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

[SoulCreation]

Hello SoulCreation,

Welcome.

I have not tried Pikify with that combination. However, you should be okay to “build” the modified installer from your Mac Mini onto the external drive.
El Capitan, Sierra, and High Sierra all implement SIP (system integrity protection). This means that your Mac Mini cannot set the “next boot” volume programmatically because it is running High Sierra with SIP enabled. Correctly signed helper applications might be able to do this, but the Pikify app is not signed for various reasons.

Please understand that the whole Pike-modified system is designed to boot the Mac Pro. It is probable that the modifications are not compatible with your Mac Mini. Therefore it may not boot the Mac Mini.

My recommendation is to re-fit the drive into your MacPro.
At boot, when you hear the chime, hold down the Alt key.
You should be presented with the boot selector screen.
You should see your hard disk.
Select this to boot.

Cross your fingers, hold your breath...
Hopefully it will boot into the installer...



Alternatively, you can keep the HDD attached to your MacMini, run the “Install OS X El Capitan” app directly on the Mac Mini (no need for Pikify, or any other modifications at this stage). I think it will launch (it might not launch or it might not allow you to continue because your Mac Mini is at a higher release of the OS, but if it does, then...) then simply choose to install on the external HDD.
You must then replace the two boot.efi files on the external drive manually.
Optionally, replace the boot.efi file on the Recovery HD partition of the external HDD too (you will need to search for instructions of how to mount the Recovery HD partition).
Once you have done that, re-fit the external HDD to your MacPro.

Thank you for your suggestion.

Last night while sleeping I dont know how I thought of this:
Clone MacMini High Sierra then dismount the external its clone too --> refit MacMini with ElCapitan [as I have a usb fresh install El Capitan unmod]. If this works then I can do the Pikify onto another external drive for the MacPro1,1 and get that up and running.

What do you think? A bit of a hassel but it might work as a last ditch effort if I cannot install from MacMini to External HD. It said unable on first attempt but I read somewhere last night on google search, something about enter my appleID to allow. I will research that some more before I attempt, otherwise I might borrow a friends computer for an hour to get it on my external. I am just trying not to bother friends.

I will try the drive in the MacPro 1,1 prior, just in case it works.
I am hoping for the just in case to work. Awaiting a new gpu: ati radeon 5770 to arrive, I bought one that is apple compatible so hoping it works out of the box.

Another question if you don't mind to answer: is it better to do clone for back up vs using time machine?
I have always cloned before each new download and save them for just in case moments but I never have used time machine... not sure if its worth it or if I just need to expose myself by getting to know it better.

 

[Sko]

... refit MacMini with ElCapitan

Edit: Sorry, easy solution deleted, I missed the info that your USB isn't bootable somehow on Mac Mini.

 

[rthpjm]

Thank you for your suggestion.

Last night while sleeping I dont know how I thought of this:
Clone MacMini High Sierra then dismount the external its clone too --> refit MacMini with ElCapitan [as I have a usb fresh install El Capitan unmod]. If this works then I can do the Pikify onto another external drive for the MacPro1,1 and get that up and running.

What do you think? A bit of a hassel but it might work as a last ditch effort if I cannot install from MacMini to External HD. It said unable on first attempt but I read somewhere last night on google search, something about enter my appleID to allow. I will research that some more before I attempt, otherwise I might borrow a friends computer for an hour to get it on my external. I am just trying not to bother friends.

I will try the drive in the MacPro 1,1 prior, just in case it works.
I am hoping for the just in case to work. Awaiting a new gpu: ati radeon 5770 to arrive, I bought one that is apple compatible so hoping it works out of the box.

Another question if you don't mind to answer: is it better to do clone for back up vs using time machine?
I have always cloned before each new download and save them for just in case moments but I never have used time machine... not sure if its worth it or if I just need to expose myself by getting to know it better.

I have no strong preference for cloning as a backup verses using Time Machine. In your situation I would personally use the clone method. It is your choice...

I think you should try my suggestion before you make any changes to your Mini...

 

[Ant3000]

Hello everyone in Macrumor land, I have a similar question to some of the ones answered but I haven't been able to find my specific solution. Any help would be awesome and highly appreciated!

