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

[tsialex]

Yup, mine is Ver B. Good to know.

I got the same card with my recent MP5,1 purchase so now I have 2. Will probably offload it on eBay at some point.

Thanks @tsialex

It's a very sought after card, you will sell it easily.

 

[UKenGB]

If you are on 10.13.6 you need to check you bootrom to be sure it is 0089. It is probably not if you only ran high Sierra updates and not the full installer for 10.13.6. If it is not 0089 (mine was 0084), then you need to download and run the full installer and just do the firmware update to get to 0089. The. You run the mojave installer.

Oh no, my current bootrom is the original MP51.007F.B03 that updated my 4,1 to 5,1 so it definitely needs updating. I was just wanting to confirm that the (full) 10.13.6 installer need only be used for the firmware update process to 0089 and doesn't actually need to be installed before the Mojave installation.
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Any card that supports a Mac EFI, like AMD 7[7,8,9]xx to R9-280, Nvidia GTX-680.
Yes

No​

If is one of the possible ones, yes. You need to do your homework.

Yes​

You need to do your homework, some cards are more better suited to some types of work/needs than others, only you can get this answer.

Mojave supports Fusion drives, but is always better to do a backup, then recreate the Fusion during the USB install. With a backup you can test what work and what not with your config.

Thanks for confirming what I thought to be the case for the graphics cards. So what I need is a card that can have a Mac EFI and is metal capable. I'll have a good look around.

You say Mojave supports Fusion drives, but is that with APFS or does it leave those with HFS+?
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...You say Mojave supports Fusion drives, but is that with APFS or does it leave those with HFS+?

Answering myself now, but I read that Mojave supports APFS on Fusion drives, so I should be ok there.

Just need to find that new graphics card and I should be good to go.

 

[siegeleric]

jimithing1, Did you ever solve your problem?
I have a similar issue with my 2012 2x3.06 GHz MacPro5,1 and my Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX580 8gb which was recognized and worked beautifully (albeit without boot screen) under High Sierra but does not work under Mojave ... no video at all (even after the system boots and is seen as up and running by other machines on my network).

I upgraded from High Sierra 10.13.6 to Mojave using my old NVIDIA Quadro K5000 4gb card. No problems and the final Boot ROM Version shows as 138.0.0.0.0. However once I put the RX580 back in I got no love at all from the card.

For now I am running with the NVidia card but am hoping to find a solution as I need the RX580 for better GPU rendering in my 3D modeling application.

Open to any ideas anyone has. Thanks in advance.

 

[h9826790]

jimithing1, Did you ever solve your problem?
I have a similar issue with my 2012 2x3.06 GHz MacPro5,1 and my Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX580 8gb which was recognized and worked beautifully (albeit without boot screen) under High Sierra but does not work under Mojave ... no video at all (even after the system boots and is seen as up and running by other machines on my network).

I upgraded from High Sierra 10.13.6 to Mojave using my old NVIDIA Quadro K5000 4gb card. No problems and the final Boot ROM Version shows as 138.0.0.0.0. However once I put the RX580 back in I got no love at all from the card.

For now I am running with the NVidia card but am hoping to find a solution as I need the RX580 for better GPU rendering in my 3D modeling application.

Open to any ideas anyone has. Thanks in advance.

Did you check via remote control if the GPU is recognised in Mojave or not?

 

[siegeleric]

Did you check via remote control if the GPU is recognised in Mojave or not?

I did try to do a screen share to the MacPro from my laptop and it showed me moving the arrow cursor over a black screen. Is there another command or shell script I can run to tell if te GPU itself is recognized?

 

[VanneDC]

hi guys, was there ever any change from the mojave beta firmware boot rom to the officially released one?

 

[h9826790]

hi guys, was there ever any change from the mojave beta firmware boot rom to the officially released one?

NO, still 138.0.0.0.0.

However, the 10.14.1 beta already contain a new 139.0.0.0.0 firmware.

 

[jimithing1]

jimithing1, Did you ever solve your problem?
I have a similar issue with my 2012 2x3.06 GHz MacPro5,1 and my Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX580 8gb which was recognized and worked beautifully (albeit without boot screen) under High Sierra but does not work under Mojave ... no video at all (even after the system boots and is seen as up and running by other machines on my network).

I upgraded from High Sierra 10.13.6 to Mojave using my old NVIDIA Quadro K5000 4gb card. No problems and the final Boot ROM Version shows as 138.0.0.0.0. However once I put the RX580 back in I got no love at all from the card.

For now I am running with the NVidia card but am hoping to find a solution as I need the RX580 for better GPU rendering in my 3D modeling application.

Open to any ideas anyone has. Thanks in advance.

No sure haven't figured it out yet. I too have a Sapphire Radeon RX580 and similar config to you. Worked fine in High Sierra. Upgraded to Mojave with that card installed and get a black screen. I swapped in my old ATI 5770 card and I can get into Mojave with it albeit with super slow graphic performance.


I even went back and installed High Sierra 10.13.6 on a separate drive just to make sure the card still worked and of course it does.

I'm really perplexed as to why it isn't working since it is apparently a supported card that worked fine in High Sierra. Anyone else have any other ideas?

 

[siegeleric]

I too have a Sapphire Radeon RX580 and similar config to you.

The only open question I have is whether there is (to Mojave) a meaningful difference between the Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX580 (which I have) and the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX580 (which is the specific card Apple lists as compatible.

 

[tsialex]

The only open question I have is whether there is (to Mojave) a meaningful difference between the Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX580 (which I have) and the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX580 (which is the specific card Apple lists as compatible.

