Thunderbolt on Mac Pro 5,1... It IS actually happening!

[greg328]

I'm in the category of--"would like to upgrade my Cheesegrater Mac to Thunderbolt, but it seems unproven at this point in time."

I mean, how many other users besides the video guy in the UK have done this successfully? Seems risky/foolhardy to spring for new $$ gear, and then it doesn't work! Would like a bit more confirmation from the troops before I spring. But, perhaps---everybody's waiting for that, therefore we are stuck at zero!



Greg

[chucknkd]

so im trying to get this working and im hitting a huge snag w getting windows on the computer. is there a SPECIFIC way I need to go about this? I did bootcamp assistant and can get windows on but not seeing any way to get back into osx, nothing bootcamp related is installed on the windows side. also, if i start installing UAD software it always hangs halfway and screws up the install.

just curious if anyone has this working successfully and what they did.
thx!
c

[HCMarkus]

It may be a boot manager issue. I'd go visit the thread over at MacRumors and poke around. There are some great folks over there who can probably assist you if you are unable to resolve on your own.

Good luck getting it going, and please report back here as you make progress!

PS: I haven't done it. In my studio, my Mac Pro sits in a machine closet remote from my audio interface so, in addition to the hurdles involved in getting TB working, I have a potential cable length issue. USB is working well with my 828es, so I'm not rushing to fix what ain't broken.

[mothra]

If you're not seeing anything Bootcamp related in Windows, that means the Bootcamp installer failed (as usual) and didnt run after you booted into Windows. All you have to do is run the Bootcamp installer that's on the Windows disc it created. It will install all the drivers for everything and the Startup Disc control panel that will let you reboot into either OS. Mine only seemed to run about half the time when Ive installed Windows. And even then when I had High Sierra/Win10 on here, they seemed to get uninstalled from time to time so I kept the USB stick handy that had the Bootcamp installer on it so I could re-run it.

[FutureLegends]

For what it's worth:

I have a Hackintosh that I got to work with Thunderbolt both using the Alpine Ridge and Titan Ridge. Switched to Titan Ridge as I couldn't get both TB3 ports to work at the same time with the Alpine Ridge... The Titan Ridge also work with limited (= a bit random) hot swapping.

There was no need to do anything in Windows. But I had to change some settings in BIOS.

Windows: You can download and install Windows 10 for free and legally from Microsoft (it's just a tad bit limited but nothing that really affects anything)

As a side note, I now also have a 10GbE card working so have close to 500mb/s access to my NAS. That's SSD drive speeds to 36TB in my closet!

PS - if anyone want to buy an Alpine Ridge card, let me know! (I'm located in Europe, Stockholm to be precise. So shipping to the EU would be preferred)

[mothra]

For what it's worth:

I have a Hackintosh that I got to work with Thunderbolt both using the Alpine Ridge and Titan Ridge. Switched to Titan Ridge as I couldn't get both TB3 ports to work at the same time with the Alpine Ridge... The Titan Ridge also work with limited (= a bit random) hot swapping.

There was no need to do anything in Windows. But I had to change some settings in BIOS.

Windows: You can download and install Windows 10 for free and legally from Microsoft (it's just a tad bit limited but nothing that really affects anything)

As a side note, I now also have a 10GbE card working so have close to 500mb/s access to my NAS. That's SSD drive speeds to 36TB in my closet!

PS - if anyone want to buy an Alpine Ridge card, let me know! (I'm located in Europe, Stockholm to be precise. So shipping to the EU would be preferred)

What do you mean by 'There was no need to do anything in Windows'?? Are you saying the card is running natively in MacOS on its own without needing Bootcamp/Windows installed??

[FutureLegends]

What do you mean by 'There was no need to do anything in Windows'?? Are you saying the card is running natively in MacOS on its own without needing Bootcamp/Windows installed??

Yes, on a Hackintosh it runs natively. Although some settings had to be changed in BIOS to get it working. Something that obviously isn’t possible on a real Mac. But no drivers or anything needed and didn’t have to go into windows to get it working in macOS.

[HCMarkus]

As reported over at MacRumors.com:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/te ... 42/page-16

im at More than 6 months of flawless operation with a Apollo interface.
The only annoyance, manual cold boot.
I have managed to make a apple script to change the startup volume. I can make it also
a "choose startup volume, shutdown" script, instead of manually shutting down.
Now in Windows I found something similar to Automator.
It records the actions of the user.
it works no problem.
BUT,
I didn't find out how to time delay it at start up, so the control panel for bootcamp can load before the script runs.
also I want to be able to omit the script by a shortcut at start up.
other wise its not possible to fix or use Windows, because it shuts down automatically after running the recorded task.
Using only Macs since 93, im lost in windows.

Would be cool if someone could help getting it to work for every one.

How it should work in the end:
Script choosing windows as startup volume and shutting down.
instead of a regular shut down from the menu.

