MP 1,1-5,1 Mac Pro 2010 5,1 totally dead

[gugy]

Hi,
My MP 2010 5,1 went totally dead. I press the the power button and no led light or any sound.
It all started when I was using the computer normally and suddenly went off for no reason. I restarted and a few minutes later it went off again. The third time, the computer was dead.
Does anybody know what is the cause? I guess I can replace the power supply but I am wondering if anyone had this issue before and can give me some insight before Purchasing the power supply.
Thanks!

 

[electonic]

Can be any number of issues. Starting from the PSU it could also be power lanes / power control and resistors on the boards. PSU might be first guess, with it turning off and then working again ... and turning of again ... and the no power at all. So PSU is not turning on? No lights on the main boards?

 

[gugy]

Can be any number of issues. Starting from the PSU it could also be power lanes / power control and resistors on the boards. PSU might be first guess, with it turning off and then working again ... and turning of again ... and the no power at all. So PSU is not turning on? No lights on the main boards?

Nothing, the whole computer is silent and no sign of any power.

 

[Macsonic]

Nothing, the whole computer is silent and no sign of any power.

It might be the power supply going south. Years ago I had a 2006 cMac Pro, it displayed the same behavior like you experienced with your 2010 cMac Pro. First, sudden shutting down, I restarted and went out again until the computer could not be restarted anymore. The PSU was replaced and the 2006 cMac Pro went back to life.

 

[tsialex]

Nothing, the whole computer is silent and no sign of any power.

Did you checked the DIAG button on the backplane? Download the Apple Technician Guide for your Mac Pro and follow the diagnose steps.

 

[gugy]

Did you checked the DIAG button on the backplane? Download the Apple Technician Guide for your Mac Pro and follow the diagnose steps.

Ok, I'll check that. What would that do? Bring the power back or give me insight on the issue? I noticed you said to unplug from the wall and wait 24hrs might help.
Valeu, obrigado.

 

[tsialex]

Ok, I'll check that. What would that do? Bring the power back or give me insight on the issue? I noticed you said to unplug from the wall and wait 24hrs might help.
Valeu, obrigado.

Connect the mains power back and check the DIAG button. It's easier to take a movie of what LEDs will lit with your phone, some could turn on just momentarily, then go check the Apple Technician Guide.

If no LEDs turn on at all, the most probable cause is the PSU not working. Pay attention if the PSU relay works or not when you press the power button. It's very rare the power button to stop working, never happened with me, but one or two people had to replace it in the past. You can start your Mac Pro from the PCB pad contacts, see the Apple Technician Guide for instructions on how to proceed.

After that, if nothing works, take the mains power cable from the PSU for at least 24h and test again, before starting buying replacement parts.
[automerge]1590599302[/automerge]
Btw, since you are in the USA, you probably will save money buying an used single CPU 2010 Mac Pro than buying a PSU + backplane.

You can use the parts from the used Mac Pro to diagnose yours, then sell what is working and make some money on eBay, lot's of people does that.

 

[gugy]

Connect the mains power back and check the DIAG button. It's easier to take a movie of what LEDs will lit with your phone, some could turn on just momentarily, then go check the Apple Technician Guide.

If no LEDs turn on at all, the most probable cause is the PSU not working. Pay attention if the PSU relay works or not when you press the power button. It's very rare the power button to stop working, never happened with me, but one or two people had to replace it in the past. You can start your Mac Pro from the PCB pad contacts, see the Apple Technician Guide for instructions on how to proceed.

After that, if nothing works, take the mains power cable from the PSU for at least 24h and test again, before starting buying replacement parts.
[automerge]1590599302[/automerge]
Btw, since you are in the USA, you probably will save money buying an used single CPU 2010 Mac Pro than buying a PSU + backplane.

You can use the parts from the used Mac Pro to diagnose yours, then sell what is working and make some money on eBay, lot's of people does that.

I noticed when I plug the power cable, a red led flashes and when I press DIAG an amber led turns on but still the computer won't turn on. When I unplug the power cable a red led flashes. Also no sign of life on the power button.

 

[tsialex]

I noticed when I plug the power cable, a red led flashes and when I press DIAG an amber led turns on but still the computer won't turn on. When I unplug the power cable a red led flashes. Also no sign of life on the power button.

