Stuck at Apple logo past boot sequence but before installer

[GNULain]

Describe the bug
The system seems to be unable to make it to the installer screen. System locks up at an Apple logo

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Followed guide through to step 10 (including setting correct bios flags) using a macOS virtual machine to create installation tool
2. The system goes through the boot process and freezes just before the installer

Screenshots
Where the system finally freezes
The last section seen before the Apple loading bar

macOS Info:

• OS: Big Sur
• Version 11.2.1 (20D75)
• Laptop Model: T450s BIOS version JBET72WW (1.36)

[racka98]

Wait a minute, does your laptop have the Geforce 940M graphics?

[GNULain]

No, it uses integrated graphics. Here are the complete specs

System:    Host: t450s Kernel: 5.10.0-3-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: sway 1.5 Distro: Debian GNU/Linux bullseye/sid 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 20BXCTO1WW v: ThinkPad T450s serial: <superuser required> 
           Mobo: LENOVO model: 20BXCTO1WW v: SDK0E50512 STD serial: <superuser required> UEFI [Legacy]: LENOVO 
           v: JBET72WW (1.36 ) date: 02/23/2019 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 16.4 Wh condition: 17.0/23.2 Wh (73%) 
           ID-2: BAT1 charge: 15.2 Wh condition: 15.8/23.2 Wh (68%) 
CPU:       Info: Dual Core model: Intel Core i5-5200U bits: 64 type: MT MCP L2 cache: 3 MiB 
           Speed: 2037 MHz min/max: 500/2700 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2037 2: 1948 3: 1980 4: 1988 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 5500 driver: i915 v: kernel 
           Device-2: Lite-On Integrated Camera type: USB driver: uvcvideo 
           Display: server: No display server data found. Headless machine? 
           Message: No advanced graphics data found on this system. 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Broadwell-U Audio driver: snd_hda_intel 
           Device-2: Intel Wildcat Point-LP High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.10.0-3-amd64 
Network:   Device-1: Intel Ethernet I218-V driver: e1000e 
           IF: enp0s25 state: down mac:  
           Device-2: Intel Wireless 7265 driver: iwlwifi 
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: 
Bluetooth: Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb 
           Report: ID: hci0 state: up running bt-v: 2.1 address: 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 119.24 GiB used: 2.53 GiB (2.1%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Toshiba model: THNSNJ128GCSU size: 119.24 GiB 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 115.93 GiB used: 2.53 GiB (2.2%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 
Swap:      ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 976 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) dev: /dev/sda5 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 36.0 C mobo: 0.0 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0 
Info:      Processes: 125 Uptime: 2m Memory: 11.41 GiB used: 484.2 MiB (4.1%) Shell: Zsh inxi: 3.3.01 

Note it's in legacy simply to boot into Debian. It has been set to UEFI while trying to install macOS.

[racka98]

There's probably a setting in your BIOS causing it to fail. Normally when it fails at the 2nd boot screen it's because of unsupported GPU or a setting in the BIOS. Since it gets past the 1st verbose screen it mean the EFI is fine.

Can you first reset bios settings to default and save. Reboot back into BIOS and set it up like in the readme of this repo

[GNULain]

Reset the bios to default, saved and rebooted, then set it up according to the readme. Still the exact same result.
As an aside, I am going to try remaking the install USB with a different flash drive just to rule out that as a possibility.

[racka98]

Reset the bios to default, saved and rebooted, then set it up according to the readme. Still the exact same result.
As an aside, I am going to try remaking the install USB with a different flash drive just to rule out that as a possibility.

You also try setting your usb port to 2.0 mode

[GNULain]

So using a new drive didn't help and neither did changing the system to USB 2.0 only. Overnight I decided to try downloading Catalina and writing it to another drive. It was able to get a little further - the loading bar progresses to roughly 20% - then it flashes "Failed to send exception EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY. error code: -308" for three process ids and proceeds to shut the system down.

[racka98]

So using a new drive didn't help and neither did changing the system to USB 2.0 only. Overnight I decided to try downloading Catalina and writing it to another drive. It was able to get a little further - the loading bar progresses to roughly 20% - then it flashes "Failed to send exception EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY. error code: -308" for three process ids and proceeds to shut the system down.

