MP 1,1-5,1 4,1 cMP not booting after firmware/part upgrade

[At_Op45]

Hi everyone, I hope this finds you well. I’m having some issues with my 4,1 early 2009 cMP. The issues came after I seemingly successfully flashed it to a 5,1 with the previously working configuration and shut it down to install new ram and CPUs.

Previously working configuration:

El Capitan 10.11.6 (Crucial SSD with ORICO caddy adapter)

2 x 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon X5550 (Delidded)

16 GB (4 x 4 GB) 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC (PC3-8500)

ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB [& ATI Radeon HD 4870 512 MB]


Configuration with boot error:

El Capitan 10.11.6

2 x 3.33 GHz Six-Core Intel Xeon X5680 (Delidded)

96 GB (6 x 16 GB) 1333MHz DDR3 ECC (PC3-10600)

ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB


After upgrading the ram and dual CPUs of my flashed 4,1 cMP, I was met with the following error message at boot with the apple logo (I only had access to that line and couldn't move/see anything else):

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff80031cb26): "zone_init: kmen_suballoc failed"@/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/xnu/xnu-3248.73.11/osfmk/kern/zalloc.c.2284

After doing some research, other posts and forums solved their respective issue with SMC and NVRAM resets. Despite doing this, my issue is still ongoing.

I ended up reverting back to my formerly working configuration but now my mac won't boot despite powering on and the power led occasionally, rapidly blinking. There are no error LEDs on the mainboard nor CPU tray, and the diagnostic button when pressed shows three lights, two green another yellow. All attempted configurations with a mix of new and old parts yield the same result.

May you please help me? Thank you.

 

[tsialex]

Seems you have a brick, EFI DONE is off. My posts here will be useful:

Dead 4,1/5,1...

If you have EFI DONE led lit when you press the DIAG button, your problem is probably not BootROM related and something else. EFI DONE is only lit after the EFI is loaded to the RAM, so the BootROM is working, or at least partially working. Did you tried reseting the NVRAM 4-times sequentially...

forums.macrumors.com

Do you have another working CPU tray to confirm, can test yours with another Mac Pro?

 

[At_Op45]

Seems you have a brick, EFI DONE is off. My posts here will be useful:

Dead 4,1/5,1...

If you have EFI DONE led lit when you press the DIAG button, your problem is probably not BootROM related and something else. EFI DONE is only lit after the EFI is loaded to the RAM, so the BootROM is working, or at least partially working. Did you tried reseting the NVRAM 4-times sequentially...

forums.macrumors.com

Do you have another working CPU tray to confirm, can test yours with another Mac Pro?

Thank you for your prompt reply. Coincidently I was already reading your posts when I got your reply notification; it's all very useful and detailed information.

Unfortunately, I do not have access to another tray nor cMP.

I had this issue before when I purchased this machine but was able to solve it by cleaning up the tray, adding new ram and CPUs (listed in my formerly working configuration), as well as adding thermal paste to the northbridge chip and replacing/tightening its screws. That in addition to resetting the rtc, coin and cable.

 

[tsialex]

Without another tray/Mac Pro to test yours it's more complicated to diagnose, but inspect the CPU sockets pins from several viewpoints and then go back to the last working/original config. If after that you still don't have EFI_DONE, it's almost certain that you have a brick.

 

[At_Op45]

Without another tray/Mac Pro to test yours it's more complicated to diagnose, but inspect the CPU sockets pins from several viewpoints and then go back to the last working/original config. If after that you still don't have EFI_DONE, it's almost certain that you have a brick.

Thank you for your reply. There are some previously bent pins in their respective sockets but I had bent them back into seemingly good enough shape for the cMP to be in working condition up until after attempting to replace the ram/cpu after updating the firmware. I'll check them again and attempt to bend them into better shape before installing the last working configuration.

