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 Sequoia as VM on an Intel Mac

gilby101's profile image
gilby101 posted Jun 11, 2024 07:52 PM

Host: 2019 iMac with macOS 14.5 and Fusion 13.5.2.

Attempting to install macOS 15 Sequoia as a virtual machine.

Progress:

Create Sequoia ISO, boot it as a CD and install Sequoia. Tell Fusion it is macOS 14. Install VMware Tools. VM runs, but with yellow wallpaper (fix by changing to a simple wallpaper).

Issues:

1. I am unable to get Apple Paravirtualisation working. With a Sonoma VM, I can do this by adding two lines to the .vmx file:

svga.present="FALSE"
appleGPU0.present="TRUE"

But with my Sequoia VM, the VM gets stuck part way through booting.

Any hints as to getting Apple Paravirtualisation working?

2. Login to Apple fails with unknown error.

3. Occasional 100% CPU hangs.

Edit:

Updated the beta 1 VM to Beta 2 (using the full installer of Beta 2). Now Apple Paravirtualisation works as expected. I have not yet has any hangs.  Can't login to iCloud - this is common to all Sequoia VMs, whatever the host product.

AlessandroDN's profile image
AlessandroDN

Even if I followed a different path (I upgraded an existing VM with Sonoma), I'm stuck on the same point as you are.

Usually, I wait a little bit as the first beta is not really stable.

I remember last year was the same, and the first betas didn't run when Apple Paravirtualization was enabled.

Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if we won't be able to run Sequoia with Apple Paravirtualization enabled. As far as I know, Apple Paravirtualization was a sort of experiment that was never officially supported by VMware, and, as a result, there was no guarantee that it would run in future OS versions.

Add the fact that we're still running on Intel machines... that won't leave us with a lot of hopes.

Technogeezer's profile image
Technogeezer

The wallpaper issue is most likely due to the lack of Metal support in the VMware SVGA graphics adapter and driver. The standard dynamic wallpaper (and other components/applications in macOS) may need display features from Metal - that's why switching to a simpler wallpaper works.

It's possible that a) Apple has made changes to Metal in Sequoia that are incompatible with the "paravirt" Metal implementation of Fusion, or b) there are bugs in Sequoia that render it incompatible with Fusion.

macOS versions starting with Ventura have been on borrowed time since VMware announced that they were going to drop macOS as a supported guest. Newer versions are one Apple change away from not working with Fusion. macOS is no longer getting development support as a guest OS.

I'd keep an eye out for future betas of macOS Sequoia to see if they fix any bugs that might make things better. I wouldn't count on Broadcom fixing anything related to running Sequoia as a guest..

 

Steven_Michaud's profile image
Steven_Michaud

@gilby101, what do you mean by "simple wallpaper"? I tried all the different kinds under Wallpaper and have the same problem with each. In my case, though, the Desktop is black. I had the same problem with Sonoma, but fixed it with 'svg.present="FALSE"' and 'appleGPU0.present="TRUE"'. But, as you say, that no longer works with Sequoia.

gilby101's profile image
gilby101

@Steven_Michaud The wallpapers under the heading "Pictures" all work. The others, above Pictures, are dynamic and most likely require Metal which is not part of the SVGA video driver.  You also might like to use one of these https://basicappleguy.com/haberdashery/macintoshwallpapers which are PNGs based on the Macintosh dynamic wallpapers (I am using the grey one).

I am pretty sure my "occasional 100% CPU hangs" are graphics related - if I am patient the system does continue.

Steven_Michaud's profile image
Steven_Michaud

I tried installing the grey wallpaper from https://basicappleguy.com/haberdashery/macintoshwallpapers, and my problem persists. I've no idea why. If I ever do figure it out, I'll post again here.

AlessandroDN's profile image
AlessandroDN

Today, I upgraded the VM to Sequoia Beta 2, but the VM still doesn't boot with the Apple Paravirtualize adapter :(

AlessandroDN's profile image
AlessandroDN

Actually, it works 🎊

I tried re-installing the Beta 2 from Sonoma, and it worked.

Here is what I did:

  • Start from a Sonoma VM, disable Apple Paravirtualized adapter
  • Update to Sequoia and finish all the setup, using the plain VGA adapter
  • Switch OFF the VM, change back to Apple Paravirtualized adapter
  • Restart (and wait a little bit - the progress seems stuck, but then it finishes)

There are still some issues with the new backgrounds.

Steven_Michaud's profile image
Steven_Michaud

What is the "paravirtualized adapter"? How do you turn it off and on?

