RTX 2070 - White Boot screen?

[Fox_ip]

I've been googling and checking stickies on forums for 2 weeks trying to find a solution (if there is one), in my spare time, but to no avail. I'm on a MP 5,1 (mid 2012) w/ High Sierra 10.13.6, trying to get my RTX 2070 to work on bootcamp Windows.

Whenever I try to boot Windows from the boot screen, my mouse stop working and the computer appears to freeze on the white screen, after choosing Windows. If Windows is set as default start-up, it will freeze on the same white screen.

I can't make too much sense from everything I've read about topics related to this, as I am not savvy enough in this subject to know all that applies to me, but it seems like I have to update to Mojave to get the 140.0.0.0.0 firmware, which I am unable to do without a 'Metal' compatible gpu. I also read something about not needing to actually install Mojave, but only booting .pkg files and running the 10.13.6 High Sierra/Mojave installer. The guide still said a Metal compatible card was required; this did not work for me when I tried it.

So if anyone could please correct me if I'm wrong, or is it possible to use my card on a Windows boot without macOS Mojave? Do I need to buy a cheap Metal compatible card just to install macOS Mojave?

 

[tsialex]

I've been googling and checking stickies on forums for 2 weeks trying to find a solution (if there is one), in my spare time, but to no avail. I'm on a MP 5,1 (mid 2012) w/ High Sierra 10.13.6, trying to get my RTX 2070 to work on bootcamp Windows.

Whenever I try to boot Windows from the boot screen, my mouse stop working and the computer appears to freeze on the white screen, after choosing Windows. If Windows is set as default start-up, it will freeze on the same white screen.

I can't make too much sense from everything I've read about topics related to this, as I am not savvy enough in this subject to know all that applies to me, but it seems like I have to update to Mojave to get the 140.0.0.0.0 firmware, which I am unable to do without a 'Metal' compatible gpu. I also read something about not needing to actually install Mojave, but only booting .pkg files and running the 10.13.6 High Sierra/Mojave installer. The guide still said a Metal compatible card was required; this did not work for me when I tried it.

So if anyone could please correct me if I'm wrong, or is it possible to use my card on a Windows boot without macOS Mojave? Do I need to buy a cheap Metal compatible card just to install macOS Mojave?

It's a two step firmware upgrade, you need a Mac EFI GPU to update to MP51.0089.B00, then you need a Metal supported GPU to upgrade to 140.0.0.0.0.

I'm not sure if RTX 2070 has bootscreens, but 2080 has and works like you want.

You can read my guide to upgrade to Mojave here MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave, but you will need a Mac EFI GPU and a Metal supported one.

The most sensate option is just to reconstruct 140.0.0.0.0 for your Mac Pro, I can help you with that.

 

[LightBulbFun]

I've been googling and checking stickies on forums for 2 weeks trying to find a solution (if there is one), in my spare time, but to no avail. I'm on a MP 5,1 (mid 2012) w/ High Sierra 10.13.6, trying to get my RTX 2070 to work on bootcamp Windows.

Whenever I try to boot Windows from the boot screen, my mouse stop working and the computer appears to freeze on the white screen, after choosing Windows. If Windows is set as default start-up, it will freeze on the same white screen.

I can't make too much sense from everything I've read about topics related to this, as I am not savvy enough in this subject to know all that applies to me, but it seems like I have to update to Mojave to get the 140.0.0.0.0 firmware, which I am unable to do without a 'Metal' compatible gpu. I also read something about not needing to actually install Mojave, but only booting .pkg files and running the 10.13.6 High Sierra/Mojave installer. The guide still said a Metal compatible card was required; this did not work for me when I tried it.

So if anyone could please correct me if I'm wrong, or is it possible to use my card on a Windows boot without macOS Mojave? Do I need to buy a cheap Metal compatible card just to install macOS Mojave?

it sounds like your trying to boot windows in Legacy/CMS Mode

from what I can tell the RTX cards do not support legacy Booting on the MP4,1/5,1, you have to Boot windows in EFI mode with RTX cards when on a MP4,1/5,1 (ie when choosing the windows disk in the Boot menu chose "EFI Boot" rather then "Windows") only windows 8+ supports EFI booting on the MP4,1/5,1 properly FYI

 

[Aiwi]

What’s the model of your 2070? From what I’ve seen the Founders Edition works well in showing a boot screen.

I have a Palit RTX 2070 and it works well too, it shows a boot screen. One could assume most, if not all, RTX series cards have boot screen. But that is a speculation on my side.

I can’t boot Windows 10 in BIOS/Legacy mode. It just shows a black screen. It does however work very well with UEFI mode, or EFI mode.

Then there’s the risk of the Secure Boot problem causing NVRAM corruption. Make sure you never activate any secure boot. But, as far as I know it’s yet not 100% sure what has caused windows to corrupt the nvram on some few machines.

