Mac Pro 3,1 black screen then fans on full

I have extensively researched this and from all accounts no one has ever found a fix - even with multiple known good GPU / various MacOS versions / new RAM / strip down and full cleaning (one guy even replaced the motherboard and PSU to no avail)

I have tried running it headless (physically removing the GPU(s)) and accessing via VNC viewer (thus eliminating GPU entirely) but still the same issue - after a period of time from accessing the login screen the mac will go black screen (there is an audible single 'tick' inside the case when this happens but no one has ever seen a LED warning inside the case if they have had the side off ....) then about 10 secs later the fans go on full throttle (default) and the only way to restart/shutdown is via the power button or the mains plug. As to whether the machine will restart ok or not, it seems entirely random; I have had a clear month of uptime or worst case scenario a wasted day of trying to get it running for more than a few seconds before the black screen.

...these 2008 Mac Pros still offer further usable life if this can be sorted out, so if you have experienced this and beaten the problem please save me and many others (it seems to be a very common issue!) from turning these well designed Mac Pros into landfill/reclamation.

My suspicions lie more with how the OS handles the hardware but it will in that case probably be something that has changed in everything OS since possibly Mavericks.

Safe boot makes no difference.

**Putting an Ubuntu drive in it and booting from that makes the issue go away completely**

I look forward to hearing from you if you can help or even tell me your experiences trying to troubleshoot this frustrating issue.

Many thanks

Andy

Posted on Jan 2, 2021 2:10 AM

Top-ranking reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

140,261 points

Posted on Jan 2, 2021 7:37 AM

Panic Reports are stored at:

/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports

If you copy and paste that string into:

Finder > Go menu > Go to Folder

it will take you to where those reports are stored.

They are named with Date&Time and end in .panic

You can post the entire report here, by using the “additional text” Icon in the reply header (looks like a paper with writing).

Please don’t post more about 20 lines of any other types of reports — they are interminable, and any information useful for this purpose is on the first screenful.

There are three quick take-aways from any panic report.

1) The panic-reason,

2) the extensions present at the "scene of the crime", and

3) the BSD process in which the problem occurred.

One more item that is important is the names of any third-party Extensions you have added. They are shown FIRST in the extensions loaded section

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Mac Pro 3,1 black screen then fans on full

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