Firmware Tool for 4,1 to 5,1 upgrade

[Luba]

It's hard nowadays to call any computer "completely safe". But you shouldn't have to worry about the firmware:
The MacPro4,1 to MacPro5,1 firmware upgrade simply installs Apple's official MacPro5,1 firmware to machines from 2009.
The High Sierra Firmware upgrade then completely replaces this with another new version (not just a partial patch).

Oh, when I finally upgrade to High Sierra from Sierra, there will be a new EFI firmware that needs to be installed?

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Yes, It's part of the HS Update. When you start the update, the firmware update shows first, follow the prompts, after the firmware is updated, the HS OS update itself comes up.

Lou

 

[adam9c1]

I have installed 10.7 then downloaded firmware and update tool.

Mounted the firmware then ran the tool.

No access to the internet needed. No terminal needed.

 

[Supermacguy]

I had success with doing my 2009 4,1 to 5,1 but I had to re-log into iCloud and iTunes now thinks I have a second Mac Pro, but that's easy to fix in Apple's device manager area.

 

[Flabba]

Thanks...
That is true if you only upgrade a 4,1 to a 5,1 one time. In my case I've just finished my 3rd upgrade, and I suspect I will have a few more to do over next year. So I want some assurance the Tool will continue to work. If the info is downloaded from Apple then I'm dependent on Apple continuing to make that info available. If I knew exactly what is downloaded, how it's applied and can obtain the info for myself. I can archive it and know for sure I can continue upgrades into the future.

In addition, it seems the Tool 'pings' the server address where the firmware info is to be downloaded from. If your facility has a firewall that prevents passing 'pings' through you need to reconfigure the firewall temporarily to allow the ping to pass through.

I just feel nervous about relying on a Tool that I really have no control over, even though I admit it does a really fine job of minimizing the effort.

[doublepost=1534783627][/doublepost]This is now 2018 system El Capitan does anyone know how to do upgrade firmware 4,1 to 5,1 on Mac Pro

 

[h9826790]

[doublepost=1534783627][/doublepost]This is now 2018 system El Capitan does anyone know how to do upgrade firmware 4,1 to 5,1 on Mac Pro

Still the same procedure, just make sure you have SIP disabled from El Capitan. And has the Apple 5,1 firmware updater place on the desktop (and mount it)

 

[tdatsmrad]

I went back to the Apple firmware download link and noticed the file creation date is off a few days. So just in case Apple modified the disc image somewhat to prevent this from happening, I've attached a zip archive file which includes the MacProEFIUpdate.dmg and the Mac Pro 2009-2010 Firmware tool together.

As an FYI, when I used this setup to flash my 2009 Mac Pro Dual-Core I was running Mac OS X 10.7.5.

Secondly, you won't get your memory to show as 1333 MHz until you also swap out your processor(s) to one that supports the firmware version. For my model I originally swapped out my 2.26 GHz processors for two 2.93 GHz 6 Core processors.

Make sure you fully mount the MacProEFIUPdate.dmg, and possibly even downgrading your OS if you still get your error upon launch.

Best of luck to you. The 2009's flashed to 5.1 make a great machine with years of life yet to work from.

This finally worked for me. Thank you so much!

 

[Luba]

I can’t update to Mojave because I still have the original GPU which is the Radeon HD 4870 (pretty that’s the one). Is it worth buying a Metal GPU? Also my CPU is the original 2.66 Quad Core which can’t utilize the 1333 MHz memory I have installed. Do you think it’s worth upgrading the CPU too. Or just the get the soon to be updated iMac? Thanks for thoughts on this.

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Your asking folks on a forum dedicated to upgrading Macs, what do you think you'll hear? Actually three schools of folks here.

1. Folks like me who have updated their machines and will urge you to go ahead, provided you can afford it and if it will improve what you do on your machine.

2. Those who will say no, the cMP is outdated, build yourself a Hack.

3. And those who will say the Mac is a dead end, buy your self a windoz machine.

Or your alternative - The iMac.

The choice is yours.

Lou

 

[Luba]

^^^^Your asking folks on a forum dedicated to upgrading Macs, what do you think you'll hear? Actually three schools of folks here.

1. Folks like me who have updated their machines and will urge you to go ahead, provided you can afford it and if it will improve what you do on your machine.

2. Those who will say no, the cMP is outdated, build yourself a Hack.

3. And those who will say the Mac is a dead end, buy your self a windoz machine.

Or your alternative - The iMac.

The choice is yours.

