Any workarounds to install Final Cut Studio 3 on an 07 MacBook?
 

I have a late 2007 MacBook model and I only want to install FCP 7, DVDSP 4.x, and Compressor 3.5 but it's saying it won't install because:

"Final Cut Studio Installer requires that your system have 128 MB of VRAM; this system has only 64 MB of VRAM."

Any workarounds to get around this?

Thanks,

Heath

Hi,
Not sure if this could work.. But just this morning I read about this piece of shareware software.. which allows you to install applications and to IGNORE system requirements.. Could possible work for you.. The software is called Pacifist
link here:

CharlesSoft - software you always wished someone would write

There's a reason why those requirements were indicated, and it's not a random thing.

All the FC suite of apps require a certain amount of GPU processing to work properly, not just for playback but even for rendering. This is especially important for any FxPlug filters which are 100% GPU rendered.

While it might be possible to side-step the requirements on a system with such rare resources don't expect any of the apps to actually perform properly, especially as noted above. In fact I doubt any FxPlug-based filter will even load and will most likely cause FCP to crash.

But you've got nothing to lose in trying the workaround. Let us know what happens with the hack!

Thanks, guys.

@Robert: Oh I know about the system requirements issues on my little MacBook. FCS 2 loaded Color but I can't use it. When I reviewed the MXO 2, I had to use a friend's MBP just to get anything to work.

Gonna try in a bit.

Heath

Indeed. This is possible. Just extract and install.
-C

The requirements may be even greater than I thought... I called the Ft. Lauderdale Apple Store and they told me that a 13.3" MacBook Pro is fine. I did some research and realized that I wasn't sure if that was true or not.

A call to 800-MY-APPLE and the sales rep said that the minimum MBP we need is the 15" with a 2.66 GHz processor. That one costs $2000!

So now I have two answers. Here are the requirements:

Apple - Final Cut Studio - Tech Specs and System Requirements

Heath

And if you're like me and you have a Matrox MXO 2 with an ExpressCard/34 adapter, you'll need to get yourself the 17" model. Why, Apple why?!

Heath

There is another hack floating around where you trick the installer so you can install FCS 3 on a PPC system. I don't have one anymore so I can't test it.

Okay, sorry to keep posting here but I found this:

Apple - MacBook Pro - Technical specifications of the 13-inch.

I am now wondering if the 13" will work okay after all. It has an NVIDIA 9400M graphics processor. What do you all think?

I'd say I'm pretty much screwed with using the Matrox MXO 2 unless I get a Mac Pro or MBP 17".

Heath

Hard to believe... does that mean it won't run acceptably on my 15" 2.4ghz dual MBP? Apple's specs only seem to call for an Intel CPU and don't specify the speed.

After heavy research and talking to an engineer and sales person, we're okay on all MacBook Pros, 13" and up! BUT... the 2.66 GHz with the two graphics processors will give you that additional speed boost. And any MBP that is similar to it, like an older model.

Heath

Well, Pacifist got FCP 7 and DVDSP to install, but neither open. It's giving me the "64MB of VRAM" failure. Looks like I'm getting a 13.3" MacBook Pro.

Heath

Heath - Can you post a screen shot of error message? Is this the same message you get when you try to install from disc (less pacifist method)?
-C

Yes! I'll post an image of both. Pacifist helped me install it but I don't think anything can help me open it.

Heath

Here's the original install warning I got about the 64MB of VRAM I have and how I need 128MB.

Heath

And here are the two warnings (64MB VRAM vs. 128MB I need to have) from Final Cut Pro 7 and DVD Studio Pro 4.2.2. FYI, I can open the newest versions of Compressor and Cinema Tools.

Heath

Did you try this one?

macosxhints.com - Install Final Cut Studio on Macs with less than 128MB VRAM

"While it may not run too well, it is possible to get Final Cut Studio 3 to install with less than the 'required' 128MB VRAM.

Control-click on the installer package alias and choose Show Original from the pop-up menu. Control-click the original installer and choose Show Package Contents from the pop-up menu. Navigate into the Contents » Resources folder. Control-click on the Requirements Checker and choose Show Package Contents from the pop-up menu. Navigate into the Contents » Resources folder, and then open minsys.plist with Property List Editor, the default (requires Xcode).

Change the value of AELMinimumVRAM from 128 to 64 (or less if you have even less VRAM). The installer will now run normally.

After installing, Control-click on the Final Cut Pro.app in /Applications and choose Show Package Contents from the pop-up menu. Navigate into Contents » Resources folder. Open the mimsys.plist file found there, and make the same change as above. Repeat for all the Final Cut Studio apps you have installed.

No promises on how well they run with less than 128 MB VRAM, but they do run."

Mine didn't run at all after the workaround to install it but I'll give it a shot.

Heath

I stumbled over this tweak here:
Tips to install Final Cut Studio 3 on older white MacBook (w/Intel GMA graphics)

And indeed with a minor modification I got the thing working on my 2 GHz Macbook with Intel GMA 950!

Step 1: Insert the white Final Cut Studio Install DVD and copy its content to your desktop via "duplicate" (option-D).

Step 2: Remove the DVD and open your new Final Cut Studio Install Folder on your desktop. Control-click the Install Final Cut Studio alias (yellow package icon) and chose "open original". This will reveal the hidden original content.

