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rthpjm

macrumors 6502a
Jan 31, 2011
720
309
U.K.
Yes I was on my unsupported Mac OS Lion and logged in as the administrator. The next line showed Password: and the gray block but I could not type anything.
I am away from the Mac until tomorrow so can't do anything on it now. I also don't have an upgraded GPU yet. Not until next week unfortunately.
Hi Ned,

When you get the Password: prompt, it just looks like you cannot type anything, you can, just type carefully then hit return. (It's just that there is no feedback as you type. This is a deliberate security feature, it prevents the inadvertent display of your password as you type it - you know, someone might be shoulder surfing)
 

Ned603

macrumors newbie
Jan 28, 2016
12
0
New Hampshire
I thought that might be the case. Thanks you
I do have a few questions though.
1: I have the Hessesie2000 guide from the Yosemite post. but I am unsure of how to do the install. Do I need to use a supported MAC to download the Yosemite installer and then create the Yosemite thumb drive? I thought my unsupported Mac could not download the installer since it is 32EFI.
2: Where can I get the Yosemite installer app if it is no longer available from the App Store?
3: When all is said and done and I boot my unsupported Mac Pro 1,1 from the thumb drive does it stay in the USB port or will it download to a drive on my computer that I designate as the startup drive?
 

sunnijim

macrumors newbie
Dec 22, 2015
10
0
UK
Hey all,

I have just managed to get EL Capitan on my Mac pro 2.1 :) Unfortunately, among other minor things, I seem to have lost scroll functionality on my trackpad. (older silver type).

If I reboot on a different drive with 10.7.5 full functionality returns. If you use the track pad on my 2013 MacBook Pro running el Capitan it also works fine. I have tried my magic mouse from a different computer, all the touch functions work, so it seems strange that the track pad won't scroll!

for the upgrade I did a clean install then imported my User info and applications form my laptop time machine backup. (that was already on el capitan) i deselected computer and networked settings. I was wondering if by doing this i have mucked up the track pad settings? (the laptop has its owns track pad built in of course) and if some one could tell me what prefs to trash?

Or may be it is just one of the things that drops off with this kind of upgrade and can't be fixed.

Thanks
 

pgrif

macrumors regular
Sep 4, 2012
198
0
Eugene, OR
Hey all,

I have just managed to get EL Capitan on my Mac pro 2.1 :) Unfortunately, among other minor things, I seem to have lost scroll functionality on my trackpad. (older silver type).

If I reboot on a different drive with 10.7.5 full functionality returns. If you use the track pad on my 2013 MacBook Pro running el Capitan it also works fine. I have tried my magic mouse from a different computer, all the touch functions work, so it seems strange that the track pad won't scroll!

for the upgrade I did a clean install then imported my User info and applications form my laptop time machine backup. (that was already on el capitan) i deselected computer and networked settings. I was wondering if by doing this i have mucked up the track pad settings? (the laptop has its owns track pad built in of course) and if some one could tell me what prefs to trash?

Or may be it is just one of the things that drops off with this kind of upgrade and can't be fixed.

Thanks
[doublepost=1454725781][/doublepost]I am trying to up the memory on my 2,1. Where is a good place to buy RAM.
 

Ant3000

macrumors 6502
Jul 20, 2015
374
46
UK
Ebay or similar may be your best bet. As far as I know Crucial no longer sell the modules. I am in England and bought mine from Germany via ebay for around £130 for 32gb (8 x 4gb) but others have found it cheaper.
[doublepost=1454766535][/doublepost]
Hey all,

I have just managed to get EL Capitan on my Mac pro 2.1 :) Unfortunately, among other minor things, I seem to have lost scroll functionality on my trackpad. (older silver type).

If I reboot on a different drive with 10.7.5 full functionality returns. If you use the track pad on my 2013 MacBook Pro running el Capitan it also works fine. I have tried my magic mouse from a different computer, all the touch functions work, so it seems strange that the track pad won't scroll!

for the upgrade I did a clean install then imported my User info and applications form my laptop time machine backup. (that was already on el capitan) i deselected computer and networked settings. I was wondering if by doing this i have mucked up the track pad settings? (the laptop has its owns track pad built in of course) and if some one could tell me what prefs to trash?

Or may be it is just one of the things that drops off with this kind of upgrade and can't be fixed.

Thanks
Seems to work on mine OK. I have a cheap BT dongle plugged in rather than built in BT, which may or may not make a difference to how this works. Are there perhaps new drivers available for the Trackpad? I am using Yosemite still mainly but just booted into ElCap to check and all seems good.
 
Last edited:

rthpjm

macrumors 6502a
Jan 31, 2011
720
309
U.K.
Hey all,

I have just managed to get EL Capitan on my Mac pro 2.1 :) Unfortunately, among other minor things, I seem to have lost scroll functionality on my trackpad. (older silver type).