I have somewhat updated my mac pro 1.1 2006, originally 2.66 to the quad 3.0, now with 32 gb ram, ssd , el capitan, and yeah yeah... now for the graphics card. I bought supposedly an apple 5770 to replace the x1900. Old card works with el capitan and 42 inch display, but not the 5770. 5770 powers up, won't show video. I got another apple display, 30in?, to try, still nothing on 5770. Tried them together, same. Bought dual link dvi adapter on amazon, still no. Ideas? Thanks for reading !

You do have the extra power lead connected to the 5770, I assume. I had the Mac version running a 30" cinema display for a long time without issue.

 

[SoulCreation]

I have no strong preference for cloning as a backup verses using Time Machine. In your situation I would personally use the clone method. It is your choice...

I think you should try my suggestion before you make any changes to your Mini...

Update:

I did clone my Mac Mini as it needed to be done anyways.
I created a partition on my g-tech drive and made a copy of El Capitan and gave it more than enough room. Did the Pikify. Repeated the process to the drive going into the Mac Pro 1,1; knowing that the Mac Mini would not allow me to finish.

I tried the G-Tech using the usb in fron and in the back with no acknowledgement of any of my bootables other than Lion.

I decided to place the drive into the Mac Pro 1,1 and was able to get thru the install -- to have a kernal panic at the very end. Each time it restarted it would go thru the process again, then kernal panic at the last phase of things.

I never got to see an error code. I suspect its my graphics card. I have a new card arriving on Saturday -- so I will change it then see what happens.

If it does happen again, the kernal panic, is there a way for me to see what is triggering it?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[rthpjm]

Update:

I did clone my Mac Mini as it needed to be done anyways.
I created a partition on my g-tech drive and made a copy of El Capitan and gave it more than enough room. Did the Pikify. Repeated the process to the drive going into the Mac Pro 1,1; knowing that the Mac Mini would not allow me to finish.

I tried the G-Tech using the usb in fron and in the back with no acknowledgement of any of my bootables other than Lion.

I decided to place the drive into the Mac Pro 1,1 and was able to get thru the install -- to have a kernal panic at the very end. Each time it restarted it would go thru the process again, then kernal panic at the last phase of things.

I never got to see an error code. I suspect its my graphics card. I have a new card arriving on Saturday -- so I will change it then see what happens.

If it does happen again, the kernal panic, is there a way for me to see what is triggering it?

Thanks again for your help.

Kernel panics are usually RAM related (but nor always)
How much RAM do you have in the MacPro?
How many modules, and what size is each module?

With respect to the G-TECH...
How is the device formatted?
It needs to be at least HFS+ with a GPT scheme.
Most drives like that come formatted as FAT.
If it has the wrong format, then it will not show as bootable...

 

[SoulCreation]

Kernel panics are usually RAM related (but nor always)
How much RAM do you have in the MacPro?
How many modules, and what size is each module?

With respect to the G-TECH...
How is the device formatted?
It needs to be at least HFS+ with a GPT scheme.
Most drives like that come formatted as FAT.
If it has the wrong format, then it will not show as bootable...

Have 20G of RAM

Their in pairs:
top has:
1G
1G
4G
4G

bottom has
1G
1G
4G
4G

Should they be seated differently?

The 1G was what originally came with Mac Pro

Hummmmm..... maybe I should Load into Lion and recheck the RAM. It has been in storage long time.
I did clean it very well. I took it all apart and clean everything including the Super Drives and the power supply.
The cores got new thermal paste and all. It is possible there might be an issue there.

G-Tech formatted the drive long ago and it is set to GUID, I only use it on the Macs. But it does have a USB 3 cable.

 

[Ant3000]

Remove the 1GB modules as they will cause problems and reposition the 4GB according to the diagram inside the side panel.

 

[SoulCreation]

Remove the 1GB modules as they will cause problems and reposition the 4GB according to the diagram inside the side panel.

I did remove all the 1G RAM
El Capitan loads. I am able to enter password but now it keeps freezing and locks up.
I did manage to look at the Memory and it confirmed 16G RAM.

Not sure if the gpu -- I do have a new one arriving on Saturday to switch out the ati radeon 1900 512 that is in there now.

Slowly making progress.

I will replace the 4x1G RAM once I get everything situation with the MacPro 1,1.

 

[Ant3000]

Is that the original X1900? If so that is the issue as they don't work with El Cap and are crap anyway - I replaced mine as it was causing sleep/wake issues under Snow Leopard but missed out on Apple's recall.

