Mac Pro 3,1 Installation Guide for Sierra

[LarrikinAus]

Key Notes:


As Apple has decided to not support Sierra on the MacPro 3,1 , there needs to be modifications performed to allow Sierra to be installed on the Mac Pro 3,1

This installation guide ONLY applies for the Mac Pro 3,1.

I performed these steps on El Capitan - I have no idea if they will work on OS’s prior to that.

Note that the only way you’ll be able to install Sierra is to create a boot partition of the Sierra install - you won’t be able to simply double click on the install from a running OS.

——————————————
WARNING:

This could bork your machine. Do this at your own risk. I offer no guarantees or any sort of assurance that this will even work.

Ensure you have a full backup of your drive and also have an El Capitan (or whatever OS) install disk available in the event you need to roll back and restore.

——————————————--
Known issues in Sierra for Mac Pro 3,1

WIFI does not work and therefore location services does not work.

Fix: Purchase one of these http://www.osxwifi.com/apple-broadc...-4-0-with-adapter-for-imac-2007-and-imac-2008 and install it. It is natively supported by OSX and will give you Wifi AC and Bluetooth 4.0. All the functionality shown at WWDC should (can’t promise it will) work with that card.Without it, a lot of the functionality shown at WWDC will not work (such as auto unlock / universal clipboard / apple pay).

——————————————
THINGS YOU WILL NEED BEFORE YOU START

1. A copy of Sierra OSX - save it on your DESKTOP

2. A partition on your SATA hard drive – minimum 10 gig – that will be your initial boot / install drive for OSX - this will also be your recovery drive so its something you’ll need to keep on an ongoing basis to maintain the system. This hard drive must be plugged into your SATA port. Note that this CANNOT be a USB Stick or USB drive – I tried this and it failed. I could only get this to work using a partition on my hard drive plugged into my SATA port.

3. A copy of this file OSInstall.mpkg (save it somewhere as you’ll need it later in the steps listed below) - http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=09475824704156756445

4. A copy of this file IORegistryExplorer 3.0 - can be downloaded from here. Save it and keep it in a safe place as we’ll need it in the steps below later. http://www.osx86.net/files/file/3600-ioregistryexplorer/

5. THIS ONLY APPLIES IF YOU HAVE A PC BASED NVIDIA CARD: NVIDIA Web Driver for Sierra MacOS - save this file for later - do not run it now. http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/to...ver-updates-for-macos-sierra-update-06132016/

6. A Mac EFI supported card that does not require the NVIDIA web driver

——————————————
1. Open Disk Utility

2. Select the SATA partition you are going to use for the initial install / boot drive (note that this is NOT the same drive as the DESTINATION drive you’ll actually install Sierra on - this is your initial boot drive that you’ll use purely to install Sierra onto your main boot drive). You will need a minimum of 10 gig - I set mine to 20 gig to be safe. Select a volume name. For the sake of this tutorial, we’ll assume you set the VOLUME name to BOOTIE - I will refer everything going forward as BOOTIE but if you call it something else, then replace my BOOTIE name with whatever you called it.

3. Format this partition using OSX Extended Journaled and GUID Partition

4. When this has completed, open up terminal.

5. Type this command into terminal and hit enter: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE (you do not need to use SUDO)

6. Type this command into terminal and hit enter: killall Finder (you do not need to use SUDO)

7. Leave the terminal window open but go back to your desktop.

8. Right click on the OSX Sierra Installer App and select “SHOW PACKAGE CONTENTS". Mine is called Install 10.12 Developer Preview.

9. Browse to the folder /Contents/SharedSupport

10. Double-click to mount “InstallESD.dmg”

11. Within the InstallESD image, you’ll find in the root directory a file called “BaseSystem.dmg”. Double-click to mount “BaseSystem.dmg”

[NOTE] these next steps, in theory, can be replicated a different way using the restore method on disk utility - I tried that and it failed on me twice, so I did not use disk utility to do this, but rather the way I describe next - so I suggest you follow exactly what I did to get it working

12. Go back to terminal

13. Switch to root user by typing sudo su -

14. Enter your password when prompted from typing in sudo su -

15. Type this command into terminal and hit enter: cp -a /Volumes/"OS X Base System"/ /Volumes/BOOTIE/

16. Wait until copy is complete - you won’t get any sort of progress bar or verbose output - but it is working - just give it time. It took mine about 5 minutes.

