Mac Pro 1,1 + Lycom DT-120 + Samsung SM951

[mlowry]

I have one of the first Mac Pros from 2006, and I want to move my OS to an SSD to increase performance. I have all of the SATA bays full with large spinning disks, so my plan was to install an SSD in a PCI adapter card. Here is my set-up:

• Mac Pro 1,1 (2006), running Mac OS X 10.7.5
• Lycom DT-120 PCI adapter for M.2 key SSDs, installed in PCI slot 3
• Samsung SM951 512 GB SSD installed on Lycom card

When I boot the Mac, the SSD does not appear in Disk Utility, and the PCI section in the System Information app shows “There was an error while gathering PCI card information.”

For what it’s worth, the Expansion Slot Utility sees the Lycom card, as evidenced by this screenshot.

Does anyone have any ideas what the problem might be, or suggestions for troubleshooting/fixing it?

Thanks in advance.

 

[666sheep]

The problem is Lion. You need at least ML for AHCI PCIe SSDs support.

 

[mlowry]

The problem is Lion. You need at least ML for AHCI PCIe SSDs support.

Ahah. Any way to install Mountain Lion on a Mac Pro 1,1?

 

[hwojtek]

You can even install El Capitan if you wish to.
http://oemden.com/sixty-four-on-thirty-two-sfott/ ← up to 10.10.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2006-2007-mac-pro-1-1-2-1-and-os-x-el-capitan.1890435/ ← 10.11.

 

[666sheep]

ML won't work with 7300 at all (reboot loop).

 

[mlowry]

As I see it I have a few options:

• Return or sell the Lycom DT-120 / Samsung 951, and find another way to install an SSD (e.g., SATA).
• Replace the NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT with a graphics card that is compatible with newer versions of Mac OS X. Then install either Mac OS X 10.10 or 10.11, using the instructions Wojtek linked to.
• Sell my Mac Pro 1,1 and buy a newer revision that natively supports a newer version of Mac OS X.

More recent Mac Pros seems to have somewhat high resale prices compared to other PCs, so although that option would be ideal, it looks like it would also be quite expensive. I was looking for a relatively inexpensive way to upgrade my Mac, so even buying a replacement graphics card would add expense that was not part of the plan. However, this option would provide the added benefit of improving graphics performance. Am I overlooking any other options?

 

[MacVidCards]

An EFI32 GT120 would solve your problems.

No speed King but for less than $90 you would have boot screens and OS support in both Lion and El Cap.

If your 7300 is still good you could recoup much of the $$$ selling it.

If you might wish for OpenCl power or gaming a 7950 or 7970 would be good, and you can flash many of these yourself.

They don't like 10.7.5 so more limiting