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

[Bruce L]

Thank you MacRumourNic that worked and I added it to my install notes.

@Bruce L ... In terminal the path to your HD would be /Volumes/Mac\ Pro-Macintosh\ HD/ note the use of reverse slashes plus the space when needed.

 

[tdatsmrad]

Josecba - This is why the Internet is so frustrating. Your post is a copy & paste of outdated instructions and unless you've got some very strange hybrid of El Capitan betas upgraded to the release version:

It is no longer a matter of simply dragging & dropping two files and repairing permissions.

First of all, you can't just drag & drop piker's boot.efi files in place. You can sudo nouchg to delete the old one, but if you check ownership & permissions on the new one, they will not be -rw--r--r- root wheel as they need to be. Your system might boot with the wrong permissions, but - in my experience anyway, it won't be stable.

Second - There is no such thing as "repair permissions" in El Capitan. You can't repair permissions on an El Capitan installation from any version of OS X. The option is simply not available.

So what the hell are you saying? Can you drag and drop critical System files on an SIP system? Does your version of Disk Utility - from any OS - allow you to repair permissions on the El Capitan installation?

If so, please post some screenshots and describe your process in detail.

The current process of replacing the boot.efi files is considerably more involved than a simple drag & drop, repair permissions & reboot.

I read all about it and did a clean install of 10.11 yesterday. If you didn't install, boot into Recovery, disable SIP, reboot into recovery, manually fix permissions with chflags, chmod, chown, chflags, re-enable SIP, and then reboot;

Please explain it to me like I'm five and include some screenshots.

I don't see how you could have done what you say you did, especially the repair permissions part.

I would love someone to go through the process with me like I was five. Which is what I am with computer'ese'. I was able to install Yosemite previously by following the guide prepared by Hennessie and some direct help by Hennessie himself. With the El Capitan install, here is what I have done so far:
1) Created a bootable USB El Capitan installer using DiskMaker on a Mac Pro 4,1 and downloaded into Applications folder on my 1,1
2) Downloaded the boot.efi file from Pike's website.
3) Removed the existing boot.efi from Core services, i386, and the Recovery HD (someone recommended using sudo rm -rf to remove the file) and replaced it by copying Pike's boot.efi into place
4) Removed the OS X Install Data file
5) Removed the yosefix file from LaunchDaemon and also from i386
6) Emptied trash, repaired permissions
7) Rebooted computer. Verified all boot.efi files remained (316 KB)
8) Clicked on the El Capitan installer.

When the computer reboots, this the screen I get:

 

[F1Mac]

I would love someone to go through the process with me like I was five. Which is what I am with computer'ese'. I was able to install Yosemite previously by following the guide prepared by Hennessie and some direct help by Hennessie himself. With the El Capitan install, here is what I have done so far:
1) Created a bootable USB El Capitan installer using DiskMaker on a Mac Pro 4,1 and downloaded into Applications folder on my 1,1
2) Downloaded the boot.efi file from Pike's website.
3) Removed the existing boot.efi from Core services, i386, and the Recovery HD (someone recommended using sudo rm -rf to remove the file) and replaced it by copying Pike's boot.efi into place
4) Removed the OS X Install Data file
5) Removed the yosefix file from LaunchDaemon and also from i386
6) Emptied trash, repaired permissions
7) Rebooted computer. Verified all boot.efi files remained (316 KB)
8) Clicked on the El Capitan installer.

When the computer reboots, this the screen I get:

So all this happened under Yosemite right? *Before* the El Cap installation?

If you computer reboots in Recovery there's a 99.9% chance your boot.efi files are not Pike's but Apple's - and since you put Pike's boot.efi in your Recovery HD, that's why your computer is able to boot but it goes directly into Recovery. Check your El Capitan installation, in CoreServices and i386, and of course NOT the installer.

 

[JOSECBA]

Josecba - This is why the Internet is so frustrating. Your post is a copy & paste of outdated instructions and unless you've got some very strange hybrid of El Capitan betas upgraded to the release version:

It is no longer a matter of simply dragging & dropping two files and repairing permissions.

First of all, you can't just drag & drop piker's boot.efi files in place. You can sudo nouchg to delete the old one, but if you check ownership & permissions on the new one, they will not be -rw--r--r- root wheel as they need to be. Your system might boot with the wrong permissions, but - in my experience anyway, it won't be stable.

Second - There is no such thing as "repair permissions" in El Capitan. You can't repair permissions on an El Capitan installation from any version of OS X. The option is simply not available.

So what the hell are you saying? Can you drag and drop critical System files on an SIP system? Does your version of Disk Utility - from any OS - allow you to repair permissions on the El Capitan installation?

