MP 1,1-5,1 OpenCore on the Mac Pro

[cdf]

OpenCore on Legacy Apple Hardware

This guide explains how to use the excellent OpenCore (OC) bootloader on a Mac Pro 5,1 with upgraded Westmere Xeons to install, run, and update macOS Catalina, resulting in a clean, unpatched operating system no different than what you would find on a supported Mac.

The main advantage of using OC vs other tools on a Mac Pro 5,1 is that it makes Software Update work.

1. Setup

Disk A. Newly APFS-formatted drive (GUID scheme)

This is where OC and a clean install of Catalina will go.

Disk B. macOS Mojave

Installation and configuration will be done from here. (To ensure a bootable fallback after an NVRAM reset, it is recommended that Disk B be a SATA disk in Bay 1 and that it always be present alongside Disk A.)

2. Materials

A. The application "Install macOS Catalina" (the full installer)

B. OpenCore

See the releases page of the project site. Download OpenCore-0.5.4-RELEASE.zip. The uncompressed folder will be referred to here as "OpenCore."

C. Configuration file

Provided in this post. Download config.zip. The uncompressed file is "config.plist".

The configuration described in this guide should be perfectly safe, but please be aware of the following:

WARNING!
Using OpenCore without extensive knowledge of the configuration options
may lead to a bricked Mac.​

Because OC is in active development, the configuration file for the current version (0.5.4) will likely be incompatible with future (or past) versions.

3. Installing OC

a) Mount the EFI partition of Disk A: To find the identifier of the partition, enter the following in terminal:

diskutil list

The identifier will be something like "disk0s1;" the next step will assume that this is the case.

sudo diskutil mount /dev/disk0s1

You may need to authorize this. The partition should mount as /Volumes/EFI and appear as "EFI" in Finder.

b) Copy the OpenCore/EFI folder to the EFI partition. The resulting folder, /Volumes/EFI/EFI, should contain the folders OC and BOOT.

c) Copy config.plist to /Volumes/EFI/EFI/OC.

4. Configuration

The file config.plist can be edited with any plist editor and even with TextEdit; the following steps will assume TextEdit.

a) Open config.plist with TextEdit.

b) Enable the VMM flag: Find the Cpuid1Mask entry, and carefully change AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA== to AAAAAAAAAAAAAACAAAAAAA==. The value should now be the same as for Cpuid1Data.

Remark: VMM flag spoofing is only possible with Westmere Xeons. Nehalem and older Xeons don't have the hardware requirements to support Apple Hypervisor and can't enable VMM flag spoofing.

c) Enable boot entry preservation: Find the RequestBootVarRouting entry, and change false to true.

d) Close the file. It should be saved automatically (select OK if informed about there being no permanent version storage).

The purpose of doing these steps explicitly is to be able to reverse them if desired.

5. Booting

a) Reboot into recovery mode by entering

sudo nvram "recovery-boot-mode=unused" && sudo reboot recovery

You may need to authorize this. Be patient. Mac Pro boot times can be long, especially when booting into recovery mode.

b) Carry out step 3a (sudo is not needed in recovery).

c) Set the partition for booting:

bless --mount /Volumes/EFI --setBoot

If the above fails, try:

bless --mount /Volumes/EFI --setBoot --file /Volumes/EFI/EFI/OC/OpenCore.efi --verbose

d) Shut down the Mac and do an SMC reset (unplug the power cord, wait 15 seconds, plug the power cord back in, wait 5 seconds, and then press the power button).

Remark: Being installed on Disk A, OC can have trouble seeing Disk B. Doing an SMC reset helps ensure that Disk B is seen when OC starts.

e) Power up the machine. OC should boot Disk B (currently the only macOS system).

Be patient. Mac Pro boot times can be long. If it seems that the machine is not booting up. Hold the power button to shut down the machine. Do an NVRAM reset on the next power up (immediately press and hold Option, Command, P, and R, and release after 20 seconds or after you hear the second startup chime). The Mac should boot without OC. Recheck all the steps above.

f) Booted into the system on Disk B, verify that it is indeed OC that has booted the system by entering this in terminal:

nvram 4D1FDA02-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B30102:opencore-version

You should see REL-054-2020-01-13.

