newsman1 Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 I Have been trying to find simple and clear guide to make a bootable USB for High Sierra with HFS+ File System not APFS. I do have a bootable USB for High Sierra right now but that will convert my SSD to the new file system and I do not want to use APFS right now until we have a better understanding and more support for the new APFS. in order for me to do a fresh install I have to install Sierra first and then upgrade to High Sierra. if someone can direct me to a guide if there is one here on this forum or someone that knows how to do that can make a that guide for us Thank you very much in advance and I'm pretty sure a lot of people will benefit from such guide ps: i'm running High Sierra 10.13 (17A405) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris1111 Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 You can try this Ater install with create Install Media dont reboot to the Install SSD, reboot to your curent OS Go to your HS SSD, ➤ macOS Install Data ,Open with textedit OSInstallAttr.plist and minstallconfig.xml. change the line OSInstallAttr.plist <key>Do APFS Convert</key><true/>for <key>Do APFS Convert</key><false/> minstallconfig.xml <key>ConvertToAPFS</key> <true/> for <key>ConvertToAPFS</key> <false/> Now reboot to the SSD Hope that help 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fusion71au Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 @newsman1, You can boot to your High Sierra Installer USB and launch startosinstall from terminal eg /Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --volume /Volumes/macSSD --converttoapfs NO --applicationpath /Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app where "macSSD" is the target volume in this example. I performed the above successfully in VMware (post#32) but should also work from createinstallmedia USB. There is also a way to hack the High Sierra Installer by replacing the IA binary with an earlier beta one, to allow you to choose HFS/APFS- see post#2718 (credit @m-dudarev from applelife.ru). Replace the original IA file in /Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/PlugIns/IA.bundle/Contents/MacOS/IA with the one attached from PB1, then rename "Install macOS High Sierra.app" on the root of the USB to "Install macOS High Sierra Beta.app". PS: @chris1111's method will work also . IA_PB1.zip 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 That's the answer that I was searching about. Thank you guys. @fusion, if I change the IA binary file, I'll have this option in the USB install media? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newsman1 Posted October 12, 2017 Author Share Posted October 12, 2017 thank you very much guys for the reply 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fusion71au Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 That's the answer that I was searching about. Thank you guys. @fusion, if I change the IA binary file, I'll have this option in the USB install media? Yes, just rename "Install macOS High Sierra.app" on the root of the USB to "Install macOS High Sierra Beta.app" if using the IA file from PB1. Then boot to the USB and choose to reinstall the OS . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Thank you @fusion for answered me. But...I have just one more question... This method work just with the first version of High Sierra app (17A365), or we can do that with the last version available too (17A405)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newsman1 Posted October 13, 2017 Author Share Posted October 13, 2017 @newsman1, You can boot to your High Sierra Installer USB and launch startosinstall from terminal eg /Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --volume /Volumes/macSSD --converttoapfs NO --applicationpath /Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app where "macSSD" is the target volume in this example. I performed the above successfully in VMware (post#32) but should also work from createinstallmedia USB. There is also a way to hack the High Sierra Installer by replacing the IA binary with an earlier beta one, to allow you to choose HFS/APFS- see post#2718 (credit @m-dudarev from applelife.ru). Replace the original IA file in /Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/PlugIns/IA.bundle/Contents/MacOS/IA with the one attached from PB1. IA.bundle.png Install macOS High Sierra on SSD.png PS: @chris1111's method will work also . i did try to hack the High Sierra Installer by replacing the IA binary with the one you have provided but it did not work im not sure if there is anything else that i have to do or i miss something i did try this with (17A405) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fusion71au Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 Thank you @fusion for answered me. But...I have just one more question... This method work just with the first version of High Sierra app (17A365), or we can do that with the last version available too (17A405)? I only have the full installer app for 17A365 at the moment (upgraded to 17A405 with the App Store). Not sure how long this "hack" will keep on working - it is a bit like regressing a kext to make things work ---> not ideal as eventually, it will become incompatible when new updates occur. Therefore I recommend startosinstall method to prevent APFS conversion on SSD . i did try to hack the High Sierra Installer by replacing the IA binary with the one you have provided but it did not work im not sure if there is anything else that i have to do or i miss something i did try this with (17A405) Did you rename "Install macOS High Sierra.app" on the root of the USB to "Install macOS High Sierra Beta.app"? As I described to @Allan above, in the long run, it is safer to use Apple's supported startosinstall method. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newsman1 Posted October 14, 2017 Author Share Posted October 14, 2017 I only have the full installer app for 17A365 at the moment (upgraded to 17A405 with the App Store). Not sure how long this "hack" will keep on working - it is a bit like regressing a kext to make things work ---> not ideal as eventually, it will become incompatible when new updates occur. Therefore I recommend startosinstall method to prevent APFS conversion on SSD . Did you rename "Install macOS High Sierra.app" on the root of the USB to "Install macOS High Sierra Beta.app"? As I described to @Allan above, in the long run, it is safer to use Apple's supported startosinstall method. yes I did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piiggggg Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 Just use Disk Utility and format to HFS+J, when you install High Sierra it won't convert to APFS. I tried to boot it without apfs.efi and it worked 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Posted October 23, 2017 Share Posted October 23, 2017 Just use Disk Utility and format to HFS+J, when you install High Sierra it won't convert to APFS. I tried to boot it without apfs.efi and it worked Wow really? That's awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ITzTravelInTime Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 Just use Disk Utility and format to HFS+J, when you install High Sierra it won't convert to APFS. I tried to boot it without apfs.efi and it worked it works only if you use an hard drive for ssd users like me a possible solution is the unsild kext, you can it find here: https://www.hackintosh-forum.de/index.php/Thread/34272-UnSolid-oder-ich-kann-kein-APFS-nie-nicht-leiden/ it's basically a kext that let's the system to not detect your ssd as an ssd, but as a generic storage device, so it will not be converted in apfs automatically, and also fixes some slow boot problems with apfs that are basically caused by a fsck that takes a lot of time to complete it's process, maybe because of the ecc problems documented by piker alpha for hackintosh apfs users Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loganMac Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 it works only if you use an hard drive for ssd users like me a possible solution is the unsild kext, you can it find here: https://www.hackintosh-forum.de/index.php/Thread/34272-UnSolid-oder-ich-kann-kein-APFS-nie-nicht-leiden/ it's basically a kext that let's the system to not detect your ssd as an ssd, but as a generic storage device, so it will not be converted in apfs automatically, and also fixes some slow boot problems with apfs that are basically caused by a fsck that takes a lot of time to complete it's process, maybe because of the ecc problems documented by piker alpha for hackintosh apfs users I have SSD. When fresh install I cannot see my SSD drive until I put apfs kext in other. Or I need to do the "startosinstall" from previous post. Will this work with 10.13.2 bootable usb? Anyway you can attach "unsild kext" here if allowed by admin? Thanks Is apfs good for ssd in term of read/write? Will this work sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/USB --converttoapfs NO --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ high\ Sierra.app --nointeraction &&say Done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts