MP 1,1-5,1 Firmwares 138.0 - 144.0, video cards, and boot screen visibility...

[e^2]

So according to Apple, at the time of upgrade from High Sierra to Mojave, you had to give up boot screen support for ALL graphics cards in a Mac Pro. At least, that's how I remembered the initial announcement during the Mojave beta period. And I was so frustrated with Apple that I created a radar bug complaining about it, even going so far as to take a picture of the box of the Mac Edition Radeon 7950 box that has the "designed for Mac" logo on it. I told Apple that it was unfair for them to break existing, important functionality on hardware that was specifically certified by Apple as being fully functional.

Later, when I finally upgraded my 5,1 MP to Mojave, it seemed like boot screen support had indeed gone away. Then, I'm not sure exactly which Firmware update did it, but with the Mac Edition (EFI-based) 7950, it seems that boot screen support had returned. I discovered this when I tried to hold down Option to see the boot picker, and magically it worked.

However I never heard any official word from Apple that this functionality would be preserved for compatible, EFI-based cards. Can someone on this forum please confirm that this is actually expected behaviour? Does the latest 144.0 firmware support boot screen visibility on the DVI port when using a designed-for-Mac EFI-based video card like the Sapphire Mac Edition 7950?

 

[startergo]

Mojave and later OSX will support Metal cards. 7950 Mac edition is metal capable and has a boot screen:

Sapphire HD 7950 Mac Edition for Apple Mac Pro 2009-2012

Upgrade the graphics performance of your 2009-2012 Mac Pro for enhanced gaming, audio/ video editing, and content creation. Includes a 2 year OWC warranty.

eshop.macsales.com

 

[tsialex]

So according to Apple, at the time of upgrade from High Sierra to Mojave, you had to give up boot screen support for ALL graphics cards in a Mac Pro. At least, that's how I remembered the initial announcement during the Mojave beta period. And I was so frustrated with Apple that I created a radar bug complaining about it, even going so far as to take a picture of the box of the Mac Edition Radeon 7950 box that has the "designed for Mac" logo on it. I told Apple that it was unfair for them to break existing, important functionality on hardware that was specifically certified by Apple as being fully functional.

Later, when I finally upgraded my 5,1 MP to Mojave, it seemed like boot screen support had indeed gone away. Then, I'm not sure exactly which Firmware update did it, but with the Mac Edition (EFI-based) 7950, it seems that boot screen support had returned. I discovered this when I tried to hold down Option to see the boot picker, and magically it worked.

However I never heard any official word from Apple that this functionality would be preserved for compatible, EFI-based cards. Can someone on this forum please confirm that this is actually expected behaviour? Does the latest 144.0 firmware support boot screen visibility on the DVI port when using a designed-for-Mac EFI-based video card like the Sapphire Mac Edition 7950?

You are mistaken, it's not pre-boot configuration support that Apple removed with Mojave, it's FileVault 2 support for MP5,1. Everything else still works if your GPU is a Mac Edition or 3rd-party flashed.

Btw, this is not firmware related, Apple removed MP5,1 support from the FileVault configuration tool, fdsetup, there are workarounds: MP 1,1-5,1 [GUIDE] Bypass FileVault blacklist on 5,1 in Mojave -- on existing installation

 

[e^2]

You are mistaken, it's not pre-boot configuration support that Apple removed with Mojave, it's FileVault 2 support for MP5,1.

Everything else still works if your GPU is a Mac Edition or 3rd-party flashed.

Thank you for clearing that up. However I've noticed that my ATI 5770 that came with the Mac Pro doesn't seem to be working with pre-boot config support. I can't see the boot picker screen, nor does verbose boot work. Can you think of a reason why that would be the case?

 

[tsialex]

Thank you for clearing that up. However I've noticed that my ATI 5770 that came with the Mac Pro doesn't seem to be working with pre-boot config support. I can't see the boot picker screen, nor does verbose boot work. Can you think of a reason why that would be the case?

DP1.2 Display? Apple pre-boot configuration support requires DP1.1 and don't work when the display is DP1.2. See the notes and item 1 here: MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (BootROM upgrade instructions thread)

 

[e^2]

DP1.2 Display? Apple pre-boot configuration support requires DP1.1 and don't work when the display is DP1.2. See the notes and item 1 here: MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (BootROM upgrade instructions thread)

No, it's a very old Dell 2007WFP with DVI.

 

[tsialex]

No, it's a very old Dell 2007WFP with DVI.

It's a real Apple OEM HD 5770?

Do you have another monitor to check with a different resolution than 1650x1080?

Did you tried to clear NVRAM 3 times consecutively?

 

[MIKX]

The HD 7970 & the R9 280X cards - if EFI flashed - still show the bootpicker in Mojave & are both Metal supported. These two cards are also pretty easy to EFI flash.

I have both an EFI flashed Sapphire DUAL-X 7970 & an MSI Armor RX 580 8gb.

