setup, your computer will reboot again, and you should see the welcome setup. Finish it and now you have a working MacOS, althrough we have to do some work, to make the OS bootable without the USB disk.
If you use Intel HD4400, the welcome setup may have graphic glitches, and you will not be able to see the Next buttons. If you click in the approximate place where the buttons should be, you can proceed with the welcome setup.
Next step 4. Post-install ->>