If so, please post some screenshots and describe your process in detail.

The current process of replacing the boot.efi files is considerably more involved than a simple drag & drop, repair permissions & reboot.

I read all about it and did a clean install of 10.11 yesterday. If you didn't install, boot into Recovery, disable SIP, reboot into recovery, manually fix permissions with chflags, chmod, chown, chflags, re-enable SIP, and then reboot;

Please explain it to me like I'm five and include some screenshots.

I don't see how you could have done what you say you did, especially the repair permissions part.

Obviously I have not been clear with my question ..... I ONLY NEED TO KNOW if is SAFE update to 10.11.1 via APPLE STORE....

The part of REPAIR PERMISSION .... It was ONLY TO DESCRIBE How I DID INSTALLED EL CAPITAN in the FIRST PLACE on my MAC PRO....

 

[JOSECBA]

I just updated from the App Store.
It is safe to update but you need to replace both files at the specified locations otherwise after the computer reboots, otherwise it will not work.

To make sure the boot.efi file is copied correctly, I usually delete the original 600Kb boot.efi and copy Pike's EFI32 boot.efi afterwards.

Thank you for your support. Is that possible ? When the installer have finished your mac don't automatic reboot ? How you cancel the reboot after the installer finishes ?

 

[F1Mac]

Thank you for your support. Is that possible ? When the installer have finished your mac don't automatic reboot ? How you cancel the reboot after the installer finishes ?

Do you have another partition with a working OS? I keep Mavericks on my MP1,1 so I can easily deal with the boot.efi files when needed.

It's safe to update directly from the App Store, assuming you can replace the boot.efi afterwards. Here's what I did:
1/updated via App Store followed by automatic reboot
2/knowing the boot.efi files got overwritten I immediately pressed Option and selected my Mavericks partition (El Capitan update process wasn't finished, which doesn't matter)
3/replaced boot.efi in CoreServices and i386 (Recovery HD stays untouched with 10.11.1)
4/selected my El Capitan partition in startup disk
5/reboot
6/update finished like nothing happened
7/grab a beer and celebrate

 

[brianr66]

Ok I'm going nuts here, I've got as far as getting the download through the app store to upgrade over my Yosemite, after the auto reboot to install it comes up with recovery options so I repair permissions and go back to square one, now I've replaced the boot.efi again in the 3 locations but now I see we need to replace in the .IABoot Files, reading back this should be in /System???? If it is then it's not showing in mine... where the hell is it?? I'm so close yet so far it's frustrating!

 

[JOSECBA]

Do you have another partition with a working OS? I keep Mavericks on my MP1,1 so I can easily deal with the boot.efi files when needed.

It's safe to update directly from the App Store, assuming you can replace the boot.efi afterwards. Here's what I did:
1/updated via App Store followed by automatic reboot
2/knowing the boot.efi files got overwritten I immediately pressed Option and selected my Mavericks partition (El Capitan update process wasn't finished, which doesn't matter)
3/replaced boot.efi in CoreServices and i386 (Recovery HD stays untouched with 10.11.1)
4/selected my El Capitan partition in startup disk
5/reboot
6/update finished like nothing happened
7/grab a beer and celebrate

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH !!!!
And I don't need to repair permission o bless the SSD (with the new updated EL CAPITAN) nothing of that... JUST replace the two BOOT.EFI and nothing more... I don't have a MAC GRAPHIC CARD, can I boot on mavericks and from there can I choose the EL CAPITAN SSD ... ? I can't use the OPTION key to choose the BOOTING HD .... (PC Graphic Card)....

 

[Rustynova]

Yes it does, and overwriting the copy in /System/Library/CoreServices no longer appears to be trivial (at least not for me). Even with SIP disabled via the Recovery HD, I have been unable to unlock the boot.efi contained in S/L/C.

I ran into the same problem, but found this earlier in this thread.
if Boot.efi is locked -
in terminal

sudo chflags nouchg /Volumes/(Volume name)/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi

now you can overwrite it
and lock back:

sudo chflags uchg /Volumes/(Volume name)/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi

 

[Obibob]

Hi thanks to all that have posted here i have just put el capitan on my mac pro 1.1/1.2
the only problem i have is update says( Can't load data from the Apple Software Update server.)
some help if possible please fixed problem was my account in App Store thanks any way

 

[orangez]

Maybe I've found a problem with Piker's boot.efi. If I'm using the newest file to make usb installer, can't boot it, stuck at "Waiting for DSMOS..." But if I use the older file, the installer can run without problem.
After install I used the newest file to overwrite /usr/standalone/i386/boot.efi and /System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi and works!

