# How to use a Mac Pro 5,1 without a boot screen? workarounds?



## kgdrum (Mar 30, 2021)

Hi 
Could someone please explain alternative ways to get around not having a boot screen with a Mac Pro 5,1 when a user installs a (non-flashed)metal capable graphics card in a Mac Pro?
Thanks 
KG


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## Dewdman42 (Mar 30, 2021)

Why do you need boot screen? I used mine without boot screen for a year or two on Mojave. It’s a little disconcerting to wait for it but it works fine. What reason do you need boot screen for?

See the other frankentosh relic thread for info about alternative boot screen solutions if you really need that, then I would reccomend something called RefindPlus, which is a boot a screen for non flashed metal gpu’s. It will basically give you a boot menu it’s own way instead of using apple’s


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## MusicalG (Mar 30, 2021)

kgdrum said:


> Hi
> Could someone please explain alternative ways to get around not having a boot screen with a Mac Pro 5,1 when a user installs a (non-flashed)metal capable graphics card in a Mac Pro?
> Thanks
> KG


I believe it can be done, but I think you need a metal capable GFX Card to get the firmware updated and install Mojave and then you can use something called open core, not sure how it works though, sorry


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## Dewdman42 (Mar 30, 2021)

Don’t use open core for Mojave!!

Just use refindplus.

I can make a tutorial for setting that up if there is interest


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## Dewdman42 (Mar 30, 2021)

kgdrum said:


> Hi
> Could someone please explain alternative ways to get around not having a boot screen with a Mac Pro 5,1 when a user installs a (non-flashed)metal capable graphics card in a Mac Pro?
> Thanks
> KG


ps - the only time I was a little bit annoyed by the Black Screen effect, was basically when I was installing Mojave...there is a firmware update that needs to happen and with the metal card, you will just see a black screen while you wait for what seems like forever. 

Also under Mojave, the recovery mode would sometimes not come up unless I cycled the power on my monitor, you just stare are a black screen and wonder what is happening...

But for the most part, you can boot up fine with a black screen, you can get to recovery mode by just waiting long enough (and maybe cycling power on your monitor, I found it is particularly a problem when I have both a DP and DVI monitor plugged in at the same time), you can reset NVRAM, etc....all the same stuff as before, but you just have to sit and wait while you stare at a black screen and be confident that its doing what its supposed to be doing...until it finally lights up the screen.

For multi-boot, you can always go into the startup disk screen in OSX, set the drive you want it to boot to and then restart....rather then using the Apple boot screen to do it. 

anyway, what in particular are you having an issue with?


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## JohnG (Mar 30, 2021)

Dewdman42 said:


> anyway, what in particular are you having an issue with?


good question!

I had to update my 5,1 to High Sierra before making the jump to Mojave, or else the OS wouldn't recognise that my GPU is in fact metal-compatible.


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## kgdrum (Mar 30, 2021)

@Dewdman42 
I have no current issues,I should be getting the card in the next few days.
I’m just trying to understand all of the potential issues and so I’m prepared if anything develops that I’m not totally aware or prepared for.


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## Dewdman42 (Mar 30, 2021)

right. So as JohnG said....make sure you go to HS first, I think maybe you already are on HS, I can't remember now. HS update requires your OLD card to do the update. So it will have a boot screen and you will see that its updating firmware, etc.. HS update, includes firmware that enables APFS, among other things.

HS supports a metal card, but not for the update process. Once you have HS installed, swap the cards and run HS with the metal card, should work fine. when you are booting HS with metal card, you will notice that the screen will be black for a longer time, then turn on graphics just before the desktop comes up. That is about the same experience you will have booting Mojave.

The Mojave update requires a metal card...and you will not have a boot screen. There will be long periods of black screen and it will be very disconcerting, but let is run at least an hour whenever it gets stuck on a black screen and you're not sure why. I remember vaguely for the Mojave update, I had to wait a long time, and possibly I had to reboot a couple of times, and I started freaking out, clearing the NVRAM and what not, it would always come back to black screen and I thought maybe I had bricked my Mac, but looking around on the net I found other people with similar experiences, but it all worked out in the end..I can't remember exactly the details, sorry it was a few years ago I did that...But it will get through it...

