MP 1,1-5,1 MacPro5,1: BootROM thread | 144.0.0.0.0

[tsialex]

@tsialex you did the boot room upgrade for me a few years ago, have been very happy with it, thank you again..one question..since then I see everyone is doing it with a boot screen option now, is that something I can tweak here form my end myself

Injecting the EnableGop EFI module to the reconstructed BootROM image that I've sent you is not really that difficult, but I known some people that have complete aversion with the Terminal, so, see if is something that you can do by yourself:

EnableGop: Pre-OpenCore GOP support for EFI-era iMacs and Mac Pros

You wait ten years for a driver to enable pre-boot graphics on unsupported GPUs in EFI era Macs, and then two come along at once... This post is to announce a firmware driver to enable the native Apple boot picker and early macOS boot progress bar (plus other parts of the firmware UI: target...

forums.macrumors.com

or would I need to have a completely rebuilt bootrom in order to have it with that feature?

Since you did back in early 2021, improvements like Fsys version 0x0d and other tweaks were discovered after, plus the better placement of the EnableGop module than the one made by the injection tool, so, it's not so much a bad idea to do it again if you can't inject by yourself.

I have a discount for people that already done it in the early days and need it upgraded to the current standard with all the bells and whistles.

 

[FilthyMuppetInnuendo]

Go back to the first post change log for each MacPro5,1 firmware release, there are outstanding security issues, corrections of bugs and support for APFS, support of 5GT/s for non-Apple GPUs, bootable NVMe support and etc, there are lots of upgrades.

Oh, so there’s no any incompatibility issue, then? Your chart lists Mac OS X versions beyond High Sierra as the release companion to the later firmwares, so I didn’t know if I simply couldn’t get them without a newer OS. Thanks!

You can start dumping then doing a deep NVRAM reset and compare the two.

So dump, deep reset, and then dump again to get a comparison? Should I make sure to turn SIP back on between the first dump and the deep reset, or does it matter? Also, should I reconstruct from here first, or should I update to 144 first and then try to reconstruct?

If the NVRAM volume is working ok, you’ll get a noticeable improvement, but you can only get it really clean and completely upgraded with the reconstructed BootROM.

What I consider “my” Mac Pro is a dual 2.93 4,1–>5,1, but I also own a dual 2.66 4,1 that hasn’t ever been flashed yet. If I were to flash it, would that second Mac Pro be able to give me a truly “clean” reconstructed BootROM to then use as a reconstruction template for “mine” in the future? Or do these things have restrictions like “processor speed dependency” and aren’t compatible with one another? Are there standalone “clean” templates available for download somewhere that I can reconstruct with?

I run High Sierra, and I clearly flashed my 4,1 to 5,1 at some point in the past. I have crippling memory loss, so I have no idea what tools I used to do the flashing, nor the method I used to install newer versions of Mac OS X. Netkas and DosDude were almost certainly involved somewhere. Does the exact procedure I used to get this far matter in terms of going further up the firmware and BootROM chain? Or do past methods not matter with respect to upgrading firmware or reconstructing BootROMs?

Thanks again, tsialex.

 

[tsialex]

Oh, so there’s no any incompatibility issue, then? Your chart lists Mac OS X versions beyond High Sierra as the release companion to the later firmwares, so I didn’t know if I simply couldn’t get them without a newer OS. Thanks!

Yes, you can if you have a METAL supported GPU, read the stickie:

If you don't have a METAL supported GPU, you can circumvent the requirements and Mojave with the BootROM Reconstruction service.

So dump, deep reset, and then dump again to get a comparison? Should I make sure to turn SIP back on between the first dump and the deep reset, or does it matter?

SIP needs to be disabled all times for you to dump the BootROM.

What I consider “my” Mac Pro is a dual 2.93 4,1–>5,1, but I also own a dual 2.66 4,1 that hasn’t ever been flashed yet. If I were to flash it, would that second Mac Pro be able to give me a truly “clean” reconstructed BootROM to then use as a reconstruction template for “mine” in the future?

No.

Each MacPro4,1/5,1 BootROM is unique with six different forms of serialization - SSN, HWC, SON, FW MAC, BD & MLB SN - you can't use the BootROM from one Mac with another.

Or do these things have restrictions like “processor speed dependency” and aren’t compatible with one another?

This specifically doesn't matter at all.

I have no idea what tools I used to do the flashing, nor the method I used to install newer versions of Mac OS X. DosDude was almost certainly involved somewhere. Does the exact procedure I used to get this far matter in terms of going further up the firmware and BootROM chain?

There was only one way to cross-flash an early-2009, via MacEFIROM tool from the now dead NETKAS forum.

Cross-flashing have adverse effects inside the BootROM, like the one VSS store for MacPro4,1 versus two for the MacPro5,1 - it's not just that, there are other differences that are not addressed with the cross-flashing.

So, yes, cross-flashed early-2009 are extremely susceptible of BootROM corruption and a lot of cross-flashed early-2009 brick in the long run.

Or do past methods not matter with respect to upgrading firmware or reconstructing BootROMs?

Cross-flashing adverse effects can only be repaired by BootROM Reconstruction, btw, all the RI that in the end made possible the BootROM reconstruction itself, was intended and designed to overcome the issues of the cross-flashed early-2009s.

 

[Dewdman42]

Since you did back in early 2021, improvements like Fsys version 0x0d and other tweaks were discovered after, plus the better placement of the EnableGop module than the one made by the injection tool, so, it's not so much a bad idea to do it again if you can't inject by yourself.

I have a discount for people that already done it in the early days and need it upgraded to the current standard with all the bells and whistles.

Thanks for that info. I don’t have access to my Mac at the moment but I’ll reach out to you later via PM. I’m definitely not afraid of the terminal so I might try to inject the boot menu myself. But anyway depending on the price to redo my boot rom it would be nice to get some of the refinements you mentioned, though probably is optional in many ways as this one is still working great.