17. Go back to your desktop

18. Using Finder, click on your BOOTIE partition

19. Go to the folder /System/Installation and delete the "Packages" alias file.

20. Now go back to the mounted InstallESD.dmg and drag the "Packages" folder into the BOOTIE partition folder of /System/Installation where the alias file called “Packages" used to be (i.e., the one you just deleted in step 19).

21. Still in InstallESD.dmg, copy the files “BaseSystem.dmg” and “BaseSystem.chunklist” to the root directory of the BOOTIE partition.

22. You can now unmount BaseSystem.dmg and InstallESD.dmg - you won’t be needing them again

23. Time to get that file you downloaded before you started called OSInstall.mpkg and copy it to the BOOTIE partition /System/Installation/Packages - select YES to replace the file that is already there

24. Now time to load the application IORegistryExplorer 3.0 which you downloaded before you started

25. In the left hand side of the application, you’ll see it says “Root" (which by default is selected) then a drop down to -> MacPro 3,1

26. Select MacPro 3,1 by clicking on it

27. On the right hand side you’ll see a value called “board-id”. Click on the VALUE field of the board ID and copy into the clipboard the part that looks like Mac-F42C88C8 (yours might be slightly different, so that’s fine if it is - copy your one) - do not copy the quotation marks

28. Close the IORegistryExplorer 3.0 application

29. Go back to BOOTIE in finder, and browse to the directory /System/Installation/Packages/

30. Using TextEdit, edit the file InstallableMachines.plist

31. Inside the file, go down to the last entry which will look something like this:

<string>Mac-942B5BF58194151B</string>

Replace the Mac-942B5BF58194151B text with your clipboard data which is your board ID that you copied in step 27. So it should now look something like

<string>Mac-F42C88C8</string>

32. Save the file and exit

33. Now in the BOOTIE in finder, browse to the directory /System/Library/CoreServices/

34. Using TextEdit, edit the file PlatformSupport.plist

35. Repeat step 31 inside this file - but do not exit the file at this stage.

36. Whilst remaining in the same file, scroll further down (it should only be a few lines down) to where you see:

<string>MacPro6,1</string>

change this to:

<string>MacPro3,1</string>

37. Save the file and exit

38. Now go back to terminal.

39. In terminal, type these commands and hit enter after each command

sudo bless --folder /Volumes/BOOTIE --file /Volumes/BOOTIE/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE

killall Finder

40. THIS STEP ONLY APPLIES TO PEOPLE RUNNING THE NVIDIA OPEN WEB DRIVER DUE TO HAVING A PC BASED NVIDIA CARD INSTALLED IN THEIR MAC PRO - go to step 41 if this does not apply to you

whilst still in terminal, type this command and hit enter:

sudo nvram boot-args="nv_disable=1”

41. Reboot (SHUTDOWN IF YOU HAVE A PC BASED CARD AS NOW IS THE TIME YOU NEED TO REMOVE YOUR PC CARD WITH THE EFI MAC CARD THAT DOESN’T REQUIRE A WEB DRIVER)

42. Hold down the ALT key when you hear the chime. Select the EFI drive (which will be BOOTIE) as your boot drive. Boot and install OSX as you normally would.

43. Once installed, your computer will automatically reboot. However, you are still not ready to boot using your new, normal boot drive.

44. Once again, hold down the ALT key and select the EFI BOOTIE drive.

45. Select TERMINAL

46. type this command and hit enter: rm /Volumes/[Main Drive Name]/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist

*note* that MAIN DRIVE NAME is the name of your new boot drive - not BOOTIE

47. THIS STEP ONLY APPLIES TO PEOPLE RUNNING THE NVIDIA OPEN WEB DRIVER DUE TO HAVING A PC BASED NVIDIA CARD INSTALLED IN THEIR MAC PRO - go to step 49 if this does not apply to you

type this command and hit enter: csrutil disable

48. NVIDIA web driver people - go to step 51, everyone else, continue.

49. Reboot and this time you are free to boot with your new boot drive with Sierra installed.

50. Finished if you don’t have a PC based Nvidia card that requires the NVIDIA web driver.

**note** if you use a SSD, you'll need to re-enable TRIM

to do this, type the following in terminal:

sudo trimforce enable
------
51. Reboot and boot into your new, normal, Sierra boot drive (i.e. not BOOTIE)

