This guide explains how to use the excellent OpenCore bootloader on a Mac Pro 5,1 to install, run and update macOS Catalina and macOS Big Sur, resulting in a clean, unpatched operating system no different than on a supported Mac.
🚫 macOS Big Sur 11.3 and higher is currently not viable for the Mac Pro 5,1. See the dedicated thread for updates.
Why OpenCore?
There are several advantages to using OpenCore on a classic Mac Pro:
Boot picker screen (even with a standard graphics card) View attachment 1723702 Software Update (just like on a supported Mac) View attachment 1723703 Hardware acceleration (and DRM for Netflix on Safari)View attachment 1723704
Another approach to installing and running macOS on unsupported Macs consist of applying a series of rigid patches. Although effective, this strategy may be considered undesirable, because it alters system files—a potential problem for updates. With OpenCore, macOS remains entirely untouched. Necessary modifications take place cleanly in memory.
Why this Guide?
The purpose of this guide is to provide step-by-step hands-on instructions to using OpenCore on the Mac Pro 5,1. Included with the instructions is a basic sample configuration to get you started. Guidelines for creating a more advanced configuration customized to your machine are also detailed.
👍 The included sample configuration is about as minimal of a configuration as possible for using OpenCore on a Mac.
Additional Resources
Since this guide appeared, other solutions to OpenCore on Apple hardware have been proposed. Here on MacRumors, you have a few options:
This guide (step-by-step hands-on instructions)
Martin's Package (very popular easy-to-install one-package-fits-all solution provided by @h9826790 with emphasis on hardware acceleration)
MyBootMgr (great multi-boot solution provided by @Dayo with a rich suite of helper apps for setting up and maintaining RefindPlus and OpenCore)
OC Plistlib Generator (diligent programmatic solution provided by @TECK for automating OpenCore updates)
Another great solution is the OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP) provided by the Dortania team. This solution, which applies not only to the Mac Pro 5,1, probes your hardware to dynamically configure OpenCore for your Mac.
Requirements
This guide is aimed at systems with the following specifications:
Mac Pro model
Early 2009 with MacPro5,1 firmware,* Mid 2010 or Mid 2012
Processor architecture
Westmere (E56xx, L56xx, X56xx) / Gulftown (W36xx)
Boot ROM version
144.0.0.0.0
Graphics
EFI (flashed) or a standard UEFI card (PC GPU) supported in Catalina or Big Sur
Wireless
Chipset supported in Catalina or Big Sur (BCM943224, BCM9435x, BCM9436x)
Regarding Graphics: Several GPUs supported in macOS High Sierra are not supported in macOS Mojave or later. This includes all non-Kepler generation NVIDIA GPUs as well as AMD GPUs earlier than HD 7950. Several HD 78xx GPUs (Pitcairn) were rebadged as R9 2xx and are not supported in macOS Mojave or later. All classic Mac Pro factory GPUs had support removed with Mojave.
Hi, CDF, this is amazing, but I have a couple of concerns/questions. I am currently running a 2009 5,1 updated Mac Pro with 2 x 3.33 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon chips running Mojave. I am using the Radeon RX 580 8 GB NOT Mac flashed, which means I do not have a safe boot capability.
Part of your instructions call for a boot into safe mode, which I can't do. Are the steps that precede that boot-up going to allow me to get past that issue?
Also, I don't follow the drive configuration/formatting requirement at the start. My current startup/boot drive is an APFS-formatted Samsung SSD. All other drives are external Journaled HFS+ drives. Do I need a new, separate drive to install this?
My live-or-die need for this computer is using Final Cut Pro. Of the different install choices you list, including your step by step plan, are there any advantages to one or the other for a basic novice for these things? Should I stick with your plan, or use Martin's all-in-one solution? Many, Many Thanks.
Hi, CDF, this is amazing, but I have a couple of concerns/questions. I am currently running a 2009 5,1 updated Mac Pro with 2 x 3.33 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon chips running Mojave. I am using the Radeon RX 580 8 GB NOT Mac flashed, which means I do not have a safe boot capability.
