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Helpful answers
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Feb 15, 2012 9:01 AM in response to Museum DCby cakesson,Hi Museum DC and everyone.
Yes, I only had to replace the power supply and not the board. Someone asked where I had it done - I had it replaced at the Carlsbad, CA Apple store and those guys were awesome!
There was a point where they could not repro my reboot issue at the Apple store (see my earlier post), but eventually things grew worse and to the point where it would shut down on boot even at the Apple store :-)
Good luck,
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Feb 16, 2012 4:12 PM in response to jrbuuckby Museum DC,I was on this support link last week with lots of restarts.... I took box into Apple genius bar- they saw nothing wrong, and thought it might be conflicts with the 64 bit stream (even though I'm still Snow Leopard). Aside from that, while I went to get the car my computer was packed into my suitcase (thank you for that courtesy) without my powercord- so when I set it back up I had to go rummage through the tangled cords drawer and pull out a totally new unused (but black) power cord.
Whatever the magic was- I have not had a single restart since, and everything is smooth and quiet.
I do wonder if new powercord could have something to do with it. Hmmmm. The universe handling my problem?
Even better, I managed to finally install my Airport Extreme Base Station I've had for 2 years, with my Comcast Modem- and make a wireless network for the low end wifi ipad2 I just got.
So, for the moment I'm a happy camper- appreciate all the info to be found here.
PS for anyone that doesn't know 10.6.8 is essentially Lion- you can turn off the 64 bit stream- back to 32 bit by holding down the 2 and 3 keys simultaneously during startup.
Thank you for now Apple genuises.
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Feb 16, 2012 4:23 PM in response to Museum DCby Grant Bennet-Alder,I do wonder if new powercord could have something to do with it
The Mac Pro uses a unique power cord that has a large block of rubber around the computer-end. To remove this as a distraction, disconnect the power cord and jam it back into the back of the Mac as hard as you can. In the US and other 110 Volt countries, you can substitute a different power cord without the big rubber block, as long as it is not a lightweight one.
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Feb 17, 2012 8:39 AM in response to jrbuuckby GMac14,I am having a similar mysterious reboot behavior with my MacPro Quad-core (2 x 2.4GHz, 32GB RAM, OS X 10.6.8, Duel Apple 27" displays). My rebooting only appears to be happening while Final Cut Pro v 7.0.3 is running and it is idle. The Mac is hooked up to a UPS as well. I am not sure if heat is an issue since I do have an portable AC unit in the room and the reboting sometimes happen shortly after initial start up from sitting off all night. I have also noticed that by using a custom window arrangement in FCP (utilizing both displays) that the strange behavior occurs. After if reboots and I relaunch FCP, the project comes up and the window arrangement is reset to standard arrangement and on only one display. I know this does not help your problem but I am sharing the weird restart issue too.
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Feb 18, 2012 9:16 PM in response to The hatterby Snow Hound,The Hatter, Thanks for all your help.
I've got the new power supply and have all the screws and everything removed.
Its part way out and seems to be hanging up on something....not really a "hard" hangup like a screw or case issue, its more like some cables are caught on something...if I pull hard it comes out a bit more but I thought I'd ask before I really yank on it and bust something that could be avoided....
It slides back in and slides forward and to the left, and starts to come out about 2-3" and then meets resistance.
Should I just go for it and pull harder?
Or what?
I do have the new PS waiting to go in...
Thanx for any suggestions...
It would really be nice to get past this!
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Feb 19, 2012 2:16 AM in response to Snow Houndby The hatter,See if someone has photos or service guide to help take the old unit out.
Maybe DVWarehouse can point to something, whether a pdf guide.
There look to be some very promising links:
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Feb 19, 2012 11:42 AM in response to The hatterby Snow Hound,The Hatter,
Thanks for the link...the video I watched first (same link as Dwight sent_thanks by the way) is what got me confused because it didn't include removing the brushed aluminum plate that covers the cable connections
that is at the back of the Optical Drive Compartment. But after a glass of wine I went back down to the office and shined a bright light through the back of the unit so I could see if the cables were hung up on something and it appeared they were not because I could see all the way past the rear of the Power supply compartment and could see the cables running forwards from there.
Not what was on the video. Now I am confused as to which model I actually have but when ordering the replacement power supply I provided the model and serial numbers and stats.
So when I looked read the second link you sent it mentioned removing a cover plate from the back of the optical disk drive bay and so I wondered and upon examination, low and behold, there was one with two screws.
After removing that plate all was revealed!
I couldn't get the PS out because it was plugged in and the cords weren't long enough to allow it to move more than a few inches (good thing I posted and didn't pull any harder).
Next I put the new PS in and it goes in supper easy,
But there is a lot of extra cable that there wasn't before, the cables are about 3" longer than the ones in the original drive...?
