MacPro 2008 3.1 install high sierra

[Josey Walesh]

hi to all, I wonder if having a mac pro 2008 3.1 8 cores with installed el capitan, and wanting to install on SSD high sierra that is not supported by this mac but there is a hack to be able to install high sierra 10.13.5. but it is practically a forcing, and so I wonder if everything will work perfectly as a mac pro 6 last generation with high sierra software or if there will be problems for some applications.
has anyone tried? and can you confirm that all applications will work perfectly?

 

[tsialex]

hi to all, I wonder if having a mac pro 2008 3.1 8 cores with installed el capitan, and wanting to install on SSD high sierra that is not supported by this mac but there is a hack to be able to install high sierra 10.13.5. but it is practically a forcing, and so I wonder if everything will work perfectly as a mac pro 6 last generation with high sierra software or if there will be problems for some applications.
has anyone tried? and can you confirm that all applications will work perfectly?

The problem is the GPU, Nvidia ones works out of the box or with the Nvidia webdriver but AMD ones don't. On Sierra, High Sierra, and now Mojave AMD drivers requires SSE4.2. Since Xeons processors on MacPro3,1 doesn't have it, no AMD card can get to the GUI.

Some people install ElCapitan drivers, but it's a ugly and troublesome hack, on my humble opinion. Some reports that works, some loose sleep/hibernation.

On my Mac Pro 2008, with a Apple GT 120 or eVGA GTX680 for Mac, everything works almost 100% standard. I only have to disable SIP temporarily and set -no_compat_check on nvram. No patches, no hacks, trouble free as you can get with a unsupported Mac.

csrutil disable
nvram boot-args="-no_compat_check"

You can reenable SIP after you installed High Sierra successfully. Basically you need to disable it to edit /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist configuration file and add -no_compat_check. With -no_compat_check added to com.apple.Boot.plist you can clear PRAM and boot successfully High Sierra afterwards. If you don't make de addition, you will get the (/) screen after you cleared.

Edited to add info about SIP/com.apple.Boot.plist

 

[theone29]

tsialex, i think you just answered my problem. I have a 3,1 running HS 10.13.5. It boots with a flashed 680 but hung on a white screen with my R9 280x 3GB flashed and R9 280x 6GB unflashed. Is it true that AMD won't work ootb on the 3,1? Any info that the 3,1 will/may run Mojave? Appreciate your info.

 

[tsialex]

tsialex, i think you just answered my problem. I have a 3,1 running HS 10.13.5. It boots with a flashed 680 but hung on a white screen with my R9 280x 3GB flashed and R9 280x 6GB unflashed. Is it true that AMD won't work ootb on the 3,1?

Yes, Nvidia cards work fine, since the driver does not need SSE4.2 like AMD ones from Sierra onwards needs.

If you like a stable and clean system, stick with Nvidia cards on MacPro3,1. You can use Apple 8800GT/GT120 to have boot screens and an 1080 to run CUDA, at the same time.

Any info that the 3,1 will/may run Mojave? Appreciate your info.

At the moment Mojave does not run on Mac Pro 2008, or any Mac with C2D btw, but runs on C2D hackintoshes and on Vmware Fusion hosted on Macs with C2D, so it's a mystery so far.

A lot of people are trying to find the root of the problem, you can see the progress on the macOS 10.14 Mojave on Unsupported Macs Thread.

 

[theone29]

got it. Thanks, buddy. I was over at the R9 280X Flashing thread and no one told me about the AMD/Nvidia incompatibility thing with the cMP3,1. I appreciate your help.

 

[tsialex]

got it. Thanks, buddy. I was over at the R9 280X Flashing thread and no one told me about the AMD/Nvidia incompatibility thing with the cMP3,1. I appreciate your help.

You're welcome.

I had the same white screen at the end of the boot that you have, when testing my perfectly flashed HD7870 on my 2008 Mac Pro. Maybe we need to make this clear, so no one have to resort to hacking El Capitan drivers since Nvidia cards are a so much better option on Mac Pro 2008 when running Sierra/High Sierra.

