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Xs 1,1-3,1 time for a sticky: Xserve upgrade guide

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The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.
merry Xsmas to all of you!

I think I found an interesting link to the x-serve technician manual :

http://tim.id.au/laptops/apple/xserve/xserve_early2009.pdf

in this manuals a block diagram clearly show that the serial port on the back is indeed connected to the smc and the eeprom containing the firmware...
look page 16....

so now what is suposed to plug here?

is there a usb to serial adapter I can buy, and what program do you use to « talk » to the rom on this bus?

@dosdude1 , @gilles_polysoft any idea?
 

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ok guys!

the pictures I posted were from a remplacement board that commes in a maintenance kit..
but as i was doing a x5690 swap in a macpro5.1 there was a connector on the mother board that is not here on the 4.1... were you only have the pads...
BUT....
1 hour later I was upgrading the ram in my xserve and noticed that the motherboard on my machine have the same conector in two place!!!!!
[doublepost=1547223307][/doublepost]
41AA3BB8-209A-4FD1-9B90-A8027FD030E8.jpeg
 
BlackScorpion said:
Anythings else going on with this? interested since i have a 3,1 myself.
Click to expand...
since someone got upset and was the onlyone who could actually move things foward we are stuck here... unless someone who know how to modify firmware like @dosdude or @gilles_polysoft or @handheldgames help us we are stuck... I hope someone will pull the trigger on this as it would be a major step up... the only one who was able to help us want to be left alone and I will respect that.
 
I think you should probably start by replacing microcodes for cpu support like it was firstly made with mac pro 4.1, then adding nvme like it was made with mac pro 5.1 prior bootrom 140 was out. Then we preserve our xserve identification gaining 12 core config with nvme boot without cross-flashing tower-based cibling firmware. Just an idea though.
 
nos1609 said:
I think you should probably start by replacing microcodes for cpu support like it was firstly made with mac pro 4.1, then adding nvme like it was made with mac pro 5.1 prior bootrom 140 was out. Then we preserve our xserve identification gaining 12 core config with nvme boot without cross-flashing tower-based cibling firmware. Just an idea though.
Click to expand...

I can just be the guinea pig , I have absolutely zero ability doing that...
 
Hi, replacing microcodes doesn't work. No blue lights with westmere cpus. Patching NVMe no problem, same way like patching a cMP 3.1 I would like to do some testing with a cMP 5.1 rom, but I have no 5.1. So if anyone can send me a dump of his rom (140.0 or 141.0) this would be nice. You can easily make a dump with DosDudes RomTool. After that replace your serial in the dump file with something else (e.g. 0123456789), this can be done with ihex. You can easily find your serial in the dump via text search in ihex.
 
Bion1nc said:
Here it is ... Hope that can help, I already flashed it with a MacPro 5.1 even with boot room 140.0 booted fine showed as a MacPro 5.1 and I could put 6 core and 12 core same thing as the Mac Pro. Now you lose the Hard Drive led's activity, and the front panel led too, so I did revert back to Xserve original rom 2009, Installed Sierra, and High Sierra on the other, Got back the LED HD's activity nice I love it, and I managed also to bring back the LED front Panel ... Where It used to be a time where the front panel was working OOB under the Snow and Lion 10.7.5 era with Server install, but I found a way to run the LED's even under ML, Mavericks and UP to High Sierra...
Click to expand...

Interesting. How did you manage to bring back the LED functions in High Sierra?
 
XserveJunkie said:
Interesting. How did you manage to bring back the LED functions in High Sierra?
Click to expand...


Here is how ...

Install libusb on Mac with Brew
libusb Package Installation on Mac


About abcde : Library for USB device access!

