How to use Liberator, and the questions everyone asks.

Before you start

1. Check the PC: an Intel or AMD processor, an NVIDIA card the NullMoth driver takes (GTX 16 series, RTX 20 to 50 series), and macOS 15 or 26 already running through OpenCore with that driver working.
2. Free 102 GB on the disk your macOS is on. About 25 GB stays as macOS 27, about 27 GB is downloads you can clear afterwards, and the rest is working space that is given back.
3. Plug in a network cable. macOS 27 has no Wi-Fi and no Bluetooth yet.
4. Back up anything you cannot lose, and make sure you know how to choose a disk in the OpenCore boot picker.

Install

1. Download Liberator, unzip it, and open it on macOS 15 or 26.
2. Leave Set up as a new Mac unticked to bring your account over (name, password and administrator rights, not your files). Tick it to start at Apple's setup.
3. Press Prepare for Golden Gate and confirm once. Nothing is changed before you confirm.
4. Leave the PC on and connected. It downloads macOS 27 from Apple, builds the startup files, installs, and switches the startup files last.
5. If it stops, read the line it stopped on, fix that, and press the button again. Finished steps are not repeated and downloads are kept.

The first start

1. Restart when it says it is done. macOS 27 is the default in the boot picker.
2. Start text appears and pauses at PCI configuration for up to two minutes. Wait.
3. The screen can stay on text for about three minutes more while the graphics driver loads. Wait.
4. If the login window says the System keychain cannot be found, press Cancel and sign in.
5. Restart once after the first login. People report it runs more smoothly after that.

If it goes wrong

1. Choose your macOS 15 or 26 disk in the OpenCore boot picker. Your old macOS is untouched.
2. Open Liberator there and press Send a report. Post the report ID in the Discord or on r/1401 with your processor and graphics card.
3. Cancel Golden Gate puts your old startup files back and keeps macOS 27 on its volumes.
4. Remove macOS 27 puts them back and erases the macOS 27 volumes. It asks first.
5. Clear downloads frees about 27 GB once you no longer need them.

Which PCs does Beta 1 support?

PCs that already run macOS 15 or 26 through OpenCore with the NullMoth NVIDIA driver working. That means a GTX 16 series or RTX 20, 30, 40 or 50 series card. It has been run on a small number of desktop PCs so far.

I have AMD or Intel graphics and no NVIDIA card. Can I use it?

Not in Beta 1: the check stops and says so. Support for AMD cards and for AMD and Intel built-in graphics is planned for Beta 2.

Does it work on a real Mac?

Not in Beta 1. Real Intel Macs are planned for Beta 2.

I have an AMD processor (Ryzen). Can I try it?

The check lets you. It is untried: nobody has confirmed a start on an AMD processor yet. If you try, send a report whatever happens.

Does it work on a laptop?

The check lets you, and it is untried. Laptops whose built-in screen is wired to the other graphics chip, and the switch between two chips, have not been tested. Expect no Wi-Fi.

My card is older than GTX 16 (GTX 10 series, Quadro K, Radeon HD). Will it work?

No. Liberator needs a card the NullMoth driver takes, and those start at GTX 16.

Do I need to change my Mac model (SMBIOS) first?

No. Liberator sets what macOS 27 needs when it builds the startup files, and your macOS 15 or 26 files are kept as they are.

Is this really macOS 27, or something running on top of macOS 26?

It is macOS 27.2 itself, on its own volumes, started by its own Intel kernel. macOS 26 is not running underneath. Apple's programs that exist only for Apple silicon run through an interpreter; everything with an Intel build runs directly.

Why does it need 102 GB free?

That is the most it uses at one moment, not what it keeps. macOS 27 keeps about 25 GB. About 27 GB is downloads (most of it macOS 27 from Apple), kept until you press Clear downloads. The rest is working space while it unpacks, and it is given back. Beta 2 asks for less.

Can I put macOS 27 on a different disk or partition?

Not in Beta 1. It makes its volumes on the same disk as the macOS you run it from, and the free space has to be there.

Can macOS 27 share an SSD with macOS 26?

Yes. That is how it works: new volumes beside your current macOS, in the same APFS container. Nothing of the old system is moved.

I already downloaded the macOS 27 restore image. Can Liberator use my copy?

Not in Beta 1. It downloads its own copy from Apple and checks it.

Can it damage my PC or my motherboard?

Liberator does not flash firmware. It adds volumes to your disk, adds a folder of startup files beside your current ones, and changes which disk the boot picker starts. Cancel Golden Gate reverses the startup files. It is still beta software on a new platform: if you cannot afford a problem on this PC, wait.

Is it free?

Yes. Donations keep the work going.

It says there is no room on the startup partition, but my disk has plenty of space.

That message is about the small EFI partition (or USB stick) that holds OpenCore, not your main disk. Old OpenCore log files usually fill it: delete the opencore-*.txt files from that partition and press the button again.

It says the startup files are not a 1401 build.

Beta 1 only works from startup files that 1401 made. An OpenCore setup built another way is refused. Other setups are planned for a later beta.

It says no NVIDIA card the driver takes was found.

Beta 1 needs a supported NVIDIA card. See the first section.

It stopped part-way. Do I start over?

No. Press Prepare for Golden Gate again. Steps that finished are not repeated and the downloads are kept.

It asks for Wi-Fi during setup, or I installed offline. Is there a command to turn Wi-Fi on?

No. macOS 27 has no Wi-Fi yet on any PC. Use a network cable.

Do I still need the USB stick?

Only if your OpenCore is on it. Liberator changes the startup files where they already are. If you start your PC from a stick today, you still do afterwards; if OpenCore is on the internal disk, you do not need a stick.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth do not work.

Known. Neither works on macOS 27 yet.

It is slower than macOS 26.

Expected in this beta. The parts of macOS 27 that exist only for Apple silicon run through an interpreter, and making that faster is ongoing work.

The screen flickers.

Reported on Beta 1. Send a report from macOS 15 or 26 with your card named so it can be looked at.

Downloaded apps will not open from the Dock or Downloads, or Finder misbehaves.

Reported on Beta 1. Moving the app into the Applications folder first has worked for one user. Send a report.

Which apps do not work?

Known not to work yet: Spotlight search, Books, Journal, Maps, Reminders and Voice Memos. Other things will turn up; report them.

Can I install macOS updates from Software Update?

Do not. A new macOS 27 build needs a new Liberator release. Updates will come through Liberator.

Can I still start macOS 15 or 26?

Yes. Choose its disk in the OpenCore boot picker. Hold Control while pressing Return to make that choice stick.

Is System Integrity Protection on?

No. On macOS 27 it is lowered and Apple's code-signing enforcement is off. Treat macOS 27 as a test system, not as the one you keep private things on.

It does not start. What do I do?

Start macOS 15 or 26 from the boot picker, open Liberator there and press Send a report. It reads the macOS 27 logs from there. Then post the report ID in the Discord or on r/1401.

Do I send logs with Liberator or with 1401?

With Liberator, from macOS 15 or 26.

What should I put in a help post?

The report ID, your processor, your graphics card, whether it is a desktop or a laptop, and the exact line it stopped on. A post that only says it does not work cannot be answered.

Where do I ask?

In the NullMoth Discord or on r/1401. That is where reports are read and fixes are posted.

I want to help build this.

Developers are wanted: more hardware, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, the apps that do not work, and a faster interpreter. Say so in the Discord.