Macpro31 on

MacPro3,1 upgrade to macOS Sierra

Sun, 16 Oct 2016 03:45:03 +0000

The time came to upgrade my trusty MacPro3,1 to macOS Sierra. As many know, El Cap is the latest build of OS X macOS that supports this platform. How to a MacPro3,1 on Sierra is well-documented, nevertheless this blog is half just a diary that I use to re-trace my steps later.

After making a backup image of my system, I used the guide here to create a modified Sierra installer. I then simply ran an in-place installation and sure-enough everything seems to be working. During the install, I swapped back in the original (coal-burning) video card. Afterwards I swapped back in my current GPUs and all was well. So far Sierra seems to run as good as El Cap, maybe.. Just maybe even better.

MacPro3,1 gains a GeForce GT 720

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 21:33:47 +0000

It was time to upgrade my secondary video card on my trusty MacPro3,1. I first goofed considerably with a Radeon 5250. I even went so far as to bust out my old firmware editing tools to change the vendor id in a feeble attempt to get OS X to use it without needing to modify kexts. Then I heard that more recent nvidia cards are supported by NVIDIA’s “web” OS X drivers. I swapped the 5250 (with its firmware restored) for a GeForce GT 720.

MacPro3,1 gets USB 3.0 support

Tue, 23 Dec 2014 19:03:31 +0000

In my quest to keep my 2008 era Mac Pro (MacPro3,1) reasonably well suited to my needs, I recently decided to attempt to add USB 3.0 support.

I recently bought myself one of these babies, Inateck KT4004. I like that it has 4 ports and no external power required.

The Amazon page claimed this card is for the Mac Pro. I wasn’t sure if there would be weird driver issues and bought it with a little hesitation. I�installed it in about 2mins and upon booting I could immediately see it available: