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Firmware Tool for 4,1 to 5,1 upgrade
- Thread starter bxs
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The method you quoted - the one outlined by Diepstor in post #141 - worked fine for me.
But... there are a few small caveats which need to be addressed.
1) Diepstor (or verveguy, it isn't clear which) made a small mistake in unmounting the volumes:
The first hdiutil detach '/Volumes/Mac Pro EFI Update/' should be hdiutil detach '/Volumes/Mac Pro EFI Update 2010/'
and the second should be hdiutil detach '/Volumes/Mac Pro EFI Update 2009/'
This caused the issue
hdiutil: detach failed - No such file or directory
hdiutil: detach failed - No such file or directory
But it isn't harmful to the process, just untidy.
Secondly, when specifying the final command, it should be sudo ./UpgradeEFI2009-2010.sh - note the ./ in front of the shell script name.
This caused Alex Rets' failure to launch in #167.
If you make those two changes to the instructions, it all works.
hi. thanks for the info. i would test it on monday and will give an update...
To the instructions:
0 - i installed mac os x 10.6. (so there is no SIP to disable)
1 - downloaded the two firmware updates and transferred them to the desktop.
2 - converted the two dmgs as read/write (as instructed).
3 - mounted image and renamed to ... 2009. (firmware 1.4)
4 - mounted image and renamed to ... 2010 (firmware 1.5)
5 - ran the Mac Pro 2009-2010 Firmware Tool (i got he 5530 error) (tool is on the desktop).
6 - edited ExtractAndPPatchEFIFiles.sh (see below) (right clicking on the Mac Pro 2009-2010 Firmware Tool > Show Package Contents > Contents > ExtractAndPPatchEFIFiles.sh)
#!/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 2010/‘
# 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 2009/‘
popd
patch /Volumes/RamDisk/MacProEFI2009-2010/EfiUpdaterApp2.efi EfiUpdater2009.patch
patch /Volumes/RamDisk/MacProEFI2010-2009/EfiUpdaterApp2.efi EfiUpdater2010.patch
7 - "7/ Then run the script directly. Using terminal:" - i dragged and dropped the ExtractAndPatchEFIFile.sh on to the terminal window.
i received the following error:
/Volumes/RamDisk ~
hdiutil: detach: only a single device name can be specified
Usage: hdiutil detach [options] <devname>
hdiutil detach -help
~
patch: **** Can't open patch file EfiUpdater2009.patch : No such file or directory
patch: **** Can't open patch file EfiUpdater2010.patch : No such file or directory
i just ignored the errors and continued with the next instruction:
sudo (right clicking on the Mac Pro 2009-2010 Firmware Tool > Show Package Contents > Contents >UpgradeEFI2009-2010.sh) - i dragged and dropped the UpgradeEFI2009-2010.sh on to the terminal window.
the error message that i got is this:
cp: /Volumes/RamDisk/MacProEFI2009-2010/EfiUpdaterApp2.efi: No such file or directory
EFI found at IODeviceTree:/efi
GPT detected
No auxiliary booter partition required
System partition found
Returning booter information dictionary:
<CFBasicHash 0x1018005b0 [0x7fff7079af20]>{type = mutable dict, count = 3,
entries =>
0 : <CFString 0x100019a60 [0x7fff7079af20]>{contents = "System Partitions"} = <CFArray 0x101800530 [0x7fff7079af20]>{type = immutable, count = 1, values = (
0 : <CFString 0x101800110 [0x7fff7079af20]>{contents = "disk0s1"}
)}
1 : <CFString 0x10001a2c0 [0x7fff7079af20]>{contents = "Data Partitions"} = <CFArray 0x101800850 [0x7fff7079af20]>{type = immutable, count = 1, values = (
0 : <CFString 0x7fff7077f9f0 [0x7fff7079af20]>{contents = "disk0s2"}
)}
2 : <CFString 0x100019a20 [0x7fff7079af20]>{contents = "Auxiliary Partitions"} = <CFArray 0x101800580 [0x7fff7079af20]>{type = immutable, count = 0, values = ()}
}
Substituting ESP disk0s1
Mounting at /Volumes/bless.iyJj
Executing "/sbin/mount"
Returned 0
Creating /Volumes/bless.iyJj//EFI/APPLE/FIRMWARE if needed
Deleting previous contents of /Volumes/bless.iyJj//EFI/APPLE/FIRMWARE
Can't load /System/Library/CoreServices/Firmware Updates/MacProEFIUpdate15/EfiUpdaterApp2.efi
Could not load data from /System/Library/CoreServices/Firmware Updates/MacProEFIUpdate15/EfiUpdaterApp2.efi
Executing "/sbin/umount"
Returned 0
Error while writing firmware updater for EFI
the message: "Error while writing firmware updater for EFI" is what concerned me. so somewhere in between, there is a mistake...
i do not know if it is relevant but, 2 folders were created in the RamDisk (MacProEFI2009-2010 & MacProEFI2010-2009).
sorry for the long post. i hope i get some assistance. thanks.
