MP 1,1-5,1 2012 MacPro - not booting after Mojave firmware update attempt

[BadAxe80]

Hi, hopefully someone can offer me some advise. I have the following MacPro

2012 MacPro
3.06x2
48GB
5770 GPU

Factory spec except for the RAM. I was attempting to install Mojave as per the Definitive Guide.
It was running High Sierra 10.13.6 and had updated to that firmware. I didn't check the exact number unfortunately.

I installed an 8GB RX580 and booted perfectly into high sierra.

Downloaded the full 10.14.6 installer with DOSDUde1's utility

Got the prompt to shutdown and do the update. Shut down as normal. I pushed and held the power button for at least 45 seconds. No tone, no beep, no flashing LED. Just powered and kept running with no display.
Left it for a few minutes then held the button in until it went off. No it wont get any display on either GPU. Original Apple 5770 or RX580 (no boot screen support).

Things I've tried

Removed all cards and hard drives
Pressed SMC hard reset button
Removed BR2032 battery
Tried nvram reset on keyboard - no display, no chime - held keys for 1 minute
1 stick of RAM per CPU
Tried multiple PCIE slots for GPU
Attempted firmware recovery with CD - it will not enter firmware flash mode.

Diagnostic LED button seems to light up correct lights. System will power up normally, all fans running. It will also turn off if I hold the power button down.

Is there anything else I can do before I start looking for a new backplane?

Many thanks

 

[tsialex]

Hi, hopefully someone can offer me some advise. I have the following MacPro

2012 MacPro
3.06x2
48GB
5770 GPU

Factory spec except for the RAM. I was attempting to install Mojave as per the Definitive Guide.
It was running High Sierra 10.13.6 and had updated to that firmware. I didn't check the exact number unfortunately.

I installed an 8GB RX580 and booted perfectly into high sierra.

Downloaded the full 10.14.6 installer with DOSDUde1's utility

Got the prompt to shutdown and do the update. Shut down as normal. I pushed and held the power button for at least 45 seconds. No tone, no beep, no flashing LED. Just powered and kept running with no display.
Left it for a few minutes then held the button in until it went off. No it wont get any display on either GPU. Original Apple 5770 or RX580 (no boot screen support).

Things I've tried

Removed all cards and hard drives
Pressed SMC hard reset button
Removed BR2032 battery
Tried nvram reset on keyboard - no display, no chime - held keys for 1 minute
1 stick of RAM per CPU
Tried multiple PCIE slots for GPU
Attempted firmware recovery with CD - it will not enter firmware flash mode.

Diagnostic LED button seems to light up correct lights. System will power up normally, all fans running. It will also turn off if I hold the power button down.

Is there anything else I can do before I start looking for a new backplane?

Many thanks

Did you really checked EFI_DONE diagnostic LED? Check it also when entering Firmware Programming Mode at power on.

 

[BadAxe80]

Hi, yes EFI_DONE and the other 2 LEDs all light green while it's powered on.
As I said, I can't seem to get it to go into Firmware Programming Mode at all.
I've tried holding the button in different ways and used a stick to make sure its being held down.
Still nothing.

 

[BadAxe80]

Just an update. I've tried a barebones config with a single un-formatted hard drive attached and clean Mojave and High Sierra USBs to see if it would boot into the installer. I tried the 5770 and the RX580. Still nothing.

 

[tsialex]

Hi, yes EFI_DONE and the other 2 LEDs all light green while it's powered on.
As I said, I can't seem to get it to go into Firmware Programming Mode at all.
I've tried holding the button in different ways and used a stick to make sure its being held down.
Still nothing.

Sometimes the corrupt area is not on the EFI component of the BootROM, EFI is loaded successfully and the EFI_DONE LED lits, but your Mac Pro cannot work.

Just an update. I've tried a barebones config with a single un-formatted hard drive attached and clean Mojave and High Sierra USBs to see if it would boot into the installer. I tried the 5770 and the RX580. Still nothing.

