Reviving a dead Mac Pro

[jacl3]

I have built tons of computers in the past, but have limited experience working with Macs (I've changed the mag safe and the hinges in my old mac book).

Anyway I bought a Mac Pro this evening on Kijiji, I paid $40 for it, so if I can't get it going at least I have a cool case.

Its a Mac Pro 1,1 A1186.

I got it home and it won't power on at all, I'm assuming it's totally dead but I figured I would ask here first.

The first thing I noticed (I noticed this before I bought it) but it has none of the hard drive sleds. I figure it should boot to something without them, but should give me an error that there is no drive however when I press the power button absolutely nothing happens.

It has both of the ram riser boards and there is 6gb of ram, I've tried swapping the boards around, trying the ram in all different configurations but I can not get anything at all to happen when I press the power button.

I know the power wire works,

Any ideas?

 

[thats all folks]

honestly, unless you already have a ready supply of parts, no point in continuing with that one. you should be able to pick up an actual working 1,1 for less than $100.

 

[jacl3]

Yeah I kind of felt like that was going to be the case, this was more of a "for fun" type project, just a little disappointing to not be able to get any kind of reaction from the computer haha.

 

[thats all folks]

I hear ya. and to add insult to injury likely the most valuable part of a dead Mac Pro is the sleds. but, find another dead one and you can make a bench!



will even hold up outside. for extra fancy, pull the guts and put candles in them.

 

[jacl3]

Do they need the sleds to boot? Is there some kind of sensor or is that completely unrelated?

 

[flyinmac]

It doesn't need the sleds to boot.

If it doesn't do anything at all, I'd suspect the power supply. Or perhaps the wires going from the button to the power supply.

Usually you'll get some reaction.

If I remember correctly, it will also power up without the memory risers installed.

I'd disconnect and remove anything unnecessary. Leaving it with just the power supply, fans, and CPUs / heat sinks and video card, and see if it at least will power up.

My guess is that something is either not connected properly, not seated properly, or shorted out.

Check all wire connections. Make sure fan housings are firmly seated properly. Etc.

Do you have any lights lighting up inside the computer when it's plugged in? Anything change when you press the power button?

The lights inside the case can offer clues.

On a side note, if you are needing parts from that exact model, I do have some.

Two 2.66 GHz dual core cpus (totals to 4 cores).
Two CPU heat sinks
nVidia 7300 GT video card
8 memory modules totaling either 11 or 14 gigs (somewhere in that range - I'd have to look again).

So if you are able to identify the initial problem, and if you need parts, I do know the parts I have above are in excellent working condition. So we could possibly work out a deal.

 

[alphaod]

You can probably check the leads from the power supply, though I've had the power button break too, so you may want to check that!

In answering you question, it does not need sleds to boot. Those are just holders, but you will need sleds to mount the hard disk drives (or use adapters for solid state disks)

 

[ActionableMango]

Any ideas?

There is a several-page troubleshooting procedure in the service manual, you should probably walk through it.

For example if you press the Diag LED button, then LED 1 should light up. If it doesn't, then there's no power from the power supply.

 

[jjjoseph]

I have built tons of computers in the past, but have limited experience working with Macs (I've changed the mag safe and the hinges in my old mac book).

Anyway I bought a Mac Pro this evening on Kijiji, I paid $40 for it, so if I can't get it going at least I have a cool case.

Its a Mac Pro 1,1 A1186.

I got it home and it won't power on at all, I'm assuming it's totally dead but I figured I would ask here first.

The first thing I noticed (I noticed this before I bought it) but it has none of the hard drive sleds. I figure it should boot to something without them, but should give me an error that there is no drive however when I press the power button absolutely nothing happens.

It has both of the ram riser boards and there is 6gb of ram, I've tried swapping the boards around, trying the ram in all different configurations but I can not get anything at all to happen when I press the power button.

I know the power wire works,

Any ideas?

I recently paid a recycling fee to a local Tech recycling company to recycle a MacPro 1,1, tax deductible. Its a cool place so I support it... So I paid -$10.00 or so.. for a 1,1 MacPro. $40 seems a little steep compared to what I paid, a negative amount, -$10.00.

 

[nigelbb]

You can probably sell the case for more than you paid for it. There are plenty of Hackintosh fans who would like their creations to look like a real Mac.

 

[jjjoseph]

You can probably sell the case for more than you paid for it. There are plenty of Hackintosh fans who would like their creations to look like a real Mac.

I tried. Nothing is standard. You have to hack and glue it to heck to get a standard motherboard to work.