MP 1,1-5,1 Question about upgrading MP 4,1 CPU Tray

[Mac Pro Convert]

Hi all,
I'm looking at starting a small business doing Data recovery and repair,
using Mac Pro's as the work horses.

A Year ago I purchased a 2010 MP 5,1 with a 3.46Ghz 6 core Xeon and 16 Gig 1333Mhz ram,
which i then upgraded to a 5,1 Dual 6 core Tray with 3.46Ghz Xeon's and 40 Gig 1333Mhz ram.

Now i have a left over 5,1 CPU tray with the 3.46Ghz six core and its ram
just sitting on the shelf, and I'm looking at buying another MP, either 4,1 or 5,1
as another work horse.

My question is as follows,

Is the firmware located on the CPU tray ? or on the main logic board in the case?

The reason i am asking is if i get an 2009 4,1 and install my left over 5,1 tray in it,
will i still have to flash the firmware ? or will the 5,1 tray take care of that for me ?

Cheers for your replies in advance 8)

 

[Zen_Arcade]

A 4,1 tray in a 5,1, even if the 4,1 is flashed, will run the fans at 100%. Just get a 5,1 if you want to use the leftover 5,1 tray.

 

[Mac Pro Convert]

I'm looking at putting the left over 5,1 tray in a 4,1, sorry i should have made that clearer.

I have found lots of cheap quad core 4,1's online,
I'm working to a budget so i have to keep my start up costs to a minimum.

I am also running Mac Fan controller for the fans,
As i live in Western Australia and it gets quite hot here in the summer months.

Resetting the PRAM will also fix the fan over run issue.

 

[Zen_Arcade]

Same problem - a 5,1 tray in a 4,1, even flashed, will trigger the fans to run at 100%. It's been a while, but I don't think MacFanController will help - it's a mismatch between the boot ROM on the tray and the main logic board that can't be matched.

 

[Mac Pro Convert]

Ah!! OK, so as you stated earlier,
It would be best to just go for some cheap 5,1's and save my self the headaches lol.

I also have an MP 3,1 3.0Ghz 8 core 24 Gig 800Mhz ram,
and an Mp 1,1 3.0Ghz 8 core 32 Gig 667Mhz in the cupboard.

they may not be as fast as the 5,1's however they will only be scanning drives,
will just take a little longer to complete the scan and recovery.
So they should still fit the bill till i get some more 5,1's to replace them with.

Cheers for the info, greatly appreciated 8)

 

[Zen_Arcade]

Hope it helps!

I appreciate that 5,1 models are probably not thick on the ground there - I'd try for the least expensive 5,1 possible - something like the quad 2.66/5770 and then swap your 3.46 tray in.

All the best!

 

[tsialex]

CPU trays don't have BootROMs, only the backplane has it.

You can't use a 2009 backplane with a 2010/2012 tray, or vice-versa, SMC firmware will mismatch and all Mac Pro fans will run at failsafe mode - full RPM, all the time. No fan management app works.

2009 SMC firmware is 1.39f5, 2010/2012 SMC firmware is 1.39f11. Versions need to match.

SMC firmware is not upgradeable, no user or technician can do it. SMC is a secure micro controller that can't be read and without a secure key that only Apple has, you can't upgrade it.

 

[Mac Pro Convert]

CPU trays don't have BootROMs, only the backplane has it.

You can't use a 2009 backplane with a 2010/2012 tray, or vice-versa, SMC firmware will mismatch and all Mac Pro fans will run at failsafe mode - full RPM, all the time. No fan management app works.

2009 SMC firmware is 1.39f5, 2010/2012 SMC firmware is 1.39f11. Versions need to match.

SMC firmware is not upgradeable, no user or technician can do it. SMC is a secure micro controller that can't be read and without a secure key that only Apple has, you can't upgrade it.

Hi tsialex,

Cheers for the info,
I figured the BootRom was on the backplane, just didn't know for certain,
now i do 8), i gave up on the 2009 4,1 idea and I'm just going for the 2010-2012 5,1's now,
much easier to deal with.

Off topic here,

I'm now looking into clustering my 2006 MP 1,1 - 2008 MP 3,1 and 2010 MP 5,1
together so they act as one machine.

Just need to find out if doing so will mean they share CPU's and Ram.

E.G.
Link the three so they all act as one machine with the 5,1 as the interface terminal,
Or maybe even my 2012 9,2 MacBook Pro as the interface terminal,
for greater Processing power when doing Data Recovery / Data Repair.

If it is possible to do so,
I was thinking of using either a network hub, Thunder Bolt or FireWire Hub
to link the three / four Machines together, if that is at all possible,
its all theory at the moment lol.

I have a lot of reading to do to catch up on the topic, been a few decades lol.

 

[tsialex]

I'm now looking into clustering my 2006 MP1,1 - 2008 3,1 and 2010 5,1
together so they act as one machine.

Just need to find out if doing so will mean they share CPU's and Ram.

E.G.
Link the three so they all act as one machine with the 5,1 as the main terminal,
for greater Processing power when doing Data Recovery / Data Repair.

Unless your application is Xgrid based, won't work. Btw, Apple is not supporting Xgrid for quite some time.

 

[Mac Pro Convert]

Oh OK, guess i have some internet trawling to do see if i can find
a program that can do it.

Cheers for the info

 

[Zen_Arcade]

CPU trays don't have BootROMs, only the backplane has it.

You can't use a 2009 backplane with a 2010/2012 tray, or vice-versa, SMC firmware will mismatch and all Mac Pro fans will run at failsafe mode - full RPM, all the time. No fan management app works.

2009 SMC firmware is 1.39f5, 2010/2012 SMC firmware is 1.39f11. Versions need to match.

SMC firmware is not upgradeable, no user or technician can do it. SMC is a secure micro controller that can't be read and without a secure key that only Apple has, you can't upgrade it.

Thanks for the correction!