Step 3: Control-click the file FinalCutStudio.mpk and chose "show package contents". Open the path >Contents >Resources and delete the file named Requirement Checker

Step 4: You should now be able to install FCS3 on your Intel GMA Mac as you would on a machine with the required hardware specs.
Since it is very unlikely that Motion will work even with this hack, I installed only FCP, Soundtrack, Compressor and Colors.
In case the installation doesn't work, you have to go back and also delete the files named InstallationCheck of every application.pkg of the Packes folder. These application packages are named FinalCutPro.pkg, Colors.pgk, Motion.pkg, etc.

Step 4: After successful installation go to Applications and use the same old control-click "show packages content" trick to reveal the files of your respective applications.
Go >Content >Resorces and delete the file MRCheckPro.bundle
Repeat this step for every FCS3 application installed.

FCS3 should now run on your Intel GMA machine!

But please don't rush out and buy a copy of FCS3 if your main machine is a Mini or plastic Macbook. How well the applications will run has not been tested yet!
There will most likely be some restrictions, especially with certain filters. I would be rather surprised if Motion ran halfway decently.

This little hack is more for people who already own a Mac with the required specs and just want to use their old Plasticbook or Mini for a few basic FCP tasks.

I wonder if this might even work on G5 Power Macs or Hackintosh netbooks as well?
Could be worth a trial, although be warned: FCS3 will overwrite the files of old FinalCut versions!
Therefore better try this on a different disk. It would be a pain in the ass to find out it doesn't work on your G5 and you'll end up re-installing the whole FCS2 package again...

I ran the hack and I got Final Cut Pro 7 to open! Of course, I don't know how well FCP 7 will run on this little system though.

Heath

I shut down my system last night; got into work and re-booted and launched FCP 7--it gave me the 64MB warning and quit. So I did the workflow listed here again:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/1179862-post19.html

(Deleting the file that does the system check when launching FCP 7, etc.)

And now it works fine. A little annoying that I'll have to do it every time I shut down, but hey, I'm cutting with FCP 7 and it's going great!

Yes, a 13.3" MacBook Pro is in my future. Maybe next week--gotta sell the MacBook first.

Heath

I installed the FCS3 update on a MacMini just to see how well it ran. And you know what... it runs just as well as FCS2. Those requirements are there really for Motion, Color and FxPlug filters that use the graphics card for rendering.
FCP7 and compressor chug along as usual.

What bugs me is that I have two monitors on my 2009 MacPro Octo-core that are both set for 1280x768, which is their native resolution. FCS3 wants 1280x800 as a minimum resolution. It warns me over a lousy 32 lines of resolution!!!

Will this work for G5's or does the check go deeper to the processor level?
-C

Not sure but I'd venture to guess no. PowerPCs aren't supported.

Heath

Heath, empty your trash after moving the files to the bin. This should stop the files from sneaking back.

This happened to me as well at first. But now I can reboot and re-launch the apps as much as I want without any annoying messages.

I did that but they re-appeared.

Heath

That's strange...
Did you remove the MRCheckPro.bundle on every FCS3 application including Cinema Tools and Compressor?
That darn file seems to sneak back in from somewhere.

Or perhaps you still have the disk image of the installer DVD on your Mac?

I can actually open Cinema Tools and Compressor, so maybe I should delete those check files, too.

At the moment I have an incredible 17-inch MacBook Pro so I'm good to go there.

Heath

Great job!
 

Good job, Heath. This workaround may in fact help a lot of FCS editors needing to do the very same thing.

Thanks to everyone who helped find all the workarounds to install AND work with it. Though I'm budgeting to get a 13.3" MBP, I know not everyone had the budget for a new system. If you can eke out a little money, the Mac mini has an NVIDIA graphics processor and it may work, too, but I'm not 100% sure since I can't test it.

Apple - Mac mini - Tech Specs - Explore every Mac mini detail, inside and out.

Thanks,

Heath

Heath - Please tell me about "Profiling for RT Extreme" the first time you load FCP 7 on your MacBook. Did it take forever and give you significantly less in terms of RT playback?

Getting the Red 'Line of Doom' even though it's ProRes Proxy material which was playing fine in FCP 6.0.6.

I had no issues on the MacBook but I was doing straight cuts with a little bit of graphics. I'm on a loaned MacBook Pro and have no issues at all.

Heath

ok i made a disk image through disk utility and followed the directions but am not able to trash the requirements checklist file nor am i able to modify the minsys file to 64mb because it won't let me save it. any ideas on what i am doing wrong? thanks.

Are you on an Intel or Power PC system?

intel core duo 2ghz macbook. i tried deleting the check requirements file from the disk image i made but keep getting an error -61. also tried to modify the minsys file from 128 to 64 but am unable to save the new changes. i followed the step by step but have these 2 issues. thanks for any help heath.

Hmm, that's weird. I had no problems with it. Try rebooting and resetting your PRAM. I sometimes do that before installing software.

Hold down the P, R, Option, and Command keys all at once and you'll hear the start-up chime three times. Then let go and let it book up normally.

Heath

This sounds like a permissions problem offhand to me (the file is "owned" by another user and you do not have write permission on the directory or its contents). Are you doing all this from an account that has administrative privileges?

It could be fixed using terminal and a few unix shell commands, but this assumes some familiarity with the unix commands and also that you have the superuser enabled.

For starters, I would select the files/folders in question and do a "get info" in the Finder. What does it say for "me" under Sharing & Permissions? If it is read only, can you change that?

under sharing/priviledges, it says read & write so i don't think that is the problem...still trying to figure this out...

ok found out the problem...i duplicated the original FCP disc(command-D) instead of using a Disk Image and that solved the problem. installing now...thanks again for your help!

Glad to hear that it was an easy fix!

Heath