52. Install the NVIDIA web driver that you downloaded before you started

53. Shutdown your computer (not reboot)

54. Pull out your EFI mac card, and put back in your NVIDIA PC card

55. Turn Mac Pro back on and boot with your normal drive which now has Sierra installed. Your card should now work

**note** if you use a SSD, you'll need to re-enable TRIM

to do this, type the following in terminal:

sudo trimforce enable

—————————————
MAINTAIN SIERRA

If you apply an update to Sierra via the App store, and you find that you are unable to boot post that update (we don’t know yet how often this boot issue will occur because there have been no updates yet), you’ll need to do the following:

1. Hold down the ALT key when you hear the chime on boot

2. Select BOOTIE EFI drive

3. Open TERMINAL

4.type this command and hit enter: rm /Volumes/[Main Drive Name]/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist

*note* that MAIN DRIVE NAME is the name of your new boot drive - not BOOTIE

5. Reboot and you should be fixed

*note* if you have a PC based card, you are naturally going to have to swap cards back to perform these steps

 

[h9826790]

May I confirm that we need at least 2 HDD / SSD to finish the installation?

One for that 10GB partition.

The other one is the destination.

Because you said it MUST be another drive, so I would like to confirm it must be a separated drive, but cannot be a separated partition on the same HDD.

 

[LarrikinAus]

It can be the same drive - but different partitions - sorry for the confusion

 

[h9826790]

Thanks for the clarification. 2nd question.

Cannot download OSInstall.mpkg from your link. Do you have any more info on this file? Is it extracted from an old OSX installation apps?

 

[nigelbb]

WIFI does not work and therefore location services does not work.

Fix: Purchase one of these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L35XSMS/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and this https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Conv...147_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=QRE49DK9W5J5P85DE730 and install it. It is natively supported by OSX and will give you Wifi AC and Bluetooth 4.0. All the functionality shown at WWDC should (can’t promise it will) work with that card.Without it, a lot of the functionality shown at WWDC will not work (such as auto unlock / universal clipboard / apple pay).

Can you please confirm exactly what is needed? When I follow those links I get a list of products some of which may be the correct item. I'm assuming that it's the PCI WiFi adaptor with antennae but not sure of the actual card to purchase.

BTW Thanks very much for the tutorial that will enable me to run Sierra on the there Mac Pr 3,1s that I support.

 

[tpiselli]

A couple of things:
-Since your using the command line the following can be run (w/o sudo) to get the board id rather than downloading an app:
ioreg -lp IOService | grep board-id
-Not much of a fan of replacing the values in PlatformSupport.plist, would rather see people add another line with the needed values (you never know when you may have to swap a drive to another machine)
-Not much of a fan of deleting system files; would rather see people make a copy of PlatformSupport.plist and if an update changes that file the backup can be used to overwrite it.
-Another way of installing sierra is to boot the mac3,1 into target disk mode to another Mac that is still compatible. Point the installer at the target disk and let it do its thing. Once done you'll need to edit PlatformSupport.plist to add the board id.
Good article with a lot of details.

 

[netkas]

In addition to that, disable SIP before starting installation, sip may not allow bless command to work.

 

[nigelbb]

-Another way of installing sierra is to boot the mac3,1 into target disk mode to another Mac that is still compatible. Point the installer at the target disk and let it do its thing. Once done you'll need to edit PlatformSupport.plist to add the board id.

Thanks for this extra info which will make it so much easier for me to simply boot the Mac Pro 3,1 into target disk mode & install from my Retina MBP. I just need to buy a Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter

 

[vivo]

I just installed 10.12 on my Mac Pro 2008 from 8 gb USB Stick.

Worked fine.

 

[LarrikinAus]

Thanks for the clarification. 2nd question.

Cannot download OSInstall.mpkg from your link. Do you have any more info on this file? Is it extracted from an old OSX installation apps?

The file seems to be working fine - not sure why you are having issues downloading? Are you getting an error message? The package is from an older version that has been updated to allow Sierra to work.
[doublepost=1466075492][/doublepost]

Can you please confirm exactly what is needed? When I follow those links I get a list of products some of which may be the correct item. I'm assuming that it's the PCI WiFi adaptor with antennae but not sure of the actual card to purchase.