Hello, how are you? I did the process yesterday without any problems, I'll tell you the steps I take from MacOS 10.11.6 .
Update the firmware at your own risk.
1-Download Update firmware to 1.4 from here https://support.apple.com/kb/DL989?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
You install it directly. Then you follow the firmware update steps , shutdown , hold power button etc.
2-You verify in about this Mac / System Report / Boot ROM Vesion = MP41.0081.B07
3-csrutil disable from recovery mode , and reboot
4-download tool v1.2 https://github.com/pigsyn/MacProFirmwareToolUpdate/releases
5-download firmware 1.5 https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1321?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US and mount ( Not to install )
6- run firmware tool update. select update to 2010 firmware. and then you follow the firmware update steps , shutdown , hold power button etc.
7- After the reboot, check the boot ROM version = MP51.007FB03 And if you look at the model indentifier now it's MacPro5.1
I hope it helps you.
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Hi all,
I have taken delivery of a Mac Pro 4,1 and from what I can tell it is mostly stock. GT 120 GPU, 16GB RAM and Quad Core Xeon 2.66.
I have tried & tried the firmware update to 5,1 using the firmware tool. I do not get any errors, The tool gets to the point where it asks to shutdown. I shut down and hold power button in until it flashes rapidly then the tone chimes, then the Mac startup tone starts.. the system boots. DVD Drive does not eject.
Ive done this 3 million times and am at a loss.
OS is El Capitan - Boot ROM Version: MP41.0081.B07.
Any advice greatly appreciated as I want to start getting on with the upgrades etc!
Thanks
I have reseated GPU, SSD in slot 1, GFX Card and Nothing plugged into USB. Even tried the procedure with no GFX Card plugged in.
At a loss
.
PS< I have checked csrutil in El Capitan and its status is disabled.
I have taken delivery of a Mac Pro 4,1 and from what I can tell it is mostly stock. GT 120 GPU, 16GB RAM and Quad Core Xeon 2.66.
I have tried & tried the firmware update to 5,1 using the firmware tool. I do not get any errors, The tool gets to the point where it asks to shutdown. I shut down and hold power button in until it flashes rapidly then the tone chimes, then the Mac startup tone starts.. the system boots. DVD Drive does not eject.
Ive done this 3 million times and am at a loss.
OS is El Capitan - Boot ROM Version: MP41.0081.B07.
Any advice greatly appreciated as I want to start getting on with the upgrades etc!
Thanks
I have reseated GPU, SSD in slot 1, GFX Card and Nothing plugged into USB. Even tried the procedure with no GFX Card plugged in.
At a loss
.PS< I have checked csrutil in El Capitan and its status is disabled.
I'm having the same issue! Did this successfully years ago and I'm dumbfounded why it's being so difficult this time around. Everything stock, dual CPU and dual GT 120. Only oddity I noticed is "About This Mac" doesn't show the year.
Can I pull the EFI chip and flash it with my chip programmer? LOL
Can I pull the EFI chip and flash it with my chip programmer? LOL
Hello, I have exactly same problem - MP 4.1 dual processor, El Capitan. csrutil is disabled but nothing happends after long beep. Just boots to El Capitan, with no progress bar. Please help.
Hi there. I’ve been unable to flash 4.1 to 5.1 Mac Pro for the last couple of days. Tools seem broken.
I feel I’ve tried everything. From doing what I’ve successfully done in the past on another machine, to re-read and follow all the normal online tutorials again, tried different operation systems, from Mountain Lion, to Yosemite, El Capitan and High Sierra. Did SMC, PRAM and NVRAM resets (x3 and x5 times). Disabling SIP afterwards, of course, and before attempting to flash. Changed the time/year of the clock as some suggested. Even tried reflashing a blank original 4.1 firmware into the board, via Romtool, and then trying to do all the normal ways again (after inserting the serial number). Did try to flash with the tool manually with the instructions suggested a couple of posts above. Nothing seems works.
