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How macOS Sierra handle Mac Pro 4,1 and 5,1? Interesting!!

PowerMac G4 MDD said:
It's gonna be odd seeing all of these 4,1s being flashed to 5,1, even without CPU upgrades - because, that's actually possible. If I do it, I may just upgrade the CPUs. I'd feel lame flashing to 5,1 and not doing anything. Granted, I'd rather not have the added stress on my power supply, as I'd like to save its juice for future GPUs.
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Why? If it serves a purpose...

I've been running my 4,1 as a server since I bought it in 2010. It's a beast and even has double Apple's lame on paper limit of 16GB of RAM. I'll be damned if I'm going to stand by and do nothing while Apple points and laughs. Yeah, it's not a black trashcan, must suck, right Timmy Boy? You betcha I'll be flashing it to 5,1 and attempting an upgrade.
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drasl said:
Apple is probably adding an artificial limit that has little to do with the acutal ability of the computers to run the OS.

I understand the MBA 2008 but why the Mac Pro 3,1 or 4,1 would be unable to run the OS but a 2010 Macbook (not even pro) is.....
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Apple is as out of excuses as politicians these days, aren't they?
 
blut haus said:
Why? If it serves a purpose...

I've been running my 4,1 as a server since I bought it in 2010. It's a beast and even has double Apple's lame on paper limit of 16GB of RAM. I'll be damned if I'm going to stand by and do nothing while Apple points and laughs. Yeah, it's not a black trashcan, must suck, right Timmy Boy? You betcha I'll be flashing it to 5,1 and attempting an upgrade.
[doublepost=1467240137][/doublepost]
Apple is as out of excuses as politicians these days, aren't they?
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Meant nothing by that - it will just be a bit confusing seeing "5,1" machines for sale soon that haven't even been upgraded to 5,1 specs. I wish more people would upgrade the CPUs as well. If I ever flash to 5,1 to be able to run Sierra, I'll likely have a true 5,1 machine (in essence) by upgrading it to 12-core specifications, assuming the power draw isn't too high for me to be able to put in a better GPU later on.
 
PowerMac G4 MDD said:
Meant nothing by that - it will just be a bit confusing seeing "5,1" machines for sale soon that haven't even been upgraded to 5,1 specs. I wish more people would upgrade the CPUs as well. If I ever flash to 5,1 to be able to run Sierra, I'll likely have a true 5,1 machine (in essence) by upgrading it to 12-core specifications, assuming the power draw isn't too high for me to be able to put in a better GPU later on.
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Ah, yeah that makes sense.

I'd rather upgrade the CPU as well if I were to flash it. I'm not that handy, though. I'd probably mess it up. Then I'd really be SOL.
 
blut haus said:
Ah, yeah that makes sense.

I'd rather upgrade the CPU as well if I were to flash it. I'm not that handy, though. I'd probably mess it up. Then I'd really be SOL.
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There are instructional videos you can follow on YouTube. It's not too bad once you know what you're dealing with.
 
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karsten said:
no love for 900 series yet?
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There are exactly zero Macs that have nVidia GTX 9xx's in them shipped from Apple's fabrication partners.

Late 2013 27-inch iMacs had options for GTX 755M, 775M, and 780M, hence they get native drivers since the mobile chips are just clocked down variants of the desktop chips.
 
Leighton22 said:
If you buy everything in that kit on eBay separately you can do the whole thing for $30 rather then $130. All they have done at that osxwifi website is buy everything for $30 themselves and then resell it as a kit for $130.
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My understanding is, I get ->

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...CD-802-11ac-for-Apple/1178581_1807670343.html

and also

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Mini-PC...179409?hash=item5b0784fad1:g:r4EAAOSwcBhWXRWz

I will be able to have WIFI AC and 4 bluetooth in Mac Pro 5,1. What if I already have a WIFI card installed in my mac. Can I just use the previous card carrier?

Thanks in advance!
 
Earl Urley said:
There are exactly zero Macs that have nVidia GTX 9xx's in them shipped from Apple's fabrication partners.

Late 2013 27-inch iMacs had options for GTX 755M, 775M, and 780M, hence they get native drivers since the mobile chips are just clocked down variants of the desktop chips.
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Some 7 series cards don't work without the web driver. Sierra now reportedly supports all of them from 730 up to 780Ti.
 