If I reboot on a different drive with 10.7.5 full functionality returns. If you use the track pad on my 2013 MacBook Pro running el Capitan it also works fine. I have tried my magic mouse from a different computer, all the touch functions work, so it seems strange that the track pad won't scroll!

for the upgrade I did a clean install then imported my User info and applications form my laptop time machine backup. (that was already on el capitan) i deselected computer and networked settings. I was wondering if by doing this i have mucked up the track pad settings? (the laptop has its owns track pad built in of course) and if some one could tell me what prefs to trash?

Or may be it is just one of the things that drops off with this kind of upgrade and can't be fixed.

Thanks

Go check the System Preferences > Trackpad

It could be that the scrolling is not enabled by default
[doublepost=1454775998][/doublepost]
I thought that might be the case. Thanks you
I do have a few questions though.
1: I have the Hessesie2000 guide from the Yosemite post. but I am unsure of how to do the install. Do I need to use a supported MAC to download the Yosemite installer and then create the Yosemite thumb drive? I thought my unsupported Mac could not download the installer since it is 32EFI.
2: Where can I get the Yosemite installer app if it is no longer available from the App Store?
3: When all is said and done and I boot my unsupported Mac Pro 1,1 from the thumb drive does it stay in the USB port or will it download to a drive on my computer that I designate as the startup drive?

Hey Ned,

This is not a Yosemite thread - It is entirely for El Capitan. The install methodologies differ from OS to OS...

You can make the jump directly to El Capitan (saves you searching out the Yosemite installer, although if you search for the Yosemite thread on these forums you might find a "pre-patched installer" attached to a post somewhere...)

Yes you need to download a copy of the El Capitan installer (somehow)...
 

macguyincali

macrumors member
Jul 10, 2004
46
8
Follow these instructions if you have just installed El Capitan, or are already using El Capitan and want automatically put the modifications in place during updates.

============== Edit ==================
This has been tested from initial install 10.11 to 10.11.1, and from 10.11.1 to 10.11.2.
There may be an issue once at 10.11.2 which might prevent a smooth upgrade to 10.11.3 when it arrives - under investigation
For now it should work well....

I think it was just bad setup on my system (I had a bad entry in the paths file), worry over I hope!
===================================

While Pike is recuperating (take your time Pike :) ), I have figured out how to set up our working El-Capitan installs so that they will survive the Apple update mechanisms. You will need to install your choice of "pike yos fix" the updated version now called CapitanPikeFix is at post #1253 (courtesy of @666sheep) , or my very own Boot64 stuff, they both pretty much do the same thing. My Boot64 stuff installs a Launch Daemon that watches the boot.efi files, if they get changed (by the Apple update) it simply puts the Pike copies back!

@666sheep's CapitanPikeFix requires that you permanently disable SIP.
My Boot64 modifies SIP, keeping most of the security advantages of SIP enabled.
CAUTION: Apple will probably alter SIP in the future to prevent Boot64 from working, but in the meanwhile....

"Ah, but SIP stops them working!" I hear you cry. True!

But, we can exclude the boot.efi files from SIP - here's how:

I will assume your working El-Capitan is on the hard disk named Macintosh HD - change it to suit

  • You don't need to do steps 1, 2, 3, and 4 if you have just used pikify3.1 (v3 or higher) to install El Capitan From the post above because it's already done for you)
  1. Boot off another partition, I use the Recovery partition.
  2. Open a Terminal
  3. If you are NOT using the Recovery HD, you will probably need to elevate your privileges. Become the super user
    Code:
    sudo -s
    [your password]
    if you ARE using the Recovery HD there is no need for the sudo command.
  4. Now type or copy/paste
  5. Code:
    chflags nouchg /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi
    echo "/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi" >> /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/System/Library/Sandbox/Compatibility.bundle/Contents/Resources/paths
    echo "/usr/standalone/i386/boot.efi" >> /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/System/Library/Sandbox/Compatibility.bundle/Contents/Resources/paths
    echo "/System/Library/Sandbox/Compatibility.bundle/Contents/Resources/paths" >> /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/System/Library/Sandbox/Compatibility.bundle/Contents/Resources/paths
  6. Reboot from your other partition back into your normal El Capitan disk (Macintosh HD)
  7. Install CapitanPikeFix, or my Boot64 (attached)
  8. If you are going to install my Boot64, download the zip file below, unzip it, and double-click it, follow the installer prompts (you might need to allow it with Gatekeeper - if you get a "can't install" message, try opening System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General, look for the "Open anyway" button). If that doesn't work, choose 'Anywhere' from the options and try again... (Don't forget to put this option back to your preference after Boot64 is installed!)
  9. Sit back and enjoy El-Capitan o_O
I don't claim to have discovered this fix. I'm simply good at using search engines, and then realising how this fits together. The credit goes to the Hackintosh community again. See http://www.idelta.info/archives/sip-rootless-internal-in-el-capitan/

I've tested this with a clean install of El Capitan 10.11 and successfully installed the 10.11.1 update from the App Store, and from a clean install using the 10.11.1 downloadable update.

