MP 1,1-5,1 MP5,1 - tempted to sell a mint Mac that hit a dead end with Mojave

[O.N.Y.X]

Unless there are good recommendations on how to get latest Apple apps running on my Mac Pro, I'll be forced to sell it "as is".

The Mac Pro is in like new condition, but is obviously not compatible with any of the Open Core packages out there. However, I need this Mac to run the latest versions of e.g. Pages (but also Logic) as the recently updated iPad/iPhone/MacOS versions are not backwards compatible and I'm editing and updating documents on new devices (see my sig.). Also, being limited to Mojave, this Mac can not communicate with my iPad/iPhone anymore - Airdrop has stopped working. Essentially, the Mac Pro has become useless in its current state.

All attempts to install OC have failed. I have not once seen the option of "EFI Boot" ever on any of the OC packages tried. In fact, I've come close to f*cking up the Mac for good.

Are there alternative ways to get at least Pages to work on Mojave?

 

[BrianBaughn]

Not sure what version of macOS is required for Pages 13.0 but I do see somewhere that 11.2 required Big Sur…so dosdude1's Catalina patcher wouldn't do you any good.

It seems that model MP is tricky and picky with OCLP so not surprising you've had trouble. What graphics card is in there?

Regarding selling…those models are good for certain people using certain software…sometimes with certain hardware…like old DAW users that don't want to upgrade everything in their studio after their Mac dies.

Or folks like this: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/looking-at-cmp-5-1-models-advice-please.2394635/

 

[cdf]

All attempts to install OC have failed. I have not once seen the option of "EFI Boot" ever on any of the OC packages tried.

Because “EFI Boot” is how OC would appear on the native boot picker, the instructions you are following probably assume you have pre-boot video support, which might not be the case if you’ve upgraded your graphics card.

The section Basic setup in the following guide should get you going:

Manually Configured OpenCore on the Mac Pro

In this guide, you'll learn how to use OpenCore to install, run and update macOS Catalina, Big Sur and Monterey on the 2009–2012 Mac Pro, ending up with a clean unaltered operating system just like on a supported Mac. The approach described in this guide is for setting up and configuring...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[O.N.Y.X]

The original GPU was replaced by an MSI Aero Radeon RX 570 (4 GB) connected to a Cinema display via DP-mDP adapter, which has native boot support in Mojave. AFAIK this card was even recommended by Apple as a fully metal compatible upgrade card.

 

[O.N.Y.X]

Not sure what version of macOS is required for Pages 13.0 but I do see somewhere that 11.2 required Big Sur…so dosdude1's Catalina patcher wouldn't do you any good.

It seems that model MP is tricky and picky with OCLP so not surprising you've had trouble. What graphics card is in there?

Regarding selling…those models are good for certain people using certain software…sometimes with certain hardware…like old DAW users that don't want to upgrade everything in their studio after their Mac dies.

Or folks like this: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/looking-at-cmp-5-1-models-advice-please.2394635/

I’m sure I’d find a buyer in my area. After all under Mojave the Mac is rock solid and has not crashed on me once. Just making sure I’ve tried everything before letting it go…

 

[MacHosehead]

I have MacPro4,1/5,1 that is running Monterey with OCLP pretty well. You might have to run terminal commands to get OC boot picker to show with an unflashed GPU:

Booting OpenCore and macOS | OpenCore Legacy Patcher

Other than that, it should install fairly easily if the instructions are followed.

Pages version running on Monterey is 12.1.

 

[O.N.Y.X]

I did read/use terminal commands and always ended up either on a black screen or a Mac that didn’t boot at all. Getting to the boot picker is easy but I never got to choose EFI boot.

 

[MacHosehead]

Are you making a USB installer and having OCLP install itself to the EFI partition of the drive?

If you are seeing the Apple boot picker on a card flashed for it then you should see EFI boot on the USB drive. If you see OC boot picker then you have booted from EFI already.

