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I can't get to the welcome choose your country screen when installing Mojave virtualised via Parallels Desktop 10 on my Yosemite system (MBP Retina 2015).

I downloaded the 6GB Mojave '.app' file as per the OSX Daily webpage (http://osxdaily.com/2018/09/29/download-full-macos-mojave-installer/) via the installer from this website: http://dosdude1.com/mojave/

1st attempt (via .app file): Parallels didn't automatically find the OS file so I located manually. I got the message "unable to detect operating system". I clicked continue and selected OSX. When starting up I got a boot failed message. I figured perhaps Parallels doesn't recognise an OS via .app file and that I should convert it into an ISO file...

2nd attempt (via ISO file): I created an ISO file from the .app file. I did this via steps 1-7 (under the 'Creating the installation media image iso' sub-heading)in this link: https://www.reddit.com/r/hackintosh/comments/a9twye/mac_os_1014_mojave_vmware_15_diy_guide_no_3rd/

Again Parallels didn't automatically find the OS file so I located manually. I got the message "unable to detect operating system". I clicked continue and selected OSX. This time I got the apple logo and load-up bar screen. I then got the MacOS Utility screen. After selecting 'install macOS'  and clicking continue it took several minutes to get to the next page. Then I got to the screen where It says select your drive to install. I selected the Macintosh HD and clicked next but then I got the error message: "An internal error occurred while preflighting your volume for APFS conversion". I was reverted back to the MacOS Utility screen. So this time I did not click on 'Install MacOS' instead I selected 'Disk Utility' and clicked continue which quickly took me to the Disk Utility screen. I selected the Macintosh HD and went on the menu bar to select [Edit -> convert to APFS...]. I got the dialog box 'Converting Macintosh HD to APFS' saying the conversion was complete and the operation was successful.

So now I got past the select your drive to install screen. However, I couldn't complete the installation. Using this video as a reference (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbLEtH4PnlQ): I couldn't get past the blue loading-bar screen (6:00) ie. could not reach the welcome screen (6:03). Basically after the blue loading-bar screen I get the initial apple logo screen and then goes back to the MacOS Utility screen.

I don't know if this is an issue with Parallels Desktop 10, the Mojave file I downloaded or something related to compatibility. I prefer not to update/upgrade Yosemite.

Would greatly appreciate any advice.

questioner56
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  • It's probably an issue with Parallels 10, which has never heard of Mojave. Parallels 13 was the first to support APFS. I can't say for sure, as I'm on 14, but that's my guess. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallels_Desktop_for_Mac has some guidance on which OS for which version, but sometimes it's hard to tell whether they mean 'will run on n' or you can 'run n on this version' – Tetsujin Sep 06 '19 at 10:26
  • Thank you @Tetsujin! I had a similar train of thought but wondering if it can be anything else - which so far appears unlikely. – questioner56 Sep 06 '19 at 10:33
  • With Sierra you could mark a flag in the installer to not convert to APFS; that's gone in Mojave. I'd guess [& it's only a guess] that will be the stumbling block ultimately. If it were me, I'd go to El Cap & Parallels 13. El Cap finished the work Yosemite started & is very stable as a point to 'leave it'. – Tetsujin Sep 06 '19 at 10:34
  • @Tetsujin is correct. fyi: You need 14 or greater. Parallels have a free trial. https://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/ – historystamp Sep 06 '19 at 21:48
  • When a new version of macOS comes out you need to upgrade to a new version of Parallels. – historystamp Sep 06 '19 at 21:49
  • @historystamp, thank you for your input. How come you're saying that I need 14 or greater? Isn't 13 good enough as Tetsujin mentioned? (13 is compatible with Yosemite: https://kb.parallels.com/114381) – questioner56 Sep 06 '19 at 23:05
  • Yeah, 13 for Yosemite, 14 for El Cap, from that link. I should revise my earlier comment to "14 & El Cap" for long-term. – Tetsujin Sep 07 '19 at 06:43
  • @Tetsujin It's not a problem with APFS. It's the fact that Parallels is restricting what versions of macOS it will run. Parallels is design so it only supports the current version of macOS at the time of release and all prior macOS releases – historystamp Sep 07 '19 at 16:28
  • @questioner56 I have Parallels Desktop version 13.3.2. It will run High Sierra but not Mojave. I didn't read through Parallels web site to verify this. "Some assembly required" as they say. You need to verify what versions of Parallels will run Mojave and that that version will run on your macOS. I should have added this earlier, but I was trying to get across the point that your version will not run Mojave. – historystamp Sep 07 '19 at 16:33
  • @historystamp - If you can figure out a way they could have anticipated APFS 5 years ago I'll agree with you. You're right in that the choice to not support 10.6 in VM is a licensing issue not a practical one [rather easily bypassed, btw] but that an older version cannot support a newer OS is really just inevitable. – Tetsujin Sep 07 '19 at 16:34
  • @Tetsujin Parallels has lots of ancillary tools to work with filesystems. I would not say these are at the core of simulating disk i/o. For the core function of running the VM, I don't think Parallels needs to know what file system is running on the disk. It would be working at the block level. At a basic level, any file system should work under Parallels, but you would not get any of the enhanced filesystem support facilities. Anyway, the basic point is it doesn't work. – historystamp Sep 07 '19 at 16:44
  • @historystamp and Tetsujin, thank you again for your inputs and healthy discussion. Besides doing "Parallels Desktop 14 & El Cap" is there an alternative way?...besides Parallels maybe? Although from what I've read Parallels seems to be the best virtualising software on the market. I'm guessing that even installing/running Yosemite guest and then upgrading the guest to Mojave work won't work? – questioner56 Sep 08 '19 at 11:56
  • Okay so if I read correctly, I think this guy did what I had in mind (https://forum.parallels.com/threads/can-sierra-be-installed-with-parallels-10.345014/). He upgraded the guest OS as a workaround to installing it fresh when it wasn't officially compatible/supported. Except that he tried with Mavericks Host, installed El Capitan as a Guest OS and upgraded it to Sierra. He also reported a failed upgrade to High Sierra so I guess an upgrade to Mojave would fail too. – questioner56 Sep 09 '19 at 10:19

1 Answers1

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Here are the visualizers that I know about.

