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MP 1,1-5,1 MacPro5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (10.13/10.14 BootROM upgrades instructions thread)
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Since my plan was to use the new NVMe drive I just got as my new home drive (and eventually turn my SSD drive into a separate Windows 10 drive), I installed it into my KryoM.2 adapter and inserted it into PCIe slot 1 and formatted it as Mac OS Extended (journaled). This went ok and it showed up on the desktop with its new name. I then used the link to download High Sierra onto it. After about 12 minutes or so it rebooted, but the drive didn't appear on the desktop. I went into System Preferences>Start Up Disk, but it wasn't listed there either. I went into Disk Utility and it was there, however it had renamed it 'APFS Physical Store disk0s2', but it didn't allow me to mount it. Any idea on how I can get this to work?
Assuming I can get my NVMe to load the correct version of High Sierra, should I at that point load all my data from the SSD onto it, or should I continue the upgrade of the NVMe to Mojave, and then load all of my data onto it?
And lastly, what would be the best way to move my data over, using Migration Assistant, my Time Machine backup, or my Carbon Copy Cloner backup? Thanks!
Forget any NVMe drives before upgrading to at least BootROM 140.0.0.0.0, where Apple started the native NVMe boot support.
Read the first post again.
Oh okay, thanks @tsialex for pointing that out! I guess I'm back to your original suggestion of doing a clean install of High Sierra on my SSD. So I guess my original question still remains though, after the clean install, how do I reinstall all of my data ensuring whatever bug was there preventing the upgrade from 10.13.4 to 10.13.6 doesn't come back? I mean, which of the three methods brings back just the data but not the old buggy OS? Thanks!
Success! I was finally able to upgrade my SSD to 10.13.6 after a clean install...Interesting though, after the install, when migration assistant asked me where to reload all my data from, it gave me the two options of either my TM or CCC, so I clicked on each one to see if it would be exactly the same....However they weren't... the TM backup seemed to be the closest in size to what was there before, but the CCC option seemed to be quite off in size. So I picked the TM and all seems to be good.
However, at the end of the whole transfer process, there was a message I had never seen before "SIP is enabled on this system. Running with SIP enabled could cause isssues, such as USB not working. To rectify this, please boot into your system's Recovery Partition or your Sierra installer USB drive, open Terminal, and run the command 'crutil disable'". From what I've read about SIP, it is what macs use to protect certain important system files from being over written, so I should probably leave it ON. Yet I've also read it needs to be disabled in order to load certain apps that don't work well with it (and then re-enabled once these apps are installed). Is this basically correct? The ominous message about it causing 'issues' is why I'm asking about it....should I be leaving SIP enabled before I continue on with my Mojave upgrade? Are most people on here leaving it on or off most of the time? Thanks!
contacted apple support, was told others have similar problems with ethernet, and dosnt have a solution for it at the moment . was advise to stick to high sierra at the moment
my radeon card already occupied 2 slots, 1 for usc 3.0 , 1 for the ssd. might just move the ssd to one of the sata ports. whats the best/compatible LAN card ?
To debug, I think any card can help you. I saw yesterday a dual USB3 + Ethernet ports, it could be a solution.
Thanks again for all your help, I ended up using these instruction found at:
macOS Majave Patcher Tool
I didn't have to use an OEM Apple Video Card or attempt to install High Sierra on a new drive.
Why on earth you used a hacked install when you can have a fully supported one?
What a thread, wow! Thanks for all the info. If somebody could just point out to me of what I am doing wrong here. Trying to update firmware. My initial settings are
I tried manually shutting off cMP and holding the power button, but this did not flash the firmware. Could anybody help with troubleshooting this dog, please?
Other info that may be helpful: removed all of other drives, removed all pcie cards, only "metal" supported card is in.
EDIT: solved problem by making the High Sierra partition as APFS. Previously I had HFS or something like this. Clean installed the High Sierra onto APFS sata SSD and had firmware upgraded to 144.
- Flashed 4,1 to 5,1 cMP (dual X5680)
- High Sierra 10.13.6 from sata ssd in bay 1
- Boot ROM MP51.0089.B00
- Purchased Metal supported card nVidia 710 GT 1GB and macOS recognizes it as a Metal supported
- Downloaded Mojave from App Store
I tried manually shutting off cMP and holding the power button, but this did not flash the firmware. Could anybody help with troubleshooting this dog, please?
Other info that may be helpful: removed all of other drives, removed all pcie cards, only "metal" supported card is in.
EDIT: solved problem by making the High Sierra partition as APFS. Previously I had HFS or something like this. Clean installed the High Sierra onto APFS sata SSD and had firmware upgraded to 144.
