MP 1,1-5,1 MacPro5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (10.13/10.14 BootROM upgrades instructions thread)

[MuNLoK]

This should work.

But before you try that, you may try.

1) Only install the Nvidia card in your cMP
2) Run the 10.14 installer
3) select a newly formatted drive as destination (for clean installation)
4) When it prompt for restart, shut it down
5) remove the Nvidia GPU
6) Install the HD4870
7) Turn on the cMP to let the OS installation continue.

There will be few possible outcome

A) OS installation completed, HD4870 can boot to desktop with just the Mac EFI. So, now you can install web driver and then swap the Nvidia GPU back in.

B) OS installation completed, but HD4870 only shows black screen once driver loaded. Then nothing you can do. But use your HS -> Mojave method

C) OS installation can't be completed, but going into a reboot loop / hang / crash. Then again, you have to use the HS - > Mojave method.

Anyway, no need to install web driver for HS. Simple make a clean installation with HD4870, activate VNC, then upgrade to Mojave should be enough. HOWEVER, this still very depends on if you can get VNC when the system still shows you the very initial setup screen right after OS installation (e.g. the screen that to ask if you want to send system info to the Apple server).

If that's the final part of the installation, and VNC cannot be activated until you make a choice, and really boot to desktop. Then your plan still won't work.

It worked! with only one difference:

1) First I installed the Nvidia card (GTX970),
2) [HS-10.13.6 / FW-138.0.0.0.0] I ran the Mojave installer and selected a secondary newly formatted drive as destination (clean installation).
3) It restarted, but I did not change the graphic card. I waited about 1+ hour (with black screen) for the installation to complete, listening the sounds of the Mac. Basically I calculated a considerable time, and when I thought that the screen would already be in the initial configuration, I turned off the mac, switched the Nvidia to the ATI HD4870 and booted again.
5) YEAH! I could see display on Mojave with ATI HD4870, and also it showed me again the pending initial mojave configuration.
6) I did the initial configuration, and enabled the remote access to be able to view the screen from another mac (VNC). (I did not install any web driver)
7) I turned off the mac, switched again the ATI HD4870 to the Nvidia and done! I just have to wait for the Web Driver release for Mojave, and install it using VNC. While I'm on the HS disk.

Thanks for the idea!

 

[alphaod]

So I have a 7950 Mac Edition, I swear something funny going on.

Anyways I am on 10.13.6; I am already on the 89 firmware thanks for past threads on updating the Mac Pro.

I tried to install Mojave. Anyways the firmware installs fine, but I have a black screen the whole time. The install of Mojave, also black screen the whole time.

I'm wondering since I get black screen the whole time with my EFI card anyways, can I do future updates with just a RX 580 Pulse or do I need the put 7950 back in there.

EDIT: Mojave seems to have installed fine, just full black screen during firmware update and OS update.

 

[w1z]

Can someone please explain to me why Filevault does not work on the MP5,1 when it works on the MP3,1 which is not a supported machine?

I just need to understand the basics so I can look into porting a fix from the 3,1 to the 5,1.

Thanks

 

[ssgbryan]

Can someone please explain to me why Filevault does not work on the MP5,1 when it works on the MP3,1 which is not a supported machine?

I just need to understand the basics so I can look into porting a fix from the 3,1 to the 5,1.

Thanks

Because Apple turned off support for it.

 

[UKenGB]

Can anyone please advise further on graphics cards.

I have a Mac Pro 4,1 updated to 5,1 that I want to run Mojave, for which I need a suitable graphics card. Needless to say I want it to display the boot screen etc so it must be an EFI card, preferably genuine Mac Edition, but re-flashed would be OK if it can provide the display I need.

Currently I have an Apple Cinema display that (almost) any metal capable card will be able to drive, but I intend to change to a wide LG screen at 3840x1600.

So, I need a card that can supply 2560x1600 over DVI and 3840x1600 via Display Port or HDMI and it has to be able to display the bootscreen on both (not at the same time though).

I'm pretty sure the Saphire HD 7950 Mac Edition can do all that, but it's more than I need, hard to find and still expensive. But what alternatives are there? Any suggestions?

 

[w1z]

Because Apple turned off support for it.

Hehe, I know that already. I was asking for the underlining reasons.. Is it disabled in the bootrom or by board-id somewhere in the system files?

@tsialex do you think it was disabled in the bootrom? If support was disabled in the bootrom then that's the end of the subject, for me at least, as I don't want to tinker with it.

