Help updating my old MacBook pro 2011

[dimahg1368]

hi
i have early 2011 mac book pro that I recently upgraded its ram to 16 GB, i wanted to update its operation system to latest possible i checked out you tube an then downloaded "macOS Catalina Patcher" from "http://dosdude1.com/"in important info section there was a disclaimer who said this:

• APFS Boot ROM Support: If you have a machine that supports High Sierra natively, you MUST ensure you have the latest version of the system's BootROM installed. If you have NOT previously installed High Sierra, you can download and install this package (if running OS X 10.10 Yosemite or later) to install the latest BootROM version (you MUST reboot after installing the package to apply the firmware update). When installing, ensure your system is plugged in to power, or the update will not be installed.

so i downloaded said package and connected my MacBook to my wall and installed the patch no problem and it said install was successful but when i tried to install Catalina it showed the "APFS BootROM Support" that was suppose to be fix by that package , i tried it again and it was the same, do i need to install an earlier version if mac os then update to newer version?

i will be thankful if any one help me fix this problem

 

[MightyGem]

According to MacTracker, all 2011 MBPs will only go as far as 10.13, High Sierra.

 

[phoenixx]

hi bro, you need to download full image of Catalina, patch it and make a bootable usb key so you could boot from that key and safely install it to your MBP ... d0sdude’s patcher will do the patch of image and bootable usb key for u ...

 

[chscag]

I have to ask why you would want to install Catalina? Catalina has a lot more overhead than previous versions and nicely kills off any 32 bit apps you have.

I could understand wanting to go as high as Mojave, but Catalina?

 

[krs]

I have to ask why you would want to install Catalina? Catalina has a lot more overhead than previous versions and nicely kills off any 32 bit apps you have.

I could understand wanting to go as high as Mojave, but Catalina?

I agree!
The Macs in my family are more recent ones most of which will run Catalina natively, but for the time being we stopped at High Sierra and Mojave with the macOS upgrades.

 

[pm-r]

According to MacTracker, all 2011 MBPs will only go as far as 10.13, High Sierra.

As does everymac:

MacBook Pro "Core i5" 2.4 13" Late 2011 Specs (Late 2011 13", MD313LL/A, MacBookPro8,1, A1278, 2555*): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the MacBook Pro "Core i5" 2.4 13" Late 2011. Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

I also agree with chscag, why even bother trying to get Mojave or Catalina installed on that Mac???

Even if you can, I would suspect that a lot of the features wouldn't even work.


- Patrick
=======

 

[Slydude]

I was able to get a previous patch installed on my 2008 MacBook Pro to get it it run an unsupported version of macOS. It took a couple of attempts to get things running. One day something stopped working and I'm not sure why. Never really bothered to dig into the problem to much because frankly I didn't have the time to invest.

One thing to keep in mind should you get things running. IIRC, a future update to macOS could easily mean that you have to repeat the patch process from scratch.

 

[dimahg1368]

tanks every one for their suggestions so i decided to update to high sierra for know , according to mac support my system should support it natively but when i try updating the system it says i have the latest update despite running on leopard, so is there any way i can update from apple servers? i am currently downloading high sierra dmg file so i can update manually but it would be great if i can update in the system .
thanks again.

 

[pm-r]

tanks every one for their suggestions so i decided to update to high sierra for know , according to mac support my system should support it natively but when i try updating the system it says i have the latest update despite running on leopard, so is there any way i can update from apple servers? i am currently downloading high sierra dmg file so i can update manually but it would be great if i can update in the system .
thanks again.

You might want to do a google search for how to method to upgrade from MacOS:X 10.7.2 up to MacOS: X 10.13.x on that 2011 MacBook.

I doubt that Apple would be considering that MacBook model a current "OS System upgradable" model these days.

PS: I would double-check and confirm you actually want to upgrade that far, and maybe even consider just going up to Mac OS Sierra.


- Patrick
=======

 

[dimahg1368]

these are devise list that high sierra supports according to what apple says:

These Mac models are compatible with macOS High Sierra:

• MacBook (Late 2009 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (Mid 2010 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Late 2010 or newer)
• Mac mini (Mid 2010 or newer)
• iMac (Late 2009 or newer)
• Mac Pro (Mid 2010 or newer)

mine is a early 2011 i7 MacBook pro so it shouldn't be a problem

macOS High Sierra - Technical Specifications - Apple Support

support.apple.com

 

[Rod]

I raised the exact same model from the dead recently and am more than happy with the performance of High Sierra on it. I also bear in mind what Slydude said in post #7 like Jailbreaking you may run into problems with updates, I downloaded and installed another security update on mine tonight.
What I did was restored the original OSX from Internet Recovery (it took a few tries) as it originally showed a Folder with a question mark on it at boot. So no useable OS on board. You might need to erase your HD using Disk Utility then Reinstal Mac OSX. From there you can download older versions of macOS from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683