BTW Thanks very much for the tutorial that will enable me to run Sierra on the there Mac Pr 3,1s that I support.

You specifically need two things:

1. Broadcom BCM94360CD card (first link)
2. Mini PCI-E Adapter Converter for BCM94360CD

you do not need the antenna cables. There are instructions on how to install it here http://avayarob.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/how-i-enabled-handoff-on-mac-pro-2008.html
[doublepost=1466075591][/doublepost]

A couple of things:
-Since your using the command line the following can be run (w/o sudo) to get the board id rather than downloading an app:
ioreg -lp IOService | grep board-id
-Not much of a fan of replacing the values in PlatformSupport.plist, would rather see people add another line with the needed values (you never know when you may have to swap a drive to another machine)
-Not much of a fan of deleting system files; would rather see people make a copy of PlatformSupport.plist and if an update changes that file the backup can be used to overwrite it.
-Another way of installing sierra is to boot the mac3,1 into target disk mode to another Mac that is still compatible. Point the installer at the target disk and let it do its thing. Once done you'll need to edit PlatformSupport.plist to add the board id.
Good article with a lot of details.

All good points - I'll leave the guide as is as its more intended for how I did it. If people want to iterate it, they are welcome to. I had heard though that if there are additional lines in the platformsupport.plist, it could fail due to software checks. I don't know if its true, but that's why I overwrote rather than created a new line.
[doublepost=1466075631][/doublepost]

In addition to that, disable SIP before starting installation, sip may not allow bless command to work.

I didn't disable SIP until I put the NVIDIA card in - the bless command worked without me disabling SIP - but a good point nevertheless if someone wants to do it that way.
[doublepost=1466075706][/doublepost]

I just installed 10.12 on my Mac Pro 2008 from 8 gb USB Stick.

Worked fine.

Nice. Just keep that USB stick handy as you'll need it as your rescue disk and for ongoing maintenance.

 

[nigelbb]

You specifically need two things:

1. Broadcom BCM94360CD card (first link)
2. Mini PCI-E Adapter Converter for BCM94360CD

you do not need the antenna cables. There are instructions on how to install it here http://avayarob.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/how-i-enabled-handoff-on-mac-pro-2008.html

Your links to the products don't work properly as they have extraneous garbage on the end
I think that this is the link to the Broadcom card
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L35XSMS
I am not sure whether this is the adapter https://www.amazon.com/Fenvi-Wireless-Converter-Low-profile-BCM94360CD/dp/B0144KJOIA/
or this:-
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SZXJ34I/
The link to the card & adapter combo in the blog post is over $100 & shipped from China so I would like to save a few bucks & get it delivered more quickly by ordering from Amazon
[doublepost=1466082148][/doublepost]As the Bluetooth is iffy on the Mac Pro & very prone to interference from USB 3.0 devices & I have already installed an external antenna on two of my Mac Pro 3,1s & have a spare PCI-e slot I would prefer the version that provides external antennae. I think that this is the correct item https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0144KJM0U/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza

 

[tpiselli]

All good points - I'll leave the guide as is as its more intended for how I did it. If people want to iterate it, they are welcome to. I had heard though that if there are additional lines in the platformsupport.plist, it could fail due to software checks. I don't know if its true, but that's why I overwrote rather than created a new line.
[doublepost=1466075631][/doublepost]

Yes the guide is great and I'm glad someone took the time to document it. Never heard about a limit to the number of entries in the the file. I've used this method with my 2008 XServes and always add the entries to the end. I think so long an there are an equal number of board ids to machine names things are good. The only issues I've seen since I did the install is with screen sharing (I run my machine headless) as it appears to hang but this is a beta so it's not unexpected.

 

[h9826790]

I read this thread few times. So, the process can be simplified to 2 big steps.

1) boot as target disk mode and install Sierra by another supported Mac.

2) Reboot into recovery partition, and use terminal to run "sudo rm /Volumes/[Main Drive Name]/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist"

Am I miss something?

 

[tpiselli]

I read this thread few times. So, the process can be simplify to 2 big steps.

1) boot as target disk mode and install Sierra by another supported Mac.

2) Reboot into recovery partition, and use terminal to run "sudo rm /Volumes/[Main Drive Name]/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist"

Am I miss something?