 

[Steve Expat]

I have two 2009 Mac Pros that had the MP51.007F.B03 4,1 to 5,1 firmware update run several years ago. Both were going to get the full x5690 treatment, but only one of them ended up needing it, (although I may now do it later this year as CPU prices have dropped dramatically since I upgraded my cMPs back in early 2015). Both are currently running Sierra.

cMP#1 has: (2)x5690 CPUs and a GIGABYTE AMD R9 280X which shows up as Metal: Supported. I purchased it in 2015 already flashed. I ran Novabench on the R9 280x and it showed the scene rendering in Metal and produced a typical score. So, I guess it's a Metal supported card. Can anyone confirm this?

cMP#2 has: the original 2 x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core 2009 CPUs and the original ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB card (not sure which of the two Mac Pros that card was originally in. I took a Nvidia Geforce from one and and stored it for another deal).

My questions:

1) on cMP#1 assuming the GIGABYTE AMD R9 280X is supported by Metal, I'll install High Sierra with the ATI Radeon HD 5770 in cMP#1, then after swapping the cards for the R9 280X, the Mojave install will update the FW, and the 280x will work in the cMP#1 under Mojave as expected, yes?

2) I don't need the 2nd Mac Pro to run Mojave (it's a headless slave), as long as it it gets along with cMP#1 while CMP#2 runs Sierra. Any problems there? (I doubt it - I always Screen Share into it).

I run a mission critical host/slave and I don't know it it's worth the trouble, but if I do decided to do this, I just want to confirm what I've said, especially about the GIGABYTE AMD R9 280X being Metal Supported, which it seems to be.

Thanks for everyone's time. Enjoy your own upgrades.
Steve

 

[tsialex]

Hehe, I know that already. I was asking for the underlining reasons.. Is it disabled in the bootrom or by board-id somewhere in the system files?

@tsialex do you think it was disabled in the bootrom? If support was disabled in the bootrom then that's the end of the subject, for me at least, as I don't want to tinker with it.

Works with 138.0.0.0.0 in 10.13.6, so only disabled with Mojave.
[doublepost=1538252673][/doublepost]

I have two 2009 Mac Pros that had the MP51.007F.B03 4,1 to 5,1 firmware update run several years ago. Both were going to get the full x5690 treatment, but only one of them ended up needing it, (although I may now do it later this year as CPU prices have dropped dramatically since I upgraded my cMPs back in early 2015). Both are currently running Sierra.

cMP#1 has: (2)x5690 CPUs and a GIGABYTE AMD R9 280X which shows up as Metal: Supported. I purchased it in 2015 already flashed. I ran Novabench on the R9 280x and it showed the scene rendering in Metal and produced a typical score. So, I guess it's a Metal supported card. Can anyone confirm this?

cMP#2 has: the original 2 x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core 2009 CPUs and the original ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB card (not sure which of the two Mac Pros that card was originally in. I took a Nvidia Geforce from one and and stored it for another deal).

My questions:

1) on cMP#1 assuming the GIGABYTE AMD R9 280X is supported by Metal, I'll install High Sierra with the ATI Radeon HD 5770 in cMP#1, then after swapping the cards for the R9 280X, the Mojave install will update the FW, and the 280x will work in the cMP#1 under Mojave as expected, yes?

2) I don't need the 2nd Mac Pro to run Mojave (it's a headless slave), as long as it it gets along with cMP#1 while CMP#2 runs Sierra. Any problems there? (I doubt it - I always Screen Share into it).

I run a mission critical host/slave and I don't know it it's worth the trouble, but if I do decided to do this, I just want to confirm what I've said, especially about the GIGABYTE AMD R9 280X being Metal Supported, which it seems to be.

Thanks for everyone's time. Enjoy your own upgrades.
Steve

1) If the card is flashed, i.e. has boot screens, you don't need to change it to upgrade the bottom to MP51.0089.B00.
2) No problem to MP51.0089.B00 if is the original Apple HD 5770/have boot screens, but you will need to install the Metal one to upgrade to 138.0.0.0.0.

 

[h9826790]

So I have a 7950 Mac Edition, I swear something funny going on.

Anyways I am on 10.13.6; I am already on the 89 firmware thanks for past threads on updating the Mac Pro.

I tried to install Mojave. Anyways the firmware installs fine, but I have a black screen the whole time. The install of Mojave, also black screen the whole time.

I'm wondering since I get black screen the whole time with my EFI card anyways, can I do future updates with just a RX 580 Pulse or do I need the put 7950 back in there.

EDIT: Mojave seems to have installed fine, just full black screen during firmware update and OS update.

The genuine Sapphire HD7950 Mac Edition card, or a flashed HD7950?

 

[irra7ional]

So I updated my firmware via the 10.13.6 installer, but Mojave doesn't allow me to install. Here is my sys report:

Any idea why it doesn't like the video card? Btw, FireVault is indeed disabled.

Thanks!