I updated to Beta 2 cMP reverted back to the default OS driver. I am not going to update to the latest Nvidia beta when it becomes available because you have to disable SIP before you can install the driver and select it. A bit of a pain.
 
howiest said:
But did you apply the 5,1 firmware update before trying to download it?
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There's an error message that the Firmware update is not compatible with this Mac Pro. So the firmware was useless to me unless someone can explain the method of evading all the Apple blocks to install it. I'm not extremely proficient in UNIX or the Terminal, so I'm reluctant to experiment with this without knowing what someone else has already done successfully.

No I don't intend to install Sierra on a mission critical Mac OS partition, but I would like to try it.
 
BaltimoreMediaBlog said:
If Apple is blocking 4,1 Mac Pro installs now, that will not change in the fall.
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That's why I asked about the 5,1 firmware update. The logic board on the 4,1 and 5,1 is exactly the same part number. So I'm assuming that applying the firmware update will result in the ability to download the public beta, as well as the final release this Fall.
Beyond that, there are some issues surrounding having the right wi-fi card, but that isn't a barrier to downloading and installing, as far as I know.
 
BaltimoreMediaBlog said:
There's an error message that the Firmware update is not compatible with this Mac Pro. So the firmware was useless to me unless someone can explain the method of evading all the Apple blocks to install it. I'm not extremely proficient in UNIX or the Terminal, so I'm reluctant to experiment with this without knowing what someone else has already done successfully.

No I don't intend to install Sierra on a mission critical Mac OS partition, but I would like to try it.
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To make that firmware updater work, you need to have...

1) the latest 4,1 firmware (should be B07, or may be B08 for the refurbished 4,1).
2) SIP disabled in El Capitan
3) a Mac EFI graphic card
4) The 5,1 firmware on your desktop
5) Cold boot the machine and keep the power button down (but not restart the Mac)

If any one of the requirement not meet on the above (most of the guys having problem because they forget item 1,2, or 3), the firmware updater won't work.
 
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howiest said:
That's why I asked about the 5,1 firmware update. The logic board on the 4,1 and 5,1 is exactly the same part number. So I'm assuming that applying the firmware update will result in the ability to download the public beta, as well as the final release this Fall.
Beyond that, there are some issues surrounding having the right wi-fi card, but that isn't a barrier to downloading and installing, as far as I know.
Click to expand...

My Mac Pro does not have an added WIFI card in the machine. but yes it was an option upon buying, but this one has the original Apple WIFI logic board. I don't know whether that's good or bad. To me it doesn't matter since I don't use WIFI on this ethernet connected Mac Pro.

Btw, if you want to update your firmware, this is what I found searching. Has anybody used this with success?

http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,852.0.html
 
BaltimoreMediaBlog said:
My Mac Pro does not have an added WIFI card in the machine. but yes it was an option upon buying, but this one has the original Apple WIFI logic board. I don't know whether that's good or bad. To me it doesn't matter since I don't use WIFI on this ethernet connected Mac Pro.

Btw, if you want to update your firmware, this is what I found searching. Has anybody used this with success?

http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,852.0.html
Click to expand...

Many active members here went through this firmware updater with good result. (including myself)
 
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BaltimoreMediaBlog said:
Thanks, I will give this a try later today to see how it works. I read you can revert back if not.

That is my biggest fear. That I brick the machine. :(
Click to expand...

I never heard anyone brick the machine by this updater (even the update fail).

BTW, the update process not always revisable. If your firmware version is B08 now, it cannot be reverted.

And make sure you read through the posts, there are few requirements e.g. need a EFI GPU, need disable SIP if running El Capitan, need to download the 5,1 firmware on your desktop etc.
 
h9826790 said:
I never heard anyone brick the machine by this updater (even the update fail).

BTW, the update process not always revisable. If your firmware version is B08 now, it cannot be reverted.

And make sure you read through the posts, there are few requirements e.g. need a EFI GPU, need disable SIP if running El Capitan, need to download the 5,1 firmware on your desktop etc.
Click to expand...

I have B08 it looks like, so I probably shouldn't do this as without a serialized logic board, I might be in serious trouble doing this. :(
 
h9826790 said:
It's your own choice, but from my memory, there is zero case in here brick the logic board by this updater.
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Not having a serialized logic board is rare. AppleCare rarely makes this mistake. It's never been an issue mostly. I didn't even notice it until FaceTime refused to authenticate. So I'll have to think about.
Of course Apple will be of no help to me even if I don't do this, so that's a huge risk. My important critical partitions would not be affected, but I'm worried none will boot regardless. :(
 
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