I will modify my pikify3.1 script bundle with this mod already in. Look out for pikify3.1.v3.zip pikify3.1.v#.zip at post #1390 ...

===================== Version 2 ============================

V2 includes mods to watch the SIP/Sandbox paths file in addition to the boot.efi files

===================== Version 3 ============================

Fixes an issue identified with the 10.11.2 update.
If you are using Boot64 AND you have already updated to 10.11.2 then you should probably check your system, see post #1484


Hey RTHPJM: Been running a successful El Capitan install (thanks to your awesome instructions) for almost 2 months now. It runs amazingly well. My MacPro 2,1 has a new lease on life. It's been a little while and wasn't sure if I properly patched the boot to allow for updates using Software Update. I ran the Terminal command you mention above: lanchctl list | grep boot and the resultant entry is uk.co.rthpjm.boot64 Does this mean it is safe to update to 10.11.3? I'm currently at 10.11.2. Just want to make sure. Thanks for any thoughts on this and thanks for all the work you do to help people around here.
 

rthpjm

macrumors 6502a
Jan 31, 2011
720
309
U.K.
Hey RTHPJM: Been running a successful El Capitan install (thanks to your awesome instructions) for almost 2 months now. It runs amazingly well. My MacPro 2,1 has a new lease on life. It's been a little while and wasn't sure if I properly patched the boot to allow for updates using Software Update. I ran the Terminal command you mention above: lanchctl list | grep boot and the resultant entry is uk.co.rthpjm.boot64 Does this mean it is safe to update to 10.11.3? I'm currently at 10.11.2. Just want to make sure. Thanks for any thoughts on this and thanks for all the work you do to help people around here.

Yes you have Boot64 installed. But there's no need to worry about the move from 10.11.2 to 10.11.3, it does not replace the boot.efi files (assuming you use the incremental update from the Mac App Store, not the combo update from the Apple Support Downloads site)....
 

Ned603

macrumors newbie
Jan 28, 2016
12
0
New Hampshire
Go check the System Preferences > Trackpad

It could be that the scrolling is not enabled by default
[doublepost=1454775998][/doublepost]

Hey Ned,

This is not a Yosemite thread - It is entirely for El Capitan. The install methodologies differ from OS to OS...

You can make the jump directly to El Capitan (saves you searching out the Yosemite installer, although if you search for the Yosemite thread on these forums you might find a "pre-patched installer" attached to a post somewhere...)

Yes you need to download a copy of the El Capitan installer (somehow)...
Thanks, I was going to start with Yosemite while the El Capitan dust settles but now I'm just going to use your method and go for it - as soon as I can get the extra RAM and a new card. Hopefully next weekend.
 

Ned603

macrumors newbie
Jan 28, 2016
12
0
New Hampshire
Go check the System Preferences > Trackpad

It could be that the scrolling is not enabled by default
[doublepost=1454775998][/doublepost]

Hey Ned,

This is not a Yosemite thread - It is entirely for El Capitan. The install methodologies differ from OS to OS...

You can make the jump directly to El Capitan (saves you searching out the Yosemite installer, although if you search for the Yosemite thread on these forums you might find a "pre-patched installer" attached to a post somewhere...)

Yes you need to download a copy of the El Capitan installer (somehow)...
Thanks. I'm going straight to ELC. Just tp be clear,
Go check the System Preferences > Trackpad

It could be that the scrolling is not enabled by default
[doublepost=1454775998][/doublepost]

Hey Ned,

This is not a Yosemite thread - It is entirely for El Capitan. The install methodologies differ from OS to OS...

You can make the jump directly to El Capitan (saves you searching out the Yosemite installer, although if you search for the Yosemite thread on these forums you might find a "pre-patched installer" attached to a post somewhere...)

Yes you need to download a copy of the El Capitan installer (somehow)...
I will jump to El Cap. Just to be clear, I use a supported Mac to download the El Capitan installer and run the pikify scripts on it to create the boot disk on 8gb or larger thumb drive and then install the thumb drive ito my unsupported Mac with 16gb of RAM and boot to the thumb drive. should I be copying the file to one of the drives on my unsupported Mac and boot from there to download El Capitan?
 

maccyPro

macrumors newbie
Oct 11, 2015
3
0
Hey all,

I have just managed to get EL Capitan on my Mac pro 2.1 :) Unfortunately, among other minor things, I seem to have lost scroll functionality on my trackpad. (older silver type).

