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

[OGNerd]

-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...

Deny.

[Mac Pro 2,1 - El Capitan 10.11.1 - Pike's Boot.efi 3.0]
-rw-r--r-- 1 macuser staff 313856 Oct 15 22:39 /Volumes/El Capitan/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi

[Macbook 5,2 - El Capitan 10.11.1 - Stock Boot.efi]
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 604728 Oct 21 13:21 /Volumes/Patriot/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi

 

[charitytechsupport]

5 posts up, number #984

What do I do about the "Blessing" now as previously we'd had repaired permissions but now that is no longer possible in El Capitan.

Do we just do a repair disk after we put the boot.efi file in those two places?

Could someone update the initial thread to reflect what one is to do when updating El Capitan?

Or do we not need to worry about anything else other than just putting the file there because of how El Capitan works now in terms of permissions?

 

[Cloro]

Hi, guys! Just for share my positive experience:

1- I updated from App Store. Then automatically restart and installation begins. Once the process is over my Mac Pro try to boot again but of course it cannot find a proper OSX.
2- I take my SSD out and connect it to an USB box. This box is connected to a Mac BookPro running El Capitan 10.11.1. I just copied the Piker's boot.ini file to the three locations and that's all. I put my SSD into my old Mac Pro 2,1 again and it works perfectly. Well, I forgot to hide the recovery partition and I guess that's why it boot in recovery mode first. I select my El Capitan partition as start disk and it boot without problems this time.

Some compilation notes for the newbies: you have to unlock the boot.ini original file in order to delete it or to replace it via Terminal: sudo chflags -R nouch /PATH.

If you need to replace the boot.ini in the recovery Partition as well like me (because I didn't replace it when I installed El Capitan for the first time), you need to follow OGNerd instructions: in Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.DiskUtility DUDebugMenuEnabled 1 in order to the partition to be visible. And mount it with diskutil command:

EG.
diskutil list

MacBook:~ ognerd$ diskutil list

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *480.1 GB disk0

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1

2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 479.2 GB disk0s2

3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3


Then mount it via -

diskutil mount /dev/disk0s3

---
Thanks to the people who helped me get El Capitan in my old computer

 

[PeterHolbrook]

Some compilation notes for the newbies: you have to unlock the boot.ini original file in order to delete it or to replace it via Terminal: sudo chflags -R nouch /PATH.

You mean "boot.efi", don't you?

When development of boot.efi for El Capitan is finished, there'll be a reasonably complete guide as to how to install it.

 

[spitfire40]

I was able to get El Captain to boot on my Mac Pro 1,1 it runs fine for the first 5 minutes or so until my computer freezes and then restarts. Cant figure out whats wrong it boots up fine and runs fine then it starts acting up. Any help would be appreciated thank you.

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

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!

Right. xattr is not available from the RecoveyHD, so use the one from the boot drive (/Volumes/MackintoshHD/usr/bin/xattr) and get the job done.

ls -lO /System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi

-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel restricted,uchg 604728 1 Oct 16:32 /System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi

Nothing with: xattr /System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi

 

[Obibob]

hi all had el capitan running for 24 hours testing just about all the apps i have had no probs like other people have had think i must be lucky
the only thing i noticed when waking from sleep fan rpm go,s from 600 to 1600 then back to normal

 

[iMattux]

Peter/Pike/the rest of the smart kids:

You mean "boot.efi", don't you?

When development of boot.efi for El Capitan is finished, there'll be a reasonably complete guide as to how to install it.

Re: A reasonably complete "final" guide to installation - I'm offering my services as a tech writer as a small token of my immense appreciation to you and the others. I'd be happy to write it in excruciating detail with code snippets and screenshots so that my 73 yr. old mom could follow the instructions.

 

[clawfinger]

Hi Guys,

Just popping in from over in the developer thread. Pike requested that I share my 'replaceBootloader' script with a wider audience and now that his boot.efi 3.1 is out the door I am simply placing a link to my post there, here (replaceBootloader).

Edit: It's not necessary to edit the script, you can simply pass a Volume as a quoted string directly in Terminal:

$ sudo ./replaceBootloader "Macintosh HD"

I cannot provide any sort of support for this script, but it does do a fair amount of error checking and prompting if/when something goes wrong as well as provide basic usage instructions.

Let's face it; you've already voided your warranty by embarking on the 'Quest to install El Capitan on Unsupported Hardware' so no warranty should be implied regarding this script.