Lou

I was guessing I’d get two types of responses. 1. It’s not worth it anymore. Do it only for the fun of tinkering a cMP. 2. It’s still well worth the effort. Put in ~$500 and you get a cMP that performs as well as a brand new iMac.

Biased users can still give good advice, in my opinion. I’m totally biased towards the stainless steel Apple Watch, but would advise potential buyers of the Apple Watch to only get the stainless steel only if they loved the look. Much better value in the aluminum Apple Watch.

 

[Coyote2006]

Still the same procedure, just make sure you have SIP disabled from El Capitan. And has the Apple 5,1 firmware updater place on the desktop (and mount it)

Where do I get the Apple 5,1 firmware updater? Looks like it can't be downloaded anymore on Apple's website.

 

[h9826790]

Where do I get the Apple 5,1 firmware updater? Looks like it can't be downloaded anymore on Apple's website.

Google "Apple download" lead me to the Apple support page, and then I found this.

https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1321?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

The whole step cause me literally less than 30s.

I can download from it. Does this link work for you?

 

[soren4]

I can’t update to Mojave because I still have the original GPU which is the Radeon HD 4870 (pretty that’s the one). Is it worth buying a Metal GPU? Also my CPU is the original 2.66 Quad Core which can’t utilize the 1333 MHz memory I have installed. Do you think it’s worth upgrading the CPU too. Or just the get the soon to be updated iMac? Thanks for thoughts on this.

I would say absolutely yes, go ahead and upgrade your Mac Pro, it's still a very viable production machine. The Xeon processors are dirt cheap on eBay for a matched pair under $50, in some cases, for dual processor machines. Add a supported PCIe SATA 3 card with an internal SSD along with an NVIDIA 1080 used, for a couple hundred of dollars, and you still have extra internal bays for additional storage.

You can also use whatever monitor configuration you want without needing Thunderbolt dongles etc. based upon the video card ports available.

These are workhorse systems designed with server components providing excellent performance and longevity of use.

Unfortunately, going the iMac route limits your ability to upgrade as Apple has purposely designed these machines with planned obsolescence in mind.

Or you can wait until 2019 when Apple plans on releasing a new professional line of Mac Pro's and spend $3K-$5K...

 

[flowrider]

^^^^First off, I of course agree with you.

However, Luba has a single processor machine. And, "matched pair" is a myth. As long as the two processors are the same model of Intel processor and are production units, not samples, all should be well.

Lou

 

[Coyote2006]

Google "Apple download" lead me to the Apple support page, and then I found this.

https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1321?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

The whole step cause me literally less than 30s.

I can download from it. Does this link work for you?

I got and found this link too but I could't download it from there. But it worked after activating a VPN with a US based server. thanks.

 

[Synchro3]

Firmware here -> https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...pple-efi-1-5-link-down.2130775/#post-26315290

 

[Alex Rets]

Hello and thank you for your way to solve 5530 error problem.
I try to upgrade Mac Pro 4.1 to 5.1 and get error 5530. Sip disabled.
I did everything according to the instructions on Mac Pro (Early 2009) and get this in Terminal window:

Qs-Mac-Pro:~ Q$ cd ~/Downloads/Mac\ Pro\ 2009-2010\ Firmware\ Tool.app/Contents/Resources/
Qs-Mac-Pro:Resources Q$ ./ExtractAndPatchEFIFiles.sh
/Volumes/RamDisk ~/Downloads/Mac Pro 2009-2010 Firmware Tool.app/Contents/Resources
hdiutil: detach failed - No such file or directory
hdiutil: detach failed - No such file or directory
~/Downloads/Mac Pro 2009-2010 Firmware Tool.app/Contents/Resources
patching file /Volumes/RamDisk/MacProEFI2009-2010/EfiUpdaterApp2.efi
patching file /Volumes/RamDisk/MacProEFI2010-2009/EfiUpdaterApp2.efi
Qs-Mac-Pro:Resources Q$ sudo UpgradeEFI2009-2010.sh


Please, help me. What am i doing wrong?

