2006/2007 Mac Pro (1,1/2,1) and OS X El Capitan

[rthpjm]

Hello
I tried to follow the instruction but since I don't have an Apple graphic card I couldn't see the boot screen, and using arrows didn't help...
I have a MacBook pro running El-Capitan. Do you also have instructions how to use it to install El-Capitan on the Mac Pro?
Many thanks
Adi

Two options

1. Use your MacPro, disconnect everything except kb, mouse, destination volume, and installer volume (especially remove any CD/DVD). Reboot, when you hear the chime hold down the C key... Be patient it will take a while to boot....
2. Using the MacBook, it depends if you have a FireWire port available, put the MacPro into target disk mode, connect it to your MacBook. Your MacPro disks will mount as external drives on your MacBook. Perform a standard install from your MacBook (no need for pikify), but you will need to manually copy the Pike boot.efi files into the correct locations before you eject the MacPro disks and reboot the MacPro. Be aware, this method will not leave you with a working Recovery HD partition, so you will need to manually fix the RHD too, or use my derivative script rrhd (search this thread).

 

[ahendler]

Two options

1. Use your MacPro, disconnect everything except kb, mouse, destination volume, and installer volume (especially remove any CD/DVD). Reboot, when you hear the chime hold down the C key... Be patient it will take a while to boot....
2. Using the MacBook, it depends if you have a FireWire port available, put the MacPro into target disk mode, connect it to your MacBook. Your MacPro disks will mount as external drives on your MacBook. Perform a standard install from your MacBook (no need for pikify), but you will need to manually copy the Pike boot.efi files into the correct locations before you eject the MacPro disks and reboot the MacPro. Be aware, this method will not leave you with a working Recovery HD partition, so you will need to manually fix the RHD too, or use my derivative script rrhd (search this thread).

Thanks, the first solution didn't work. Where can I find instructions how to manually copy the Pike boot.efi files into the correct locations?
Adi

 

[jbarley]

Try typing your question "how to manually copy the Pike boot.efi files into the correct locations" into a Google search, now poke around in the results, the information is there.

 

[swampy50]

Security update now in. No need to replace boot.efi

All good..

 

[rthpjm]

Thanks, the first solution didn't work. Where can I find instructions how to manually copy the Pike boot.efi files into the correct locations?
Adi

Read page 1 post 1 of this thread. All the information you need is about half way down....

Do you have a VGA adaptor for your graphics card? Can you connect a monitor over VGA? This often shows the boot screens.....

 

[ahendler]

Read page 1 post 1 of this thread. All the information you need is about half way down....

Do you have a VGA adaptor for your graphics card? Can you connect a monitor over VGA? This often shows the boot screens.....

The card has VGA, DVI and HDMI ports, non of them show the boot screen...
[doublepost=1477416041][/doublepost]

Security update now in. No need to replace boot.efi

All good..

Is the new update will make Mac Pro 2006 to boot after install from another Mac and updating the system??
Thanks

 

[hwojtek]

Is the new update will make Mac Pro 2006 to boot after install from another Mac and updating the system??

Well, this is pretty much what "No need to replace boot.efi" means.

 

[ahendler]

Well, this is pretty much what "No need to replace boot.efi" means.

Well, it didn't work without replacing boot.efi...
It works very nice now after replacing the files, thanks for the help from all of you!
Adi

 

[rthpjm]

Well, it didn't work without replacing boot.efi...
It works very nice now after replacing the files, thanks for the help from all of you!
Adi

I think you mis-understood the comment. What was meant was...

If you have a running El Capitan system with Pike's boot.efi files, and then you choose to install the recent security update, the security update does not overwrite the Pike boot.efi files with Apple boot.efi files. Therefore, no need to replace the boot.efi files.

The context is everything.

If you are installing El Capitan from scratch then you do need to put the Pike boot.efi files into place.

If you are running the recent security update then you don't

Context!