 

[sfalatko]

Depending on your skill/tinkering level you could start with adding EnableGOP to your bootrom and then get the native Apple boot picker with your Radeon RX 570. See here -

EnableGop: Pre-OpenCore GOP support for EFI-era iMacs and Mac Pros

You wait ten years for a driver to enable pre-boot graphics on unsupported GPUs in EFI era Macs, and then two come along at once... This post is to announce a firmware driver to enable the native Apple boot picker and early macOS boot progress bar (plus other parts of the firmware UI: target...

forums.macrumors.com

After that you could try OCLP or the "manual" method from here -

Manually Configured OpenCore on the Mac Pro

In this guide, you'll learn how to use OpenCore to install, run and update macOS Catalina, Big Sur and Monterey on the 2009–2012 Mac Pro, ending up with a clean unaltered operating system just like on a supported Mac. The approach described in this guide is for setting up and configuring...

forums.macrumors.com

This could get you to Monterey.

 

[O.N.Y.X]

Are you making a USB installer and having OCLP install itself to the EFI partition of the drive?

If you are seeing the Apple boot picker on a card flashed for it then you should see EFI boot on the USB drive. If you see OC boot picker then you have booted from EFI already.

On the OCLP install attempt I am given the option of Monterey install. Choosing this option results in a reboot to this error message: “Your computer restarted because of a problem. Press a key or wait a few seconds to continue starting up.” (and in 5 other languages).
The machine appears to install Monterey (Apple logo, progress bar) but always reboots to this error message.

 

[O.N.Y.X]

Depending on your skill/tinkering level you could start with adding EnableGOP to your bootrom and then get the native Apple boot picker with your Radeon RX 570. See here -

EnableGop: Pre-OpenCore GOP support for EFI-era iMacs and Mac Pros

You wait ten years for a driver to enable pre-boot graphics on unsupported GPUs in EFI era Macs, and then two come along at once... This post is to announce a firmware driver to enable the native Apple boot picker and early macOS boot progress bar (plus other parts of the firmware UI: target...

forums.macrumors.com

After that you could try OCLP or the "manual" method from here -

Manually Configured OpenCore on the Mac Pro

In this guide, you'll learn how to use OpenCore to install, run and update macOS Catalina, Big Sur and Monterey on the 2009–2012 Mac Pro, ending up with a clean unaltered operating system just like on a supported Mac. The approach described in this guide is for setting up and configuring...

forums.macrumors.com

This could get you to Monterey.

I’ve tried the OCLP variant many times, I’ve also tried the manual option in vain. But: I have not done any tinkering with the bootROM- also due to the mentioned dangers. Bricking the RX 570 would be bad, bricking the Mac would be the worst case scenario. I’ll work myself through the 21 pages of your linked thread

 

[MacHosehead]

If you are running Install Monterey from the OC boot picker I believe you should wind up in Monterey Recovery. The EFI partition that has OCLP must be the default boot set with Apple boot picker or terminal commands. I have also made this work by pulling all drives except for USB installer and blank target drive.

 

[O.N.Y.X]

If you are running Install Monterey from the OC boot picker I believe you should wind up in Monterey Recovery. The EFI partition that has OCLP must be the default boot set with Apple boot picker or terminal commands. I have also made this work by pulling all drives except for USB installer and blank target drive.

Yes, I’m given four options: original OS, original OS recovery, new OS (Monterey?), new OS (Monterey?) recovery. Choosing either boot option does nothing, the Mac doesn’t boot. Choosing original OS recovery works as expected, choosing new OS (?) recovery will result in the aforementioned error message.

I was planning on removing all drives except for the USB installer and a blank Samsung 951 blade drive, and give it another shot…

 

[mectojic]

You can vet Airdrop back by upgrading the wifi card. My 5,1 works with Airdrop just fine.

 

[O.N.Y.X]

If you are running Install Monterey from the OC boot picker I believe you should wind up in Monterey Recovery. The EFI partition that has OCLP must be the default boot set with Apple boot picker or terminal commands. I have also made this work by pulling all drives except for USB installer and blank target drive.

Hard to believe (for me at least 😄) but this worked on the very first try. Typing this on the MP in Monterey 12.6.7.

Thank you all so much for your input!

