Got back in, bent some CPU pins…. daintily put them back. Go for boot. Recommendation remove the plastic ram cage and start reattaching the CPU from the side closest to the edge. I can’t confirm the Xeon didn’t work, I didn’t see a point in testing too variables for repair and another surgery afterwards.

It’s been a year since you wrote this… great time to use a Big Sur hack… the 2013 I just acquired doesn’t have a SATA port installed. But Amazon and eBay had one. Pull the logic board and hook it up. Then enjoy the extra data connection. Nvme to apple SSD adapter works with no sleep wake issues.

Did a CPU swap to a Xeon 1231 v3… thus far it will not POST or turn on. It leads me to believe/hope I didn’t connect the power supply well. I’m a little exhausted this was a rigorous job, tomorrow is another day. Insights welcome until then.

The is a kit from thelaserhive.com to allow an mATX board to be used inside the G4 cases.

Did I miss the Teardowns wallpaper?