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I tried booting into EFI by holding ⌥ Option⌘ CommandFO

My end goal is to enable nested VT-x in VirtualBox.

Allan
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Case39
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  • What is it that you are trying to achieve, exactly? Boot to another OS? – benwiggy Jun 29 '20 at 07:20
  • ⌘/⌥/ O/F is the old PPC Open Firmware command. It doesn't work on Intel – Tetsujin Jun 29 '20 at 07:33
  • Does https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/379724/237 help? – mmmmmm Jun 29 '20 at 10:25
  • Virtualization is always on, on any Mac that has a CPU that supports it. Unlike Windows PCs there is no switch to turn it on or off. There may be a switch inside the options for VirtualBox but not on the mac itself. – Steve Chambers Jun 29 '20 at 13:56
  • @SteveChambers The checkbox in VirtualBox is greyed out, so it must be disabled on the Mac. – Case39 Jun 29 '20 at 18:20
  • "booting into EFI"?? Maybe have a look at rEFInd to see if that's what you're after? – Seamus Jun 29 '20 at 22:36
  • @Seamus I'm planing to look into it. I haven't had time to read the documentation. Maybe "booting into EFI" isn't the right expression. – Case39 Jun 30 '20 at 02:47
  • @Case39: Yeah - writing good questions isn't easy! The payoff is good answers :) – Seamus Jun 30 '20 at 03:02
  • Are you sure it's wrong though ? Because there are others using the same expression, like: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/307916/macbook-pro-can-only-boot-into-efi-how-can-i-transfer-files-to-my-macbook-air?rq=1 – Case39 Jun 30 '20 at 03:17
  • @Case39: I can't say it's wrong, but I will say that its meaning is unclear to me. Look at what EFI is, and then ask yourself, "What does booting into EFI mean?" – Seamus Jun 30 '20 at 13:45

2 Answers2

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It's not mentioned which MacBook Pro is being used, but it's a safe bet that the CPU is capable of VT-x but it may be disabled. I've checked a 2012 iMac, a 2017 MacBook Pro and a 2014 Mac mini and all had VT-x supported and enabled.

Check if supported:

To check if your Mac supports VT-X, issue the following command:

% sysctl -a | grep machdep.cpu.features

You should get output similar to below. If you see VMX, your CPU is capable of VT-x.

machdep.cpu.features: FPU VME DE PSE TSC MSR PAE MCE CX8 APIC SEP MTRR PGE MCA 
CMOV PAT PSE36 CLFSH DS ACPI MMX FXSR SSE SSE2 SS HTT TM PBE SSE3 PCLMULQDQ 
DTES64 MON DSCPL VMX SMX EST TM2 SSSE3 CX16 TPR PDCM SSE4.1 SSE4.2 x2APIC POPCNT 
AES PCID XSAVE OSXSAVE TSCTMR AVX1.0 RDRAND F16C

Supported but Disabled/Locked

Apple provides a support document, If VT-x virtualization technology is locked or disabled on your Mac to address this issue. Basically, you need to ensure your software is updated to latest version.

VT-x is enabled by default, but there's no "setting" or command that can be issued to turn it on. Try resetting the NVRAM by holding ⌘ Command⌥ OptionPR while booting.

You can issue the command nvram -xp to dump the NVRAM contents. If you parse through it, you won't find any variable related to virtualization.

Possible Solutions

I've read (can't remember source) that installing either Parallels or VMware Fusion could enable locked virtualization features. There's a community version of Fusion and a Trial of Parallels. You could give either/both a shot - if it doesn't work, no harm no foul.

In the end, if it's not enabled, it would be best to file a bug report with Apple at https://www.apple.com/feedback/macbook.html because this feature should be enabled by default.

Allan
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  • RE: "There's a community version of Fusion" -- What's a "community version of Fusion"? – user3439894 Jul 30 '20 at 04:38
  • Open Source = Community Edition: https://my.vmware.com/en/web/vmware/downloads/info/slug/desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_fusion/11_0#open_source – Allan Jul 30 '20 at 05:18
  • The Open Source files available for VMware Fusion are not a complete functioning version of the product, they are just what parts of the product are open source. The actual product contains both proprietary and open source components. AFAICT There are only two fully functional versions available, VMware Fusion and VMware Fusion Pro which actually are the same single file when downloaded, but based on choice or license number install as one or the other. Without a license number it install as a 30-Day Free Trial. – user3439894 Jul 30 '20 at 12:28
  • Good to know. I don’t know if it will work, installing the software will enable VT-X, but it’s worth a shot installing a 30 day trial. – Allan Jul 30 '20 at 15:12
  • I can't speak to Parallels, however, there is nothing in VMware Fusion that can enable VT-x if it's disabled at the system (firmware) level. – user3439894 Jul 30 '20 at 16:01
  • Like I said...I only remember reading it somewhere and I can't remember where so it's a YMMV situation. – Allan Jul 30 '20 at 16:32
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According to Apple's list of startup key combinations, that is not a valid command, and there is no way of 'booting into EFI', beyond the normal EFIboot that starts the Mac in the usual way.

benwiggy
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