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Early 2009 Single Processor to Dual Processor

S

sunman

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 9, 2014
6
0
I searched the forums and could not find any definite answers on this. I currently have a 4,1 early 2009 single processor MACPRO. I purchased the following items to upgrade to a dual processor MACPRO. Call me nuts but enjoy the challenge.

1. Dual Processor Tray
2. Dual SIX core processors
3. 1333 MHZ MACPRO Compatable Memory
4. Heat Sinks for both Processors.
5. New ATI Video Card for MAC.

I already installed the video card and upgraded the firmware with the standard 5,1 netkas hack. Will the upgrade above work? I am waiting on heat sinks tomorrow.
 
I've done something similar, and as long as you purchased the 4,1 processor tray, you're all set. I swapped a few CPU's and trays at the place I work, but they were all between 4,1. It always worked.
 
sunman said:
I searched the forums and could not find any definite answers on this. I currently have a 4,1 early 2009 single processor MACPRO. I purchased the following items to upgrade to a dual processor MACPRO. Call me nuts but enjoy the challenge.

1. Dual Processor Tray
2. Dual SIX core processors
3. 1333 MHZ MACPRO Compatable Memory
4. Heat Sinks for both Processors.
5. New ATI Video Card for MAC.

I already installed the video card and upgraded the firmware with the standard 5,1 netkas hack. Will the upgrade above work? I am waiting on heat sinks tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Doubt that dual tray is updated to the new firmware unless it is a 2010 model. If the 2009 model you will need to get some processors that are supported for that model then do a firmware rescue/restore then flash to the 5,1 firmware to enable the support for the new processors. The SMC firmware has to match on both the tray and the system board to work correctly which it will not if you have bought a 2009 dual tray that is not flashed.

http://support.apple.com/kb/dl976

Edit: Now I think more you can just downgrade the firmware with the single tray no rescue needed still will need processor(s) to flash the dual tray though.
 
Does getting the processor tray also entail getting the 2 heatsinks that go with it as well?
 
Yes you do require new heatsinks. The single processor uses one large heat sink. The dual processors use 2 smaller heat sinks.

So what you are saying is I may have to get two stock original processors from a 2009 Mac Pro line up to complete the transaction?
 
Work out how much you can sell your current system for and now much used dual CPU 2009 and 2010 models cost before you do this.
 
MacUser2525 said:
Doubt that dual tray is updated to the new firmware unless it is a 2010 model ... The SMC firmware has to match on both the tray and the system board to work correctly which it will not if you have bought a 2009 dual tray that is not flashed.
Click to expand...
As far as I know, you can't flash the SMC on the 4,1/5,1 MP as indicated here since no SMC updates were ever provided by Apple. That's why you have to use the 2009 processor tray to match the 2009 back plane (or system) board. Also the processor tray only contains the SMC, but no EFI Boot ROM as you seemed to imply. Instead the back plane board has both the EFI Boot ROM and SMC firmware.

If the OP got the matching parts already, it would work just not very cost-effective as pointed out by Umbongo.
 
xcodeSyn said:
As far as I know, you can't flash the SMC on the 4,1/5,1 MP as indicated here since no SMC updates were ever provided by Apple. That's why you have to use the 2009 processor tray to match the 2009 back plane (or system) board. Also the processor tray only contains the SMC, but no EFI Boot ROM as you seemed to imply. Instead the back plane board has both the EFI Boot ROM and SMC firmware.

If the OP got the matching parts already, it would work just not very cost-effective as pointed out by Umbongo.
Click to expand...

Don't know what your looking at when I check mine under Hardware of the system information it clearly states.

Code: 
 Boot ROM Version:	MP51.007F.B03
  SMC Version (system):	1.39f5
  SMC Version (processor tray):	1.39f5

You see that tray firmware so it is flashed at the time of upgrading as that is not what was there when I did it originally. It had the Mac Pro 4,1 firmware listed for all that. I'm not implying nothing but telling the OP that if the firmware does not match then he is going to have problems getting it done.
 
MacUser2525 said:
Don't know what your looking at when I check mine under Hardware of the system information it clearly states.

Code: 
 Boot ROM Version:	MP51.007F.B03
  SMC Version (system):	1.39f5
  SMC Version (processor tray):	1.39f5

You see that tray firmware so it is flashed at the time of upgrading as that is not what was there when I did it originally. It had the Mac Pro 4,1 firmware listed for all that.
Click to expand...
The processor tray SMC firmware never changed when you updated the EFI Boot ROM from 4,1 to 5,1, and stayed the same as 1.39f5. Just take a look at this post, a real 5,1 MP has the SMC version of 1.39f11, not 1.39f5. If you actually know how to flash the SMC version from 1.39f5 to 1.39f11 or vice versa, please share with us because it means we can interchange the 2009 and 2010/2012 processor trays without compatibility issues.

Edit: Just to clarify, Apple seems to define firmware as both EFI Boot ROM and SMC, but only EFI Boot ROM can be updated for MP 4,1, not the SMC part.
 
Last edited:
To all the naysayers:

I just successfully completed my upgrade to dual processors from a single processor. Perhaps the SMC has some validity but I cannot confirm this since the dual processor tray I ordered was from a 2009 MACPRO dual processor system. I went from a single quad processor to dual 6 core 2.8ghz processors. I did not want to fork over the money for 3.2 processors without first trying this out. I always upgrade later on. Screwing the heat sinks is very tricky as you can crush the pins in the socket. I used a little more than 2mm of washers.
 
Where did you purchase the tray and other components? I have a 4,1 quad single processor MP and want to convert it to a dual processor system.
 
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