MP 1,1-5,1 Can I flash my 2008 MacPro (3,1 upgraded to 4,1) to 5,1?

[ErCe75]

Hi everyone,

I have a 2008 MacPro, which originally should be the 3,1 model. However, it has already been upgraded to 4,1. My question is:

• Is it also possible to flash it to 5,1?
• If so, are there any specific risks or compatibility issues I should be aware of?

I'm curious if anyone has experience with this kind of setup or any advice on how to proceed.

another issue is actually...


I'm currently trying to install macOS Monterey on my Mac Pro (originally 3,1, upgraded to 4,1) using an OpenCore boot USB. However, I've encountered an issue during the installation process, and I hope someone can help.

Here are the details:

• The GPU is an AMD HD 5700.
• I created an OpenCore boot USB with macOS Monterey.
• In the boot screen, the OpenCore options are missing, but I can select the "OpenCore Boot EFI" icon to start the installation process.
• I can format the SSD using Disk Utility and initiate the macOS installation.

The problem arises after the first installation phase:

1. The installation starts and progresses for about 35 minutes.
2. The system restarts, but instead of continuing the installation from the SSD, it boots back to the USB installer and shows the macOS Recovery environment again, and i have no option when i hold ALT/Option key to see boot from SSD.

I've already tried resetting the NVRAM multiple times, but it hasn't resolved the issue.

Does anyone have an idea what might be causing this or how to fix it? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Borowski]

If it is really a 2008 MP3.1 - no.

Even the conversion to a 4.1 is impossible. Maybe this was done by a software hack to mask the real machine identifier.

 

[ErCe75]

If it is really a 2008 MP3.1 - no.

Even the conversion to a 4.1 is impossible. Maybe this was done by a software hack to mask the real machine identifier.

It is definitely originally a 3.1 Mac Pro as it has DDR two RAM at 800 MHz,

When i Type in Terminal sysctl hw.model its tell me 4,1

 

[typonaut]

The installation starts and progresses for about 35 minutes.

1. The system restarts, but instead of continuing the installation from the SSD, it boots back to the USB installer and shows the macOS Recovery environment again, and i have no option when i hold ALT/Option key to see boot from SSD.

I've already tried resetting the NVRAM multiple times, but it hasn't resolved the issue.

Does anyone have an idea what might be causing this or how to fix it? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your help.

I think you should be holding down the option key on boot, selecting the "EFI" disk, which will get you into the Open Boot, then you should see a MacOS installer disk - select that.

... if I'm understanding correctly...

Or, as above, select the EFI, then the SSD.

 

[ErCe75]

Thank you for your response!

If I understand correctly, you're suggesting that after selecting the EFI, I should manually choose the SSD as the next boot option. I've tried this approach, but unfortunately, it gives me not the option boot from SSD, normaly after click the EFI Boot from Opencore he must me give the option click to SSD boot, but this is not present, the system still boots back to the USB installer instead of continuing the installation from the SSD.

maybe i musst firstly upgrade bootloader?

how can i check what of version bootloader is installed in recovery modus terminal?

 

[typonaut]

Are you saying that you don't see the option to select a boot drive after the EFI selection?

If that's the case, then you need to rebuild the Opencore, with the option to delay/select the boot drive after the EFI.

 

[ErCe75]

Are you saying that you don't see the option to select a boot drive after the EFI selection?

If that's the case, then you need to rebuild the Opencore, with the option to delay/select the boot drive after the EFI.

Thank you for the clarification!

I wasn’t aware of this option to delay/select the boot drive after the EFI selection. I’ll rebuild the OpenCore USB stick tomorrow with this setting enabled and test it again.

I’ll report back with the results—thanks for pointing this out!

 

[Macschrauber]

Even if the 3,1 could run the 4,1 or 5,1 firmware (it can not).

It has a 2 MB firmware flash. The 4,1 / 5,1 firmware is 4 MB.

And, of course, no, it would not run the 4,1/5,1 firmware if you upgrade the flash.

You cannot convert a Diesel to a Petrol by reprogramming the ECU…

 

[ErCe75]

Even if the 3,1 could run the 4,1 or 5,1 firmware (it can not).

It has a 2 MB firmware flash. The 4,1 / 5,1 firmware is 4 MB.