 

[Alex Rets]

#167
Hello and thank you for your way to solve 5530 error problem.
I try to upgrade Mac Pro 4.1 to 5.1 and get error 5530. Sip disabled.
I did everything according to the instructions https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...1-to-5-1-upgrade.1752143/page-6#post-25570945 on Mac Pro (Early 2009) and get this in Terminal window:

Qs-Mac-Pro:~ Q$ cd ~/Downloads/Mac\ Pro\ 2009-2010\ Firmware\ Tool.app/Contents/Resources/
Qs-Mac-Pro:Resources Q$ ./ExtractAndPatchEFIFiles.sh
/Volumes/RamDisk ~/Downloads/Mac Pro 2009-2010 Firmware Tool.app/Contents/Resources
hdiutil: detach failed - No such file or directory
hdiutil: detach failed - No such file or directory
~/Downloads/Mac Pro 2009-2010 Firmware Tool.app/Contents/Resources
patching file /Volumes/RamDisk/MacProEFI2009-2010/EfiUpdaterApp2.efi
patching file /Volumes/RamDisk/MacProEFI2010-2009/EfiUpdaterApp2.efi
Qs-Mac-Pro:Resources Q$ sudo UpgradeEFI2009-2010.sh


Please, help me. What am i doing wrong?

 

[Baudlink]

Firmware here -> https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...pple-efi-1-5-link-down.2130775/#post-26315290

ALSO - Mac Pro Firmware Tool - ALTERNATIVELY AVAILABLE HERE: https://github.com/pigsyn/MacProFirmwareToolUpdate/releases/tag/1.1

Netkas is not working at all for me.

 

[flowrider]

^^^^The site is down again!

Lou

 

[Baudlink]

^^^^The site is down again!

Lou

Yeahhh... Go to the GitHub site for the Firmware Tool.

Also - If you get the 5770 error or WETF it is:

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE ACTUAL APPLE 5.1 FIRMWARE UPDATE DMG OPEN - THEN run the Firmware Update Tool...

OR IT WILL GIVE YOU THAT ERROR

I just successfully installed the update after I did that. Good luck, bitches.

 

[howdytom]

Thanks for this excellent tutorial. I followed along step by step . However, my MacPro 4,1 automatically shuts down after the long beep. The firmware update process shows up one second, then the MacPro reboots. It's a MacPro 4,1 Quad-Core 2x 2,26Ghz (8 Cores). Anybody encountered this behaviour? Any workaround?

 

[mojo777]

(Old message I downloaded the EFI updater and the updater tool but when I tried mounting the EFI file I can only get as far as the pkg file because it says my system doesn't support it.

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

I FINALLY SUCCEEDED - so I'm adding these tips for other semi-literates like myself who might get stuck -

1) YOU ONLY NEED TO HAVE THE PKG FILE APPEAR ON YOUR DESKTOP
IT DOESN'T NEED TO BE OPENED - THE INSTALLER WILL EXTRACT IT

2) when you get to the RECOVERY SCREEN you need to open the TERMINAL from the PULL-DOWN MENU
and disable SIP there. After the update you need to go back to the recovery screen to enable sip again.

 

[redAPPLE]

Okay, so I managed to do the update, or so I thought. I followed the instructions, and shut down the machine on my 4,1 Mac Pro with El Capitan. Then I held the power button until my Mac Pro let out a long beep, then released it.

My computer still claims to be a 4,1, and now when I try to run the update, I get a 5530 error. not a 5570 error, but a 5530 error, of which I can find no information. I'm rather annoyed, and I would like some assistance, please. Netkas' site doesn't send me a registration link, so I can't sign up to get help there.

did you find a solution?

 

[redAPPLE]

welcome to 2023, 2014 thread.

i got this MacPro4,1, Boot ROM Version: MP41.0081.B07, Nvidia Geforce GT 120.

obviously, i want to upgrade to firmware MacPro5,1.

- i tried to use the "Mac Pro 2009-2010 Firmware Tool" on mavericks, yosemite and el capitan (here i disabled csrutil).

- double click the "Mac Pro 2009-2010 Firmware Tool" > Click "Upgrade to 2010 Firmware" > Type in the admin password.

- i get the The program ahs encountered an error: 5530.

- i tried this: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-pro-1-1-firmware-upgrade-issues.2174741/post-27228336 (it is for the 1,1-1,2 firmware, i thought it would have the same installation procedure).

- mac pro efi update 14 and mac pro efi update 15 are mounted (can be seen on finder sidebar).

- an empty! RamDisk is created on the desktop.

- according to the above procedure, i need to copy files and delete some lines of code. it seems that the ExtractAndPatchEFIFiles.sh have two(?) sections. one for upgrade, one for downgrade. i just deleted the lines of code on the "upgrade" section (the deleted lines of code, were the ones instructed on the above procedure).

I was able to upgrade it manually. Got the answer from forum.Netkas.org. Instruction below.

Started by MacEFIRom, Message by verveguy
Relevance: 63.9%
I could not get the firmware updater tool to work. Error 5570 then Error 5530.

