MP 1,1-5,1 OCLP MacPro - Troubleshooting a Hardware Issue

[curbjunkie]

I'm really hoping someone here might be able to help me troubleshoot an issue with my MacPro 5,1
I've already sunk a ton of time into figuring this out and haven't gotten to a solution yet.

Tech Specs:
MacPro 5,1 (Mid 2010)
12-Core: Two 2.93GHz Intel Xeon “Westmere”
AMD Radeon RX 580 8 GB
Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled
Memory: 48 GB (Mostly OWC RAM)
System Firmware Version: 9999.999.999.999.999
OS Loader Version: 577.140.2~22
SMC Version (system): 9.9999
SMC Version (processor tray): 1.39f11


BlueTooth and Wifi (Upgraded)
Chipset: BCM_20703A2
Firmware Version: v109 c4326
Supported services: 0x382039 < HFP AVRCP A2DP HID Braille AACP GATT SerialPort >
Vendor ID: 0x004C (Apple)

Card Type: Wi-Fi (0x14E4, 0x16D)
Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (7.77.111.1 AirPortDriverBrcmNIC-1772.1)

PCIe Cards
1x USB-C (4 port)
1x USB-3 (4 port)
1x SSD storage

SATA Storage
4x 16TB Western Digital


Primary Issue:
Not sure how long ago, maybe 5-6 months, I began to notice that when the Mac Pro (Mojave) went to sleep it would often not come back, and it would need a full shutdown to recover. I also noticed that while using it that the system would occasionally hang badly (spinning beach ball for minutes or indefinitely) - sometimes it would recover, other times, it just needed a full system shutdown. I originally attributed this to a bad hard drive or software issues, but now I wonder if it's part of a bigger hardware problem. Problem is that I have no way to confirm this as none of the hardware diagnostics that I've tried to run are working.


Attempted Fixes / Diagnostics:

1. Used OCLP 1.3 to upgrade the system from Mojave to Ventura.
2. Performed two separate installs, one a straight upgrade from Mojave to Ventura, another a fresh install of Ventura.
3. Tried running the OS drive (SSD) from a PCIe slot and one of the SATA HD slots.
4. Tried different SSD drives for the OS, also tried running on regular SATA hard drive.
5. Turned off all settings on Lock Screen to "never"
6. Removed all PCIe cards and extra harddrives, running it with just the OS drive.
7. After OS Upgrades tried to boot into Recovery (CMD+R, R, Option+R) mode or Diagnostic (D, CMD + D, Option+D) mode - I can't get either mode to work with any of the key combinations. Also tried selecting recovery from the boot picker.
8. Tried to boot into the old Apple ASD OS/EFI to perform hardware testing - none of the ASD boot drives I have work, closet one to working is 3S149 - but even then I get an error message that says OSD cannot run on this machine, other ASD OSs won't even boot. I also tried ASD 3S159, ASD 3S162, and ASD 3S148 (yes, I know only certain ASDs will work on certain Macs, but since nothing was working, I decided to try everything I had.)

Current Status:
The system runs very well on Ventura, no lag or spinning beach ball. But when not in use it will eventually for from screen saver, and from there to black screen, and after that it's completely unresponsive. When this happens it is unreachable via screen share, ping, ssh, or any smb file sharing. I use this Mac Pro primarily as a server, and it operates unattended for the majority of its time. So it's really critical that I figure out what's causing this issue, because the amount of hard shutdowns I currrently need to perform is unsustainable.

So if anyone has any thoughts on how to address this issue, I would really appreciate the help!!!
Thanks.

 

[tsialex]

First thing, you can't diagnose a Mac Pro running OCLP. You started completely wrong your diagnostic process.

You are trying to run ASD from OCLP, which is spoofing 2019 Mac Pro (board-id Mac-27AD2F918AE68F61) and will never work.

Second, all the info you posted about firmware versions are just fake, spoofed by OCLP, you have to go back to native macOS to see your real firmware versions. Did you checked if the real BootROM version is already fully upgraded to 144.0.0.0.0? Btw, did you started checking the BR2032 RTC battery voltage? Mac Pro crashing when sleeping, the first thing to check is the RTC battery and then the PSU, but running OCLP other things can be wrong, like old firmware versions.

Go back to a supported macOS, High Sierra will work best:

• remove the OCLP disk,
• double check if any other disk could have an ESP for OC/OCLP, remove any disks that have an ESP since you really need to boot native to diagnose a Mac Pro,
• install an AppleOEM GPU instead of your RX 580,
• even if you recently changed the RTC battery, double check the BR2032 voltage, replace it if the voltage is lower than 3.00V - do not use a CR2032, inadequate chemistry for the temperatures below the GPU,
• reset the SMC,
• do a deep NVRAM reset and install High Sierra,
• run ASD 3S149 (the only ASD that works with an early-2009 cross-flashed to mid-2010, mid2010 and mid-2012 Mac Pros, ASD requires an AppleOEM GPU).

