MP 1,1-5,1 Recent update - 34" UW monitor not recognised

[Farravi]

I have unwittingly locked myself out of my Mac 5,1 after the last update. I allowed the system software update without paying attention to what was updating.

I was on Catalina and upgraded to a Sapphire Radeon vega pulse 56 graphic card sometime ago as it was on the supported list of apples metal cards and worked flawlessly until the recent update.

I have an ultra wide 34” monitor that I can use via HDMI / Displayport to connect to the desktop which has a couple of Hdmi ports and a similar number of displayports.

I believe it has something to do with the graphic card at its default recognising the 34" UW monitor.

I don’t have a spare standard monitor which as far as I know is the only option I think that can fix this issue.

Can anyone please shed some light on this issue?

 

[Farravi]

I've tried connecting to my LG TV via the HDMI connection to the Mac Pro to no avail.

I've also tried to connect it to my Dell laptop and use the screen as an 'extended' monitor to no avail.

The mac starts up and after 10 seconds start it emits a high pitch sound everytime now. It doesn't beep like it used to when it was working normally.

My 34 ultra wide monitor has 2 HDMI, 1 Displayport and 1 thunderbolt port.

 

[tsialex]

First check if EFI_DONE LED is lit when you press the DIAG button. If the LED is off, you have a brick to repair.

If it's on, then install an AppleOEM GPU and a display that you sure that works.

 

[Farravi]

Thanks Alex for your reply.

I have attached a photo but cannot find the efi_led?

 

[tsialex]

EFI_DONE:

 

[Farravi]

Efi_done blinked solid for few seconds
GPU_OK blinked twice briefly

 

[tsialex]

Efi_done blinked solid for few seconds
GPU_OK blinked twice briefly

Should not blink at all, needs to be a solid lit LED while you press the DIAG button. Anyway, install an Apple OEM GPU and a display that you sure works before anything else and see if you get the black Apple on grey background screen when you power on.

 

[tsialex]

Btw, this is a real mid-2010/mid-2012 or an early-2009?

 

[Farravi]

Mid 2010

 

[tsialex]

Mid 2010

mid-2010 are not dropping like flies like early-2009s cross-flashed to MP5,1, but a lot of people are having problems with the SPI flash memory that stores the BootROM, usually right after a macOS software update (lots of NVRAM erases and re-writes in a short time).

Try to get it going again with an AppleOEM GPU and a working display.

 

[Farravi]

Any inexpensive gpu that you can recommend as I had put  gpu 5,1 in the search box and didn't get many results.

 

[tsialex]

Any inexpensive gpu that you can recommend as I had put  gpu 5,1 in the search box and didn't get many results.

Apple NVIDIA GT120? Apple ATI HD 5770? You don't have the original GPU anymore?

 

[Farravi]

No because I bought it from a Mac specialist in UK back in 2015 and was built to my spec with Nvidia GeForce 980Gt with Apple Mac bootcamp installed.

I sold the 980 GTX when I upgraded the GPU to Veda 56 to cover the cost of the project.

 

[tsialex]

No because I bought it from a Mac specialist in UK back in 2015 and was built to my spec with Nvidia GeForce 980Gt with Apple Mac bootcamp installed.

I sold the 980 GTX when I upgraded the GPU to Veda 56 to cover the cost of the project.

See if you can borrow one from a friend, if not this will become a costly diagnostic process with current GPU prices. Don't buy any GPU, maybe going directly for a MATT card will be more cost effective.

 

[Farravi]

Nvidia Gt120 apparently doesn't support OS above High Sierra? I believe I had upgraded to Mojave or Catalina

 

[tsialex]

Nvidia Gt120 apparently doesn't support OS above High Sierra? I believe I had upgraded to Mojave or Catalina

No Apple OEM GPU works after High Sierra, no METAL support, anyway it's a GPU for diagnostic purposes only.

Btw, before thinking on buying anything also test your Vega 56 with a PC.

 

[Farravi]

I asked a friend to test the graphics card and he said it's working fine.

I've now gone through this three times and replicated same results.

I remove the power cord and put back in and if the system doesn't automatically turn on then I will process and switch the system on via the power button if it comes back on then I will pull the power cord and start over.

