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I inherited an old Apple Mac Pro A1186/EMC 2180 that won't boot at all. The power led on the front flashes on once but nothing else. I took the side off to check and it all looks good but when I tried to boot it with the side off, one of the cards that hold the RAM sticks flashes once like the front and then switches off. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd love to get it working again.
Thanks in advance.
check the coin cell PRAM backup battery for minimum 3.00 Volts in your hand. It's half-hidden behind the graphics card.
Use a bright light -- do not remove blindly, Breaking the battery holder will run your day.
CR2032 used in garbage door openers and car key fobs is a good replacement.
check the coin cell PRAM backup battery for minimum 3.00 Volts in your hand. It's half-hidden behind the graphics card.
Use a bright light -- do not remove blindly, Breaking the battery holder will run your day.
CR2032 used in garbage door openers and car key fobs is a good replacement.
let me explain, Why did that work?
For ease in staring up, you Mac saves a surprising number important parameters to be used long before MacOS is ready to go. Things like, where is the boot drive, where is the keyboard? what resolution display and where is it? where is the network? -- Stuff like that.
These items are stored in (depending on when you learned) Parameter RAM or Non-Volatile RAM. They are kept alive by an always-on (when AC power is available) small power supply inside your Mac. But that can be a problem across a power outage, for any reason.
So the parameters are backed up by that little 3 volt coin cell non-recharging long-life Lithium battery. Works great for a long time, until the battery dies. Then corruption creeps into the Parameters, and when power is applied, the parameters are pointing into outer space, and NOTHING good can happen. So your Mac does NOT start up at all.
In particular, the power does not stay on long enough to keep the fans ON, and that is the telltale sign we look for in diagnosing this possible problem.
No, nothing. I get the led on the front and on the ram card blink once and that's it.
EMC 2180 looks up to Mac Pro original up to 2008 models
Do the fans come on and stay on?
I'll try that. Thank you my friend.
It worked. Thank you so much my friend.
It worked great so thank you so much.
Help with old Mac Pro A1186/EMC 2180 that won't boot.
