2006/2007 Mac Pro (1,1/2,1) and OS X El Capitan

[rthpjm]

thanks RTH. I hope you didn't think I was being combative or argumentative. I'm very thankful for the help - because - while I am very technical (I'm a Mac/PC technician) I'm much more well versed in the PC land than the Apple land (shhhh, dont' tell anyone. )

Anyway, I did reset the PRAM, but I'm going to try it again and I'll also try the bless command (something new that I've learned, hizzah!). Unfortunately, I can't try any of this until tonight, but I'll post back just as soon as I can.

Okay good to know that you are a technical person. It's hard to judge where to pitch the technical level, so I start low and work upwards!

I've had another thought. If you boot into the installer, before going any further can you start the Disk Utility from the Utilities menu at the top? If so try formatting your target disk, make sure to choose the whole disk, and make sure to choose the GUID scheme (like I did in my vedeo). Quit the disk utility when it finishes. See how far you get from there....

 

[mateo107]

I hear ya - as a technical person who works with 'end-users' - I understand.

I believe I formatted the whole disk with a GUID partition table - because it wasn't showing up initially (because originally it had Windont's on it previously) - but I'll triple check that tonight too.
[doublepost=1465587947][/doublepost]Also, I have some 2006 (1,1) XServes at home too. Will Pikify work on that as well - or will it only work on MacPros? If it's supposed to work on both, I could try on the XServe to see if I get a different result.

 

[rthpjm]

I hear ya - as a technical person who works with 'end-users' - I understand.

I believe I formatted the whole disk with a GUID partition table - because it wasn't showing up initially (because originally it had Windont's on it previously) - but I'll triple check that tonight too.
[doublepost=1465587947][/doublepost]Also, I have some 2006 (1,1) XServes at home too. Will Pikify work on that as well - or will it only work on MacPros? If it's supposed to work on both, I could try on the XServe to see if I get a different result.

I have no idea about the Xserve, I don't have one!
I guess it "should" work, but it probably comes with the same caveat as some of the other old Macs (MacBooks, and minis), the gfx cards will have no acceleration - probably, and there may be an issue with USB...

Try it and let us know

 

[JazzerAlto]

it's all on P1 #1 The boot.efi files need to be replaced in the places noted.
Or here is more info... #2026
Hope this helps.

Thanks. Back up and running

 

[owbp]

Hi again,
if looking for a 7950 to flash, do the fan designs make a difference as to which one is best for a Mac Pro. The "official" Mac version has just one fan but PC versions often seem to have more. Do they all function in the same way - exhausting out of the back? Also, some appear to have 6 and 8pin power connectors - do some PC cards have 2 x 6 pins?

Hey Ant3000, sorry, I was away from home for a few days.

Official Sapphire Mac 7950 has one fan since it is reference design card. Except for the color, it looks the same as AMD Radeon HD7950 (PC reference design).
The fans are not significant factor in this case - I have Windforce coolers (Gigabyte) and temperature hasn't changed on any sensor in my MP. Reference cooler will just make your card run hotter, nothing else.
You want to have reference design on your GPU board (for R17 mod if you ever need it, on cMP3,1 and up) and reference design output layout (DVI, HDMI, 2xmDP) for everything to work after flashing.
Regarding power pins, many 7950s have 2x6 pins, but it is not a problem working with 6 and 8 pin layout, take a look at this topic from post five.

 

[Ant3000]

Hey Ant3000, sorry, I was away from home for a few days.

Official Sapphire Mac 7950 has one fan since it is reference design card. Except for the color, it looks the same as AMD Radeon HD7950 (PC reference design).
The fans are not significant factor in this case - I have Windforce coolers (Gigabyte) and temperature hasn't changed on any sensor in my MP. Reference cooler will just make your card run hotter, nothing else.
You want to have reference design on your GPU board (for R17 mod if you ever need it, on cMP3,1 and up) and reference design output layout (DVI, HDMI, 2xmDP) for everything to work after flashing.
Regarding power pins, many 7950s have 2x6 pins, but it is not a problem working with 6 and 8 pin layout, take a look at this topic from post five.

Thanks very much for this info it is really helpful. There appear to be loads of these cards with slightly different coolers and specs so being able to sort out one from the other is great.

 

[macprobuffalo]

For those of you who miss the quietness of you MP before running more powerful GPU's I recommend checking out the Arctic Accelero S3. Its a passive cooler that works with a lot of cards.

I have used it with my ATI 5770 for about a year with 0 issues. I bumped the I/O fan up to 750rpm and the heatsink is never more than lukewarm. The temp of the HD directly above the GPU increased from 80F to 90F which is perfectly acceptable.