 

[SoulCreation]

Is that the original X1900? If so that is the issue as they don't work with El Cap and are crap anyway - I replaced mine as it was causing sleep/wake issues under Snow Leopard but missed out on Apple's recall.

Not the original gpu.
I still have the original but it flickers horribly.
I had this flash ati radeon x1900 on ebay back in 2009 or 2010 as it was suggested back then. I never knew about a recall, Hummm. I have always come to MacRumors and lurk -- reading and learning when I had the time. It appears I will need to make the time to keep up.

I know the gpu is failing as it was giving me issues in Lion with flickering and weird activity on the monitor.
In Lion often suddenly the system would not respond -- perhaps it went to sleep and I could not get it to respond.
Its why I went looking for a new gpu and choose the 5770 based on recommendation read on this forum.

I dont recall it before I placed MacPro in storage. I did that because I needed to upgrade photoshop and Apple did not allow an further advancement on the OS forcing me to choose. A friend had made me a Hackintosh so I could use the latest in photoshop and continue my work but it was not the same as my Mac Pro. I would dual boot just to Game but got to the point It was problematic to go back and forth. So I got a Mac Mini 2010. But it gets so hot when in use that I am concerned about using with photoshop and any video editing because it slows down due to the heat with my everyday use now -- and that is just for FileMaker. I only use FileMaker on the Mac Mini and get super hot very fast I have to have external fan pointing at it to help cool it down. Often I would turn it off to allow it cool down, I get so worried.

I am really looking forward to working with the Mac Pro 1,1 again. Husband says he will keep looking on ebay to get me a Mac Pro 5,1 as he sees me struggling. He is excited that Mac Pro 1,1 is still usable and will do what I need it to do.

I will be happy once we get it up and running without issues. I have been holding out waiting for Apple to bring back the Mac Pro workhorse that is all in one and does not rely on peripherals for storage. I have viewed the performance -- and sadden how they have abandon my favorite workhorse. I have always dreamed of having a xserve cluster too -- still hoping one day that I will have one.

I still have a functioning MacBook Pro 17 inch. I still use it. It may not be as fast but it still works and I love it.
I am curious to see if I can upgrade that to El Capitan. Right now a friend is using it till her computer is fixed.

 

[Larsvonhier]

Just a quick note to report that up to now, all El. Cap Security Updates can be installed on Mac Pro 1,1 and 2,1.
Currently Apple seeds out the (beta) of 2018-004 - what a great support period for such a dated OS!
The only thing to remember is to make a copy of the kernel file in /System/Library/Kernels/ and have a working bootable clone on a second drive before updating! Have a graphics card at hand that's capable of showing boot screen.

Procedure:
Let the security update install, reboot if needed, let the installer finish and see if you can boot. Normally, the updated kernel will panic and you get a reboot loop.
Boot from the clone drive now and copy back the old kernel file (see above for location) to the sec. updated volume. Use a tool like batchmod to set the kernel file attributes back to root, wheel.
Not sure if needed in all cases, but I do the next step in addition every time to make sure system is "clean": Run macOS disk utility and repair the boot volume that the sec. update is on. (This will also update "boot support drives", and imho this might copy the correct kernel onto them also).
Edit: kaosnews tried this also, and still entered the boot-loop, but fixed it by issueing 'touch /System/Library/Extensions' via terminal on the El Capitan partion. You might need to do this with the sudo prefix for correct permissions.

The system can now be booted again from the updated volume.

Nota bene: The security updates contain app updates, sometimes extension updates and changes to various frameworks in addition to the modified kernels. It´s doubtful that fixes for spectre, meltdown and other processor architecture related bugs will have full effect with the previous kernel, but the updated other components can at least be used.
We have two Mac Pro 2,1 running as servers 24/7 in my office and have not seen any stability issues so far (and I did all sec. updates that Apple released consecutively). After updating, I saw one additional reboot that I tend to attribute to the network filter "little snitch".
Currently, system build is now 15G22008 (2018-004 beta 3 as mentioned above) on both machines.
Additional note: In the meantime, dev beta 4 (15G22010) came out and after a week, Apple finalized it for public use under the same build number and it still works as described here.

Perhaps someone with deeper insight can provide info on what exactly the updates contain? (Apple´s info is not too detailed, as usual).