 

[Tidon]

hello
so i just installed el capitan on my Mac Pro 1.1 upgraded to 2.1 firm
32gb ram , ssd, apple broadcom 802.11ac
asus hd7950 directcu II 3gb on normal mode, it loads screen after system load through hdmi connection and 2k resolution

I followed the great guide for pikify script v12 on page 53 and installed 10.11.6 directly
Its working perfect with default processors
problem is i bought a pair of xeon x5365 slaed but installing them makes system freezes after 1-2min and reboots after that, then it keeps rebooting
i tested that processors on snow leopard and were working ok, couldn't test with yosemite, i wanted elcapitan so badly
is this a known issue?
any help is apreciated

 

[Ant3000]

hello
so i just installed el capitan on my Mac Pro 1.1 upgraded to 2.1 firm
32gb ram , ssd, apple broadcom 802.11ac
asus hd7950 directcu II 3gb on normal mode, it loads screen after system load through hdmi connection and 2k resolution

I followed the great guide for pikify script v12 on page 53 and installed 10.11.6 directly
Its working perfect with default processors
problem is i bought a pair of xeon x5365 slaed but installing them makes system freezes after 1-2min and reboots after that, then it keeps rebooting
i tested that processors on snow leopard and were working ok, couldn't test with yosemite, i wanted elcapitan so badly
is this a known issue?
any help is apreciated

I have pretty much the same setup and upgraded the CPUs without any issue. When you say you tested the CPUs with Snow leopard, is this on the same Mac CPU combo as El Capitan that causes the issues. If not, have you checked the CPUs are installed correctly - thermal paste applied etc. Do the CPUs show up in System Profiler? (assuming you can get that far).

 

[alexholiday]

I've noticed a few other had this error message, but haven't really seen a resolution. I have Snow Leopard, do I need to start with at least Lion? I've tried to run through several times, no success. Reformatted USB drive a couple times. I made sure to exit all windows/browsers/etc....Thanks in advance for any help!!!

================================================================================
==
== ERROR:
==
================================================================================
==
== A problem occurred when creating the install media with
== Apple's createinstallmedia tool
== The most common issue is that the installer volume could not be
== unmounted because some other process is using it
== Close all other windows (especially terminal windows) and try again
==
================================================================================

 

[TLMuse]

Quick summary: I'm reporting a restart problem associated with Security Update 2016-002; it ended up crippling Safari (and causing other problems). Quick question: Does anyone know if re-installing the OS from the recovery partition overwrites the boot files? For context, read on.

That said, I had recurring problems with restarting. I could never successfully restart. I could shut down the Mac Pro and power it up again successfully, but I could never restart successfully. The symptoms varied. Sometimes the Mac Pro would get stuck in the shutdown phase. Sometimes it would get stuck after the restart chime—sometimes after flashing an Apple symbol on the screen, sometimes at the start or near the end of the restart progress bar. Usually, when it got stuck, I'd hear a quiet mechanical noise every ~4 sec; it sounded like the Mac was checking for a disc in the DVD drive. Always, I'd have to hold down the power button to force a shutdown. Subsequently powering up sometimes got me stuck in the loop again, but almost always the 2nd attempt worked....

This was especially problematic for security updates via the Mac App Store. These self-initiate a restart, which would get stuck....

On searching this thread for help, I found lalami1990's posts on a similar problem. Seeing the report of success after an extended power-down, I unplugged my Mac Pro before heading to a meeting. About an hour later, I returned, plugged it in, waited 10 sec, and powered it up. Now my Mac successfully restarts, both from the login screen, and after logging in....

This restart problem recurred after installing Security Update 2016-002 (10.11.6) for El Capitan via the Mac App Store (together with the Safari and iTunes update). My MacPro1,1 stalled during the restart phase, as described above. I forced a shutdown and started it up. It appeared as if the update installed, in that the usual update login screen appeared, saying my account was being set up (though there wasn't the usual actual installation delay). However, once I logged in, I found that Safari and iTunes would not launch (either from the Dock or from the Apps folder). Installing iTunes manually via Apple's iTunes download fixed the iTunes issue, but not the Safari problem.

I tried downloading and running the security update manually. It launched and ran, but requested a restart, and stalled during the restart as before, ultimately having no effect. Manually restarting also stalled. Disconnecting power for 1 min, reconnecting, and waiting 30 sec before restart had no effect (this was to reset the SMC, which should only require 15+5 sec).

Finally, I repeated the trick from the quote above—I unplugged the Mac and left it for an hour before powering it up. After doing so, it now successfully restarts again. I ran the security update, and it successfully restarted the Mac, although it did not show the "setting up your account" startup image.

Unfortunately, although the restart behavior is fixed, Safari still will not launch. Also, Disk Utility now has a quirk; it will not let me unmount one of my backup drives (I can select the drive and click Unmount, but there is no effect).

I will probably re-install the OS. Does anyone know if doing so will overwrite the boot files?

