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Mac Pro 4,1 to 5,1 to Mojave : NEED HELP

izapp

izapp

macrumors member
Original poster
May 30, 2013
32
0
Crete, Greece
Hello everyone.

I have a Mac Pro 4,1 (Early 2009) currently running OSX 10.11.6

My goal here is to make the necessary upgrades/actions in order to make this to work perfectly with the latest OSX Mojave /w working SSD & USB 3.0

My specs are : 2x2,93Ghz Quad Xeon / 24GB RAM / EVGA GTX 660 2GB SC /
Samsung SSD via Sonnet Tempo SSD PCIe Adapter
Sonnet Alegro USB 3.0 PCIe Card

These are my questions :

- Is the upgrade to 5,1 and then to Mojave possible without any hardware upgrades?

- Do I need a new GPU? I see that the SAPPHIRE RX 580 8GB is metal-compatible, will it work on this setup without any issues? Any other similar GPUs that are working on Mojave with a Mac Pro?

-Anything other hardware change needed? Will the Sonnet cards work on Mojave or I need to invest in a new ones?

- Right now with my GTX 660 I have a black screen on boot. I also have the Radeon HD 5770, which I used for whenever I needed the boot screen. Will the Radeon HD 5770 work with this upgrade? from 4,1 to 5,1 and then to Mojave? If not, if I upgrade to a SAPPHIRE RX 580 8GB or other compatible GPU, will I be able to see boot screen?

I greatly appreciate your time as I have been frustrated with the info online on what I need to do to be prepared.

Thank you again,
Luke
 
Last edited:
izapp said:
Hello everyone.

I have a Mac Pro 4,1 (Early 2009) currently running OSX 10.11.6

My goal here is to make the necessary upgrades/actions in order to make this to work perfectly with the latest OSX Mojave /w working SSD & USB 3.0

My specs are : 2x2,93Ghz Quad Xeon / 24GB RAM / EVGA GTX 660 2GB SC /
Samsung SSD via Sonnet Tempo SSD PCIe Adapter
Sonnet Alegro USB 3.0 PCIe Card

These are my questions :

- Is the upgrade to 5,1 and then to Mojave possible without any hardware upgrades?
Click to expand...
Just upgrade the firmware, 4,1 to 5,1, yes - no hardware upgrades needed. What is your current BootROM version (SystemInformation>HardwareOverview>BootROM version)?

- Do I need a new GPU? I see that the SAPPHIRE RX 580 8GB is metal-compatible, will it work on this setup without any issues? Any other similar GPUs that are working on Mojave with a Mac Pro?
Click to expand...

If your GTX 660 uses the Apple NVIDIA native driver, you don't need a new one, but you will need to install 10.14.1 via macOS and not from a createinstallmedia usb-key. Read MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave, pay attention to the GTX 680 note.

-Anything other hardware change needed? Will the Sonnet cards work on Mojave or I need to invest in a new ones?
Click to expand...

I think both will work without problem.

- Right now with my GTX 660 I have a black screen on boot. I also have the Radeon HD 5770, which I used for whenever I needed the boot screen. Will the Radeon HD 5770 work with this upgrade? from 4,1 to 5,1 and then to Mojave? If not, if I upgrade to a SAPPHIRE RX 580 8GB or other compatible GPU, will I be able to see boot screen?
Click to expand...

HD 5770 is not supported with Mojave anymore, is not a Metal supported GPU, but the GTX 660 is a Metal supported GPU and work with Mojave.
 
izapp said:
Will the Sonnet cards work on Mojave or I need to invest in a new ones?
Click to expand...

The USB card uses a Fresco Logic FL100 chipset. It works fine and should continue to do so for a long time.

I don't have a Tempo card, so I can't speak to that, but I've heard no BUZZ going around about it failing to work in Mojave.
 
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I had a little "fun" getting the firmware upgrade to take on my 4,1. The system powered down like normal, so I held the power button and kept holding it as it was flashing. Then it unexpectedly shut down.

I held the power button again, and went through flashing to solid light, to flashing, and finally (about 10 seconds from when I started pushing the button) got the tone. The firmware update went though just fine.

That being said, although I am running Mojave, my video card from MacVidCards is not accelerated. Nvidia doesn't have drivers for 10.14 yet. This is particularly painful since I have a 4K monitor. Draws are really slow.
 
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tsialex said:
What is your current BootROM version (SystemInformation>HardwareOverview>BootROM version)?
Click to expand...

My current BootROM Version is MP41.0081.B07

tsialex said:
If your GTX 660 uses the Apple NVIDIA native driver, you don't need a new one, but you will need to install 10.14.1 via macOS and not from a createinstallmedia usb-key. Read MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave, pay attention to the GTX 680 note.
Click to expand...

I am currently working with nVidia Web Drivers on my GPU on OSX 10.11.6
Are these the original drivers? Mojave doesn't have drivers yet for Nvidia so that means that it will not be accelerated? (I am interested in Video & Photo editing)

tsialex said:
HD 5770 is not supported with Mojave anymore, is not a Metal supported GPU, but the GTX 660 is a Metal supported GPU and work with Mojave.
Click to expand...

