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

[K two]

Having a hard time finding the Mojave installer via installinstallmacos.py, so I'll try and find an installer elsewhere.

Thanks.

gibMacOS-master makes getting the release installers from Apple much easier. Attached

 

[niconc]

A lot of things can go wrong, it's a 12 years old Mac. Could be the PSU, the SPI flash, NVRAM full. a capacitor failing somewhere, the CPU tray, etc.

I'd start running AHT and checking the diagnostic buttons when the problem happens.

Thank you very much tsialex,
I'll start right away. I'll begin by reading the article you posted and I hope to not to bother you again. Do you believe though that after a failure, AHT would pinpoint the problem?

Thank you
niconc

 

[tsialex]

Thank you very much tsialex,
I'll start right away. I'll begin by reading the article you posted and I hope to not to bother you again. Do you believe though that after a failure, AHT would pinpoint the problem?

Thank you
niconc

AHT is almost a long shot for what you wrote about your Mac Pro, but you have to do all the steps of the elimination process, doing things that don't make immediate sense like checking SMART for all your disks or measuring the RTC battery voltage with a voltmeter.

If AHT shows something, it will narrow your search.

 

[jetjaguar]

Quick question about mojave on a 4,1--->5,1. I currently have a gt120 with a 580x coming tomorrow. Now my understanding is that you need a Metal capable card in order to install mojave. I just got notified by the mac app store if I wanted to upgrade to mojave right now .. obviously it wont work right until I have the 580x in ?

 

[tsialex]

Quick question about mojave on a 4,1--->5,1. I currently have a gt120 with a 580x coming tomorrow. Now my understanding is that you need a Metal capable card in order to install mojave. I just got notified by the mac app store if I wanted to upgrade to mojave right now .. obviously it wont work right until I have the 580x in ?

Seems that you missed the obligatory requirement of a GPU with METAL support for Mojave upgrades that are explained on the first post, please go back to it and read it again.

 

[Max_i_Max]

Hi tsialex
hank you so much for such a detailed guide.

I don't want to be another newbie who will write about bricks 4.1-5.1. Therefore, I will ask in advance.
MP 5.1 (flashed 4.1), MP51.007F.B03, Catalina (dosdude), SATA SSD, HD7970 Mac edition

How safe is it to update the boot rom (do I understand the installation scheme correctly in this case, through booting from usb with original installers, first high sierra (updating the firmware without installing the system), then next step update firmware from usb with the original Mojave?

 

[tsialex]

Hi tsialex
hank you so much for such a detailed guide.

I don't want to be another newbie who will write about bricks 4.1-5.1. Therefore, I will ask in advance.
MP 5.1 (flashed 4.1), MP51.007F.B03, Catalina (dosdude), SATA SSD, HD7970 Mac edition

How safe is it to update the boot rom (do I understand the installation scheme correctly in this case, through booting from usb with original installers, first high sierra (updating the firmware without installing the system), then next step update firmware from usb with the original Mojave?

Go back to the first post and read it again, seems you missed the note that can't update from USB installers, you have to do it from macOS, so start from Sierra.

 

[Max_i_Max]

Go back to the first post and read it again, seems you missed the note that can't update from USB installers, you have to do it from macOS, so start from Sierra.

Thanks.
I really missed this note.

I can't run High Sierra from Catalina directly, so at first, I have to install a clean version of High Sierra from USB and then re-run the installer from OS to update firmware to MP51.0089.B00, that's correct?

 

[tsialex]

Thanks.
I really missed this note.

I can't run High Sierra from Catalina directly, so at first, I have to install a clean version of High Sierra from USB and then re-run the installer from OS to update firmware to MP51.0089.B00, that's correct?

No, you have to start from Sierra. High Sierra requires MP51.0089.B00 and now you have MP51.007F.B03. Installing High Sierra to an external USB drive using another supported Mac won't work.

MacPro5,1 (or a MP4,1>5,1) only upgrades firmware when you open the macOS installer, it's not like every other Mac. Install Sierra, then download/open High Sierra installer - no need to install it, just do the firmware part. Then do the same with Mojave installer.

 

[simacc]

Hi, I have a Mac Pro 4,1 -> 5,1 on mp51.0089.b00, with a ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB (3.46 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon). At the moment I regularly switch between OS 10.6.8, 10.11.6 and 10.13.6. The computer is working great as is TBH...it's used solely for music production.

But, I was thinking of buying something like the MSI Gaming Radeon RX 560 128-bit 4GB GDRR5 so I could install Mojave on a separate drive. The thing is would I be able to leave the old HD 5770 in there also? I want to be able to go back to Snow Leopard and El Capitan.

Thanks for any help!

 

[MarkC426]

You can't have metal/non-metal mixed gpu's with Mojave.
Snow Leopard and El Cap won't work with a metal gpu.

 

[simacc]

You can't have metal/non-metal mixed gpu's with Mojave.
Snow Leopard and El Cap won't work with a metal gpu.

So I'd have to actually physically take out the HD 5770 to boot to Mojave. And then reinstall it to boot to Snow Leopard etc.? Or do you just mean the cards won't work in the respective OS, because that would be fine...I don't even use a monitor with this...control over VNC.

What about the firmware updates, could that stop the machine from booting to Snow Leopard or El Cap at all?

 

[MarkC426]

In order to upgrade to Mojave, you will need a metal gpu to allow the firmware update.
SL and ElCap don't support RX560.
You can still boot to SL after firmware update.