 

[tsialex]

Thank you for your reply. There are some previously bent pins in their respective sockets but I had bent them back into seemingly good enough shape for the cMP to be in working condition up until after attempting to replace the ram/cpu after updating the firmware. I'll check them again and attempt to bend them into better shape before installing the last working configuration.

You really need to get another tray or test your tray with another Mac Pro. You only can be certain of EFI_DONE if the CPU tray works.

You can use mid-2010/mid-2012 CPU trays or Mac Pros to test this, the SMC mismatch will make the fans run on fail-safe mode but won't matter for what you need to test.

 

[At_Op45]

Without another tray/Mac Pro to test yours it's more complicated to diagnose, but inspect the CPU sockets pins from several viewpoints and then go back to the last working/original config. If after that you still don't have EFI_DONE, it's almost certain that you have a brick.

Thank you for your advice. After more precisely bending those pins back into place and installing the original working configuration, my cMP booted up and has still had the 5,1 identifier. I'm going to reinstall the new parts and post my progress.

 

[At_Op45]

You really need to get another tray or test your tray with another Mac Pro. You only can be certain of EFI_DONE if the CPU tray works.

You can use mid-2010/mid-2012 CPU trays or Mac Pros to test this, the SMC mismatch will make the fans run on fail-safe mode but won't matter for what you need to test.

After installing the new ram, my cMP booted up with the EFI DONE light on, so I restarted it to make sure that the new parts kept working and they did. However, after installing the new CPUs, it won't boot despite powering on. The EFI DONE led is now blinking.

 

[tsialex]

After installing the new ram, my cMP booted up with the EFI DONE light on, so I restarted it to make sure that the new parts kept working and they did. However, after installing the new CPUs, it won't boot despite powering on. The EFI DONE led is now blinking.

Probably a defective Xeon, test one at a time with socket A.

 

[At_Op45]

Probably a defective Xeon, test one at a time with socket A.

Thank you for your prompt reply, I'll be sure to do that. Now the efi done light is on without blinking

 

[At_Op45]

Probably a defective Xeon, test one at a time with socket A.

You were right, one of the xeons seems to be defective. I was able to boot using one of the new CPUs.

Update:
Maybe the new CPU isn't defective as when I reinstalled the old pair, the same issue from before returned despite the pair repeatedly working.

Update 2:
The cMP powers on and the efi done light is on but there is no display or boot/chime.

 

[Macschrauber]

The efi done led is lit after a few seconds delay.

If it comes immediately after power on or all 3 of the lower leds come on at once without any delay there is a brick, too. In my experience it is not the firmware if that happens (3 lower leds are on in the same second when pressing the power button).

So do they come after a delay and some ”movement” or just instantly ?

you can hold the diag button all the time when diagnosing.

 

[tsialex]

The efi done led is lit after a few seconds delay.

If it comes immediately after power on or all 3 of the lower leds come on at once without any delay there is a brick, too. In my experience it is not the firmware if that happens (3 lower leds are on in the same second when pressing the power button).

So do they come after a delay and some ”movement” or just instantly ?

you can hold the diag button all the time when diagnosing.

It's a lot more complex than that.

Two examples, a MP4,1>5,1 upgraded by the MacEFIROM method that have a Westmere Xeon won't enter the BootBlock Firmware Recovery, while a Nehalem one will. A dual CPU tray that has the second QPI link not functional, if it's the CPU B the defective one it's possible that the EFI_DONE will be lit as expected and you won't boot.

There are other scenarios too that make the EFI_DONE imprecise, but for initial diagnostics is a very useful tool.

 

[Macschrauber]

Yes, I just wanted to make clear that the efi done LED lit dont mean that post is ok so the firmware is ok if it just lit steady. I push the diag button before power on the board so I see if the LEDs show some kind of living.

intersting information about Nehalem / Westmere passing post.

tho I use a single 4.1 cpu board with W3520 Nehalem for testing backplanes as I dont know what firmware is on the board I have on the bench. Fans go full dont mind as they are none connected for the first test.