You can also verify that the VMM flag is present by entering

sysctl machdep.cpu.features

You should see FPU VME DE PSE TSC MSR PAE MCE CX8 APIC SEP MTRR PGE MCA CMOV PAT PSE36 CLFSH DS ACPI MMX FXSR SSE SSE2 SS HTT TM PBE SSE3 PCLMULQDQ DTES64 MON DSCPL VMX SMX EST TM2 SSSE3 CX16 TPR PDCM SSE4.1 SSE4.2 POPCNT AES VMM PCID.

Congratulations for making it this far! The hard part is done.

6. Installing Catalina

a) Booted into the system on Disk B, run Install macOS Catalina. Install to Disk A.

The machine will reboot and eventually you should see the installation progress bar.

b) Complete the installation.

From now on, OC should boot Catalina on Disk A by default. In any case, OC will respect the selection in Startup Disk; however, be mindful of the remark in step 5d. Also, by carrying out step 5a, OC should boot the recovery mode corresponding to the system currently booted into.

7. Updates

As long as the VMM flag is present, Software Update should just work.

8. Post Install (Optional)

To make the system as native as possible while still using OC, the VMM flag can be disabled by reversing step 4b. This might be a good idea, because a small performance loss (5%) has been observed when leaving the flag enabled.

It is also possible to boot Catalina natively, after using recovery to add a boot argument

nvram boot-args="-no_compat_check"

and then disabling OC (see 10 below). Although OC adds this argument, booting without OC does not guarantee that the argument will be there, unless it is added as described above.

The VMM flag and OC must be enabled for Software Update to work.

9. Platform Information (Miscellanea)

It is possible to use OC to customize platform information. You may want to preserve some of the original identifiers, which can be obtained as follows:

printf "SSN: "; ioreg -k IOPlatformSerialNumber | awk '/IOPlatformSerialNumber/{gsub(/\"/,"");print $NF}'

printf "LBSN: "; nvram 4D1EDE05-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B38C14:MLB | awk '{print $NF}'

printf "PBSN: "; ioreg -k IOPlatformSerialNumber | awk '/processor-memory-board-serial-number/{gsub(/\"/,"");print $NF}'

printf "ROM: "; a=4D1EDE05-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B38C14:ROM; printf "$(nvram $a | sed -E 's/^'$a'.//;s/\\/\\\\/g;s/%/\\x/g')" | base64

printf "SUUID: "; ioreg -l -p IODeviceTree | awk '/"system-id"/ {print toupper($NF)}' | sed 's/^\(.\)\(.\{8\}\)\(....\)\(....\)\(....\)\(.\{12\}\)\(.\)/\2-\3-\4-\5-\6/'

The ROM identifier is in Base64, suitable for entry with TextEdit.

10. Disabling OC

a) Carry out step 3a.

b) Open config.plist with TextEdit.

c) Reverse step 4c.

d) Reboot.

e) Select the desired entry in Startup Disk.

f) Reboot.

11. Uninstalling OC

a) Disable OC (see 10).

b) Carry out step 3a.

c) Delete the /Volumes/EFI/EFI folder.

Acknowledgements

A big thank you to the talented developers of OpenCore for making all of this possible.

 

[Syncretic]

Before I venture down this path, does your OpenCore setup enable boot screens on your "non-bootscreen graphics card"? I'm currently using rEFInd to achieve that, but I'm interested in OpenCore if it can provide the same functionality.

 

[cdf]

Before I venture down this path, does your OpenCore setup enable boot screens on your "non-bootscreen graphics card"? I'm currently using rEFInd to achieve that, but I'm interested in OpenCore if it can provide the same functionality.

For a 3,1, I would say that the chances are good. OpenCore provides GOP support. However, you will have to edit the configuration file appropriately.

 

[h9826790]

I can confirm the tutorial in post #1 works as expected.

But I haven't figure out how to set iMac Pro SMBIOS yet.

 

[h9826790]

Just tested update Catalina (to latest beta) via System Preferences -> Software Update natively. Also work perfectly.

 

[w1z]

I can also confirm that OpenCore is working beautifully with Catalina installed on a dedicated NVMe drive, Mojave installed on a shared NVMe drive and with Windows 10 installed in EFI mode on the same shared drive as Mojave.