Thanks,

-clawfinger

Edit: 11/4/2015 Reverted 'replaceBootloader' and moved 'Recovery HD' support to a new otherwise identical script called 'replaceBootloaderWithRecovery' because some people have reported problems with it

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Just got a GTX 660 for my 1,1 Mac Pro (ordered--so it will take some time). Does this thing support Metal? No issue if it doesn't, but I'm simply curious. I saw a list that read, "GT 600M" series... but wondering if that means that the GTX 660 is included. Anyway, it's simply a PC card--the ASUS version with nice cooling fans. I'm not gonna flash the thing; I'm just going to install the latest web driver (hopefully out for El Cap now) and call it a day. Apparently, these things run fine in a Mac Pro without needing to be flashed. Of course, I'm sure it will perform its best in Windows, as that's the OS with which it's really meant to run.

I'll see how this thing is and post my thoughts. If it ends up turning out nicely (*crossing fingers*), I'll recommend the card. After all, while a few years old, it's still a powerful card that doesn't necessarily cost an arm and a leg if bought used. New--however--it seems to still go for $300 or so.

 

[Cloro]

You mean "boot.efi", don't you?

When development of boot.efi for El Capitan is finished, there'll be a reasonably complete guide as to how to install it.

Yes, of course, I meant 'boot.efi'. I didn't realise I wrote 'boot.ini'. Sorry

 

[Cloro]

Just got a GTX 660 for my 1,1 Mac Pro (ordered--so it will take some time). Does this thing support Metal? No issue if it doesn't, but I'm simply curious. I saw a list that read, "GT 600M" series... but wondering if that means that the GTX 660 is included. Anyway, it's simply a PC card--the ASUS version with nice cooling fans. I'm not gonna flash the thing; I'm just going to install the latest web driver (hopefully out for El Cap now) and call it a day. Apparently, these things run fine in a Mac Pro without needing to be flashed. Of course, I'm sure it will perform its best in Windows, as that's the OS with which it's really meant to run.

I'll see how this thing is and post my thoughts. If it ends up turning out nicely (*crossing fingers*), I'll recommend the card. After all, while a few years old, it's still a powerful card that doesn't necessarily cost an arm and a leg if bought used. New--however--it seems to still go for $300 or so.

I have a 5770 card in my Mac Pro 2,1. I'm thinking about upgrade my card. Do you think is a good idea to upgrade my 5770 with a gtx660? Or they are similar in performance? I'm also thinking of a couple of other options:

1- to buy a 7970.

2 - to buy another 5770 to set it up in crossfire mode. Do you know if this is posible? Will the performance improve significantly? 5770 support Metal?

 

[OGNerd]

I have a 5770 card in my Mac Pro 2,1. I'm thinking about upgrade my card. Do you think is a good idea to upgrade my 5770 with a gtx660? Or they are similar in performance? I'm also thinking of a couple of other options:

1- to buy a 7970.

2 - to buy another 5770 to set it up in crossfire mode. Do you know if this is posible? Will the performance improve significantly? 5770 support Metal?

Go with Option 1, you won't be disappointed. I had a 5870 in my 2,1 before I upgraded to a 7950. While not quite as impressive an upgrade as moving to a SSD from a spinner HD, it isn't far behind.

 

[Bruce L]

Here is an update of my situation. I have been able to install 10.11.1 on my 2006 Mac Pro 1,1 with a brand new Mac Pro nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB Video Graphics Card 2006-2007. I have installed using the instructions I listed above. The problem is that I can install the OS but I continued to experience multiple kernel panics and crashes. So yesterday I thought maybe my previous method of installing to the "Macintosh HD" of my Mac Pro by attaching it to my Mac Mini running El Capitan via Firewire 800 was causing my problems. So I essentially followed the same steps but this time I put my Mac Pro in Target disk mode and copied the Install OS X El Capitan to one of the other hard disks in that computer and installed from there. After the install I was brought to the Recovery partition with the option to re-install Lion (the last OS I had installed before my multiple El Capitan installs). I just chose my Mac Pro's primary hard drive as my Startup Disk and booted into the new El Capitan install. The good news is that even with 6 GB of RAM and the new video card with 512 MB of RAM the OS runs very briskly. The bad news is the I continued to have kernel panics. I saw that Piker Alpha's boot.efi is up to version 3.0. I downloaded my version of the boot.efi here: http://piker-alpha.github.io/macosxbootloader/. I would think that he would have the latest boot.efi here. Maybe I am missing something but it seems like this install consists primarily of replacing the two boot.efi files after installing El Capitan to one's Mac Pro. Anyway it is very frustrating to a get a good install but have these kernel panics which I believe are software related. I feel like there is some small detail that I am missing that is keeping this install from being stable.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

I have a 5770 card in my Mac Pro 2,1. I'm thinking about upgrade my card. Do you think is a good idea to upgrade my 5770 with a gtx660? Or they are similar in performance? I'm also thinking of a couple of other options:

1- to buy a 7970.

2 - to buy another 5770 to set it up in crossfire mode. Do you know if this is posible? Will the performance improve significantly? 5770 support Metal?

I've heard of lots of people using 7970's and such. I'm waiting for this card to ship, then I'll test it out with my fingers crossed. I just found out that it's apparently the overclocked edition... and I'm scared that it may not be compatible.

