MP 1,1-5,1 Obsolete, Use OpenCore instead | What you need to do to make Catalina work with MacPro5,1

[Flacko]

Any one seen this problem with Catalina? Just wondering if it is a bug or something about my system? Presently using Mojave (14.6) on NVME drive as my main system and have Cat B7 on a separate SATA SSD. No boot screen with RX580 so switching OS by using the startup disk in preferences. Using "no compat check" in NVRAM. First noticed a problem with B6. When switching from Cat SSD back to the Mojave on the NVME drive the Mac would hang during the shutdown. Shutting down using the power button and restarting gave me back the Mojave system with no ill effects. For B7 this seemed to be solved. However, just recently when switching back to Mojave from Cat B7 the system restarted back into Cat and not Mojave. So I selected the Mojave NVME drive again using preferences and all seemed to work. Back in Mojave checking the startup disk in preferences I saw that all the disks were greyed out and further investigation reported that the NVRAM had "lost" some settings - mainly regarding startup disk. So PRAM reset tried but this resulted in the Mac not starting up as it was still trying to start from the Catalina disk and the NVRAM argument was lost even though I had initiated this from Mojave. Changing graphic card to a Mac efi one got me back the boot select screen and able to get things back by selecting boot drive here. Found this from bombich.com (CCC) so it may be related:
"The System Preferences application lacks full disk access by default, so it cannot read the System Version file on external volumes for the purpose of presenting the system version string underneath the volume icons. Ironically, System Preferences has the privilege to change the startup disk, but it can't make a read-only access to the system version file on external volumes.

Solution: Open System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy, click the padlock icon and authenticate when prompted, then add the System Preferences application to the Full Disk Access category."

I have set Presences to have full disk access and so far it seems ok. Some expert input would be appreciated just in case I have a problem and it is not just a beta snag.

 

[cdf]

When switching from Cat SSD back to the Mojave on the NVME drive the Mac would hang during the shutdown. Shutting down using the power button and restarting gave me back the Mojave system with no ill effects. For B7 this seemed to be solved.

On 10.15 beta 7, I also experienced shut-down hangs. But after rebooting on a supported Mac, properly shutting down there, and then reinserting the disk, the problem has gone away.

 

[tsialex]

Catalina DP8 just released, build 19A558d. New firmwares for Catalina supported Macs, btw.

macOS Catalina Beta (full installer) 061-11434 8,57GB
macOS Catalina Developer Beta (delta) 061-11431 8,49GB
BridgeOSUpdateCustomer 061-11430 428MB
EFICheck AllowListAll 061-03988 62,2MB

 

[MapleGreen]

Catalina DP8 just released, build 19558d. New firmwares for Catalina supported Macs, btw.

macOS Catalina Beta (full installer)061-11434 8,57GB
macOS Catalina Developer Beta (delta) 061-11431 8,49GB
BridgeOSUpdateCustomer 061-11430 428MB
EFICheck AllowListAll 061-03988 62,2MB

New Firmware for supported macs!, not a good news for 5,1 users I presume

 

[crystalidea]

Catalina DP8 just released, build 19558d. New firmwares for Catalina supported Macs, btw.

macOS Catalina Beta (full installer) 061-11434 8,57GB
macOS Catalina Developer Beta (delta) 061-11431 8,49GB
BridgeOSUpdateCustomer 061-11430 428MB
EFICheck AllowListAll 061-03988 62,2MB

Were you able to update to DP8 on cMP? Does one need to pull the catalina drive and update on a supported mac?
Thanks.

 

[lxmeta]

Were you able to update to DP8 on cMP? Does one need to pull the catalina drive and update on a supported mac?
Thanks.

Working out of the box for me. Used the no compat flag with a dosdude1 installer, but not doing the post install patches.
btw.: Small type in the build number, it's 19A558d

 

[eksu]

Working out of the box for me. Used the no compat flag with a dosdude1 installer, but not doing the post install patches.
btw.: Small type in the build number, it's 19A558d

What does the dosdude1 installer do without the post install patches? Is it the same as a clean install via drive swapping from another mac?

 

[cdf]

If a Catalina installation on a cMP can do updates, then it is probably not the same vanilla installation that you get when installing on a supported machine and swapping over. The installation might have included a VMM emulation patch. What I would like to know is how to apply such a patch manually...

 

[lxmeta]

What does the dosdude1 installer do without the post install patches? Is it the same as a clean install via drive swapping from another mac?