 

[usarioclave]

Hehe, I know that already. I was asking for the underlining reasons.. Is it disabled in the bootrom or by board-id somewhere in the system files?

@tsialex do you think it was disabled in the bootrom? If support was disabled in the bootrom then that's the end of the subject, for me at least, as I don't want to tinker with it.

My guess is that the OS now needs to load a bunch of stuff off of disk, and can't because the disk isn't available yet. It might be a side effect of metal: they can't get metal without accessing the system folder on the drive, and there isn't a good way to switch between non-metal (pre-mojave) and full metal (ie: mojave).

It might also be because they wanted to support Nvidia cards, and removing the boot screen requirement was the only way to do that. Explaining boot screen support can be complicated, as you can see in these forums.

 

[h9826790]

So I updated my firmware via the 10.13.6 installer, but Mojave doesn't allow me to install. Here is my sys report:

View attachment 790699

View attachment 790700


Any idea why it doesn't like the video card? Btw, FireVault is indeed disabled.

Thanks!

RX560 is the only GPU installed?

 

[irra7ional]

RX560 is the only GPU installed?

No, I also have GT 120 installed (the original card with this Mac Pro)

EDIT: Removed the GT120 and it works thanks! Let's see how the install goes!

 

[Theophany]

No, I also have GT 120 installed (the original card with this Mac Pro)

EDIT: Removed the GT120 and it works thanks! Let's see how the install goes!

Key wording from that error message: "Installing Mac OS Mojave on this Mac requires that all graphics cards have Metal support"

(I was scratching my head over the same thing )

 

[irra7ional]

Key wording from that error message: "Installing Mac OS Mojave on this Mac requires that all graphics cards have Metal support"

(I was scratching my head over the same thing )

Indeed, dyslexia at its best. Does that also mean I can't install the GT120 again post Mojave install?

 

[BillyBobBongo]

Indeed, dyslexia at its best. Does that also mean I can't install the GT120 again post Mojave install?

Try it and see. I can’t run Mojave with the GT120 present (with my RX 580), others however can.

 

[TC!!]

Thanks for your help with this information, finally bit the bullet today and have my 2010 MP5,1 with an RX580 running Mojave.

 

[alphaod]

The genuine Sapphire HD7950 Mac Edition card, or a flashed HD7950?

The genuine white one. I've had it since it came out.

 

[irra7ional]

Glad to say I've installed Mojave and so far everything seems pretty darn good, I would say some improved performance as well. Seems to be a bit more strict with USB power consumption tho.

Pretty happy tho, High Sierra was a nightmare for most part. Most of the glitches I was getting with fullscreen video glitching and stuff appear to be gone too.

I am getting a weird issue with Netflix not working on Safari, I assume it is a silverlight issue, so I will re-install it but not sure.

 

[YourBasicBob]

Mojave only will install if you have upgraded your BootROM and you have a Metal capable GPU. If you are trying to install Mojave on a Mac Pro 5,1 (2009 updated to 5,1 firmware, 2010 and 2012), you have first to upgrade your BootROM to version MP51.0089.B00 and to High Sierra 10.13.6, then you can install a Metal capable GPU and install Mojave.

You can read the Apple Support article here: Install macOS 10.14 Mojave on Mac Pro (Mid 2010) and Mac Pro (Mid 2012).

Remember: Apple Mojave recommend RX-560/580 cards do not have Mac EFI, so you need to install your original EFI GPU to upgrade your BootROM to MP51.0089.B00. After that, Mojave installer can upgrade your firmware without the need of a Mac EFI GPU and requires that you only have Metal supported cards installed on your Mac Pro.

No card of the Apple third-party graphics cards list has Mac EFI:

• AMD Radeon RX 560
• AMD Radeon RX 570
• AMD Radeon RX 580
• AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100
• AMD Radeon RX Vega 56
• AMD Radeon RX Vega 64
• AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100
• AMD Radeon Frontier Edition

If you have a earlier than MP51.0089.B00 BootROM version, these are the steps to upgrade your BootROM to have Mojave support:

