This guide will walk you through creating a bootable installer for macOS Catalina on a USB flash drive for the purpose of installing Catalina on a hackintosh compatible computer.
Prerequisites:
- Catalina downloaded from the Mac App Store
- 16GB+ USB Flash Drive – Catalina installer is slightly larger than 8GB and so a 16GB or larger flash drive is required.
- Computer running macOS – Access to a macOS is needed to create a flash drive installer of Catalina. If you don’t have an existing hackintosh or a Mac the alternative is to install macOS with a virtual machine on windows or borrow a Mac from friend or family.
Part 1: Transferring Catalina Installer to USB
To get a working Catalina installer onto a USB flash drive it must first be formatted into a scheme that allows for an EFI Partition.
Step 1: Formatting the USB Drive
In order to create a bootable macOS installer the USB flash drive must be formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) which will add a second hidden EFI partition needed to create a boot loader.
- Insert a USB Flash Drive
- Open Disk Utility
- Select the Flash Drive on the left column
- Click Erase
- Set the following settings:
- Name: Hackintosher
- Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
- Scheme: GUID Partition Map
- Click Erase
- Click Done upon finish
Step 2: Transferring the Catalina Installer
Afterwards the the Catalina Installer downloaded from the Mac App Store is ready to be placed on the USB drive using Terminal.
- Verify Install macOS Catalina is in the /Applications folder
- Open Terminal through spotlight or launchpad
- Paste the following into Terminal entering your password if prompted:
Catalina 10.15 Public Release:sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Hackintosher /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina.app --nointeraction
Catalina Beta Release:
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina\ Beta.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Hackintosher /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Catalina\ Beta.app --nointeraction
- Do not close Terminal, the installer will transfer over slowly and can take awhile especially if you are using USB 2 bus speeds
Part 2: Configuring EFI Partition for a Catalina Hackintosh
We will now mount the hidden EFI Partition created when the flash drive was formatted.
Mount EFI Partition
- Download Clover Configurator
- Open Clover Configurator
- Select Mount EFI under TOOLS
- Click Mount Partition for Install macOS….
- Click Open Partition (This is where the EFI Folder will go)
Create or Download a EFI Folder
An EFI folder can be created with either Clover or OpenSource.
The same EFI folder that worked in Mojave may not work in Catalina without changes for compatibility.
If you are not familiar with the requirements to make a working Catalina EFI bootloader then you may use the preconfigured EFI folder available here:
Guide to fresh installing macOS Catalina on a Hackintosh (10.15 Update)
Related:
Leave a Reply
28 Comments on "How to make a macOS 10.15 Catalina flash drive installer"
Using the Hackintosher-Catalina-10.15-EFI will help some builds that are stuck getting past certain verbose outputs such as *************** , AE_NOT_FOUND , Waiting on root device….
This Worked, thank you very much for support, solved my errors. THANKS!
Thanks a million for sharing your insights. Your website is the easiest and best for creating a hackintosh.
There are a few bugs in Catalina even on real MACs. I noticed that my multi USB adapter doesn’t work anymore! Also my SD card takes a long time to be noticed but it was fine before.
I tried installing Catalina a few months ago already but there were a few issues so I removed it.
Hackintosh:
Machine one is a Gigabyte H370 series, i5,512 Gb Nvme, HD 630 which is simply home use.
On this machine, the default (HD 630) graphics simply didn’t work. I could not figure out what I did wrong. After multiple attempts, I gave up.
I am also running a Gigabyte H270, i7, 1TB ssd, AMD 8gb card which is awesome for work.
On this machine everything worked but I noticed that I could not connect the usb which contained my backup OS. USB only worked in 2.0 mode.
As I am using the same EFI for both machines, I was a bit bummed that Catalina didn’t work.
I will take a look at the EFI you have given above though…
Thanks for your efforts, they are appreciated!
+1000^000
I tried this and it worked perfectly to install Catalina.
I just changed the IDs on the manifest, but used the same kext.
(8700k, RX 590)
Everything works – imessage, airdrop, GPU.
The only thing is that iCloud is asking me to log in again almost every hour, could be related? maybe an ID that I forgot to change?