Without patch I can boot the installer on an unsupported cMP (compat flag), but not install, as the cMP is blocked. The patched installer allowed me to install it over the old one.
Update directly from catalina does not work with this method

 

[Martys1]

Hi all, I'm new on this forum as a member but I ve been following the discussions for a while now. First of all, thanks for putting all the effort in keeping the good old cMP alive!

After reading the posts in this discussion I tried to install Catalina public beta 15.0.26 on my cMP 4.1-> 5.1. Tried it by installing Catalina on a new MacBook to an external APFS drive and move it to the Mac Pro. Then tried to enter the (nvram boot-args="-no_compat_check") command in Terminal while in recovery mode (so without sudo) and then attached the external Catalina drive and restart. But I didn't get any confirmation from Terminal (no error either) and when I try to boot from the Catalina OS disk, (restart, alt and select drive) the monitor switches off at about 70% of loading the OS.

I also tried to patch the installer with dosdude1's patcher, the installer was downloaded fro. But after creating the USB installer (tried APFS and HFS) and trying to boot from the USB stick, I get the same: the monitor switches off at about 70% of loading. I let it run for a while in both situations but nothing seems to happen. I also followed the step-by-step instructions on Youtube, but I simply don't get any further than this 70% progress bar.

I guess my problem has something to do with the nvram boot arg, but I don't see what I 'm doing wrong here.
Does anyone have a clue what I'm missing?
I have a cMP 4.1 -> 5.1 with 2x XEON 5675, 64gb Ram and flashed GTX 680, 4gb.

Thanks!

 

[tsialex]

Hi all, I'm new on this forum as a member but I ve been following the discussions for a while now. First of all, thanks for putting all the effort in keeping the good old cMP alive!

After reading the posts in this discussion I tried to install Catalina public beta 15.0.26 on my cMP 4.1-> 5.1. Tried it by installing Catalina on a new MacBook to an external APFS drive and move it to the Mac Pro. Then tried to enter the (nvram boot-args="-no_compat_check") command in Terminal while in recovery mode (so without sudo) and then attached the external Catalina drive and restart. But I didn't get any confirmation from Terminal (no error either) and when I try to boot from the Catalina OS disk, (restart, alt and select drive) the monitor switches off at about 70% of loading the OS.

I also tried to patch the installer with dosdude1's patcher, the installer was downloaded fro. But after creating the USB installer (tried APFS and HFS) and trying to boot from the USB stick, I get the same: the monitor switches off at about 70% of loading. I let it run for a while in both situations but nothing seems to happen. I also followed the step-by-step instructions on Youtube, but I simply don't get any further than this 70% progress bar.

I guess my problem has something to do with the nvram boot arg, but I don't see what I 'm doing wrong here.
Does anyone have a clue what I'm missing?
I have a cMP 4.1 -> 5.1 with 2x XEON 5675, 64gb Ram and flashed GTX 680, 4gb.

Thanks!

Did you updated your BootROM to 144.0.0.0.0 first? MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (BootROM upgrade instructions thread)

 

[Martys1]

Did you updated your BootROM to 144.0.0.0.0 first? MP5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (BootROM upgrade instructions thread)

Hi tsialex, yes, I have updated the BootROM to 144.0.0.0.0.

 

[tsialex]

Hi tsialex, yes, I have updated the BootROM to 144.0.0.0.0.

Try another GPU output, don't use passive adaptors.

 

[Martys1]

That fixed it, thanks!
Earlier I had a 4k display connected to the DP port and I tried with an old VGA screen with passive adapter on the DVI port. Now I tried with an other non -4k display on the HDMI port and instant success.
So I did some more testing by connecting the non -4k display to the DP port. No success. How it looks like now is that the DP port on my GTX -680 switches off completely after a certain point in the boot process, thus being useless in Catalina. I also let the patch updater search for any updates/patches. It found some, but none GPU related. Does anyone else have this problem? Or do I just have to look for a Radeon card;-)

 

[Flacko]

That fixed it, thanks!
Earlier I had a 4k display connected to the DP port and I tried with an old VGA screen with passive adapter on the DVI port. Now I tried with an other non -4k display on the HDMI port and instant success.
So I did some more testing by connecting the non -4k display to the DP port. No success. How it looks like now is that the DP port on my GTX -680 switches off completely after a certain point in the boot process, thus being useless in Catalina. I also let the patch updater search for any updates/patches. It found some, but none GPU related. Does anyone else have this problem? Or do I just have to look for a Radeon card;-)

Hi, just popped my GTX680 into cMP5.1 and all outputs work. It is an evga 2GB reference design flashed with the Mac efi. There have been others who have had a problem with output ports on the flashed 4GB GTX680.
I see you may have used dosdude1's patcher. Make sure you did not apply the legacy video patches.

