Korrupted Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Any updates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nagal Posted January 10, 2008 Author Share Posted January 10, 2008 Nope. Nothing to report on the firmware. I am 99% positive I was sold a development board and with that I will not recommend anyone use Mac-Pro.com. While it might be the exact same logic board as used in the quad core MacPro, the firmware prevents it from being flashed with any of the other updated firmwares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harloe Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 So what do you plan on doing, nagal? Replacing the Logic Board? Or just sticking with what you have now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mifki Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 nagal, you dont need to use the efi updater app from apple, you boot into the shell and use the efi flahing app from there, use refit to boot into the efi shell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nagal Posted January 11, 2008 Author Share Posted January 11, 2008 Kemmi, It depends. I did talk with Apple and while they did not come out and say its possible to flash it, they did imply I could take it an Apple Authorized Repair Center or Apple Store and have it flashed. There is an Mac only shop near by me and I am going to go in and talk with the tech guys to see if it is possible. I do not know want to drive to the nearest Apple Store just to be told to go away and they might even be able to do it. I have just been super busy and have not had a chance to get over there before all the tech people leave for the day and this is a conversation I want to do face to face. More than likely, I will just stick with it for the time being as I have other things I would like to drop $500 on and there is a possibility of a job change and move in the near future so buying toys might have to go on hold for abit. Do not get me wrong, this board WORKS but I think the issue with the CPU sensors not working and the processors not running at the correct speed (2.13 GHz vs 2.4 GHz) is due to the firmware. Still, I got a hell of a computer legally running OS X for a good price. Kiko, I did try using rEFIt to get into the EFI shell and update using the efi updater app I extracted from the Firmware Update package. I do not know the command parameters to use with it. I tried EFIUpdaterApp -x <efi rom file> and it quickly flashed something on the screen and then the computer rebooted. If you know the magic commands, tell me and I will be your best friend forever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mifki Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 awesome a friend Install refit with the shell.efi app if you haven't already, in which case you should anyway because it just pulls everything together so nicely Then grab the firmware update package, pull out the firmware image and the .efi loader for it from the Resources section by ctrl-clicking the package and selecting 'show contents' (for this example I'm using the 'Smc firmware update' that was released just recently), then reboot, go into the efi shell from refit, go to the volume holding the firmware image and the efi loader, in my case this is fs1:, do this just by typing 'fs1:' at the efi shell and hit enter then cd to the dir, in my case 'Users\anomaly\', then run the efi loader and point it at the firmware image, for the smc update this is 'SmcFlasher.efi -LoadApp m1.smc', hit enter, wait a second, and done! type 'reset' and hit enter, boot back into osx and you should be finished with the updated firmware. To recap: refit -> efi shell fs1: cd Users\anomaly (or wherever) SmcFlasher.efi -LoadApp m1.smc reset Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nagal Posted January 11, 2008 Author Share Posted January 11, 2008 Oh sweet BUT my problem is with the BootROM Firmware not the SMC I will try the same the -LoadApp parameter on with the BootROM and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mifki Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 yeah, its the same thing with the mainfirmware, just not the smc flasher app. and if u have have any troubles gettting command options, just open the efi app in a hex editor and look for strings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nagal Posted January 11, 2008 Author Share Posted January 11, 2008 yeah, its the same thing with the mainfirmware, just not the smc flasher app. and if u have have any troubles gettting command options, just open the efi app in a hex editor and look for strings Actually I had thought of opening the efi app and looking at it but I kept getting side tracked. Good to know my brain still works now if I could fix the memory part. Dude, you rock! Will report back tonight if successful tomorrow if failure because it fired my firmware Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mifki Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 if failure and it fried ur mobo, u can always drop it off at a apple service center and say your mobo is fried Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nagal Posted January 11, 2008 Author Share Posted January 11, 2008 Well did not work. If I use the app packaged with MacProFirmwareUpdate nothing happens. I type command after command and nothing. If I use the app packaged with MacProFirmwareUpdate1.2 something flashes on the screen then the computer reboots. I tried doing the SmcUpdate and it runs but comes back with invalid config error after parsing the SMC file. I used a Hex Editor to look at the EFI Updater app and notice a series of boot rom strings in it. I *think* it is still trying to make sure you are not flashing the incorrect board. I am going to try to find the boot rom string (its more than what is displayed in System Profiler) and edit that into the EFI Update App and see if it will then run. Even if it does not work, Kiko is still my new friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mifki Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 boo ya! 3rd