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

[tsialex]

My issue is this. I want to update the BootROM to 138.0.0.0.0 on the MP5,1 but somehow it skipped that part. Also i don't have a Metal GPU, only a stock 5770.

Is there a way to force the firmware update without Metal? Does ROMTool do this in a few easy clicks ?
I think this info would be very helpful for people stuck in this position such as myself.

ROMTool is a full flasher, nothing more. It can't update your BootROM in the way that efiflasher do.

To bypass the Metal requirement of EfiUpdater2, you have to extract your hardware identifiers from your current BootROM, then insert all that correctly into MP51.fd. It's simple once you have the intermediate files, but it's a expert job to create them correctly. I'll PM you.

 

[fhturner]

Do you have BOTH the 5770 and 580 installed in the Mac Pro at the same time?

No, only one at a time. I guess to have both, you'd need to route power from somewhere, since you'd need 3 of the logic board power connections that way. Also, FCPX seems to average its GPU compute power, so keeping a lesser card in there w/ the RX 580 would be less than ideal for that/my use case (which I found out when trying to keep a GT120 installed for the same reason you mention, boot screen).

 

[Squuiid]

Now that you officially can’t enable FileVault nor BootCamp in Mojave I see very little reason to have an EFI card in the system, or even have one at all really.
Once you’re on 089 firmware or above you’re set.

 

[h9826790]

New here been following this thread since page 1. .Very Awesome Progress for 5,1's !! Kudos to everyone involved

Somehow fiddling around i managed to install Mojave on a 5,1 using only a stock 5770 onto a RAID 4 drive setup., bypassing the installers Metal requirement and firmware update.....except now i don't remember how i did it.
Can someone help Remind Me ?!?
Much Appreciated
View attachment 788870
PS - My BootROM is still MP51.0089.B00

Is that an early 10.14 beta? (I mean when you first install Mojave)

 

[BillyBobBongo]

I see very little reason to have an EFI card in the system, or even have one at all really.

Not entirely. I decide to go for a clean install of Mojave yesterday. I dropped in to Recovery Mode and erased the disk. During the install I hit the error “Could not create a Preboot Volume for APFS install”. Following the advice on the Apple forums I deleted the drive, via Disk Utilty in Recovery Mode, and then attempted to boot in to ‘Internet Recovery Mode’ to set up the drive and reinstall the OS.

For the life of me I just couldn’t get it to work. I waited for an eternity, multiple times, but only ever saw a black screen.

So...via a USB boot disk I first tried to see if I could install Mojave, but the presence of my GT 120 in the system blocked it, eventually I got around the problem by installing High Sierra and then upgrading to Mojave.

Has anyone been able to boot in to ‘Internet Recovery Mode’ without an EFI video card being present? If so, then I’ll give it another go later. However this seems to me to be a reason to have a card on hand...just in case!

 

[kings79]

Now that you officially can’t enable FileVault nor BootCamp in Mojave I see very little reason to have an EFI card in the system, or even have one at all really.
Once you’re on 089 firmware or above you’re set.

Boot Picker?...

 

[crjackson2134]

Has anyone been able to boot in to ‘Internet Recovery Mode’ without an EFI video card being present?

On the cMP ??? I didn’t even know we could do that.

 

[tsialex]

On the cMP ??? I didn’t even know we could do that.

No, we can't.

 

[LightBulbFun]

@tsialex

using the installmacos.py script I dont see a 10.14.1 Beta full installer so im guessing you get the new BootROM from updating a 10.14 install via the updates preference pane and then digging in the recovery partition?

if so, im curious do you still need the full installer for BootROM updates for the MP5,1 to show up/get applied or has apple fixed that issue? (im guessing since your manually constructing BootROMs that you still need the full installer .app/the full installer in the recovery partition for BootROM updates to show up/install?)

and secondly can you check if any other Macs got BootROM updates? (im curious if so if any other macs got updated to the "T2 Chip Mac" version string format.)

 

[tsialex]

@tsialex

using the installmacos.py script I dont see a 10.14.1 Beta full installer so im guessing you get the new BootROM from updating a 10.14 install via the updates preference pane and then digging in the recovery partition?

if so, im curious do you still need the full installer for BootROM updates for the MP5,1 to show up/get applied or has apple fixed that issue? (im guessing since your manually constructing BootROMs that you still need the full installer .app/the full installer in the recovery partition for BootROM updates to show up/install?)

and secondly can you check if any other Macs got BootROM updates? (im curious if so if any other macs got updated to the "T2 Chip Mac" version string format.)

Recovery update from Seed SUCatalog. I'll check what Apple updated or not.

Never tested, but Recovery seems to be capable of updating the firmware.

 

[Squuiid]

Boot Picker?...

For ...?

 

[tsialex]

Apple updated MP61 BootROM with 10.14.1DP1 too.