1. Disconnect any 4K or DP1.2 display. MP5,1 efiflasher don't support 4K screens or DP1.2. You can't update to MP51.0089.B00 with a 4K/DP1.2 screen connected to your Mac EFI card. It's a old bug that Apple corrected with MP6,1 and "forgot" to correct with the 5.1.
2. Disable FileVault2 if enabled, Mojave don't support FV2 on a Mac Pro 5,1 yet.
3. Install a Mac EFI64 card. Any original Apple card from 2008 to 2012 (HD 2600XT, 8800GT, Quadro FX 5600, GT120, HD 4870/5770/5870) plus the Sapphire HD 7950 Mac Edition, eVGA GTX 680 Mac Edition, NVIDIA Quadro 4000/K5000 or self-flashed/MVC flashed cards.
4. Download the full Mac App Store Installer for 10.13.6 (even if you already are on 10.13.6)
5. Open the installer, do the firmware upgrade as asked.
6. After the firmware upgrade, 10.13.6 installer will open again, you can close it.
7. Now you check if your Mac Pro BootROM is MP51.0089.B00, if yes you can shutdown and install your Metal capable GPU (any AMD equal or newer than HD 7xxx, Nvidia GTX 680 Mac Edition, Quadro K5000 and other Nvidia Kepler cards/newer). [If you have a Nvidia card that need the web driver, Maxwell and Pascal ones, wait for Nvidia release it for Mojave]
8. Download the full Mac App Store installer for Mojave.
9. Open the installer, do the firmware upgrade as asked.
10. After the reboot, open System Information and check if you have BootROM 138.0.0.0.0, if yes, you can do a createinstallmedia USB clean install or upgrade your previous High Sierra install.

 

[crjackson2134]

.

Did you forget to comment on your quote?

 

[brkkyk]

Can, you don’t even need to connect any monitor to the GT120, as long as the GT120 is there. The firmware upgrade (0089.B00 and before) can work.
[doublepost=1538222717][/doublepost]

Read it again, step 7

What i'm saying is firmware update is not working. I tried high sierra full installer but shutdown button in firmware update screen do nothing in my case. This is the problem.
[doublepost=1538343778][/doublepost]

You need to run a high Sierra full installer and update your firmware to MP51.0089 first. As stated in post 1. You are on 0085.

What i'm saying is firmware update is not working. I tried high sierra full installer but shutdown button in firmware update screen do nothing in my case. This is the problem.

 

[tsialex]

What i'm saying is firmware update is not working. I tried high sierra full installer but shutdown button in firmware update screen do nothing in my case. This is the problem.
[doublepost=1538343778][/doublepost]
What i'm saying is firmware update is not working. I tried high sierra full installer but shutdown button in firmware update screen do nothing in my case. This is the problem.

Did you tried installing 10.11 on a empty disk, then trying to upgrade it to 10.13.6 there? 10.11 don't need any firmware updates to install and you can use it to bootstrap the firmware update.

 

[YourBasicBob]

I am trying to find a Metal compatible graphics card for my 4,1 -> 5,1 2009 Mac Pro. I find the "RX 580" cards but they are labeled as "Armor", "Nitro", "Sapphire", "Red Dragon", "Sapphire Pulse", "VisionTek", "Black Edition" and then there are multiple brands Gigabyte, XFX, MSI, ASUS, PowerColor, etc.

NONE listed are claimed to be Metal compatible, but list
DirectX 12, DirectX 11, DirectX 10, DirectX 11.1, DirectX 10.1, CUDA, DirectX 9.0, DirectX 9.0c, DirectX 9.0a, DirectX 9.0b, DirectCompute, OpenGL 4.5, OpenCL, Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX, OpenGL 2.0, OpenCL 1.2, OpenCL 2.0, OpenCL 1.0, OpenCL 1.1

So I guess i am asking for some clarification on which of the many GPS's I find on Ebay will work. I would like to just purchase one that works. I do not need bringing speed, but I would assume the RX580 will be better than the two NVIDIA GeForce GT120's I have installed now. Thank you for your assistance in advance.

 

[tsialex]

I am trying to find a Metal compatible graphics card for my 4,1 -> 5,1 2009 Mac Pro. I find the "RX 580" cards but they are labeled as "Armor", "Nitro", "Sapphire", "Red Dragon", "Sapphire Pulse", "VisionTek", "Black Edition" and then there are multiple brands Gigabyte, XFX, MSI, ASUS, PowerColor, etc.

NONE listed are claimed to be Metal compatible, but list
DirectX 12, DirectX 11, DirectX 10, DirectX 11.1, DirectX 10.1, CUDA, DirectX 9.0, DirectX 9.0c, DirectX 9.0a, DirectX 9.0b, DirectCompute, OpenGL 4.5, OpenCL, Vulkan, OpenGL, DirectX, OpenGL 2.0, OpenCL 1.2, OpenCL 2.0, OpenCL 1.0, OpenCL 1.1

So I guess i am asking for some clarification on which of the many GPS's I find on Ebay will work. I would like to just purchase one that works. I do not need bringing speed, but I would assume the RX580 will be better than the two NVIDIA GeForce GT120's I have installed now. Thank you for your assistance in advance.

All AMD cards since HD 77xx, are Metal compatible, so, yes RX-580 is Metal compatible. Buy one of the Apple suggest one here: Install macOS 10.14 Mojave on Mac Pro (Mid 2010) and Mac Pro (Mid 2012)