Only caveat is you will have to move your GPU to slot #2 which has a slower speed, but based on data i've seen the performance drop is around 1%

https://www.arctic.ac/us_en/accelero-s3.html

 

[dcloud45]

Hello Ant,

I have an XFX branded HD5770, flashed with Netkas EFI. The Expansion Slot Utility shows me x16...

View attachment 634074

Hey how did you manage to flashed the card i have the same one.

 

[rthpjm]

Hey how did you manage to flashed the card i have the same one.

Hello dcloud45,

I worked with a Netkas forum member known as Fl0r!an. See the posts around this one. You will need to register in order to see the attachments... My XFX-5770 ROM is attached to that post. (Look at the posts before this one for more details).

You "should" start with a copy of your own ROM, then add the EFI component. That way you don't get into difficulties with make/model ids when flashing. The EFI part that Netkas and Fl0r!an modified is at Fl0r!an's post here...

How to build your own ROM has a dedicated thread (it's only 29 pages, a mere baby compared to this nearly 100-page thread )

P.S. You don't "need" the FreeDOS live-cd stuff if you have Windows. I use Bootcamp, Windows 7 (I think I've used Windows 10 successfully too), with GPUz to dump the original ROM, and WinATIFlash to flash the ROM back onto the card See this post....

 

[EpiV1988]

Hi EpiV1988,

Then I think we can be fairly certain that your issues are specific to your machine.

One last thing for you to try before we start in on the hardware itself:

Try rebooting into "safe mode"
Reboot, when you hear the chime hold down the shift key, keep it down until the boot screen progress bar appears, you should then be able to let go.

Your Mac will start with just the Apple core (minimum) software, and the minimal set of config (e.g. No hardware accelerated graphics). Check to see if your USB is now working....

Upon testing with safe mode I still have completely lost USB
I've done pram and smc resets too
[doublepost=1465738769][/doublepost]Is there a Kext I can install to get USB?

 

[cdmawolf]

Upon testing with safe mode I still have completely lost USB
I've done pram and smc resets too
[doublepost=1465738769][/doublepost]Is there a Kext I can install to get USB?

Curious question, are both the front and rear USB ports dead? Normally the front USB ports are part of the CPU chipset and the rear are more of a built in I/O card. Hence if they are BOTH are dead I would suspect software. Just curious.

 

[EpiV1988]

Curious question, are both the front and rear USB ports dead? Normally the front USB ports are part of the CPU chipset and the rear are more of a built in I/O card. Hence if they are BOTH are dead I would suspect software. Just curious.

Both are dead except for the Dell USB mouse and usb keyboard plugged in from boot up.

 

[rthpjm]

Upon testing with safe mode I still have completely lost USB
I've done pram and smc resets too
[doublepost=1465738769][/doublepost]Is there a Kext I can install to get USB?

Hi EpiV1988,

Where did you get your copy of "Install OS X El Capitan" app from?

Does the keyboard and/or mouse work in the startup Chooser (Reboot, hold Alt)?

I would say that the place to get the USB KEXTs from would be the source "Install OS X El Capitan" app, hence asking about the origin of the app.

I'm just curious, are you saying the keyboard and mouse are working? What do you mean by "both are dead, completely lost USB" (describe why you think it's not working)....

 

[EpiV1988]

Hi EpiV1988,

Where did you get your copy of "Install OS X El Capitan" app from?

Does the keyboard and/or mouse work in the startup Chooser (Reboot, hold Alt)?

I would say that the place to get the USB KEXTs from would be the source "Install OS X El Capitan" app, hence asking about the origin of the app.

I'm just curious, are you saying the keyboard and mouse are working? What do you mean by "both are dead, completely lost USB" (describe why you think it's not working)....

My install OS X el capitan app is straight from the app store on a supported mac.

Keyboard and mouse work there, and in ElCap until unplugged. They lose connection somehow I guess and that may be why I say they die because no matter how many times I unplug and replug they will not work again until I restart the machine with them plugged in.

 

[Ant3000]

So the keyboard and mouse both work when plugged into USB until you unplug them and plug them in again. This would indicate the USB is working to some extent. Are both the KB and Mouse Apple? Do they require any additional drivers or settings in the System Prefs - My Logitech mouse has a separate driver and settings pane. Have you tried plugging in other USB devices, such as a phone charger to see if power is there if not full functionality?

Are you testing this with a clean install of El Capitan before you migrate any data? This would ensure nothing is being introduced from a previous install.
Have you tried with a different keyboard and / or mouse?

