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Long boot times on flashed 4,1& more.

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databaze

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 21, 2011
53
8
Hi, its me again with another issue.
I got a 4,1 flashed to 5,1 with 2x 6 core 3.46Hgz CPUs, 128 gb of 1333 RAM & 4 x 1tb SSD, a GTX 680 4g GTX flashed as video card as well.

From the moment I press the power button, I get a 30 second delay until the chimes sounds, and then another 15 to 20 seconds until I see my desktop.

Is this a normal behavior for a flashed system? Besides this issue, I get random spikes of fan rev up for PCI and PS even when temp shows low, and since I updated to the latest El Capitan (10.11.6) I get lower Geekbench marks (under 30k when before I used to get over 31k).

I am thinking about buying a 2010 5,1 system (not flashed) with same CPUs and I have enough ram to get to 128 on that one too and test side by side to see if this is just due to the upgraded 4,1 or this machine in particular.

What do you guys think?
 
databaze said:
Hi, its me again with another issue.
I got a 4,1 flashed to 5,1 with 2x 6 core 3.46Hgz CPUs, 128 gb of 1333 RAM & 4 x 1tb SSD, a GTX 680 4g GTX flashed as video card as well.

From the moment I press the power button, I get a 30 second delay until the chimes sounds, and then another 15 to 20 seconds until I see my desktop.

Is this a normal behavior for a flashed system? Besides this issue, I get random spikes of fan rev up for PCI and PS even when temp shows low, and since I updated to the latest El Capitan (10.11.6) I get lower Geekbench marks (under 30k when before I used to get over 31k).

I am thinking about buying a 2010 5,1 system (not flashed) with same CPUs and I have enough ram to get to 128 on that one too and test side by side to see if this is just due to the upgraded 4,1 or this machine in particular.

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

I never had long boot times on my mac pros until i added pci-e ssd's into the pci slot, now it can take anywhere from 5-10 seconds before i hear the chime. I'm guessing that adding pci-e slot adapters slows the boot down in order to recognize it all. Try removing all your pci slot adapters and give it a test.
 
30 seconds before chimes sounds like your mac is doing a hardware check before booting, certainly isnt normal. Have a look at console to see if there are any error messages upon shutdown and try reseating your hardware.
 
raymanster said:
Try a PRAM reset?
Click to expand...
DId that, no difference.
[doublepost=1471963353][/doublepost]
doobydoooby said:
30 seconds before chimes sounds like your mac is doing a hardware check before booting, certainly isnt normal. Have a look at console to see if there are any error messages upon shutdown and try reseating your hardware.
Click to expand...

Could this be related to the flashed 4,1? if not, and since I am not really verse in Console logs, what should I be looking for?

I do have a Apple Hardware Test USB boot I could run and see if I get any errors. it is very odd.
[doublepost=1471963419][/doublepost]
buster84 said:
I never had long boot times on my mac pros until i added pci-e ssd's into the pci slot, now it can take anywhere from 5-10 seconds before i hear the chime. I'm guessing that adding pci-e slot adapters slows the boot down in order to recognize it all. Try removing all your pci slot adapters and give it a test.
Click to expand...
The only thing I had @ PCIe was a gtx 680 and I even change it back for the stock 512 card that comes with the mac. Nothing else is plugged into it.
 
Did you once select a Boot Camp volume as start volume? This made that 30 seconds delay effect on my cMP. A PRAM reset solved it.
 
Synchro3 said:
Did you once select a Boot Camp volume as start volume? This made that 30 seconds delay effect on my cMP. A PRAM reset solved it.
Click to expand...
No, this is a clean install of EL Capitan, then applied the latest update to 10.11.6, nothing else is installed so far. I did reset the PRAM.
 
Did you connect the 4 x 1tb SSD's via an SATA-card? I'm using a FASTA-6GU3 Pro.

Before, when I used a Sonnet tempo SSD card, I had some issues.
 
128G RAM, that takes quite a few seconds to init.

Also, how do you install that 4x1TB SSD? Via any PCIe card? If yes, that will also install boot time (may be significantly if that's a PCIe SATA 3 card).
 
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h9826790 said:
128G RAM, that takes quite a few seconds to init.

Also, how do you install that 4x1TB SSD? Via any PCIe card? If yes, that will also install boot time (may be significantly if that's a PCIe SATA 3 card).
Click to expand...
I just used the NewerTech Adaptadrive and insert them as normal HD's.

I'll swap the RAM with some slower 64gb I have to see what happens when I get home tonight, I will also run the Apple Hardware Test boot usb I have to check that no parts are faulty.

Will report tonight but of course welcome more ideas.

As far as getting an original 5,1, are there any recommendations as far as where to buy them?

I got this one on craigslist and I am not making that mistake again, ebay sellers that offer warranty often do not place photos of actual item and are also a little overpriced but I guess there are not many options. macofalltrades has no available 3.46 12 cores, if not i would buy it since they have a 90 day warranty and ibuildmacs are a little overpriced with a 30 day warranty(or was it the other way around?) Anyway, all ideas are welcome!
Thanks guys.
 
databaze said:
I just used the NewerTech Adaptadrive and insert them as normal HD's.

I'll swap the RAM with some slower 64gb I have to see what happens when I get home tonight, I will also run the Apple Hardware Test boot usb I have to check that no parts are faulty.

Will report tonight but of course welcome more ideas.

As far as getting an original 5,1, are there any recommendations as far as where to buy them?

