Mac Pro 5,1 Ventura OCLP 1.1.0 – lost USB external Linux boot disk

[Clive Long]

I had my Mac Pro 5,1 running on Monterey with OCLP 0.6.5 (?) and it ran fine. I had a USB attached Linux / Ubuntu boot disk. I could select Monterey or Linux from the OpenCore boot picker :

Link to relevant Dortania documentation on booting after OCLP install of Mac OS  

 

After some false starts, I decided to install Ventura into a new SSD using OCLP 1.1.0, physically removing all other drives during the install process. Ventura install went well and I reinstalled my apps and connected to various “cloud” services such as Zoom. All devices I have checked seem to work fine under Ventura: Webcam, USB microphone, USB 3.0 PCIe card, drawing tablet, bluetooth. I have plugged keyboard and mouse USB dongles via a hub on my monitor. All good. I have installed OCLP 1.1.0 on to the Ventura disk so I can boot directly.

 

If I plug in the Monterey disk (via internal tray with 2.5 inch adapter) the Monterey disk is seen at OCLP boot picker. So I can boot into Ventura and Monterey and apps and devices seem to work on both OS.

 

If I plug in the Linux/Ubuntu disk into the USB hub the disk isn’t offered as a boot device. The USB attached Linux disk is seen in Mac OS disk utility.

 

Can I make the Linux boot drive “visible” to the boot picker without reinstalling Linux on the USB-attached drive?

[cankiulascmnfye]

Read this: https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/VENTURA-DROP.html#currently-unsupported-broken-hardware-in-ventura

 

Did you use your previous EFI to boot macOS or did you generate a new EFI with OCLP 1.1 and anstall it? Because a lot of things changed since 0.6.5

Edited October 28, 2023 by cankiulascmnfye

[Clive Long]

Apologies if I get some terminology incorrect - I am new to this. I'm more than happy to clarify and then correct errors in this post.

 

 

I have made progress in understanding why the Linux boot disk disappeared and how I have got round this.

 

I had an internal SSD running Monterey. I then installed Ubuntu linux on an external SSD using the following instructions: https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/create-a-usb-stick-on-macos#1-overview

At that point I had a MAcPro 5,1 where the OC boot picker offered Monterey and Ubuntu as boot OS and I could select and boot either OS.

 

I then installed Ventura on another internal SSD and Monterey and Ventura were visible on OC boot picker but Linux Ubuntu had disappeared as a boot device.

searching online I found that at boot time, the MAcPro seeks EFI partitions (??) and presents those. For example (and other places I have forgotten): https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/BOOT.html

 

From various  places e.g.: https://elitemacx86.com/threads/how-to-mount-efi-partition-on-macos.932/

using:

diskutil list

 

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *256.1 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk3         255.9 GB   disk0s2

/dev/disk1 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *250.1 GB   disk1
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk1s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk2         249.7 GB   disk1s2

/dev/disk2 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +249.7 GB   disk2
                                 Physical Store disk1s2
   1:                APFS Volume Monterey_clone - Data   89.8 GB    disk2s1
   2:                APFS Volume Monterey_SSD_clone_S... 31.8 GB    disk2s2
   3:                APFS Volume Preboot                 269.0 MB   disk2s3
   4:                APFS Volume Recovery                1.1 GB     disk2s4
   5:                APFS Volume VM                      1.1 MB     disk2s5

/dev/disk3 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +255.9 GB   disk3
                                 Physical Store disk0s2
   1:                APFS Volume Lexar SSD Ventura - ... 20.2 GB    disk3s1
   2:                APFS Volume Preboot                 4.7 GB     disk3s2
   3:                APFS Volume Recovery                1.2 GB     disk3s3
   4:                APFS Volume Lexar SSD Ventura       10.9 GB    disk3s4
   5:              APFS Snapshot com.apple.bless.3BE9... 10.9 GB    disk3s4s1
   6:                APFS Volume VM                      1.1 MB     disk3s6

and 

sudo diskutil mount /dev/disk0s1

sudo diskutil mount /dev/disk1s1

% sudo diskutil mount /dev/disk0s1
Password:
Volume EFI on /dev/disk0s1 mounted

I found the Monterey disk had the following entries in the EFI folder in EFI partition:

APPLE
BOOT
OC
Ubuntu

 

and the Ventura disk had the following entries in the EFI folder EFI partition:

APPLE
OC

 

When I had both Monterey and Ventura disks installed, the Linux disk was not visible in OpenCore boot picker

 

When I had Monterey disk installed and Ventura removed, the Linux disk became visible and selectable in OpenCore boot picker.

So when both disks are installed internally, the MacPro is choosing the Ventura disk, which lacks the EFI entries for Linux. Good progress.

So I think when I installed Linux Ubuntu alongside Monterey, the boot information for linux was added to the Monterey EFI partition and folder, making Linux Ubuntu bootable.

When I installed Ventura on a new internal SSD, the EFI partition on the Ventura disk only contained entries for Monterey and Ventura in the OC folder and there was no Linux folder - so the Ubuntu boot option disappeared because at power on, the MacPro was selecting the Ventura disk EFI partition.

I will probably copy the Ubuntu folder from the Monterey disk to to the Ventura EFI partition to determine if the Linux disk becomes visible in the OC boot picker.

 

A question is, which disk, each with a valid EFI partition, does the MacPro select? Maybe it is the physical slot inside the machine? I will swap them over, Monterey on left, Ventura on right, and see if the Linux disk becomes visible in the OC boot picker.
 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Clive Long
Added question / info about moving disks.

[Slice]

The good advice is "never make two EFI partitions".

[Clive Long]

1 hour ago, Slice said:

The good advice is "never make two EFI partitions".

Indeed.

 

But "I" didn't make two EFI partitions - or not explicitly. I followed the instructions I found and I guess as part of the OS installation and installing OCLP onto the disks, this resulted in the EFI partitions being created and configured. I don't know enough of the details of the installation, configuration and boot process to work out exactly what happened. I experienced the problem and sort of fixed it.

 

Interesting addition. I moved the USB attached Linux boot SSD to an internal tray -sing a 2.5 to 3.5 inch adapter, and no other changes and would you believe it,  Monterey, Ventura and the Linux EFI all become visible in the OC boot picker after power on. What this all means, I'm not quite sure , but I seem to have "fixed" (stumbled across) a configuration that gives me what I need, a triple boot Monterey, Ventura, Ubuntu setup.

 

So maybe better advice is install to a USB drive for "safety" I.e. avoid risk of overriding known good installations, but run from the drives being connected internally.