MP 1,1-5,1 Mac Pro 5,1 no video output

[monoturbo]

Hi all,

I have a lovely Mac Pro 5,1 that I rescued from the local dump. Originally it had the common ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB graphics card. A couple of years ago I upgraded to a Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 570 4GB GDDR5, which enabled me to upgrade to Mojave. I've kept up to date with the Mojave updates. Mojave is installed on an SSD in drive bay #1.

I also have a separate SSD in drive bay #2 with a Windows 10 install on it. It had been a while since booted into Windows 10, so I changed the startup disk to that drive and rebooted. The machine tried to boot, then failed and I saw a flashing cursor. This made me remember that previously, to boot Windows, I needed to hold Option, then use the arrow keys and select the boot drive 'blind'. I tried this a few times, but never got Windows to boot.

At some point in multiple boot attempts, I noticed that I was no longer getting the blinking cursor, indeed no video output. So I tried to zap the PRAM, and did the triple reset, and never got anything to display on the monitor.

I verified the monitor is working correctly by connecting it to my Macbook Air using the same DVI cable through a dongle, and the screen works just fine.

I tried going back to the old 5770 graphics card, and still got no video output.

I looked at the diagnostic LEDs by pressing the button on the motherboard, and it indicates SYS_PG and EFI_DONE are both lit. I was initially thinking I had a corrupt EFI flash, but I believe the LED indicates otherwise. The power LEDs lit are PSU_PWROK (green) and 5V_STBY (amber). I have no RAM error LEDs lit, and no other LEDs lit on the board that I can see.

What the heck did I do to my beloved Mac Pro? What should I try next?

 

[tsialex]

Hi all,

I have a lovely Mac Pro 5,1 that I rescued from the local dump. Originally it had the common ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB graphics card. A couple of years ago I upgraded to a Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 570 4GB GDDR5, which enabled me to upgrade to Mojave. I've kept up to date with the Mojave updates. Mojave is installed on an SSD in drive bay #1.

I also have a separate SSD in drive bay #2 with a Windows 10 install on it. It had been a while since booted into Windows 10, so I changed the startup disk to that drive and rebooted. The machine tried to boot, then failed and I saw a flashing cursor. This made me remember that previously, to boot Windows, I needed to hold Option, then use the arrow keys and select the boot drive 'blind'. I tried this a few times, but never got Windows to boot.

At some point in multiple boot attempts, I noticed that I was no longer getting the blinking cursor, indeed no video output. So I tried to zap the PRAM, and did the triple reset, and never got anything to display on the monitor.

I verified the monitor is working correctly by connecting it to my Macbook Air using the same DVI cable through a dongle, and the screen works just fine.

I tried going back to the old 5770 graphics card, and still got no video output.

I looked at the diagnostic LEDs by pressing the button on the motherboard, and it indicates SYS_PG and EFI_DONE are both lit. I was initially thinking I had a corrupt EFI flash, but I believe the LED indicates otherwise. The power LEDs lit are PSU_PWROK (green) and 5V_STBY (amber). I have no RAM error LEDs lit, and no other LEDs lit on the board that I can see.

What the heck did I do to my beloved Mac Pro? What should I try next?

EFI_DONE LED being lit don't eliminate a corrupt NVRAM volume, just that the EFI firmware was loaded correctly. A corrupt NVRAM also causes a brick.

Your Mac Pro still chime/beep?

 

[monoturbo]

It does chime when I start it, also when I do the PRAM resets.

 

[tsialex]

It does chime when I start it, also when I do the PRAM resets.

If you can access your Mac Pro via the network (ScreenSharing, network shares or even a ping) you probably have a dead GPU.

 

[monoturbo]

If you can access your Mac Pro via the network (ScreenSharing, network shares or even a ping) you probably have a dead GPU.

Good point. I tried pinging it, and it timed out. I can remove the SSD and boot my MacBook air from it, so the OS is working. Think the Flash is corrupt?

 

[tsialex]

Good point. I tried pinging it, and it timed out. I can remove the SSD and boot my MacBook air from it, so the OS is working. Think the Flash is corrupt?

Put back on your other Mac, boot from it, disable any firewall and enable ScreenSharing/File Sharing/Remote Login.

I'd start with a deep NVRAM reset, connect a wired keyboard to your Mac Pro and keep pressed CMD-ALT-P-R until you hear the fifth chime (you need to reset the NVRAM continuously for 4 times).

 

[monoturbo]

Ok, I booted into the Mac Pro SSD on my MacBook Air, enabled Screen Sharing, File Sharing, and Remote Login.

