MP 1,1-5,1 OpenCore and the 2008 Mac Pro 3,1

[amstel78]

At the request of @tsialex, I've created this thread to consolidate questions, issues, and solutions revolving around OpenCore and its implementation on the early 2008 Mac Pro 3,1. If you have one of these machines and are interested in installing OpenCore, or already have OpenCore running, please contribute here. The main OC thread here still caters primarily to users of MP4,1 and MP5,1 machines.

Ultimately, my end goal for my MP3,1 is to get newer operating systems such as Mojave, Catalina, or Big Sur installed and running via OC without the need for extraneous patches such as those provided by DosDude1 or other developers (Big Mac).

FYI @Dayo @cdf @vit9696 @h9826790

OpenCore Resources for the MP3,1:

• Dortania's OpenCore for Legacy Macs guide: New to OpenCore? Read this first.
• MyBootMgr: RefindPlus chainloading OpenCore - probably the easiest way to get OC running on your MP3,1 today.
• OpenCore Legacy Patcher: A python program for building and booting OpenCore on legacy Macs, see Supported SMBIOS on whether your model is supported. Designed around Big Sur support, however can be used on older OSes.

 

[Petri Krohn]

I have not even been able to get OpenCore to boot on my Mac Pro 3,1.

I have a Mac Pro 3,1 with a flashed GTX 770. I have a HFS+ formatted HDD for data with no OS installed on it. I copied Martin LO's OC 0.6.6 package to the EFI partition. I tried both blessing OpenCore and starting it from the Mac's boot picker.

In the Apple boot picker I can see the OpenCore partition. I even managed to give it a VolumeIcon. If I select it, the Mac loads the /EFI/boot/BootX64.efi file, but hangs without showing the OpenCore boot screen.

Blessing OpenCore has no visible effect. The Mac boots directly to macOS. Using the efibootmgr command in Linux, I can see that the NVRAM variable Boot0080 is set to .../EFI/OC/OpenCore.efi with BootOrder set to 0080.

 

[Henninges]

there is no magic to run OpenCore on ANY mac hardware, as it's the most versatile tool to do so.
beside of some issues ( BT2.0 / audio / wifi ) we build a config which allows you to run every macOS installer from a scratch el capitan or dosdude patched installation.
i released a instruction video to this already.
still in open beta, it allows to vanilla install Big Sur on a 3,1 ( spoofing a 6,1 board-id ), a previous version ( spoofing a complete 6,1 ) allows to install sierra, high sierra, mojave and catalina as well.
injecting older kext ( AppleHDA from high sierra, WiFi for your specific card ) is just some clicks away and running perfect.

see the video on YT...

any questions are very welcome, let's participate and share your knowledge.

edit: as i installed the VoodooHDA instead of AppleALC, audio issues still exist in Big Sur but a device is already present...

 

[yurc]

I think you guys should discuss together with @Dayo for 3,1 advancements, AFAIK he one of recent prominent member to get 3,1 running prime with OpenCOre.

 

[Henninges]

well, there are methods ( do_not_seal etc. ) to inject old kext after the first reboot, but as @amstel78 mentioned it, a almost clear install without endless patching would be a great benefit.

 

[freqrider]

Petri, the main reason people use opencore is to get a bootscreen and hw accel with AMD gpus. I had to turn off whatevergreen and lilu kexts in the config.plist and play with the GOP rendering settings before my flashed nVidia card worked with OC. (I now run an RX580 so I turned them back on for the AMD card) Maybe try that.

I have not even been able to get OpenCore to boot on my Mac Pro 3,1.

I have a Mac Pro 3,1 with a flashed GTX 770. I have a HFS+ formatted HDD for data with no OS installed on it. I copied Martin LO's OC 0.6.6 package to the EFI partition. I tried both blessing OpenCore and starting it from the Mac's boot picker.

In the Apple boot picker I can see the OpenCore partition. I even managed to give it a VolumeIcon. If I select it, the Mac loads the /EFI/boot/BootX64.efi file, but hangs without showing the OpenCore boot screen.

