MP 1,1-5,1 Mac Pro issues

[pubrunner]

Hi All,

I'm not familiar with Macs, so please forgive any 'obvious' mistakes that I might make in explaining the issues I'm facing.

I've been given an old Mac Pro 4.1 (2009), with two 2.26 GHz Quad Core 45-nm Xeon E5520 (Nehalem) cpus, Apple Nvidia GeForce 120 graphics card and 8gb Ram, but it doesn't have an HDD or SSD.

I connected a portable DVD drive with Win 11 Lite to a front USB port and keyboard/mouse to the rear DVD ports. I connected a blank SSD to the first drive bay. I switched it on and the fan on the graphics card was turning, but there was no display on the monitor. There were lights underneath the mouse. I connected it up to a monitor with a DVI - HDMI cable; should I have used DVI - VGA ? (My monitor only has HDMI & VGA connections).

I decided to re-seat the graphics card, but to do so, in order to switch it off, I pressed in and held the power button - I reasoned that this would be 'gentler' than switching off at the mains or pulling out the power cable. I had to repeat this process a couple of times, because I could think of any other way of switching off the power.

Unfortunately, I'm wondering if I've now killed the Mac Pro - it no longer switches on. There's a diagnostic LED button and when I push it, a yellow 5V STBY light comes on. The only other thing that I can see, is that when I plug in a power cable, a red light very briefly flashes on the motherboard. (I've also replaced the onboard CR2032 battery).

I'd love to get this beast up and running with Windows 11 (installed from a DVD) - on to a 1TB SSD. I'm very impressed with the modular design and (very) high build quality - it puts any PC that I've ever used to shame. However, have I killed it off or is there hope that I can get it working ?

Thank you for any help/encouragement.

 

[Ruggy]

It doesn't have an HDD or SSD?
It doesn't have a Mac operating system then plus on the drive there would be a small boot partition for the BIOS which is also missing, runs the fan, displays etc and that's why you've got nothing. The Windows OS won't run those things.
It's been a while but I think you need some original Mac installation disks (2009 is Tiger I think? And not upgrade disks that is, not grey ones you heed the ones with pictures on and it must be whatever the original OS was for your machine. I don't think at that time you could use a downloadable or thumb drive OS) and that will get you going and then you can install Windows.

 

[pubrunner]

It doesn't have an HDD or SSD?
It doesn't have a Mac operating system then plus on the drive there would be a small boot partition for the BIOS which is also missing, runs the fan, displays etc and that's why you've got nothing. The Windows OS won't run those things.
It's been a while but I think you need some original Mac installation disks (2009 is Tiger I think? And not upgrade disks that is, not grey ones you heed the ones with pictures on and it must be whatever the original OS was for your machine. I don't think at that time you could use a downloadable or thumb drive OS) and that will get you going and then you can install Windows.

Thank you for a very prompt response. So essentially, I need a Mac Installation disk to get it up and running and then I can subsequently install Win 11 ?

Unfortunately though, it's not even switching on now ?

 

[Macschrauber]

Dont run Windows from USB, you might get certificates Into nvram.

What you can try: pull the battery and let it start without it.

if it starts, you messed the bootrom and that needs a fix.

 

[pubrunner]

Dont run Windows from USB, you might get certificates Into nvram.

What you can try: pull the battery and let it start without it.

if it starts, you messed the bootrom and that needs a fix.

I tried to install Win 11 from a DVD by a USB-powered DVD drive, as I couldn't work out a way to open the PC's DVD drive, as there was on display on the screen. (There was no indication it tried to boot from the DVD drive).

Is it okay to use a DVI to HDMI display cable on the Mac Pro 4.1, or should I have used DVI to VGA ?

Thank you for your help - appreciated !

 

[pubrunner]

What you can try: pull the battery and let it start without it.

if it starts, you messed the bootrom and that needs a fix.

I've just pulled the battery and tried starting without it, but it makes no difference - still won't start.

 

[Macschrauber]

Get the Mac Pro Service Source (Google it) and use the Power On pads near the diagnostic button.
Tho the Mac should start without battery, its worth a try.

 

[pubrunner]

Hi All,

Thank you for all the replies.

As I mentioned in my original posting, in order to switch the power off, I held the button down. I think the power button possibly needs replacing - i think it could be stuck.

I think that fixing this machine is beyond my ability; I (reluctantly) think I'll have to scrap it.

 

[Macschrauber]

it's just shorting two solder pads
there is a thread here, too.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-do-you-jumpstart-a-2010-2012-mac-pro.2245554/

 

[pubrunner]

it's just shorting two solder pads
there is a thread here, too.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-do-you-jumpstart-a-2010-2012-mac-pro.2245554/

Thank you for all your help in this - I'll give it a try in the morning.