 

[At_Op45]

I’m currently running the last working configuration. After powering on the cMP, the EFI DONE and GPU OK LEDs turn on essentially automatically with no blinking, while the power led turns on automatically also with no blinking. I've replaced the motherboard 3V battery, but it doesn't seem to help.

Thank you both for your continued help in this matter.

 

[At_Op45]

After testing both new CPUs, I was able to boot by only habiting the CPU-A socket. When I install both new CPUs my cMP fails to boot/chime and the EFI DONE light blinks continuously. It seems that the bent pins on my CPU-B socket are the issue. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to bend them in the proper place. I will most likely now purchase jewelers magnifying glasses to use in addition to my jewelers tweezers or seek out the appropriate services to make the repair.

Thank you for your continued help.

 

[tsialex]

After testing both new CPUs, I was able to boot by only habiting the CPU-A socket. When I install both new CPUs my cMP fails to boot/chime and the EFI DONE light blinks continuously. It seems that the bent pins on my CPU-B socket are the issue. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to bend them in the proper place. I will most likely now purchase jewelers magnifying glasses to use in addition to my jewelers tweezers or seek out the appropriate services to make the repair.

Thank you for your continued help.

Test your new Xeons with other known working dual CPU tray or dual socket motherboard (you will need to use the original lids temporarily, or use shims to compensate the different height/not crush the die).

A failed second QPI link with one of the two will have the symptoms you wrote. There are lot's of dual CPU Xeons with one failed QPI link on the market, these dual CPU Xeons with one failed QPI link will only work with a single CPU tray/motherboard.

 

[At_Op45]

Test your new Xeons with other known working dual CPU tray or dual socket motherboard (you will need to use the original lids temporarily, or use shims to compensate the different height/not crush the die).

A failed second QPI link with one of the two will have the symptoms you wrote. There are lot's of dual CPU Xeons with one failed QPI link on the market, these dual CPU Xeons with one failed QPI link will only work with a single CPU tray/motherboard.

Thank you for your reply. After more precisely bending the pins I was able to get the boot/chime and my cMP seems to be working now. Both upgrades to 96 GB (6 x 16 GB) and 2 x 3.33 X5680s are recognized and the firmware remains flashed to 5,1.

I don't have access to another tray nor motherboard but would still like to test for other issues. Do you recommend any other kinds of troubleshooting? Thank you again.

 

[tsialex]

Thank you for your reply. After more precisely bending the pins I was able to get the boot/chime and my cMP seems to be working now. Both upgrades to 96 GB (6 x 16 GB) and 2 x 3.33 X5680s are recognized and the firmware remains flashed to 5,1.

I don't have access to another tray nor motherboard but would still like to test for other issues. Do you recommend any other kinds of troubleshooting? Thank you again.

You can run AHT/ASD and check for further hardware problems.

Since it's a early-2009, you probably have a highly messed-up NVRAM by now.

 

[orangepop]

Hi and I'm very sorry to jump in here. I've been lurking and finally had to post my video of what might be similar situation as the OP. I have a cMP 5,1 was working perfectly for years, no changes other than the current OS update and it worked fine after update like previous. Today, well it froze up with the screen saver after working fine so I rebooted by pressing and holding the power button. I noticed the power light was flashing and did all the steps to test ram etc.

When I press the power button, which I need to press and hold it first then press again to start it up. Everything is as normal except it doesn't boot up and the front power light just flashes and nothing else. I've been reading on the EFI_DONE led and not sure if I have a dead board or something else? I'm completely lost.

The video I attached is me holding down the DIAG with power off and holding it as I depress the power button twice like I have to and stated above. In the lower left you can see the power light flashing.

Hope this helps others out there having this issue and resolve it one way or another.
Thanks!

 

[At_Op45]

Hey friend, no need to apologize, we're all here to learn and help others.