 

[CT87]

Hello,
I'm french, sorry for my dirty English...
I need help, when i run createpikeinstallmedia, i get this

----
Detected the need to clean up InstallESD.dmg...
Running Apple's createinstallmedia tool...
Erasing Disk: 0%... 10%... 20%... 30%...100%...
Copying installer files to disk...
Copy complete.
Making disk bootable...
Copying boot files...
Copy complete.
Done.
Piking the .IABootFiles directory
Open the InstallESD disk image
Piking the OSInstall collection
cp: /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/OSInstall.collection: Read-only file system
./createpikeinstallmedia: line 230: /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/OSInstall.collection: Read-only file system
cp: /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/pikify.pkg: Read-only file system
mv: rename /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/InstallableMachines.plist to /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/InstallableMachines.plist.apple: Read-only file system
./createpikeinstallmedia: line 247: /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/InstallableMachines.plist: Read-only file system
rm: /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/InstallableMachines.plist.apple: No such file or directory
----

thx you in advance for your help !!
CT87

 

[EpiV1988]

So the keyboard and mouse both work when plugged into USB until you unplug them and plug them in again. This would indicate the USB is working to some extent. Are both the KB and Mouse Apple? Do they require any additional drivers or settings in the System Prefs - My Logitech mouse has a separate driver and settings pane. Have you tried plugging in other USB devices, such as a phone charger to see if power is there if not full functionality?

Are you testing this with a clean install of El Capitan before you migrate any data? This would ensure nothing is being introduced from a previous install.
Have you tried with a different keyboard and / or mouse?

I do not have an apple keyboard or mouse to test with and am using a dell usb keyboard and mouse that do not require any additional drivers. They are "plug-n-play". I have not tested a phone cable and will when I'm back with the machine.

I am migrating data from my other lion side which only has about 5gb of files. I will try a clean install then not migrate for further testing but I don't see how any of that could be messing up El Capitan.

I will see about a different keyboard and mouse, BUT in my thoughts the problem isn't related to the keyboard and mouse but instead the controller of the drives.

 

[Ant3000]

I do not have an apple keyboard or mouse to test with and am using a dell usb keyboard and mouse that do not require any additional drivers. They are "plug-n-play". I have not tested a phone cable and will when I'm back with the machine.

I am migrating data from my other lion side which only has about 5gb of files. I will try a clean install then not migrate for further testing but I don't see how any of that could be messing up El Capitan.

I will see about a different keyboard and mouse, BUT in my thoughts the problem isn't related to the keyboard and mouse but instead the controller of the drives.

The keyboard may have no connection but it is a way to rule it out of causing the problem. If it is a new install onto a fresh drive the only controllers will be installed with El Capitan and these have not caused any issues that have been noted by any other users that I have heard of. Something is not functioning as it should so it is just a process of elimination of possible causes.
I think the clean install onto a newly formatted drive without migrating anything is the thing I would do. I have only migrated data from Yosemite so not sure the migration process from Lion would cause problems, but you need to rule it out. If only 5gb of data it may be easier to transfer manually once you have a stable install.

 

[EpiV1988]

The keyboard may have no connection but it is a way to rule it out of causing the problem. If it is a new install onto a fresh drive the only controllers will be installed with El Capitan and these have not caused any issues that have been noted by any other users that I have heard of. Something is not functioning as it should so it is just a process of elimination of possible causes.
I think the clean install onto a newly formatted drive without migrating anything is the thing I would do. I have only migrated data from Yosemite so not sure the migration process from Lion would cause problems, but you need to rule it out. If only 5gb of data it may be easier to transfer manually once you have a stable install.

I will try that next as of my next time in front of the machine.

 

[DanielMoerkKjaer]

Hi guys, i had great succes installing El Captain on my MP 1.1 via this forum, bluetooth and all are working...

However i have one problem with my lined ethernet via DHCP - after approx. 30 minutes of active use, my Mac suddenly can't find my routers DNS, even i try to renew the DHCP lease will not work - only a hard reset will do the job. did anyone encounter same problem or have a fix for this?

 

[CT87]

Hello,

Following my post #2416 , How to cleaning InstallESD.dmg ?
Is that the source of the problem ?

Thx

 

[rthpjm]

Hello,

Following my post #2416 , How to cleaning InstallESD.dmg ?
Is that the source of the problem ?

Thx

Hello CT87

Please logout, then log back in again (or reboot your machine).

It looks like you already have the OS X Install ESD disk image open. When you run the script it will open the OS X Install ESD, but because you already have the image open and mounted, the version which the script opens will now be named OS X Install ESD 1. Your copy is read only, the script copy is read/write.

You need to ensure that the disk image is not mounted before running the script.


Bonjour CT87

S'il vous plaît vous déconnecter, puis vous connecter à nouveau (ou redémarrer votre machine).

