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

[crjackson2134]

Somebody, @handheldgames?, posted about the firmware microcode space. On 138.0.0.0.0 there is LESS space available than MP51.0089.B00.

138.0.0.0.0: View attachment 775843
MP51.0089.B00: View attachment 775842

Is the 2kb difference enough to prohibit NVMe injection? I wouldn't think so personally, what do you think?

 

[tsialex]

Is the 2kb difference enough to prohibit NVMe injection? I wouldn't think so personally, what do you think?

No, that's microcode space, not driver space.

You have to remove one of the microcodes, usually 206C0, if you need to add 106A4 microcode for some i7 and ES processors.

 

[crjackson2134]

No, that's microcode space, not driver space.

You have to remove one of the microcodes, usually 206C0, if you need to add 106A4 microcode for some i7 and ES processors.

Well, that's good news (I think).

I actually expect that injecting the NVMe payload will work as usual. I'll wait until I hear back from @handheldgames before tampering though. If it doesn't work however, I'll just continue on with the 0089 firmware. I already get 5 GT/s and boot picker with my ATI card, so I don't think it will be a big issue to skip the firmware update if necessary in order to keep NVMe bootable.

 

[tsialex]

Well, that's good news (I think).

I actually expect that injecting the NVMe payload will work as usual. I'll wait until I hear back from @handheldgames before tampering though. If it doesn't work however, I'll just continue on with the 0089 firmware. I already get 5 GT/s and boot picker with my ATI card, so I don't think it will be a big issue to skip the firmware update if necessary in order to keep NVMe bootable.

I could be totally wrong, but from what I saw investigating the 138.0.0.0.0 binary and other things, Apple will get the firmware updates more dynamically for now on, the firmware changed a lot.

I found some interesting things but some of that seems covered in NDA until Mojave release. All the needed things still present, so not need to worry much. You still can easily personalise MP51.fd for example.

 

[LightBulbFun]

I could be totally wrong, but from what I saw investigating the 138.0.0.0.0 binary and other things, Apple will get the firmware updates more dynamically for now on.

I found some interesting things but some of that seems covered in NDA until Mojave release. All the needed things still present, so not need to worry much.

I have been wondering if this new firmware update affects how future updates will be delivered (ie will we still need to hold down the power button and enter programmers mode etc)

 

[t8er8]

Apple released Mojave Public Beta 6.

I have been wondering if this new firmware update affects how future updates will be delivered (ie will we still need to hold down the power button and enter programmers mode etc)

well from what we’ve seen it’s already changed a lot (non EFI firmware flashing)

 

[tsialex]

I have been wondering if this new firmware update affects how future updates will be delivered (ie will we still need to hold down the power button and enter programmers mode etc)

I'm thinking about that too. One thing intrigued me a lot, seems some mechanism to update dynamically the firmware, maybe even downloading from Apple like XProtect/GateKeeper?

Maybe I'm crazy tired but with a daemon acting like ucupdate this is possible from now on with all the things Apple put in place today.

 

[t8er8]

Sorry about that last post didn’t mean to tag @tsialex

 

[Pavo]

Can confirm that Sapphire Nitro+ OC RX 480 allowed for for firmware upgrade without boot screen of course, and also can confirm PCI-E link speed is now 5GT/s

 

[tsialex]

Microcodes on High Sierra with 138.0.0.0.0, 0x1f = 31:

Microcodes on Mojave with 138.0.0.0.0:

Mojave DP7/PB6 has newer and bigger microcode.dat.

 

[HaypurTiryading]

Can confirm that Sapphire Nitro+ OC RX 480 allowed for for firmware upgrade without boot screen of course, and also can confirm PCI-E link speed is now 5GT/s

I think every card with installed driver now works 5GT/s. I'm curios about bootcamp side.

 

[Pavo]

I think every card with installed driver now works 5GT/s. I'm curios about bootcamp side.

Yeah, maybe. Probably gonna have to wait for bootcamp drivers to be updated for it to reflect in Windows I would assume.

 

[t8er8]

hey, these are my cl!ing results on 5gt/s on the rx560, is this right? i thought it should display ~5000 on paged and pinned?

