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Lenovo Thinkpad T440 with El Capitan Dual Boot Win 10, CSM?


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Alright, so I've been able to find guides for laptops similar to mine, but none that are PRECISELY for the Lenovo Thinkpad T440. Not the S model, but just the T440. I manged to pick this laptop up for a sweet deal on eBay, and i'd like to run MacOS on it if possible. Would it be fine to try a VM then try installing for real later?

 

I have Windows 10 with a key already installed MBR/CSM Style and would like to keep it on here, if at all possible, but I could wipe it if necessary to do a UEFI boot. I initially wanted to try Sierra, but it seems Sierra is relatively undocumented for any similar thinkpad. My specs are as follows:

 

  • Intel Core i5-4200U @ 1.6GHz, turbo boosts up to 2.3 Ghz
  • 4GB Ram (going to another 4gb dimm)
  • 500GB HDD (will eventually add a m.2 ssd later for macOS if it can be installed

Thats about all the important specs, I think. If theres anything else necessary, I'd be glad to list it. (: I did manage to make an installer and boot it Legacy style into Sierra but the trackpad and keyboard didn't respond. It also took awhile to get to the installer. Is there a way I can Install to a USB or something to test it, or is a VM the best way to go about it for a test run? Thanks. Sorry for rambling.

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The differences between the T440 and T440s seem to come down to the CPU model, different number of USB ports, and other things that don't make a difference. Both models are using HD4400 for graphics so following the same guide should be fine. Just don't use a premade DSDT from a T440s.

 

You can dual boot MBR/CSM style just fine with both OSes on the same hard disk, so feel free to resize your Windows partition via third party software (GParted is fine) and create one for OS X. You'll have to use this MBR patch on the install media since it does a GUID check. Managing multiple OSes on one disk is far easier to manage when you legacy boot versus UEFI booting IMO.

 

You can install OS X to a USB disk if you want. It'll be slow but to OS X a USB disk is no different than an internal SATA one assuming you have no issues with USB.

 

Did you include PS/2 support kexts in your installer? According to what I'm finding, you have a Synaptics touchpad so the latest version of VoodooPS2 should support that as well as the keyboard fine: https://bitbucket.org/RehabMan/os-x-voodoo-ps2-controller/downloads/RehabMan-Voodoo-2016-1208.zip

 

Here's a lspci dump of your hardware: https://linux-hardware.org/index.php?probe=d1555a4a8c&log=lspci_all

 

Gigabit ethernet support: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/files/file/396-intelmausiethernet/

 

Your Intel 7260 wireless card isn't supported. You'll have to replace it with something like a Broadcom BCM94352Z which you can find instructions for, otherwise you'll be stuck getting some USB wifi card that has its own driver and wireless utility app.

 

Your Realtek card reader isn't supported either. a cheap USB card reader works fine in OS X.

 

e: config.plist for clover you can start with: https://github.com/RehabMan/OS-X-Clover-Laptop-Config/blob/master/config_HD4600_4400_4200.plist

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The differences between the T440 and T440s seem to come down to the CPU model, different number of USB ports, and other things that don't make a difference. Both models are using HD4400 for graphics so following the same guide should be fine. Just don't use a premade DSDT from a T440s.

 

You can dual boot MBR/CSM style just fine with both OSes on the same hard disk, so feel free to resize your Windows partition via third party software (GParted is fine) and create one for OS X. You'll have to use this MBR patch on the install media since it does a GUID check. Managing multiple OSes on one disk is far easier to manage when you legacy boot versus UEFI booting IMO.

 

You can install OS X to a USB disk if you want. It'll be slow but to OS X a USB disk is no different than an internal SATA one assuming you have no issues with USB.

 

Did you include PS/2 support kexts in your installer? According to what I'm finding, you have a Synaptics touchpad so the latest version of VoodooPS2 should support that as well as the keyboard fine: https://bitbucket.org/RehabMan/os-x-voodoo-ps2-controller/downloads/RehabMan-Voodoo-2016-1208.zip

 

Here's a lspci dump of your hardware: https://linux-hardware.org/index.php?probe=d1555a4a8c&log=lspci_all

 

Gigabit ethernet support: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/files/file/396-intelmausiethernet/

 

Your Intel 7260 wireless card isn't supported. You'll have to replace it with something like a Broadcom BCM94352Z which you can find instructions for, otherwise you'll be stuck getting some USB wifi card that has its own driver and wireless utility app.

 

Your Realtek card reader isn't supported either. a cheap USB card reader works fine in OS X.

