MP 1,1-5,1 MacPro5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (10.13/10.14 BootROM upgrades instructions thread)

[Bob-K]

Thanks crjackson, bsbeamer, and tsialex! That's great news!

 

[krishnaM]

I want to understand what all will I miss if I don't have boot screen. I don't use bootcamp. I can choose boot drive from system preferences startup disk option. Is it a big deal not having access to Recovery partition. I tried to google search but couldn't find the answer. I'll appreciate if you'll can explain me living without boot screen so that I'll make the bold move to upgrade to Mojave.

 

[bjar]

I want to understand what all will I miss if I don't have boot screen. I don't use bootcamp. I can choose boot drive from system preferences startup disk option. Is it a big deal not having access to Recovery partition. I tried to google search but couldn't find the answer. I'll appreciate if you'll can explain me living without boot screen so that I'll make the bold move to upgrade to Mojave.

You don’t need a boot screen and you should be able to boot into recovery using any graphics card that will work in mojave. Hold command r at boot. Keep a Mac EFI graphics card around in the off chance you do need a boot screen for diagnostic purposes.

Edit: just make sure whatever OS you choose in system preferences is also compatible with you graphics card.

 

[krishnaM]

You don’t need a boot screen and you should be able to boot into recovery using any graphics card that will work in mojave. Hold command r at boot. Keep a Mac EFI graphics card around in the off chance you do need a boot screen for diagnostic purposes.

I do have my original GT120 card but it is little pain to switch the gpus as I usually keep my cMP in the desk cabinet and to remove the gpu I'll have to disconnect everything first to take out from cabinet. There fore I wanted to know what will I miss if I don't have access to boot screen.

 

[bjar]

I do have my original GT120 card but it is little pain to switch the gpus as I usually keep my cMP in the desk cabinet and to remove the gpu I'll have to disconnect everything first to take out from cabinet. There fore I wanted to know what will I miss if I don't have access to boot screen.

Boot picker, single user mode and an Apple logo is really all I can think of. Other people have different opinions. But I didn’t really need to swap cards for a while until I upgraded to mojave.

 

[tsialex]

I want to understand what all will I miss if I don't have boot screen. I don't use bootcamp. I can choose boot drive from system preferences startup disk option. Is it a big deal not having access to Recovery partition. I tried to google search but couldn't find the answer. I'll appreciate if you'll can explain me living without boot screen so that I'll make the bold move to upgrade to Mojave.

• Boot screens
• Boot picker/selector
• Verbose boot
• Single user mode
• FileVault (Mojave don't support FV with MP5,1)

If you don't need anything on this list, you won't need a Mac EFI GPU.

 

[Kasjan]

• Boot screens
• Boot picker/selector
• Verbose boot
• Single user mode
• FileVault (Mojave don't support FV with MP5,1)

If you don't need anything on this list, you won't need a Mac EFI GPU.

Hello Tsialex, Thanks a lot for this topic. I've just finished clean installation OS X Mojave on main MP 5.1 mid 2010 working with Sapphire Pulse RX 580. The beginning was quite easy, I mean upgrading firmware step by step with you help. After that clean install was a challenge and took two days of experiments. Maybe it happened so long because of my display Eizo 27". Connecting it with the computer by DVI solved black screen which after a few minutes changed to booting one. Clean installation of os x was made by usb pendrive on clean Hard Drive erased with schemings GUID Partition Map, it is crucial to start installation. That's all. Best regards

 

[Salhadin]

Hi tsialex,

I followed your steps to a tee. I actually have the sapphire pulse 8gb rx580 a mac pro 4,1 flashed to 5,1. Updated bootrom and did clean install still getting black screen in both normal and safe mode. My fans stop running on rx580 as soon as Loading bar finishes( can see loading screen using gt120). This card has no issues in high sierra.

 

[tsialex]

Hi tsialex,

I followed your steps to a tee. I actually have the sapphire pulse 8gb rx580 a mac pro 4,1 flashed to 5,1. Updated bootrom and did clean install still getting black screen in both normal and safe mode. My fans stop running on rx580 as soon as Loading bar finishes( can see loading screen using gt120). This card has no issues in high sierra.

Remove the GT120, Mojave don't support AMD + NVIDIA GPUs at the same time. Did you checked for AirDisplay kexts?

 

[Salhadin]

Remove the GT120, Mojave don't support AMD + NVIDIA GPUs at the same time. Did you checked for AirDisplay kexts?

