MP 1,1-5,1 Mac Pro 3,1 unable to boot from USB

[SheetLorde]

Hi,

I tried everything, but once I select the USB drive and press enter the machine froze.

I connect the same USB drive using SATA adaptor and it works, at this point I believe this is a firmware issue. But USB boot should be supported right?

 

[SheetLorde]

should I try a USB 3.0 PCIE card?

 

[tommy chen]

no, a cMP can´t boot from USB 3.x
only from onboard USB2.0

 

[defjam]

I am able to boot from USB on my 2008 Mac Pro.

 

[Macschrauber]

What do you try to boot?

Do Smc and a deep nvram reset (3 times in a row, hold keys pressed for a minute or two until it chimes 4 times)

 

[SheetLorde]

What do you try to boot?

Do Smc and a deep nvram reset (3 times in a row, hold keys pressed for a minute or two until it chimes 4 times)

I tried everything, Windows Installer/OSX installer/Linux/DOS, nothing works on USB but all works on SATA. I will try reset thanks

Also anything else than HFS or FAT32 won't boot, exFAT won't, my installed Windows with NTFS also won't.
I have to create a FAT32 boot volume to redirect to my NTFS windows volume

 

[Ludacrisvp]

Which USB ports are you using?
I've heard reports from some people that they have issues booting via USB on the front panel ports but the rear ones work fine.
I've never had that issue personally though.

Also, have you tried more than one USB stick?

 

[SheetLorde]

Which USB ports are you using?
I've heard reports from some people that they have issues booting via USB on the front panel ports but the rear ones work fine.
I've never had that issue personally though.

Also, have you tried more than one USB stick?

I tried both. What's the bootrom version I should be at? Maybe previous owner messed up the bootrom.

 

[Macsonic]

You could indicate the reason you want to boot from your USB drive so the members here may provide more suggestions on possible solutions. Like if you’re installing an OS or Windows or booting from a bootable OS drive. Unless I’m mistaken, you mentioned FAT32 and EXFat, these formats are not supported in Mac OS for booting. You can only boot from the Firewire and USB 2.0 ports. The Calidigit Pro 2nd Gen model, allows booting but only via the eSATA ports. I have this Caldigit and I can boot via eSATA only.

 

[Macschrauber]

-

 

[tsialex]

If a Deep nvram reset is not working the TE can try to use the generic firmware mp51.fd from Mojave Full Install as a test run. Just testing, Mac is without identity, no serial number etc.

Why you are suggesting cross flashing a MP5,1 firmware on a MP3,1??!?!

 

[Macschrauber]

Why you are suggesting cross flashing a MP5,1 firmware on a MP3,1??!?!

Thanks, yes that was dumb. I overlooked the 3.1, was too early in the morning and I had no coffee yet :-/

 

[SheetLorde]

Why you are suggesting cross flashing a MP5,1 firmware on a MP3,1??!?!

maybe copy the Bootrom from another working 3,1

 

[tsialex]

maybe copy the Bootrom from another working 3,1

Nope. You will be cloning the other Mac and Apple will block both. Never mess with a MP3,1 BootROM, it's the easiest Mac to brick and the most difficult to unbrick because uses two different types of flash memory for the BootROM.

 

[Ludacrisvp]

I find it highly unlikely to have anything to do with BootROM.
Probably a USB stick that just isn't bootable on a mac, I have a couple that will never boot from on any machine regardless of formatting style or what i'm trying to boot.

 

[SheetLorde]

Nope. You will be cloning the other Mac and Apple will block both. Never mess with a MP3,1 BootROM, it's the easiest Mac to brick and the most difficult to unbrick because uses two different types of flash memory for the BootROM.

Cool, I did flashed NVME boot support, works fine. Thanks for the advice, I guess I can live without USB boot, maybe create a boot drive using rufus instead of unetbootin/Bootcamp.
[automerge]1587399608[/automerge]

I find it highly unlikely to have anything to do with BootROM.
Probably a USB stick that just isn't bootable on a mac, I have a couple that will never boot from on any machine regardless of formatting style or what i'm trying to boot.

I tried 4 different USB drive