mac pro mid 2010 a1289 powers up but no power to usb (keyboard or mouse), does not boot. PSU fault?

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mac pro mid 2010 a1289 powers up but no power to usb (keyboard or mouse), does not boot. PSU fault?

Hi, trying to find a solution for my friend's mac pro a1289. It switches on but does not boot. There is no power to usb sockets, so no mouse or keyboard. Cannot perform PRAM or SMC reset as no keyboard functionality. Have tried alternate keyboards and mice but to no avail. Monitor is reading no signal too. Hard drive spins but does not boot up. My friend is an electronics engineer so can probably repair it himself but we're having trouble locating what is faulty (power supply or motherboard). Also he's French & doesn't speak much English so the available information out there is limited. Been searching the forums for answers. Seems a few people have had similar problems (problem first occurred with machine not booting all the time. Had to power on a few times before boot. Now machine will not boot at all.) and it seems that replacing the motherboard didn't help them. It seems like it's most likely the PSU but after testing the PSU output the voltages seem correct from the info gleaned from this article:

http://pinoutguide.com/Power/apple_mac_pro_psuJ1_pinout.shtml

This is a fairly high level technical question so if anyone can shed any light we'd be most appreciative! Anything we should be looking for or any tests we can run. Managed to track down Apple's own test software but without keyboard or screen access this cannot be done.

Many thanks!

James

Mac Pro

Posted on Jan 27, 2019 8:34 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 27, 2019 10:02 AM in response to lilliputianfluhallucination

How to reset the SMC on Mac desktop computers

If you have an iMac Pro, skip ahead to the section that deals with your Mac.

Follow these steps for iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro, and Xserve.

Choose Apple menu > Shut Down.
After your Mac shuts down, unplug the power cord.
Wait 15 seconds.
Plug the power cord back in.
Wait 5 seconds, then press the power button again to turn on your Mac.

For Intel-based Xserve computers that aren't responding, you can shut down locally or by using remote commands. You can also press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.

from:

How to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

... to expedite the process, some Users swear by pressing the power-on button for a quarter minute with the power cord removed, assuring the deep discharge of the power capacitors, and a strong reset of everything.

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Answer 2

Jan 27, 2019 10:06 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

The gross wiggle-check in this article should NOT require any dis-assembly except to power off and pull out the processor shelf.

(Revisited) 2009 Mac Pro Northbridge High Temperatures due to broken Heatsink Retainer:

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/archives/jul14/071114.html

.

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Answer 3

Jan 27, 2019 8:41 AM in response to lilliputianfluhallucination

SMC reset on that Mac does NOT require a keyboard.

On MacBooks that use the keyboard, it is only the Built-in keyboard that functions for the purpose of SMC reset and only the keys one the correct side of the keyboard -- the ones on the other side are not "wired in" and will not work for this purpose.

Do the fans run at normal speeds? This indicates the System Management Controller (SMC) is functioning.

Do you hear the chime? The chime is generated in software by the main processor when the power-on self test has passed, and not otherwise.

Does the power-on indicator blink a pattern? if so this is a "help me" message

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Answer 4

Jan 27, 2019 9:41 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Hi Grant, thanks for your reply,

how do you do the SMC reset without the keyboard on the mac pro? I couldn't find instructions online, just the one with the key combination for macbooks which say they work for all macs...

Fans seem to be running at normal speed as far as we can tell - they're not excessively noisy or noisier than usual.

Power light does not blink or flash, just constant as normal. There is no mac power up chime however.

Thanks!

J

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mac pro mid 2010 a1289 powers up but no power to usb (keyboard or mouse), does not boot. PSU fault?

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