Are you on latest BIOS? Is secure boot turned off and BIOS set UEFI Only mode with CSM Support On?

Can you mention the exact model number of your T450

[GNULain]

So using a new drive didn't help and neither did changing the system to USB 2.0 only. Overnight I decided to try downloading Catalina and writing it to another drive. It was able to get a little further - the loading bar progresses to roughly 20% - then it flashes "Failed to send exception EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY. error code: -308" for three process ids and proceeds to shut the system down.

Are you on latest BIOS? Is secure boot turned off and BIOS set UEFI Only mode with CSM Support On?

Can you mention the exact model number of your T450

Yes, all of the bios settings are set as per what is in the readme. It was on bios 1.36(JBET72WW) but I updated it to 1.37(JBET73WW) (current release) and it didn't change anything.
It is a T450s with the model number 20BXCTO1WW

[racka98]

So using a new drive didn't help and neither did changing the system to USB 2.0 only. Overnight I decided to try downloading Catalina and writing it to another drive. It was able to get a little further - the loading bar progresses to roughly 20% - then it flashes "Failed to send exception EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY. error code: -308" for three process ids and proceeds to shut the system down.

Are you on latest BIOS? Is secure boot turned off and BIOS set UEFI Only mode with CSM Support On?

Can you mention the exact model number of your T450

Yes, all of the bios settings are set as per what is in the readme. It was on bios 1.36(JBET72WW) but I updated it to 1.37(JBET73WW) (current release) and it didn't change anything.
It is a T450s with the model number 20BXCTO1WW

Can you try connecting an external display and see if it will work

[GNULain]

So using a new drive didn't help and neither did changing the system to USB 2.0 only. Overnight I decided to try downloading Catalina and writing it to another drive. It was able to get a little further - the loading bar progresses to roughly 20% - then it flashes "Failed to send exception EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY. error code: -308" for three process ids and proceeds to shut the system down.

Are you on latest BIOS? Is secure boot turned off and BIOS set UEFI Only mode with CSM Support On?
Can you mention the exact model number of your T450

Yes, all of the bios settings are set as per what is in the readme. It was on bios 1.36(JBET72WW) but I updated it to 1.37(JBET73WW) (current release) and it didn't change anything.
It is a T450s with the model number 20BXCTO1WW

Can you try connecting an external display and see if it will work

That's a good idea but unfortunately it didn't really help. The notebook still stops at the Apple loading bar and the external display is just a black screen. Honestly, I'm kind of stumped. I'm not sure what exactly is preventing this particular machine from reaching the installer.

[m4ak]

My model is also 20BXCT01WW BIOS1.37 and I can install Mojave Catalina

[patsore]

Hello! I have the same issue, though our models differ - mine is 20BX001PUS. A point that we have in common is that we made the usb with virtual machines, so that might be the issue?

[racka98]

Hello! I have the same issue, though are models differ - mine is 20BX001PUS. A point that we have in common is that we made the usb with virtual machines, so that might be the issue?

Might be. How did you pass-through your USB drive to the VM?

[patsore]

A prompt came up and I just routed the USB to the vm. (I used VmWare Workstation instead of VirtualBox)

[racka98]

Might be something wonky with USB pass-through. I always use VirtualBox and the USB Extension Pack and it has always worked for me with enabling USB 3.0 pass-through

[patsore]

I'm gonna try making a vm on virtualbox, and report back.

[patsore]

Seems it didn't make a difference - still stuck.

[patsore]

Maybe there's a problem with the files?

[racka98]

I don't think so. The files are fine. I've tested them on my machine and everything works. Have you tried an older build like 0.6.3 v1 in the releases page? If that also doesn't work then there's probably a setting your are missing.

Try using efi files from that release and see if it makes a difference

[patsore]

My settings were reset to default and copied from yours, so, I doubt any problems would come from them. With older EFI versions still stuck.

[patsore]

Okay, so I used the mojave os. Then I managed to boot into installer. So the problem was most likely the OS.

[racka98]

You could install Catalina then update to Big Sur

[patsore]

Okay, so I managed to install mojave, then, using the mojave hackintosh I made a bootable usb with the not-latest big sur, and then everything was smooth sailing.

[racka98]

I guess the latest Big Sur installer has some issues. Glad it was all sorted out