Thermal calibration

[stampedeadam]

Hi guys... so, I got my 2x 2.7ghz CPUs the wrong way round when reassembling the mac after doing the air cooling mod, and the fans are on full all the time.

I burnt a CD of Apple ASD 2.5.8 and booted from it. It boots but the mouse pointer is not working properly and I can't select the thermal calibration option. The mouse pointer only moves up and down not left and right when moved, but if I press one of the back/forward buttons on the side the pointer jumps a few mm to the right. So eventually I can hover over "thermal calibration" but I can't select it, clicking either the left, right or the wheel doesn't do anything, neither does both left and right buttons together or any other combination.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what I could try? Thanks

 

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

Are you saying you installed the processors backwards? As in... rotated 180 degrees?

I don't see how this could not damage the mobo or processors.

 

[dustinschings]

No, he put the top one in bottom socket and the bottom one in top socket. This happens. You could TRY swapping them back, but I would be willing to be you'd still need the calibration.

You say that you tried left, right, and wheel button. That tells me you aren't using an apple mouse. I've never known anything to be that picky but it may be worth a try.

Another thing to try might be a different image of that version of ASD from somewhere else if possible. It could be a bad burn/image.

Is the mouse plugged into the machine, or into the keyboard? If not direct to tower, try that as well.

Please let us know what happens!

 

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

Make sure there are no other cards in the computer and even drop down to the factory-supplied ram sticks and amount if you can. Sometimes the presence of non-OEM parts confuse software that is intended for OEM-only procedures.

What's the air-cooling mod?

 

[dustinschings]

"What's the air-cooling mod?" is a good question.

All fans must be in place and the side clear panel must be in place or the fans will run full speed no matter what.

 

[DeltaMac]

Be sure to try a different mouse

 

[stampedeadam]

Thanks for all the replies

Okay so, time for a bit of explanation about the air cooling mod. So basically, it's about junking the LCS and putting some heatsinks in its place.

More info here:
http://aquamac.proboards.com/thread/1290/powermac-g5-lcs-air


I got one 2x2.7ghz and one 2x2ghz machine delivered to my house by a local seller for an outrageously cheap price, so no complaints. The 2x2ghz was the model that only takes 4x1gb modules max (half the spaces on the board for RAM have no holders soldered in!) but the 2.7ghz model had 8 slots. Both machines worked but...

I noticed that, even though the 2,7ghz model was working, there was green corrosion around the pipework for the LCS. On taking the LCS off I saw this!:



... there was also green corrosion all over the CPUs and the motherboard. Looks like I caught it just in time.

So I binned the LCS, cleaned all the corrosion, got the heatsinks from the 2.0, cleaned them up and put them on the 2.7 with new thermal paste.

I've since swapped the CPUs back over to their original slots and everything works fine! I've had the computer on a few hours this evening, running cinebench R11.5 for quite a while, and downloading updates etc at the same time to stress the CPUs. The 2.0 heatsinks seem to be more than capable of cooling the 2.7ghz CPUs, after I turned the machine off I took the side panel off and felt the heatsinks, they were barely above normal temperature and while the machine was on the fans only revved up a few times; even then they didn't get loud.

So I now have an air cooled 2.7ghz x2 - I'm happy with that

 

[DeltaMac]

Did you get the thermal calibration to complete?
I would suggest that the re-configuration of the cooling system from LCS to heat sink would make that a part of the overall repair, as a final check.

 

[stampedeadam]

Did you get the thermal calibration to complete?
I would suggest that the re-configuration of the cooling system from LCS to heat sink would make that a part of the overall repair, as a final check.

Unfortunately not because despite trying two mice, I just can't select the damn option lol! I'll try getting the diagnostics disc from another source but as a .dmg it mounts properly and the burn was verified... it also boots properly so I think it's unlikely to be that :/

 

[DeltaMac]

Do both ASD boots and diagnostics run OK?

 

[stampedeadam]

Do both ASD boots and diagnostics run OK?

