Dual-boot with a PC graphic card

[Alinos94]

Hi everyone,

First i want to apologize about my english. I'm french and better at speaking.

Thank for the amazing ressources we can got in this place.

Here is my story :

I've got a Mac Pro 4.1 flashed in 5.1 with a PC GTX 980 by Gainward so no UI at startup.
I've got Sierra with SIP enabled in one SSD and Win 10 Pro in a mechanical disk.
Both system are working fine.

I installed Win 10 pro directly with the dvd method because i can't make it happened with a usb stick so no boot camp installation.

Facts :
I can't see the Alt boot option at startup.
I can't access recovery mode for installing Refit or disable SIP with the terminal with the 980.
I can't make my 980 work with SIP disabled (get access with a GT120 mac)
I can't install the GT120 with the 980 because the 980 took 2 slots and i got a USB3 and Pci-e to SATA adapter in the other two.
I can't reboot on my Windows partition because it's not recognized in my startup preference (because no bootcamp i suppose).

When i was in Windows, the restart on Mac Os X function didn't work so i had to do a swap NVRAM to get access on Mac OS back (and use the VNC on my iPhone for the web driver switch).

I have found this thread speaking of this issue with ReFind : https://sourceforge.net/p/refind/discussion/general/thread/b655dcc8/?SetFreedomCookie

Here iam stuck and ****ed. I can't go back to Windows and i can't install a bootmanager bc of the graphic card limitations.

So my question is : Is anyone manage to get a dual boot Sierra/Win 10 no bootcamp with a PC graphic card at the end ?

Merci

 

[h9826790]

You can disable SIP even with just the GTX980 installed.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/cmp-getting-dell-5k-working-in-sierra.2026628/#post-25075208

You can install Bootcamp apps even if you didn't install Windows via Bootcamp. They are totally independent.

If you really can't select boot drive from system preference (MacOS) or bootcamp apps (Windows)

After disabled SIP. You can use BootChamp (MacOS) to make your next boot (and only next boot) to Windows.

 

[Alinos94]

Thx for the reply !


I’ve already seein your post a few days ago but my problem is that i can’t boot even in single user mode (cmd r s & cmd s). Black screen.

By bootcamp apps you mean boot camp drivers ? I’ve installed them just after Windows and the official whql nvidia driver for the graphic part.

Fact you said : Recovery partition don’t need EFI except Maxwell and Pascal card.
I don’t understand why can’t i boot in secure mode ... displayport ?

Edit : i found that post which seem to be the same method and maybe i was not doing it Right. Will retry tomorrow.

https://tof.cx/images/2017/10/04/623a36b35638320ceac3e8b0ec76de06.png

 

[h9826790]

Thx for the reply !


I’ve already seein your post a few days ago but my problem is that i can’t boot even in single user mode (cmd r s & cmd s). Black screen.

By bootcamp apps you mean boot camp drivers ? I’ve installed them just after Windows and the official whql nvidia driver for the graphic part.

Fact you said : Recovery partition don’t need EFI except Maxwell and Pascal card.
I don’t understand why can’t i boot in secure mode ... displayport ?

Edit : i found that post which seem to be the same method and maybe i was not doing it Right. Will retry tomorrow.

https://tof.cx/images/2017/10/04/623a36b35638320ceac3e8b0ec76de06.png

You can only have black screen in single user recovery partition because of your GTX980. The procedure is for user to disable SIP blindly.

Anyway, if that's too complicated for you. you can pull out the USB card and install GT120 just for disabling SIP. Once you done that, you can swap the USB 3.0 card back in.

Not just bootcamp driver, when you install Bootcamp in Windows, there should be a bootcamp apps (inside control panel) allow you to choose boot partition, you can use that to choose MacOS on next boot. I bet you already install that because you mentioned "restart to MacOS" Function. That button not working well, you better open the bootcamp apps and manually pick the MacOS partition for your next boot.

Anyway, your biggest problem should be cannot boot to Windows because system preference doesn't allow you to choose that. In this case, disable SIP + BootChamp seems the easiest solution. Or you can install some software which support NTFS writing in MacOS (3.g. Paragon NTFS), those software also allow you to choose Windows drive for next boot.

 

[Alinos94]

You can only have black screen in single user recovery partition because of your GTX980. The procedure is for user to disable SIP blindly.

Anyway, if that's too complicated for you. you can pull out the USB card and install GT120 just for disabling SIP. Once you done that, you can swap the USB 3.0 card back in.

Not just bootcamp driver, when you install Bootcamp in Windows, there should be a bootcamp apps (inside control panel) allow you to choose boot partition, you can use that to choose MacOS on next boot. I bet you already install that because you mentioned "restart to MacOS" Function. That button not working well, you better open the bootcamp apps and manually pick the MacOS partition for your next boot.

Anyway, your biggest problem should be cannot boot to Windows because system preference doesn't allow you to choose that. In this case, disable SIP + BootChamp seems the easiest solution. Or you can install some software which support NTFS writing in MacOS (3.g. Paragon NTFS), those software also allow you to choose Windows drive for next boot.

Of course i had to do it blindly !
So i did your method and it work. I managed to disable sip but now i can’t get a picture on my monitor back.

I installed bootchamp first with the vmc but since that point can’t get the card to work correctly.

Tried sip enable, reset nvram, reinstalling nvidia driver and change displayport port. Nothing worked, no Picture and graphic cars/monitor not well recognized by Mac OS and nvidia driver.

Tried to boot on Windows and got a error message.
https://tof.cx/images/2017/10/04/0f8783d9ab941cfe4dcf9e74b52a5099.png

Thx for your help/time.

 

[h9826790]

It seems BootChamp is not a good software to use with Maxwell card. May be it require to write PRAM, which disturb the web driver selection. If you stop BootChamp auto load in MacOS, can you bring back the Nvidia web driver?

Sorry for the solution causing another issue. I never use Maxwell / Pascal card, didn’t think deep enough both BootChamp and GPU May need to use PRAM and have conflict.

 

[Alinos94]

It seems BootChamp is not a good software to use with Maxwell card. May be it require to write PRAM, which distributes the web driver selection. If you stop BootChamp auto load in MacOS, can you bring back the Nvidia web driver?

Sorry for the solution causing another issue. I never use Maxwell / Pascal card, didn’t think deep enough both BootChamp and GPU May need to use PRAM and have conflict.

I finally did a restoring of my Sierra SSD with time machine and like you said, i've switched the USB card for the GT120. Now i have a fully convenient dual-boot.

After one week trying to have this only with the PC card, i'm gonna stay with the dual GPU configuration.

So, maybe rip off the pcie-sata card to a raid 0 ssd because i need USB3 for work. But it's another story.

Thx man.