MP 1,1-5,1 Mac Pro 1.1 GPU EFI flashing

[computer1up]

So I’ve got a MP 1.1 coming in the mail next week. It was listed as non functional as it seems that it does not output video. I’ve got a few ideas to try to get it back to life though.

Once I’ll actually fix it, I want to upgrade the graphics card and a few other things, pretty much overhauling the machine.

So my questions right now are:
- what cards have a Mac EFI available? I really need a bootscreen with what I want to do, and the 2600 XT that the seller shipped it with isn’t going to cut it in modern versions of macOS.
- which tools does one use to flash these cards these days? All I seem to find are older threads with outdated software.

Oh, and I plan to experiment with CPU microcode in this machine’s firmware. It was really cheap and I don’t really mind it if I break it. I found another thread on the forums here from a guy who seemed to have done something like this pretty recently. Don’t remember his nick though...

 

[weckart]

HD5770, HD5870, HD7950 all work with the 1,1. If you are going to flash your own and want to go with the HD7950, depending upon the power draw of your card, you may have to do a Pixlas mod.

 

[computer1up]

Allright, but aren't there any other cards that can be flashed? There must be, right? Like the 2600XT or a GTX580...

 

[weckart]

If you want a bootscreen, the 7950 seems to be as good as it gets for a one card option. You could try a 7970/R9 280X but watch the power draw. Your two GPU cables and the PCIe slot give you a nominal max of 225W and a working max of about 315W before your Mac Pro trips and shuts down. The Pixlas mod or an extra internal PSU is the only fix for power hungry cards.

The only other flashable card in its vicinity is the GTX680 but that EFI is 64 bit only and will not work with the 32 bit EFI of the 1,1.

You could try keeping the 2600XT for the bootscreen and add a non-flashed card of your choice. El Capitan gives you some more options for more modern cards.

 

[computer1up]

I get that. Thing is, putting a 200 bucks card in machine that's worth half of that seems a bit overkill, besides: I can't afford that. I was looking for something like a cheap 5770 or something to flash, but I don't know whether I'll actually buy something soon. I was more or less looking for a more complete list of cards that can be flashed, not so much the most powerful ones.

 

[weckart]

I was more or less looking for a more complete list of cards that can be flashed, not so much the most powerful ones.

You can take a look at netkas.org. All the flashing guides and tools to build EFIs are there.

Thing is, the 1,1 was only on sale for a couple of years before EFIs switched to 64 bit so there aren't that many cards. The HD5870 was the go-to card back in the day. With Mojave needing a minimum of HD7950 just to run, you might find more 5770s and 5870s on the market soon with values plummeting.

 

[Twonails]

If you want a bootscreen, the 7950 seems to be as good as it gets for a one card option. You could try a 7970/R9 280X but watch the power draw. Your two GPU cables and the PCIe slot give you a nominal max of 225W and a working max of about 315W before your Mac Pro trips and shuts down. The Pixlas mod or an extra internal PSU is the only fix for power hungry cards.

The only other flashable card in its vicinity is the GTX680 but that EFI is 64 bit only and will not work with the 32 bit EFI of the 1,1.

You could try keeping the 2600XT for the bootscreen and add a non-flashed card of your choice. El Capitan gives you some more options for more modern cards.

[doublepost=1560732876][/doublepost]Hi,
I have a Radeon 7950 in my cMP 5.1.
I followed the Netkas instructions to the letter, successfully flashing the card with my own Mac EFI , and yes I get full boot screens BUT I also get crashing and other very strange issues. Flashing it back to the original EFI restores normality but no boot screen.
I suspect not all 7950s can be flashed successfully for Mac?

 

[weckart]

I suspect not all 7950s can be flashed successfully for Mac?

Yes, that is a problem in that not all 7950s are created equal. Yours needs to be as close as possible to the reference design used in Apple's HD7950 and even then there may be subtle changes on the circuit board that can affect stability.

I would search on Netkas' forums for posts by other owners of the same card that you own and see whether they have any other useful info.