So here's what I have and did. Please note that I installed Sierra the day after it was available and had to go out of town shortly thereafter so I haven't played around with it very much after it was installed. My mac3,1 has two drives one of which has the current version of El Capitan while the other had an older version of OS X which I'd forgotten about. I installed Sierra on the second drive (named "extra") overtop of the existing OS X install.
-Normally I run the mac3,1 as a headless computer which I access via screen sharing but, for this install I added a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
-Ran the following command from the Terminal to get the board id and saved the it on the iMac:
ioreg -lp IOService | grep board-id
-Connected mac3,1, via firewire, to my 2010 iMac which is Sierra supported.
-Downloaded Sierra on the iMac
-Booted mac3,1 in target disk mode; both drives showed up on the iMac.
-Launched the Sierra installer.
-Selected the disk "extra" as the target for the installation.
-The installer started and after copying some files the iMac restarted and went directly into the installer. The installation continued without error until it finished at which time the iMac restarted again.
-The restart caused the iMac to run Sierra (using the "extra" drive from mac3,1) and was waiting for me to enter a password to continue. At this point I shutdown both computers. I restarted the iMac and held down the Option key which allowed me to select the iMac's normal start up disk. Once the iMac restarted I once again restarted mac3,1 in target disk mode.
-Once the drives were again visible on the iMac I used the Terminal to edit the PlatformSupport.plist file. The command I used was: sudo view /Volumes/extra/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist
The view command is a variant of Vi so you'll need to know Vi to edit the file. I added a line for the board id for the value we got from the command we ran earlier and a line for the model properties using the value of MacPro3,1.
Of course the command:
sudo rm /Volumes/[Main Drive Name]/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist
can work just as well.
-After editing and saving the PlatformSupport.plist file I shutdown mac3,1. I then restarted mac3,1 while holding the Option key which allowed me to select the drive "extra" to startup from. The computer started and asked me for my password after which the setup program started and eventually I was in macOS Sierra.

So that's it. This is the same process I used for my 2008 Xserves for OS X 10.9 and 10.10 and should work with some of the other computers that are now no longer supported. Enjoy

 

[h9826790]

So here's what I have and did. Please note that I installed Sierra the day after it was available and had to go out of town shortly thereafter so I haven't played around with it very much after it was installed. My mac3,1 has two drives one of which has the current version of El Capitan while the other had an older version of OS X which I'd forgotten about. I installed Sierra on the second drive (named "extra") overtop of the existing OS X install.
-Normally I run the mac3,1 as a headless computer which I access via screen sharing but, for this install I added a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
-Ran the following command from the Terminal to get the board id and saved the it on the iMac:
ioreg -lp IOService | grep board-id
-Connected mac3,1, via firewire, to my 2010 iMac which is Sierra supported.
-Downloaded Sierra on the iMac
-Booted mac3,1 in target disk mode; both drives showed up on the iMac.
-Launched the Sierra installer.
-Selected the disk "extra" as the target for the installation.
-The installer started and after copying some files the iMac restarted and went directly into the installer. The installation continued without error until it finished at which time the iMac restarted again.
-The restart caused the iMac to run Sierra (using the "extra" drive from mac3,1) and was waiting for me to enter a password to continue. At this point I shutdown both computers. I restarted the iMac and held down the Option key which allowed me to select the iMac's normal start up disk. Once the iMac restarted I once again restarted mac3,1 in target disk mode.
-Once the drives were again visible on the iMac I used the Terminal to edit the PlatformSupport.plist file. The command I used was: sudo view /Volumes/extra/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist
The view command is a variant of Vi so you'll need to know Vi to edit the file. I added a line for the board id for the value we got from the command we ran earlier and a line for the model properties using the value of MacPro3,1.
Of course the command:
sudo rm /Volumes/[Main Drive Name]/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist
can work just as well.
-After editing and saving the PlatformSupport.plist file I shutdown mac3,1. I then restarted mac3,1 while holding the Option key which allowed me to select the drive "extra" to startup from. The computer started and asked me for my password after which the setup program started and eventually I was in macOS Sierra.

So that's it. This is the same process I used for my 2008 Xserves for OS X 10.9 and 10.10 and should work with some of the other computers that are now no longer supported. Enjoy

Thanks for your sharing. Of course mod the plist file should be a better option than delete that without knowing the possible consequence. I chose that rm command just because it has less work to do.

