Mac Pro Will Not Power Up

[Steve.P]

Hi all, I am new to this forum,. Thank you an advance for taking the time to help out.

Apple Mac Pro 2009 or 2010 3.46GHz Xeon 6-Core Westmere
PSU - Delta DPS-980BB-2A Rev :00F
Motherboard - Year 2009 820-2337-A
CPU Tray PCB - Year 2009 820-2482-A
CPU - 3.46GHz Xeon 6-Core Westmere
GPU - Nivida GeForce GT-120
Memory - Four 8gig sticks.
Samsung 8GB 2Rx4 PC3-10600R-09-10-E1-P1


My studio computer arrived DEAD,... I am building my new Christian music recording studio in the Philippines,.. so shipping the machine back to the USA is not really an option.. shipping will cost about the same as a new machine.


I will try to describe the symptoms.

- It will only start 1 or 2 times a day and will shut off on its own after about 3 minutes.
- When it starts it boots perfect and performs fast and smooth. I am able to open and navigate through the software. Then shuts off after about 3 minutes or less.
- Even with no mouse, keyboard or monitor plugged in it shut off after 3 min.
- When plugging in the machine,. and on start up 2 Red LEDs flash on the top left motherboard. also 1 Red LED flash on the CPU board.
- A couple times it started up when I plugged in the power cord (I did not push the power button)

Every day for the last 4 days it starts fewer times,. today and Yesterday it would only start one time after sitting overnight.
Today it tried to start then clicked off instantly.

I re-seated the HDDs, Memory, Video card, CPU, PSU connector, and checked all the other connectors.


I tried each memory stick in slot 1 (only 1 stick installed at a time)
I tried with 2 separate Hard drives.

Maybe a bad PSU ?

Thanks in advance,

Steve Perkins
.

 

[chscag]

My guess is that you have a flaky power supply. Older Mac Pros are famous for eating power supplies.

 

[Steve.P]

My guess is that you have a flaky power supply. Older Mac Pros are famous for eating power supplies.

Hi Thanks for the fast reply !

I think that might be true... Everyday it will start less and less times... now its only maybe one time a day and then a quick power off.

Fans spin on start up.

 

[chscag]

That's typical. As soon as a load gets on the supply, it quits. Check eBay for a replacement but make sure you deal with someone who will offer a refund if it turns out it's something else.

 

[h9826790]

Apart from PSU, may be you can check the Northbridge temperature. If the plastic rivet is broken, the NB will getting hotter and hotter, and once hit the temperature limit, it will shut down the Mac.

 

[Steve.P]

So,. Update.. today I checked the CPU Heatsink screws,. they were good,. loosened, tested... Re tightened. = No Change

Then I removed the Processor, the Heatsink and tested with Nothing installed but the PSU. = Still No Start up. And then I did the following test...

- With only the Processor tray installed According to the 'Minimum Configuration Testing'
When pressing the DIAG button I should get The following LEDs.
Amber 5v STBY , PSU PWROK (green) , EFI DONE (green) , GPU OK (green) .

- The Only LEDs I get are, 0VTMP CPUA and OVTMP CPUB (red) these Flash when I plug in the power cord and un plug the cord.
When I press DIAG the 5v STBY (amber) LED lights.

I did test the PSU on the bench, all i can confirm is its putting out 12v. I cant load test it properly.

Any thoughts ?

I am guessing its either the Motherboard or PSU

I kinda need to be as sure as I can be because I have to ship it to the Philippines and it is very expensive and takes a long time.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[adam9c1]

Check temperature of Northbridge. Look at Temperature Gauge at the App Store. If you want manual control of fans buy TGPro outside of Mac Store. With that I was able to run fan at max speed and use figure out machine was usable and stable for few minutes.

 

[chscag]

Why not swap out that PSU? You can't properly load the PSU on your bench unless you have the right equipment. I've run into power supplies that will put out the correct voltage until loaded down - and that's when components start to fail.

If that machine has a bad logic board, it may not be worthwhile to repair it.

 

[MarkJames68]

8 year old PSU and system is having startup issues? I would swap it.

 

[Steve.P]

8 year old PSU and system is having startup issues? I would swap it.

Thanks for the reply's guys ! I would have already swapped the PSU if I was in the USA... but I am in the Philippines and shipping costs so much and takes over 3 weeks to get here. So I want to be sure as I can I am getting the correct part.
[doublepost=1514514121][/doublepost]

Check temperature of Northbridge. Look at Temperature Gauge at the App Store. If you want manual control of fans buy TGPro outside of Mac Store. With that I was able to run fan at max speed and use figure out machine was usable and stable for few minutes.

I would love to check that but the machine will not start.
[doublepost=1514514173][/doublepost]

8 year old PSU and system is having startup issues? I would swap it.

Yes,. that's my plan,.

