Mac Pro 5.1 no chime black screen

[Oder]

Two days ago was using the Mac Pro (5.1) and suddenly the sound started looping and glitching and also screen glitched followed by a kind of grey screen with some lines, then rebooted and nothing, no chime sound and black screen. I took it to a repair store but it just stayed there for 2 days no diagnostic was given as after the 2 days they said computer is obsolete and that they were afraid to try to repair.. when i made a call before telling what computer it was, well..

Any suggestions what this might be? I assume its not power supply as the computer turns on and all fans including gpu spin normally.

I think its just the gpu hopefully but maybe logic board.. is there any way to find this? My logic board doesnt show any led on while powered just lights one red led when turning the machine on, is this normal or means the logic board died?

Thank you in advance.

 

[ldfa]

Hello

Check the diagnostic LEDs on the logic board.

 

[orph]

well if data is important back up your drives with a second computer.

what gpu is it?
do you have a second one to try?

 

[kohlson]

These symptoms are similar to what happened recently to a friend's 2010 cMP. It turned out to be a no-longer-functional 5770. I loaned him a GT120 - he's on 10.12 - until a new 580 came in. I think the only way to diagnose this is to put in another GPU and see if that works.

 

[Oder]

Hello, thank you all for the help really appreciated! Came to the conclusion that have a bad GPU and failed boot on main SSD, so two problems at once it seems. After all, the chime is working really really low in volume cause when it crashed i turned volume down. When GPU removed one chime is given, when adding back GPU chime stays in loop.

It was hard to find a compatible card in my country but found Saphire Radeon RX 550 4GB and im picking it up tomorrow, read somewhere that need to have Sierra at least for the drivers to work.

Hello
Check the diagnostic LEDs on the logic board.

From the diagnostic leds everything seems fine on the motherboard, but my knowledge is small in this area.

well if data is important back up your drives with a second computer.
what gpu is it?
do you have a second one to try?

Backup made and also tried to boot from the MacPro SSD with a MacBookPro and drive didn't boot, when repairing said: "first aid process has failed... if possible back up the data on this volume."

The GPU that i have/had is ATI Radeon 5770 1GB, the one that came with my MacPro. Unfortunately i don't have any other card around to try so i have to purchase and hope for the best!

These symptoms are similar to what happened recently to a friend's 2010 cMP. It turned out to be a no-longer-functional 5770. I loaned him a GT120 - he's on 10.12 - until a new 580 came in. I think the only way to diagnose this is to put in another GPU and see if that works.

Same problem here, im almost sure. Plus my SSD drive is corrupted as it does not start on another system pressing "alt".


The next problem i'm now facing (if everything goes right with new GPU) is: i was on El Capitan and to have this new GPU got to install Sierra how can i restore all my files/desktop/apps/images and mainly my AU Plugins to the new drive?
I just make backups with CarbonCopyCloner maybe there is a better solution? Do i really need to install all my apps and plugins again and drag everything manually? If so it will take ages, please let me know! What a week......!

 

[Oder]

Update: bought Saphire Radeon RX 550, computer chimes with new GPU but stays black, no image at all, how to make this card work? thought this would work straight from the box.. frustration levels are deep.

 

[tsialex]

Update: bought Saphire Radeon RX 550, computer chimes with new GPU but stays black, no image at all, how to make this card work? thought this would work straight from the box.. frustration levels are deep.

Any RX-460/560/480/580 only shows image after the drives are loaded. Do you have another Mac to install at least 10.12 into another disk? If so, do it, install into your Mac Pro, remove any other drives, and check if the card works now.

 

[skizzo]

the RX550 is not EFI, so no boot screen. That is a difference from the OEM 5770. I am not sure if the RX550 has as high of a success rate as compared to the 560, 570 or 580 for example. Either one of those models would have been a more compatible OOTB choice

Try going into your recovery partition at startup. hold CMD + R at startup

If it works, from there you should be able to install the OS version you want and/or need as well as migrating files/apps from an older or different drive. I'd recommend going to HS 10.13.6 unless there is some specific reason you need to be on an older OS. If your drive is corrupted and no way of doing this then hopefully you have access to another Mac and can make a bootable USB installer. With said installer, you could then install the OS on a drive you wish to boot from. Sounds like you may have waited until you had issues prior to making a clone too. Going forward always make backups, don't wait for disaster to strike. You may find that even after a successful clone you still have any issues on the clone drive, in your specific case, it isn't bootable.

As a FYI it's always a good idea to have an EFI capable GPU around even if it is not something you use on any regular basis. It makes for troubleshooting issues like this much easier. A cheaper GPU like a GT120 (the stock GPU from 2009 cMP models) would be the best and cheapest choice for that.

