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MP 1,1-5,1 Mac Pro can no longer boot. Help.

ZNDK

ZNDK

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 13, 2017
135
8
Japan
I can no longer start Mac by pressing the power button.

I am using a Mac Pro 2009 (OpenCore+macOS12).I tried to change video card from RX580 4GB to RX570 8GB. Immediately I tried to install it. But I could not push it in about 10mm left against the slot. I successfully inserted it and tried to boot Mac, but it would not turn on.

The Mac began to energize when I pressed the power button and immediately turned off. I then did an SMC reset and the power would continue to energize without powering down. The white LED above the power button is not lit at this time. I also pressed the reset switch on the logic board, but still could not remedy the problem.

I have removed all memory, SSD/HDD, PCI cards, etc., but that didn't help either. I changed the video card to a GT120 and still could not boot. The display shows a guide with the expression "Please check the connection" instead of "Please connect the cable.

Where are the factors preventing Mac from starting up?
 
ZNDK said:
I can no longer start Mac by pressing the power button.

I am using a Mac Pro 2009 (OpenCore+macOS12).I tried to change video card from RX580 4GB to RX570 8GB. Immediately I tried to install it. But I could not push it in about 10mm left against the slot. I successfully inserted it and tried to boot Mac, but it would not turn on.

The Mac began to energize when I pressed the power button and immediately turned off. I then did an SMC reset and the power would continue to energize without powering down. The white LED above the power button is not lit at this time. I also pressed the reset switch on the logic board, but still could not remedy the problem.

I have removed all memory, SSD/HDD, PCI cards, etc., but that didn't help either. I changed the video card to a GT120 and still could not boot. The display shows a guide with the expression "Please check the connection" instead of "Please connect the cable.

Where are the factors preventing Mac from starting up?
Click to expand...

1. Dead PSU
2. Shorted logicboard (because you messed up with the PCIe slots)
3. Dirty power-button
4. ...
 
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Nguyen Duc Hieu said:
1. Dead PSU
2. Shorted logicboard (because you messed up with the PCIe slots)
3. Dirty power-button
4. ...
Click to expand...
After the used logic board was sold, I bought it. I am looking forward to seeing the results.
Slot corruption seems to make a difference. I changed slots to insert the video card, but it would not boot in any slot I could insert it in.
I have never experienced any symptoms due to typical power failure. Could a new video card have caused the fatal injury? I thought the RX570 was lower power than the RX580. Based on that, assuming I don't replace the power supply, should I not use this RX570?
 
mattspace said:
Look up RTC Reset, that's a good, easy first check if there's boot issues.
Click to expand...
Where is the RTC reset button on the Mac Pro?
I have two buttons inside the Mac that I press. That is the switch behind the power button and the button near the internal coin cell battery.
 
ZNDK said:
Where is the RTC reset button on the Mac Pro?
I have two buttons inside the Mac that I press. That is the switch behind the power button and the button near the internal coin cell battery.
Click to expand...
The tiny press button near the battery is the one. If you don't have it already, the 2009 mac Pro technician's guide is an essential resource:


You'll find the reset procedure in there.
 
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At the end of the day, the two red LEDs on the daughter board were lit. I have tried swapping the CPUs A and B and back to the original CPUs, but the red LEDs would not go away. Of course I have also tried replacing the memory itself. Does the red LED on the daughterboard light up due to lack of power?
 
The most common reason you get red LED light up is bad CPU, or bent pins, which can be very hard to see. I doubt very much you have 4 duff CPU's . Inspect the pins with a high power magnifying glass and check closely. what does it say in the guide about the 2 red LED's being on?
 
I replaced it with the logic board I obtained. Then the white LED on the front of the Mac lit up. No startup sound is heard. But apparently this procedure was a failure.
When I turned on the Mac, the entire fan spun at full high speed. And the red LED behind the power button on the front is always on. It continues to light up for a while even after unplugging the power cord. Both red LEDs by the CPU on the daughterboard are also lit. And no video is shown no matter which video card is installed.
 
Last edited:
I then borrowed a daughterboard from an acquaintance and verified that the CPU and memory were not dead. So it seems that the daughterboard itself is broken. I could only replace the Northbridge heatsink with another one, but that did not revive it.
At first I only replaced the video card. That destroyed the daughterboard. What part of the daughterboard is broken?
 
I wrote incorrectly in my last post. The daughterboard was alive; the CPU (X5675) seems to be having some problems. I had bought all the parts I needed. I have tried to get an X5670 or a new X5675 to boot, but cannot boot. No boot sound. When I switch to the E5520 it boots and shows the desktop. I have two daughter boards and two main logic boards, both behave the same. None of the red LEDs on the board are lit.
And I have also verified power supply, memory and video card replacement. The logic board is definitely 5.1. The startup OS is High Sierra for testing.
What could be the cause of this?

Then it is weird again.
I started the Mac while holding down the Option key and the X5675 would sound the startup sound and show the startup progress bar.
But in High Sierra, Mojave, and Monterey, the progress bar is around 1/4 or 1/3 of the way through, and I get a forced restart. And the same thing happens when booting from a USB stick.
 
