Help! Trying to update firmware on native HD card

[Mr. Light]

Hello all,

I am updating my 2010 Mac Pro 3.46 12 core, 128 ram. I was on High Sierra running Pro Tools Ultimate 11. Everything running fine other than being outdated and running out of muscle during big mixes

I purchased a used 2017 iMac Pro 27, 8 core, 32gb ram, Big Sur. I installed Pro Tools Ultimate 2021.12

I am borrowing an OWC Helios FX thunderbolt chassis to house my Pro Tools Native HD card.

I migrated everything over to the iMac using the most recent backup from the Mac Pro. Everything else seems to be working smoothly but when I start Pro Tools it asks me to update the firmware on the Native HD card. When I click to update it gives me an error, no matter how many times I restart, try different thunderbolt ports, etc.

I read a lot of people had issues updating their native HD cards, especially ones. This one is definitely older but it worked fine in the old rig. Some people mentioned that you have to update the firmware in a computer running 10.6.7. So no I'm trying to load Snow Leopard on the old Mac Pro just so I can update the firmware on this damn card (yes, I backed up first) but it won't even let me downgrade to Snow Leopard!

On the Mac Pro I created a bootable disk, wiped the original drive and started up using the 10.6 drive but it keeps saying "Mac OS X cannot be installed on this computer"

I'm getting discouraged and wasting time. I'm almost at the point of just ordering a thunderbolt HD Native card. But I would really like to avoid that if possible.

What am I missing here?

Thanks kindly in advance

[LDS]

Have you tried doing the update straight for the Mac Pro using high Sierra and 2021.12?

The problem is usually associated with the thunderbolt enclosure itself. The firmware update requires the card to power down and up with a computer restart to complete the process, but it seems to be unreliable with some firmware versions.

[Mr. Light]

Is there a way to "force update"? I guess I assumed I could only update the firmware if it's asking to be updated (which is does not using the older Mac Pro)

[creativecontrol]

Greetings,

A bit more guidance can be found in the following KBase:
https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/ar...rbolt-Firmware


And an updated Kbase on all things HD Driver loading here ->
https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/ar...ation-on-macOS

Let us know what you find.


Jeff

[Mr. Light]

Originally Posted by creativecontrol

Greetings,

A bit more guidance can be found in the following KBase:
https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/ar...rbolt-Firmware


And an updated Kbase on all things HD Driver loading here ->
https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/ar...ation-on-macOS

Let us know what you find.


Jeff

Unfortunately none of this has worked. I've tried everything Avid (and forum users) suggest and I keep getting an 1166 error. I put it back in my 2010 Mac Pro, tried different slots, even tried it with an old backup of El Capitan.

The only thing I haven't been able to try is updating it using Snow Leopard.....not for lack of attempting to load SN on my Mac Pro, it just won't allow me to load 10.6

I've created a case, hoping that proves fruitful. Open to any other suggestions in the meantime

Regards
Chris

[LDS]

Have you tried an incremental update? Perhaps toss it into your Mac Pro and try installing Pro Tools HD 12 point something, or 2018 point something along with the associated HD driver.