MP 1,1-5,1 Wiping HD on an upgraded (4,1 to 5,1) Mac Pro...?

[Ashton1]

Hi,
I have a Mac Pro (2009) 4,1 which has been flashed to 5,1 and is now using with OS Mojave.
I want to erase the HD to sell it but I'm nervous that if I erase the HD using Disk Utility and then restart with Cmd+R to reinstall the OS...it will try to install an old version of the OS that won't work with the newer Radeon RX580 graphics card I now have.
What's the best way to clean off the HD without the machine thinking it's 2009 again and trying to install some ancient OS..? Or will I be fine to just reinstall Mojave?
Thanks for any help!
Alan.

 

[nobullone1964]

Hi,
I have a Mac Pro (2009) 4,1 which has been flashed to 5,1 and is now using with OS Mojave.
I want to erase the HD to sell it but I'm nervous that if I erase the HD using Disk Utility and then restart with Cmd+R to reinstall the OS...it will try to install an old version of the OS that won't work with the newer Radeon RX580 graphics card I now have.
What's the best way to clean off the HD without the machine thinking it's 2009 again and trying to install some ancient OS..? Or will I be fine to just reinstall Mojave?
Thanks for any help!
Alan.

The flashed ROM has nothing to do with your situation. The ROM will stay the same. Start the installation and when it's passed the second phase of installation and ready to reboot power down. It will be like any new Mac purchased new. The buyer will just have to pick his preferences and boot into the system as a new username and password.

 

[tsialex]

What's the best way to clean off the HD without the machine thinking it's 2009 again

Cross-flashing the MP51 firmware won't change the fact that your Mac Pro is an early-2009. It will install the MP51 firmware inside the SPI flash memory that stores the BootROM, but won't change any of the hardware identification.

The serial will stay the same after the flash and it will always show that is an early-2009 Mac Pro with About My Mac.

The SMC firmware it's a dead giveaway too, 1.39f5 is the early-2009 release and it's not possible to upgrade it to the 1.39f11 of mid-2010/mid-2012.

 

[nobullone1964]

Cross-flashing the MP51 firmware won't change the fact that your Mac Pro is an early-2009. It will install the MP51 firmware inside the SPI flash memory that stores the BootROM, but won't change any of the hardware identification.

The serial will stay the same after the flash and it will always show that is an early-2009 Mac Pro with About My Mac.

The SMC firmware it's a dead giveaway too, 1.39f5 is the early-2009 release and it's not possible to upgrade it to the 1.39f11 of mid-2010/mid-2012.

He should still be able to install Mojave? I'm wondering if it's a Dosdude1 installation...

 

[tsialex]

He should still be able to install mojave?

If it's already cross-flashed and updated to the current firmware release (144.0.0.0.0), it will only need a METAL supported GPU.

Btw, a RX-580 only works with 10.12.6 and newer macOS releases. Don't use Sierra, the GPU driver barely works.

 

[Ashton1]

If it's already cross-flashed and updated to the current firmware release (144.0.0.0.0), it will only need a METAL supported GPU.

Btw, a RX-580 only works with 10.12.6 and newer macOS releases. Don't use Sierra, the GPU driver barely works.

Yes, it's already updated to current firmware AND is running Mojave...my question was just if it's safe to erase the HD so I can sell it (get rid of my personal info) but obviously I want to keep it running Mojave. I just wasn't sure if I did the re-install after erasing the HD if it would install Mojave as the default OS, especially since I have the RX580 GPU I don't want it putting in an older OS...
Thanks,
Alan.

 

[tsialex]

Yes, it's already updated to current firmware AND is running Mojave...my question was just if it's safe to erase the HD so I can sell it (get rid of my personal info) but obviously I want to keep it running Mojave. I just wasn't sure if I did the re-install after erasing the HD if it would install Mojave as the default OS, especially since I have the RX580 GPU I don't want it putting in an older OS...
Thanks,
Alan.

Mac Pros older than late-2013 don't even have Internet Recovery, you have to install from your own createinstallmedia USB key, You can re-install Mojave if you made a Mojave createinstallmedia USB installer of it.

 

[Ashton1]

So if I erased the HD that wouldn't affect the firmware I have? An d then I could use the USB installer to re-install Mojave?
Thanks (sorry to labour the point but even though I've done a few upgrades, I'm mostly just following along in some step by step instructions from helpful people on forums like this, and I don't have a great technical knowledge!!).
Appreciate all the responses!
Alan.

 

[tsialex]

Like I wrote before on the thread, the Mac Pro firmware, from MP1,1 to MP6,1, is stored on a flash memory soldered on the PCB of the logic board/backplane.

Wiping a HDD won't change anything BootROM related.

 

[nobullone1964]

So if I erased the HD that wouldn't affect the firmware I have? An d then I could use the USB installer to re-install Mojave?
Thanks (sorry to labour the point but even though I've done a few upgrades, I'm mostly just following along in some step by step instructions from helpful people on forums like this, and I don't have a great technical knowledge!!).
Appreciate all the responses!
Alan.

He's saying install the OS...