2nd Monitor not detected on ATI HD 2700

Question

2nd Monitor not detected on ATI HD 2700

Here is the short version of my story. The company bought a new Intel PowerMac Quad G5 2.5 base model, NO upgrades to replace a PowerPC G5 Dual 2.3. This was due to the fact that After Effect CS4 will only run on an Intel Mac. Not a big deal until the fact that our current Xsan is running 1.42 and that will not run on 10.5. So, I downgraded the OS to 10.4.11 on the Intel Mac, set up the network and fiber channel connections and everything looks to be running fine but only one monitor will come on. The Intel Mac came with a ATI Radeon HD 2700 with dual DVI. We have a 23" Apple Cinema & a 20" Apple LDC (with a Apple ADC > DVI converter) screens. Both are working but only one will be detected on boot up. Here is what I've done so far:

1: Switched the connections, but still only one will show up.
2: Only connected one monitor but tried port 1 and 2, both ports are in working order.
3: Moved the ATI card to the second x16 PCIe slot, same result
4: Replaced the ATI card with a Nvida GeForce 6600 PCIe (was in the PowerPC Mac), neither monitor would come on.
5: Placed both the ATI and Nvida cards in the computer (could hear them yelling at each other), only the the ATI would have a monitor come on.
6: Downloaded the 10.4.11 combo update and re-installed it, same result: one screen.
7: tried to put the kitchen sink in computer but could make it fit.
8: Triple checked my connections and power, all are fine.

So, any help would be great. I just don't know why this card will not detect the second monitor. I've looked in the System Preferences and checked the profile, the card is there and looks fine.

Thanks for your time.

PowerMac G5, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Nov 18, 2008 1:34 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 18, 2008 1:52 PM in response to NewWorldGrunt

The company bought a new Intel PowerMac Quad G5 2.5 base model

There are some contradictions there. If it's Intel, then it's not a Power Mac or a G5 (it's a "Mac Pro"). If it's a PowerMac/G5, then it's not Intel or "new." Also, there was a quad-core G5 Power Mac at 2.5 GHz, but there was never a Intel Mac Pro at 2.5 GHz (closest was 2.66 GHz).

You say

This was due to the fact that After Effect CS4 will only run on an Intel Mac.

yet things like being able to downgrade a new Mac that came with Leopard to Tiger (and the specs you gave above) make is sound like the Mac in question is PowerPC, not Intel.

So what's the story here?

Note: It is likely that you cannot use a PCIe card from a PowerPC Mac in an Intel Mac. Not sure about the 6600 card, but for the higher end cards, there were separate PCIe cards (with different ROM) for G5 Macs and Intel Macs.

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Answer 2

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

Nov 18, 2008 2:00 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Moved the ATI card to the second x16 PCIe slot, same result

Another odd one, there is OEM 2600 and there are two 16x slots, but no ATI 2700.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB198Z/A

If it is Mac Pro (Intel, Xeon 5400s, 800MHz RAM, 1600MHz bus)
http://www.apple.com/support/macpro/
http://support.apple.com/kb/SP11

then there are two versions of the ATI Radeon 3470 worth looking at:

http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonhd3800/macpc/index.html
This OEM version just surfaced and much nicer:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/ATI%20Technologies/630ATI3870/

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Answer 3

Nov 18, 2008 2:33 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Sorry, I should be drinking while posting. Yes it's a MacPro and not a PowerMac, and it's a 2.8 Quad core, not 2.5. The old PowerPC G5 was a 2.5 dual core.

As for the story:

We needed to upgrade the motion graphics guys software to After Effects CS4 cause some of our clients where starting to come in while those files. One cannot save a After Effects file in an older version so either A: one would need to recreate the whole composition in the older version (CS3, AE7, AE6.5, etc) or B: we upgrade to the latest version. Adobe has is dropping the PowerPC and it's beginning with After Effects. Soon Photoshop, In Design, and the rest of the Adobe family will only run on an Intel Mac. I don't fault Adobe, they're just keeping up with the Jones.

Now, I wish I didn't need to downgrade to 10.4.11 but due to Xsan 1.42, I had to. Xsan 1.42, which we have 3 licenses, doesn't run on 10.5. To make the switch to 10.5 we'd would need to buy 3 new Xsan 2.0 licenses, plus another copy of 10.5 (we have a copy of Xserver 10.5). The company is not ready to make that purchase, right after drop $4000+ on the new Intel Mac and Adobe software. So, in the short term, we're going to run the new MacPro on 10.4.11 (just like another MacPro we have connected to the Xsan).

The issue still remains, why will the graphic card only show one monitor? I did also notice that Quartz Extreme is also off, if that makes any difference.

_LAYOUT of Xsan:_ (1.42)
Server : Xserve 2x2Ghz Dual Core / 2Gb Ram / running Xsever 10.4.11
*FCP Suite* : Intel G5 2x3.0 Quad Core / 16Gb Ram / running OS 10.4.11
*GFX Suite* : Intel G5 2x2.8 Quad Core / 2Gb Ram / runnning OS 10.4.11

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Answer 4

Nov 18, 2008 2:37 PM in response to The hatter

The hatter wrote:
Another odd one, there is OEM 2600 and there are two 16x slots, but no ATI 2700.

