2009 Mac Pro upgrade to Yosemite failed

Hi,
Seven days in and my 2009 Mac Pro is still dead. Very frustrated. It had a 4x3TB AppleRAID array in RAID1+0 giving 6TB. I initially did an upgrade to Yosemite and it got stuck at the half-way point after the restart. Yes, I did patiently wait ... but gave up after 12 hours (left it overnight). I assume the upgrade was supposed to finish sooner than that?
Found one stripe in the RAID array was 'degraded' - replaced that disk (seems they had 11000 hours on them) but it was impossible (for me) to see how to get the new disk back into the RAID scheme under Disk Utility (booted up using an upgraded MacBook). Once all the disks were removed from the array, Disk Utility gave no option to create a new RAID scheme, so I downloaded SoftRAID - yay, my RAID array was back (seems Apple gave up on their software RAID in 2009?).
However, still no joy. Created a Yosemite install USB drive - seems to run but then fails at the end ... "couldn't bless installation disk: /Volumes/Image Volume".
Okay, so downloaded the Mavericks installer and created an install USB drive - same as Yosemite ... can't bless the installation disk.
What else can I try? The Yosemite upgrade seems to have well and truly screwed my poor Mac Pro. I'd already successfully upgraded two of our four Macs successfully to Yosemite (one upgrade and one clean install) so thought it was okay.
I might try booting off one of the Macs again, with the Mac Pro in target disk mode, and try to run the installer to install Mavericks or Yosemite onto the Mac Pro's RAID array as an external disk ...
Otherwise ... ?

Booted the Mac Pro from the MacBook Air running Yosemite in target disk mode. Ran the Yosemite installer on the MBA to install on the Mac Pro's SoftRAID array "Hollie" - when the installer tells me it's going to restart I see the final logs written at 04:50 below:
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: @(#)PROGRAM:Install PROJECT:Install-920
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: @(#)PROGRAM:IA PROJECT:InstallAssistant-532
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Hardware: MacPro4,1 @ 2.66 GHz (x 16), 24576 MB RAM
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Running OS Build: Mac OS X 10.10 (14A389)
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: USER=brett
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: LOGNAME=brett
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.AzaK6cdqED/Listeners
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: Apple_PubSub_Socket_Render=/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.o7DsCKSkcX/Render
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: HOME=/Users/brett
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: SHELL=/bin/bash
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: __CF_USER_TEXT_ENCODING=0x1F5:0x0:0x0
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: TMPDIR=/var/folders/r9/vckptcb10fxgj44jppfcg04h0000gn/T/
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: XPC_SERVICE_NAME=com.apple.InstallAssistant.Yosemite.158788
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.AzaK6cdqED/Listeners
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: Apple_PubSub_Socket_Render=/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.o7DsCKSkcX/Render
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: XPC_FLAGS=0x0
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: LOGNAME=brett
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: USER=brett
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: HOME=/Users/brett
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: SHELL=/bin/bash
Nov 1 04:45:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Env: TMPDIR=/var/folders/r9/vckptcb10fxgj44jppfcg04h0000gn/T/
Nov 1 04:45:20 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Using distribution archive from /Users/brett/Desktop/Install OS X Yosemite.app/Contents/SharedSupport/OSInstall.mpkg
Nov 1 04:45:21 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Configuring products from SharedSupport folder
Nov 1 04:45:21 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Install is double-dmg. Not adding chunklist to download list.
Nov 1 04:45:21 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Using product <OSInstallDVDProduct> based on media at /Users/brett/Desktop/Install OS X Yosemite.app/Contents/SharedSupport at distance 5
Nov 1 04:45:21 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Using product <OSInstallESDProduct> based on distribution at /Users/brett/Desktop/Install OS X Yosemite.app/Contents/SharedSupport/OSInstall.mpkg at distance 5
Nov 1 04:45:21 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Checking Software Update catalog URL https://swscan.apple.com/content/catalogs/others/index-10.10-10.9-mountainlion-l ion-snowleopard-leopard.merged-1.sucatalog
Nov 1 04:45:21 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: No available package ref for compatibility update. Ignoring.
Nov 1 04:45:21 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: No available package ref for compatibility update. Ignoring.
Nov 1 04:45:23 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Using product <OSSoftwareUpdateCatalogProduct> from product keys (null) at distance 25
Nov 1 04:45:30 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: LSExceptions [0x6300000bee40] unloaded
Nov 1 04:49:16 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: IATool launched
Nov 1 04:49:16 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Connected to IATool 26fa80
Nov 1 04:49:17 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Preventing machine sleep.
Nov 1 04:49:17 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Using product IA_PKSecureNetEnabledProduct <file:///Volumes/Hollie/OS%20X%20Install%20Data/> at distance 5
Nov 1 04:49:17 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistantTool[738]: Using existing boot files dir at /.IABootFiles
Nov 1 04:49:17 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Using mutable product path: /Volumes/Hollie/OS X Install Data
Nov 1 04:49:17 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Using boot files path: /.IABootFiles
Nov 1 04:49:17 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Retrieving 1 packages (0.000 GB)
Nov 1 04:49:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Retrieved package com.apple.pkg.CompatibilityUpdate (http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/14/57/031-11010/vhdn34frx9suyfcrslj0xyx n3t0dafhkn8/OSX_10_10_IncompatibleAppList.pkg)
Nov 1 04:49:19 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Verifying InstallMacOSX.pkg/InstallESD.dmg
Nov 1 04:49:33 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Finished operation queue
Nov 1 04:50:10 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistantTool[738]: Failed to set prev-lang:kbd
Nov 1 04:50:10 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistantTool[738]: hdiejectd already disabled.
Nov 1 04:50:12 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistantTool[738]: Failed to prep /Volumes/OS X Install ESD for brtool
Nov 1 04:50:12 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistantTool[738]: Failed to prep /Volumes/OS X Base System for brtool
Nov 1 04:50:13 192-168-1-11.tpgi.com.au InstallAssistant[721]: Failed to write mutable product url to NVRAM