Parallels: Full version http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/ fyi: Free version of Parallels for individual use: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/parallels-desktop-lite/id1085114709?mt=12 Free version, if still available, will only work with the most current version of macOS.

VMware Fusion With VMware Fusion, run the most demanding Mac and Windows applications side-by-side at maximum speeds without rebooting http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/

VirtualBox VirtualBox is free, but you get what you pay for. Works fine for non-macOS operating systems. Nightmare to get to work for macOS. Basically, you need to match a version of VirtualBox with a version of macOS that will work. "VirtualBox is a general-purpose full virtualizer for x86 hardware. " Runs Windows on Mac OS. http://www.virtualbox.org/

historystamp
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  • Thank you for reminding me about VirtualBox. I tried installing via ISO but came across a similiar scenario to Parallels 10 - after the first part of installation finished it restarted back to the MacOS Utility screen. HOWEVER, I stumbled on https://github.com/geerlingguy/macos-virtualbox-vm and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2MvsbAt4TA and used the command-line from github and the '.vmdk' file linked in the youtube description. I managed to install Mojave! I'm still getting to grips with the configurations - so far haven't been able to access Host files from within the Guest OS. – questioner56 Sep 14 '19 at 10:24
  • You did super well. I may well have to give it a try. You could try file sharing on the macOS's. I've had better luck with NFS and NFS Manager. Get the NFS Manager app to set up. It's free. – historystamp Sep 14 '19 at 21:00
  • Historystamp, thank you for that tip. Although I can install NFS Manager on my Mojave guest (VM) I need to install it on my Yosemite host to share my host files to the VM - perhaps I should post a new question here about sharing folders from Yosemite host to Mojave guest via Virtualbox + NFS Manager)? The current NFS Manager version isn't compatible with Yosemite and the previous version (3.92) didn't work (bresink.com/osx/LegacyProducts.html) - double-clicking on the dmg file didn't load/mount it. – questioner56 Sep 15 '19 at 19:54
  • Historystamp, I did however manage to install Virtualbox Guest Additions via instructions on https://stackoverflow.com/questions/41691803/how-to-install-guest-addition-in-mac-os-as-guest-and-windows-machine-as-host with thanks to @Codeguard. I was expecting my shared folders to automatically show up somehow and that's where I'm stuck at the moment. – questioner56 Sep 15 '19 at 19:58
  • I did have a look at @klanomath's (that guy's awesome by the way) post on https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/238836/enabling-virtual-machine-guest-additions-on-a-mac-host-and-mac-guest but I'm still not very clear on how to share folders in my situation. – questioner56 Sep 15 '19 at 19:59
  • NFS Manager 3.91 150720 works for me in Yosemite. It's comes up and I can switch around panels. I'll see if I can get a working share later. – historystamp Sep 15 '19 at 20:22
  • I think what I did the last time was to get a flash drive. When you insert the flash drive, you get a popup saying do you want to connect to the virtual machine or booted macOS. You need to do proper eject and maybe actually pull the flash drive out to get the popup again. answer differently. – historystamp Sep 15 '19 at 20:28
  • I think you need to use static addresses on the server. I have my bootable macOS set to a static address. The default works for internet connections only or is best. You could give dropbox.com a try. Could manually upload and download if you have difficulty with the automated folder syncing. – historystamp Sep 15 '19 at 20:36
  • Can't seem to find 3.91 online...can you upload it to dropbox/gdrive and share the link here? Thank you for your point on using a flash/USB drive. I've already managed to use the USB feature and can report it works fully. Having instant access to host folders/files like in Parallels is much more practical (without needing to go online via dropbox etc). This is what I wish to emulate here. I might just post a new seperate question about this. As for static addresses and servers I may try that as a last resort - I'm not very familiar with it to be honst. – questioner56 Sep 15 '19 at 21:02
  • Managed to install 3.92 sorry please ignore what i mentioned before...I'll try and figure out how to use it and report back. – questioner56 Sep 15 '19 at 21:16
  • macos ifconfig en0 inet 192.168.0.140 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.0.255 if it starts with 192.168.0 then you want to make a number above 100 [ you need to avoid address your router give out which start with 1. & no I'm not worrying about collisions. ] – historystamp Sep 15 '19 at 22:32
  • Sorry still haven't figure how to use it. I have NFS Manager both on the Mojave Guest (VM) and on Yosemite Host. I typed what you wrote '''ifconfig en0 inet 192.168.0.140 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.0.255''' in Mojave's Terminal but it doesn't work. I did the same for Yosemite and got "ioctl (SIOCDIFADDR): permission denied". I don't know if this is related to the "This computer could be affected by DNS problems" message that I get when I first open NFS Manager. – questioner56 Sep 18 '19 at 18:15
  • Also, I tried going through the NFS Manager’s help and searched for a video online. I couldn’t find an easy step by step process. I think it might be more useful if I posted a new question about this to make it easier to follow for everyone else. – questioner56 Sep 18 '19 at 18:17