MP 1,1-5,1 Mac Pro A1289 (Mid 2010) BIOS file?

[irepairlabs]

Hi there,

Does anyone have the SPI bios file for Mac Pro A1289 (Mid 2010)? I am more than happy to provide more details that may help.


Regards

 

[tsialex]

Each one is unique, you have to use the factory installed one.

To test a board, you can use MP51.fd. Read more here:

MacPro5,1: BootROM thread | 144.0.0.0.0

For MacPro5,1 BootROM upgrades, please read the first post of the thread below to know how to do the firmware upgrade: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mp5-1-what-you-have-to-do-to-upgrade-to-mojave-bootrom-upgrade-instructions-thread.2142418/ For MP4,1 to MP5,1 cross firmware flashing...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[irepairlabs]

@tsialex Thanks for the knowledge. I am a newbie when it comes to flashing Mac Pro's using CH341a. Should I mod the ch341a to use 3.3v at the data pin for the flash? Currently, it is dumping 5v on the data line. But I believe the MX25L3205D's data pin operates at 3.3V. Isn't it? I have a ch341a that do not have a voltage selector on it. I believe it is one of the old models.

By the way, here are some more details about the Mac Pro, if it helps. Have you or anyone else in the forum have come across a similar issue?

EMC : 2629
MAC PRO 2.4_12CX/6X2GB/1TB/5770/SD-USA.
According to the serial check at Apple's website, it is a mid-2012 model.

Regards

 

[irepairlabs]

The thought of flashing the mobo is due to a problem that I have been having with it. It used to boot up and run fine. But recently the mobo started to show problems where it boots with no display but chimes. So I re-balled the video card processor and everything was fine. As this belonged to a customer, he came and picked it up. After a few days, he bought it in again complaining that it would not turn on when the power button is pressed. The OVTMP light flashes when the power cord is plugged and the standby amber led also lights up when the diag button is pressed. I have checked the PSU and it checked out fine.
But there is no activity happening in the cpu tray which is expected. I have tried using the service manual. According to the manual, the backplane may be faulty. As I do not have the schematics, I just wanted to give it a try flashing the SPI and see if it change anything at all.

 

[irepairlabs]

Each one is unique, you have to use the factory installed one.

To test a board, you can use MP51.fd. Read more here:

MacPro5,1: BootROM thread | 144.0.0.0.0

For MacPro5,1 BootROM upgrades, please read the first post of the thread below to know how to do the firmware upgrade: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mp5-1-what-you-have-to-do-to-upgrade-to-mojave-bootrom-upgrade-instructions-thread.2142418/ For MP4,1 to MP5,1 cross firmware flashing...

forums.macrumors.com

Hi @tsialex,

Please go through detail listed above and share your thoughts.

 

[tsialex]

@tsialex Thanks for the knowledge. I am a newbie when it comes to flashing Mac Pro's using CH341a. Should I mod the ch341a to use 3.3v at the data pin for the flash?

Did you first checked the SPI with your scope? The SPI signals are even showing anything? If is not, then is useless to replace the SPI flash memory.

Currently, it is dumping 5v on the data line. But I believe the MX25L3205D's data pin operates at 3.3V. Isn't it? I have a ch341a that do not have a voltage selector on it. I believe it is one of the old models.

No need to mod the ch341a to flash a brand new MXIC 25L3206E. Btw, even if you mod it, the CH341a is not really safe for non-5V tolerant SPI flash memories.

By the way, here are some more details about the Mac Pro, if it helps. Have you or anyone else in the forum have come across a similar issue?

EMC : 2629
MAC PRO 2.4_12CX/6X2GB/1TB/5770/SD-USA.
According to the serial check at Apple's website, it is a mid-2012 model.

Regards

Yes, but could be anything. If you get 10 Mac Pros to repair, about 7 will have different defects after the 11 to 15 years of usage and usually is more than just one thing to make a Mac Pro to be dead to the point of not giving any clue with DIAG LEDs.

Could be the CPU tray (test with a working Mac Pro), could be a SATA device that is defective and blocking POST (remove/disconnect all SATA devices), could be the backplane, could be the PSU (yes, even if you tested it on the bench and found that the voltages are good, confirm that the PSU is really working with a known working Mac Pro) - could be literally anything. Read previous diagnostics threads.

The thought of flashing the mobo is due to a problem that I have been having with it. It used to boot up and run fine. But recently the mobo started to show problems where it boots with no display but chimes. So I re-balled the video card processor and everything was fine. As this belonged to a customer, he came and picked it up. After a few days, he bought it in again complaining that it would not turn on when the power button is pressed. The OVTMP light flashes when the power cord is plugged and the standby amber led also lights up when the diag button is pressed. I have checked the PSU and it checked out fine.

Test the PSU with a working Mac Pro, checking lines is frequently misleading and no garantee that the PSU is really working.

But there is no activity happening in the cpu tray which is expected. I have tried using the service manual. According to the manual, the backplane may be faulty. As I do not have the schematics, I just wanted to give it a try flashing the SPI and see if it change anything at all.

