Mavericks on a 2006 MacPro 1.1

[sam.spoons]

I hav a MacPro in my studio (2008 3.1 3.0GHz 8 core) and until recently a PowerMac G5 in the office. I have just replaced the G5 with a 2006 MacPro 1.1 (also 3.0GHz 8 core) and want to run Mavericks on it (the same as on the 3.1 and my 2011 MacBook Pro). Obviously I should have done some more research before buying the 2006 MacPro but I didn't and it was cheap and I can live with 10.7 if it must be so but I believe it's possible to run Mavericks on it with a bit of faffing. I have read much on the web but have arrived at a minor dead end in I that I have upgraded my 2008 Studio Mac to a larger SSD and have a 128GB SSD with Mavericks already installed (along with all my other software). I had hoped to just transfer that to the new Mac but (see above) it ain't that simple.

So questions :- Can I copy Tiamo's boot.efi onto the SSD (using the Mavericks powered Mac) and then will it boot? If so where can I download a copy of Tiamo's boot.efi file?

Otherwise I wil do the whole process and reinstall Mavericks on the SSD using SFOTT. Or sell the 2006 on and buy a 2008 or later Mac Pro.

 

[harryb2448]

G'day and welcome to the forums.

Of course Mac Pro 1.1 are cheap. Natively the cannot run any operating system later than Lion OS X.7. You see Apple released that model with 32bit firmware, despite having 64bit architecture. No way you can change that firmware or we would have all done it. The 2008 Model is 64bit fimware and will run everything up to the current release, El Capitan OS X.11.

It is possible to do a hack on the 1.1, but just be aware it is not guaranteed to work and may result in an very expensive door stop. Suggest unloading it and buying a later model, say 2010. Used in your office the Mac Pro will be subject to tax relief by way of depreciation.

 

[sam.spoons]

Thanks Harry, I meant cheap 'for a 2006' not just cheap for a MacPro It isn't so much avoiding it becoming a doorstop as avoiding spending fruitless (but not AppleMac-less) hours faffing that I'm posting here to ask for advice from those who have successfully run Mavericks on a 2006. Clearly there are people who have done so (and, undoubtedly some who have failed) but I doubt that irrevocable damage will ensue unless I jigger the firmware (I believe the only benefit is to allow you to upgrade the processors and they're plenty powerful enough of this role). I have a working HDD with 10.6.8 on it which I will keep safely on one side so I can always return to that if my fiddling does not bear fruit.

I have just found Tiamo's boot.efi and copied it to my spare SSD in place of the original versions but it doesn't boot in the 2006 (TBH that's what I expected, if it was that simple, as you said, we'd all be doing it ) So and further advice welcome.

 

[lclev]

I suggest you check out Macrumors. There are several people there running Yosemite and El Capitan on Mac Pro 1,1's. I could not find a Mavericks specific thread but I did find one that discusses how to overcome the 32-bit issue.

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2006-2007-mac-pro-1-1-2-1-and-os-x-yosemite.1740775/

Good luck.

Lisa

 

[harryb2448]

Upgraded the processors to X5365's on my old 1.1 no problems but that had no effect on the firmware. And remember if you go the kext route you will need a much faster graphics card that the original nVidia 7300GT, maybe an ATI Radeon 577 Mac Pro. Here is another thread on this:-


http://lowendmac.com/2014/modernizing-the-mac-pro-11-and-21/