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Mac Pro EFI and SMC Firmware Updates

bigandy said:
You can't boot XP from CD on a Mac. You can't you can't you can't. The Mac boots using EFI, which XP doesn't support.

You need to use Boot Camp to install it, as legacy BIOS emulation has to be loaded specifically for XP.
Click to expand...

if i am not mistaken the bios emulator (or whatever allows xp and the new vista build to boot from BIOS) is in the last firmware update 1.0 or 1.1, cant remeber the number... you dont need boot camp to install xp or vista, but you do need BC if you want an easy way to create a drivers disc for windows...
 
apfhex said:
What do you use to monitor the temps? I haven't found anything that works yet.

What problems *do* these EFI and SMC updates fix, exactly? BTW, according to the SMC update description, it will update it to 1.7f8, while according to System Profiler I already have that version. Must apply to to the first batch of models only? :confused:

Edit: firmware update successfully applied, no SMC update in SWU for me.
Click to expand...

i use Temperature Monitor.

it monitors each core temp, and the hard drive temps only (same for my macbook pro)
 
carletonmusic said:
I unplugged everything and that made it work.

Network Cable
USB devices (3)
Firewire400 (1)
Firewire800 (1)

I didn't think to unplug them one at a time to control for where the problem was. Oh well. If your drives comes out and snaps back in right away without updating the firmware. Remove all devices before rebooting.
Click to expand...

Same here. It would not work till I removed stuff. If I had time, I would have done it methodically, to save time for others, but I'm super busy. Got the tone and the in/out disk tray, then no update until I removed the two USB cords, the FW 800, FW400 cords, replaced the FCP keyboard and Logitech mouse with the stock ones and, for good measure after it shut down, the network cable.

Then it worked fine.

Plugged in the network cable for the second update and it worked with that.
 
bigandy said:
You can't boot XP from CD on a Mac. You can't you can't you can't. The Mac boots using EFI, which XP doesn't support.

You need to use Boot Camp to install it, as legacy BIOS emulation has to be loaded specifically for XP.
Click to expand...


PLEASE... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.... don't talk if you don't know what you are saying. I'm not perfect... but I can absolutely, ABSOLUTELY guarantee ... GUARANTEE YOU... that you CAN indeed boot XP from the new Macs WITHOUT BOOTCAMP WHATSOEVER.

That is how I have my iMac (24") setup...

The FIRST thing I did when I took her out of the box was insert the WINXP SP2 CD... (nothing slipstreamed)... and hold down the "c" key...

Voila! Booting into XP Setup... COMPLETELY FORMATTED THE ENTIRE 500GB DRIVE with XP... and she runs great.

I then attached an EXTERNAL FW800 RAID 0 Setup (1TB now)... and boot OS X off that external slice...

So... JUST SO YOU KNOW! Please try not to confuse the rest of the class Billy, uhmKay? ;)
 
MacProGuy said:
PLEASE... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.... don't talk if you don't know what you are saying. I'm not perfect... but I can absolutely, ABSOLUTELY guarantee ... GUARANTEE YOU... that you CAN indeed boot XP from the new Macs WITHOUT BOOTCAMP WHATSOEVER.

That is how I have my iMac (24") setup...

The FIRST thing I did when I took her out of the box was insert the WINXP SP2 CD... (nothing slipstreamed)... and hold down the "c" key...

Voila! Booting into XP Setup... COMPLETELY FORMATTED THE ENTIRE 500GB DRIVE with XP... and she runs great.

I then attached an EXTERNAL FW800 RAID 0 Setup (1TB now)... and boot OS X off that external slice...

So... JUST SO YOU KNOW! Please try not to confuse the rest of the class Billy, uhmKay? ;)
Click to expand...

whatever your smokin, do you think i can get some...
 
Ok just so my pea brain has a proper handle on this, are people saying that all I have to do is simply install XP, off of my XP disk, onto a free HDD, and viola, I am done? I'll assume that I will also need some drivers for video, and such as well, but I am trying to wrap my head around this, forgive my ignorance, but I haven't used a Mac past OS 9.2.2.
 
alli did was put in the xp cd on the drive.. pop in another hdd.. and rebooted.. at startup press and hold the option key and your startup devices come up choose the xp cd... boot from that then install to the other hdd.. and done and done xp is installed no problem as for the drivers thats where bootcamp driver disc comes in

but mind you.. you do NOT need bootcamp to boot and install windows xp.. but will need it for drivers and such
 
Those with RAID 0 arrays, how are you finally getting the update to install? Do you have to remove your RAID and install from a "spare" OS X single drive that you just happen to have lying around? :confused:
 
Strange question: can you use the Firmware Restoration CD to update your firmware? This disc is designed to fix a bad update from CD, bypassing the hard disk and the RAID array. Seems to me that it should work, in theory.

Read all about it here. New version released today for the latest Mac Pro firmware.
 
So what I want to know from anyonewho knows is can we boot from one of the other 3 HDD's,and then, with the Quadro FX 4500, play some wicked PC games. Or are we there yet, should I just keep saving until all of the cool stuff is ready (CS3, PC games, nasty graphics capabilities).
 
Abulia said:
Those with RAID 0 arrays, how are you finally getting the update to install? Do you have to remove your RAID and install from a "spare" OS X single drive that you just happen to have lying around? :confused:
Click to expand...

I installed a small OS X on my Data drive and used this installation to process the updates.
 
RAID -> OS X Firmware Update

Sigh.,

The problem is with RAID systems that you have to boot of a Non-Raid OS-x Boot Drive, run the two sets of firmware update, then move back to RAID drives.

Technically: the firware is stored on a specific sector of the hard drive, the computer reboots into special firmware loading software, the firmware loading software naively tries to search for the firm ware at a specific location on the hard drive. If you have RAID, its not going to find the firmware.

