MP 1,1-5,1 MacPro mid 2010 5.1

[Melbourne Park]

I've now got a weird problem with High Sierra.

When I walk into my home office in the morning - my Mac Pro 2010 5,1, doesn't re-awaken.

It sounds like the drives are not re-starting. There is a sound of one drive I think ... what happens is that I touch the keyboard (which is the original cable based keyboard) and soon after the monitor wakes up, so the GPU is providing a signal. But then the screen stays black. Then the mouse curser - a white arrow - appears. I can move that around. Then - nothing further happens. I have also seen a spinning coloured ball instead of the white arrow curser. The monitor doesn't wake up for about 58 seconds.

During the day, can leave the computer, for hours, and it wakes up.

High Sierra is running on a Western Digital Black hard drive, off a partition.

When I change to a non boot choice GPU, this could become a major issue ...

Any help would be appreciated!!

 

[MarkC426]

What is your gpu?

 

[Melbourne Park]

Original Apple ATI 5770 1GB. Slot 1.

 

[Melbourne Park]

I had the computer go to sleep at 1 am every night. I turned that off in the power savings setting, and this morning, the computer woke up, but it had the tumbling coloured wheel.

I force quit Word, which was the app which my monitor was looking at - but that made no difference, the wheel continued to spin. I could not force quite the finder either.

I now think it's likely something to do with either Time machine or a Microsoft App. I haven't specifically checked the MS 365 apps.

Strange though that I can leave the computer for 6 hours during the day, and it wakes up without an issue ...

 

[Esskaaell]

I am a total beginner and spent only a couple of days installing the High Sierra in an MP 5,1.
I got it without HDD, so it wasn't an easy ride.
Because regular HDD is so slow my idea is to use an NVMe drive with an adapter, but I read it is only possible with firmware version 144. Because my GPU isn't Metal compatible I cannot install Mojave with the last firmware.
I don't want to spend a lot of money, at least not now because I don't play and don't work on it. Just learning the Mac OS, environment. Apple looks like an idiot for me because no separate firmware upgrade and no easy way to download the OS. I thought it will be much smoother.
I couldn't find a solution to install the new firmware, it looks like I will need a better GPU. I tried reading about this, but I got a little confused.

I tried the patched Mojave, but it didn't install the new firmware and had graphical issues.

A lot of people talking about Metal compatible cards and no boot screens and about flashing and Apple version GPUs. There are different suggestions and I don't know what I am looking for ...

So I want the NVMe boot possibility. I need the last firmware. Perhaps I need a newer GPU than the GT 120. But which one? I need the boot screen because I am a beginner. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone to lend me a better GPU just for the time of the firmware upgrade.

What is the most affordable solution for me?

 

[tsialex]

What is the most affordable solution for me?

AFAIK, this is the cheapest way to get a flashed GPU.

Mojave Compatible ROM for the NVIDIA GeForce GT630 2GB Graphics Card (HP 684455-002 702084-001 B4J92AT) - loremipsum.info

This ROM will give you EFI boot screens on the Classic Mac Pros, but it isn’t recognised by the Mojave installer as a metal card. It does give you the option of a cheap general use metal EFI compatible card, it will drive 1 monior to 4k resolutions. You’ll need a windows PC and NVFlash […]

www.loremipsum.info

After you get it working follow the steps here to upgrade the firmware and install Mojave with a NVIDIA GT6xx GPU, it only works if you install from macOS to another disk - see the notes.

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

Also won't upgrade the firmware from a Mojave createinstallmedia USB installer.

 

[Esskaaell]

AFAIK, this is the cheapest way to get a flashed GPU.

Mojave Compatible ROM for the NVIDIA GeForce GT630 2GB Graphics Card (HP 684455-002 702084-001 B4J92AT) - loremipsum.info

This ROM will give you EFI boot screens on the Classic Mac Pros, but it isn’t recognised by the Mojave installer as a metal card. It does give you the option of a cheap general use metal EFI compatible card, it will drive 1 monior to 4k resolutions. You’ll need a windows PC and NVFlash […]

www.loremipsum.info

After you get it working follow the steps here to upgrade the firmware and install Mojave with a NVIDIA GT6xx GPU, it only works if you install from macOS to another disk - see the notes.

