Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacPro 4,1 fails first boot on PCIe NVMe...

R

Remedylane

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 13, 2018
26
6
France
Hello everyone,

I own a MacPro 4,1 with the following configuration :
- Firmware updated from 4,1 to 5,1
- BootROM 140.0.0.0.0
- Mojave 10.14.1
- 1 CPU W3690
- 3 x 8Go RAM
- PCIe Sapphire RX580 Nitro+ on slot 1
- PCIe Lycom DT120 with Samsung NVMe 970 EVO on slot 3 (as boot drive)
- PCI OWC Accelsior with Crucial SSD BX500 on slot 4 (clone)
- 4To HDD for TimeMachine on the first HDD tray
- HP e241i screen plugged on DVI

Since upgrading the BootROM and consequently installing the NVMe disk as the boot drive, I'm having the following issue:
- after a long power off (typically a whole night), when I press the Power button, I hear the chime, my keyboard and mouse illuminate (Razer hardware with RGB), I hear fans spinning, but I get no video.
- When I press the Power button again, the macpro shuts down immedialetly.
- When I press the Power button a third time, everything starts as it should and I have (after a minute or so) access to my desktop.

I first thought it was caused by the small CR2032 battery on the motherboard, so I replaced it, but it didn't change a thing. What else could explain the fact that the MacPro doesn't finish its startup on the first try ?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions,

Jean-Paul
 
Remedylane said:
Hello everyone,

I own a MacPro 4,1 with the following configuration :
- Firmware updated from 4,1 to 5,1
- BootROM 140.0.0.0.0
- Mojave 10.14.1
- 1 CPU W3690
- 3 x 8Go RAM
- PCIe Sapphire RX580 Nitro+ on slot 1
- PCIe Lycom DT120 with Samsung NVMe 970 EVO on slot 3 (as boot drive)
- PCI OWC Accelsior with Crucial SSD BX500 on slot 4 (clone)
- 4To HDD for TimeMachine on the first HDD tray
- HP e241i screen plugged on DVI

Since upgrading the BootROM and consequently installing the NVMe disk as the boot drive, I'm having the following issue:
- after a long power off (typically a whole night), when I press the Power button, I hear the chime, my keyboard and mouse illuminate (Razer hardware with RGB), I hear fans spinning, but I get no video.
- When I press the Power button again, the macpro shuts down immedialetly.
- When I press the Power button a third time, everything starts as it should and I have (after a minute or so) access to my desktop.

I first thought it was caused by the small CR2032 battery on the motherboard, so I replaced it, but it didn't change a thing. What else could explain the fact that the MacPro doesn't finish its startup on the first try ?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions,

Jean-Paul
Click to expand...
Sign of a PS failure (maybe capacitor charging?) I had similar behavior and after replacing the PS all is normal
 
Thank you for your answer, I guess it would explain the strange behaviour : first boot charges capacitors, that then have enough power to startup the computer on the second try ? In that case, there would then be no relation between the bootROM upgade and the addition of the NVMe drive, just an unfortunate coincidence... Which I prefer ;-)

I will start looking for a new PSU...
 
Remedylane said:
Thank you for your answer, I guess it would explain the strange behaviour : first boot charges capacitors, that then have enough power to startup the computer on the second try ? In that case, there would then be no relation between the bootROM upgade and the addition of the NVMe drive, just an unfortunate coincidence... Which I prefer ;-)

I will start looking for a new PSU...
Click to expand...
Is it repeatable with the same exact test?
 
I have the exact same issue but my „root cause“ is a completely other one!

Right now I am using my cMP headless and connect via Apple Remote Desktop for all my tasks.
(I have a TITAN X installed)

When I power in my Mac and my TV is turned off, my Mac shuts down immediately after pressing again the power button (same like yours), even though my TV is connected via HDMI.

If my TV is turned on (doesn‘t matter which channel, my TITAN X just needs a powered on signal) my MacPro boots normally.

Maybe the way how you have yout Display connected is causing this?!

There exists dummy HDMI/DP adapter on Amazon for just a few bucks. You could give it a try, or change your configuration (connected peripherial, ports etc).
 