Once Mojave is installed, which includes its own firmware update...your 5,1 will have the most up to date firmware and it will work...but when you boot, you see a black screen for longer time and the screen won't come on until just before the desktop, it will come on long enough to the the apple progress bar for 10 seconds or so..then you'll be in Mojave and it will work fine after that.

The boot screen doesn't really buy you anything. its possible to pay to have your RX flashed with a boot screen, but I have specifically chosen not to because I have read about some incompatibilities with OpenCore, etc... which is now integral in how I work. Some people like to have them flashed just in case

Make sure you keep your old video card around just in case you need to swap it in there to boot up for some reason. 

Interestingly, The Mojave installer requires a metal card, but once you install it, you can actually boot up Mojave with the old card too! It more or less works, though some apps would probably show some messy screen behavior without metal in there. But anyway, the Mojave installer won't start at all without a metal card, but once its installed, you could theoretically swap your old card back in there if you had to in order to boot up and have a boot screen to see what the problem might be, etc.

I personally don't think you will need a boot screen most of the time, you will just need to get used to seeing a black screen longer then you did before with the old card....but unless you were routinely plugging in the key command to boot from a different volume, you won't miss the boot screen at all.


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## kgdrum (Mar 30, 2021)

Great information,thanks!
Yeah I’m already using High Sierra,I’m glad you’ve warned me about the possibility of a black screen for 1 hour while updating to Mojave! 😱 Without this warning I’d be having a stroke! lol 😂
what do you mean? “cycling power on your monitor “

Thanks


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## Dewdman42 (Mar 30, 2021)

If you are running the update and the black screen stays there for like 2 hours, try turning the power of your actual display off and on. If you have more then one monitor try keeping just one plugged in also. Just a guess.

I have this weird behavior with Mojave recovery mode where it will seem
Like it’s stuck on black screen but then if I turn the power on my display off and on again, somehow that wakes up the rx580 and it’s sitting there with the recovery desktop waiting to be used, the rx580 just wasn’t showing it.


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## Dewdman42 (Mar 30, 2021)

Note, the above behavior does not happen while running Mojave normally. Mojave works fine. Its only when I go to Mojave recovery mode... The recovery mode uses a lower resolution UI environment to do some basic things...and somehow that mode is not quite smart enough to wake up the RX580. But also I found that was only the case when I had two monitors plugged in. If I just have my DVI monitor plugged in alone, then it worked fine.

And I suspect the Mojave installer, might at certain points of time in the process...be stuck with a black screen for a similar reason. I can't test that theory now because I already ran Mojave installer with the firmware update a couple years ago.. So I don't really know for sure if that will help you, just throwing it out, when you're doing the updater...if its stuck on black screen a long time, try recycling the power on your monitor....might bring a screen back...might not. 

Either way, wait a long time before attempting to reboot or anything, because you don't want to power it off while the firmware update might be happening.


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## kgdrum (Mar 30, 2021)

@Dewdman42 

Thanks 👍


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## kclements (Mar 30, 2021)

I went through this a year ago or so, and the black screen came and went fairly quickly. Just started the update and went to dinner. by the time I came back, it was booted in Mojave.
I was told to avoid Nvidia cards and go with the RX series for the best experience. No drivers to load or anything to mess with. Mine just works, hope your’s does too.


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## kgdrum (Mar 30, 2021)

kclements said:


> I went through this a year ago or so, and the black screen came and went fairly quickly. Just started the update and went to dinner. by the time I came back, it was booted in Mojave.
> I was told to avoid Nvidia cards and go with the RX series for the best experience. No drivers to load or anything to mess with. Mine just works, hope your’s does too.


Yes I’m going with a RX580 card hopefully the Mojave update is a nonevent.
From one K to another THANKS! 👍


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