My recommendation stand, get another mid-2010/mid-2012 Mac Pro and start to test every component. It's the cheaper way to repair your Mac Pro.

You can get a early-2009 too, but just for testing the parts, you can't mix-match CPU trays and backplanes from different SMC revisions - fans will work at full RPM if you do so.

Craigslist sometimes have bargains, take a look.

 

[MIKX]

I noticed when I plug the power cable, a red led flashes .

That is normal; mine ( 100% working cMP ) does that too.

 

[AidenShaw]

What's the "use by" date on that 2010 Mac Pro?

 

[gugy]

Interestingly my Mac Pro came back to life briefly after couple days unplugged. The power was restored and I power it off to attach the monitors and keyboard. Then it would not start and die again.

A couple of days later, it came back to life again for a brief moment. Now I am wondering if this is a power supply issue instead of the backplane board since after a few days unplugged, the power is somewhat restored.
I read that the CMOS battery on the backplane board could be a cause. I have never changed that, so I might need a new one.
As I mentioned before, I see the red LED when plug/unplugging the power cable and the amber LED pressing the DIAG button. I can't see to find the root cause, reading the Apple Technician Guide.

 

[Chips Stephens]

I have been dealing with this for a few years, I found with a usb drive with led in it, Plugged into the front usb slot. the first button push will not get anything started, then a long button push to shut down, the second boot works every time, you need a usb with a light to see it, it will show first boot, and when it shuts down, the led on the Mac Pro button does not light up till second boot.


Today however, i went full shotgun to get this fixed, I replaced the back plain, the power supply, the button board, and updated the WiFi (ac) and Bluetooth to 4.2. For good measure..

Have high Serra , and Mojave working great, sleep, handoff, Apple Watch wake, all that stuff working.

With Catalina however, I have many small issues, refuses to even wake, much less unlock with my watch.
Not so hip on Catalina at this point,
I did loose windows 10 in the whole mix somehow..
it’s nice to have things working correctly for a change.
But it did cost.

 

[gugy]

I have been dealing with this for a few years, I found with a usb drive with led in it, Plugged into the front usb slot. the first button push will not get anything started, then a long button push to shut down, the second boot works every time, you need a usb with a light to see it, it will show first boot, and when it shuts down, the led on the Mac Pro button does not light up till second boot.


Today however, i went full shotgun to get this fixed, I replaced the back plain, the power supply, the button board, and updated the WiFi (ac) and Bluetooth to 4.2. For good measure..

Have high Serra , and Mojave working great, sleep, handoff, Apple Watch wake, all that stuff working.

With Catalina however, I have many small issues, refuses to even wake, much less unlock with my watch.
Not so hip on Catalina at this point,
I did loose windows 10 in the whole mix somehow..
it’s nice to have things working correctly for a change.
But it did cost.

Yeah, it was suggested above to get an old Mac Pro for many parts. I might go that route but first trying to see if can somewhat point to a specific part and try to save money. If not, I might abandon it altogether and move on. Not sure, I hope to find someone with the exact same problem that figure it out. Thanks!

 

[tsialex]

Yeah, it was suggested above to get an old Mac Pro for many parts. I might go that route but first trying to see if can somewhat point to a specific part and try to save money. If not, I might abandon it altogether and move on. Not sure, I hope to find someone with the exact same problem that figure it out. Thanks!

Buy the cheapest working Mac Pro 2009-2012 that you can find, use it to diagnose your defective one, then buy just the parts needed to repair it. Doing so, it's a lot cheaper and faster than buying every part needed to diagnose yours.

Some people test the working parts and then sell everything working on eBay, usually making some money in the process. I prefer to save the Mac Pro than part it, but it's a personal choice.

 

[Chips Stephens]

One issue to consider when using, used parts.
Capacitors especially old electro caps , are well beyond rated lifecycle in the old 5,1 Mac pros, buy the latest you can, say 2012, rather than older, or you will shortly be back at square one.

the good thing is apple used very good caps, and they hold up well, but still...
I have been going over my old power supply with my tech gear, esr levels are fine on most caps, however at rated voltage it’s another story, I have a sencore capacitor analyzer, and many are electronically leaky at rated voltage.
Caps like that turn into resistors, then have a voltage drop, that makes heat, this heat further helps to destroys the cap, and other parts around it...

May try some recapping on my old parts. The power supply is all hole trough pretty easy to deal with.
The backplane not so much..

caps are caps....and if they are Electrolytics, they will fail...

