MP 1,1-5,1 Help! Mac Pro Won't Boot

[Blackbow1970]

hi all, long time windows support guy here trying to get a Mac Pro Tower to boot. Bought it from a friend of mine so I could start supporting Macs in my current job. Came with an HDD in bay 4? (last bay next to the back) that had windows installed on it. It boots to Windows and I get a video signal, which is how I know it boots. Problem is, if I try to boot it with a usb flash (bought specifically for this off Ebay with Lion .pkg on it) I never get a video signal. I can get a video signal with a hackintosh boot flash drive but the keyboard (yes it's an apple keyboard) doesn't react to anything.

I get the boot chime. I've tried resetting the RAM (both ways). I bought the original video card listed in the specs. The only thing I can think of is that the replacement hard drive is an SSD and the system doesn't like it even though I had the guy that sold me the flash drive load the Lion OS on it and send it back to me. Does the tower HAVE to have an HDD? Can I clone the SSD to the HDD using a Windows OS program (EaseUS)?

TIA

 

[Dayo]

Does the tower HAVE to have an HDD?

HDD or SSD work equally well so it is not likely to be related.

You haven't indicated which MacPro model it is that you have or which GPU model it is that you are trying to use. Seems likely that the GPU is not one that can show the Mac bootscreen (which you need to run the installer).

 

[Macsonic]

@Blackbow1970 If your newly purchased Mac Pro boots fine in Windows, might be a positive sign your computer is working fine. Like what Dayo suggested, try to provide the model, CPU and GPU specs. If you’re not sure, your friend might be able to provide your computer’s hardware profile.

 

[KeesMacPro]

There's a Serial Number at the back under the PCIe ports.
Googling this will provide information about the exact model.

Further hardware details e.g. GPU CPU etc can be found booted in Windows I suppose.

 

[Blackbow1970]

NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT (PVT73EYARG) 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM PCI Express x16 is the video card.
tag reads
model no.A1186 emc no. 2113
mac pro / 2.88qx/4x1/7300gt/250/500/sd/bt
serial no: [deleted]

 

[KeesMacPro]

Hi Blackbow1970,

Maybe it's better to remove the serial from your post

Anyway, you have a Mac Pro 1,1 from 2006.

There are several upgrades/tweaks you can do on this machine e.g. flashing it with 2,1 Firmware , but TBH I never had a 1,1 , so perhaps others can chime in.

With some tricks it is possible to install El Capitan on your machine.

The GPU is compatible with Lion.
Are you sure the installer is a DMG file?

Can MacPro 1,1 run Lion?

Hi there, I'm just investigating this for my brother. At his workplace they have a 2006 Mac Pro 1,1 with the following specs: 2 x 2Ghz Dual Core Intel Xeon 2GB RAM NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256Mb VRAM Operating system: 10.4.7 Does anyone know whether this Mac will be capable of...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Blackbow1970]

I deleted it but can you tell me why?
Understand I'm not 100% sure about what's on the flash drive or the SSD but the guy I got it from on Ebay has a 100% satisfaction rating. Am I able to look at the flash drive or the SSD on windows?

 

[KeesMacPro]

Am I able to look at the flash drive or the SSD on windows?

I guess so , but havent touched a PC in more than 2 decades

Another possibility to install a Mac OS is by burning the DMG image to a DVD and boot from it.

 

[Blackbow1970]

no dvd in this thing.

 

[tsialex]

NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT (PVT73EYARG) 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM PCI Express x16 is the video card.
tag reads
model no.A1186 emc no. 2113
mac pro / 2.88qx/4x1/7300gt/250/500/sd/bt
serial no: [deleted]

It's a MacPro1,1, from 2007. The newest macOS release that you can boot officially is Lion (10.7.5).

 

[sfalatko]

You can download the Lion installer for free now to make sure you have the real deal - Mac OS X Lion Installer. You can also do a search - as I recall @tsialex pointed out that some USB sticks don't support booting.

Try booting holding down the option key - you should see a boot selector screen with at least one choice being your windows install. If the USB stick will boot that should also show up. You can choose which one to boot from at that point.