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Tidon]

I have pretty much the same setup and upgraded the CPUs without any issue. When you say you tested the CPUs with Snow leopard, is this on the same Mac CPU combo as El Capitan that causes the issues. If not, have you checked the CPUs are installed correctly - thermal paste applied etc. Do the CPUs show up in System Profiler? (assuming you can get that far).

Yes. I tested it on same mac pro with original disk and snow leopard.
Cpu were installed correclty and shows ok as quad core on profile.

 

[rthpjm]

I've noticed a few other had this error message, but haven't really seen a resolution. I have Snow Leopard, do I need to start with at least Lion? I've tried to run through several times, no success. Reformatted USB drive a couple times. I made sure to exit all windows/browsers/etc....Thanks in advance for any help!!!

================================================================================
==
== ERROR:
==
================================================================================
==
== A problem occurred when creating the install media with
== Apple's createinstallmedia tool
== The most common issue is that the installer volume could not be
== unmounted because some other process is using it
== Close all other windows (especially terminal windows) and try again
==
================================================================================

Which version of Pikify3.1 are you using? Version 12 is the latest.

If you are using V12, can you copy and paste the whole of the terminal transcript into a text file (scroll backwards in the terminal, the whole transcript will be there). Attach the text file to a reply and I'll take a look for you...
[doublepost=1478025496][/doublepost]

Quick summary: I'm reporting a restart problem associated with Security Update 2016-002; it ended up crippling Safari (and causing other problems). Quick question: Does anyone know if re-installing the OS from the recovery partition overwrites the boot files? For context, read on.



This restart problem recurred after installing Security Update 2016-002 (10.11.6) for El Capitan via the Mac App Store (together with the Safari and iTunes update). My MacPro1,1 stalled during the restart phase, as described above. I forced a shutdown and started it up. It appeared as if the update installed, in that the usual update login screen appeared, saying my account was being set up (though there wasn't the usual actual installation delay). However, once I logged in, I found that Safari and iTunes would not launch (either from the Dock or from the Apps folder). Installing iTunes manually via Apple's iTunes download fixed the iTunes issue, but not the Safari problem.

I tried downloading and running the security update manually. It launched and ran, but requested a restart, and stalled during the restart as before, ultimately having no effect. Manually restarting also stalled. Disconnecting power for 1 min, reconnecting, and waiting 30 sec before restart had no effect (this was to reset the SMC, which should only require 15+5 sec).

Finally, I repeated the trick from the quote above—I unplugged the Mac and left it for an hour before powering it up. After doing so, it now successfully restarts again. I ran the security update, and it successfully restarted the Mac, although it did not show the "setting up your account" startup image.

Unfortunately, although the restart behavior is fixed, Safari still will not launch. Also, Disk Utility now has a quirk; it will not let me unmount one of my backup drives (I can select the drive and click Unmount, but there is no effect).

I will probably re-install the OS. Does anyone know if doing so will overwrite the boot files?

Thanks,
Tom

Hello Tom,

From your description, in my experience there are 2 likely culprits.
Most likely: a failing hard disk
Next most likely: the PRAM battery is failing

Have you checked the Console app to review the system log? It may give you an idea why Safari is having trouble.

If you re-install the OS using a pikify'd installer then you will not need to replace the boot.efi files (the pikify'd installer does the replacement for you). If you use any other method, then you will likely have the stock Apple boot.efi files, these will need to be replaced.

If you are performing an in-place re-install remember to make a backup first so you don't loose any user data....
[doublepost=1478026060][/doublepost]

Yes. I tested it on same mac pro with original disk and snow leopard.
Cpu were installed correclty and shows ok as quad core on profile.

Hello Tidon,

From your description, I would suspect that one or both of your "new" CPUs is/are at fault.
Try removing them, clean them, refit them. I know it's a pain to remove the thermal paste, then put them back with new paste, but it's worth a try because you may have a CPU slightly misaligned in the socket. That's got to be better than the alternative, overheated/damaged CPUs!

It might be worth trying to reseat all your RAM cards too (try this first).

 

[alexholiday]

Which version of Pikify3.1 are you using? Version 12 is the latest.

If you are using V12, can you copy and paste the whole of the terminal transcript into a text file (scroll backwards in the terminal, the whole transcript will be there). Attach the text file to a reply and I'll take a look for you...
[doublepost=1478025496][/doublepost]

Thank you very much! I am using the newest version of Pikify 12. I have attached the file. If i'm reading the log correctly, it looks like the error lies here:

Failed to start erase of disk due to error (-9999, 0).

A error occurred erasing the disk.

But then again, i'm not the most saavy in this arena.