After pulling the replacement drive back out I checked the specs on the label and they are very similar except for two things:
1. All the output listings are the same except that:
In the original drive they are listed as:
+120V1...18.8A, +120V2...18.8A, +120V3...16.5A,+120V4... 12.8A, +120V5...18A, +120V6...11A,+5Vsb...5A
In the replacement drive the only difference is that the 18.8A listings are instead listed as 13.6A.
This seems strange given the differences between 18.8A and 13.6A....but then I don't understand what these
even refer to ?
The maximum power output for both drives is the same: 980 W and Input listings are the same too.
2. However the Apple part numbers are also different:
original:614-0407
replacement: 614-0383
So....should I plug in the new one and see if it works.... or not?
Providing of course that I can find a way to deal with the extra cable length and get the cover plate and optical drives back where they belong...
The four plugs match exactly so attaching them won't be an issue...but I don't know what the difference between 13.6A and 18.8A really means....if it refers to the output of the plugs on the four cables or something else...as there are six listings, not four (to match the number of cables).
Or just return the replacement for the correct one? Either Apple changed the specs on the power supplies or the guy in the warehouse sent me the wrong drive is what I suspect_ as I provided them with plenty of information to send me the correct one.
It would really be nice to get past all this. Taking everything apart and putting it back together so I can work with the one riser is getting old...and it is definitely slower going than it was with both installed.
Thanks to all who provided responses!
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Feb 19, 2012 11:52 AM in response to Snow Houndby dwight w.,I would not put that power supply in. The part numbers are, I believe, specific to each machine. A search says the 614-0407 unit is for a Mac Pro 8-core.
The 614-0383 unit is for (what I have) an earlier 4-core Mac Pro, Model A1186.
I also ordered the wrong unit at first because I was too lazy to take out the existing unit. I would be scared to put a different one in, given all the crazy things that happen with a faulty power supply (per this thread). I would assume those ratings are very critical.
Length of cords is different for different machines as well.
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Feb 19, 2012 11:53 AM in response to dwight w.by dwight w.,Not implying you are lazy! I was talking about me.
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Feb 19, 2012 12:27 PM in response to dwight w.by Snow Hound,Dwight W. ....no need for apology, i didn't think of that, but you might be right anyway...if not lazy then maybe in just too much of a hurry!
I agree with you on waiting for the correct model number_ and the cables are longer on the replacement unit, which was going to make it a challenge...what to do with the extra?
So I guess I'll wait till tomarrow and give them a call.
The bummer is I gave them the serial number, model number and contents for this machine so they should have had enough info to get it right....maybe the guy in the warehouse just pulled the wrong unit down or someone put the wrong one in the wrong place on the shelf.
Guess I'll put the whole thing back together.... again!
After cleaning it twice Its getting easier each time...except for the rear screws that hold the PS down, those are not so easy.
I'm also going to move the 4x eSATA card up a slot to give it and the video card more room to breathe and reconfigure the power allocation to the card slots to see if that helps any.
Thanks again for your help, hope yours "keeps on keep'n on"!
john
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Feb 21, 2012 9:42 AM in response to Snow Houndby dwight w.,Working perfectly for two months. I tried just about every one of these cures, and things would be OK--or at least different--for a few days and then the same things (or some new odd behaviors) would start up again.
I think you're doing the right thing in trying the new power supply.
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Feb 21, 2012 11:53 AM in response to dwight w.by Snow Hound,Thanks Dwight, now even stranger things are starting to happen....even when I have just the one riser card installed....not a good feeling. The replacement PS for the replacement that was the wrong model is now on the way, and it was a few $ less, and being honorable folks dvwarehouse is paying the shipping both ways.
So I'm keeping my fingers crossed and trying not to work this one too hard.
I'm glad to hear yours is working fine!
After reviewing all the threads & discussions and having the other solutions all fail (or obviously not be the cause of my problem) I'm hoping you- and myself- got it right.
I sure am getting familiar with the inside of that box!
Take care and best wishes,
john
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Mar 1, 2012 8:00 AM in response to jrbuuckby Leon Buijs,I hesitated at first, because over here, a new PSU is quite expensive and I thought it could be anything, like software or the mother board. However, after reading more and more, about so many people finding out it was the power supply, both here and elsewhere on the 'net, I finally ordered a new Mac Pro power supply.
I first took out the old one, to be sure what Apple part number it had. I had only one or two spontaneous restarts, but I had a whole plethora of power related problems with just about every kind of connection my Mac Pro has. Most of the time however, the problem is that it wakes up immediately after I order it to sleep. Last night I decided to write an article about my Mac Pro sleeping problem on my site. Maybe others will find it handy. I'll put some photo's on it too as soon as I have some more time.
Thanks for your input guys. I'll keep you posted on the effect of the new PSU, although it can take some time before I'm convinced it's over. Or not, in case I'll know it soon :\