 

[haralds]

OCLP 0.67 is SOLID for me. I like to use it with Monterey, no root patch required. I installed Ventura on second volume on the PCIe NVME 4TB I installed. With the latest OCLP, it also does well. Point updates can be a hassle, but I just install a full installer, if the update fails.
There is some higher security risk with the unsigned root and AMFI reduction, but I mainly use it for specific tasks like Logic Pro, Arturia stuff, and mail. My main driver is a Studio M1 Utra.
In comparison, this 13-year-old box is still very snappy! Mine is 12 core 3Ghz with 48GB of ECC RAM.

 

[haralds]

OCLP 0.67 is SOLID for me. I like to use it with Monterey, no root patch required. I installed Ventura on second volume on the PCIe NVME 4TB I installed. With the latest OCLP, it also does well. Point updates can be a hassle, but I just install a full installer, if the update fails.
There is some higher security risk with the unsigned root and AMFI reduction, but I mainly use it for specific tasks like Logic Pro, Arturia stuff, and mail. My main driver is a Studio M1 Utra.
In comparison, this 13-year-old box is still very snappy! Mine is 12 core 3Ghz with 48GB of ECC RAM.

In the past I worked with custom OpenCore configs, but OCLP is SOOO much easier.

 

[mode11]

The easiest possible option is Martin Lo’s premade OC package - https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...n.2180095/page-53?post=28255048#post-28255048.

Zero effort and works fine for me.

 

[O.N.Y.X]

👍 to Martin but it didn’t work for me. Only the OCLP approach did the trick. The only challenge remaining is to get Bluetooth working with Airdrop/Sidecar etc. - which is possible under Monterey but requires a hardware uprade.

 

[mode11]

Yes, I have a BT / Wi-Fi upgrade from a more recent iMac, which probably helps. AirDrop etc. works as expected.

Sidecar may rely on an Intel iGPU (for Quicksync), which Xeons don’t have.

 

[O.N.Y.X]

Well Airdrop is far more important to me than Sidecar. I've heard under Ventura things start falling apart, i.e. the Mac doesn’t recognize iPhones/iPads anymore even though they can airdrop files to the Mac. So Monterey will be the last OS on this MP. Still, this 13-year old machine performs admirably.

 

[Macsonic]

Well Airdrop is far more important to me than Sidecar. I've heard under Ventura things start falling apart, i.e. the Mac doesn’t recognize iPhones/iPads anymore even though they can airdrop files to the Mac. So Monterey will be the last OS on this MP. Still, this 13-year old machine performs admirably.

There are a couple of eBay sellers offering the WiFi/Bluetooth upgrade card. Probably you can check with them if Airdrop works well with the WiFi cards they're selling.

Mac Pro WiFi Upgrade Kit for 4,1 5,1 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with Bluetooth 4.2 - USA | eBay

Apple Mac Pro Wifi Upgrade Kit. Everything you need to upgrade your current mac's WiFi and Bluetooth! Genuine Apple WiFi 802.11ac and Bluetooth card 4.2. MAC PRO 2009, 2010, 2012. Bluetooth power cable (fully compatible with MacPro motherboard).

www.ebay.com

dqupgrade | eBay

 

[mode11]

Well Airdrop is far more important to me than Sidecar. I've heard under Ventura things start falling apart, i.e. the Mac doesn’t recognize iPhones/iPads anymore even though they can airdrop files to the Mac. So Monterey will be the last OS on this MP. Still, this 13-year old machine performs admirably.

Ventura is a step too far for the old MP. Due to the requirement of AVX support on the CPUs, lots of things need to be patched / don’t work. I doubt the minor updates of Ventura warrant that hassle.

 

[haralds]

Ventura is a step too far for the old MP. Due to the requirement of AVX support on the CPUs, lots of things need to be patched / don’t work. I doubt the minor updates of Ventura warrant that hassle.

OCLP does this quite well and runs Ventura nicely.

 

[MoerBoer]

I'm running Ventura just fine on my 5,1 via OCLP. Upgraded bluetooth card, only thing I had to do was on install plus my wired keyboard and mouse into my internal USB3 card and the USB in the normal port and all went swimmingly.