 

[rthpjm]

Thank you very much! I am using the newest version of Pikify 12. I have attached the file. If i'm reading the log correctly, it looks like the error lies here:

Failed to start erase of disk due to error (-9999, 0).

A error occurred erasing the disk.

But then again, i'm not the most saavy in this arena.

Hello Alex,

Where did you get your copy of Install OS X El Capitan from? I'm asking because it looks like it may not be a true Apple version.
Early on in the transcript there appears

The domain/default pair of (/Users/alexlodi/Library/Application Support/pikify3.1/BASE/System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist, ProductUserVisibleVersion) does not exist

The error is not really important which is why I don't stop the creation process, but it does seem to indicate that you may not have an Apple distribution...

The main error is as you spotted, the Apple command 'createinstallmedia' tries to format your destination volume. It failed to do this, so we stop.
The most common reason for this is that some other process is 'using' the volume Untitled 1. Sometimes this can be the meta data indexer (aka Spotlight), or it could be a Finder window, or it could be a terminal session.
You can often check to see what might be holding the Volume open from the Terminal by typing

lsof /Volumes/Untitled\ 1

If nothing obvious is returned, then the best advice I can offer is try again, if it was Spotlight's indexer that was causing the issue, it may have finished now. The good news is that createpikeinstallmedia can skip straight to the 'createinstallmedia' point (just choose c to continue when prompted).

If it fails a second time, and if /Volumes/Untitled 1 is a removable memory stick, try to eject it from the Finder. If it ejects, physically unplug it, then replug it in. Wait for it to mount, then try createpikeinstallmedia again.

Also check that you can save a file to Untitled 1. If it is a USB memory stick, they sometimes have a write-protect switch....

 

[alexholiday]

Hello Alex,

Where did you get your copy of Install OS X El Capitan from? I'm asking because it looks like it may not be a true Apple version.
Early on in the transcript there appears

The domain/default pair of (/Users/alexlodi/Library/Application Support/pikify3.1/BASE/System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist, ProductUserVisibleVersion) does not exist

The error is not really important which is why I don't stop the creation process, but it does seem to indicate that you may not have an Apple distribution...

Because I never downloaded a copy of El Capitan, there wasn't a legit copy for me to download in the app store. I went on Amazon and bought a 16g USB stick with the installer on it. I didn't know where else I could get it. Perhaps that's the problem here.

I ran the lsof /Volumes/Untitled\ 1 command and no results came back. Going to attempt the other suggestions in a bit. I have a partition on my SSD drive, perhaps that would be a better place to put the installer, instead of the USB drive? The partition is called Macintosh HD, could I use:
./createpikeinstallmedia /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD

I really hope I can get this going, I work from home and this old beast Mac doesn't run very smooth with Snow Leopard.

 

[rthpjm]

Because I never downloaded a copy of El Capitan, there wasn't a legit copy for me to download in the app store. I went on Amazon and bought a 16g USB stick with the installer on it. I didn't know where else I could get it. Perhaps that's the problem here.

I ran the lsof /Volumes/Untitled\ 1 command and no results came back. Going to attempt the other suggestions in a bit. I have a partition on my SSD drive, perhaps that would be a better place to put the installer, instead of the USB drive? The partition is called Macintosh HD, could I use:
./createpikeinstallmedia /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD

I really hope I can get this going, I work from home and this old beast Mac doesn't run very smooth with Snow Leopard.

Do you have any family, friends, old school buddies, or work colleagues with a recent Mac?

Because lsof did not return anything, just try running ./createpikeinstallmedia/Untitled\ 1 again...

If you do try to run createpikeinstallmedia with Macintosh HD as your target, remember that Macintosh HD will be erased. Make sure you don't need any data off that partition...

 

[alexholiday]

Do you have any family, friends, old school buddies, or work colleagues with a recent Mac?

Because lsof did not return anything, just try running ./createpikeinstallmedia/Untitled\ 1 again...

If you do try to run createpikeinstallmedia with Macintosh HD as your target, remember that Macintosh HD will be erased. Make sure you don't need any data off that partition...

I was able to obtain a fresh copy from a friend, and I am running into the same issue. See attached. I started a fresh partition on my hard drive (tried it with the USB as well), re-downloaded pikify 12 and deleted the old versions of the app off my drive. Have you heard of anyone having issues starting at Snow Leopard? Think I need to upgrade to Lion to proceed? I just don't know what's wrong. I have an updated graphics card in here too....Just trying to troubleshoot all the things on my end..