I have tried with removal of gt120 and no luck, not sure about how to debug for airdisplay kexts.

One thing of note as well I can boot into safe mode with a 1080p monitor anything over that does not work in mojave.

This has no issues working in high sierra.

 

[tsialex]

I have tried with removal of gt120 and no luck, not sure about how to debug for airdisplay kexts.

One thing of note as well I can boot into safe mode with a 1080p monitor anything over that does not work in mojave.

This has no issues working in high sierra.

The first step for troubleshooting is to clear the NVRAM and SMC, then and do a clean install of Mojave into an empty disk. Check if the same behaviour happens.

Btw, read the thread, a lot of people had similar problems, check for how they resolved the problems.
[doublepost=1545533349][/doublepost]Info about AirDisplay #301

 

[Salhadin]

View attachment 812403

The first step for troubleshooting is to clear the NVRAM and SMC, then and do a clean install of Mojave into an empty disk. Check if the same behaviour happens.

Btw, read the thread, a lot of people had similar problems, check for how they resolved the problems.
[doublepost=1545533349][/doublepost]Info about AirDisplay #301

Hi alex,

Did vram and smc reset, installed mojave on new drive, same issue only runs at 1080p on mojave and cant run on my 1440p monitor. I checked for avatron kexts and found nothing. I have a 2x6 pin to 1x 8 pin connector going to my video card.

See picture of my setup. Has anyone else had this issue as well i cant get it to run 1440p on mojave.

Thanks.

 

[tsialex]

View attachment 812403


Hi alex,

Did vram and smc reset, installed mojave on new drive, same issue only runs at 1080p on mojave and cant run on my 1440p monitor. I checked for avatron kexts and found nothing. I have a 2x6 pin to 1x 8 pin connector going to my video card.

See picture of my setup. Has anyone else had this issue as well i cant get it to run 1440p on mojave.

Thanks.

I don't remember anyone talking about 1440p, what framebuffer your RX-580 have (check PCI tab on SystemInformation)?

Orinoco or Radeon?

 

[Salhadin]

I don't remember anyone talking about 1440p, what framebuffer your RX-580 have (check PCI tab on SystemInformation)?

Orinoco or Radeon?

ATY,AMD,RadeonFrameBuffer

 

[tsialex]

ATY,AMD,RadeonFrameBuffer

Post a screenshot, if yours is the same Sapphire Pulse as mine, I already did the firmware mod to Orinoco and you can flash it to check if the Orinoco frame buffer works with your monitor.

 

[Salhadin]

Post a screenshot, if yours is the same Sapphire Pulse as mine, I already did the firmware mod to Orinoco and you can flash it to check if the Orinoco frame buffer works with your monitor.

Posted, i have a samsung 27sa850 monitor

 

[ArminAlbz]

Mojave will only install if you have upgraded your BootROM and your Mac Pro have a Metal capable GPU.

If you are trying to install Mojave on a Mac Pro 5,1 (2009 updated to 5,1 firmware, 2010 and 2012), you have first to upgrade your BootROM to version MP51.0089.B00 and to High Sierra 10.13.6, then you can install a Metal capable GPU and install Mojave.

You can read the Apple Support article here: Install macOS 10.14 Mojave on Mac Pro (Mid 2010) and Mac Pro (Mid 2012).

Remember: Apple Mojave recommend RX-560/580 cards do not have Mac EFI, so you need to install your original EFI GPU to upgrade your BootROM to MP51.0089.B00 using the Mac App Store 10.13.6 full installer. After that, Mojave installer can upgrade your firmware without the need of a Mac EFI GPU and requires that you only have Metal supported cards installed in your Mac Pro.

The Apple third-party graphics cards list identifies specific cards that are compatible:

• MSI Gaming Radeon RX 560 128-bit 4GB GDDR5
• SAPPHIRE Radeon PULSE RX 580 8GB GDDR5
• SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition
• NVIDIA Quadro K5000 for Mac
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Mac Edition

The three cards listed in bold above have Mac EFI.
The list also identifies cards that might be compatible, none of which have Mac EFI:

• AMD Radeon RX 560
• AMD Radeon RX 570
• AMD Radeon RX 580
• AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100
• AMD Radeon RX Vega 56
• AMD Radeon RX Vega 64
• AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100
• AMD Radeon Frontier Edition

If you have a earlier than MP51.0089.B00 BootROM version, these are the steps to upgrade your BootROM to have Mojave support:

1. Disconnect any 4K or DP1.2 display. You can't update to MP51.0089.B00 with a 4K/DP1.2 screen connected to your Mac EFI card. It's a old bug that Apple corrected with MP6,1 and "forgot" to correct with the MP5,1. MP5,1 efiflasher don't support 4K screens or DP1.2, you can reconnect after you update your BootROM.
2. Disable FileVault2 if enabled, since FV2 is not supported anymore with a Mac Pro 5,1 running Mojave.
   
