Tyronius Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Hello, I am trying to see if opencore fits my use case. I'm unfamiliar with the software and unfamiliar with apple. I've recently acquired a MacPro4,1 that I intend to use with Linux. The issue that arises is that it seems Linux won't allow access to the console or boot messages or even a boot screen without an EFI video card. This prevents the use of entering a disk encryption key or troubleshooting. I have an EFI compliant video card but I don't want to use it. It's from 2007. I would like to use a modern video card and have a normal behavior. My understanding is that opencore can initialize this hardware from a USB. Then load an OS off another drive being legacy bios boot of UEFI. The use case I am interested in is opencore to always boot and provide a boot screen, initialize the hardware. And allow console input and viewing of debug messages from the Linux kernel as well as allowing for console entry on a non EFI video card. I did like the idea of using a small USB key to always load opencore in the event I choose to wipe a hard disk or reinstall. Maybe it's not the best way but I am looking for an uncomplicated method for this and nobody seems to have a tutorial as it seems nobody uses opencore for this purpose but it seems to be supported. Thanks again. I know this might be a little off topic for what everyone here does typically but someone here is hopefully knowledgeable on the subject. I suppose the other option is reflashing video cards which I'm not opposed to. But this method seems simpler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X-0v3r Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 (edited) On 3/21/2023 at 6:09 PM, Tyronius said: The issue that arises is that it seems Linux won't allow access to the console or boot messages or even a boot screen without an EFI video card. This prevents the use of entering a disk encryption key or troubleshooting. I have an EFI compliant video card but I don't want to use it. It's from 2007. OpenCore should normally not require a vEFI GPU (also known as "UEFI GOP"). Mac hardware can be very proprietary though, so Linux may have issues with them. On 3/21/2023 at 6:09 PM, Tyronius said: I have an EFI compliant video card but I don't want to use it. It's from 2007. I would like to use a modern video card and have a normal behavior. Nothing wrong with that. Modern GPU or GPU without vEFI (old ones that has vBIOS, or some not that old have both vEFI and vBIOS), pick one. There's no modern GPU without vEFI since 2020. Also, I don't recall 2007 GPUs to have vEFI. They were mostly released after 2011. On 3/21/2023 at 6:09 PM, Tyronius said: I did like the idea of using a small USB key to always load opencore in the event I choose to wipe a hard disk or reinstall. Maybe it's not the best way but I am looking for an uncomplicated method for this and nobody seems to have a tutorial as it seems nobody uses opencore for this purpose but it seems to be supported. Nothing wrong with that. I quite don't understand, the tutorial is just OpenCore's installation on a drive. If you manage to do that, then you'll be able to use OpenCore to boot Linux from a drive and do your deeds. If you're talking about a tutorial to install OpenCore to a drive from Linux, then it's a little bit compicated, but it all lies in copying files and using the 'dd' command line. I've found them on Dortania, but I had to dig there. Can't remember where exactly there. Edited March 30, 2023 by X-0v3r Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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