 

[Fox_ip]

What’s the model of your 2070? From what I’ve seen the Founders Edition works well in showing a boot screen.

I have a Palit RTX 2070 and it works well too, it shows a boot screen. One could assume most, if not all, RTX series cards have boot screen. But that is a speculation on my side.

I can’t boot Windows 10 in BIOS/Legacy mode. It just shows a black screen. It does however work very well with UEFI mode, or EFI mode.

Then there’s the risk of the Secure Boot problem causing NVRAM corruption. Make sure you never activate any secure boot. But, as far as I know it’s yet not 100% sure what has caused windows to corrupt the nvram on some few machines.

When I hold down the 'option' key on startup and the boot menu pops up, I don't see any option for 'EFI Boot'. It just shows the Mac partition, Windows partition, a recovery partition for what looks like High Sierra, and the Windows Install disk that's still in the drive. I'm using the founder's edition straight from the Nvidia website. Maybe I should note that the Windows version is Windows 7 incase that's important.

[doublepost=1542758795][/doublepost]

It's a two step firmware upgrade, you need a Mac EFI GPU to update to MP51.0089.B00, then you need a Metal supported GPU to upgrade to 140.0.0.0.0.

I'm not sure if RTX 2070 has bootscreens, but 2080 has and works like you want.

You can read my guide to upgrade to Mojave here MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave, but you will need a Mac EFI GPU and a Metal supported one.

The most sensate option is just to reconstruct 140.0.0.0.0 for your Mac Pro, I can help you with that.

And thank you! I'll try these easier suggestions first and see if there's something simple I've missed. That way I may avoid some trouble for both of us. I really do appreciate that. I'll respond via pm if it comes down to this. Thanks.

 

[LightBulbFun]

yeah windows 7 is your issue, use windows 8.1 or later then you should be able to EFI Boot windows

 

[Fox_ip]

yeah windows 7 is your issue, use windows 8.1 or later then you should be able to EFI Boot windows

Well Windows 10 finally installed, but I only see 'EFI Boot' on the boot screen if I have the install CD in the disk drive. Did I miss something?

 

[bookemdano]

Well Windows 10 finally installed, but I only see 'EFI Boot' on the boot screen if I have the install CD in the disk drive. Did I miss something?

To install Windows 10 in EFI mode you would hold option at boot and choose EFI Boot
To install Windows 10 in legacy mode you would hold c at boot.

 

[Fox_ip]

To install Windows 10 in EFI mode you would hold option at boot and choose EFI Boot
To install Windows 10 in legacy mode you would hold c at boot.

I didn't click EFI to install Windows 10, no. I was about to try doing it that way? But apparently I need to use terminal to change a partition to GPT. Feels like I'm the only one trying to use RTX on mac. I can't find any straightforward topics on this heh.
[doublepost=1542777660][/doublepost]Okay, so i foumd this, and it sounds a lot like me: http://forums.evga.com/m/tm.aspx?m=1955454&p=1
If anyone savvy wants to read that and tell me what you think, though the card I'm trying to install is not the same, those are my exact issues. I am using an apple Cinema display, and my other monitor is just some smart TV that tends to flicker at times. I did order an actual decent monitor, but I'd hate to have to wait for it to arrive just to test this. At this point I'm really itching towards just getting a GTX 1080.

 

[Fox_ip]

Well I figured out the EFI boot thing and actually was able to boot with my RTX for the first time . I almost thought would happily report here with the news, but now I seem to consistently and randomly get blue screens saying "Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart." And as I say type this Windows is now asking me to choose recovery options.

 

[Fox_ip]

Okay, got it working and of course now I feel really dumb. Thank you all for the puzzle pieces you provided me. I'll post what I did in case anyone happens to be as dumb as me.

I did all of this with my original ATI Radeon 5800 still installed, just for troubleshooting purposes, but you may/probably do not have to.

1. Simply install the EFI version of Windows (Called EFI Boot), from the install disk.

The installer will require a GPT formatted partition. If the partition you are trying to install to is not GPT already, just choose "delete" on the partition you are trying to install to, then it should allow you to.

If that does not work, see:

2. After arriving on the desktop, immediately run Windows update and install/restart. Run it again.

Do not be like me and forget to remove your Windows Bootcamp software USB for a different version of windows. In my case: after installing Windows 10, I was greeted with driver installers for windows 8, and began installing various Windows 8 drivers. This caused my random blue screens...

3. After all Windows Updates were installed, I shutdown my Mac and installed my RTX 2070.

4. Ran Windows Update; installed 2 things NVIDIA related.

5. Download matching driver from NVIDIA website.

6. Done.

Again, thank you all for your various contributions. That was quite frustrating. More frustrating than trying to mod a stable version of Skyrim.