MP 1,1-5,1 MP4,1: Anybody still on bootROM MP41.0081.B03?

[tsialex]

I'd like to preserve the MP41.0081.B03 BootROM, if anybody could help. If you still have a 2009 Mac Pro on MP41.0081.B03 firmware, could you please make a ROM dump with ROMTool?

Btw, ROMTool zip password is 'rom'.


Thanks in advance.

 

[tsialex]

.

 

[tsialex]

If anyone have a 2009 Mac Pro with the original MP41.0081.B03 BootROM, B08 is already dumped, please dump the BootROM.

 

[LightBulbFun]

while not B08 I did come across something interesting

a 2009 Xserve with a Boot ROM 3 versions newer then any Apple public released

check out the pictures, it shows B09 but the latest XS3,1 BootROM Apple public released is B06, im very curious if the changes in this BootROM are the same as the B08 BootROM for the MP4,1? also worth noting on this Xserve was it was made march 2011 3 months AFTER apple discontinued the Xserve line and its not a referb machine as those have serial numbers which start with "RM" For Routemaster remanufactured (on that note I have seen B08 MP4,1s which where NOT referb machines as well so go figure that one out)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-Xs...vip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l44720 (Mod note: not my listing)

sadly I was not able to acquire the Xserve, as another machine I had been looking for for a long time showed up at the same time. https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...os-x-10-5-8-power-macintosh-9600-fun.2144305/ and I could only afford one or the other.

 

[tsialex]

while not B08 I did come across something interesting

a 2009 Xserve with a Boot ROM 3 versions newer then any Apple public released

check out the pictures, it shows B09 but the latest XS3,1 BootROM Apple public released is B06, im very curious if the changes in this BootROM are the same as the B08 BootROM for the MP4,1? also worth noting on this Xserve was it was made march 2011 3 months AFTER apple discontinued the Xserve line and its not a referb machine as those have serial numbers which start with "RM" For Routemaster remanufactured (on that note I have seen B08 MP4,1s which where NOT referb machines as well so go figure that one out)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-Xs...vip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m43663.l44720 (Mod note: not my listing)

sadly I was not able to acquire the Xserve, as another machine I had been looking for for a long time showed up at the same time. https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...os-x-10-5-8-power-macintosh-9600-fun.2144305/ and I could only afford one or the other.

Interesting, so seems Xserve has the same not public BootROMs as MP4,1 and MP5,1.

My Dual 2009 is a new, not refurb, B08 manufactured in August 2010. When I upgraded it, I never thought that the BootROM would be needed or have any historical significance.

One of the Apple EFI tools has a table of BootROMs for MP51, used probably for reference, and we are missing at least 3 releases before MP51.0085.B00. I'm at work and don't have access to my files, later I can post the releases that exist and are not public for MP51.

 

[LightBulbFun]

Interesting, so seems Xserve has the same not public BootROMs as MP4,1 and MP5,1.

My Dual 2009 is a new, not refurb, B08 manufactured in August 2010. When I upgraded it, I never thought that the BootROM would be needed or have any historical significance.

One of the Apple EFI tools has a table of BootROMs for MP51, used probably for reference, and we are missing at least 3 releases before MP51.0085.B00. I'm at work and don't have access to my files, later I can post the releases that exist and are not public for MP51.

a List of BootROMs that we dont have/are not public would be awesome to see

as for the B08 thing, a while back I did make a post here https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-pro-cpu-compatibility-list.1954766/page-19#post-25834214 asking someone to dump the B08 BootROM for the exact reasons you want one now

as I know how this stuff pans out, but no one did make a dump sadly.

on the Xserve thing, I checked Geekbench and there are a few genuine XS3,1s with this B09 BootROM so its not just a 1 off thing/weird fluke, looks like it dates from 2010.

 

[tsialex]

The three missing releases:

MP51.88Z.007F.B02.1009221128
MP51.88Z.007F.B01.1008231310
MP51.88Z.007F.B00.1008031144

Note that MP51.88Z.007F.B03.1010071432 was public released as MP51.007F.B03 (EFI 1.5).

 

[LightBulbFun]

The three missing releases:

MP51.88Z.007F.B02.1009221128
MP51.88Z.007F.B01.1008231310
MP51.88Z.007F.B00.1008031144

Note that MP51.88Z.007F.B03.1010071432 was public released as MP51.007F.B03 (EFI 1.5).

im guessing those are the BRs the MP5,1 shipped with from the factory

BTW sadly it seems rEFIts BootROM dumping tool only dumps the first 2MB (seems like it was made back when macs had 2MB BRs and they never counted on it growing in size)

it would be interesting to see if it can be patched to support larger BRs

 

[tsialex]

Monthly call out - if anyone has MP41.0081.B03 please get in contact.

 

[VanneDC]

Is this the boot rom from the beta install? if so i think I've got it hanging around mate.

 

[tsialex]

Is this the boot rom from the beta install? if so i think I've got it hanging around mate.

It's the one that the last MP4,1 manufactured and some refurbished Mac Pros got from Apple after MP5,1 production started.

It's a non-public one and we have lots of questions about this specific BootROM.

If you have it, please PM me.

