MP 1,1-5,1 cMP 5,1 Won't Boot After OpenCore and HW Accel Modifications

[5comma1]

First and foremost… I hope you and your loved-ones remain perfectly healthy with the Corona virus among us. May we all stay that way.

My Mid 2010 cMP 5,1 is dead in the water and I’d value any thoughts you might have to help me get going again.

Mid 2010 5,1 cMP
Dual 3.33
RX580 Pulse
SSD Boot Drive
48GB

Last week a friend talked me through the OpenCore and Hardware Acceleration processes,
so I’m now running Catalina and the RX580 Pulse is hardware accelerated.
I could not have done these modifications without my friends help.
Things were good for the first few days. Here’s what happened then.

The first time I started the cMP with OpenCore and Hardware Acceleration activated the fans on the GPU began to spin at full speed. I then reset the PRAM and the fans began to spin at a normal rate. Whew! This piece is just informational and has nothing to do with the problem at hand… that I know of.

Over the next few days I began reinstalling apps, reconfiguring things, getting back to my normal user experience comfort zone, etc. Everything was working well. The only thing I noticed not working correctly was the Messages app— it wasn’t syncing with my other Mac and devices. This was a drag because I use Messages a lot.

I tried every Messages app troubleshooting suggestion I could find and nothing worked. As a last resort I called Apple tech support. The first thing the technician asked me to do was reset the SMC, which I did, and since then the cMP won’t boot?

Boot Behavior
- It begins to start normally for a few seconds
- chimes once
- the Dell display logo appears on the screen for a second or two
- the display sleeps
- after several seconds of black screen the cMP shuts itself off

And when it shuts off it does so with the click sound one hears when holding the power button to shut it off.

Things I’ve tried:
- remove all drives from the drive bays
- unplug all perifererals
- hold the power button until hearing the long tone
- remove the GPU
- remove all the RAM except for one stick on each processor side
- unplug the optical drive
- reset PRAM and SMC
- replace the battery on the logic board
- removed GPU > installed previous GPU and on the display a round symbol with a diagonal line through it appeared. Much like a no-smoking sign. The Apple tech support person said the symbol indicated a system file issue?

Any troubleshooting ideas on this, anyone?
Has this happened to you, by chance?

Thank’s in advance!!

 

[adam9c1]

Hold the power until long tone.


That sounds like your computer was doing a firmware update.

Might be bricked.
I recall reading something about firmware recovery with an optical drive, but I’m not familiar with the process.

 

[dataid]

Suggest you post this request to the Open Core on the Mac Pro thread. There are many experienced users of Open Core there.

 

[tsialex]

First and foremost… I hope you and your loved-ones remain perfectly healthy with the Corona virus among us. May we all stay that way.

My Mid 2010 cMP 5,1 is dead in the water and I’d value any thoughts you might have to help me get going again.

Mid 2010 5,1 cMP
Dual 3.33
RX580 Pulse
SSD Boot Drive
48GB

Last week a friend talked me through the OpenCore and Hardware Acceleration processes,
so I’m now running Catalina and the RX580 Pulse is hardware accelerated.
I could not have done these modifications without my friends help.
Things were good for the first few days. Here’s what happened then.

The first time I started the cMP with OpenCore and Hardware Acceleration activated the fans on the GPU began to spin at full speed. I then reset the PRAM and the fans began to spin at a normal rate. Whew! This piece is just informational and has nothing to do with the problem at hand… that I know of.

Over the next few days I began reinstalling apps, reconfiguring things, getting back to my normal user experience comfort zone, etc. Everything was working well. The only thing I noticed not working correctly was the Messages app— it wasn’t syncing with my other Mac and devices. This was a drag because I use Messages a lot.

I tried every Messages app troubleshooting suggestion I could find and nothing worked. As a last resort I called Apple tech support. The first thing the technician asked me to do was reset the SMC, which I did, and since then the cMP won’t boot?

Boot Behavior
- It begins to start normally for a few seconds
- chimes once
- the Dell display logo appears on the screen for a second or two
- the display sleeps
- after several seconds of black screen the cMP shuts itself off

And when it shuts off it does so with the click sound one hears when holding the power button to shut it off.

Things I’ve tried:
- remove all drives from the drive bays
- unplug all perifererals
- hold the power button until hearing the long tone
- remove the GPU
- remove all the RAM except for one stick on each processor side
- unplug the optical drive
- reset PRAM and SMC
- replace the battery on the logic board
- removed GPU > installed previous GPU and on the display a round symbol with a diagonal line through it appeared. Much like a no-smoking sign. The Apple tech support person said the symbol indicated a system file issue?

Any troubleshooting ideas on this, anyone?
Has this happened to you, by chance?

Thank’s in advance!!

Easy to solve:

Remove Catalina drive and any drive that you installed OpenCore, put a High Sierra/Mojave drive, reset NVRAM three times sequentially.