 

[curbjunkie]

First thing, you can't diagnose a Mac Pro running OCLP. You started completely wrong your diagnostic process.

View attachment 2351343

You are trying to run ASD from OCLP, which is spoofing 2019 Mac Pro (board-id Mac-27AD2F918AE68F61) and will never work.

Second, all the info you posted about firmware versions are just fake, spoofed by OCLP, you have to go back to native macOS to see your real firmware versions. Did you checked if the real BootROM version is already fully upgraded to 144.0.0.0.0? Btw, did you started checking the BR2032 RTC battery voltage? Mac Pro crashing when sleeping, the first thing to check is the RTC battery and then the PSU, but running OCLP other things can be wrong, like old firmware versions.

Go back to a supported macOS, High Sierra will work best:

• remove the OCLP disk,
• double check if any other disk could have an ESP for OC/OCLP, remove any disks that have an ESP since you really need to boot native to diagnose a Mac Pro,
• install an AppleOEM GPU instead of your RX 580,
• even if you recently changed the RTC battery, double check the BR2032 voltage, replace it if the voltage is lower than 3.00V - do not use a CR2032, inadequate chemistry for the temperatures below the GPU,
• reset the SMC,
• do a deep NVRAM reset and install High Sierra,
• run ASD 3S149 (the only ASD that works with an early-2009 cross-flashed to mid-2010, mid2010 and mid-2012 Mac Pros, ASD requires an AppleOEM GPU).

tsialex, thanks for the reply. I actually did start with checking the BR2032 battery, I forgot to put that one on my list. The voltage seemed okay, in the 3.2V range. But I may just replace it anyway.​

Years ago, when I originally upgraded the MP from ElCap to Mojave I didn't use OLPC, I used the "pikify3.1" - its been so long I don't remember exactly if I upgraded the firmware. I'll need to check that as well. When I boot up into High Sierra should I be able to see that information in the System Profiler?
I'll work on the HighSierra installer, thanks!

 

[tsialex]

Years ago, when I originally upgraded the MP from ElCap to Mojave I didn't use OLPC, I used the "pikify3.1"

Pike R. Alpha tools are for MacPro1,1/2,1 and other Macs of that era to run later releases than Lion, more specifically El Capitan. Not for a MacPro5,1.

- its been so long I don't remember exactly if I upgraded the firmware. I'll need to check that as well. When I boot up into High Sierra should I be able to see that information in the System Profiler?

Yes.

 

[haralds]

Ah, remember the Pike tools well.

I have not been able to keep either Ventura or Sonoma stable with OCLP 1.30 or 1.4 nightly builds for more than a day, sometimes just hours. I end up with kernel crashes in the AMD driver.
I have not tried going back to OCLP 1.2 for Ventura.

Monterey works well but does not support some things I like - Homekit and the latest Logic Pro.

 

[curbjunkie]

Pike R. Alpha tools are for MacPro1,1/2,1 and other Macs of that era to run later releases than Lion, more specifically El Capitan. Not for a MacPro5,1.



Yes.

I was finally able to run ASD 3S149 and all tests passed except for Airport - which was expected since I have upgraded the wifi and bluetooth hardware.

I am still trying to set up a High Sierra boot drive (trying to locate a working installer) but I was able to boot into Snow Leopard and the BootROM firmware is still at v140.00 (see attached).

So at this point, if there are no hardware problems, do you think upgrading the bootROM firmware could fix the issues that I'm seeing? If not, do I need to upgrade the bootROM for other reasons?

thanks again.

 

[tsialex]

I was finally able to run ASD 3S149 and all tests passed except for Airport - which was expected since I have upgraded the wifi and bluetooth hardware.

ASD is not perfect, sometimes it does not catch intermittent problems. Seems that this could be one of those times.

I am still trying to set up a High Sierra boot drive (trying to locate a working installer)

How to download and install macOS - Apple Support

Download and install current or previous versions of the Mac operating system on compatible Mac computers.

support.apple.com

but I was able to boot into Snow Leopard and the BootROM firmware is still at v140.00 (see attached).

140.0.0.0.0 have several security/microcodes/APFS issues.

So at this point, if there are no hardware problems, do you think upgrading the bootROM firmware could fix the issues that I'm seeing? If not, do I need to upgrade the bootROM for other reasons?

thanks again.

While I still think that you have hardware issues, you need to upgrade your BootROM to the most recent release, versions between MP51.0089.B00 to 144.0.0.0.0 are riddled with bugs.

Follow the first post of the thread below to upgrade to 144.0.0.0.0:

MacPro5,1: What you have to do to upgrade to Mojave (10.13/10.14 BootROM upgrades instructions thread)

Please fully read this first post, you will probably find that you have one or more problems described into the various notes below. Mojave will only install if you have upgraded your BootROM to the current release and your Mac Pro have a Metal capable GPU*. If you are trying to install Mojave...

forums.macrumors.com