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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.
TECK said:
Can you please let me know why do you use a flash drive instead of performing the clean install from Mojave? Curios to see the usability for you.
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I use filevault and refresh it every major release. This year though, Big Sur refused to allow installation on an encrypted drive so I'll have to enable filevault from within the OS. I also use partedmagic's NVMe Secure Erase to wipe/reset the drive to factory performance levels (Reset all cells to empty/0)

Always a good idea to keep a USB installer on hand, just in case.
 
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I'm running Big Sur right now using 0.6.3. So far so good. I upgraded from Catalina. I wanted to dump my rom using ROMTool but I'm getting an error that DirectHW.kext is missing. I think I need to add the app to the privacy settings so it has permission to run. Any luck?
 
HuRR said:
I'm running Big Sur right now using 0.6.3. So far so good. I upgraded from Catalina. I wanted to dump my rom using ROMTool but I'm getting an error that DirectHW.kext is missing. I think I need to add the app to the privacy settings so it has permission to run. Any luck?
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I think you have to go to Terminal in Recovery mode and set " csrutil disable "
 
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TECK said:
Did you copied the OcBinaryData legacy USB driver? It is probably not showing because the driver is missing. Not sure what else could be the issue.
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It took several more attempts with both the USB stick and the SSD drive and the ISO file. And it took knowing which USB port on the cMP would indeed allow the USB stick to be seen when booting.

The installation has completed successfully and this is being done on Windows 10 on the cMP natively.

What I need to do next is to upgrade to Windows 10 Professional.

Should this be a simple task, or do I need to know more ins and outs first?

Thanks to many people who have helped me.
 
HuRR said:
I'm running Big Sur right now using 0.6.3. So far so good. I upgraded from Catalina. I wanted to dump my rom using ROMTool but I'm getting an error that DirectHW.kext is missing. I think I need to add the app to the privacy settings so it has permission to run. Any luck?
Click to expand...
Never dump, or flash, your BootROM from an unsupported/hacked macOS version. You are asking for trouble, the saved dump is not reliable.

Boot your Mojave disk without OC.
 
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tsialex said:
Never dump, or flash, your BootROM from an unsupported/hacked macOS version. You are asking for trouble, the saved dump is not reliable.

Boot your Mojave disk without OC.
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Yikes. I completely did not think of that. Thanks as usual.
 
dontpokebearz said:
Flash may not have been the correct term - I meant install. Can I install OpenCore over an existing installation of Catalina?
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You install OC in the EFI partition of a GPT drive. Normally this partition is hidden and has to be mounted for read/write access. You can have any operating system on the visible partition of that drive. Installing OC in the EFI partition which is formatted as a FAT32 does not alter the operating system on the visible HFS+, APFS partition
 
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startergo said:
You install OC in the EFI partition of a GPT drive. Normally this partition is hidden and has to be mounted for read/write access. You can have any operating system on the visible partition of that drive. Installing OC in the EFI partition which is formatted as a FAT32 does not alter the operating system on the visible HFS+, APFS partition
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Thanks!
 
hwojtek said:
Care to spill the beans on this one?
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I am using a heavily upgraded cMP that started out life as a cMP 4,1 with 6 core dual processors and was upgraded to 6 core Westmere, a Saphire Radeon R580, AND an additional USB card with USB 3.0 ports (blue plastic).

I bought this computer in the upgraded 5,1 state online and was not aware of the USB card.

The original (white plastic) USB 1.0 ports are still on the cMP. I merrily plugged in my trackball, and my Apple Extended Keyboard with a Tinkerboy® adapter. All well and good.

However I plugged in a 32 Gb 3.0 USB to the USB card, blue plastic to blue plastic.

The cMP saw the USB, but the OpenCore software on bootup, did not.

I downgraded the choice of USB to a 16 Gb black plastic 2.0 USB, but still plugged it in to the USB card, black to blue. No Joy.

It was not until I realized what was probably going on that I tried the 32 Gb 2.0 black plastic, in the white plastic original ports at the back.

Bingo! We have liftoff!

I think it may have even been keeping me from making a bootable installation disk.

So, use the original ports on your cMP (white plastic). If possible, use a 2.0, or slower USB.

I have spent the last three weeks fighting this. I am still trying to get High Sierra to install (it says there is a firmware problem) on a separate SSD.