 

[chscag]

I don't where you are in the Philippines but I remember my days in the military (Clark AB on Luzon), that the power there was atrocious with brown outs occuring often. I highly recommend whatever you wind up doing that you buy a good UPS and keep your equipment on it at all times. I can understand your reluctance to order a PSU from the states and maybe it won't solve the problem, however, you really don't have much choice.

 

[adam9c1]

Remove the CPU Tray.

I dont remember if you need to remove cpu heatsink to remove the CPU daughter card from the tray/carrier.

If you can, then look on the underside and check if the plastic clip for the Northbridge heatsink is intact.

 

[Steve.P]

I don't where you are in the Philippines but I remember my days in the military (Clark AB on Luzon), that the power there was atrocious with brown outs occuring often. I highly recommend whatever you wind up doing that you buy a good UPS and keep your equipment on it at all times. I can understand your reluctance to order a PSU from the states and maybe it won't solve the problem, however, you really don't have much choice.

Hi, Yes I have a UPS and AVR (auto voltage regulator) It is still the same as it was when you were here .. lol ,.. we loose power almost everyday

I am happy to get a PSU,. I just want to be as sure as I can be that's the problem and not the Mother board/Backplane somehow limiting the PSU,. telling it to shut down.

Thanks,
Steve
[doublepost=1514544742][/doublepost]

Remove the CPU Tray.

I dont remember if you need to remove cpu heatsink to remove the CPU daughter card from the tray/carrier.

If you can, then look on the underside and check if the plastic clip for the Northbridge heatsink is intact.

Hi, yes I did check the northbridge,. it is secure to the PCB. On this machine I have to remove the Heatsink to see the Northbridge.
Thank you,
Steve

 

[pl1984]

What do you mean it arrived dead? Did you just purchase it? If so have you spoken to the seller about the problem?

 

[Steve.P]

What do you mean it arrived dead? Did you just purchase it? If so have you spoken to the seller about the problem?

Hi,. I am in the Philippines,. just bought it,. but shipping takes 3 months by boat,, the seller offered to have me ship the machine back to have it replaced/repaired But shipping / customs will cost as much as a new Mac... if I ship fedx/USPS etc.. so I wanted to try and fix the bad part,, shipping a small part is much easier than the whole computer.

 

[pl1984]

Hi,. I am in the Philippines,. just bought it,. but shipping takes 3 months by boat,, the seller offered to have me ship the machine back to have it replaced/repaired But shipping / customs will cost as much as a new Mac... if I ship fedx/USPS etc.. so I wanted to try and fix the bad part,, shipping a small part is much easier than the whole computer.

I can agree with that. IMO the seller should cover shipping since it was DOA. In fact he should just send you another one or, at a minimum, the suspect part(s).

 

[Steve.P]

I got another PSU and Motherboard today.

Now the computer and PSU will start,. but no startup sound, not booting at all.

- With the new Motherboard it will not boot at all... Is any 2010 motherboard compatible with the 3.46GHz Xeon 6-Core processor ? or is there some kind of upgrade ?? firmware ??

- I did notice the original PSU Fan is not spinning... ( the big fan mounted in the chassis is not spinning its the one that plugs into the backplane board)

- I think my original PSU is OK. The first thing I tried was to put the New PSU in the original case and it started up,. and then shut down 30 seconds later. (PSU fan was not spinning) All other fans were spinning slow.

Any advice ?

Steve

 

[SamirPD]

Have you tried doing a bare configuration with the new motherboard and PSU? If both of those were known working, something else could have failed short-circuiting the motherboard or PSU.

 

[Steve.P]

Have you tried doing a bare configuration with the new motherboard and PSU? If both of those were known working, something else could have failed short-circuiting the motherboard or PSU.

Hi Yes I did the minimum configuration test with the new backplane and PSU. And all is as it should be until I add the CPU. Then it fails the test. No start up chime. No boot.

Maybe they shipped me a motherboard that is not compatible with my CPU. (or my CPU is also dead)

Would different firmware on the motherboard and CPU cause the machine not to boot ?

 

[pl1984]

I got another PSU and Motherboard today.

Now the computer and PSU will start,. but no startup sound, not booting at all.

- With the new Motherboard it will not boot at all... Is any 2010 motherboard compatible with the 3.46GHz Xeon 6-Core processor ? or is there some kind of upgrade ?? firmware ??

- I did notice the original PSU Fan is not spinning... ( the big fan mounted in the chassis is not spinning its the one that plugs into the backplane board)

- I think my original PSU is OK. The first thing I tried was to put the New PSU in the original case and it started up,. and then shut down 30 seconds later. (PSU fan was not spinning) All other fans were spinning slow.

Any advice ?

Steve

I'm not quite following what the situation is. You said:

Now the computer and PSU will start,. but no startup sound, not booting at all.

This is confusing as it states it will start but not startup. What does this mean?