 

[SoulCreation]

Just a quick note to report that up to now, all El. Cap Security Updates can be installed on Mac Pro 1,1 and 2,1.
Currently Apple seeds out the beta of 2018-004 - what a great support period for such a dated OS!
The only thing to remember is to make a copy of the kernel file in /System/Library/Kernels/ and have a working bootable clone on a second drive before updating! Have a graphics card at hand that's capable of showing boot screen.

Procedure:
Let the security update install, reboot if needed, let the installer finish and see if you can boot. Normally, the updated kernel will panic and you get a reboot loop.
Boot from the clone drive now and copy back the old kernel file (see above for location) to the sec. updated volume. Use a tool like batchmod to set the kernel file attributes back to root, wheel.
Not sure if needed in all cases, but I do the next step in addition every time to make sure system is "clean": Run macOS disk utility and repair the boot volume that the sec. update is on. (This will also update "boot support drives", and imho this might copy the correct kernel onto them also).
The system can now be booted again from the updated volume.

Nota bene: The security updates contain app updates, sometimes extension updates and changes to various frameworks in addition to the modified kernels. It´s doubtful that fixes for spectre, meltdown and other processor architecture related bugs will have full effect with the previous kernel, but the updated other components can at least be used.
We have two Mac Pro 2,1 running as servers 24/7 in my office and have not seen any stability issues so far (and I did all sec. updates that Apple released consecutively). After updating, I saw one additional reboot that I tend to attribute to the network filter "little snitch".
Currently, system build is now 15G22008 (2018-004 beta as mentioned above) on both machines.

Perhaps someone with deeper insight can provide info on what exactly the updates contain? (Apple´s info is not too detailed, as usual - and the beta patches do not show up in their table at all...)

[doublepost=1530501722][/doublepost]Jus wanted to report I managed to change out the graphics card and it loaded without issues.

In the process now of loading up all my apps.

I do notice the wifi single be to spotty at times -- so plan to directly plug in.

Once fully loaded I intend to clone and have a back up.

 

[rthpjm]

[doublepost=1530501722][/doublepost]Jus wanted to report I managed to change out the graphics card and it loaded without issues.

In the process now of loading up all my apps.

I do notice the wifi single be to spotty at times -- so plan to directly plug in.

Once fully loaded I intend to clone and have a back up.

Well done. Glad we could help...

Have fun. I am still amazed that my MacPro is still running great. However, I do intend to buy the next generation MacPro, if it meets my requirements. Come on Apple!

 

[charliejay]

This thread is awesome! Helped me so much revive a 1.1 to a BEAST!

However, I am having one major issue and can't seem to find a definitive answer on here...

What I have done:
Upgraded a 1.1 to 10.11.0 using the pike app - so far so good.

What I need help with:
Getting to 10.11.6 easily. I understand I can't install the 2018 sec updates.
Can I just install from App Store? Or download combo? Or download and install each update one by one?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Larsvonhier]

This thread is awesome! Helped me so much revive a 1.1 to a BEAST!

However, I am having one major issue and can't seem to find a definitive answer on here...

What I have done:
Upgraded a 1.1 to 10.11.0 using the pike app - so far so good.

What I need help with:
Getting to 10.11.6 easily. I understand I can't install the 2018 sec updates.
Can I just install from App Store? Or download combo? Or download and install each update one by one?

Thanks in advance!

see post #4237 for info on how to update to 10.11.6 plus 2018 sec. updates...

 

[rthpjm]

This thread is awesome! Helped me so much revive a 1.1 to a BEAST!

However, I am having one major issue and can't seem to find a definitive answer on here...

What I have done:
Upgraded a 1.1 to 10.11.0 using the pike app - so far so good.

What I need help with:
Getting to 10.11.6 easily. I understand I can't install the 2018 sec updates.
Can I just install from App Store? Or download combo? Or download and install each update one by one?

Thanks in advance!

If you use the App Store it will jump you directly to 10.11.6. In effect it will apply the “combo” update. That’s great, but you need to be aware that doing so will overwrite the boot.efi files with the Apple versions. This will “break” your installation.

