MP 1,1-5,1 RefindPlus|OpenCore by MyBootMgr

[Dayo]

Isn't it rather that the legacy Mac Pro does not support UEFI GOP?

Mac firmware isn't UEFI compatible.

For anyone coming across this thread in future. These, along with a lot of the other stuff posted, are wildly inaccurate.

I will be ignoring further pollution in the hope that the poster will actually move these issues to a relevant thread as requested several times but so far ignored.

 

[jaksemasch]

I am not inclined to get into a discussion of GPU or other side issues in this thread as I am conscious that these can clutter the thread and confuse readers down the line.

Please post on this in a relevant thread to get wider input. You can tag me if you want.

I understand and I don't mean to. If you are providing instructions and the result isn't as expected people will have questions. Perhaps you should state at the very beginning of your instructions what the system requirements are. I find your last statements about GOP questionable. But OK, I will start a new thread and start all over again since I don't want anyone to get riled up here.

 

[jaksemasch]

For anyone coming across this thread in future. These, along with a lot of the other stuff posted, are wildly inaccurate.

rEFIt - History of Apple and EFI

refit.sourceforge.net

 

[Dayo]

I understand and I don't mean to. If you are providing instructions and the result isn't as expected people will have questions. Perhaps you should state at the very beginning of your instructions what the system requirements are. I find your last statements about GOP questionable. But OK, I will start a new thread and start all over again since I don't want anyone to get riled up here.

Questions are welcome on the process and your question has been answered a long time ago.

I will repeat the answer already given to you (Already in the guide btw) on to your basic question of why the GPUs you have been testing are not working:

RefindPlus as bundled with myBootMgr requires Fully Compatible GPUs (GOP or UGA Based Mac Bootscreen Support) or Semi Compatible GPUs with Valid Usable or Fixable GOP. It doesn't matter whether Legacy or Current as long as it is one of the two types.

If your GPU does not fall into either category, you will not get the Graphical Preboot Screen.

Your GPUs do not fall into either one of these categories and therefore the process can never work since this basic requirement is not met. The guide has told you this, I have, the debug logs from two different programs have, but to no avail.

Dec 2020 Update: GPUs such as those used by the poster are now supported by RefindPlus

This requirement should not be difficult to grasp except that in your case, you THINK you know certain things that say otherwise.

How do you talk to someone that does not know something but firmly believes that they do? In a my experience, this is usually a waste of time.

rEFIt - History of Apple and EFI

refit.sourceforge.net

Strange that you would link to an article that clearly states that Apple introduced UEFI 2.x in the Early 2008 (cMP 3,1) to bolster your assertion that UEFI is not supported.

 

[jaksemasch]

Questions are welcome on the process and your question has been answered a long time ago.

I will repeat the answer already given to you (Already in the guide btw) on to your basic question of why the GPUs you have been testing are not working:


Your GPUs do not fall into either one of these categories and therefore the process can never work since this basic requirement is not met. The guide has told you this, I have, the debug logs from two different programs have, but it is to no avail.

This requirement thing should not be difficult to grasp except that in your case, you THINK you know certain things that say otherwise.

How do you talk to someone that does not know something but firmly believes that they do? In a my experience, this is usually a waste of time unless they are willing to recognise that they might actually not have the full picture.


Strange that you would link to an article that clearly states that Apple introduced UEFI 2.x in the Early 2008 (cMP 3,1) to support your assertion that UEFI is not supported.

Apple started mixing EFI 1.10 and UEFI 2.x features on these models. That doesn't mean Apple EFI is UEFI compatible and will work with modern PC UEFI cards. I shall better simply ignore your statement about what I know and don't know and not seeing the whole picture. It's too arrogant for my taste, and who are you to make such claims? And btw, I clearly expressed what I know so far and not saying I'm the ultimate expert. So if anything I know or write is wrong, please feel free to criticize and provide documentation or other reference if possible, but without all the personal nonsense please.