I had those same lights halfway through my troubleshooting. My power led wasn't rapidly blinking towards the end tho

The steps I took to get my cMP back to working order include:

• Reset NVRAM, PRAM, and SMC
  • https://www.macworld.com/article/2881177/how-to-reset-a-macs-nvram-pram-and-smc.html
• CPU Tray Troubleshooting
  • Checking for bent pins and bending them back with a jeweler's tweezers
  • Checking for burnt areas on the back of the CPUs
• Reseating the ram and CPUs multiple times
  • Be sure to test with single components as well as the pairs/sets

Best of luck, and may your mac recover soon!

 

[orangepop]

Hi At_Op45 Thanks for your tips but unfortunately same result. Cant reset the NVRAM or PRAM with the key combo, like before, nothing happens. Check now for the forth time in case I missed anything super not noticeable but found nothing out if the ordinary. The only thing I can think of is the backplane somehow just died out of the blue. Like I mentioned the computer was working normally, screen saver pop up, working normal then at some point it froze and haven't been able to reboot since. When it did freeze up when on last, the power button led was flashing like it currently is. All fans and drives sound normal, but no chime, no start up just a flashing power light led.

Can anyone confirm or is there something else afoot!

 

[At_Op45]

You're welcome friend, sorry those tips didn't help out much. I'm a bit new to troubleshooting but these machines seem to respond well to doing the resets three times each, with nothing in the bay except the graphics card. I also replaced the 3V battery on the mainboard so maybe that was part of it? Either way, best of luck and keep us posted. Also, feel free to check out the FB group dedicated to Mac Pro users. There's always someone willing to help, and they're definitely way more knowledgeable than I am about this sort of thing.

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

 

[orangepop]

I can't do Facebook since I'm locked out and can't sign back in... Im not a FB user and haven't been for about 15 years and moms and grandmas invaded it.

I removed everything and still nothing. tsialex mentioned "If after that you still don't have EFI_DONE, it's almost certain that you have a brick." I'm wondering should that light come on at any time after you power on the computer and press the DIAG_LED? As in my video it only does when I have it depressed and apply the power to the cMP. I'm just wondering since I haven't changed the configuration of anything other than a few months ago I upgraded the bluetooth/wifi card but everything worked perfectly for months until last week when it froze on the screen saver, the led on the front case blinking as seen in the video... I rebooted to a machine that will power on everything spins no red leds or anything other than the flashing front light and not startup. I'm just thinking its dead and there's nothing else that can be done other than either replace the backplane or buy another desktop.

Thoughts.
Thank you.

 

[tsialex]

I can't do Facebook since I'm locked out and can't sign back in... Im not a FB user and haven't been for about 15 years and moms and grandmas invaded it.

I removed everything and still nothing. tsialex mentioned "If after that you still don't have EFI_DONE, it's almost certain that you have a brick." I'm wondering should that light come on at any time after you power on the computer and press the DIAG_LED? As in my video it only does when I have it depressed and apply the power to the cMP. I'm just wondering since I haven't changed the configuration of anything other than a few months ago I upgraded the bluetooth/wifi card but everything worked perfectly for months until last week when it froze on the screen saver, the led on the front case blinking as seen in the video... I rebooted to a machine that will power on everything spins no red leds or anything other than the flashing front light and not startup. I'm just thinking its dead and there's nothing else that can be done other than either replace the backplane or buy another desktop.

Thoughts.
Thank you.

Everything else (RTC battery, PSU, CPU tray) confirmed working/tested, if you press power on and then press the DIAG button, EFI_DONE must be lit. If not, you have a non-working backplane.

Could be a dead south bridge (sometimes you see a bulge over it or a crack), could be a dead SPI flash memory, could be the protection fuses on the back side, etc.

The cheapest next step is to desolder the SPI flash memory and replace it with a brand new one flashed with Mojave's MP51.fd. If the replacement SPI flash don't get you going, the problem is somewhere else and then you buy a replacement backplane.