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2006/2007 Mac Pro (1,1/2,1) and macOS Sierra
- Thread starter Mr. Zarniwoop
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I don't have a cMP1,1 or 2,1, but I have an Xserve 1,1 that I am about to try the microcode injection on. I just don't have any other CPUs to plug in. At least I will know if it still boots.
I already got a MacBook 5,2 into a non-booting state by trying to inject newer microcode, but I'm not as attached to this old Xserve so I'm preparing for a brick.
Anyone here has a REAL 2,1 and could dump the BootROM with ROMTool for me?
I want to know the differences in the hardware descriptor between the 1,1 and 2,1. @LightBulbFun sent me his 1,1>2,1 already, I just need the real one now.
BTW, Base_9 files:
I want to know the differences in the hardware descriptor between the 1,1 and 2,1. @LightBulbFun sent me his 1,1>2,1 already, I just need the real one now.
BTW, Base_9 files:
Just curious if this ever went somewhere. Still holding on to my 2006 like grim death 
Just curious if this ever went somewhere. Still holding on to my 2006 like grim death
^
same here
Just curious if this ever went somewhere. Still holding on to my 2006 like grim death
Haha not that I've seen, due to CPU incompatibilities in the original Mac Pro machines. I've got Linux Mint 64-bit along with El Capitan running on my 2,1 and everything is great! Might replace El Cap with Windows 10 at some point in the future, if the machine stays as reliable as it is at the moment.
I’ve sold my MP 1,1 since posting in this thread, but with 32GB RAM, mine was still very capable. Sadly, OS X El Capitan is quickly becoming obsolete. Apple is pushing for that because that will drop all macs from 2007-2009 from getting current software.
Windows 10 is still a good option though. It has many years (10+) of support ahead.
Windows 10 is still a good option though. It has many years (10+) of support ahead.
I ran Windows 7 (installed on separate drive) for years and years as my 1,1 was also my game rig for about 8 years running. Still performed extremely well overall towards the end, but I finally had to build my own game rig (I've been gaming Stereoscopically for almost a decade now, so I get about 1/3 the frame-rate I could without 3D. The 1,1 simply couldn't keep up with current titles in 3D). Windows 7 ran flawlessly and very quickly. I think those of you who decide to try Windows 10 on your MacPros will likely be very happy with it. I mean, it's still Windows, but it's not colossally awful, it's just mostly awful. Just be sure to learn how to make manual restore points whenever you update *anything at all* and also it makes a LOT of sense to use something like Clonezilla to make true, bootable, clones of your Windows drive. Why? Because Windows is still a fustercluck when it comes to updates and frequently eats itself. You'll almost certainly find yourself needing to reinstall at least yearly no matter how gently you treat it (look up how to do this without deleting any files or apps; it is not immediately obvious how to do that but it but does clear up a lot of problems that creep into Windows installs). You'll want good, routine, backups and clones.
If anyone does install Win 10 on their 1,1 or 2,1 I would be interested in hearing how well it runs and how much trouble you have getting drivers.
Now my 1,1 sits in the basement running OSX Server as a time-machine backup server, a diagnostic unit, and for a host of other minor functions. Still runs just fine 24/7 (knock on wood).
If anyone does install Win 10 on their 1,1 or 2,1 I would be interested in hearing how well it runs and how much trouble you have getting drivers.
Now my 1,1 sits in the basement running OSX Server as a time-machine backup server, a diagnostic unit, and for a host of other minor functions. Still runs just fine 24/7 (knock on wood).
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Hey mate, I've got a 2,1 that I could hook up for you if really required.
Let me know.
V.
Sure, do a BootROM dump with ROMTool and pm me the dump. You can download here http://dosdude1.com/apps/ROMTool.zip password of the zip file is “rom”.
Thx!
Thought so (about the false positive).
I only have a couple of MP1,1 that I completely updated (both boot ROM and SMC controller) to 2,1 - and I don´t even know an owner of a true MP2,1. As the updates bring full 56MB RAM support and extend the support to Xeon 4-core CPUs, I´d have thought there should be no difference any more. But that might be what you also try to find...?