Actually, you need to boot into recovery mode, and you should be able to do that with an unflashed RX 580. To verify that it works, simply hold Command (⌘)-R immediately after turning on your Mac. Alternatively (as described in the guide), enter sudo nvram "recovery-boot-mode=unused" && sudo reboot recovery. You won't see anything for quite a while, but eventually you'll be in recovery mode.
Also, I don't follow the drive configuration/formatting requirement at the start. My current startup/boot drive is an APFS-formatted Samsung SSD. All other drives are external Journaled HFS+ drives. Do I need a new, separate drive to install this?
OpenCore can be installed to any EFI partition. However, it's important to have a separate disk with a natively bootable macOS installation (Mojave). That way, if something goes wrong with your configuration, you can just remove the disk with OpenCore and boot natively.
My live-or-die need for this computer is using Final Cut Pro. Of the different install choices you list, including your step by step plan, are there any advantages to one or the other for a basic novice for these things? Should I stick with your plan, or use Martin's all-in-one solution? Many, Many Thanks.
They're all great solutions. Of course, I'm partial to the step-by-step approach. I just find that you get more of a feel for what's going on. However, Martin's package is probably the easiest.
This guide explains how to use the excellent OpenCore bootloader on a Mac Pro 5,1 to install, run and update macOS Catalina and macOS Big Sur, resulting in a clean, unpatched operating system no different than on a supported Mac.
🚫 macOS Big Sur 11.3 and higher is currently not viable for the Mac Pro 5,1. See the dedicated thread for updates.
Why OpenCore?
There are several advantages to using OpenCore on a classic Mac Pro:
Boot picker screen (even with a standard graphics card) View attachment 1723702 Software Update (just like on a supported Mac) View attachment 1723703 Hardware acceleration (and DRM for Netflix on Safari)View attachment 1723704
Another approach to installing and running macOS on unsupported Macs consist of applying a series of rigid patches. Although effective, this strategy may be considered undesirable, because it alters system files—a potential problem for updates. With OpenCore, macOS remains entirely untouched. Necessary modifications take place cleanly in memory.
Why this Guide?
The purpose of this guide is to provide step-by-step hands-on instructions to using OpenCore on the Mac Pro 5,1. Included with the instructions is a basic sample configuration to get you started. Guidelines for creating a more advanced configuration customized to your machine are also detailed.
👍 The included sample configuration is about as minimal of a configuration as possible for using OpenCore on a Mac.
Additional Resources
Since this guide appeared, other solutions to OpenCore on Apple hardware have been proposed. Here on MacRumors, you have a few options:
This guide (step-by-step hands-on instructions)
Martin's Package (very popular easy-to-install one-package-fits-all solution provided by @h9826790 with emphasis on hardware acceleration)
MyBootMgr (great multi-boot solution provided by @Dayo with a rich suite of helper apps for setting up and maintaining RefindPlus and OpenCore)
OC Plistlib Generator (diligent programmatic solution provided by @TECK for automating OpenCore updates)
Another great solution is the OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP) provided by the Dortania team. This solution, which applies not only to the Mac Pro 5,1, probes your hardware to dynamically configure OpenCore for your Mac.
Requirements
This guide is aimed at systems with the following specifications:
Mac Pro model
Early 2009 with MacPro5,1 firmware,* Mid 2010 or Mid 2012
Processor architecture
Westmere (E56xx, L56xx, X56xx) / Gulftown (W36xx)
Boot ROM version
144.0.0.0.0
Graphics
EFI (flashed) or a standard UEFI card (PC GPU) supported in Catalina or Big Sur
Wireless
Chipset supported in Catalina or Big Sur (BCM943224, BCM9435x, BCM9436x)
Regarding Graphics: Several GPUs supported in macOS High Sierra are not supported in macOS Mojave or later. This includes all non-Kepler generation NVIDIA GPUs as well as AMD GPUs earlier than HD 7950. Several HD 78xx GPUs (Pitcairn) were rebadged as R9 2xx and are not supported in macOS Mojave or later. All classic Mac Pro factory GPUs had support removed with Mojave.
