MP 1,1-5,1 Upgrading to 144 firmware, installing Enable GOP & fitting RX 580 Card

[twotone]

Morning Folks,

Apologies for the several recent cMP posts, it's taken some figuring out!

I have a 5,1 (updated from 4,1) cMP running:
- Monterey 12.7.4 SATA SSD with OCLP 1.4.2
- High Sierra SATA HDD
- Snow Leopard (fitting SATA HDD with this in a few days)

The cMP is currently fitted with 5770 1GB GPU (non-metal), using rootpatcher in OCLP to work in Monterey

I have MP51.0089.B00 and need to update it to 144 firmware (via Mojave installer route on my High Sierra HDD)
I also need to flash EnableGOP to allow for boot screens on metal GPU and allow for basic support of metal GPU in Snow Leopard
Finally, I need to install the RX 580 Sapphire.

The issue is I'm not sure in what order to do this/things I need to consider.

My thought process is:

- I can't do this last firmware update (144) via the Mojave Installer (High Sierra HDD) unless I have a metal compatible GPU (going to use the RX 580)
- If that's the case, I think I need to reboot (High Sierra) with RX 580 installed and old GPU removed (to enable Mojave installer to allow firmware update due to requiring metal card), holding power button to enable firmware mode, open installer for Mojave, do firmware update and shut down - that should give me 144 firmware (without actually installing Mojave).
- I'd then reboot on the same High Sierra HDD (with old GPU fitted again, so I have boot screen) and do 'Enable Gop' flash.
- Once EnableGop Flash is done, I'd boot off my separate Monterey drive (which runs OCPL and EFI) which should then just work, if not I might need to root patch potentially?

My last question is: how will I know if GPU acceleration isn't working correctly? e.g. requires further rootpatching etc.

Please can someone sanity check my above thought process? I'm probably waaaay overthinking this but basically want to do it the easiest way, and the multiple conflicting steps are a bit too chicken and egg for my liking.

Thanks so much for any help with this!
TT

 

[Dayo]

sanity check above thought process

For what you want to do, the easiest way is to pay someone to build an upgraded firmware with all the trimmings for you.

To do it yourself, your outlined process should work (apart from that you cannot hack EnableGOP into the firmware from HiSierra and need UEFI shell or Windows or Linux)

Note that EnableGOP is not mandatory for such a multi boot setup. For instance, I run everything from 10.4 Tiger to 12.x Monterey (Potentially up to 14.x Sonoma if I wanted) on my MP31 and EnableGOP is not an option on MP31.

I use MyBootMgr linked in my signature and you could take a look at that route unless you are indeed comfortable with hacking the firmware yourself as your post suggested.

There is another way to do the process which is via using something called BootKicker in OpenCore that you can search for. Basically, EnableGOP is brilliant but it is not the only path available.

Your outlined process should work as said before (subject to sorting the firmware hack step out).

BTW, strange as it may sound and while updating MP51 firmware to 144.x is desirable, it is again not mandatory to successfully install Monterey etc. You should do this update for other stability reasons, but your unit can work perfectly well with the older MP51 firmware. Same way MP31 firmware runs Monterey without issue.

Anyway, in your case with MyBootMgr, I will stick the RX580 in, run a Deep nvRAM Reset, boot into HiSierra and then run the OCLP thing to revert the patches it applied to Monterey as they are not needed for Monterey on a CMP when using a supported GPU like the RX580.

Once Monterey is cleaned up, I will download and run MyBootMgr to create a RefindPlus and OpenCore setup. You will be able to run the needed installer to do the firmware update. Not compulsory as mentioned but good to be on updated firmware version all said and done.

If you still want EnableGOP, you can go ahead to hack things for this but with the setup MyBootMgr creates, you do not need to and it becomes a preference thing.

On acceleration, I assume you mean the videotoolbox stuff, this will work and this can be checked using VideoProc.

Good luck!

 

[twotone]

For what you want to do, the easiest way is to pay someone to build an upgraded firmware with all the trimmings for you.

