Struggling to upgrade 2013 MBP to Monterey with OCLP (freezes mid-install). What am I doing wrong?

Hey all

Hoping someone here can sanity check what I’m doing.

I’ve been trying (unsuccessfully) for a couple of days to upgrade my old MacBook and I keep hitting the same issue.

Background:

• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2013) — MacBookPro11,1
• Last OS: upgraded from Catalina to Big Sur (working fine)
• Goal: upgrade to Monterey using OpenCore Legacy Patcher

What I’ve done:

1. Created a Monterey USB installer using createinstallmedia
2. Built OpenCore using:
   • Target model: MacBookPro11,1
   • SMBIOS spoof level: Moderate
   • Everything else left as default
3. Installed OpenCore to the USB EFI partition
4. Booted via:
   • Option → EFI Boot → Install macOS Monterey

Problem:

The install consistently fails at the same point:

• First stage runs fine (files copy, reboot happens)
• After reboot:
  • Option → EFI Boot → macOS Installer
• Then:
  • Apple logo appears
  • No progress bar
  • System freezes

Questions:

• Am I missing something obvious in the setup or boot sequence?
• Is this a known issue with Monterey on MacBookPro11,1?
• Should I be using a different SMBIOS spoof level or config?
• Is upgrading from within Big Sur (instead of USB) the better approach here?

At this point I’m not sure if it’s a config issue, a known limitation, or something I’ve misunderstood in the OCLP process.

Any advice would be really appreciated

Thanks in advance!