Then I did the NVRAM reset procedure you outlined, waiting for 5 chimes. I waited for a few minutes, then, from the MacBook Air, attempted to do a Finder->Go->Connect To Server vnc://macproname. I then got a connection failed message, which implies to me that the Mac Pro is not booting. What do you think?

 

[tsialex]

Ok, I booted into the Mac Pro SSD on my MacBook Air, enabled Screen Sharing, File Sharing, and Remote Login.

Then I did the NVRAM reset procedure you outlined, waiting for 5 chimes. I waited for a few minutes, then, from the MacBook Air, attempted to do a Finder->Go->Connect To Server vnc://macproname. I then got a connection failed message, which implies to me that the Mac Pro is not booting. What do you think?

Connect via Ethernet and then try a sudo nmap -sP and see if your Mac Pro shows itself. If not, time to test your GPU with a know working Mac Pro or install any known working Apple OEM GPU that is EFI64.

 

[monoturbo]

I don't think I have any Ethernet dongles at home. I do at the office, but I don't know when I'll be back there. Is it worth ordering one?

 

[tsialex]

I don't think I have any Ethernet dongles at home. I do at the office, but I don't know when I'll be back there. Is it worth ordering one?

Why you need a Ethernet dongle? Your Mac Pro has two Ethernet controllers and you can do nmaps with your MacBook Air, if it's connected the same network as your Mac Pro. The only way that this wouldn't work is if your Wi-Fi router/AP have a different network for the wireless side.

Can't you test your ATI 5770 with another Mac Pro to be sure that the GPU still works? Since your Mac Pro backplane still chimes, seems to me that the problem is the GPU or something much more complicated like a failed south bridge that made the SATA ports inoperative or something a long the lines.

 

[monoturbo]

Why you need a Ethernet dongle? Your Mac Pro has two Ethernet controllers and you can do nmaps with your MacBook Air, if it's connected the same network as your Mac Pro. The only way that this wouldn't work is if your Wi-Fi router/AP have a different network for the wireless side.

Can't you test your ATI 5770 with another Mac Pro to be sure that the GPU still works? Since your Mac Pro backplane still chimes, seems to me that the problem is the GPU or something much more complicated like a failed south bridge that made the SATA ports inoperative or something a long the lines.

Sorry, I misunderstood your suggestion. So now I have connected the Mac Pro to my router with an Ethernet cable, booted it, and waited a bit.

I installed nmap on the MacBook Air and got the following results:

> sudo nmap -sP macproname
Starting Nmap 7.91 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2021-04-24 14:50 MDT
Note: Host seems down. If it is really up, but blocking our ping probes, try -Pn
Nmap done: 1 IP address (0 hosts up) scanned in 1.49 seconds

> sudo nmap -Pn macproname
Host discovery disabled (-Pn). All addresses will be marked 'up' and scan times will be slower.
Starting Nmap 7.91 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2021-04-24 14:50 MDT
Nmap scan report for macproname (IP ADDR)
Host is up (0.030s latency).
Other addresses for macproname (not scanned): IP ADDR
All 1000 scanned ports on macproname (IP ADDR) are filtered

 

[monoturbo]

An interesting point I just noticed: after sitting for around 20 minutes, the Mac Pro goes to sleep. The fans turn off etc. Hitting a key on the keyboard wake it and the fans start spinning again.

 

[tsialex]

An interesting point I just noticed: after sitting for around 20 minutes, the Mac Pro goes to sleep. The fans turn off etc. Hitting a key on the keyboard wake it and the fans start spinning again.

From what you wrote, the GPU is the most probable culprit here, borrow an Apple OEM GPU (even a 2600XT from a MP3,1 will work) and test it. Until you get a known working GPU you won't diagnose your Mac Pro correctly.

Btw, check the voltage of the RTC battery, anything below 2,5 or 2,6V will make your Mac Pro behave very weirdly. The battery just keep the clock related functions working like time since boot, no settings at all, but a stopped clock (RTC) makes your makes your Mac Pro do extremely inexplicable things.

You can use a CR2032 instead of the original BR2032, it will die a lot sooner since CR2032 chemistry do not tolerate the internal Mac Pro temperatures, but works fine for diagnosing.

 

[monoturbo]

The RTC battery voltage is 3.06v, and it's a BR2032.

If it is the GPU, it's weird that neither one of my cards is working, though obviously the RX570 doesn't turn on until you get to the login screen. I might be able to track down another 5770.

By the way, I tried moving the 5770 to another slot with no success.

 

[tsialex]

The RTC battery voltage is 3.06v, and it's a BR2032.

