MacMike84

Q: Mac Pro 5.1 no apple logo or grey screen during start up

Hello,

 

I'm new to this forum and I'm hoping to get some insight or help.

I recently bought a used Mac pro 5.1 (mid 2010).  I bought this computer to replace a Mac Pro 1.1.

When I got my "new" used computer, I simply put in my SSD from my old Mac Pro and powered it up. 

The first thing I noticed was that the boot time was really slow in comparison.  The "new" mac took 1:40 seconds to start up but my old mac would start up in 10 seconds or so.  I have already checked to ensure that my SSD is selected as the start up disc, I also removed all other hard drives just to check.

Another problem that I noticed is that the computer does not display the apple logo or the white screen during start up.  My monitors are completely black.  After the computer boots up the screen goes blue for a quick second and then my desktop is displayed and every thing works fine. Lastly, when I go to shut the computer off, the screen goes black and I see a white flashing cursor at the top left hand corner of the screen.  After about 25 seconds the computer shuts off.

Could this be a graphics card issue? Just to reiterate, the computers display works fine once its booted up, It just doesn't kick in until the computer is fully booted up. I noticed that the graphics card was updated from the original one. If this is not a graphics card issue and the ROM is corrupt, is there a way that I can repair or rest it?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

I have already run disc permissions and everything checked out.

Tried different monitors and came up with the same results

Looked for drivers for the video card and could not find anything

Tried another start up disc but again, came up with the same results (no boot menue or apple logo with white screen is displayed during start up)

Reset the PRam

Ensured SSD was my main start up disc

 

 

Mac pro 5.1

3.33GHz, Intel Xeon

24GB Ram

nVidia 9500 GT GDDR3 1gb

Dell Ultrasharp U2410 x2

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Apr 22, 2016 2:33 PM

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Q: Mac Pro 5.1 no apple logo or grey screen during start up

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Apr 22, 2016 2:43 PM in response to MacMike84
    Level 9 (61,185 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 22, 2016 2:43 PM in response to MacMike84

    Could this be a graphics card issue? Just to reiterate, the computers display works fine once its booted up, It just doesn't kick in until the computer is fully booted up.

    that phenomenon is called " no boot screens". You get that when you are not using a Genuine Mac graphics card.

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Apr 22, 2016 2:49 PM in response to MacMike84
    Level 10 (189,800 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 22, 2016 2:49 PM in response to MacMike84

    You likely have a non-Apple Flashed PC card installed.

    You can confirm by booting with the Option key depressed. If the screen remains blank you have a PC card.

    Many PC cards work but they do not show a boot screen and thus can't be used for special startups that require reading the screen before the drivers load.

     

    Try resetting the NVRAM to see if that helps with shutdown and bootup times.

    How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac

  • by MacMike84,

    MacMike84 MacMike84 Apr 22, 2016 3:00 PM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 22, 2016 3:00 PM in response to lllaass

    Thanks for the info.

    I just reset the NVRAM and there is a slight improvement in the boot time but the shut down still hangs for a while.

    Could this be related to the graphics card in any way?

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Apr 23, 2016 1:12 AM in response to MacMike84
    Level 10 (189,800 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 23, 2016 1:12 AM in response to MacMike84

    After the next bootup open the Console app in Finder>Applications>Utilities and look for log entries during the shutdown process. Post suspicious ones here.

    Look before the log entry that starts with BOOT_TIME since that is the first line of a bootup

  • by DPArt,

    DPArt DPArt Apr 24, 2016 11:20 PM in response to MacMike84
    Level 3 (599 points)
    Apr 24, 2016 11:20 PM in response to MacMike84

    If the graphics card is showing up as 9500GT, it isn't flashed.

     

    That card turns into a GT120 when flashed.

     

    Get the card flashed or get one that already is.

  • by XD-Andy,

    XD-Andy XD-Andy May 6, 2016 9:42 AM in response to MacMike84
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 6, 2016 9:42 AM in response to MacMike84

    HI MacMike84,

     

    ive got got a 2x2.4GHz Mac Pro mid 2010, and I've been doing a lot of messing about with NVIDIA cards of late.

     

    So, as the others have said, the reason you are not getting the boot screen is because the GFx card you have in place is not an Apple card, but a PC Card. The original card for this machine should have been an apple ATI HD5770 or 5780.

     

    Horrible card. Hate it,

     

    Means that as the card does not have an EFI Bios on it, your Mac simply does not know what to do with it until the OS has actually loaded.

     

    the apple version of this card is the GT120 with Apple part number A1310. Search eBay for them as you can pick them up for a few $/€/£

     

    Other thing you may find is that the card performs poorly, as the OSX drivers may not properly identify it and so force the PCIe slot into X1 speed.

     

    NVIDIA have come to the help here by releasing drivers for the Quadro series of cards, and helpfully use a unified driver, so works with all nvidia cards.

     

    GO to www.nvidia.com and look for the download drivers section. Select Quadro as the chipset, and look for the k5000 for Mac. Make sure you set the exact version of your OS X as the driver is specific to your OSX install.

     

    once installed you should find a bit of a performance improvement.

     

    ALso means you can use more modern NVIDIA cards such as the Maxwell cards, but you will need a power connector cable or machine should have come with one but you may need to ebay for another. Normally these are cheap.

     

    i have a GT120 and a GTX750Ti in mine at the moment, and I'm planning to upgrade to a GTX970/980

     

    good luck, and if you need any more help, reply back or message me if it allows

     

    Andy