You can leave your RAID drives visible (you don't have to unplug anything) but you do have to boot of a booring-normal OS X setup.

There are few ways you can do this:
* Install OS X on an External drive
* Install OS X on an iPod harddrive (20 gig model, etc).
* etc.

Its a pain.
 
patseguin said:
I can confirm that SATA drives run at full speed now in WindowsXP.
Click to expand...

You got this from the update? Does this mean we no longer need to slipstream the drivers to get XP to recognize the drives at normal speed?

Having to deal with the slow drives is keeping me from installing Windows. If the update makes that easier, I might go for it. I'll probably put Windows on it's own drive and then boot off it.
 
Cowinacape said:
Ok just so my pea brain has a proper handle on this, are people saying that all I have to do is simply install XP, off of my XP disk, onto a free HDD, and viola, I am done? I'll assume that I will also need some drivers for video, and such as well...
Click to expand...
If you have a RAID setup you cannot run Bootcamp, but you can get the drivers. Find the Bootcamp package, right click on it and select Show Contents. Then find an image file in the Window that comes up and burn this to a CD. If you don't have a RAID setup just run Bootcamp and select the option to burn drivers to a CD - don't go through the partitioning bit.

You need to configure the drive where you will install Windows as a Windows boot drive. To do this go into Disk Utility, select the drive you want to install XP on, format the drive as MS-DOS and set the options to Master Boot Record (very important or you wont be able to boot XP). Once you have done these stick your XP installation CD in and shutdown your Mac. Remove all hard drives, except for the one you want to install XP on and start your Mac by holding the command or c key. Once you've installed put your other drives back in and you should be able to boot OS X and XP.

Sean :)
 
Abulia said:
Strange question: can you use the Firmware Restoration CD to update your firmware? This disc is designed to fix a bad update from CD, bypassing the hard disk and the RAID array. Seems to me that it should work, in theory.

Read all about it here. New version released today for the latest Mac Pro firmware.
Click to expand...

I tried this with my RAID0 Mac Pro and it doesn't work I am afraid. I can't get it to update when you hold down the power button. I really think that Apple have to address this problem. RAID0 is not going to be very unusual with the new Mac Pros.
 
carletonmusic said:
I'm in the same boat. It beeps, I see the update bar but the DVD drive pops open and then shuts -- then normal boot. Ugh!
Click to expand...

I'm having the exact same problem, and am on the phone to AppleCare in the UK about it at the moment. The support representative evidently hasn't come across this before (he didn't really seem to have a complete awareness of the updated firmware) so it would seem they haven't been inundated with frantic MacPro users unable to update their firmware.

I tried unplugging everything but the display, keyboard and mouse but that didn't work.

I'm not on my 38th minute (most of them have been on hold) on the call. I'm very grateful for http://www.saynoto0870.com so I didn't have to dial the prohibitive 0870 number. So far I've trashed and redownloaded and reinstalled the update (same problem, optical drive opens when update begins, closes again and machine reboots normally without updating firmware). Now we're just investigating whether doing an original firmware CD reinstall will have any effect. My technician seems to be communicating with someone in the know elsewhere at Apple by IM...
 
EFI firmware update fixes problem

My Mac Pro was having trouble finding my Mac OS X startup partition. I had to hold down the option key each time to select the startup disk. (I'm not using Boot Camp.)

Neither update showed up in Software Update, so I downloaded them both from Apple's website.

The EFI firmware update installed fine (on the second try), and now my computer boots up properly. So I can confirm that this update fixes problems that aren't related to Boot Camp.

The SMC firmware was already up-to-date on my Mac Pro (ordered last week).
 
OK, following on from my previous message... My 'issue' got 'escalated' and I spoke to someone higher up the AppleCare pecking order (a Frenchman). He said that there might be a problem with this firmware update and my machine's specs [my speculation - the brand of SuperDrive (Sony DW-D150A)? my processor (dual 3GHz)?]. He 'felt sure that I wouldn't be the only person worldwide having this problem' (didn't tell him about this thread or a similar one on Apple's own forums), and will get back to me within 48 hours having spoken to Apple Engineering to see if his theory holds true. Time will tell!
 
THX1139 said:
You got this from the update? Does this mean we no longer need to slipstream the drivers to get XP to recognize the drives at normal speed?

Having to deal with the slow drives is keeping me from installing Windows. If the update makes that easier, I might go for it. I'll probably put Windows on it's own drive and then boot off it.
Click to expand...

That is correct. A normal XP install (without the slipstreamed drivers) will now give you full speed SATA drives. Worked for me on Mac Pro.
 
atticus1178 said:
everyone WILL have to install both updates, you can not update the SMC until you update the EFI, the SMC wont even show up in Software Update until the EFI is done

also, i did the SMC update, and the fans are so freaking loud, i mean LOUD
Click to expand...

after installing the EFI update and running software update it said no updates.

So I downloaded it directly and tried to update it. It told me I didn't need it.
 
Sata is OK on mine too

I just software stripped 2 * 160Gb Hitachi SATA in XP and got 100 MB/Sec from Sandra. so it works!
feel relieved finally.
 
New fees for previously free stuff

Maybe I'm just too old school, but I'm a bit resentful of the fact that it's touted as a priviledge to have the opportunity to pay $2 to watch a missed TV show. I hope I'm wrong, but having joined the HDTV crowd about 6 months ago, I'm struggling to find a way to do what I've always been able to do for free in the past -- record a TV show at the same quality it was piped in to my home in the first place.

Tivo isn't free either, I just can't justify paying the monthly subscription fee. Apple's solution seems to potentially cost even more. I don't see this as progress. :(
 
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