[...]

Thanks

Hi sunnijim,
I just tested the same type of trackpad with my Mac Pro 1.1, running at OS X 10.11.3 and it works fine.
So it seems the problem has nothing to do with the Mac Pro.
Is the "Trackpad" Icon visible in the System Preferences?
 
Last edited:

rthpjm

macrumors 6502a
Jan 31, 2011
720
309
U.K.
Thanks. I'm going straight to ELC. Just tp be clear,

I will jump to El Cap. Just to be clear, I use a supported Mac to download the El Capitan installer and run the pikify scripts on it to create the boot disk on 8gb or larger thumb drive and then install the thumb drive ito my unsupported Mac with 16gb of RAM and boot to the thumb drive. should I be copying the file to one of the drives on my unsupported Mac and boot from there to download El Capitan?
Once you boot from the thumb drive, you will be at the installer, just run through the installer....
 

sunnijim

macrumors newbie
Dec 22, 2015
10
0
UK
Go check the System Preferences > Trackpad

It could be that the scrolling is not enabled by default
[doublepost=1454775998][/doublepost]

Hi rthpjm

Yes thank you, I have tried that. I have...
  1. Turned all the features off rebooted and turned them all back on again.
  2. Unlinked the track pad and relinked it.
  3. Successfully connected the track pad to a different computer on el capitan
  4. Successfully connected to the same Mac Pro 2.1 booted on 10.7.5
The 2 finger scroll and 2 finger swipe between pages don't work. All the other gestures do work.

I am wondering if trashing a pref would work? Does any one know what pref to trash and where i might find it?

Thanks
 

goodfidelity

macrumors regular
Nov 15, 2015
201
31
[doublepost=1454725781][/doublepost]I am trying to up the memory on my 2,1. Where is a good place to buy RAM.

I just bought RAM from ebay. I payed like $20 for 16Gigs, and the arrive with no cooling fins/heat sink. (price incl shipping).

I just swapped over the sinks from the old memory modules over.

First i tried them with no heat sink, temp reached about 80 degrees C. After removing the "heat spreaders" and applying some thermal paste, and mounting the big old heat sinks they dropped to 65 degrees C. They actually run just as cool as the original memory.

Also, seems that its from the same factory.

Now i managed to buy no less then 64gigs of memory for about $40 for my two Mac PROs. However I only had about 12 heat sinks. I don't know what to do, maybe ill just run the remaning four with only heat spreaders and raise the fan speeds.

Anyhows, i bought these ones:
Micron 16GB 4x4GB PC2-5300F DDR2-667MHz 240pin ECC Fully Buffered FB-DIMM Memory

from ebay. Seller was wwone_one or something like that.

I ran multiple tests with remember and another app for testing memory and it works perfect. Runs in El captain and windows with no problems so far.

Don't waste your precious money people!

//GF
 

sunnijim

macrumors newbie
Dec 22, 2015
10
0
UK
Hi sunnijim,
I just tested the same type of trackpad with my Mac Pro 1.1, running at OS X 10.11.3 and it works fine.
So it seems the problem has nothing to do with the Mac Pro.
Is the "Trackpad" Icon visible in the System Preferences?

Hi MaccyPro,

Thanks for looking. Yes it is definitely software. The track pad works on the same Mac Pro 2.1 when booted on 10.7.5 But the 2 finger scroll function stops when i boot back onto 10.11.3

The track pad pref in system prefs appeared to work, i can tun on and off the other different functions.

All I can think is that i need to trash some prefs for the track pad, but I don't know where to look or what i am looking for! Hopefully some one on the forum will be able to tell me where the prefs for the track pad are so i can give it a go.

Fingers crossed.
 

dcloud45

macrumors member
Oct 5, 2015
52
0
hey guys anyone can direct me to the best guide to upgrading cpus on my mac pro 1.1 i have read the xeon cores a i need are xeon x5355s , i want to upgrade to 8core. thanks.
 

GIJones

macrumors newbie
May 1, 2014
4
0
Hi all,

Firstly apologies if this has already been answered, however I've not been able to find a solution. My MacPro 2.1 is currently happily running 10.11.3. This issue appears to have been with me all the way through 10.11. My machine will successfully boot from scratch. However if I try to perform a 'restart' the machine appears to shutdown and then hangs. No chime or grey screen. Hard power down and power up again and El Capitan springs into life. I just can not seem to get a restart to perform. Has any one else seen this behaviour or know what may be causing the issue?

