Is there a way to reinstall earlier firmware on the 6,1 ? As a troubleshooting measure. Say 136.0.0.0.0 -> 134.0.0.0
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MP 6,1 Return to earlier firmware ?
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Right... just saw that... well it wont hurt to try . This is the client mac that i bought for 200usd and i think it has a mainboard issue but it wont hurt to try .... i do not have the spares to swap out i/o boards and motherboards to make a definitive diagnosis. The software tests get either a full pass or there is a random shutdown with no other information.
The random shutdowns seem memory related, ie they can be triggered by a memory test in techtool, but the ram is probably ok, as the shutdowns are independent of the chips i use, but if i leave slots 1&3 vacant (regardless of apple instructions) and use 2&4 with matching chips it SEEMS stable. Reading the block diagram the memory talks directly to the cpu so i suppose it could be a cpu problem, but its passing all the tests at the moment. Its only the quad core 3.7 so an 8 or 10 core cpu might be worth a try ....
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actually i just had it running big sur with 2 x 8gb chips in slots 2 & 4 , i looked in the system report and it showed ecc errors in slot 4. I swapped out the ram chip for another of the original 4 and the error disappeared. seems stable now , I'd say hopefully 1 or even 2 of the owc 8gb chips are faulty, i may have missed this before because there are 15 ways to install 2of4 chips in 4 slots. fingers crossed. ill also try what you suggest on all chips, and order a couple of new 16gbs. If that works ill try a 10core cpu as an upgrade for this machine.
Well its not the memory chips themselves, its the memory controller, i am getting all kinds of random errors, chips not being recognised in certain slots, then test ok in others, the same combination working one minute and then if you change it and go back, you get a different result the next time !
Try reseating the CPU. Poor socket-pin connection will cause random memory problems.
I am going to upgrade the cpu, its only a 4 core, and clean off the old thermal paste and reassemble. Ill probably try a 12 core.
Well I managed to change the cpu without breaking anything... so now its a 12 core 2.7ghz and so far its not crashed BUT it still does not want to recognise a dimm in slot 1 !! So its got 3x8gb in slots 2,3 &4 at the moment = 24gb. I guess ill have to test it and see how stable it is but i have no idea what happened to slot 1 (same error was there before disassembly) All the bolts are nice and tight, no dust anymore, no obvious bent pins on socket or damage to the dimm slot #1, but i did not use a microscope.