Macpro 2009 wont boot into anything except Windows

So I have this old Macpro 4,1 that was sitting in storage for a long time, and I pulled it out to reuse and it has the weirdest issues:

  • It will ONLY boot into Windows
  • It sees the installers or the MAC partition but when I select any of them, even before the clicking on the arrow, it freezes up
  • Even if I put in another fully installed drive, same thing. White screen and freezes then Windows or if I remove that drive and put in a blank one and chose the installer, it freezes like it is looking for windows


There were some other issues like a flashing power button and constant reboots, which have stopped with removing all the ram but the necessary ones on one bay, slot 1 and 2.


Could the boot firmware have gotten corrupted and is there a way to fix it or install the firmware again without booting into an OS?

Mac Pro, OS X 10.11

Posted on Jun 27, 2023 11:58 AM

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Posted on Jun 27, 2023 12:38 PM

first thing to try is a PRAM reset.


Hold these four keys startup:

Command-Option-P-R


keep holding those four keys for a long time, until you have heard four sets of chimes (or it stops chiming again.)


the number of successful chimes you can coax out of it is key, so report whether you got four, or fewer that four, and how many.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 27, 2023 12:38 PM in response to krbmedia

first thing to try is a PRAM reset.


Hold these four keys startup:

Command-Option-P-R


keep holding those four keys for a long time, until you have heard four sets of chimes (or it stops chiming again.)


the number of successful chimes you can coax out of it is key, so report whether you got four, or fewer that four, and how many.

Jun 27, 2023 1:30 PM in response to krbmedia

the simplest thing your Mac can do is to boot to the startup assistant, often referred to as the "Boot Picker".


hold Option at startup using wired keyboard directly on the chassis. it should draw a gray screen, then look around inside and discover any bootable Volumes, and add an Icon for each one it finds. After several minutes, the watch cursor turns into a regular pointer.


if it draws icons, what are they?

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Macpro 2009 wont boot into anything except Windows

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