 

[bubez]

Here is an update of my situation. I have been able to install 10.11.1 on my 2006 Mac Pro 1,1 with a brand new Mac Pro nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB Video Graphics Card 2006-2007. I have installed using the instructions I listed above. The problem is that I can install the OS but I continued to experience multiple kernel panics and crashes.

Same config (MP1,1 with 8800GT) and same issues... Continuous kernel panics. Did you have these issues on Yosemite too?

 

[chackett]

I have a 5770 card in my Mac Pro 2,1. I'm thinking about upgrade my card. Do you think is a good idea to upgrade my 5770 with a gtx660? Or they are similar in performance? I'm also thinking of a couple of other options:

1- to buy a 7970.

2 - to buy another 5770 to set it up in crossfire mode. Do you know if this is posible? Will the performance improve significantly? 5770 support Metal?

Crossfire mode works in Windows, but not on the Mac side.

 

[strupp3003]

Thank you.

Now about the memory problems. El Capitan is an improved version of Yosemite, and that worked for many Mac Pro owners, without a hitch, so your processors are not the problem. However. Mavericks and Yosemite were lazy... compared to El Capitan with its active memory compression, and ditto checks. In short. I think that your memory is acting up, or isn't properly fitted, or El Capitan has an issue that only you/a hand full of people run into. What do you think? I'd say go hunt for some new Ram modules. OWC is your friend.

Note: The first thing, after a PRAM reset, would be to boot with slide=0 so that the (prelinked)kernel and drivers won't be moved upwards in memory. Not working? Swap the modules. Not working. Call OWC.

I just wanted to come back here to give you guys a short update: After upgrading my MacPro1,1 from Mavericks (SFOTT) to El Capitan, I got kernel panics and the machine crashed after a few minutes each time I started it. Folllowing Pike's suggestion, I switched the RAM Modules (2x2GB) with some other ones I took out of some old, decomissioned Dell Servers. Now it has 8x1GB Modules and it's been up for 2 days no without kernel panics!! Awesome!
After switching the RAM, I also upgraded to 10.11.1 using Piker's Boot.efi 3.0, everything working, even iMessage, iCloud, etc.

As I didn't have any problems with my RAM or kernel-panics running Mavericks, something else came to my mind: Mavericks was installed directly to the MacPro using SFOTT, while for the El Cap installation I used a El-Cap compatible MacBookPro to install it to the MacPro via Firewire Target Mode. This MacBookPro has 8GB of RAM, while the MacPro only had 4GB. Now, as I upgraded the MacPro to 8GB everything runs fine..
Could this difference in RAM capacity between the MacBook and the MacPro have caused the Issue? Is the Software "customized" to the Hardware during installation?

 

[Bruce L]

No bubez I never installed Yosemite. I went from Lion to El Capitan.

 

[Bruce L]

No bubez I never installed Yosemite. I went from Lion to El Capitan.

I just wanted to come back here to give you guys a short update: After upgrading my MacPro1,1 from Mavericks (SFOTT) to El Capitan, I got kernel panics and the machine crashed after a few minutes each time I started it. Folllowing Pike's suggestion, I switched the RAM Modules (2x2GB) with some other ones I took out of some old, decomissioned Dell Servers. Now it has 8x1GB Modules and it's been up for 2 days no without kernel panics!! Awesome!
After switching the RAM, I also upgraded to 10.11.1 using Piker's Boot.efi 3.0, everything working, even iMessage, iCloud, etc.

As I didn't have any problems with my RAM or kernel-panics running Mavericks, something else came to my mind: Mavericks was installed directly to the MacPro using SFOTT, while for the El Cap installation I used a El-Cap compatible MacBookPro to install it to the MacPro via Firewire Target Mode. This MacBookPro has 8GB of RAM, while the MacPro only had 4GB. Now, as I upgraded the MacPro to 8GB everything runs fine..
Could this difference in RAM capacity between the MacBook and the MacPro have caused the Issue? Is the Software "customized" to the Hardware during installation?

Thank you for the update strupp3003. I have been wondering if my 6 GB of RAM is hurting me. I already spent quite a bit on a brand new Mac Pro nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB Video Graphics Card and would prefer that I had a stable install before throwing more money at this project; however, if not having enough memory could be the cause then I would fell better about buying more memory. Yesterday I did another clean install from my late 2012 Mac Mini running El Cap and used my 2006 Mac Pro 1,1 for about 3 hours without issue. Then I clicked on Photos in the dock and my mouse cursor froze. This is one thing that seems to be consistent just before experiencing a kernel panic, namely that my mouse cursor freezes then a few seconds later a black screen then shortly after that the kernel panic screen.