Technogeezer's profile image
Technogeezer

The "Paravirt" adapter is the "experimental" Metal support for macOS VMs provided by Fusion for. macOS 11 "Big Sur" and later VMs. It seems that Apple provided a kernel module in Big Sur and later for a paravirtualized Metal GPU. By turning on the support in Fusion, it provides enough of a "real Metal" GPU that the paravirt kernel module recognizes and uses it.

It's turned on/off using information from this tech note https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/315314/enable-3d-acceleration-in-macos-11-big-s.html

Steven_Michaud's profile image
Steven_Michaud

OK, so the 'svg.present="FALSE"' and 'appleGPU0.present="TRUE"' settings just are what you use to turn on the "paravirtualized adapter". And getting rid of these settings is what turns it off.

I tried @AlessandroDN's steps from his most recent comment. They also work for me. Previously I'd installed Sequoia Beta 1 (build 24A5264n) into Fusion 13.5.2 directly from an ISO (made on another machine after downloading the installer using 'softwareupdate --fetch-full-installer --full-installer-version 15.0'). Then I installed VMware Tools. This time I installed macOS 14.5 (also from an ISO) and installed VMware Tools there. Only then did I turn on Sequoia Beta updates and install Beta 2 (build 24A5279h), which is the current beta. I wonder if installing VMware Tools in macOS 14 is what made the difference. Or maybe it was Beta 2. At some point I'll try to find out.

Edit: I always turn off the "paravirtualized adapter" when doing a macOS update, on any version of macOS where it can be used (macOS 11 and up). The update won't work if I don't. I turn it back on after the update's finished.

Steven_Michaud's profile image
Steven_Michaud

It's macOS 15 Beta 2 that made the difference. If I install this in Fusion 13.5.2 directly (from an ISO), I'm able to turn on the "paravirtualized adapter". If I install Beta 1 directly, I'm not able to turn it on -- the VM hangs while starting up.

You should still install the macOS 15 betas as upgrades from macOS 14, though. For some reason it's not possible to log into your Apple account from a Sequoia beta that's been installed directly (not as an upgrade). This means it's not possible to upgrade to newer betas. You need to log into your Apple account in a macOS 14 VM, then choose macOS Sequoia beta updates (under Software Update). You'll stay logged in when you upgrade to a macOS 15 beta.

Steven_Michaud's profile image
Steven_Michaud

It's interesting that Fusion's paravirtualized adapter works in macOS 15 Beta 2 but not in Beta 1. Could Apple's devs be looking out for Fusion? I certainly hope so.

gilby101's profile image
gilby101

@Steven_Michaud.

Looks like I should create a new Sonoma VM, login to iCloud and then update.  Hopefully that will keep the iCloud login.

Re paravitualisation, I updated my Beta 1 VM to Beta 2 and paravitualisation now works. This is just like last year. It did not work with macOS 14 beta 1, but magically worked with beta 2. 

Steven_Michaud's profile image
Steven_Michaud

I just updated from macOS 15 Beta 2 (build 24A5279h) to Beta 3 (build 24A5289g). As I noted previously, I needed to turn off the paravirtualized driver before I did the update. I stayed signed in to my Apple account, and (as prompted) successfully signed into iCloud. But when I turned the paravirtualized driver back on, after the update, and restarted the guest VM, the default desktop had a definite yellow tinge. I have no problems, though, with the grey desktop from https://basicappleguy.com/haberdashery/macintoshwallpapers.

Edit: Interestingly, the default Sonoma and Ventura desktops also work fine. Even though they're not "simple".

Edit: The yellow tinge on the default Sequoia desktop has disappeared. No idea why. Multiple restarts and desktop switches yesterday didn't get rid of it. I can only guess that it was originally downloaded incorrectly from Apple's servers, and a correct copy was downloaded later (probably while I left the VM running for several hours yesterday).

gilby101's profile image
gilby101

@Steven_Michaud Looking much better with Beta3. I allowed the update to proceed with paravirtualisation enabled.  It got there in the end with short periods of noise screen and one kernel crash.  Probably better to disable before the update (as you did).  As you already found, iCloud now logs in and works as expected.  I can't reproduce your yellow tinge to the wallpaper.  Like you, I am using that grey wallpaper most of the time.

I will (sometime soon) try a clean install with Beta 3 rather than the update from Sonoma.

gringley's profile image
gringley

I upgraded a clone of a Sonoma beta to Sequoia beta 3 yesterday and it seemed to go pretty well.  Both the Sonoma and Sequoia VMs report a windowserver crash when first booted and send crash data to Apple.  I am using a iMac Pro as the host.