So I got an old Mac pro 2009 for free, but it was missing ram, a hard drive, and a GPU. So I bought some ram that fit the specification on Apple's website (see pictures) and then I bought a used MSI rx580 armor 8gb oc. (I've tested it in a windows system, it works perfectly) I also bought a 6 pin to 8 pin power adapter off Amazon. I put that all together and... Black screen. I hear the Mac bootup chime coming from the internal speaker, but nothing on display. I fear that it has something to do with the GPU or maybe even the power cable since I have noticed some people talking about using a dual 6 pin to 8 pin adapter for their rx580. Anybody got any ideas?
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MP 1,1-5,1 MSI rx580 armor 8g oc not working on Mac pro 4.1
- Thread starter Diztance
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If you have no OS on it, and the GPU is not flashed with EnableGOP, you won’t see anything. You need to find an old original Mac Pro GPU (or a flashed one) to see the EFI boot screen.
Plus the 4,1 can be flashed to become a 5,1, but until you do so the maximum OS you can install is 10.11 El Capitan, which is not compatible with the RX580.
The easiest way would probably be to find a really cheap original Mac Pro GPU just to flash the firmware and then install Mojave (or newer with OCLP/Martin Lo) with the 580.
Plus the 4,1 can be flashed to become a 5,1, but until you do so the maximum OS you can install is 10.11 El Capitan, which is not compatible with the RX580.
The easiest way would probably be to find a really cheap original Mac Pro GPU just to flash the firmware and then install Mojave (or newer with OCLP/Martin Lo) with the 580.
You need a hard drive (SSD or HDD) with Mac OS Pre-install (High Sierra, to be certain) ready inside the MP to get to log-in screen or desktop screen.
Or you can try it with your Windows 10 drive, since you already have it on another PC.
Or you can try it with your Windows 10 drive, since you already have it on another PC.
Do not boot UEFI Windows without OpenCore on a 4,1/5,1 Mac Pro. You risk bricking the NVRAM
Try and find an original NVIDIA GT 120 - it will probably run around $25 - and it will get you a boot screen so you can see.
Also note that the used RX 580 could likely have a mining BIOS on it which won't impact it in Windows but likely will in macOS. You may have to go to Techpowerup.com and find the original (or compatible) VBIOS to flash the card with.
Also think about reaching out to @tsialex for advice and bootrom reconstruction. He can create a 5,1 bootrom with the latest Apple fixes and give you a version with EnableGOP installed.
Also note that the used RX 580 could likely have a mining BIOS on it which won't impact it in Windows but likely will in macOS. You may have to go to Techpowerup.com and find the original (or compatible) VBIOS to flash the card with.
Also think about reaching out to @tsialex for advice and bootrom reconstruction. He can create a 5,1 bootrom with the latest Apple fixes and give you a version with EnableGOP installed.
Wait so can I just put in a windows 10 drive and boot into windows? That'll just (theoretically) work?
I could totally have a mining bios, but the dude I bought it from showed me it working in what I assume is his old gaming computer. So I doubt it has a mining bios. It all else fails, I'll try to find the original GPU. But I've already poured nearly $100 into this so I don't think I'll do that right away. 😅
Did you verified if the RX 580 is not a model unsupported by macOS with just 2048SPs, these are RX 570 GPUs that were factory flashed for the Chinese market and Apple AMD drivers doesn't support it:
Install your RX 580 to a PC, open GPU-Z and check the Shaders value, if there are 2048 or 2304 SPs.
AliExpress is selling the incompatible GPUs everywhere and these 2048SPs models doesn't work with macOS.
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A PC GPU will not have any pre-boot configuration support with a Mac UNTIL macOS loads the GPU drivers.
If your RX 580 is a 2304SPs and your harddisk does not have a working macOS release after 10.12.6 (first macOS release that have drivers for a RX 580) you won't see a display working.
You will need to borrow an AppleOEM GPU and install 10.12.6 and later macOS releases to get the RX 580 with a working display.
Any real AppleOEM GPU from 2008 to 2012:
- ATI HD 2600XT,
- NVIDIA 8800GT,
- NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600,
- NVIDIA GT120,
- ATI HD 4870
- ATI HD 5770
- ATI HD 5870
Interesting. I can easily find an ATI gd 5870 on Facebook marketplace. But does it have to be some "apple edition" or something or will this work?
Short answer, yes. AppleOEM means Apple made GPUs, with Apple part numbers.
Long answer, you can buy a PC GPU and flash it to be compatible with a Mac Pro, but it's not a simple task for someone that does not even have the Mac Pro working yet.
PC You need an AppleOEM GPU to make the Mac Pro working again easily. If you buy a PC GPU, you gonna need to flash it to have pre-boot configuration support and get your Mac Pro working again.
Btw, flashed GPUs fail while running Apple ASD/AHT diagnostic tools. So, you need a real AppleOEM GPU when doing diagnostics.
Nope. No pre-boot configuration with an un-flashed PC GPU.
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