Mac Pro A1115

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Level 1

4 points

Mac Pro A1115

Ladies and gents, I have seen this problem in a gazillion Internet discussions but none of the advices given there would help, so here I am turning to you for advice.

I have an A1115 Mac Pro that had been shelved two years prior in a good working condition.

Mac Pro (Early 2008) - Technical Specifications

My config:

2x quad-core 2.8 GHz Xeons - tested, good
8x1 GB 800 MHz RDRAM - tested, good
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT with 256MB in slot 1 x16 - tested, good
500GB SATA in slot 1 - tested, good

No chime, no power in USB connectors, fan on the VGA runs, case fan runs, no LEDs on riser board

USB keyboard got no power, Caps Lock LED doesn't light up

Screen is blank (Apple Cinema 20", also tested, good)

HDD spins up

New CR2032 battery

Mac doesn't react to any key combinations.

I replaced literally EVERY component to no avail during my tests to other known good components.

Also tried to boot with no RAM, no HDD, no peripherals, no USB, same outcome.

I am at a loss. Does it mean that my mainboard is defect? Aiuto! Ajoutez! Hilfe!

Mac Pro

Posted on Nov 23, 2022 8:14 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

140,801 points

Dec 13, 2022 9:01 AM in response to datbenik513

The initial "chime" sound is generated in software when your Mac passes the Power-On Self Test. If the chime occurs and/or startup continues, your Mac is working. The blank gray screen should light up. Then on to the disk Drive.

Absent a chime, either the main processor did not get started, or a fatal error occurred so early on in the process, that no indications could be sent. A few of these will be reflected as blinking power indicator lights, with a repeating pattern.

With NO RAM DIMMS installed, a running processor should blink out the small integer number of blinks indicating "no working RAM installed".

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Answer 2

datbenik513 Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 13, 2022 8:22 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

A few weeks further, still no idea. Just ran through the whole diagnostics described in this thread again, the situation is still the same. No LED error messages, all voltages are present, at least on the 4-pin Molex (+5 and +12V). Case fan spins, fan on the VGA card spins, harddrives spin up in all four caddies.

The only think I can think of now is either a logic board (mainboard failure) or a CPU failure (although I'm not getting any error messages on LED3 thru LED6).

I will swap the CPU's and once I'm there I'll also vacuum clean the coolers and apply some fresh thermal paste.

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Answer 3

Dec 28, 2022 11:35 AM in response to datbenik513

Try Removing the CR2032 battery (and leaving it out) until you get farther along in the process.

Still got 12V and 5 V at the Molex to the DVD slots?

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Nov 24, 2022 12:01 AM in response to datbenik513

Long shot...

1.. Shut the machine down.

2.. UNPLUG the power lead to the computer and any peripheral devices.

3.. leave it for 10 minutes.

4.. Hold power Button in for 10 seconds

5.. Connect everything back up and restart.

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Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Nov 24, 2022 4:52 AM in response to datbenik513

Sound like the PSU, one of the voltages not working, like 5V???

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Answer 6

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Nov 24, 2022 6:06 AM in response to datbenik513

Apple Mac Pro PSU J3 connector pinout diagram @ pinoutguide.com

Down a bit on this page...

Need Mac Pro 2009 - 2012 PSU Pin out | MacRumors Forums

Mac Parts & Apple Parts Store - Macintosh Parts (macpartsonline.com)

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Answer 7

datbenik513 Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 28, 2022 11:31 AM in response to datbenik513

Back again with two fresh CPU's off the shelf and confirmed working. Removed old CPU's, installed new ones, applied thermal paste as recommended. Tried booting without any peripherals/HDD/expansion cards etc.

Still no chime, still no power on the external USB connectors. Fans spin up, diag LEDs as shown:

Location Name Nominal State when DIAG_LED button pressed

Led 1 Sleep Off Off

Led 2 Standby (Trickle Pwr) On On

Led 3 CPU B Error Off Off

Led 4 CPU A Error Off Off

Led 5 CPU B OT Off Off

Led 6 CPU A OT Off Off

Led 7 GPU Present On OFF

Led 8 Power Good On OFF

Led 9 EFI Done On On

I also don't get any blinking power indicator light as per suggested in earlier posts.

Any idea what ELSE I still could check? Thanks in advance!

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Answer 8

Nov 23, 2022 2:31 PM in response to datbenik513

<< Also tried to boot with no RAM, no HDD, no peripherals, no USB, ... >>

you need to try to boot with ALL those components removed at the same time.

For keyboard keys to work, your Wired keyboard must be plugged into a USB port on the chassis, not on a dock or display or any other Hub.

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Answer 9

datbenik513 Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 24, 2022 6:02 AM in response to datbenik513

Some more diagnostics:

Location Name Nominal State when DIAG_LED button pressed

Led 1 Sleep Off Off

Led 2 Standby (Trickle Pwr) On On

Led 3 CPU B Error Off Off

Led 4 CPU A Error Off Off

Led 5 CPU B OT Off Off

Led 6 CPU A OT Off Off

Led 7 GPU Present On OFF

Led 8 Power Good On OFF

Led 9 EFI Done On On

So I see two discrepancies on LED 7 and LED 8.

The same thing happens if I swap the GPU for another known good card, LED7 stays OFF.

LED8: all fans run, also on the GPU, HDD spins up, there's 5V and 12V on the 4-pin Molex of the DVD. So I'm not quite sure what else the problem can be with the PSU. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

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Answer 10

Johnb-one

Level 6

9,180 points

Nov 23, 2022 11:39 AM in response to datbenik513

Ok, datbenik513, hife kommt sofort… geh’ zu ( go to) http://tim.id.au Und Danach, geh’ zu “Laptops” Teile, und finden, downloaden dann lesen das “Mac Pro technician guide” da… er hat all Jaehre von Mac pro’s… erste zum letzste… bis 2012… spaeter als 2012 kanns man da nicht finden…

John B

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Answer 11

datbenik513 Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 23, 2022 11:42 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Hi Grant,

I tried to boot with removing those components one by one to try identify any possible defect ones, but also with absolutely NO components installed.

I also tried to plug my USB keyboard into all 5 USB ports (back of casing and front access ones). It don't even light up. Neither does the activity LED on my properly formatted flash drive containing 10.7.5 install.

Thanks anyway for your suggestions.

Regards, Zoltan

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Answer 12

datbenik513 Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 24, 2022 6:52 AM in response to datbenik513

I made a mistake, sorry. My Mac is an A1186 EMC2180 with 2x Quad-core Xeon E5462 @2.8GHz. The A1115 in my OP is of course the Bluetooth module. It would be really fine to get it working as it can run 10.11.x which would be just enough for my needs right now. For 50 bucks a good purchase... when it does work.

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Answer 13

datbenik513 Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 24, 2022 2:24 AM in response to BDAqua

Good one, Sir, but unfortunately doesn't solve the problem. Thanks anyway.

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Answer 14

datbenik513 Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 24, 2022 5:37 AM in response to BDAqua

There's both 5V and 12V available on the 4pin Molex connector of the DVD drive. Any other places I could check without dismantling the whole **** thing?

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Answer 15

datbenik513 Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 24, 2022 7:08 AM in response to datbenik513

Just to add to my confusion, after connecting ETH1 and ETH2 with a CAT5 patch cable to my home network switch, the corresponding switch ports come UP and signal activity on them...

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