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Q: ATI Radeon 2600 XT on Mac Pro 2008 has died

Hi All,

 

I have recently been having issues with one of my ATI Radeon 2600 XT Graphics cards - choppy graphics, artefacts appearing on the display and endless crashes of the OS.

 

I have read online about a recall program Apple did run which recalled these exact graphics cards, and after checking the serial number of the card in question, it does indeed match one of the 'bad' batch.

 

The only problem is - the program ended in July 2011

 

What are the chances Apple would be kind enough to still swap my card for a new unaffected one?

 

Thanks

 

Mac Pro (early 2008)

6GB Memory

2 x ATI Radeon 2600XT

2 x 23" Cinema HD Monitors

Posted on Dec 11, 2011 3:25 AM

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Q: ATI Radeon 2600 XT on Mac Pro 2008 has died

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  • by LEKOVISION,

    LEKOVISION LEKOVISION Jan 20, 2014 2:03 PM in response to Manu__
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2014 2:03 PM in response to Manu__

    Hi everyone,

     

    Sorry for the delay in getting back to anyone...i had to unfortunately deal with the passing of my Father.

     

    I took my Macpro back in and they kept it there for almost 3 weeks.     They did alot of testing and re-testing with all varying results.

     

    They even replaced the mother board in my MacPro, and the problems were still occuring.

     

    It was finally narrowed down to the power brick on one of my 23" Cinema Display monitors.    When they isolated that, the problem followed wherever that powerbrick would go to.

     

    So they no longer sell or repair these bricks, so here is a pic of it.   Any idea on where I could possible source some of these?

     

    Model Number: A1097

    IMG_9474-1.jpg

    IMG_9473-1.jpg

     

    Lastly, when they called me saying that this 'brick' was the problem, they did inform me that my SSD hard drive would not boot, for whatever reason.

     

    They said that it was making a beeping noise, which is their indication that there is not enough power going to the SSD to power it.     Which to me is bizarre, cause i've never had ANY issues with that with any of my RPM drives as well as since I've installed this SSD.

     

    So, i picked up my Macpro and 2 cinema displays from the Apple Store this past thursday, and took it home.    When i set it all up and tried to start it up...it would not boot.    I even switched out one of my monitors with an older plastic shell type of Cinema Display....and same thing.

     

    Instead, on the screen, I saw this globe of the world in the center of the screen:

     

    IMG_9426-1.jpg

    IMG_9425-1.jpg

     

    I started it up in Target Disk mode, and connected it to my MBP, and was able to see all the 4 drives in my MacPro, but one of my Drives in slot 3 would not allow me to see the contents of the drive.   The icon showed up, but it would not allow me to get any further than clicking on the icon.     So i thought that perhaps there was not enough power getting to that particular drive in slot 3.

     

    (All my internal drives are Western Digital 2TB Black drives, so I know that the drives are not failing.    I also have toasters, which i pop them into, and they work fine.)

     

     

    Even weirder, is that I'm currently writing this post ON my Macpro.   I started it up today after being out of town for my Dad's funeral, and it would only show that globe...but when the screens went to sleep, i hit the space bar and everything was working.    I shut down to try again, and when rebooted, it showed the globe again...but only after a few minutes....both monitors came up working again.  (i'm not using the monitor that Apple deemed had the faulty brick, i'm using an older plastic casing style in place of it).

     

    So i'm really at a loss here as to what the F&*% is going on...and I apologize for the lengthy posting...but I'm not sure what to do.  

     

    There are so many variables, and any guidance or assistance would be extremely appreciated.

     

    Many thanks.   Again.

     

    Richard

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jan 20, 2014 2:08 PM in response to LEKOVISION
    Level 9 (61,332 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 20, 2014 2:08 PM in response to LEKOVISION

    A dozen of those power supplies are currently listed on ebay:

     

    http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=cinema+power+supply+a+109 7&_nkwusc=cimema+power+supply+A1097&_rdc=1

     

    -------

     

    The globe appears when the Recovery_HD and everything else are not available. If you have been running an SSD without benefit ot TRIM, it is probably clogged with deleted data.

     

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trim_(computing)

  • by LEKOVISION,

    LEKOVISION LEKOVISION Jan 20, 2014 5:02 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 20, 2014 5:02 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Hi, there, thank you for the information regarding TRIM.

     

    I read that the info works on 10.6.8, but for some reason TRIM is only working on Apple drives.