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Thank you for all the details on upgrading to Mojave and how to determine whether and how the correct firmware is installed. I was thrown off a bit by the line "Remember: Apple Mojave recommend[ed] RX-560/580 cards do not have pre-boot configuration support (boot screens), so you need to install your original Mac EFI GPU to upgrade your BootROM to MP51.0089.B00 using the Mac App Store"...which I mistakenly interpreted as " [So in order to have boot screens,] you need to install your..." and I tried for quite a while to get the Apple startup manager to work using a Radeon RX580 board, which ain't gonna happen. I know that now. But this is still a better source of information on the whole Mojave install process than anything Apple offers. I also found out, possibly here, that even if my Mac Pro supports metal and Mojave, that's the end of the line. We are out of luck on Catalina and anything after that. So why bother upgrading to Mojave? Is Apple getting out of the desktop computer biz? The price on the newest, 2019 Mac Pro is upwards of $6,000. The computer itself will draw more interest than the Ashcan Mac Pro (damning it with faint praise), but I don't know too many designers or illustrators that can afford that price.
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Or you can just go ahead and install Catalina against Apple’s intentions anyway.
There are plenty of OTHER threads that instruct and discuss that topic.
Yes, Catalina worked just fine on my 4,1/5,1, I didn't like it and removed it, but like I said it installed and ran without a hitch.
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Great info on upgrading Mac Pros (I have a 5,1).
My question is on downgrades: I currently have Boot ROM Version: MP51.007F.B03 and need to go to MP51.0085.B00 to install HS 10.13.6 (I have the installer). Should the OS 10.13.6 install break apps and cause any issues with disk utility and in any or all my other HFS+ HD's and clones, can I return back to Sierra 10.12.6 with the newly updated ROM which can't be returned back to MP51.007F.B03? I'm also aware that I can use an Apple engineered Terminal command to install 10.13.6 as an HFS+ volume rather than APFS.
I can't seem t get an answer anywhere other than conflicting ones, Yes you can.....No you're stuck with 10.13 and higher. Which is it, YES, I can move back to Sierra or NO, I'm stuck with 10:13 and higher.
Thank you.
My question is on downgrades: I currently have Boot ROM Version: MP51.007F.B03 and need to go to MP51.0085.B00 to install HS 10.13.6 (I have the installer). Should the OS 10.13.6 install break apps and cause any issues with disk utility and in any or all my other HFS+ HD's and clones, can I return back to Sierra 10.12.6 with the newly updated ROM which can't be returned back to MP51.007F.B03? I'm also aware that I can use an Apple engineered Terminal command to install 10.13.6 as an HFS+ volume rather than APFS.
I can't seem t get an answer anywhere other than conflicting ones, Yes you can.....No you're stuck with 10.13 and higher. Which is it, YES, I can move back to Sierra or NO, I'm stuck with 10:13 and higher.
Thank you.
Yes.
Your goal should be to update your BootROM all the way to 144.0.0.0.0
You can still revert back to the older OS while having the newest BootROM available. You really need to read post #1 again. There’s nothing conflicting about it. You can even boot 10.6.8 with the newest BootROM as long as your other hardware supports it.
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A lot of people found that High Sierra installed with HFS+ will not upgrade the BootROM, so install High Sierra in a new/empty drive with APFS then do the upgrades. Read the first post, since all your doubts are there.Great info on upgrading Mac Pros (I have a 5,1).
My question is on downgrades: I currently have Boot ROM Version: MP51.007F.B03 and need to go to MP51.0085.B00 to install HS 10.13.6 (I have the installer). Should the OS 10.13.6 install break apps and cause any issues with disk utility and in any or all my other HFS+ HD's and clones, can I return back to Sierra 10.12.6 with the newly updated ROM which can't be returned back to MP51.007F.B03? I'm also aware that I can use an Apple engineered Terminal command to install 10.13.6 as an HFS+ volume rather than APFS.
I can't seem t get an answer anywhere other than conflicting ones, Yes you can.....No you're stuck with 10.13 and higher. Which is it, YES, I can move back to Sierra or NO, I'm stuck with 10:13 and higher.
Thank you.
The HFS+ file storage protocol could have been the problem. I will have to go through the whole mess again, more carefully, and keep track of the BootROM version this time, using an APFS disk. And I could definitely have missed something in the How to Install Mojave page. It was a real freakshow, I thought at the time, but I now know that that was the result of my ill-informed installation.
Off-topic, use this thread What you need to do to make Catalina work with MacPro5,1. Read the first post before anything.