Tutorial macOS Big Sur on VMware Workstation with OpenCore

[Ken5998]

Hello everyone

I have created a little guide to install macOS Big Sur (11.0.1 or 11.1 Beta) on VMware Workstation 16 (I think also the Player version will work).

GitHub - Ken5998/OpenCore-VMware-Workstation-AMD: Install macOS Big Sur on Ryzen with VMware Workstation and OpenCore

Install macOS Big Sur on Ryzen with VMware Workstation and OpenCore - Ken5998/OpenCore-VMware-Workstation-AMD

github.com

Hope I can help someone

 

[mattc]

Hello everyone

I have created a little guide to install macOS Big Sur (11.0.1 or 11.1 Beta) on VMware Workstation 16 (I think also the Player version will work).

GitHub - Ken5998/OpenCore-VMware-Workstation-AMD: Install macOS Big Sur on Ryzen with VMware Workstation and OpenCore

Install macOS Big Sur on Ryzen with VMware Workstation and OpenCore - Ken5998/OpenCore-VMware-Workstation-AMD

github.com

Hope I can help someone

Nice, would this work with virtual box?

 

[AMDPUSH]

Hello everyone

I have created a little guide to install macOS Big Sur (11.0.1 or 11.1 Beta) on VMware Workstation 16 (I think also the Player version will work).

GitHub - Ken5998/OpenCore-VMware-Workstation-AMD: Install macOS Big Sur on Ryzen with VMware Workstation and OpenCore

Install macOS Big Sur on Ryzen with VMware Workstation and OpenCore - Ken5998/OpenCore-VMware-Workstation-AMD

github.com

Hope I can help someone

Everything is working ?

 

[AudioGod]

@AMDPUSH I just finished trying it a moment ago and got big sur installed using he’s image and it works ok but I think I’m going to try again and this time do it from a usb installer and make the EFI myself modifying what I use already.

@Ken5998 Awesome little guide buddy and perfect for my U.K. LockDown boredom
As I said above i installed the VM using your image (method 1) and its all working ok but I did notice a huge amount of errors while it was booting into the installer, OS using your EFI inside the image. Is that normal or should I convert my own EFI and try it that way?
Also apart from the obvious things like removing WEG and my usb mapping etc etc are there any quirks that need to be set that normally wouldn’t be on a stranded AMD EFI?

Update, Not to worry...I sussed it out and have my EFI running and the errors have cleared up.

 

[Ken5998]

Nice, would this work with virtual box?

I haven't tried with VirtualBox, you can try with the VMDK file

 

[Ken5998]

Everything is working ?

Yeah, almost everything. As you can imagine the GPU performance are not the best because you can get only 128MB of video memory.
And the sound it's not perfect with the VoodooHDA kext

 

[Shaneee]

Not tried Big Sur on VBox Windows, last macOS I used in a VM there was High Sierra. You can "spoof" the CPU etc with VBox and use the Apple Bootloader without messing around with getting OC on the EFI etc.

 

[mattc]

Hey,
I have been trying, and I get stuck installing, in the virtual machine with the disk being locked.

Thanks for any advice,

M

 

[Ken5998]

Hey,
I have been trying, and I get stuck installing, in the virtual machine with the disk being locked.

Thanks for any advice,

M

Hi, have you tried create a new partition?

Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac - Apple Support

How to erase (format) the built-in startup disk of an Intel-based Mac.

support.apple.com

You need to do that to being able install macOS

 

[mattc]

Hi, have you tried create a new partition?

Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac - Apple Support

How to erase (format) the built-in startup disk of an Intel-based Mac.

support.apple.com

You need to do that to being able install macOS

Okay my noob error.

I solved i solved it by creating a second disk.

 

[tylerwolf35]

Hi, I am unsure what do to with the MountEFI program as I am doing everything I understand I have to do but I cannot boot from the EFI. I have created a video that shows what I am doing: here; what am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

 

[tylerwolf35]

Hi, I am unsure what do to with the MountEFI program as I am doing everything I understand I have to do but I cannot boot from the EFI. I have created a video that shows what I am doing: here; what am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

I was able to fix this, realized that I was copying the contents of the EFI folder rather than the folder itself. My rookie mistake.