Remedylane said:
Hello everyone,

I own a MacPro 4,1 with the following configuration :
- Firmware updated from 4,1 to 5,1
- BootROM 140.0.0.0.0
- Mojave 10.14.1
- 1 CPU W3690
- 3 x 8Go RAM
- PCIe Sapphire RX580 Nitro+ on slot 1
- PCIe Lycom DT120 with Samsung NVMe 970 EVO on slot 3 (as boot drive)
- PCI OWC Accelsior with Crucial SSD BX500 on slot 4 (clone)
- 4To HDD for TimeMachine on the first HDD tray
- HP e241i screen plugged on DVI

Since upgrading the BootROM and consequently installing the NVMe disk as the boot drive, I'm having the following issue:
- after a long power off (typically a whole night), when I press the Power button, I hear the chime, my keyboard and mouse illuminate (Razer hardware with RGB), I hear fans spinning, but I get no video.
- When I press the Power button again, the macpro shuts down immedialetly.
- When I press the Power button a third time, everything starts as it should and I have (after a minute or so) access to my desktop.

I first thought it was caused by the small CR2032 battery on the motherboard, so I replaced it, but it didn't change a thing. What else could explain the fact that the MacPro doesn't finish its startup on the first try ?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions,

Jean-Paul
Click to expand...

You're not alone. Mine has done that A LOT after firmware upgrade. Do a 4-Chime-Cycle NVRAM reset, and an SMC reset. Then go to the Startup Disk selector applet and choose the drive. Then power off and reboot.

It may help, it does for me... Until I update firmware again. I think there is a possibility that it's having trouble initializing the NVME drive. I filed a firmware bug report against 140.0.0.0.0.

If this only started happening with 140.0.0.0.0, I think you should file a bug report, and please try resetting the NVRAM (aka PRAM) & SMC reset. Turn it your system off overnight and check the power on behavior each day for a week or so. Of course if it doesn't help at all, no need to keep checking it.
 
Last edited:
Hello,

@crjackson2134 - I will have a look into this bug report thing. I have done the SMC reset, I have tried to do a 4-chime-cycle NVRAM reset, but the macpro won't allow it : it only works once (chime - reboot - chime, then access to desktop), even if I hold the keys pressed.

Now I am wondering, could the new firmware have induced a USB issue ?

@misantrophy -I have tried different video connexion types (DVI and Display Port), and the macpro's behaviour stays the same :-( I will check the two other peripherals (USB Razer keyboard and mouse)
 
Remedylane said:
Hello,

@crjackson2134 - I will have a look into this bug report thing. I have done the SMC reset, I have tried to do a 4-chime-cycle NVRAM reset, but the macpro won't allow it : it only works once (chime - reboot - chime, then access to desktop), even if I hold the keys pressed.

Now I am wondering, could the new firmware have induced a USB issue ?

@misantrophy -I have tried different video connexion types (DVI and Display Port), and the macpro's behaviour stays the same :-( I will check the two other peripherals (USB Razer keyboard and mouse)
Click to expand...
If it does not let you reset then it loses the USB port (if it is a USB keyboard). Try another USB keyboard you should be able to do 4 times reset.
 
Remedylane said:
Hello everyone,

I own a MacPro 4,1 with the following configuration :
- Firmware updated from 4,1 to 5,1
- BootROM 140.0.0.0.0
- Mojave 10.14.1
- 1 CPU W3690
- 3 x 8Go RAM
- PCIe Sapphire RX580 Nitro+ on slot 1
- PCIe Lycom DT120 with Samsung NVMe 970 EVO on slot 3 (as boot drive)
- PCI OWC Accelsior with Crucial SSD BX500 on slot 4 (clone)
- 4To HDD for TimeMachine on the first HDD tray
- HP e241i screen plugged on DVI

Since upgrading the BootROM and consequently installing the NVMe disk as the boot drive, I'm having the following issue:
- after a long power off (typically a whole night), when I press the Power button, I hear the chime, my keyboard and mouse illuminate (Razer hardware with RGB), I hear fans spinning, but I get no video.
- When I press the Power button again, the macpro shuts down immedialetly.
- When I press the Power button a third time, everything starts as it should and I have (after a minute or so) access to my desktop.

