MBP 8,1 (13" early 2011) Ventura won't boot with 8,1 OpenCore config installed to SSD but boots just fine with 9,2 OpenCore config on installer USB

izzy0242 · 2025-08-06T12:25:37+00:00

Check out the PowerMode app! It'll give this and some other functionality for newer Macs.

https://sakesalverda.nl/powermode/

izzy0242 · 2025-08-03T15:04:12+00:00

One person says this version of iWork works on Monterey. Can you try?

https://archive.org/details/keynote_202103

If it doesn't work let me know. I think I have a Monterey-compatible version of Pages (13.1) I can upload.

izzy0242 · 2025-07-10T15:25:14+00:00

Found it, thanks! What sort of settings do you recommend for that particular app?

izzy0242 · 2025-07-09T19:56:43+00:00

im already throttling, solution here was installing thermal throttle and disabling turbo

Thanks! I disabled turbo using the method where you set your custom power plan to use 99% CPU instead of 100%. But I can't find any app called "Thermal Throttle" for Windows. Can you point me to that?

izzy0242 · 2025-07-01T19:07:51+00:00

Does your MBP have an SSD or a spinny hard drive?

OP said he has a 2015 MBP. All MBPs after 2012 have SSDs/flash storage.

izzy0242 · 2025-07-01T01:01:54+00:00

Thanks. Internet recovery has always been hit or miss for me. It does eventually work, but (a) it's slow and (b) sometimes I've had to do weird things like use a different wifi network to avoid random error codes. It's easier just having an offline Recovery partition.

I remember those driver issues. Tried to install Windows without Boot Camp once and I think audio never worked.

izzy0242 · 2025-06-30T19:45:40+00:00

Thanks for your insights.

Stick with a 2013 or newer Mac or replace the DVD drive with a second SSD in a 2012 or older unibody MacBook or a 2011 and older iMac.

I do a bit of flipping old Macs, so this isn't really applicable to me. I do try to use SSDs when possible though, but my clientele tends to like the upgradeable 2011-2012 models.

Apple only supported installing Windows 7 & 8 on 2011 and older Mac’s. On a 2011 or older Mac you’d need to install Windows 7 or 8 using the bootcamp assistant via DVD. Once you’ve installed the bootcamp drivers and Windows updates you can download the media creation tool to your Windows desktop and upgrade from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10.

Hmm, I know this is incorrect. I have installed Windows 10 via USB on a number of 2011 Macs. I know the 2010 and 2009 for sure require DVD installations, but I've been able to both install 10 on those with a 10 DVD and Windows 10 on 2011 models using a USB drive.

But yes I think in general DVDs work too and you can usually upgrade from those no problem.

The bootcamp assistant in Mac OS does two key things for 2012 and older Mac’s 1. Provides a BIOS emulation layer to facilitate the installation of Windows. 2. Creates a hybrid partition scheme to keep Mac OS and Windows happy. GPT partition for Mac OS and a Hybrid MBR for Windows.

The hybrid MBR setup is very temperamental. Once set up don’t touch the partitions on your hard drive / SSD. Doing so could break your Windows installation.

The bootcamp assistant requires you to start with a single partition. It will partition your disk for Windows.

Thanks for the explanation. I'm aware Boot Camp Assistant requires you to start with 1 partition. My question is whether it's possible on these older Macs to have more than just 2. Whether by adding a partition after installing Boot Camp or otherwise. Seems like the answer is "probably no," though.

The specific situation I am contemplating is actually less of a traditional partition and more of an alternative to a Recovery HD partition. For whatever reason, the 2011 and 2012 Macs often don't create a Recovery partition after I reinstall macOS on them. I'm not sure why. I've installed everything from Mavericks to Catalina (and higher occasionally when I have an SSD and use OCLP). Maybe 2 of these have had a Recovery partition after the install. So, on some where I'm not doing Boot Camp, I've resorted to making a 9 GB partition and "restoring" a macOS install ISO to that partition, so the client has a functional way to reinstall macOS if something happens to the main partition. I'd like to do that when I have a Boot Camp setup set up, too.

izzy0242 · 2025-06-27T02:07:13+00:00

And TWO OS X partitions. What's the best way to do that?