Il semble que vous avez déjà l'OS X d'installation image disque ESD ouverte. Lorsque vous exécutez le script, il ouvrira le OS X Installer ESD, mais parce que vous avez déjà l'image ouverte et monté, la version qui le script ouvre va maintenant être nommé OS X Installer ESD 1. Votre copie est en lecture seule, la copie du script est en lecture / écriture.

Vous devez vous assurer que l'image disque est pas monté avant d'exécuter le script.

 

[CT87]

Hello CT87

Please logout, then log back in again (or reboot your machine).

It looks like you already have the OS X Install ESD disk image open. When you run the script it will open the OS X Install ESD, but because you already have the image open and mounted, the version which the script opens will now be named OS X Install ESD 1. Your copy is read only, the script copy is read/write.

You need to ensure that the disk image is not mounted before running the script.


Bonjour CT87

S'il vous plaît vous déconnecter, puis vous connecter à nouveau (ou redémarrer votre machine).

Il semble que vous avez déjà l'OS X d'installation image disque ESD ouverte. Lorsque vous exécutez le script, il ouvrira le OS X Installer ESD, mais parce que vous avez déjà l'image ouverte et monté, la version qui le script ouvre va maintenant être nommé OS X Installer ESD 1. Votre copie est en lecture seule, la copie du script est en lecture / écriture.

Vous devez vous assurer que l'image disque est pas monté avant d'exécuter le script.

Hello rthpjm,
I tested this on.
i reboot my machine.(MAcBookPro OSX 10.9.5),
and always the same problem :

Running Apple's createinstallmedia tool...
Erasing Disk: 0%... 10%... 20%... 30%...100%...
Copying installer files to disk...
Copy complete.
Making disk bootable...
Copying boot files...
Copy complete.
Done.
Piking the .IABootFiles directory
Open the InstallESD disk image
Piking the OSInstall collection
cp: /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/OSInstall.collection: Read-only file system
./createpikeinstallmedia: line 230: /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/OSInstall.collection: Read-only file system
cp: /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/pikify.pkg: Read-only file system
mv: rename /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/InstallableMachines.plist to /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/InstallableMachines.plist.apple: Read-only file system
./createpikeinstallmedia: line 247: /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/InstallableMachines.plist: Read-only file system
rm: /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/InstallableMachines.plist.apple: No such file or directory

do you have an idea ?
[doublepost=1465811913][/doublepost]I try it, look the result:

bash-3.2# diskutil list
/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *500.1 GB disk0
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_HFS BOSS 499.8 GB disk0s2
/dev/disk1
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *1.0 TB disk1
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk1s1
2: Apple_HFS DATAS 999.9 GB disk1s2
/dev/disk2
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *32.0 GB disk2
1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk2s1
2: Apple_HFS Sanstitre 31.7 GB disk2s2

bash-3.2# cd ~/Downloads/pikify3.1
bash-3.2# ls
OSInstall.collection boot_black_3_1.efi bootbase.efi missing-fonts.tgz
boot.efi boot_grey_3_1.efi createpikeinstallmedia pikify.pkg
bash-3.2# ./createpikeinstallmedia /Volumes/Sanstitre
Running Apple's createinstallmedia tool...
Erasing Disk: 0%... 10%... 20%... 30%...100%...
Copying installer files to disk...
Copy complete.
Making disk bootable...
Copying boot files...
Copy complete.
Done.
Piking the .IABootFiles directory
Open the InstallESD disk image
Piking the OSInstall collection
cp: /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/OSInstall.collection: Read-only file system
./createpikeinstallmedia: line 230: /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/OSInstall.collection: Read-only file system
cp: /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/pikify.pkg: Read-only file system
mv: rename /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/InstallableMachines.plist to /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/InstallableMachines.plist.apple: Read-only file system
./createpikeinstallmedia: line 247: /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/InstallableMachines.plist: Read-only file system
rm: /Volumes/OS X Install ESD/Packages/InstallableMachines.plist.apple: No such file or directory

 

[rthpjm]

Hello rthpjm,
I tested this on.
i reboot my machine.(MAcBookPro OSX 10.9.5),
and always the same problem :

hello CT87

Please return to post #1390 and download a copy of version 10 pikify script bundle.

Run version 10 please...

bonjour CT87

S'il vous plaît revenir à poster #1390 et télécharger une copie de la version 10 "pikify" faisceau de script.

Exécuter version 10 s'il vous plaît ...

 

[CT87]

hello CT87

Please return to post #1390 and download a copy of version 10 pikify script bundle.

Run version 10 please...

bonjour CT87

S'il vous plaît revenir à poster #1390 et télécharger une copie de la version 10 "pikify" faisceau de script.

Exécuter version 10 s'il vous plaît ...

Thx,
I try it (error) :
Running Apple's createinstallmedia tool...
/Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app does not appear to be a valid OS installer application.