I did not need to have Mojave installed on a SATA drive.

Now to save those of you wanting to try OpenCore while using Windows 10 in EFI mode from going bananas, the trick to getting Windows EFI to play nicely with OpenCore's Bootx64.efi in /Volumes/EFI/EFI/Boot was to relocate the shared NVMe drive (which has Mojave / Windows 10 installed on it) from slot 3 to slot 2 on the 7101A thus placing it before the dedicated Catalina drive. Reason being, Apple's boot efi is scanning drives backwards / in reverse order with the 7101A ie. NVMe Slots 4 3 2 1 instead of 1 2 3 4 (not sure if this is the case too with other PCIe cards) so now Catalina shows up first in the boot screen.

Also, if you have enabled Apple's full mitigation for disabling hyper-threading, you will need to edit the config.plist file and append cwae=2 to the boot-args string:

<key>7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82</key>
            <dict>
                <key>boot-args</key>
                <string>-no_compat_check cwae=2</string>
            </dict>

I'm loving this! Thanks for sharing @cdf as well as a massive thank you to the developers of OpenCore.

 

[h9826790]

—- Warning!!! This config may brick your Mac. Do NOT use it unless you know what you are doing. —-

As a record. The following setting to simulate iMac Pro will cause black screen.


<key>PlatformInfo</key>
<dict>
<key>Automatic</key>
<true/>
<key>Generic</key>
<dict>
<key>MLB</key>
<string>C02706700J9JG36JA</string>
<key>ROM</key>
<data>ESIzAAAA</data>
<key>SpoofVendor</key>
<true/>
<key>SystemProductName</key>
<string>iMacPro1,1</string>
<key>SystemSerialNumber</key>
<string>C02T75Y5HX87</string>
<key>SystemUUID</key>
<string>EF81678C-50D7-4A13-9D1A-B423E7F7BE5B</string>
</dict>
<key>UpdateDataHub</key>
<true/>
<key>UpdateNVRAM</key>
<true/>
<key>UpdateSMBIOS</key>
<true/>
<key>UpdateSMBIOSMode</key>
<string>Create</string>
</dict>


Basically, UpdateSMBIOS = true will cause black screen.

I haven't have time to insert a Mac EFI UGA GPU or Remote Desktop to check what's happening yet. However, I highly suspect that the cMP actually booted to desktop with the above settings, because the Eject key works, Caps Lock key works, and Command + Control + power button also work.

If the cMP was jammed at loading screen, eject key shouldn't work.

And AFAIK, Command + Control + Power button only react properly inside macOS.

So, very high chance the cMP actually booted to desktop. However, using the iMac Pro SMBIOS cause the GPU fail to display properly.

Anyway, one more good news. PCIe info won't be mess up like using Clover. It's a good start.

 

[cdf]

Basically, UpdateSMBIOS = true will cause black screen.

Perhaps you could try with UpdateDataHub and UpdateNVRAM set to false. I have been successful with just UpdateSMBIOS set to true with a few model identifiers. I haven't tried iMacPro1,1, though.

I haven't have time to insert a Mac EFI UGA GPU or Remote Desktop to check what's happening yet.

Another option is setting the debug properties for creating a log file.

 

[h9826790]

My setting in post #7 is correct indeed. But it seems after applying the iMac Pro SMBIOS, only the 1st display port on my Radeon VII can display, the other ports are disabled. My cable was connected to the 3rd port, that's why I only got black screen.

Anyway, now I can see the screen, and my cMP ident itself as iMac Pro, and provide Catalina upgrade natively.

 

[h9826790]

Almost all sensor disappear after applying iMac Pro SMBIOS. But the 2 fans are controllable via iStat. I can spin them up manually.

 

[Ludacrisvp]

My setting in post #7 is correct indeed. But it seems after applying the iMac Pro SMBIOS, only the 1st display port on my Radeon VII can display, the other ports are disabled. My cable was connected to the 3rd port, that's why I only got black screen.

Anyway, now I can see the screen, and my cMP ident itself as iMac Pro, and provide Catalina upgrade natively.

View attachment 872912

Now the slightly offtopic question... did this allow you to enable HEVC encode / decode in Catalina (and Mojave hevc encode)?

