Bioload503

What’s Needed:

From the App Store or Apple’s beta program, you can simply grab a copy of the macOS Catalina which will be used in this process. The Clover Bootloader — Since real Macs have a custom firmware that lets them boot macOS, we’ll use the Clover which is a bootloader for this. Download and install Clover to USB. Refer to this article for clarity. Install Clover Configurator, and mount the EFI partition. Then replace the EFI folder with the one on my repo. How to create a bootable macOS Catalina 10.15 USB install drive? (on Windows) Install Transmac on a Windows machine. It has a 15-day trial period and works.

In this tutorial we will be creating the bootloader that will allow you to run the macOS installer that will also be created in this guide onto your to-be Hackintosh. This will be created using a flash drive that needs to be 8GB or larger in size so that it has enough space ton hold the Sierra or El Capitan installer files.

You’ll need to be running macOS in order to complete this guide. If you do not have a mac available for use, you can learn how to create a virtual machine on your computer before following this guide:

STEP 1: Creating the macOS Installer

The first step to making a hackintosh is transferring the macOS install files to a USB flash drive to do that follow the guide: How to make a macOS flash drive installer

STEP 2: Setting up the EFI Boot Partition

1. 1. DownloadClover EFI Bootloader
   2. Unzip & Open Clover folder
   3. Right-click & Open Clover EFI Bootloader (Note: Unsigned Apps like Clover must be right-click opened to avoid security warning)
   4. Click Continue
   5. Click Continue again
   6. Click Change Install Location…
   7. Select your Flash Drive under destination
      
   8. Click Continue
   9. Click Customize
   10. Check the following boxes:
       
   11. Click Install
   12. Enter Password and click Install Software
   13. Click Close
   14. Click Keep if it prompts

Next Step

Now that you have created a USB Installer you will need to make it bootable on your PC.

If you are following one of our custom guides return to that guide for custom boot steps.

Otherwise follow our general guild on How-to Make Your Hackintosh Installer Bootable

I know you’re here for the EFI folder or Clover configuration file. Hang on, let’s start with the backstory, shall we? (Or skip the lame intro)

Clover Bootloader Catalina Download

Note: I don’t have access to my X230 anymore. Please don’t expect updates.

To put you into perspective; I own a ThinkPad X230 Tablet. But I hate the bulky 6-cell battery it came with. So I purchased an X230 i7 model without memory and SSD. Then I upgraded the device to a 2 x 8GB 1600 Mhz memory + 256 GB mSATA + 256 GB 2.5″ SSD beast of a machine.

The Catalina Journey

Clover Bootloader Catalina Download Link

Even though I prefer Mojave 10.14.16 as the daily driver, I got hooked by Apple’s update notification. So I made a CCC clone right away and decided to test Catalina on this machine. The direct update resulted in failure.

Then I searched for “ThinkPad X230 Hackintosh EFI” on Google. Luckily I stumbled upon @littlegtplr’s repo on Github. Their EFI settings worked for my vanilla installation. Then I made some changes to the settings and decided to post my result on Reddit and GitHub.

Latest Updates

1. I no longer use @littlegtplr’s settings. I’ve configured everything myself and updated the repo.
2. Applicable to Catalina 10.15 ~ 10.15.2.

X230 from 2012 Living The Catalina Dream! from hackintosh

Without further ado, you can grab the EFI Folder (Clover), plist, and BOOT required to install/run Thinkpad X230 Hackintosh Catalina 10.15. Move these files to your EFI Folder. I’ve got another EFI folder labeled EFI-test. Feel free to tinker that also.

WiFi

Inbuilt intel-WiFi adapter won’t work out of the box. Atheros AR5B95, Lenovo part number 20002357 is a macOS supported/Lenovo-whitelisted card available for X230. You should add IO80211Family.kext to Kexts/Other after installing the card.

Alternatively, you can flash the BIOS and remove the whitelist if you plan to use Broadcom WLAN cards. Stick with a nano-USB WiFi adapter (something cheap based on Realtek) if you don’t want to alter your hardware.

What Else Doesn’t Work?

Fingerprint reader & card-reader.

Nota Bene:

• Proceed with caution.
• Kindly delete the RtWlanU & RtWlanU1827 kexts from kexts/Other folder.*
• These files are N/A for Opencore bootloader. Go ahead though, if you know what you’re doing.
• EFI-swap recommended. I haven’t tested these settings against the latest version of Clover.

*I added Realtek WLAN kexts to use with my Comfast USB Wi-Fi adapter. You should edit the configuration according to your preferences. The EFI folder is 100% applicable for the Vanilla approach and SSD hot-swap.

Dude, what’s an SSD hot-swap?

Half-arsed practice. This involves installing macOS Catalina on a real MacBook Pro and moving its SSD to an X230 after editing the EFI folder. It’s recommended to choose a machine similar to ThinkPad X230 in terms of CPU & hardware configuration, eg: mid-2012 MacBook Pro.

It doesn’t matter if you own a real Mac or not. I’ll share the installation guide for both macOS and Windows.

How to create a bootable macOS Catalina 10.15 USB install drive? (on macOS)

1. Refer to this guide from 9to5mac.
2. Download and install Clover to USB. Refer to this article for clarity.
3. Install Clover Configurator, and mount the EFI partition. Then replace the EFI folder with the one on my repo.

How to create a bootable macOS Catalina 10.15 USB install drive? (on Windows)

1. Install Transmac on a Windows machine. It has a 15-day trial period and works flawlessly flashing DMG files to USB.
2. Download the macOS 10.15 with clover dmg file from here or other sources you come across Google SERP.
3. Download the EFI folder from this GitHub repo.
4. Download Clover Configurator for macOS (latest version).
5. Connect a 16 GB USB flash drive.
6. Open Transmac. In the left pane, right-click the USB Drive and select Format Disk for Mac
7. Again in the left pane, right-click the USB Drive and select Restore with Disk Image. Then select the DMG file I mentioned in (2). The flashing process will take a few minutes depending on the size of .dmg and speed/port of the USB drive.
8. Install DiskGenius.
9. Locate the USB drive in DiskGenius. Delete the EFI folder and replace it with the new EFI folder.
10. Plug the USB drive into the X230 and boot from USB.
11. Format the disk drive to APFS, install macOS Catalina, and restart the system.
12. Connect the Hackintosh system to the Internet via LAN cable, USB tethering or a Mac-compatible external WiFi adapter.
13. Download & install Clover Configurator on MacOS. Open EFI partition and copy -> paste the EFI folder once more.
14. You may use Karabiner-Elements if the keyboard mappings (command and option) are acting up.

FAQ.

• Please visit this Reddit thread.
• I’ve used neofetch to display system specs via Terminal.

Tip Me:

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