Dual Quad-core Mac Pro reboots from sleep

Since the exchange costs don't seem to matter to them, perhaps some Greenpeace attention to Apple's suggestion to turn the sleep preference to never and how that sits with their EnergyStar certification might help. I'm guessing it'll take a lot of AirBook sales to make up for all the juice these bad boys are-a-wastin'.

i have this big problem too y live in Colombia, and i just bought a new Mac Pro 8 Core last week and beging to experience this problems since day 1, when i start up the machine for the first time i left the computer in the asistant accounts and have to go out to do something, after a while i came back to my computer and i found it in sleep mode i press any key and the mouse and nothing response, this is the worst mac i have ever had........ apple is losing its quality on its productline, i have a 2007 mac pro 4 core, an imac 24" alum, an emac G4, a Power Mac G4 a Mac mini G4 and a Power Mac G5 Dual Core single processor, and all of this machines works fine except the new one 1 week old Mac Pro 8 Core

congratulations Apple! you did it

Hi, same problem here... 12 days old mac pro and restart problem from sleep, too. It's happened several times. I just tried to wake up MP from stop with a large amount of free ram and the result was a restart again. I also tried almost all suggestions given in this thread, but no solution. My mac is going to pass the firts 14 days and I hope is just software problem...

Message was edited by: clagom

Karl,

I am really interested in your experiment too. I have the same config as you -- stock 2x4 2.8GHz w/ATI and then added 4 x 2GB OWC for 10GB total. Also added a 2nd 320GB HD.

I know from another thread you also have seen the GPU freeze and dump. That is my main problem -- fortunately only happens once every 1-3 days so far.

But I have also had two non-GPU kernel panics ('Preview' and 'update') since the machine came online Jan-18.

(I do not sleep the machine so do not know if that problem lurks also. Sorry -- not hijacking the thread -- there is a chance the sleep and GPU problems tie together.)

I have been treating the GPU freeze and kernel panics separately because of their dissimilar circumstances, but I think now that has been foolish.

While trying various fixes for the GPU problem as posted [here|http://web.mac.com/sailhome/SailhomeMacZ/MacPro.html|Freeze Saga], at one point I did a clean install.

Upon first login to this new install, System Profiler only recognized 8 GB of 10 GB RAM installed. I tried several reboots but the condition persisted. Only the OWC 4 x 2GB were recognized

A1/A2 -- OWC 2GB/2GB'
B1/B2 -- OWC 2GB/2GB'
A3/A4 -- Apple 1GB/1GB' not recognized

I booted into AHT, which froze during the device probe. I tried this twice and each time it was a total freeze including cursor -- I had to press power button to shutdown, then again to boot.

I shutdown, disconnected cables and opened up the case to access RAM. Of course, by default this effected another SMC reset (had done several SMC resets earlier).

I removed the OWC RAM and put the original Apple RAM back in exactly as from the factory -- original sticks in original slots.

A1 -- Apple 1GB
B1 -- Apple 1GB'

Booted into AHT and ran 'quick' mode -- all hardware passed.

Rebooted and checked System Profiler -- 2 GB RAM as expected.

A1 -- Apple 1GB
B1 -- Apple 1GB'

Shutdown, disconnected cables and opened up case again (yet another SMC reset). Installed 4 x 2GB OWC RAM + 2 x 1GB Apple RAM as before, but this time I swapped slots within the pair. In other words the stick originally in A1 now in A2, stick in A2 now in A1, etc.

A1/A2 -- OWC 2GB'/2GB
B1/B2 -- OWC 2GB'/2GB
A3/A4 -- Apple 1GB'/1GB

Booted and checked System Profiler -- 10 GB RAM as expected

A1/A2 -- OWC 2GB'/2GB
B1/B2 -- OWC 2GB'/2GB
A3/A4 -- Apple 1GB'/1GB

Looking back, I should have been more thorough and isolated RAM pairs and positions like you are doing. In reviewing my records and photos, I can see that the "flavor" of GPU corruption changed. Before, the episodes were instant and complete screen corruption. After, the episodes were partial corruption and sometimes cleared without a shutdown.

But that's with hindsight. Back on the date when I swapped RAM, the next thing I did was run Rember (memtest with GUI) overnight. The modes I used were All, Quit Finder, and Verbose. It exercised 9.5GB RAM and made it through 4 loops. All passed, so I figured at the time that was sufficient.

Again, looking back I should have tested pairs, swapped slots, and tested again. And probably use memtest booted in single-user mode instead of Rember from full boot. Clues were there...dimwitted...

I have wondered about how system RAM, video RAM, and power may play into the various problems users are having -- including this thread's boot-on-wake problem. The users who avoid the GPU freeze by running dual monitors (or a single monitor with dual inputs) are splitting the ATI card's onboard RAM -- and maybe that also affects addressing with system RAM?

And perhaps some number of users are not seeing problems because they add 3rd party RAM right away and leave the Apple stock RAM out? If users are seeing problems with stock configs, maybe it's a RAM problem and not an ATI card problem (I know, could be either or both...) That would help explain why some people still have problems even with new video cards or even new systems. Could also help explain why some 8800 GT systems are also beginning to exhibit unwanted behavior with sleep and GPU.