You also mention a 2010 motherboard but your original post states it's a 2009 system. Did you receive a 2010 motherboard? Or was that a mistake in your posting? Do you really have a 2009 system? Might be a good idea to post actual part numbers so we know exactly what you have. Especially given that no cMP ever shipped with a 3.46GHz CPU so there's the possibility you've got a franken Mac which may not have been put together correctly.

 

[SamirPD]

Hi Yes I did the minimum configuration test with the new backplane and PSU. And all is as it should be until I add the CPU. Then it fails the test. No start up chime. No boot.

Maybe they shipped me a motherboard that is not compatible with my CPU. (or my CPU is also dead)

Would different firmware on the motherboard and CPU cause the machine not to boot ?

Do you have 2 cpus? Can you try the other one?

Yes, that is possible. Compatibility problems between the cpu and motherboard can happen if the cpu is not supported. Also, check the pins and seating of the socket. I had a similar problem on a Dell Poweredge 2950 server that uses the same cpus and it turns out that a piece of old thermal paste had fallen in between the cpu and pins on one side. After spending a few hours delicately cleaning that area with a toothpick, I got it working properly.

 

[Steve.P]

[doublepost=1518305344][/doublepost]

I'm not quite following what the situation is. You said:

Now the computer and PSU will start,. but no startup sound, not booting at all.

This is confusing as it states it will start but not startup. What does this mean?

You also mention a 2010 motherboard but your original post states it's a 2009 system. Did you receive a 2010 motherboard? Or was that a mistake in your posting? Do you really have a 2009 system? Might be a good idea to post actual part numbers so we know exactly what you have. Especially given that no cMP ever shipped with a 3.46GHz CPU so there's the possibility you've got a franken Mac which may not have been put together correctly.

Sorry for the confusion... When I hit the start button the fans will spin but no startup sound and no boot. That's as far as it gets.
I will get the part# just to be sure what I have here. My thought is the mew MB has different firmware than the CPU tray/CPU.
[doublepost=1518305635][/doublepost]

Do you have 2 cpus? Can you try the other one?

Yes, that is possible. Compatibility problems between the cpu and motherboard can happen if the cpu is not supported. Also, check the pins and seating of the socket. I had a similar problem on a Dell Poweredge 2950 server that uses the same cpus and it turns out that a piece of old thermal paste had fallen in between the cpu and pins on one side. After spending a few hours delicately cleaning that area with a toothpick, I got it working properly.

I wish I had 2 CPUs... the seller told me now I need to get a 4 core or 8 core CPU tray to update the firmware... Wish he would have sent the correct MB for my CPU. But it is possible my CPU or tray is also dead.

I did check the CPU for proper seating and re set the heatsink a few times to be sure it was no to tight.
[doublepost=1518306004][/doublepost]So the seller recommended I get a 4 or 8 core CPU tray to update the firmware... Is that hard for me to do ?

Either way I have some time to learn as it will take 2 months before I get anymore parts.

 

[SamirPD]

I would do some research on what you have--cpu, power supply, and motherboard and see what you can figure out. Relying on sellers who profit from every mistake is a bad idea...

 

[pl1984]

[doublepost=1518305344][/doublepost]

Sorry for the confusion... When I hit the start button the fans will spin but no startup sound and no boot. That's as far as it gets.
I will get the part# just to be sure what I have here. My thought is the mew MB has different firmware than the CPU tray/CPU.
[doublepost=1518305635][/doublepost]

I wish I had 2 CPUs... the seller told me now I need to get a 4 core or 8 core CPU tray to update the firmware... Wish he would have sent the correct MB for my CPU. But it is possible my CPU or tray is also dead.

I did check the CPU for proper seating and re set the heatsink a few times to be sure it was no to tight.
[doublepost=1518306004][/doublepost]So the seller recommended I get a 4 or 8 core CPU tray to update the firmware... Is that hard for me to do ?

Either way I have some time to learn as it will take 2 months before I get anymore parts.

There is no such thing as a 4 or 8 core CPU tray. There are single and dual processor trays. A 4,1 can use a processor tray from a 5,1 but I believe the fans will spin at full speed. The same goes for using a 5,1 tray in a 4,1. IOW both should work aside from the cooling fans running at full speed.

 

[Steve.P]

There is no such thing as a 4 or 8 core CPU tray. There are single and dual processor trays. A 4,1 can use a processor tray from a 5,1 but I believe the fans will spin at full speed. The same goes for using a 5,1 tray in a 4,1. IOW both should work aside from the cooling fans running at full speed.

If that's the case then my CPU is probably dead also. The seller told me to get the 4 core 8 core tray so I could change the firmware... I have no idea what to do.

Right now the fans just spin slow speed (the case fan close to the PSU will start up for a second, then stops (I was told that fan only runs if the temp requires it)