Mac Pro cold boot failure rate at 50%

Question

Mac Pro cold boot failure rate at 50%

I have a Mac Pro dual 2.8 ghz quad core, circa 2008. Recently, I have been required to depress the power button to end a failed cold boot, then press again to boot, usually with success.

I do hear a chime, but in the failed situation, it never progresses to the login screen.

I've reset the pram a few times, this doesn't seem to fix anything, as the system always boots if you try enough times (knock on wood).

I've verified the s.m.a.r.t. status and the disk, it all reports back as fine.

I am writing this post from a "safe boot" hope to see if that works on the next cold boot.

Other posts on this forum suggest it may be a weak pram battery so I will try that, the computer is getting on in years. However a similar post on this forum was marked as answered because the problem reported stated it did not chime from the external speakers. I don't care about that! So here's a new thread about documenting and hopefully solving the actual problem.

mac pro, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Apr 2, 2011 11:12 AM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Apr 2, 2011 11:52 AM in response to scratchthedog

I would do this:

1. Backup drive or at least Home folder.

2. Boot from Snow Leopard Installer Disc. After installer loads select your language; click on the Continue button. When menu bar appears select Disk Utility from Utilities menu. Repartition and reformat the hard drive.

3. Quit DU, return to installer. Install Snow Leopard.

4. Restore your data from backup.

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Answer 2

Apr 2, 2011 8:05 PM in response to scratchthedog

The safe boot, seems to have had a positive effect. I've had the system off for several hours today and it booted on first power up...(since doing a safe boot). I did an additional cold boot just for kicks, and all seems in order.

I've set this thread as my new homepage and will report any redevelopments of the problem or deem it resolved (answered) over the next day or so.

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Answer 3

DonH49

Level 6

16,716 points

Apr 3, 2011 6:42 AM in response to scratchthedog

try two things and stop wasting your time:

replace the pram battery CR2025 a few dollars

and reset the SMS> shutdown computer>unplug power cord>press hold power button 5 seconds>replace power cord and re-boot.

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Answer 4

Apr 3, 2011 10:36 AM in response to DonH49

... and after the SMC reset, remember to use
System Preferences > Startup Disk ...
... to re-specify your Startup Disk.

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Answer 5

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

Apr 3, 2011 11:42 AM in response to scratchthedog

I have a Mac Pro dual 2.8 ghz quad core, circa 2008. Recently, I have been required to depress the power button to end a failed cold boot, then press again to boot, usually with success.

Every hard restart freeze, and can guarantee you end up with

corrupt caches, corrupt file system, corrupt directory.

Safe Boot is not effective in such cases, fsck from single user mode has a better chance.

Booting from another hard drive, install your bought copy of Alsoft Disk Warrior to rebuild the directory (it has deep scavenge files also).

The longer you continue to do just Safe Boot and continue using it, the more trouble and less likelihood of being able to repair the drive.

SMART is not smart enough, it tells you about the past, not what could likely happen, or if you have had bad sectors and I/O errors.

Have bootable backup clones and a drive that is a clean Apple OS and drivers that isn't used except for repairs and maintenance. Don't rely on just Apple Disk Repair.

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Answer 6

Apr 3, 2011 4:38 PM in response to scratchthedog

the safe boot option was not a fix after all. After sitting cold for 10+ hrs. It failed to boot the first time.

Seems that pram battery replacement is the next bit to try.

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Answer 7

Apr 3, 2011 6:29 PM in response to The hatter

I think you misunderstood, I only used safe boot once, to see if that remedied the problem. It did not resolve the problem in the long run.

Using safe boot once is Apple's suggested method to try and resolve such an issue. Again, it did not remedy the problem in the long term.

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Answer 8

Apr 3, 2011 6:30 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Noted...but just one startup disk.

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Answer 9

Apr 3, 2011 6:31 PM in response to Kappy

This will be my last resort, I have everything backed-up. Trying to replace the battery first.

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Answer 10

Apr 3, 2011 6:47 PM in response to scratchthedog

just one startup disk

That does not make a difference.
If it is not specified, your Mac may have a VERY hard time finding it, especially if the battery is low.

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Answer 11

Apr 3, 2011 11:15 PM in response to DonH49

I've gone ahead and replaced the battery. In my case it was a cr2032. I happen to have a 3 pack I picked up from the dollar store, but opted to get a name brand from walgreens anyway.

The mac immediately reset SMS and booted when I plugged it in, on it's own. I like it when Apple thinks of this kind of stuff. (Though I it is a bit scary, when they document it differently).

Should find out over the next several days if this resolves anything.

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Answer 12

Apr 5, 2011 7:18 AM in response to scratchthedog

replacing the battery (hearing aid type) seemed to do the trick, it has started on cold boots for the last two days.

here's a link to the instructions I looked at:

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacProBatteryDIY.pdf

Note: in my situation I removed my graphics card to have better access to the battery, this required pushing down on a flexible plastic tab on the slot's inside edge (as in opposite of the side nearest where video cables plug-in) . The tab was obscured by the graphics card itself, you kinda have to know it's there.

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Answer 13

DonH49

Level 6

16,716 points

Apr 5, 2011 9:30 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Grant, good point. It termed re-blessing the system.

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Answer 14

Apr 11, 2011 3:54 PM in response to scratchthedog

Well seems the fixed verdict was premature. System didn't start from a cold boot this afternoon. So I am a bit puzzled about this.

Since the term blessing the drive has come up... some time ago, I set this box up with a triple boot using refit. But I have since removed those partitions and even reformatted the drive, it runs osx only. I can not figure out why the thing occassionally fails to boot fully.

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Answer 15

Apr 11, 2011 7:16 PM in response to scratchthedog

It could be a different problem.

Does the drive need a Repair?

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