Mac Pro 4,1 no chime or video after dual CPU upgrade

I successfully upgraded my 4.1 2009 Mac Pro with dual processors after some frustration.

make sure there are no bent pins in cpu sockets, and make sure there are cpu is clean of any dust particles

or debris.

mine had a small dust particle on it that was causing the cpu not to work.

I would carefully inspect with magnifying glass.

you also need to upgrade the firmware first before you start to a 5,1 firmware

which is a little tricky to do also.

you need to use a Mac video card.

Hi,

I understand that you did following methods already.

Hardware Checks and Troubleshooting Steps

• Inspect Diagnostic LEDs: Pull the side door off the CPU tray and look for small red LED lights on the board. A lit red LED next to a CPU indicates a seating error, power fault, or dead processor.
• Check Heatsink Pressure: The 4,1 dual processor tray uses specific hex-nut torques. Over-tightening the heatsink can crush the delicate bare-die (un-delidded) processor or damage the socket pins, while under-tightening prevents proper contact with the pads.
• Reseat CPUs and Clean Pins: Take both processors out, check for bent socket pins on the logic board, clean the bottom pads with isopropyl alcohol, and reseat them carefully.
• Reseat and Test RAM: Remove all memory sticks except one in the first slot. Mismatched or poorly seated RAM riser cards frequently cause a complete black screen and no-chime startup failure.
• Check Delidding Status: If you installed standard Intel Xeon processors (like X5650, X5670, X5690) that still have their external metal integrated heat spreader (IHS), they are too thick for the Mac Pro 4,1 CPU socket clearance unless delidded, preventing proper seating and contact.

System Resets

• Reset SMC: Unplug the power cord, press the physical SMC reset button on the CPU logic board for 5 seconds, wait a minute, and reconnect power.
• Reset NVRAM/PRAM: Hold down Option + Command + P + R immediately at startup, even without a chime, and let it cycle through 4 consecutive boot attempts.

I think you are right, your CPU Tray something wrong.

You'd better get another Tray at eBay or similar services that it says (It's working) and reports here.

You are changing far too many things at once.

to make progress, you will likely need more 'known-good' parts.

Here is the Apple Service Guide for the Mac Pro (early 2009):

http://tim.id.au/laptops/apple/macpro/macpro_early2009.pdf

You may also benefit from referencing Greg Gant guide about upgrading Mac Pro entitled

The Definitive Classic Mac Pro (2006-2012) Upgrade Guide

Novice users should never attempt its procedures. Because it contains descriptions of things that might damage your computer or your person, direct links to it are often removed.

<< CPU riser board >>

WHAT?

That model has a slide-out shelf with the processor(s) on it. There is no riser-board.

the 2009 model used lidless processors on the dual-socket processor shelf.

the 2010/12 models used standard lidded processors or the dual-socket processor shelf.

both used standard lidded processor on the single-socket processor shelf.

also, observe the power indicator light carefully. some fundamental errors will blink a "help-me" code.

The chime is generated in Software. It can only occur when the Power-On Self Test passed. That tests the processor, all RAM present (including Error-correcting code logic) and simple functions of the mainboard, and found none appeared to have GROSS issues.

You don't have bad RAM

you don't have bad power

your don't have bad mainboard

did the display light up?

<< you also need to upgrade the firmware first before you start to a 5,1 firmware

which is a little tricky to do also. >>

E5520 are the stock 2.26 processors for an eight-core Mac Pro 4,1. You should not need to do the 5,1 tricky firmware upgrade unless you are pushing the machine into being a 5,1

<<. you need to use a Mac video card >>

quite right.

without a graphics card that has Mac firmware (NOT a GT120 from a PC), you get no "boot Screens", such as at Startup, diagnostics, or Boot Picker aka Startup Manager.

Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:

You may also benefit from referencing Greg Gant guide about upgrading Mac Pro entitled

The Definitive Classic Mac Pro (2006-2012) Upgrade Guide

Was this meant to be a link?

I think the forums have developed yet another problem here since you can see my link lost its hyperlink attribute, but fortunately the link & link title were the same for mine.

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 screen should light up and draw a blank gray screen. 

Then on to the Disk Drive.

That is not a malfunction.

The link has previously been removed, so I simply posted the title above.

https://blog.greggant.com/posts/2018/05/07/definitive-mac-pro-upgrade-guide.html