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Logicboard replacement gone wrong

B

berazzi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 6, 2017
7
0
Hi there,

So im fairly new to the hardware of older Mac's but got my hands in a old Mac Pro 1.1 which was working fine, but definitely lacking power (it was the 2 x dual core version with only 4GB ram). So when i stumbled across some spare parts from a 3.1 I did not hesitate to buy it.
So I took everything out, except the superdrives, harddrive, front panel board and the PSU and put in the following from the 3.1:

- Logic board with CPU's
- Ram risers with new dimms and 4 old dimms

I obviously also fitted heatsinks and so on and attached the wifi antenna to the wifi card (which the 1.1 did not have).

Now I made very sure I got all the cables right, so that should not be the problem.

However when I try to boot it nothing happens except for the following:

1. A VERY short click from somewhere near the front
2. A flash from a red led somewhere in the vicinity of the Wifi card, so at the front of the logicboard. I have tried multiple times to see exactly where but I simply cannot see it because it is so fast.

I have tried pressing the DIAG_LED when the computer having power and the only thing is that the STBY lights yellow which it as fasr as I can tell is supposed to do.

Anyone have any ideas about what could be wrong or suggestions to what I should try? Also, if I left out any important info let me know.
 
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is it not simpler to buy a 3.1? or 4.1 sounds like a lot of time work and money on something that's risky
or even just make a hack in the 1.1 case?
ps the 1.1/2.1 mobo with a 3ghz 4 core wont be much slower than a 3.1 mobo with a 3ghz cpu, why not just do a cpu upgrade?

see https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-pro-cpu-compatibility-list.1954766/
for cpu options you can just get two X5365 cpu's and have a 8c 3GHz system or 5160 for a 4c 3ghz system may be a lots simpler and cheaper

at most with a 3.1 macpro you can go up to 3.2ghz which is not a huge boost over 3ghz on a 1.1/2.1, id say it's hard to see any change at that point.
 
orph said:
is it not simpler to buy a 3.1? or 4.1 sounds like a lot of time work and money on something that's risky
or even just make a hack in the 1.1 case?
ps the 1.1/2.1 mobo with a 3ghz 4 core wont be much slower than a 3.1 mobo with a 3ghz cpu, why not just do a cpu upgrade?

see https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-pro-cpu-compatibility-list.1954766/
for cpu options you can just get two X5365 cpu's and have a 8c 3GHz system or 5160 for a 4c 3ghz system may be a lots simpler and cheaper

at most with a 3.1 macpro you can go up to 3.2ghz which is not a huge boost over 3ghz on a 1.1/2.1, id say it's hard to see any change at that point.
Click to expand...


Sure it would be simpler. But I already had the 1.1 (so cheap, simply buying it as a paper weight would have made sense), and a "new" 3.1 costs about 4k here where so far I have spent 650 on bits and pieces. And yeah there is a risk invovled, but decided it was worth it since I could always just revert to the 1.1.
But yeah would love a 3.1/4.1 or even a 5.1. It's just a bit different priceleague :p
 
well my point was that a 1.1/2.1/3.1 are almost identical, a 1.1 to a 3.1 is not an big upgrade, the only benefit a 3.1 has over a 1.1 is being able to use a 3.2ghz cpu and faster ram (and i used 1.1 ram in my 3.1 as it was cheeper the speed change was 3-5% faster at most).

in the cpu list i linked https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-pro-cpu-compatibility-list.1954766/
you can see a 1.1 can use 3ghz 4 core cpu's and the 3.1 can only go up to a 3.2ghz cpu the Clovertown to Harpertown jump gave vary little difference.

ps can you use 1,1 ram cards in a 3.1 mobo ? that may be a problem too

edit
wow looks like you may need more than just the mobo for the conversion from the link given
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/granites-2006-to-2008-mac-pro-upgrade-guide.1595303/
edit 2 reading thro the thread an most ppl mention having to buy 3.1 Memory risers for the ram as well as 3.1 power cables
 
Last edited:
orph said:
well my point was that a 1.1/2.1/3.1 are almost identical, a 1.1 to a 3.1 is not an big upgrade, the only benefit a 3.1 has over a 1.1 is being able to use a 3.2ghz cpu and faster ram (and i used 1.1 ram in my 3.1 as it was cheeper the speed change was 3-5% faster at most).
Click to expand...
They are by no means "almost identical". Single Harpertown CPUs in the 3,1 will have about 20% better performance than Clovertown in a 2,1 for the same clock speed. For dual CPU Harpertown are at least 25% better performance than Clovertown. You can install also & run Sierra & High Sierra on the 3,1 using dosdude's patcher tool. You can't do that on a 1,1 or 2,1.
 
o i did a quick google and saw anandtech mention a 0-10% speedup which sounds low compared to the cost/time/risk of the upgrade compared to just a plain cpu swap or buying a 3.1/4.1/5.1
https://www.anandtech.com/show/2800/upgrading-and-analyzing-apple-s-nehalem-mac-pro
"I stayed away from the Harpertown upgrade simply because it was a lot of money for a moderate increase in performance"

but iv been a tad harsh as a hobby project it sounds fun but as a cost to performance triad it sounds tad scary

ok barefeats shows some 3.1 2.8ghz 8c beating the 1.1/2.1 3ghz 8c but it seems close (and go's both ways).
http://barefeats.com/harper.html
http://barefeats.com/harper7.html
 
As #10 points out it was due to the possibility of Sierra or even High Sierra that I wanted to upgrade to 3.1. Not really for performance.
Im not gonna to use this for anything demanding, merely for playing around with and having an indepedent testbed for apps before I use them on my work computer.
 
i think i may have been a bit harsh in my replay's, the topic linked with instructions seems clear on whats needed.

i think im a mix of worry that the cost of parts may be the same as a used 3.1 which seems easier and annoyed at apple for abandoning the macpro which has cased an artificial inflation in used prices on the old models.
(in the uk a 3.1 is cheep to pick up used like £100 ish)

>.< i think ill strip out my G5 and stick a hack in it when it's time for me to upgrade

good luck
 
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