Many thanks in advance for any advice/solution. :)
 
Last edited:

rthpjm

macrumors 6502a
Jan 31, 2011
720
309
U.K.
Hi all,

Firstly apologies if this has already been answered, however I've not been able to find a solution. My MacPro 2.1 is currently happily running 10.11.3. This issue appears to have been with me all the way through 10.11. My machine will successfully boot from scratch. However if I try to perform a 'restart' the machine appears to shutdown and then hangs. No chime or grey screen. Hard power down and power up again and El Capitan springs into life. I just can not seem to get a restart to perform. Has any one else seen this behaviour or know what may be causing the issue?

Many thanks in advance for any advice/solution. :)
I've had a sleep issue. I appear to have fixed it with SMC reset.

Try this,
Power off
Remove the power cord
Open the case
take out the no. 4 hdd sled,
look for a small push switch on the motherboard just below the HDD area
Press and hold for around 5 seconds

Refit HDD sled 4
Close the case
Reattach the power cord

Test
 
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Reactions: thequicksilver

lukevwb

macrumors newbie
Feb 10, 2016
1
0
Some of the guys that were working with Pike split off into a new thread to concentrate on just the development and testing of Pike's frequent changes, "the developer thread". As these things go, the volunteers that were testing Pike's changes found that they needed to frequently wipe and re-install, me included, so I developed a bundle of scripts and items to ease the install of a new El Capitan. My innovation (if you want to call it that) was to find a way to patch the fresh install with Pike's efi files during the install. I called my bundle of scripts and items 'pikify3.1.zip'.

Since it is now well used and tested, I'll cross post here. The latest version pikify3.1.v8.zip will build install media with all the fixes in (but not including my Boot64 update protector, nor the equivalent pikeyosfix derivative CapitanPikeFix - see the next post). This version also excludes the boot.efi files from SIP-control (meaning SIP is running and protecting everything else, just not the boot.efi files).

So with pikify3.1 you will build an installer onto media, typically a USB memory stick, or a small disk partition.
You will then boot off the installer, to run the installation process. Once the installer finishes, you will have a working copy of El Capitan with no further need for changes. You can then choose to install the updated version of pikeyosfix now called CapitanPikeFix, or my Boot64 (both do pretty much the same thing), to allow you to run the Apple updates from either the App Store or from the DMG downloads.

READ ALL THE CAVEATS - memory, backup, fresh install, migration assistant, etc...

Use this if you have not yet installed El Capitan - this is the installer (starting point)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ORIGINAL POST WAS AT POST #807 of the 'boot.efi developer's thread'

============= Edit =====================

It appears that MacPro1,1 and 2,1 need a lot of memory to achieve a successful install by this method. Others have kindly tested with varying configurations of RAM. See the later posts in the developers thread and my post at #855

A minimum of 12GB seems to be required...

============ end edit ====================

Hi @Inspector42, I'm glad you were able to use my script. I like your rsync idea!

Here is a new script and accompanying files. This one is based around Apple's createinstallmedia script.

The unique feature of this script is that it builds an installer which will pre-patch the resulting El Capitan volume. What this means is that the installer can be run, and then the reboot will work without any further modification. You have a working installation of El Capitan directly from the installer.

Download the zip file.
Unzip it.
You should have a folder named pikify3.1 (possibly with the version number pikify3.1.v2 etc)
In that folder should be a number of files, the script is createpikeinstallmedia. Keep all the files in one location. Some people have tried to use just the script on its own without the accompanying files and then come back for help because it didn't work. You can move the pikify3.1 folder wherever you please, just keep the contents of the folder together.

If you are not familiar with the Terminal and the command line, take a look at post #1569 it will probably help you.

Pre-requisites:

  • As per Peter's guide, you will need a volume that can be overwritten by the installer
    • This could be a USB memory stick
    • A small disk partition from one of your hard drives (not the disk that you intend to use for El Capitan)
      • You need to be able to boot from this volume
  • The installer volume needs to be at least 8GB
  • Your copy of 'Install OS X El Capitan.app' should be located in your /Applications folder
  • The pikify3.1 folder contains both the black and grey variants of the boot.efi file. When unzipped the boot.efi file is the grey one, if you want to change to the black background variant, simply copy the black one over the boot.efi before you start. e.g.
    Code:
    cp -f boot_black_3_1.efi boot.efi
Usage:
  • Open a terminal window
  • Change directory to the pikify3.1 folder from the zip file. Let us assume that you downloaded the zip file to your Downloads folder and unzipped it there. (If you have put the pikify3.1 folder somewhere else, please alter the path to suit your location)
  • Change [InstallerVolumeName] to the name of the USB memory stick or your small disk partition. For example if you are using a USB memory stick and it shows on the desktop with the name Untitled, then replace [InstallerVolumeName] with Untitled so that the path reads /Volumes/Untitled
Code:
cd ~/Downloads/pikify3.1
  • You need to run the script as the root user
Code:
sudo -s
[your password]
./createpikeinstallmedia /Volumes/[InstallerVolumeName]

  • OR
Code:
sudo ./createpikeinstallmedia /Volumes/[InstallerVolumeName]
[your password]
  • OR (optionally switch to the black background variant before you start)
Code:
sudo -s
[your password]
cp -f boot_black_3_1.efi boot.efi
./createpikeinstallmedia /Volumes/[InstallerVolumeName]

Be patient, the script will take some time to run through to completion, especially if your installer volume is a USB memory stick!

