Need help with installing Mavericks on my M1/Ventura-configuration

For some time now I have been working with a MacBook Pro (2021) with an M1 Max and Ventura (13.3). Occasionally I need MacOS Mavericks for a special app. Because I don't have much physical space in my studio, I'm looking for a solution via a virtual machine. Parallels and VMWare Fusion are not usable apparently. Can someone help me to get Mavericks up and running with UTM, VirtualBox or another emulation app?

My thanks will be immeasurable.

MacBook Pro 15″, OS X 10.11

Posted on Apr 1, 2023 8:59 AM

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Posted on Apr 2, 2023 8:04 PM

It won't be easy to use UTM for macOS. macOS installers checks the system for key elements in order to allow installation which UTM (aka QEMU utilized by UTM won't have as they are emulating basic & generic PC hardware). While there are instructions for running macOS on other systems, most of them involve utilizing customized installers made specifically for a VM or Hakintosh community...some may include manual instructions, but most are not entirely clear. I tried years ago and was not entirely successful as I never wanted to utilize an installer from an unknown source (probably ok, but not for me).


If you want to use Mavericks or some older version of macOS, you will have a much easier time utilizing an older Mac as has already been suggested. FYI, does your special app work with macOS 10.10 or 10.11? You will have a much easier time installing those versions of macOS on older hardware since Apple provides access to those installers unlike macOS 10.9 which currently has no download links from Apple unless you can perhaps access a "Previous Purchase" from the App Store (no idea whether you can create a bootable USB installer from it like you can with 10.10 or 10.11....still requires a compatible Mac to make the USB installer...so you are back to needing an older Mac anyway).


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Apr 2, 2023 8:04 PM in response to GreatJay

It won't be easy to use UTM for macOS. macOS installers checks the system for key elements in order to allow installation which UTM (aka QEMU utilized by UTM won't have as they are emulating basic & generic PC hardware). While there are instructions for running macOS on other systems, most of them involve utilizing customized installers made specifically for a VM or Hakintosh community...some may include manual instructions, but most are not entirely clear. I tried years ago and was not entirely successful as I never wanted to utilize an installer from an unknown source (probably ok, but not for me).


If you want to use Mavericks or some older version of macOS, you will have a much easier time utilizing an older Mac as has already been suggested. FYI, does your special app work with macOS 10.10 or 10.11? You will have a much easier time installing those versions of macOS on older hardware since Apple provides access to those installers unlike macOS 10.9 which currently has no download links from Apple unless you can perhaps access a "Previous Purchase" from the App Store (no idea whether you can create a bootable USB installer from it like you can with 10.10 or 10.11....still requires a compatible Mac to make the USB installer...so you are back to needing an older Mac anyway).


Apr 30, 2023 12:39 PM in response to GladPlodder

Sure.

What I did, is downloading a preconfigured file via this site: https://github.com/adespoton/utmconfigs/blob/main/README.md, clicked on "Got to file" and selected the one for Mavericks (10.9).

After installing it on UTM, you will see which steps you have to follow on the right side.

Then I downloaded an ISO file from here: *** and installed that one according to the earlier mentioned steps.

Et voilà!


[Link Edited by Moderator]

May 1, 2023 1:36 AM in response to GreatJay

GreatJay wrote:

Apparently I'm not allowed to mention a link to an archive on the internet, but you can of course search for "Mavericks download iso" and you'll probably get there. 😎

FWIW, it's not the best idea to download a copy of Mac OSX/macOS from a source other than Apple. There is no way to tell if the file is complete, corrupt or infected until it is too late.

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Need help with installing Mavericks on my M1/Ventura-configuration

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