 

[Amenophis]

I did the test by using EFI partition on USB stick (named REFIND_OC), and I did not succeed.

I formatted my USB in Mac OS extended with GUID, mounted EFI partition using EFI_Util.app and copied EFI folder and sub-folders on it.
I disabled SIP, confirmed by command csrutil status -> disabled
I ran BootBlesser.app through different choices, and I got the notification “Soft Blessed Refind Boot Manager” appearing shortly.
Despite that when I reboot I didn’t get any Open Core Instance , but it is booting normally on Mac Os.
Because of my Standard Radeon RX 580 I have no Boot Screen.

I tried to analyse and I used nvram -p command on Terminal
Before running Bootblesser. app I see only parameter “efi-boot-device”
After running Bootblesser.app I see parameters “efi-boot-next” and “efi-boot-device”
Within string of “efi-boot-next” appear : “disk5s1” which is EFI partition on USB, and “/EFI/EFI/BOOTx64.efi”.
So I assume that nvram is correctly configured to boot on EFI of my USB .

So what is wrong ?

 

[Dayo]

Hi,

Looks like everything is as should be apart from the unexpected result.

Do this to make sure:

• Shut down, remove the USB and reboot
• Go into System Preferences, select your start disk and restart from System Preferences
  • This will make sure everything is reset to standard settings
• After rebooting, reconnect the USB and try soft blessing again
• Reboot and you should get the Refind Boot screen.
  • Bear in mind that booting from USB Sticks, especially the EFI Partition on USB Sticks, can be an order of magnitude slower than a SATA Drive ... so give it some time to load.

Please report back on success or failure.
PS: I tested this EFI on USB Stick process just yesterday and it worked with my RX 580 albeit noticeably slower than my usual EFI Setup.

 

[Amenophis]

I followed your instructions : shutting down, removing USB, rebooting, Selecting main start disk, rebooting, connecting USB and running soft blessing.
The result is always the same : no OPEN CORE instance and booting on MacOS.
I tried:
- changing USB stick
- connecting it on another USB port
- renaming it instead of REFIND_OC
- disconnecting all HD except Macintosh HD (MacOS)

In all cases it Starts on Macos, screen appears about 80s after the "Dong" .

I am sorry to submit to you such an issue.

 

[Dayo]

Thanks for the feedback.

No idea why blessing would not take. I presume you followed the EFI Mode instructions although this was on a USB Stick.

Only suggestion is to try to bless from Terminal.

To SoftBless:

sudo bless --setBoot --mount '/Volumes/EFI' --file '/Volumes/EFI/EFI/BOOT/BOOTx64.efi' --nextonly

To FirmBless:

sudo bless --setBoot --mount '/Volumes/EFI' --file '/Volumes/EFI/EFI/BOOT/BOOTx64.efi'

Use EFI_Util to mount the EFI first

If that doesn't work, then the issue is outside of this process as it just means you can't bless a file on your machine.
There is likely a simple answer but nothing comes to mind right now.

EDIT
Thinking about it further, I suggest you just use the EFI partition of a separate disk from Macintosh HD. It's not as risky as you think.

I suspect that for whatever reason, the USB may not yet be mounted at the time the firmware is looking for a boot file and with this not found, the firmware defaults to the first available boot efi file it can find (your Mac OS boot efi file)

 

[startergo]

Thanks for the feedback.

No idea why blessing would not take. I presume you followed the EFI Mode instructions although this was on a USB Stick.

Only suggestion is to try to bless from Terminal.

To SoftBless:

sudo bless --setBoot --mount '/Volumes/EFI' --file '/Volumes/EFI/EFI/BOOT/BOOTx64.efi' --nextonly

To FirmBless:

sudo bless --setBoot --mount '/Volumes/EFI' --file '/Volumes/EFI/EFI/BOOT/BOOTx64.efi'

Use EFI_Util to mount the EFI first

If that doesn't work, then the issue is outside of this process as it just means you can't bless a file on your machine.
There is likely a simple answer but nothing comes to mind right now.