I got really surprised to see how much Apple changed the firmware from MP4,1 to MP5,1 in just over a year. Looking from the outside the differences seems minor, but internally the EFI is very different. The MP4,1>5,1 BootROM upgrade process don't make a real MP5,1 firmware, I wrote about that yesterday:
MP4,1 and MP5,1 firmware are more than just the BootROMs. Apple designed the Mac Pro to use one SPI flash memory for all these things, simplified a lot for easy comprehension:
- the EFI firmware,
- the NVRAM,
- the BootBlock,
- to store the hardwareIDs, where you differentiate one Mac from another.
MacEFIRom script from Netkas forum use Apple efiflasher toolkit to upgrade your Mac Pro BootROM from a MP4,1 to a MP5,1 firmware. It works with some caveats:
- Don't work with MP41 B08 firmware, it expects that you have a B07.
- Only works with earlier macOS releases, 10.6 to 10.9, SIP and recent macOS security improvements severely constrain the use of the script.
- Only upgrades the EFI Firmware. The NVRAM, BootBlock and hardwareIDs are kept exactly the same. So you have a hybrid that won't work for Firmware Restoration CD, for example, since your still have a MP4,1 BootBlock with a MP5,1 EFI firmware. That's why we usually call these hybrids as MP4,1>5,1.
Hi, I'm watching this thread from time to time, to get my 1.1 a new life, maybe one day.
So for the sake of science I bought a 2.1
I just need to get the ROM system dump from the ROMTool? That's it?
Thanks a lot for still being interested in that project
Yep, just dump the SPI flash with flashrom or ROMTool. Btw, needs to be a real MP2,1. MP1,1>2,1 are not useful.
PM me the dump, uploading it publicly has the risk of someone using it with to cloning your MP2,1 in a MP1,1>2,1.
... just to let you know ....
I thought about selling my 1,1 > 2,1 MP that had SL 10.6.8 and a Win7 x64 (Bootcamp) running and was sitting in the corner for a while.
Just out of curiosity I thought to give it a try to upgrade Win7 x64 -> Win10 x64 and since it was an activated version of WIN7 I could easily use the MS upgrade path.
I let this run over night and since I could boot up into Win10, I transferred the whole disk to a SSD.
This is running fine so far for me - albeit there's no heavy load on it - but I love the idea of (re-)using my old GT 5700 graphics card (SL 10.6.8 boot screen ok) since I don't need a lot of graphics power.
Getting drivers was no problem - Win10 did find about all that's necessary .... besides :
- for the Nvidia GT 5700 I found drivers at the Nvidia website
- Apple magic mouse 1 got it's drivers from Bootcamp extracted directories (think I finally used Bootcamp 4 version)
USB 3.0 PCIe card is something I still want to check out ......
Other than that, the machine has 20 GB Ram and is dead silent so far (as said, no heavy load yet)
I intend to use it as an ebay-selling-machine (different room) or maybe for building up a music database or even use it for ProTools on Windows - though I prefer running music production software on a Mac due to the tweaking around with ASIO drivers in windows that drives me nuts.
And there might be better support for my installed SSL MadiXtreme card on Windows than for current macOS - unfortunately.
Since I have another 1,1 -> 2,1 MP, I will try to get Linux running on it ..... don't know which version yet.
It's been a while since I was using Linux and for the application I want to use, I think a special distro is required.
Cheers,
Matt
I loaded Win 10 Pro on mine years ago, runs that better than MacOS!
Very cool to hear. I've still got my old 1,1 running Server on ElCap as a time machine server in the basement (a real PITA sometimes since I have to reboot into YOS to manage the JBOD array). It's nice to just be able to cram any old drives in there and build a big JBOD array and let every other machine in the house backup to it. Currently it boots from an SSD and has 14TB of storage across the three other SATA drives just for Time Machine backups. So it's still here and still serves as a valuable purpose. But it's really amazing to me that it's still a perfectly acceptable machine in terms of overall performance after 14 years (does have a decent upgraded video card).
If I needed another fully functional computer it's good to hear that Win10 runs well on these. Would be kind of amusing to put Win10 on one, and then try to get Mojave or Catalina running in a VM on Win10, just for the sake of sticking it to Apple. Maybe when it comes time to donate it to a family in need I'll stick Windows 10 (or whatever the next iteration is) on there, make sure all is good, and be able to give someone a perfectly functional computer capable of running the latest software, rather than a computer crippled by an uncaring Apple. What a sad statement that is!
You have to jump thru some hoops to make the install media, but yes Win 10 will run natively on a macpro 1,1
I'll have to see if I can find the instructions again.