I feel the software flash 2009-2010 (originally by netkas) is somehow broken again, as the version from 2017 and the newer version patched with fixed URLs from 2022 (https://github.com/pigsyn/MacProFirmwareToolUpdate), seem to not be working for me and other people. I never get to see the fat loading bar. It goes straight off to normal desktop environment. Funnily enough, if I try to change the clock to an earlier year, it always gives me the 5530 error. Only when I put the clock back to current 2024, the Ramdisk seems to get all the needed files and it all seems to going to work, until I shutdown/restart the Mac holding the power button, releasing upon flashing lights or beep sound, and then back to the desktop environment
If anyone could shed some light into this, would be great. I've got the b07 firmware, which is the one on firmware 1.4 available to download via Apple.
I can see that there’s more and more people with failed flashing attempts here and on reddit now.
Definitely seems there’s something wrong with the tools. I understand there’s a boot rom reconstruction alternative service , that could be potentially flashed directly via rom tool, but I haven’t found any tutorial on how to actually reconstruct the firmware. Would be happy to try it, by inserting the unique numbers of this board onto a new firmware file. There’s someone charging for this service, but that would cost the same as what the computer is worth right now. It’s definitely not worth it.
If someone could help with a 4.1/5.1 2024 revised flashing tool (last revision was in 2022), or with a tutorial on how to reconstruct the firmware with uefitool so that it can become a 5.1- and unlocking cpu/ram potential, that would be very much appreciated. Going nuts here right now.
I feel I’ve tried everything. From doing what I’ve successfully done in the past on another machine, to re-read and follow all the normal online tutorials again, tried different operation systems, from Mountain Lion, to Yosemite, El Capitan and High Sierra. Did SMC, PRAM and NVRAM resets (x3 and x5 times). Disabling SIP afterwards, of course, and before attempting to flash. Changed the time/year of the clock as some suggested. Even tried reflashing a blank original 4.1 firmware into the board, via Romtool, and then trying to do all the normal ways again (after inserting the serial number). Did try to flash with the tool manually with the instructions suggested a couple of posts above. Nothing seems works.
I feel the software flash 2009-2010 (originally by netkas) is somehow broken again, as the version from 2017 and the newer version patched with fixed URLs from 2022 (https://github.com/pigsyn/MacProFirmwareToolUpdate), seem to not be working for me and other people. I never get to see the fat loading bar. It goes straight off to normal desktop environment. Funnily enough, if I try to change the clock to an earlier year, it always gives me the 5530 error. Only when I put the clock back to current 2024, the Ramdisk seems to get all the needed files and it all seems to going to work, until I shutdown/restart the Mac holding the power button, releasing upon flashing lights or beep sound, and then back to the desktop environment
If anyone could shed some light into this, would be great. I've got the b07 firmware, which is the one on firmware 1.4 available to download via Apple.
I can see that there’s more and more people with failed flashing attempts here and on reddit now.
Definitely seems there’s something wrong with the tools. I understand there’s a boot rom reconstruction alternative service , that could be potentially flashed directly via rom tool, but I haven’t found any tutorial on how to actually reconstruct the firmware. Would be happy to try it, by inserting the unique numbers of this board onto a new firmware file. There’s someone charging for this service, but that would cost the same as what the computer is worth right now. It’s definitely not worth it.
If someone could help with a 4.1/5.1 2024 revised flashing tool (last revision was in 2022), or with a tutorial on how to reconstruct the firmware with uefitool so that it can become a 5.1- and unlocking cpu/ram potential, that would be very much appreciated. Going nuts here right now.
I'm having exactly the same problem. I've tried with both Yosemite and El Capitan.
This is my 4,1 overview if anyone see's anything in it that might be tripping me up?
Model Identifier: MacPro4,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.26 GHz
Number of Processors: 2
Total Number of Cores: 8
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache (per Processor): 8 MB
Memory: 24 GB
Processor Interconnect Speed: 5.86 GT/s
Boot ROM Version: MP41.0081.B07
SMC Version (system): 1.39f5
SMC Version (processor tray): 1.39f5
Serial Number (system): CK0020KVE1C
Serial Number (processor tray): J595100PUBXZA
Hardware UUID: 11C39A5B-71B7-542D-8E20-63DE60E222E2
Thanks
This is my 4,1 overview if anyone see's anything in it that might be tripping me up?