Last edited:
I change to my other daughterboard and the behavior is the same. I have multiple X5675s. I have no diagnostic LED lights on with any of them.
I have updated the logic board firmware to 5.1. I check that in the system profiler.
The X5675 will not boot the Mac. I feel it is similar to the firmware being left at 4.1. Are there several variations of 5.1?
 
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Please use the Apple Syntax
There is a backplane (the large board what has the PCI Slots)
The CPU Board (this is the replaceable board what carries one or two CPUs and Ram)
 
Macschrauber said:
Please use the Apple Syntax
There is a backplane (the large board what has the PCI Slots)
The CPU Board (this is the replaceable board what carries one or two CPUs and Ram)
Click to expand...

LOL, when I'm correcting someone, I also usually do mistakes, seems the same also happens with you. ;)


Backplane and CPU tray are the correct denominations.
 
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I would say the "logic board" is the backplane and the "daughter board" is the CPU tray.

Could it be that when the firmware is upgraded to 5.1, the backplane and CPU tray are linked and the combination is fixed?
I am attempting to downgrade to 4.1 once, but apparently that is not possible. When I go through the normal firmware update procedure, I get a momentary firmware update progress bar and the Mac immediately reboots.
My downgrade procedure is on El Capitan. I downloaded the firmware tool from GitHub with patched data. I do not have the tool that was distributed on the netkas forum. Would it have made a difference as well?
What is it?
 
ZNDK said:
I would say the "logic board" is the backplane and the "daughter board" is the CPU tray.

Could it be that when the firmware is upgraded to 5.1, the backplane and CPU tray are linked and the combination is fixed?
Click to expand...
Nope, CPU trays doesn't have BootROMs.
ZNDK said:
I am attempting to downgrade to 4.1 once, but apparently that is not possible.
Click to expand...
Not possible.
ZNDK said:
When I go through the normal firmware update procedure, I get a momentary firmware update progress bar and the Mac immediately reboots.
My downgrade procedure is on El Capitan. I downloaded the firmware tool from GitHub with patched data. I do not have the tool that was distributed on the netkas forum. Would it have made a difference as well?
What is it?
Click to expand...
No, you are wasting your time and risking briking your Mac Pro.
 
tsialex said:
LOL, when I'm correcting someone, I also usually do mistakes, seems the same also happens with you. ;)


Backplane and CPU tray are the correct denominations.
Click to expand...

well seems we're both not too accurate, Apple calls it _processor board_ ;-) ;-)


Screenshot 2022-12-10 at 15.12.04.png
 
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Yes, but Processor Board is just the bare PCB, while the whole assembly is called CPU tray. Apple use it to differentiate when you are ordering, back then you could order the whole assembly (CPU tray) or just the PCB (Processor Board). Even the tray itself have a more precise denomination, Processor Tray Support Plate. :p

Btw, back then you could also order just the aluminium tray itself (Processor Tray Support Plate).
 
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ZNDK said:
Could it be that when the firmware is upgraded to 5.1, the backplane and CPU tray are linked and the combination is fixed
Click to expand...

Also, there is no marriage between the CPU tray and the backplane. CPU tray is completely dumb, everything firmware wise (except for the SMC microcontroller) is located on the backplane itself.

You can install any type of early-2009 CPU tray (Single/Dual) to an early-2009 Mac Pro. You just have to always follow the matching SMC rule (1.39f5 for both CPU tray and backplane) and if you are installing a Westmere Xeon, the backplane is required to be cross-flashed to a MP5,1 BootROM.

ZNDK said:
I am attempting to downgrade to 4.1 once, but apparently that is not possible. When I go through the normal firmware update procedure, I get a momentary firmware update progress bar and the Mac immediately reboots.
My downgrade procedure is on El Capitan. I downloaded the firmware tool from GitHub with patched data. I do not have the tool that was distributed on the netkas forum. Would it have made a difference as well?
What is it?
Click to expand...

If you downgrade to a MP4,1 firmware, you will loose Westmere Xeons support, Westmere Xeons are only supported with MP5,1 firmware series.

So, won't solve whatever problem you have.
 
I was checking my components. I have 2 X5670 and 4 X5675 in CPUs. I verified each CPU one by one in the single processor tray. Then I found out a startling fact. Except for one X5675, all of the CPUs had a red LED on and could not boot the Mac. That one X5675 also could not boot the Mac with no red LED on, but no boot sound.
Can the X567x CPU be used alone? Or is it a problem caused by heat conductivity due to the removal of the heatspreader?
 
ZNDK said:
I was checking my components. I have 2 X5670 and 4 X5675 in CPUs. I verified each CPU one by one in the single processor tray. Then I found out a startling fact. Except for one X5675, all of the CPUs had a red LED on and could not boot the Mac. That one X5675 also could not boot the Mac with no red LED on, but no boot sound.
Can the X567x CPU be used alone? Or is it a problem caused by heat conductivity due to the removal of the heatspreader?
Click to expand...

Are you sure that the CPU sockets on the logicboard are still good? Not damaged from many time installing and removing?
 
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