MP 1,1-5,1 Mac Pro 4 1 and GFX / PCIe Strange Issues

[Flukas McDoogle]

I rarely post to forums, but I lurk a lot. I'll prelude this by saying I've been googling and reading for days, but I can't find a solution that works. I'm posting here hoping someone has an answer from a fresh set of eyes, or to confirm "it's dead, Jim." As a non-known member, I'll do my best to be concise.

System: Mac Pro 4,1 Quad Core 2.66G Nehalem 8GB 1033 DDR3 RAM
Current OS: 10.6.8 and 10.9.5 and Windows 10 (different Drives)

Issue 1) Only one graphics card is recognized on the system, Nvidia GT120 (stock).
-Upgraded firmware from 4 1 to 5 1, installed macos Catalina using dosdude1.com's Catalina patcher. Graphics cards no longer recognized in Windows or macOS except the stock one.
-cards not working include Nvidia GTX 680 Mac Edition, AMD RX580 and RX Vega 56.
-tested with multiple variations of cards, Swapping cards, testing Window and macOS. In macOS, computer will not boot unless only the GT120 is installed. In windows, computer will boot, but not recognize or display on any display output EXCEPT GT120 (Windows tested with all GFX cards in pairs and solo, no display on solo EXCEPT with 120)
-cards not found in device manager. AMD and Nvidia installers do not find compatible hardware.
-did nvram and smc reset multiple times, between each check
-sip has been disabled (it re-enables after nvram reset, which I've never had happen before)
-tested all cards in PC tower, they work
-tested in a friend's 5 1 mac pro running Mojave, all cards work
-attempted to downgrade OS... (more on that below), same issue for windows and macOS
-before firmware upgrade there was no issue with any of these cards (more on that below)

I'm at a loss for what to do. I've tried Windows 7 and 10, and they don't see the cards Except the GT 120 either.

The only think I can conclude is, it's a weird firmware issue. This leads to issue 2

Issue 2) I cannot downgrade the firmware. The tool used, the netkas mac pro firmware tool NOR the patched version on github are working.
-tried each version, error 5570, read that the links to the firmware chanved, followed recommendation that the firmware dmg had to be manually downloaded and mounted. did so, same error.
-found tutorials various methods. (letting it fail once, patching the ramdisk that mounts, customizing the scripts in the app (using show package contents, etc)
-all attempts at reverting to 4 1 firmware have failed
-I thought maybe this was an OS related issue, so I tried to downgrade. I have installers for every os since snow leopard.
-this leads me to issue 3.

Issue 3) Only Snow Leopard and Mavericks will now fully install (unless I use a patchedOS using one of dosdude1.com's installers)
-I retried all the steps above in steps one and 2.. no juice.
-I have seen rumblings of using flashrom on linux to flash an older boot rom on the system, but I can't find a 4 1 boot rom to save my life, and am not very comfortable doing this unless absolutely necessary.
-The installation errors are basically either the typical "The macOS installation couldn't be completed..." or something about not finding the boot volume. and when mavericks or snow leopard install, it takes HOURS. This is booting from USB or flash drive. I've tried both. AND multiple drives. I'm stumped. I'm throwing in the towel.

If someone has a method or some way to make the Firmware Tool work, PLEASE for the love of God let me know. I'm at my wits end. Thank you all for reading this far, b/c if you have done so, you're a better human than me.

-Flukas

 

[tsialex]

I rarely post to forums, but I lurk a lot. I'll prelude this by saying I've been googling and reading for days, but I can't find a solution that works. I'm posting here hoping someone has an answer from a fresh set of eyes, or to confirm "it's dead, Jim." As a non-known member, I'll do my best to be concise.

System: Mac Pro 4,1 Quad Core 2.66G Nehalem 8GB 1033 DDR3 RAM
Current OS: 10.6.8 and 10.9.5 and Windows 10 (different Drives)

Issue 1) Only one graphics card is recognized on the system, Nvidia GT120 (stock).
-Upgraded firmware from 4 1 to 5 1, installed macos Catalina using dosdude1.com's Catalina patcher. Graphics cards no longer recognized in Windows or macOS except the stock one.
-cards not working include Nvidia GTX 680 Mac Edition, AMD RX580 and RX Vega 56.
-tested with multiple variations of cards, Swapping cards, testing Window and macOS. In macOS, computer will not boot unless only the GT120 is installed. In windows, computer will boot, but not recognize or display on any display output EXCEPT GT120 (Windows tested with all GFX cards in pairs and solo, no display on solo EXCEPT with 120)
-cards not found in device manager. AMD and Nvidia installers do not find compatible hardware.
-did nvram and smc reset multiple times, between each check
-sip has been disabled (it re-enables after nvram reset, which I've never had happen before)
-tested all cards in PC tower, they work
-tested in a friend's 5 1 mac pro running Mojave, all cards work
-attempted to downgrade OS... (more on that below), same issue for windows and macOS
-before firmware upgrade there was no issue with any of these cards (more on that below)

I'm at a loss for what to do. I've tried Windows 7 and 10, and they don't see the cards Except the GT 120 either.