Model Identifier: MacPro4,1
Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed: 2.26 GHz
Number of Processors: 2
Total Number of Cores: 8
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache (per Processor): 8 MB
Memory: 24 GB
Processor Interconnect Speed: 5.86 GT/s
Boot ROM Version: MP41.0081.B07
SMC Version (system): 1.39f5
SMC Version (processor tray): 1.39f5
Serial Number (system): CK0020KVE1C
Serial Number (processor tray): J595100PUBXZA
Hardware UUID: 11C39A5B-71B7-542D-8E20-63DE60E222E2
Thanks
BTW: Noticed that an unflashed 4.1 runs HighSierra when booted from a drive that was installed in 4.1>5.1-flashed MP.
What would happen if I started to install Mojave into this machine? Can some of the firmware updates be skipped over? (straight from MP41.0081.B07 to 144.0.0.0.0.)
What would happen if I started to install Mojave into this machine? Can some of the firmware updates be skipped over? (straight from MP41.0081.B07 to 144.0.0.0.0.)
No, won't work. Simply try on your own
The Mojave installer will recognize an unsupported machine and deny the upgrade or clean install. Fresh installation to empty drive isn't possible with 5.1 until the firmware is updated to 144.0.0.0.0, the updater can do this only from a running macOS.
High Sierra works, if the drive wasn't converted to APFS, all firmwares for 4.1 lacks the APFS driver, so you're unable to boot from APFS-formatted drives. To my knowledge, APFS is mandatory for startup drive since macOS Mojave.
The netkas-tool is not maintained anymore, i guess the only way to update 4.1 to 5.1 can be done with a bootrom rebuilding.
Warning: NEVER try to flash a generic firmware file (.fd extension) until you made several bootrom dumps, this will delete all individual data inside rom and harm logins or registration for some services and software!
The Mojave installer will recognize an unsupported machine and deny the upgrade or clean install. Fresh installation to empty drive isn't possible with 5.1 until the firmware is updated to 144.0.0.0.0, the updater can do this only from a running macOS.
High Sierra works, if the drive wasn't converted to APFS, all firmwares for 4.1 lacks the APFS driver, so you're unable to boot from APFS-formatted drives. To my knowledge, APFS is mandatory for startup drive since macOS Mojave.
The netkas-tool is not maintained anymore, i guess the only way to update 4.1 to 5.1 can be done with a bootrom rebuilding.
Warning: NEVER try to flash a generic firmware file (.fd extension) until you made several bootrom dumps, this will delete all individual data inside rom and harm logins or registration for some services and software!
Last edited:
A question about this:
"Warning: NEVER try to flash a generic firmware file (.fd extension) until you made several bootrom dumps, this will delete all individual data inside rom and harm logins or registration for some services and software!"
What exactly happens with a generic firmware? If a machine is new to a person owning it now, does it matter?
"Warning: NEVER try to flash a generic firmware file (.fd extension) until you made several bootrom dumps, this will delete all individual data inside rom and harm logins or registration for some services and software!"
What exactly happens with a generic firmware? If a machine is new to a person owning it now, does it matter?
Generic firmware files are usually used only for updating; the flashing tool will not erase the whole content of the chip while updating and leave the unique data at its places.
As i explained yet: Some of the data like serial no. is needed for Apple services and may also used for licensing software.
For reference read this posting: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...0.2132317/page-18?post=26369220#post-26369220
And also: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...0.2132317/page-25?post=26385937#post-26385937
As i explained yet: Some of the data like serial no. is needed for Apple services and may also used for licensing software.
For reference read this posting: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...0.2132317/page-18?post=26369220#post-26369220
And also: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...0.2132317/page-25?post=26385937#post-26385937
As it is been said often: be very careful when doing this yourself, almost every little error in the process will lead into a brick. At least check it with the tool I made https://github.com/Macschrauber/Macschrauber-s-Rom-Dump or / and with Uefitool.
My Dumper will refuse to flash when a dump has obvious errors. But it can, of course, check only for bad checksums, wrong serials, wrong positions, etc, but it can not find logical errors.
My Dumper will refuse to flash when a dump has obvious errors. But it can, of course, check only for bad checksums, wrong serials, wrong positions, etc, but it can not find logical errors.