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

[MacNB2]

For info, with the native Apple Startup Manager, there is no need to use Recovery mode etc to bless OpenCore.

All he need to do is just hold Option to boot, at the Apple Startup Manager, select the OpenCore EFI entry, then press Control + Enter to select it. This will bless that EFI entry (which should be OpenCore).

Good info. Under what circumstances does one have to bless the OpenCore EFI as mentioned in the instructions in the 1st Post ?

This method is OS version indepedent, therefore, works better for cMP that only has natively unsupported macOS installed.

Not quite sure I understand what you mean by "this method is OS version independent".
If you mean using the native Apple Startup Manager selecting (and effectively blessing) OpenCore EFI entry then of course yes that's OS independent.
But using a native Apple Startup Manager does not allow one to successfully select and boot an unsupported macOS natively since....well it's unsupported; e.g. Monterey. That is, first time, one has to select OpenCore EFI and then any macOS from OpenCore's boot picker.

 

[cdf]

For info, with the native Apple Startup Manager, there is no need to use Recovery mode etc to bless OpenCore.

Indeed. With native boot screen support, selecting and blessing OC (an otherwise nontrivial procedure) becomes very easy (like most other Macs!).

Good info. Under what circumstances does one have to bless the OpenCore EFI as mentioned in the instructions in the 1st Post ?

The first post actually also mentions the easier blessing procedure (look for “If your Mac has native boot-screen support”).

 

[MacNB2]

Indeed. With native boot screen support, selecting and blessing OC (an otherwise nontrivial procedure) becomes very easy (like most other Macs!).


The first post actually also mentions the easier blessing procedure (look for “If your Mac has native boot-screen support”).

Thx. Still coming to terms with and remembering finally having native boot screen support

Also just selecting OpenCore EFI was enough for me...there was no need to press Control + Enter but just Enter and every reboot boots into OpenCore.

 

[cdf]

Also just selecting OpenCore EFI was enough for me...there was no need to press Control + Enter but just Enter and every reboot boots into OpenCore.

Good observation. The reason (I suppose) is that you have LauncherOption=Full (see Basic setup > Overview of basic settings).

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I've met an interesting challenge that I can't crack. I scored a dual CPU tray for cheap, but when I load it into my 5,1 with OC and Catalina, it's hanging on boot and restarting. Single CPU tray works okay. I tried the dual cpu patch (AppleMCEReporterDisabler.kext) to get there, clean install, nothing. I attached my working config.plist for Catalina single CPU, without the <dict> reference to the kext added. Any help would be appreciated. Dual processor tray identifies as a 1.39f11, and it came with 2 westmeres in it, so I don't suspect I got a 4,1. It will work in HS and Mojave, but Catalina says no thanks.

EDIT: I think I fixed it after all. No assistance needed for now.

 

[ZNDK]

There must be more wrong. Why is the dumper telling there are no Memory Configs?

I forgot to disable my anti-virus and it was blocking scanvss. That was the cause.

Firmware 144.0.0.0 (latest)
EnableGop EFI module identified
CRC32 checksums: ok
Assumed crossflash 4.1->5.1
base_20 hardware descriptor
Boot0001 is EFI\OC\OpenCore.efi (LauncherOption: Full)
Assumed 3 boots since last garbage collection
4 (1 active) + 1 Memory Configs g (ok)
4 (1 active) + 1 Memory Configs h (ok)
4 (1 active) + 0 Memory Configs i (ok)
1 (1 active) + 1 Memory Configs j (ok)
1 (1 active) + 1 Kernel Panic dumps type A: Pointer type
0 + 0 Microsoft certificates (ok)
1 (1 active) + 1 BluetoothActiveControllerInfos (ok)
1 (1 active) + 1 BluetoothInternalControllerInfos (ok)
1 (1 active) + 1 current-network (ok)
4 (0 active) + 1 AAPL Path Properties (ok)
25663 bytes free space of 65464
VSS1 (Formatted) (Healthy)
VSS2 (Formatted) (Healthy)

I then did PRAM reset and did the bless command again. Then when I booted with the Mojave installer on the USB in Apple Startup Manager, the second step shows nothing. With High sierra I could boot and perform various operations. With OC's Boot Picker I could boot either way. What is the difference?

 

[Macschrauber]

About the blessing thing:

one line in test_nvram (and the Dumper.App of course) is telling

Boot0001 is EFI\OC\OpenCore.efi (LauncherOption: Full)

this means there is a NVRAM variable set OpenCore has blessed itself.
This happens with the setting LauncherOption: Full.

once started, manually or by loading on first position after NVRAM reset this happens.

under some circumstances it is a little nasty to get this away if you want to boot without OpenCore so I let the script read and display this setting.

 

[MacNB2]

Good observation. The reason (I suppose) is that you have LauncherOption=Full (see Basic setup > Overview of basic settings).

Yes I have LauncherOption=Full. That explains it. Thx.

