Truly a head scratcher. My Mac Pro 5,1 (4,1 flashed 5,1) has been working fine and I wiped it to reinstall macOS.
I tried using a USB installer to install High Sierra to my NVMe SSD (via PCIe Card) but it said it was missing the firmware partition. So I inserted a SATA SSD and installed High Sierra there. After booting to the Desktop on the SATA SSD, I used the USB drive on the desktop to install High Sierra. It restarted...and I never saw picture again. I was using a Vega 64 over DisplayPort.
After resetting PRAM/SMC and still no video, I removed the NVME drive so that just the SATA drive is there. Still no video.
I then inserted a blank SATA SSD, still no video.
At this point I wanted to see what was actually happening so I removed my Vega 64 GPU and installed the GT120 with boot screen. Boot screen shows up fine, and this time it loaded to the question mark folder.
I then inserted a Mavericks USB installer and still no video, however I heard the VoiceOver prompt so clearly everything else is fine.
I began to suspect my cables and monitor compatibility. I tried the following:
Vega 64 -> DisplayPort -> 1440p 144Hz Monitor
Vega 64 -> HDMI -> 1440p 144Hz Monitor
GT120 -> MiniDisplayPort to DisplayPort -> 1440p 144Hz Monitor
GT120 -> DVI to HDMI -> 1080p 75Hz Monitor
The 1440p 144Hz monitor would turn on, and then off after detecting no signal.
However the 1080p 75Hz Monitor would say OUT OF RANGE and turn off and on in a loop.
I also tried Internet Recovery, but still no video, just the VoiceOver prompt.
UPDATE: Everything I wrote still applies, but in trying a few last things to avoid posting I am no longer getting anything out of the GT120, no loading bar or question mark folder.
Any suggestions would be great.
UPDATE AGAIN: Problem is solved. Issue was related to the patched Catalina installation.
I tried using a USB installer to install High Sierra to my NVMe SSD (via PCIe Card) but it said it was missing the firmware partition. So I inserted a SATA SSD and installed High Sierra there. After booting to the Desktop on the SATA SSD, I used the USB drive on the desktop to install High Sierra. It restarted...and I never saw picture again. I was using a Vega 64 over DisplayPort.
After resetting PRAM/SMC and still no video, I removed the NVME drive so that just the SATA drive is there. Still no video.
I then inserted a blank SATA SSD, still no video.
At this point I wanted to see what was actually happening so I removed my Vega 64 GPU and installed the GT120 with boot screen. Boot screen shows up fine, and this time it loaded to the question mark folder.
I then inserted a Mavericks USB installer and still no video, however I heard the VoiceOver prompt so clearly everything else is fine.
I began to suspect my cables and monitor compatibility. I tried the following:
Vega 64 -> DisplayPort -> 1440p 144Hz Monitor
Vega 64 -> HDMI -> 1440p 144Hz Monitor
GT120 -> MiniDisplayPort to DisplayPort -> 1440p 144Hz Monitor
GT120 -> DVI to HDMI -> 1080p 75Hz Monitor
The 1440p 144Hz monitor would turn on, and then off after detecting no signal.
However the 1080p 75Hz Monitor would say OUT OF RANGE and turn off and on in a loop.
I also tried Internet Recovery, but still no video, just the VoiceOver prompt.
UPDATE: Everything I wrote still applies, but in trying a few last things to avoid posting I am no longer getting anything out of the GT120, no loading bar or question mark folder.
Any suggestions would be great.
UPDATE AGAIN: Problem is solved. Issue was related to the patched Catalina installation.
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