Just compared the trashcan NVMe EFI module from MP61.0125.B00 with the previous version (MP61.0124.B00) and again little changes:

 

[BillyBobBongo]

On the cMP ??? I didn’t even know we could do that.

No, we can't.

Well there you go, that's why I couldn't make it work. Certainly a sound reason to keep a Mac EFI card, such as the GT 120, safe in a drawer.

 

[tsialex]

@tsialex
and secondly can you check if any other Macs got BootROM updates? (im curious if so if any other macs got updated to the "T2 Chip Mac" version string format.)

Seems every Mac got updated to the new version string format.

MP6,1

$IBIOSI$ MP61.88Z.0125.B00.1808170703
Copyright (c) 2005-2018 Apple Inc.  All rights reserved.
Apple ROM Version
  Model:        MP61
  EFI Version:  126.0.0.0.0
  Built by:     root@saumon
  Date:         Fri Aug 17 07:01:38 PDT 2018
  Revision:     126 (B&I)
  ROM Version:  F000_D00
  Build Type:   Official Build, Release
  Compiler:     Apple clang version 3.0 (tags/Apple/clang-211.10.1) (based on LLVM 3.0svn)

MM6,1

$IBIOSI$ MM61.88Z.F000.B00.1808170523
Copyright (c) 2005-2018 Apple Inc.  All rights reserved.
Apple ROM Version
  Model:        MM61
  EFI Version:  273.0.0.0.0
  Built by:     root@saumon
  Date:         Fri Aug 17 05:23:20 PDT 2018
  Revision:     273 (B&I)
  ROM Version:  F000_D00
  Build Type:   Official Build, Release
  Compiler:     Apple clang version 3.0 (tags/Apple/clang-211.10.1) (based on LLVM 3.0svn)

 

[UCDHIUS]

ROMTool is a full flasher, nothing more. It can't update your BootROM in the way that efiflasher do.

To bypass the Metal requirement of EfiUpdater2, you have to extract your hardware identifiers from your current BootROM, then insert all that correctly into MP51.fd. It's simple once you have the intermediate files, but it's a expert job to create them correctly. I'll PM you.

Can you PM me too, Alex? My AMD 380X died and no web drivers yet for my 1080Ti.

Would like to bypass metal installed requirement and install 139.0.0.0.0.

 

[tsialex]

Can you PM me too, Alex? My AMD 380X died and no web drivers yet for my 1080Ti.

Would like to bypass metal installed requirement and install 139.0.0.0.0.

Ok, PM sent.

 

[Squuiid]

Certainly a sound reason to keep a Mac EFI card, such as the GT 120, safe in a drawer.

Why?
RX 580 works fine in recovery mode when booting from USB or disk.

 

[tsialex]

Why?
RX 580 works fine in recovery mode when booting from USB or disk.

AFAIK, don't work with single/verbose mode, no?

 

[crjackson2134]

Recovery mode works here since it holds drivers, but I haven’t tried a restore yet.

Since single mode excludes drivers, I don’t think that works.

 

[Squuiid]

AFAIK, don't work with single/verbose mode, no?

Ah, you used to be able to enter single user recovery mode but no longer it seems...
https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/332587/single-user-recovery-mode-on-high-sierra-10-13-6
But yeah, you'd be flying blind anyway I think.

 

[tsialex]

Recovery mode works here, but I haven’t tried a restore yet.

Since single mode excludes drivers, I don’t think that works.

EFI GPU is very useful to troubleshoot. Every now and then I have to force trim with my SM951-AHCI, without single mode that will be a lot more difficult.
[doublepost=1537963136][/doublepost]

Ah, you used to be able to enter single user recovery mode but no longer it seems...
https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/332587/single-user-recovery-mode-on-high-sierra-10-13-6
But yeah, you'd be flying blind anyway I think.

Still works here.

 

[Squuiid]

Still works here.

I think you'll find that it took you into single-user mode and not single-user recovery mode.
Try running csrutil enable/disable.
I discovered this the other day on Mojave, very frustrating that Apple removed this functionality.

 

[tsialex]

 

[BillyBobBongo]

Why?
RX 580 works fine in recovery mode when booting from USB or disk.

I tried countless times to boot from a Mojave USB installer, with a completely empty/new drive last night, with no success. Which is why I broke out the GT 120.

Are you saying that I should have been able to complete the process without the GT 120? If so I’ll pull all my drives and have another try later tonight.

I have a feeling that in the future this sort of question/problem is going to arise. Hence why I was interested in what and wasn’t possible.

 

[Squuiid]

I tried countless times to boot from a Mojave USB installer, with a completely empty/new drive last night, with no success. Which is why I broke out the GT 120.

Are you saying that I should have been able to complete the process without the GT 120? If so I’ll pull all my drives and have another try later tonight.

I have a feeling that in the future this sort of question/problem is going to arise. Hence why I was interested in what and wasn’t possible.

What's your other card, an RX 580? Nothing listed in your signature