Blessing OpenCore has no visible effect. The Mac boots directly to macOS. Using the efibootmgr command in Linux, I can see that the NVRAM variable Boot0080 is set to .../EFI/OC/OpenCore.efi with BootOrder set to 0080.

 

[freqrider]

I for one am a fan of patched OS’s. That way I can tailor each one and run a more generic ooenCore setup. The 3,1 is considered antiquated in the computer realm these days and the hardware needs extra finessing to work with modern OS’. This has become more apparent with the advent of running Big Sur on the 3,1, which broke telemetry, wifi, USB 1.1 support, booting from firewire drives, audio AND BLOOTOTH2! Your choice is to install the needed kexts or load them with OC. I much prefer to patch the needed kexts than have to load them in OC for every OS. Besides, Progect Legacy method requires you to remove the BT2 card to boot BS and audio still does not work, whereas I have been running a patched Big Sur for months now, WITH VANILLA OPENCORE O.6.6 and wifi, audio, usb, firewire all work fine and I don’t have to remove my BT2 card so I can use it with my other OS’s! (Thanks to StarPlayrX Bigmac and JackLuke’s BigSur LEGACY BASESYSTEMFIX patches.)

Another issue to consider with running OpenCore on the 3,1 is how to boot Windows? As we know, you can not install Windows in UEFI mode on the 3,1. (It has been reported you can in fact install it on a pc and then transfer it to the 3,1 and finish setup on the mac and boot UEFI Windows on the 3,1!!!) The problem is OC does not recognise legacy installs. For this reason I recommend Dayo’s excellent RefindPlus OC chainload package which he diligently maintains. This lets you boot Windows legacy via refind and chainloads OC to boot MacOS! I can not reccomend it enough and for me is the ultimate 3,1 setup. ( I use some Windows Only SW for production, so this is necessary.)

I think Jörg and Alex’ work on Project Legacy is great and I commend them on their efforts and StarPlayrx and JackLuke for their brilliant patchers! This is all new territoty for the aging 3,1 and no system is without it’s faults but I have come to the conclusion that each method needn’t be exclusive of the others. It’s all about building a system that works best for you! And it will only get better, I’m sure, as the kinks are worked out

 

[freqrider]

BTW, I have been running OpenCore on my 3,1 since version 0.5.6. AMA

 

[amstel78]

I have not even been able to get OpenCore to boot on my Mac Pro 3,1.

I have a Mac Pro 3,1 with a flashed GTX 770. I have a HFS+ formatted HDD for data with no OS installed on it. I copied Martin LO's OC 0.6.6 package to the EFI partition. I tried both blessing OpenCore and starting it from the Mac's boot picker.

In the Apple boot picker I can see the OpenCore partition. I even managed to give it a VolumeIcon. If I select it, the Mac loads the /EFI/boot/BootX64.efi file, but hangs without showing the OpenCore boot screen.

Blessing OpenCore has no visible effect. The Mac boots directly to macOS. Using the efibootmgr command in Linux, I can see that the NVRAM variable Boot0080 is set to .../EFI/OC/OpenCore.efi with BootOrder set to 0080.

Unless you're familiar with building and validating OC's config.plist file, the easiest way to have OC up and running is via MyBootMgr. I've successfully used that package to chainload OpenCore via RefindPlus on my MP3,1 and install Mojave. Do note that via this method, onboard audio still does not work due to AppleHDA.kext not being patched. From what I've read, VoodoHDA also has problems. You can work around it by using a USB audio device however.

 

[Henninges]

playing arround with voodoo, an external device is of course an alternative., but nativ sound is possible.
how about your BT2.0 ? is it working?

 

[amstel78]

playing arround with voodoo, an external device is of course an alternative., but nativ sound is possible.
how about your BT2.0 ? is it working?

I've tried injecting AppleHDA kext from a working install of El Capitan but it broke kernel dependencies and wouldn't load even after refreshing S/L/E. Must it be from High Sierra to get onboard audio functioning? In the meantime, a USB audio dongle is a workaround...

