MP 1,1-5,1 Mac Pro 5.1 crashing after updating to Catalina

[joelgg]

I recently bought a Mac Pro 5.1 (flashed from 4.1) as my 2019 Macbook pro had to be sent into apple for repairs. Once I bought the Mac Pro I wanted to update the OS to Catalina so I could transfer all of my files over easily. I understand that I had to upgrade my Graphics before I could run everything smoothly, So I upgraded the graphics card to Radeon RX 580 and also added a NVMe SSD. I downloaded Catalina from dosdude1 and everything seemed to be running smoothly, but then after a day or two it started crashing randomly - usually after booting up. The crash would restart the system and then give me a blank screen, which meant that I had to turn it off manually to start it up again.

Also, there's a red light that stays on constantly (see attachment). Has that got anything to do with it?

Specs are - 2 x 3.06 GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon and 64GB ram.

 

[Flocarino]

Make sure you install the latest dosdude Catalina Patcher, version: 1.4.3 and then gat a copy of 10.15.4 FULL INSTALL....it solved the problem for me.

 

[joelgg]

Make sure you install the latest dosdude Catalina Patcher, version: 1.4.3 and then gat a copy of 10.15.4 FULL INSTALL....it solved the problem for me.

I'm already running 10.15.4

When I first downloaded dosdude It was an earlier version and it was still happening.

 

[Macsonic]

The red light could be related to your problem as there should be no red light at all times. Not sure what the exact problem is, the red light could be a hardware problem like the northbridge, defective ram or the GPU.

 

[joelgg]

The red light could be related to your problem as there should be no red light at all times. Not sure what the exact problem is, the red light could be a hardware problem like the northbridge, defective ram or the GPU.

You're right, there's a problem with Northbridge. What do you recommend I do?

 

[tsialex]

Look, MP5,1 is a eleven year old platform, it's very difficult that a problem happening to you didn't happened in the past and it's not linked on one of the sticky threads. The first thing is to look at the sticky threads, you almost certainly will find an extensive thread about your problem:

-- How to fix the Northbridge heat sink revet --
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...dge-heat-sink-on-2009-mac-pro-2x2-26.1637891/

 

[Macsonic]

You're right, there's a problem with Northbridge. What do you recommend I do?

Tsialex provided the correct link on fixing the Northbridge. Usually you need to gently remove the Northbridge heatsink, apply a new thermal paste and a new rivet screw. Check the link tsialex gave and here’s a video on repairing the Northbridge.

 

[joelgg]

Thanks for your help guys, I'll check that out.

 

[Flocarino]

Thanks for your help guys, I'll check that out.

Here is a new video on repasting, more detailed. Good Luck.

 

[MIKX]

I replaced my 4,1>5,1 PSU fan with a Noctua NF A12x25 unit. Also, the existing "rubber locking grommets" CAN be removed safely by stretching them from BOTH ends with needle nose pliers and slowly, carefully moving them back through the grommet holes. ( I have removed 4 or 5 from old cMP 2,1 fans without damage.

Noctua NF-A12x25 PSU fan for 4,1 & 5,1 cMP

Today I did a test install of the Noctua NFaA12x25 120mm fan for my 4,1>5,1's PSU. The fan comes with a "low noise / LOWER RPM" adapter cable connected to the original PSU fan socket on the motherboard, NOTE 1 : I had to shave off one of this cable's 'raised locater guides" to allow the Nocuta...

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