MP 1,1-5,1 Mid-2010 Mac Pro 5,1 not booting -- Only 5V_STBY diag LED

[XTheLancerX]

Old mid-2010 Mac Pro: 16GB RAM (4x4GB DDR3 ECC, 4TB 7200 HDD, 60GB SSD as boot drive, I believe it's the base, single-CPU model. It also has a GTX 680 2GB installed).

I recently acquired this from my work (I work at my college's IT firm) as it was going to get recycled. It was being a little bit flakey here and there when we initially were working on it in the past.

It sometimes would refuse to turn on. No lights, no fan, nothing. Then it didn't do that for awhile, and I honestly forgot about the issue. I wiped the drives that were in it as part of procedure, brought it home, was preparing to get it all set up again and reinstall macOS... and immediately noticed things weren't right.

It powered on, but would not put out a display signal, and it had red lights next to DIMM slots 3 and 4 (the machine has 4x4GB DDR3 ECC RAM).

I pulled the two sticks out, still wouldnt turn on. Things looked good when pushing the diagnostics button on the motherboard, it was getting power from PSU, GPU was okay, no CPU overheating errors, etc (I honestly don't know what the diagnostic lights are SUPPOSED to do in a working system, I just saw a lot of green)

I pulled one more stick out, and tried powering on again, but still had no video out (I figured this was because of no macOS, but in hindsight this assumption was incorrect).

I left it there idling while I was trying to get a Mojave installer going on my MacBook Pro, and I heard it turn off. No matter what I tried, different power cable, different outlets, SMC and capacitor flush (I believe I did it correctly), nothing.

Took it into work, as a first test, I tried to power it on, and it actually did do so. I even got out a video signal this time. Was trying to boot into macOS installer, but was taking forever. Then, same thing. Shut off, no signs of life since. In all cases where it's been lifeless, the DIAG_LEDs are as follows:

https://imgur.com/dxHFd3R

I also tried a voltmeter with the CMOS, and since it is a BR2032 and not a CR2032, I'm not really familiar. Doesn't seem to be a lot of info on these from my quick research, but the voltage was 2.62V. These are around 2.85V if I'm correct. Could it be the CMOS? If it isn't, what other avenues should I take?

 

[tsialex]

Old mid-2010 Mac Pro: 16GB RAM (4x4GB DDR3 ECC, 4TB 7200 HDD, 60GB SSD as boot drive, I believe it's the base, single-CPU model. It also has a GTX 680 2GB installed).

I recently acquired this from my work (I work at my college's IT firm) as it was going to get recycled. It was being a little bit flakey here and there when we initially were working on it in the past.

It sometimes would refuse to turn on. No lights, no fan, nothing. Then it didn't do that for awhile, and I honestly forgot about the issue. I wiped the drives that were in it as part of procedure, brought it home, was preparing to get it all set up again and reinstall macOS... and immediately noticed things weren't right.

It powered on, but would not put out a display signal, and it had red lights next to DIMM slots 3 and 4 (the machine has 4x4GB DDR3 ECC RAM).

I pulled the two sticks out, still wouldnt turn on. Things looked good when pushing the diagnostics button on the motherboard, it was getting power from PSU, GPU was okay, no CPU overheating errors, etc (I honestly don't know what the diagnostic lights are SUPPOSED to do in a working system, I just saw a lot of green)

I pulled one more stick out, and tried powering on again, but still had no video out (I figured this was because of no macOS, but in hindsight this assumption was incorrect).

I left it there idling while I was trying to get a Mojave installer going on my MacBook Pro, and I heard it turn off. No matter what I tried, different power cable, different outlets, SMC and capacitor flush (I believe I did it correctly), nothing.

Took it into work, as a first test, I tried to power it on, and it actually did do so. I even got out a video signal this time. Was trying to boot into macOS installer, but was taking forever. Then, same thing. Shut off, no signs of life since. In all cases where it's been lifeless, the DIAG_LEDs are as follows:

https://imgur.com/dxHFd3R

I also tried a voltmeter with the CMOS, and since it is a BR2032 and not a CR2032, I'm not really familiar. Doesn't seem to be a lot of info on these from my quick research, but the voltage was 2.62V. These are around 2.85V if I'm correct. Could it be the CMOS? If it isn't, what other avenues should I take?

BR2032 voltage is 3.0V, anything below 2,9V and the Real Time Clock will become stuck, replace it. Btw, the RTC is not your problem, RTC don't store settings not related to time. You need to replace because sleep need the RTC working.

There are two other active threads on bricks right now, please read both before anything - no need to rewrite it here AGAIN.

Mac Pro (Mid-2012) - no video and a very weird mainboard/processor board issue

MacPro 5.1 chime loop and black Screen.

Btw, you have a brick, no EFI_DONE LED lit.

 

[XTheLancerX]

BR2032 voltage is 3.0V, anything below 2,9V and the Real Time Clock will become stuck, replace it. Btw, the RTC is not your problem, RTC don't store settings not related to time. You need to replace because sleep need the RTC working.

There are two other active threads on bricks right now, please read both before anything - no need to rewrite it here AGAIN.

Mac Pro (Mid-2012) - no video and a very weird mainboard/processor board issue

MacPro 5.1 chime loop and black Screen.

Btw, you have a brick, no EFI_DONE LED lit.

I saw those, but my issue is a little different, and neither were resolved.

EFI_DONE LED lit the other day, and again today when the Mac briefly worked before dying again. Does that act as any kind of hint?

 

[tsialex]

I saw those, but my issue is a little different, and neither were resolved.

EFI_DONE LED lit the other day, and again today when the Mac briefly worked before dying again. Does that act as any kind of hint?

Could be that you have more than one problem.

Could be a brick and defective PSU, could also be a brick and a defective CPU tray. Rare cases, like the first one I linked, the CPU tray is defective in a way that EFI_DONE is not consistent and the first logical step is to eliminate the CPU tray being a problem testing it on a known working Mac Pro. Done that, only can be a bricked backplane, defective PSU, or worst, both. Always test the CPU tray, then the PSU with a known working Mac Pro.

Anyway, this is a topic that sometimes people open more than one thread a week thinking that the situation is unique. All the info for you to diagnose your Mac Pro are on the two posts I've linked and you can always use the search for EFI_DONE and read the dozens of other past threads.

 

[krakman]

I've had three Mac Pro 4.1 >5.1 towers die on me in exactly the same way you describe. At the time I lived by the sea, I put it down to very humid salty air corroding the electronics on the PCB.

My 6.1 also stopped booting and apple claimed I had water damage but it was just long term effects of humidity.

All I can suggest is you buy some PCB cleaner and a soft brush, take the whole thing apart and clean thouroughly.

Ebay is good for spare parts. (depending where you live in the world)

 

[XTheLancerX]

I've had three Mac Pro 4.1 >5.1 towers die on me in exactly the same way you describe. At the time I lived by the sea, I put it down to very humid salty air corroding the electronics on the PCB.

My 6.1 also stopped booting and apple claimed I had water damage but it was just long term effects of humidity.

All I can suggest is you buy some PCB cleaner and a soft brush, take the whole thing apart and clean thouroughly.

Ebay is good for spare parts. (depending where you live in the world)

I live in western NY, I doubt it has to do with humidity or salty air ? Ugh I was so excited for this Mac.