So, I reinstalled Sequoia on the Mac Pro using OCLP. Then I installed VMware 26h1 and attempted to install Sequoia in a VM using the OCLP setup I'd used for the MacPro. It failed at the same spot with the same panic error I had above.
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 26, 2026 08:11 AM
From: Jon Yiesla
Subject: Issues with Fusion 26h1 and Tahoe when running on Mac using OCLP
You may be right. I was able to install Monterey OK in a VM. And I thought that Ventura was going to work as well and I got right down to the point where the OS was going to give me the setup wizard and it failed with the same generic message that the machine had restarted because of a problem. When I looked in the log file, however, there wasn't the usual panic message, so I'm not sure what the actual failure was. When I was trying to do this with Tahoe, the failure would occur way before this point. I may try OCLP in the VM if I get the chance. Thanx again for all your input.
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 24, 2026 12:47 PM
From: Technogeezer
Subject: Issues with Fusion 26h1 and Tahoe when running on Mac using OCLP
Perplexing indeed.
Fusion 13.6.3 isn't certified for macOS Monterey. I wouldn't go down that road.
And I assume that you are creating a new VM each time you test (not reusing the old one)?
Have you tried any earlier version of macOS to run as a VM? I'd start with Monterey and work forward.
One source suggests that Apple may require the presence of the AVX2 instruction set to run Ventura or later. See https://github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/issues/998 . AVX2 instructions were introduced in Intel Haswell processors.
Since the Ivy Bridge processor pre-dates Haswell, I wonder if that could be part of the problem.
My Mac mini 2014 has a Haswell processor, so that could explain why I can run Ventura, Sonoma, Sequoia, and Tahoe as a Fusion VM
OCLP seems to have hacked around this issue to get newer macOS versions to run on those older Macs that don't have Haswell or later processors.
Try installing Monterey as a VM. It that succeeds, then it's possible that the removal of older Intel CPU chipset support in Ventura or later might be the problem.
Could that mean that you'll have to use OCLP in the VM to run Ventura or later as a VM on that Mac? 🧐🤔
------------------------------
Paul Rockwell (technogeezer)
vExpert 2026 (3x)
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 23, 2026 09:59 PM
From: Jon Yiesla
Subject: Issues with Fusion 26h1 and Tahoe when running on Mac using OCLP
So, I am somewhat perplexed. I did as you suggested and completely wiped the OCLP install by erasing the disk at the top level so I made sure I got rid of the OCLP EFI. I also did as you suggested and reenabled the SIP. However, although it seemed to work, doing a status check after rebooting showed it in a weird state. I needed up going back into the recovery and executing a clear and then enable, but that still didn't fix it so I then reset the SMC and NVRAM and that solved the problem with that. Then to make sure I wasn't entering anything odd into the equation, I made a bootable USB stick like I'd use if I was going to install the OS on a physical Mac. I was able to attach it to the VM and attempt to install. However, it failed at the same spot and with a similar panic message referencing initproc failed to start and the same file. I've checked as much as I can and it seems that Tahoe ought to install on my Monterey macpro6,1 in a fusion VM. But since I'm still getting the same message with things pretty much at normal; I'm not sure. I'm tempted to try 13.6.3 to see if it makes any difference and to use the hdiutil to create an iso file instead, but this does have me baffled.
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 22, 2026 12:49 PM
From: Technogeezer
Subject: Issues with Fusion 26h1 and Tahoe when running on Mac using OCLP
That's what I thought since the flags that enable SIP are in NVRAM and a reinstall of macOS won't reset they setting (and in all likelihood OCLP made the change to disable SIP)
Having SIP disabled could be the issue. Enable it and let's see if things change. Follow Apple's developer documentation https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/disabling-and-enabling-system-integrity-protection to re enable SIP. Then try Fusion again.
i have a suspicion that things will now work 🤞
------------------------------
Paul Rockwell (technogeezer)
vExpert 2026 (3x)
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 22, 2026 10:24 AM
From: Jon Yiesla
Subject: Issues with Fusion 26h1 and Tahoe when running on Mac using OCLP
So, I ran the error thru AI and looked at what it told me and I kept answering its questions. Basically almost all of the suggestions it had I'd either already done or the problem it listed wasn't valid for me; like making sure I was using vmxnet3. Eventually it came up with the Mist iso file I'd created might be the problem. So, I'm using the iso I created the other day with several commands that seem to be all related to hdiutil. So, I'll see if this fixes the issue.