Yes, missed typed that one, ATI Radeon HD 2600 is the card, not 2700.

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Answer 5

Nov 18, 2008 2:50 PM in response to NewWorldGrunt

I wonder if your problem is due to the fact that your Mac Pro's minimum system is supposed to be OS X 10.5.1 - the necessary drivers for that graphics card simply aren't there with 10.4.11.

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Answer 6

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

Nov 18, 2008 2:59 PM in response to NewWorldGrunt

The 2600 is not supported on Tiger. There is a hack to get some type of drivers, but still not right.

What you needed was a 2007 Mac Pro 8-core 3GHz if possible, Apple Store Special had them from time to time.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/mac_pro

This hits on one area where it is easy to hit wall and hard place, there is no real backward compatibility. New hardware equals OS it shipped with. The Nvidia 8800GT needs 10.5.5+ (10.5.2 minimum but terrible driver issues) and same for Radeon 3870 (the OEM card is your best bet but limited to 10.5.2).

Which is why people hang onto and you continue to see strong prices for Quad G5s probably.

Adobe stuck to Carbon too long. And now they have to catch up to where Snow 10.6 will land.

You still want to use the "Intel G5" it seems in your layout. Maybe Apple should have called it "G6" and painted the box black! 🙂

2008 Mac Pros only run Leopard properly, even though Leopard was so new it wasn't really ready and vendors like Adobe didn't have time yet (and some had to wait for bugs and 10.5.2 to even begin to port to Leopard, besides the ".0" version changed - a lot - from what they had last seen.

You really are between rock and hard place. People really hate and detest the old Radeon X1900 for its design, heat, noise, and how it clogs with dust regularly, but at "only" $399, and already 2-3 yrs old, worth a look.

Some graphics benchmarks
http://www.barefeats.com/harper15.html

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Answer 7

Nov 18, 2008 7:46 PM in response to The hatter

Thanks for the info. The strange thing is that the FCP Suite G5, which is an Intel 3Ghz Quad Core came out of the box with OS 10.4.9. This is running a GeForce Card ( 7_00 something, not at the system to read it). and it runs fine. Guess I'll be on the hunt for that card now. 😟

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Answer 8

Nov 18, 2008 8:23 PM in response to NewWorldGrunt

which is an Intel 3Ghz Quad Core came out of the box with OS 10.4.9.

There have been two Mac Pro lines so far. One, this one

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_pro/stats/mac-pro-quad-2.66-specs.html

had a BTO option for 3.0 GHz and (originally) came with 10.4.x.

The current line, this one

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_pro/stats/mac-pro-eight-core-2.8-2008- specs.html

comes with 10.5.x, so it cannot be downgraded to 10.4.x.

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Answer 9

Nov 19, 2008 8:28 AM in response to NewWorldGrunt

Does anyone have a list of Video Cards that are 10.4.11 compatible? I know that there is a very few that where used in the MacPro G5 when they first launch. The MacPro we use to run Final Cut is one of those Intel G5 that came with OS 10.4.x (2006). It's running a Geforce 7300 GT. So, I have good reason to believe that if I where to hunt one of those cards down it would run in our new MacPro G5 2.8 Quad fine. But is there a list of other cards I could use?

+Please note they have to work in an Intel Mac running 10.4.11+

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Answer 10

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

Nov 19, 2008 8:39 AM in response to NewWorldGrunt

It may seem like a minor item, or that we are being nit-pickers or something, but it really will help you if you stop mixing "G5" and "Intel" and "Mac Pro" as if they were one and the same. They are not and even the difference between a 2008 model, and the 1st generation Mac Pro from 2006-2007 differ, and all of those differ from the G5 IBM PowerPC series (dual and quad core, PCI-X) that goes back to 2003.

There are only two cards that work in 2006/7 model that you can buy, the $400 X1900 and the 7300GT but which Apple no longer has in stock to sell (only for AppleCare replacement parts).

Most cards now require 10.5.4.

2008 introduced not only a new model year, it uses EFI64, Unified EFI 2.x firmware. The earlier model, and graphics cards, use EFI32, which is why there are TWO versions of the Apple Nvidia 8800GT for sale, one for 2008, and the other for older model. BOTH require 10.5.2 minimum (and yes, some have had to go and buy the new retail Leopard 10.5.4 DVD as older 10.5.0 DVDs will panic on trying to boot).

Clearer?

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Answer 11

Nov 19, 2008 9:55 AM in response to The hatter

The hatter wrote:
It may seem like a minor item, or that we are being nit-pickers or something, but it really will help you if you stop mixing "G5" and "Intel" and "Mac Pro" as if they were one and the same. They are not and even the difference between a 2008 model, and the 1st generation Mac Pro from 2006-2007 differ, and all of those differ from the G5 IBM PowerPC series (dual and quad core, PCI-X) that goes back to 2003.

Sorry to be so confusing, I'm not up on my Mac terms as you can tell. Plus, had no clue that they changed that much from 06 to now.

Again, thank you all very much for your insight and help.

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