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Help! Upgrade my Mac Pro 4.1 to a 5.1

G

GameFreak348

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 28, 2014
152
0
Ok i tried to upgrade my Mac Pro 4.1 to a 5.1 by using the firmware hack and CPU upgrade.

Dual Xeon E5520 2.26 Ghz to Dual Xeon X5650 2.66 Ghz
6GB DDR3 1066Mhz
NVIDIA GT 120

i did everything this guy did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAdgT-hJuXU

Now. Everything is installed. I power the device on then I can see 1 red LED blinking for a extremely short time as soon as I power it on. The machine works but I dont hear a startup chime and im stuck with a blackscreen. This happens If I dont really turn the "screws" hard. If i turn it hard I can see a constant Red LED from the same spot its not blinking, it stays on and doesnt do anything and also the Fan gets on max speed

I searched so much and was so careful, please help me!
 
btw that blinking LED is on the right side of the board, on top of the 4th Ram Sloth under the CPU cooler
 
You've probably killed your Mac, but just for the sake of determining cause of death (and maybe it's not completely dead), which red LED specifically is it? I believe there are several on the motherboard and they all indicate different things.
 
GameFreak348 said:
Ok i tried to upgrade my Mac Pro 4.1 to a 5.1 by using the firmware hack and CPU upgrade.

Dual Xeon E5520 2.26 Ghz to Dual Xeon X5650 2.66 Ghz
6GB DDR3 1066Mhz
NVIDIA GT 120

i did everything this guy did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAdgT-hJuXU

Now. Everything is installed. I power the device on then I can see 1 red LED blinking for a extremely short time as soon as I power it on. The machine works but I dont hear a startup chime and im stuck with a blackscreen. This happens If I dont really turn the "screws" hard. If i turn it hard I can see a constant Red LED from the same spot its not blinking, it stays on and doesnt do anything and also the Fan gets on max speed

I searched so much and was so careful, please help me!
Click to expand...

It could be the heat sensor under the heatsink is not properly seated and you will get a red LED warning light and your machine will not boot. To verify that your CPU tray still works fine, try to reinstall your old 2.26 cpus. Make sure to apply new thermal paste. If your Mac Pro boots fine using your old 2.26 cpus then your tray is good. You may try reading this article HERE

You may also try to read thru this thread for other information https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=19120575&bxs#post19120575

Good Luck and hope you get to upgrade your cpus.
 
i cringed so hard when i read tighten screws hard...if you weren't using washers you almost certainly killed your mac pro
 
I swapped in the Old CPUs, same result. It blinks for 1 sec and the fans go full speed for 1 sec and thats it. I can still hear the machine working

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbbUpLPm94c&feature=youtu.be

a125fb675ac0433df725a427a8a62946.img


I can't believe its not working I did everything carefully.

Click to view where it exactly is
 
You most likely bent some pins in CPU A socket (or in both). If they didn't short-out, there's a chance to rescue the board.
 
Things to do.

1. Check the diagnostic LEDs. There will be a cluster of 9 LEDs on the logic board. Check which of these are illuminated with the machine powered on. Once you've checked them, press the diag_LED button on the logic board and see which of them are on now (1,2,7,8,9 require you to press the button). Details of what the LEDs mean are below, if you post which lights are on we can help diagnose further.

2. Check everything is seated correctly. Reseat everything - all cables, connectors and daughterboards.

3. Remove the CPUs and check all CPUs and the sockets on the logic board for damage.

4. Try running the machine with the RAM removed. Does it beep? If not, then it's likely you've corrupted the firmware on the machine.

LED meanings:

1: Should be off, indicates that the machine is sleeping.
2: Will be yellow if the machine is getting trickle power.
3: Will be red if there is a fault with CPU B
4: Will be red if there is a fault with CPU A
5: Will be red if CPU B is overheating
6: Will be red if CPU A is overheating
7: Will be green if a GPU has been detected
8: Will be green if all power rails are supplying the correct voltage
9: Will be green once the firmware has finished loading
 
Ok i swapped all the ram out and tried to boot, no beep, just the right led flashing for 1 sec.

I tried to find the diag_Led and I found it, but if i press on it nothing happens even with power on and everything.

I just found out where the red light directly comes from :
The top one, its directly behind the 4th ram slot

http://img5.fotos-hochladen.net/uploads/img48130vgnpkxa85.jpg
 
If you have no diagnostics LEDs at all then I'm afraid to say you've pretty much killed the logic board.