Yep it boots and starts to test memory if I press control and I. Nothing I've tried will let me replicate a left mouse button click so I can start with the thermal calibration though.

I might well decide to just leave it as it is. The fans spin enough for the heatsinks to get barely warm even under sustained load. Am actually very happy with how this has gone, I now have a fast power PC platform that I don't have to worry about leaks etc with.

 

[Eriamjh1138@DAN]

LCS to air cooling mod acknowledged. Thanks for the info.

 

[Jordy-G5]

I've had the weirdest issues with Thermal Calibration on these 2.5GHz and 2.7GHz machines. Just the other day I did a rebuild on my DP 2.7, replaced O-rings refilled with coolant. Stuck the processors back in made sure I had them in correct location (so I didn't mess with the thermal calibration). Boots up temps are within great range 35-40C, hits 70C under heavy load for 10-15 minutes. But if you've ever had experience with these 2.7's it's not unheard of to hit 70C under a sustained load.

But the fans were running like crazy, it was as if it had lost the calibration. So I swapped the processor cards around, no change. Run the calibration which I hate doing on these machines. (don't mind on the Quad G5 since it always passes if the LCS has been serviced right and the pump is running).

Long story short, I get the tafs out of range error. Great, but after it had failed both processors and a spare set of 2.5's that I had with a panasonic style cooler (my 2.7 is setup for a Delphi system so I just keep it). I figured maybe it's just a logic board issue or something, regardless but now when I boot into OS X the fans are behaving as normal my idle temps are a bit higher in the 45-50 range, but load never gets any hotter because it just runs the fans like it should.

It's silly things like these on G5's that make me shake my head, reading around you see all kinds of different advice from Apple or from other people saying it's because the processors get to hot or what not, but I've had faulty LCS modules pass these tests and good units fail.
[doublepost=1511160123][/doublepost]So I guess more my point is if temps and fans are seeming to be reasonable with your Air cooled swap, I would refrain from trying to run the thermal calibration. I had one 2.7 machine I had to swap the logic board after switching to air cooling because I decided to run the thermal calibration and it messed up the eeprom. The calibration would pass but the fans would run full speed because it couldn't write configuration. So if it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[reddrag0n]

LOL, you guys found my post about the LCS to air.

When i did it, it was with a pair of 2.5's

as for the cd, i found mine in a very obscure place but it ran for me.

My apologies, but if you try to view the site, it will appear broken. I had just recently moved, so my server isn't up and running yet. I will have it up hopefully soon, as everything is still packed in boxes and crates.

I am eager to see if the 2.7 will act properly like the 2.5 did with me.

Keep all of us posted

 

[Jordy-G5]

So it was the processor cards, I got another pair out of a machine that was destined for the scrap yard. Slapped the rebuilt cooler on it thankfully the old cooler hadn't started leaking yet (miracle). Ran the ASD 2.5.8 and it calibrated no problem. So now I have another cooler for spare parts that I'll pull apart and flush, it's good to have spare pumps for all these coolers.

My inventory of spare radiators and pumps is getting impressive. So far have 1 extra Delphi system with Quad G5 processors, 2 Spare Delphi coolers off of 2.7's, and 2 Panasonic coolers 2.5 and 2.7 cards attached. I don't have a proper machine with the right ducting for the panasonic coolers but they appear to work, haven't attempted to service them, they are quite intricate, and use different coolant.
[doublepost=1512016813][/doublepost]And I also tried the new 2.7's on air and they work as well, but here's a little tid bit, I used some old school coolers off a 1.8GHz, I know the covers are different but you can just pull them off and put the bigger cover that snaps to the nipples or whatever you'd call them. It doesn't pass with the newer style heatsinks, the big different I can see if that the new style has 4 copper heat pipes that come out of an aluminum block that makes contact with the processor cards, the old style the copper heatpipes come out of a copper block that makes contact with the processor cards. I think the earlier air coolers are a more expensive but more efficient cooler. This would make sense since the older G5's were a less refined process and probably put out more heat.

I'll post some pictures to explain.