3. Install a Mac EFI64 card. Any original Apple card from 2008 to 2012 (HD 2600XT, 8800GT, Quadro FX 5600, GT120, HD 4870/5770/5870) or 3rd party Mac EFI cards like Sapphire HD 7950 Mac Edition, eVGA GTX 680 Mac Edition, NVIDIA Quadro 4000/K5000 or self-flashed/MVC flashed cards.
4. Download the full Mac App Store Installer for 10.13.6 (even if you already are on 10.13.6) View attachment 793503
5. Open the installer, do the firmware upgrade as asked.
6. After the firmware upgrade, 10.13.6 installer will open again, you can close it.
7. Now check if your Mac Pro BootROM is MP51.0089.B00, if yes you can shutdown and install your Metal capable GPU (any AMD equal or newer than HD 7xxx, NVIDIA GTX 680 Mac Edition, Quadro K5000 and other NVIDIA Kepler cards/newer). [If you have a NVIDIA card that need the web driver, Maxwell and Pascal ones, wait for NVIDIA release it for Mojave]
8. Download the full Mac App Store installer for Mojave.
9. Open the installer, do the firmware upgrade as asked.
10. After the reboot, open System Information and check if you have BootROM 140.0.0.0.0, if yes, you can do a createinstallmedia USB clean install (read NVIDIA GTX 680 note) or upgrade your previous High Sierra install.

Note, some people are getting black screens with Mojave when using RX-4xx/5xx GPUs, if you are having it, do a clean install or debug your kexts, seems a problem with incompatible Air Display kexts. Read here.

NVIDIA GTX 680 note:

If you have a NVIDIA GTX 680 Mac Edition card, or a GTX 680 flashed with the Mac Edition firmware, you can't do a USB clean install with it at the moment. The USB installer don't detect that GTX 680 is a Metal supported card and don't continue the install, it's a bug.

To do a clean install, do from macOS with two drives - just select your empty one when doing the install.

Upgrade firmware from USB note:

You can’t upgrade Mac Pro firmware from createinstallmedia USB-key. Do it from macOS. It only works if you have the exact original config and if your Mac Pro is 2010/2012. Don’t waste your time trying.

140.0.0.0.0 and previous macOS releases note:

Firmware 140.0.0.0.0 can boot even 10.6.8, but only if your previous macOS version has drivers for your GPU. With RX-4xx/RX-5xx, you are limited to 10.12.6/10.13/10.14, per example.

---------------------

Hi how are you ?, I want to ask your help to solve a problem I have with my mac pro (2009, 4.1, updated to 5.1). I can install mac capitan and sierra, but I can not install mac os high sierra. The idea of installing mac os HS, is to install mac os mojave. In the process of installation of mac os HS indicates me an error in hardware. "" an error occurred installing mac os. To use apple diagnostics to check your mac hardware ... etc ", at the beginning mac os hs requested firmware update, it was done successfully and the installation was restarted, however it was not completed. Is it a boot room problem? : MP51.0084.B00 The purpose of starting this (complicated) update process is because I want to install mac os mojave, I hope you can help me, I attach screenshots, excuse my english, thank you! This is driving me crazy!!
[doublepost=1545941060][/doublepost]

with

Read the first post. You can't install Mojave with HD 5770 and with MP51.0084.B00.

i cant install mac os HS because a hardware issue, Original gpu GeForce GT 120 de NVIDIA con 512 MB. boot room MP51.0084.B00. what i need to do? thans x your time! (aditional info, i va a rx580 8GB)

 

[tsialex]

---------------------

Hi how are you ?, I want to ask your help to solve a problem I have with my mac pro (2009, 4.1, updated to 5.1). I can install mac capitan and sierra, but I can not install mac os high sierra. The idea of installing mac os HS, is to install mac os mojave. In the process of installation of mac os HS indicates me an error in hardware. "" an error occurred installing mac os. To use apple diagnostics to check your mac hardware ... etc ", at the beginning mac os hs requested firmware update, it was done successfully and the installation was restarted, however it was not completed. Is it a boot room problem? : MP51.0084.B00 The purpose of starting this (complicated) update process is because I want to install mac os mojave, I hope you can help me, I attach screenshots, excuse my english, thank you! This is driving me crazy!!
[doublepost=1545941060][/doublepost]


i cant install mac os HS because a hardware issue, Original gpu GeForce GT 120 de NVIDIA con 512 MB. boot room MP51.0084.B00. what i need to do? thans x your time! (aditional info, i va a rx580 8GB)

