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

[eVasilis]

Hi all

One question: in machine profile.app, my 5,1's bus speed is reported as being 532 MHz. Is this expected or can it be rectified in config.plist?

Some info, 48 GB RAM, OC 0.6.6, BootRom 144.0.0.0 (real), 9999.0.0.0.0 (not so real, OC)

 

[eVasilis]

Yes, late produced mid-2010 usually follow the mid-2012 specs.

It's not just the model of the SPI flash that is different, but it's contents too. BootROM is an image with several components inside:

• EFI firmware
• NVRAM volume
• BIOS/CSM
• Firmware Recuperation module / BootBlock
• Bootloader

Apple firmware upgrades just upgrade the EFI part of the BootROM, everything else is kept as the factory sent and completely ignored by the efiflasher when doing firmware upgrades.

If you have any further doubts about this please ask your questions on the BootROM thread, this is now way off-topic here.

Thanks! I will!

 

[h9826790]

Hi all

One question: in machine profile.app, my 5,1's bus speed is reported as being 532 MHz. Is this expected or can it be rectified in config.plist?

Some info, 48 GB RAM, OC 0.6.6, BootRom 144.0.0.0 (real), 9999.0.0.0.0 (not so real, OC)

That's normal for 1066MHz memory.

 

[eVasilis]

That's normal for 1066MHz memory.

Mine is 1333 MHz

 

[h9826790]

Mine is 1333 MHz

Can you post a screen capture of that Profile app?

 

[eVasilis]

Can you post a screen capture of that Profile app?

Sure and thanks!

 

[jackfennimore]

any tips to get Windows 10 audio working on 5,1 OC 0.6.6

dortania's guide has some requirements i don't totally understand.

 

[h9826790]

Sure and thanks!

I see, that look like another side effect of board ID injection (cosmetic issue).

Can you check if you disable SMBIOS spoofing, will that still shows Bus Speed 532MHz, or Processor Interconnect Speed 6.4GT/s?

Another possibility is that Big Sur never designed to handle the cMP. Therefore, the apps can't correctly extract the required info from IOReg.

 

[eVasilis]

Might be, as you said, that some apps cannot properly read data either because of OC or because big sur is not meant for a cMP. Another bench app, CL!ng, reports RAM as being non EEC but the device to device measurement is at 9090 MiB/s.

 

[TECK]

any tips to get Windows 10 audio working on 5,1 OC 0.6.6

No issues for me with sound, see the detailed Windows (post USB stick prep) install instructions on #32 and #33.

 

[jackfennimore]

No issues for me with sound, see the detailed Windows (post USB stick prep) install instructions on #32 and #33.

instructions followed. would i need brigadier for rear mini-jack audio out? the devices are listed in Windows, but i get no playback. the same configuration works just fine in macOS so i know my hardware is okay.

when i plug headphones into the front mini-jack Windows picks up the new device (Headphones) immediately, but still no audio playback.

 

[TECK]

would i need brigadier for rear mini-jack audio out?

I only needed brigadier for Apple unknown Bluetooth devices, do you have any unknown audio devices into Device Manager?

 

[SnakeCoils]

Just a quick need of confirmation: is the Xeon L5639 (listed in MacPro CPU compatibility thread) suitable for OpenCore? Since I use my MacPro mainly for mail and web surfing a less power hungry CPU would be very welcome and 60W of power instead of 130W drained by my X5690 would make a big difference on my energy consumption bills. Can someone with this CPU installed confirm the OpenCore compatibility?

 

[tsialex]

Just a quick need of confirmation: is the Xeon L5639 (listed in MacPro CPU compatibility thread) suitable for OpenCore? Since I use my MacPro mainly for mail and web surfing a less power hungry CPU would be very welcome and 60W of power instead of 130W drained by my X5690 would make a big difference on my energy consumption bills. Can someone with this CPU installed confirm the OpenCore compatibility?

Yes, it's a Westmere. Any E56xx, L56xx, W36xx or X56xx is a Westmere.

L5639 is slow as snails. I'd get a 80W Xeon.

 

[SnakeCoils]

L5639 is slow as snails. I'd get a 80W Xeon.

My second option would be an E5645 but first I am really curious to try the L5639, i also see the L5645 seems to have the same features as the E5645 except the power drain: 60W for the L5645 and 80W for the E5645 (source: Wikipedia) so if the L5645 is supported by MacPro 5,1 should I still prefer the E5645?

 

[tsialex]

My second option would be an E5645 but first I am really curious to try the L5639, i also see the L5645 seems to have the same features as the E5645 except the power drain: 60W for the L5645 and 80W for the E5645 (source: Wikipedia) so if the L5645 is supported by MacPro 5,1 should I still prefer the E5645?

The problem is single core performance, even your current X5690 at 3.46GHz is slow for current standards, downgrading to 2.4GHz will probably be tolerable, anything less won't. Anyway, I saw one sometime ago for just $39 on eBay, so it's an acceptable test expense.

 

[startergo]

That is funny. I just started installing Big Sur on MBP from... Mavericks on an HFS+ second partition... The installer was 29.8 MB. Go figure.

