SSD Boot Drive HFS+ to Mojave/Firmware AFPS update question

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SSD Boot Drive HFS+ to Mojave/Firmware AFPS update question

Hi everyone.

I have a MacPro 5,1 (mid 2010) 12-core 3.46 GHz Intel Xeon Mac with 64GB RAM

My boot drive is an SSD SATA drive parked on a PCI card in the x16 slot (OWC Mercury EXTREME Pro 6G SSD), formatted Journaled HFS+. I have an AMD Radeon 7970 (which I've heard is Metal compatible) I'm currently on OS 10.11.6 and would like to update to Mojave or potentially Catalina (when kinks are worked out).

My question is, will the Firmware update require me to do a clean install of the OS on my SSD, because it needs to format it to AFPS first (by way of first installing HighSierra), or will it just update the OS, and leave all non-OS files/apps, etc. alone?

If it does require a clean install, could I clone my boot SSD to a SATA HD first (I have several internally connected), update the Firmware/macOS, then clone the drive back to the SSD, even though it's now AFPS formatted?

I do plan on also upgrading my RAM and putting in an AMD Radeon RX580 8GB PCI-E flashed for Mac boot screen, to try to spruce up my MacPro 5,1. But all of that is contingent on whether my 5,1 can handle Mojave or Catalina.

Thank you in advance for any help.

Everyone stay safe and healthy.

Mac Pro, OS X 10.11

Posted on Apr 16, 2020 4:44 PM

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RAfBOy Author

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May 26, 2020 8:43 AM in response to RAfBOy

Since someone else may have this question:

I have upgraded my OS incrementally, all the way up to Catalina.

Incidentally, my boot drive is an SSD (which is important because of the APFS formatting issues)

10.12 Sierra upgrade- no sweat, straight upgrade (HFS+ format)

10.13 HighSierra upgrade- firmware upgraded, straight upgrade (drive converted to APFS with no loss of data)

10.14 Mojave- firmware upgraded again (not sure why I had to upgrade the firmware again, but I did), straight upgrade

10.15 Catalina- upgraded with DOSDude patch installer- straight upgrade

I didn't have to clean install on any of the macOS iterations. However, just in case, I cloned the boot drive each time in the event that I would have to clean install.

The AMD Radeon 7970 is indeed Metal supported. As is the AMD Radeon RX 580.

Incidentally, AMD gpus that are flashed for Mac bootscreen will have a glitch from the Mojave 10.14.5 update and above. The last second or so of the bootscreen will show little pink horizontal lines on the screen. This is purely aesthetic and doesn't affect performance.

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SSD Boot Drive HFS+ to Mojave/Firmware AFPS update question

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