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Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
Step 1
The first step in dealing with a boot failure is to secure your data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data that has changed since your last backup, you can skip this step.
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Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
When you boot in safe mode, it's normal to see a dark gray progress bar on a light gray background. If the progress bar gets stuck for more than a few minutes, or if the system shuts down automatically while the progress bar is displayed, your boot volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 6.
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Step 7
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select your startup volume, then run Repair Disk. If any problems are found, repeat until clear. If Disk Utility reports that the volume can't be repaired, the drive has malfunctioned and should be replaced. You might choose to tolerate one such malfunction in the life of the drive. In that case, erase the volume and restore from a backup. If the same thing ever happens again, replace the drive immediately.
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Step 8
Reinstall the OS. If your Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Step 9
Repeat Step 6, but this time erase the boot volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically reboot into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer your data from a Time Machine or other backup.
Step 10
This step applies only to older Macs (not current models) that have a logic-board ("PRAM") battery. Both desktop and portable Macs used to have such a battery. The logic-board battery, if there is one, is separate from the main battery of a portable. A dead logic-board battery can cause a boot failure. Typically the failure will be preceded by loss of the settings for the startup disk and system clock. See the user manual for replacement instructions. You may have to take the machine to a service provider to have the battery replaced.
Step 11
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider.

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Boot Camp, Vista Ultimate x64 SP1, 2009 Mac Pro Quad 2.93, ATI 4870 HD

Hello All,
I’ve run into a problem installing Boot Camp with Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 on my early 2009 Mac Pro Quad 2.93 with Apple’s ATI Radeon 4870 HD (the one with one DVI and one mini-display). I followed the instructions from the Boot Camp Installation and Setup Guide, and everything was going great until I hit page 12 of the Guide (Step 3). The Boot Camp drivers installed without error, and prompted me to reboot. Upon rebooting onto the newly installed Vista x64 partition, the screen went black after the chkdsk screen appeared. I can boot into Vista safe mode, but booting into Vista normally results in the black screen. On a hunch, while in safe mode, I uninstalled the ATI video drivers installed by Boot Camp. I was then able to boot Vista normally, but only with the standard VGA adapter. Then I tried installing the latest 9.4 ATI drivers from the chipset vendor, AMD, http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx. Booting normally after the ATI chipset drivers were installed left me with a mostly black screen, and a few swizzles of horizontal color, but not enough to make out any sort of image. Once again, I was able to boot normally by first booting into safe mode and then uninstalling the ATI driver, leaving me with the standard VGA driver.
The displays I have tried so far are 1) Apple Cinema HD 23”, and 2) Apple Cinema 20”. Also, I have tried all 6 permutations with the ports on the Apple version of the ATI Radeon 4870 HD with both displays (using the mini-display to DVI adapter), 2 permutations with both displays, and 4 permutations with single displays. All permutations result in the same black screen after installing Boot Camp drivers.
Am I missing something? It seems to me that there is a display driver that needs to come from Apple that will work with the Apple version of the ATI Radeon 4870 HD in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 attached to an Apple display. I’ve installed Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 and many other operating systems in the past 27 years of working with computers, and typically with video cards I’ve had to get the drivers from the vendor that shipped the card, not the chipset vendor. Sure, occasionally the opposite is true, and I don’t mind spending a few days to figure out what works best for me as long as I believe I am making progress.
Has anyone else run into this problem with his or her early 2009 Mac Pro Quad 2.93 with Apple’s ATI Radeon 4870 HD? I’m posting this in the Boot Camp forum as I think this problem is rooted in the Boot Camp drivers, specifically for the Apple ATI Radeon 4870 HD. Please let me know if I should post elsewhere.