I noticed the Hackintosher-Catalina-10.15-EFI was configured for a dedicated graphics card, so i changed that value to the integrated graphics card value and tried applying some of the old configs ( from the Mojave guide) that used to work but i am still seeing the screen like in a “pink” color. i have an Asus z370-G and a i5-8400 and everything else is working perfectly. Could you please list the config for an integrated graphic build ? Thanks !
Do you happen to be using the HDMI port? A quick fix would be to use the Display Port with a DP cable or HDMI -> DP Adapter
I tried this. Got HDMI – DVI cable. Cable is fine I can load windows. When I try to load Catalina 10.15.1 I get to a certain point and the video signal disappears. I have the same system as Javobal, who started the thread. Any ideas?
I fixed this problem by forcing WhateverGreen into S/L/E. Don’t know how good this approach is but the screen looks normal
Change symbios : MacMini 8.1
I did update not clean install.
After install I don’t have audio vis integrated audio card, only via HDMI.
I have gigabyte z270x ultra gaming Motherboard with Realtek® ALC1220 audio.
I have AppleALC.kext in kext folder and before update everything worked fine with these kexts.
How can I get audio to work via motherboard integrated audio card? What could be the problem?
Hello guys,
I’m a newbie here. I wonder if samsung 981a NVME can install this macOS version?
Thanks!
Hallo,
I have i7-8700k and at the moment no eGPU. Do I need to patch UHD630 for Catalina? Is there any config I can use? I use also Z370 AsRock K6 Gaming motherboard and NVMe SSD from Samsung (EVO 970). Or… will it work automatic with the latest WhatEverGreen kext?
Greetings
Hackintosher, I’m running ROG Strix Z270 with 7700 and RX580. Your Catalina-10.15-EFI won’t allow me to boot. What do I need to reconfigure or even better do you have and EFI you can share.
-Thanks
How long till you release that new guide? also, can someone advise me on what configurator settings to change for the config.plist of my system: i3 9100, uhd 630.
For some reason at about 60% the Apple logo is replaced by the dreaded do not enter for my USB Catalina Boot USB. I skipped Mojave so I am eager to try Catalina. I’ve erased and restarted my thumb drive twice!
Thank you!
Do someone have installed this on B360-F board?
If i have a working installation for Mojave 14.6, it should be ok to use the same EFI folder for Catalina? Assume i have updated the kexts. I guess USB patches need to applied to the new installation?
i have an MSI stealth pro gs63-vr and i cant install mac os on it can you please help me with this
o is an i7 7700k with a 32 gb ram and gtx1060 6 gb but i make the image with transmac and i add the efi folder you reconmend but nothing is not even booting
The default settings for Disk Utility will only show volumes, not devices. This prevents you from seeing the GUID partition map option.
In the upper left corner of the Disk Utility window, click View > Show All Devices. Then click the USB drive (not the volume/partition) and select Erase. This will show the partition map option needed to create the EFI partition required for Clover.
Hackintosher-Catalina-10.15-EFI.zip has been updated to 10.15.2, make sure to enable the correct EC rename under ACPI -> Patches in config.plist or alternatively add an EC patch with SSDTTime or you may not be able to get past the AE_NOT_FOUND error
Any word on the full Catalina install guide with new/cleaned up EFI? This is not working for me…
i9 9900
Aorus z390 pro wifi
What part are you stuck on?
Hi Team,
I am stuck at PCI configuration end, bridges 12, devices 12.
Can someone please help me get through it.
My Configuration.
i5 9th Gen Processor
Gigabyte B365M DS3H
Nvidia Graphics Card 710
500 GB SSD Crucial
16 GB DDR4 crucial RAM
I have the same configuration still not able to boot with catalina
I suggest you try booting without the graphics card.
Hi!
I followed your instructions, but when I tried to boot the installation, all I can see are plus signs (+++++++++++++++++++) and no other text, even in verbose mode.
My configuration is as follows:
i5 4590
intel hd 4600
motherboard D3221
This is my EFI folder: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ja1hzilhlbjpn3z/EFI.zip?dl=0
Do you have an idea what could be wrong?