And for troubleshooting --verbose can be added at the end of the commands.

 

[Amenophis]

I had an HD from an old iMac and I used its EFI partition for myBootMgr... and it works !!!!!
In less than 15 seconds after the "Dong" I get screen with two Open Core Instances, Macintosh HD, and iMac HD.

I verify that I can boot on iMac HD, but till now I didn't investigate too much on Open Core possibilities and choices of this screen. For tonight is already a nice result for me.
I wonder just on your step 7-1 of Stage 2 installation : to drag the /Users/Shared.../CheckOC.sh is it necessary, first, to boot into Mac OS. I mean that is necessary to "Select an Open Core Instance from which you can boot into Mac OS " AND to boot into this Mac OS.

Before using iMac HD, I tried to bless from Terminal using USB without success.

Thanks a lot for your Help

 

[Dayo]

it works !!!!!

Great.

I mean that is necessary to "Select an Open Core Instance from which you can boot into Mac OS " AND to boot into this Mac OS.

Yes. You need to be booted into Mac OS through OpenCore to test OpenCore with that script.
Just do what the guide says basically.

I didn't investigate too much on Open Core possibilities and choices of this screen.

There isn't much to do with this setup as it works out of the box with video acceleration already enabled.
If you are using an older Mac OS release such as HiSierra which does not seem to work well with this acceleration, copy the config from the OC_ALT folder into the OC folder as that one has it off.

In any case, read up on the included OpenCore Docs and tweak as you wish, if you wish.
Direct queries on configuration to the main OpenCore thread linked in the first post.

Good luck!

 

[papadj3]

Are there steps to follow Without HW Acceleration, using Dayo’s OC/refind?!
(since my gpu is not UEFI? Don’t know if that even matters?! )
I know it is mentioned but can’t follow with my lack of knowlege! Thanks-

 

[Dayo]

Updated to v061

 

[papadj3]

Dayo -
Regarding this pre installation step: Does default Mac OS volume mean your Boot disk w/OS??
Double click on the /Users/Shared/myBootMgr/DefaultVolume.scpt file to open it in script editor and change VOLUME_LABEL to the name of your default Mac OS volume, for example, "Macintosh HD"

 

[Dayo]

Does default Mac OS volume mean your Boot disk.

It would be difficult to handle multiple queries seeking reassurance/reaffirmation at each step but on this one, yes, it is whatever is the name of the volume of the Mac OS instance that you normally boot into.

Not that I want anyone to feel reluctant to ask for help but I would rather that you read things first as in this specific case, I feel that what this means is should be clear from the context, the Macintosh HD example given and the sub notes explaining what the action is for.

Would really love the page count on this thread to be really low. People actually read the guide, implement it, live happily ever after and only post on bugs and such.

 

[papadj3]

Thank-You Again!!
But a reader with my limited knowledge is always trying to understand!!
The truth is I have read every word of this thread and Guide Multiple Times!!
To afraid to lose my Catalina OS booting now that I have lost Opencore trying to use Windows Bootcamp Legacy!-
I know it is pitiful!! Sorry!

 

[freqrider]

I tried to use your updated 0.6.1 package and It broke openCanopy. (Added to drivers/config.plist) I only get a vertical text bootpicker in OC now. OpenCanopy worked fine with your .0.5.9 package? Any suggestions?

 

[Dayo]

Although the driver was distributed, OpenCanopy was never supported with this as the preference is for the OpenCore text bootpicker (with a short timeout) or better still, no bootpicker in OpenCore at all since RefindPlus already provides a graphical bootpicker.

Change with v061 is that the OpenCanopy driver is now no longer distributed to focus on actually supported items.

Users that want to use OpenCanopy will need to get the required components and configure it.