You have two choices:

1. Do it, and then manually replace the boot.efi files to make the volume bootable again. To do this you will need a second working volume to allow you to fix the broken one (you can use the Recovery HD for this purpose)
2. Before you install any of the system updates, install one of the two utilities that automatically put back the Pike version of the boot.efi file during a system update. If you do this you can then use the App Store to Install the system update without any issue. The two utilities are capitanPikeFix or Boot64. The capitanPikeFix utility requires SIP to be disabled in order to operate. Boot64 on the other hand should work fine with SIP enabled (assuming you used my Pikify tool to perform the Mac OS install)...

 

[haveuseenmybaseball]

You do have the extra power lead connected to the 5770, I assume. I had the Mac version running a 30" cinema display for a long time without issue.

Thank you for responding! My 5770 only has one power connection from what I see.
[doublepost=1530634122][/doublepost]

Try moving the cable to the other connector on the gfx card...

Thank you for responding ! I feel like I tried every cable combo, which were you referring to ?

 

[rthpjm]

Thank you for responding! My 5770 only has one power connection from what I see.
[doublepost=1530634122][/doublepost]

Thank you for responding ! I feel like I tried every cable combo, which were you referring to ?

The DVI cable from the monitor to the card. 5770s generally have 2x DVI sockets (plus one other). Try the other DVI socket...

 

[haveuseenmybaseball]

The DVI cable from the monitor to the card. 5770s generally have 2x DVI sockets (plus one other). Try the other DVI socket...

I have only one

 

[rthpjm]

I have only one

Ah ha!

I’m out of ideas, unless you can try the mini display ports too. Do you have cables, an adaptor, or a monitor that can take mdp?

What manufacturer and model is the gfx card?

 

[swishpan]

Hello again-

I have a 2,1 Dual Quad. I've used the Pikify App to get El Capitan running on the machine. I do no updates. The problem is, I can't reboot. That is where I'm weak in knowledge. I've tried resetting the PRAM, but still no reboot ability. I always have to unplug, and boot that way. Is this a kernel thing? I'm not sure how that works. Obviously, the boot sequence has been reprogrammed somehow, and no matter what, those instructions are set for rebooting. So, please...how can I get the rebooting sequence back to operational? Remember, I have a freshly installed drive from the Pikify app.

 

[charliejay]

If you use the App Store it will jump you directly to 10.11.6. In effect it will apply the “combo” update. That’s great, but you need to be aware that doing so will overwrite the boot.efi files with the Apple versions. This will “break” your installation.

You have two choices:

1. Do it, and then manually replace the boot.efi files to make the volume bootable again. To do this you will need a second working volume to allow you to fix the broken one (you can use the Recovery HD for this purpose)
2. Before you install any of the system updates, install one of the two utilities that automatically put back the Pike version of the boot.efi file during a system update. If you do this you can then use the App Store to Install the system update without any issue. The two utilities are capitanPikeFix or Boot64. The capitanPikeFix utility requires SIP to be disabled in order to operate. Boot64 on the other hand should work fine with SIP enabled (assuming you used my Pikify tool to perform the Mac OS install)...

Thank you so much! This worked a treat.

I carbon copy cloner’d my 10.11.0 OS to a seperate partition on my HDD, booted to it. Used option 2 as described above. Installed boot64 from you post #1391 then updated to 10.11.6 using the App Store. It worked just like a normal update! Voila!

Now just to repeat process on main boot partition and remove duplicated one and resize volume, thanks heaps @rthpjm , you're a saviour!

 

[Hindrik1997]

Try moving the cable to the other connector on the gfx card...
[doublepost=1530186224][/doublepost]
That usually happens with low RAM configuration. What RAM do you have?

I installed it using 16GB of RAM, but it runs with 5GB now.

 

[kaosnews]

Just a quick note to report that up to now, all El. Cap Security Updates can be installed on Mac Pro 1,1 and 2,1.
Currently Apple seeds out the beta of 2018-004 - what a great support period for such a dated OS!
The only thing to remember is to make a copy of the kernel file in /System/Library/Kernels/ and have a working bootable clone on a second drive before updating! Have a graphics card at hand that's capable of showing boot screen.

I have tried this method - but for some reason I get the bootloop. So I have El Capitain 10.11.6 and when I update to 2018-004 and copy the kernel back (also with batchmod etc.) I receive the boot loop. So I don't know why it worked for you (which is excellent btw), but for me it's not working...

UPDATE: I ran 'touch /System/Library/Extensions' on the El Capitan partition and voila it's working now