UniBeast: Install macOS Catalina on Any Supported Intel-based PC

by Poldo 13 janvier 2021

UniBeast: Install macOS Catalina on Any Supported Intel-based PC

The following guide is a complete walkthrough for updating to or installing a fresh version of macOS Catalina. It requires no experience and all of the basic installation and post-installation tools are available on tonymacx86.com.

Table of Contents

Step 1: Download macOS Catalina

Step 2: Create a Bootable USB with UniBeast

Step 3: Recommended BIOS Settings

Step 4: Install macOS Catalina

Step 5: Post Installation with MultiBeast

Troubleshooting and Optimizations

Before You Begin

Register here at tonymacx86! If you don’t have a user account, create one!
Get our latest UniBeast and MultiBeast tools from the downloads section.
Purchase a 16GB or 32GB USB drive.
Do a full backup of your system. We strongly recommend performing a full backup of your existing system using Carbon Copy Cloner. By doing this, you can always go back to your working installation.

UniBeast is a tool that creates a bootable installer out of your downloaded version of macOS. In order to start fresh, you’ll need access to a functional computer running OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5 or later. This is a requirement, as you need access to the Mac App Store to download macOS and create the installation drive. To start from scratch, booting the 10.6 Snow Leopard Retail DVD directly, check out iBoot + MultiBeast.

Existing Clover users may do a direct update to macOS Catalina by simply running the Install macOS Catalina app as normal Mac users would. Follow these steps: Update Directly to macOS Catalina.

STEP 1: Download macOS Catalina
The full operating system is a free download for anyone who has purchased Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Lion, or Mountain Lion or has a Mac preloaded with OS X Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan, macOS Sierra, macOS High Sierra, or macOS Mojave.

1. Download the Application from the Mac App Store using your Apple ID on any of these specific Macs:

MacBook (Early 2015 or newer)

MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or newer)

MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or newer)

Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer)

iMac (Late 2012 or newer)

iMac Pro (2017)

Mac Pro (Late 2013 model or newer)

(NOTE: If you do not have access to one of these Macs, you can still download and install the latest version of macOS. Follow the instructions here.)

2. Open Mac App Store

3. Log in with your Apple ID

4. Download macOS Catalina

The Application Install macOS Catalina will appear in /Applications.

STEP 2: Create a Bootable USB Drive with UniBeast
Take a deep breath and take your time- this is pretty simple, but it’s easy to miss things if you rush. Follow each step to the letter.

If you are using a Mac running macOS Catalina that has System Integrity Protection (SIP) enabled, you must disable it using the following steps:
1. Restart your Mac.
2. Before macOS starts up, hold down Command-R and keep it held down until you see an Apple icon and a progress bar. Release. This boots you into Recovery.
3. From the Utilities menu, select Terminal.
4. At the prompt type exactly the following and then press Return:
  Code:
```
csrutil disable
```
5. Terminal should display a message that SIP was disabled.
6. From the  menu, select Restart.
Insert the USB drive
Open /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility
Highlight the USB drive in left column (Note: in the Catalina version of Disk Utility, you must first select View / Show All Devices before you can see the USB drive there)

5. Click Erase button

6. For Name: type USB (You can rename it later)

7. For Format: choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

8. Click Erase then Done

9. Download and run UniBeast

9. Click Continue, Continue, Continue, Continue, Agree

10. At Destination Select, choose USB and click Continue

11. At Select OS Installation screen choose Catalina and click Continue

12. At Bootloader Options screen choose UEFI Boot Mode or Legacy Boot Mode. UEFI Boot Mode is recommended for 7/8/9/100/200/300 Series CustoMac desktops and all UEFI capable systems. Legacy Boot Mode is recommended for 5/6 Series CustoMac desktops and all BIOS based systems.

13. (Optional) At Graphics Configuration screen choose the appropriate graphics option for your system and click Continue.

14. Verify installation options, then click Continue, enter password and click Install

Screen Shot 2019-12-30 at 6.20.50 PM.png

UniBeast will now create the bootable USB drive. The process will only take about 10 minutes, depending on system and drive speed. Do not unplug or stop during this time.