 

[mindtouch]

Hi, this seemed to work really well for me (Method 1) thanks! The only issue is choppy audio, is there a fix for this?

 

[Ken5998]

Hi, this seemed to work really well for me (Method 1) thanks! The only issue is choppy audio, is there a fix for this?

Hi, great, I'm glad
For the audio issue I haven't found yet an other solution

 

[mminc]

Hi Ken, thank you for this whole tutorial! After a lot of trial and error (my lack of understanding) I managed to get the OS up and running inside VMware, thank you so much for that! I was wondering if you had any advice on getting my graphics card to work in the environment? I'm not able to change the screen size and cand see anything in the Sketch app artboard. It seems like there's no GPU assistance currently :/

 

[Ken5998]

Hi Ken, thank you for this whole tutorial! After a lot of trial and error (my lack of understanding) I managed to get the OS up and running inside VMware, thank you so much for that! I was wondering if you had any advice on getting my graphics card to work in the environment? I'm not able to change the screen size and cand see anything in the Sketch app artboard. It seems like there's no GPU assistance currently :/

Hi
Thank you, I'm very pleased!

Have you tried installing the VMware Tools? With that you can actually get a "usable" environment with the automatic screen size change but it's not like a real machine...
You can find this tools/software inside the Unlocker folder called darwin.iso, then you can simply attach this iso to the VM like a CD and install the VMware tools.

Let me know if this can help you

 

[mminc]

Hi
Thank you, I'm very pleased!

Have you tried installing the VMware Tools? With that you can actually get a "usable" environment with the automatic screen size change but it's not like a real machine...
You can find this tools/software inside the Unlocker folder called darwin.iso, then you can simply attach this iso to the VM like a CD and install the VMware tools.

Let me know if this can help you

Hi Ken, thank you for your prompt response! After some trial and error, I managed to get a version of VMware tools to work in the environment which resolved some of the sluggishness of the system and I even managed to get a better resolution out of it But the system still runs a little slow, I'm wondering if maybe my GPU might not be supported, I'm using an Nvidia GTX 1080 card? :/ If that could be the case, would you be willing to recommend any possible fixes for it?

 

[Letrix]

What does have better performance, Catalina or Big Sur?
I want to use it to test React Native 0.64 apps and it requires Xcode 12 only available for Catalina and up, and I get compile errors for 0.63+ apps on High Sierra with XCode 10.
Also, a little off-topic, would be better to try Catalina hackintosh even without NVIDIA drivers or would be worse than VM?
Thanks.

 

[Ken5998]

What does have better performance, Catalina or Big Sur?
I want to use it to test React Native 0.64 apps and it requires Xcode 12 only available for Catalina and up, and I get compile errors for 0.63+ apps on High Sierra with XCode 10.
Also, a little off-topic, would be better to try Catalina hackintosh even without NVIDIA drivers or would be worse than VM?
Thanks.

I would say they are pretty much the same.
They both have the flaw of only having 128MB of video memory (with the VMware Tools), so if you have to do graphics work it's not the best, but usable.

 

[Ken5998]

Hi Ken, thank you for your prompt response! After some trial and error, I managed to get a version of VMware tools to work in the environment which resolved some of the sluggishness of the system and I even managed to get a better resolution out of it But the system still runs a little slow, I'm wondering if maybe my GPU might not be supported, I'm using an Nvidia GTX 1080 card? :/ If that could be the case, would you be willing to recommend any possible fixes for it?

Sorry for the late reply
Unfortunately there are currently no other solutions other than installing macOS directly on your PC, because this would be the only way to be able to use a GPU and have better performance.
With the GTX 1080 you could at best install version 10.13 High Sierra, as there is no more support for Nvidia video cards since Mojave.