SOLVED TOSHIBA Dynabook Cannot install any OS newer than Catalina.

[EliteMacx86]

I saw the OEM section and I found out that there were a few tested in there which works with Mac. I do actually have a Micron 2450 with me but it’s in a backup mini-PC that I use when I travel or lodge. Can it work with TRIM enabled? Also, up to which Mac version will it work?

Yes, its compatible and it works with TRIM. The highest version we tested is macOS Monterey. The higher series 3400 is also supported as well.

Reason why I’m asking is that the whole root of the problem in my case is probably the NVME drive. My Chinese SSD might also be incompatible as well hence why it freezes. Also read that the Phison NVMes (Sabrent Rocket) ain’t viable anymore since Monterey.

Likely possible

At this point I don’t mind being stuck with Catalina or High Sierra as long as I have this working with a compatible drive.

That's also an option.

Please advise, thank you.

Maybe you can backup the data from Micron 2450 and use it to install and once installed, you can definitely buy a good drive.

Edit: already bought a WD SN740 and I'm already waiting for it to arrive before I continue this. Read that it shares a lot in common with SN770 with its WD controller and other specs, with the difference being the tolerances. Since some WD drives are more compatible with running Mac, especially the ones with the WD Controllers, I just decided to take one instead of risking to brick this spare M. 2 drive that I have.

Should be supported. SN770 is dying like crazy, even on Windows side. Never liked the SN770. Tons of users had problem. Seems like the SSD in your Laptop is 2230?

 

[takoriin]

No, that's just the NVRAM variables in the config.plist. I'm talking about the machine's NVRAM!

Oh, where should I start looking in that case? Just want to make sure of things especially in this regard.

 

[takoriin]

Yes, its compatible and it works with TRIM. The highest version we tested is macOS Monterey. The higher series 3400 is also supported as well.


Likely possible


That's also an option.


Maybe you can backup the data from Micron 2450 and use it to install and once installed, you can definitely buy a good drive.


Should be supported. SN770 is dying like crazy, even on Windows side. Never liked the SN770. Tons of users had problem. Seems like the SSD in your Laptop is 2230?

I see, I’ll give it a shot soon since the drive seems to be faring well in your experiments. I’ll try installing Catalina first and see if there will be any difference.

My laptop uses a 2280 form factor and has no screws provisioned for 2230. I saw a 2280 version of SN740 and I thought it might be a good deal because of the proprietary controller and it being a detuned/slower WD Black. Hopefully it’s a safer choice given that it’s primarily an OEM part for Steam Decks, PS5s, and ROG Allies based on what I read, and OEM parts are always on the sturdy side (except Hitachi DeathStars of the time).

I’m planning to enable TRIM on it but from my understanding it will either make the system boot fast or slow depending on the drive. Is it always recommended to enable that for WD drives?

I’ll update again once it’s here tomorrow.

 

[EliteMacx86]

Oh, where should I start looking in that case? Just want to make sure of things especially in this regard.

Its the firmware but that's a later part.

 

[EliteMacx86]

I see, I’ll give it a shot soon since the drive seems to be faring well in your experiments. I’ll try installing Catalina first and see if there will be any difference.

My laptop uses a 2280 form factor and has no screws provisioned for 2230. I saw a 2280 version of SN740 and I thought it might be a good deal because of the proprietary controller and it being a detuned/slower WD Black. Hopefully it’s a safer choice given that it’s primarily an OEM part for Steam Decks, PS5s, and ROG Allies based on what I read, and OEM parts are always on the sturdy side (except Hitachi DeathStars of the time).

I’m planning to enable TRIM on it but from my understanding it will either make the system boot fast or slow depending on the drive. Is it always recommended to enable that for WD drives?

I’ll update again once it’s here tomorrow.

TRIM is enabled by default for most of the NVMe drives. You don't need to do anything extra for that.

 

[takoriin]

Its the firmware but that's a later part.

Gotcha, will keep that in mind.

TRIM is enabled by default for most of the NVMe drives. You don't need to do anything extra for that.

Noted, thank you for the heads up.

So while waiting I tried to experiment with running Catalina and it finally worked with everything fully set up. It boots quite fast, I must say.

I'm currently working on post-install stuff to see how it goes. Once the SN740 arrives I'll try doing another setup with Ventura, taking what I learned from here and applying it in practice. Wish me luck. Thank you for the help so far!

 

[EliteMacx86]

So while waiting I tried to experiment with running Catalina and it finally worked with everything fully set up.

With the Chinese drive or the Micron 2450?