15. Drag MultiBeast to your completed USB drive.

Clover Note: UniBeast delivers basic bootloader support based on our testing on recommended CustoMac systems. For further bootloader customization, download and run the official Clover package. Advanced users may also compile Clover by downloading the full source.

STEP 3: Recommended BIOS Settings
If you’re installing on a recommended CustoMac desktop with AMI UEFI BIOS, the options are simple. For other systems make sure to set your BIOS to Optimized Defaults, and your hard drive to AHCI mode. Here are standard AMI UEFI BIOS settings for
Gigabyte AMI UEFI BIOS, Gigabyte AWARD BIOS, ASUS AMI UEFI BIOS, and MSI AMI UEFI BIOS.

To access BIOS/UEFI Setup, press and hold Delete on a USB Keyboard while the system is booting up
Load Optimized Defaults
If your CPU supports VT-d, disable it
If your system has CFG-Lock, disable it
If your system has Secure Boot Mode, disable it
Set OS Type to Other OS
If your system has IO Serial Port, disable it
Set XHCI Handoff to Enabled
If you have a 6 series or x58 system with AWARD BIOS, disable USB 3.0
Save and exit.

STEP 4: Install macOS Catalina
You’re almost done! All you need to do is boot from the USB drive and install!

Turn on the computer
Press the hotkey to choose boot device (F12 for Gigabyte motherboards, F8 for ASUS motherboards, F11 for ASrock motherboards)
Choose USB

4. At Clover boot screen, choose Boot macOS Install from Install macOS Catalina

5. When you arrive at the Installer, choose language.

If you have issues reaching the installer, you can use spacebar on boot screen to enter alternate boot modes such as verbose and safe mode. For more instructions on entering boot flags see Clover Basics and Switching Advice.

6. For a new installation of macOS, you MUST erase and format the destination drive according to the following steps before continuing.

a. From the macOS Utilities menu, open Disk Utility

b. In upper left corner, choose View. Then Show All Devices.

c. Highlight your target drive for the Catalina installation in left column.

d. Click Erase button

e. For Name: type Catalina (You can rename it later)

f. For Format: choose APFS

g. Click Erase

h. Close Disk Utility

7. When the installer asks you where to install, choose Catalina

8. Upon completion, the system will automatically restart.

9. Press the hotkey to choose boot device (F12 for Gigabyte motherboards, F8 for ASUS motherboards, F11 for ASrock motherboards)

10. Choose USB

11. At the Boot Screen, choose Catalina

12. Complete macOS installation. The system will automatically reboot.

STEP 5: Post Installation with MultiBeast

MultiBeast is an all-in-one post-installation tool designed to enable boot from hard drive, and install support for Audio, Network, and Graphics. The installation is complete, but the drive isn’t bootable yet. Boot from the USB again, this time choosing Catalina.

Press the hotkey to choose boot device (F12 for Gigabyte motherboards, F8 for ASUS motherboards, F11 for ASrock motherboards)
Choose USB
At the Boot Screen, choose your new Catalina installation.
Complete macOS setup
Open and run MultiBeast

6. If this is a fresh installation, click Quick Start. UEFI Boot Mode is recommended for 7/8/9/100/200/300 Series CustoMac desktops and all UEFI capable systems. Legacy Boot Mode is recommended for 5/6 Series CustoMac desktops and all BIOS based systems.

7. Choose the appropriate Drivers options for your system.

8. Click Bootloaders and Customize for further options

9. Click Print or Save to back up your configuration

10. Click Build then Install

11. Reboot

Yay! You now have a fully updated bootable version of macOS Catalina on your CustoMac! And a super handy USB rescue drive. It’s easy to get frustrated, but don’t give up! If you get stuck, there are many users with similar hardware in the tonymacx86 Forum to provide support.

Thanks to all of the hard working developers, hackers, and testers all over the world without whom this guide would never have been possible.