It Boots! It Doesn't Boot! It Boots Again!

[MevetS]

Today, in preparation for upgrading to 5,1 to Mojave, I did a system drive backup using SuperDuper! to a USB drive. And as is my practice when I do such a backup I attempt to boot from that backup, to make sure that I can. And that's when things went bad.

I shut down. Powered up. Got the chime. And then nothing. The system had power but the monitors, 20 inch Apple Cinema Display and 23 inch Apple Cinema HD Display, stayed dark (the little white lights on the bezel lit up on both). The caps lock light on the keyboard did not light up when pressed. Curious.

I force power down, disconnected the USB backup drive, and powered up. Same result. I force power down, power up holding the option key. Same result. I start disconnecting things, leaving only the monitors and keyboard connected. I disconnect the power to system and monitors, wait a bit, and reconnect. I power up holding down Option-Command-P-R. Same result. I'm starting to get worried.

I disconnect everything, swap out the recently installed RX 580 Sapphire Pulse for the original GPU Radeon 5770, connect one monitor, and the keyboard. It starts up, I get the chime, and I boot into macOS Recovery. My start up drive, a Crucial SSD, looks fine. I select the Startup Drive UI but no drives are listed. Non-optimal.

I shut down.

I power up, again holding the option key. This time I get the boot drive selector and the SSD is listed. I select it and continue booting. The system boots up just fine. In System Preferences I confirm that the SSD is selected as the boot drive and then power down. I'm feeling better.

I swap GPUs, re-installing the RX 580. I hook up everything, monitors, external hard drives, other USB items, a USB 3 hub. I power up. Everything works fine.

So, any idea what went wrong? And what could I have done differently to have got back up and running faster? Thanks.

 

[h9826790]

Did you plug the USB drive into the native USB 2.0 port for booting?

 

[MevetS]

Did you plug the USB drive into the native USB 2.0 port for booting?

Yes, I used one of the ports on the front.

 

[h9826790]

For your info, "option boot" won't work for RX580. It will hang (exactly as per your description).

But PRAM reset should work. Not sure why it doesn't work in your case (I assume you use a wired USB keyboard).

 

[MevetS]

Yes a wired keyboard. Curious for sure. Thanks.

 

[handheldgames]

Today, in preparation for upgrading to 5,1 to Mojave, I did a system drive backup using SuperDuper! to a USB drive. And as is my practice when I do such a backup I attempt to boot from that backup, to make sure that I can. And that's when things went bad.

I shut down. Powered up. Got the chime. And then nothing. The system had power but the monitors, 20 inch Apple Cinema Display and 23 inch Apple Cinema HD Display, stayed dark (the little white lights on the bezel lit up on both). The caps lock light on the keyboard did not light up when pressed. Curious.

I force power down, disconnected the USB backup drive, and powered up. Same result. I force power down, power up holding the option key. Same result. I start disconnecting things, leaving only the monitors and keyboard connected. I disconnect the power to system and monitors, wait a bit, and reconnect. I power up holding down Option-Command-P-R. Same result. I'm starting to get worried.

I disconnect everything, swap out the recently installed RX 580 Sapphire Pulse for the original GPU Radeon 5770, connect one monitor, and the keyboard. It starts up, I get the chime, and I boot into macOS Recovery. My start up drive, a Crucial SSD, looks fine. I select the Startup Drive UI but no drives are listed. Non-optimal.

I shut down.

I power up, again holding the option key. This time I get the boot drive selector and the SSD is listed. I select it and continue booting. The system boots up just fine. In System Preferences I confirm that the SSD is selected as the boot drive and then power down. I'm feeling better.

I swap GPUs, re-installing the RX 580. I hook up everything, monitors, external hard drives, other USB items, a USB 3 hub. I power up. Everything works fine.

So, any idea what went wrong? And what could I have done differently to have got back up and running faster? Thanks.

This sounds like an issue @crjackson2134 is having with his sapphire pulse. Sometimes it boots, sometimes it wont. Returning to the EFI video card, there is no problem.

 

[MevetS]

Update. It seems the hard drive I was using for my backup had failed. When I plugged it in this morning it did not mount. Thinking it might have been the USB connector as I had had an issue with it in the past, I opened up the enclosure, took out the hard drive, and put it in a SATA to USB enclosure. The drive did not mount. I know that this enclosure is good because I have other 2.5 inch drives that do mount when using it.

It is curious that the drive worked to make the back up but then failed when I tried to use it. Just bad luck I guess.

 

[crjackson2134]

Update. It seems the hard drive I was using for my backup had failed. When I plugged it in this morning it did not mount. Thinking it might have been the USB connector as I had had an issue with it in the past, I opened up the enclosure, took out the hard drive, and put it in a SATA to USB enclosure. The drive did not mount. I know that this enclosure is good because I have other 2.5 inch drives that do mount when using it.

It is curious that the drive worked to make the back up but then failed when I tried to use it. Just bad luck I guess.

While this may not be the present case, you should know that removing a drive from one enclosure and moving it to another doesn’t work sometimes. Each enclosure has it own controller/format, and sometimes it’s not compatible until you format the drive again after installing into another enclosure.

I’ve had it happen when harvesting drives from a prepackaged enclosure and putting the drive into another one (including the SATA buss). A call to Seagate and/or Western Digital can confirm this.

 

[MevetS]

While this may not be the present case, you should know that removing a drive from one enclosure and moving it to another doesn’t work sometimes. Each enclosure has it own controller/format, and sometimes it’s not compatible until you format the drive again after installing into another enclosure.

I’ve had it happen when harvesting drives from a prepackaged enclosure and putting the drive into another one (including the SATA buss). A call to Seagate and/or Western Digital can confirm this.

