OK How many of us are now booting from NVMeM.2 ?

[crjackson2134]

Consider that most cMP's have gobs of ECC Ram, and other hardware, compared to those "older" systems with a less demanding (older, in most cases) OS to load, and less hardware to initialize.

I could pull all my memory (save one 8GB stick), load up a much older OS, pull all my PCIe cards, and use only 1 installed SATA SSD and it would be blindingly fast boot times.

When you start loading up on hardware (like loading down a truck), pulling out from a stop is slower, but top speed may or may not be affected.

It's not ALL about the hard/ssd drive when booting.

Not really an equal comparison....

 

[pl1984]

Consider that most cMP's have gobs of ECC Ram, and other hardware, compared to those "older" systems with a less demanding (older, in most cases) OS to load, and less hardware to initialize.

I agree the older operating systems use less resources. But then they're also running on systems with less resources. The fact considerably older systems, utilizing spinning hard disks, are able to achieve comparable times (keep in mind the times specified in that thread were to also start Safari and load Google's home page and not just boot to the desktop) should speak to the fact there are many factors at play.

I could pull all my memory (save one 8GB stick), load up a much older OS, pull all my PCIe cards, and use only 1 installed SATA SSD and it would be blindingly fast boot times.

One 8GB stick is considerably more memory than those older systems.

When you start loading up on hardware (like loading down a truck), pulling out from a stop is slower, but top speed may or may not be affected.

It's not ALL about the hard/ssd drive when booting.

I agree! Which is exactly my point.

 

[AidenShaw]

Consider that most cMP's have gobs of ECC Ram

I'd say that "gobs of RAM" starts somewhere above 512 GiB - which means that no cMP has "gobs of RAM".

Right now I'm trying to squeeze an application into running on a system with 1536 GiB of RAM - and after adding a 1536 GiB page file it's looking good. (One phase of the job uses VM - but the page file is on an Intel data centre PCIe NVMe 2 TB SSD, and the hit isn't too bad.)

I have the bid out for another 1536 GiB of RAM to upgrade the system to 3 TiB.

 

[MIKX]

Older systems using spinners are achieving similar results:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-long-to-boot-up.2131747/#post-26340837

I doubt that their interiors are as. cool as my current cMP

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

I'm quite accustomed to slow responses in our various Mac Pro threads but the lack of response to BOOTING from Â.2 NVMe PCIe blades . .to be honest .. astounds me.

Your standard spinner 3.5" HDD yields around 110 mb / sec ( depending on the HDD's RPM / maker.

Sata II SSD's will go up to around ( in my case ) 270 mb/sec.

My current Samsung M.2 NVMe PCI 250gb blade yields upwards of 1,480 mb / sec & higher READs.

The NVMe M.2 BOOT upgrade has been working for a number of cMP users for some time now.

Let's hear why you FEAR this upgrade.

Until there is a one click updater, I have zero interest. Also, injecting code I don't understand, from sources I cannot possibly trust is not my cup of tea. So unless Apple puts it in officially, I'll personally pass.

 

[crjackson2134]

Until there is a one click updater, I have zero interest. Also, injecting code I don't understand, from sources I cannot possibly trust is not my cup of tea. So unless Apple puts it in officially, I'll personally pass.

I understand your concern, but honestly, the code you would be injecting is from Apple, not some 3rd party source. It's the NVMe driver that's used stock on nMP 6,1 systems. Those of us with cMP were not so blessed by Apple so we borrowed there driver from the 6,1, and appended to the backside of the stock firmware. It's not magic, it's not complicated, but things CAN (but usually don't) go wrong. Even the Apple flasher trashed my stock Apple NVRAM (on a chip) partition, so I do understand. I wouldn't have even known it was the reason for some system anomalies if I hadn't taken the leap to NVMe.

I'm bugging (through bug reporter) Apple daily with different variations of firmware problems but I always emphasize the need for native NVMe boot support.

 

[pl1984]

I understand your concern, but honestly, the code you would be injecting is from Apple,

Does Apple support and will warranty the installation of said code? Enough said.

 

[handheldgames]

Does Apple support and will warranty the installation of said code? Enough said.

Sounds like the pot is calling the kettle black. Don't you run a HP Hackintosh?

 

[crjackson2134]

Ha ha...

I’m guessing Mr. I argue with anyone about anything, made noise. I never see those posts thanks to my ignore list. I don’t care for the noise.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

I understand your concern, but honestly, the code you would be injecting is from Apple, not some 3rd party source. It's the NVMe driver that's used stock on nMP 6,1 systems. Those of us with cMP were not so blessed by Apple so we borrowed there driver from the 6,1, and appended to the backside of the stock firmware. It's not magic, it's not complicated, but things CAN (but usually don't) go wrong. Even the Apple flasher trashed my stock Apple NVRAM (on a chip) partition, so I do understand. I wouldn't have even known it was the reason for some system anomalies if I hadn't taken the leap to NVMe.

I'm bugging (through bug reporter) Apple daily with different variations of firmware problems but I always emphasize the need for native NVMe boot support.

Fair points but I cannot easily verify that the code being injected is vanilla code from the 6,1. I don’t have the energy to find a 6,1, extract the rom, get the proper section, and then inject it myself. Some people will, no doubt and I tip my lazy hat at them. Others will trust the code shared here, and I tip my paranoid hat at them. All fair decisions. Just ones that are too much for me to deal with. But respect the work to figure this out and those that do go for it.