So, time for a SPI flash replacement, MATT card or replacement backplane.

 

[BadAxe80]

Hmm, that's what I was afraid of. Thanks for your help. I just don't understand what happened though.
I've actually done the upgrade successfully on another similar machine.

 

[tsialex]

Hmm, that's what I was afraid of. Thanks for your help. I just don't understand what happened though.
I've actually done the upgrade successfully on another similar machine.

SPI flash memories have a life expectance of 100.000 cycles of erase/write when the erase/writes are not contiguous, since the Mac Pro NVRAM is inside the BootROM, the NAND cells will die a lot sooner than the manufacturer expectancy.

It's very common to happen with the flurry of NVRAM erase/writes during the software update process or when doing the firmware upgrades.

All MacPro5,1s will be bricks someday, since Apple only started to use NAND cell wear spread techniques, with late-2013 Mac Pro.

 

[BadAxe80]

Is it possible to get a pre-flashed SPI chip and swap it or is there unique code that needs to be extracted from the old one?

 

[tsialex]

Is it possible to get a pre-flashed SPI chip and swap it

Yes, but it's not economical. It's cheaper to buy a brand new MXIC MX25L3206E from Digikey/Mouser/Farnell/Richelt/etc and a ch341a kit from Amazon/eBay/AliExpress and flash MP51.fd yourself.

MP51.fd is not the full BootROM and it's unpersonalized, it's enough for booting the backplane again and to do macOS installs but you won't login to iCloud/Messages/FaceTime. You will need a bootROM reconstruction service to get your Mac Pro fully working again.

If you bricked your Mac Pro you have three options:

1. Buy a replacement backplane on eBay and replace the backplane yourself, cheapest option if you can't solder SMD. Remember that you need a 2009 backplane if you have an early-2009 Mac Pro. If you have a mid-2010 or mid-2012 you can use either 2010 or 2012 backplanes. Don't mix early-2009 backplanes with mid-2010/mid-2012 CPU trays, or vice-versa - either scenario is a SMC firmware version mismatch and all your fans will run at maximum RPM, full time and without any software control.
2. Buy a Mac Pro MATT card and use it as a replacement SPI flash, this is not recommended since all MATT cards are clones and won't work for iCloud/iMessage/FaceTime. A replacement backplane is usually cheaper when you add the needed BootROM reconstruction service.
3. Desolder, reprogram and solder back the SPI flash, chip U8700 on the backplane. It's not possible to read or write to the SPI flash memory while it's soldered on the MP5,1 backplane. A cheap SPI flash programmer like ch341a will work for read/write the BootROM after the SPI flash memory is desoldered from the backplane. Start reading here, read all my posts on the subject from there. I strongly recommend that you replace your original SPI flash memory with a brand new one, don't solder it back to the backplane, it will fail soon since SPI flash memories have limited lifetime (manufacturer rated for just 100.000 non contiguous erase/write cycles - NVRAM erase/re-writes are contiguous and the life expectancy of the SPI is a lot lower) when used as NVRAM for a Mac Pro. Again, most hard bricks are caused by the failure of the SPI flash, it's a US$ 2 component easily available, MXIC MX25L3206E, just replace it! Btw, yes, you can use a MXIC MX25L3206E as a modern replacement for the two older models SST25VF032B and MXIC MX25L3205D used on early-2009 and mid-2010 respectively, Apple did it for mid-2012 Mac Pros.
   
   Mojave has the generic MP51.fd firmware image inside the full installer, it's enough for boot your Mac Pro again but not for iCloud/iMessage/FaceTime login.
   
   

   Install\ macOS\ Mojave/Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/Firmware/MP51.fd

or is there unique code that needs to be extracted from the old one?

Yes, but if the SPI is dead or corrupted and missing one of the hardwareIDs not present on the ESN and MLB labels, like for example BD (Build Date), a firmware engineer can get it fully working again with the data from the labels, plus some informed guesses on the BD and some tests.