MP 1,1-5,1 Upgrading Mac Pro 5,1...will Boot Camp keep working?

[andysh]

Hello there,
I'm about to replace the GPU on my Mac Pro 5,1 and I have a few doubts.
First of all, here's the current - 100% working - situation:

- Mac Pro 5,1 - 6-Core 3.46GHz - 32GB Ram
- Flashed AMD R9 280x
- LG 34UC99 34" Monitor (via Display Port)
- USB 3 PCIe card - Upgraded Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules - Blu-ray drive

- OSX El Capitan installed on a 256GB Samsung SM951 AHCI ssd (via PCIe Lycom DT-120 card)
- Windows 10 19041 installed on a 512GB Samsung 850 PRO ssd (regular internal hard-drive bay) with Boot Camp 5.1

Everything works great and the system is still reactive and reliable. So, why upgrading?
Because I'm about to install a flashed Radeon RX 580 8GB in place of the current R9 280x and it seems that it won't work with El Capitan (can you confirm this?).

My main concern is:
- if I upgrade to a more recent Mac OS, will Boot Camp keep working? I've read about firmware updates and other system changes when upgrading but I'm not sure what it could mean for my Mac.

And the other question is:
- what's the best (and easiest/safest to install) Mac OS you would recommend for this 5,1?
Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[bb_mac]

Hi,

Mojave still supports boot camp on the Mac Pro 5.1 - and it is probably your best bet anyway, for security reasons.

You *can* install Catalina, but you will need something like the dosdude patcher - http://dosdude1.com/catalina/
From a security perspective - as in your computer being *less secure*, in order to run the patcher, you have to disable SIP - more info on what that is here: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204899

I recommend Mojave. With your Radeon, you'll have no problem with Mojave and can still Boot Camp.

Should you decide at some point to go with Catalina, there are ways to reasonably easily install windows *without* Boot Camp (given it isn't supported for the 5.1 in Catalina) - but it does require some experience to get right.
If you are comfortable at the command prompt etc., should be easy. Given you got El Capitan installed, I'm sure you know what you are doing.

This would do the trick: https://fgimian.github.io/blog/2016/03/12/installing-windows-10-on-a-mac-without-bootcamp/

But, Mojave is the way to go as a starting point.

For the record, before I sold my 5.1, I had Catalina running fine for months, but didn't use Boot Camp or boot windows via any other method.

 

[andysh]

@bb_mac thank you so much for the help!
I'll follow your advice and definitely go with Mojave for now.

Just a few doubts:

- can I upgrade to Mojave directly from El Capitan (or do I need to install High Sierra first?)
- since my firware at this point is quite old, will the Mojave installer able to update the system to the latest firmare? I read about various firmware updates since Sierra to today.

- before the upgrade process, I'll take out the ssd with Windows (you never know...) After the successful upgrade to Mojave, I'll be able to access to my boot camp ssd like before, right?

Thanks again!

 

[bb_mac]

Ah, wait! - there's more to this! - I forgot the order of different macOS releases.

No, you can't just install it - it won't work without firmware patching.

So, from High Sierra onwards (if I recall correctly), you have to update the firmware on the 5.1

This is a *very* lengthy thread here on the forums - https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-bootrom-upgrade-instructions-thread.2142418/

Bear in mind, it covers a *lot* of ground. I don't recall having to do hardly any of these steps on my 5.1 - so worth doing a search around on the internet for more info.

 

[bb_mac]

@bb_mac

- before the upgrade process, I'll take out the ssd with Windows (you never know...) After the successful upgrade to Mojave, I'll be able to access to my boot camp ssd like before, right?

Thanks again!

That, I'm not sure about.

But it isn't a bad idea to remove drives "just in case".

 

[bb_mac]

BTW, I think this is the best starting point for checking/updating your firmware for Mojave support:

Install macOS 10.14 Mojave on Mac Pro (Mid 2010) and Mac Pro (Mid 2012) - Apple Support

Learn how to prepare your Mac Pro (Mid 2010) or Mac Pro (Mid 2012) for macOS Mojave.

support.apple.com

If that fails, you can move onto that excellent and comprehensive thread - I believe I just went through the steps on the apple support site and after a few 'false starts' managed to get it going.

 

[startergo]

firmware patching.

The correct wording is firmware upgrade. Firmware "patching" implies a sort of a hack and there is no such thing.

 

[KeesMacPro]

- if I upgrade to a more recent Mac OS, will Boot Camp keep working? I've read about firmware updates and other system changes when upgrading but I'm not sure what it could mean for my Mac.

Mojave still supports boot camp on the Mac Pro 5.1

-About Bootcamp:

The above reply is not correct, but there is a workaround to install Bootcamp as described here in post #214:

How to: Boot Camp without a Boot Screen

I don't remember uninstalling any bootcamp drivers before 6. But I had to uninstall before 6.1

forums.macrumors.com

Based on the above mentioned thread you could also read:

Classic Mac Pro (5,1): installing Windows 10, switching between macOS Mojave & Windows without boot screen - CrystalIDEA Blog

crystalidea.com

-About Mojave/Firmware upgrade:

I've read about firmware updates and other system changes when upgrading but I'm not sure what it could mean for my Mac.

Mojave is known as one of the most stable OS and comes with a firmware upgrade including a few advantages.
Even after the FW upgrade you could theoretically still install any OS from 10.6.8 and up.

To keep it very brief basically you'll have to install High Sierra first (including a FW update) and install Mojave afterwards.
All pitfalls and further details about the correct way to install Mojave can be found here:

MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (BootROM upgrade instructions thread)

Please fully read this first post, you will probably find that you have one or more problems described into the various notes below. Mojave will only install if you have upgraded your BootROM to the current release and your Mac Pro have a Metal capable GPU*. If you are trying to install Mojave...

forums.macrumors.com

-About the RX580:

I'm about to install a flashed Radeon RX 580 8GB in place of the current R9 280x and it seems that it won't work with El Capitan (can you confirm this?).

The RX580 works fine from High Sierra and up (and under Sierra but buggy).

 

[bb_mac]

I'll get my coat ... ?

 

[andysh]

Well, I have to say...thanks everyone!
I was able to upgrade to Mojave seamlessly and Boot Camp works great like before. Also, I love the fact that NVMe boot is now possible without any hack 🤘