Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mac Pro 3.1 NVME Drive Natively Booting

jasonmacpro31

jasonmacpro31

macrumors member
Original poster
May 13, 2019
44
8
Swansea, Wales, UK
hi guys I have the above Mac Pro.


this may have already been asked here but can I ask

how do we get this to natively boot off an NVME drive ?

ive got one and its reading and writing fast in the os but won't boot from it

any help is appreciated

many thanks

Jason
 
You need to modify the BootROM to add the drivers to support booting from it. Also a good idea to add APFS boot support into the BootROM at the same time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jasonmacpro31
jasonmacpro31 said:
thanks for the reply guys anybody know where I can get the Nvme.ffs.zip from as the link says its out of date for that file

thanks
Click to expand...
No one should use the old NVMe EFI driver from Mac Pro late-2013. It was removed because it's compiled with a instruction set that MP3,1 don't have, by a compiler 5 years later than the one used by MP3,1 EFI and caused bricks.

If you really want a NVMe EFI module that should work without much trouble with MP3,1, extract it from 10.14.5 MP5,1 firmware (144.0.0.0.0). It's the MP51.fd inside /Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/Firmware folder.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pullman and LightBulbFun
tsialex said:
No one should use the old NVMe EFI driver from Mac Pro late-2013. It was removed because it's compiled with a instruction set that MP3,1 don't have, by a compiler 5 years later than the one used by MP3,1 EFI and caused bricks.

If you really want a NVMe EFI module that should work without much trouble with MP3,1, extract it from 10.14.5 MP5,1 firmware (144.0.0.0.0). It's the MP51.fd inside /Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/Firmware folder.
Click to expand...
This makes it sound like I should redo this modification on my 3,1 with the newer nvme module that you mentioned.
 
tsialex said:
No one should use the old NVMe EFI driver from Mac Pro late-2013. It was removed because it's compiled with a instruction set that MP3,1 don't have, by a compiler 5 years later than the one used by MP3,1 EFI and caused bricks.

If you really want a NVMe EFI module that should work without much trouble with MP3,1, extract it from 10.14.5 MP5,1 firmware (144.0.0.0.0). It's the MP51.fd inside /Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/Firmware folder.
Click to expand...


hi thanks for the reply ive got the OSX 10.14 installer can I use it from there or should I obtain the 10.14.5 installer and find the file in there ?


also if I brick the Mac can I get it back with a rom recovery ??


thanks
 
jasonmacpro31 said:
hi thanks for the reply ive got the OSX 10.14 installer can I use it from there or should I obtain the 10.14.5 installer and find the file in there ?
Click to expand...

Only the full MAS installer for 10.14.5 have 144.0.0.0.0


also if I brick the Mac can I get it back with a rom recovery ??
Click to expand...

Firmware Recovery is theoretical, I never got it to work with my bricks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: crjackson2134
jasonmacpro31 said:
or better still if I back up my rom from my Mac Pro 3.1 will someone mod it for me ??

thanks
Click to expand...
Just to be clear, I talked about this before and it not changed.

I'm not going to help anyone with MP3,1 APFS/NVMe injection.

Once bricked, the chance of recovery is slim to none, needing logic board replacement. I bricked three MP3,1s before giving up, with just one recovery after desoldering the FWB and externally reprogramming it.
 
tsialex said:
Just to be clear, I talked about this before and it not changed.

I'm not going to help anyone with MP3,1 APFS/NVMe injection.

Once bricked, the chance of recovery is slim to none, needing logic board replacement. I bricked three MP3,1 before giving up.
Click to expand...


ok no problem thanks for the reply :)
 
hi guys if someone could help me extract the NVME driver from the Mojave firmware update id appreciate it

that way I can follow the instructions to get it in to my original firmware

thanks
 

Attachments

  • firmware from OSX Mojave 10.14.5.zip
    1.7 MB · Views: 428
  • macpro2008 original firmware.zip
    1.2 MB · Views: 442
tempbeta said:
here is my 3,1 bootrom with NVMe and APFS support, i made it two months ago and uses with no problem.

pw is my id.

use at your own risk !
Click to expand...
Remove it, anyone that flash your BootROM will have a clone of your hardware IDs and Apple will block your Mac from accessing iCloud/FaceTime/Messages.

Never use a BootROM from another Mac…
 
  • Like
Reactions: crjackson2134
tsialex said:
Remove it, anyone that flash your BootROM will have a clone of your hardware IDs and Apple will block your Mac from accessing iCloud/FaceTime/Messages.

Never use a BootROM from another Mac…
Click to expand...

thanks for your remind! and i used to think all the bootroms are the same, like pc bios ...
 
tempbeta said:
thanks for your remind! and i used to think all the bootroms are the same, like pc bios ...
Click to expand...
Even with PC BIOS, from 2000 they already have MAC Addresses and other hardware IDs into it and can't be shared anymore.

Sharing a BootROM is a security nightmare, a lot of personal info is there, like iCloud credentials, Wi-Fi credentials, your email, full name…
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alex Sanders74 and crjackson2134
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back