 

[PeterHolbrook]

Maybe I've found a problem with Piker's boot.efi. If I'm using the newest file to make usb installer, can't boot it, stuck at "Waiting for DSMOS..." But if I use the older file, the installer can run without problem.
After install I used the newest file to overwrite /usr/standalone/i386/boot.efi and /System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi and works!

What you've "found" is a known issue. Version 2.0 of boot.efi didn't handle El Capitan's SIP correctly and, therefore, it would work regardless. Version 3.0 handles SIP correctly, but not on the installer. Since you already have SIP in place, the installer can't proceed... because of SIP. If you disable SIP, version 3.0 on the installer will work the same as version 2.0 did. Later experimental versions have already solved this issue, but we are still waiting for a final release.

The current development is trying to ensure that Pike's boot.efi will survive system updates. In other words, Pike is trying to cause boot.efi to write itself on top of whatever stock boot.efi Apple might include in future updates to El Capitan, much as the now SIP-killed PikeYoseFix daemon used to do, only better.

 

[Obibob]

It's safe to update directly from the App Store, assuming you can replace the boot.efi afterwards. Here's what I did:
1/updated via App Store followed by automatic reboot
2/knowing the boot.efi files got overwritten I set start up drive to Mavericks partition as I don't have a MAC GRAPHIC CARD(El Capitan update process finished, rebooted to mavericks)
3/replaced boot.efi in CoreServices and i386 (Recovery HD stays untouched with 10.11.1)
4/selected my El Capitan partition in startup disk
5/reboot
6/update finished like nothing happened
simple only took me a week of reading tar to all


Model Name: Mac Pro

Model Identifier: MacPro2,1

Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon

Processor Speed: 2,66 GHz

Number of Processors: 2

Total Number of Cores: 8

L2 Cache (per Processor): 8 MB

Memory: 32 GB

Bus Speed: 1,33 GHz

Boot ROM Version: MP21.007F.B06

SMC Version (system): 1.7f10

Serial Number (system):

Hardware UUID: 2B12FE1B-1090-593B-B740-2E45F371D1E4

Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 210

Type: GPU

Bus: PCIe

Slot: Slot-1

PCIe Lane Width: x16

VRAM (Total): 1024 MB

Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)

Device ID: 0x0a65

Revision ID: 0x00a2

ROM Revision: preset 1.0.0

Displays:

M2294D-PZ:

Resolution: 1680 x 1050 @ 60 Hz

Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)

Main Display: Yes

Mirror: Off

Online: Yes

Rotation: Supported

Television: Yes

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

I would love someone to go through the process with me like I was five. Which is what I am with computer'ese'. I was able to install Yosemite previously by following the guide prepared by Hennessie and some direct help by Hennessie himself. With the El Capitan install, here is what I have done so far:
1) Created a bootable USB El Capitan installer using DiskMaker on a Mac Pro 4,1 and downloaded into Applications folder on my 1,1
2) Downloaded the boot.efi file from Pike's website.
3) Removed the existing boot.efi from Core services, i386, and the Recovery HD (someone recommended using sudo rm -rf to remove the file) and replaced it by copying Pike's boot.efi into place
4) Removed the OS X Install Data file
5) Removed the yosefix file from LaunchDaemon and also from i386
6) Emptied trash, repaired permissions
7) Rebooted computer. Verified all boot.efi files remained (316 KB)
8) Clicked on the El Capitan installer.

When the computer reboots, this the screen I get:

About step 5. Did you remove the 'OS X Install Data' folder from the flash drive? If that's a yes, then that's the problem you're facing.

 

[yuser]

Still no luck. What graphic cards do you use in your 1.1 ??

Anyone??

 

[PeterHolbrook]

Anyone??

I'm using an ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB (which I bought from the Apple Store). It works fine, but it doesn't support Metal.

 

[yuser]

I'm using an ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB (which I bought from the Apple Store). It works fine, but it doesn't support Metal.

Thank's for the information. Do you require a QE/CI patch to get proper graphics acceleration? Yosemite and my HD4890 was no problem at all with those patches but El Cap. is somehow different. Without proper graphics acceleration it is not usable. This is the last missing thing for my 1.1 Mac Pro

 

[PeterHolbrook]

Do you require a QE/CI patch to get proper graphics acceleration?

There are Windows-only versions of said card that might require that. Mine, having being bought from Apple, didn't require anything especial. It worked out of the box back in Mountain Lion days.

 

[Ant3000]

Anyone??

I too am using the ATI Radeon HD 5770 - also bought mine from Apple when the original X1900 started acting up. Only used up to Yosemite so far as I am working on a production machine at the moment and holding off on El Capitan for a bit. No extra drivers installed and everything works well.

