Getting Graphics to work on Apple Fire D500 video card (Mac Pro 2013)

Hardware Support
1

Hello,
I have a Mac Pro 2013 that I am experimenting with putting linux on.

When I use the Live environment everything works; I have multiple monitors connected and they all function properly in the Live environment. Once installation is complete to the internal hard-disk the machine reboots but hangs on a black screen.

After doing some investigation I found that the only way I can get the machine to boot reliably to a desktop is to edit the grub command from "quiet splash" to "quiet splash nomodeset".

I also tried to edit it to "quiet splash amdgpu.si_support=1 amdgpu.cik_support=1 radeon.si_support=0 radeon.cik_support=0" but after updating grub using the terminal the machine just hung on a black screen again.

Since the graphics work on the live environment is there a way I can determine what settings/drivers are being used in the live environment and then make changes on the installed version to match and get the graphics to function properly?

Anyone try this before? thanks!

2

Hi, doing a search withvBrave A.I. via mijeek gives:

"Installing Linux on a 2013 Mac Pro (Trash Can) with dual FirePro D500 GPUs is possible, but requires specific configuration to properly initialize the internal AMD graphics cards and avoid driver conflicts. The key challenge lies in ensuring Linux uses the amdgpu driver instead of the older radeon driver, and manually triggering GPU rescan during boot to recognize the eGPU or internal GPUs correctly.

Prerequisites

  • 2013 Mac Pro (any model with FirePro D500)
  • Linux distribution supporting AMDGPU (e.g., Manjaro, Ubuntu 20.04+, Fedora)
  • Bootable USB with Linux installer
  • External display connected via Thunderbolt or DisplayPort

Step-by-step instructions

  • Install Linux alongside or instead of macOS using standard USB boot method
  • During installation, ensure bootloader (GRUB) is properly configured
  • After installation, boot into Linux and open terminal
  • Edit GRUB configuration:
    sudo nano /etc/default/grub
  • Modify the line:
    GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet apparmor=1 security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3 radeon.si_support=0 amdgpu.si_support=1 pci=realloc"
  • Update GRUB:
    sudo update-grub
  • Create an eGPU initialization script at /usr/bin/egpu.sh :
#!/bin/bash
modprobe -r nvidia nvidia_uvm nvidia_drm nvidia_modeset
sleep 1
echo 1 > /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:00:01.0/remove
echo 1 > /sys/bus/pci/rescan
sleep 1
modprobe nvidia
sleep 1
  • Make it executable:
    sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/egpu.sh
  • Create a systemd service at /etc/systemd/system/find-nvidia-gpu.service :
[Unit]
Description=Nvidia GPU initialization
Before=display-manager.service

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/egpu.sh

[Install]
WantedBy=display-manager.service
  • Enable the service:
    sudo systemctl enable find-nvidia-gpu.service
  • Reboot the system

Note: Although the script references NVIDIA, it can be adapted for AMD by replacing nvidia with amdgpu and adjusting module names accordingly. The PCI rescan mechanism is critical for proper GPU detection on Mac Pro hardware under Linux.

Linux on 2013 Mac Pro FirePro D500 setup

AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts."

Try to boot into a tty screen by pressing Ctrl+ Alt+ F3 (Note I don't use a Mac so some of those keys might be absent.

3

Thanks but this appears to have more to do with external graphics cards than with my issue.

4

OK after some more digging I found the difference between the live installer and the installed to hardrive version. Seems the the live installer is running XORG with the radeon driver. Now everything I read suggested that radeon drivers didn't work and I should use amdgpu but this appears to be inaccurate.

What I did instead is I went back to the grub config and removed my entry for nomode set and set it back to just "quiet splash" .

I then went into /etc/gdm3/custom.conf and removed the comment tag from WaylandEnable=false

Now I can successfully boot into my installation of Zorin using the radeon drivers and get full videocard support.

Question I now have is why can't I do this with Wayland enabled? What am I losing out on by disabling Wayland?

Is there a better alternative?

Thanks for any assistance with this!

1 Like
5

I think the question was "What are you missing out on by not using Xorg." And you got your answer.

1 Like
6

Well since Wayland is enabled by default and seems to be the roadmap for future development I'm assuming there is a reason why I should try to use it if it can be made usable on this graphics card.

Though my reasearch suggests basically the answer at the moment is "your not missing out on much"

7

Accurate.

This is very valid thinking. If the developmental direction is leading you that way, your limited options become working with what you have.

As a long time supporter of Wayland, in its principle, I am dismayed at the implementation of Wayland currently.
Due to this implementation, it cannot be rigged to work on a card which there is no support for it.
Wayland is for current systems; it cannot be backwards compatible, by how it is built (despite Waylands own age.)

Xorg is older, but also currently patched, security patched, stable and very well supported.

2 Likes
8

... and supports accessibility which Wayland doesn't!

1 Like
9

The current trend is that Accessibility is expendable.
It reminds me of a comedians joke on this. He pointed out that the group of individuals needing accessibility options are the only minority that anyone can join.

1 Like
10

It is also farcical that people who are less-abled are somehow inferior. I had the hono(u)r to shake hands with the blind German creator of a refreshable Braille device.

1 Like