So I hacked the scripts within the tool and ran them directly. I now have a MacPro 2009 which reports Model Identifier: MacPro5,1

Root problem: you need to have BOTH the 2010 and 2009 EFI upgrader disk images available so this tool can prepare both the upgrade and downgrade paths. And the tool no longer seems to be capable of downloading them (or at least not for me and anyone else getting the 5530 error). Digging into the compiled .scpt file inside the tool, it's pretty clear what is wrong. But the script is run-only compiled and I can't fix it directly.

So I manually downloaded them and then had to hack the subsidiary shell scripts embedded in the Firmware Tool app and run them directly by hand.

Here's what I did:

0/ Reboot in recovery mode and disable SIP (Recovery mode, Terminal, csrutil disable ). Reboot again.

1/ Download *both* EFI updater packages from Apple
https://support.apple.com/kb/DL989?locale=en_US
https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1321?locale=en_US

2/ Use DiskUtility to convert each disk image to a new read/write image

3/ Mount the first image for the 2009 firmware. Rename the mounted disk to Mac Pro EFI Update 2009

4/ Mount the second image for the 2010 firmware. Rename the mounted disk to Mac Pro EFI Update 2010

5/ Run the netkas forum Mac Pro 2009-2010 Firmware Tool.app
(it will fail, but it will create the RamDisk)

6/ Hack the ExtractAndPatchEFIFiles.sh script buried in my ~/Downloads/Mac Pro 2009-2010 Firmware Tool.app/Contents/Resources/ directory with this new version:
Code:
#!/bin/sh

pushd /Volumes/RamDisk

# we mounted the EFI update disk image manually
# hdiutil attach -nobrowse EFI2010.dmg
pkgutil --expand '/Volumes/Mac Pro EFI Update 2010/MacProEFIUpdate.pkg' Expanded
cp Expanded/MacProEFIUpdate.pkg/Payload Payload
tar -xf Payload
mkdir MacProEFI2010-2009
mkdir MacProEFI2009-2010
cp 'System/Library/CoreServices/Firmware Updates/MacProEFIUpdate15/EFIUpdaterApp2.efi' MacProEFI2010-2009
cp 'System/Library/CoreServices/Firmware Updates/MacProEFIUpdate15/MP51_007F_03B_LOCKED.fd' MacProEFI2009-2010/MP41_0081_07B_LOCKED.fd
rm -R Applications
rm -R Expanded
rm -R System
rm Payload
hdiutil detach '/Volumes/Mac Pro EFI Update/'

# we mounted the EFI update disk image manually
# hdiutil attach -nobrowse EFI2009.dmg
pkgutil --expand '/Volumes/Mac Pro EFI Update 2009/MacProEFIUpdate.pkg' Expanded
cp Expanded/MacProEFIUpdate.pkg/Payload Payload
tar -xf Payload
cp 'Applications/Utilities/Mac Pro EFI Firmware Update.app/Contents/Resources/EfiUpdaterApp2.efi' MacProEFI2009-2010
cp 'Applications/Utilities/Mac Pro EFI Firmware Update.app/Contents/Resources/MP41_0081_07B_LOCKED.fd' MacProEFI2010-2009/MP51_007F_03B_LOCKED.fd
rm -R Applications
rm -R Expanded
rm -R System
rm Payload
hdiutil detach '/Volumes/Mac Pro EFI Update/'

popd

patch /Volumes/RamDisk/MacProEFI2009-2010/EfiUpdaterApp2.efi EfiUpdater2009.patch
patch /Volumes/RamDisk/MacProEFI2010-2009/EfiUpdaterApp2.efi EfiUpdater2010.patch

7/ Then run the script directly. Using terminal:

Code:
cd ~/Downloads/Mac\ Pro\ 2009-2010\ Firmware\ Tool.app/Contents/Resources/
./ExtractAndPatchEFIFile.sh
sudo UpgradeEFI2009-2010.sh

8/ Shutdown then power on and hold down the power button. Don't let it go. You'll hear the beep indicating EFI update, then it will reboot again. Keep the button down. In my case, the CD drive popped out. I waited a while, then pushed the CD drive back in. Eventually, I got bored and let the power button go. A little while later it rebooted again. Maybe even one more time.

9/ Login, check all is well with System Info.

10/ Reboot into Recovery mode again, enable SIP (Terminal, csrutil enable). Reboot


I'm pretty sure I captured all of that correctly. Hope this helps others.

(If anyone knows how to contact the original author of the update tool or can get the source, I'd happily fix it)

did anybody get this to work?