MP 1,1-5,1 Firmware Mac Pro 5,1 apparently "bricked" (but MP boots and works)

[alvise72]

Good evening,

I have a problem with a Mac Pro 5.1 (with a Radeon RX 560 with Metal support) on which I can run macOS Sequoia (with OCLP 2.3.2) without any problems. However, I see the firmware version as 9999.99.... (instead of the well-known 144.0.0, which among other things allows booting from NVMe).

First of all I tried booting the Mac Pro from a USB with Mojave (with the main boot SSD drive unplugged), because I know that that system version is the only one able to update the firmware to 144.0.0...

However, when asked by the mojave installer to shut down the Mac (by just clicking on the button on the screen), the rainbow round pointer appears, spinning non-stop and the computer just won't shut down.

Also, if I try to boot the machine while holding down the power button (for many seconds), I don't hear any sound typical of the computer going into firmware update mode (no PCI card installed, but the GPU).

The problem isn't blocking, I can still use the Mac with Sequoia. But I'd like to have that firmware version which, among other things, increases the PCI speed from 2.5GT/s to 5GT/s (I've been told).

Thank you for any suggestions you may have for me.

Kind regards.

 

[flaubert]

Your problem is that you're still booting through OCLP. That's why it is presenting you with the fake boot rom version, and because OCLP is spoofing your hardware to something that came out after Mojave (probably a Mac Pro 2019) you can't really boot or update with Mojave.

You have to disable OCLP completely if you want to update firmware via Mojave. I'm not that familiar with OCLP, which may provide a way to remove itself/reverse its installation. The manual way would be to study the pinned post on manual installation of OpenCore written by cdf; there you will instructions on how to mount your EFI partition. Once the EFI partition is mounted you can erase OpenCore files within it (you might want to copy them off to a thumb drive first for restoration later). Then when you reboot OpenCore/OCLP won't be involved at all, because the files have been removed, and you're back to vanilla booting with parameters that aren't spoofed.

You should probably also study tsialex's comprehensive post on how to update your boot rom.

 

[Bigwaff]

If you disconnect drive with OCLP installed macOS and boot Mojave USB install media or another drive with Mojave using Option key to get boot picker, you no longer boot with OC EFI. This normal boot and should show current, real boot rom version in System Information.

The Bible for updating firmware

MacPro5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (10.13/10.14 BootROM upgrades instructions thread)

Please fully read this first post, you will probably find that you have one or more problems described into the various notes below. Mojave will only install if you have upgraded your BootROM to the current release and your Mac Pro have a Metal capable GPU*. If you are trying to install Mojave...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[alvise72]

Thanks a lot guys for your reply!
I understand that OCLP can make things more complicated. But the problem of the MP not going into firmware update mode (long press followed by a long ‘beep’) occurs even if I disconnect the SSD containing the EFI partition with the OCLP stuff. Maybe that's not the main problem, but it's still something outside normal behaviour.
Thanks for the link, I'll give it a thorough read....

P.S.: after the long press, instead of the long beep, I see the blink pattern 3-3-3 of the front led (3 fast flahses, 3 slow, 3 fast). I read somewhere that it means something.

 

[Macschrauber]

You can use my Dumper for a deep check, see signature.

9.999 is a spoofed string, generated from OpenCore.

 

[alvise72]

Thanks a lot

You can use my Dumper for a deep check, see signature.

9.999 is a spoofed string, generated from OpenCore.

Thanks a lot Macschrauber, I was able to download and run the rom dumper. It produced a bin and log files inside Download. It also says "This is an outdated firmware version. It is recommended to update the firmware to 144.0.0.0.0".

Of course, as described in the first post I can't do it, because when I boot from a Mojave USB pen, when it tells me to shutdown to update the firmware, after I click on Shutdown button nothing happens but the round rainbow disk spinning forever.

So, the question is now: can I use your tool to flash the firmware to 144.0.0.0.0 ? and where do I extract from that firmware bin file ?

Thank you very much,

Alvise

 

[Bigwaff]

So, the question is now: can I use your tool to flash the firmware to 144.0.0.0.0 ? and where do I extract from that firmware bin file ?

You can’t update firmware from USB installer. You have to use App Store Mojave download. There is section in link provided earlier that explains.

 

[flaubert]

@Bigwaff is right, @tsialex 's sticky post is the canonical reference guide to getting your firmware updated. You have to read each and every line that tsialex wrote in that first posting, because every single line matters - no shortcuts. For instance, you have to have a supported graphics card in the correct slot, and no extra hard drives in your box, etc. Stuff that you would think shouldn't matter, does matter. I would also suggest that if you're still having problems, post in that thread - that's where you'll get the best help.

 

[alvise72]

In the meanwhile I was able to restore the long press to enter the MP into firmware update mode by booting it without the motherboard battery.
Thanks for the support!