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

Sorry I am confused again:
What does this mean?
"This ROM will give you EFI boot screens on the Classic Mac Pros, but it isn’t recognized by the Mojave installer as a metal card."
If the Mojave installer doesn't recognize it as Metal GPU then the installer won't run. Or?

 

[tsialex]

Sorry I am confused again:
What does this mean?
"This ROM will give you EFI boot screens on the Classic Mac Pros, but it isn’t recognized by the Mojave installer as a metal card."
If the Mojave installer doesn't recognize it as Metal GPU then the installer won't run. Or?

I've already answered that on my post, read it again, follow the second link and learn about the NVIDIA issue with Mojave installer.

 

[Esskaaell]

I've already answered that on my post, read it again, follow the second link and learn about the NVIDIA issue with Mojave installer.

Thank you for your quick help. I have a lot to learn yet.

 

[Melbourne Park]

Esskaall, why spend the money on an NVME? When people talk here about much higher speeds with NVME cards, they are typically talking about video editing which often puts a bottleneck on storage speed. Their solution is to put a costly RAID card into a 16 bit PCIe slot (there are only two 16 bit slots) and attach to the card two or four NVME drive cards, in a RAID configuration. What happens then is that the data which is drive bottlenecked, is now contained on the fancy card. The card's own slots - which house the nvme cards - transfer the data between the cards at much higher speeds because the NVME housed on the card, are able to transfer data between them very quickly, because the card itself has a much higher speed data "bus" than the old and slower PCIe standard that the classic mac pros shipped with.

So ... to keep costs down, and speed things up a bit, put an SSD drive into a spare drive slot. Things will be faster and you won't have to worry about going beyond High Sierra.

 

[Esskaaell]

Esskaall, why spend the money on an NVME? When people talk here about much higher speeds with NVME cards, they are typically talking about video editing which often puts a bottleneck on storage speed. Their solution is to put a costly RAID card into a 16 bit PCIe slot (there are only two 16 bit slots) and attach to the card two or four NVME drive cards, in a RAID configuration. What happens then is that the data which is drive bottlenecked, is now contained on the fancy card. The card's own slots - which house the nvme cards - transfer the data between the cards at much higher speeds because the NVME housed on the card, are able to transfer data between them very quickly, because the card itself has a much higher speed data "bus" than the old and slower PCIe standard that the classic mac pros shipped with.

So ... to keep costs down, and speed things up a bit, put an SSD drive into a spare drive slot. Things will be faster and you won't have to worry about going beyond High Sierra.

Honestly? I have no idea which is faster in real life, an SSD or an NVMe in the PCIe slot. Theoretically the NVMe, but in the system, I don't know. Mybe id doesn't matter.
My idea was, the NVMe just a little more expensive but the speed 4 times more. It is newer, I can use it in another computer if I won't keep this Mac. Because I'm not going to edit video or gaming, I want it to use just as a regular desktop. The HDD I put in temporarily annoys me, so slow. I am looking a faster solution. NVMe or SSD. I just try to go to the more modern solution.
Because the whole Apple ecosystem is new for me I want to learn a little about it.
Earlier I thought Apple is much cleaner, much more sophisticated, much more correct than Microsoft with the Windows. I don't think this anymore.
This mess with the supported-unsupported GPUs, the firmware upgrades, the undownloadable ( is this a word?) OSs, not better than any other OS. Just different mess. Hackintosh, Clover injections, dosdude patching, hacked GPU firmwares. Dirty as hell.

