Macpro 2009 5,1 no video after logic board replacement

[Jalapeno88]

Hi, newbie here on this forum.
I have a Macpro early 2009 macOS High Sierra that I purchased used.
Specs currently in the macpro
12 core 2.93ghz
3 x 8gb rams x 2 = 48gb rams
1tb hdd 240gb ssd
Radeon rx580 armor 8gb GPU
Apple Cinema 20inch display

I had an issue where the macpro powered off. Tried to turn it on again, started up, then 2 mins later, powered off. After which it wouldn't power on any more.

So solved the problem with a used backplane logic board.
Powered back on, but no video at all. Just black screen.
Did I just get a bad board or do I need to put in a 4,1 stock GPU?
I have an ATI radeon HD 5770 gpu that came with the macpro.
But even that didn't work.
Fan was spinning on ATI so I know it has power. But just no video.
Just curious, is it a Board or GPU issue.
Thanks in advance for the help

 

[crjackson2134]

Well, you leave out a lot of information here.

What macOS version are you trying to boot?

Is the drive formatted to APFS or HFS+

Did you update the BootROM on the replacement board?

Gather all the information you can, and someone will be able to have a better shot at helping you.

 

[Jalapeno88]

Thanks crjackson2134

The macOS that I was running is High Sierra

I'm not trying to update my macOS
I was just replacing the logic board.

I didn't know I had to update the replacement board

The HDD is HFS+

 

[mrtang42]

Looks like your CPU is X5670 which is not compatiable to the 4,1. Use your old stock cpu to upgrade the firmware to 5,1. You should be fine from there.

 

[crjackson2134]

The previous macOS on the broken board is 5,1.

5,1 is not a MacOS version. It’s a model designation.

The replacement board is a 4,1 from what the guy said.

I can only surmise it hasn’t been firmware updated to to 5,1. If so, then you no longer have a 5,1, you now have a 4,1.

I didn't update anything on the replacement board.
I didn't know if I had to.

Yeah, it sounds like you will need a few updates. Never having converted a 4,1 to a 5,1 personally, I’ll bow out and let someone else guide you here.

 

[Jalapeno88]

Thanks everyone for all the info. I'm going to try it with an older cpu. I'll repost my results.

 

[Jalapeno88]

Just contacted previous owner. He said that the mac was originally 4,1 and was flashed to 5,1
Does this affect the replacement logic board?

 

[mrtang42]

Just contacted previous owner. He said that the mac was originally 4,1 and was flashed to 5,1
Does this affect the replacement logic board?

No. Bootrom Firmware is only stored in a chip on the back-plate logic board. If you change it the logic board, your current firmware will become whatever your replacement board come with.

 

[Jalapeno88]

No. Bootrom Firmware is only stored in a chip on the back-plate logic board. If you change it the logic board, your current firmware will become whatever your replacement board come with.

Thanks mrtang42
Ok. So if my replacement board is 4,1 how do I flash it to 5,1
Or is that even possible considering my mac was running on a flashed 5,1 logic board

 

[mrtang42]

Thanks mrtang42
Ok. So if my replacement board is 4,1 how do I flash it to 5,1
Or is that even possible considering my mac was running on a flashed 5,1 logic board

Google is your help. There are lots of tutorials online are better than what I can do here to help you flash it 5,1. Overall, you need to have a working system to run the flash program. So just use your old cpu to make your system working.

 

[MIKX]

Step 1 :
http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,852.0.html