However, in theory, my "simplest 2 steps installation" should also work, right?

mod / rm the plist file via target disk mode or do that via recovery partition on the 3,1 itself should have exactly the same effect. Unless the recovery partition of 10.12 is unusable until the plist mod is done (assuming there is no other HDD in the 3,1, but only a clean HDD for Sierra installation).

 

[tpiselli]

However, in theory, my "simplest 2 steps installatiom" should also work, right?

Yes, the 2 step version should do it.

 

[Pcguru2010]

Key Notes:

Great job, Larry! I only had a problem with the final command:

Sudo rm /Volumes/Sierra/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist

When I was at the "bash 3.2" prompt, it did not like "sudo" because I'm already logged-in as root.
So, when I remove "sudo" from the "rm" command, it worked.

Also, my wi-fi was compatible.

Thanks again!

As Apple has decided to not support Sierra on the MacPro 3,1 , there needs to be modifications performed to allow Sierra to be installed on the Mac Pro 3,1

This installation guide ONLY applies for the Mac Pro 3,1.

I performed these steps on El Capitan - I have no idea if they will work on OS’s prior to that.

Note that the only way you’ll be able to install Sierra is to create a boot partition of the Sierra install - you won’t be able to simply double click on the install from a running OS.

——————————————
WARNING:

This could bork your machine. Do this at your own risk. I offer no guarantees or any sort of assurance that this will even work.

Ensure you have a full backup of your drive and also have an El Capitan (or whatever OS) install disk available in the event you need to roll back and restore.

——————————————--
Known issues in Sierra for Mac Pro 3,1

WIFI does not work and therefore location services does not work.

Fix: Purchase one of these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L35XSMS/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and this https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Conv...147_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=QRE49DK9W5J5P85DE730 and install it. It is natively supported by OSX and will give you Wifi AC and Bluetooth 4.0. All the functionality shown at WWDC should (can’t promise it will) work with that card.Without it, a lot of the functionality shown at WWDC will not work (such as auto unlock / universal clipboard / apple pay).

——————————————
THINGS YOU WILL NEED BEFORE YOU START

1. A copy of Sierra OSX - save it on your DESKTOP

2. A partition on your SATA hard drive – minimum 10 gig – that will be your initial boot / install drive for OSX - this will also be your recovery drive so its something you’ll need to keep on an ongoing basis to maintain the system. This hard drive must be plugged into your SATA port. Note that this CANNOT be a USB Stick or USB drive – I tried this and it failed. I could only get this to work using a partition on my hard drive plugged into my SATA port.

3. A copy of this file OSInstall.mpkg (save it somewhere as you’ll need it later in the steps listed below) - http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=09475824704156756445

4. A copy of this file IORegistryExplorer 3.0 - can be downloaded from here. Save it and keep it in a safe place as we’ll need it in the steps below later. http://www.osx86.net/files/file/3600-ioregistryexplorer/

5. THIS ONLY APPLIES IF YOU HAVE A PC BASED NVIDIA CARD: NVIDIA Web Driver for Sierra MacOS - save this file for later - do not run it now. http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/to...ver-updates-for-macos-sierra-update-06132016/

6. A Mac EFI supported card that does not require the NVIDIA web driver

——————————————
1. Open Disk Utility

2. Select the SATA partition you are going to use for the initial install / boot drive (note that this is NOT the same drive as the DESTINATION drive you’ll actually install Sierra on - this is your initial boot drive that you’ll use purely to install Sierra onto your main boot drive). You will need a minimum of 10 gig - I set mine to 20 gig to be safe. Select a volume name. For the sake of this tutorial, we’ll assume you set the VOLUME name to BOOTIE - I will refer everything going forward as BOOTIE but if you call it something else, then replace my BOOTIE name with whatever you called it.

3. Format this partition using OSX Extended Journaled and GUID Partition

4. When this has completed, open up terminal.

5. Type this command into terminal and hit enter: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE (you do not need to use SUDO)

6. Type this command into terminal and hit enter: killall Finder (you do not need to use SUDO)

7. Leave the terminal window open but go back to your desktop.

8. Right click on the OSX Sierra Installer App and select “SHOW PACKAGE CONTENTS". Mine is called Install 10.12 Developer Preview.

