Skip to content Skip to footer

How to install OSX Yosemite on unsupported 2006/2007 Mac Pro

Apple’s latest operation system which is currently in beta Mac OSX Yosemite isn’t compatible with the older 2006 and 2007 Mac Pro while they are perfectly cable of running the new OS as far as performance goes. The latest officially supported version was the 32-bit version of Mac OSX Lion but the Mac Pro’s have no problem in running a full-fledged 64-bit architecture OS. The community has found a way of installing OSX Yosemite on an older Mac Pro, here is how:

How to install Mac OSX Yosemite on older Mac Pro

  1. Reminder: This is an unofficial guide and we highly recommend you back up all of your data before we start. AmongTech is not responsible for any damage this might do to your Mac
  2. Requires: Large then 8GB USB
  3. Download the OSX Yosemite Developer Preview.app
  4. Right click the downloaded file
  5. Click on “Show Package Content”
  6. go to ‘Contents/SharedSupport’ and mount InstallESD.dmg
  7. Open up your terminal and run the following: cd /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/
  8. then run: open BaseSystem.dmg
  9. Connect your USB drive to your Mac
  10. Open up Disk Utility
  11. Select your USB drive
  12.  make 2 partitions, BOOT and Installer
  13. select Master Boot Record but make sure you are still formatting it as Mac OS Extended
  14. Click on the Installer partition
  15. And press “Restore”
  16. Key Step: Drag the mounted BaseSystem.dmg (white one, not the file with the disk on it) into the Source field and drag ‘Installer’ (from the disk util list) into the Destination field.
  17. In the terminal, run the following commands:
    cp /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install ESD/BaseSystem.dmg /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/
    cp /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install ESD/BaseSystem.chunklist /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/
    rm -Rf /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/Packages
    mkdir /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/Packages
    cp -r /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install ESD/Packages/ /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/
  18. Download Clover here
  19. Run the installer and change the install location to the previous created Boot partition of your USB
  20. Proceed to select the following options osx yosemite mac pro
  21. Download the following file and place it in the root of your BOOT drive. Download it here
  22. once done, run the following command in the terminal:
    sudo bless –folder=/Volumes/BOOT –file=/Volumes/BOOT/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.efi –setBoot –legacy
  23. Reboot your Mac
  24. When you hear the boot sound, hold the CMD key
  25. When the Drive menu appears, select Windows
  26. Then when it is done loading, the OSX Yosemite installer should appear.
  27. Voila!