 

e: config.plist for clover you can start with: https://github.com/RehabMan/OS-X-Clover-Laptop-Config/blob/master/config_HD4600_4400_4200.plist

Thank you so much! I'll download Sierra again and try everything here out. I'm fairly experienced in the process of doing this, so setting up the installer should be easy. (: I'll burn GParted as well to split my partition. Thank you so much! Will get back to you asap.

 

Also, I've heard of certain thinkpads having their wifi cards locked down and the computer not recognizing a replaced one. I hope mine is not one of these, can we bypass this with a custom bios if need-be?

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The differences between the T440 and T440s seem to come down to the CPU model, different number of USB ports, and other things that don't make a difference. Both models are using HD4400 for graphics so following the same guide should be fine. Just don't use a premade DSDT from a T440s.

 

You can dual boot MBR/CSM style just fine with both OSes on the same hard disk, so feel free to resize your Windows partition via third party software (GParted is fine) and create one for OS X. You'll have to use this MBR patch on the install media since it does a GUID check. Managing multiple OSes on one disk is far easier to manage when you legacy boot versus UEFI booting IMO.

 

You can install OS X to a USB disk if you want. It'll be slow but to OS X a USB disk is no different than an internal SATA one assuming you have no issues with USB.

 

Did you include PS/2 support kexts in your installer? According to what I'm finding, you have a Synaptics touchpad so the latest version of VoodooPS2 should support that as well as the keyboard fine: https://bitbucket.org/RehabMan/os-x-voodoo-ps2-controller/downloads/RehabMan-Voodoo-2016-1208.zip

 

Here's a lspci dump of your hardware: https://linux-hardware.org/index.php?probe=d1555a4a8c&log=lspci_all

 

Gigabit ethernet support: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/files/file/396-intelmausiethernet/

 

Your Intel 7260 wireless card isn't supported. You'll have to replace it with something like a Broadcom BCM94352Z which you can find instructions for, otherwise you'll be stuck getting some USB wifi card that has its own driver and wireless utility app.

 

Your Realtek card reader isn't supported either. a cheap USB card reader works fine in OS X.

 

e: config.plist for clover you can start with: https://github.com/RehabMan/OS-X-Clover-Laptop-Config/blob/master/config_HD4600_4400_4200.plist

Bit of a problem. I re-downloaded macOS Sierra and used Pandora's Box. It seems I was asked to re-arm the USB every time I tried. Does it not like the MBR patch or something?

 

Here is everything it says:

 

1/19/17, 12:23AM

Running from OS X version 10.12.2 (Build 16C67)

Preparing Pandora's files...

Mounting Install macOS Sierra.app

hdutil: attach failed - Resource Busy

 

EDIT: A restart fixed this error. We're up and making the installer!

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Re: wifi limitation, this is something called "whitelist". Something typical on HP and Lenovo laptops where the manufacturers restricts the set of supported hardware in BIOS and prevents system from booting if an unsupported card is installed. There are modded BIOS for some systems to circumvent this. Failing that, if your existing wireless card is not compatible with OS X, you have to read up the system user manual to obtain the list of supported cards and, in that list, try and find a model or the model compatible with OS X/macOS.

http://imgur.com/a/JCmHo

 

Judging from the User Guide on lenovo's website, it seems its not locked, fortunately. Does this mean we're in luck?

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Mmm, did you see the note on p10?

 

"To remove the wireless LAN card for repair or replacement, see “Replacing an M.2 wireless LAN card” on page 75.

 

To remove the wireless WAN card for repair or replacement, see “Replacing an M.2 wireless WAN card” on page 78.

 

Note: Use only Lenovo-authorized wireless communication cards for the computer. If you install an unauthorized wireless communication card that is not approved for use in your computer, an error message will be displayed and the computer will beep when you turn on the computer."

 

You need to look at this (and it's probably not looking good...):

https://download.lenovo.com/parts/ThinkPad/t440_fru_list_20140213.pdf

Ahh... Yes, seems most of these are pretty unsupported or are expensive because of how proprietary they are.

 

If worst comes to worst, I have a USB dongle I used to use in an old Hack of mine which works perfectly still, so i can use that, guess it just sucks not having 1/2 usb ports open anymore, but hey a small sacrifice.

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Hm, seems I can't boot with the installer after making space for it on my Hard Drive. I created the USB with the MBR patch just like you provided with Pandora, but the USB Won't boot at all. I selected the boot menu, but every time I get to the boot menu, i Press the USB, and I get a black screen, nothing. I'm then immediately brought back to the Boot Menu. I installed Clover on the USB as well, I feel this is something to do with the drivers and such. Any advice? I didn't select for UEFI Booting only.

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