While you don't need a fresh install of macOS to use OpenCore, some users prefer having a fresh slate with their boot manager upgrades.
To start you'll need the following:
- 4GB USB Stick
- macrecovery.py
Now to start, first cd into macrecovery's folder and run one of the following commands:
# Adjust below command to the correct folder
cd ~/Downloads/OpenCore-0/Utilities/macrecovery/
Next, run one of the following commands depending on the OS you'd like to boot:
# Lion(10.7):
python ./macrecovery.py -b Mac-2E6FAB96566FE58C -m 00000000000F25Y00 download
python ./macrecovery.py -b Mac-C3EC7CD22292981F -m 00000000000F0HM00 download
# Mountain Lion(10.8):
python ./macrecovery.py -b Mac-7DF2A3B5E5D671ED -m 00000000000F65100 download
# Mavericks(10.9):
python ./macrecovery.py -b Mac-F60DEB81FF30ACF6 -m 00000000000FNN100 download
# Yosemite(10.10):
python ./macrecovery.py -b Mac-E43C1C25D4880AD6 -m 00000000000GDVW00 download
# El Capitan(10.11):
python ./macrecovery.py -b Mac-FFE5EF870D7BA81A -m 00000000000GQRX00 download
# Sierra(10.12):
python ./macrecovery.py -b Mac-77F17D7DA9285301 -m 00000000000J0DX00 download
# High Sierra(10.13)
python ./macrecovery.py -b Mac-7BA5B2D9E42DDD94 -m 00000000000J80300 download
python ./macrecovery.py -b Mac-BE088AF8C5EB4FA2 -m 00000000000J80300 download
# Mojave(10.14)
python ./macrecovery.py -b Mac-7BA5B2DFE22DDD8C -m 00000000000KXPG00 download
# Catalina(10.15)
python ./macrecovery.py -b Mac-00BE6ED71E35EB86 -m 00000000000000000 download
# Latest version
# ie. Big Sur(11)
python ./macrecovery.py -b Mac-E43C1C25D4880AD6 -m 00000000000000000 download
From here, run one of those commands in terminal and once finished you'll get an output similar to this:
-
Note: Depending on the OS, you'll either get BaseSystem or RecoveryImage files. They both act in the same manner so when we reference BaseSystem the same info applies to RecoveryImage
-
macOS 11, Big Sur Note: As this OS is quite new, there's still some issues with certain systems to resolve. For more information, see here: OpenCore and macOS 11: Big Sur
- For first time users, we recommend macOS 10.15, Catalina
- CAUTION: With macOS 11.3 and newer, XhciPortLimit is broken resulting in boot loops. We advise users either install an older OS(ie. macOS 10.15, Catalina) or find a 11.2.3 or older Big Sur installer
- For education purposes, we have a copy provided here: macOS 11.2.1 20D75 Recovery Image
- If you've already mapped your USB ports and disabled
XhciPortLimit
, you can boot macOS 11.3+ without issue
-
Nvidia GPU Note: Reminder to verify whether your hardware support newer OSes, see Hardware Limitations
This section will target making the necessary partitions in the USB device. You can use your favorite program be it gdisk
fdisk
parted
gparted
or gnome-disks
. This guide will focus on gdisk
as it's nice and can change the partition type later on, as we need it so that macOS Recovery HD can boot. (the distro used here is Ubuntu 18.04, other versions or distros may work)
Credit to midi1996 for his work on the Internet Install Guide guide which this is based off of.
In terminal:
- run
lsblk
and determine your USB device block - run
sudo gdisk /dev/<your USB block>
- if you're asked what partition table to use, select GPT.
- send
p
to print your block's partitions (and verify it's the one needed) - send
o
to clear the partition table and make a new GPT one (if not empty) - send
n
partition number
: keep blank for defaultfirst sector
: keep blank for defaultlast sector
: keep blank for whole diskHex code or GUID
:0700
for Microsoft basic data partition type
- send
w
- Close
gdisk
by sendingq
(normally it should quit on its own)
- Use
lsblk
to determine your partition's identifiers - run
sudo mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n "OPENCORE" /dev/<your USB partition block>
to format your USB to FAT32 and named OPENCORE - then
cd
to/OpenCore/Utilities/macrecovery/
and you should get to a.dmg
and.chunklist
files- mount your USB partition with
udisksctl
(udisksctl mount -b /dev/<your USB partition block>
, no sudo required in most cases) or withmount
(sudo mount /dev/<your USB partition block> /where/your/mount/stuff
, sudo is required) cd
to your USB drive andmkdir com.apple.recovery.boot
in the root of your FAT32 USB partition- now
cp
orrsync
bothBaseSystem.dmg
andBaseSystem.chunklist
intocom.apple.recovery.boot
folder.
- mount your USB partition with
In terminal:
- run
lsblk
and determine your USB device block - run
sudo gdisk /dev/<your USB block>
- Use
lsblk
again to determine the 200MB drive and the other partition - run
sudo mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n "OPENCORE" /dev/<your 200MB partition block>
to format the 200MB partition to FAT32, named OPENCORE - then
cd
to/OpenCore/Utilities/macrecovery/
and you should get to a.dmg
and.chunklist
files- mount your USB partition with
udisksctl
(udisksctl mount -b /dev/<your USB partition block>
, no sudo required in most cases) or withmount
(sudo mount /dev/<your USB partition block> /where/your/mount/stuff
, sudo is required) cd
to your USB drive andmkdir com.apple.recovery.boot
in the root of your FAT32 USB partition- download
dmg2img
(available on most distros) - run
dmg2img -l BaseSystem.dmg
and determine which partition hasdisk image
property - run
dmg2img -p <the partition number> -i BaseSystem.dmg -o <your 3GB+ partition block>
to extract and write the recovery image to the partition disk
- mount your USB partition with