The only think I can conclude is, it's a weird firmware issue. This leads to issue 2

Issue 2) I cannot downgrade the firmware. The tool used, the netkas mac pro firmware tool NOR the patched version on github are working.
-tried each version, error 5570, read that the links to the firmware chanved, followed recommendation that the firmware dmg had to be manually downloaded and mounted. did so, same error.
-found tutorials various methods. (letting it fail once, patching the ramdisk that mounts, customizing the scripts in the app (using show package contents, etc)
-all attempts at reverting to 4 1 firmware have failed
-I thought maybe this was an OS related issue, so I tried to downgrade. I have installers for every os since snow leopard.
-this leads me to issue 3.

Issue 3) Only Snow Leopard and Mavericks will now fully install (unless I use a patchedOS using one of dosdude1.com's installers)
-I retried all the steps above in steps one and 2.. no juice.
-I have seen rumblings of using flashrom on linux to flash an older boot rom on the system, but I can't find a 4 1 boot rom to save my life, and am not very comfortable doing this unless absolutely necessary.
-The installation errors are basically either the typical "The macOS installation couldn't be completed..." or something about not finding the boot volume. and when mavericks or snow leopard install, it takes HOURS. This is booting from USB or flash drive. I've tried both. AND multiple drives. I'm stumped. I'm throwing in the towel.

If someone has a method or some way to make the Firmware Tool work, PLEASE for the love of God let me know. I'm at my wits end. Thank you all for reading this far, b/c if you have done so, you're a better human than me.

-Flukas

Your problem is not firmware related, but caused by dosdude patches to make unsupported GPUs work again. Do a clean install of Mojave following this instructions, check if you have BootROM 144.0.0.0.0 and start your GPU tests, with Mojave, again.

MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (BootROM upgrade instructions thread)

Please fully read this first post, you will probably find that you have one or more problems described into the various notes below. Mojave will only install if you have upgraded your BootROM to the current release and your Mac Pro have a Metal capable GPU*. If you are trying to install Mojave...

forums.macrumors.com

Btw, after High Sierra you can't mix NVIDIA and AMD video cards. Another note, Mojave don't support Nehalem Xeons after 10.14.3. So, it's better to keep with High Sierra or upgrade to Westmere processors if you want Mojave. Catalina with a Nehalem Xeon will never work correctly.
[automerge]1577395097[/automerge]
GTX 680 only have drivers after 10.8.2. RX 580 started to be supported with 10.12.6, buggier as hell, work fine with 10.13.6 but the drivers are only mature with Mojave.

 

[Flukas McDoogle]

Thank you. I will try that again. Odd that Windows won't recognize anything other than the GT120, though. 🤔

 

[tsialex]

Thank you. I will try that again. Odd that Windows won't recognize anything other than the GT120, though. 🤔

Windows install an outdated NVIDIA driver that won’t work with GTX 680, so after Windows install you disconnect from Internet and disable the GT120 with DeviceManager before Windows Update install the driver. This is a known and documented fact.

 

[Snow Tiger]

"Another note, Mojave don't support Nehalem Xeons after 10.14.3. So, it's better to keep with High Sierra or upgrade to Westmere processors if you want Mojave. "

For every rule , there must be an exception

 

[tsialex]

"Another note, Mojave don't support Nehalem Xeons after 10.14.3. So, it's better to keep with High Sierra or upgrade to Westmere processors if you want Mojave. "

For every rule , there must be an exception

View attachment 884928

You can boot and work with a Nehalem Xeon, but you have audio stuttering, video playback issues, mysterious KPs and can't run anything dependent on Apple Hypervisor, like Docker or OpenCore VMM spoofing.

Last macOS version to officially support Nehalem Xeons was El Capitan, even unsupported everything worked fine up to 10.14.3, except for Apple Hypervisor support.

 

[Snow Tiger]

You can boot and work with a Nehalem Xeon, but you have audio stuttering, video playback issues, mysterious KPs and can't run anything dependent on Apple Hypervisor, like Docker.

Well , I don't use this Mac for audio editing . Is that where the stuttering occurs ? It's just a backup main system for my shop until it gets replaced with a MP 7,1 .