The Sapphire 7970 shows bootscreens in Mojave 10.14.6 the MSI RX 580 card doesn't

Usually only the HD 7950 - which is older & weaker than either HD 7970 or R9 280X - gets mentioned.

 

[e^2]

It's a real Apple OEM HD 5770?

Do you have another monitor to check with a different resolution than 1650x1080?

Did you tried to clear NVRAM 3 times consecutively?

The only other monitors I have are significantly newer and are 4k resolution, so are more likely to be less compatible.

Haven't tried resetting NVRAM or SMC recently; both are useful to reset. I do plan on starting fresh with this Mac soon (remove all disks and PCIe cards except video card, clearing NVRAM and SMC, booting from USB media, and reinstalling the OS onto a new SSD). I'm also looking for a way to test the logic board and power supply. I want to make sure that there is nothing wrong with the system from a power delivery perspective. Any advice you could provide to do this would be much appreciated.

 

[MIKX]

Haven't tried resetting NVRAM or SMC recently; both are useful to reset. I do plan on starting fresh with this Mac soon (remove all disks and PCIe cards except video card, clearing NVRAM and SMC, booting from USB media, and reinstalling the OS onto a new SSD). I'm also looking for a way to test the logic board and power supply. I want to make sure that there is nothing wrong with the system from a power delivery perspective. Any advice you could provide to do this would be much appreciated.

I commend your problem-finding diagnostic technique. It WILL reveal most if not all weaknesses in your system.

We need a STICKY along these lines. Perhaps titled " Don't throw your cMP away . . do this first " ?

NOTE : I highly recommend removing the PSU ( not hard, only four screws ) then thoroughly de-dusting it with canned air. Likewise for the CPU Tray & fans in that area.

Last month I had a problem with my GPU displaying wrong PCI Link Speed & Link Width.
Shutting down, removing the offending GPU & replacing it with a proven EFI flashed GPU + most of what is in your above post brought everything back to normal after the original GPU was re-installed.

Also, one RAM module was not showing up .. . fixed by shutting down, removing the module, cleaning the contacts with a clean, soft eraser, re-installed . .. it showed up.

Quite a few cMP owners go into panic mode the moment their cMP doesn't boot up or shuts down .. . probably after years of neglect.

 

[e^2]

It's a real Apple OEM HD 5770?

Do you have another monitor to check with a different resolution than 1650x1080?

Did you tried to clear NVRAM 3 times consecutively?

Oh, and yes I believe it's a real OEM HD 5770. It came with the Mac, though I bought it used from OWC/Macsales in 2016.

 

[Macschrauber]

I never lost boot screens due to the firmware updates on a bunch of gpus, Amd, Nvidia, flashed or Apple shipped. Something else must be the culprit.

 

[MIKX]

My EFI flashed cards; XFX 5770, Sapphire Vapor-X 5870 both work in Mojave but no Metal support but my Sapphire Dual-X 7970 has Metal support, & of course Metal is OK. It's a very useful spare.

 

[e^2]

I commend your problem-finding diagnostic technique. It WILL reveal most if not all weaknesses in your system.

We need a STICKY along these lines. Perhaps titled " Don't throw your cMP away . . do this first " ?

NOTE : I highly recommend removing the PSU ( not hard, only four screws ) then thoroughly de-dusting it with canned air. Likewise for the CPU Tray & fans in that area.

Last month I had a problem with my GPU displaying wrong PCI Link Speed & Link Width.
Shutting down, removing the offending GPU & replacing it with a proven EFI flashed GPU + most of what is in your above post brought everything back to normal after the original GPU was re-installed.

Also, one RAM module was not showing up .. . fixed by shutting down, reoving the module, cleaning the contacts with a clean, soft eraser, re-installed . .. it showed up.

Quite a few cMP owners go into panic mode the moment their cMP doesn't boot up or shuts down .. . probably after years of neglect.

Yes, that's definitely the plan. New cans of compressed air arrived from Amazon on Saturday (along with a new PULSE Radeon 580). My main concern is ensuring that the Mac stays healthy for another year or two; I'm also interested in firmware security and am concerned about some of the strange behaviour I've seen.
[automerge]1580794749[/automerge]

I never lost boot screens due to the firmware updates on a bunch of gpus, Amd, Nvidia, flashed or Apple shipped. Something else must be the culprit.

Which brings me to my next question: how can I force a reflash of Apple's official firmware? I've already gone to 144.0 but I'd like to flash it again. Is that possible? I noticed that it's possible to get System Profiler to show a different firmware version when I booted the Catalina Loader (it showed 138.0). I tried booting the Catalina Loader and then running the Mojave installer, but it decided that a firmware upgrade wasn't needed. How do I force it? Can I pull the firmware out of the Mojave installer and stage it myself?