 

[Norbert Mikołajczyk]

I’ll check on Monday, I did 4.1>5.1 upgrade, but not upgraded to high Sierra

 

[tsialex]

I’ll check on Monday, I did 4.1>5.1 upgrade, but not upgraded to high Sierra

If you did the 5,1 firmware upgrade, it's already a 5,1 firmware.

My dual Mac Pro is was a B08 one, at the time I didn't knew that someday this firmware will be more than a historical curiosity.

 

[Norbert Mikołajczyk]

But I remember I think I did the rom dump before the update, I’ll check if I did

 

[tsialex]

But I remember I think I did the rom dump before the update

Ah, ok. Please check.

 

[Norbert Mikołajczyk]

Hi, I checked and cannot find it, sorry...

 

[tsialex]

Hi, I checked and cannot find it, sorry...

Thx anyway!

 

[tsialex]

I've been searching for this BootROM version for a year and this week two users sent me dumps! Thx for both users!

I already did the full clean up of both using the NVRAM volume and LBSN_BD sector from B07, both dumps have the same checksum after the cleanup - so we're good. I'll flash it on my Mac Pro to test, just need to install Nehalem Xeons into my tray.

One thing of note, this BootROM is much earlier than I thought: 20100122. It's a mystery that so few 2009 Mac Pros have it. If it was only to be used into refurbished Mac Pros after 2010 production started, I'd understand, but my dual Mac Pro is not a refurbished one neither one of the Mac Pros that the dump came from and the January build date seems to exclude this theory.

 

[DNComputers]

@LightBulbFun I have a dump from a XServe with the XS31.0081.B09 firmware. As far as I can tell there is nothing exciting about it, it does not boot the X5620 that I put in to test, I didn't try other CPUs, but don't expect it would work with any others. I haven't had time to look into it further.

I had 5 with the B09 firmware, but got rid of the 4 working ones before I read your post and even realized there was a newer firmware. I notice all 5 of them had serial numbers starting with YM where all the other XServes I've seen start with H0. I believe this means they are from different factories. Also of note, the B09 XServes were made in March 2011 according to the serial number, where the latest B06 XServe I've seen was made in mid-2010.

I'm including the dump here since the XServe this came from is dead and will never be powered up (had to pull the ROM to dump it) I did test it by copying it to a different XServe, and it did boot up just fine. Curious if you or anyone can figure anything else out about this firmware.

Also my guess is the firmware isn't really 3 revisions newer than the XS31.0081.06B Apple publicly released, I think it's one version newer, the firmware version numbers were just mixed with the Mac Pro for some reason.

XS31.0081.B06
MP41.0081.B07
MP41.0081.B08
XS31.0081.B09

 

[LightBulbFun]

Ohhh its BootROM Christmas it seems

I had a look at the B09 XS ROM and it contains the same microcodes as B06 so it must have other changes

I wonder if fitted with W5590 CPUs if it supports 1333Mhz RAM like MP4,1s B08 ROM does.

 

[tsialex]

Today I got one more MP51.0081.B08 dump, so now I have three, from different 2009 Mac Pros. Since I already tested the first two flashing into my Mac Pro, I'll just clean the new one and check if it's the same checksum.

 

[andrea19837]

Today I got one more MP51.0081.B08 dump, so now I have three, from different 2009 Mac Pros. Since I already tested the first two flashing into my Mac Pro, I'll just clean the new one and check if it's the same checksum.

I have a dual 2,26 4.1 with MP41.0081.B07 do you still need some info ? test?

 

[tsialex]

I have a dual 2,26 4.1 with MP41.0081.B07 do you still need some info ? test?

Thx for the offer but B07 is a public one, that you can download from Apple.

B08 was only offered with Macs and not as update, that was the motive for getting a dump and check what was different with it.

 

[tsialex]

Anyone have a dump of MP41.0081.B03? I'd like to check the BootBlock from version B03.


I already have dumps from versions MP41.0081.B07 and MP41.0081.B08. I have the BootBlock from MP41.0081.B04, but I don't have a full dump.

 

[nos1609]

@LightBulbFun I have a dump from a XServe with the XS31.0081.B09 firmware. As far as I can tell there is nothing exciting about it, it does not boot the X5620 that I put in to test, I didn't try other CPUs, but don't expect it would work with any others. I haven't had time to look into it further.

I had 5 with the B09 firmware, but got rid of the 4 working ones before I read your post and even realized there was a newer firmware. I notice all 5 of them had serial numbers starting with YM where all the other XServes I've seen start with H0. I believe this means they are from different factories. Also of note, the B09 XServes were made in March 2011 according to the serial number, where the latest B06 XServe I've seen was made in mid-2010.

I'm including the dump here since the XServe this came from is dead and will never be powered up (had to pull the ROM to dump it) I did test it by copying it to a different XServe, and it did boot up just fine. Curious if you or anyone can figure anything else out about this firmware.

Also my guess is the firmware isn't really 3 revisions newer than the XS31.0081.06B Apple publicly released, I think it's one version newer, the firmware version numbers were just mixed with the Mac Pro for some reason.

XS31.0081.B06
MP41.0081.B07
MP41.0081.B08
XS31.0081.B09

Just have received the xserve repair kit and it comes directly with the b09 firmware. Think it the only way to get it. Can get a clean factory image if needed with a programmer since it comes with no serial number at all.