Whilst the depressing the Diag_led button, Efi_done Led comes on for a second or so and turns off and comes back on for a second and then turns off whilst the GPU_OK flashes twice rapidly and then goes off.

 

[tsialex]

I asked a friend to test the graphics card and he said it's working fine.

I've now gone through this three times and replicated same results.

I remove the power cord and put back in and if the system doesn't automatically turn on then I will process and switch the system on via the power button if it comes back on then I will pull the power cord and start over.

Whilst the depressing the Diag_led button, Efi_done Led comes on for a second or so and turns off and comes back on for a second and then turns off whilst the GPU_OK flashes twice rapidly and then goes off.

Do you have access to another Mac Pro to check if your CPU tray is working?

You probably have a brick (corrupt/dead SPI flash memory that stores the BootROM image) or a defective backplane, but you have to eliminate any other possibilities before starting spending.

 

[Farravi]

I may have a friend who has a working mac pro, if he does I’ll swap the cpu trays and report back.

 

[tsialex]

I may have a friend who has a working mac pro, if he does I’ll swap the cpu trays and report back.

Ask if he still has the Apple OEM GPU, if so you can confirm the brick/defective backplane.

 

[Farravi]

I swapped the cpu tray for my friends (his desktop was working fine) and I used his cpu in my mac pro and same high pitch fan no  logo.

Then I proceeded to swap the graphics card (his  oem gpu) and it works fine now.
What do I need to do?

I've used time machine and gone back in time enough to skip the update. Hoping this will resolve the issue.

 

[Farravi]

After going into time machine I went back enough to avoid the auto update which put me in this pridicament. I finally go to see the login page so logged in my user profiles and when I put my password it would not go beyond it. So I restarted again and managed to get in the guest user profile and attempted to go back into my login but it wouldn't go beyond the password screen.

I then put my gpu to test it but it did not work unfortunately so it's something to with the gpu drivers?

 

[tsialex]

After going into time machine I went back enoigh to avoid the update but after reinstalling it back, it loaded the user profiles and when I put my password it would not go beyond it. So I restarted again and managed to get in the guest user profile and attempted to go back into my login but it wouldn't go beyond the password screen.

I then put my gpu to test it but it did not work unfortunately.

I'm really intrigued. Why do you think that you gonna test your Mac Pro restoring your data via TimeMachine when you are not even sure that the Mac Pro is working? Or even if the TimeMachine backup is reliable/functional/without any issues that could crash your Mac Pro?

Don't you think that a clean install to a brand new SSD, or to an erased one that you are sure that works and don't have any SMART issues, would be an easier way to be sure that your Mac Pro works reliably and also wouldn't be an easier/simpler/faster way to diagnose it? A 240GB SSD can be bought for less than $30.

Use a minimal config, do a clean install and only after you sure that the minimal config works you start to add components one at a time.

 

[tsialex]

Btw, run AHT and ASD with the AppleOEM GPU.

AHT, you need 022-4831-A.dmg:

GitHub - upekkha/AppleHardwareTest: Apple Hardware Test Download Links

Apple Hardware Test Download Links. Contribute to upekkha/AppleHardwareTest development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

ASD, you need 3S149:

Information Architect Blog

As an information architect, these are a few tools, articles, and miscellanea that I find useful.

www.loremipsum.info

 

[Farravi]

Btw, run AHT and ASD with the AppleOEM GPU.

AHT, you need 022-4831-A.dmg:

GitHub - upekkha/AppleHardwareTest: Apple Hardware Test Download Links

Apple Hardware Test Download Links. Contribute to upekkha/AppleHardwareTest development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

ASD, you need 3S149:

Information Architect Blog

As an information architect, these are a few tools, articles, and miscellanea that I find useful.

www.loremipsum.info

Hi Alex

I have managed to get it up and running using the donor Apple OEM GPU 5770 and since it was already time machined to an earlier point, I connected the Vega 56 back and now it seems to be working. I have not run AHT / ASD as yet. I will report back once i get a chance.

In the meantime, I am on Mojave with bootroom 144.0.0.0.0. Is there any diagnostics apart from the one mentioned above that you would recommend running?

My HD is pretty much empty and the only suspect i have is ComboCleaner which is very hard to get fully rid off.