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ZNDK

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 13, 2017
134
8
Japan
I am trying to get FreeDOS to run on my Mac Pro 2009(5.1). I was able to boot FreeDOS before I changed my firmware to 5.1. I have not been able to boot FreeDOS(1.0, 1.1, 1.2) since I changed my firmware to 5.1.
I'm replacing the CPU with X5670.

It shows about 4 lines of text starting with ISOLINUX and I wait for hours after that and it does not progress.
I have tried PRAM clear and SMC reset. Is there any other way to boot FreeDOS?
 

ZNDK

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 13, 2017
134
8
Japan
I was able to solve the problem myself. After flashing the video card ROM on a different Mac, I was able to boot FreeDOS on the original Mac.
 

ZNDK

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 13, 2017
134
8
Japan
Please explain further
I don't know why either. I could not get FreeDOS to boot even after replacing the video card within the same Mac Pro 2009. I borrowed another Mac Pro (2008) and flashed the RX580 ROM on it. Then I was able to boot FreeDOS on any video card. *I have an RX580 as my main video card.
 

Nguyen Duc Hieu

macrumors 68040
Jul 5, 2020
3,006
997
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
I don't know why either. I could not get FreeDOS to boot even after replacing the video card within the same Mac Pro 2009. I borrowed another Mac Pro (2008) and flashed the RX580 ROM on it. Then I was able to boot FreeDOS on any video card. *I have an RX580 as my main video card.

FreeDOS on RX580?
I would just sell the RX580 (maybe at higher price than when I purchased it new) and plug in the good old 7300GT for freeDOS.
 

jantoman

macrumors member
Mar 2, 2014
42
3
Italy
Yesterday I fixed a Seagate 7200.10 HD affected by the BSY bug, and I decided to update the firmware. I downloaded from Seagate the ISO image and burned a CD. It booted on my Mac Pro 5,1 but the hard disk wasn't recognized... Then I tried with an old Mac Pro 1,1; the boot was successful and the firmware update went on smoothly. Guess that the SATA controller are different on those machines, correct?
 
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