 

[spitfire40]

I am also experiencing kernel panics as well tried reseting pram and trying different sticks of ram still no luck same problem. Boots up perfect for about a couple minutes then crashes.

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

I just wanted to come back here to give you guys a short update: After upgrading my MacPro1,1 from Mavericks (SFOTT) to El Capitan, I got kernel panics and the machine crashed after a few minutes each time I started it. Folllowing Pike's suggestion, I switched the RAM Modules (2x2GB) with some other ones I took out of some old, decomissioned Dell Servers. Now it has 8x1GB Modules and it's been up for 2 days no without kernel panics!! Awesome!
After switching the RAM, I also upgraded to 10.11.1 using Piker's Boot.efi 3.0, everything working, even iMessage, iCloud, etc.

As I didn't have any problems with my RAM or kernel-panics running Mavericks, something else came to my mind: Mavericks was installed directly to the MacPro using SFOTT, while for the El Cap installation I used a El-Cap compatible MacBookPro to install it to the MacPro via Firewire Target Mode. This MacBookPro has 8GB of RAM, while the MacPro only had 4GB. Now, as I upgraded the MacPro to 8GB everything runs fine..
Could this difference in RAM capacity between the MacBook and the MacPro have caused the Issue? Is the Software "customized" to the Hardware during installation?

Good to hear, but I don't thick that the amount of RAM is the issue. I would be surprised if that was true. Amyway. One down, many to go.

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

Thank you for the update strupp3003. I have been wondering if my 6 GB of RAM is hurting me. I already spent quite a bit on a brand new Mac Pro nVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB Video Graphics Card and would prefer that I had a stable install before throwing more money at this project; however, if not having enough memory could be the cause then I would fell better about buying more memory. Yesterday I did another clean install from my late 2012 Mac Mini running El Cap and used my 2006 Mac Pro 1,1 for about 3 hours without issue. Then I clicked on Photos in the dock and my mouse cursor froze. This is one thing that seems to be consistent just before experiencing a kernel panic, namely that my mouse cursor freezes then a few seconds later a black screen then shortly after that the kernel panic screen.

You should try to install from the App Store on your Mac Pro. Like it is supposed to be done. Use the latest nightly from here and let me know if that helps. Thanks!

 

[Bruce L]

You should try to install from the App Store on your Mac Pro. Like it is supposed to be done. Use the latest nightly from here and let me know if that helps. Thanks!

Thank you Pike R. Alpha. I found some very detailed instructions on Page 1 of that forum from Peter Holbrook. For the benefit of others following this thread I found instructions for downloading the flat package editor here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4265093?tstart=0. I did download Xcode in the past so I can download again if I need it. Looking forward to trying this new more involved install process, although you had me convinced there might be an issue with the memory mismatch between your two machines. Also it seemed that one of the Finder icons on my Mac Pro after my last El Capitan install showed Mac Mini which bothered me. For me the difficulty is that I have to move things off of my desk, literally drag my 2006 Mac Pro out from under this desk, shut down my late 2012 Mac Mini and monitor, then disconnect if from my monitor and plug my monitor and keyboard into my 2006 Mac Pro. As I have stated before I consider my late 2012 Mac Mini a poor man's Mac Pro as you can upgrade your RAM. Sadly Apple soldered RAM to the motherboard of the new Mac Mini's and pulled the FireWire 800 port. Shame on Apple.

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

Thank you Pike R. Alpha. I found some very detailed instructions on Page 1 of that forum from Peter Holbrook. For the benefit of others following this thread I found instructions for downloading the flat package editor here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4265093?tstart=0. I did download Xcode in the past so I can download again if I need it. Looking forward to trying this new more involved install process, although you had me convinced there might be an issue with the memory mismatch between your two machines. Also it seemed that one of the Finder icons on my Mac Pro after my last El Capitan install showed Mac Mini which bothered me. For me the difficulty is that I have to move things off of my desk, literally drag my 2006 Mac Pro out from under this desk, shut down my late 2012 Mac Mini and monitor, then disconnect if from my monitor and plug my monitor and keyboard into my 2006 Mac Pro. As I have stated before I consider my late 2012 Mac Mini a poor man's Mac Pro as you can upgrade your RAM. Sadly Apple soldered RAM to the motherboard of the new Mac Mini's and pulled the FireWire 800 port. Shame on Apple.

Hi Bruce,

It's even easier because:

1.) You don't need Xcode. We have prebuilt copies available on the project download page.

2.) You don't need Pacifist. I took care of the unsupported Mac Pro and MacBook Pro models, and anyone using other unsupported models can contact me, and then I will add a fake board-id for your hardware to the next release.

3.) Get boot.efi v3.1 from the the project download page and download El Capitan from the App Store, in case you haven't done so already, then simply launch the installer. Really. There is no need to edit the packages anymore.

Note: Anyone here not using boot.efi v3.1 better update a.s.a.p.