OpenCore Legacy Patcher

# Post-Installation

# Booting without USB drive

Once you've installed macOS through OpenCore, you can boot up and go through the regular install process. To boot without the USB drive plugged in is quite simple:

  • Download OpenCore Legacy Patcher
  • Change Patcher settings as you'd like
  • Build OpenCore again
  • Install OpenCore to internal drive
  • Reboot holding Option, and select the internal EFI

And voila! No more USB drive required.

# Booting seamlessly without Boot Picker

To do this, run the OpenCore Patcher and head to Patcher Settings, then uncheck "Show OpenCore Bootpicker" on the Build tab:

Once you've toggled it off, build your OpenCore EFI once again and install to your desired drive. Now to show the OpenCore selector, you can simply hold down the "ESC" key while clicking on EFI boot, and then you can release the "ESC" key when you see the cursor arrow at the top left.

# SIP settings

SIP, or System Integrity Protection, needs to be lowered on systems where root patching is required to patch data on disk. This will vary between OS versions and the model in question. OCLP by default will determine the proper SIP options for the OS version and Mac model, in most cases the user has no need to touch these settings. However, this part explains how the SIP settings work in OCLP, where lowered SIP is needed and where full SIP could be enabled.

WARNING

If you're unsure whether you should change the SIP settings, leave them as-is. Systems where you have already ran the Post Install Root Patching cannot enable SIP without potentially breaking the current install.

SIP settings can be accessed from the Security tab shown in the images. To change SIP settings, make the changes here, return in main menu and rebuild OpenCore using the first option.

SIP Enabled SIP Lowered (Root Patching) SIP Disabled

In the cases where SIP can be enabled, manually enabling it is needed. Easiest way to check whether you can fully enable SIP is the "Post Install Root Patch" section, if that section tells your system doesn't need patches (or you don't install the patches e.g. in case you don't need WiFi on a Mac Pro with upgraded GPU running Monterey) then it is safe to assume full SIP can be enabled.

Ventura and newer

All unsupported systems require lowered SIP.

Monterey

Majority of unsupported systems from 2013 onward can enable full SIP. Pre-2012 systems, also known as "non-Metal" (includes Mac Pros without upgraded GPU), as well as NVIDIA Kepler and Intel HD 4000 GPUs require lowered SIP.

Some systems such as Mac Pros also require root patching for stock WiFi cards but if you do not need WiFi or you plan to upgrade the card, there is no need for root patching and as such SIP can be fully enabled.

Big Sur

All Metal capable systems from 2012 onward (incl. NVIDIA Kepler and Intel HD 4000) as well as Mac Pros with upgraded GPU can run with full SIP enabled. Non-Metal systems still require lowered SIP.

# Applying Post Install Volume Patches

WARNING

If you need to use Migration Assistant to bring over data to your new macOS install, it is highly recommended to avoid restoring from inside Setup Assistant and waiting to install root patches until after the transfer is complete. If root patches were automatically installed, you can use the options available in the OCLP app to remove them.

Using Migration Assistant while patches are installed can lead to an unbootable system, requiring a reinstall of macOS.

Post Install Volume Patches, sometimes also called root patches, are patches that have to be installed to disk for some older Macs to gain back functionality.

OCLP will automatically root patch your system during a first time install if the USB install media was created within OCLP. Users will also be prompted to install these patches after macOS updates or whenever patches are not detected on the system. We recommend rebuilding OpenCore with the latest version of OCLP to take advantage of these new features.

Users can also see whether applicable patches have been installed, date and version the system was root patched with in the Post-Install Menu.

Automatic install prompt Status

# Running Post Install patches manually

If you're using OCLP v0.4.3 or earlier, or need to run the patcher manually, you can do so with the app. There is no harm in trying to run the Patcher, as without compatible hardware, nothing will be done. You can see below on whether your hardware needs root volume patching or not.

There is also an option to remove root patches, which may be required in some situations, such as switching GPUs in Mac Pros or using Migration Assistant.

Listing Patches Patching Finished

WARNING

With macOS Ventura and Macs with AMD Legacy GCN GPUs (ie. Metal), Root Patching requires a network connection to grab Apple's Kernel Debug Kit to start root patching. If your system is unable to connect to the internet, you can manually download a KDK from Apple's site:

Grab the Kernel Debug Kit whose version is closest to the OS you installed, and install it to the machine running Ventura.

Machines that require this are those with AMD Metal dGPUs:

  • 2008 - 2013 Mac Pros (MacPro3,1 - 6,1)
  • 2009 - 2016 iMacs (iMac10,1 - 17,1)
  • 2015 15" MacBook Pro with a dGPU (MacBookPro11,5)

Below entries represent GPUs no longer natively supported, ie. requiring root volume patching with OpenCore Legacy Patcher:

GPUs requiring patching in macOS Big Sur
  • NVIDIA:
    • Tesla (8000 - 300 series)
  • AMD:
    • TeraScale (2000 - 6000 series)
  • Intel:
    • Iron Lake
    • Sandy Bridge (2000 - 3000 series)
GPUs requiring patching in macOS Monterey
  • NVIDIA:
    • Tesla (8000 - 300 series)
    • Kepler (600 - 800 series)
  • AMD:
    • TeraScale (2000 - 6000 series)
  • Intel:
    • Iron Lake
    • Sandy Bridge (2000 - 3000 series)
    • Ivy Bridge (4000 series)
Wireless Cards requiring patching in macOS Monterey
  • Broadcom:
    • BCM94328
    • BCM94322
  • Atheros
GPUs requiring patching in macOS Ventura
  • NVIDIA:
    • Kepler (600 - 800 series)
  • AMD:
    • GCN 1-3 (7000 - R9 series)
    • Polaris (RX 4xx/5xx series, if CPU lacks AVX2)
  • Intel:
    • Ivy Bridge (4000 series)
    • Haswell (4400, 4600, 5000 series)
    • Broadwell (6000 series)
    • Skylake (500 series)

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