I got this one on craigslist and I am not making that mistake again, ebay sellers that offer warranty often do not place photos of actual item and are also a little overpriced but I guess there are not many options. macofalltrades has no available 3.46 12 cores, if not i would buy it since they have a 90 day warranty and ibuildmacs are a little overpriced with a 30 day warranty(or was it the other way around?) Anyway, all ideas are welcome!
Thanks guys.
Click to expand...

If you already have a twelve core 2009 your wasting your money buying another. Outside of the cpu tray and firmware the computers are practically identical.

Take out everything all hard drives except the boot drive as well as 4 ram stocks leaving two ram slots per cpu.

What speed is your ram? There are a lot of reasons for a boot up chime and most of the time it's because of the extras that got installed. This why its best to limit the hardware during testing and make sure nothing is plugged into the USB ports. Anytime the computer searches for hardware it takes longer to post
 
buster84 said:
If you already have a twelve core 2009 your wasting your money buying another. Outside of the cpu tray and firmware the computers are practically identical.

Take out everything all hard drives except the boot drive as well as 4 ram stocks leaving two ram slots per cpu.

What speed is your ram? There are a lot of reasons for a boot up chime and most of the time it's because of the extras that got installed. This why its best to limit the hardware during testing and make sure nothing is plugged into the USB ports. Anytime the computer searches for hardware it takes longer to post
Click to expand...


RAM is 1333, I have 4 SSD's and other than the keyboard nothing else is plugged into USB. It does not even have an optical drive installed. That is what worries me, I will swap ram tonight and test again, see what happens.

I had to re-apply thermal paste on CPUA due to temp being too high and now I got CPU A cooler than B, which is also weird. This system has been put together by a scammer, that is the only reason I wanted to get anotherone done by a reputable place and test side by side. If this is going to be causing issues, I will just decommission it and start changing all parts little by little until I get a whole new system build as a backup (CPUs of course cannot be new)

Thanks for the input, I appreciate all the help and tips you guys provide!
 
Intel Macs power on and do the POST (power on self test). The bootup chime indicates when the test is over. POST takes longer if there is more hardware to check. Some types of hardware, like lots of memory, take much longer.

If something failed POST, you either hear beeps or diagnostic LEDs are illuminated. I wouldn't worry about the duration, I would only worry about bad results (beeps or LEDs).

If you hear the chime and there are no beeps and no LED warnings, you've passed the POST.
 
databaze said:
RAM is 1333, I have 4 SSD's and other than the keyboard nothing else is plugged into USB. It does not even have an optical drive installed. That is what worries me, I will swap ram tonight and test again, see what happens.

I had to re-apply thermal paste on CPUA due to temp being too high and now I got CPU A cooler than B, which is also weird. This system has been put together by a scammer, that is the only reason I wanted to get anotherone done by a reputable place and test side by side. If this is going to be causing issues, I will just decommission it and start changing all parts little by little until I get a whole new system build as a backup (CPUs of course cannot be new)

Thanks for the input, I appreciate all the help and tips you guys provide!
Click to expand...

I remember your other problems I also posted in that thread lol. Honestly, it could be that one of your heat sync acres need another 1/8 to 1/16th of a turn to fix the problem. I remember when I did my upgrade I had a slow post as well and a few turns fixed that for me but I also have the heat spreaders so I knew that I needed to adjust it more, it's also possible that you need a tad bit more artic silver.

Either way I really wouldn't worry much. As long as it's posting that means it's passed all the hardware tests and your computer is running good.

Since you said that you don't think you added enough artic silver I'd suggest taking the heat syncs off reapplying and seeing if that fixes any issues you might have.

Btw did you ever throw throw those other cheap Mac eBay processors into your old board to see if it still works?
 
buster84 said:
I remember your other problems I also posted in that thread lol. Honestly, it could be that one of your heat sync acres need another 1/8 to 1/16th of a turn to fix the problem. I remember when I did my upgrade I had a slow post as well and a few turns fixed that for me but I also have the heat spreaders so I knew that I needed to adjust it more, it's also possible that you need a tad bit more artic silver.

Either way I really wouldn't worry much. As long as it's posting that means it's passed all the hardware tests and your computer is running good.

Since you said that you don't think you added enough artic silver I'd suggest taking the heat syncs off reapplying and seeing if that fixes any issues you might have.

Btw did you ever throw throw those other cheap Mac eBay processors into your old board to see if it still works?
Click to expand...


Yup! That would be me alright! Hehe, so the issue with slow post is amount of ram, if i leave 32gb it posts really fast and with 16 even faster, hardware test showed no issues, but geekbench still shows 29k instead of the previous 31+ i was getting.

Now im about to install Yosemite to see if it works better, I know Mavericks was faster, El Capitan seems to be a little too bloated with the latest update.

Will install, test and report.
 
pastrychef said:
The more RAM you have, the longer it will take to post.
Click to expand...
I would guess it would be the other way around logically, more power, more RAM, less wait time, but then again, testing all that hardware every time you turn the computer on, of course it would take more time, same if you have RAID, etc.
I guess the way Macs are designed they need to know everything is alright before starting up...
 
databaze said:
Yup! That would be me alright! Hehe, so the issue with slow post is amount of ram, if i leave 32gb it posts really fast and with 16 even faster, hardware test showed no issues, but geekbench still shows 29k instead of the previous 31+ i was getting.

Now im about to install Yosemite to see if it works better, I know Mavericks was faster, El Capitan seems to be a little too bloated with the latest update.

Will install, test and report.
Click to expand...

GeekBench is just a basic reference, Time Machine backup, indexing, any other background process can easily take a cores out. So, IMO, for a 12 cores machine, anything around 30k (including 29K) is within normal error. Also, 128G RAM means you use all 8 slots, the core will be a little bit lower.
 
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