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macOS Mojave VM on ESXi 6.5u3 ?

TopHatProductions115
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TopHatProductions115
TopHatProductions115
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I have a DL580 G7 with Westmere EX Xeons (4x E7-8870's), running VMware ESXi 6.5u3. I have been trying to (and failing at) creating a macOS Mojave VM for the past week or so. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster, and I have embarrassingly little progress to show for it. In fact, I'm literally stuck at the progress bar, that shows up after initial installation and before you get to chose a language. I will provide any information requested to get this VM working. Some preliminary info...

 

Here is a link to the unlocker I ended up using:

 

Here are the current specs for the VM: 

  • CPU :: 8c/16t

  • RAM :: 16GB DDR3 ECC

  • GPU :: nVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan Z

  • STR :: 300GB SAS HDD (datastore)

    • 4TB SAS HDD (raw disk)

    • 8TB SAS HDD (raw disk)

 

The drives were originally attached to the VM via SATA controller. I tried using a SCSI controller instead, just to see if that changed anything, but no dice.

 

Here is the current VMX file (pulled from vCenter): 

board-id:	<hidden_for_reuse_privacy>
board-id.reflectHost:	FALSE
cpuid.coresPerSocket:	8
ehci.pciSlotNumber:	-1 (was originally 34)
ethernet0.checkMACAddress:	FALSE
ethernet0.connectionType:	nat
ethernet0.pciSlotNumber:	192
firmware:	efi
hpet0.present:	TRUE
hw.model:	MacPro5,1
hw.model.reflectHost:	FALSE
ich7m.present:	TRUE
migrate.hostLog:	macOS Mojave-66b321bb.hlog
migrate.hostLogState:	none
migrate.migrationId:	0
monitor.phys_bits_used:	43
numa.autosize.cookie:	160001
numa.autosize.vcpu.maxPerVirtualNode:	8
nvram:	macOS Mojave.nvram
pciBridge0.pciSlotNumber:	17
pciBridge0.present:	TRUE
pciBridge4.functions:	8
pciBridge4.pciSlotNumber:	21
pciBridge4.present:	TRUE
pciBridge4.virtualDev:	pcieRootPort
pciBridge5.functions:	8
pciBridge5.pciSlotNumber:	22
pciBridge5.present:	TRUE
pciBridge5.virtualDev:	pcieRootPort
pciBridge6.functions:	8
pciBridge6.pciSlotNumber:	23
pciBridge6.present:	TRUE
pciBridge6.virtualDev:	pcieRootPort
pciBridge7.functions:	8
pciBridge7.pciSlotNumber:	24
pciBridge7.present:	TRUE
pciBridge7.virtualDev:	pcieRootPort
pciPassthru0.deviceId:	0x1001
pciPassthru0.id:	00000:022:00.0
pciPassthru0.pciSlotNumber:	160
pciPassthru0.systemId:	5f47f988-d50b-887a-7875-78e7d158470c
pciPassthru0.vendorId:	0x10de
sata0.pciSlotNumber:	33
sched.cpu.latencySensitivity:	normal
sched.mem.pin:	TRUE
sched.swap.derivedName:	/vmfs/volumes/5f493ce7-cbc1516b-04b7-78e7d158470c/macOS Mojave/macOS Mojave-8e6b6dbd.vswp
scsi0.pciSlotNumber:	16
serialNumber:	<hidden_for_reuse_privacy>
serialNumber.reflectHost:	FALSE
smbios.reflectHost:	TRUE
smc.present:	TRUE
smc.version:	0
softPowerOff:	FALSE
svga.autodetect:	TRUE
svga.present:	TRUE
toolsInstallManager.updateCounter:	76
usb_xhci:4.deviceType:	hid
usb_xhci:4.parent:	-1
usb_xhci:4.port:	4
usb_xhci:4.present:	TRUE
usb_xhci:6.deviceType:	hub
usb_xhci:6.parent:	-1
usb_xhci:6.port:	6
usb_xhci:6.present:	TRUE
usb_xhci:6.speed:	2
usb_xhci:7.deviceType:	hub
usb_xhci:7.parent:	-1
usb_xhci:7.port:	7
usb_xhci:7.present:	TRUE
usb_xhci:7.speed:	4
usb_xhci.pciSlotNumber:	224
vm.createDate:	1639365991107132
vmci0.pciSlotNumber:	32
vmotion.checkpointFBSize:	16777216
vmotion.checkpointSVGAPrimarySize:	16777216
vmware.tools.internalversion:	0
vmware.tools.requiredversion:	10272

 

I've been using a vanilla ISO, created from a Mojave installer that I downloaded from Apple's servers. I'd like to make the VM imitate a Mac Pro 5,1 because it's the closest match I could think of for the specs I've given it. Here is the guide that I used for some of the parameters in the VMX file:

 

In the most recent troubleshooting that I did, I made sure to turn on verbose mode. I took a screenshot of the results:

 

I'm not sure what to try next. I was originally going to try this guide tonight, but I thought it'd be better to stop and ask for help before going too much further. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Edited by TopHatProductions115
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TopHatProductions115
TopHatProductions115
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I got the macOS VM to boot up without the Titan Z:

 

93778869_Screenshot(381).thumb.png.5a9c965b0bab9feda1d8ac4171c1dddc.png

 

But, that brings with it the question - Isn't macOS supposed to support nVIDIA Kepler (including Titan Z) GPUs, out of the box?

 

I'll have to try adding the Titan Z back to the VM after initial setup, to see if it was only a temporary condition.

 

Apps like PleX and DaVinci Resolve benefit from GPU acceleration, and I intend to test both in this VM...

Edited by TopHatProductions115
Added screenshot
TopHatProductions115
TopHatProductions115
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Further developments:

 

image.thumb.png.881d5e5474c4b56bf06efa4472f115da.png

 


The virtual Mac Pro appears to work after removing the Titan Z. The bad news is, I now have the Titan Z and the raw disks to troubleshoot - macOS can't initialise the disks. Everything else appears to work, so not the worst situation to be in.

TopHatProductions115
TopHatProductions115
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Posted (edited)

Update - I installed Remotix and added the Titan Z back to the macOS VM. The VMware remote console can't see the screen once a GPU is passed to the VM, but Remotix can. However, I have new issues to fix now. I can't change the display resolution. Also can't format or use the raw disks that I passed to the VM. Here is a screenshot of the VM, in its current state:
 

Screenshot_383.png

 

I'll probably have this marked as resolved, unless anyone wants to help with the two new issues. Those probably need their own posts/threads...

 


EDIT :: Sorry for how messy the VMX looks. I tried to save the indentation/spacing, but couldn't get it right :( 

Edited by TopHatProductions115
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