 

[Martys1]

Hi, just popped my GTX680 into cMP5.1 and all outputs work. It is an evga 2GB reference design flashed with the Mac efi. There have been others who have had a problem with output ports on the flashed 4GB GTX680.
I see you may have used dosdude1's patcher. Make sure you did not apply the legacy video patches.

Thanks Flacko, for your suggestions!
Did some more testing today: also installed the latest Beta Version. I checked with different monitors and cables. But no improvements on the DP output. Earlier I also installed Catalina from my (officially supported) Macbook to an external SSD and then tried to boot from that. Same results, so I guess that there are no patches involved there that could interfere with the GTX 680's drivers. Also tried PRam zap. So resume, on the same Mac Pro, on 3 different volumes I have High Sierra, Mojave and Catalina installed. The DP output works everywhere except for Catalina. All other digital outputs work. I checked in System Report how the card looks (under Graphics/Displays and PCI) and compared that to Mojave. And there was no difference.

So I'm out of options at this moment. Does anyone have a suggestion that I could try?

Cheers and have a nice weekend!

 

[ses2008]

Updated my Post:
Can some explain what is happening exactly when setting the nvram boot-args="-no_compat_check".
Has it an impact on SIP? Does nvram boot-args="" – clearing it – has an impact on SIP?
Thanks for any info&help …
Cheers

 

[Flocarino]

I tried installing Catalina with the patcher today on a brand new Samsung 860 EVO SSD, everything worked smoothly until the point of starting the installation, where the disk is greyed out with the message THIS DISK IS LOCKED.....but it is the patcher that erased it and prepared for the installation. I cannot even re-erase it with Disk Utility.
Searched the net and forum but I'm not sure I get a clear answer WHY is it locked.
Any little help will be appreciated, maybe I'm missing a small detail somewhere.
I restarted under Mojave and went into GET INFO on the SSD and unlocked/granted all access from there...I wonder if this is it!?

 

[tsialex]

I tried installing Catalina with the patcher today on a brand new Samsung 860 EVO SSD, everything worked smoothly until the point of starting the installation, where the disk is greyed out with the message THIS DISK IS LOCKED.....but it is the patcher that erased it and prepared for the installation. I cannot even re-erase it with Disk Utility.
Searched the net and forum but I'm not sure I get a clear answer WHY is it locked.
Any little help will be appreciated, maybe I'm missing a small detail somewhere.
I restarted under Mojave and went into GET INFO on the SSD and unlocked/granted all access from there...I wonder if this is it!?

The focus of this thread is how to run Catalina without using patches, with the exception of the VMM emulation for updating, using a supported Mac to do the install process or VMware Fusion direct hardware trick.

Since you are using a patched install you should ask related questions on the macOS 10.15 Catalina on Unsupported Macs where you can get support.

 

[eksu]

EDIT: Just wanted to say the VMWare rawDisk method is working great for me with Fusion 11.5 and the macOS 10.15 profile.

 

[tsialex]

Catalina DP9 19A573a released today:

EFICheck AllowListAll - 061-15139 - 62,4MB
BridgeOSUpdateCustomer - 061-21523 - 428,1MB
macOS Catalina Developer Beta (full install) - 061-21520 - 9,12GB
macOS Catalina Beta (delta update) - 061-21522 - 8,58GB

 

[tsialex]

New Catalina DP 10 released today, build 19A578c, maybe this is the GM?

061-24999 - BridgeOSUpdateCustomer - 428,1MB
061-25001 - macOS Catalina Beta - 8,58GB
061-25003 - macOS Catalina Developer Beta - 9,13GB

 

[PeterHolbrook]

New Catalina DP 10 released today, build 19A578c, maybe this is the GM?

It is identified as a beta. It seems to me that, by definition, it can't be the GM, since the GM is supposed to be the official release, which won't be identified as a beta.

 

[bsbeamer]

The last beta has often been the first GM for the past few releases. Would always suggest to wait until the first point releases are available before making it a daily OS.

 

[G10]

Does anybody know the exact release date of Catalina OS, word around the web is the 4th