To do it yourself, your outlined process should work (apart from that you cannot hack EnableGOP into the firmware from HiSierra and need UEFI shell or Windows or Linux)

Note that EnableGOP is not mandatory for such a multi boot setup. For instance, I run everything from 10.4 Tiger to 12.x Monterey (Potentially up to 14.x Sonoma if I wanted) on my MP31 and EnableGOP is not an option on MP31.

I use MyBootMgr linked in my signature and you could take a look at that route unless you are indeed comfortable with hacking the firmware yourself as your post suggested.

There is another way to do the process which is via using something called BootKicker in OpenCore that you can search for. Basically, EnableGOP is brilliant but it is not the only path available.

Your outlined process should work as said before (subject to sorting the firmware hack step out).

BTW, strange as it may sound and while updating MP51 firmware to 144.x is desirable, it is again not mandatory to successfully install Monterey etc. You should do this update for other stability reasons, but your unit can work perfectly well with the older MP51 firmware. Same way MP31 firmware runs Monterey without issue.

Anyway, in your case with MyBootMgr, I will stick the RX580 in, run a Deep nvRAM Reset, boot into HiSierra and then run the OCLP thing to revert the patches it applied to Monterey as they are not needed for Monterey on a CMP when using a supported GPU like the RX580.

Once Monterey is cleaned up, I will download and run MyBootMgr to create a RefindPlus and OpenCore setup. You will be able to run the needed installer to do the firmware update. Not compulsory as mentioned but good to be on updated firmware version all said and done.

If you still want EnableGOP, you can go ahead to hack things for this but with the setup MyBootMgr creates, you do not need to and it becomes a preference thing.

On acceleration, I assume you mean the videotoolbox stuff, this will work and this can be checked using VideoProc.

Good luck!

Thank you!

I already have Monterey installed via OCLP but my understanding was that the newer firmware (144) was required for the RX 580 (metal) to work in High Sierra (non metal)? For Monterey+ my understanding is that OCLP/144 will take care of the RX580 working.

My main focus is making sure that the metal card works properly in Monterey & High Sierra, and is usable in Snow Leopard (no acceleration is fine, I wouldn't be using anything heavy with 10.6.8!, just some old scanning hardware), unless I completely got the wrong end of the stick @tsialex had suggested Enable GOP as a way of making this metal GPU work at a basic level in Snow Leopard.

Would doing Enable Gop via Monterey make any difference? For clarity, I'm talking about this method

The other options for boot menu on startup sound good, however if I didn't bother with them will I lose functionality to be able to choose which HDD I want on start up?

Apologies if I'm making this painful! Thanks

 

[tsialex]

BTW, strange as it may sound and while updating MP51 firmware to 144.x is desirable, it is again not mandatory to successfully install Monterey etc. You should do this update for other stability reasons, but your unit can work perfectly well with the older MP51 firmware. Same way MP31 firmware runs Monterey without issue.

Dayo, MacPro5,1 is not a MacPro3,1. There are loads of reasons to upgrade to 144.0.0.0.0, four of them major when you are at MP51.0089.B00, there are more with earlier BootROM releases.

The first major one is the updated Intel microcodes that are not vulnerable to Spectre/Meltdown, the second one is native NVMe and APFS support, third major one is the PCIe slots stupid limitation to PCIe 1.0 when a PCIe card is not made by Apple.

The last major reason is Windows 10 GPU support issues, with several GPUs having a complete black screen at boot until the real GPU driver is loaded by Windows Update, a enormous headache with Microsoft generic video drivers, some GPUs only work after Windows Update downloads the drivers half hour later.

While for a MacPro3,1 owner most of above are not important since you are forced by nature to workaround most of the issues, no one with a MacPro5,1 should even try to do that when there are firmware upgrades that solve it.

Also, there are issues with earlier BootROM releases and EnableGop, so, just that warrants all the trouble with BootROM upgrades.

 

[tsialex]

Would doing Enable Gop via Monterey make any difference?

You should never dump or flash your BootROM booted from an unsupported macOS release. Always dump/flash from a native macOS install, flashrom is can crash while OC is running.

This is a major operation that if anything will go wrong, you have a brick. Every few weeks someone get in contact asking to repair a brick caused by failure while flashing, don't be the next one. Learn with other people past mistakes.

