ASUS K53SC Opencore

July 22, 2026 ยท View on GitHub

(based on dubsteptwo's EFI)

Contents

  1. EFI folder
  2. Utilities:
    1. macrecovery
    2. GenSMBIOS
    3. USBToolBox (USB mapping)

Note

This EFI is based for macOS 10.13

Download

Latest (v1.0.7) | v1.0.6 | v1.0.3 (debug) | Or download either from Releases or from Code

Prerequisites

  • The same exact laptop
  • 2 GB+ flash drive (fast one is recommended)
  • Windows 10 and up (maybe Windows 8 / 8.1 will work with Python 3, idk)
  • Python 3 (>=3.9)
  • Some knowlege of what you're doing

What changed

  • Model (from MacBookAir6,1 "Haswell" to 'MacBookPro8,1 "Sandy Bridge") - fixes graphics after 10.13
  • USB 2 & 3 support
  • Added NullCPUPowerManagement.kext, won't boot without it

What doesn't work (still)

  • Webcam

How to make it work

Download macOS 10.13 with macrecovery using either:

py macrecovery.py -b Mac-7BA5B2D9E42DDD94 -m 00000000000J80300 download

py macrecovery.py -b Mac-BE088AF8C5EB4FA2 -m 00000000000J80300 download

You need to:

  • Format the flash drive (2GB in FAT32 - works the best)
  • Put the files in there (EFI and com.apple.recovery.boot on the root of the drive)
  • Set up SMBIOS (just for it to be different)

Or follow the guide: https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Install-Guide

  1. Go to "C. Change Settings" -> enable both Native Classes and Legacy Native Classes (N and L), then B to get back
  2. Go to "D. Discovr Ports" -> connect any USB device to every USB port, then B to get back
  3. Go to "S. Select Ports And Build Kext" -> K. Build Kext -> enter "MacBookPro8,1"
  4. Copy the USBMapLegacy.kext folder to "Kexts" foldr in OC
  1. Open GenSMBIOS, then "2. Select config.plist"
  2. Drag and drop config.plist, then Enter
  3. "3. Generate SMBIOS" -> input "MacBookPro8,1", tthen Enter. It'll automatically put the info in config.plist

Make sure you have enabled UEFI Boot in the BIOS

The Recovery Server Could Not Be Contacted

a

For this, go to Utilities -> Terminal, and type / paste this:

nvram IASUCatalogURL="http://swscan.apple.com/content/catalogs/others/index-10.13-10.12-10.11-10.10-10.9-mountainlion-lion-snowleopard-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog"

How to make it boot from the hard drive

  1. Install a linux distro of your choice (in this ex. Ubuntu) in UEFI mode, so it creates an NVRAM entry
  2. Navigate to the EFI partition, then EFI/BOOT, and change BOOTx64.efi to the one in the OpenCore EFI folder
  3. Go to EFI/ubuntu, and delete 'grubx64.efi', copy the BOOTx64.efi, and rename it to 'grubx64.efi'

If it doesn't use GRUB as a bootloader, change all .efi files in BOOT and the 2nd folder (if present) to the exact names in the folder