If it is the GPU, it's weird that neither one of my cards is working, though obviously the RX570 doesn't turn on until you get to the login screen. I might be able to track down another 5770.

By the way, I tried moving the 5770 to another slot with no success.

With weird problems, we usually start to test each one of the Mac Pro components with a know working Mac Pro. It's the fastest way to find what is the real culprit. The next step after the GPU will be the backplane.

 

[tsialex]

Sorry, I misunderstood your suggestion. So now I have connected the Mac Pro to my router with an Ethernet cable, booted it, and waited a bit.

I installed nmap on the MacBook Air and got the following results:

> sudo nmap -sP macproname
Starting Nmap 7.91 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2021-04-24 14:50 MDT
Note: Host seems down. If it is really up, but blocking our ping probes, try -Pn
Nmap done: 1 IP address (0 hosts up) scanned in 1.49 seconds

> sudo nmap -Pn macproname
Host discovery disabled (-Pn). All addresses will be marked 'up' and scan times will be slower.
Starting Nmap 7.91 ( https://nmap.org ) at 2021-04-24 14:50 MDT
Nmap scan report for macproname (IP ADDR)
Host is up (0.030s latency).
Other addresses for macproname (not scanned): IP ADDR
All 1000 scanned ports on macproname (IP ADDR) are filtered

Btw, why you are using the macproname and not the whole subnet? Like 192.168.1.0/24?

 

[monoturbo]

Btw, why you are using the macproname and not the whole subnet? Like 192.168.1.0/24?

I guess I didn't know any better! I can try that.

 

[tsialex]

I guess I didn't know any better! I can try that.

Check the IP address of your MacBook Air, lets say A.B.C.D, your whole subnet will usually be like A.B.C.0/24 - this is different for people that have fixed IPs and don't use NAT.

sudo nmap -sP A.B.C.0/24

 

[monoturbo]

I powered down most of my network devices to make sure the nmap output was as simple as possible. Connecting the Mac Pro back to the router with an Ethernet cable and letting that boot, I found that nmap produced 2 extra network devices with the Mac Pro on versus off. One is listed as an Apple device, and the other is listed as an Unknown device.

When trying to VNC to the Apple IP address, I get a Connection Failed dialog box after a couple of minutes. Doing the same to the unknown IP returns almost immediately with the same message. Pings to both addresses yield Request Timeout responses.

Any ideas for what I should try next? I should be able to try my graphics cards in another Mac Pro later in the week, which is a 2012 running High Sierra. I can also grab the graphics card from that Mac and test it in mine. I believe it's a 5770.

 

[monoturbo]

I decided to see what happens when I remove the SSD with Windows. When I do that, the Mac Pro powers on, but then automatically shuts off after about a minute.

 

[tsialex]

Wait for the GPU. From what you wrote, I think you are booting Windows and not macOS and that’s why you can’t connect to it via the network.

You probably have a corrupt NVRAM volume that right now is only booting Windows, a know symptom of multiple certificates trashing the VSS store, and a garbage collection not capable of cleaning the VSS stores anymore.

 

[monoturbo]

Update: I plugged both of my video cards into the other Mac Pro and while the RX570 works, the 5770 does not! So I took the 5770 from the other machine and plugged it into mine.

Now, when booting up, I get a Windows 10 message that says: Recovery, Your PC/Device needs to be repaired. I’m still googling what to do to fix that error.

 

[tsialex]

Do a deep NVRAM reset and try to boot macOS, after that try to go to Windows (and back to macOS), if you can't you have a corrupted NVRAM inside the BootROM.

 

[monoturbo]

While holding down cmd-option-p-r, the blue recovery screen appears, but no more reboots happen, and eventually the machine powers off. So it sounds like a corrupt NVRAM. Can you point me to a guide to replace that? I have a good soldering MetCal soldering iron and reasonable soldering skills.

Thanks for all your help. Your posts have been invaluable over the years.

 

[tsialex]

While holding down cmd-option-p-r, the blue recovery screen appears, but no more reboots happen, and eventually the machine powers off. So it sounds like a corrupt NVRAM. Can you point me to a guide to replace that? I have a good soldering MetCal soldering iron and reasonable soldering skills.

Thanks for all your help. Your posts have been invaluable over the years.

Seem you are thinking that with a MP5,1 the NVRAM is a separate chip like the PRAM of the older Power Macs or the first Intel ones, but it's not. The NVRAM is a EFI firmware component of the whole BootROM image and this image is stored inside a SPI flash memory, but right now you need to get the firmware part working (the SPI flash memory could also need replacement since it's age but it's the contents that you need to get it working right now). You will need a professional BootROM reconstruction to recreate a functional BootROM.