OpenCore 0.6.9 - VMware Workstation 16 - AMD Ryzen

Install macOS Big Sur on Ryzen with VMware Workstation and OpenCore

The VM is succesfully installed and tested on 2 different cpus/systems:

• Ryzen 9 3900X -> VM has 6 core CPU and 12GB RAM
• Ryzen 5 PRO 4650U -> 4 core CPU and 8GB RAM

Prerequisites

• Real Mac or a VM with macOS
• Pre-build VMDK for the #Method 1
• USB 16GB for the #Method 2
• VMware Workstation 16 (Player and Workstation 15 should also work)
• Unlocker for VMware -> unlocker

Method 1

Download the pre-build VMDK for the installer of macOS Big Sur from here:

• Big Sur 11.3.1 - OC 0.6.9
• Alternative link - 11.3.1
• OLD - Alternative link - 11.2.2
• OLD - Alternative link - 11.1

1. Close VMware Workstation
2. Download the Unlocker and run win-install.cmd as Admin
3. Open VMware Workstation and create a new VM
4. I will install the operating system later
5. Select Apple Mac OS X -> macOS 11.1
6. Choose a name for the Virtual Machine
7. I created a disk size of 200GB (reccomended is 80GB)

• VM created

8. After that modify the VM and attach the downloaded VMDK (macOS Installer)
9. In the VM settings, select the Hard Disk (es. 200GB) -> Advanced -> Virtual Device Node and put it after the VMDK installer | ex. If the installer is SATA 0:2 put the Hard Disk as SATA 0:3)
10. Now start the VM, install macOS and continue with the Post-installation :)

Method 2

First of all you need to prepare the USB that we will use to install macOS on VMware

Instructions

• Download macOS Big Sur from the App Store.
• Plug in an empty USB drive.
• Run one of the below commands in your Terminal to prepare the bootable macOS USB.

NOTE: Make sure to replace 'MyVolumeName' with your actual USB volume name in the below commands.

## Big Sur
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolumeName

## Big Sur Beta
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Big\ Sur\ Beta.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolumeName

EFI partition

You can use this tool: MountEFI

• Just copy the EFI folder into the EFI partition that you have mounted

Pre-installion (Windows)

Close VMware Workstation

Download the Unlocker and run win-install.cmd as Admin

Open VMware Workstation and create a new VM

• I will install the operating system later
• Select Apple Mac OS X -> macOS 11.1
• Choose a name for the Virtual Machine
• I created a disk size of 200GB (reccomended is 80GB)
• Finish

macOS Installation

• Start the VM and select No
• Insert the USB into the PC and connect it to the VM
• On the VM "bios" select Reset the system
• After the reboot you will see that the VM is booting into the OpenCore menu
• Select Install macOS Big Sur (external) | or Beta if you are installing macOS 11.1

After that is a "normal" installation of a macOS with OpenCore, you need to create a new partition and install macOS

NOTE: The installation require a lot of reboot so don't panic :)

Post-installation

After the complete installation of macOS there are some changes to do:

EFI FOLDER

• Download the EFI folder from the releases page
• Copy the folder of the USB into the EFI partition of the VM
• Download the MountEFI software and mount the partition of the USB and the macOS Disk
• Replace the content of the macOS disk with the USB EFI content

After that eject the USB and shutdown the VM.

OpenCore entry into the VM BIOS

Select the VM and near the Power button select Power On to Firmware from the dropdown list

• Select Enter setup
• Configure boot options
• Delete boot option -> remove OpenCore (this is the OpenCore from the USB or VMDK installer)
• Add boot option -> search for EFI, [PciRoot... and select it
• Select -> -> BOOTx64.efi
• Input the description -> insert something like OpenCore AMD or just Opencore
• Commit changes and exit
• Select Configure boot options
• Change boot order -> set the OpenCore entry at first position, then Commit changes and exit
• Exit the Boot Maintenance Manager
• Select OpenCore and boot to macOS

VMware Tools

Now if you want you can install the VMware Tools to resize correctly the VM and to enable the drag&drop from the VM to the host and viceversa

• The VMware tools are inside the Unlocker folder under tools -> darwin.iso

Generate new SMBIOS info with OpenCore Configurator or something else :)

FIX

AUDIO

• If exists AppleALC.kext in your EFI folder delete it.
• Download and install VoodooHDA OC from: VoodooHDA OC
• Reboot the system
• Select SPDIF-out from the audio outputs

Credits

• AlGrey for creating the patches.
• XLNC for maintaining patches to various macOS versions.
• Sinetek, Andy Vandijck, spakk, Bronya, Tora Chi Yo, Shaneee and many others for sharing their AMD/XNU kernel knowledge