9. Browse to the folder /Contents/SharedSupport

10. Double-click to mount “InstallESD.dmg”

11. Within the InstallESD image, you’ll find in the root directory a file called “BaseSystem.dmg”. Double-click to mount “BaseSystem.dmg”

[NOTE] these next steps, in theory, can be replicated a different way using the restore method on disk utility - I tried that and it failed on me twice, so I did not use disk utility to do this, but rather the way I describe next - so I suggest you follow exactly what I did to get it working

12. Go back to terminal

13. Switch to root user by typing sudo su -

14. Enter your password when prompted from typing in sudo su -

15. Type this command into terminal and hit enter: cp -a /Volumes/"OS X Base System"/ /Volumes/BOOTIE/

16. Wait until copy is complete - you won’t get any sort of progress bar or verbose output - but it is working - just give it time. It took mine about 5 minutes.

17. Go back to your desktop

18. Using Finder, click on your BOOTIE partition

19. Go to the folder /System/Installation and delete the "Packages" alias file.

20. Now go back to the mounted InstallESD.dmg and drag the "Packages" folder into the BOOTIE partition folder of /System/Installation where the alias file called “Packages" used to be (i.e., the one you just deleted in step 19).

21. Still in InstallESD.dmg, copy the files “BaseSystem.dmg” and “BaseSystem.chunklist” to the root directory of the BOOTIE partition.

22. You can now unmount BaseSystem.dmg and InstallESD.dmg - you won’t be needing them again

23. Time to get that file you downloaded before you started called OSInstall.mpkg and copy it to the BOOTIE partition /System/Installation/Packages - select YES to replace the file that is already there

24. Now time to load the application IORegistryExplorer 3.0 which you downloaded before you started

25. In the left hand side of the application, you’ll see it says “Root" (which by default is selected) then a drop down to -> MacPro 3,1

26. Select MacPro 3,1 by clicking on it

27. On the right hand side you’ll see a value called “board-id”. Click on the VALUE field of the board ID and copy into the clipboard the part that looks like Mac-F42C88C8 (yours might be slightly different, so that’s fine if it is - copy your one) - do not copy the quotation marks

28. Close the IORegistryExplorer 3.0 application

29. Go back to BOOTIE in finder, and browse to the directory /System/Installation/Packages/

30. Using TextEdit, edit the file InstallableMachines.plist

31. Inside the file, go down to the last entry which will look something like this:

<string>Mac-942B5BF58194151B</string>

Replace the Mac-942B5BF58194151B text with your clipboard data which is your board ID that you copied in step 27. So it should now look something like

<string>Mac-F42C88C8</string>

32. Save the file and exit

33. Now in the BOOTIE in finder, browse to the directory /System/Library/CoreServices/

34. Using TextEdit, edit the file PlatformSupport.plist

35. Repeat step 31 inside this file - but do not exit the file at this stage.

36. Whilst remaining in the same file, scroll further down (it should only be a few lines down) to where you see:

<string>MacPro6,1</string>

change this to:

<string>MacPro3,1</string>

37. Save the file and exit

38. Now go back to terminal.

39. In terminal, type these commands and hit enter after each command

sudo bless --folder /Volumes/BOOTIE --file /Volumes/BOOTIE/System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE

killall Finder

40. THIS STEP ONLY APPLIES TO PEOPLE RUNNING THE NVIDIA OPEN WEB DRIVER DUE TO HAVING A PC BASED NVIDIA CARD INSTALLED IN THEIR MAC PRO - go to step 41 if this does not apply to you

whilst still in terminal, type this command and hit enter:

sudo nvram boot-args="nv_disable=1”

41. Reboot (SHUTDOWN IF YOU HAVE A PC BASED CARD AS NOW IS THE TIME YOU NEED TO REMOVE YOUR PC CARD WITH THE EFI MAC CARD THAT DOESN’T REQUIRE A WEB DRIVER)

42. Hold down the ALT key when you hear the chime. Select the EFI drive (which will be BOOTIE) as your boot drive. Boot and install OSX as you normally would.

43. Once installed, your computer will automatically reboot. However, you are still not ready to boot using your new, normal boot drive.