 

[Oder]

Made a bootable drive and placed it on the MacPro, how is possible to have the macOS installed and not just a bootable/installer?

 

[tsialex]

Made a bootable drive and placed it on the MacPro, how is possible to have the macOS installed and not just a bootable/installer?

Without an EFI card, you have to erase the drive that you want to install before installing into the Mac Pro.

1. Remove all drives from the Mac Pro,
2. Install just the one that you want to install macOS on it, erased previously with another Mac/PC,
3. Put the createinstallmedia USB installer into the Mac Pro,
4. Power on the Mac Pro, it will boot from the USB installer.

Note: only 10.12.6, 10.13.x and 10.14.x have RX-4xx/5xx drivers.

 

[Oder]

Without an EFI card, you have to erase the drive that you want to install before installing into the Mac Pro.

1. Remove all drives from the Mac Pro,
2. Install just the one that you want to install macOS on it, erased previously with another Mac/PC,
3. Put the createinstallmedia USB installer into the Mac Pro,
4. Power on the Mac Pro, it will boot from the USB installer.

Note: only 10.12.6, 10.13.x and 10.14.x have RX-4xx/5xx drivers.

Screen stays black with a bootable USB with Sierra 12.6.03, any tips?

Thank you for the knowledge.

 

[tsialex]

Screen stays black with a bootable USB with Sierra 12.6.03, any tips?

Thank you for the knowledge.

I don’t have experience with RX-550, maybe it needs a more recent driver than the Sierra one?

 

[Oder]

I don’t have experience with RX-550, maybe it needs a more recent driver than the Sierra one?

Thank you will try with High Sierra.

 

[Oder]

- Pulled the SSD main drive from my MacBookPro that has High Sierra and placed it on the MacPro, still black screen
- Tried a formatted clean drive with USB installers with Sierra and then with High Sierra none of them responded even pressing alt
- Tested GPU on pcie slot 1 and 2
- Without RAM's (just one slot)
- Replaced small logicboard battery

Think i have to quit and send it to a apple specialist to have a diagnostic, maybe its the power supply but computer chimes and turns on, i really dont know what elese to do at this point! But still, thank you all for the suggestions, when i eventually find the problem will update.

 

[tsialex]

- Pulled the SSD main drive from my MacBookPro that has High Sierra and placed it on the MacPro, still black screen
- Tried a formatted clean drive with USB installers with Sierra and then with High Sierra none of them responded even pressing alt
- Tested GPU on pcie slot 1 and 2
- Without RAM's (just one slot)
- Replaced small logicboard battery

Think i have to quit and send it to a apple specialist to have a diagnostic, maybe its the power supply but computer chimes and turns on, i really dont know what elese to do at this point! But still, thank you all for the suggestions, when i eventually find the problem will update.

Before giving up, try one more thing.

With another Mac, create a 10.11/10.12/10.13 install. Do all the setup, configure your network, then activate screen sharing/file sharing. Install this disk into your Mac Pro. Power it up.

If you can access your Mac Pro via screen sharing, your problem is the RX-550, not your Mac Pro.

You can remove any GPUs, Mac Pro boots without GPUs installed.

 

[Oder]

I can try it but in the past found that screen/file sharing was very unreliable, when the macpro was working wanted to share to the macbook and it wouldnt work 90% of times.

Also im almost sure now this card Sapphire RX 550 is not compatible with MP5.1, im going to return it or change it to RX 560 (hoping the store accepts) that is listed as supported on Apple website: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208898

 

[tsialex]

I can try it but in the past found that screen/file sharing was very unreliable, when the macpro was working wanted to share to the macbook and it wouldnt work 90% of times.

Also im almost sure now this card Sapphire RX 550 is not compatible with MP5.1, im going to return it or change it to RX 560 that is listed as supported on Apple website: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208898

I'm not having problems with screen sharing here, since 10.13, works every time.

 

[Oder]

Update: left the computer on a apple certified dealer and after 30minutes they called back telling its a GPU problem! Found the problem with all you guys help but purchased a not so compatible card, lets see how this goes now.

 

[Oder]

Computer is back and running, the guys fixed the 5770 wasnt expecting that tbh. The price was heavy but well.. i have my cMP back! Thank you guys for the help

 

[goodfidelity]

To fix this problem in future you can "bake" the GPU if you suspect GPU failure.

I have done this on several GPUs and never failed, only success stories, some of the GPUs i baked have been running now for years. Most ppl seem to state it is a "temporary fix" but none of my baked cards have failed again.

I baked the old card for the 2.1, and the 5770, and also most recently i baked one GTX780 that works perfect. I will try to make complete reflow on the GTX780 by first preheating and then using hot air only on the GPU processor with mask around other components.