I first thought it was caused by the small CR2032 battery on the motherboard, so I replaced it, but it didn't change a thing. What else could explain the fact that the MacPro doesn't finish its startup on the first try ?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions,

Jean-Paul
Click to expand...

You could have some BootROM corruption, like me, @crjackson2134, and others had post MP51.0087.B00. I can check your BootROM dump/reconstruct it. Even if it's not the BootROM, it's the first thing to eliminate, I'll PM you instructions on how to dump your current one.
 
Remedylane said:
@startergo - I will take a usb keyboard from work and try tonight.

@tsialex - PM sent ;-)
Click to expand...

So I did try last night with a different usb keyboard, but the macpro behavior stays the same : it reboots only once.

Something new I've just noticed : with AJA or Blackmagic disks testing apps, the writing speed on both the NVMe and its clone SSD has been divided by two (respectively, 700MB/s and 250MB/s). I've tried different PCIe ports, but it didn't change a thing.

Could it be the result of a corrupted bootROM (I'll make a dump this week-end), or of a failing PSU?
 
Remedylane said:
So I did try last night with a different usb keyboard, but the macpro behavior stays the same : it reboots only once.

Something new I've just noticed : with AJA or Blackmagic disks testing apps, the writing speed on both the NVMe and its clone SSD has been divided by two (respectively, 700MB/s and 250MB/s). I've tried different PCIe ports, but it didn't change a thing.

Could it be the result of a corrupted bootROM (I'll make a dump this week-end), or of a failing PSU?
Click to expand...
Try doing AHT you may need an EFI GPU:
https://github.com/upekkha/AppleHardwareTest
 
Thanks startergo, I will also try AHT. I have already tried removing/changing the clock battery (no success).
 
Hello,

The new bootROM sent by tsialex solved most of my issues, the Macpro now boots without hiccups (it's just taking a loooooonnnnnnng time, but I suppose it's Mojave related).

I tried AHT, the tools didn't identify any problem.

One thing remains, but I guess I'll open a new thread for it : when I am running a speed test (Aja or Blackmagic) on the two drives connected via PCIe, the first tests are OK (Read and Write at 1500MB/s for the NVMe and 500MB/s for the SSD), but they soon drop to half these values for the Write part. Could it be linked with a tired PSU ?

Thank you all for your help.
 
Remedylane said:
Hello,

The new bootROM sent by tsialex solved most of my issues, the Macpro now boots without hiccups (it's just taking a loooooonnnnnnng time, but I suppose it's Mojave related).

I tried AHT, the tools didn't identify any problem.

One thing remains, but I guess I'll open a new thread for it : when I am running a speed test (Aja or Blackmagic) on the two drives connected via PCIe, the first tests are OK (Read and Write at 1500MB/s for the NVMe and 500MB/s for the SSD), but they soon drop to half these values for the Write part. Could it be linked with a tired PSU ?

Thank you all for your help.
Click to expand...
Do you still have the original issues?
 
Remedylane said:
Hello,

The new bootROM sent by tsialex solved most of my issues, the Macpro now boots without hiccups (it's just taking a loooooonnnnnnng time, but I suppose it's Mojave related).

I tried AHT, the tools didn't identify any problem.

One thing remains, but I guess I'll open a new thread for it : when I am running a speed test (Aja or Blackmagic) on the two drives connected via PCIe, the first tests are OK (Read and Write at 1500MB/s for the NVMe and 500MB/s for the SSD), but they soon drop to half these values for the Write part. Could it be linked with a tired PSU ?

Thank you all for your help.
Click to expand...

Confirm TRIM is enabled?

If no, this most likely the issue.

If yes, then possible thermal throttling.
 
I will check TRIM tonight, though I'm quite sure it is enabled on both SSDs.

What do you mean by "thermal throttling"? How would I be able to check it?

Thanks.
 
Remedylane said:
I will check TRIM tonight, though I'm quite sure it is enabled on both SSDs.

What do you mean by "thermal throttling"? How would I be able to check it?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

NVMe can warm up very quickly without properly cooling.

Once the chip warm up to certain temperature. The controller will lower its performance to keep the components within the safe thermal envelope.
 
The reduced performance (during writing tests) happens after 10 seconds on both the NVMe and the standard SSD (each on a different PCIe adapter). Does it sound possible?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back