I don't know if there are any companies who can reflash them, other than that the only real option is to replace the board.
 
i cant believe i broke the board, nothing is bent i checked everything. Im kinda starting to give up, but does no one know what the blinking LED means?
 
Most likely it means nothing. The Apple technician guide said:

Note: The status LED lights up when the power button is depressed at startup. Do not count this light as one of the diagnostic flashes. The memory processor board diagnostic LEDs will also flash briefly when the computer is started up or shut down and when it goes in and out of sleep mode. This is normal behavior.

Note: When connecting the Mac Pro to AC power, verify that the LEDs for OVTMP CPUA and OVTMP CPUB briefly flash red (less than 0.5 sec). The LEDs are located under hard drive bay 1 on the backplane board. If they do not illuminate briefly, there is an issue with either the power supply or the backplane board. Generally speaking, power supplies, because of their nature, can be affected by issues more than other modules. If you suspect a power supply has failed,verify it in another Mac Pro (Early 2009), if available, before replacing any modules.

Note: The OVTMP CPUA and OVTMP CPUB LEDs on a properly functioning Mac Pro will also momentarily flash red immediately after the Mac Pro is disconnected from AC power.

All these explain the flash LED, and it just means the machine is normal.
 
well thats strange, now i have this blinking power light thing. And as I read it has to do something about RAM.
 
RoastingPig said:
i cringed so hard when i read tighten screws hard...if you weren't using washers you almost certainly killed your mac pro
Click to expand...

Pretty much how I felt reading that also. Washers help but hard turns and 4,1 do not make a cheap fix. I learnt that the first time years ago and it cost me a single processor board, a dual costs much more.

I do the first few turns relatively quickly then it's almost down to gentle 'hours in the day' turns until spectrum is green!
 
Ok my Power light isnt blinking anymore after taking out all the amd and putting 1x 1GB 1066Mhz Stick in ram slot 8, but still blackscreen and no startup chime.

The Processors arent too tight, there are also no bends. I just leave it when it starts to becoming hard
 
lol. I swapped the GT 120 to a GTX 650 and a 770, nothing. I really dont get it, all the fans are running at normal speed and it sounds like it works normally but im stuck with a blackscreen and no startup chime. Also some guy said something about diag_LED, I think mine is where the gpu is but when i press it nothing happens
 
With no LED, fans on (normal speed), but no start up chime.

The 1st thing to try now may be SMC reset. Even though I don't think it can fix the problem if that's related to the CPU swap. However, it cost nothing and worth to try.
 
Last edited:
Hello,



Im the guy btw who made the "Help! Upgrade my Mac Pro 4.1 to a 5.1" Thread on Macrumors.



I replacd everything and i tighted up the screws till the limit.



2 New LED Lights:



Behind the CPU A but I cant see it:



http://img5.fotos-hochladen.net/uploads/img4816sb79xht83i.jpg



When I turn the machine down I get another Red light which is on even tho i turn the mac off, the light is only gone when i plug out the power cable



http://img5.fotos-hochladen.net/uploads/img4817wiz1j8dfps.jpg





Coming from here:



http://img5.fotos-hochladen.net/uploads/img4818ntp92h4c3z.jpg



Close look:



http://img5.fotos-hochladen.net/uploads/img4820t03cv9mxfy.png



The light is from "R1531"
 
That LED's meaning is next to it (OVTMP CPUB: CPU B over temperature).

So, it may means the heatsink is not properly installed for the CPU B.
 
Im not gonna sell it, I will buy a new Board if needed.

Ok i replaced CPU B once again and something new happened, the light blinking for 1 sec at the startup of the mac behind the 4th ram slot( look at my posts above to know which one i mean) is not blinking anymore. The light on it is on and fans go full speeed

----------

omg this machine is so funny, I made the screws a bit loose on the CPU B.
Now there is a red light on the whole time behind CPU A, Behind the Rams.
 
GameFreak348 said:
Ok my Power light isnt blinking anymore after taking out all the amd and putting 1x 1GB 1066Mhz Stick in ram slot 8, but still blackscreen and no startup chime.
Click to expand...

you sure it'll boot with a single DIMM? Have never tried it personally as I always thought you needed minimum of two in slots 1 and 2?
 
GameFreak348 said:
The light on it is on and fans go full speeed.
Click to expand...

This LED means CPU B is missing or processor hot. In your case, most likely means CPU missing, since you just start the computer.

GameFreak348 said:
Now there is a red light on the whole time behind CPU A, Behind the Rams.
Click to expand...

There is a LED at that location indicate CPU A is missing or processor hot.

So, if this one is always one. That means the CPU A may be never properly seated.
 
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