Apple Technician Manual minimal config is designed for Apple or AASPs technicians with access to Apple own internal diagnostic interfaces (LITTLEFRANK and etc). Not really useful for anyone else.

Get another Mac Pro and test each part one at a time doing the elimination game, is the only way to really do diagnostics in an efficient manner with a so complex system like a Mac Pro without access to Apple diagnostic interfaces.

If you can't do that, your last resort is to test the backplane with a known working PSU/CPU tray with a MATT card or a brand new MXIC 25L3206E flashed with MP51.fd - do not erase the factory one - but only if you verified that the SPI signals are present.

You probably already spent more man hours than the price of a bare bones mid-2010.

 

[irepairlabs]

Hi @tsialex,

Did you first checked the SPI with your scope? The SPI signals are even showing anything? If is not, then is useless to replace the SPI flash memory.



No need to mod the ch341a to flash a brand new MXIC 25L3206E. Btw, even if you mod it, the CH341a is not really safe for non-5V tolerant SPI flash memories.



Yes, but could be anything. If you get 10 Mac Pros to repair, about 7 will have different defects after the 11 to 15 years of usage and usually is more than just one thing to make a Mac Pro to be dead to the point of not giving any clue with DIAG LEDs.

Could be the CPU tray (test with a working Mac Pro), could be a SATA device that is defective and blocking POST (remove/disconnect all SATA devices), could be the backplane, could be the PSU (yes, even if you tested it on the bench and found that the voltages are good, confirm that the PSU is really working with a known working Mac Pro) - could be literally anything. Read previous diagnostics threads.



Test the PSU with a working Mac Pro, checking lines is frequently misleading and no garantee that the PSU is really working.



Apple Technician Manual minimal config is designed for Apple or AASPs technicians with access to Apple own internal diagnostic interfaces (LITTLEFRANK and etc). Not really useful for anyone else.

Get another Mac Pro and test each part one at a time doing the elimination game, is the only way to really do diagnostics in an efficient manner with a so complex system like a Mac Pro without access to Apple diagnostic interfaces.

If you can't do that, your last resort is to test the backplane with a known working PSU/CPU tray with a MATT card or a brand new MXIC 25L3206E flashed with MP51.fd - do not erase the factory one - but only if you verified that the SPI signals are present.

You probably already spent more man hours than the price of a bare bones mid-2010.

Hi @tsialex,

Thanks again. You are true that the service guide is a joke.

I do not have an O-scope to look at the pulse from the SPI or another similar working Mac Pro to reference to. I know it is hard to troubleshoot these machines as we do not have a schematic to go by. I just want to give the SPI flash a try before giving up.

As a backup plan, I shall save a copy of the existing BIOS before flashing the MP51.fd just to check, if it changes anything. Just as a reminder, the chip is MX25L3205D.

Any other advice that may help is always welcome.

Regards

 

[tsialex]

Hi @tsialex,

Thanks again. You are true that the service guide is a joke.

Apple Technician Guides back then were made for a very specific public, Apple own technicians and AASPs ones, and that was not intended to be something like a Haynes repair and service manual.

Apple never designed the Technician Guides to be read by anyone else until the Right to Repair forced it more than a decade later.

I do not have an O-scope to look at the pulse from the SPI or another similar working Mac Pro to reference to.

This complicate things a lot, but I've already written what you have to do with my previous post.

I know it is hard to troubleshoot these machines as we do not have a schematic to go by. I just want to give the SPI flash a try before giving up.

As a backup plan, I shall save a copy of the existing BIOS before flashing the MP51.fd just to check, if it changes anything. Just as a reminder, the chip is MX25L3205D.

Any other advice that may help is always welcome.

Regards

Just get a new MXIC MX25L3206E and do not mess with the factory installed one. De-solder it, save a dump, do not erase it or use it again since this is probably a very worn out SPI flash memory by now. Is very common to have a SPI flash memory that passes the flash programmer verify process, done a very low frequency, and then do not work with MacPro high frequency SPI access.

Mac Pro BootROM is very different from a PC BIOS or UEFI firmware SPI flash memory, since some things work much more like a server - MacPro4,1 & 5,1 are basically a Xserve3,1 without the LOM hardware and all the memory slots - than a desktop:

• each BootROM is unique for that specific Mac Pro, with serialization, sensor calibration and input/output port overrides done by the factory when the Mac Pro was in the production line.
• the NVRAM volume is inside of the same SPI flash memory as the BootROM and is heavily used nowadays, with today's hindsight this was a design failure/oversight since there are no mitigations for the worning out of the NOR cells. Also no wear-leveling in any way or form, differently from MacPro6,1 where Apple with the exact same family of flash memories (MXIC MX25L6406E, 64Mb) improved the NVRAM volume design and developed several ways to minimize the cycles of erase/write inside the NVRAM.

 

[Terrancio]

Hello, this write/erase cycle you are referring to, does it only happens when powering up and shutting down, so when you leave your machine ON all the time, does this could be beneficial?

 

[tsialex]

Hello, this write/erase cycle you are referring to, does it only happens when powering up and shutting down, so when you leave your machine ON all the time, does this could be beneficial?

Happens whenever needed, you can't avoid it.