 

[MIKX]

ZombiePhysicist

We ( crazy cMP lovers ) learn so much more about our Mac Pros through.. .

Flashing our GPUs. I started as a terrified novice 3 years ago and with the help of Netkas & Macrumors members I have now flashed 6 of them and most of them run at 5.0 GT/s. Now I'm not terrified, I'm confident.

Setting up NVME m.2 + USB stick fusion drives to boot Sierra. leaves SATA II SSDs for dead.

I was the most terrified when I decided to boot High Sierra 10.13.6 from my M.2 NVMe Samsung 960 EVO. there was so much to absorb but that is the whole point.. . . now I know much, much more about how my cMP 4,1>5,1 works.

"Give a man a fish . . he will eat for a day . .. . teach him how to fish and he may eat whenever. "

The Macrumors Mac Pro thread is all about getting the best possible performance out of Apple Orphans.

In achieving NVMe booting we have done something that Apple denied us. SATA III was in wide use in the Windows world when the 2009 4,1 was released.

Amen

 

[pl1984]

Sounds like the pot is calling the kettle black. Don't you run a HP Hackintosh?

No, my HP system runs Linux.

 

[Pandanl]

I just received a PCIe M.2 adapter and have a Samsung 960 Evo 1TB for testing. But I'm on bootrom 138, is it still possible to inject the NVMe into it?

I have a created a bootrom backup of 84 and 89 prior to updating.

 

[crjackson2134]

I just received a PCIe M.2 adapter and have a Samsung 960 Evo 1TB for testing. But I'm on bootrom 138, is it still possible to inject the NVMe into it?

I have a created a bootrom backup of 84 and 89 prior to updating.

Yes, most definitely. I have have 138-NVMe now.

 

[Pandanl]

Yes, most definitely. I have have 138-NVMe now.

Are the steps to do this still the same as the google doc describes?

 

[crjackson2134]

Are the steps to do this still the same as the google doc describes?

Yes, no changes at the moment, but wait. Don’t do it yet. I’m testing with @tsialex today, and a better method is coming. Be patient and wait for the write up. Less chance of error. Works great.

 

[tsialex]

Anyone with NVMe injected BootROM tried to use macOS and BootCamp on the same NVMe drive?

I'm asking because people with MP6,1 + NVMe drive + macOS + BootCamp with NTFS are corrupting the filesystem and getting KPs. Since you're using the same NVMe DXE driver…

 

[crjackson2134]

Anyone with NVMe injected BootROM tried to use macOS and BootCamp on the same NVMe drive?

I'm asking because people with MP6,1 + NVMe drive + macOS + BootCamp with NTFS are corrupting the filesystem and getting KPs. Since you're using the same NVMe DXE driver…

If you don’t get any takers in a day or so, I’ll set up an NVMe Hybrid install for testing in a few days

 

[Pandanl]

Yes, no changes at the moment, but wait. Don’t do it yet. I’m testing with @tsialex today, and a better method is coming. Be patient and wait for the write up. Less chance of error. Works great.

Oops to late, already did the injection of NVMe. Haven't installed the M.2 PCI adapter yet.

The ROM U8700 code was really hard to read in a dark room with iphone flashlight, but zoomed in I was able to read it. Note: carefully read your ROM chip, mine was not the default in DOStool.

 

[tsialex]

Oops to late, already did the injection of NVMe. Haven't installed the M.2 PCI adapter yet.

The ROM U8700 code was really hard to read in a dark room with iphone flashlight, but zoomed in I was able to read it. Note: carefully read your ROM chip, mine was not the default in DOStool.

A Macronix one, it's rare on a Mac Pro 4,1 or 5,1, but common place in MacBooks. Usually it's the SST 25VF032B.

 

[tsialex]

@Pandanl What's your cMP (2009/2010/2012)? Do you have your build date? It's at the last bytes of the BootROM. On my 4,1 B08 with SST 25VF032B it's 100626100626:

 

[Pandanl]

@tsialex My Mac Pro is a 2010

 

[tsialex]

@tsialex My Mac Pro is a 2010

Thx!

8 year anniversary was 10 days ago, 2010 08 07. Btw, checking by the SSN is off by a month.

@crjackson2134 2010 one with MX25L03250.

 

[Pandanl]

I'm not able to format my PCIe M.2 Samsung 960 Evo 1TB.

It had a windows install on it, I was able to wipe it but it gives me an error when I try to format it. Doesn't matter which formating option I choose.

It reports the partition as External?

Translation:

Deactivating Disk
MediaKit reports that there is insufficient space on the device for the requested action
Operation failed.

 

[pl1984]

I'm not able to format my PCIe M.2 Samsung 960 Evo 1TB.

It had a windows install on it, I was able to wipe it but it gives me an error when I try to format it. Doesn't matter which formating option I choose.

It reports the partition as External?

Translation:

Deactivating Disk
MediaKit reports that there is insufficient space on the device for the requested action
Operation failed.

You might want to try the following from a Terminal window:

sudo unmountDisk /dev/disk0
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/disk0 count=1​

WARNING: The above will render the information of /dev/disk0 inaccessible. Make sure this is what you intend.