macOS Mojave Mac Pro 3,1 - GTX 1060 non-EFI Install Questions!

[aaronlroberts]

Hi All,

I tried posting a comment in the group regarding running Mojave on an unsupported Mac but the comments are fierce and fast.. mine just gets buried, so I'm starting this thread as I'm sure there's many others in my situation.

@dosdude1 has done an amazing job of getting the installer up and running for the Mac Pro 3,1 - however, one issue remains and I (and I'm sure others) have a major question before we just go ahead and install the OS.

My Mac Pro came with an EFI Radeon 5770.. which to the best of my knowledge is a no-go for Mojave. That card isn't in the machine anymore as I have a non-efi GTX 1060 (MSI Gaming X series in case this is important) running on High Sierra with Nvidia drivers. How can we install Mojave if the installer can't be visible without an EFI card? But the EFI card is not supported by Mojave.

My understanding is that, the GTX 1060 will work just fine under Mojave with the Nvidia drivers installed, but of course, no way to install them without being able to see the operating system in the first place! I feel quite list in this situation and need to find a way around it.

Would anyone be willing to create a restorable DMG with Mojave pre-installed with the Nvidia drivers? Obviously only makes sense to do this once the OS is fully released.. but I can't see any other way around it.

This forum has always been super helpful to me, and @dosdude1 has even helped to solve an issue I had with the GTX 750 ti and High Sierra.. so I'm hoping that he or someone else here can throw me and others in my situation a lifeline.

 

[Zlobnick]

I have the exact same machine, exact same cards and will install the exact same OS when it's released My guess is to install with my EFI-capable Radeon 5770, then install nVidia web drivers and put the GTX 1060 in. I can share fresh DMG if I suceed

 

[aaronlroberts]

But you wont be able to boot into the OS with the 5770. Not to the best of my knowledge. It's not a "metal" card and it wont work under Mojave. It's really disappointing to not see any other responses on this thread.

@Zlobnick did you do it?

 

[Zlobnick]

Yeah, I installed Mojave today using both cards at the same time. 1060 in slot 1, 5770 in slot 2. All went flawlessly using dosdude's Mojave patcher. I even get a usable picture in Mojave with 5770, but it's slow. But it's enough to install nVidia web drivers which haven't been released yet

 

[Zlobnick]

Some news - I have a reason to believe that when Mojave nVidia driver gets release I'll have big problems getting it to work. I described what happened with my High Sierra installation in this post.

 

[aaronlroberts]

@Zlobnick - Did all work out? If so, what steps did you take?

Thanks

 

[Zlobnick]

For now I'm waiting for Mojave nVidia web drivers. Everything works OK with ATi 5770 in Mojave and with GTX 1060 in High Sierra.

 

[aaronlroberts]

For now I'm waiting for Mojave nVidia web drivers. Everything works OK with ATi 5770 in Mojave and with GTX 1060 in High Sierra.

Yeah! I just realised (after successfully upgrading to Mojave) that Nvidia STILL hasn't released them. I see a lot of back and forth on forums, but they need to get their ass moving on this!

 

[Zlobnick]

As I understand the main reason we haven't seen Mojave drivers yet is Apple's driver signing process that hasn't been done yet

 

[LeChat]

I have the same Macpro3,1 with a GTX1060 to be installed on it. So far, I have an Nvidia Quadro 2Gb installed on the computer and I would like to install the GTX (and then update to the newest macOS available (I guess with a patch).
1) My main current concern is about powering both cards at the same time. Can I just use the 2 mini-PCIe ports that are available on the motherboard? Will I risk to burn my motherboard if this is too much power being pulled by both cards?
2) Will I keep the boot menu? After all, I am thinking, if I keep the Nvidia Quadro inside, that should be fine, right?
3) What is the newest macOS patch available for the macpro3,1 as of Feb. 2020? (with Nvidia GTX 1060 driver compatible)

Thank you for sharing!

 

[aaronlroberts]

I have the same Macpro3,1 with a GTX1060 to be installed on it. So far, I have an Nvidia Quadro 2Gb installed on the computer and I would like to install the GTX (and then update to the newest macOS available (I guess with a patch).
1) My main current concern is about powering both cards at the same time. Can I just use the 2 mini-PCIe ports that are available on the motherboard? Will I risk to burn my motherboard if this is too much power being pulled by both cards?
2) Will I keep the boot menu? After all, I am thinking, if I keep the Nvidia Quadro inside, that should be fine, right?
3) What is the newest macOS patch available for the macpro3,1 as of Feb. 2020? (with Nvidia GTX 1060 driver compatible)

Thank you for sharing!

I'm sorry to say that I'm not sure that it'll work. Although @dosdude1 did a great job with getting Mojave and even Catalina running on the Mac Pro 3,1... Nvidia just aren't going to create drivers for either of these operating systems... meaning that non-native supported graphics cards will basically be useless under Mojave or Catalina.

I had to bite the bullett and sold my GTX 1060, replaced it with an AMD RX580, which was absolutely the best decision. However, I also learned the hard way, that the RX580 couldn't boot in the 3,1 due to the required version of the SSE instruction set.

I believe that there's some emulator now for the instruction set, but honestly, I just had to accept that the configuration will only ever be plagued with issues..

Maybe have a glance over this: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-pro-3-1-and-metal.1931459/

 

[LeChat]

Thank you for your prompt reply!
I am doing scientific computing with Matlab (which uses CUDA) so it seems I am kinda stuck with NVidia for now...
So, with my current hardware (macpro3,1 with Nvidia Quadro installed and working on El Capitan) and a GTX1060 sleeping in my drawer, what would you advise me to do? What OS shall I get to get both GPU working (regarding driver and patch availability)?
[automerge]1581196104[/automerge]
PS: also, do you think I can use both GPUs at the same time? I am afraid to pull too much power out of the 2 mini PCIe hidden on the motherboard (one of which I am already using for the Nvidia Quadro).

 

[LeChat]

Thank you for your prompt reply!
I am doing scientific computing with Matlab (which uses CUDA) so it seems I am kinda stuck with NVidia for now...
So, with my current hardware (macpro3,1 with Nvidia Quadro installed and working on El Capitan) and a GTX1060 sleeping in my drawer, what would you advise me to do? What OS shall I get to get both GPU working (regarding driver and patch availability)?
[automerge]1581196104[/automerge]
PS: also, do you think I can use both GPUs at the same time? I am afraid to pull too much power out of the 2 mini PCIe hidden on the motherboard (one of which I am already using for the Nvidia Quadro).

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