iATKOS | United Kingdom

Guide Step by Step:

1. Understanding the Problem:

   • Your PC is not recognizing the drive with macOS Catalina as bootable. The drive is formatted as APFS (Case Sensitive), but shows as “bootable: no” in macOS Utilities.

2. Bootable Flag and APFS Formatting:

   • The issue may relate to the drive not being flagged as bootable. APFS (Case Sensitive) format is correct, but the bootable flag needs to be set.

3. Verify Boot Mode Compatibility:

   • Ensure that your BIOS/UEFI settings are compatible with your macOS installation. If Catalina was installed in UEFI mode, ensure that your BIOS is set to UEFI, not Legacy or CSM.

4. Use OpenCore Configurator for EFI Partition:

   • Follow the advice of Goodcitizen177. Use OpenCore Configurator to access and modify the EFI partition on your SSD.
   • Copy the EFI folder from your installation USB (which has a working bootloader) to the EFI partition of your SSD.

5. Making the Drive Bootable:

   • Boot into macOS Recovery or use a bootable macOS USB.
   • Open Terminal from the Utilities menu.
   • Use the diskutil command to list all disks (diskutil list) and identify your Catalina SSD.
   • Use the command diskutil info /dev/diskXsY (replace X and Y with your SSD's identifier) to check if the disk is marked as bootable. If not, use sudo diskutil mount /dev/diskXsY to mount the EFI partition.
   • After mounting, check and modify the EFI contents as needed, ensuring that the OpenCore files are correctly placed.

6. Testing Boot Process:

   • After copying the EFI files and ensuring the drive is marked as bootable, reboot your PC.
   • Enter the BIOS/UEFI settings and prioritize the SSD as the first boot option.

7. Troubleshooting Boot Issues:

   • If Catalina doesn’t boot, try booting from the USB stick again. If it boots successfully via USB, the issue is likely with the EFI configuration on the SSD.
   • Re-examine the EFI partition contents and OpenCore configuration for any discrepancies.

8. Reinstalling Catalina (if needed):

   • If all else fails, consider reinstalling Catalina. Ensure that the drive is correctly formatted as APFS (Case Sensitive) and the installation process marks the drive as bootable.

9. Checking Hardware Compatibility:

   • Verify that your PC’s hardware is fully compatible with macOS Catalina. Incompatible hardware can sometimes cause boot issues.

10. Seeking Community Assistance:

    • If the problem persists, seek help from Hackintosh forums or communities. Provide detailed information about your hardware, BIOS settings, and steps you’ve taken.

11. Final Check:

    • Once Catalina boots successfully, perform a final check of all system functions, including network, audio, and graphics.

Remember, creating a Hackintosh setup involves navigating through complex configurations and requires patience and attention to detail. Careful step-by-step troubleshooting is key to resolving boot issues.