I suppose the Apple stock 800 MHz sticks were manufactured earlier than the 3rd party sticks. And the earliest 2008 Mac Pro systems probably received the earliest 800 MHz sticks.

So, my next step is to remove the Apple stock RAM and see how many days I go without a problem. I'm choosing that config since originally it was the Apple RAM that didn't show up after clean install.

If 4 x 2GB OWC is successful (let's say up to 3 weeks with no incidents) then I'll try 2 x 1GB Apple and compare behavior.

If 4 x 2GB OWC is not successful then I'll take half out and start testing the full matrix of paired positions. That could take awhile at my current rate of failures.

I'll probably reserve running memtest (or looping AHT) on configs only after any freezes/panics because I don't want to interrupt the uptime. Seems like my machine has to run past a certain period of time before an incident occurs (again, may be coincidence).

Which, by the way, might be a reason why at least some users with wake-on-reboot aren't necessarily seeing GPU freezes. If they are rebooting daily (or more often) then they may not get far enough into whatever it is that reveals the GPU problem.

Yes, I know that could be bogus. I'm not an expert. Just trying to make observations that might help come up with solutions.

Karl, thanks for your effort -sailhome

Please, log the fault with Apple customer services and technical and ask for a replacement or, preferably, refund... the latter hurts their margins far more.

Do not keep this machine as I have a feeling Apple are going to be addressing a hardware fault and not a software fix. I'm pretty sure everyone would experience the fault if it were due to Leopard. It is far too random and that sounds like an electromechanical design fault.

Step over the 14 day returns line and you're snookered; Apple have you hook, line and sinker and your rights diminish dramatically.

If necessary order a new one asap and have them collect the faulty one.

Everyone with a faulty MacPro which is within the 14 Day refund/replacement scheme SHOULD be doing this.

Apple would have to sit up and take notice.

Received my system back from the Apple store. they ran the ASD test for a whole night, and after that checked them selves various other test. result : nothing. Got the machine home, powered it up. put it to sleep woke up again no problems. I than started Aperture 2.0 closed it again, put the system to sleep... woke it up again, failure...... (reboot) did a clean boot. put the system to sleep. woke up again... no problems. started aperture, put it to sleep. reboot ! it looks like it´s a software problem..... will work on it some more tonight

I think in the end the solution will have to come from Apple themselves. I don't think it's anything you can fix yourself.

Otto Donkers wrote:
Received my system back from the Apple store. they ran the ASD test for a whole night, and after that checked them selves various other test. result : nothing. Got the machine home, powered it up. put it to sleep woke up again no problems. I than started Aperture 2.0 closed it again, put the system to sleep... woke it up again, failure...... (reboot) did a clean boot. put the system to sleep. woke up again... no problems. started aperture, put it to sleep. reboot ! it looks like it´s a software problem..... will work on it some more tonight

Completely agree with you, Am just curious about the root cause 🙂

I'd be interested to see if this works for everyone who tries it - any more testers? If it does, it would reinforce the suggestion that the issue lies with the mac pro not being able to keep the RAM contents secure while in normal sleep.

Did you flip the widget over to ensure that it is actually set for Deep Sleep? iirc you need to enter an admin password to enable it.

A few comments. Deep sleep is not safe sleep, or at least they have different mode numbers.
If by "enabled" you mean "available through the OS X GUI" then you are right - you won't see an option on the pro. However, if you mean "supported by the hardware, firmware, and back-end of the OS itself" then no, it is not a hack. You can quite comfortably alter the sleep mode the pro will enter at the command line.

hint: RTFM 😉

I tried to stop and wake up MacPro with different configurations, for example without USB EYE TV or HDD FireWire, or HDD USB and I noticed that when I stop it without my Lacie USB HDD MacPro wakes up without problems (at least for the times I tried...). Anyone else with an HDD USB and restart problem? I doubt it could be solution, but MP keeps to wake up without it.
And another question is why fans start when MP wakes up from sleep? Is it normal? I remember my other macs wake up without any sound and suddenly.
I also noticed there's a sound like a "click" when I swich on or wake up... what's that?

Some more testing on my side :

created a new user account to see if the problems are related to current user ID. result : problem persists, so no user config file problem (at least not directly visible)

removed aperture 2.0 and reinstalled : result : problem persists

did a archive and install of mac osx, applied all the maintenance updates (to 10.5.2) and various others, tries running afterwards, with no success. reinstalled aperture 2.0

result... problem persists 🙂

so Apple sleeps and wakes up with no problem after starting and stopping various applications... except when starting and stopping Aperture. than the sleep is followed by either a restart or a boot with nothing elese but spinning cooling system, and nothing else.... The apple shop proposed to do a complete fresh install of the OS, with reformatting the drive.... not sure if I'm up to that task.....

Otto --- Between all of us here, it's looking like we've tried just about everything...

However, I don't see Aperture as being the problem. I do not have Aperture, yet I also experience The Problem.

"The apple shop proposed to do a complete fresh install of the OS, with reformatting the drive.... not sure if I'm up to that task....."

I wouldn't bother. It's something I've already tried, to no avail.

+... take two aspirins and call us in the morning.+

Seems like you have to shutdown every night, and unplug and leave off line, effectively draining any trickle current, and doing an SMC reset, daily. ;-(

+... but under no condition say, "we don't know why."+