If you don’t have a HighSierra/Mojave drive anymore, you will need to use a createinstallmedia USB installer and then install to an empty drive.

Mac Pro boots from USB automatically when no other drive has an OS.

Always keep a drive with Mojave ready. Having a createinstallmedia Mojave installer ready to do any reinstalls is a must too.

 

[h9826790]

Easy to solve:

Remove Catalina drive and any drive that you installed OpenCore, put a High Sierra/Mojave drive, reset NVRAM three times sequentially.

If you don’t have a HighSierra/Mojave drive anymore, you will need to use a createinstallmedia USB installer and then install to an empty drive.

Mac Pro boots from USB automatically when no other drive has an OS.

Always keep a drive with Mojave ready. Having a createinstallmedia Mojave installer ready to do any reinstalls is a must too.

Agree, from OP's description, there is nothing wrong on the hardware, just lost the OS.

For OP, avoid Catalina if you are not good at deal with unsupported OS. Stay with Mojave will give you much less trouble. 10.14.6 also provide flawless HWAccel via OpenCore for RX580.

 

[MIKX]

5comma1

Yes, why do you need Catalina ? It is still in Beta, unfinished. It is not supported by Apple for 4,1 & 5,1 Mac Pros.
Mojave 10.14.6 ( build 18G3020 ) is reliable, works very well.

If you MUST have Catalina, install it on a separate ( external ? ) drive.

Also, you should re-set the NVRAM this way ( read the small text ).

Installing Betas . . . not me.

 

[5comma1]

Hold the power until long tone.


That sounds like your computer was doing a firmware update.

Might be bricked.
I recall reading something about firmware recovery with an optical drive, but I’m not familiar with the process.

Thanks for your reply, adam9c1.
[automerge]1584835650[/automerge]

Suggest you post this request to the Open Core on the Mac Pro thread. There are many experienced users of Open Core there.

Thanks for the suggestion, dataid.
[automerge]1584836394[/automerge]

Easy to solve:

Remove Catalina drive and any drive that you installed OpenCore, put a High Sierra/Mojave drive, reset NVRAM three times sequentially.

If you don’t have a HighSierra/Mojave drive anymore, you will need to use a createinstallmedia USB installer and then install to an empty drive.

Mac Pro boots from USB automatically when no other drive has an OS.

Always keep a drive with Mojave ready. Having a createinstallmedia Mojave installer ready to do any reinstalls is a must too.

Love your optimism, tsialex! Thank you!
I feel like I've just been thrown a life preserver!

I'll locate some createinstallmedia instructions and give it a go.

Regarding your suggestion to "reset NVRAM three times sequentially"... when do I do that... immediately after booting to the Mojave USB stick?

 

[5comma1]

Agree, from OP's description, there is nothing wrong on the hardware, just lost the OS.

For OP, avoid Catalina if you are not good at deal with unsupported OS. Stay with Mojave will give you much less trouble. 10.14.6 also provide flawless HWAccel via OpenCore for RX580.

Thanks for the tip, h9826790.
I'm headed back to Mojave land. Tough lesson!

 

[tsialex]

Regarding your suggestion to "reset NVRAM three times sequentially"... when do I do that... immediately after booting to the Mojave USB stick?

Before, with just the createinstallmedia Mojave installer and the empty drive connected on your MP5,1. Remove all drives that have an OS install or OpenCore.

 

[5comma1]

5comma1

Yes, why do you need Catalina ? It is still in Beta, unfinished. It is not supported by Apple for 4,1 & 5,1 Mac Pros.
Mojave 10.14.6 ( build 18G3020 ) is reliable, works very well.

If you MUST have Catalina, install it on a separate ( external ? ) drive.

Also, you should re-set the NVRAM this way ( read the small text ).
View attachment 900349

Installing Betas . . . not me.

Thanks for the coaching on NVRAM, 44578. I've always released the keys after the second chime, so waiting for a third chime is good to know!

I don't need Catalina. I just felt it would be nice to have for the following reasons:

- because it became an option for the 5,1, so I figured why not?
- the Reminders app broke in Mojave when I upgraded the iOS on my phone and iPad— so I'd get that back.
- I was under the impression I'd receive OS X Catalina updates.
- having Catalina would give me matching OS' on the 5'1 and Macbook Pro.
- I didn't realize Catalina was still beta... I thought it was fully baked.

Thanks much!
[automerge]1584837413[/automerge]

Before, with just the createinstallmedia Mojave installer and the empty drive connected on your MP5,1. Remove all drives that have an OS install or OpenCore.

I'll give it a whirl, tsialex.

Thank you, again!

 

[5comma1]

Before, with just the createinstallmedia Mojave installer and the empty drive connected on your MP5,1. Remove all drives that have an OS install or OpenCore.

I think we're on the right track, tsialex? Ran into another head-scratcher.