It boots quite fast, I must say.

When the TRIM is enabled and works as intented, the boot time is really really faster. It does not get stuck like Samsung. xD

I'm currently working on post-install stuff to see how it goes.

Better. That way, you can just replicate on Ventura or later

Once the SN740 arrives I'll try doing another setup with Ventura, taking what I learned from here and applying it in practice.

Sounds good!

Wish me luck. Thank you for the help so far!

Good Luck!

What do you have to say about the first post in this thread?

 

[takoriin]

With the Chinese drive or the Micron 2450?


When the TRIM is enabled and works as intented, the boot time is really really faster. It does not get stuck like Samsung. xD


Better. That way, you can just replicate on Ventura or later


Sounds good!


Good Luck!

What do you have to say about the first post in this thread?

Ah, I tried Catalina with the Chinese drive first and it went smooth from start to finish, which gave me no reason to pull out the 2450. I did have some freezes at first but the moment I fixed the EFI so that it boots to the internal drive, it stabilized and didn't crash so far. What alienates me a bit at the moment is whenever I double-click folders and elements it pops up the file information instead of opening them but I guess that's part of the learning curve from getting used to Mac.

I'll also observe the boot and installation behavior once the SN740 comes in and track how fast it boots vs the Chinese drive. I'll keep this Chinese drive as a backup just in case the SN740 fails (fingers crossed).

All I can say about the first post, looking back, it's relatively simple once you start understanding how things work, and I got way too ahead of myself back there lol hence why I got so lost and confused. If only I stumbled upon this place first and read more here it didn't have to take more than a week before I got a working OC. Despite that, it's a great learning experience. Understanding the basics first and doing the step-by-step guides helped with that a lot. I'll have this thread bookmarked. Thank you again!

 

[takoriin]

Updating this thread because of newer developments. Removing the solved tag as well due to a new problem preventing completion of Mac installation.

The SN740 arrived just a few hrs earlier and I did a mirror copy of the Chinese drive's Catalina build on it. It's actually blazing fast, even faster than the Chinese drive. Everything runs perfectly, but I found the need to upgrade to a newer Mac OS as I can't install some of the apps that I need (Slack, to name one). The problem right now is that, I can't seem to upgrade to a newer version of Mac OS newer than Catalina as it always get stuck at 12 minutes remaining, with the errors that I saw after "Syncing disk data" being "unable to get data from (wherever the target drive is)" then it ends up with "prune orphaned unlock records failed with error: Error Domain=com.apple.OpenDirectory Code=10000 Operation is not supported by the directory node". No matter what version I try/use, it always end up like that. Be it Big Sur, Monterey, or Ventura, it's all the same.

I remade the whole config.plist from scratch and changed the SMBIOS to MacBookPro15,4, set the SecureBootModel to Default, and fixed my boot-args by removing the hyphen before the alcid argument. I also made sure to erase the drive in each attempts, reset NVRAM in each attempts, and tried force-restarting the laptop whenever it gets stuck at that error, and it always ends up not showing an installed OS despite data being written in there as seen in Disk Utility.

I've been dealing with this for the last 4 hours and I'm actually lost and unsure how to proceed with this. I need it running any of the newer MacOS so that I can use my needed apps with it, otherwise I really have no use for the OS and would rather go back to Windows.

Is there any information that I might've missed regarding installing/booting Big Sur and newer Mac OS?

 

[EliteMacx86]

Ah, I tried Catalina with the Chinese drive first and it went smooth from start to finish, which gave me no reason to pull out the 2450. I did have some freezes at first but the moment I fixed the EFI so that it boots to the internal drive, it stabilized and didn't crash so far.

Sounds good!

What alienates me a bit at the moment is whenever I double-click folders and elements it pops up the file information instead of opening them but I guess that's part of the learning curve from getting used to Mac.

Enable two fingers and left as primary click.

I'll also observe the boot and installation behavior once the SN740 comes in and track how fast it boots vs the Chinese drive. I'll keep this Chinese drive as a backup just in case the SN740 fails (fingers crossed).

Sounds good!

All I can say about the first post, looking back, it's relatively simple once you start understanding how things work, and I got way too ahead of myself back there lol hence why I got so lost and confused. If only I stumbled upon this place first and read more here it didn't have to take more than a week before I got a working OC. Despite that, it's a great learning experience. Understanding the basics first and doing the step-by-step guides helped with that a lot. I'll have this thread bookmarked. Thank you again!

Yes, most people are in rush, don't have patience and don't want to read guides at all and looking for a baked recipe.