Mac Pro 5,1. GTX 980ti

[strukt]

hi all

I was wondering about one thing. If I have a clean Mac Pro 5,1 system without any os installed. No other gpu than the 980ti.

Can I install OS X on a ssd in an external enclosure on let's say an MacBook Pro. Download the nvidia web driver. Install that. Then take the ssd out of the enclosure and put it in the Mac Pro? Would that work?

 

[Fl0r!an]

The drivers won't be activated, because the necessary flag is stored in the NVRAM (of your MBP), not on the file system.
I guess adding "nv_drv=1" to the Apple boot.plist will do the trick.

 

[strukt]

Hm.

Can I install it, then remote desktop to it maybe, and install it that way?

 

[owbp]

@strukt , It's much easier to add a boot flag to apple.boot.plsit on your new OS X installation prior to SSD exchange.
But remote desktop is also an idea, why not.

@Fl0r!an , will Mac give any screen at all with 980 if booting in safe mode?

 

[Fl0r!an]

No, WebDrivers or EFI are necessary to get at least basic video output.

 

[owbp]

Thanks!

 

[h9826790]

Remote control, yes.

 

[strukt]

So if I understand it correctly. It will boot from that SSD, but the display will be blank. And I will be able to remote-login to the machine (if I have set it up during install) and install the web drivers that way?

 

[ifraaank]

Yes^

 

[strukt]

Yes^

Takk

What PCI-e SSD do you use?

 

[ifraaank]

Samsung SM951 on a Lycom adapter. Works like a charm! 1400MB/s R/W. Only thing about it is that it somehow says it's an external drive in "About my Mac". Don't know why, and it doesn't seem to affect anything

 

[strukt]

Samsung SM951 on a Lycom adapter. Works like a charm! 1400MB/s R/W. Only thing about it is that it somehow says it's an external drive in "About my Mac". Don't know why, and it doesn't seem to affect anything

Okay cool, so you can boot from it?

 

[ifraaank]

Yes, this is my main (only) drive for OS X so far.

 

[h9826790]

Samsung SM951 on a Lycom adapter. Works like a charm! 1400MB/s R/W. Only thing about it is that it somehow says it's an external drive in "About my Mac". Don't know why, and it doesn't seem to affect anything

AFAIK, all SSD via PCIe card will show as external, that's normal.

 

[William_si]

AFAIK, all SSD via PCIe card will show as external, that's normal.

Most PCIe SATA and AHCI chipsets (SATA is AHCI after all anyway) show up as external as the FW/EFI does the same for SATA adapters (like an Adaptec HBA i used in a 1,1) - Exception is the Apple RAID card which shows as internal disks.