 

[Ben J.]

I still have my old 2008 macpro 3,1. It still works but the power button is acting up. Sometimes it will work on first try, sometimes it takes a while and many retries befor it turns on. Everything else works fine, so I guess it just the button. Might be worth a try to spend five minutes and press it a few times.

Btw, get a SSD adapter PCIe card for it. They're cheap and gives you much better speeds than the SATA HD bays. Best thing I did for my MP. Faster bootup, faster everything. Something like this:

Sedna PCI Express (PCIe) SATA III (6G) SSD Adapter with 1 SATA III Port (with Built in Power Circuit, no Need SATA Power Connector, Best for Mac), SSD not Included

Features : Direct mounting of 2.5" SATA III SSd / Hdd on board (SSD not included) One extra SATA III port for other devices Operating System Software can be installed on mounted SSD and booting of the OS from the installed PCIE disk is supported (Your mother board BIOS need to support this featur...

www.amazon.com

(Added: yes, I'd try VGA instead of HDMI.)

 

[pubrunner]

it's just shorting two solder pads
there is a thread here, too.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-do-you-jumpstart-a-2010-2012-mac-pro.2245554/

Hi,

I've tried shorting two solder pads, but nothing happened. {Beforehand, I'd removed all componentry - cpu tray, ram, graphics card etc}.

I pressed the DIAG button and the 5V STBY LED illuminates.

Thank you for all the help I've been provided; I'm very much a newbie in Mac matters, but the replies have been worded in such a way, that even I can understand them.

 

[pubrunner]

Btw, get a SSD adapter PCIe card for it. They're cheap and gives you much better speeds than the SATA HD bays. Best thing I did for my MP. Faster bootup, faster everything. Something like this:

Sedna PCI Express (PCIe) SATA III (6G) SSD Adapter with 1 SATA III Port (with Built in Power Circuit, no Need SATA Power Connector, Best for Mac), SSD not Included

Features : Direct mounting of 2.5" SATA III SSd / Hdd on board (SSD not included) One extra SATA III port for other devices Operating System Software can be installed on mounted SSD and booting of the OS from the installed PCIE disk is supported (Your mother board BIOS need to support this featur...

www.amazon.com

(Added: yes, I'd try VGA instead of HDMI.)

If I get it working, which isn't looking likely at the moment, I'll certainly take up your suggestion and buy an SSD PCIe card - I didn't even know such a thing existed !

 

[pubrunner]

Hi All,

I've managed to make some further progress with my Mac Pro 4.1 - yay !.

I've managed to install Windows 10 onto it via DVD. However, if I switch it off, it will not restart. I've found that if I press the small button on the motherboard (near the CMOS battery) it will then start - it's as if it's not saving the settings - what can I do to remedy this ? If I select 'restart' in Windows, it does so with no issues - it just doesn't seem to like a 'cold' start. I'm really pleased Windows has been able to load, because it establishes that the components are working.

IF I have Windows 10/11 as the sole operating system, do I still face the same constraints with regard to upgrading hardware - eg. better PCIE Graphics card etc. Could I just make a straight replacement of the CPUs ?

I'd really appreciate any recommendations regarding upgrades (especially graphics cards/ram) that I can make under Windows 10/11 - I'll certainly be going for a SSD PCIe card (as kindly recommended above).

Thank you for any guidance provided.

 

[Macschrauber]

first reflex is the clock battery. Even if replaced, check it. 3.0 Volts minimum when plugged in. Upside is plus, minus on chassis. There are real bad CR2032 cells on the market. Anyway, the correct type is BR2032 what can stand higher temperatures and have another discharging curve.

Of course, a firmware / nvram failure is something what can be checked, after the machine is back in play.

site: https://github.com/Macschrauber/Macschrauber-s-Rom-Dump
download: https://github.com/Macschrauber/Mac...d/Release/Download.the.Dumper.from.github.zip

 

[pubrunner]

first reflex is the clock battery. Even if replaced, check it. 3.0 Volts minimum when plugged in. Upside is plus, minus on chassis. There are real bad CR2032 cells on the market. Anyway, the correct type is BR2032 what can stand higher temperatures and have another discharging curve.

Of course, a firmware / nvram failure is something what can be checked, after the machine is back in play.

site: https://github.com/Macschrauber/Macschrauber-s-Rom-Dump
download: https://github.com/Macschrauber/Mac...d/Release/Download.the.Dumper.from.github.zip

Thank you so much for such a helpful reply - I never realised that the correct battery is the BR2032 - that's certainly worth knowing and I'll order a couple.

 

[Macschrauber]

Also to note: after changing the battery, a nvram and smc/rtc reset