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MP 1,1-5,1 Manually Configured OpenCore on the Mac Pro

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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.
Scrotorr said:
Okay - I've gotten OpenCore 0.6.2 installed with Catalina 10.15.7 - I'm using a non-flashed R7 270X which works great once you get into the desktop - but I'm not getting any output until I get to the login, just like my previous installs without OpenCore. I wait about a minute and eventually the login window comes up.

FYI - If I swap in one of the original Radeon 4870 cards everything is visible as soon as the machine chimes. As soon as I put in the non-flashed card and boot I get nothing until desktop.

I'm running:
Mac Pro 4,1->5,1 with BootROM 144.0.0.0.0
original Dual Quad Xeon
16 GB RAM
Non-flashed R7 270X

Any help would be appreciated. I've got 9 of these I'd like to get running with Bootpickers working properly for work - I just can't seem to get anything showing for the Bootpicker portion.

Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
That situation would suggest that the Apple EFI card works as expected, and OpenCore bootpicker is not installed (properly). I assume that you don't get a choice with the R7 270X? I've done that with my RX 580, but was able to fix it. I have no knowledge of compatibility from your video card, only that I got similar results from a mistake.
 
Scrotorr said:
Okay - I've gotten OpenCore 0.6.2 installed with Catalina 10.15.7 - I'm using a non-flashed R7 270X which works great once you get into the desktop - but I'm not getting any output until I get to the login, just like my previous installs without OpenCore. I wait about a minute and eventually the login window comes up.

FYI - If I swap in one of the original Radeon 4870 cards everything is visible as soon as the machine chimes. As soon as I put in the non-flashed card and boot I get nothing until desktop.

I'm running:
Mac Pro 4,1->5,1 with BootROM 144.0.0.0.0
original Dual Quad Xeon
16 GB RAM
Non-flashed R7 270X

Any help would be appreciated. I've got 9 of these I'd like to get running with Bootpickers working properly for work - I just can't seem to get anything showing for the Bootpicker portion.

Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
Your problem is your GPU itself. R7-270X GPU is a Pitcairn family GPU, AMD tweaked a little the original Pitcairn GPU and renamed it as Curacao.

Apple removed support for Pitcairn family of GPUs with Mojave onwards, except the FirePro ones like the D300 inside late-2013 Mac Pro - all other GPUs of the Pitcairn family had support removed from Mojave/Catalina/BigSur AMD drivers.

High Sierra is the last macOS version that you can use a Pitcairn family GPU flawlessly, except of course the D300 of MP6,1. Most Pitcairn based videcards, like the HD 7870 GHz do not even work with Mojave anymore.
 
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tsialex said:
Apple removed support for Pitcairn family of GPUs with Mojave onwards, except the FirePro ones like the D300 inside late-2013 Mac Pro - all other GPUs of the Pitcairn family had support removed from Mojave/Catalina/BigSur AMD drivers.
Click to expand...
But he is talking about the pre-boot environment in OpenCore which is independent of these considerations.
As long as GOP is present on the card, he should be seeing the OpenCore environment
 
Dayo said:
But he is talking about the pre-boot environment in OpenCore which is independent of these considerations.
As long as GOP is present on the card, he should be seeing the OpenCore environment
Click to expand...
It's a 2013 rebadge of a 2012 GPU, GPUs of this era are pre-GOP. So, two problems, being pre-GOP and have support removed after High Sierra. I moved my HD7870 GHz to a PC.
 
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tsialex said:
Your problem is your GPU itself. R7-270X GPU is a Pitcairn family GPU, AMD tweaked a little the original Pitcairn GPU and renamed it as Curacao.

Apple removed support for Pitcairn family of GPUs with Mojave onwards, except the FirePro ones like the D300 inside late-2013 Mac Pro - all other GPUs of the Pitcairn family had support removed from Mojave/Catalina/BigSur AMD drivers.