Once the script competes it will print ### DONE PIKIFYING ### and you should have an installer volume named 'Install OS X El Capitan'
  • Reboot your machine
  • Hold the ALT key down immediately after the startup chime to enter the boot chooser
  • Choose the Install OS X El Capitan volume
    • For those people with graphics cards that don't show the boot screens
      • Get to the boot chooser as above then press the right-arrow key once, followed by the return/enter key). If you have just your main disk and the installer volume this should work. If you have more than just those two, experiment pressing the arrow key more than once until you find the installer volume!
      • OR, consider getting hold of a DVI-vga adaptor. You should be able to find one of your DVI ports that will send out a VGA signal (to a VGA connected monitor) and show you the boot screen.
Your machine should boot into the Installer, run the installer
You may need to click the Reboot button at the end of the install (for some reason, the 10 second countdown doesn't seem to automatically start)

Your machine should reboot into the new El Capitan Installation and begin the OS X setup procedure.

I have only tested this script as a clean install onto an erased destination disk. I don't know if it will work for an upgrade. I have successfully updated a Yosemite clean install to El Capitan.
If you are upgrading I would suggest a clean install of El Capitan onto a spare disk, then use the Apple Migration Assistant to migrate your previous system and user files.
If you are brave and want to try an in-place upgrade, make sure you backup your current system first...

Detail:

I created an additional package (pikify.pkg) which handles the post-install modification of the boot.efi files on the destination volume. The script puts pikify.pkg into the InstallESD.dmg, along with OSInstall.collection.
OSInstall.collection overrides the default behaviour of the Installer Assistant, it calls the default OSInstall.mpkg and appends pikify.pkg to the install chain.

In effect I'm running the exact same installation as an unmodified Apple install with the addition of my pikify.pkg.

Because the default behaviour has been overridden, there are a few differences:
  • An unmodified Apple installer will open with the /System/Installation/CDIS/OS X Utilities.app
    • The modified installer goes straight into the Installer
  • An unmodified Apple installer will automatically reboot 10 seconds after the installation completes
    • The modified installer doesn't, you will have to click the Reboot button
I've included both versions (black and grey) of Pike's 3.1 boot.efi file. If you want to change the colour, overwrite the boot.efi file in the pikify3.1 folder with the coloured version of your choice. The zip file unpacks with the grey version in place.

Enjoy...

======================== UPDATE ================================

The original Apple BaseSystem.dmg appears to be missing a number of fonts. This causes the installer log file to fill up with thousands of unnecessary lines complaining about the missing fonts. I've updated the installer creation script to fix the missing fonts. It just makes the log file smaller and easier to read and follow.

See pikify3.1.v2.zip in the attachments...

==================== ANOTHER UPDATE =============================

I figured out how to set up El Capitan so that we can make it survive an Apple update. See my post at post #1391

I've modified the pikify3.1 set so that those changes are automatically applied.

I'll leave v2 here in case anyone is paranoid, and doesn't want the slight lowering of SIP's security blanket!

==================== Version 5 ===================================

V5 includes some mods to the SIP exclusion paths file

==================== Version 7 ===================================
(includes version 6, which added support for home-baked fusion drives)
V7 adds error checking and a bit of an explanation to start

==================== Version 8 ===================================
V8 adds a check to ensure there is a copy of the Apple Install OS X El Capitan application located in the Applications folder!
Some of the guys that were working with Pike split off into a new thread to concentrate on just the development and testing of Pike's frequent changes, "the developer thread". As these things go, the volunteers that were testing Pike's changes found that they needed to frequently wipe and re-install, me included, so I developed a bundle of scripts and items to ease the install of a new El Capitan. My innovation (if you want to call it that) was to find a way to patch the fresh install with Pike's efi files during the install. I called my bundle of scripts and items 'pikify3.1.zip'.

Since it is now well used and tested, I'll cross post here. The latest version pikify3.1.v8.zip will build install media with all the fixes in (but not including my Boot64 update protector, nor the equivalent pikeyosfix derivative CapitanPikeFix - see the next post). This version also excludes the boot.efi files from SIP-control (meaning SIP is running and protecting everything else, just not the boot.efi files).