And, of course, no, it would not run the 4,1/5,1 firmware if you upgrade the flash.

You cannot convert a Diesel to a Petrol by reprogramming the ECU…

Thank you for your explanation!

However, I’m struggling to understand how my Mac Pro is reporting as a 4,1 in the Terminal when I run the command sysctl hw.model in recovery mode. It clearly states MacPro4,1.

What’s even more confusing is that this machine is equipped with DDR2 RAM modules running at 800MHz. As far as I know, Mac Pro 4,1 models should have DDR3 RAM.

Could there actually be a Mac Pro 4,1 with DDR2 RAM running at 800MHz, or is there some other explanation for this configuration?

Thanks again for shedding light on this!

 

[bax2023]

Can you show us System Information screenshot ?

 

[ErCe75]

Are you saying that you don't see the option to select a boot drive after the EFI selection?

If that's the case, then you need to rebuild the Opencore, with the option to delay/select the boot drive after the EFI.

Thank you for the suggestion!

Could you clarify where I can find the setting to enable the delay/select boot drive option? Is this something that’s configured using the OpenCore Legacy Patcher, or is it done through a different tool? I’ve looked through the OpenCore Legacy Patcher settings but couldn’t find any specific option for this.

Any guidance on where to find this setting or how to configure it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks again for your help!

 

[ErCe75]

Can you show us System Information screenshot ?

Unfortunately, I can't provide a System Information screenshot right now, as there is no macOS currently installed on the machine.

Do you know if there are any Terminal commands that could display similar system details? I’ve already tried sysctl hw.model, which returns MacPro4,1, but I’d like to verify additional information if possible.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated—thanks for your help!

 

[tsialex]

I’ve already tried sysctl hw.model, which returns MacPro4,1, but I’d like to verify additional information if possible.

This is from software spoofing, MacPro3,1 can't be cross-flashed to anything else, differently than a MacPro1,1 that can be cross-flashed to MacPro2,1 or MacPro4,1 which can be cross-flashed to MacPro5,1.

While DDR3-800 is a possibility with a MacPro4,1 if the DIMM is 4Rx4, DDR2 is not possible.

 

[ErCe75]

This is from software spoofing, MacPro3,1 can't be cross-flashed to anything else, differently than a MacPro1,1 that can be cross-flashed to MacPro2,1 or MacPro4,1 which can be cross-flashed to MacPro5,1.

While DDR3-800 is a possibility with a MacPro4,1 if the DIMM is 4Rx4, DDR2 is not possible.

Thank you for pointing that out!

When I rebuild the OpenCore USB stick next time, I’ll make sure to check the SMBIOS spoofing settings to see if they are set to Minimal or Disabled. This might explain why the system is identifying as a MacPro4,1.

I now understand that DDR3-800 is possible with a MacPro4,1 if the DIMM is 4Rx4, but DDR2 RAM is definitely not supported.

I’ll check the RAM configuration tomorrow again to ensure everything matches the specifications for the MacPro4,1. Thanks for your help in clearing that up!

 

[arw]

If you can open the side panel, you can at least confirm with 100% certainty if it's a 3,1 or not:

Source: https://blog.greggant.com/images/posts/2018-05-01-macpro/comparemacs.jpg

edit: The 4,1 / 5,1 lacks the second grey heatsink in the lower bay for single processor models.

 

[ErCe75]

If you can open the side panel, you can confirm at least the 3,1 or 4,1 mystery:

Definitiv the middle one 3,1 @tsialex
maybe found the missmatch named Spoofing the Hardware ID , i´ll will check it Tomorrow again.

Since we’re now pretty sure this is a MacPro3,1 based on the images (big thanks to arw)
, and it’s showing as MacPro4,1 in the terminal due to SMBIOS spoofing.

I’ve been thinking about the issues I’ve been encountering during the macOS installation, and I believe they may have been caused by selecting the MacPro4,1 SMBIOS for the EFI when creating the installation USB with OCLP.

Tomorrow, I plan to create a new installation USB with the correct SMBIOS setting for MacPro3,1 and will test it again. I’m confident that this should resolve the issues I’ve been facing.

Thank you all for your suggestions and help so far!