More Information: http://libusb.info

Steps:
  1. Launch Terminal by pressing command+space, type terminal and hit Enter key.
  2. Run :

    ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"< /dev/null 2> /dev/null
  3. Install :

    brew install libusb

Then download :

https://github.com/castvoid/xserve-frontpanel


Then Compile it with cmake.app. https://github.com/Kitware/CMake/releases/download/v3.13.1/cmake-3.13.1-Darwin-x86_64.dmg

Once installed;

Open Terminal; cd /Applications hit enter then open CMake.app hit enter

Install tools;

> sudo bash ;

> CMake.app/Contents/bin/cmake-gui

Then click Tab Tools and install on command line
> cmake verify it is in /usr/bin/cmake

> cmake —version

Then ready to use
Type > cmake


Bring it to life;

Put folder “ xserve-front-panel-master on desktop
Open terminal type cmake > path to xserve-front-panel-master on desktop enter

Run activity lights

cmake . && make

Sorry might be a bit late but hope that helps someone...
PM me if you need help please thank you.
 
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Bion1nc said:
Here it is ... Hope that can help, I already flashed it with a MacPro 5.1 even with boot room 140.0 booted fine showed as a MacPro 5.1 and I could put 6 core and 12 core same thing as the Mac Pro. Now you lose the Hard Drive led's activity, and the front panel led too, so I did revert back to Xserve original rom 2009, Installed Sierra, and High Sierra on the other, Got back the LED HD's activity nice I love it, and I managed also to bring back the LED front Panel ... Where It used to be a time where the front panel was working OOB under the Snow and Lion 10.7.5 era with Server install, but I found a way to run the LED's even under ML, Mavericks and UP to High Sierra...
Click to expand...

Could you share a process you used to flash to 5,1?
 
edgerider said:
I can just be the guinea pig , I have absolutely zero ability doing that...
Click to expand...


nos1609 said:
I think you should probably start by replacing microcodes for cpu support like it was firstly made with mac pro 4.1, then adding nvme like it was made with mac pro 5.1 prior bootrom 140 was out. Then we preserve our xserve identification gaining 12 core config with nvme boot without cross-flashing tower-based cibling firmware. Just an idea though.
Click to expand...


That's exactly what needs to be done...
 
tsialex said:
I down't own a Xserve, it has the same LITTLE FRANK connector?

If Xserve don't have a LPC+SPI interface, it's moot to try to mod the firmware. You can be the most careful person in the world, you will brick it.
Click to expand...

BIG Frank, Yes. Numbers mach and both machines use the same Intel controller hub. SPI is in the Block Diagram also.

2009-Xserve-Big-Frank-Intel-AF82801JIB.jpg
XServe 2009 Block.png
 
I have managed to flash XServe 3,1 to MacPro 5,1 Boot Rom. It now boots with two X5670 6-core Westmere’s (Lidded). Cinebench score went from 1580 to 2940.

The side effects are that Hard Drive activity LED’s don’t work, the OS is reporting 16GB of RAM instead of 24GB installed. RAM usage is also wrongly reported. It shows that Wired Memory is using 16 terabytes of RAM.
Other than this, it works like a charm.


Update:

I have managed to solve the memory issues. Since MacPro 5,1 has 4 DIMM’s per CPU vs 6 DIMM’s in XServe, 2 DIMM’s per CPU are not recognized. Once i removed memory sticks from DIMM’s A4,A5,B4,B5, the memory usage is now reported correctly.
 
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cubeten said:
I have managed to flash XServe 3,1 to MacPro 5,1 Boot Rom. It now boots with two X5670 6-core Westmere’s (Lidded). Cinebench score went from 1580 to 2940.
The side effects are that Hard Drive activity LED’s don’t work, the OS is reporting 16GB of RAM instead of 24GB installed. RAM usage is also wrongly reported. It shows that Wired Memory is using 16 terabytes of RAM.
Other than this, it works like a charm.
Update:
I have managed to solve the memory issues. Since MacPro 5,1 has 4 DIMM’s per CPU vs 6 DIMM’s in XServe, 2 DIMM’s per CPU are not recognized. Once i removed memory sticks from DIMM’s A4,A5,B4,B5, the memory usage is now reported correctly.
Click to expand...
Have you checked if LOM (Lights-Out Management) still works?
Server Monitor won't run correctly on later macOS, but if LOM is already configured, you can poke at it using ipmitool remotely:
http://www.timoid.org/index.php/2017/05/19/xserve-and-ipmitool-how-to-succeed/

EDIT:
Oh, and lidded processors? Did you have any trouble fitting them under the heatsinks that way?
 