base with a guy hmm, the best i can recommend is taking the mp into apple store and say it doesnt upgrade firmware Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nagal Posted January 11, 2008 Author Share Posted January 11, 2008 I would not hesitate to take it in but as soon as they look inside someone is going to go "hmmmm". I am going to try to get off work early tomorrow and swing by my local Mac place and talk to the techs there. Who said anything about 3rd base? I never go to 3rd base on the first date sober Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nagal Posted January 12, 2008 Author Share Posted January 12, 2008 Minor update. Talking with Mac-Pro.com and we might be working out a motherboard swap. If they make this right, I will take back everything bad I said about them. They should have been up front about the firmware from the beginning and when I first contacted them about it made the effort to make things right, right then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harloe Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 Good luck, nagal! Do you happen to know if they sell like mostly development logic boards or did you just happen to unknowingly draw the short straw on this one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua-mac Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 That is good news to hear! I suspect they got those boards from someone (not necessarily Apple) at a slightly better price! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rschultz101 Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 nice to see, build from scratch, but not green 350W+ = $2000 in 4 years and the noise,.... I'am a silent freak, can't stand noise, and the juice it sucks, it's to consider,... watt * 1.5$ .... it's possible to save with shutdown and sleep,... thinking down the road, stealth mac, aka ulv chip, sata flash drive,.... the other problem, my kids like to play games, as such the imac's don't have interchangeable graphics cards,.. and the stock don't cut it,.... and a mac pro is out of question, now if all games where available on a ps3, .... keep us posted, the flash rom is pisser,.... on the case,... right now running in a black cube server case,.. so that long mac pro mb,... need to take a look at server cases,....of course , no mac pro , but there are options, and lot more room,.... for the noise, why not a fanmate to start, and then a full blown fan controller last, equivalent superdrivers, where to get them ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newtech Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 Hi Nagal, Just wanted to let you know your engineering samples are E5330's hence the 2.13 clock. BSEL will get you to 2.66 E5330's should be marked HH80563KH0468M, 2.13-> 2.66 E5340's should be marked HH80563KH0568M, 2.4-> 3.0 ( I have two stepping B3 installed on the M43ADP1,1 board and one stepping G0 on my backup board ) E5350's should be marked HH80563KH0678M, 2.66-> 3.33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nagal Posted January 13, 2008 Author Share Posted January 13, 2008 Well with some Yate Loon fans in, this machine is NOT noisy at all its only with the stock fans that things get wind tunnelish I could even put in some Nexus fans which are just slower Yate Loons but they the make less noise than the YL but push less air. Even if you did not use a MacPro case, buying the wiring loom for the PSU, Hard drives is not going to be cheap. Just so it is clear, the logicboard supports 6 SATA devices but there are only 2 Sata ports then one jumbo port for the other 4. It had a name but for the life of me can not remember what it is called. newtech, My CPUs are HH80563QH0568M QQYK so they should read as 2.4. Interestingly enough I just got done doing the BSEL mod tonight and they still show up as 2.13 GHz and 1066FSB. I am going to reset the PRAM maybe that will force the system into seeing them at the higher FSB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harloe Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 Hope it's going to come along nicely, nagal! Any news on that Logic Board switch from Mac-Pro.com? Also what are you going to do about wireless? Airport? Or is that already onboard with the Logic Board? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nagal Posted January 13, 2008 Author Share Posted January 13, 2008 I should here something Monday about the logic board. Mac-Pro.com needed the serial # from the board and I did not get that to them until Saturday. There is no wireless built in, its an add-on card. I might do it someday but wireless is not important to me at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laatmaarzien Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 Why the Apple Remote? How can you use that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nagal Posted January 15, 2008 Author Share Posted January 15, 2008 Why the Apple Remote? How can you use that? The Apple Remote can function as a wireless transport control in Logic Studio. I have a plain old USB IR receiver and some research says it will "just work" but that has yet to be determined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harloe Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Hi Nagal, I'm still adament about building a MacPro! Just wondering if you ever considered sponsorship during this? Perhaps filming the building and having sponsors logos shown throughout the video; resulting in being paid for the adspace. Or did you just decide to put your own money in this thing? =P Thanks! - Kemmi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nagal Posted January 16, 2008 Author Share Posted January 16, 2008 Sponsorship would have been a good idea for sure and really help offset a lot of the cost! Good luck on your own build and if you have any questions just ask. it really is not that hard and the only issue I have had is the logic board which I think most people would not run into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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