But I don't have any problems playing back movies with VLC or streaming , listening to music ( via bluetooth to my analog stereo or conversations with my Skype telephone ) and I've never had any kernel panics at all ( trust me , that would get my immediate attention ) .

Does Apple Hypervisor govern my Oracle Virtual Box ? My VM seems to be working fine with Windows XP to play ancient games .

I don't use Docker ...

 

[tsialex]

Well , I don't use this Mac for audio editing . Is that where the stuttering occurs ? It's just a backup main system for my shop until it gets replaced with a MP 7,1 .

But I don't have any problems playing back movies with VLC or streaming , listening to music ( via bluetooth to my analog stereo or conversations with my Skype telephone ) and I've never had any kernel panics at all ( trust me , that would get my immediate attention ) .

Does Apple Hypervisor govern my Oracle Virtual Box ? My VM seems to be working fine with Windows XP to play ancient games .

I don't use Docker ...

View attachment 884932

Professional audio applications and iTunes show the Nehalem problem easily. A Mac Pro with a single CPU tray and a Gainestown Xeon is not as much affected as a dual CPU, most people can't hear the stuttering problem with single trays and we thought that wasn't affected at all until very recently.

Strange Audio Issue on MP 4,1>5,1 Mojave 10.14.4

Ok, so this is my first post here since Ive been working with these machines for quite some time and Im fairly knowledgeable with these kinds of things, but this time Ive hit a brick wall so any help would be great. Recently got a Dual Quad 2.26 MP 4.1 with the intentions of maxing it on the...

forums.macrumors.com

VirtualBox don't use Apple Hypervisor. Docker, Anka, OpenCore VMM spoofing and other apps require it.

KPs happen with single and dual trays, but a lot more with duals. With single trays usually happens when going out of sleep and more with SMC 1.39f05. There are lots of posts about this too.

 

[MIKX]

YAnother note, Mojave don't support Nehalem Xeons after 10.14.3. So, it's better to keep with High Sierra or upgrade to Westmere processors if you want Mojave. Catalina with a Nehalem Xeon will never work correctly.

My 4,1>5,1 must be an exception. 😎

I experience absolutely no issues whatsoever in Mojave 10.14.6 Build 18G1012.

Perhaps a poll would be a good idea to clarify this.

 

[tsialex]

My 4,1>5,1 must be an exception. 😎

I experience absolutely no issues whatsoever in Mojave 10.14.6 Build 18G1012.

Perhaps a poll would be a good idea to clarify this.

Your MP5,1 is magical.

I can understand that since you don't work with audio you can't detect the stuttering problems, I can even accept that your workload don't trigger KPs, but did you ever tried to open VMware Fusion 11.5 or run Docker? This is stupidly easier to confirm.

 

[MIKX]

Your MP5,1 is magical.

sarcasm ? Perhaps the XEON 5570 is immune.

 

[tsialex]

sarcasm ? Perhaps the XEON 5570 is immune.

No, it's not since all Xeons Nehalem have the problem. Just open VMware Fusion, VMware offers a free 30-day test.

 

[MIKX]

No, it's not since all Xeons Nehalem have the problem. Just open VMware Fusion, VMware offers a free 30-day test.

I used VMWare Fusion last year ( OS X 10.6. ) without any issues. I have no compelling reason to re-install it again.

 

[tsialex]

I used VMWare Fusion last year ( OS X 10.6. ) without any issues. I have no compelling reason to re-install it again.

If you don't want to confirm that your Xeon can't work with Apple Hypervisor, you shouldn't write that it's immune and keep telling people that the problem don't exists, at best don't exists for you. Problems exists even if you can't trigger/hear it.

 

[MIKX]

Please read Post #11 again.

I did not say that the Xeon 5570 IS immune . . .

I typed " PERHAPS " the XEON 5570 is immune.

PERHAPS a POLL would would be easier than having me again installing VMware Fusion.

 

[Flukas McDoogle]

@tsialex First, I'd like to say thank you for your advice. It worked like a charm. (To recap, ur suggestion was: Running the Mojave installer, installing the firmware update to v 144, and then quitting the installer after the restart).

I am sticking with High Sierra. I really no longer use macOS much, so I just have it saved on a spare hard drive. My main concert was getting the RX Vega 56 up an running. macOS detected it just fine (Again, under High Sierra as stated before).

I tested everything again under windows (minus the nvidia cards, 120 & 680). All worked ok. Except the RX Vega 56 under windows. As I previously said, that card works on other computers, so, I'll just shrug and say it's just something between this machine and that card.

But that's ok with me. I got the firmware updated PROPERLY w/o any patched / hacked version of the OS, and I'll just set the MP aside for now. I'll upgrade it to Westmere at some point.

Again, thank you for your advice, I much appreciate it.