You are the second person I think I've seen with trouble using Mac Pro and ATI drivers (other was on Mac Pro forum).
When updating graphics, there are extra steps that insure you get the best working drivers.
I've always found Apple to be behind the curve on Windows support. Drivers that come with a card from the vendor ususally means ATI or Nvidia, and even then, you go to the web and download and install the latest tested / beta / qualified drivers. Some people try a variety of driver versions to find the one that works best.
Apple has not been updating Boot Camp drivers for Late 2008 and on Macs. Boot Camp 2.1 is now over a year old. What is on your OEM Leopard DVD is the only drivers I would use - if at all! try without is what some do, and then see if you can selectively install. Under Windows 7, I don't need or install, and now with the RC/7077 version of 7, Microsoft 'blocks' installing Apple Boot Camp drivers as known to cause problems.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Unistall the various Apple services, drivers, startup items that you can live without or until you narrow it down. iTunes 8.1+ in Windows can break and prevent ability to even use optical drives and devices for instance.
Some tips for upgrading drivers, one from eVGA forum but should translate.
http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.asp?m=396474
http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1655

Can I use a new CPU in my early 2009 MAC PRO Single 2.8 Quadcore

Is it possble to replace the CPU Module with the latest CPU moduels on off for the Mac Pro?
The current one is below
Header 1
Header 2
Mac Pro4.1 Quad Core Intel Xeon 2.66
i Processor Early 2009

Hello. I have done this many times. When I originally had the 2009 Nehalem single quad, it was a 2.66 processor as well. I bought the w3580 which is the top of the line of that generation and runs at 3.33 ghz with turbo boost up to 3.60. The procedure to change the 2.66 to say the 3.33 is the same as for the 2010 series processors 2.8(also nehalem w3530) and the 3.2 which is a w3565. The only processors you would not be able to upgrade with the original 2009 boards are the hex core, or w36xx series. This is because of the firmware upgrade which recognizes Westmere or B1 stepping.
Think of it this way.. any w35xx will work in the 2009 and or 2010 mac pro(single quad only) while the w36xx series will only work in the 2010 series.
Mind me asking what you currently use your mac pro for of which would warrant the need to go with a higher speed processor? You could very well just max out the memory and or pick up SSD drives and that alone will help to dramatically speed things up. W3580 3.33 will run you about 400-600 dollars, sometimes even less. The w3580 is the max you can go with the 2009 mac pro series.. then its getting the dual boards if you want to go even further, but I don't recommend that as the processor board and processors themselves are about as close to a 2010 mac pro.

Moving from 2009 Mac Pro to 2012

I have an early 2009 Mac Pro, and a mid-2012 Mac Pro. Can I simply pull the hard-drives out of the 2009 and put them in the 2012 and be good to go, or are there hardware-specific aspects of the installation (i.e., Apple stuff) that will not work because I'm shifting to different hardware? I have a million apps on my Mac Pro and don't want to go through the hassle of reinstalling everything.

Lanny wrote:
CS3 or later. CS2 apps won't run in Yosemite.
Doh. Yes, you'd have to go with a Snow Leopard Virtual Machine if you are using CS2. CS2 was when the painful authorization process started.