And from what I have briefly read, it appears that upgrading Windows (I need Windows Pro) may require more knowledge than I currently have - none at all.

I would like to learn enough to not be dangerous to myself and others. Any suggestions?
 
wnlewis said:
I think it may have even been keeping me from making a bootable installation disk.
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Just to share my experience, I used a $5 16GB Lexar USB 2.0 thumb, plugged into one of the front USB entries, next to power button. Everything worked perfect, from the very first Windows install, following @cdf procedure.
 
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Yes. You plugged into one of the two front ports. Those are 1.0 ports identified by the white plastic.

When I started, I did not know that and plugged the keyboard and the trackball into the front two ports.

Since the 3.0 card was handy and I didn't know better, I plugged the USB, 3.0, blue plastic into one of those ports. They were seen by the computer, so I didn't give it another thought.

Then you suggested that I needed to use a 2.0 or slower. I didn't know how to identify the difference so I looked it up. White, 1.0; black, 2.0; blue, 3.0.

And I found that the two front ports were white, as were the original USB ports at the back. Once that was identified the process went forward.

I followed the procedure too, but unlike you, I put the USB stick in the wrong location.
 
Colors of USB connectors do NOT necessarily indicate the speed, although blue usually indicates some flavor of USB 3.0 or 3.1.
For instance, The Mac Pro 4,1 and 5,1 has Five white USB 2.0 ports.
 
TECK said:
I used the most lazy location for me to stick the USB, into the front panel. 😂
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Lazy is good 😄

How much courage and smarts do I need to have to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro.

I would like an idea before I spend money. I'm going to have to have Windows 10 Pro, since it is for business.
 
@tsialex I was having trouble with the Handoff, the fix was quite easy. All I had to do is iCloud logoff on both iPhone and Mac, then login. Now handoff works, as well Apple Watch authentication from sleep or screen saver or lock unlock. So far everything is finally proper, Bluetooth working smooth with no lag in Big Sur.

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C166C291-8741-46AE-80E1-EC193CFE2163.png
 
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So there is a lot of info here, hoping someone can simply this for me... Can I replace the EFI with the OpenCore on my existing boot drive and upgrade straight to Big Sur. From what I see in this video
it appears like it should be that simple. But I have also seen references that the SMIBIOS of the MP5,1 is not supported... And as far as risk goes, I don't see anything that looks like it impacts the system beyond the boot drive. So if something goes wrong, I should still be able to boot from my USB installer media... The first post here looks alot more complex and even goes into installing kexts...

So is it as simple as what they show in that video, can I go to Big Sur, or am I missing something... Specs are in my sig...
 
s.m.t. said:
So there is a lot of info here, hoping someone can simply this for me
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From your current Catalina setup, all you have to do is set VMM to off and add the @cdf fix explained in post #4,399. Then you can upgrade directly.

Edit: never mind, I thought you already run OpenCore. I just watched the video and these clowns copied @cdf work without any credit! I added a comment:

1605660315016.png
 
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TECK said:
From your current Catalina setup, all you have to do is set VMM to off and add the @cdf fix explained in post #4,399. Then you can upgrade directly.

Edit: never mind, I thought you already run OpenCore. I just watched the video and these clowns copied @cdf work without any credit!
Click to expand...
Yeah, have not attempted installing OpenCore... Seeing how much info is here and how detailed the first post is, I haven't tried as I don't want to deal with alot of hacking... But after watching that video, it makes it seem simple to install OpenCore then install Catalina (hoping Big Sur) and then having a Mac that for all intent and purpose behalves like a supported Mac...

So is it that simple as they show?
 
s.m.t. said:
So is it that simple as they show?
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What they show you is plain wrong. Say you follow their guide which basically skips a lot of important steps for users to understand (by creating a custom package). If things break, who is going to help you, these clowns? And what if your Mac has different components, or you want to upgrade the packages? Terrible idea to use their dumb setup.

What you need to do is read first post and follow it, is detailed in a way that even a baby can understand it, if you take the time to read. At least here you have a group of people who can help you fix the problem, but nobody will spoon feed, as the @cdf guide is very well written.
 
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So is the only "correct" way of installing OpenCore is to a new formatted drive? There is no path to go from an existing Mohave install?
 
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