Must I absolutly have " the wireless Chipset supported in Catalina or Big Sur (BCM943224, BCM9435x, BCM9436x)" ? My Mac Pro early 2009 is connected to internet via ethernet . Thank you.
Must I absolutly have " the wireless Chipset supported in Catalina or Big Sur (BCM943224, BCM9435x, BCM9436x)" ? My Mac Pro early 2009 is connected to internet via ethernet . Thank you.
@cdf Might be worth mentioning that you can get away with wireless support on the stock BCM94322 cards with IO80211Mojave. Won't give you AirDrop support but it should be useful for users who do use wireless and haven't invested in a new wireless module yet.
Also another useful point for BCM943224 and BCM94331 users, you can apply a Fake ID to the wireless modules to use the stock IO80211 framework in Big Sur. Just find the device path using gfxutil for the Airport card and apply the following:
Code:
DeviceProperties
|- Add
|- PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1C,0x3)/Pci(0x0,0x0) (Change with yours)
|- compatible | string | pci14e4,43ba
|- device-id | data | BA430000
I don't believe this is discussed on the wiki post, though if it is apologies I missed it
@cdf Might be worth mentioning that you can get away with wireless support on the stock BCM94322 cards with IO80211Mojave. Won't give you AirDrop support but it should be useful for users who do use wireless and haven't invested in a new wireless module yet.
Also another useful point for BCM943224 and BCM94331 users, you can apply a Fake ID to the wireless modules to use the stock IO80211 framework in Big Sur. Just find the device path using gfxutil for the Airport card and apply the following:
Code:
DeviceProperties
|- Add
|- PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1C,0x3)/Pci(0x0,0x0) (Change with yours)
|- compatible | string | pci14e4,43ba
|- device-id | data | BA430000
I don't believe this is discussed on the wiki post, though if it is apologies I missed it
Regarding IO80211Mojave, no real reason to use its on Mojave and older as they natively support the wireless module. Set the MinKernel to 19.0.0 to only inject in Catalina+
Regarding the Fake ID, there's no real concern. The FakeID should support 10.10+ through OpenCore
I been following this thread for awhile now and was wondering if anyone is running Pro Tools 2020.3 on Mojave. Is there a benefit to install OC ?. I doing audio and not video whatsoever. I'm aware that I should be asking this on the DUC forum, but I really dig the knowledge all you folks have here pertaining to the Mac side of it. ( the guts ) I'm trying to say.
There's been an issue chain-loading OpenCore from GRUB since OC 0.6.4 (which, contrary to the official view, I personally think is a reasonably reasonable thing to want to do!). It was do-able, but required pretty ugly work-arounds. I thought it might be of interest to know that this is now fixed: https://github.com/acidanthera/bugtracker/issues/1637#issuecomment-840953124
8 DIMMs is the one we need, note still shows 12 slots. I have configured it on 12 slots scheme because I did not want to see the notification, which as no incidence whatsoever. You would put 1.5TB memory config that it would not change anything.
However when I tried the set the 8 slots according to the supported configuration I would get the error notification. So I reverted back to 12 slots configuration even though we only have 8 slots and the error's gone.
I guess that in the near future if IOIIIO works on the kext notification disabler, that we can properly set the memory config to reflect the true memory configuration of our MacPro5,1.
I preferred to set it that way so 1 less .kext in the driver folder.
I would love to have it configured this way which reflect the true config but then you get error and orange check, which I don't like
Did anyone happen to get a look at 205Maxi's config file? I picked up some 32GB sticks but I can't get passed the memory check on startup at the mac logo startup screen. I think he was spoofing mac pro 7,1 to get it booting but I'm not sure.
On Mac Pro Usb for HID 1 devices is not working at all (unless plugged in prior boot) and even USB 3 is not working as well as on Catalina. Has anybody tried injecting IOUsbFamiy.kext?