 

[sfalatko]

Honestly? I have no idea which is faster in real life, an SSD or an NVMe in the PCIe slot. Theoretically the NVMe, but in the system, I don't know. Mybe id doesn't matter.
My idea was, the NVMe just a little more expensive but the speed 4 times more. It is newer, I can use it in another computer if I won't keep this Mac. Because I'm not going to edit video or gaming, I want it to use just as a regular desktop. The HDD I put in temporarily annoys me, so slow. I am looking a faster solution. NVMe or SSD. I just try to go to the more modern solution.
Because the whole Apple ecosystem is new for me I want to learn a little about it.
Earlier I thought Apple is much cleaner, much more sophisticated, much more correct than Microsoft with the Windows. I don't think this anymore.
This mess with the supported-unsupported GPUs, the firmware upgrades, the undownloadable ( is this a word?) OSs, not better than any other OS. Just different mess. Hackintosh, Clover injections, dosdude patching, hacked GPU firmwares. Dirty as hell.

Also consider an SSD on a PCIe card - you can get SATA III vice SATA II in the drive bays. Many are moving to NVMe for speed but prices are also coming down. So cheapest is SSD in drive bay (also the slowest) - compare the price of a PCIe M2 card for NVME to the price of a PCIe SSD card before making your decision.

 

[KeesMacPro]

Also consider an SSD on a PCIe card - you can get SATA III vice SATA II in the drive bays.

In real life the difference in performance SATA II vs III is close to zero.

compare the price of a PCIe M2 card for NVME to the price of a PCIe SSD card before making your decision.

A decent NVMe card costs less than ~ 30,-
A PCIe SSD card costs ~ 50,- to 100,- , which means additional costs and no real benefit compared to an SSD mounted in the SATA II bays.

Only for specifics applications the NVMe blades are an advantage like e.g. audio production.

 

[JacquiL]

Where is the system reset on the Mac pro5.1? I’m getting no where.

 

[tsialex]

Where is the system reset on the Mac pro5.1? I’m getting no where.

There are no reset switch on production backplanes, just the pads for it near the diagnostic switch/DIAG button.

For the pre-production backplanes, that have red (prototype) or green solder (qualification) mask PCBs, the switches are always installed - the photos from Apple Technician Manual are from a green solder mask PCB, not a retail one with the black solder mask PCB. While there are one photo of backplane with a black PCB (production/retail) that show all diagnostic switches populated, real prodution Mac Pros were never sold with those installed from factory.

 

[JacquiL]

If I erase the original boot up disc I loose everything? Dumb question I know, but I’ve bought another SDD card, loaded high sierra on it, I’ve followed every step and still can’t get out of recovery mode. None of the other start up commands work, like shift power, command alt r+p, etc, only recovery mode. Disc utility shows the drives I have, and I can mount the original boot drive, but I just can’t break through back into the Mac.

 

[sfalatko]

If I erase the original boot up disc I loose everything? Dumb question I know, but I’ve bought another SDD card, loaded high sierra on it, I’ve followed every step and still can’t get out of recovery mode. None of the other start up commands work, like shift power, command alt r+p, etc, only recovery mode. Disc utility shows the drives I have, and I can mount the original boot drive, but I just can’t break through back into the Mac.

If you boot with the option key do you see the Apple boot selector/menu? If you do select the SSD to boot and from the desktop see if you can access your HDD. If so you can back it up and copy the data off (you could use migration assistant to move what you want to your new install). If all that works you can decide to erase the HDD or try a reinstall of the OS

 

[macguru9999]

I've already answered that on my post, read it again, follow the second link and learn about the NVIDIA issue with Mojave installer.

The most recent mojave installer, dated 2020, DOES install 10.14.6 in a mac pro with an nvidia gtx680 as the gpu. I am pretty sure I did one recently and did not encounter that problem this time with the gpu not being recognised as a metal one....

 

[JacquiL]

If you boot with the option key do you see the Apple boot selector/menu? If you do select the SSD to boot and from the desktop see if you can access your HDD. If so you can back it up and copy the data off (you could use migration assistant to move what you want to your new install). If all that works you can decide to erase the HDD or try a reinstall of the OS

Unfortunately the only key combination that works is the recovery option none of the other key strokes work.

 

[JacquiL]

Is there anything I can key into terminal to get out of the loop I’m in. I can only open in recovery, usb works, internet works, Sata works, i have recovery disk, but it just wont upload it. It doesn’t retain the firmware update. I’ve been told the logic board has failed and I should dump it.