In order to bake the card you do this (you will need access to thermal compound, and maybe thermal pads):

- remove card
- remove all screws and fan, plastic cover, stuff like that
- clean out thermal compound with acetone, chemical benzine, or alcohol on cooler and GPU chip
- mind the thermal pads, if you have this material you can swap it
- heat oven to 205 degrees or similar
- put thin foil on plate in center of over, and put the card on four balls of tin foil so that card is not touching the plate
- important that no components on card are resting on the tin foil or the balls
- heat for 8-10 minutes
- then turn of oven and open door to let it cool of slowly, dont remove it from oven until after 30min.

- After card is cooled down you have to reapply thermal compound and maybe put new pads (not if you were carful when removing)

Moving that card while hot may damage it more


Always suggested to clean very careful, the fan and all parts, from dust and thermal compound.

Card will work like charm, and run cooler, and hopefully give you some more months or years before failure.

If you wanna do it properly you can use heat resistant tape + tin foil, and mask out all the heat sensitive components like capacistors or plastic power ports. I never did that.

There is 100s of videos on youtube how to do this. Just follow any guide and you will be fine, and problem will be fixed same evening. Total operation takes about 1 hour or so. But most of time is only waiting.

Wish anyone good luck if they have problem in future.

If you dont wanna run the 5770, you should get a GTX680 and have someone with at PC (anyone with windows can fix this easily) reflash it for you with at mac ROM. That is a 15 minute operation MAX. Roms are all over the net.

There is also one GTX980 ROM floating around that you can use if you prefer that card. But will require webdrivers from nVidia to work properly.

//GF

 

[Oder]

Thank you for your knowledge, that information is great however is bit too much for me to do so went to a shop and think they done exactly that it costed more then 200€... but solved same day as i needed the computer for work asap.

To fix this problem in future you can "bake" the GPU if you suspect GPU failure.

I have done this on several GPUs and never failed, only success stories, some of the GPUs i baked have been running now for years. Most ppl seem to state it is a "temporary fix" but none of my baked cards have failed again.

I baked the old card for the 2.1, and the 5770, and also most recently i baked one GTX780 that works perfect. I will try to make complete reflow on the GTX780 by first preheating and then using hot air only on the GPU processor with mask around other components.

In order to bake the card you do this (you will need access to thermal compound, and maybe thermal pads):

- remove card
- remove all screws and fan, plastic cover, stuff like that
- clean out thermal compound with acetone, chemical benzine, or alcohol on cooler and GPU chip
- mind the thermal pads, if you have this material you can swap it
- heat oven to 205 degrees or similar
- put thin foil on plate in center of over, and put the card on four balls of tin foil so that card is not touching the plate
- important that no components on card are resting on the tin foil or the balls
- heat for 8-10 minutes
- then turn of oven and open door to let it cool of slowly, dont remove it from oven until after 30min.

- After card is cooled down you have to reapply thermal compound and maybe put new pads (not if you were carful when removing)

Moving that card while hot may damage it more


Always suggested to clean very careful, the fan and all parts, from dust and thermal compound.

Card will work like charm, and run cooler, and hopefully give you some more months or years before failure.

If you wanna do it properly you can use heat resistant tape + tin foil, and mask out all the heat sensitive components like capacistors or plastic power ports. I never did that.

There is 100s of videos on youtube how to do this. Just follow any guide and you will be fine, and problem will be fixed same evening. Total operation takes about 1 hour or so. But most of time is only waiting.

Wish anyone good luck if they have problem in future.

If you dont wanna run the 5770, you should get a GTX680 and have someone with at PC (anyone with windows can fix this easily) reflash it for you with at mac ROM. That is a 15 minute operation MAX. Roms are all over the net.

There is also one GTX980 ROM floating around that you can use if you prefer that card. But will require webdrivers from nVidia to work properly.

//GF

 

[Dipeshkharwa]

Two days ago was using the Mac Pro (5.1) and suddenly the sound started looping and glitching and also screen glitched followed by a kind of grey screen with some lines, then rebooted and nothing, no chime sound and black screen. I took it to a repair store but it just stayed there for 2 days no diagnostic was given as after the 2 days they said computer is obsolete and that they were afraid to try to repair.. when i made a call before telling what computer it was, well..

Any suggestions what this might be? I assume its not power supply as the computer turns on and all fans including gpu spin normally.

I think its just the gpu hopefully but maybe logic board.. is there any way to find this? My logic board doesnt show any led on while powered just lights one red led when turning the machine on, is this normal or means the logic board died?

Thank you in advance.

i repair dead mac pro 4,1 and 5,1 just in 5 days