So with pikify3.1 you will build an installer onto media, typically a USB memory stick, or a small disk partition.
You will then boot off the installer, to run the installation process. Once the installer finishes, you will have a working copy of El Capitan with no further need for changes. You can then choose to install the updated version of pikeyosfix now called CapitanPikeFix, or my Boot64 (both do pretty much the same thing), to allow you to run the Apple updates from either the App Store or from the DMG downloads.

READ ALL THE CAVEATS - memory, backup, fresh install, migration assistant, etc...

Use this if you have not yet installed El Capitan - this is the installer (starting point)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ORIGINAL POST WAS AT POST #807 of the 'boot.efi developer's thread'

============= Edit =====================

It appears that MacPro1,1 and 2,1 need a lot of memory to achieve a successful install by this method. Others have kindly tested with varying configurations of RAM. See the later posts in the developers thread and my post at #855

A minimum of 12GB seems to be required...

============ end edit ====================

Hi @Inspector42, I'm glad you were able to use my script. I like your rsync idea!

Here is a new script and accompanying files. This one is based around Apple's createinstallmedia script.

The unique feature of this script is that it builds an installer which will pre-patch the resulting El Capitan volume. What this means is that the installer can be run, and then the reboot will work without any further modification. You have a working installation of El Capitan directly from the installer.

Download the zip file.
Unzip it.
You should have a folder named pikify3.1 (possibly with the version number pikify3.1.v2 etc)
In that folder should be a number of files, the script is createpikeinstallmedia. Keep all the files in one location. Some people have tried to use just the script on its own without the accompanying files and then come back for help because it didn't work. You can move the pikify3.1 folder wherever you please, just keep the contents of the folder together.

If you are not familiar with the Terminal and the command line, take a look at post #1569 it will probably help you.

Pre-requisites:

  • As per Peter's guide, you will need a volume that can be overwritten by the installer
    • This could be a USB memory stick
    • A small disk partition from one of your hard drives (not the disk that you intend to use for El Capitan)
      • You need to be able to boot from this volume
  • The installer volume needs to be at least 8GB
  • Your copy of 'Install OS X El Capitan.app' should be located in your /Applications folder
  • The pikify3.1 folder contains both the black and grey variants of the boot.efi file. When unzipped the boot.efi file is the grey one, if you want to change to the black background variant, simply copy the black one over the boot.efi before you start. e.g.
    Code:
    cp -f boot_black_3_1.efi boot.efi
Usage:
  • Open a terminal window
  • Change directory to the pikify3.1 folder from the zip file. Let us assume that you downloaded the zip file to your Downloads folder and unzipped it there. (If you have put the pikify3.1 folder somewhere else, please alter the path to suit your location)
  • Change [InstallerVolumeName] to the name of the USB memory stick or your small disk partition. For example if you are using a USB memory stick and it shows on the desktop with the name Untitled, then replace [InstallerVolumeName] with Untitled so that the path reads /Volumes/Untitled
Code:
cd ~/Downloads/pikify3.1
  • You need to run the script as the root user
Code:
sudo -s
[your password]
./createpikeinstallmedia /Volumes/[InstallerVolumeName]

  • OR
Code:
sudo ./createpikeinstallmedia /Volumes/[InstallerVolumeName]
[your password]
  • OR (optionally switch to the black background variant before you start)
Code:
sudo -s
[your password]
cp -f boot_black_3_1.efi boot.efi
./createpikeinstallmedia /Volumes/[InstallerVolumeName]

Be patient, the script will take some time to run through to completion, especially if your installer volume is a USB memory stick!

Once the script competes it will print ### DONE PIKIFYING ### and you should have an installer volume named 'Install OS X El Capitan'
  • Reboot your machine
  • Hold the ALT key down immediately after the startup chime to enter the boot chooser
  • Choose the Install OS X El Capitan volume
    • For those people with graphics cards that don't show the boot screens
      • Get to the boot chooser as above then press the right-arrow key once, followed by the return/enter key). If you have just your main disk and the installer volume this should work. If you have more than just those two, experiment pressing the arrow key more than once until you find the installer volume!
      • OR, consider getting hold of a DVI-vga adaptor. You should be able to find one of your DVI ports that will send out a VGA signal (to a VGA connected monitor) and show you the boot screen.
Your machine should boot into the Installer, run the installer
You may need to click the Reboot button at the end of the install (for some reason, the 10 second countdown doesn't seem to automatically start)

Your machine should reboot into the new El Capitan Installation and begin the OS X setup procedure.

I have only tested this script as a clean install onto an erased destination disk. I don't know if it will work for an upgrade. I have successfully updated a Yosemite clean install to El Capitan.
If you are upgrading I would suggest a clean install of El Capitan onto a spare disk, then use the Apple Migration Assistant to migrate your previous system and user files.
If you are brave and want to try an in-place upgrade, make sure you backup your current system first...