44. Once again, hold down the ALT key and select the EFI BOOTIE drive.

45. Select TERMINAL

46. type this command and hit enter: sudo rm /Volumes/[Main Drive Name]/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist

*note* that MAIN DRIVE NAME is the name of your new boot drive - not BOOTIE

47. THIS STEP ONLY APPLIES TO PEOPLE RUNNING THE NVIDIA OPEN WEB DRIVER DUE TO HAVING A PC BASED NVIDIA CARD INSTALLED IN THEIR MAC PRO - go to step 49 if this does not apply to you

type this command and hit enter: csrutil disable

48. NVIDIA web driver people - go to step 51, everyone else, continue.

49. Reboot and this time you are free to boot with your new boot drive with Sierra installed.

50. Finished if you don’t have a PC based Nvidia card that requires the NVIDIA web driver.

**note** if you use a SSD, you'll need to re-enable TRIM

to do this, type the following in terminal:

sudo trimforce enable
------
51. Reboot and boot into your new, normal, Sierra boot drive (i.e. not BOOTIE)

52. Install the NVIDIA web driver that you downloaded before you started

53. Shutdown your computer (not reboot)

54. Pull out your EFI mac card, and put back in your NVIDIA PC card

55. Turn Mac Pro back on and boot with your normal drive which now has Sierra installed. Your card should now work

**note** if you use a SSD, you'll need to re-enable TRIM

to do this, type the following in terminal:

sudo trimforce enable

—————————————
MAINTAIN SIERRA

If you apply an update to Sierra via the App store, and you find that you are unable to boot post that update (we don’t know yet how often this boot issue will occur because there have been no updates yet), you’ll need to do the following:

1. Hold down the ALT key when you hear the chime on boot

2. Select BOOTIE EFI drive

3. Open TERMINAL

4.type this command and hit enter: sudo rm /Volumes/[Main Drive Name]/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist

*note* that MAIN DRIVE NAME is the name of your new boot drive - not BOOTIE

5. Reboot and you should be fixed

*note* if you have a PC based card, you are naturally going to have to swap cards back to perform these steps

 

[filmak]

I think that we have started to enter hackintosh area...

BTW thank you for your article and your time.

 

[MacDann]

Thanks to LarrikinAus for the conversion guide! I have my Mac Pro 3,1 booting into Sierra on an internal volume with minimal effort. A couple of observations:

I had to disable SIP to create the installer. It wasn't obvious that the proper files were being installed or modified until after I was done. When I discovered this I booted into recovery mode and disabled SIP. I started over from scratch and it worked the second time around.

In both cases, I was unable to modify the original PlatformSupport.plist file, as it was locked. Even as root I was unable to change the ownership, so I let TextEdit create a copy which I modified and replaced the original with.

During the copying of the base system, an error regarding the ACLs on boot.efi comes up. Since there was no reference to this I had some concerns, but understood later that the blessing of the volume fixes this. You might want to make a reference to this so people understand it's OK. If they read through the whole procedure before implementing it they should understand, but this might alleviate some minor panic for those who don't.

Other than these relatively insignificant items, the install went smoothly and appears to work well.

Now on to my MacBook Pro 5,1!

Again, thank you!

MacDann

 

[gpzjock]

I think that we have started to enter hackintosh area...

BTW thank you for your article and your time.

I for one, welcome my MP 3,1 brothers into the Hackintosh community. Netkas is your friend!

 

[Fuchal]

Thanks so much for your work! My Mac Pro lasts another year!

 

[LarrikinAus]

Thanks to LarrikinAus for the conversion guide! I have my Mac Pro 3,1 booting into Sierra on an internal volume with minimal effort. A couple of observations:

I had to disable SIP to create the installer....
Again, thank you!

MacDann

I didn't have any of the issues you describe and didn't have to disable SIP to create the installer. I'm not sure how I'd replicate them either. Anyway, glad you got it sorted

 

[MacDann]

I didn't have any of the issues you describe and didn't have to disable SIP to create the installer. I'm not sure how I'd replicate them either. Anyway, glad you got it sorted

It might have been due to some permission issues with either the installer I have or the volume I created. The first time around I noticed that the boot.efi file was created on the new volume, so I was a little confused as to why I got the error.

Either way, it works, which is all that matters. Hopefully my experience will allow anyone who has similar issues to work around them.

Thanks again for putting this together, it is greatly appreciated!

MacDann

 

[CapnDavey]

thats cheating hehe but whatever works and gets the job done

 

[nounousomes]

Can someone help doing a disk image (dmg) for recovery of the virgin installed MacOS on MacPro 3,1? This would be awsome, as it did not work for me.