Did anyone happen to get a look at 205Maxi's config file? I picked up some 32GB sticks but I can't get passed the memory check on startup at the mac logo startup screen. I think he was spoofing mac pro 7,1 to get it booting but I'm not sure.
Confirmed. Working up to 256GB. The OC team have done some incredible things for mac pro 5,1 users. Thanks to all of them for their hard work and contributions developing the software. This will be my last mac computer I think. It is an amazing machine and I would argue that it is probably the best Apple have ever made.
I have Open Core installed. Recently, if I have the drive with Windows 10 in the cMP 5,1, it will only boot into Windows 10. If I have the other drive installed, I get Mojave and Catalina at Boot Picker options, but obviously no Windows 10.
I used to get Windows 10 as an option as well.
I have not updated Open Core in several months, so I probably need to do that first.
If that will resolve the problem, then that's what I will do (I plan to do that anyway).
If it won't, then I need some input about how to get the Windows drive to show in the boot picker again.
Thanks.
P.S. I am planning to install a new 2 Tb SSD so that I can also instal Big Sur. So when that happens I will need to read the instructions carefully and get advice on that as well.
MacPro 5.1 opencore 0.6.9 install catalina from mojave the installation disk was disable,try with HD7950,GTX680,how ever catalina patcher was work,one issue was display ports catalina going black after booting ,highseira and mojave work on the display port of gtx 680,any solution for display port (Dell E2720H )
If you are seeing this issue when booting through OC with hybridization, verify that you have the agdpmod=pikera boot argument or device property. You can also try using Mac-27AD2F918AE68F61 (Mac Pro 7,1) for BoardProduct instead of Mac-7BA5B2D9E42DDD94 (iMac Pro).
macOS Big Sur 11.3 Beta 3 has broken Mac Pro's early-2009 to mid-2012 ability to boot reliably into macOS. It's still possible to boot 11.3/11.4, but the process requires multiple restarts and a connection has been made between PCIe devices, especially storage related devices and USB controller...
Amazing community you all have got here. Having some audio output issues with a new install of Windows 10 Pro on Mac Pro 4,1->5,1 via Open Core. In Windows i can't get any audio from the front and back headphone jacks, or from the Mac Pro's internal speaker.
I followed the first post and the Windows install seemed to go fine and everything else seems OK. Audio via my Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 is fine after installing that device's driver.
Checked device manager which says everything is working fine.
In case relevant, I did not have an internet connection during Windows install and manually added the driver for my Fenvi wifi & bluetooth after the install completed, then connected to the internet.
I checked the posts around #32 and #33 which seemed to be focused on the location of the driver and i think i have the drivers in the correct location. But it seems like something is up with the drivers. Can someone please suggest how to check or how to manually install. Thanks
Amazing community you all have got here. Having some audio output issues with a new install of Windows 10 Pro on Mac Pro 4,1->5,1 via Open Core. In Windows i can't get any audio from the front and back headphone jacks, or from the Mac Pro's internal speaker.
I followed the first post and the Windows install seemed to go fine and everything else seems OK. Audio via my Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 is fine after installing that device's driver.
Checked device manager which says everything is working fine.
In case relevant, I did not have an internet connection during Windows install and manually added the driver for my Fenvi wifi & bluetooth after the install completed, then connected to the internet.
I checked the posts around #32 and #33 which seemed to be focused on the location of the driver and i think i have the drivers in the correct location. But it seems like something is up with the drivers. Can someone please suggest how to check or how to manually install. Thanks
Amazing community you all have got here. Having some audio output issues with a new install of Windows 10 Pro on Mac Pro 4,1->5,1 via Open Core. In Windows i can't get any audio from the front and back headphone jacks, or from the Mac Pro's internal speaker.
You'll need to install the Realtek driver from the BootCamp software for the Mac Pro. It's a Vista/Windows 7 driver but it works fine in the current version of Windows 10.