 

[hwojtek]

I've met an interesting challenge that I can't crack. I scored a dual CPU tray for cheap, but when I load it into my 5,1 with OC and Catalina, it's hanging on boot and restarting. Single CPU tray works okay. I tried the dual cpu patch (AppleMCEReporterDisabler.kext) to get there, clean install, nothing. I attached my working config.plist for Catalina single CPU, without the <dict> reference to the kext added. Any help would be appreciated. Dual processor tray identifies as a 1.39f11, and it came with 2 westmeres in it, so I don't suspect I got a 4,1. It will work in HS and Mojave, but Catalina says no thanks.

@tsialex did a PHD on this https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...pro-2012.2116440/?post=28255199#post-28255199

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

@tsialex did a PHD on this https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...pro-2012.2116440/?post=28255199#post-28255199

I did find that, and I could see that my tray is a 2010/2012 version based on the firmware. It has dual E5620s, which was a 2010 configuration.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I think I fixed my issue above. I had a post-Catalina setting in my config.plist, the power management fix, and getting rid of that seems to have it going correctly now. I also added AppleMCEReporterDisabler.kext back in again. I guess we'll see how it holds up over the next few days.

 

[Macschrauber]

I think I fixed my issue above. I had a post-Catalina setting in my config.plist, the power management fix, and getting rid of that seems to have it going correctly now. I also added AppleMCEReporterDisabler.kext back in again. I guess we'll see how it holds up over the next few days.

Everyone should have a disk with a native system to diagnose hardware related stuff and to repair / modify the OpenCore bootloader.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Everyone should have a disk with a native system to diagnose hardware related stuff and to repair / modify the OpenCore bootloader.

I do exactly that. I have a clean install of High Sierra on a removable drive that I can boot to. I’ve fixed more than one bad boot that way in the past. I also still have a GPU with classic boot screens I can put back in when things really go bad. That is how I knew I had a proper 5,1 tray.

 

[jmhot]

Fenvi T919 is just a nice format adapter for the made for Apple Broadcom BCM94360CDP, the BT controller is USB1.1 like every other BCM94360CDP.

So, same limitations apply.

Ok the limitation is that the power must come from a USB 2 or 3 hub connected to the Fenvi T919 via the cable that comes with the card and the adapter cable for power. What needs to be said is that the hub must be powered (active) and not passive otherwise it will not work. You have to connect this active USB 2 or 3 hub to one of the USB connectors on the back of the Mac Pro (5.1).

 

[playpiano]

Since I revived my Mac Pro 5,1 I switched from pure OpenCore to OCLP. I am running Monterey without root patches and Ventura with patches (AMD RX580) and an external BlueTooth dongle via USB 2 hub. I am not sure the added features are worth the hassle of Ventura. It's on a spare, old SSD, while Monterey is on a new M2 PCiE 4GB.

Would there be any advantage to running a pure OpenCore without the canned pre-config of OCLP?

Hi, your bluetooth dongle works? How do you make it to work? My mac pro 2009 5.1 does not work at all (oclp 0.6.1 Ventura). I see dongle listed in usb (v2 hub) but it does not work as bluetooth controller. Even if i remove the internall bluetooth contoller it remains visible as the only not working bluetooth controller. No way to make dongle works.

 

[tsialex]

Ok the limitation is that the power must come from a USB 2 or 3 hub connected to the Fenvi T919 via the cable that comes with the card and the adapter cable for power. What needs to be said is that the hub must be powered (active) and not passive otherwise it will not work.

Yes, needs to be a powered USB v2.0/v3.0 hub. I even forgot that passive USB hubs still exist, it's been 10+ years that I last used one.

 

[haralds]

Hi, your bluetooth dongle works? How do you make it to work? My mac pro 2009 5.1 does not work at all (oclp 0.6.1 Ventura). I see dongle listed in usb (v2 hub) but it does not work as bluetooth controller. Even if i remove the internall bluetooth contoller it remains visible as the only not working bluetooth controller. No way to make dongle works.

I plugged it in via an old USB2 hub. It's not even powered! Another USb2 hub did not work, it seems to be picky.
Needs to be geriatric like the Mac Pro.

 

[playpiano]

I plugged it in via an old USB2 hub. It's not even powered! Another USb2 hub did not work, it seems to be picky.
Needs to be geriatric like the Mac Pro.

I'm using: Asus BT400 and HEIDEEZ Smart USB (this one is marketed as mac os ventura compatilbe). Which one are you using?

