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Mac Pro shuts down immediately

When I start my Mac Pro by pressing the power button the fans kick in and it sound like it's about to start for a second, then it immediately switches itself off. This happens time after time every morning. After unplugging everything from the back and plugging it all back in again I can often get it to start up, eventually, then it's usually fine for the rest of the day. Next morning, same problem. It's very disconcerting.

This problem has only started to happen fairly recently and I'm pretty sure the warranty has expired. Can anybody help?

Apple Mac Pro "Eight Core" 2.8 (2008), Mac OS X (10.5.2), 4GB RAM, 500GB HD, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

Posted on Nov 9, 2010 11:45 PM

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79 replies

Jan 16, 2017 3:16 PM in response to MotleyPete

Hi to all,


Experienced exactly the same problem one month 1/2 ago.

I did a lot of things, hoping to solve the issue : checking the RAM, changing several times the logic board battery, cleaning the fan, checking the graphic cards, cleaning the CPU and heaters, even changing the thermal paste, changing the PSU...

Well, a lot...

Nothing helped, it won't definitely start up.

The only way I found to work again has been to buy a new one on the Bay, not wanting to change the logic board, as the whole price of those changes would raise at the level of a new one.

Today, I still think the issue came from the logic board, so I put it aside, and one day...

Good luck to all !

Mar 31, 2017 7:40 AM in response to MotleyPete

I had this same problem with my MacPro 2008 8core. At start up, it cuts off so I would put my blow dryer on it to heat it up. Then it will come on, but when I start to render or edit it cuts off.

Solution

I bought thermal paste and compressed air, took out each part and processores and replaced the thermal paste, blow out the dust from all the sensors and fans. Connect back everything and now it worked perfectly. Took me about 3 hours. Hope it helps.

Nov 9, 2010 11:57 PM in response to MotleyPete

Note: This morning I managed to start it up by unplugging some peripherals (hub, external hard drive, speakers), then turning it on. However, I have no idea if it was the unplugging that helped or the fact that I left the machine for 10 minutes before trying again. It's difficult to say.

However, my machine has never had a problem like this with these same peripherals plugged in before, so I'm at a lost to understand what is going wrong here.

Nov 11, 2010 9:28 AM in response to MotleyPete

I've been having the same problem for 5 months now and it seems to be getting worse!

Did have a spell when it was fine for over 3 weeks then one evening powered up, got as far as chime and gray screen/apple logo then clicked off. Since then it's hit and miss as to how far through the start up process it gets.

Fed up with it!

Unplugging seems to help as does moving but only for a short time.
Have taken it in and had it looked at to no avail, suggestions being to try a new power supply or logic board. Going to start getting expensive!

Seen similar faults but rare!??
Anyone??

Nov 12, 2010 2:41 AM in response to MotleyPete

it sounds like an issue I was having with my Mac Pro earlier this year, as it would turn off and not turn back on (which I believe a black out in the neighborhood was the culprit). I eventually took it in to the Genius Bar where they fixed it. It was the Logic Board and PSU that they replaced. Everything (in terms of powering on) was fixed after that point, although I do have a new issue. lol.

Nov 13, 2010 3:11 AM in response to Dale Weisshaar

Hi Dale. The other things were zapping the PRAM and also running Onyx to clear a few things out (just as a voodoo measure I'm sure).

I had the problem again this morning and unplugging peripherals (one at a time) didn't help. I'm suspicious (probably superstitiously) though that it may have something to do with the Apple display screen as it connects to the Mac via USB as a way to turn itself on and off. A few months ago I adjusted the angle of the screen and the screen spontaneously turned itself off, I presumed it wasn't plugged in properly at the time and I have no idea if this is connected to the current problems I'm having. I'm also suspicious that there may be a power issue due to how many peripherals are plugged into the same extension as the Mac, so I'm going to try limiting that too.

This morning however I have opened the Mac up and found it to be incredibly dusty inside. I'm off to buy some canned air and will try clearing the dust out. I'll also move the Mac to a less dusty and more easily serviceable position.

Thanks for your input guys and I'll let you know how I get on.

Nov 13, 2010 8:06 AM in response to MotleyPete

OK, I cleaned out the dust inside (which was considerable), turned my Mac on (with nothing but it and the display plugged ), same problem as before. It attempted to start up for a second then switched off.

Now here's the strange part. I noticed the light in the Apple display was on, so I pressed the button on the side of the display a couple of times to turn it off. Then started the Mac up again. This time the Mac started up for a few seconds longer, the cinema display didn't turn on & the Mac again promptly turned itself off. I pressed the Macs power button to turn it on again and it started up, started the Display and now I'm typing this message from my Mac Pro.

Am I crazy, or does this startup power issue somehow seem to be related to the Apple cinema display?

Nov 14, 2010 9:35 AM in response to MotleyPete

Have the same problem, push the start button, runs from 2 to 60 seconds, shuts down. Tried all the fixes suggested on this site, no joy. Took to the repair shop (twice) and they could not duplicate the problem after several days each time, so brought it home and worked o.k. for a couple of weeks and then started doing the same thing. The third time I took it to the shop,we plugged it in while I was there and it would not start. They ordered a power supply and I should have it back tomorrow. Glad I have applecare.

Nov 14, 2010 11:50 PM in response to Len Graves

The Mac ran fine all weekend, but I turned it on this monday morning and the problem was back again.
This time I unplugged everything from the back, plugged it all back in again and It stared up fine. Very, very strange.

I'd be interested to know if a new power supply fixes it for you (are these things known to fail after only a couple of years?). I don't have Apple care, so if I need to take it in somewhere and get a new power supply it's going to be quite expensive for me.

Mac Pro shuts down immediately

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