Read the first post. Read again. One more time. You have to upgrade to MP51.0089.B00 before installing the RX-580, it's there…

 

[chris.pielkenrood]

Hi Guys, i am trying with my high Sierra (10.13.6) 5.1 setup to upgrade to Mojave. I have switched from my standaard gt120 GPU to a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Mac Edition. So i can see the bootscreen currently without issues. Following the first post within this tread it should be possible to upgrade with my setup but it is not working.

When starting the Mojave installer i receive the notice to first update the firmware. So i follow the instructies and power off. Than hold the power button untill the light flashes and I then hear the long beep. Than I see the Apple
Logo with the grey screen but this is just the regular boot screen bedauwde my Mac regular boots up.

Then the installer is back with the message that I need to upgrade the firmware.

Somebody here knows whats the problem?

 

[tsialex]

Hi Guys, i am trying with my high Sierra (10.13.6) 5.1 setup to upgrade to Mojave. I have switched from my standaard gt120 GPU to a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Mac Edition. So i can see the bootscreen currently without issues. Following the first post within this tread it should be possible to upgrade with my setup but it is not working.

When starting the Mojave installer i receive the notice to first update the firmware. So i follow the instructies and power off. Than hold the power button untill the light flashes and I then hear the long beep. Than I see the Apple
Logo with the grey screen but this is just the regular boot screen bedauwde my Mac regular boots up.

Then the installer is back with the message that I need to upgrade the firmware.

Somebody here knows whats the problem?

Did you already upgraded to MP51.0089.B00? If not, use the GT120 to upgrade to it. Take your time and read the thread, you certainly will find people that had similar problems.

 

[chris.pielkenrood]

Did you already upgraded to MP51.0089.B00? If not, use the GT120 to upgrade to it. Take your time and read the thread, you certainly will find people that had similar problems.

Thats the point. When installing High Sierra (13.10.6) my firmware did not upgrade from MP51.0084.B00 to MP51.0089. So when continuing with the Mojave installer I was expecting, with my GTX680, that i would just update the firmware. I hoped i did not have to use the GT120.

 

[tsialex]

Thats the point. When installing High Sierra (13.10.6) my firmware did not upgrade from MP51.0084.B00 to MP51.0089. So when continuing with the Mojave installer I was expecting, with my GTX680, that i would just update the firmware. I hoped i did not have to use the GT120.

Your best bet is to simplify and use just one disk and GT120 to get MP51.0089.B00.

 

[lbuisson]

Hi tsialex,
I have strange issue :
I putscreenshot config and mojave update firmware.
Then I'm HS 10,13,6
cMP 4,1 update 5,1
GPU RX580 PULSE RADEON 8G
Boot Rom MP51.0089.B00
SIP disabled

Then I launch Mojave update to be able to have Rom boot 140 to support nvme :
- I have message mojave to update firmware
- turn off cMP
- turn on cMP and keep push on button until lighning (or ringing is the same issue)
- Mac os restart
- dvd not opening
- mojave say always upgrade firmware
- yes I'm still MP51.0089.B00

car you help me?
thank you

 

[tsialex]

Hi tsialex,
I have strange issue :
I putscreenshot config and mojave update firmware.
Then I'm HS 10,13,6
cMP 4,1 update 5,1
GPU RX580 PULSE RADEON 8G
Boot Rom MP51.0089.B00
SIP disabled

Then I launch Mojave update to be able to have Rom boot 140 to support nvme :
- I have message mojave to update firmware
- turn off cMP
- turn on cMP and keep push on button until lighning (or ringing is the same issue)
- Mac os restart
- dvd not opening
- mojave say always upgrade firmware
- yes I'm still MP51.0089.B00

car you help me?
thank you

Take your time and read the thread, you will find people that had similar problems and how they resolved it. You probably not getting correctly into Firmware Upgrade Mode for some motive.

Try doing a clean install into an empty disk, then try the Mojave installer.

 

[lbuisson]

OK i will search in the 27 pages