 

[MIKX]

gugy

Check your Northbridge Tdiode HEATSINK rivets.

This is also handy to know and use. Fixes a lot of Mac Pro problems.
( read the small black print first.

Shut down, remove the power cord for a couple of minutes first ! )

 

[gugy]

gugy

Check your Northbridge Tdiode HEATSINK rivets.

This is also handy to know and use. Fixes a lot of Mac Pro problems.
( read the small black print first.

Shut down, remove the power cord for a couple of minutes first ! ) View attachment 923511

Thanks, I tried the PRAM. I’ll look into the heatsinks.

 

[Jim Brooks]

Chiming in: I had this happen to me 2 years ago on a 2010 MP that I had only just purchased in August of 2018 running High Sierra. First, the machine just turned off suddenly after about 8 hours of use. It restarted right after that and then turned of again after about 2 hours. This went on for a few weeks and then it would not start up at all. Dead. Nothing. No startup led, no chime, NATA. I found that unplugging it for a few days up to 2 weeks made a difference in whether it would start or not. But then it didn't want to start after that unless unplugged for a month or more. I won't continue to bore you with the long term details, however, I changed out the battery, the power supply 2 times. I replaced the backplane just two months ago. I changed out the chip tray just last week. In all instances, it would start up for a little while, but then just shut off shortly after booting up. I've done all the tricks. PRAM, SMC, take everything out and add them back one at a time. All my back plane leds light up. Power is there. I didn't want to use my friends machine to test it in fear of screwing his up! LOL I am open to discussing an action plan with someone who seriously wants to over come this... I'll have 2 complete machines before this is all over.

 

[macguru9999]

What's the "use by" date on that 2010 Mac Pro?

Same as the B52-H around 2050

 

[MediaMix]

Me too have a dead machine now!! &%¤ What is strange is that all lights on the Logic board show that power supply is working. And when I try to jump start I can hear some relay in the power supply kicking in. And when I push the start button for 5 sec I can hear it shut down. (I have no disks, GPU or PCI fan in the computer) But I can not make it kick in by pushing the start button and there is no light in the LED and no chime. I thought it was the backplane but now I have replaced it and the problem is the same. How often are there problems with the front board and the push button?

And what is it that makes the Led light turn on? If there is some ram problem - will the led light turn on then.

 

[macguru9999]

Me too have a dead machine now!! &%¤ What is strange is that all lights on the Logic board show that power supply is working. And when I try to jump start I can hear some relay in the power supply kicking in. And when I push the start button for 5 sec I can hear it shut down. (I have no disks, GPU or PCI fan in the computer) But I can not make it kick in by pushing the start button and there is no light in the LED and no chime. I thought it was the backplane but now I have replaced it and the problem is the same. How often are there problems with the front board and the push button?

And what is it that makes the Led light turn on? If there is some ram problem - will the led light turn on then.

They can be repaired, its usually the backplane board

 

[MediaMix]

They can be repaired, its usually the backplane board

The thing is that I already have replaced the backplane because of this problem. And the new card has been tested to work by the firm that sells it. And now I have the same error with the new backplane. So then I think I have to look for the error elsewhere. The power supply seems to work, but I read somewhere that the red lights shall light up also when I disconnect the power cable. For now they only light up when I insert the cable. Can that be a symptom of something?

 

[macguru9999]

The thing is that I already have replaced the backplane because of this problem. And the new card has been tested to work by the firm that sells it. And now I have the same error with the new backplane. So then I think I have to look for the error elsewhere. The power supply seems to work, but I read somewhere that the red lights shall light up also when I disconnect the power cable. For now they only light up when I insert the cable. Can that be a symptom of something?

Your right, its not the backplane. Its a pity you dont have a spare machine to swap the cpu trays around

 

[MrScratchHook]

The thing is that I already have replaced the backplane because of this problem. And the new card has been tested to work by the firm that sells it. And now I have the same error with the new backplane. So then I think I have to look for the error elsewhere. The power supply seems to work, but I read somewhere that the red lights shall light up also when I disconnect the power cable. For now they only light up when I insert the cable. Can that be a symptom of something?

you may have to buy another stock basic 5,1 to keep around for trouble shooting thats what i did.(by the way) i also commented on your other post about 127 usb devices. lol