It's basically the frame buffer, Orinoco on the 2 Pulse models that have Apple support.

 

[jimithing1]

The only open question I have is whether there is (to Mojave) a meaningful difference between the Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX580 (which I have) and the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX580 (which is the specific card Apple lists as compatible.

Mine is the regular Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX580 which is supposed to be compatible. Now on the original box it does say "Overclock" which I'm not sure if that is having something to do with it.

 

[siegeleric]

Mine is the regular Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX580 which is supposed to be compatible. Now on the original box it does say "Overclock" which I'm not sure if that is having something to do with it.

Well that gives me pause ... I was going to Amazon order one of the Pulse versions and try it out, but if your unit failed to fire up (and which like mine still works in High Sierra) than I am not going to go down that road.

 

[tsialex]

Well that gives me pause ... I was going to Amazon order one of the Pulse versions and try it out, but if your unit failed to fire up (and which like mine still works in High Sierra) than I am not going to go down that road.

Did you buy it new or used? Changed the card firmware? What is the product number?

 

[siegeleric]

Did you buy it new or used? Changed the card firmware?

Brand new. Sapphire 11265-01-20G Radeon NITRO+ RX 580 8GB GDDR5. Got it the second week in June and it worked right out of the box.

 

[tsialex]

Brand new. Sapphire 11265-01-20G Radeon NITRO+ RX 580 8GB GDDR5. Got it the second week in June and it worked right out of the box.

Try to ask help here Sapphire PULSE RX580 8GB VBIOS Study maybe people there know something.

 

[486dx2]

Thanks to OP's post, I was successful in upgrading from 10.13.4 to 10.14 using a flashed Nvidial GT 640 card.
I have a another video card that has metal support but I could never get to boot from under Sierra, and never tried under High Sierra, a Gigabyte Radeon RX460, model GV-RX460WF2OC-2GD, rev1.0

Out of curiosity, I removed the GT 640 and put in the Radeon RX460. As expected, blank screen after the startup chime, for no bootscreen, but after waiting a little bit more, the display monitor came to life with the Mojave login screen...yaaay.

 

[brkkyk]

Hello guys, I have flashed GTX680 and updated my system to 10.13.6 High Sierra. Then download Mojave update but unfortunately i can't go further from a firmware update screen. Whatever i do, it doesn't shut down after i click Shut Down button.

When i try install firmware update manually by unpacking the FirmwareUpdate.pkg then i get this response.

I also tried to install High Sierra 10.13.6 FirmwareUpdate.pkg first but i get same results.

Here is my current hardware spec:


Do you guys have any idea on what going on?

Thanks.

 

[h9826790]

Hello guys, I have flashed GTX680 and updated my system to 10.13.6 High Sierra. Then download Mojave update but unfortunately i can't go further from a firmware update screen. Whatever i do, it doesn't shut down after i click Shut Down button.
View attachment 790267
When i try install firmware update manually by unpacking the FirmwareUpdate.pkg then i get this response.
View attachment 790268
I also tried to install High Sierra 10.13.6 FirmwareUpdate.pkg first but i get same results.

Here is my current hardware spec:
View attachment 790269

Do you guys have any idea on what going on?

Thanks.

You better re-read post #1

 

[brkkyk]

You better re-read post #1

i'm already saying that firmware update is not working. i tried all steps in post #1. i don't get what you're suggesting.

 

[VanneDC]

NO, still 138.0.0.0.0.

However, the 10.14.1 beta already contain a new 139.0.0.0.0 firmware.

Intresting. Thanks when does the non beta 10.14.1 go live?

 

[pierrox]

I have a Sapphire RX580, the recommended one. I also have the GT120 in a drawer. Can I be lazy and put it in slot 2 or 3 during the 10.13.6 firmware flash instead of removing the RX and using slot 1?
Of course I would move the monitor cables to the GT120.

 

[bjar]

i'm already saying that firmware update is not working. i tried all steps in post #1. i don't get what you're suggesting.

You need to run a high Sierra full installer and update your firmware to MP51.0089 first. As stated in post 1. You are on 0085.

 

[MacDann]

Kudos to the OP for this very informative wiki!

Just for feedback's sake, I recently acquired a MP 4,1 single processor which I updated the firmware on to 5,1. It's currently running El Capitan, but in anticipation of possibly updating to Mojave I did the firmware updates to bring it all the way up to the 089 firmware version.

Right now it's got the a GT120 in it, but I have a reference GTX680 2GB that has been flashed with the proper ROM to show boot screens. As I see there have been issues with this card for some folks, I'm wondering if it would be best to wait for Nvidia to come out with their web drivers for Mojave before I decide to upgrade?

Again, thanks to tsialex for the great work!

MacDann

 

[h9826790]

I have a Sapphire RX580, the recommended one. I also have the GT120 in a drawer. Can I be lazy and put it in slot 2 or 3 during the 10.13.6 firmware flash instead of removing the RX and using slot 1?
Of course I would move the monitor cables to the GT120.

Can, you don’t even need to connect any monitor to the GT120, as long as the GT120 is there. The firmware upgrade (0089.B00 and before) can work.
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i'm already saying that firmware update is not working. i tried all steps in post #1. i don't get what you're suggesting.

Read it again, step 7

 

[tsialex]

Intresting. Thanks when does the non beta 10.14.1 go live?

Usually, around a month later:

• 26 days for 10.13.1,
• 34 for 10.12.1,
• 21 for 10.11.1,
• 29 for 10.10.1.

You can read about every macOS release date here: A useless analysis of macOS (OS X) release dates