 

[joebclash]

The problem is the GPU, Nvidia ones works out of the box or with the Nvidia webdriver but AMD ones don't. On Sierra, High Sierra, and now Mojave AMD drivers requires SSE4.2. Since Xeons processors on MacPro3,1 doesn't have it, no AMD card can get to the GUI.

Some people install ElCapitan drivers, but it's a ugly and troublesome hack, on my humble opinion. Some reports that works, some loose sleep/hibernation.

On my Mac Pro 2008, with a Apple GT 120 or eVGA GTX680 for Mac, everything works almost 100% standard. I only have to disable SIP and set -no_compat_check on nvram. No patches, no hacks, trouble free as you can get with a unsupported Mac.

csrutil disable
nvram boot-args="-no_compat_check"

What is the risk of running csrutil disable?

 

[tsialex]

What is the risk of running csrutil disable?

With System Integrity Protection disabled, you can view and edit system files/plists/etc. Basically, the risks are that some malicious app could edit a system file and made a persistent infection/stole credentials/etc. After you successfully installed 10.13, you can reenable it.

To keep a manageable system, will need it to edit /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist and add -no_compact_check to it. With -no_compat_check in com.apple.Boot.plist you can clear PRAM when needed and boot successfully High Sierra. It's the safest option to keep you Mac Pro 2008 on High Sierra.

 

[Josey Walesh]

thanks for your advice friend, so I have a gtx 970 I have to find the nvidia drivers to run it on mac-pro 2008 3.1 how do they do on hacks, I understand?

 

[tsialex]

thanks for your advice friend, so I have a gtx 970 I have to find the nvidia drivers to run it on mac-pro 2008 3.1 how do they do on hacks, I understand?

You just have to install the web drivers and edit nvram to add "nvda_drv=1" to the previously added boot args.

So for using Nvidia webdrivers on Mac Pro 2008, boot from ElCapitan recovery/install disk and:

csrutil disable
nvram boot-args="-no_compat_check nvda_drv=1"

After you have installed High Sierra and added Nvidia Webdrivers, it’s time to add -no_compat_check to /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.Boot.plist. Now you can reenable SIP.

 

[Josey Walesh]

thanks

 

[tsialex]

tsialex, i think you just answered my problem. I have a 3,1 running HS 10.13.5. It boots with a flashed 680 but hung on a white screen with my R9 280x 3GB flashed and R9 280x 6GB unflashed. Is it true that AMD won't work ootb on the 3,1? Any info that the 3,1 will/may run Mojave? Appreciate your info.

Mojave on Mac Pro 2008!!!

What I did:

Cloned my Mojave DP3 install onto a HFS+ SSD with CCC (haven't added APFS to the BootROM), copied /System/Library/UserEventPlugins folder from 10.13.5, copied /System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist from El Capitan (easier than add my board-id), added boot-args="-v -no_compat_check" to the nvram.

The first normal boot didn't work but rebooting on SafeMode works.

Rebooted again and this time worked even without SafeMode. eVGA GTX680 for Mac works with native Nvidia drivers with both my monitors (DVI-1 and HDMI). USB and Bluetooth works but no Wi-Fi [Atheros 9380 AirPort Extreme (0x168C, 0x3112)] and no audio.

 

[theone29]

wow, good job. that's freaking awesome buddy. I don't have El Captain running, could you post this file "/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist from El Capitan (easier than add my board-id), added boot-args="-v -no_compat_check" to the nvram."

Thank you.

 

[tsialex]

wow, good job. that's freaking awesome buddy. I don't have El Captain running, could you post this file "/System/Library/CoreServices/PlatformSupport.plist from El Capitan (easier than add my board-id), added boot-args="-v -no_compat_check" to the nvram."

Thank you.

I can't post a copyrighted file.

You can just edit PlatformSupport.plist and add the board-id or wait some hours for @dosdude1 patch - I recommend that you start with that.

You can find your board-id with this:

var_ID=$(ioreg -p IODeviceTree -r -n / -d 1 | grep board-id);var_ID=${var_ID##*<\"};var_ID=${var_ID%%\">};echo $var_ID

It's Mac-F42C88C8, by the way.