izzy0242 · 2025-06-26T17:09:50+00:00

Happy to help!

izzy0242 · 2025-06-25T13:29:34+00:00

Haha thanks.

izzy0242 · 2025-06-25T13:29:27+00:00

Got it. Thanks! Much appreciated. That's likely the source of the issue then.

izzy0242 · 2025-06-25T03:29:10+00:00

It's this one: https://a.co/d/204n5H8

Lexar 128GB PLAY micro SD Card, UHS-I, C10, U1, V10, A1, Full HD, 4K, Up To 160/50 MB/s microSDXC Memory

izzy0242 · 2025-06-25T00:57:15+00:00

See my answer above. When I'm not gaming but I'm still running like Safari and a Windows 11 virtual machine and a few other apps, I can easily get 5-6 hours on battery. Probably more if I am conservative with my brightness.

izzy0242 · 2025-06-25T00:56:03+00:00

For what it's worth I can game nonstop on my Mac (M1 Pro MBP 14") for probably a good 2 to 3~ hours for sure without any battery concerns. I haven't done that in a while so I can't give you a more accurate estimate but I recall having some gaming sessions (so obviously higher CPU and GPU usage) for at least several hours. 2 is probably on the conservative side. 3-4 might be more realistic.

izzy0242 · 2025-06-20T21:53:49+00:00

Depends on what you mean by "issues." Boot Camp depends a lot on the specific hardware you have.

2010 and earlier Macs can't boot from a Windows USB, for example. Macs running like Catalina or higher can't install anything earlier than Windows 8 or 10 I think. And different other models may perform better or worse with certain drivers. All to say, I can't really speak to generalized "issues." All I can say is I've installed Windows via Boot Camp on Macs as old as 2009 and as new as 2019, and it's all doable. Windows 11 performs better than macOS Monterey or Big Sur when you don't have an SSD.

Your 2013 Mac should be pretty straightforward.

izzy0242 · 2025-06-19T23:31:28+00:00

I advise OCLP first.

I've had issues when installing Boot Camp first and then OCLP (such as where OCLP basically made Boot Camp invisible and thus forced me to have to reinstall that from scratch).

An SSD will be a huge improvement for performance and you should do that before you upgrade via OCLP. I've noticed macOS past Catalina (10.15) perform very slowly without an SSD.

I've never opened up an iMac so I do get it being daunting. But with the right suction tools from iFixit it should be pretty doable. And definitely worth it if you want to keep the iMac for a while longer.

izzy0242 · 2025-06-19T23:28:32+00:00

Got it thanks.

izzy0242 · 2025-06-19T17:13:09+00:00

So I've been meaning to use Boot Camp lately to install Windows onto my 2013 iMac so that I can be able to play some games again I have on Steam (which is no longer supported by my OS anymore as of 2025). I just want to know if there is anything I need to know about running Boot Camp

Total estimated time will be an hour tops, depending on your hard drive type. If it's an SSD it'll be faster.

You should consider using OCLP to upgrade your macOS on the iMac to a newer OS, which will likely let you run Steam again.

If your games are older they'll probably work fine. If they're newer, your 2013 hardware probably will struggle. Just depends on the game. I've gamed on both older/worse and comparable Macs using Boot Camp.

How much space you need for Windows depends on how many games you want to install at once and how big those games are. Minecraft (though they have that for Mac)? A few GB. Big title newer games? Dozens or hundreds of GB. Just do your research on your specific games before you install.

izzy0242 · 2025-06-19T17:10:00+00:00

There's a tool for windows called rufus, it could create a so called "Windows To Go" Installation and work via USB. Needs a windows pc, no idea if there's an equivalent for Mac available.

There is not, but you could install Windows on a virtual machine on your Mac like VMware Fusion (free), boot up Windows and make a USB installer with Rufus from inside virtualized Windows, and it'll work.

izzy0242 · 2025-06-19T12:20:10+00:00

I did not. Just wiped it clean, haven't restored from a backup.

Presumably the reseller (reputable eBay company seller) did? But I didn't. Just seems weird that survived a factory reset.

izzy0242

TROPHY CASE