 

[cdmawolf]

I was able to obtain a fresh copy from a friend, and I am running into the same issue. See attached. I started a fresh partition on my hard drive (tried it with the USB as well), re-downloaded pikify 12 and deleted the old versions of the app off my drive. Have you heard of anyone having issues starting at Snow Leopard? Think I need to upgrade to Lion to proceed? I just don't know what's wrong. I have an updated graphics card in here too....Just trying to troubleshoot all the things on my end..

I would delete EVERYthing that has to do with pikify and re-download v12. I do not know the script that well, but it is looking for v3.1 for some reason. m2cw

 

[alexholiday]

I would delete EVERYthing that has to do with pikify and re-download v12. I do not know the script that well, but it is looking for v3.1 for some reason. m2cw

I gave that a whirl, didn't do anything different. I noticed when I downloaded v12, the folder was still titled 3.1 when I unzipped it.

 

[rthpjm]

I gave that a whirl, didn't do anything different. I noticed when I downloaded v12, the folder was still titled 3.1 when I unzipped it.

The 3.1 refers to the version of Pike's boot.efi file (which has been constant for El Capitan).

The v12 refers to my script createpikeinstallmedia.
The version history is in the comments at the top of the script (if you edit the file you will see it)

I have replicated the issue on my machine. For me it was mds (the Spotlight meta data server).

Can you try the following please

1. Format your USB volume again
2. I will assume that after the format, the volume name will remain as Untitled 1
3. Then turn off spotlight indexing for the Untitled 1 volume

4. mdutil -i off -d /Volumes/Untitled\ 1

5. Wait a few seconds
6. Then try running createpikeinstallmedia again

7. ./createpikeinstallmedia /Volumes/Untitled\ 1

I am a little concerned that you are trying to use Macintosh HD. That is usually the default volume name for the running OS.

Can you also connect your USB drive, then run the command

diskutil info -all

Copy and paste the output into a text file and attach that too please...

Caveat: I have not tested from Snow Leopard, although I can't see why things shouldn't work. If I get chance, I'll install S L and try from there on my machine

 

[Mola55e5]

I have a Mac pro 1,1 with a successful installation of El Capitan running for a few months. I must apologize for my ignorance but i let an update over write my boot files(I think). My previous operating system is not booting either. It boots into a disk utility and of course I have no knowledge of any of this and don't have time machine set up or any kind of back ups and the only thing I can really do is go to my terminal window, which is how installed elcapitan the first time. I thought I could just go to the same script that I did before for the pike files but I can't get past the first sudo command either because I can't remember the proper user name or that it's not working. Can I use a Mac book pro to replace or delete files to let it boot again. ? I'm sry for such a dumb problem

 

[alexholiday]

The 3.1 refers to the version of Pike's boot.efi file (which has been constant for El Capitan).

The v12 refers to my script createpikeinstallmedia.
The version history is in the comments at the top of the script (if you edit the file you will see it)

I have replicated the issue on my machine. For me it was mds (the Spotlight meta data server).

Can you try the following please

1. Format your USB volume again
2. I will assume that after the format, the volume name will remain as Untitled 1
3. Then turn off spotlight indexing for the Untitled 1 volume

4. mdutil -i off -d /Volumes/Untitled\ 1

5. Wait a few seconds
6. Then try running createpikeinstallmedia again

7. ./createpikeinstallmedia /Volumes/Untitled\ 1

I am a little concerned that you are trying to use Macintosh HD. That is usually the default volume name for the running OS.

Can you also connect your USB drive, then run the command

diskutil info -all

Copy and paste the output into a text file and attach that too please...

Caveat: I have not tested from Snow Leopard, although I can't see why things shouldn't work. If I get chance, I'll install S L and try from there on my machine

Attached is the file, i had the same error. I tried the command just as you had it and it said the "-d was an invalid option". Deduced that I just needed the "-i off" to turn off the indexing. When I did that, it said indexing disabled, so I figured that's what we were looking for.

When I tried to go right into the code ./createpikeinstallmedia /Volumes/Untitled\ 1, it didn't take the first time around, so I reformatted, replaced the El Cap app in my applications to start fresh. So I started from the beginning of the code, starting with the sudo -s. No dice...

As for the Macintosh HD, that was a partition that I created. I just installed an SSD and it's titled Macintosh SSD, this contains all of the important stuff. Could something in the script be looking for "Macintiosh HD" and be a source of the error? I'm guessing not, just typing out loud.

USB info is also attached. Had to modify the code slightly as the -all didn't work.