Mac Pro 3.1 NVME Drive Natively Booting

[jasonmacpro31]

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

 

[Ludacrisvp]

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.

 

[tempbeta]

follow this guide:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WNkM9LuGPq1sArO9EedWBHYq14NU7m-mDBLAWWJipyM
to insert NVMe driver module to 3,1 bootrom

then, use dosdude APFS ROM patcher to add APFS support.

 

[jasonmacpro31]

thanks for the reply guys anybody know where I can get the Nvme.ffs.zip from as the link says its out of date for that file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

 

[tsialex]

thanks for the reply guys anybody know where I can get the Nvme.ffs.zip from as the link says its out of date for that file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

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.

 

[Ludacrisvp]

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.

This makes it sound like I should redo this modification on my 3,1 with the newer nvme module that you mentioned.

 

[jasonmacpro31]

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.

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

 

[tsialex]

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 ?

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 ??

Firmware Recovery is theoretical, I never got it to work with my bricks.

 

[jasonmacpro31]

or better still if I back up my rom from my Mac Pro 3.1 will someone mod it for me ??

thanks

 

[tsialex]

or better still if I back up my rom from my Mac Pro 3.1 will someone mod it for me ??

thanks

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.

 

[jasonmacpro31]

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.

ok no problem thanks for the reply

 

[jasonmacpro31]

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

 

[tempbeta]

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

follow this guide to extract the NVMe DXE driver:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mp51-0084-b00-rom-dump-request.2119496/#post-26075700

 

[tsialex]

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 !

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…

 

[tempbeta]

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…

thanks for your remind! and i used to think all the bootroms are the same, like pc bios ...

 

[tsialex]

thanks for your remind! and i used to think all the bootroms are the same, like pc bios ...

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…

 

[jasonmacpro31]

thanks guys ive just picked up a Mac Pro 4.1 for free should I just focus on that machine and upgrade it to a 5.1 ?

thanks

 

[tsialex]

thanks guys ive just picked up a Mac Pro 4.1 for free should I just focus on that machine and upgrade it to a 5.1 ?

thanks

Yes. Forget the MP3,1 for NVMe.

 

[Alex Sanders74]

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

As tsialex had said, you should delete those ROM dumps you posted so your personal information isn't available for the world to look at.

 

[jasonmacpro31]

thanks guys upgraded the 4.1 to a 5.1 upgraded the OS to Mojave and now on the latest firmware