My Mac Pro spontaneously restarts

Since purchasing a UPS and plugging in my randomly-restarting Mac Pro to that, I have not had any unexpected restarts. What I have noticed is that randomly, maybe once a month, the UPS will kick in for a few minutes and then return to idle mode.

I never got around to replacing the battery in the Mac Pro, but it appears that for me, at least, the problem was with the wall socket.

My ebay buyer replaced both the battery and PSU with no permanent improvement, so I will be getting the computer back...

A somewhat related question as a result of me getting this thing returned (I can start a new thread if it helps):

Can the 2007 2,1 Mac Pro's Xeon processors (two 3 GHz Quad Core Xeon X5365 Clovertown processors with 8 MB of dedicated level 2 cache per processor) be reused on any modern motherboard for a rebuild? What about its RAM (DDR2 ECC "fully-buffered" FB-DIMM)?

Or can the entire Pro motherboard with processors and RAM be reused in another build with a different PSU, etc.??

I'm trying to find some redemption for this obviously flawed model of computer. None of us in this thread know exactly what parts are bad and causing this show-stopping problem so I would be interested in cannabalizing the Pro for anything that might still be useful and reliable. I also have a working G5 tower to tear into as well.

Iv had this problem too and found what i think may be the solution.

Hope this helps

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11045?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

OS X Mountain Lion: If your Mac restarts and the message “Your computer restarted because of a problem” appears

If your Mac restarts and the message “Your computer restarted because of a problem” appears, an error known as a “kernel panic” occurred. The most likely cause is a software problem. A kernel panic can also be caused by damaged or incompatible hardware, including external devices attached to your Mac.

Last Modified: Aug 8, 2013

In my case it's not a kernel panic, just a spontaneous restart back to the login screen. Over and over and over and then sometimes not.

I just started seeing this problem after replacing the logic board on one of my A1151 MacBook Pros. Until I replaced the board the machine had run exactly the same OS (10.6.8) for several years.

Originally I thought it was a bad FireWire port on the new motherboard but then it repeated using the USB port too. I've already requested a replacement part from the vendor but I'm not happy about spending the time on R&R for a bad part.

The original board was replaced after the NVIDIA graphics processor failed. I can't be too upset, it is an 8 year old machine. I only offer this because my guess is there are a number of motherboards out there that have failed and are showing this symptom. If I had to guess I'd venture a possition on a bus or DMA controller. It happens more often when I'm doing a volume level block restore from an external backup.

JR - I had the same problem. Eventually I traced it to a bad 2GB memory card from Patriot. I replaced it and it solved the problem.

I did this after replacing the mother board based on prior diagnosis. The Patriot board was a 667 Mgz DDR2. I moved it to another macbook pro while waiting for a replacement mother board and the second MBPro began randomly rebooting itself. In other words, the problem moved with the memory board.

I can only conclude this is a problem with the memory. It was corrected by removing the 2GB board and replacing it. Once this operation was complete, I stopped experiencing the random reboots.

I have send my Mac Pro 08 to check

They said some IC on board are broken..

Fix MB with 18000 NTD(600 US$).........

I won't fix it ..........

Buy a PC......

Hello Fellow sufferers

My 2008 MacPro is also experiencing these spontaneous restarts.

Same symptoms as others - it happens early in the morning shortly after I turn it on. It gradually calms down after a while, but if it starts again, it can go crazy.

It started before Christmas 2013 and was getting more and more frequent. I endured it and it just went away. Now, come June 2014, it's (re)starting again. I've never added any hardware or unusual plug-ins etc.

The only thing I can add to this discussion is that, if I bang the table it sits on - it restarts. I am suspecting some physical/mechanical issue like a loose connection, failing start-up motor, or possibly even dust (?).

Like my MacPro - please be gentle with me. I'm no good at the technical jargon on the inner workings.

Any further thoughts?

I have a 100% solution and I encourage all of you to do this (I am not kidding!):

1) Back up your data to an external drive

2) Shut down and unplug the computer

3) Gather together the appropriate screwdrivers and have an iPad or other computer nearby to check YouTube should you need more info

4) Part the thing out, down to the bones

5) Sell the pieces on ebay and make several hundred dollars!

I literally did this and my life is free of spontaneous Mac Pro restarts! All of my buyers all over the USA seem happy with the parts, and I am happy too. The processors and heat sinks, power supply, RAM and risers, video card and such sold quickly. As I write I just have the various fans and cages and wires left to sell.

I would never buy a 2006-12 complete Mac Pro tower knowing what we all know. I only had this one (2007) because the previous owner got fed up with fighting with it (getting Apple to repeatedly swap parts) and gave it to me... It was definitely a learning experience, both troubleshooting the quirks of this model and figuring out how to take it entirely apart.

PS: This computer model is seriously over-engineered (ie, the side door latch, the DVD drive door mechanism, etc.).

While that is one way to go, I think most readers of this web site would try something else first. My experience is this problem with the Mac Pro is pretty much limited to the 2008 models. I have a 2009 model and never had this issue. A client of mine had the problem which was resolved by replacing the power supply. That was well over a year ago and the problem returned. He replaced it with a 27" iMac recently. He gave me the dead Mac. I'm going to blow out the small amount of dust and replace the battery as some have said that worked. Cheap enough to try to get it back alive enough to sell.

Hi Everyone,

My Mac Pro suffered from spont restarts also, but the repair that I described last year worked for me. I used software to increase default fan speeds from around 500 rpm up to now about 1300 rpm, and this reduced the temp at points that were overheating (confirmed by using a TempMonitor app). Total cost = zero. Total time to fix = less than half hour. Update: After doing this last summer, I have not had any re-starts (it has been 10 months of smooth sailing so far). I don't expect this to work for everybody, but it sure worked for me. Check out the details in my posts dated 8/6/13 and 8/9/13. Good luck, hope that this might help some of you.

Bradley, mine was a 2007 model, so it's more than just the 2008's.

RGrebrad, I also had the fan software installed and doubled the default speeds, still got the restart issue. I cleaned the dust out of the video card, still got the restart issue. I tried different RAM configurations, still got the restart issue. When I first sold the thing as a working unit on ebay (with full disclosure), the buyer experienced the problem and changed both the battery AND the power supply, and still got the restart issue (so I got it back...).

There's a long laundry list of suspected causes of this restart problem from the battery to the motherboard and everything in between, but no one knows for sure (I've read this entire thread). My advice is to get rid of the machines ASAP, whether whole or in pieces, and move on. The 2007 models are dead-ended at Lion anyway.

My macbook keeps restarting when I try and install Maverick at around 80% is or did anybody have this issue? It is really frustrating.. I have used USB and also USB Bootable FLash Drive my model is 2011 Late MBP 15

This thread is specifically about MAC PRO towers, not laptops, but my guess is your internal hard drive is failing.

... or possibly the Hard drive cable, as there has been a small flurry of those failing as well.

best bet is an external enclosure, if you can get your hands on one. Install there and boot from there and you should be good to go.

If it later fails when moved inside your Mac, you have caught the drive cable as the only plausible failure.