MP 1,1-5,1 Dead 4,1/5,1...

[CaptainJeff]

I installed the most recent security patch for 10.13 on my 4,1 (flashed to a 5,1).
Seemed to be going fine but after it was done, the system will not boot.
With power on, I get no activity at all (no video, etc).

Tried the Minimal Configuration Testing in the service guide to no avail.
Did full SMC and PRAM reset.
When I try to power it up, with all drives removed, I get the PSU PWROK and 5V STBY diag LEDs on and the EFI DONE and GPU OK both come on green as well. Tried reseating all of the DIMMs, and trying to boot with only one DIMM in there (and tried all of the DIMMs like this). No red LEDs on the processor/memory board at all.

Everything seems fine ... but no activity at all.

Any suggestions/thoughts?

 

[Dayo]

The latest round of security updates might write xml entries to your NVRAM and this can be enough to brick your machine if your NVRAM was already in a failing state.

@tsialex or @Macschrauber might be able to help you.

 

[tsialex]

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 with a wired USB keyboard?

 

[CaptainJeff]

Yes I have. Command-Option-P-R for 30sec at a time. Turn off. Turn on and repeat.
No effect. I don't get any video, chime, etc when doing so.

 

[tsialex]

You have to press CMD-Option-P-R continuously, some Mac Pros don't chime when reseting the NVRAM at all (any that had MP51.0087.B00).

A lot of keyboards don't work for this, no wireless keyboard will work.

Did you tested the GPU with another Mac Pro?

 

[CaptainJeff]

You have to press CMD-Option-P-R continuously, some Mac Pros don't chime when reseting the NVRAM at all (any that had MP51.0087.B00).

A lot of keyboards don't work for this, no wireless keyboard will work.

Did you tested the GPU with another Mac Pro?

Yep, tried holding those down for a minute-plus on each attempt too and that didn't resolve.
Plugging the original Apple USB keyboard into a back port for this effort.
Yep, GPU checks out OK on another system.

I'm very confused.

 

[tsialex]

Yep, tried holding those down for a minute-plus on each attempt too and that didn't resolve.
Plugging the original Apple USB keyboard into a back port for this effort.
Yep, GPU checks out OK on another system.

I'm very confused.

You are capable of desoldering the SPI flash memory? It's the SOIC/SOJ 8-pin SMD marked U8700, next to the PCIe AUX BOOST B connector:

 

[CaptainJeff]

You are capable of desoldering the SPI flash memory? It's the SOIC/SOJ 8-pin SMD marked U8700, next to the PCIe AUX BOOST B connector:

Probably not. Been a long time since I've desoldered anything.
Anything you think I can do without going there?

 

[tsialex]

Probably not. Been a long time since I've desoldered anything.
Anything you think I can do without going there?

I'd test the PSU/GPU/CPU tray/backplane with another Mac Pro, before buying anything. Seems your problem is more complex than just a failed SPI flash.

- What to do if during the upgrade process your Mac Pro bricked:

If during the upgrade process you bricked the BootROM, 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.
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 (manufacture rated for just 100.000 erase/write cycles) 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

 

[CaptainJeff]

Thank you for your advice.
I truly value your time and experience.

I just ordered a new backplane board off eBay.
I'll see if that resolves these issues.

 

[tsialex]

Thank you for your advice.
I truly value your time and experience.

I just ordered a new backplane board off eBay.
I'll see if that resolves these issues.

If you are in the continental US, it's the cheapest and fastest option for someone that can't desolder SMD.

Btw, if the replacement backplane was not cross-flashed to MP5,1 EFI yet, you need to use a W35xx/E55xx/L55xx/X55xx Xeon on your CPU tray until you cross-flash it again.

An early-2009 backplane still with the original MP4,1 EFI will not boot with a W36xx/E56xx/L56xx/X56xx Xeon.

 

[CaptainJeff]

If you are in the continental US, it's the cheapest and fastest option for someone that can't desolder SMD.

Btw, if the replacement backplane was not cross-flashed to MP5,1 EFI yet, you need to use a W35xx/E55xx/L55xx/X55xx Xeon on your CPU tray until you cross-flash it again.

An early-2009 backplane still with the original MP4,1 EFI will not boot with a W36xx/E56xx/L56xx/X56xx Xeon.

Thanks. I checked that and bought one that was flashed to 5,1.
Hopefully this will resolve.
Appreciate the help and guidance!