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 21, 2026 01:36 PM
From: Technogeezer
Subject: Issues with Fusion 26h1 and Tahoe when running on Mac using OCLP
That says to me that something in the Apple hypervisor framework that Fusion is using has encountered a problem.
Has OCLP modified SIP or AMFI (both are security features)? We've seen instances in the past where Fusion has issues when either of these two features are modified or disabled. If that's the case, there's not a lot we can do here. I suggest taking up the issue with the OCLP developers (there will be no help from anyone from Broadcom on unsupported configurations like OCLP).
As a control, you might want to revert to a known supportable/tested configuration and see if things work. install Monterey on your Mac (the MacPro6,1 is a "trash can" Mac Pro 2013 and Monterey is the last supported macOS version for that hardware). Then find and install Fusion 13.5.2 (the last Fusion version to support Monterey and still available from Broadcom's support portal ) and retry the Tahoe guest install. If that works (and I think it will) then I think what you're seeing is a result of what OCLP is doing.
------------------------------
Paul Rockwell (technogeezer)
vExpert 2026 (3x)
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 21, 2026 11:53 AM
From: Jon Yiesla
Subject: Issues with Fusion 26h1 and Tahoe when running on Mac using OCLP
No joy. I was able to do as you suggested using Mist and got the larger size bootable iso file. I am using 25H2 on my OCLP Mac running Sequoia. In my past attempts I had also tried 26H1 with similar results. Anyway, I set the macOS level to be 15, as I'd read other places that was something to try and I get the same error at the same place. I then tried a reinstall using macOS 26 as the identifier and I got the same error. I restarted after turning on verbose logging and I "think" this is the actual thing causing the problem:
026-07-21T15:45:42.128Z -WARNING vmware-vmx 2648 [fusion@4413 threadName="vcpu-1"] DarwinPanic: panic(cpu 1 caller 0xffffff800929f3d7): initproc failed to start -- exit reason namespace 6 subcode 0x1 description: Library not loaded: /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
I also see a message in settings, that Iv'e seen before on the processor settings screen that 1 processor is below the recommended number of 2 and that the VM might not start. I have it set for two processors and that message stays the same no matter what number I select; until I get to 5 or 6, which is more processors that the Mac has.
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 19, 2026 05:35 PM
From: Technogeezer
Subject: Issues with Fusion 26h1 and Tahoe when running on Mac using OCLP
Just an FYI.
I built a macOS Tahoe 26.5.2 ISO installer using the Mist utility (https://github.com/ninxsoft/Mist). It essentially does the same thing as the process you noted (downloaded the "Install maOS Tahoe.app" and ran the bundled utility to create a bootable ISO.
One thing I noticed is that the commands you posted in your pdf file indicated to use a disk image of 18GB. The Tahoe ISO that was created by Mist was 22GB. If you used those commands verbatim, you may have created an ISO file that might not be big enough to hold the Tahoe installer.
I created a new custom virtual machine on my Fusion 13.5.2/Mac mini Intel 2014/macOS Monterey 12.7.6 platform. I chose a macOS guest operating system type of "macOS 14", and left everything else at defaults. I did not immediately power on the VM - instead I customized the configuration of the CD/DVD drive to point to the created Tahoe ISO file.
Then I powered on the VM. It booted into the macOS installer.
One thing I had to do before installing macOS was to reformat the hard drive from HFS+ to APFS using the Disk Utility bundled in the Tahoe ISO. Once I did that, installing macOS was done successfully. No black screens.
I'm not sure what happens under later versions of Fusion, though. YMMV. Or on OCLP hacked macOS versions.
