Mac Pro 5,1 OpenCore vs. Native Boot Confused!

[mrmul8r]

First post, so please excuse my ignorance!

Basically, I'm upgrading a 4,1 Mac Pro to 5,1 and am getting really confused about whether I need OpenCore or not?

I'm going from High Sierra to Monterey and will be using the Mac for web browsing (YouTube mainly) and Final Cut Pro etc.

I have BOTH a flashed RX 580 (purchased from MacVidCards) and non-flashed RX 580. I wanted to keep the boot screen and boot selector, plus wanted HW acceleration for FCPX.

The more I read, the more I'm unsure what to do? I gather you can enable HW acceleration with OpenCore and retain the EFI boot screen etc. However, I'm also reading that lots of other stuff gets broken?

So... Do I just install my flashed RX 580 and Monterey without OpenCore, or the non-flashed card with OpenCore & Monterey?

Also do updates still work with OpenCore? I'm trying to get the best experience without constant user intervention (updates/tweaks).

Thanks.

 

[hwojtek]

You will not install Monterey on an 4,1/5,1 without Open Core.
Open Core does not care if your card(s) is(are) flashed or not.
Flashing the card for native boot screens does not magically make all the acceleration available in MacOS. It allows for native boot screens.
What "gets broken"? OC makes hardware that seems "broken" work again in MacOS running on unsupported Macs.

Use OCLP if you feel overwhelmed with contradictory/false/uninformed reports. It takes literally a single click to install OC with config appropriate for your setup and you can install Monterey then (assuming you have an USB installer created from the "Install MacOS Monterey.app" or used the "create installer" function of OCLP) and select the proper boot drive in OCLP bootpicker to install.

 

[mrmul8r]

That's great thanks.

I was referring to DRM streaming issues (Netflix on Safari for example) when I said broken. Just what I read?

Please can you confirm that wireless N & Bluetooth 3.0 still works with OCLP?

Also is HW acceleration for METAL GPU's enabled by default?

Thanks again!

 

[hwojtek]

Please follow up in the proper threads (like the one here specific for Mac Pro and OC, or the one here, more focused on OCLP and broader spectrum of unsupported Macs.).
DRM test works for me with an RX570 (at least FairPlay3, so Netflix/Amazon), but I do not use the computer to watch streams so YMMV. No idea about wifi, I upgraded to 802.11ac and BT4.0 years ago. As far as I can tell, people have it working (check the second thread for more hardware variety).
OCLP enables HW acceleration by default:

 

[mrmul8r]

Please follow up in the proper threads (like the one here specific for Mac Pro and OC, or the one here, more focused on OCLP and broader spectrum of unsupported Macs.).
DRM test works for me with an RX570 (at least FairPlay3, so Netflix/Amazon), but I do not use the computer to watch streams so YMMV. No idea about wifi, I upgraded to 802.11ac and BT4.0 years ago. As far as I can tell, people have it working (check the second thread for more hardware variety).
OCLP enables HW acceleration by default:
View attachment 2045878

Nice one thanks. Will upgrade to a single BT4.0 & Wireless AC card then (£140 ouch). Found a nice video guide by Mr. Macintosh on YouTube by the way for Monterey/OCLP. Looks straightforward.

 

[hwojtek]

Nice one thanks. Will upgrade to a single BT4.0 & Wireless AC card then (£140 ouch). Found a nice video guide by Mr. Macintosh on YouTube by the way for Monterey/OCLP. Looks straightforward.

Most of what you see on youtube is lifted straight from these forums, some "creators" get it right, some less so.

 

[mrmul8r]

Most of what you see on youtube is lifted straight from these forums, some "creators" get it right, some less so.

I was also hoping to install Monterey on one of my 970 Evo Plus NVME drives, which would be in a Sonnet Fusion (or similar) M.2 4X4 PCIe card. However, I'm not 100% if this is the best way to go? Does the latest version of OCLP support this or would I be better off just using a regular 2.5" SSD (slot 1) as my boot drive and the NVME for storage/scratch disk? I also read that it is better to have OpenCore installed on a different drive to the one that you are booting from?

 

[MacHosehead]

I was also hoping to install Monterey on one of my 970 Evo Plus NVME drives, which would be in a Sonnet Fusion (or similar) M.2 4X4 PCIe card. However, I'm not 100% if this is the best way to go? Does the latest version of OCLP support this or would I be better off just using a regular 2.5" SSD (slot 1) as my boot drive and the NVME for storage/scratch disk?

I assume you have installed Mojave and made the firmware update? I am not familiar with your particular hardware but I have a m.2 NVMe drive mounted in a PCIe adapter for my MacPro5,1. You can boot from it, I do.

I also read that it is better to have OpenCore installed on a different drive to the one that you are booting from?

I have done both. It should work either way.

£140 ouch

A BCM94360CD and an adapter should be all you need if using the existing antennas. (Links are suggestions. I have not ordered from this vendor.)

 

[mrmul8r]

I assume you have installed Mojave and made the firmware update? I am not familiar with your particular hardware but I have a m.2 NVMe drive mounted in a PCIe adapter for my MacPro5,1. You can boot from it, I do.

I have done both. It should work either way.

A BCM94360CD and an adapter should be all you need if using the existing antennas. (Links are suggestions. I have not ordered from this vendor.)

Thanks for your reply! I was going to update the BOOT ROM first using a Mojave installer, however, I gather this isn't necessary with OCLP, as it spoofs the BOOT ROM? I guess I can just update it first anyway, as won't do any harm? Also would I notice much of an improvement with the OS on an NVME compared to a regular SSD on the SATA BUS?

 

[hwojtek]

Thanks for your reply! I was going to update the BOOT ROM first using a Mojave installer, however, I gather this isn't necessary with OCLP, as it spoofs the BOOT ROM?

There is no guarantee OC (thus OCLP as well) will function properly if it can not leverage the updated bootrom. Update it. Apple made this computer update the bootrom with Mojave for a reason.
You can have OC installed to any drive you want, but for native bless functionality (AKA: works as Apple intended) it's much cleaner to have it sitting on your actual boot drive. And sure enough, you can boot straight from NVMe.