High Sierra is the last macOS version that you can use a Pitcairn family GPU flawlessly, except of course the D300 of MP6,1. Most Pitcairn based videcards, like the HD 7870 GHz do not even work with Mojave anymore.
Click to expand...
He can try injecting the Pitcairn device property from a 2013 MacPro. At least the card might work even without the boot screen.
 
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I uninstalled then removed OC from a USB as per instruction in post #1 on my secondary cMP (Pulse RX580, NVMe SSD boot drive) but now it won’t boot - just a blank screen then shutdown after maybe 40 to 60secs. I’ve removed the USB stick then reset SMC and NVRAM, etc but still no go. I’ve searched back to find a solution and can’t find one. Can anyone point me in the right direction to solving this.
 
tsialex said:
Easy to solve:

Remove Catalina drive and any drive that you installed OpenCore, put a High Sierra/Mojave drive, reset NVRAM three times sequentially.

If you don’t have a HighSierra/Mojave drive anymore, you will need to use a createinstallmedia USB installer and then install to an empty drive.

Mac Pro boots from USB automatically when no other drive has an OS.

Always keep a drive with Mojave ready. Having a createinstallmedia Mojave installer ready to do any reinstalls is a must too.
Click to expand...

I’ll try this one I just found.
 
Installed Big Sur beta 10 (20A5395g) on an empty SSD from Catalina 10.15.7 with full installer offered from the update assistant.
1602995385169.png

These are the SMBIOS settings:
Code: 
    <key>PlatformInfo</key>
    <dict>
        <key>Automatic</key>
        <false/>
        <key>SMBIOS</key>
        <dict>
            <key>BIOSReleaseDate</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>BIOSVendor</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>BIOSVersion</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>BoardAssetTag</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>BoardLocationInChassis</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>BoardManufacturer</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>BoardProduct</key>
            <string>Mac-7BA5B2D9E42DDD94</string>
            <key>BoardSerialNumber</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>BoardType</key>
            <integer>0</integer>
            <key>BoardVersion</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>ChassisAssetTag</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>ChassisManufacturer</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>ChassisSerialNumber</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>ChassisType</key>
            <integer>0</integer>
            <key>ChassisVersion</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>FirmwareFeatures</key>
            <data>N+EP6AAAAAA=</data>
            <key>FirmwareFeaturesMask</key>
            <data>P/8f/wAAAAA=</data>
            <key>MemoryFormFactor</key>
            <integer>9</integer>
            <key>PlatformFeature</key>
            <integer>65535</integer>
            <key>ProcessorType</key>
            <integer>1281</integer>
            <key>SmcVersion</key>
            <data></data>
            <key>SystemFamily</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>SystemManufacturer</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>SystemProductName</key>
            <string>iMacPro1,1</string>
            <key>SystemSKUNumber</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>SystemSerialNumber</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>SystemUUID</key>
            <string></string>
            <key>SystemVersion</key>
            <string></string>
        </dict>
        <key>UpdateDataHub</key>
        <false/>
        <key>UpdateNVRAM</key>
        <false/>
        <key>UpdateSMBIOS</key>
        <true/>
        <key>UpdateSMBIOSMode</key>
        <string>Create</string>
Code: 
csrutil status
System Integrity Protection status: unknown (Custom Configuration).

Configuration:
    Apple Internal: disabled
    Kext Signing: disabled
    Filesystem Protections: disabled
    Debugging Restrictions: disabled
    DTrace Restrictions: disabled
    NVRAM Protections: disabled
    BaseSystem Verification: enabled

This is an unsupported configuration, likely to break in the future and leave your machine in an unknown state.

nvram 7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82:csr-active-config
7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82:csr-active-config    w%08%00%00
1602992924127.png


8K VP9 video playback in Safari:
1602993637811.png
 
Last edited:
I had a quick question. Before taking a crack a this -- I'm prepared to try and fail miserably as I have prepared FOUR identical backup discs with my main system on it -- I wanted to know whether it's possible to upgrade Catalina to an existing system rather than doing a complete vanilla install.

Right now, I'm using High Sierra in my 5,1 MacPro and I would like to upgrade my current system to Catalina without starting over. Is it possible to simply upgrade a drive with Mojave on it to Catalina or must it be an entirely empty disk?