Last edited:
TylerL said:
Have you checked if LOM (Lights-Out Management) still works?
Server Monitor won't run correctly on later macOS, but if LOM is already configured, you can poke at it using ipmitool remotely:
http://www.timoid.org/index.php/2017/05/19/xserve-and-ipmitool-how-to-succeed/

EDIT:
Oh, and lidded processors? Did you have any trouble fitting them under the heatsinks that way?
Click to expand...


No, i didn't check LOM.

As for CPU's, i placed them onto the socket, applied thermal paste,placed heat sinks and tightened the screws in a diagonal order one turn at a time until i could start to feel some tension. Even though the X5670's are supposed to run hotter than X5520's, i feel like fans spin slower than before. X5670's run at about 45° maximum even with full CPU load.
 
touche112 said:
What steps did you take to do this?
Click to expand...

I used patches contained within 2009-2010 Firmware Upgrade Tool to manually create a MacPro4,1 firmware. I would then boot into Linux and use Flashrom to flash to MacPro4,1. After that is done, i would boot back into OSX and use 2009-2010 Firmware Upgrade Tool to upgrade to MacPro5,1. It might be possible to flash directly to MacPro 5,1, but this is the way i did it. It worked on all 4 of my xServes.
 
cubeten said:
I used patches contained within 2009-2010 Firmware Upgrade Tool to manually create a MacPro4,1 firmware. I would then boot into Linux and use Flashrom to flash to MacPro4,1. After that is done, i would boot back into OSX and use 2009-2010 Firmware Upgrade Tool to upgrade to MacPro5,1. It might be possible to flash directly to MacPro 5,1, but this is the way i did it. It worked on all 4 of my xServes.
Click to expand...

thank you for the detail.

I’d really like to have someone like netkas or @dosdude1 who have the knowledge on how to do it , to tinker with the original xerve 3.1 firmware and compare it with the original 4.1 firmware in order to see what are the exact true changes that would need to be done to create a simple xs3.1 to 4.1 firmware upgrader, that would give all the bells and whistles of a 5.1 with x5690.
the 32 gb ram stick are getting available now at a fair price...
 
edgerider said:
thank you for the detail.

I’d really like to have someone like netkas or @dosdude1 who have the knowledge on how to do it , to tinker with the original xerve 3.1 firmware and compare it with the original 4.1 firmware in order to see what are the exact true changes that would need to be done to create a simple xs3.1 to 4.1 firmware upgrader, that would give all the bells and whistles of a 5.1 with x5690.
the 32 gb ram stick are getting available now at a fair price...
Click to expand...

Pretty sure if it was possible it would of been done back when the first walkthrough was completed. The simplest way seems to wait for the final bootrom and work backwards. I guess you could then "downgrade" just a portion of the original 3,1 after you got the support you needed to recover your lom and additional ram controller... My stiching is not worthy of even a button and I wouldn't be willing to brick my xserver to test that theory.. My devoted loyalty to anyone willing to face apple's legal retaliation for adding the additional support for something they've purposefully moth-balled. This would be cool with a low profile rx560. That'd be the best xserve4,1/xserve5,1 prototype ever.
 
cubeten said:
I used patches contained within 2009-2010 Firmware Upgrade Tool to manually create a MacPro4,1 firmware. I would then boot into Linux and use Flashrom to flash to MacPro4,1. After that is done, i would boot back into OSX and use 2009-2010 Firmware Upgrade Tool to upgrade to MacPro5,1. It might be possible to flash directly to MacPro 5,1, but this is the way i did it. It worked on all 4 of my xServes.
Click to expand...
Can you shed more light on the patches and the Mac Pro 4,1 rom creation? Do you mean that you've corrected the CRC checks in the flasher?
 
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