 

[w1z]

My setting in post #7 is correct indeed. But it seems after applying the iMac Pro SMBIOS, only the 1st display port on my Radeon VII can display, the other ports are disabled. My cable was connected to the 3rd port, that's why I only got black screen.

Anyway, now I can see the screen, and my cMP ident itself as iMac Pro, and provide Catalina upgrade natively.

View attachment 872912

I wonder if the model identifier MacPro7,1 would provide functioning sensors, ports and hevc.

 

[h9826790]

Now the slightly offtopic question... did this allow you to enable HEVC encode / decode in Catalina (and Mojave hevc encode)?

No, exactly the same as by using Lilu + WhateverGreen. Still not sure what's missing.

 

[lowendlinux]

Why would someone use this over Clover?

 

[cdf]

Why would someone use this over Clover?

Clover can wreak havoc on the 5,1's NVRAM. OpenCore was designed for not only hacks but real Macs as well.

 

[startergo]

The fan control is an essential part of the SMC. If we cannot make them work automatically OC is not safe on the cMP. This is the main reason I did not try unraid server.

 

[CMMChris]

@h9826790 Whatevergreen and agdpmod=pikera (boot arg) should fix your black screen issue and enable all outputs of your graphics card. Alternatively you could also remove the iMacPro1,1 Board ID from the info.plist of AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy.

Regarding the HEVC issues you guys report on the real Mac Pros, try to do an ACPI rename of your GPU from whatever it is called by Apple to GFX0. If this is the root of the problem it should enable HEVC acceleration. On a Hackintosh GFX0 is mandatory for this.

 

[cdf]

The fan control is an essential part of the SMC. If we cannot make them work automatically OC is not safe on the cMP. This is the main reason I did not try unraid server.

Fan control appears to function fine for my setup. The sensor issue seems to come from spoofing the iMac Pro.

 

[startergo]

Great. Good to know. Have you tried FaceTime and iMessage yet?

 

[cdf]

FaceTime and iMessage seem to work when using OC. However, I've been very careful not to play around with platform information when logged in to these services.

 

[h9826790]

@h9826790 Whatevergreen and agdpmod=pikera (boot arg) should fix your black screen issue and enable all outputs of your graphics card. Alternatively you could also remove the iMacPro1,1 Board ID from the info.plist of AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy.

Regarding the HEVC issues you guys report on the real Mac Pros, try to do an ACPI rename of your GPU from whatever it is called by Apple to GFX0. If this is the root of the problem it should enable HEVC acceleration. On a Hackintosh GFX0 is mandatory for this.

Thanks for pointing me into the right direction. I will study the OpenCore manual and try to config it accordingly.

Hopefully I can fix the following things

1) HEVC hardware encode (both in Mojave and Catalina), if possible, I want to make it available for a 5,1 ident cMP (may be the ACPI rename trick also work for 5,1 ident). This approach may able to avoid unnecessary SMC issue (if I ident the cMP as iMac Pro or 7,1, most sensors disappear).

Apparently, the Radeon VII isn't ident at GFX0 at this moment.

2) In the case of iMac Pro or 7,1 ident, fix the SMC. In my own experience so far. Using iMac Pro SMBIOS makes Handoff etc more reliable. Without 7,1 ident, when I login multiple profiles with multiple Apple ID on my cMP. Handoff often become unstable. But with 7,1 ident, it seems no matter how many profiles I logged in, Handoff still works. But the downside is, all sensors disappear.

I've already try few different VirtualSMC setup, but doesn't change anything yet.

Let's see if I can achieve anything in the next few days.

 

[CMMChris]

Your screenshot doesn't show what the ACPI device is called. You just see the bridges there. Please expand the "IOReg Name" column.

 

[gigignopechegno]

Your screenshot doesn't show what the ACPI device is called. You just see the bridges there. Please expand the "IOReg Name" column.

thanks,
i have this in my Macpro 5.1 whit Radeon vII ... is not GFX..

 

[CMMChris]

Then rename PXS1 to GFX0 and HEVC should start working. It's insane Apple don't take the Mac Pros into account when matching HEVC acceleration to GFX0....

 

[gigignopechegno]

how can you rename in Gfx in a Mac pro?
Can open core do this?