In Step 1, for disk set-up, it says the following:

Disk ADisk B
Newly formatted APFS volume (GUID scheme)Existing Mojave installation (with working recovery)
This is where OpenCore and Catalina will goThis is where the configuration will take place

Now can I simply have a carbon copy of my main system as disc A so long as it is an APFS volume? Or is it necessary that the disc be erased/empty.

Does this installation procedure only work on 100% clean installs or can I upgrade a system from Mojave to Catalina? Thanks in advance.
 
Andy Zaky said:
I had a quick question. Before taking a crack a this -- I'm prepared to try and fail miserably as I have prepared FOUR identical backup discs with my main system on it -- I wanted to know whether it's possible to upgrade Catalina to an existing system rather than doing a complete vanilla install.

Right now, I'm using High Sierra in my 5,1 MacPro and I would like to upgrade my current system to Catalina without starting over. Is it possible to simply upgrade a drive with Mojave on it to Catalina or must it be an entirely empty disk?

In Step 1, for disk set-up, it says the following:

Disk ADisk B
Newly formatted APFS volume (GUID scheme)Existing Mojave installation (with working recovery)
This is where OpenCore and Catalina will goThis is where the configuration will take place

Now can I simply have a carbon copy of my main system as disc A so long as it is an APFS volume? Or is it necessary that the disc be erased/empty.

Does this installation procedure only work on 100% clean installs or can I upgrade a system from Mojave to Catalina? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I have found that it’s better to use a fresh install and use the Migration Tool afterwards. I have had the same problem with not getting it to boot. One solution I’ve found was to reboot into recovery, and re-bless the A disk even with Catalina installed.

The instructions definitely said a blank APFS volume.
Please understand my only understanding of this is anecdotal, so follow instructions from tsialex.

I also use CCC with EFIClone to clone the A volume so I have a backup of Catalina, with all the OC code. I also recommend you use a fresh download of 15.7 to avoid having to do a point upgrade later. I suggest you use eSATA for an A drive, so you don’t have to boot from a Super slow USB2 port on the chassis. If it doesn’t boot, you can just unplug it and reboot normally, and reattach A, and then re-bless from recovery and try again...

Good Luck
 
i tried to install big sure on a new hard drive (fist time open core install).
everything worked well until installing big sure to the new drive.
during installation, the mac reboots and i see the boot picker (see attached image).
after selection 'macOS Installer' i see the apple logo but nothing happens.
i waited for almost 10min and then i shut down my mac.
What am i doing wrong?
Thanks
 

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    opencore.jpg
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Last edited:
The Spirit said:
i tried to install big sure on a new hard drive (fist time open core install).
everything worked well until installing big sure to the new drive.
during installation, the mac reboots and i see the boot picker (see attached image).
after selection 'macOS Installer' i see the apple logo but nothing happens.
i waited for almost 30min and then i shut down my mac.
What am i doing wrong?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Which config you used for Big Sur installation? There are some reports about Big Sur installation stuck after 2nd stage reboot.

I recommend you try again, but use the settings in post #4212 for Big Sur installation.

That "macOS Installer" is the correct and expected behaviour, you don't need to touch it, OpenCore will pick the correct option to boot, and continue the macOS installation automatically.
 
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I used the config.plist from the first post. But even after using from post 4212 nothing happens. I see the Apple logo and that’s it.
should I install Catalina first and upgrade to Big Sur afterwards?
 
startergo said:
Installed Big Sur beta 10 (20A5395g) on an empty SSD from Catalina 10.15.7 with full installer offered from the update assistant.

This is an unsupported configuration, likely to break in the future and leave your machine in an unknown state.

nvram 7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82:csr-active-config
7C436110-AB2A-4BBB-A880-FE41995C9F82:csr-active-config w%08%00%00[/CODE]
Click to expand...

Yo is that HWaccel? Thought HEVC stopped working on previous betas. I imagine Netflix also plays 4K with this?
 
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