This is recorded in the Change Log:

 

[papadj3]

Dayo - I am trying?!
Refind seems to work! Below is what I got re-Opencore? I picked one opencore selection to boot but went to apple logo and just was stuck there never loaded?? BTW I replaced the OC_ALT config purposely in OC folder since acceleration doesn’t work w/my GPU(Old GTX 680 mac edition) so that error is understandable? Did all on a separate SSD disk volume in sled#1- I don’t know what to pick for my opencore Catalina to boot?? I only soft blessed refind-through installation step #8 so far?? (BTW my Catalina boot is a PCIE Samsung SSD 970 Pro Blade that always worked w/cdf basic opencore install)

Used step #9 to get these results-I am stuck!! Please Help!

#########################################
# START CHECKS ON OPENCORE INSTALLATION #
#########################################
1. OpenCore Version:
(Error message *MAY* mean OpenCore was not loaded)
4D1FDA02-38C7-4A6A-9CC6-4BCCA8B30102pencore-version REL-061-2020-09-07
2. Lilu|WhateverGreen Kext Injection:
(Blank response means kexts *NOT* injected)
18 1 0xffffff7f81716000 0x7a000 0x7a000 as.vit9696.Lilu (1.2.8) FBEC1F09-6C2E-35AB-8889-6BB7C3CEDEA3 <8 6 5 3 2 1>
3. Video Hardware Acceleration:
(Relevant if expected from config ... Error message means *NOT* enabled)
VDADecoderCreate failed. err: -12473
An error was returned by the decoder layer. This may happen for example because of bitstream/data errors during a decode operation. This error may also be returned from VDADecoderCreate when hardware decoder resources are available on the system but currently in use by another process.
VDADecoderCreate failed. err: -12473
#########################################
# END CHECKS ON OPENCORE INSTALLATION #
#########################################

 

[papadj3]

Used Bootblesser app and got error trying to soft bless opencore??
Could Not Soft Bless OpenCore Boot Loader
Make sure all files are copied to correct locations or try again if running after a cold start

 

[Dayo]

I think your best bet is to ask someone else to help implement this for you.

 

[JedNZ]

I've been following the thread for a while, but finally took the plunge tonight and installed the latest version (0.6.1) in post #1, and I've run into a bit of a road block. I never get to see the RefindPlus boot screen.

My sig has my current setup. The Sapphire Pulse RX590 8GB does not have dual bios switch, and was purchased brand new from a local reseller, so I'm pretty sure its BIOS hasn't been tampered with (sorry, I'm completely lost with GOP and all that GPU stuff, if it's relevant).

So, I tried the USB method first, however every time I boot up my 28" Samsung 4K (DP - 1.2) flicks on for a few seconds, then turns off, then back on again – over and over again. I waited diligently for over 10 minutes on one occasion and nothing. I press the power button and the cMP switches off. Upon restarting up it boots correctly back into my Mojave boot drive (see sig). I started all over again, applying all the changes as per the great instructions, and the same result.

So I then did the EFI method. Exactly the same result. Trashed the first attempt and did it all again, and the same result again. This time it saved a log file (only does that with the EFI method), if anyone has time to troubleshoot it for me.

 

[Dayo]

I'm completely lost with GOP and all that GPU stuff, if it's relevant.

Not important. Your GPU is compatible.

it saved a log file (only does that with the EFI method), if anyone has time to troubleshoot it for me.

The logs don't show anything of note.
There is a trick to make it create one in USB Mode but I don't remember this right now and IIRC, it is not compatible with the BootBlesser App so not supported at this time in any case.

I have gotten the flickering screen thing before and not sure what causes it.
In my case, it settled each time after a few seconds and never gotten it for 10 mins.

I have not had it for quite a while now and not sure what the answer is to be honest but maybe try a few things to try to see what might be the issue:

• Clear NVRAM
• Remove "OsxAptioFix3Drv_x64.efi" from the "/EFi/BOOT/drivers_x64" folder
• Try another (Lower Rez) monitor if available.
• Try booting from a SATA Drive and with all the drives connected to PCIe Slots disconnected if possible.

Rename or delete the log file so that a new one is created.

 

[papadj3]

Dayo
OH BOY!
Why? Am I all wrong!? Please let me know-