     

    I have a Crucial 960 gig SSD (2.5").

     

    That being said, i'm still unsure of what i can do to make this TRIM issue go away.

     

    Is there specific software that I can test for this on my MacPro?   

     

    Any thoughts?

     

    P.S. - I just found this link:

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/ta25439

     

    and i tried it, and my mac rebooted no problems at all.      I'm not sure if this is a fluke, or an actual fix...but regardless it's working!!

     

    Wow...the first bit of good news in a long time!!   

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jan 20, 2014 7:10 PM in response to LEKOVISION
    Level 9 (61,332 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 20, 2014 7:10 PM in response to LEKOVISION

    Many users have downloaded, installed, and configured TRIM Enabler to get non-Apple drives to implement TRIM. It is especially satisfying if you can also Install and enable it on another drive, because then you can run Disk Utility (Repair Disk). An additional line appears that says, " Trimming unused blocks" and the program pauses for up to a minute while all that junk is removed.

     

    There is a similar utility called chameleon which does a similar thing.

  • by christinim,

    christinim christinim Apr 2, 2014 2:47 PM in response to Manu__
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 2, 2014 2:47 PM in response to Manu__

    Hello, Its been a long time since I have contributed to the discussions but I am sooo thankful for all of the knowledge that I have received from here, and especially today as I have been having problems with the SAME computer that you have, Manu_ and the same issues with the same graphics card!!

     

    It was working rather weird but it worked enough to get my work done (Freelance designer), but now the screen has the transparent checkerboard pattern and if I ask it to do anything it just starts spinning away. I have to turn it off and on again.

     

    -It is also having issues turning off and on, I have to unplug it and try try again however many times it takes until it comes back on.

     

    but anyway, its doing the same thing EXACTLY as yours, staying on the blue screen for a VERY long time, the transparency, etc. so when I took it out the inside of my machine looks EXACTLY like yours with the burn marks from that one bracket! OMG!

     

    I was SO HAPPY to read that there was a recall (and a design flaw) on these and called apple again as I was on the phone to them earlier about this situatuion...I need to get running as soon as possible, I have a big job to start!!

     

    I spoke to a man named Steve who told me that he was the manager of the department. He told me that there was NO RECALL on these cards ever and when I mentioned design flaw and what I've learned here in this thread he said"well  that doesn't come from apple" and he can't say anything as far as it being a design flaw. I told him that I would send him the link, he wasn't much interested in that. I asked him how he's going to tell me it's not an apple thing when apple employees oversee/monitor/contribute to the discussions?

     

    I tried to stress that it was indeed a recalled item and some got free replacements and some didn't.

    He told me that I can get a replacement card (the SAME card) for $170, because of some deal where this is the last year for my computer then it will be vintage, then he tried to sell me a mac mini. He REALLY tried to sell me a mac mini.

     

    I got NOWHERE, and I was so excited that it would work out

    Now, I have taken the card out, removed the fan and I'm wondering how exactly to bake it in the oven (something else I was very surprised and thrilled to learn today )

     

    any ideas, I see now that you all aren't in the USA, I am. Any help would be hugely appreciated! THANK YOU all for all of your awesome geekery! I'm so appreciative.

    Christine

  • by The hatter,

    The hatter The hatter Apr 2, 2014 3:10 PM in response to christinim
    Level 9 (60,935 points)
    Apr 2, 2014 3:10 PM in response to christinim

    Baking deals with a different issue with the Nvidia GeForce 8800GT and not the ATI you have.

     

    There was a warranty extension on some too bad links are removed and there isn't a permenant page or in Google cache (or NSA's cache I suppose).

     

    apple employees oversee/monitor/contribute to the discussions?

     

    No, never, no Apple employee other than a few new "Specialists" that may pop in to answer unanswered questions/posts.

     

    Best bet outside of the AMD 7950 for Mac Edition would be Apple's ATI 5870. You missed out on the 5770 before they were all sold and gone.

     

    Otherwise, your best bet is an AMD Mac Edition 7950 or flashing a PC of same, or other; or EVGA GTX 680 Mac Edition (or PC of same) but those are not Apple products or endorsed.

     

    ebay MacVidCards is one source. Other sites like Netkas.org can be helpful or MacRumors forums.

     

    Using "3rd party" graphic cards is of interest and taken up here for starters:

    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=15090992

    http://www.groths.org/

    http://forum.netkas.org/

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