 

[Macschrauber]

If you dont need the power of a rx560 you can get a gtx680 and run also older systems with it. Also you can flash it with the efi rom to get bootscreen.

 

[simacc]

In order to upgrade to Mojave, you will need a metal gpu to allow the firmware update.
SL and ElCap don't support RX560.
You can still boot to SL after firmware update.

Understand that..what I was wondering is if I can leave the HD 5770 in and somehow make Mojave ignore it...and also leave the RX560 or whatever in an I'm guessing Snow Leopard would naturally just ignore that.

Thanks re firmware.

 

[simacc]

If you dont need the power of a rx560 you can get a gtx680 and run also older systems with it. Also you can flash it with the efi rom to get bootscreen.

Thanks. Unfortunately Gtx680 won't do 10.6.8.

 

[bsbeamer]

Unless you’re going to build an A/B switch or find a Cubix style external box with one, this is going to be a tough ask with your 10.6 need. Is likely a waste of money for what you’re needing. Might be cheaper to build a second machine for 10.6 with KVM. Everything else is able to be solved.

 

[simacc]

Unless you’re going to build an A/B switch or find a Cubix style external box with one, this is going to be a tough ask with your 10.6 need. Is likely a waste of money for what you’re needing. Might be cheaper to build a second machine for 10.6 with KVM. Everything else is able to be solved.

Cheers...actually 10.6 is the most crucial thing for this machine...so yeah it'll have stay 10.6–10.13 I think...had a look at dosdude also; looks like there's no solution

 

[howiest]

I bought a bare bones MP 4,1 for dirt cheap just so I could run Snow Leopard, and play those cool old games from yesteryear.

I have a much upgraded 5,1 (hack) as my main machine with a Radeon RX 580 running Mojave & Windows 10.

 

[jeremiasm]

Hello there!

I have tried to upgrade firmware for my Mac Pro 5.1 (late 2010). I bought a Metal compatible GPU (R9 280X (Rev. 2) 3GB). I have High Sierra and bootrom MP51.0089.B00. When trying to upgrade the firmware Mojave installer constantly asks administrator password in order to add a new helper tool and won't ever shut down. What would be the problem? I tried to install fresh High Sierra from USB, added a new administrator account with a different Icould, reseted the SMC and pram.

I contacted also Apple, without telling them that I'm using the non-EFI card, and they just answered me that use the recommended graphics cards. It took me to think do I have to flash the R9 280X in order to install the latest firmware. I have also read that many people have gotten the firmware update without an EFI-compatible GPU.

And by the way, Mac os just recognizes R9 280x as AMD 7XXX. Would it tell that the problem is the graphics card?

Thank you!
Jeremias

 

[bsbeamer]

I tried to install fresh High Sierra from USB

This is likely one of the issues. Search for "installinstallmacos.py" and get the full installer. Do not run from USB.

 

[tsialex]

Hello there!

I have tried to upgrade firmware for my Mac Pro 5.1 (late 2010). I bought a Metal compatible GPU (R9 280X (Rev. 2) 3GB). I have High Sierra and bootrom MP51.0089.B00. When trying to upgrade the firmware Mojave installer constantly asks administrator password in order to add a new helper tool and won't ever shut down. What would be the problem? I tried to install fresh High Sierra from USB, added a new administrator account with a different Icould, reseted the SMC and pram.

I contacted also Apple, without telling them that I'm using the non-EFI card, and they just answered me that use the recommended graphics cards. It took me to think do I have to flash the R9 280X in order to install the latest firmware. I have also read that many people have gotten the firmware update without an EFI-compatible GPU.

Thank you!
Jeremias

Please go back to the first post and find what else is blocking the update, it’s not just METAL or EFI (for anyone with earlier than MP51.0089.B00).

 

[jeremiasm]

This is likely one of the issues. Search for "installinstallmacos.py" and get the full installer. Do not run from USB.

I also tried without USB. Normally upgraded to High Sierra a few months ago. That wasn't a clean install. i don't understand does it need to be a clean install?

And would that help?

- How to successfully clean install with a PC GPU:


With a PC GPU, you will only boot from the createinstallmedia installer if the firmware won't find anything else to boot since USB has the least priority when booting and you can't select it from SysPref/StartUpDisk.

Below is what you have to do to sucessfully make a clean install with a PC GPU:

• Shutdown,
• Remove any bootable disks installed anywhere on your Mac Pro (even from FW/USB/PCIe),
• Install a new, or fully erased, disk where you will do the clean install and connect the createinstallmedia USB installer to one of the Mac Pro native USB ports (third party USB cards of any kind are not capable of boot),
• Power on your Mac Pro, after around 5 minutes it will boot from the createinstallmedia USB installer.

Please go back to the first post and find what else is blocking the update, it’s not just METAL or EFI (for anyone with earlier than MP51.0089.B00).

Read many times the first post. I have the MP51.0089.B00, not earlier. So what should I do?

 

[tsialex]

So what should I do?

Do a clean install of Sierra or High Sierra to a brand new/nuked disk, after installed/fully updated you can then download Mojave and open the installer from macOS. Never try to upgrade firmwares from USB.

If you still can't upgrade, like for only having a DP1.2/1.4 monitor without the efiflasher required DP1.1 mode, your only option is to pay for a firmware reconstruction.

 

[jeremiasm]

If you still can't upgrade, like for only having a DP1.2/1.4 monitor without the efiflasher required DP1.1 mode, your only option is to pay for a firmware reconstruction.

Just using HDMI at 1080p screen so no need to worry about that?