At the next boot, it boot in to Windows, runs the task in windows and reboots
ALL Automatically.

That way the power button has to be pressed ONCE for the whole process,
just like before except that there is a short boot into windows.

I posted that idea several times already.
I don't get it, why keep doing all that manually,
unless there is now a better solution ?

Anyone want to take up the challenge?

[HCMarkus]

Indications that we may have a cold-boot solution for the Titan Ridge Thunderbolt card under macOS on a Mac Pro 5,1:

There is already a way which brings Thunderbolt Titan Ridge card from cold boot to macpro5, 1 AMD or whatever which computer. No aic header needed, no Bios things etc etc just check this : https://www.hackintosh-forum.de/forum/t ... post571819

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/te ... 42/page-26

The link within the quote is to a German Mac Hack site... looks like DSM2 has cracked this one!

The firmware must be flashed, it is not an original Titan firmware, but to be exact a mixture of Alpine / Titan and Apple Original Firmware.

What is different now? The controller works completely independently. There is no need for a Thunderbolt header cable to the motherboard, and no more support from the BIOS. This is very interesting also for AMD systems, or also original Apple cheese graters, MacPro5.1. Only two pins need to be bridged on the card itself (or the TB header cable connected)

I used Google Translate to get the above quotes.

Although I am very happy running my 828es via USB, the above is an exciting breakthrough for those anxious to use Thunderbolt with their 5,1 Mac Pros!

[labman]

Indications that we may have a cold-boot solution for the Titan Ridge Thunderbolt card under macOS on a Mac Pro 5,1:

<snip>

Although I am very happy running my 828es via USB, the above is an exciting breakthrough for those anxious to use Thunderbolt with their 5,1 Mac Pros!

Very cool news Markus.
For me, I have no idea what in the world Ubuntu is.

[HCMarkus]

Indications that we may have a cold-boot solution for the Titan Ridge Thunderbolt card under macOS on a Mac Pro 5,1:

<snip>

Although I am very happy running my 828es via USB, the above is an exciting breakthrough for those anxious to use Thunderbolt with their 5,1 Mac Pros!

Very cool news Markus.
For me, I have no idea what in the world Ubuntu is.

Ubuntu is a free and open-source Linux distribution based on Debian. Ubuntu is officially released in three editions: Desktop, Server, and Core for the internet of things devices and robots.

However, I think the key development here does not necessarily involve Ubuntu. What I gleaned from the MacRunors and German MacHack thread is that the firmware that resides in the Titan Ridge Thunderbolt card has been successfully hacked so any computer running macOS can be cold booted and the card will work. Until now, folks have had to first boot into Windows or Linux first (to load drivers), then do a warm boot into macOS.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm not really in need of TB at the moment. This development may be of interest to other 5,1 and Hackintosh owners. I find it fascinating... one of the things "that would never happen" has happened. Love it.

Now, when is someone gonna' bring AVX to old Macs? (Just kidding... the AVX instruction set is not included in the older CPUs, so that definitely ain't gonna happen. I'll just have to keep using Massive 1.)

[monkey man]

LOL Same here, Sir Markus - no AVX.

Thank you so much for keeping us updated with this, mate.

[HCMarkus]

Unfortunately, as discussed in the relevant threads, the persons who claim to have developed the firmware do not intend to make the information public, either for free or for a fee. That said, the (alleged) fact that someone has done it means it (allegedly) CAN be done, so we can hope that a skilled programmer will turn their mind to the task and release something to the world.

So, if you want TB on your MP5,1, at least for now you must still do the warm boot into macOS from Windows or Linux.

And Monkey, if anyone can give us AVX on a 5,1, I know you will find them.

[labman]

Ubuntu is a free and open-source Linux distribution based on Debian. Ubuntu is officially released in three editions: Desktop, Server, and Core for the internet of things devices and robots.

However, I think the key development here does not necessarily involve Ubuntu. What I gleaned from the MacRunors and German MacHack thread is that the firmware that resides in the Titan Ridge Thunderbolt card has been successfully hacked so any computer running macOS can be cold booted and the card will work. Until now, folks have had to first boot into Windows or Linux first (to load drivers), then do a warm boot into macOS.


Now, when is someone gonna' bring AVX to old Macs? (Just kidding... the AVX instruction set is not included in the older CPUs, so that definitely ain't gonna happen. I'll just have to keep using Massive 1.)

Thank you for this info Markus!

[HCMarkus]

BREAKING NEWS:
NATIVE THUNDERBOLT FOR MAC PRO 5,1 NOW AVAILABLE

SO, the German gents who developed macOS compatible firmware for the Titan Ridge Thunderbolt card have reversed course... they will now sell you a card , subject to a Non-Disclosure Agreement:

Anyone interested in our custom solution can get a card with the custom firmware.
Therefore you have to contact me via private message
Everything runs under NDA.

Here's a link to the MacRumors thread, where you can contact DSM2:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/te ... t-28235921

The door has been opened.