2009 Mac Pro will not boot up under Windows

I have an Early 2009 Mac Pro system (Mac Pro 4,1) and I've had this system for 3 years already and have been working under OS X with this system ever since I purchased it.
However, when I tried to boot off my Windows disk, something very interesting happens. The Mac Pro WILL NOT boot up off the Windows disk or a known working Windows partition if two monitors are connected. Upon holding down the option key and selecting the Windows partition, I will get a black screen on one monitor (the one connected via Mini Displayport) and the other screen receives no signal and will enter standby and the system is halted. It does not respond to keystrokes, there is no hard drive activity, no measured power increase on the UPS, no apparent network activity, nothing. The only way to exit this scenario (from what I can tell) is to power off the machine, disconnect the display on DVI, power on the machine again, select the Windows partition wait for the system to reach the login window and reconnect the DVI monitor (at which time Windows recognizes it immediately and the system works fine again).
My question to the community is, does anybody know why this is happening and is there a known fix for this? Quite frankly, having to disconnect a monitor just to restart is very tedious and frustrating.
I have two Samsung P2350 monitors attached to an ATI Radeon HD 4870 (512MB, from Apple). One is monitor is connected via directly DVI and the other is using a Mini Displayport to DVI adapter. Both monitors work fine under OS X with no issue. At first, I thought that this may be a driver issue on the Windows side and after installing all the latest updates and drivers the issue is still apparent. From what I can tell, this doesn't seem like a software issue but rather a firmware or EFI issue as this happens before Windows even loads.
If anyone knows of a fix or what to do in this situation, or if you are also having this issue, I would love to hear your input!
Thank you!
For the record, I am running all the latest software builds on the OS X side (10.7.4, not that it would really matter at this point). I have also disconnected all unnecessary equipment in a trial and error scenario but the results are still the same.
The system passes all ASD testing.
The full specification of the computer and all connected equipment are as follows:
2009 Mac Pro (4,1) 8-Core
2x Intel Xeon Nehalem 2.66GHz Quad-Core CPUs
16GB DDR3 ECC 1066MHz RAM (Apple Branded)
Two OWC 120GB SSDs (One for OS X, the other for Windows 7 x64) - These are in place of my optical drives.
4x 2TB WD Black Hard drives for storage.
Two Samsung P2350 Monitors connected via DVI. (One using a Mini Displayport to DVI adapter).

In Windows I am using the latest (12.4) Catalyst Software Suite, 64 bit of course, downloaded directly from AMD's site after installing the drivers from Boot Camp.
As for installing Windows I used an original (not burned) installation media (Disk is in a pristine condition). And yes, Windows is fine, the problem just seems to be getting the system to boot up Windows with that second monitor. However if the "problem monitor" is disconnected the system boots fine 100% of the time and connecting it later after booting the system will still operate properly.
For the sake of arguement I swapped monitor cables and connected the "second" monitor to the mini displayport adapter to verify that it wasn't a cabling issue and I'm still yielding the same issues.
As for GPU testing, I've played games (Crysis, Grand Theft Auto IV, Battlefield 3, etc.) and I've had no issues with the card or stability.
You would think that Apple would try to find a fix for this, especially considering the caliber of this machine.

How to install Snow Leopard on a 2009 Mac Pro which has Mountain Lion?

The 2009 Mac Pro that I just bought has Mountain Lion. For many reasons, I do not want to have Mountain Lion on my machine. I have been using Snow Leopard for years and I like it fine. I have my Snow Leopard install DVDs. I cannot get this machine to accept Snow Leopard, which must be just another undesirable aspect of Mountain Lion, bacause this machine must have shipped with some variant of Leopard/ Snow Leopard to begin with. Here's what happens when I put the Snow Leopard Install DVD in the Superdrive:
1) First, I held down the "C" key at startup to start from a disc. It showed me a window which said "Mac OS X can't be installed on this computer".
2) Then I started it with Mountain Lion and then put in the Snow Leopard DVD. Got a window which said "The disc you inserted was not readable by this computer". It also had 3 buttons to choose from: "Initialize", "Ignore" and "Eject". So I clicked on "Initialize" and Disc Utility opened on the First Aid page. I assume I'm supposed to erase the startup disc, but I thought maybe I should ask the experts here before I do that.
This machine has two 2TB HDDs that the previous owner has configured as a level 1 RAID. If I am to erase the startup disc do I erase both drives of the RAID set? If I'm not supposed to erase the startup drive, what do I need to do to get back to Snow Leopard? Thanks and thanks again!

The built-in checks will keep you from clobbering 10.8 Mountain Lion by Installing Snow Leopard over it (literally, 10.6 Snow Leopard Installer will see a later version in place, and knows it cannot install over a later version). So it says "Mac OS X cannot be installed on this computer..." and leaves off "... "in its current state."
You will need to Install on a 10.6 Snow Leopard-erased drive. Mac OS X Erase function proceeds to install a Partition scheme and a default Volume after erasing, because a truly blank drive is useless for most Users.
When you boot to the Installer DVD, you are running off the DVD, so all Hard Drives are available to be erased if that is your choice. All data on them will be discarded. If you erase one drive in a mirrored RAID set, normally the other drive would survive and the set would be degraded. But a new version of RAID was introduced right AFTER 10.6, and it is likely that 10.6 cannot read that RAID at all under any circumstances.

2009 Mac Pro upgrade to Yosemite failed

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