With my bootable (7950 Mac Edition) card and Mojave installer USB stick inserted, when I power-on while holding 'option’… I get a repeating chime and no display?

In my research one person wrote that they needed to turn their display off before booting, which I tried— and sure enough the repeating chime problem went away. However, after holding ‘option’ for a few minutes and then turning ON the display… the display remains dark and has actually gone to sleep?!

I’ve done multiple SMC and NVRAM resets.

Any other suggestions for what to try next?

 

[h9826790]

I think we're on the right track, tsialex? Ran into another head-scratcher.

With my bootable (7950 Mac Edition) card and Mojave installer USB stick inserted, when I power-on while holding 'option’… I get a repeating chime and no display?

In my research one person wrote that they needed to turn their display off before booting, which I tried— and sure enough the repeating chime problem went away. However, after holding ‘option’ for a few minutes and then turning ON the display… the display remains dark and has actually gone to sleep?!

I’ve done multiple SMC and NVRAM resets.

Any other suggestions for what to try next?

Set your monitor to DP 1.1.

The Mac EFI UGA on the 7950 is not compatible to DP 1.2.

If the monitor not allow you to do that, you can connect your cMP to any TV via HDMI. This also allow it to boot properly.

 

[iModFrenzy]

5comma1

Yes, why do you need Catalina ? It is still in Beta, unfinished. It is not supported by Apple for 4,1 & 5,1 Mac Pros.
Mojave 10.14.6 ( build 18G3020 ) is reliable, works very well.

If you MUST have Catalina, install it on a separate ( external ? ) drive.

Also, you should re-set the NVRAM this way ( read the small text ).
View attachment 900349

Installing Betas . . . not me.

Catalina is not a beta, it’s released to the public don’t spread false information.

OP wants to use the most current MacOS, there isn’t an issue with that.

 

[5comma1]

Catalina is not a beta, it’s released to the public don’t spread false information.

OP wants to use the most current MacOS, there isn’t an issue with that.

Thanks for the clarity around Catalina not being beta, iModFrenzy.
I thought that was the case.

 

[startergo]

Thanks for the clarity around Catalina not being beta, iModFrenzy.
I thought that was the case.

Catalina is in Beta for version 10.15.4.
10.15.3 is release version.

 

[5comma1]

Set your monitor to DP 1.1.

The Mac EFI UGA on the 7950 is not compatible to DP 1.2.

If the monitor not allow you to do that, you can connect your cMP to any TV via HDMI. This also allow it to boot properly.

Thanks for the suggestion, h9826790. I was not aware of this. I looked in the user manual of my display and it appears to be a setting I could change if the display had a signal. But since the display isn't getting a signal from the GPU the submenu where I'd make the change to DP 1.1 isn't accessable. I'll call Dell tomorrow to see if they have any suggestions. Thanks again.

 

[ber404]

Hi, same problem, same hardware, did you fix it ?

 

[5comma1]

Hi, same problem, same hardware, did you fix it ?

Hello ber404

I don't recall exactly how I resolved this, but I'm still using the ol' 5.1 on a daily basis and have been since 2010!

I abandoned the idea of running Catalina and reverted to Mojave 10.14.6.
I was hoping to run Catalina but when things went sour after a simple SMC reset while running Catalina it spooked me and I said to heck with it.

I have a buggy thing happening with my Dell displays that I've never resolved and it may be related to this issue?
I'm running two Dell P2715Q's, and if I try to sleep them via the keyboard shortcut the 5,1 freezes. I can sleep the 5,1 without issue, but I cannot sleep the displays. I think this has something to do with these Dell displays not officially being supported on Mac's. Also, the displays are the same model but have a different year of manufacture and "Rev" number... and their firmware can't be updated by the consumer. Just thought I'd mention this as an aside.

If you have any other clarifying questions, don't hesitate to ask.

 

[ber404]

Hello ber404

I don't recall exactly how I resolved this, but I'm still using the ol' 5.1 on a daily basis and have been since 2010!

I abandoned the idea of running Catalina and reverted to Mojave 10.14.6.
I was hoping to run Catalina but when things went sour after a simple SMC reset while running Catalina it spooked me and I said to heck with it.

I have a buggy thing happening with my Dell displays that I've never resolved and it may be related to this issue?
I'm running two Dell P2715Q's, and if I try to sleep them via the keyboard shortcut the 5,1 freezes. I can sleep the 5,1 without issue, but I cannot sleep the displays. I think this has something to do with these Dell displays not officially being supported on Mac's. Also, the displays are the same model but have a different year of manufacture and "Rev" number... and their firmware can't be updated by the consumer. Just thought I'd mention this as an aside.

If you have any other clarifying questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Thank you ! I did the 3 chimes reset and it did the trick for me

 

[5comma1]

Thank you ! I did the 3 chimes reset and it did the trick for me

You're very welcome. Glad you're up-and-running once again. ?