 

[dimahg1368]

hi again, i downloaded the high sierra dmg file on my windows pc (my mac version is so old none of the tutorials worked for me, all of them are working with newer macs in system methods) but after downloading the 5+ gb versions i couldn't transfer it to my MacBook even with a 16 gb flash drive! then i tried to create a bootable flash frome my pc using some tutorial , it worked whit a software name R-Drive image but it only kiled my flash drive . can some one help me? i dont know what to do

 

[dimahg1368]

thanks for your help<working on it right now, i am currently running on snow leopard , high sirra inistaler says it can update only as far as mountain Lion should i first update to that? and if yes how could i do that?

 

[krs]

hi again, i downloaded the high sierra dmg file on my windows pc (my mac version is so old none of the tutorials worked for me........

To me, there is something wrong with this picture.
Why would one have to use a Windows PC to be able to upgrade a Mac?
But I have read that in a few other posts as well.
I upgraded all our Macs in the family from Snow Leopard to ElCapitan and then to Mojave by downloading the macOS from Apple and creating a USB installer and then used Migration Assistant. Worked perfectly each time.
Seems to me things get screwed up when people try to use some of these special patches floating around on line.

 

[krs]

thanks for your help<working on it right now, i am currently running on snow leopard , high sirra inistaler says it can update only as far as mountain Lion should i first update to that? and if yes how could i do that?

You are running the real Apple version of Snow Leopardon your 2011 MacBook pro, right? Not some version downloaded from some other site.
If I look at this Apple support article, to get from SnowLeopard to High Sierra, you have to upgrade to ElCapitan first and the go from ElCapitan to High Sierra.

How to download and install macOS - Apple Support (CA)

Download and install current or previous versions of the Mac operating system on compatible Mac computers.

support.apple.com

I seem to remember people on the forum saying there was also a requirement to upgrade to Lion as an intermediate step but I don't see that requirement in the article.
Maybe someone can comment on that.

 

[dimahg1368]

To me, there is something wrong with this picture.
Why would one have to use a Windows PC to be able to upgrade a Mac?
But I have read that in a few other posts as well.
I upgraded all our Macs in the family from Snow Leopard to ElCapitan and then to Mojave by downloading the macOS from Apple and creating a USB installer and then used Migration Assistant. Worked perfectly each time.
Seems to me things get screwed up when people try to use some of these special patches floating around on line.

i am a windows user so not that familiar with macs, that's why i am trying to make a portable flash drive in my pc , also i tried to move the os file to my mac and do it there but it doesn't copy to my flash drive ,showing file too big error. my leopard is genuine .i tried to download the os from my mac but every time it disconnects from server or not even connects , so i am trying to fined it some where else, i finally created the bootable flash drive but it didn't shown in boot menu and when i connected it in my mac , it showed it as a bootable drive but showed the file as damaged. i am trying to see if i can download the os in my windows directly from apple and try again

 

[krs]

I understand that you are more comfortable using Windows, but I have read so often that people trying to use Windows to create USB installers for the Mac have no end of problems.
I would suggest you read the Apple article I posted carefully, then download ElCapitan as they suggest and see if you get to that macOS to start with. Use Migration Assistant to move your data if you want to keep it.
BTW - You mentioned "Leopard" in your last post but Snow Leopard in previous posts - which one is it?
Leopard is 10.5, Snow Leopard is 10.6 - you need to be on Snow Leopard to upgrade to ElCapitan.

 

[MacInWin]

@dimahg1368, I sense that you may be using some dodgy downloads for what you are trying. You mentioned a .dmg you had downloaded to the PC. Apple never made a downloadable .dmg installer. Their installer is always an app that runs on the Mac. You can usually restore using Internet Recovery ( https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904) but Snow Leopard came on DVDs, Lion was a low cost upgrade, then after that upgrades were free, but only available as app installers. Any other source than Apple is dangerous to use because you don't know what may have been done to insert malware into the OS itself. Stic with Apple, and nowhere else.

 

[krs]

Apple never made a downloadable .dmg installer. Their installer is always an app that runs on the Mac.

I think you need to clarify that.
ElCapitan and Sierra are still .dmg files - they show as that where I saved them on my Mac and when I go to the links in the Apple article I posted, they are .dmg files there as well.
HS and Mojave used to be .dmg files as well but they are .app files now.

 

[MacInWin]

Here are the installer files from my saved archive copies. Don't know what to say, other than that's what I downloaded at the time. All are applications, as you can see (Sierra has the "no" symbol because it has 32 bit, but it was an application):


I think some of the various updater files were .dmg format, but the installers were applications.