 

[handheldgames]

Well, that's good news (I think).

I actually expect that injecting the NVMe payload will work as usual. I'll wait until I hear back from @handheldgames before tampering though. If it doesn't work however, I'll just continue on with the 0089 firmware. I already get 5 GT/s and boot picker with my ATI card, so I don't think it will be a big issue to skip the firmware update if necessary in order to keep NVMe bootable.

Following the usually developer install path, the full mojave b7 download is no longer pushed through the App Store. Apparently apple is preferring the software update process for full mojave downloads. A full download comes in at 5.x gb vs 3.x gb for the revision update..

 

[tsialex]

Following the usually developer install path, the full mojave b7 download is no longer pushed through the App Store. Apparently apple is preferring the software update process for full mojave downloads. A full download comes in at 5.x gb vs 3.x gb for the revision update..

Do you now how to circumvent this, no?

 

[crjackson2134]

Following the usually developer install path, the full mojave b7 download is no longer pushed through the App Store. Apparently apple is preferring the software update process for full mojave downloads. A full download comes in at 5.x gb vs 3.x gb for the revision update..

Yeah, I don’t know how to get a full installer from the PB software applet. I didn’t seen any option to download, only upgrade was available AFAIK.

I got the full installer from dosdude’s Mojave Patch Tool.

 

[tsialex]

Yeah, I don’t know how to get a full installer from the PB software applet. I didn’t seen any option to download, only upgrade was available AFAIK.

I got the full installer from dosdude’s Mojave Patch Tool.

Next time try with installinstallmacos.py, it's the same code as SUS replacement Reposado, made by Pixar people with a lot of Apple support.

 

[crjackson2134]

Next time try with installinstallmacos.py, it's the same code as SUS replacement Reposado, made by Pixar people with a lot of Apple support.

I’ve used it before, I was just referring to the lack of a download option as opposed to an update only option in the PB.

 

[handheldgames]

Do you now how to circumvent this, no?

I've cancelled the download and I'm now using dosdude's tool. I haven't been part of the discussions on the new python script.

 

[tsialex]

I've cancelled the download and I'm now using dosdude's tool. I haven't been part of the discussions on the new python script.

It's not new, came from Reposado. Take a look on it latter, great code, used by every MacAdmin.

 

[Pavo]

Well all you have to do is change your catalog subscription from Public Beta to Developer and that will allow you to download beta updates directly using App Store. Full installer on the other hand will have to use the python tool or dosdude's tool.

 

[t8er8]

i dont want to have this covered up in the depths of the forum becasue i think its important, my paged and pinned speeds should be at ~5000 since im at 5.0gt/s correct? or am I wrong?

 

[handheldgames]

It's not new, came from Reposado. Take a look on it latter, great code, used for every MacAdmin.

Thanks for the tip, I've downloaded the scripts from github.

 

[LightBulbFun]

hey, these are my cl!ing results on 5gt/s on the rx560, is this right? i thought it should display ~5000 on paged and pinned?

the RX 560 is a 8x PCIe card not 16x so your Speeds look to be correct for 8x 5GTs

 

[MIKX]

My concern is that trying to inject the NVMe driver may result in a non-bootable, and/or non-recoverable condition.

Agreed ! We need some adventurous cMP owner who is already NVMe M.2 booting with a spare motherboard and lot's of spare time to see whether the y can still boot to NVMe after the upgrade.

On the other hand . . perhaps in future Mojave betas we might even get native NVMe booting for cMP's - the 5.0 GT/s for the new AMD cards shows that our cMP's are being regarded as still being viable Apple machines.

If Mac Books /Mac Book Pro's still boot from NVMe with the new Mojave bootrom then perhaps all is well as they already have the . NVMe_DXE183.ffs don't they ?

EDIT : I'm not sure whether Mac Books / Mac Pro's / iMacs got the 138 bootrom

Personally, I will be watching future Mojave updates with great interest but I won't be installing it until it goes GM.
I'm very happy with being able to boot M.2 960 EVO into High Sierra 10.13.6.

The next few months should be interesting indeed.