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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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The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.
handheldgames

handheldgames

macrumors 68000
Apr 4, 2009
1,943
1,170
Pacific NW, USA
Looks like the rx470 is blocked from installing the final version of Mojave.

I've had good luck so far with a 7950 and a rx480.

screenshot2018-09-2512.28.39 PM.png
 
H

hugo393

macrumors newbie
Sep 24, 2018
6
0
tsialex said:
Mojave only will install if you have upgraded your BootROM and you 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. 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 on your Mac Pro.

No card of the Apple third-party graphics cards list has 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. MP5,1 efiflasher don't support 4K screens or DP1.2. 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 5.1.
  2. Disable FileVault2 if enabled, Mojave don't support FV2 on a Mac Pro 5,1 yet.
  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) plus the 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)
  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 you 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 138.0.0.0.0, if yes, you can do a createinstallmedia USB clean install or upgrade your previous High Sierra install.
Click to expand...

thanks again for making this post
 
C

Capt America

macrumors newbie
Dec 14, 2016
18
7
Hello, This might be a stupid question but I have mac pro (official 5,1) that has boot rom
MP51.0084.B00 and i'm running OS High Sierra 10.13.6. This was the rom that High sierra installed when it first came out and it converted my ssd to afps so I guess there might have been a few other boot rom updates in there after the initial install. I had to borrow a nvidia GT120 to get it upgrade then took that out and put my RX480 in it. I have been updating through software update ever since with out EFI card with no issues. Since everyone is saying i have to get to MP51.0089.B00 rom before I install mojave, how to I get to this version of boot rom if i'm already on 10.13.6? Will it give me the update EFI if I put the GT120 back in first and do a regular software update check or do I have to do a complete repair/install or something with the GT120 in? Any help would be appreciated.
 
B

bsbeamer

macrumors 601
Sep 19, 2012
4,313
2,713
Capt America said:
Since everyone is saying i have to get to MP51.0089.B00 rom before I install mojave, how to I get to this version of boot rom if i'm already on 10.13.6?
Click to expand...

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...o-upgrade-your-mac-pro-5-1-to-mojave.2142418/

Shut your machine down.
Install an EFI GPU.
Boot your machine.
Open App Store.
Search and download the latest HIGH SIERRA INSTALLER from the App Store.
After download, you will be prompted for firmware update.
FOLLOW THE ON SCREEN DIRECTIONS - PRINT OR WRITE THEM DOWN
 
bokkow

bokkow

macrumors 6502
May 3, 2012
296
247
The Netherlands
tsialex said:
4K displays seems to be a serious problem with the old efiflasher.

Apple corrected this with MP6,1, boot screens work with 4K/DP1.2 with the trashcan, and "forgot" to the same with the MP5,1.
Click to expand...

Yeah I know, was quite dissapointed back when I did the GTX680 flash and was hoping for bootscreens right away :/. Only way now seems to be connecting through HDMI, for the occasional time needed that’s fine.

However I don’t think the 4K display caused the issue since only after disconnecting the secondary SSD things started working

iGobbleoff said:
@bokkow I just did the same thing after seeing your post and mine updated, plus I put the GT120 in slot 1, not sure if that mattered. The firmware did update, am downloading mojave (again) now to see if that'll go ahead.

**edit - ROM now updated to 138 and Mojave is installing**
Click to expand...

I’m glad that my post helped a bit, credits to @bjar for the suggestion to disconnect non-boot drives.

Btw; couldnt wait and thought; “ah f**k it” Mojave is now installed and optimising apparently
 
tsialex

tsialex

Contributor
Original poster
Jun 13, 2016
13,454
13,601
bokkow said:
Yeah I know, was quite dissapointed back when I did the GTX680 flash and was hoping for bootscreens right away :/. Only way now seems to be connecting through HDMI, for the occasional time needed that’s fine.

However I don’t think the 4K display caused the issue since only after disconnecting the secondary SSD things started working



I’m glad that my post helped a bit, credits to @bjar for the suggestion to disconnect non-boot drives.

Btw; couldnt wait and thought; “ah f**k it” Mojave is now installed and optimising apparently
Click to expand...
4K is a old problem, I even forgot about that. When you mentioned, I remembered instantly.
 
B

bjar

macrumors regular
Feb 20, 2013
232
105
Sugar land, tx
Once on Mojave, how can I download the full installer for 10.13.6 again? I forgot to keep it and would like to store a copy. The link in the first post no longer works, and I can't find via Google. Searching for it in the App Store does not work for me either. Thanks
 
Mad Davey

Mad Davey

macrumors member
May 22, 2017
63
16
tsialex, I want to say thanks for the informative thread. This may have been addressed somewhere, excuse me if so. I had other problems going on but your information in the first post allowed me to work through and finally get High Sierra on a couple Mac Pros here and very soon they will have Mojave. You might add the following to the first post, "Remove operating system HDD from add on HDD controllers and hooking directly to the Macs native HDD controller/sled, you can return them later assuming they are supported" I have bootable add in cards that accept SSD's and improve hard disk bus speeds, one from OWC, another I forgot what kind but it holds two drives. I had to take the Mac OS drive out of those and put directly into the drive bay sled using a SSD 2.5-3.5 adapter for the firmware and OS to update. Great information, cheers.
 
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P

pgilmore7

macrumors newbie
Sep 5, 2018
27
1
My 5 1 has no HD at this point, if I understand correctly after installing an HD I'll have to load High Sierra (probably from a USB) before Mojave?
 
tsialex

tsialex

Contributor
Original poster
Jun 13, 2016
13,454
13,601
kings79 said:
I did the firmware upgrade for High Sierra booting from USB without a hitch.
Click to expand...
What's your exact hardware config. USB flashing don't work with almost anyone, but you are the second person that say this.
 
kings79

kings79

macrumors regular
Sep 16, 2015
227
105
SYstem_Report.png


HD57790, No PCIe drives, Startech PEXUSB312EIC - 5-Port USB 3.1 (10Gbps) Combo Card
 
J

jimithing1

macrumors regular
Feb 16, 2008
184
36
tsialex said:
Boot 10.13.6? You will need to boot High Sierra, you can't troubleshoot without boot screens.
Click to expand...
So looping back around on this, I reinstalled High Sierra on a separate drive so I could get back in to see what version the boot ROM is and it’s 138.0.0.0. Now I’m really perplexed as to why I’m getting a black screen on the Mojave installed disk.
 
tsialex

tsialex

Contributor
Original poster
Jun 13, 2016
13,454
13,601
jimithing1 said:
So looping back around on this, I reinstalled High Sierra on a separate drive so I could get back in to see what version the boot ROM is and it’s 138.0.0.0. Now I’m really perplexed as to why I’m getting a black screen on the Mojave installed disk.
Click to expand...
Weird. I'll PM you.
 
kings79

kings79

macrumors regular
Sep 16, 2015
227
105
jimithing1 said:
So looping back around on this, I reinstalled High Sierra on a separate drive so I could get back in to see what version the boot ROM is and it’s 138.0.0.0. Now I’m really perplexed as to why I’m getting a black screen on the Mojave installed disk.
Click to expand...

Do you have a flashed 79XX series GPU?
 
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