 

[uwemutz]

Hi alltogether,
I recently installed OC 0.8.8 (MartinLo's package) on a brand new NVMe (Samsung 1TB) using Monterey. Everything worked out fine but after booting the OS reacts terribly slow/laggy (Chrome, WhatsApp, Spotify, Adobe products, ...). I reduced the spotlight activity because I thought the laggy behavior comes from indexing. The activity manager shows a few percent CPU load so there are no applications slowing down my Mac. Anyhow: working on Monterey feels terribly laggy now and then (not always but I can't figure out when the Mac starts slowing down).
I do have my old installation of Big Sur on another NVMe which works like charm but I need to use Monterey because of Blender which supports GPU rendering only from Monterey and up.
Any ideas why Monterey is that laggy?
HW: Xeon 5690, 96GB RAM, 2x NVMe, old (and not usable) WIFI/BT 2.0 card; I already got a BT 4.0 but haven't found time to install it, AMD Radeon Vega 64 8GB

 

[avro707]

Hi alltogether,
I recently installed OC 0.8.8 (MartinLo's package) on a brand new NVMe (Samsung 1TB) using Monterey. Everything worked out fine but after booting the OS reacts terribly slow/laggy (Chrome, WhatsApp, Spotify, Adobe products, ...). I reduced the spotlight activity because I thought the laggy behavior comes from indexing. The activity manager shows a few percent CPU load so there are no applications slowing down my Mac. Anyhow: working on Monterey feels terribly laggy now and then (not always but I can't figure out when the Mac starts slowing down).
I do have my old installation of Big Sur on another NVMe which works like charm but I need to use Monterey because of Blender which supports GPU rendering only from Monterey and up.
Any ideas why Monterey is that laggy?
HW: Xeon 5690, 96GB RAM, 2x NVMe, old (and not usable) WIFI/BT 2.0 card; I already got a BT 4.0 but haven't found time to install it, AMD Radeon Vega 64 8GB

It should run very quickly - you aren’t having GPU issues?

I have similar config machine but with RX6600XT and running very quickly.

 

[uwemutz]

It should run very quickly - you aren’t having GPU issues?

I have similar config machine but with RX6600XT and running very quickly.

Hi,
no, no GPU issues. Just running laggy. Yesterday I turned off Spotlight for my Windows SSD - this might probably help. We'll see.
Any other ideas are really appreciated.

 

[sabretoothnz]

Hi Guys, no matter what I try I seem to have a few issues with Big Sur and an RX 560. I can't seem to get the boot picker to show up with an RX560 on a mac pro 5,1 - Big Sur 11.7.4. The computer boots up and appears to work quite well however on certain audio plugins I use in Pro Tools and Logic the meters go all glitchy while the GUI is open. There is another App I'd like to use (Tonex) that uses the graphics card to render which hangs on the rendering stage either. No Night Shift available in the display preferences. I have tried Martin Lo - 0.9.0, legacy patcher 0.61 and starting from scratch from this guide on page 1. All seem exactly the same to be honest with my issues. Video Proc Converter shows HW acceleration is enabled. Was all working fine under Mojave - but some apps forced me to update.

 

[mrkapqa]

have similar issue with (bootpicker not showing up) with Radeon RX 580, but only if flashed "EnableGOP".
The RX 580 is flashed to show bootscreen; if i disable "EnableGOP" Firmware, the Radeon rX 580 functions normal and shows Bootpicker for OC or bootscreen otherwise. If "EnableGOP" Firmware flashed, flashed Radon RX 580 shows neither Bootpicker for OC nor Bootscreen if OC not present.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Is there a way to control the resolution of the boot picker? I just upgraded to a new monitor and it’s telling me “Out of Range.” I can still select option blindly, but it’s a bit of a crap shoot since my BT keyboard takes a moment to start responding. I’m assuming it’s just pushing the wrong res/hz to the display. No issues once I’m past the boot screen.

 

[macsoundsolutions]

Hi alltogether,
I recently installed OC 0.8.8 (MartinLo's package) on a brand new NVMe (Samsung 1TB) using Monterey. Everything worked out fine but after booting the OS reacts terribly slow/laggy (Chrome, WhatsApp, Spotify, Adobe products, ...). I reduced the spotlight activity because I thought the laggy behavior comes from indexing. The activity manager shows a few percent CPU load so there are no applications slowing down my Mac. Anyhow: working on Monterey feels terribly laggy now and then (not always but I can't figure out when the Mac starts slowing down).
I do have my old installation of Big Sur on another NVMe which works like charm but I need to use Monterey because of Blender which supports GPU rendering only from Monterey and up.
Any ideas why Monterey is that laggy?
HW: Xeon 5690, 96GB RAM, 2x NVMe, old (and not usable) WIFI/BT 2.0 card; I already got a BT 4.0 but haven't found time to install it, AMD Radeon Vega 64 8GB

Try a
Pram reset see if that helps, also try moving opencore to sata bay 1, it does not have to be your boot drive. Install another OS drive and see how it runs, not on the NVMe. I run Monterey 12.6.2 off a Samsung 970 Evo plus. No issues. I have 0.9.0 installed on Mac Pro in sata bay 1 non system drive. My NVMe is in PCIe I slot 1 on Sonnetts McFiver. I did have some issues when I first installed the McFiver in slot 1 but after pram reset they were gone.