Need help from flashed MP 4,1>5,1 users

[tripmusic]

I've posted before about having a very slow start up manager (Holding down Option upon boot). After troubleshooting this and still not finding a fix, I've come to the conclusion that it could possibly be because of my MP being flashed from a 4,1 to 5,1. Can anyone else confirm this? It takes a good 20 secs or more to show my list of drives. Thanks

 

[h9826790]

I've posted before about having a very slow start up manager (Holding down Option upon boot). After troubleshooting this and still not finding a fix, I've come to the conclusion that it could possibly be because of my MP being flashed from a 4,1 to 5,1. Can anyone else confirm this? It takes a good 20 secs or more to show my list of drives. Thanks

Most likely because you have lots of drives. Never heard that firmware flash cause slow boot manager.

 

[tripmusic]

Most likely because you have lots of drives. Never heard that firmware flash cause slow boot manager.

Nah... I moved the same drives over from a 3,1 and didn't have an issue. Plus, I took all the HDD's out and booted with just the SSD and didn't fix. I also disconnected the SSD and tried to boot with only the HDD bays and same result. If it's not the firmware, what the hell else could it be?

 

[h9826790]

Nah... I moved the same drives over from a 3,1 and didn't have an issue. Plus, I took all the HDD's out and booted with just the SSD and didn't fix. I also disconnected the SSD and tried to boot with only the HDD bays and same result. If it's not the firmware, what the hell else could it be?

It's really hard to tell. You are now comparing a 3,1 to a 5,1. Which is not just a firmware upgrade.

If you want to narrow down to that's a firmware issue. You have to:

1) Remove the W3690, because that only works with the 5,1 firmware.
2) install the original CPU back in.
3) Time the HDD show up time.
4) downgrade the firmware back to 4,1
5) Time the HDD show up time again.

And if the manager really show up much quicker. Then

a) Re-flash it to 5,1
b) time the HDD show up time once more, to make sure it's not because the unintentional reset during shaping CPU / firmware flashing, etc (e.g. SMC reset).

You are now just keep blaming the 5,1 firmware without any proper control test. How can we make that conclusion?

However, from your above test. We can confirm that my 1st assumption is wrong, it's not due to the number of HDDs, but something else.

 

[tripmusic]

I'm just saying that it's not a drives issue because the same drives were in a 3,1 (& 2,1) and the boot selector was instantaneous. Seems odd that a newer and better machine would be slower in that respect. Yea, I'm not that inclined to throw the quad chip back in and revert the firmware at this time. It's more an inconvenience to have to wait a bit longer to boot into my DAW drives. It's just one of those things that bugs me. Thanks for your thoughts

EDIT: Actually I can't downgrade the firmware anyhow because I have one of those Apple refurbished 4,1.

 

[LightBulbFun]

You can downgrade the firmware back to a 4,1 you just wont have the B08 boot rom but the B07 boot rom thats all. it will still work. in regards to the slow boot manager make sure to reset the PRAM and have try again with NOTHING but a keyboard and monitor connected as something could be holding it from one of your USB Devices to your DVD drive. (a boot manager with no bootable drives will just be a mouse curser btw) as far as I know flashing a 4,1 to a 5,1 does not cause a slow boot manager.

 

[tripmusic]

Thanks for the clarification. Are there any differences in the boot rom?

Yea I've tried many PRAM resets and have disconnected peripherals and PCI cards

Is it possible to boot in verbose mode, whilst bringing up the start up manager, so I could see what's making it hang?

 

[orph]

might be a bad ram stick? have you tried removing all but 2 ram sticks then booting?

 

[chrfr]

I've posted before about having a very slow start up manager (Holding down Option upon boot). After troubleshooting this and still not finding a fix, I've come to the conclusion that it could possibly be because of my MP being flashed from a 4,1 to 5,1. Can anyone else confirm this? It takes a good 20 secs or more to show my list of drives. Thanks

I haven't seen any difference in a handful of Mac Pros that I flashed.

 

[tripmusic]

might be a bad ram stick? have you tried removing all but 2 ram sticks then booting?

Haven't tried that. It's pretty new DMS ram. I'll check later. Thanks

 

[DPUser]

Haven't tried that. It's pretty new DMS ram. I'll check later. Thanks

I have had lengthy post delays that occasionally arise when many USB peripherals, including some Yamaha keyboards (which have their own AC power), are attached but his was fixed by a complete power-down reboot. I note you tried without peripherals; I mention this for others who may encounter post delays.

I don't know that comparing a 3,1 to a 4,1/5,1 provides any useful data. Good luck sorting it out but, in the end, if this is a consistent issue and post is always reached in 20 seconds, it ain't that big a deal.

 

[thornslack]

If you are using a non native apple Gpu that can cause longer than normal boots.

In my experience the more drives and peripherals attached to the computer the longer the post, especially if there are multiple drives with their own OS.
[doublepost=1472318126][/doublepost]Just re read your post. Perhaps moving a drive from a 3,1 has something to do with it? Have you considered a fresh OS X install natively on the 4,1 to rule out baggage from the older machine?

 

[kohlson]

The boot operation is really trying to "get everything ready." More RAM will increase boot time.At one point a balky network issue slowed me down. Disk drives that are wonky (both media and volume structures). You may want to check these, too.

 

[tripmusic]

I don't know that comparing a 3,1 to a 4,1/5,1 provides any useful data.

I'm just saying I've used the exact same drives/peripheral setup on two previous models and didn't experience this lag for the startup manager.

If you are using a non native apple Gpu that can cause longer than normal boots.

In my experience the more drives and peripherals attached to the computer the longer the post, especially if there are multiple drives with their own OS.
[doublepost=1472318126][/doublepost]Just re read your post. Perhaps moving a drive from a 3,1 has something to do with it? Have you considered a fresh OS X install natively on the 4,1 to rule out baggage from the older machine?

It is a flashed Gpu, but I've used this on two previous MP's without an issue. I removed all drives except for 1 boot drive and removed all peripherals and it doesn't make a difference. I've cloned Mac Pro boot volumes to my MBP and didn't experience any "baggage" issues.

The boot operation is really trying to "get everything ready." More RAM will increase boot time.At one point a balky network issue slowed me down. Disk drives that are wonky (both media and volume structures). You may want to check these, too.

My boot time is lightning fast... it's just the startup manager that lags. All my drives and volumes check out, as well as SMART parameters.
[doublepost=1472357559][/doublepost]

might be a bad ram stick? have you tried removing all but 2 ram sticks then booting?

Tried booting with one and two... no change.
[doublepost=1472357979][/doublepost]Thanks to everyone who's chimed in. In the end, it's not a huge deal having to wait 20+ secs to bring up my drives, it's just I haven't experienced this before.

Just to note... when I did flash it to 5,1 it didn't initially take it. Can't remember all the details. The second attempt to flash it worked. Perhaps this did something? Maybe someday when I feel bored I'll throw the Quad cpu back in, downgrade to 4,1 and then redo everything again. Until then, I guess it will just remain an annoying mystery. Thanks again folks!