 

[TECK]

60W for the L5645

Why do you worry about power consumption? My Mac is always on sleep mode, except when I use it, that reduces the consumption next to nothing. And when I need to encode a video or take advantage of that power, it is there I don't have to worry. A fully upgraded dual CPU 5,1 is close to a base 7,1. You are thinking of saving few dollars/month? Personally, I don't, not to mention every single human on this planet spends tons of money on ridiculous things which are not needed. If you really want to have a low consumption, sell your 5,1 and purchase a Mac Mini M1. As @tsialex noted, you are running a single core, that is a performance killer.

 

[SnakeCoils]

Why do you worry about power consumption? My Mac is always on sleep mode, except when I use it, that reduces the consumption next to nothing. And when I need to encode a video or take advantage of that power, it is there I don't have to worry. A fully upgraded dual CPU 5,1 is close to a base 7,1. You are thinking of saving few dollars/month? Personally, I don't, not to mention every single human on this planet spends tons of money on ridiculous things which are not needed. If you really want to have a low consumption, sell your 5,1 and purchase a Mac Mini M1. As @tsialex noted, you are running a single core, that is a performance killer.

While I like very much the less power hungry MacMini M1 and its incredible performance level compared to consumption I like much more the expandability and versatility of my beloved MacPro 5,1 from 2012 therefore I am trying to extend its life as much as possible. I was really concerned about OpenCore because Catalina and Big Sur were not native to my machine and scared to brick the Mac because the mandatory firmware upgrades in every release or security update but the experience of many other users here and a crystal clear guide on how-to-do lead me to have actually Big Sur up and happily running. I am not using this particular MacPro for intensive tasks, I have a separate machine for that running Windows 10 mainly for H265 video encoding (a dual Xeon 3.20 GHz quad core) and it is turned off almost all the time.
Based on my experience the increase of perceived speed in a system (for not professional use) comes from a fast storage much more than a fast processor and my 1Tb NVME disk was a giant leap compared to upgrading the CPU from the base 4-core W3565 to 6-core X5690, so I feel confident I can tolerate a lower speed expecially if there is a consistent cut in power consumption: in my opinion going from 130W to 60W is great energy save and I believe I will for sure see the difference on the energy bill, not to mention the environmental impact. While I am looking for an L5645 I have now ordered, following the tsialex's advice, a more common E5645 and shortly I will see how big will be the difference in term of usability, my goal was in first place to not loose the Big Sur compatibility in downgrading the CPU.

 

[Bmju]

Can I ask some quick questions about boot options, inside and outside of OpenCore:

1. Is there a way to disable (hide) an auto-detected boot option within the OC bootpicker?
2. Is there a way (either keyboard control or config file) to change the default boot option in OC - which seems to always be the first OS?
3. Is the CTRL+Enter option in the Apple bootpicker (to select an OS and mark it as the new default boot OS) available on all Macs, or just some (incl. mine)? (E.g. Is it on the MacPro?)

Thanks!

 

[joevt]

3. Is the CTRL+Enter option in the Apple bootpicker (to select an OS and mark it as the new default boot OS) available on all Macs, or just some (incl. mine)? (E.g. Is it on the MacPro?)

I think it's every Mac. Enter the Startup Manager by holding Option key at boot. Then hold the Control key. If the Up Arrow turns into a Circular arrow, then you know it will set the new default boot if you press Enter at the same time.

 

[Bmju]

I think it's every Mac. Enter the Startup Manager by holding Option key at boot. Then hold the Control key. If the Up Arrow turns into a Circular arrow, then you know it will set the new default boot if you press Enter at the same time.

Okay - actually, if it is every Mac, then I was wondering why the p.1 instructions ask the user to set the boot volume using bless. Isn't this method simpler and faster, but equivalent!? Or am I (probably...) missing something!

 

[startergo]

Okay - actually, if it is every Mac, then I was wondering why the p.1 instructions ask the user to set the boot volume using bless. Isn't this method simpler and faster, but equivalent!? Or am I (probably...) missing something!

It is the same. But before you have an access to the boot picker you have to bless OC, right? You can actually create a small Mavericks partition and you can perform all NVRAM operations from within Mavericks itself no need for the recovery partition.

 

[Bmju]

It is the same. But before you have an access to the boot picker you have to bless OC, right? You can actually create a small Mavericks partition and you can perform all NVRAM operations from within Mavericks itself no need for the recovery partition.

Oh, I think I see. Sorry! I was assuming that once the OC files were in place then they would show up in the *Apple* bootpicker (which, obviously, you can access using the ALT key, and without any blessing of OC!). I put my OC files in a non-standard place (a small, 20MB FAT partition which I made at the end of my hard drive). So I guess you're saying that if you put the OC files in the standard place as per the instructions on p.1, then the don't even show up as a boot option in the Apple bootpicker without the bless stage? In which case, that all makes sense.

 

[startergo]

Oh, I think I see. Sorry! I was assuming that once the OC files were in place then they would show up in the *Apple* bootpicker (which, obviously, you can access using the ALT key, and without any blessing of OC!). I put my OC files in a non-standard place (a small, 20MB FAT partition which I made at the end of my hard drive). So I guess you're saying that if you put the OC files in the standard place as per the instructions on p.1, then the don't even show up as a boot option in the Apple bootpicker without the bless stage? In which case, that all makes sense.

You can't get to the Apple boot picker without an Apple /flashed card. This statement is for the cMP. On the Laptop you may have a working boot screen then it is as you said.