 

[twotone]

You should never dump or flash your BootROM booted from an unsupported macOS release. Always dump/flash from a native macOS install, flashrom is can crash while OC is running.

This is a major operation that if anything will go wrong, you have a brick. Every few weeks someone get in contact asking to repair a brick caused by failure while flashing, don't be the next one. Learn with other people past mistakes.

Understood, thanks - funnily enough I had just come across an earlier comment from you on a seperate thread saying about not doing this on OC powered OS!

Do you have any thoughts on my earlier approach/rationale?

Thanks

 

[tsialex]

Understood, thanks - funnily enough I had just come across an earlier comment from you on a seperate thread saying about not doing this on OC powered OS!

Do you have any thoughts on my earlier approach/rationale?

Thanks

Should work. It's not exactly an easy process for an end user to do, but is very much documented and you can do it by steps, doing one each day.

 

[twotone]

Should work. It's not exactly an easy process for an end user to do, but is very much documented and you can do it by steps, doing one each day.

Thanks - I'm still thinking of using your service so will come back to you

 

[Dayo]

I already have Monterey installed via OCLP but my understanding was that the newer firmware (144) was required for the RX 580 (metal) to work in High Sierra (non metal)?

EnableGOP has nothing to do with support of OS version. What it does is give you an option to load a screen that allows you to select between OS instances. Something else, such as BootKicker or RefindPlus and such can give the same capability. In my setup, RefindPlus gives that capability.

For Monterey+ my understanding is that OCLP/144 will take care of the RX580 working.

144.x is not a absolute factor in actual OS version support. Of course needed for native APFS and NVME support.
My MP31 does not have MP51 firmware and has no problem running Monterey. 144.x is desirable to have though.

With RX580 installed, the OCLP is not needed for Monterey on cMP.
It is only needed for Ventura and newer on a cMP running an RX580.

My main focus is making sure that the metal card works properly in Monterey & High Sierra, and is usable in Snow Leopard (no acceleration is fine, I wouldn't be using anything heavy with 10.6.8!, just some old scanning hardware),

That is more or less my setup. As said, I run stuff back to 10.4 Tiger and the old Mac OS work quite well unaccelerated.

unless I completely got the wrong end of the stick @tsialex had suggested Enable GOP as a way of making this metal GPU work at a basic level in Snow Leopard.

You must have misunderstood him. There is no way he would ever say this.
He might have suggesting it in the role I described earlier, which is to allow OS selection

Would doing Enable Gop via Monterey make any difference? For clarity, I'm talking about SOME_YOUTUBE_LINK

Sorry, I don't watch such YouTube videos.

In any case, I think what EnableGOP does has been clearly explained.
As was mentioned, you need UEFI Shell, Linux or Windows basically.

will I lose functionality to be able to choose which HDD I want on start up?

As said, you can use EnableGOP or one of the others.
They basically do the same thing. Choose what you prefer
EnableGOP does not add functionality to RX580 use beyond that aspect.
It does for some newer units that would not work on cMP otherwise though.

There are loads of reasons to upgrade to 144.0.0.0.0

True and as I wrote, going to 144.x is desirable.

 

[tsialex]

You must have misunderstood him. There is no way he would ever say this. He might have suggesting it in the role I described earlier, which is to allow selection

I suggested exactly that, with EnableGop injected to the BootROM or to the GPU firmware, a modern GPU that supports GOP will work with Apple EFI failsafe standard GPU drivers and provide a working display with macOS releases that do not support the GPU, like a RX 580 and Snow Leopard.

With Snow Leopard light UI and minor GPU acceleration usage, most people that do not depends on GPU acceleration for the workflow find it very much acceptable to work with Snow Leopard and a modern unsupported GPU with 10.6.8.

 

[Dayo]

I suggested exactly that, with EnableGop injected to the BootROM or to the GPU firmware, a modern GPU that supports GOP will work with Apple EFI failsafe standard GPU drivers and provide a working display with macOS releases that do not support the GPU, like a RX 580 and Snow Leopard.

Yes. It is one of the ways to do this.