Detail:

I created an additional package (pikify.pkg) which handles the post-install modification of the boot.efi files on the destination volume. The script puts pikify.pkg into the InstallESD.dmg, along with OSInstall.collection.
OSInstall.collection overrides the default behaviour of the Installer Assistant, it calls the default OSInstall.mpkg and appends pikify.pkg to the install chain.

In effect I'm running the exact same installation as an unmodified Apple install with the addition of my pikify.pkg.

Because the default behaviour has been overridden, there are a few differences:
  • An unmodified Apple installer will open with the /System/Installation/CDIS/OS X Utilities.app
    • The modified installer goes straight into the Installer
  • An unmodified Apple installer will automatically reboot 10 seconds after the installation completes
    • The modified installer doesn't, you will have to click the Reboot button
I've included both versions (black and grey) of Pike's 3.1 boot.efi file. If you want to change the colour, overwrite the boot.efi file in the pikify3.1 folder with the coloured version of your choice. The zip file unpacks with the grey version in place.

Enjoy...

======================== UPDATE ================================

The original Apple BaseSystem.dmg appears to be missing a number of fonts. This causes the installer log file to fill up with thousands of unnecessary lines complaining about the missing fonts. I've updated the installer creation script to fix the missing fonts. It just makes the log file smaller and easier to read and follow.

See pikify3.1.v2.zip in the attachments...

==================== ANOTHER UPDATE =============================

I figured out how to set up El Capitan so that we can make it survive an Apple update. See my post at post #1391

I've modified the pikify3.1 set so that those changes are automatically applied.

I'll leave v2 here in case anyone is paranoid, and doesn't want the slight lowering of SIP's security blanket!

==================== Version 5 ===================================

V5 includes some mods to the SIP exclusion paths file

==================== Version 7 ===================================
(includes version 6, which added support for home-baked fusion drives)
V7 adds error checking and a bit of an explanation to start

==================== Version 8 ===================================
V8 adds a check to ensure there is a copy of the Apple Install OS X El Capitan application located in the Applications folder!

When I Boot off the usb, and start the install, It gets to about 15mins remaining then the computer restarts back into the original OS. Is there a way to solve this??
 

GIJones

macrumors newbie
May 1, 2014
4
0
I've had a sleep issue. I appear to have fixed it with SMC reset.

Try this,
Power off
Remove the power cord
Open the case
take out the no. 4 hdd sled,
look for a small push switch on the motherboard just below the HDD area
Press and hold for around 5 seconds

Refit HDD sled 4
Close the case
Reattach the power cord

Test


Thank you for the response, I've tried as suggested and am still unable to perform a restart. I would be grateful for any other suggestions.
 

rthpjm

macrumors 6502a
Jan 31, 2011
720
309
U.K.
When I Boot off the usb, and start the install, It gets to about 15mins remaining then the computer restarts back into the original OS. Is there a way to solve this??
Hello Luke,

If you still have the partial installation, can you locate the following file and post it here please. I'll take a look...

/Volumes/[your target El Capitan disk name]/var/log/install.log
 

Ant3000

macrumors 6502
Jul 20, 2015
374
46
UK
hey guys anyone can direct me to the best guide to upgrading cpus on my mac pro 1.1 i have read the xeon cores a i need are xeon x5355s , i want to upgrade to 8core. thanks.
Hi, I followed this and found it really easy to understand...

 
Last edited:

rthpjm

macrumors 6502a
Jan 31, 2011
720
309
U.K.
Thank you for the response, I've tried as suggested and am still unable to perform a restart. I would be grateful for any other suggestions.

Try a parameter RAM reset (PRAM)
Reboot, (or in your case, power down, power back up!) when you hear the startup chime hold down the four keys alt, cmd, P, R ( cmd is also known as the Apple key ). Hold them down until you hear the chime again, then let go.

Test.

If that doesn't fix it, then it sounds like you have some rogue process that is not dying on the restart signal. That's going to be tough to track down.

I am going to assume that you have a graphics card installed that shows the boot screens....

Try a restart, when you hear the chime, hold down cmd and V to boot in verbose mode. The screen should clear to black, and then the start up sequence diagnostic output should scroll onto the screen, then the desktop/login window will come up. Perform your normal login. Now try to restart, under normal circumstances, the screen should again clear to black and the shutdown sequence diagnostic output should scroll onto the screen. Let us know how that goes, in particular where it stops. Does it:
Get stuck before clearing the screen to black, after?
If after, what are the last few lines output to the screen?

Be patient, leave it trying to shut down for at least 5mins.
 
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