One thing I'd be wary of is that macOS has become more reliant on 3D and Metal acceleration in recent versions. Since the VM only has access to the VMware SVGA adapter with no 3D acceleration, there are things that might not work. I've also had mixed results with newer macOS versions when trying to enable the experimental Metai capability found in Fusion 12 as noted in a old tech note that I can no longer find... (required several hacks to the .vmx file -- that no longer seem to work well).
The same situation for "things that don't work quite right" can be said for OCLP-hacked Macs that might not have the full complement of Metal capabilities. Those Metal accelerated capabilities depend on what graphics card is present on the Mac and what old drivers may have been hacked back into the macOS installation. Those kinds of compatibility issues for OCLP need to be reviewed with the OCLP documentation and the OCLP developers/community.
------------------------------
Paul Rockwell (technogeezer)
vExpert 2026 (3x)
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 14, 2026 10:14 PM
From: Technogeezer
Subject: Issues with Fusion 26h1 and Tahoe when running on Mac using OCLP
Same here as being a long time IT guy. I have an 2014 Intel Mac mini that's dual booting between running Monterey and Fedora Linux. (haven't tried OCLP to try and run a later macOS as I don't have the inclination to deal with a "FrankenMac") When booted to macOS , I have the last Fusion version that supported Monterey. I was able to fire up a Sequoia VM on that Mac but haven't tried Tahoe… yet. I'll see if I can get Tahoe to install on that Fusion version to rule out any potential issue with Tahoe on old hardware.
------------------------------
Paul Rockwell (technogeezer)
vExpert 2026 (3x)
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 14, 2026 09:54 PM
From: Jon Yiesla
Subject: Issues with Fusion 26h1 and Tahoe when running on Mac using OCLP
Thanx for the help. I think I'm just going to abandon this project. I was an IT guy for most of my working life and I enjoy these kinds of challenges, but since it might not even work well and I don't really need to have Tahoe on this machine, I'm just going to let it go.
Jon
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 14, 2026 08:52 PM
From: Technogeezer
Subject: Issues with Fusion 26h1 and Tahoe when running on Mac using OCLP
That procedure you posted is the best way (iMO) to create the ISO from the macOS installer app. I just wanted to rule out any issue with the ISO.
------------------------------
Paul Rockwell (technogeezer)
vExpert 2026 (3x)
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 14, 2026 07:43 PM
From: Jon Yiesla
Subject: Issues with Fusion 26h1 and Tahoe when running on Mac using OCLP
I used a bunch of command lines in terminal to convert the installer app file into an ISO. I can't find the original web page, but I think the commands I used are in the attached PDF.
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 14, 2026 07:20 PM
From: Technogeezer
Subject: Issues with Fusion 26h1 and Tahoe when running on Mac using OCLP
One other thought. How did you create that macOS installation ISO?
------------------------------
Paul Rockwell (technogeezer)
vExpert 2026 (3x)
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 14, 2026 06:35 PM
From: Jon Yiesla
Subject: Issues with Fusion 26h1 and Tahoe when running on Mac using OCLP
Thought I might have had it, but failed again. This time I kept Fusion 25h2 installed since it was there and selected macOS15 as the OS type; read that somewhere. Instead of dragging the iso file, I created a custom VM and then was able to set my parameters ahead of time and this time I did NOT get the CPR/Processor error. But at about the same place in the install, I got the kernel panic with the same error. I've read that a possible way to fix this is to use OCLP and create a specific EFI booter for the VM, but honestly this is just a fun thing for me to see if I could do and I'm probably just going to abandon it at this point.
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 14, 2026 03:26 PM
From: Technogeezer
Subject: Issues with Fusion 26h1 and Tahoe when running on Mac using OCLP
Running Fusion on a Mac that's hacked with OCLP can be problematic. It's not supported or tested by either Apple or Broadcom so there no guarantees that anything will work properly.
Just to clarify, is it the guest OS that is panicing or the host OS?
One thought: make sure that you have selected the latest macOS version available in the Fusion GUI as your VM's guest OS type, and verify in the .vmx file that the ethernet0 adapter type is vmxnet3.
------------------------------
Paul Rockwell (technogeezer)
vExpert 2026 (3x)
------------------------------