Thanks, I did not know this. In this case both are Hitachi drives, one 250GB and the other 500GB. The first was salvaged from a MacBook Air that my girlfriend had borrowed for a trip, and which was on the floor in her hotel room charging overnight. She woke up, got out of bed, and stepped into four inches of water. That one still works (and I was able to recover all her trip pictures). The second was a LaCie portable drive and is no longer working, and fortunately doesn't have any needed files on it.

 

[Ruskes]

The RX580 is considered borderline for working with Mojave.

 

[handheldgames]

The rx480 is stable with Mojave but.. Once I a while... I need to power cycle the 4K dp lcd I have at home to get an image.

The 4K curved dp lcd I have at the office never has an issue.

The issue could be the display or the card. For the record, with the 470/480 I’ve never had a boot issue. From that aspect it’s been rock solid for 2 years.

 

[crjackson2134]

The RX580 is considered borderline for working with Mojave.

Please expound on this. Where did you get this information, or how did you come to this conclusion?
[doublepost=1549502713][/doublepost]

The rx480 is stable with Mojave but.. Once I a while... I need to power cycle the 4K dp lcd I have at home to get an image.

The 4K curved dp lcd I have at the office never has an issue.

This would be another issue that would irritate me a bit (depending on frequency of occurrences).

 

[handheldgames]

Please expound on this. Where did you get this information, or how did you come to this conclusion?
[doublepost=1549502713][/doublepost]

This would be another issue that would irritate me a bit (depending on frequency of occurrences).

Yes. It does. Having to dig for the lcd power brick to unplug / replug the power cable has gotten old... I suppose if I keep pressing caps lock on the keyboard, the lcd will power up and recognize the video card.. sometimes it doesn’t work. So the power cycle is my only option.

 

[crjackson2134]

Yes. It does. Having to dig for the lcd power brick to unplug / replug the power cable has gotten old... I suppose if I keep pressing caps lock on the keyboard, the lcd will power up and recognize the video card.. sometimes it doesn’t work. So the power cycle is my only option.

So it sounds like you have the same monitor at work. You should take your personal/home monitor to work and see if it has a problem. Also, if you are allowed, bring the work monitor home and test the inverse.

I’d have to find a freaking cure for that, no doubt.

 

[Ruskes]

The information about compatible GPU with Mojave is found here.
Install macOS 10.14 Mojave on Mac Pro (Mid 2010) and Mac Pro (Mid 2012)
HT208898

 

[crjackson2134]

The information about compatible GPU with Mojave is found here.
Install macOS 10.14 Mojave on Mac Pro (Mid 2010) and Mac Pro (Mid 2012)
HT208898

Were you referring to this link
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mp5-1-what-you-have-to-do-to-upgrade-to-mojave.2142418/

Or something else?

It is the primary Apple recommended GPU. Your statement says it’s considered borderline. Considered by whom? Certainly not apple. This is why I asked you to expound on your opinion. A one-liner post is a waste with regards to this issue.

Again, please expound on YOUR statement.

 

[Ruskes]

Were you referring to this link
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mp5-1-what-you-have-to-do-to-upgrade-to-mojave.2142418/

Or something else?

It is the primary Apple recommended GPU. Your statement says it’s considered borderline. Considered by whom? Certainly not apple. This is why I asked you to expound on your opinion. A one-liner post is a waste with regards to this issue.

Again, please expound on YOUR statement.

Hi
I gave you the Apple report number in my post. HT208898
In there you will find following

"Some other third-party graphics cards* based on the following AMD GPU families might also be compatible with macOS Mojave on Mac Pro (Mid 2010) and Mac Pro (Mid 2012):"

For some unknown reason I have been jailed here for posting Links, so I will not repeat the same mistake.

 

[crjackson2134]

Hi
I gave you the Apple report number in my post.
In there you will find following

"Some other third-party graphics cards* based on the following AMD GPU families might also be compatible with macOS Mojave on Mac Pro (Mid 2010) and Mac Pro (Mid 2012):"

Okay, thanks... I’ll have a look-see...

Okay, so HT208898 is a support article/Help Topic page.

So if you have a link, directly to your post (unless you are the author of the Apple Support Article), I can’t see what you are talking about.

I read the Help Topic in the Support Article. I looked at all the posts in the discussion area for that topic. I saw nothing new or relevant. I have no clue what post is yours, but the only post about the 580 offered nothing new.

The short paragraph you quoted has nothing to do the the “Sapphire Radeon Pulse 580 8GB” GPU being borderline for Mojave. It’s supported as intended by Apple, and the subset GPU’s of the same family might also be compatible.

The Sapphire Radeon Pulse 580 is not borderline, even though some features are no longer available, the GPU is indeed supported.

If you are talking about EFI related issues, I understand your gripe. That however doesn’t make it borderline for me. As long as it boots properly and displays properly, I’m good. I already knew about the lack of EFI since using early betas. However, if that’s what you’re talking about, I understand and have clarity on your comment.

EFI is of no concern to me. Stability & dependability are my only needs at the moment.
[doublepost=1549507571][/doublepost]

Hi
I gave you the Apple report number in my post. HT208898
In there you will find following

"Some other third-party graphics cards* based on the following AMD GPU families might also be compatible with macOS Mojave on Mac Pro (Mid 2010) and Mac Pro (Mid 2012):"

For some unknown reason I have been jailed here for posting Links, so I will not repeat the same mistake.

Okay, no problem. Strange about the link thing for sure. I edited my post at the same time you posted this.

I my card isn’t in the “might” catagory. The OP and myself have the Sapphire Pulse 580, not the ones in the subset of possibilities that MIGHT work.