 

[tsialex]

Yes, that's definitely the plan. New cans of compressed air arrived from Amazon on Saturday (along with a new PULSE Radeon 580). My main concern is ensuring that the Mac stays healthy for another year or two; I'm also interested in firmware security and am concerned about some of the strange behaviour I've seen.
[automerge]1580794749[/automerge]


Which brings me to my next question: how can I force a reflash of Apple's official firmware? I've already gone to 144.0 but I'd like to flash it again. Is that possible? I noticed that it's possible to get System Profiler to show a different firmware version when I booted the Catalina Loader (it showed 138.0). I tried booting the Catalina Loader and then running the Mojave installer, but it decided that a firmware upgrade wasn't needed. How do I force it? Can I pull the firmware out of the Mojave installer and stage it myself?

Catalina loader fakes the SMBIOS, that's why the firmware shows different than the real one.

Don't use unsupported macOS versions to debug.

 

[e^2]

Catalina loader fakes the SMBIOS, that's why the firmware shows different than the real one.

Don't use unsupported macOS versions to debug.

I don't think I'm explaining myself well. I know that the Catalina Loader fakes the SMBIOS; that's the point. I tried to use it to confuse the Mojave installer to re-install the latest firmware. It didn't work. Do you have any other ideas on how I could force the re-flash of 144.0 firmware?

 

[tsialex]

I don't think I'm explaining myself well. I know that the Catalina Loader fakes the SMBIOS; that's the point. I tried to use it to confuse the Mojave installer to re-install the latest firmware. It didn't work. Do you have any other ideas on how I could force the re-flash of 144.0 firmware?

Efiflasher checks the EFI firmware release and blocks any attempt to downgrade or flash the same firmware over. You can't overcome this, since the test is done reading the real SPI flash via LPC.

The only way to efiflash is via a new firmware version, that probably Apple will never release again since MP5,1 is long obsolete, flashing a working dump via flashrom, or desoldering and flashing a previous backup via external SPI programmer. Don't try to flash over the generic image over your SPI, you will lose all hardwareIDs and access to iCloud/FaceTime/Messages.

 

[e^2]

Efiflasher checks the EFI firmware release and blocks any attempt to downgrade or flash the same firmware over. You can't overcome this, since the test is done reading the real SPI flash via LPC.

The only way to efiflash is via a new firmware version, that probably Apple will never release again since MP5,1 is long obsolete, flashing a working dump via flashrom, or desoldering and flashing a previous backup via external SPI programmer. Don't try to flash over the generic image over your SPI, you will lose all hardwareIDs and access to iCloud/FaceTime/Messages.

Shouldn't a process similar to this work? http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,852.0.html

 

[tsialex]

Shouldn't a process similar to this work? http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,852.0.html

I already explained the motive for not work with my previous post, anyway you can always test yourself.

 

[e^2]

I already explained the motive for not work with my previous post, anyway you can always test yourself.

For some reason I cannot even find the scap file. I assume it would be named something like MP51.scap in the EFIPayloads subdir of the FirmwareUpdate.pkg resource file that would normally be in an installer. I can't find it in the full 10.14.5 installer, nor in the combo update for .5, nor anywhere. It's not in the RecoveryHD image of the full installer either. Where would it be?

 

[tsialex]

For some reason I cannot even find the scap file. I assume it would be named something like MP51.scap in the EFIPayloads subdir of the FirmwareUpdate.pkg resource file that would normally be in an installer. I can't find it in the full 10.14.5 installer, nor in the combo update for .5, nor anywhere. It's not in the RecoveryHD image of the full installer either. Where would it be?

MP5.1 use .fd firmware images, not .scap, only Macs that have IntelME support use .scap.

I already warned you to not flash it…

Look, unless someone modified the GOP EFI module inside your BootROM, your problem is not BootROM related. The EFI modules area are not writeable by the system, only the NVRAM volume inside the SPI is.

 

[e^2]

MP5.1 use .fd firmware images, not .scap, only Macs that have IntelME support use .scap.

I already warned you to not flash it…

Look, unless someone modified the GOP EFI module inside your BootROM, your problem is not BootROM related. The EFI modules area are not writeable by the system, only the NVRAM volume inside the SPI is.

My point is that I cannot find any file, scap or fd, that contains 144.0. I literally unpacked the FirmwareUpdate.pkg file, went into Scripts/Tools/EFIPayloads and ran strings on every file, saw that none of the files contained the 144.0 firmware. Where is it?

 

[tsialex]

My point is that I cannot find any file, scap or fd, that contains 144.0. I literally unpacked the FirmwareUpdate.pkg file, went into Scripts/Tools/EFIPayloads and ran strings on every file, saw that none of the files contained the 144.0 firmware. Where is it?

/Applications/Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/Firmware/MP51.fd

 

[e^2]

/Applications/Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/Firmware/MP51.fd

Thank you.

 

[crjackson2134]

I tried to use it to confuse the Mojave installer to re-install the latest firmware. It didn't work. Do you have any other ideas on how I could force the re-flash of 144.0 firmware?

For what purpose? This has nothing to do with the BootPicker screen. If you have successfully upgraded to firmware 144.0.0.0.0 you should leave it alone. Reflashing won't change your situation for the better, and could even cause a brick if something goes wrong.