Updating Clover

Are you planning on updating Clover? If you were fortunate find a complete boot pack that matches the Hackintosh or HackBook that you are trying to create, here are a few things that you need to know when you try to upgrade (or downgrade) the bootloader to the version of your choice.

Config.plist
Clover will not overwrite any config.plist that it finds (unless you use one that was specifically reconfigured) in the EFI folder but if one is not present, it will create a generic config.plist for you. Please note that you will need to tweak it (with Clover Configurator) for it and your system to work properly. Info to change are the model identifier (to support the macOS version) and System Integrity Protection.

BOOTX64.efi
Each time that the Clover installer is launched, it will attempt to make the BOOTX64.efi the same version as the installer so it is important to archive this file and the contents of the ESP (EFI System Partition) so that you can downgrade to a previous version that was bug-free.

CLOVERX64.efi
As mentioned with the BOOTX64.efi file, CLOVERX64.efi is updated as well. As a matter of fact, they are one and the same. The CLOVERX64.efi is renamed BOOTX64.efi when it is being placed in the EFI\BOOT folder so that the Hackintosh, HackBook, or Apple hardware boots, it knows which boot manager should take precedence.

BOOT.efi
When you see boot.efi, you will see it outside of the EFI folder but inside the ESP as it is used for Legacy booting. The Dell Optiplex 790 SFF requires this file while the more modern Dell Optiplex 9020 SFF does not.

Errors Installing or Updating
As Apple does its best to lock down its current and future versions of macOS, expect it to become more difficult for the Clover Bootloader to install or perform. Thankfully, it is not the only bootloader available and you can always stay a version behind and run the latest using virtualization software to avoid issues.

System Integrity Protection (SIP)
In macOS versions beyond Sierra, you may need to tweak the System Integrity Protection (SIP) and that can be done by changing the CsrActiveConfig values. You can do it quickly by having an alternate config.plist and select those on boot thus leaving the primary configuration intact. My workaround is to update the .efi but only if the paths for Clover are not changed as it will cause things (GUI, mouse, etc) to break.

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Steve Pringle

About The Author: Mr. Pringle writes about hardware and software for several online publications. To see more material from him, you can follow his personal tech blog at TechspertHelp.com and tech vlog at VideoHooligan.com.