 

[yuser]

OK, I can remember that I flashed my 4890 back then... With that QE/CI patch it worked like a charm, always.
Mhh, so I might have to give it up with El Capitan or I need to buy another graphics card. I don't know.

 

[jayf45]

hey, how you did that? could you help me please?

Hey Guys, I finally install el capitan on my Mac pro 1,1 -it took a while thou.

Here's what i did-

I connected the MacPro to my MacBook Pro over Firewire 800 with the MacPro running in Firewire target disk mode. then i ran the installer over to my drive in my Mac pro. it completed successfully and rebooted. i took my drive out from my Mac pro which was running Snow leopard and made the changes in there. I replace the Boot.fi /System/Library/CoreServices/-/usr/standalone/i386.

Thank you guys so much!!

 

[iMattux]

Ok. I'm not crazy. I'm not a moron. I finally have the evidence that something is wrong with my installation.

I've done about 8 clean installs from a supported mac, updated to 10.11.1, turned SIP off in Recovery mode, swapped Piker's boot.efi's manually changed permissions, but I can never get it stable. It'll boot, but it crashes somewhere between 5 and 30 minutes in. I think it's a permissions thing.

Here's the terminal output in recovery mode, after disabling SIP, rebooting, confirming SIP is disabled, and after moving Pike's booted into place:

-bash-3.2# chflags nouchg /Volumes/ElRaid/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi
-bash-3.2# ls -la /Volumes/ElRaid/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root  wheel  315904 Oct 23 18:40 /Volumes/ElRaid/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi
-bash-3.2# ls -l@ /Volumes/ElRaid/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root  wheel  315904 Oct 23 18:40 /Volumes/ElRaid/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi
    com.apple.metadata:kMDItemDownloadedDate        53
    com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms       189
    com.apple.quarantine        57

The @ at the end is the extended attribute that I think is breaking stuff. Quarantine is definitely a clue

So, for the smart kids:
1. Is this what's killing me? (I'm pretty sure, but maybe you have this and you're stable...)
2. What did I do wrong?
3. How do I fix it?

If anyone can confirm or deny that they have these permissions, I'd love to compare notes.

-Still trying...

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

Ok. I'm not crazy. I'm not a moron. I finally have the evidence that something is wrong with my installation.

I've done about 8 clean installs from a supported mac, updated to 10.11.1, turned SIP off in Recovery mode, swapped Piker's boot.efi's manually changed permissions, but I can never get it stable. It'll boot, but it crashes somewhere between 5 and 30 minutes in. I think it's a permissions thing.

Here's the terminal output in recovery mode, after disabling SIP, rebooting, confirming SIP is disabled, and after moving Pike's booted into place:

-bash-3.2# chflags nouchg /Volumes/ElRaid/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi
-bash-3.2# ls -la /Volumes/ElRaid/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root  wheel  315904 Oct 23 18:40 /Volumes/ElRaid/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi
-bash-3.2# ls -l@ /Volumes/ElRaid/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root  wheel  315904 Oct 23 18:40 /Volumes/ElRaid/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi
    com.apple.metadata:kMDItemDownloadedDate        53
    com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms       189
    com.apple.quarantine        57

The @ at the end is the extended attribute that I think is breaking stuff. Quarantine is definitely a clue

So, for the smart kids:
1. Is this what's killing me? (I'm pretty sure, but maybe you have this and you're stable...)
2. What did I do wrong?
3. How do I fix it?

If anyone can confirm or deny that they have these permissions, I'd love to compare notes.

-Still trying...

I don't think that is the problem, but you could try running: sudo xattr -d com.apple.quarantine boot.efi from a terminal window, but read up. You are not alone. Other people had the same issue and solved it by resetting PRAM and perhaps something else (I forgot) and then it was fine.

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

I too am using the ATI Radeon HD 5770 - also bought mine from Apple when the original X1900 started acting up. Only used up to Yosemite so far as I am working on a production machine at the moment and holding off on El Capitan for a bit. No extra drivers installed and everything works well.

Well. I tell you this. Even on a 4GHz machine... after installing El Capitan. Apps launched quicker. Everything feels so much more responsive. In my eyes El Capitan is a breeze. A must have upgrade. And certainly worth a new Graphics card, for the people that need one.

 

[iMattux]

xattr is not available in Recovery terminal. I'll try after booting normally with SIP disabled...

And clearing PRAM has not affected any of this. I'll read up on quarantine.

More importantly, Pike - what are your permissions?

And thanks on behalf of all of us. You are awesome with cheese and bacon!