So, from what I understand is that in order to upgrade from OSX 10.11.6 to 10.12.6 and to update BootROM MP51.0089.B00 I need my HD 5770, right? After this is all done, I switch to my GTX660 and continue with the Mojave installer? So, when Mojave Installs I will have a black screen until it boots for the first time?

Thank you very much everyone for the replies, it is much appreciated as I do not have another computer right now and have to make this upgrade without any issues.

Looking forward for your replies :)
 
izapp said:
My current BootROM Version is MP41.0081.B07



I am currently working with nVidia Web Drivers on my GPU on OSX 10.11.6
Are these the original drivers? Mojave doesn't have drivers yet for Nvidia so that means that it will not be accelerated? (I am interested in Video & Photo editing)



So, from what I understand is that in order to upgrade from OSX 10.11.6 to 10.12.6 and to update BootROM MP51.0089.B00 I need my HD 5770, right? After this is all done, I switch to my GTX660 and continue with the Mojave installer? So, when Mojave Installs I will have a black screen until it boots for the first time?

Thank you very much everyone for the replies, it is much appreciated as I do not have another computer right now and have to make this upgrade without any issues.

Looking forward for your replies :)
Click to expand...
Sent you a PM.
 
@tsialex - please don’t tell me that Nvidia ARE going to upgrade their driver to emulate metal cards! I have just bitten the bullet and bought an MSI RX580 8gb, now leaving me with menagerie hd6870, hd4850, gtx 120, hd5770, hd 7950 Mac version and one I can’t even remember. Once the rx580 arrives I will be giving cards away to good homes ( UK ONLY)
 
Wharfedaler said:
@tsialex - please don’t tell me that Nvidia ARE going to upgrade their driver to emulate metal cards! I have just bitten the bullet and bought an MSI RX580 8gb, now leaving me with menagerie hd6870, hd4850, gtx 120, hd5770, hd 7950 Mac version and one I can’t even remember. Once the rx580 arrives I will be giving cards away to good homes ( UK ONLY)
Click to expand...

HD 7950 has METAL support and can be flashed to Mac EFI.

How do you emulate METAL support before the driver loads? A GPU has METAL support or not.

One thing that NVIDIA did: RTX 2080 supports METAL and have Mac EFI support, but previous cards are not getting Mac EFI support.
 
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tsialex said:
HD 7950 has METAL support and can be flashed to Mac EFI.

How do you emulate METAL support before the driver loads? A GPU has METAL support or not.

One thing that NVIDIA did: RTX 2080 supports METAL and have Mac EFI support, but previous cards are not getting Mac EFI support.
Click to expand...

Whilst I have a. HD7950 Mac Version it only has 3gb vram and I need at least 6gb to use in the flight sim XP11. I bought a HD1060 6gb for the purpose which died after a year of changing NVIDIA drivers after every OS X upgrade. What would sadden me to find NVIDIA did find a work around so their cards could drive Mojave (I used the word emulate as I am not a coder and was searching for a word that would best describe an NVIDIA. METAL breakthrough).
Nb your detailed description of the steps needed to get a Mojave with 140.0.0.0 was superb - thank you from me and all the other Mac users who used your advice.
 
Wharfedaler said:
Whilst I have a. HD7950 Mac Version it only has 3gb vram and I need at least 6gb to use in the flight sim XP11. I bought a HD1060 6gb for the purpose which died after a year of changing NVIDIA drivers after every OS X upgrade. What would sadden me to find NVIDIA did find a work around so their cards could drive Mojave (I used the word emulate as I am not a coder and was searching for a word that would best describe an NVIDIA. METAL breakthrough).
Click to expand...

Until NVIDIA and Apple finally resolve what is going on with Mojave driver support for cards newer than Kepler, if you really need a NVIDIA GPU, you have two options:

  1. GTX 780 6GB, It’s a uncommon and pricier GPU, but at least 3 users here have one, one even have/had two.
  2. Kepler Titan GPUs work with Mojave NVIDIA native drivers, and have 6GB of RAM, too. It’s another pricier card but should be easier to find.

Nb your detailed description of the steps needed to get a Mojave with 140.0.0.0 was superb - thank you from me and all the other Mac users who used your advice.
Click to expand...
Thx!
 
Problem. Had moved on having boot-rom of MP51.0089.B00 and started the Mojave flash. Got the long tone and disk drive door opened then got a white screen lasting an hour! Turned Mac Pro off. On restarting no chime , just a black screen. Tried resetting pram but get nothing. No keyboard so no options there. Tried usb boot start but nothing just a black screen. When I press startup button for 10 seconds get flashing light then disk drive door opens but nothing else.
I think I have an refi chip problem. Any advice would be gratefully accepted.
 
Wharfedaler said:
Problem. Had moved on having boot-rom of MP51.0089.B00 and started the Mojave flash. Got the long tone and disk drive door opened then got a white screen lasting an hour! Turned Mac Pro off. On restarting no chime , just a black screen. Tried resetting pram but get nothing. No keyboard so no options there. Tried usb boot start but nothing just a black screen. When I press startup button for 10 seconds get flashing light then disk drive door opens but nothing else.
I think I have an refi chip problem. Any advice would be gratefully accepted.
Click to expand...

The only thing that you can try is to burn a Firmware Recuperation CD.

2010/2012 https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1320
2009 https://support.apple.com/kb/DL976
 
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