 

[Henninges]

i tried the HS version and could inject it, but cant get the permission to change the kext's write mode.
usual command like "sudo mount -u /" are not working and i always get a failure "66", no matter if i disable authenticated root and SIP on an unsealed drive...

edit: injecting the HS kext into mojave and catalina works just fine...

 

[amstel78]

Could you please zip and upload that version of AppleHDA here? Will give it a try later.

 

[Henninges]

here you go...

 

[freqrider]

i tried the HS version and could inject it, but cant get the permission to change the kext's write mode.
usual command like "sudo mount -u /" are not working and i always get a failure "66", no matter if i disable authenticated root and SIP on an unsealed drive...

edit: injecting the HS kext into mojave and catalina works just fine...

You have to delete the snapshot, then install kexts then rebuild the snapshot since Big Sur boots from a snapshot. OR disable snapshots alltogether, as I have, so I can edit filesystem at whim. Snapshots on BS are a PITA! Also, I believe the AppleHDA kext is patched to work on BS. Not 100% sure though. Welcome to Apple’s new ‘secure environment’. Soon OpenCore will be the only way to load kexts. BTW... did you try to load Apple HDA via opencore? This worked for me with DirectHW.kext when I was having trouble loading it from /Sys/Extensions. Worth a try?

 

[amstel78]

here you go...

Thanks. BTW, BT and WiFi worked with OC 067. Only no-go was onboard audio. (This was Mojave... still getting KP's when installing BS. Will need to get a separate SSD for that experiment).

 

[amstel78]

You have to delete the snapshot, then install kexts then rebuild the snapshot since Big Sur boots from a snapshot. OR disable snapshots alltogether, as I have, so I can edit filesystem at whim. Snapshots on BS are a PITA! Also, I believe the AppleHDA kext is patched to work on BS. Not 100% sure though. Welcome to Apple’s new ‘secure environment’. Soon OpenCore will be the only way to load kexts. BTW... did you try to load Apple HDA via opencore? This worked for me with DirectHW.kext when I was having trouble loading it from /Sys/Extensions. Worth a try?

Haven't tried injecting kexts via OC yet. Still a little unfamiliar as to how to properly setup config.plist for AppleHDA.

 

[Henninges]

? every attempt, with the BT modul plugged in, leads to a freeze here...

 

[freqrider]

I just looked in my patched Big Sur install with WORKING AUDIO on my 3,1 and found TWO AppleHDA.kexts!?! One was loaded and the other (AppleHDA.kext2) had only a controller component loaded? These were patched by Jacklukem's Big Sur basesystemfix USB installer patch. Perhaps you can load them via OC and get audio to work?

 

[freqrider]

Haven't tried injecting kexts via OC yet. Still a little unfamiliar as to how to properly setup config.plist for AppleHDA.

You can simply copy an existing kext instruction from the config.plist and replace both xxxx.kext names with new yyyy.kext name and place the kext in EFI/OC/Kexts. OR just patch the damn thing with Jacklukem's basesystemfic like I did! LoL!

 

[amstel78]

You can simply copy an existing kext instruction from the config.plist and replace both xxxx.kext names with new yyyy.kext name and place the kext in EFI/OC/Kexts. OR just patch the damn thing with Jacklukem's basesystemfic like I did! LoL!

That easy huh? Was thinking other keys like MaxKernel or MinKernel needed alteration.

And yes, forgot about AppleHDAController.kext. I believe that would have to be replaced as well. Thanks for providing both.

 

[startergo]

? every attempt, with the BT modul plugged in, leads to a freeze here...

USB BT?

 

[Jonathan50]

For what it's worth, my 3,1 never had a wifi or bt card.

 

[Henninges]

USB BT?

no, the internal BT, i plugged in a BT4.0 usb...

 

[startergo]

no, the internal BT, i plugged in a BT4.0 usb...

Usb BT has to be plugged through a USB hub, otherwise it freezes.