Mac Pro 4,1 having problems with dual socket upgrade

[omvs]

So I decided to bite the bullet and try to upgrade my dual socket board. Got some 4mm washers (~1.8mm thick), the 2mm thermal pad, swapped in the first X5675, and system came up fine -- recognized memory in all 4 slots, thermal/fan worked on socket A.

Socket B didn't go so great. Followed the same procedure, but video never comes up (whether or not I have ram in slots 5-8). I know the cpu actually worked in a single-socket board, though I guess I can't really tell if the QPI link actually works for either of the new CPU's.
EDIT: No bong with both cpus ...

I'm hesitant to over-tighten and break the board - I can tell there's a bit of a gap between the washers and the heatsinks, but that seems to be true on socket A as well.

Any advice?

 

[shindom]

Do you get a red light by the processor B ?

When I did my upgrade, I too had an issue with the second processor, there was a red light by it. I ended up tightening the heatsink by quarter turn increment until it booted successfully.

I also started with no ram by the processor B and added the sticks only after the machine booted first.
All went well afterwards.
Did the AHT for piece of mind. Overall, fun experience

you can check this thread, if that helps: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1519370/

 

[omvs]

No red light that I saw. I see the red light at initial power for a fraction of a second, but I believe thats completely normal. Just black screen on the monitors. Fans spun up too...

Running with one CPU I get the top diag light on which I don't think happened with both, but I'd have to put the second cpu to be sure.

BTW: You can successfully run AHT? When I tried that with my single-socket board, it failed on the new firmware -- I was assuming it was getting confused by the firmware upgrade. Were you running the 2009 or 2010 AHT?

-danh

 

[h9826790]

BTW: You can successfully run AHT? When I tried that with my single-socket board, it failed on the new firmware -- I was assuming it was getting confused by the firmware upgrade. Were you running the 2009 or 2010 AHT?

The AHT works with my 4,1 (flashed 5,1). I am not 100% sure which version I used, but from memory, it was the 4,1 AHT.

 

[omvs]

The AHT works with my 4,1 (flashed 5,1). I am not 100% sure which version I used, but from memory, it was the 4,1 AHT.

Huh - good to know. When I put back the firmware my single-socket passed - maybe I'll have to try on the dual socket when I get things back into shape.

Actually, what CPU(s) do you have in yours? I just realized maybe it was the hex x5675 confusing things, though the error message didn't mean much to me, and googling didn't really help. Unfortunately didn't write it down.

 

[h9826790]

Actually, what CPU(s) do you have in yours?

I only have the single CPU Mac Pro, which is now using a W3690.

 

[omvs]

Took another crack it it. Decided maybe the QPI on one of the cpu's could be broken, so I swapped them - I assume only one of the processors uses both links. In this configuration it worked. Not sure if its because just me reseating everything, or if my theory was correct, but screw it.

Although it was unrelated, I did realize I completely bungled the thermal pad - I had mistakenly put the thicker pad on top of what I assume are the power transistors, rather than on the silver pads lower on the board. Didn't make sense to me at the time why it wasn't lining up with the edge of the heat sink -- must have not been thinking clearly due to lack of sleep.

Probably would have been bad if I had run the machine hard with the thermal pads screwed up.

 

[flowrider]

Glad it worked out for you. The 4,1 Mac Pro dual CPU swap is scary business.

Lou

 

[omvs]

Glad it worked out for you. The 4,1 Mac Pro dual CPU swap is scary business.

Agreed - its not as hard as i expected after gathering all the tips from the net, but I can still see the odds of breaking the board are significant. I'm also worried that even with the washers in place, it might not be stable enough for shipping/transit - gets going to get TLC from here on out.

The single socket or 2010+ is definitely the way to go if one has a choice.

 

[flowrider]

^^^^Yep, Changing the dual CPUs on my 5,1 was a piece of cake.

Lou