MP 1,1-5,1 How can I tell if my Mac Pro is a 5,1 or 4,1?

[Dashingsuper]

I have been on and off working on my cMP that I picked up recently and I have found that the sata drive bays are dead, I can tell because I can take a cd drive out and plug the hard drive in there and it works fine so it's not the drive it's the 4 on board sata ports, based on the block diagrams that I have seen if I had to guess there is an issue with the SATA/SAS Mux, since the hard drive works fine in the cd/dvd drive plug and it bypasses the "sata/sas mux". Since I have to probably replace the backplane board, I need to be able to tell which one I have, what are some ways I can tell if it is a 5,1 or 4,1 I am pretty sure it is a 5,1 but don't want to buy a board to find out I am wrong. The number in the bottom left of the board is 820-2337-A but it seems that part number is identical to the 4,1 and 5,1 boards I find being sold online. Any help would be appreciated I can give more information on the board or what the OS says if needed.

 

[tommy chen]

the MLB suffixes below show the model year of the backplane:

• 1LTB are 2009 backplanes made in 2009 for MP4,1, very early ones.
• 1LTC are 2009 backplanes made in 2009 for MP4,1.
• BH7A are 2009 backplanes made in 2010 for MP4,1.
• BH9A are 2010/2012 backplanes made after mid-2010 for MP5,1 and before 17-digit serial change.

©tsialex

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macpro-5-1-power-issue.2231091/?post=28483114#post-28483114

 

[majus]

Lookup Mac Specs By Serial Number, Order, Model & EMC Number, Model ID @ EveryMac.com

EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Lookup - lookup Apple Mac, iPod, iPhone and iPad specs by serial number, order number, model number, model ID, EMC number and more.

everymac.com

Go to that page and enter the serial number and it will give you much of the info you need.

 

[Macschrauber]

Lookup Mac Specs By Serial Number, Order, Model & EMC Number, Model ID @ EveryMac.com

EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Lookup - lookup Apple Mac, iPod, iPhone and iPad specs by serial number, order number, model number, model ID, EMC number and more.

everymac.com

Go to that page and enter the serial number and it will give you much of the info you need.

if the case was not swapped, I got burned...

 

[tsialex]

the MLB suffixes below show the model year of the backplane:

• 1LTB are 2009 backplanes made in 2009 for MP4,1, very early ones.
• 1LTC are 2009 backplanes made in 2009 for MP4,1.
• BH7A are 2009 backplanes made in 2010 for MP4,1.
• BH9A are 2010/2012 backplanes made after mid-2010 for MP5,1 and before 17-digit serial change.

Attribution is a good practice, post the source where you copied the info you posted and not just paste it - I've spent a lot of time to compile all these infos.

MacPro 5.1 power issue

Serial number of the backplane, MLB: See my writeup for another user: Backplanes: From my spreadsheet, the MLB suffixes below show the model year of the backplane: 1LTB are 2009 backplanes made in 2009 for MP4,1, very early ones. 1LTC are 2009 backplanes made in 2009 for MP4,1. BH7A are...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Dashingsuper]

if the case was not swapped, I got burned...

I am fairly certain it did not get case swapped but I will check besides the serial number with it, the spec for the serial number matches everything else of the internals.

Attribution is a good practice, post the source where you copied the info you posted and not just paste it - I've spent a lot of time to compile all these infos.

MacPro 5.1 power issue

Serial number of the backplane, MLB: See my writeup for another user: Backplanes: From my spreadsheet, the MLB suffixes below show the model year of the backplane: 1LTB are 2009 backplanes made in 2009 for MP4,1, very early ones. 1LTC are 2009 backplanes made in 2009 for MP4,1. BH7A are...

forums.macrumors.com

So, since the info was originally from you, I will ask, I basically need to figure out which of those 4 boards it is and get a that same one correct, it seems that if it is a 4,1 there are 3 it could be and if it is a 5,1 there is only one.

I am fairly certain it is a 5,1 but I plan to check the MLB number when I get home to make sure.

Thank you all for the help.

 

[tsialex]

I am fairly certain it did not get case swapped but I will check besides the serial number with it, the spec for the serial number matches everything else of the internals.


So, since the info was originally from you, I will ask, I basically need to figure out which of those 4 boards it is and get a that same one correct, it seems that if it is a 4,1 there are 3 it could be and if it is a 5,1 there is only one.

I am fairly certain it is a 5,1 but I plan to check the MLB number when I get home to make sure.

Thank you all for the help.

The starting point is always to check the SMC firmware version with SystemInformation>Hardware>SMC Version (system) (please note that the text changes a little between macOS releases, but the firmware is always one or the other) to know if you have an early-2009 or a mid-2010/mid-2012:

Since the SMC version can't be changed by anyone but Apple, you will know if you have an early-2009 or a mid-2010/mid-2012 immediately, even if the seller falsified the System Serial Number.

If the SMC firmware version is 1.39f5, you can buy any of the three different suffixes for an early-2009 Mac Pro, no need to buy one with the same suffix. If it's 1.39f11, you need a mid-2010/mid-2012 backplane, don't matter each one, since the only thing that changes is the SSN (and that a mid-2012 backplane is one or two years newer than a mid-2010 one).

For any more info, please read my original post.

 

[tommy chen]

Attribution is a good practice, post the source where you copied the info you posted and not just paste it - I've spent a lot of time to compile all these infos.

MacPro 5.1 power issue

Serial number of the backplane, MLB: See my writeup for another user: Backplanes: From my spreadsheet, the MLB suffixes below show the model year of the backplane: 1LTB are 2009 backplanes made in 2009 for MP4,1, very early ones. 1LTC are 2009 backplanes made in 2009 for MP4,1. BH7A are...

forums.macrumors.com

sorry alex, i forgot - but edited the entry